Trembling Tongue

**When society calls you worthless, but one man sees your true value...** Sonia Valencia thought she knew what rock bottom felt like—until she found herself homeless, penniless, and fighting for custody of her son after her husband's betrayal. With scars marring her once-beautiful face and deeper scars on her heart, she never expected salvation to come in the form of a marriage proposal from a stranger. Fabian Martinez, the country's most sought-after billionaire actor, needs a wife to secure custody of his own son. What he doesn't need are complications—but that's exactly what he gets when he meets the scarred woman the world calls ugly, who agrees to his business arrangement. --- *"I need a wife,"* Fabian said bluntly, his piercing blue eyes studying the scars on her face without flinching. *"And you need financial security and a father figure for your son. This could work for both of us."* Sonia stared at the contract in her trembling hands. Six months. A marriage of convenience to a man who could have any supermodel in the world—yet chose her, the woman her own husband called a monster. She should have known better than to trust a contract to contain her heart.

“He pressed me to the wall with one hand tight around my throat, the other sliding beneath the thin silk clinging to my skin. I should’ve been begging for help. Instead, my knees went weak when he leaned in, his mouth hot against my ear. ‘Does it hurt, darling?’ he whispered. I shook my head, even as his fingers left bruises. ‘Good. I like it when you take it.’ God, I hated him. God, I wanted him to never let go.” A DARK, EROTIC TALE OF OBSESSION, HUMILIATION, AND HUNGER. They called him the Devil, a sadist with a crooked smile and hands built for breaking men. In the underworld’s most perverse auction, Luca Ruelle is nothing but trembling prey, sold for a price no soul should fetch. Silk-wrapped, bare, choking on shame and smoke, he should be praying for rescue. But Kain Astor doesn’t rescue. He claims, corrupts, and devours. He teaches Luca how it feels to be owned. How pain can bloom where fear lives. How pleasure is just another kind of cruelty. Every command is a dare, every punishment a promise. Under Kain’s hands, Luca learns the exquisite agony of surrender, and the terror of how badly he needs it. He should be fighting for his life. Instead, he’s sinking to his knees, eyes glazed, lips parted, whispering the one word that seals his fate— “Please.”

“You killed him! You killed him and now you play games with my child.” She yells at Rex as she struggles to free herself from my grip and attack him again. I can feel her body trembling and for the first time since the whole thing started, I feel so sorry for her and what she has been put through. Lost in the moment, I don’t realize when I hold her down to my chest and start stroking her hair to calm her down. At that very moment, just when I thought I had seen it all and nothing more could come as a surprise, I feel Xan move as a single, powerful word slips from him. “Mate.” He growls and I freeze. ***** After being forced to watch the brutal murder of her new born child and father, at the hands of her ex-mate, Camille Lockwood is thrown between three men when a vaccine is created that could turn almost any wolf into a Lycan. The Lycan king and his beta get so caught up with the struggle to get to the vaccine first that they don’t realize just how much she is changing their lives. What happens when Camille finds out that she is mated to the beta and the Lycan king realizes that she is his second chance mate? Who would win her heart at the end?

“Please... spare my life,” she whispered, her voice trembling like the last leaf clinging to a winter branch. Blood trickled from her split lip as she pressed her forehead to the cold marble floor, her entire body shaking with terror. “I treasure what belongs to me,” he replied, his voice cold and deadly. His gloved hand gripped her chin, forcing her to meet his merciless gaze. “And as of tonight, little ghost... you belong to me.” Born from a one-night stand between a mafia lord and a maid, Liliana Orlov entered the world with her mother’s blood staining her face. Her father, Don Nickolas Orlov never let her forget who she was - a curse! While her half-sisters wear silks, she scrubs floors. While they dine in gold-lit halls, she eats their scraps. She was the family’s whipping girl, blamed for the empire’s weakness-no male heir, no future. Then, the unthinkable happens. To end a decade-long war, Nickolas sold Liliana to his greatest enemy Mikhail Volkov also known as “The Reaper” the heir to the most powerful and brutal mafia dynasty. Her fate was sealed. She entered into a forced marriage to secure peace. Thrown into a gilded cage, Liliana faces a man more merciless than her father. Is survival enough… or will she dare to want more? Or Will a man who rules through fear finally learn to kneel to love? Find out more in the story!

He should have been satisfied. Lucas had dismantled the Montage Empire, reduced its legacy to ash. Arabella Montage had nothing left: no power, no family, no future. Just her name and a heartbeat he hadn’t yet taken. But when he saw her on that auction stage, trembling under harsh lights, something inside him shifted. She was being sold like livestock. A girl once untouchable, now displayed for the highest bidder. He was the architect of her ruin. And still... he bought her. She was the last remaining piece of the empire he had destroyed. And he needed to possess it. To possess her. To own the symbol of everything he had conquered. To fill the aching void that victory hadn't satisfied. She used to be a free bird. Until he clipped her wings. Now, he would remake her. Mold her. Give her purpose again, just so he could tear it all away. Break her. Destroy her, all over again. He didn’t want her dead. Anything was acceptable, as long as her heart kept beating. To her, he’s just another powerful man playing God. But one thing becomes terrifyingly clear: Lucas will keep her heart beating, just so he can be the one to crush it. Again and again

In the depths of her despair, her tear-stained eyes desperately tried to focus on the heartless figure before her. "I am not a mere plaything to be possessed," she whispered through trembling lips. "I am a person, with hopes and dreams that extend far beyond the confines of this marriage. I am... am a person with emotions." But he remained unmoved, his gaze cold and unsympathetic. "You are just a contract wife, bound to serve and fulfill my desires," he retorted, devoid of warmth or understanding. "Your aspirations are irrelevant. Your emotions, as long as they don't disrupt this façade of a marriage, are inconsequential..." His callousness only deepened her despair, and he reveled in it, wiping away her tears with cruel satisfaction. "Don't cry, my dear," he sneered. "You have years ahead to drown in regret and endure your punishments. You write about fairytales, don't you? Welcome to your Hell in Paradise, Wife." … ‘How and where had it all started?’ You might ask, dear distinguished reader. Well, it all began with money, as it so often does in Los Angeles, where a sinister game of romance and deceit unfolded when Sirena, a struggling romance author agreed to walk down the aisle with the egoistic heir of the prestigious Crown Dynasty. Three years. That was all or so she thought until an unexpected twist left her torn between the vague feelings she had for the cruel husband and the intense fairytale pang she felt with the mysterious ‘masked man’. Caught in a whirlwind of emotions, amidst lavish parties and extravagant soirées, Sirena finds herself entangled in a treacherous web of love and loyalty, where hidden agendas, forbidden desires, and deceptions threaten to take away her newfound love. Newfound love with whom? Even this Author is itching to find out.

With a shift, I let my dress slip from my shoulders and fall to the floor, revealing the lingerie beneath. Nathan's eyes darkened, as closing the small distance between us, his lips claimed mine in a possessive kiss. His tongue tangled with mine, both hungry and tender. Then, slowly, oh so tantalizingly slowly, he backed me toward the bed, his kisses travelling down my neck, across my collarbone, before they moved lower still… ~~~ FBI Agent Brianna Hart had always wanted Nathan Pierce, her stepbrother, and for several years they had been lovers, but circumstances forced them apart. When Brianna returns to her former job within the FBI, she finds Nathan married. When he once again becomes her team leader, Brianna tries to maintain a professional relationship with Nathan. But after a tragic accident takes the life of Nathan’s wife and unborn child, Nathan seeks solace within Brianna’s arms. Old feelings flare to life between them, and both struggle with the undeniable sexual attraction between them. Brianna's heart is torn over her love and need for the newly widowed Nathan, while he grapples with the loss of his family and his re-awakened feelings for a woman he never quite let go of.

[MATURE CONTENT] Every night, he snuck into her bedroom and gets intimate with her. She wasn't his mate, neither was she his Luna who had just been newly crowned. She was his slave. Yet, he discloses the fact that he felt lust for her, disregarding the fact that he had a Luna. She had once asked, "Are you in love with me?" River was breathless when she puffed those words out, her heart threatening to burst through her ribcage. "Oh, River, my love. What I feel for you is more than love. It can never be put in actual words." He had responded, running his finger down her face, caressing it softly. His touch was tender, yet River was quaking in fear as she gazed up at him. "And, if I don't end up having you by the end of the day, I'd kill you," he continues, brushing a thumb against her trembling lips. "and, kill myself." However, he wasn't the man for her. They both had their mates. And worse, he was a man who had contributed to her agony. She had once been the Alpha's daughter, living a glossy life, but Alpha Ryker had waged a war against their Pack, riding them of every single thing they owned and forcing River to relocate to a new Pack as an Omega subjected to bullying. How will River accept her fate of being the obsession of ruthless Alpha Ryker, who had caused the ruin of her father's Pack and made her into an Omega?

Sara's legs straddling Austin's lap, their lips clashed in a fierce, passionate kiss. The sound of their lips meeting was like a spark, igniting a flame that threatened to consume them. "Mmm," Sara murmured, her lips vibrating against Austin's. "I hate you," Austin growled, his hands grasping her hips, pulling her closer. His fingers dug into her skin, sending shivers down her spine. Sara's hands were just as busy, her fingers tracing the lines of Austin's face, her thumbs brushing against his lips. "I hate you too," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the sound of their kissing. Their lips parted for a moment, and Austin's tongue darted out, tracing the curve of Sara's lower lip. She moaned, her hands tangling in his hair, pulling him closer. Sara's hands began to roam, her fingers tracing the contours of Austin's chest. She reached for the hem of his shirt, pulling it up and over his head. As she exposed his chest, Austin's eyes locked onto hers, a warning flashing in their depths. "You'll hate me tomorrow," he said, his voice low and rough. Sara's eyes flashed with defiance, her hands continuing to explore Austin's chest. "We don't like each other anyway," she said, her voice husky with desire.

Betrayed. Abandoned. And Avenged with Triumph. When I married Damian Carter, I believed in forever. In loyalty. In love that withstands time, success, and hardship. I was the woman who stood beside him when he was nothing, who helped him build his empire, who sacrificed everything so he could become the man he always wanted to be. And when he finally got there—when he was rich, powerful, untouchable—he threw me away like last night’s mistake. He didn’t just cheat. He rewrote our story, twisting the truth until I was nothing more than a pathetic, useless wife clinging to his fortune. The world believed him. My own family doubted me. I lost everything. But they were all wrong about me. I didn’t break. I didn’t shatter. I rebuilt. With the help of a man who saw me for who I really was, I built my own empire. I exposed Damian’s secrets, stripped away his power, and took back everything they said I never could. And when he came crawling back, whispering apologies, asking for another chance—his voice trembling with regret—I simply smiled. Because I wasn’t that woman anymore. And more than that, I had finally found a man who never needed to lose me to understand my worth.