Long Shadows David Baldacci

Warning: contains mature content Elena has long harbored a secret crush on her enigmatic billionaire boss, Andrew Blake. One night in San Francisco turns a routine business trip into a forbidden, passionate affair.Back home, Andrew faces pressure from his family: if he doesn’t marry before his stepbrother Matthew, he could lose the company. Determined to secure his inheritance, he offers Elena a contract marriage and she accepts.But life gets complicated. Matthew is her ex, his fiancée is her best friend, and a betrayal orchestrated with a scandalous video shatters Elena’s world. Humiliated, she disappears, determined to build a new life away from Andrew and Matthew.Yet escaping a billionaire isn’t easy. Torn between revenge and forgiveness, past and future, Elena must decide: can her heart truly heal before it’s too late? especially when the truth about the betrayal surfaces?

Not every fantasy is gentle. Not every desire plays by the rules. Some pleasures are dangerous. And these stories? They come with teeth. Behind closed doors and under tight sheets, women surrender to the hunger they’re not supposed to have… and the men who know exactly how to feed it. From a gynecologist who crosses the line with a patient who wants more than a check-up… To a reverend’s wife who falls for a man she sees every Sunday and sins with every chance she gets… To a virgin student who learns her first lesson in the back office of her lecturer… To a nanny who becomes the one thing her boss can’t resist… This isn’t about love. This is about lust… raw and dripping. Forbidden romance. Unholy cravings. So if you’re looking for soft kisses and fairy tale endings… Turn back now. But if you’re ready for something that makes you squirm in your seat… If you want stories you’ll replay in your head long after the last line… Then go ahead. Open the book.

What do you do when you find out a man was in your room the entire time while you were masturbating?... ****** I opened the door to the room and it was very beautiful, perfect for two couples ready to take a break. I sighed and kept my suitcase and bags on the couch. I took a long bathe and decided to watch a movie, My phone had been blaring up Ryan.. I sighed and blinked back tears, I put a soap opera and soon my heart felt heavy I needed a release from everything going on in my life, Fuck it I muttered I opened my suitcase and brought out my rose vibrator I placed it on my clit and hummed as I felt the lovely sensations. I gasped and clutched the sheets,.my nipples were painfully tight and I moaned Soon I was on the bridge of my orgasm, I moaned and clutched the sheets, I didn’t even hear the sound of the door opening And came hard with a cry I took deep breaths and then I looked up and I froze A man is in my room ********

He once thought she was just a quiet wife with no big dreams. Now, she’s the face on every magazine, the woman the world admires and the one he let slip away. Eunice Ednah had nothing when she walked out of David Richard’s mansion: no money, no name, and no support. What she had was determination. And a secret: she was carrying his child. Years later, David watches her rise from the shadows to the spotlight, now a billionaire fashion mogul with power, beauty, and grace. The same woman he once underestimated is now the one the city celebrates. It was their child that brought them face to face again David must face the truth: he lost more than a wife. Will love find a second chance? Or has Eunice closed that chapter forever?

“Picture this Daniela. You spend your entire life thinking of how you can take revenge on your enemy, and one day, they suddenly appear in front of you, on a silver platter. Are you really, going to let them go?” “You hate me. You said so yourself, so what could you possibly want with me?” “You’re going to help me. The perfect loophole for me to escape an obligation. You’re going to be my wife.” * * * * * * * * * Daniela Stevens could have been any normal woman, but the sins of her father and the endless nightmares, changed her life more than she could ever imagine. And that scar she carried everyday, was the permanent reminder of the pain she had caused a certain stranger, and the fact that she didn't deserve to find happiness. As long as she lived. This stranger, who is her nightmare, is Alexander Jackson. He has not been able to let go of the pain of being orphaned, therefore he feels the urge to take revenge, even if it meant making an innocent person suffer. His life and hers get tangled together, and they have to make a decision, whether to keep suffering, or to let go of the past. But letting go deals with change and trust, and that is their only obstacle.

After years of struggling to survive, Akayda Jordan finally lands her dream job — personal assistant/secretary in one of the best companies in the whole of California. To celebrate her new beginning, she decides to give one last “performance” at the elite club she’s about to leave behind. One night. One masked encounter. One forbidden act. But fate twists cruelly. The man she had danced for in the dark turns out to be her new boss — Damian Knight. He’s engaged. She’s desperate to keep her secret buried. But when Damian starts sensing something achingly familiar about his new assistant — the scent of her perfume, the way she looks away when he stares too long — the walls between them begin to crack. But he was sure the girl with the big glasses was not the girl with the mask and firefly tattoo who had woken up a hunger in him. Soon, professionalism turns into tension. Tension turns into temptation. And the closer he gets to the truth, the more dangerous her secret becomes. Because if Damian ever discovers she’s the masked girl he’s been searching for… she might lose not just her job, but her heart.

College student Leo has always played the perfect son. But when he meets his girlfriend's father, David, a powerful and reclusive billionaire, what begins as simple admiration spirals into an uncontrollable obsession. A drunken, one-time encounter between them sets a forbidden affair in motion, and Leo finds he can't let go, even as his carefully constructed life teeters on the brink. While Leo struggles to maintain his facade, David is consumed by a conflict of his own. How long can he deny his feelings for his daughter's boyfriend before his hidden life is exposed?  Their secret is a weapon waiting to be used. A ruthless rival, determined to tear David's world apart, is watching them from the shadows. With a company-defining merger on the line, Leo and David are forced to make a choice that could cost them everything: their reputation, their family, and each other.

A forced marriage. A ruthless CEO. And a contract that could ruin—or rescue—her heart. Ayla Morgan thought losing her father was the worst thing that could happen. She was wrong. Within weeks, her family restaurant is seized by debt collectors, her stepmother kicks her to the curb, and her arrogant CEO fires her in front of everyone over a petty mistake. With nothing left but humiliation and bills, Ayla is forced into a blind date arranged by her greedy family… and accidentally ruins the wrong one. That “wrong date”? Damon Cross. Her ex-boss. The coldest man she’s ever met—richer than sin and twice as dangerous. But instead of being furious, Damon makes her a shocking offer: Marry me. Three years. No feelings. No questions. In return, I’ll pay your family’s debt and give you your life back. To him, it’s just a contract. To her, it’s a lifeline. Living under the same roof, working as his personal secretary, Ayla swears she’ll never fall for a man who sees love as weakness. But behind Damon’s icy exterior hides a broken man forced to marry by his dying grandfather—and a loneliness that mirrors her own. As enemies become reluctant allies and fake kisses turn real, Ayla finds herself questioning everything. What happens when the contract ends… but her heart doesn’t? And will Damon let go of control long enough to realize that love might be his only salvation?

Gianna had tirelessly searched for employment, driven by the need to earn a living, and finally secured a position at one of the largest beverage companies in the Philippines. However, in an unforeseen twist of fate, she discovered that her new boss was none other than the man she vehemently despised: Francis Locan, the CEO and President of The Golden Scenery, one of the most renowned wine companies in the Philippines. He was known for his cold demeanor and his aversion to those who sought him out solely for his wealth. But beneath his icy gaze lay a secret he had guarded for a long time. He suffered from a rare condition called monochromacy disorder, which rendered him unable to perceive color and also significantly impaired his vision compared to that of a normal person. Yet, upon meeting Gianna, he couldn't explain why he could perceive the colors surrounding her, a phenomenon that defied all medical understanding. Driven by a desperate hope for a cure, he devised a plan to use Gianna, believing that somehow she held the key to his healing. However, as time passed, his feelings for the young woman became increasingly genuine, despite his repeated attempts to dismiss them. Though he resisted acknowledging it, he found himself ensnared in his own carefully constructed trap. What would Gianna do when she discovered that all the affection and attention she had received from the man she had grown to love had been meticulously planned and orchestrated? Would she be able to forgive him for his deception, or would she choose to walk away, her heart shattered by his betrayal?

In the quiet of the forest, the darkest fears are born. The people of Dunballan, harbour a dark secret. A secret more terrible than the Beast that stalks the dense forests of Dunballan. A secret that holds David McCavendish, last in a long line of Lairds, in its unbreakable grip. It’s down to Sally, David’s lover, to free David from the sinister clutches of the Beast. But, with the whole town against her, she must ally herself with an ancient woodland force and trace Dunballan’s secret back to its bitter origins. Those origins lie within the McCavendish family history, and a blasphemous heresy that stretches back to the beginning of time. Some truths are too terrible to face, and the darkest of these lie waiting for Sally, in the Quiet Places. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing