Silk And Honey

"I saved his life with a lie. Now, I have to live it—or die in his bed." Noah Bennett is a nobody, a starving survivor in a kingdom of ice. When he finds the poisoned, half-dead King Ethan Walker in a frozen ravine, he makes a desperate, split-second choice to secure his future. He pitches his voice high, binds his chest, and claims to be a maiden named Abigail. He expected a reward and a quiet escape. He didn’t expect the King to wake up with a terrifying, soul-deep obsession. Now, the "Angel of the Ravine" has been brought to the palace in a carriage of gold and silk. Ethan Walker is a man of cold steel and dark hungers, a King who pampers his "Abigail" with a devotion that feels like a chokehold. He wants his savior. He wants a Queen. And he wants her—him—in his bed before the moon turns full. As the wedding bells toll, the stakes reach a breaking point: The Lie: One torn gown or one slipped word will lead Noah to the executioner’s block. The Lust: Ethan’s touch is electric, a "Good Turn Bad" obsession that makes Noah’s heart hammer for all the wrong reasons. The Trap: The King’s traitorous brother is watching, the General is suspicious, and the Silver Wolf of the north is howling for the truth. In a court of vipers, Noah is playing the most dangerous game in Aethelgard. He must navigate the King’s possessive "Silk Noose" while hiding the truth beneath his robes. But as Ethan leans in to claim his "bride's" neck, Noah realizes the most terrifying secret of all: The King might already know. And he might like the lie even better than the truth.

"Jealous?" He repeated. "I have no reason to be jealous of him." He leaned in, our faces inches apart. "If I wanted to, I'd have you." He whispered, his breath hot against my skin. "But you can't." I swallowed. "We're just friends." "Friends." He breathed. "And friends don't get jealous." I whispered, my lips brushing against his. "Friends don't 'have' each other." Yet here I was, straddling him in the front seat of my car, my legs on either side of his hips, our bodies pressed together. I could feel his arousal through the fabric of our clothes, and I unconsciously rubbed against him, seeking friction. He groaned, his hands gripping my hips, holding me still. "Fuck, Jo." He brushed his lips against mine in a teasing kiss, and I let out a whimper, my hips jerking. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer as I deepened the kiss. As our tongues slid against each other, I tasted the familiar taste of his lips, like burnt honey mixed with whiskey. It suddenly dawned on me that friends shouldn't know how they tasted. * * * Josette Wynters has spent her life moving from town to town because of her parents demanding job. She had looked forward to building her life at Cedarville and for the first time in her life, Josette felt like she was finally happy. That was until she caught the eye of Evander Lloyd. The notorious bad boy of Cedarville high. She had tried to avoid him, yet it seemed fate had other plans and she soon became his obsession.

“Mummy, Is the President our daddy?” Layla asked curiously, head tilted sideways. Her brothers listened in attentively, obviously wanting a response. I forced out a chuckle as I crouched low before her to cup her soft cheeks. “Honey, the president isn’t your daddy. The President is a very wicked person.” “But, we met him today and he was very polite. He even complimented my hair.” Layla continued earnestly and my heart hammered against my chest violently “Cupcakes, whenever you run into the President; stay away from him because he’s very cruel, okay?” The triplets’ eyes were wide as they hastily nodded their heads, and I pulled them into a long hug. They had no idea the President had once wanted them dead without second thoughts. I’ve sworn to protect them with my life since I had them. No one’s going to take them away from me. Not even their vile father, the President! ~~~ Zendaya Montclair unwillingly got into a contract marriage with the President and suffered a great deal in the marriage– from having to break up with her high school sweetheart because of the marriage, to depression, to public humiliation– to her ex-boyfriend whom she was still in love with, getting married to her supposed best friend. Zendaya was heartbroken. She got drunk that night and spent it in her husband’s bed, which instantly led to an accidental pregnancy. The President wanted her to get rid of the pregnancy because he never saw her as a mother of his future children and only a wife of convenience. That was the last straw. Zendaya left everything behind and fled, promising herself to come back for revenge on every single person who had wronged her. Including the President, she was going to make him pay!

I was his one weakness. Don Alex, the king of New York. And I was his queen. But days before our child was due, I was thrown into the Dockside Deathmatch—a cruel game broadcast for the underground world’s entertainment. The bullets flew, hidden traps lay in wait, and my every terrified, pathetic attempt to survive was broadcast live on giant screens. Then, I heard his second-in-command on the loudspeaker. "Boss, your wife's about to pop. You sure you wanna be here?" I froze. Alex was here? A moment later, a woman’s sugary voice dripped through the speakers. "Forget that bitch. Alex told me the only thing that mattered today was being here with me. Right, honey?" It was Scarlett. The Chicago Outfit's princess. Alex's childhood sweetheart from Chicago, a woman he had always pampered and shown a distinct bias towards. He had turned down her advances for years, but he never refused her whims. Today, she was in a bad mood and insisted on watching the deathmatch, so he was here to keep her company. I screamed for Alex, begged him for help, but he was convinced I was an assassin in disguise. Because Scarlett laughed and said the game needed to be more exciting. So he pressed the button. Vicious patrol dogs hunted me. My water broke, mixing with blood on the ground. I was in agony. The game hit its climax as more dogs and gunmen closed in from all sides. Everyone was betting on who would be the next to die. Alex smiled, his voice a low, careless drawl, "I’ll bet on that filthy pregnant woman to die." He didn't know the truth until I bled out on an operating table, our child dead with me. They say the ruthless Godfather shattered. Broke completely.

On the day Winter Everhart suffers a miscarriage, her husband, Joshua Stroud, and their son, Terence, are out with his beloved Jessica Lynch. They watch the very performance Winter has always loved. "You're just so unreasonable. What's the point of all this?" "Dad, can you get me a new mom? She's so annoying!" On Winter's birthday, she returns from the hospital only to find Joshua celebrating Jessica's instead. Even Terence, the child she nearly gave her life to bring into the world, pledges to protect the woman who has stolen everything from her. Tears glisten in Winter's eyes as she smiles. Then, with quiet resolve, she walks away from the cage of a marriage that has bound her for five years. Joshua and Terence believe she won't survive without the Stroud family. What they don't expect is that she rises so high that they can no longer reach her. "Mr. Stroud! Mrs. Stroud's car design is now number one nationwide—Stroud Group has been completely outshone!" "Mr. Stroud! Mrs. Stroud has just won the World Championship in Artificial Intelligence Design!" "Mr. Stroud! Mrs. Stroud has been invited by a foreign president to attend a state banquet!" Regret tears Joshua apart. Dragging Terence with him, he kneels before Winter and pleads, "Honey, please give me another chance! If being your servant is what it takes, I'll do it!" But just beyond the door, a strikingly handsome man kneels on one knee, a leather collar fastened around his neck. Twining a diamond leash around Winter's palm, he vows with his gaze burning with feverish devotion, "My master, from this moment on, I bow to no one but you. Please, take me in."

In the fifth year of our long-distance relationship, I secretly quit my job without telling my boyfriend, Ian Gambino, and travelled more than a thousand kilometers to South Bordington. I wanted to give him a surprise: to get registered and married to him. He worked as a bodyguard for the biggest mafia Don in South Bordington. His job kept him extremely busy, and we were often out of contact. The last time we spoke, he said he had to accompany his boss to an underground auction for security. The job would last three months. Relying solely on the address that I remembered, I managed to find the place. When the guards at the entrance heard that I was looking for Ian Gambino, their expressions turned a little strange. "Don Ian is still busy. Please wait a moment," one of them said. I froze. Don Ian? Before I could process what he meant, I heard him whispering to the person next to him, "So, she's the one that the Don keeps outside? How did she end up here? If Donna Jeanine finds out about this, she's going to cause a huge scene." I was just about to explain to them that they had the wrong person when a woman in a custom-made evening gown walked in. The staff immediately fell silent and addressed her respectfully, "Donna Jeanine." She was on the phone, her voice coquettishly sweet. "Honey, I'm here. You promised you'd come with me and the baby for the medical checkup this time!" From the other end of the call came a deep male voice, filled with affection. "Darling, it'll be over soon. Go take a rest in the VIP lounge. Don't tire yourself out." I had listened to that voice for five years. It belonged to Ian Gambino.

It was our sixth wedding anniversary. Lord Tom didn't pledge his vows to me, but instead gave me his family's crest—a dim, unstable mark, the mark of a blood slave. That very night, while solemn hymns echoed through the hall, he performed a blood oath ceremony with his pure-blood first love, Lady Mia. I refused the mark. He let out a cold, humorless laugh. "Love is a luxury only immortals can afford, Rowling," he said. "My union with Mia is a political necessity—to maintain the purity of the bloodline." His gaze turned icy. "You are a mortal. You should be content with my protection. Few receive such a blessing." I didn't speak.I left before dawn. Six years later, we met again at a banquet hosted by the Vampire High Council. Tom walked in with Mia, her silk dress shimmering silver in the moonlight. Under his rule, his family was about to gain a seat in the Senate. His gaze found me. I stood in the hotel's decorative fountain, the water up to my ankles, soaking wet, sand clinging to my dress. A familiar look of contempt flickered across his face. "Rowling," he said coldly. "You refused my protection, mocked my generosity. Now you're rummaging through a public fountain like a beggar." The corners of his mouth curled slightly. "Do you really think any vampire would take in a mortal without a protector?" I didn't look up. I was searching for my son's tourmaline that had fallen into the water. But to my son, it was a seal—an ancient restraint, suppressing a power that shouldn't awaken so early. I could already feel it weakening. If the seal cannot be repaired in time, the power erupting within him will destroy the entire building.

"I thought you were the man who saved me. I didn't know you were the one who set the fire." The day my father gambled away my life was the day I learned that some monsters don't have claws—they wear tailored suits and drink vintage scotch. To the world, Abram is a philanthropist, a billionaire, and the undisputed King of the Lycan Underground. To me, he is the man who bought my freedom for the price of a debt he secretly engineered. He calls me his "Little Wolf." He dresses me in diamonds that feel like cold chains and keeps me in a soundproof penthouse where my screams are just background music to his obsession. He is the Gentle Gaslighter. He whispers that he loves me while he wipes the blood of my past from his hands. He tells me I have nowhere else to go, forgetting that he was the one who burned every bridge behind me. But Abram made one fatal mistake: He taught me how to survive him. Underneath my silk gowns and practiced smiles, the girl he "broke" is dead. In her place is a master manipulator who has learned to weaponize his own obsession against him. I will let him mark me. I will let him believe he won. And when he is at his highest, I will show him that a velvet noose still strangles just as surely as a hemp one. He told me I was his entire world. Now, I’m going to end it. Tropes: * Mafia Alpha x Captive Omega * Age Gap (42 & 20) * He Falls First (Obsession) * Vengeance/Revenge Rebirth * Betrayal & Tragic Twist

Rosemary is an orphaned werewolf girl with extreme gifts. Taken away from her childhood friend Jesiah who is destined to become the king of werewolf’s. Forced to train to become an assassin for the Vatican to kill their eternal enemy Lucifer. Rosemary finds herself in the middle of romance between Lucifer whom she was sworn to kill and Jesiah her loving mate. Enjoy! Excerpt - With my eyes closed, I stretched my arms to feel silky sheets all around me. Coming to, I remembered blacking out near the river so why am I feeling silk and pillows?!? I shot up and took in my surroundings. I noticed a dagger on the wall. Is this another one of Enora’s drills? I thought feeling confused. Then the flood of memories from the past night hit me. I killed her. I killed hundreds of wolves in training. The realization began to sink in and though they were vile creatures and Enora treated me less than an animal, I felt guilt. Guilt that I gave into the monster they created in me. The nuns, the Order, Enora. They never wanted me alive because they cared for me. They didn’t train me and push my power for the purpose of helping protect myself or others. No, they wanted to use me. The empty angry void in my soul was because of them. I was never nurtured in all my time at the convent nor Enoras prison. I was completely unloved. Though I needed so badly to burst into tears, I couldn’t bring myself to cry. Lost in my thoughts, the door to my left began to open and before my host could walk completely in, I grabbed a chunk full of hair on the top of their head and put my dagger to their muscular neck.

This spicy tale has you hot steamy nights, bloody battles, palace intrigue, and a forbidden love that will last the ages. Adriana Gervais (Ana), 3rd Daughter of Emperor Franco Centauri Gervais, the Blood Demon, is the new Vampiric Empire’s Ambassador. George Atwood, son of a soldier, has risen through the ranks of the emperor’s forces with a vengeance. He’s been tasked to keep the Ana alive. What could go wrong? George has watched Ana as she combat trains, loving it entirely too much. Everything about her makes him fall a little harder. That’s the problem, if anyone finds out he lusts for her, they'd suffer a fatal punishment. Ana’s first impression is no less than George’s. She’s aware of the dangers if a courtier catches on. It could result in blackmail or death. Ana is part of the Elite caste. George is part of the Guardian caste. No one’s life partner comes from a different caste, even if they’re fated. So, says the law. Ana has no interest in the throne or ruling. Her parents haven’t instructed her like her sisters. Yet she’s still bound to the caste system and laws. Wearing leather and combat boots, instead of silk and stilettos Ana loves to thumb her nose at tradition, even if she can’t at the caste system. Things get dicey for the two when they must resist the sparks of passion when they first meet in the emperor’s presence and as time goes on it doesn’t get any better. Travel back to when Ana was nineteen and rebellious. See their forbidden love begin and how it burns over time. Will they survive the court intrigue, murder plots, and fate that complicates their lives. Cover by Getcovers.