The Price Of Time

My life was a carefully curated map of invisibility until Jax Ryder decided to burn it all down. After catching him in a compromising secret, the dynamic shifted. I held the power, and my price was simple: make me desirable to his captain.

The tenth time one of my paintings appeared under my sister Rose's name, I handed Adrian the divorce papers. He raised an eyebrow and tossed the agreement aside without a second glance. "Don't be dramatic. Your hand is ruined -- where would you even go without me?" I said nothing. He smiled, his tone dripping with casual indifference. "You should be grateful. Rose was the one I was supposed to marry. A few paintings is a small price to pay. A little gratitude wouldn't kill you." He blew a ring of cigarette smoke directly into my face. I choked, and the sting brought tears to my eyes. Through the blur, I was transported back to the moment my tendons were severed for his sake -- a pain that had drilled straight to the bone. He thought I had no choice but to take it. What he didn't know was that I'd already accepted an offer from the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Soon, I would be free of him for good.

I've been married to Austin Salazar for five years. Every time I accidentally touch him, he'll force me to kneel in a pool of disinfectants while reciting verses from the Bible. But there was once when I noticed a bright red hickey on Austin's collarbone. Instincts propelled me to touch it for a fleeting moment. While Austin did lose his temper at me before storming out of our home, for once, he didn't tell me to get down on my knees. Naively, I thought that he's starting to get used to my touch. But the next day, my virginity is set to be auctioned off at the auction house where the rich and the powerful of Bannerton regularly visit. The auction will officially start in two days. While Austin's buddies calculate the price they can afford to bid with lewd expressions, he remains unmoved as he keeps cleansing his collarbone with disinfectants repeatedly. "How dare she touch the spot Carol has kissed before! Who does she think she is? Just the sight of her taints my vision!"

A revenge that cost her body. Elira Vale was left with nothing but a thirst for blood. To get it, she made a deal with the devil himself. Arthur Blackthorne is fifty years of pure, lethal temptation, a billionaire who demands a high price for his protection: a contract marriage and an heir he thinks he can never have. Caught in a web of “His Dark Sin”, she realizes that every forbidden touch comes with a price she wasn't prepared to pay. But as the secrets of her past begin to bleed into her present, the truth is more dangerous than the lie. She's about to find out that the man holding her hand might be the one she should fear the most. Warning: This story contains dark, steamy romance and explicit content intended for audiences 18+, may contain bdsm and straight intimacy.

Emma works as a secretary in a distinguished company. Her boss is the attractive and arrogant Leonardo White, who one day, proposes a particular dinner with him, Emma agrees, without having any idea of the consequences that this will bring to her life and future. What is the price of falling in love with a heartthrob?

“Are you here to gloat about your money?“ “No. Rather, I'm here to offer myself to you, Alvara“ Kai says. “Use me to get your revenge on my brother. I promise to help you get back everything you lost to him—and more“ That sounded too good of an offer not to have a price attached to it. Regardless, it was my best bet. I wasn't certain I could start from scratch again with my company without clearing out the plagiarism issue first. It wasn't something I was certain I could handle alone either but with Kai, I just might be able to. “And am I using you for free or is there a price attached to it?“ “Not a price but there is a requirement“ These bunch of sneaky Foley brothers. “Which is?“ “Marry me, Alvara“ *** Alvara's world comes crashing down after her husband not only sold her company's idea to a rival company but was also found in bed with her best friend. She decides to hand him divorce papers to cut him loose and swore to have her revenge. A revenge she wasn't sure she could do alone until Kai, her brother-in-law offers her to use him. It was like killing two birds with one stone. An offer too good to pass up. But what Alvara didn't know was that Kai had other intentions than just helping her. Find out more in this fast-paced billionaire short story!

She had been the happiest woman in the world with a perfect marriage and two children. Unexpectedly, an explosion killed her beloved husband. She swore revenge and made the killer pay the price, but... she didn't expect her husband to be reborn and come back.

Amanda Dimitriou accept Jordan Millero’s offer – her boyfriend to meet his family. After a long time only being able to see on the news about Millero’s, now Amanda was able to see and meet them in person. And then, shock hit her like a train because she met the guy who spent one night with her two years ago, the man who took her virginity. The asshole who left a million dollar check and said in his note that a million dollar was the price of her virginity. He dropped her pride, and Amanda hated him with all her bone in her body. However, she can do nothing because some fact hit her like a truck again. A fact that now that asshole become a cooperation partner of the company where she works and, more unfortunately, he’s the eldest cousin in the Milero’s family. Amanda tried to keep her distance and away from that asshole. Rhysand del Milero was ruthless, violent, and had enough self-confidence for last two lives. However, he had a touch and attractive gaze, erotic, hot and irresistible. And Amanda hated him even more.

I wheel myself into the birthday celebration that Wales Price has thrown for me. The atmosphere is originally lively, but a brief silence descends when everyone sees me. The guests are there for different purposes, but celebrating my birthday is not one of them. "Is that Mr. Price's crippled fiancée, Joey Hertza?" "Yeah, but the one he really loves is Anna Giovanni. I saw them kissing in a corner earlier." They use their wine glasses to block their mouths as they speak loudly. They think I'm still the crippled deaf I used to be. They don't know that I regained my hearing last week. I can hear every mocking comment they make. Meanwhile, Wales stands there and allows it to happen. He doesn't stop the guests from talking about me. He seems to have forgotten that I only ended up like this while protecting him. I shoved him away when the accident happened and got trapped underneath the car myself. When I was rescued, Wales swore to stay with me and care for me for life. It's only been three short years since then, but he's already changed. I receive a message on my phone. "Ms. Hertza, the lifelike corpse that you've ordered is now complete. Reply to this message with your confirmation, and your death-faking service will be immediately effective. We will send the corpse to your and Mr. Price's wedding in five days." I don't even hesitate as I reply with my confirmation. Enjoy your wedding, Wales.

Abused from a young age, Katalayha was forced to run a house hold, tormented and tortured at every turn. She was the maid, the chef, the cleaner, the punching bag, the daughter that was never wanted. All her life she has been hurt by those who should love her, forced to abandon her very nature, and her birthright. Two months before her eighteenth birthday, Katalayha is given away to a ruthless Alpha, not as payment but as a token of good faith. Money is owed, and Katalayha's entire future is the price for extending the due date. Forced to marry, and mate with a man that she doesn't know, Katalayha becomes a shell of the beaten person she was. Who would have thought that the very man that put her in the position she's in, would become the one driving her to succeed? Is it love, or is she going to betray him to finally claim her freedom? She is Katalayha Slovak, first born of Alpha Kade and first Alpha-Female. It seems men have beaten her down one way or another her entire life, it's time the roles were reversed. Don't you agree?