Smoke And Steel の小説・ストーリー

Elena had once believed that silence could mean safety. That a gentle hand and a warm cup of tea placed quietly on her desk every morning could be a form of love. Lucien was never cruel—not in the obvious ways. He remembered how she liked her eggs, noticed when she swapped her perfume, and sent flowers on days he knew she wouldn’t expect them. He raised her like one would raise a pet—softly, without question. And Elena, foolish in the way only the very lonely can be, mistook his quiet affection for devotion. She told herself he was reserved. Mysterious. That love didn’t always wear its heart on its sleeve. But when the old flame returned—the one who spoke his language without needing to try—Elena saw it. The difference. He looked at her like a man who had found his lost religion. And Elena? She had simply been convenient. No tears, no scene. Just papers on the breakfast table, beside the eggs he cooked perfectly. She didn’t accuse or beg. She only asked for freedom. He didn’t sign. He chuckled. A soft, dismissive sound. “A cat raised indoors doesn’t know how to survive on the street, Elena. You’ll come back." But she didn’t. She disappeared, like smoke—except she didn’t vanish, not really. She lived. She wore colour again. Laughed at bad jokes. Let strange men hand her coffee and ask for her number. Lucien? He watched. He watched her become someone without him. And it drove him mad. The night he cornered her outside the gallery, rain in his hair and desperation in his eyes, he looked like a man undone. "Elena," he breathed, "please. Look at me. Just once." She did. Calm as ever, and her love already gone.

Delilah thought she married the perfect man. Charming. Respectable. Devoted. But then she discovered the man she trusted was a fraud — cheating behind her back, controlling her every move, and secretly stealing from the people who once believed in him. Her marriage wasn’t love. It was a trap. And when she lost the child she was carrying, alone, abandoned, and broken in a cold hospital bed, everything shattered. That’s when he returned. Thorne Weston. The estranged, adopted brother her husband never spoke of. The boy who once made her college life hell — cruel words, wicked smirks and relentless taunts. He's her tormentor. Her shadow. The one who looked at her like he wanted to ruin her… and maybe always did. He disappeared after graduation. Vanished. Forgotten. But now he’s back — colder, richer, and far more dangerous. And he’s watching her. And when she breaks down in the hospital, barely breathing through grief, he corners her in the shadows and makes her an offer that freezes her blood — and sets her body ablaze. “You want revenge? I want you. Be mine… and I’ll destroy him for you.” She should scream. She should hate him. But hate doesn’t explain the fire curling in her belly every time he whispers her name. Hate doesn’t make her knees tremble when he steps too close, smelling of smoke, leather, and sin. And hate isn’t what makes her crave the rough, twisted salvation only he can give. Because Thorne Weston is no longer a cruel boy with a chip on his shoulder. He’s a man forged in violence. Obsessed. Possessive. Unhinged. And he doesn’t just want her — he owns her. Body. Soul. And every shattered piece her husband left behind.

In the Valenti Family, you're born with a chip. It's fused into the bio-watch on your wrist, its digital face counting down every second you have left to live. Everyone could see the numbers ticking down on my twin sister's watch. And on mine. They all knew she would die on our 18th birthday. So Vivian became the untouchable princess of our brutal world. Every diamond-stitched gown was hers. The rarest jewels were hers. Even our father's last shred of humanity was hers. That single sliver of warmth he showed only after his gun was holstered. I used to pity her. Her time was running out. But God, I envied her. She had everything I never did: our parents' love. Then, the night of her 18th birthday party. My parents worried I'd make a scene. That I'd piss off the Don of an allied Family. So they locked me in the cellar. Damp. Cold. While a deadly fever burned through me. I pounded on the heavy oak door, my voice cracking. "Mamma, please! Let me out! I'm burning up. My head is splitting open…" Outside, my mother's voice was a steel trap. "Enough, Sienna! Today is your sister’s 18th birthday. Her last day alive! Stop the theatrics! Can't you suffer in silence for the Family's honor?" "But I'm really sick..." Her footsteps clicked away, fading into nothing. Then the darkness swallowed me whole. And on my wrist, the bio-watch was flashing a critical alert. CRITICAL ALERT: Vital signs mismatch. Paired chip data incompatible. Please verify user.

“I'm so sorry, Leo,” I rasped, my voice barely a whisper. Tears of guilt and self-blame streamed down my cheeks as I stood before him, eyes cast downward. Despite the fact that I was his prisoner and he was my warden, I couldn't bear the thought of anything bad happening to him. I told him, “It's my fault. I shouldn't have let you go-” “Damn it, Alessandra. I don't want your apology,” Leonardo snapped, lifting my chin with a firm finger, forcing me to meet his gaze. His voice was hard as steel as he continued, “I want you to write a fucking essay about how much you think about me. How you crave my touch. I want to hear you say you love me, because I swear it in this life, mia principessa, there won't be anyone else but me.” ----------------------------------------------------- When Alessandra Scavelli is forced into marrying Leonardo De Castello, her childhood sweetheart turned feared mafia kingpin, her world is thrown into chaos. Leonardo, still madly in love with her, sees this as a chance to reclaim their lost romance. Alessandra, however, is torn by a secret mission handed to her by her family: infiltrate Leonardo's syndicate and bring it down from within. As she delves into Leonardo's dangerous world, Alessandra finds herself conflicted between her family’s demands and the undeniable pull of her own heart. The once clear lines between loyalty and love blur, and she must navigate a treacherous path where betrayal lurks at every corner. Will Alessandra follow through with her family's plan, or will she surrender to the passion that threatens to consume her?

Tiana Greene arrives on Lycan Isle with nothing but a suitcase, a scarred past, and a desperate need for work. When she is hired as a maid in the sprawling cliff-side mansion of Ross Lycan – the island’s reclusive billionaire – she expects long hours, strict rules, and silence. What she does not expect is the man himself: cold as the steel in his voice, brutally private, and carrying a shadow in his gaze that keeps everyone at arm’s length. Rumours whisper through the island of former staff fleeing in fear, of Ross’s cruelty, and of the mysteriously vanished brother whose memory haunts the mansion halls. Tiana tries to keep her distance, but every forbidden glance and accidental touch tightens the invisible thread pulling them together. When a near-fatal accident on the cliffs pushes Ross into her life more violently than either of them intended, the dynamic shifts. Ross grows protective yet distant, drawn to Tiana in ways he cannot accept – while she fights her own confusion over the man beneath the frost. As the annual island festival approaches, tensions rise. Tiana becomes a target for the island’s elite women, whose humiliation of her sparks a dangerous, possessive reaction in Ross. Social pressure thickens, rumours spread, and the boundaries of employer and servant begin to blur into something darker, deeper, and irresistibly intimate. But everything changes the night Tiana slips into a forbidden study and uncovers the truth about Ross’s past – a past woven with loss, guilt, and secrets buried beneath the island’s stormy surface. Now she must decide. Can she love a man built from shadows? And can Ross love someone brave enough to walk into the darkness he’s spent years trying to hide?

*SNEAK PEAK* "Olivia wait." "Just stop and listen to me..." "Olivia!" he snapped. I stopped in my tracks before I turned around and glared at him. "What the f**k do you want? I'm done with you. I'm done trying to win you over okay!?" I felt my eyes burn as I panted. Emotion after emotions swirling around like a f*****g whirlpool. I hated this feeling...I wanted it gone. The overwhelming feeling of betrayal piercing at my heart the longer I stared at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to get hurt." I took a deep breath as I silently cursed when a tear escaped and trailed down my cheek. "It's not that you didn't intend to hurt me; I just wasn't meant to find out, was I." "It's a lot more complicated than that." I shrugged and wiped at my face before looking off into the distance. After staying in silence for a minute or so I met his gaze. He took a step forward as he frowned. "Olivia..." "We all have the right to love someone right?" He hesitated before he nodded his head in agreement. I faintly nodded my head agreeing with myself before I sighed. I have to do this. I could almost feel my heart breaking into a million pieces. "I, Olivia Steel from the nightingale Pack reject..." Before I could continue Damon's eyes darkened before he stalked towards me and pushed me against a tree causing me to gasp at the impact. "Don't you f*****g dare."

(18+ | A Forbidden Reverse Harem ) “Who are we to you, Lily? ”Jaxon’s voice is low and dangerous, his billionaire fingers tangled in my hair, forcing my tear-streaked face up to his cold, commanding gaze.“Say it,” Dante growls into my ear, his surgeon’s precision turned filthy, his grip bruising my hips as he slams deeper, each thrust shaking me to my core.“You’re… you’re my alpha daddies,” I sob, the confession shattering as he drives harder, making my suspended body quake. “You’re my protectors! ”“That’s fucking right,” Elias snarls, the whip in his firefighter hand cracking across my ass cheeks hard enough to leave a burning mark.I whimper from the sharp sting, my body bracing harder against Dante while my chained hands grasp desperately at the links for something or anything to hold onto.“And who are you to us? ”Jaxon demands, the cage fighter in him making it an unbreakable order.“Your baby! ” I wail.“Louder, baby girl,” he commands, voice like steel wrapped in velvet. “Say every word we’ve taught you, every filthy truth we’ve waited years to hear fall from those pretty lips.”“I’m your Lily… your filthy little secret… I belong to all four of you and always have!” I scream as another orgasm tears through my chained body.“That’s a good little baby girl,” Elias praises, his rough hands tracing the fresh mark. ⚠️ EXTREME DARK TABOO FILTH ⚠️ Strictly 18+.

When Tessa Shoreman read Henry Jennings' cancer report, she immediately paid her hard-earned money of sixty thousand to the hospital. She had saved the money from working part-time while she was in university. However, she was worried the money was not enough, so she held back her fear as she sold a kidney to the black market to get more. As she walked to the ward door with a heavy bag filled with cash, she heard shrill laughter coming from inside. "That cheap woman, Tessa Shoreman, got tricked by us again. Haha!" Tessa's hand gave pause right when she was about to push the door open. What did he mean by saying she was tricked? Tessa looked through the glass on the door to see inside the ward. When she left, the man looked extremely weak, but he was now sitting up lazily in bed. Henry had a cigarette in his mouth, and he was blowing smoke rings nonchalantly. He did not look like a cancer patient at all. "It's been two years, and that woman still has no idea." "If she hadn't beaten Serene to first place, Henry would never have left behind his life as a rich heir and planned such an elaborate scheme to become a working-class man living in a cheap rental home. The way that cheap, penniless woman looks at Henry is so amusing." "We agreed that the punishment ends when Henry and Serene get engaged. It looks like time is almost up. We've probably punished her 108 times in the past two years." "The first time was lying to her that Henry didn't have a suit for a job interview. She worked tirelessly for 72 hours straight before she earned enough money for one, but that suit was given to the domestic help to use as a cleaning cloth. The second time was tricking her into believing Henry had a high fever. She forfeited during the finals of a scientific research competition to race home and take care of Henry in the hospital…" "Sigh. Too bad it's coming to an end. I'm going to miss entertaining myself with her."

She was a girl with a debt she couldn't pay. He was a king with a throne he couldn't lose. Talia Jett is 48 hours away from losing everything. After her brother’s "sure-thing" investment turned out to be a scam involving the city’s most dangerous loan sharks, she’s been given an ultimatum: pay back two million dollars or pay with her life. Desperate, she takes a high-stakes catering gig at the Vane Plaza to scout a way out. But a wrong turn leads her into the penthouse of Soren Vane—a man whose heart is as cold as the steel towers he owns. Soren is facing his own execution: a corporate coup. If he doesn’t clean up his "playboy" image before the merger of the century, he’ll be stripped of his empire. When a rival socialite corners him with the paparazzi in tow, Soren sees Talia—hidden in the shadows, trembling and beautiful. He doesn't ask. He claims. With one bone-melting kiss in front of a dozen cameras, he makes her the most famous woman in the world. "Meet my fiancée," he tells the flashing bulbs. The Deal: Soren pays off her debt to the loan sharks and provides her brother with a round-the-clock security detail. The Price: Talia belongs to him for one year. She must live in his house, share his bed for the cameras, and sign a contract that forbids her from ever leaving his side. Talia thought the loan sharks were the most dangerous men she’d ever met. She was wrong. Because while the sharks wanted her money, Soren Vane wants something much more expensive. He wants her soul. And in this marriage of convenience, the fine print might just break her heart.

Adrian Cain has no past. At least, not one he remembers. He woke up at eighteen with a name, a guardian, and a carefully constructed identity that led him to build one of the most powerful tech empires in the world. Now, as the CEO of CainTech, Adrian is feared, admired, and emotionally impenetrable, his past locked behind clinical amnesia, sealed files, and a steel wall he doesn't dare breach. Until the suicides start. After two employees from his most classified division die under suspicious circumstances, trauma counselor Sera Vaughn is brought in to assess the psychological impact on staff. But Sera has her own reasons for stepping into CainTech, her older brother vanished fifteen years ago, and the only lead she has left is a face in an old photograph: Adrian’s. But his name back then wasn’t Adrian. It was Daniel Ward. As Sera begins digging into Adrian’s history and as Adrian’s carefully managed psyche begins to crack, long-buried memories start surfacing: a mysterious basement, whispered codewords, and a girl calling his real name. What neither of them knows is that they were both part of a covert experiment known as Project Phoenix, designed to erase identities and rebuild human obedience from the ground up. Together, they uncover a trail of lies, altered files, and fractured lives along with a chilling truth: Adrian may have been programmed to forget what he did… and who he destroyed. Now hunted by the people who created him, stalked by a version of himself he doesn’t remember becoming, and drawn to a woman whose trust he doesn’t deserve, Adrian must face the darkest corners of his past before they both disappear into it. Because some memories don’t stay buried. Some were never meant to.