Reserve Thesaurus

I hid behind a thick tree trunk and watched silently as a grizzly bear attacked my husband. In my previous life, I was a guide. I led my husband—an environmental photographer—and his female colleague into a nature reserve to film wildlife. While scouting the route, I discovered a nursing grizzly bear and immediately warned them not to take any photos and to retreat slowly. To my shock, they intentionally bumped into me, causing my right leg to be cut and bleed. The scent of blood enraged the bear, and it charged straight at me, sinking its massive jaws into my abdomen. After the bear left, my husband calmly stripped me of all my equipment. Then, wrapping his arms around his female colleague, he kissed her. He turned to me with a sinister smile creeping across his face. "Kate," he said, "I'll be honest. I never loved you. You're dying. Now, all your assets will be mine." I bled out and died. When I opened my eyes again, it was the morning of the day we entered the mountains.

It was only meant to be a one-time, one-night solution to ONE problem. Okay, that's a lie. There are two problems: #1) I'm broke. Through no fault of my own, other than I fell down a rabbit hole so deep, I'm now buried in my sister's debt—with my name, Nikki St. Claire, stamped across it. #2) I honestly need a reprieve from my overly mundane, personal life. So when I stumble upon a highly exclusive and extremely secretive auction, I'm both intrigued and potentially saved, given I've left no "box" of what I'll do unchecked on the interview questionnaire, which exponentially increases the reserve that's set on me. Only thing is… The man who buys me turns out to be Jameson Richards. A drool-worthy billionaire bachelor. Also… My boss. How we got this tangled up in each other is a story unto itself. What we do once I accept his one-night contract is a tale riddled with lust and love.

After my mother shot down my pleas to cover my medical bills the 100th time, I clutched my bone cancer diagnosis papers and trudged to the crematorium. "Hi, I'd like to reserve a cremation slot ahead of time," I muttered to the clerk. Half an hour ticked by before my parents and adopted brother arrived in their car. My dad, a forensic pathologist, cracked me across the face. "You're pulling a fake-death stunt now, just to steal the spotlight from your brother?" My mom, a hospital director, snatched the papers from my hands and shredded them into confetti. "Faking records using my credentials and tying up hospital resources? You've crossed the line!" My brother cried, tugging at their sleeves. "It's all my fault. I'll skip the amusement park forever. I don't need a thing. Just quit riling up Mom and Dad." I spun around, my hand pressed against my throbbing chest, and begged the crematorium staff. "Please, when it's time, cremate me and scatter the ashes in the river. I've got no family left in this world."

Eva Longwood has been a priestess of the Holy Lunar Convent her whole life, where worshipping the goddess and maintaining her purity are the two most important aspects of her existence. However, that all changes when the ruthless Cyrus Daxen steps into the convent to confess his sins, igniting the bond of matehood between them. Serving the goddess is her destiny, and she never imagined that her fate would be entwined with one of the most fearsome werewolves that ever walked the earth. His determination to have her at all costs creates a drift between them, and leaves Eva torn between choosing to fulfill her duty and giving into her most primal instincts. And matters get even worse when his brother, Nox Daxen, steps into the picture. Eva realizes that she is bound to not one, but two Daxen brothers. Only, this one doesn’t want to mate with her. Instead, he wants to kill her. Eva is forced to fight for her survival in an environment that is a long shot from the safety of the convent walls, one where people harbor resentments toward her for the mistakes of her ancestors, and seek revenge at all costs. At the same time, she must fight and conquer temptation, and strive to reserve her sanctity. Can she fight that which her body craves for with every fiber of her being, or will she lose the battle of her soul, and give in to the wicked desires that have haunted her mind since she met the Daxen brothers?

LILA KING is somewhat notorious in her old wolfpack - as a child she led a rebel crew of delinquents who caused havoc in the reserve and fought vampires. She was one of the best fighters in the pack, but following her best friend's death at 18 she left the pack to live with humans. For her 25th birthday, she finally returns, but only to introduce her werewolf family to a human fiance. What no one expects, though, is that at the party her family throws...she will encounter her destined mate. He is no other than DARIUS CARTER - the new alpha of the biggest wolf-pack in the region, holding a bad rep for killing the former alpha to assume his righteous position. But there is much more to him than just a pretty face and a fabulous six-pack... Can Lila fight destiny? Does she even want to? And why are those vampires starting to appear again with her return? ---EXCERPT: I hear people saying my name through the muffled sounds of my heartbeat banging in my ears. Then suddenly everyone in the room disappears and there are no voices. The only sound is that of his footsteps and the only scent is the most beautiful, sensual, masculine smell I have ever felt. Darius approaches me slowly at two feet away but doesn't stop. As everything seems slow-motioned, I try to step back to avoid a collision, but my feet won't listen. Instead, I take a step forward and we meet at only an inch apart. He looks at me so intensely, so passionately, that I feel devoured. Then he speaks. "Hello, mate.