Swamp Lights の小説・ストーリー

Ashley never meant to sell her body to survive. She never meant to strip in a club for dollars that barely paid the bills. By day, she serves lattes with a polite smile but at night, she dances under neon lights to pay off the gambling debts her mother left her drowning in. Then a client offers five thousand dollars for one private dance, too excited she says yes. Only she realizes she shouldn’t have. Because the man behind the money is Kayden Devereaux. Her high school tormentor, the thorn in her flesh. The boy who once made her life a living hell, who bullied her till she almost committed suicide. She is hell bent on fleeing the room but before she can run, he makes her an offer. Dance for him alone for one month and he gives her thirty thousand dollars. Ashley hates him too much to agree. Until she remembers what freedom costs, a life free of physical abuse from her mom and the debt cleared. So she agrees, and signs the deal. Only she is hit by a curve ball when she returns home. Her mother has married the very man they owed and the debt is gone overnight. And Kayden? He’s now her stepbrother. Trapped under the same roof, Ashley has no choice but to continue their dangerous arrangement in secret. She needs the money to escape her mother for good. What begins as a contract turns into obsession and power becomes something far more dangerous. Because Kayden isn’t just the villain from her past, he has been manipulating the present. And when hatred begins to feel like desire, Ashley must decide: Is she fighting the devil… or falling for the one who planned to own her all along?

Kimberly Wilson had been married to Steven Smith for two years. When Steven proposed a divorce, she agreed without hesitation. Holding a huge fortune, she began to wealth freely. The Wilson family had only one child, so who would be family continuity? Simple, she said, 'Help me post a message offering a high reward for pregnancy.' It read, "Due to my husband's car accident rendering him infertile, seeking a healthy male for surrogacy. Generous compensation." As for the requirements, 'Must be handsome, have an excellent physique, graduated from an Ivy League school, and be good in bed. Price is negotiable.' Her highly efficient personal assistant, whom she had hired at great expense, sent over photos of applicants the next day. One ultimately met her criteria and even exceeded her expectations. The side profile in the photo, noble and aloof, looked familiar. She immediately decided, 'Okay, It's him.' 'He's available anytime, but he has one prerequisite.' her assistant informed. Kimberly raised an eyebrow, 'What requirement?' 'He's a bit shy, so the lights must be off.' Only later did she realize what trouble she had gotten into. The man was not only the sole heir to the multi-billion luxury goods group-Garcia group but also the best friend of her ex-husband. Steven didn't wait for Kimberly to reconcile as usual but instead heard the news of her new romance. Despairing, he said, 'I can live without her. Don't try to persuade me.' But later, drunk, he called in the middle of the night. 'Kiki...' His voice was choked up. A cold male voice responded from the other end, 'May I ask why you're calling my wife in the middle of the night?' '......'

ADRIAN'S POV My head was pounding, a dull throb that echoed the frantic beat of my heart. I was hot, too hot, my skin slick with an unfamiliar sweat. I knew it instantly: drugged. One moment I was escorting Aria, basking in the glittering lights and dancing with her in the ballroom at her birthday party. Next, a wine from a waiter, a trip to the bathroom, and then… darkness. I blinked, trying to focus on the blur above me. Damien. My stalker. The man who’d been haunting the edges of my life for weeks, whispering cryptic claims of a shared past I couldn’t recall. He was on top of me, pinning me to the plush velvet of some unfamiliar bed. His eyes, usually so intense and unsettling, were filled with a disturbing mix of guilt and desperation. "I’m sorry, Adrian, I'm so sorry I had to do this, but I can't stand seeing you with her. Watching you rewrite our history... please, remember me. Remember us." He leaned down, his breath hot against my ear. "I promise, I'll cherish you this time." Then, his lips crashed onto mine, a fierce, possessive kiss that stole my breath away. His hands moved over me, desperate and knowing, igniting a fire that both terrified and strangely thrilled me. Maybe it was the drug blurring the lines of reason. Or maybe… just maybe, deep down, my body recognized something my mind couldn’t. It responded to his touch with a shameful eagerness, a desperate need that mirrored his own. All I could do was surrender to the moment, to the heat, to the undeniable connection I felt with this man, Damien, as I returned his kiss with a fervor that shocked us both.

Complete!!!!!! She grew in wealth without the love she needed the most. In a world with customs and traditions, her upbringing was her destruction. She was trained to make men bend their knees at the sight of her smile yet she bores pure innocence. Then, she was sold to the highest bidder for what her family calls an initiation before she turns a woman. What would happen to her? Would she fall in love to the enigmatic prince who bought her? What would happen if she delve herself on her darkest desires? ...... Hot breath tickled my nose and the smell of my favorite vanilla potpourri filled me. I opened my eyes. Gray met me, like a cluster of angry clouds. "Good morning," the guy whispered in my face. His proximity made me hold my breath. The guy won the bidding and I wasn't wrong. His stare held intensity. He backed down, going to his seat, across from mine. My head snapped to the side; the morning lights seeped through the window beside me. White cumulus clouds parted as the plane flew us above the horizon. I must be asleep for too long that they were able to transfer me from the helicopter to the plane. I snapped back my attention to the guy, "What's your name?" I asked the first question that popped in my mind, being able to let go of the building tensions. "I'm An--" A chuckle escaped from the guy. "No need for proper introductions but as you initiated. I am Yulian." He scratched his chin, looking for my reactions, his thick accent indicated Russian descent. "And you, milady is going to be Mi Eliza, my wife." "Wife? But--" I stopped couldn’t able to form the right words to say. "For a year, yes."

"A year of silence, Elena. Did you really think I didn't smell your pulse jumping every time I walked past your desk? I’ve been starving for you for three hundred and sixty-five days." ​Elena Reyes is the perfect secretary. She’s efficient, invisible, and silent. For a year, she has survived the "Ice King" of New York, Silas Vane, by hiding her sharp wit and her curves behind oversized blazers. She thought she was safe. She thought he was just a man who cared more about spreadsheets than souls. ​She was wrong. ​Silas Vane isn't just a billionaire; he’s a predator. An Alpha who has been hunting Elena from across the office, waiting for the one moment her human mask would slip. ​That moment arrives with a single drop of blood. ​One sharp paper cut on a million-dollar report is all it takes. The metallic scent shatters Silas’s control, revealing the golden-eyed beast hiding beneath the four-thousand-dollar suit. In a heartbeat, the office doors are deadlocked, the lights are killed, and the "Ice King" is gone. ​Silas doesn't want her files anymore. He wants her soul, her body, and her submission. He claims she is his Lunar Anchor—the only woman capable of grounding his primal rage. But Elena doesn't bow to "Alphas," and she definitely doesn't follow orders—even when they’re growled against her skin. ​Trapped in a world of lethal pack wars and ancient blood-bonds, Elena has to decide: Is she Silas’s salvation, or is she the only thing capable of destroying him? ​"Lock the doors, Elena. You aren't leaving until you realize that you don't just work for me... you belong to me.”

I ran away with my new husband, Keith, chasing something—adventure, maybe, or just a way out of my dead-end town. He promised Vegas, bright lights, and fortune. Said he’d win big at the Moon Crescent Casino. I went along for the ride, naively thinking this was the start of something new. Instead, Keith lost everything. And I mean everything. And his genius solution? He sold me. To pay off his gambling debt, he handed me over like property—to a pack. Not just one man, but three. Wolves, apparently. Dangerous, intense... and off-the-charts gorgeous. Husk is tall, dark, and terrifyingly silent. When he does smile, it looks like it hurts him—and frankly, it gives me nightmares. Winter, with his pale hair and soft eyes, is gentle… on the surface. But there’s something immense in him, some power pulsing under his skin, like he could take control of my very soul. Then there’s Sky—moody, brooding, unreadable. He shifts between warm and cold so fast I get whiplash. They tell me I have to stay with them at the casino for thirty days. Just thirty days, and the debt is paid. Sounds simple, right? Except nothing about this is simple. And I know there’s a catch. So, I run. Only to find out—they need me. Not for money. Not just for fun. For something deeper. Something... ancient. Suddenly, I’m not the girl people overlook. I’m not the small-town girl with a too-big heart and nowhere to put it. I’m the key to something much bigger, something magical. And maybe, just maybe, these wolves aren’t my captors… they’re my future. I left to escape. But it turns out, what I needed most was exactly what I tried to leave behind.

ARIA - At thirty-six, the Grammy-winning songwriter lives in a world of glittering lights and soaring applause, yet behind every love song she writes is a truth she keeps hidden: she’s never found a love strong enough to stay. When two powerful forces enter her life—one a steady and familiar presence, the other a magnetic, unpredictable spark—Aria is thrust into an emotional whirlwind that threatens to shatter the careful world she’s built. Passions ignite, loyalties fracture, and long-buried truths claw their way to the surface. As her career reaches new heights, Aria’s personal life spirals into a dangerous collision of desire, heartbreak, and revelation. Caught between the man who grounds her and the man who sets her soul on fire, Aria must make a choice that could cost her everything—even herself. ARIA TIL DEATH explores the boundaries of love, loss and moving on. Aria never expected her life to split in two—the before and the after. Losing the man she loved destroys her sense of safety, silences her music, and leaves her drowning in memories she can’t bear to revisit. But fate steps in the day she crosses paths with a quiet, grounding stranger whose presence feels like a lifeline. Their connection is instant. Healing, even. And when Aria is offered the chance to start over in a new city, he’s the one who encourages her to take it—promising to stand by her side as she rebuilds her life. Together, they leave the past behind… or so they think. As Aria settles into her new home with the man who’s become her unexpected source of strength, unsettling things begin to happen. Aria Til Death is a gripping journey of heartbreak, rebirth, and the dangerous lengths someone will go to when love turns into obsession.

Marrying Sebastian Romano had felt like a wish granted too perfectly to be real… until reality crushed it. For two years, Jasmine lived in a blur of champagne, penthouse lights, and a husband who looked at her like she was his entire future. In the third year, the silence arrived. The kisses turned into calendar appointments. The marriage shrank into handshakes and small talk. Then Jasmine found the truth. Sweet messages that were not for her. Hotel bookings that did not include her name. A blonde secretary who did not know shame. Jasmine walked out without looking back. She left her ring, the signed divorce papers, and her ruined heart on their ridiculous king-size bed. What she did not know was that another life had already started inside her. Five years later, Jasmine lived small on purpose. Quiet. Safe. Her child grew up without drama, without the weight of the Romano name. Jasmine promised herself it would stay that way. Until Adrian. Adrian was nothing like the men who used to own her world. Calm where they were cruel, clever without being cruel, steady in a way that felt dangerous only because she wanted to trust it. With him, Jasmine finally stopped feeling like a problem to fix and started feeling like a person to keep. When Adrian dropped to one knee at a glittering Monte Carlo...Jasmine did something she had sworn never to do again. She thought about forever. Then she saw him. Sebastian Romano. The man she had loved, left, and learned to hate in the exact same lifetime. Those cold eyes. That unreadable face. The past she thought she had buried standing three steps away from her fresh start. “Interesting,” Sebastian said. “Your fiancé… happens to be my brother.”

“Oh my darling Uncle”. I said while hugging him as he was backing me. “Uncle?”. A different voice asked and it seems to come from the person I'm hugging. He turned around with me in his arms and I stared into his eyes. Dark eyes. Uncle Max's eyes are blue, like mine. I let go of him immediately like I had been burned and blushed furiously. “Uhm, sorry. I thought you… were my uncle”. I told him. A chuckle brought my attention back to his handsome face. “Hello cutie, why do you think your uncle is here?” He said, his voice sending shivers down my body. *** Happiness Matthews, a 19-year-old college freshman, thought she had everything figured out when she left her small Texas town for the bright lights of California. But after a dangerous security guard targets her in her new apartment, she has to move in with Mason, her uncle's friend, who she met two years ago at his wedding. Mason, a man in his thirties still haunted by the woman who left him at the altar two years ago, never expected to share his home with his best friend’s niece. At first, their living arrangement seems like a temporary inconvenience—but the longer they stay under the same roof, the harder it becomes to ignore the magnetic tension building between them. As the lines between family and desire blur, Happiness finds herself drawn to the man who carries both charm and a painful past. But with every passing day, the unspoken rules become more difficult to follow, and a dangerous truth about Mason’s past threatens to tear them both apart. In a story where forbidden attraction and unresolved heartbreak collide, Happy must choose between loyalty, family, love, and her own future—before the stakes get even higher

On my birthday, I personally prepare 16 dishes. After setting up the candlelight, I open a bottle of red wine. I take a photo and send it to my husband, Eric Sinclair. "I'm working late tonight. Don't wait for me," he replies. I choose to believe him. But after midnight, I notice an Instagram story posted by Shirley Huxley, his secretary. Eric was there with her, dressed in the trench coat I once gave him. They sat side by side in the VIP seat of football stadium where my favorite Super Bowl take place. Entwined in a passionate embrace, they kissed beneath a sea of shimmering lights and the roar of thousands of fans. That game is the one I have always longed to experience with him. I look down at the cold food on the table. Eric's words keep ringing in my head. "I hate kissing." "Marriage is a partnership, not about love and kisses." Though we've been married for ten years, we've never shared a single kiss. Meanwhile, he's out there, kissing Shirley openly and passionately. Despite it all, not a single tear falls from my eyes. The next day, Eric settles into his chair, completely unfazed. "Return the gallery to Shelly," he commands. I nod quietly, saying nothing. Suddenly, Layla Sinclair, my daughter, comes running down the stairs and throws herself into Shirley's arms. "Aunt Shirley, you're my favorite. I don't like Mom!" In that instant, it hits me—the home I devoted my heart and soul to means nothing anymore. It doesn't matter that I've been married to Eric for a decade. Now, all I want is to find myself again. I decide to accept an invitation from the Parisoir School of Fashion Design. From this moment on, I won't wait for them to come home, and I won't look back.