Hands Down

Fae’s been in love with Carl Easton for a long time. Orphaned by her mother when she was two and by her father when she was fourteen, she was fostered by the wealthy Eastons until she was eighteen. Fast-forward ten years, Fae attends a wedding and watches Carl marry her snake of a bestfriend. That night, she begs Carl's best buddy Jigo to help her forget. Hands down, he is the most gorgeous, sexiest man she has ever met. He is way out of her league and she will never have the guts to proposition him if she isn't drunk. Stoic and brooding, wealthier and more successful than Carl, he vibes power. She can never guess he was such a molten lava of emotions and the sweetest teddy bear behind closed doors. She spends part of the weekend in his bed then ran from him before she can get addicted to his brand of passion. She needs the distraction but he is more than she can ever dream of. It is foolish to hope for more. But he appears in her doorstep and seduces her to make him her willing rebound for as long as she needs him. No way will he let her go until they are done. And they spiral so fast that Fae can’t tell where distraction ends and falling in love begins…

A girl who wouldn’t be missed finds herself in the hands of a ruthless kidnapper. How will she escape? Does she want to?

..."forgive me but i'm calling off the engagement." Isabella who was smiling as she listened to his speech suddenly widened her eyes in horror. "What do you mean by you're calling off the engagement! You're joking right?" She burst into laughter thinking that it was a prank. "I'm not joking Ella, I'm in love with someone else." He held her hands apologetically trying to calm her down as she was losing her cool. "Who is she?" She barked angrily as she couldn't stay calm any longer. ... She had always been treated poorly by her parents and younger sister but treated it like some kind of training. It got worst to a point that people began calling her 'Cinderella.' She always longed for a prince charming who would wipe away her tears and love her dearly. She did find her 'prince charming.' He promised to marry her but then he called off their engagement on the engagement party. She was shocked to find out that her fiancee and younger sister had an affair behind her back. She wanted to end it all but then the real 'Prince Charming' came along. ..."Marry me. I would take revenge on everyone that had hurt you."

One year had gone by since my husband got married to me. I went back to the company for a celebration party. I'd just taken my seat when a woman with a Cartier ring around her finger splashed a glass of red wine in my face. "That's the chairman's seat, you slut! Who are you? How dare you take his seat!" The guests surrounded me and grabbed my hands and feet. Someone even kicked me down to the ground. I held my fury back. "I'm the chairman's wife! Matthew Grayson is my husband!" The woman yanked my hair and sneered at me. "So, you're the bitch he's forced to marry. He's already generous enough, letting you marry him. You live on his money, and now you're trying to steal his place and be the boss. I know sluts like you know no shame! Guards, throw her out!" I laughed mirthlessly. The man who leeched off me thought he could call the shots now. Still, I kept my fury in check and called his number. "Hello, Matthew. Did you tell everyone I lived on your money and that you're the boss of the company?"

"Elijah, please spare my honor! I didn't kill Sophia," Amber pleaded, lying naked on the bed, tears streaming down her face. Elijah kissed her body, but his eyes burned with anger, as if he wanted to destroy the timid girl before him. "From now on, you'll spend every night in my bed, like my own personal whore," he declared, his anger evident, intending to make her suffer in front of me. "But what have I done? Why are you doing this to me?" Amber cried, her dignity shattered. She looked at Elijah, still in disbelief that she had been in love with such a monster for years. "You've committed a grave sin, and your sinful body will pay for it every day and night. I promise to make you miserable," Elijah's eyes blazed with anger as his hands moved painfully across Amber's body. Elijah was the handsome alpha of the Red Blood Pack, known for his brutality and one thing only: revenge. Amber was the beautiful daughter of the Alpha of the Moon Shine Pack, and she had been madly in love with Alpha Elijah for years. So, what happened suddenly to cause Alpha Elijah to break Amber's heart like this?

I'm a nationally certified animal trainer running the Lion King, Caesar's final assessment. I've barely stepped into the enclosure corridor when the steel guillotine door slams down behind me. My wife's laughter crackles over the loudspeaker. "Everyone, we're doing the ultimate challenge today! We're locking the so-called number-one animal trainer in the Lion King's enclosure and taking bets on whether he wets himself in ten minutes!" Caesar crouches low and rumbles a warning. I reach for my tranquilizer gun but stop cold. The liquid isn't the right color. In a phony sing-song voice, the veterinarian, Hugh Archer, says, "Lucian, I forgot to mention, I swapped your tranquilizer darts for pepper spray so you won't hurt Caesar by mistake. "You two are so close. Just win him over with love!" I look at Caesar, his eyes bloodshot from the stimulant, and it clicks. Hugh still resents that I stopped him from touching a tiger with his bare hands a few days ago. I tune out the trash blaring over the loudspeaker, pull a remote from my pocket, and hit the button. It's the master switch for the electric fence gates around every predator enclosure in the zoo. If I don't make it out, no one does.

My best friend and my husband, Lorenzo Bartoli, fought every time they met. Lorenzo was the Don of the family, while my best friend was his Consigliere. She always fiercely opposed his most ruthless, high-risk decisions. Tempers explode every single time. But there was one rule that they both agreed on without any hesitation. No one was allowed to touch me. Because of them, no one in the city dared to cross me. Until the fifth month of my pregnancy, when I went down to the basement vault to organize Lorenzo's guns for him. I opened the safe to see stacks of letters, hundreds of them, all unsent. I picked one up. The moment I opened the letter, cold dread overwhelmed me. The receiver of the letter wasn't me. [My dearest Sofia…] I quickly scanned downward to the final lines of the letter. [If I don't make it back alive, everything in the Swissie accounts goes to you. As for Vittoria, she's a good woman, but I have never loved her.] With trembling hands, I tore open the rest of the letters like a hysterical woman. Three hundred of them in total. Every single one was addressed to Sofia Finzi. Sofia was not a stranger. She was my best friend.

My name is Freya, I'm 16 but will be turning 17 in a few weeks, I'm a Junior at Belleview High, I'm part of the art club along with the photography club, I have straight A's which has always made my dad proud of me. I am finally out of that awkward teenage stage where my head was to big for my body, plus I'm no longer built like a little boy. Andrew is 17, 6 foot at least, with dark chocolate brown hair, the most piercing blue eyes i have ever seen in my life, with a strong jaw and the most perfect tan pink lush lips that I would love to crash my own against, he's built like a God and just his eyes can send a shiver down my spine. Everything about him makes my insides tense. He pushes me against a wall, pinning me to it while holding my hands above my head, his deep voice vibrating through my chest as he speaks with our closeness. Does he want me the way I want him? Can we hide what happens between us from our parent? I will risk it all for him. Will he do the same for me?

This look on your face is seriously making me hard, you know?” “What the…” I smacked his hand away and pushed him back, only for him to lower the car seat in a swift movement I barely saw. Before I could react, he pinned me down on the passenger seat. With a single hand, he held both of mine while straddling me. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing!?” I protested, struggling and squirming to free myself from his tight grasp. "Hold still" he ordered. I shouldn’t have followed him. My instincts were right. Percy Claude thought his final year of college would be simple, graduate, stay loyal to his girlfriend, and keep his quiet life intact. But when a dangerous and mysterious man who seems to want nothing but his body, steps into his world, Percy’s life spirals into temptation and chaos. But Rowen isn't your average dude, as an abandoned heir to his family empire, there are more secrets to him than meet the eyes. would Percy succeed in saving his Crumbling first love relationship from the hands of Rowen? Or would he fall deeper into the dark web that the Enigmatic Mr. Rival had woven for him.

Our daughter, Luna Woods, developed a high fever. Her body was burning hot. I immediately dialed 911 for help. The dispatcher on the other end kept repeating his questions. He spoke slowly, as if deliberately stalling for time. By the time I finally heard the ambulance siren, Luna was already turning cold in my arms. In less than a year, my wife and I separated. We were consumed by endless grief and blamed for each other. Afterward, I merely existed for the sake of it. I was a hollow shell of a man. Then, one day, I received a wedding invitation from my ex-wife. The moment I played the audio invitation, a chill ran down my spine. The groom’s voice was identical to that of the slow, dawdling dispatcher from that year! I rushed out, utterly distraught, only to be hit by a roaring train. When I opened my eyes again, I heard Luna crying in the next room. Her forehead was burning hot. My wife hurriedly handed me the phone. “Quick, call 911! I’ll get a wet towel.” My hands trembled as I took the phone. When it was answered, I heard a familiar male voice through the receiver. “911, what’s your emergency?”