Skull Beneath The Skin

"Just by looking at her, your heart starts to beat faster. If you look into her eyes, you want to respect her. Her skin is soft like silk. Just by looking at her, you want to cage her and never let anyone see her. Mafia king and my best friend, the most precious thing to Chands is none other than their mafia Princess , Ashly Chand".

[The Reed Sisters Duet Book 1] Cheryln Reed has a dirty secret. She wants a man she can never have, Alpha Nathaniel Cross, her mother’s devoted husband, a powerful alpha, and the man who practically raised her. Nathaniel has always been steady. Controlled. Untouchable. He kept a respectful distance, never once giving Cherry a reason to hope for anything more. Her feelings were her shame, her sin, her burden to bear alone. So she dated boys she didn't want, tried to starve the hunger she had no right to feel, but her wolf never stopped whispering his name. Now 22, Cherry’s world tilts the night her boyfriend abandons her, drunk, scared, and stranded in the middle of nowhere. So she calls Nathaniel, and he comes. But something is different. His gaze lingers too long. His voice drops too low. His wolf prowls beneath his skin, furious at the scent of another man on her. And when he growls that her problem is she keeps choosing boys who don’t know how to treat her right, Cherry’s heart roars. In a reckless, trembling moment, she kisses him. And to her shock, he kisses her back. That single, stolen kiss ignites a wildfire they can’t put out. Now every look is dangerous. Every touch is forbidden. Every night is a battle against a desire strong enough to destroy a family, a pack, and the woman Nathaniel vowed to love. If Cherry gives in, she risks losing everything: her future, her mother, and the man she’s loved in secret for years. But if she walks away, she’ll lose the only thing her wolf has ever truly claimed. Some temptations were never meant to be survived.

My grandma and I were on a perfect beach in Golden Bay. The sun warmed my skin, the sand was soft beneath my feet, and she was resting peacefully nearby. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my mind. A mind link. It was Brenda. Assistant to my mate, Gideon, the Alpha Heir. The image she sent was horrifying. An old woman in simple clothes, lying in a pool of her own blood. Deep gashes, down to the bone, from a silver-laced weapon. Brenda's voice echoed in my head, dripping with arrogance. “Cora, do you Omegas do anything but freeload?” “Gideon just bought this estate, and you’re already letting your pack-leeching relatives squat here? As the Alpha’s assistant, it's my duty to protect his land from trespassers.” “This is what happens when you trespass on an Alpha’s private property!” I froze. I looked over at the sun umbrella. My grandma, Maria, was napping peacefully. I replayed the image from the link. My blood ran cold. That face… bloody and broken, but I knew it. I would never mistake it. It wasn't my grandmother. It was Eleonora. Gideon’s grandmother. A rival pack had attacked her months ago. Her wolf was weakened. She was in a pack clinic. Her mind-link was damaged. She could only receive, not send. Today… she was supposed to come home. I pushed back against the link with all my strength. “Brenda, are you insane? Look who you hit! That's Eleonora! Gideon's grandmother!” Brenda cut the link. Her last words were cold and stupid. “Gideon made it clear. Your family is your problem. His family is his. He doesn’t claim trash like them.”

{TW: DARK ROMANCE, ABUSE, DADDY KINK, PSYCHOTIC, VIOLENCE. This is not your typical dark romance novel, it gets darker with each chapters so if you can't handle it, kindly exit, not all Male leads are heroes some can be your worst nightmare, if you are looking for love you won't find it here} *********************************** "Won't you like to open your gift, Bambi?" It wasn't a question. César Navarro never asked. He commanded. When Anya Esmeralda Torres untied the silk ribbon and lifted the lid of the velvet box, her world shattered. Inside, staring back at her with dead, lifeless pupils, were the green eyes of Giovanni De Luca.....the man whose gaze had made her uncomfortable all evening. Her scream ripped through the silence. "Now his eyes will never trouble you again." He said it like he'd given her a necklace. Like dismemberment was romance. Like murder was love. César Navarro, known in the underworld as Calavera, wasn't just the founder of a billion-dollar tech empire. He was the Skull—mafia heir, executioner, and obsession wrapped in a tailored suit. And Anya? She was his cage bird. His possession. His favorite game. But Anya wasn't born to be caged. She was fire—wild, defiant, desperate for freedom. And no matter how many diamonds he draped her in, she vowed to escape. The question is: can you ever run from a monster who always finds you? Or will love become the cruelest prison of all?

There's a little shop downstairs that sells organ soup. It's always packed with customers. People line up as if bewitched, eager for a bowl. I've often wondered what secret ingredient made their soup so irresistible. This afternoon, I finally found my answer. Floating in my bowl was a piece of human skin—inked with a tattoo I knew all too well. It was the one etched on my boyfriend's arm.

"You are trembling," Dante whispered, his hand sliding up my thigh, hidden beneath the white tablecloth of the crowded gala. "Please," I begged, the word tasting like ash in my mouth. "Please what?" He leaned in, his teeth grazing my ear, his grip on my leg tightening to a bruise. "Please stop? Or please... take me?" He dragged his thumb over my skin, ruining me in front of everyone, his eyes dark with a terrifying promise. "You belong to me, Evelina. And tonight... I’m going to make sure you scream it. *** Three million dollars. That was the price of my sister’s life. To save her, I sold myself to Dante Valenti. He is the king of Wall Street, a monster in a tailored suit who deals in acquisitions and ruin. He didn't just want my skills as a curator; he wanted me. My time, my freedom, and my absolute submission for five years. I thought I could withstand him. I thought I could keep my heart safe behind walls of hatred. But Dante doesn't just break walls; he burns them down. He strips away my defenses layer by layer, forcing me to play his dark, twisted games. He isolates me, controls me, and manipulates my reality until I don't know where the cage ends and I begin. He treats me like a prized artifact—something to be displayed, guarded, and owned. But as the lines between hatred and desire blur, I realize the terrifying truth: He doesn't just want to own my body. He wants to break my soul until I thank him for the chains.

He straddled me, his hips swirling in slow, maddening circles. His body was right there, pressing into mine, and I couldn’t escape it; I didn’t want to. His hands found mine and guided them to his chest, and when my palms touched his warm skin, I was gone. My pulse was a blur of frantic beats pounding in my ears, drowning out the crowd's cheers and whistles. With his face inches from mine, Alec leaned in. His breath ghosted over my lips, his smile, cocky, knowing, playful, and somehow tender all at once. “You okay there?” he asked with an amused tone, and I opened my mouth, desperate to say something—anything—but nothing came out. My throat was dry, my skin was on fire and my mind was completely blank. All I could do was stare at him, completely mesmerized by how his body moved against mine and that wicked smirk on his lips. Before I knew it, heat pooled low in my belly, spreading downward, and I instinctively clenched my thighs together to stop the throbbing that ignited between my legs, but it was too late as I dampened the soft leather.

"Let me go, I'm... I'm your brother's fiancée." I huffed trying to push him away but he trapped my hands above my head and leaned in so close till his lips were close to my ears, "You might belong to my brother now," his voice was a venomous whisper, his breath hot against my skin, "but you were mine first, Kitty." He whispered and licked my ear so gently that goosebumps covered my body. "You're stupid! Do you have a death wish? If your brother finds out, he will kill you!" I shout-whispered but he only chuckled, bit my ear lobe before staring at me deep in the eyes and asked, "Are you gonna tell him, Kitty?” √√√√√√√√ Lily's life takes a wild turn when she becomes involved with the mafia twin brothers Draco and Larry. Larry, her former university tormentor, reappears just as she is forced into an arranged marriage with Draco, the heir to the Dark Raven mafia. As the tension rises, the brothers' desires for Lily intensify, resulting in a dangerous dance of attraction and room for betrayal. Bullied and wanted by Larry, Lily now faces Draco's relentless advances, both in the bedroom and over the mafia empire. Meanwhile, Larry's protective instincts surface, drawing him closer to the woman he once tormented. The lines blur between tormentor and protector, as forbidden desires simmer beneath the surface, threatening to ignite a flammable flame in the mafia family. Caught between love and power, Lily is torn between Draco's fiery passion and Larry's mystifying calm devotion. Loyalty hangs by a thread, and Lily must decide which brother holds the key to her heart—or risk becoming a pawn in their dangerous game.

I marry Mason Longbright, my savior, at 24. For five years, Mason's erectile dysfunction and bipolar disorder keep us from ever sleeping together. He can't satisfy me when I want him, so he uses toys on me instead. But during his manic episodes, his touch turns into torment, leaving me bruised and broken. On my birthday night, I catch Mason in bed with another woman. Skin against skin, Mason drives into Amy Becker with a rough, ravenous urgency, his desire consuming her like a starving beast. Our friends and family are shocked, but no one is more devastated than I am. And when Mason keeps choosing Amy over me at home, I finally decide to let him go. I always thought his condition kept him from loving me, but it turns out he simply can't get it up with me at all. I book a plane ticket and instruct my lawyer to deliver the divorce papers. I am determined to leave him. To my surprise, Mason comes looking for me and falls to his knees, begging for forgiveness. But this time, I choose to treat myself better.

Karen Daly originally thought that she had married an ordinary man. She never expected this man would suddenly become her boss. He actually was the most mysterious heir of Rovio Corporation Inc, the richest man in Asia. In public, he was a cold-blooded, decisive controller among the massive business empire. In private, he was a wolf in sheep's skin, like a real devil. How could he let her go easily?...