Stay Chill

Rachel Larson was adamant about marrying me, and she spent ten years stealing my heart. On the night before our wedding, I overheard her conversation with her friend. "You're marrying Leonardo? What about your side piece?" A moment of silence later, Rachel answered, "That guy? He's just a cheap replacement. Leonardo's the real deal. Don't compare my side piece to him. If he stays put and keeps his mouth shut, I might let him stay around. Leonardo's a broad-minded man. He won't mind." The side piece did not stay put. In fact, he caused a scene at the wedding the next day. He shoved me off the stage, but the woman who was supposed to marry me darted over to his side instead. Why? He was holding a piece of broken glass against his throat. Gutturally, he roared, "Choose! Me or him?" Panicked, Rachel kicked me away despite my injuries, and she roared, "Get out of the way! I need to take him to the hospital! If anything happens to him, I'll kill you!" She didn't need to wait that long. My heart died right there and then. … That night, I bought a flight ticket that would take me abroad and left her.

After Dad went bankrupt, Mom immediately started fighting for a divorce. I did not fight or argue, just watched coldly as my sister, Jessica Shaw, shoved me aside and threw herself at Dad. She cried out, "Dad, don't be sad! I'll stay with you!" In my past life, after our parents divorced, Jessica went with our wealthy Mom while I ended up with bankrupt Dad. However, what no one expected was that Mom's remarriage turned into a disaster when she married a scumbag who not only drained her assets but left her with nothing in the divorce. Jessica suffered right along with her. Meanwhile, Dad made a comeback and became wildly successful, eventually turning into a wealthy tycoon. Jessica grew bitter seeing me live well. Under the guise of catching up, she orchestrated a car accident that killed me. When I opened my eyes again, we had both traveled back to the day our parents filed a divorce. This time, Jessica shot me a smug smile and declared first, "I love Dad, so I want to stay with him." Little did she know, I could not have been happier with this arrangement. After all, I refused to spend another lifetime hiding and scraping by.

He pressed him against the door, breath hot, voice ragged. “If you don’t want this… tell me to stop.” A pause. A heartbeat. “I can’t.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some obsessions aren’t meant to be touched. Some men aren’t meant to be loved. And some desires don’t care. This collection isn’t about perfect love. It’s about the one you weren’t supposed to want— Another man. Your brother’s best friend. Your enemy’s son. Your professor. Your fake fiancé. The man who shouldn’t look at you like that. The man you can’t stop wanting. Every story is a man falling for another man when he shouldn’t—and doing it anyway. Fast-paced, emotionally sharp, and dangerously seductive, every story in Burnt Offerings dives headfirst into the hunger we deny, the rules we break, and the lovers we were warned to stay away from. Some affairs stay in the dark. Others start wildfires. This isn't a love story. It's all the ones you swore you’d never tell. All of them about men who should have walked away from each other… but didn’t.

In the Chicago mafia, refusing a powerful man is the same as signing your own death warrant. At twenty-one, Valentina is forced into marriage with Adrian DeLuca— the cold, feared underboss whose first wife died under mysterious circumstances. The rules are clear: obey, stay silent, and never ask about the past. Adrian doesn’t want love. He wants a wife who looks perfect at his side and a mother for his children. Nothing more. Their marriage is built on duty, fear, and carefully maintained distance until Valentina begins to see the cracks beneath his ruthless control. The DeLuca mansion is full of secrets. Locked rooms. Unspoken rules. A five-year-old boy who hasn’t spoken since his mother’s death— until he whispers something that changes everything. “I still see my mom at night.” What begins as a marriage of survival turns into a dangerous search for truth. As Valentina uncovers what really happened to the woman who came before her, she realizes the greatest threat may not be the man she married, but the one everyone believes is dead. In a world where loyalty is deadly and love is a weakness, Valentina must decide who to trust before the truth destroys her marriage… or her life. A dark mafia romance about forced marriage, forbidden secrets, and the woman who refused to stay powerless.

“This is impossible,” I muttered staring at myself in the mirror. I had sex with the man who tried to kill me and helped my ex take over my family's company…what was I thinking?This man is not just the cause of my problems, he is a murderer and a drug lord… we are completely different… yet I could not stay away from him, I found myself always yearning for his touch…can I survive this temptation and finally take revenge on all of them?

Aiden Veylor’s university life has always been quiet, predictable, and painfully ordinary. He is careful to stay out of the spotlight, keeping his head down and avoiding the attention of the university’s untouchable elites. That all changes when Silas Rennick, the mysterious and dangerously magnetic transfer student, sets his sights on him. With Silas’s striking presence and reputation as the hot new guy everyone whispers about, Aiden knows one wrong move could turn his life upside down.

Katherine Elizabeth Douglas is a young journalist, unhappy with her job, but content in life with her best friends in the big city. At a night out for her birthday, she stumbles upon two very different men: the Prince Charming, and the Mysterious Hottie. They both bring her into a world that she never knew existed, but while one she can't seem to stay away from, the other can't seem to leave her alone. What happens when her world connects with theirs?

Maria entered into a contract marriage with Alenjaro, with one condition: she must not fall in love with him. But as they spent more time together, Maria found herself breaking that rule. She fell deeply in love with Alenjaro, and to make matters worse, she discovered she was pregnant with his child. Just as she was about to share the news with him, Alenjaro served her with divorce papers, shattering her world. Will Maria be able to convince Alenjaro to stay in the marriage and be a father to their child, or will their contract marriage end in heartbreak?

My husband's true love goes missing. He traps me in a cave to make me repent for my sins. "Olivia would never have gone missing if not for you! You'd better stay in there and repent for your sins!" No matter how I scream and try to escape, I'm ignored. Ultimately, I die due to cobra venom. Unexpectedly, my husband loses his mind when he sees my body and the twisted look on my face.

Sleeping with a hot stranger can be life-changing, especially if that stranger becomes your boss and is obsessed with you. Luna and Asher are worlds apart but they can't deny their connection. Asher wants Luna and would have her at any cost but Luna tries to stay from him out of fear of being heartbroken. Asher has secrets that could make their relationship stronger or break it. Enemies in the dark also try to destroy their relationship, but their enemy isn't far but closer than expected. Can they overcome the obstacles?