Ian Rutledge Books In Order Novels & Stories

“Don’t tell me you’re starting to get scared again,” he whispered before returning his lips to my sensitive nipples. His hand slid lower, shifting my panties aside, the fabric brushing against my skin. “Someone might walk in,” I managed to say, though my voice was barely audible. “Forget everyone and focus on us,” he murmured. His fingers began to tease me, running over my clit with a deliberate slowness that made my breath hitch. “I love how you’re always so wet for me,” he said, his tone filled with raw desire. As his pace quickened, his words urged me on. “Don’t hold back your moans. I want to hear all of it.” The knowledge that his office was soundproof was the only reassurance I had, but even then, I couldn’t trust my own voice. My body arched in response as he trailed kisses along my neck, his fingers moving with an intoxicating rhythm. “I love how your body reacts to my touch,” he murmured against my skin. “I could fuck you all day.” “Yes,” I moaned, unable to stop myself. “Yes, what?” he teased, his fingers moving even faster, pushing me closer to the edge. “Don’t stop, Alex,” I gasped. ********************************************************** Six years ago, Alex broke me, leaving me humiliated, pregnant, and abandoned. He chose Camila, his flawless childhood friend, while I was left to pick up the shattered pieces of my life. But I survived, and for my son, I built a life I’m proud of. Now, Alex is after me, but stunned by the woman I’ve become, and the son who bears his resemblance. When he asked about his father, my son’s innocent reply said it all: "Mommy said he's dead." I couldn’t have said it better myself.

On the eve of our engagement party, my fiancée, Alissa Coleman, gets a marriage certificate with her male best friend, Rhys Pritchard, and celebrates it in the bar. Yet, she acts completely unconcerned about what she has done. She says flippantly, "It was just a joke. We'll get divorced tomorrow. Everyone knows Rhys and I are just best friends." Rhys responds with a provocative grin. "Even though the marriage is just for a day, there's still a special bond between us. Are you all just enjoying the show and won't even prepare a wedding gift for us?" Everyone at the table laughs raucously. "Sure. I happen to have a project in the western suburbs. I'll give it to you as a wedding gift. But there are rules at this table. If you want it, you'll have to win it with a game of dice." I say nothing more and simply take a seat at the table. Meeting Alissa's perplexed frown that is directed at me, I flash her a small smile. "Isn't this supposed to be a dice-rolling game for wedding gifts? I'd like to play too," I said.

Anne Wellington spent three years as Donald Ashford's perfect fiancée, sacrificing her identity and dreams while he prioritized Hannah Grey, the woman who "saved his life" as a child. Anne endured public humiliation, emotional neglect, and constant comparison to a woman who weaponized victimhood. What Donald never knew? The patient woman he took for granted was heir to the Wellington real estate empire, a dynasty worth billions that could crush his company with a single phone call.

On my 30th birthday, my boyfriend of seven years asked to meet at the City Hall. He even told me to bring my ID and wear a wedding dress. But when I showed up just as he asked, he was laughing and looked really excited. “Pay up, pay up! I told you all. No matter how embarrassing it is, Wrenna will always do what I say!” I just looked at him wordlessly. Matthew Young raised his eyebrows at me. “Come on, it was just a joke. You’re not mad, are you?” When I stayed quiet, he got annoyed. “Alright, alright. I said I’d marry you, and I will. Just not right now.” His good-for-nothing friends started laughing and making fun of me. They said I was his simp and would never get angry. And they were right. I was not angry. I did not come here today for him anyway. After everyone left, I walked into the City Hall. “Sorry I’m late. Let’s go get married.”

It was my third year with Timothy Jones when he had fallen for someone else and wanted to end things. At his birthday party, he embraced a petite and cute woman, telling his friends, "It's better to go for the sweet, innocent ones." Someone asked, "What about Olivia?" "Olivia? We've been fooling around for three years. Sure, she's fun, but sometimes you need a change of pace, right?" The "Olivia" he casually dismissed was me. And his new girlfriend? None other than my dad's illegitimate daughter, Willow Lambert. It was fine. I decided it was time for me to change things up, too.

The night of our engagement party, I found my best friend playing a dangerous game with my fiancé. The casino on our family's private yacht was where I found them. Clara was sitting on the lap of my fiancé, Killian, the Falcone family heir. Killian held a sharp family dagger, its tip snagging the thin strap of her dress. The blade traced a path along her collarbone. The slightest pressure would snap the silk. It was a dangerous, intimate scene. I stepped forward with a frown, but Killian just scoffed. "It's just a little game to liven things up, Principessa. Don't be so tense." Clara's eyes narrowed, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "We're just playing a traditional family game. The knife game. You don't mind, do you, sweetie?" I was about to speak, but Killian's expression hardened. "We just got engaged and you're already trying to control me?" So I said nothing. I just drew my custom pistol from its holster on my thigh. "So, it's a game," I said. "Then let's play for something real."

"I don't like when other man touches what is mine." He whispered in deep voice, his blue eyes sparkled with jealousy and possession. "I am not your possession, Ashton. Remember, we're married only on the papers." I somehow said as his intimidating personality loomed over me. I could hear our heartbeats. "I don't give a fuck to those papers, Valeria. You're my wife and the whole world must know this." Saying this, he buried his face in the crook of my neck and kissed there. Butterflies erupted in my stomach. He was off reach and forbidden. He was my ex-fiance's uncle. But he was my husband. Everything changed for Valeria Miller when her boyfriend left her waiting on the aisle and his uncle stepped up to save her from the shame. Their marriage was fixed on the last minute, it shouldn't be permanent. But Ashton had other thoughts in his mind. He wanted Valeria forever.

You want revenge, Michelle? Then marry me." The words came from the last person she ever expected—Kieran Castellan, her ex’s cold and ruthless stepbrother. Hours earlier, Michelle’s world had fallen apart. She caught her fiancé cheating—with her best friend—right before saying “I do.” Humiliated, betrayed, and drowning in debt, she ran from the altar with nothing but pain in her chest. Then Kieran found her. He needed a wife to keep his CEO position. She needed a way to survive. It was supposed to be a deal—a one-year contract marriage, no feelings, no complications. But the more time they spent together, the more dangerous their connection became. Kieran’s touch burned, his words softened, and somewhere between hatred and healing, Michelle started to fall. Until old secrets, jealous enemies, and the ghosts of betrayal returned to tear them apart. Now, she’s faced with a choice: walk away before her heart breaks again… or fight for the man she was never supposed to love.

As Jason and I try to stay one step ahead of the Marching Tides and their nefarious associates, we draw ever closer to the shocking truth of who the mastermind behind the Marching Tides really is. Something tells me I’ll regret learning the answers at the end of my journey.©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

After falling head over heels for Joe Smith for three years, I finally got the proposal I had been waiting for. However, on the day of our wedding, he did not show up until the wee hours of the morning. When I found him, Joe was drinking happily with a young girl in his arms. “I’m already tired of her clinginess. She’s a joke. Who else would want her?” Much later, he made me a wedding ring and proposed with my favorite jasmine flowers. But a muscular man opened the door instead. The man had two scratch marks on his neck and smirked at the disheveled Joe. “Isn’t it a bit too shameless of you to propose to a married woman?”