Text Faces

There is a place where names are forgotten, faces are hidden, and only the body speaks. It doesn’t whisper. It moans. It obeys. It disobeys. It begs. You were warned not to touch. But you will. Welcome to Velvet Heat, a collection of 100 dangerously intimate stories that whisper in the dark and bite when you’re not looking. These are not tales of sweet love and gentle kisses. These are fantasies that unravel you..slowly, slickly, and without apology. Behind every silk sheet is a secret. Beneath every command, a dare. And under every moan, a threat. From faceless strangers in candlelit rooms to monsters who taste like sin, this is a world where desire bleeds, power shifts, and no one escapes untouched. Some stories will make you beg. Some will make you scream. And some… will make you wish you never opened the book. Velvet Heat is where you come to lose yourself. But you’ll never leave the same. Only sinners. No safe words. Only consequences. And no promises of love..just obsession, power, hunger… and release.

At the annual gala, my father had me marry Asher Ziegler, a rising star in the finance industry whom he had groomed. Back then, I, Maddison Gruber, had no idea that Asher was in love with someone else. Sometime later, my father's company is investigated for product fraud, and his company's stock plummets. He even faces criminal charges. When this happens, Asher immediately brings his first love, Cora Singer, home and tells me outright that he is going to make her his legally wedded wife. My mother-in-law admonishes me. "Your family's bankrupt now, and you're completely barren! Why shouldn't my son remarry?" Asher slides a divorce agreement in front of me, his tone condescending. "Sign this, and I can let you stay here and live alongside Cora." But I say nothing. I merely quietly book a ticket to leave this place. In seven days, I will be following my father down south.

I was born with a strange condition. I couldn't recognize faces and could only identify people by their clothes. Vincent Lancaster, my boyfriend, never minded. He said it didn't change the way he loved me. That was, until our wedding day. He answered a phone call. His childhood friend, Grace Langley, was in labor, life hanging by a thread, and she demanded he come immediately. My voice shook with despair. "Vincent! If you drive away now, we'll never be husband and wife!" But he left anyway, not looking back. Grace had always loved seeing him in white, so he threw aside the black suit I had sewn for him with my own hands and changed into white. A year later, Vincent returned. By then, my belly was swollen with life, and I was holding onto another man while hosting a baby shower. And the man wore the black suit Vincent had thrown away. Vincent went mad, claiming he was my husband, but no one believed him.

Noah King is back, and he’s not the boy Sienna remembers. Once her childhood crush, he’s now a ruthless billionaire with one purpose—revenge on the family that destroyed his. Sienna is caught in his crosshairs, haunted by the memory of who he used to be, even as she’s dealing with her own wounds. On her 19th birthday, her boyfriend shattered her by leaving—just because he thought she was poor. She swore never to love again. But Noah’s return stirs something she thought she’d buried. Beneath his fury, she senses the boy she once knew, and though she’s afraid of the man he’s become, the spark between them refuses to die. Now, as Noah’s dangerous game pulls her in, Sienna faces an impossible choice: protect her heart, or trust that love might still exist somewhere in the ruins. Will she soften Noah’s vengeance, or lose herself—and him—forever?

The day Candice Larsen received the letter for her successful admission in Harvard University was also the day the news reported the involvement of her parents in a car-crash. Even after this fateful incident she refused to look at the world with bitterness. However, as she faces the real world, she discovered that in order to live, some dreams must be sacrificed. After failing the entrance exam to one of the world's prominent university attended by all of his older siblings Dylan Hearst certainly knew that he had also failed to make his father proud. Being a member of a historically rich family, known for their wits and creative inventions that has catalyzed the technological advancement of today, Tristan's existence was a shame. As their lives come into an unexpected encounter, it was not long when Tristan figured out that Candice complimented him in every way. Her weakness is his strength, and her strength is his weakness, and he certainly knew that breakthrough is set if they mastered how to use each other's gift for their own benefits.

“That’s a wrap, this little rogue has been sold for eight hundred thousand dollars,” the woman cheered. She came towards me with an evil smirk. “Please,” I whispered. “You’re so tough, dear child, your new master will enjoy taming you,” she grinned before I felt a prick in my neck. “Ow! What did…” I didn't finish my question before a wave of dizziness hit me and I passed out. *** Mia faces a heart-wrenching choice to save her mother. Betrayed by her own family, she finds herself imprisoned and at the mercy of a ruthless captor. But hope flickers in the form of two brothers who come to her rescue, revealing a hidden world she never knew existed. As Mia grapples with her newfound destiny and a forbidden love that could unravel everything, she must outsmart her pursuer and navigate a treacherous path to secure her family's future. Will she escape the clutches of darkness and rewrite her own fate?

There are a lot more truths in the books we read, than we’d like to admit. What if a book delves into the lives of the very town you live in? Reveals to you some personal stories of people you know? Or thought you knew. Bookstore owner Kevin Ellison faces this truth when a mysterious book shows up in Through a Mirror, Darkly by Kevin Lucia. Through a Mirror, Darkly is a Supernatural Thriller collection masked as a novel. With elements of mystery, suspense, and otherworldly horror, Through a Mirror, Darkly successfully delves into the worlds of Lovecraft, Grant, and the mysterious Carcosa. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing Arcane Delights. Clifton Heights' premier rare and used bookstore. In it, new owner Kevin Ellison has inherited far more than a family legacy, for inside are tales that will amaze, astound, thrill...and terrify: An ancient evil thirsty for lost souls. A very different kind of taxi service with destinations not on any known map. Three coins that grant the bearer's fondest wish, and a father whose crippling grief gives birth to something dark and hungry.

Tara Morgan has spent her life as a blind, powerless hybrid… half-wolf, half-dragon—enslaved by the ruthless Lycan King, Ethan Ace. Bound by fate but torn apart by hatred, she rejects him on her eighteenth birthday, only to be forced into submission. Ethan refuses to love her, yet he can’t let her go, chaining her to a life of torment as his claimed breeding mate while another woman wears the Luna’s crown. But when Ethan’s younger brother, Alpha Liam, offers her an escape—and a chance to be cherished—Tara faces an impossible choice. Will she risk everything to flee the mate who despises her, or stay and fight for the love she was never meant to have? When war erupts and secrets unravel, Tara must choose between two brothers: the one who wants to save her… and the one who would destroy the world to keep her. Fated to him. Hated by him. Desired by another. Who will she choose?

"Marry my son, Nathaniel Hargrave and after three years divorce him and leave. You can't have children with him." Nathaniel's mother Jessica said to Ava. Jessica manipulated Ava Collins into a contract marriage with her son who is a Playboy. Blogger and YouTuber Ava Collins is forced into a three-year contract marriage with billionaire playboy Nathaniel Hargrave after her family secretly accepts billions from his cold, manipulative mother to save their failing business. What's worse? Ava must marry Nathaniel despite their mutual hatred. Thrown into a world of power, wealth, and deception, Ava faces more than just a fake marriage. A green flag longtime crush, a stalker, exes, the media and the twisted dynamics of the rich world which threaten to unravel everything. As sparks fly and unexpected feelings grow, Ava must confront the one question she never thought she’d ask: When the three years are up... will she still divorce Nathaniel Hargrave?

× Book III of The Heir's Secret Obsession × Ready to take on the world of medicine, Mykaela is forced to confront the secrets of her past while fearing the possibility of losing her best friend Miles, the heir to a wealthy and secretive Italian vampire clan. To keep Mykaela safe, Maximiliano Falco must choose his future and risk it all with the Falcos or find a one-way ticket out of the perilous mafia life he's always hated. Lorenzio Tomassini is a shrewd multimillionaire businessman with ties to the Italian mafia. After a death in their clan, he pursues a quiet life in America as his brother faces prison time for orchestrating heinous crimes in Italy. When a public health crisis hits major cities, Mykaela and Lorenzio struggle with the demands of their careers as the wrath of the Russian mob lurks in the shadows. Will their families' ongoing turf war tear them apart? Or will their love turn into nothing but a marriage of convenience? × GENRES: Contemporary Romance / Mafia / Vampire × × This story is for MATURE readers only! × × cover designed by MZ Mauve