The Gaze

"You are not my mate," he tells me firmly, pushing me against the wall and holding my wrists over my head to stop me from struggling. "You're just an impostor, a liar!" A smirk appears on my lips. "Me? An impostor and a liar?" I lean forward, making sure that our lips are only inches apart. "I can prove it. Let me go and I'll show you who I am." He swallows hard, his gaze wandering from my eyes down to my lips, going farther down with renewed purpose. . . . * * * Meredith Lane is the most beautiful girl in the kingdom of Raven Solstice. With her angelic features, she could have been blessed by the gods themselves. But there's one catch. She's a mere human in the world of Lycans, and the daughter of a Duke's lowly maid. Inhibited by her status and forever hidden from the public, Meredith decides to break some rules and explore what the world has to offer. And it just so happened the universe granted her the attention of a Lycan Heir, Zeus Antonov. But what if someone is just out there lurking, waiting for the right chance to take Meredith's beauty, along with her royal mate?

Mature Content! Trigger warnings, violence and smut “I'll make you crave the darkness and beg for my salvation," he growls, his voice laced with both danger and desire. My eyes blazing with defiance, meets his gaze head-on. “I won't be owned by anyone, especially not a dangerous man like you.” my voice waver, barely a whisper. In the gritty underbelly of the city, where power, danger and secrets collide, an unlikely connection blooms amidst darkness and despair. Romeo Valentino, a dominant force in the mafia world, battles his inner demon, his alter ego seeking control. When he lays eyes on the enigmatic Julia, a fire ignites within him, compelling him to possess her, body and soul. Julia, a woman shrouded in mystery, harbors her own scars, her path intertwined with Romeo’s in unexpected ways. Drawn to his power and dominance, she fights the magnetic pull between them, even as her heart begs for his touch. As their paths entwine, passion blazes between them, fanning the flames of a love that could destroy them both. Will they find solace and salvation in each other's arms, or will their dark secrets tear them apart?

Sebastian's voice came from behind her, low and knowing. "You want to get back at them, don't you?" Kaira's gaze remained fixed on the disappearing figure of her sister, her emotions simmering just below the surface. She hated how easily Sebastian read her, seeing depths others missed. "Yes," she confessed, her voice laced with venom. "I want them to feel the same pain I feel." Sebastian stepped forward, his eyes locking onto hers as he gently wiped away the tears threatening to spill. His touch was soothing, but his words sparked a fire within her. "You can't take them down in your current state," he said, his voice soft but resolute. "But I can. I can make them pay, princess." Kaira's focus snapped to his, curiosity igniting in her eyes. "How?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Sebastian's smirk was a slow, deliberate curve of his lips. "Marry me," he said, the words dropping like a bombshell. Kaira's eyes widened, shock etched on her face.

"Why? Just why?!" Her lips quivered, as she clenched her chest, "Why can't you reciprocate my feelings? I loved you Riccardo, or was my sincerity a crime?!" She concluded, her gaze casted on the man standing before her, whose face bore no emotion. Vanessa Rodriguez had always loved Riccardo Gonzalez right from the day she saw him. It was love at first sight. When she got the chance to get married to him, she didn't think twice even though her parents were against it. She thought that it was a chance to finally show Riccardo how much she loved him. But sadly even after their marriage he couldn't love her back instead after three years of marriage he presented divorce papers for her to sign. With shattered heart, she signs the divorce papers and leaves the country. Five years later, she's back in the country, ready to take over her father's new company, with her twins by her side and they look exactly like her ex husband. The problem now is that Riccardo Gonzalez wants her back!

Roxanne Grant has always been one to live her life according to her rules. Blessed with a handsome and capable fiancé and a dream job, she couldn’t have imagined a life better, until she discovers that her fiancé had been cheating with his secretary for a long time. Enraged and heartbroken, Roxanne decides to take revenge but accidentally bumped into Lance Laurent, Los Angeles’s hottest bachelor and heir to Laurent cop and the stepbrother of his fiancé. After that one steamy night, things began to get more complicated, spiraling out of Roxanne’s control and down a lane of lust. And much to her surprise, the L.A’s hottest bachelor doesn't plan on letting go of her anytime soon. ** ** ** "Thinking of another man while having me? Tell me, is my time a joke to you, woman?” Lance had grabbed her chin to meet his gaze harshly. With his words, Roxanne grinned as she placed the last of her concerns behind. Wrapping her legs around his waist and pulled him closer, she answered him in a slurry voice. “You have my full attention now, so you better make it worth the while.”

Elise Stanton has one dream: to study medicine. When she earns a coveted spot in medical school, her future seems bright—until her parents present her with an ultimatum. The only way they’ll pay her tuition is if she marries Alejandro Mendoza, the disabled heir to a powerful family. “Marry a stranger for money? Is that the price of my freedom?” Elise protests, her voice trembling with frustration. “Clara gets her luxuries handed to her, but I have to sell my life to pursue my dream?” In her family’s eyes, she is always second-best, a shadow to her younger sister, Clara. Left with no other choice, Elise agrees to her parents’ condition. Then she meets Alejandro Mendoza. Confined to a wheelchair, Alejandro is bitter and guarded, his piercing gaze a wall against the world. But when Elise examines his condition, her sharp medical instincts kick in. “The doctors had a wrong diagnosis,” she insists. “Your condition is reversible.” Alejandro narrows his eyes. “Why are you doing this? What do you want?” Her answer is simple: “I’ll help you recover, and when you can walk again, this marriage ends.”

“Isn’t this our first night? I’m ready to give my body to you, Mr. Alexandro,” Lucia said, already wearing sexy lingerie. Alexandro merely looked her over from head to toe. Lucia lowered her gaze; she wasn’t sure the man even wanted to touch her plump body. Alexandro stepped closer and closer, then pushed Lucia until she sat on the floor, her head tilting up toward her husband. “Do you like BDSM?” Alexandro asked. Lucia swallowed hard. This was the beginning of a nightmare for her. *** Lucia had never lived as a loved child. After her parents died, she grew up in her uncle’s house and was treated like a burden. Lucia was fat, quiet, and constantly compared to her beautiful cousin; she learned to accept insults as a part of life. Until one day, her uncle’s loan shark debts dragged Lucia into a contract marriage with Alexandro De Luca, a powerful man who was cold, cruel, and untouchable. That loveless marriage turned Lucia into a subject of ridicule in the cruel elite world, even in her own home. She was considered a disgrace and a wife unworthy of standing beside an Alexandro De Luca.

I don’t even know how our lips met. It just… happened, and he tastes sweet, like a gourmet dessert, and instantly, I want more. I can't even form a thought right now as I part my lips and our tongues dance together. It’s a primal force, instinct maybe, something telling me that at this moment, I have everything I have ever wanted in my life. I have a mate. I am complete. *** I always thought I was leading a good life, although I never quite felt like I belonged, until I met Devon, the gorgeous, sexy Alpha of the Emerald Moon pack whose mesmerizing gaze drew me in. Wolves? How could I be one of those? I find out I’m a hybrid, wolf and mage, and all this time I’ve never been a human at all. No wonder I didn’t fit in. But just as things are starting to come together for us, it’s all quickly torn apart as mysterious outside forces with an ancient hatred invade our world and threaten everything. Will the love of a true, fated mate save everything, or will it be my downfall?

Cesare Xandri, the rising gangster of the Nalitan mafia, unexpectedly lost a bet at an elite private casino in Ithel, the kind that smells like cigar smoke and blood money. The penalty was simple, he had to call his hard-to-tame pet. The phone was on speaker. The men circled him, whistling and hooting, waiting to be entertained. He asked what I was up to in a relaxed and amused tone. I replied softly, insinuating he was sinful, hiding my defiance behind innocence and fake devotion. When I finished my insult, the room fell silent, then burst into loud and uncontrollable laughter. The call ended. Less than thirty minutes later, the mansion gates were smashed open. He stormed in smelling of gunpowder, a Beretta still in his hand. He pushed me against the wall furiously beneath the Virgin Mary statue. I leaned into him without hesitation, fingers brushing the heated gun, and I met his gaze without fear. I chose virtue and rejected him in my past life, in return I was thrown into the open sea to die. I intended to be his temptation when I got a second chance at life, I wanted to be a beautiful sin that ends his story under the Cecilian sun.

“I’m not a fool, Jagger.” Jordan’s voice is ice, his walls towering. “Everyone I’ve ever let close has betrayed me.” Jagger steps closer, his gaze locking onto Jordan’s with an intensity that makes his breath hitch. Then, in a voice low and steady, he says, "Then it’s about damn time someone proves you wrong." ******** Betrayed by his wife. Poisoned by his own brother. Killed by the two precious people in his life. But when Jordan opens his eyes, he’s not dead—he’s been reborn three years in the past, back when the poison had only just begun to eat away at him. This time, he won’t be their fool. This time, he’ll make them pay. As he begins his revenge to avoid the future, his only ally is his divorce lawyer, Jagger Walker—a man too dangerous to trust, yet too irresistible to ignore. But when Jagger starts breaking down the walls around his heart, Jordan faces a new dilemma. He came back to take revenge and claim his son. But will he dare to love again? And can he change the unfortunate future ahead of him?