Synonym Lifted

After a fire broke out at the company, I shoved the only rescue rope into the hands of my husband, Peyton Shepherd. However, he yanked the smoke mask off my face and turned to secure it on his secretary, Hannah Russell, instead. Peyton escaped using the rescue rope, and Hannah remained unharmed thanks to the mask. I collapsed from inhaling toxic smoke, and then a falling pillar crashed into my stomach. Blood pooled beneath me. Just as the firefighters lifted me onto a stretcher, Peyton grabbed me and pulled me back down. "Serena, it's just a minor injury. Why are you lying on the stretcher? Let Hannah go to the hospital first. Her condition is serious, and she needs a comprehensive medical exam!" The firefighters and paramedics stared in shock. They looked at my blood-soaked dress, then Hannah crying pitifully over her blistered hand. My colleagues tried to intervene. "But Mr. Shepherd, Serena's injuries are clearly more severe!" Peyton snarled through gritted teeth. "Enough! I'm Serena's husband. Don't you think I know her condition? If Hannah's treatment gets delayed because of this, none of you will escape the consequences!" I pressed my hand against my slightly swollen lower abdomen and nodded, agreeing to let Hannah take the ambulance first. I decided that from this moment forward, neither I nor my unborn child owed Peyton anything.

Anita," her angelic voice calls to me. Thunder rumbles in the distance. Her soft, delicate hands caressing my face, sparkling green eyes grounding me from the dark past I wish I could forget. "You're safe, it's okay." I bring my hand up, running my finger over the mound of scar tissue. The constant reminder of that night. The raised bump covers the bullet fragment embedded in my sternum. She takes my hands as more thunder rumbles and tears roll down my cheeks. "Breathe Anita," she says in a soothing whisper. My lungs were burning with the need for air and it was then that I realized I'd been holding it. I take in a gasping breath and recall the first time my eyes met her green eyes. My sister had been lifted off me and my eyes opening had startled her. The first time she touched me gave me strength to hold on. I held her hand tight, trying to tell her what happened, but couldn't get enough breath to form words. Sitting in the present going through the same as I had five years ago. "They were all found, Anita. They can't hurt you anymore. It's just a storm. All the doors and windows are locked, the alarm is set. It's just you and me." "Will you keep the light on tonight, please?"

“I like your voice, so talk more.” He lifted her chin gently. “You don't have to hide your voice from me, I won't tell you to shut up. You can tell me anything that makes your heart feel heavy. Please do not feel alone.” Diana's eyes searched into his. She searched for the honesty she wanted. She wanted to ask Alpha Darren: didn't you make me feel alone by hiding me from everyone after marrying you? ***** Diana, a mute woman and daughter of the mistress of a Beta, is forced to marry Alpha Darren to replace her sister who ran away. Diana does not love Alpha Darren because she knows him as a cruel Alpha. So she tried to end their marriage. But after a year of trying, Diana has not succeeded because Alpha Darren always has a way to keep their marriage. Also, Diana's mother doesn't want her to get a divorce because they have to pay a huge amount of compensation. Diana felt miserable because she was only used as a tool for other people's interests. All Diana wants is genuine love. Will Diana find the love she seeks in her marriage with Alpha Darren or will she still decide to divorce and choose a man who is waiting for her?

Lost in my desires, I pulled him in, taking his lips in mine. Sucking on his lower lip, I bit him slightly as my tongue searched for his. His hands moved to my thighs as he caressed them softly. The graze of his fingers sent sparks through my body as he lifted me in his arms. Walking towards the bed, he placed me gently. Leaning in slowly, he sniffed my neck, engulfing my scent in his senses. Trailing his lips on the side of my face to my lips, he took mine viciously as I let out soft moans in between our kiss. His hands navigated my body as his fingers explored my curves wildly. Drawing away from my lips slowly, he traced my face with his lips, making his way to my ear. His voice a deep whisper, "You asked for this." ...***... After a whirlwind night of betrayal and heartbreak, Maya seeks a fresh start in California. Desperate for a job, she lands a position as a secretary for Adrian Steele—the man from that fateful night. Just as she believes her past is behind her, long-buried secrets resurface, throwing her life into chaos. Will Maya find true love, or will the turmoil of her past leave her disillusioned? Will the hidden truths be unveiled, or remain shrouded in mystery? Read to find out

While I was driving my bus, I spotted my boyfriend's car ahead. He was kissing the woman he had always been hung up on. I could not help tapping the horn. That was all it took. He and his dream girl stepped out and blocked my bus in the middle of the road. I glanced at the passengers behind me. I could not afford to delay everyone, so I swallowed my pride and asked him to move his car. She lifted her chin, her voice dripping with arrogance. “Not happening. Unless you get off that bus and apologize to me right here, you're not going anywhere.” Traffic was completely jammed. There was no way forward and no way back. My face went pale, but I had no choice except to lower my head and prepare to apologize. My boyfriend grew impatient. "Why are you still standing there? Get down and apologize to Sally. Right now." Humiliated, I inched my way towards the door. However, the doors unexpectedly swung open and the passengers rushed out of the bus. “Do you think we have time for this? I'm already late for school. Are you going to take responsibility?” “My perfect attendance this month is ruined because of you. You two are unbelievable!” “If you shameless idiots want to act like this, don't blame us for getting physical!”

"I'd love to see the look in your eyes when you kneel with a leash around your throat and do as your master says," Marshall Domayne, the hot guy I'd hated from highschool said to my face. "You'll make a great sub." "I'll never be a sub," I countered. "I love clean sex and can never be interested in your kinks." His lips lifted in a small smirk. "Ladies like you who are always in denial are the sweetest to break." .... All her life, Solayne wanted a man who would love her the right way. Fuck her the normal way. What she never prayed for was to get entangled with the rude difficult brother of her male best friend. She hated him terribly, but when the arrogant shithead became the only person that could help her with a scandal that was threatening to ruin her future, she had to go to the devil for help. But her best friend wasn't happy with the entanglement. He hated the way they looked perfect in public. Hated the way his brother's hand fit around her waist, the way he brushed her hair in public, and the way he kissed her like no one was watching. CONTENT WARNING! This book is rated 18+. It is twisted and dark in its own way. The MMC is a sadist and not someone that could pass for a saint. Raad with discretion.

Katherine Salazar. A girl from Spain whose life changed the day she first held a knife. She learned early that silence can be sharper than any blade. Her weapon a slender knife, always hidden beneath her clothes. Her adopted parents named her "Ghost Knife". She moved like a shadow—silent, precise, deliberate, clean. As she grew into a woman, her beauty captivated—and haunted— people around her in ways almost impossible to resist. When she took a mission she wasn’t supposed to handle herself, it tore her world apart, everything changed. She was caught by two brutal twin—opposites in behavior, different in power, identical in blood. Instead of ending her life, they chose to use her skills for their own dirty work. But then things got complicated. When both twin fell in love with her. A forbidden love, dangerous and consuming. Her next mission was supposed to be simple: eliminate the twins’ greatest enemy. But the target… was her “dead” father. "Dad?” My voice barely escaped, thick with disbelief, my vision blurred by unshed tears. “Kat?" His voice trembled with shock, more startled than I had ever seen him. In a fluid motion, he lifted his left hand, swift, precise—and the guards froze, stopped as if caught in a web of unseen power. " Y..You , I saw..." My words faltered, the knife quivering in my grip.

WARNING!! THIS STORY CONTAINS A LOT OF MATURE THEMES, ELEMENTS OF HARDCORE BDSM, PRAISE KINKS, SLUT-SHAMING KINKS, AND DEGRADATION KINKS. READ WITH CAUTION. (BOOK ONE OF THE DELUCA KINGS SERIES) Serena would do anything to uncover the death of her parents, including sleeping with the most dangerous man in New York, Nero DeLuca. And he knows this, so he strings her along so he can see how far she’s willing to go. *** “Get on your knees,” Nero said. “Excuse me—” “You’re my submissive, and you exist for the sole purpose of my pleasure. I don’t tolerate defiance. When I say get on your knees, you get on your knees.” “Yes,” I replied as I got on my knees, hating how much his commanding tone turned me on. He put his finger under my chin and lifted it so I could look at him. “Yes, what?” “Yes, sir.” “Good girl. Now get on the bed and show me that beautiful cunt. I want to see what it looks like before I destroy it with my cock. Tonight, the whole of New York will know you belong to me. I’ll not take anything less than you screaming my name, and by the time I’m done with you, you’ll feel me between your legs for a week.”

It was Hana Verlice’s engagement party — but the only thing she could think about was that night six months ago. The night Dante Carter pinned her against the backseat window of his car,cheeks pressed to the glass, her dress lifted to her waists, with his mouth buried between her legs. Now, she was hours away from marrying his older brother. Elijah Osborne Carter — the perfect man, heir to Osborne Pharmaceuticals, and her father’s last hope of saving their crumbling empire. But as she slipped into her designer dress, her mind couldn't stop thinking about the one man she could never have. Dante. The mistake she was supposed to forget. The temptation she swore never to touch again. The younger brother who disappeared after that night and was never supposed to come back. But as she stepped out of her dressing room to join her soon-to-be husband at the party, there he was. Leaning at the foot of the stairs like raw sin. Messy hair. Dark eyes. That cocky mouth that once had her moaning his name in ecstacy. Her pulse quickened as her knees threatened to give out. She tried to breathe. To stay still. But one look at him… and she knew she was in trouble. “What the hell are you doing here?” she whispered, her voice barely holding. He smirked, slow and knowing as his gaze dropped shamelessly to her lips. “Did you miss me, cookie?”

On New Year’s Eve, I made a last-minute decision to get my claws done. The salon was packed, so I had to share a room. The moment I sat down, the woman beside me glanced at me with open disgust. “Get out. I’m allergic to poor people.” The attendant tried to smooth things over. “Ma’am, we’re fully booked today. Please—” But she cut her off coldly. “Do you know the pink diamond Sotheby’s auctioned on Christmas? Worth six hundred thousand.” “Today, I’m setting it into my claws.” She looked at me like I was filth. “With someone like her here, what if she swaps my diamond?” Sotheby’s? My hand froze over the magazine. She smirked and held it out. “Take a good look. Know the difference between you and me before you crawl away.” I glanced once. And recognized it instantly. That diamond… was mine. “I lost it recently,” I said calmly. “Interesting how it ended up with you.” She laughed. “Jealous? My mate gave it to me as a New Year gift.” “You wouldn’t even survive hearing his name.” I smiled faintly. “Try me.” She lifted her chin. “My mate is Kael.” My smile froze. What a coincidence. He’s my mate too. I raised my comm-stone and dialed the patrols. “Hello. I’d like to report a theft.”