Unscramble Opened

After being reborn, the first thing my cousin and I did was switch grooms. In our previous lives, we had gotten married on the same day. She, gentle and composed by nature, became the wife of Blake Malcolm, the aloof naval commander. On their wedding anniversary, Blake skipped the occasion to celebrate his childhood friend's birthday. My cousin had only wanted an explanation, but Blake claimed his conscience was clear. They fell into a silence that lasted fifty years. And me? With my temper—quick to fight, never one for patience—I had married an accountant from the machinery plant's compound. The accountant was soft-spoken, forever complaining about how loud I was, and how little I cared about appearances. We fought every three days, major arguments every five. Eventually, he stopped coming home. Less than a year into the marriage, we divorced. Then one day, my cousin and I opened our eyes and found ourselves young again—and it was the day we were to marry. Again.

Ever since I started at the Brooklyn Enquirer as a journalist, I've been reporting on stories nobody cares about. But the other day, I found a story that I was sure the audience would sink their teeth into. One that was front-page worthy and would make our newspaper infamous. Except it centers around a mafia boss and his bloodthirsty brothers.  It won't be easy to get it, but I'm determined to prove my worth. And it starts with Darick Dawson. My heart fluttered as we gazed into each other's eyes. At the same time, we leaned forward, and our lips touched. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he stroked his fingers through my hair, pulling at the roots softly, earning a moan from me. He traced his finger around my lips when suddenly, I opened my eyes and noticed the red in his irises getting darker. My Bloodthirsty Mafia Man is written by Claire Wilkins, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author

"Happy Birthday!" Caroline opened the door to Dillbert's office. He was Caroline's boss and lover. Caroline brought a cake that she made herself early this morning especially for Dillbert. But Caroline's eyes blinked when she saw Dillbert hugging a beautiful woman in a knee-length white dress. My intention was to give Dillbert a surprise but instead he got the surprise. The cake she was holding almost fell but Caroline reflexively held the cake with her other hand. Caroline hurriedly changed her shocked expression and bowed respectfully. "Who is she darling?" The beautiful woman asked while looking at Caroline with a cynical look. She looked at Caroline from head to toe. "She is just my personal assistant." Dillbert answered quickly without hesitation. Then Dillbert turned to the beautiful woman in his arms and tightened his embrace, as if afraid of losing her. "Just a personal assistant," Caroline thought. It's true that she's Dillbert's personal assistant but she's also his girlfriend.

“Just say yes, Ken…” He whispered huskily against her neck. “Be my mate.” Every part of the female Beta was screaming to say yes, her body very much aware of the Alpha’s presence, but when she opened her mouth, all that came out was, “I—I can’t.” ******* Kendra Sullivan is a feminist… one who believes that she should make her own choices in life, rejecting the laid down roles of women and she wolves, which is to populate the pack and care for their young. Alpha Killian Silvercrest is cursed, and only his mate can save him and the entire pack from imminent doom. He is desperate, and already enamored by Kendra, and she by him… but their union goes against everything she stands for, and she is the most stubborn person he has ever met. Torn between her own personal beliefs and saving her Pack, Kendra has to make the greatest sacrifice she has ever made. But what choice will she make?

Jason Reed had been my boyfriend for seven years. He suddenly disappeared, and the last place I was able to trace him was Melvaris. That night, I received a video call. In it, a man holding an electric baton yelled, “Bring 50 million dollars as ransom to the industrial zone. Otherwise, don’t expect him to return alive.” Jason was beside the man. He was covered in blood. He pleaded desperately, “Clara! Save me! They promise to let me go if we give them the money!” Without thinking twice, I did as I was told. However, when I arrived, I was drugged and knocked unconscious. In the end, I was tortured to death. What hurt the most was not that. Jason took one-third of the ransom I had prepared. Then, he returned to Caldovia and married Hannah Blake, the student who had received financial assistance from my family. But when I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day he went missing.

Betrayed by her own sister, disowned by her father, and abandoned by the family she once called home, Julia carries the name “criminal” like a scar she didn’t earn. After three months behind bars for a crime she didn’t commit, Julia walks out of prison with nothing - no family, no friends, and no place to go. Imagine as the biological daughter of the family, but being cast aside and replaced with the adopted one. That was where Julia found herself. But fate wasn’t done with her. The powerful family that adopted her from the orphanage before the Reynolds – her biological family, came to claim her, now opened their arms wide to welcome her back. Now, as the truth began to resurface and the lies start to crumble, Julia’s chest burned with rage, ready to clear her name and bring the Reynolds down to their knees. The Disowned Heiress is a story of betrayal, second chances, and a woman’s quiet war against the people who disowned and framed her for a crime she didn’t commit.

After losing his beloved fiancée to an accident; Jaden Keystone, the youngest billionaire in the country closes his heart never to be opened again. Nineteen year old Anna Alexander isn’t everyone’s favorite girl but everyone’s topic when it comes to gossip. Being beautiful, smart, audacious and ridiculously stubborn weren’t qualities that made up a woman and ironically; the last person to care about this opinions was Anna. If life could spiral in the wrong direction; living in the Keystone Villa preparing to get married to rich and mean Jaden wasn’t definitely the direction Anna thought life could spin to. Her determination to save her father, his compromise to save his family’s name; the two bitter souls were not trying to make their marriage work. But when Jaden barges into Anna undressing and finds it hard to take his eyes off her; their relationship further spirals into the unknown. Surrendering to a lifetime of animosity or opening their hearts; were options for Jaden and Anna.

It was the day of my return. The city was talking about the birthday party my husband was throwing for me. He was a lawyer. But the night before the big day, a message popped up on my husband's cell phone. 'It's been five years. I've been waiting for far too long.' My husband pushed me away, though his face was smeared with guilt. "I'm sorry, honey. The GM wants me on a last-minute work trip. I can't make it in time for your birthday." He left without even missing a beat. I opened up the GPS app and watched the red dot move away. That was him. I got an Uber and tailed him right away. His GM was me. I just got the job, and I approved his leave for my birthday. And then he told me, in my face, that I assigned him on a last-minute work trip when I did no such thing. It was midnight. And I was going to find out who this man was meeting at this witching hour.

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.

When Dylan Sullivan took a new type of hallucinogen, I was forced to give myself to him to curb the effects. Innately fertile, I got pregnant, giving birth to fraternal twins—a boy and a girl—after marrying him. However, Dylan refused to let them call him daddy, drinking away the nights while staring at the picture of his one true love. Then, on our tenth anniversary, he locked us up in the basement and burnt us to death. As it turns out, he remained hung up on that moment when I saved him all this time, stubbornly convinced I intervened when he was vulnerable to satisfy my ambitions. That in turn drove a rift between himself and his one true love, whose heartbreak led to psychosis and the accident that killed her. But I somehow opened my eyes to find myself alive, returning to the day Dylan took the hallucinogen by mistake. This time, I let his one true love have him, while I headed towards the study…