Lingered Antonyms

What was supposed to be a sacred mating ceremony, exploded into a blood-soaked nightmare for the daughter of the Head Warrior of Woodcrest pack. Before Anna's horrified eyes, future Alpha Axeel, her fated mate, was brutally butchered. The killer: Alpha Atticus of the Moon Howlers, an obsessed admirer whose twisted pursuit culminated in a chilling vow; she belonged to him alone. Condemned to eighteen years in a merciless Council prison, Atticus vanished, yet his dark promise haunted her. Devastated and emotionally walled off, Anna abandoned the werewolf world, fleeing Woodcrest and her loved ones for the unknown. But fate had darker plans. Four subsequent fated mates vanished without a trace during her desolate travels. Convinced she was cursed, a harbinger of doom, Anna swore off love forever, resigned to loneliness. Then, the strange began. Men actively avoided her, yet unexplained prosperity blossomed. She became a solitary queen in a sprawling mansion. But chilling questions lingered: Who shared her bed in the darkness? Who protected and provided for her meticulously? And most terrifyingly, as her body began to change, how would she explain the birth of her pup to everyone?...

…Moved by her plight, I made a firm decision. "I will help you," I said, looking into her eyes with sincerity. But it came with a condition, and I wanted her to be aware of it. There were always strings attached to this world. Her question lingered in the air. "What conditions?" Abebi asked, seeking clarity. I took a deep breath, "You will give me your body. You shall become my mistress." "I will think about it." She said as she sermons unbelievable courage and looks at me straight in the eye for the first time since our conversation. "I need to go now." "Where do you think you are going? Our deal starts now." I grabbed her hand, preventing her from further moving close to the door. "If you want to live, you better start undressing yourself," I ordered. I watched as he obediently obeyed my instructions… ******* {Strong female lead & originally mafia novel} In the gritty underworld of crime and desperation, a young girl named Abebi found herself trapped in a web of darkness. With her father's debts looming over her family, she had no choice but to step into the dangerous world of the mafia.

My loud, harsh breaths reverberated in the four walls of his cabin. I didn't realize when he locked me up here and pushed me too far from the door, blocking all my ways of escape. "M-Mr. S-Scott, please, what are you doing?" Cold shivers ran down my spine as I watched the man with horror-filled eyes who was advancing towards me with slow, dangerous steps. A sickening smile marred his lips as he silently relished my helplessness while uncuffing his sleeves. My fear skyrocketed. His husky chuckles ensued, churning my stomach as his shameless gaze lingered on my chest, making me quickly bring my arms to the front. "Something that I should have done before, Cupcake." He drawled out, leaving me shocked to the bone. That endearment. Travis? Dive into the dark and dangerous world of Travis Scott, a man who dupes people with his breathtaking charms and kind personality while confining his demons only to unleash them once he captures the angel he's been looking for years.

I was the daughter of a crime boss in Flonio. Initially, I was supposed to reveal my identity during my wedding. But my elder brother told me that someone was targeting me and that I could not expose myself. My fiance also took this chance to take off my wedding gown and help my maid into it. My bodyguard then stole my family token. I trusted them deeply, but when the wedding ceremony started, I saw my maid with one arm around my fiance. Meanwhile, her other hand lingered between my brother’s and bodyguard’s sensitive spots on their bodies. In response to my suspicions, my maid laughed wickedly. Then, she instructed someone to break my limbs. They locked me up in the basement and forced me to watch as they got more and more intimate. In the end, they skinned me alive and broke my bones. Before I breathed my last, they left me to the beasts. When I recalled the misery of my previous life, I broke my maid’s ribs with a few punches. “You can have my fiance, but you don’t deserve my family token!”

My Alpha husband, Ryder, has always hated the sound of a crying pup. But recently, he started caring for my adopted sister's newborn pup, staying by its side in the nursery every night until dawn. Every time Ryder left our bedroom for the nursery, an inexplicable stabbing pain would pierce through my chest. This agony would last all night until dawn when he returned. I had finally reached my breaking point. At the Full Moon Festival, I announced in front of the entire pack that I was rejecting our mate bond. The pack's mind-link erupted with whispers that the battle had damaged my mind. A golden light ignited in Ryder's eyes as he stared at me in disbelief. "Because I was too busy to check on you when you were injured, you're rejecting our bond over a six month old pup?" I didn't meet his eyes. Instead, my gaze lingered on the faint lipstick mark smudged inside his collar. My voice trembled, yet it did not waver. "Since you love her pup so much, once our bond is severed, you can openly be the father."

Daddy Issues Series Tagline: He was older. Forbidden. Everything I craved Clawing her way out of a toxic relationship that could be likened to hell, all Astrid Volkov wanted on the night of her twenty-first birthday was to be alone, but her loud friends found a way to drag her ass to the club where she came in contact with the mysterious older man, who appeared to be her knight in shining armour after he saved her from getting harassed. The connection they tried so hard to suppress fought its way out after a few drinks, entangling them in a night of unforgettable passion. Astrid could have sworn that would be the last of him, but this bitch called fate pulled its stunt once more and their paths crossed again, but this time, the tables drastically spun and she was quick to find out that the mysterious older man that gave her the best night of her life was none other than Jordan Remington, her father's long time best friend. The duo were hellbent on putting that night behind them, but Astrid's stubbornness and the sparks that still lingered from that night begged to differ. Was Astrid willing to screw all odds and go for what she wanted, knowing the risks involved? Was Jordan willing to put his friendship and reputation on the line for a girl he was old enough to father? Book one of Daddy Issues

The mate bond ceremony had barely ended when Simon Thompson, Alpha of the Moonshade Pack, suddenly shoved me aside. "I picked up a human girl at the border. There's a storm tonight. I need to go stay with her." My head buzzed. "If you've already decided I'm your fated mate, why are you seeing her now?" He stood up and pulled on his clothes. The bite mark I had left was still visible on the side of his neck. "Tanya, I love you. But life is long. I need something fragile like that once in a while to feel something new." My throat tightened. "So on our mate bond night, you're dumping your Luna to sleep with a human?" "Well, technically, the ceremony is already over," he corrected me, then bent down and pinched my cheek. "You're the pack's Luna now. You should be more generous." "And if I can't be?" It was as if he had been waiting for that. He smiled. "Then we sever the bond. Just know you might end up exiled as a lone wolf. Think it through, yeah?" I collapsed onto the messy bed. Simon's scent still lingered in the air. Outside the window, the full moon that had witnessed our vows looked unbearably ironic.

Warning: Rated 18+ "You have me..." Once he dried my eyes, I noticed that his hand was no longer as chilly as it had been earlier in the interaction. He moved his mouth closer to mine and spoke in a low whisper, saying, "You only have me, and there's no way for you to run away from me since I am everywhere..." “You kissed me, you imprinted me as your vampire mate,” he added as he smirked.  My eyes widened when I touched my lips, and I felt his slow approach, asking, "You want me to kiss you, right?" I could feel him moving closer and closer. "You wanted it so desperately..." he groaned, then his eyes lingered on my lips, and in the flash of an eye, He was already laying claim to my lips; I gasped in response to his gently nibbling on them. I could taste blood on my lips, but he licked it up and withdrew away from me before I could react. "Fuck!" he muttered under his breath. "Catalina, what have you done to me? Why do I want to devour you so badly?"

His tie hung loose, his eyes darker than sin. The scent of whiskey lingered on his breath as he leaned closer. “Tell me to stop,” he murmured, the words brushing against my skin like a dare. “You’re drunk,” I said, staring into those grey eyes as my heartbeat filled the silence. He smiled faintly, his gaze trailing from my hair until it fell on my lips. “Drunk,” he whispered, his thumb grazing my mouth as if testing how soft it was, “but not blind. You want this as much as I do.” ----- After her husband’s mysterious death, Mara Lawson becomes the center of a scandal threatening to destroy the powerful Lawson empire. Elias Lawson, her late husband’s twin, is everything she should resist—dangerous, magnetic, and forbidden. David Hale, her ex-lover, the man who walked away once and now wants forgiveness… and another chance. Between the man who broke her and the one who could ruin her, Mara is caught in a web of passion, guilt, and secrets that could shatter them all. Because in the Lawson world, love is never pure—it’s just another sin waiting to be punished.

I was dying of kidney failure. Henry Colombo—the ruthless Mafia heir who once swore he’d burn the world to keep me alive— found me a donor. But the price… was her. Susan Miller, the woman who’d always lingered between us, smiled as she set her terms: “Be mine for one month. Pretend you love me—and I’ll save her life.” He agreed. He said it was just to save me. But every lie, every kiss, every photo she posted online was another nail in my coffin. Each time the surgery drew near, she invented a new delay—a fever, a nightmare, a tender bruise. And Henry believed her. He always believed her. The night my heart flatlined on the operating table, he was across the city, feeding her grapes under candlelight, whispering her name—the name of the woman who had let me die. When he finally learned the truth—that every tear she shed was rehearsed, every promise she made was poison— he destroyed everything. Her lies. Her wealth. Her family name. His own empire. But none of it brought me back.