Norton Introduction To Literature

"I didn't do anything wrong," I choked out. "You stuck your nose into my private matters," he hissed. "No one can sentence me without proof," I challenged him. He straightened up. Any traces of a smile abruptly disappeared from his face. "You still don't get it, do you? I own this city. It means that if I say you go to jail, that means you go to jail." He leaned over me again, his stare piercing right through me, "And if I say that I want you, that means you are already mine." My jaw tensed as I resisted an urge to talk back. This wasn't a battle I could win, and this wasn't a man I could win against... How did I get myself into all that mess?! *** My name is Cora Bell, and I'm about to marry Aren Lan, New York's most wanted bachelor. A dream come true? I highly doubt that. The guy is an arrogant, wealthy beyond imagination, asshole. Not to mention that our relationship is based solely on a contract, a contract I was forced to sign when I accidentally ruined this guy's engagement... I used to dream of a simple life. I wanted to graduate from university and work as a software programmer, but my fate chose a different path for me to follow. First, I had to give up on my studies to take care of dear Grandma, and now I'm forced to play the role of a manipulative jerk's loving fiancée! The problem is that my husband-to-be is insanely sexy and enjoys teasing me a bit too much. How the hell am I going to survive being close to him throughout the two years of our fake marriage?!

[TRIGGER WARNING: Reader's Discretion Is Advised... This book contains mature themes, including explicit sexual content, violence, strong language, and dark romantic elements. It is intended for adult audiences (18+) only. Please proceed with caution if you are sensitive to any of these topics.] "You’re fucking dripping," he muttered, moving in and out of her. "All wet for me." He moved faster, rubbing her clit and she threw her head back. He took his fingers out and she groaned. He ripped her dress and took her already hard pink nipple in his mouth, sucking and nibbling on it. She moaned even more, pushing her chest to his mouth. His hand played with the other exposed nipple and he twisted it, earning another loud moan from her. She wanted to feel him. It's been too fucking long. "Fuck me..." she said, her voice almost inaudible. Rico chuckled, so sinister yet so hot. "Such a needy little whore for me, aren't you?" He inserted two fingers inside her again, deep inside her, curling just right. "Say it. Say you're my whore." Calla didn't care if that made her feel worthless. She was a whore. His whore. "I... I am your whore," she moaned out, trying to bite it back. Rico smirked darkly. He inserted another finger and she bit into his shoulder to muffle her moan. He gripped her throat with the other hand, just enough to remind her who held control. "You like being used like this, don't you?" He growled against her ear.

As far as arranged marriages went, theirs was the most arranged of all. She knew him as her hero—the only person who didn’t see him in the shadow of the man people feared. So, when it came time to end the war that spanned months, Vera Petrova became his only choice. As far as wars go, this was the silliest of all, and she had told them that many colorful words. Because it was silly, till it wasn't. Her freedom for the war to end. But what was she supposed to do, when the devil had her father doing exactly what he wanted? As far as bonds went, theirs was the deepest of all. So, when they fight wars together, grow together, hurt together, and end up falling for each other. It's only right for them to be together right?

Chasity Dawson is the shy daughter of a housemaid and Joe Bandit is the school's "Golden boy" and the son of the family her mother works for. One-night Joe texts her, and asks her for a favor that involves a mysterious unmasked culprit, leaving photos of Joe and his family at their doorstep every week for years. This mystery leads to a growing attraction between Joe and Chasity. Along with deadly secrets that were best left alone. Secrets… that could get someone killed.

In the Chicago mafia, refusing a powerful man is the same as signing your own death warrant. At twenty-one, Valentina is forced into marriage with Adrian DeLuca— the cold, feared underboss whose first wife died under mysterious circumstances. The rules are clear: obey, stay silent, and never ask about the past. Adrian doesn’t want love. He wants a wife who looks perfect at his side and a mother for his children. Nothing more. Their marriage is built on duty, fear, and carefully maintained distance until Valentina begins to see the cracks beneath his ruthless control. The DeLuca mansion is full of secrets. Locked rooms. Unspoken rules. A five-year-old boy who hasn’t spoken since his mother’s death— until he whispers something that changes everything. “I still see my mom at night.” What begins as a marriage of survival turns into a dangerous search for truth. As Valentina uncovers what really happened to the woman who came before her, she realizes the greatest threat may not be the man she married, but the one everyone believes is dead. In a world where loyalty is deadly and love is a weakness, Valentina must decide who to trust before the truth destroys her marriage… or her life. A dark mafia romance about forced marriage, forbidden secrets, and the woman who refused to stay powerless.

For a man who has spent years without any emotional attachment due to the nature of his work and because he saw them as distractions, he fell pretty hard for Nova. Years of restraint down the drain at the mere sight of the gorgeous black woman, that soon became his maddest obsession. Even though I tried to stay away... "She's like the strongest addiction, She's my obsession" He's a stranger "She belongs to me. Her very being, and just like every cell in her body will call out for me soon enough." "He makes me feel things, that I've never felt before" "She's mine to do as I want, She's mine to ruin" "In the end, I was only His To Ruin"

Adelaine Montclair has built her entire life on perfection — the perfect daughter, the perfect fiancée, the perfect public image. But when she discovers her secret fiancé, Zain, tangled in the arms of her best friend on the night of her lavish engagement party, perfection shatters. Cornered in front of two hundred influential guests, Adelaine makes a reckless move: she introduces a mysterious stranger, Dante Moreau, as her real fiancé. What begins as a desperate lie spirals into a dangerous game of appearances. Dante, cold and enigmatic, has his own reasons for playing along, reasons tied to the Montclair empire and the father who controls it. Together, Adelaine and Dante navigate staged kisses, relentless media attention, and family pressure to wed quickly. But the line between fake and real blurs, forcing Adelaine to question whether Dante is her salvation or her downfall. As old betrayals resurface and hidden family secrets threaten to destroy everything, Adelaine must choose: keep playing the role others wrote for her, or reclaim her own story, even if it means falling for the man who vowed never to love her.

He didn't stop when he reached her but leaned forward and kissed her hard, on the mouth. The air left her lungs. Maybe it was because it was her first kiss or because he had kissed her, she didn't know but her lungs were burning, her lips were on fire. She was one fire. It ended in a second. She stared at him with wide eyes as he stared back. His hand traced her forehead, nose, lips and then chin as it stopped on her throat. She knew, by God she knew he could feel her pulse, the heat on her cheeks. "I'm home." Dean Woodland left two years ago without a word or sound and now he is back to bring his belongings with him.

Warning: This book will make you blush, bite your lip, and fall for the man you’re supposed to hate. Steamy, sinful, and utterly addictive. This isn’t just a love story, it’s a collision of sin, lust, and everything you were told to stay away from. It’s spicy with a splash of danger. He was the one man I couldn’t have, and the only one who could ruin me. Promised to one brother. Owned by the other. One night of sin. The beginning of obsession. I was supposed to say “I do”… to his brother. But I moaned his name instead. One night of raw need turned into a dangerous obsession. He’s ruthless. He’s forbidden. His touch ruins me. His kiss brands me. His need destroys every line we should have never crossed. I was promised to one brother… But now, I belong to the one I should fear.

She’s the one woman who said no. Now he’ll do anything to make her his even if it means breaking every rule he built his empire on. Ava Sinclair doesn’t bow. Not to billionaires, not to power, and definitely not to Luca Hart the cold, calculating tech mogul who thinks everything has a price. When he tries to buy her company and erase her legacy, she slams the door in his face. She doesn’t expect him to come back. She definitely doesn’t expect him to come for her. Forced into a temporary partnership to contain a public scandal, Ava and Luca collide behind closed doors sharp tongues, sharp tempers, and sharper attraction. He’s grumpy, ruthless, and infuriatingly hot. She’s stubborn, brilliant, and determined to hate him. But every fight pulls them closer. Every look burns hotter. And when the anger cracks, the need between them is vicious,raw, consuming, inevitable. Then the threats start. The shadows close in. Someone wants Ava silenced. Someone who knows she’s not just a woman with a sharp mind and a guarded heart She’s the living vault for secrets that were never supposed to surface. As her hidden past unravels, Ava realizes the most dangerous thing isn’t losing her company. It’s losing herself. And Luca? He’s no longer fighting for a deal. He’s fighting for the only thing he’s never been able to buy, break, or control: Her. In a world built on lies, they’re each other’s only truth. And the deeper they fall, the more everything around them burns.