Slow Horses

Kissing Jace Carter was never on my bucket list… but maybe it should’ve been. One impulsive night. One clingy creep. One fake boyfriend request blurted out to the first decent-looking guy behind me in a club. It should’ve ended with a nod and a “thanks for the save.” But no. It ended with his lips on mine — slow, smug, and heart-stopping. I didn’t know until the lights hit his face. I didn’t realize I had just kissed the Jace Carter. The Billionaire. Tech genius. Tabloid magnet. And now, apparently… my unfinished business. He said he’d find me again. He called me “Bella” because I never gave him my real name. I laughed it off, thinking he’d forget about a random girl from a crowded dance floor. But billionaires don’t forget. Especially not ones like Jace Carter Now he’s back in my life, popping up in places he absolutely should not be. Charming, arrogant, and dangerously curious about the girl who tried to disappear. And me? I’m stuck between hiding my identity… …and wondering if one kiss was really enough.

Sebastian's voice came from behind her, low and knowing. "You want to get back at them, don't you?" Kaira's gaze remained fixed on the disappearing figure of her sister, her emotions simmering just below the surface. She hated how easily Sebastian read her, seeing depths others missed. "Yes," she confessed, her voice laced with venom. "I want them to feel the same pain I feel." Sebastian stepped forward, his eyes locking onto hers as he gently wiped away the tears threatening to spill. His touch was soothing, but his words sparked a fire within her. "You can't take them down in your current state," he said, his voice soft but resolute. "But I can. I can make them pay, princess." Kaira's focus snapped to his, curiosity igniting in her eyes. "How?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Sebastian's smirk was a slow, deliberate curve of his lips. "Marry me," he said, the words dropping like a bombshell. Kaira's eyes widened, shock etched on her face.

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.

Venus Carter has never known love, only cruelty. Orphaned and left in the hands of her merciless uncle, she endures years of torment, treated worse than a slave. But when her uncle sells her to the ruthless Alpha Maxine Blackwood, she realizes she has lost even the little freedom she once had. Her purpose? To bear him an heir. But Venus refuses to be just a vessel. She secretly takes contraceptives, defying the powerful Alpha’s will. When her deception is discovered, Maxine’s fury knows no bounds, and her punishment is worse than anything she has ever endured. Just when she believes she can’t take any more, fate twists in an unexpected way—Maxine is poisoned with wolfsbane, a slow and excruciating death for a werewolf. Only Venus holds the cure. With the Alpha’s life in her hands, she finds herself with the rarest thing of all—power over the monster who ruined her life. But with that power comes a choice: save him and risk losing her chance at freedom or let him perish and be rid of him forever. And if she saves him, will she uncover the man beneath the beast?

“Are you here to pimp yourself just like your mother? Your mother took away my father and now you're aiming for his son?” Icy words whispered that felt like needles prickling in my own skin. The thought gave a frightful shudder. This man, powerful enough to throw me to the pit hole filled with sharks, hates my very existence ever since my mother and I stepped into their lives. ====================== Nina Caulfield has sworn not to meet Luca de Milano again. After all, her mother is the mistress who caused the divorce of his parents. When she reaches eighteen, her mother announces her wedding which will be held in Spain next year. Now that she's busy preparing for the wedding, Nina has no choice but to live with Luca until she graduates. Luca de Milano, Merger and Acquisition CEO of Milano Inc., is forced to be a guardian of the reminder of his broken view of a perfect family. A hapless girl with no redeeming qualities and her future stepbrother striving for perfection. Now, what happens when two polar opposites get stuck together under the same roof for a year? ===== SLOW BURN ROMANCE WITH HEA , R18+ later on======

“He shattered her heart. She’ll make him beg for a second chance.” In the world of wolves, fate never makes mistakes — but Alpha Kael Blackthorn refuses to believe the Moon Goddess could have chosen her. Evelyn Hart is an omega, a nobody. Weak. Unwanted. Barely tolerated by her pack. But when she turns eighteen, the impossible happens: she finds her mate — the ruthless Alpha of the Crescent Fang Pack. Cold. Untouchable. Feared. And he looks her in the eye and rejects her without hesitation. Publicly. Brutally. But rejection has consequences. What no one knows — not even Evelyn — is that her blood carries the legacy of a lost line of Moon Healers. Rare. Ancient. Powerful. And rejecting a healer mate comes at a price. As Evelyn’s pain awakens the dormant magic within her, Kael begins to unravel. Nightmares. Weakness. Rage. A slow decay of his wolf’s mind and body. The bond isn’t gone — it’s twisted. Poisoned. And the only antidote is the girl he destroyed. But Evelyn is no longer the soft-spoken shadow hiding behind the pack. She’s changing. Learning. Becoming dangerous. She may still be his mate… but she’s not his to command anymore. Let the Alpha beg. Let the healer rise. And let the fire between them burn so hot it could consume them both.

"What are you trying to do? Get the hell out of my office!" He yelled at me but I ignored all his rant and approached him on his office seat, having unzipped my skimpy top a little, so that he gets a pleasurable view of my huge , bulging out of it. "If you resist me, I will make sure to leak all your secret doings to the public, so that all can see who you really are. Your name will be on the papers by Monday, and you will lose the respect of your employees. I'm sure you wouldn't want that to happen? Why not just relax and me here and now? These are craving your lustful touch". "Get behind me Satan! You slow poison! You wouldn't dare blackmail me." "Oh really? Remember I still have the tape with me. You just wait and see. Dare to resist me now and I will go straight to the press and media." As he was still pondering on whether to succumb to my demands or not, I got closer to him and forcefully crashed my lips against his, as my huge soft collapsed on his hard chest. Just then, the door was opened and my colleague was standing with a camera, recording our romantic scene.

A wolf howls. The forest stills… for a moment. Then, all wildlife burst into motion. Every living thing, from the smallest lizards and toads to the great brown bears and powerful mountain lions, flee. Spiders scurry to the top of their webs. Birds take flight. Squirrels leap from branch to branch. Wide-eyed deer and elk jump over brush and fallen logs. A lone wolf pauses, but tucks his tail and turns to join the escape. The wind whips through the forest, causing leaves to fall and tall pines to groan. Thundering hooves and paws make the forest floor shake. Finally, the forest stills. The wind gusts slow to a gentle and warm breeze. The wildlife seem calm once more and return to their foraging, napping, or grazing. The wolf howls again. ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Amerie moved to a small town in Montana for a fresh start and to follow her dreams. Things are starting to look up and feel right again. Then, the town seems to turn upside down when someone goes missing in the forest. Some locals fear the legend of the Wolf Man may be real and claim the beast is to blame, claiming it wants revenge for mistreatment of the forest. Amerie rolls her eyes and joins the search parties, but an unfortunate fall leads her to discover more than she signed up for as she comes face to face with a large, white wolf. The secrets of the forest have been waiting to reveal themselves to her.

When I was six, I spilled hot water, slipped, and burned my face. My face was ruined. My parents learned their lesson and never let my younger sister do housework. To everyone they met, they praised her beauty, her charm. They turned to me with nothing but disdain. When I was ten, I had a high fever. They didn't think much of it and let it drag on until my brain was damaged, leaving me slow and dull. They learned their lesson again. From then on, if my sister so much as coughed, they would rush her to the hospital in the dead of night, showering her with care. I was like a failed experiment. Every mistake they made with me, they corrected for her. I was ugly, silent, dim-witted, unwanted. She was beautiful, sweet-talking, clever, adored by all. When I was diagnosed with depression, I gathered what little courage I had and told them. Mom lashed out, called me sick in the head, and accused me of being petty. If I was so capable, she said, I might as well die. It wasn't until my sister pushed me off a high-rise that they found out, by sheer accident, that she wasn't their child at all. I was their one and only biological child.

Arranged marriage, age-gap, forbidden love, enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, Romeo and Juliet vibes, family saga, Mafia/cartel romance, slow burn, redemption, morally gray hero, dangerous romance The Roríguez cartel is spinning out of control, tragedy putting the alliance and our future in question. I’m Emiliano Ruiz and throughout the last few years, I’ve witnessed my sisters being doled out to members of the Luciano Mafia. The cartel has also taken famiglia women. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Luciano famiglia’s turn to take a bride. My mind is set—it’s my turn. I never imagined marrying a young bride until I caught sight of Isabella Luciano. She’s only eighteen, and with her long yellow hair and big brown eyes, she’s a vision to behold. She sees me, however, through the tinted lens of her father’s hatred. Carmine Luciano’s disdain of the cartel and the alliance isn’t a secret. His opinion won’t stop me. I’ll prove to Isabella that even bad men can be good husbands. No matter what her father says or what happens in our war, Isabella will be mine. Have you been Aleatha’d?