Velvet Shell

On the day we were to choose our magical guardians, my sister laid claim to the griffin's egg, leaving the serpent's egg to me. She boasted that, as the trueborn daughter of the queen and the eldest princess, she was destined to become the chosen heir. However, her griffin egg never hatched, what stumbled out was nothing more than a pitiful turkey. My serpent egg, however, nurtured by the waters of the enchanted spring, awakened into a true white wyvern. When I was named heir to the throne, my sister raised a cup in celebration, only to poison me with the wine and end my life. I opened my eyes again at the moment of choosing. This time, my sister snatched away my serpent egg, shattered the griffin's before my eyes, and imprisoned me on a distant isle: determined that I would witness her glory as the chosen of the white wyvern and heir to the crown. Yet when the white wyvern cracked its shell, destiny shifted. I bound myself instead to the Titan Ape, a beast mighty enough to bring the wyvern to its knees.

17-year-old Brook Grigsby's life was never the same after her father died. When her mother remarried, she thought the worst was over, but it was only beginning. Her stepdad is a werewolf, and among his people, she's known as 'Missy Mistake' because, to them, she should've never been born.Ryder Williams has taken his brother's name and place in the exchange with his uncle's pack, Black Mountain so that he can find a way to bring his uncle's cruel reign to an end. When Ryder sees Brook for the first time recognizes her as his mate. He wants to protect her from all the abuse she suffers, but Brook would rather suffer than risk her mother becoming the grief-stricken shell she was before. As a war between Ryder's pack and Black Mountain breaks out, Brook must decide just how far she will go to save the ones she cares about.

Everyone in the city knows Lena Moore award-winning investigative journalist, fearless, sharp-tongued, and impossible to intimidate. She’s built a career exposing powerful men and tearing down corrupt empires. What she doesn’t know is that the quiet man she keeps running into at her neighborhood café Eli Carter, the one who listens more than he talks, who fixes broken chairs for free and always smells faintly of ink and rain is one of those men. Eli isn’t just rich. He’s the silent owner of multiple companies, operating behind shell boards and faceless executives after his family was destroyed by public attention years ago. He chose anonymity over dominance. Their connection grows slowly. Conversations about ethics, loneliness, and truth. Late-night walks. Shared silences. Real intimacy. Then Lena is assigned a career-defining investigation. She’s hunting a mysterious billionaire whose companies are quietly reshaping the country. She’s hunting him.

In my previous life, I was born at the stroke of a cold, pitch-black midnight on New Year's Day, an omen the old town whispered about. They called me a Deathbringer's child, destined to guide the souls of the stillborn to rest. From the age of six, I carried small coffins alone to the graveyard by the church, burying them in silence. Each time, when I reached into the velvet shroud that wrapped the tiny casket, I would find a golden coin resting inside. My mother sold those coins for money, buying my brother a grand mansion, while leaving me behind in the crumbling family house to keep doing the work. No one expected the world of Haunts to descend. However, those coins turned out to be tokens of command, keys that bound the Haunts of the apocalypse to my will. With them, I became the Empress of the End, feared by all, ruling with every resource at my command.

Most people say rejection is the worst thing that could happen to a person, especially when it involves your fated mate. You become a shell of person you once were. Alpha Xavier and I have known each other since we were kids, we were always there for each and slowly I fell in love with my best friend. I was there when he told me he loved my twin sister I stood by and let him be happy, until that one fateful night when we found out we were mates and he rejected me and choose my twin. From that day forward nothing was the same. I watched them be happy together while I was slowly breaking and then I finally choose myself and left without a word to anyone. Eight years later the unthinkable happened. I am found and I am required to return to my pack because my twin sister died, Alpha Xavier chosen mate.

Lyra is an Omega who could not shift into her wolf form. Her life is just a shell lying in ruins since a strange disease wiped out her entire pack and left her the only survivor. That was when Devon came along and rescued her. Her mate, and her nightmare. Devon never wanted a weak one as his future Luna but he couldn't reject this little omega due to the King's law. He bruised her, tormented her, and treated her like the dirt beneath his shoe. However, when he finally got rid of this weak omega, he could never expect what treasure he had missed. Lyra had no time to celebrate her escape from hell when fate sent a new mockery. Her second mate turned out to be the even mightier Lycan King Julian, and he also refused to announce her as his mate but turned her to be his private slave.

"You like this, don't you?" His voice was dark velvet, wrapping around me, sinking under my skin. I swallowed hard, refusing to answer, but my body betrayed me-the sharp inhale, the way my lips parted, the way my thighs pressed together. He noticed. Of course, he did. He stepped closer, eliminating the space between us, his heat overwhelming. "Say it." I shook my head, a weak attempt at resistance. His fingers traced up my arm, slow, teasing, until they reached my throat. He didn't squeeze, didn't apply pressure-just let his touch linger there, making me hyperaware of my own racing pulse. "Liar," he murmured. I exhaled sharply. "You're too close." His lips brushed my ear, not quite a kiss, just a whisper of warmth. "And you're not stopping me."

In the heart of a modern metropolis lies Elysium, an exclusive BDSM club where the wealthy and powerful shed their masks and surrender to forbidden desires. By night, behind velvet curtains and gilded cages, Dominants and submissives dance in a dangerous symphony of pleasure and pain. Shadows of Desire follows a cast of lost souls drawn into Elysium’s seductive orbit: a newcomer aching to submit, a jaded Master with a dark past, a cunning Dominatrix guarding her secrets, a switch torn between roles, and a voyeur hungry for more than just watching. As decadent play turns to emotional entanglement, bonds of trust deepen – until whispers of betrayal begin to echo through the opulent chambers. In this world of consensual extremes, where ecstasy and agony blur, one hidden traitor threatens to destroy the sanctuary that binds them all. Secrets, obsessions, and power collide in a fast-paced, darkly seductive romance. Will love and loyalty survive when the truth comes to light, or will the betrayal lurking in the shadows shatter the fragile trust that holds Elysium together?

“How Long Were You Going To Wait Before Telling Me?” He Demanded, His Voice Like Velvet Over Steel. She decided to try to bluff him out, then abruptly changed tack, choosing to attack him on his own terms. “I could ask you the same thing. How long were you going to wait before telling me you’d bought this building? I never stood a chance to buy out, did I?” “You would have known in good time, Blair. Now, it is not like you to be unwell, and I assume it can be due to only one thing. So, I will ask you again. How long were you going to wait before telling me you were pregnant?” “Until never!” “Wrong answer.” He covered the short distance between them in the blink of an eye. One arm curved around her back, holding her captive against his body. And darn it, her body responded instantly to his touch.

“I bought you to be my whore.”Hendrix Parker lost it all four years ago. Angry at the world, he's become an asshole—a bitter shell of the man his family once loved. A recluse, he’s now forced to leave his sanctuary in the Florida Keys and become an active member of the real estate development community he now dominates.Problem is he's all alone and needs a buffer. Someone to draw attention away from him...Beau Carter is young, beautiful, and with a bright future ahead of her. Her dreams of becoming the first woman in her family to graduate from college are just within grasp, when the financial aid runs out. Up to her eyeballs in debt, she works night and day to make ends meet, but even that can only last for so long.A contract. Six Months. The catch?I'll become the sugar baby to a very rich man. Someone I find myself wanting to punch in the face and throw myself at, on the same breath.Craving Sugar was created by Elena M. Reyes, an eGlobal Creative Publishing author.