Scraped Knuckles

WARNING: RATED 18+| NO RAPE!!! Excerpt; "Was I a good girl?" she hiccupped, her bare skin flushed and glowed as she rolled across the sheets like she owned the bed—and him. Six weeks without his touch had scraped her raw. She was slowly losing touch of her sanity. "You did good, Penguin," Alanis said, his voice low and rough as he reached for his tie. And just like that, the spell cracked. He was leaving...again. It wasn't fair, she had to remain in the shadows, while her perfect half-sister was rubbing his chest in public. Poppy slammed the door shut, while she arranged her robe, her eyes wet and wild. "Can you… stay… just one more night?" He hesitated. And she saw it, the guilt and pull. "You know how this—" Something made him stop mid-sentence. His gaze dropped. One sharp breath, and he was staring at her peaked nipple like it was a commandment. "Please?" she breathed, arching toward him. With a low growl, he tossed her back on the bed because he had been starved, and he was ready to devour his Penguin. ... Poppy never had a chance to be the golden girl. Not with a cruel stepmother, and a father who forgot she even existed. Penelope was given everything that belonged to Poppy. Now Penny's prize? A diamond ring—a wedding to Alanis Caelum, Velmora's most powerful billionaire. Cold, brilliant, and devastatingly magnetic. To everyone but Poppy. Because before he became Penny’s perfect fiancé, he belonged to Poppy—in the dark, in secret, in sin. He knows her body like a weapon. He calls her Penguin with a growl that makes her knees buckle. And when he’s inside her, he forgets who he's supposed to love. She had him wrapped so tight, he forgot the world.

"Look at you," he purred, dragging his knuckles down my stomach. "Trembling... Is it fear... or are you wet for the man who got your nonna killed?" He taunted, his smile mocking. "I'll kill you-" "I can't wait, amore mio [my love]," he growled, and without warning, his hand slid between my legs. I jolted. "Don't-!" Too late. One thick finger pushed inside me, hard. I sobbed, my back bowing off the bed, but he only chuckled, working me open with slow, cruel, torturous strokes. "Devil." He chuckled, low and wicked. "You keep saying that." His fingers slid lower, through my slick, and my breath hitched. "Yet here you are," he murmured, "dripping for the devil." ****** "He came for a debt. Instead, he took a bride." Alina Moretti lost everything in one night-her fiancé, her fortune, her future. Desperate to secure her inheritance, she needs a fake fiancé. When she approaches Milan's most dangerous club, hoping to find a willing stranger, she instead finds herself kidnapped by the devil himself. Valentino Romano, popularly known as The Devil of Milan, is the ruthless heir to Italy's most feared mafia empire. Two years ago, Alina's father borrowed from him, promising a repayment that never came. Now, Val is back, and he's not interested in money. He wants her.

Twenty-four hours. Half a million dollars. Or his mother dies. Omega Caelen Ryn is out of options: his mother is dying, treatment costs half a million dollars, and loan sharks are closing in with brass knuckles and threats. Then a lawyer appears with an offer from Alpha billionaire CEO Aldric Fenmore: marry him for two years, every debt disappears, and his mother will be saved. The rules are brutal: separate bedrooms, zero feelings, don't fall in love. Their marriage is a transaction. Nothing more. Their first kiss is for the cameras. In public, they play devoted spouses. Behind closed doors, they're strangers. Until Monaco. When Aldric's race car spins out at 200 mph, Caelen realizes the truth-he's fallen in love with his husband. And when Aldric kisses him after his victory, raw and desperate and real, the contract between them shatters completely. They broke every rule. They fell impossibly in love. Aldric's ex returns, the man who destroyed his ability to trust, bringing a ruthless business rival and a plan for revenge. What starts as sabotage escalates into kidnapping, violence, and a premature labor that leaves both their lives hanging by a thread. In the trauma room, as Caelen bleeds out, the doctor delivers words that break Aldric completely: "You have to choose. We can only save one." The husband he loves. Or the child they never planned for. In that impossible moment, every vow they made, every sacrifice they offered, and every fragile dream they built together came down to a single, devastating choice. A contract that was supposed to end. A love that refused to.

He was supposed to be a stranger. A bruised, scarred, filthy-mouthed stranger who pinned me against a bathroom wall and made me forget the boy who broke my heart 20 minutes earlier. I walked away first without his name or number, and I didn't look back. Then I found out my mom was engaged. To his dad. Rhys Maddox. Number seventeen. 6'3" of tattoos, bruised knuckles, and the kind of jaw that makes good girls do stupid things. The most dangerous player to ever step on our ice. My one-night stand. My new stepbrother. He doesn't follow rules - he breaks them. On the ice. In my bed. Against every surface in our parents' house while they eat twenty feet away. He calls me "sis" just to watch me squirm. He watches me like he already owns me. And the worst part? He does. Publicly, we're fake dating - a deal to keep my ex-bestfriend away. Privately, we're a stepbrother and stepsister who can't keep our clothes on the second we're alone. It's our biggest secret. Now the boy who I once considered my best friend suddenly wants me back. And the stepbrother who wasn't supposed to mean anything won't let me go. One wants to protect me. One wants to destroy me. And I can't tell which is which anymore. --- For readers 18+ who like their men possessive, their romances FORBIDDEN, and their chapters dripping with filthy, unapologetic spice.

Anthony Hunt a young dashing bachelor from New Mexico,lives under a dual personality, Anthony Hunts as a Casino and hotel conglomerate and Blade Knuckles as a Mafia lord. He was coached by ruthless Lucas Guzman and together the two syndicates cast terror within and outside the borders of New Mexico. Anthony collides with Nevena Bachvarov, a Bulgarian tourist, who runs into his arm one night asking him to save her . Breanna Stewart, an ex of Anthony, ventures back into his life as a government agent employed to investigate the mysterious Blade Knuckles. What was meant to be an investigation, turned into a personal war for Breanna Stewart Anthony in one of his numerous hits, kills an innocent man John Willow, son of Liza Minnelli, she had saved Anthony when an encounter with Vincenzo, a counter Mafia, almost claimed his life in the past . Nevena's presence struck a delicate chord in Anthony's cold heart, warming it in the process. Anthony realized that he was in love after he gave up his escape from the police just to get Nevena treated from a gunshot injury, Breanna Stewart finally got a chance to prosecute Anthony but Liza Minnelli gave another testimony and it led to Anthony's unanimous discharge. Sorrowful Liza Minnelli cursed Anthony that nemesis would catch up to him soon. Lucas Guzman wouldn't get over it when Anthony declares his desire to quit crime. Just when everything begins to fall into place, disaster strikes. Nevena got blown up by unknown hitmen , Anthony embraced the life of crime again, Vincenzo, Lucas Guzman and many more were on his suspect list . Bloodshed became the new trend as Anthony sought revenge over Nevena's death, the police denied any involvement since it's a war among the Mafia's.

After five years of marriage, the doctor told me I was pregnant. It was something I had waited for so long. Yet, along with that good news came a nightmare. My medical tests showed that I had cancer, and it had already spread. The doctor gave me less than a month to live. I froze, gripping the report so tightly my knuckles turned white. Tears streamed down my face as I thought about how my unborn child would never get to feel a mother's embrace. My grief was interrupted by the ping of an incoming text message. It was from Mom. [Since you're so selfish and refuse to donate a kidney to save Nattie's life, you should divorce Davon. Let him marry Nattie instead. At least that way, you can fulfill her dying wish.] My tears fell harder. It was not that I refused to donate a kidney to Natalie Rivera, my sister, who was in the final stages of kidney disease. In truth, I only had one kidney left. Five years ago, I had already given one to Dad. Now, with my life counting down to its final days, I decided that I would donate my remaining kidney to Natalie. I would also let my husband, Davon Parker, go with her. Before I went into surgery, my parents praised me for finally being thoughtful, saying I had finally learned to care about my sister. They said that once the surgery was over, the whole family would go on vacation together. Davon even said he was proud that I was no longer selfish and promised he would make it up to me in the future. None of them knew I did not have a future. After the surgery, what would be pushed out of the operating room would be a cold, lifeless body.

"What the fuck—” I started. He looked up at me. His lips were wet, swollen. He licked them slowly, like he was savoring the taste. “Keep your hands where I left them,” he said. My jaw clenched. My knuckles went white against the bedsheets. I didn’t speak. I just watched him. He lowered his mouth again, slower this time. His tongue circled the tip, then slid down the side. I felt every second of it. Every inch. He paused halfway down and looked up at me again. “You like this too much.” My throat tightened. I didn’t answer. “Bet you’ve never let anyone make you beg.” *** Callum Kesington isn’t just a billionaire CEO. He doesn’t believe in love. He believes in control and power.But when his estranged brother resurfaces through a cryptic call, dragging him into a trail of files, threats, and old betrayals, everything he's built starts to crack. Remy Beckett, a rising star in the culinary world, is no strang to love but one man has him unraveled. A single dinner at Remy’s restaurant ignites an attraction that shakes Callum’s carefully guarded world. He’s never wanted a man before. Never craved the scrape of stubble against his skin or the heat of rough hands pinning him down. But Remy? He’s all Callum can think about. A shadowy attack leaves Remy bleeding in Callum’s arms, and suddenly, this isn’t about desire. It's about survival. Someone wants Remy dead, and Callum’s brother is at the center of it. Now, Callum must confront the ruthless empire he built, the family who betrayed him, and the truth he’s been denying.

To ransom my husband from the black market, I threw myself into relentless work, earning every penny I could. My son suffered alongside me, sharing in my exhaustion and deprivation. Years of malnutrition had left him vulnerable, and eventually, he was diagnosed with leukemia. I wept as I scraped together money from relatives and friends to pay for his chemotherapy. But on the way to the hospital, a sudden, unbearable pain wracked him. In his struggle, he accidentally bit off his own tongue and died in agony before we even reached the doors. I clutched my son's ashes and went straight to the black market, determined to use the borrowed money to bring my husband back. The moment I stepped in, I overheard a conversation between Joe Masseria and his men. "Boss, Sandra comes every month with her payments. She's suffered a lot just to ransom you," one said. At that moment, a widow—Joe's sister-in-law, long mourning her late husband—appeared beside him. "Joe," she said, her voice calm but cutting, "all these years, you've protected me from harm, even giving me the title of a mob boss's wife. But you've kept Sandra in the dark the whole time. Isn't that… terribly unfair to her?" Joe's eyes were cold, devoid of any pity for me. He scoffed. "Fairness is ruthless. She's had all this love from me. What's a little suffering compared to that? "But she's waited for me all these years. It's time I returned—before she loses her mind and comes after you. "If she's still sensible, I'll make sure her and her son's quality of life improves a bit." I understood everything in that instant. Holding my son's ashes to my chest, I wept until it felt as if my heart would shatter. Joe—your so-called fairness killed my son. And I am done waiting for you.

The day after my best friend, Sarah Blunt married Patrick, the second son of the Brosnan family, I too became a bride and wed Matthew, his older brother. She married a swimming champion, and I, the rock-climbing coach. We thought we had our futures all figured out. Then, something happened that summer. The four of us planned a getaway but Matthew and Patrick’s baby sister, Megan joined us and our peaceful trip became a crowded affair.  While rock climbing, disaster struck—the rope snapped, and all five of us plummeted into the river below. The brothers rushed frantically to save Megan, leaving Sarah and me at the mercy of the river’s current, battered and tossed like driftwood. By the time the rescue team pulled us from the water, we were bruised, scraped, and utterly spent. In the hospital, Megan and I received devastating news that would change everything.  “You’ve been pregnant for 40 days, Ma’am. How could you put yourself in such a risky situation? Your baby survived, but your friend lost hers.” Shaken, I called Matthew to tell him about the pregnancy. His anger cut through the line. “You’re angry that I went to Megs first and now you’re trying to fool me with a fake pregnancy? She’s my sister—it’s my duty to protect her!” Sarah faced her own storm. Patrick practically scoffed at her grief. “Miscarriage? Do you expect me to believe that? The doctors said you only had a 30% chance of conceiving. I can’t stand women who create drama out of nothing.” Both calls ended abruptly, leaving us stunned as we stared at each other in the sterile light of the hospital room. In that shared silence, we made our decision—we would leave these men behind and start anew, launching a business together. But when the brothers received our divorce papers, they showed up at my door in the middle of a storm, kneeling in the pouring rain, crying through the night for a second chance.

"I bet you still feel me," I whispered, tracing a lazy finger down her spine, just to make her shudder. "Still stretched from how deep I was inside you." She sucked in a sharp breath, but I caught the way her thighs pressed together, the way she burned with the memory she was so desperately trying to bury. "Shut up," she bit out, her voice shaking. I chuckled, dark and low, brushing my knuckles against her jaw. "Why? Does it drive you insane knowing you let the villain ruin you first?" Camilla He used to make my life hell. Stefano Madden, the golden boy with ice in his veins and a filthy mouth that cut deeper than knives. I was the fat, invisible girl he loved to humiliate. Now, I’m curvy, successful… and unfortunately, his personal assistant. I swore I’d never fall for him again. But the way he looks at me now? Like he wants to ruin me all over again, only slower, dirtier, deeper. And I would let him. Stefano I broke her once. I should’ve walked away. But Camilla Whitlock grew into every man’s fantasy and I hate that she makes me feel. So I push her. Tease her. Own her. Until the line between cruelty and desire snaps. I take her, claim her, and when I put a baby in her, my obsession turns lethal. But when she’s stolen from me, all bets are off. I’ll burn the world to bring her back… even if she never forgives me.