Up Smoke

“Bro, it’s not a big deal. I’m just fucking her.” My heart stopped. Kendall’s voice replied, “But man, what would people think if you made her your girl? That’d be crazy work.” “I’m not stupid,” Jalen said flatly. “I’d never make her mine. It’s only sex, nothing more. And honestly? It’s not that good anymore. I was gonna let her down easy before break.” ...... Aria, a plus-size beauty, thought her scholarship and condo arrangements were a dream until she met her roommate, Talia. Rich, spoiled, and instantly cruel, Talia made Aria's life miserable. Talia’s new boyfriend, Jalen, was the campus golden boy. When Aria and Jalen were paired for a project, they clicked in ways neither expected from late night talks to shared secrets and undeniable sexual chemistry. On Halloween night, during an all campus party, Aria sees Talia cheating on Jalen. One emotional night led to an affair that changed everything… until Jalen says some really damaging words to his roommate that were unforgivable and also heard by a once happy but now upset Aria. Disappointed, fed up, and heartbroken, Aria leaves campus and never looks back. TEN YEARS LATER Aria returns for the ten year reunion, confident, stunning, and a self-made CEO. Jalen is still gorgeous… but stuck in a miserable marriage with Talia. She ignores him. Talia tries to humiliate her. Aria wins the room. As she leaves, Jalen kisses her. She lets herself feel it, then slaps him and walks away. THE BUSINESS MERGER Jalen’s cruise line needs Aria’s brand to revamp their image. She agrees, reluctantly. Now they’re forced to work side by side, trapped between old wounds and new sparks. Some love stories never die. But some can burn you twice.

My boyfriend, Zayne Jefferson, is particularly gifted in certain ways. Every time we're intimate, he insists on trying something new. More than once, he gently coaxes me, saying, "Once you graduate, we'll get married." And I believe him. I throw myself into my studies, pushing hard to finish my credits early. At the same time, I secretly watch all kinds of videos at night and read up on techniques. I want to keep his body satisfied. One night, I stay up too late studying and miss curfew. I run to the bar to find him, where I overhear him chatting with his friends. "Zayne, is your girlfriend really that wild in bed?" one guy asks. "Of course. He trained her himself!" another guy says. "What about Yasmin?" Zayne exhales a stream of smoke, his eyes soft. "She's different. She's pure." In that moment, I begin to hate him. Back on campus, I make a call to my professor. "That secret program you mentioned… I want in." From this day on, my life belongs only to my career.

Diawasi oleh pria asing saat sedang naik kendaraan umum, selangkah demi selangkah memasuki perangkap ....

The darkest corners of the world hold the secrets the leaders want you to forget. Deep inside a cabin covered with moss and shadows, those secrets are not yet forgotten. Under the moon, light glistens off of shining stones lining the porch and bundles of herbs drying from the rafters. Candlelight emanates from the interior and warmth surrounds the occupant. Inside this cabin was a forrest witch who was chanting a spell as she added herbs to a small caldron. Smoke rises and electricity fills the room. Her raven hair started to rise and the smoke turned glowing green. Leaves outside the cabin started swirling in the air raising around the cabin forming a circle. “None may find me where I reside, safe in the forrest this witch hides. Safe from the evil doers and safe from their men. None may ever find me again.” Cold. Like ice from an iceberg, his skin molded smoothly across his frame. The envelop in his hands was sealed by the Elder Lords sigil pressed into blood red wax. Slipping his long pale finger, breaking the seal, one word was inside. “Urgente.” His particular talents were once again needed.

Setelah mengalami kecelakaan, aku sengaja berpura-pura amnesia untuk menggoda suami dan putraku. "Kalian siapa?" Mata putraku berbinar gembira saat menarik seorang wanita yang berdiri di luar kamar rumah sakit untuk masuk ke dalam. Dia berkata, "Tante, aku dan orang tuaku ke sini untuk menjengukmu." Suamiku berdiri diam di sampingnya, diam-diam menyetujui perkataan putraku.

Her name was Cathedra. Leave her last name blank, if you will. Where normal people would read, "And they lived happily ever after," at the end of every fairy tale story, she could see something else. Three different things. Three words: Lies, lies, lies. A picture that moves. And a plea: Please tell them the truth. All her life she dedicated herself to becoming a writer and telling the world what was being shown in that moving picture. To expose the lies in the fairy tales everyone in the world has come to know. No one believed her. No one ever did. She was branded as a liar, a freak with too much imagination, and an orphan who only told tall tales to get attention. She was shunned away by society. Loveless. Friendless. As she wrote "The End" to her novels that contained all she knew about the truth inside the fairy tale novels she wrote, she also decided to end her pathetic life and be free from all the burdens she had to bear alone. Instead of dying, she found herself blessed with a second life inside the fairy tale novels she wrote, and living the life she wished she had with the characters she considered as the only friends she had in the world she left behind. Cathedra was happy until she realized that an ominous presence lurks within her stories. One that wanted to kill her to silence the only one who knew the truth.

Ryan is a hard working young woman that loves to be in her own space and keeps to herself. Until a man from her past comes binto her life and shows her new and exciting way to live. He makes her change the way she lives, thinks and even dream about life. Will she let him in or will she run for the hills?

When Athena's father dies mysteriously, she ends up in a contract marriage with ruthless billionaire Levi Strauss-Jackson in a bid to investigate the mysterious circumstances. Trapped in a cold marriage of convenience fueled by ulterior motives, Athena unexpectedly falls for her callous husband while also finding friendship in his charming brother Samuel. Ensnared in an opulent but twisted world of secrets and conflicting agendas, the newlywed heiress soon realizes her investigation has also made herself a target. As buried truths claw to the surface, Athena discovers bonds can become shackles and new family ties may be fatal. To reclaim her power and ensure her survival, she must see through the smoke and mirrors of the Strauss-Jackson empire to uncover who the real enemy is while fighting her growing attraction to her new husband and his brother. But will the truth about her father’s death free her...or will it instead seal her own? In the glittering corridors of power and wealth, even wedding vows and blood pacts can be decisively broken.

My daughter has been kidnapped, and the kidnapper is asking for five million dollars as ransom. I can just about scrounge the money together, but the kidnapper makes it clear that he wants a life in exchange for my daughter's. He'll take the money and kill the person who brings it to him. I smoke throughout the night, my eyes bloodshot as I try to think of something. Then, I fix my gaze on my mother, who is now senile and insane.

Michelle sat in silence in the corner of the room, covered in wounds. Her white dress had now turned red as blood. Her hands held the part that squeezed between her groin, a pain she could not endure after serving her master's lust as a slave girl. The life of that nineteen-year-old girl truly felt like hell. Until Damien, a noble-class vampire, a ruler known to be very cruel and respected, comes and saves her. But instead of getting a worse life, Michelle is treated more nobly than a princess. What is the true identity of the noble-class vampire with the title 'Sir Damien Blackheart'? Why could he be so kind to Michelle, a human slave who was even considered the lowest slave among the other slaves? And what secret is Damien keeping that the other vampire nobles don't know?