Michael Connelly The Crossing Novels & Stories

"After hiding from me for three years, I've finally found you," I say to her, my eyes scanning her from head to toe. "I wasn't hiding. I was simply living my life without you," she scoffs at me, crossing her arms. "It doesn't matter anyway, because here you are now. You look beautiful." "Mr Partridge, I'd appreciate it if we kept things between us strictly professional." There she goes again, calling me by my last name, which was once her own. "We're not working right now. Let's just talk." "Mr Partridge, have a good evening." As she walks away, I'm so captivated by her confidence that I only stand in place and watch her the entire time. I see no trace of the vulnerable woman who was once my wife. Not only is she bold and beautiful, but she hates me. ~~~ Three months after her miscarriage, Layla is served divorce papers by her billionaire husband, Nathan. He wants her to leave because he's reconnected with the girl of his dreams. This leaves Layla shattered and no amount of begging can make him change his mind. Though she starts from scratch in a new town, they meet again three years later. He's now her new boss and this time, he's desperate to win her back With only a thirst for revenge in her heart and a new man in her life who's also a billionaire, is there even the slightest possibility of Nathan getting a second chance to make things right with her? Or is he too late and will live the rest of his life wishing he should've cherished her?

When Olivia moves into her father’s house, she expects discomfort and distance—not the quiet pull she feels toward his son. Adrian is older, already in college, and careful in ways that make him seem unreachable. At first, he treats her like a responsibility, someone he needs to look out for. But closeness has a way of changing things. It begins with small moments. Lingering conversations late into the night. Shared laughter that feels too intimate. The way Adrian always seems to notice when Olivia is overwhelmed, the way his voice softens when he speaks to her. What starts as protection slowly becomes attention—and attention turns into something dangerously close to desire. Olivia feels it first. A flutter in her chest when he enters the room. The way her breath catches when their eyes meet for a second too long. Adrian feels it too, even as he fights it—pulling away one moment, drawn back the next. They never say the words. They don’t have to. Every look holds meaning. Every accidental brush of hands lingers longer than it should. The air between them grows thick with everything they refuse to admit. They know the line they’re standing on. They know crossing it would change everything. Yet the heart doesn’t care about rules. What grows between them is soft but consuming—tender, aching, and forbidden. A love born in restraint, made stronger by everything they deny themselves. When their secret is discovered, it shatters them both. Adrian is sent away without goodbye. Olivia is left behind, clutching memories that feel too precious and too painful to keep. Years later, Olivia has built the life she once dreamed of. But some feelings don’t burn fast and disappear. They smolder. They wait. And they never truly let go.

Bella’s life takes a dark turn when her father’s debt to the Jacksons falls on her shoulders, and the price is paid in blood. Lucas, one of the Jackson brothers, steps in, claiming her as his wife to save her. But before the wedding, Bella finds herself drawn to Damon, Lucas’s enigmatic brother. The ceremony shatters when gunfire erupts, leaving Lucas critically wounded. As he lies in a coma, Bella and Damon grow closer, crossing a line they can’t undo. When Lucas finally wakes up, shaken by his brush with death, he pleads for a chance to make their marriage work. Damon, however, drops the bomb about their affair. Lucas whisks Bella away, determined to salvage what’s left, but secrets and unfinished business loom. Will Damon fight for her, or will Lucas prove he’s the one who can truly win her heart? While traveling through Europe, Lucas discovers Bella is pregnant, with Damon’s child. It’s a gut punch, but he decides he’s got to step up if he’s going to keep her. Just as things start looking up for them, life throws another curveball. A freak accident sends them tumbling down a flight of stairs, Bella breaks her leg, and Lucas fractures his spine, leaving him wheelchair bound. Determined to see him recover, Bella throws herself into rehabilitating him while secretly using her father’s hidden Swiss funds to build a company. Back in America, the family drama kicks into high gear. Bella’s accused of shoving Lucas down the stairs to get rid of him, because, of course, she’d risk breaking her own leg for that. Damon’s met with a version of Bella he doesn’t recognize, convinced she’s only staying with Lucas out of pity.

The humiliation clung to my skin like a stain I couldn’t wash away. With trembling hands, I pulled my clothes back on, desperate to leave the room, to put as much distance as I could between me and this hell. But as I reached for the door, Chris’s voice called after me, smug satisfaction lacing his words. “You’re not so bad, Camilla,” he taunted, turning to Tyson. “What do you think, future Alpha? Do you mind if I visit a little more often?” Tyson’s face was a mask of cold fury as he looked at me, his pride and ego burning from the knowledge that his mate was a lowly omega. He stared me down, a sneer twisting his lips as he spoke. “I, Tyson Woods of the Two Moons pack, reject you, Camilla, as my mate.” His words struck me like a blade. “Accept it or don’t. I don’t care.” **** Turning eighteen was supposed to change everything. I should have felt my wolf awaken, should have finally belonged to my pack. Instead, all I got was silence—the same empty, gnawing silence that’s haunted me since the day I realized I’d always be the runt, the omega no one cares about. When I met my mate, I thought it might finally be different. But Tyson Woods, my so-called fated mate, didn’t just reject me—he destroyed me, making it clear I was nothing but a stain on his pride. Running away was my only choice, even if it meant crossing into enemy territory. Now I’m trapped, claimed by Alpha Ryker—a man as cold and unyielding as the forest that swallowed me up. He’s dangerous, feared by every wolf on this side of the border,

She could sacrifice everything just to save her mom from death who suddenly had been diagnosed with leukaemia. The only way to do so was to ask her unimaginably wealthy grandad for help. And Victor only waited for such an occasion. He promised to give her all his fortune so that she could pay for the treatment of his own daughter, but there was one condition - Bianca must marry a complete stranger. So there she is, standing in front of ten fabulously handsome men and having just one night to make a final decision. But she doesn’t realize one thing - all of them are werewolves. There is also something more that takes her by surprise - her second nature. Apart from being a nice loving girl, in her veins floats someone else - a Crow Woman. And that is supposed to be her curse. Victor believes that his granddaughter is the key to absolute power - her future child, conceived with a werewolf, could become something exceptional - a CROWOLF. And that would mean dominance over all other species. But not everything goes according to Victor's plan. Bianca finds herself in mortal danger, discovers the dark side of her nature and hates being a beast. What's more her heart is split between two werewolves, Samuel and Michael, who desire her like any other woman in their lives before. It looks like the collision of their worlds brings painful consequences for all of them and the question remains: Will Bianca accept herself as a Crow Woman? Who is she going to fall in love with? Will she be able to save her mom? And the last one - will the legend about the Crowolf prove to be true?

My eyes linger on her mouth, and the desperate urge to kiss away the pain she is going through begins to twist deep inside me. "Dane… " I watch her enticing lips whisper my name quietly, like a plea for me to fucking say or do something. Not able to deny the urge any longer, I lean down, pressing my mouth to hers in a passionate kiss that instantly erupts pleasurable sparks inside me. Goddess…. the taste and softness of her lips against mine is fucking more than exquisite. Always more than exquisite. The instant she fully parts her lips and begins to kiss me back, I lose all control. This is everything I have ever wanted, but everything I know I should not fucking want. ☆☆☆☆☆ Tempting fate can be a cruel game, and Dane knows better than to fall for Cara, his bestfriend's little sister who is likely going to be mated to another. What they currently share is an addictive, 'no strings attached relationship', but Dane is beginning to lose control, and he knows the only way out is to break things off between them. So, under the moonlight night sky, he ends his 'no strings attached' relationship with Cara, ignoring her true love confession to him. Haunted with shame, fear, guilt and brokenheartedness, he flees his pack, leaving behind a broken soul to pick up the pieces he painfully shattered. However, no one can run away from fate forever. When duty calls, Dane is plunged back to his pack, crossing paths again with the one girl who still owns every bit of his heart. With the shadows of an evil omen hovering over their pack, Dane and Cara must set their conflicts aside to protect the people they love, or they risk losing everything they hold dear.

Maria Walker has spent her entire life under the weight of expectations in a world where reputation trumps happiness. As the daughter of the respected Walker family, every choice—including her relationship with kind, loyal Noah Bennett—is judged by high society, who see him as far beneath her standing. Daniel Rothfield faces a different pressure. The powerful, emotionally guarded CEO of Rothfield Holdings has avoided relationships since a devastating breakup left him unwilling to risk love again. Yet his parents and business partners insist a man of his status needs to project stability—and a serious relationship is the perfect image. When Maria and Daniel unexpectedly arrive together at a prestigious charity auction, a fleeting moment ignites rampant speculation. Within hours, social media explodes with rumors that the billionaire CEO and the Walker heiress are secretly dating. Rather than deny it, Daniel proposes a solution: pretend the rumors are true. A fake relationship solves both dilemmas. Maria’s parents would stop pressuring her about Noah, while Daniel’s family and associates would see him finally settling down. It’s meant to be simple, temporary, and strictly controlled. Rules are set: No real feelings. No crossing boundaries. No forgetting it’s just an act. But pretending to be in love proves far more complicated than planned. As they appear together at events, family gatherings, and public functions, undeniable chemistry emerges—shifting from performance to something dangerously authentic. Meanwhile, Noah grapples with quiet jealousy fueled by headlines and photos, Daniel’s past resurfaces to threaten the facade, and their carefully built lie begins to crumble. In a society that measures love by status and appearances, Maria and Daniel face an undeniable truth: the relationship they pretended to have may be the most real thing either of them has ever felt.

Ian Tost was the prince of the notorious underworld. Everyone in Harbor City knew he spoiled me rotten. He even went so far as to hire ninety-nine female bodyguards to keep me from harm. It did not prevent a kidnapping attempt on me. One of those bodyguards, Cece Yates, ended up with nothing more than a scratch. Ian immediately brought in the nation’s top medical specialists to treat her. To comfort her, he even took her to the Maldives for a vacation and gifted her an island. Not long after they returned from their trip, Beatrix Kazinsky, my mother, suddenly suffered a stroke and was hospitalized. Then, Michael Kazinsky, my younger brother, died in an accident during a competition. I burst into the morgue while in tears, only to overhear Ian comforting Cece. “All right now, it was my fault you got hurt last time. I’ve made Mira’s family pay for it. You’ve got too much grace to hold a grudge against her.” With my nails digging into my palms, I finally realized everything that had happened to my family was Ian’s doing. It was all just because his precious bodyguard got hurt because of me! I stumbled out of the hospital with my brother’s death certificate in a daze. On my phone, messages from that person kept coming. It added up to ninety-nine share transfer agreements, along with his promise. [As long as you want me, my arms will always be open for you.]

Brynn Ashwood survived ten years as a servant in Greymire, beaten, starved, and invisible. She learned to endure the whip, to swallow her screams, to become nothing. Survival meant silence. Freedom was a fantasy she'd buried alongside her slaughtered pack. Then he felt her pain. Torrhen Ashford, the ruthless alpha of the Northern Territories, wakes one night to agony that isn't his. A rare pain bond, the kind that hasn't surfaced in fifty years, has tied him to a girl he's never met. Every bruise she earns, he feels. Every lash she takes, he bleeds. And he's done pretending he doesn't care. When Torrhen storms Greymire to claim her, Brynn doesn't trust him. Alphas don't save servants. They own them. But the bond doesn't lie, his rage when she's hurt, his gentleness when she breaks, the way he'd burn the world down to keep her safe. For the first time in a decade, she dares to hope. But hope is dangerous. Rodrick Vale, the alpha who destroyed her pack, won't let her go. To him, she's property. Proof of his conquest. And when the council rules that Torrhen violated territorial law by taking her, Brynn is forced to make an impossible choice: let one of Torrhen's wolves pay the blood price, or return to Greymire herself. She chooses hell. One year of servitude in exchange for the pack's safety. One year of surviving Rodrick's revenge. One year of Torrhen feeling every moment of her suffering through the bond, unable to save her, forbidden from crossing the border, slowly losing his mind. Some loves are fated. Some are forged in fire. Theirs was built on pain. And when her year is up, Rodrick will learn what happens when you hurt an alpha's mate.

The Filthiest Collection You'll Ever Read WARNING: 18+ EXPLICIT CONTENT They say some lines should never be crossed. This collection crosses every single one. Behind the altar, Father Michael discovers Sister Claire on her knees—but not in prayer. His fourteen-inch cock and her broken vows create the most sinful confession the church has ever witnessed. In the strip club's champagne room, ownership takes on new meaning when the boss claims his newest dancer in ways that blur every professional boundary. Money talks. His fifteen inches scream. The megachurch reverend with the monstrous sixteen-inch secret destroys his young secretary across his Bible-covered desk while his wife leads worship downstairs. Hypocrisy has never been so hard. Married bosses fuck their secretaries on desks still warm from morning meetings. Divorce lawyers claim vulnerable clients on the same couch where they signed papers. Addiction counselors enable relapses—the sexual kind. Therapists finally act on years of inappropriate desire when the final session becomes anything but professional. From nuns breaking vows to brides cheating the night before their weddings, from politicians risking everything to doctors violating every oath—these twenty stories explore the darkest desires we're told to suppress. Wedding rings stay on. Consequences are real. The sex is brutal, explicit, and described in devastating detail. Size matters—twelve to sixteen inches of it—and these encounters leave permanent marks on bodies and souls. No redemption. No excuses. No limits. Just raw, forbidden passion that destroys everything in its path. Are you brave enough to read what shouldn't be written?