Stare Down

At the Davenport family dinner, I arrive wearing the same dress Tucker Davenport's true love once wore. His face darkens immediately. He glares at me coldly and orders that my dress be burned on the spot. "Damn it, Willow, can't you show a little self-awareness? Shelby might be too naive to notice, but there's no way I'm letting you appear like this in front of her." The intense heat rushes toward me as the flames consume the fabric. A sharp, burning pain shoots between my legs, crashing over me like a tidal wave. The pain drags me under, but I suddenly jolt awake, barely able to gasp a plea for mercy. Tucker doesn't spare me a glance. He simply turns away to help Shelby cut the cake. Days later, he finally remembers I exist. "As long as you behave and don't bother Shelby again, you'll still be Mrs. Davenport." I stare at the burns on my legs as my tears dry up. I refuse to beg any longer. I'm done being Mrs. Davenport.

I happen to come across a popular post regarding a company's finance department on social media. "Seriously, that person in the sales department is such an idiot! All I wanted was to claim reimbursement under her name for the bag I bought, and yet she still refused! "Since she doesn't want me to reimburse my bag, then she can forget about reimbursing everything! This time, I'll teach her a lesson about what happens when she offends a member of the finance department!" There are many bashing comments in the comment section, but the original poster doesn't care at all. She continues adopting a haughty tone. "What am I scared of? The finance department is extremely vital to the company! I refuse to believe that the boss has the courage to offend me, the most important person alive, just to stand up for a sales employee who's easily replaceable!" As I stare at the familiar profile picture belonging to the original poster, I can't help but mentally sneer. She wants to suspend all of my reimbursements, huh? Go ahead, then! This time, I'd like to see what the consequences are for offending a member of the finance department!

“You have this last case to prove yourself miss!" Mr Troy said with a fixed cold stare at Jessica. Jessica is a detective of the state agency who struggles evidently in solving cases. Now on a high-profile case involving a billionaire philanthropist and benefactor named Liam, assigned to her after much plea from being terminated, by her boss, Mr. Troy. Liam's family is known for their legacy and questionable wealth, with his mother ever cunning to protect the family legacy since the sudden disappearance of his father. To investigate Liam, Jessica takes up the role of his new secretary but Liam has ulterior motives for hiring her too. Jessica struggles through the new phase of her life as she tries to uncover troubling family history and questionable business dealings but she's caught in a dilemma as tension grows between her suspect and herself. As she delves deeper into the case, she is faced with new challenges, putting her in a pool of hard decisions and possible emotional vulnerability. Wavering through, she's taken by what she finds out about herself, her job, and her case.

He smelled like danger. He looked like power. He made Ari's instincts scream one thing—run. But it was already too late. Ari just wanted a normal college life. For a timid bunny hybrid who startles at loud sounds and avoids eye contact like it’s a sport, "normal" means flying under the radar, keeping his ears tucked under hoodies, and staying far away from alphas who smell like trouble. But trouble finds him anyway—in the form of Thorn, a tiger-panther hybrid with a stare sharp enough to slice, and an aura so intense it shuts Ari's brain off completely. Thorn doesn’t ask. He doesn’t beg. He claims. And from the moment he catches Ari’s scent, he decides one thing: Mine. Now Ari’s peaceful life is spiraling into something else. Something darker. Something hungrier. Thorn is everywhere—on campus, in his dreams, always one step away from baring his fangs. But there’s something worse than being hunted by a predator. Wanting one.

On the day I'm supposed to pick up my bride for the wedding, Tracie Mayer, my supposed wife-to-be as well as the heiress of the Mayer family, is replaced by Jayne Cooper, a widowed fishmonger. Everyone in the groom's party laughs and makes fun of me. "Since when are you this thirsty? You don't mind women who have already given birth before, huh?" "I can't believe the heir of the Reeve family is about to marry a widowed fishmonger! Everyone's going to be tickled pink once word gets out!" My family driver's son, Everett Huffman, provokes me on the spot. "This is for treating me like a lowly servant and ordering me to drive you around! That's why Adeline and Tracie decided to avenge me on your big day!" Realization dawns on me immediately. My older sister, Adeline Reeve, and Tracie are standing up for Everett by putting me down. As I turn to stare at Adeline with red-rimmed eyes, she replies nonchalantly, "It's just a wedding ceremony. Endure it like a tough guy you are. "You and Tracie will still get married. We won't let you marry a widowed fishmonger for real."

During a game of truth or dare at our pre-wedding party, my fiancee, Marissa Jones, plays a game of truth-or-dare with her childhood friend, William Chase. The one who chooses dare is required to sleep with the person next to them. Alarmed by the dare, I quickly suggest, "Why don't you choose truth instead?" However, William refuses to let that happen. He eyes me scornfully and says, "I can't believe you still have such an old-fashioned mindset. I don't mind sleeping with her, so why are you making a big deal out of it?" He turns to Marissa and asks, "Will you sleep with me, Rissa?" Everyone else in the room starts egging them on. "Kyle is way too uptight. If Marissa won't do it, I will. Pick me, William, you handsome devil!" I grab Marissa's arm and try to leave with her, but she flings my hand off. "If I leave now, what about William? We're about to get married anyway, Kyle. Can't I have one night of freedom?" She climbs right onto William's lap, and the crowd cheers wildly. As I stare at Marissa and William, I know without a doubt that my relationship with Marissa has come to an end.

PSA: This book has high smut intensity, intoxicating chemistry and compelling family and sibling rivalry. Aanoni Adukolapo was raised to lead. He is disciplined, charismatic, egoistic, and heir to a fortune. At twenty-eight, he has carved his name into a perfume empire, a revolt against his father’s tight reins. But power has never unsettled him the way Ere does. Ereadurami is thirty-five: elegant and dangerously alluring. The kind of woman who should be sacred, a taboo, and off-limits in Yoruba culture. Her boutique displays her clothing artistry, work of a master. She is sweet, refined, but behind that subtle demeanor lies a hungry succubus. What begins as a random suggestion inside her boutique soon spirals into a hunger neither of them can resist. Every glance, every stare, every breath is calculated, meant not to seem weak. She is older, forbidden, and everything his father would use to destroy him. But the closer Aanoni gets to Ere, the harder it becomes to care about consequences. Desire is intoxicating, hypnotic and surrendering to her might be the most reckless, irresistible rebellion of all. Ere’s Scent is a sensual and erotic tale of age-gap temptation, power, and passion where legacy clashes with lust, where rebellion clashes with passion , and one forbidden woman could bring an empire to its knees.

Blurb. Julliette Mercer swore she would never risk her career for a man. As the new sports therapist for the NHL’s most ruthless team, the Blackridge Wolves, she expects bruises, injuries, and egos the size of the rink. What she doesn’t expect is the way every star player looks at her—hungry, feral, as if she’s already theirs. The Wolves’ captain, Bryan Maddox, is ice and fire, dominance carved into muscle. His touch burns, his stare strips her bare, and his warning is clear: stay away, or you’ll regret it. But Bryan isn’t the only one circling. His teammates stalk her with the same dark intensity, each one determined to claim what instinct says belongs to them. They tell her it’s fate. She calls it madness. Yet every stolen glance, every forbidden touch, pulls her deeper into their world. A world of secrets, violence, and hunger that has nothing to do with the game. And when a rival Alpha decides to take her for himself, Julliette learns the truth: the Blackridge Wolves aren’t just men. They are predators. And the most dangerous thing she can do is love them back. Julliete is caught between ruin and ecstasy. To resist them is impossible. To surrender might cost her everything.

"Take off your panties, princess. I want to see the pussy that’s been soaking the sheets and moaning my name in her sleep every night, while wearing my son’s ring.” "Yes, daddy." * Reina thought marriage meant love. But for two long, aching years, all it gave her was cold nights and a husband who never touched her. She was starving. And Domenico Gravano—her devil father-in-law—was the only man who ever made her feel full. He’s twice her age. Deadly. Filthy rich, and built like a god. The kind of man who doesn’t ask. He takes. And when he sees the way she shivers under his stare, he doesn’t hesitate. He gives her everything she's always wanted. It’s forbidden. It's filthy. And it’s about to become her obsession. But Domenico doesn’t do soft. He doesn’t do love. He does control. He does power. He does ownership. And Reina? She’s about to find out what happens when a Gravano decides to make you moan… and never stop. He’s her father-in-law. He’s her first real pleasure. He’s the man who will destroy them both… just to keep her.

Kylie stood by, watching her husband introduce his lover to the pack as their new Luna and all she could do was stare at them in tears, Even though she was pregnant with her husband's baby, he treated her like she meant nothing to him. But when the most important thing is being taken away from her by her husband and his mistress, Kylie must fight, and what better way to do that than seal a contract deal with her true mate, the most formidable Alpha in North America. ____________ "Marry me, and I will make your mate and his mistress pay for hurting you. I will get back everything you lost as well." His deep yet desperate voice uttered and as I stared at him, I could only wonder why he was willing to marry me instead of taking the offer I had earlier proposed, "Why Alpha Damon? I made you a better deal so why do you want me?" He took a few steps closer to me and I could feel my heart pounding in my ribcage as I heard, "Because you, Kylie Anderson is the key to what I want."