Pale Fire Nabokov

She came with claws and fire, scent like sin; his wolf didn’t stand a chance. Neither did he. ••• Brant Paxton has always been the wild one—gorgeous, untamed, and irresistible to everyone. But when Sable Knox returns, everything changes. She’s no longer the sweet girl he remembers. She’s fierce, sexy, and carries a scent that sets his wolf on edge. The heat between them is dangerous. Forbidden. But Brant can’t stay away. Sable once called the Paxtons her family, but one tragic night tore it all apart. Now she’s back, stronger and smarter, ready to make them pay—especially Brant. But nothing prepares her for the fire that ignites when they’re close. Her wolf wants him. Craves him. And Sable doesn’t know if she’s falling into his arms or into a trap. As old wounds reopen and passion burns hotter, Brant and Sable must choose: follow the rules or give in to the sin that could ruin them both. Content Warning: This book contains sexual content and mature themes. Reader discretion is advised.

When Elara Santos walks in on her long-time boyfriend tangled in the arms of her best friend, her world shatters in one night. Heartbroken but determined, she flees to Manila to rebuild her life and prove she doesn’t need anyone to survive. Enter Adrian Velasco—the ruthless, impossibly magnetic CEO of a leading architecture firm. Cold, untouchable, and dangerous to fall for, he’s the last man Elara wants in her life. Yet fate keeps pulling them together. Every clash between them burns with friction. Every accidental touch lingers. Every glance dares her to surrender. But their growing passion hides darker truths. Adrian’s past is entangled with the betrayal Elara ran from, and lurking in the shadows is Cassandra Ramirez—a beautiful, venomous woman determined to destroy Elara and claim Adrian for herself. As secrets unravel and desires ignite, Elara must decide: Will she guard her heart and walk away, or risk everything for a love that could consume her? In a world of betrayal, ambition, and forbidden passion, one thing is certain—when fire meets fire, someone is bound to get burned.

They called it forbidden. Dangerous. A love that should never exist. I thought death was the end. I thought being beaten, broken, and buried would free me from the pain of my past. But fate… had other plans. I woke up in her body. A princess everyone despised. A life I never asked for. To atone for a sin I didn’t commit, left to carry the weight of a crown, a family, and a love that wasn’t mine. Then I saw him. My soon-to-be husband. The king who despises me with a hatred so sharp, it cuts deeper than any whip ever could. Three days. That’s all he gave me—to vanish, to stop existing. But within those three days, in the shadows of his rage, something else stirred. A desire just as forbidden as the love I was once murdered for. One that threatens to consume us both, that lingers like fire under our skin, that promises trembles neither of us can resist — and might destroy us entirely. Three days. One body. Two hearts at war with fire, hatred, and an impossible, intoxicating craving. Will I survive… or is another brutal death waiting?

Desperate to find a companion for her sister's wedding with her ex-fiancé, Kat embarks on a wild search for the perfect man. Her quest leads her to cross paths with Hayden, a daring race car driver whose presence ignites a spark in her soul. As she delves into a passionate romance, Kat wonders if she can play with fire and emerge unscathed. Or will she risk her heart in the fiery embrace of desire?

While studying abroad, I move into a shared apartment. Not a single day goes by without my housemate, Stuart Harper, calling himself some variation of a sweet, brave, and responsible guy. On the very first day he moves in, he hires workers to take out the insulation from the walls. I confront him about it, but he simply grins at me and proudly boasts about his decision. "That was all just some shoddy foam that the construction workers padded the walls with. Not only was it useless, but it was even taking up so much space. The fact that I forked out my own money to get rid of it proves that I'm such a sweet and responsible guy!" With a scowl on my face, I explain to Stuart the purpose of having proper insulation. He immediately leans in close with an admiring gaze. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea! I just wanted to do something nice for us. What should I do now? You have to help me think of something!" I naively assume Stuart just lacks common sense and doesn't act with malice. Thus, I willingly enter into a cycle of always cleaning up after his messes. One day, I get a fever. He ends up buying a secondhand electric slow cooker and declares he's going to take care of me by cooking me soup. My head throbs as I quickly put a stop to his attempt to heat the electric slow cooker on the induction stove. I tell him to let me catch a nap before I teach him how to cook later. But not long after I fall asleep, he secretly sticks the electric slow cooker into the microwave to heat it up. The microwave explodes. As the flames start to spread, Stuart screams and dashes out of the apartment at once. The fire alarm wakes me up. I try to evacuate the burning building, only to find that Stuart has locked the door from the outside. In the end, the fire burns me to a crisp. After that, however, he starts twisting things around. He goes online and says with a helpless expression, "My housemate set the apartment on fire while cooking. I'm the one who had to call the fire department on his behalf, and I even had to compensate the landlord for him. I'm definitely the sweetest, bravest, and most responsible guy to ever live!" As the online community proceeds to condemn me, Stuart uses the attention and publicity to go viral as a content creator. Some time later, my eyes open again. This time, I'm going to roast him good.

++18 This one is scandalous Would you risk it all for pleasure? Brandi and Gio were never meant to happen and should not have happened, but....one fateful night, an unexpected encounter, they both experienced fire they had never felt before, and for them, there was no turning back. His daughter's best friend to the woman in his bed. Giovanni will have a hard time accepting Brandi is no longer the little girl he once knew.

Noelle lives a boring life at the orphanage but everything changes when she becomes 18 and gets selected to be sacrificed to the King of the Sea. The king of the Sea is rumored to be a giant man with no kindness in his heart. Every year he selects an 18-year-old but no one has ever returned. Noelle has no idea why she got picked and what will happen but she sure as knows that no one can put out the fire in her heart.

"Come for daddy, little Eli." Those words from my dad's best friend, were my undoing. I lusted over this man for years and he never noticed me. To him, I was just a kid. I devised a plan to get him to fuck me. When the truth gets out, will it be the end of this fire between us? And what happens when my dad—the world finds out about us?

"Dr. Shaw! Ms. Sherwood has suffered a massive hemorrhage due to complications from childbirth! She has fallen into a coma and needs an emergency blood transfusion!" "Dr. Shaw! Ms. Lunsford is vomiting from anemia! She needs a blood transfusion immediately!" "Dr. Shaw! The blood bank just declared an emergency! We only have enough blood to save one of the patients right now!" Eugene Shaw stares broodingly at the pale and motionless Lilian Sherwood. Slowly, his hands clench into fists. "Stop all treatment for Ms. Sherwood! Have all the remaining blood in the blood bank transfused to Aurelie!" Lilian curls up in pain. Her mind is blank, but she hangs on to Eugene's every word. She hears him choose Aurelie Lunsford. Her pupils suddenly dilate as the doctor next to her sobs anxiously. "But Dr. Shaw, Ms. Sherwood's condition is more critical than Ms. Lunsford's! She should be your priority, especially since she's carrying your child!" Eugene turns, eyes slightly bloodshot, "She's a medical professional! Saving lives is her duty. I believe she would've made the same choice." Lilian is in disbelief. Tears spill from her eyes, bitter and mocking. Eugene makes his selfishness sound so noble. She regrets everything. If given another chance, she will definitely leave him at all costs! She draws her last despairing breath, and her hand droops limply. Eugene kneels before her hospital bed in panic, tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Lilian. I have no choice but to save her!"

Richard Franklin has left his Midwestern roots behind to live on the coast of Maine with his family. But in the autumn of the year 2000, he must return to his Illinois birthplace on a sorrowful journey. His wife Michelle has been killed in New England by a hit-and-run driver who is never found, so back home he comes with her cremated remains, to fulfill a final wish and on her birthday scatter her ashes in the park along the river in Blackwater Valley—simply Blackwater Val to locals—the small town where they both grew up and fell in love. With him he brings his six-year-old daughter Katie who still grieves for her lost mother: Katie, who can sometimes guess who’s going to be on the phone before it rings. Who can stop all the clocks in the house, and break up clouds in the sky with her mind, and heal sicknesses, and who sometimes sees things that aren’t there...people who are no longer alive. All gifts she inherited from her mother. Only something isn’t quite right in the Val. Sinkholes are opening up, revealing the plague pits the sleepy hamlet was built over in the 1830s, when malaria and cholera outbreaks ran riot. Mysterious bird and fish die-offs begin to occur, and Katie can see ghosts of the dead gathering all around. But what she can’t see is the charred, centuries-old malevolence which has been waiting for her, and wants her for its very own. Or the pale Sallow Man who haunts the town’s nighttime streets...or the river witch—another Blackwater Val, of sorts—each of whom will be drawn one by one into the nightmarish bloodletting about to take place. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing