Open Water Caleb Azumah Nelson

....."most things are best left unknown". The wolf she had just seen transform into a muscular man said..... **** Vanessa just ran away from a marriage she is being forced to go into, with a man she doesn't love. Thinking she was running to start a better life, she didn't know she just ran into a secret. One she is not supposed to discover. What's that secret that turns her whole life around?

It is the third year of the apocalypse. All water sources have been thoroughly polluted, making even a single bottle of clean water extremely rare. Every base has to send out search teams to find new water sources for all. My husband, Jasper Curran, is a geologist, and so, he is able to locate water sources that are still pure and unpolluted. However, when someone holds a knife to my throat for the last bottle of water—thinking that he will do anything to stop them—he hands the only bottle of clean water to Avery Grayson, the person who claimed she was my parents' real daughter instead of me. "Ave is thirsty. She's been suffering since she was little and she even had her parents taken by you, Arianne Grayson," Jasper says. "Just let her have the water." Jasper's expression is too calm and collected, as if my life is not on the line because of him. "They're just trying to scare you. You've enjoyed so many years of being spoiled with a luxurious lifestyle anyway. So what if you get bullied a little?" The people then kick me to the ground in a fit of rage as I watch Jasper huddle Avery into his arms and disappear into the desert. I get beaten up so hard that my chapped lips crack and start bleeding once again. I look at the menacing faces around me and quickly exclaim, "Wait, wait! I can help you find clean water too!"

"My husband sold me like property. But the man who bought me... he wants to make me his queen." For three years, Stacy has endured the unthinkable. Her husband Matt doesn't just neglect her—he sells her. Night after night, he forces her into the beds of wealthy investors and powerful business partners, using her body to seal his deals. An "open marriage," he calls it. But there's nothing open about being used as merchandise. "I was his business asset. His bargaining chip. His whore." At the Sterling Gala, Matt drugs her and delivers her to a room full of predators—five men ready to claim their "payment." But something inside Stacy finally breaks. She fights back. She runs. And crashes straight into the arms of Michael Sotheby—billionaire, corporate king, and the one man even her husband fears. "I didn't save you for free. You owe me a debt. And I intend to collect." Michael's protection comes with a price. What starts as a transaction becomes something far more dangerous. His touch doesn't feel like violation. His kiss awakens desires she thought were dead. For the first time in three years, she feels alive. But when morning comes, terror grips her heart. Michael isn't just any billionaire—he's Matt's biggest rival. And he has no intention of letting her go. Caught between the husband who sells her and the billionaire who wants to own her, Stacy discovers that sometimes the most dangerous man is the only one who can set you free. WARNING: This book contains mature themes including sexual coercion, trafficking within marriage, dubious consent, dark romance elements, and morally complex characters. Intended for adult readers only.

Jenny Walsh thought she had built a safe, ordinary life— a loving husband, a sweet son, and a marriage that had survived the terrible past she never liked to revisit. Until her estranged sister suddenly reappears. Anna returns with tears, tragedy, and a dying child—and somehow, everyone expects Jenny to be the good sister. To forgive. To support. To sacrifice her own body and donate bone marrow. But no one sees through Anna’s perfect mask. She didn’t come back to be saved. She came back to take everything— her husband’s attention, her son’s trust, her place in the family. When Jenny hesitates, she becomes the villain. Cold. Selfish. Heartless. Until one day, the man who once promised her forever looks her in the eye and says— “I want an open marriage with your sister.”

Annalyse Mitchell is one of a kind. Literally. As the only remaining Astridian and daughter of an Alpha, she has abilities. Abilities that have remained hidden, even from her. As she approaches her 18th birthday, they are starting to reveal themselves, both to her and to those hunting her. She has no idea that she's being hunted, even in her dreams. Lycan Prince Dylan Andrew 'Chase' Wyndmoor meets Annalyse and is instantly drawn to her. There's something about this fiercely independent woman that he craves and that his Lycan has an overwhelming urge to protect. As attacks occur on their borders, can he solve the puzzle and help save her before it's too late?

Ashley Dawson, a brilliant 22-year-old chemistry student, has lived a quiet life defined by loss and independence. Though she secretly owns a massive pharmaceutical empire inherited from her late mother and grandmother, Ashley prefers the simplicity of her lab over boardrooms and business deals. Her fiancé, Harvey West-a wealthy, charismatic CEO-was once her dream man, but their love story shatters the day before their wedding when Harvey asks for an open marriage and an NDA to protect his affairs. Heartbroken, Ashley is pulled into a dangerous new world when a domestic terror group develops a deadly chemical weapon. The military calls in Major Nathan Ford, Harvey's cousin and a decorated U.S. Army Special Forces officer, to lead the operation. Nathan needs a brilliant chemist to help decipher the weapon's formula-Ashley becomes that civilian consultant. Forced to work together under high pressure, Ashley and Nathan build an unlikely partnership, discovering strength, trust, and a slow-burning attraction. Meanwhile, Harvey refuses to let go, flaunting his mistress in public and humiliating Ashley. When Ashley finally breaks off the engagement, Harvey spirals, convinced Nathan stole her away. Nathan proposes a marriage of protection, offering her his name and his shield against Harvey and his powerful family. Ashley, tired of being powerless and cornered, agrees. Their whirlwind marriage shocks society, ignites scandal, and sets the stage for a passionate love story built on loyalty, respect, and redemption.

Some rules are meant to keep us pure. These stories spread your legs and make you beg to break them. Stepbrothers who shouldn’t touch you, but shove you against the wall and make you scream their name. Protectors who swear to guard your body, only to break every oath as they fuck you into the mattress. Strangers who taste like sin and don’t stop until you’re ruined. Masked lovers who hide their faces while they spread you open and make you beg. Even supernatural beasts who mark you, breed you, and take you raw until you’re theirs completely. This isn’t sweet romance. It is raw heat that claws, bites, and devours. Dangerous, possessive men you should run from, but instead, you’ll spread wider, sink deeper, and take every filthy drop they give you. Every page is a dare: moan louder, take more, surrender deeper. Because once you give in to the forbidden, you won’t just fall, you’ll beg to be destroyed. Welcome to your new addiction.

"You gave your body to a man who didn’t know what to do with it," Cane murmured, his breath hot on her skin. "Let us show you what it means to be wanted… by three." Riley gave everything to her marriage until she walked in on her husband and his stepsister cheating on her. The betrayal shattered her… but only for a moment as she proposes to the one thing he's always wanted: an open marriage. He thought she’d crumble. Instead, she chose revenge. And nothing stings more than the fact that she picked his three best friends to help her get it. Three ruthless bikers. Three men who don’t share unless it’s worth the risk. Three Alphas who made Riley theirs the moment she said yes to them. Now every night, she gives them what her husband took for granted—moans, surrender, and something dangerously close to love. He watches from the sidelines. Burning. Regretting but it's too late. Because she’s not just taking back her power—she’s making sure he feels what it’s like to be replaced. And the worst part? He never expected she’d fall for them. And that they’d fall for her. And Riley? She's only just started.

Hadden's sister had merely choked on some water at the pool while she was swimming, and for that, he shoved me into the pool after tying me up. He left me with only a small hole for air that was barely an inch. He said I would have to pay double for every grievance Julia suffered. I never learned how to swim. There was nothing I could do but try my best to breathe as I sobbed and begged him to let me out. Yet all I received was a lecture. "You'll never learn if I don't teach you a lesson now." I struggled to stay afloat, but… It took five days before Hadden's anger dissipated and he put me out of my misery, but it was already too late. "I'll let you go this time, but you'd better not make the same mistake again!" I had already drowned to death.

BLURB/DESCRIPTION Zirah gave everything to her marriage until she walked in on her husband and her stepsister on his office desk, hours after burying their baby daughter. The betrayal shattered her. But only for a moment. When she proposed the one thing Declan always wanted, an open marriage, he thought she would crumble. Instead, she chose revenge. And nothing stings more than the fact that she picked his three best friends to help her get it. Three ruthless Alpha bikers. Three men who don't share unless it's worth the risk. Three Alphas who made Zirah theirs the moment she said yes. But what started as revenge quickly becomes something far more dangerous. Because these three men aren't just using her to destroy Declan. They're falling for her. And the secrets they carry about her husband, her bloodline, and her dead daughter could either set her free or burn everything to the ground. In Crestfall City, where humans and wolves coexist under ancient pack law, Zirah is about to discover that the marriage she fought to save was built on lies. And the open marriage she declared out of rage might be the very thing that leads her to her true mates.