Velvet Shell

"Why can’t you just leave me alone?" Valentina snarled, breath hitching as she shoved against the bark of the tree behind her. He stepped closer, eyes glowing with an untamed hunger. In one swift, possessive motion, he pinned her hands above her head, his lips grazing the pulse at her neck—dangerously close to the spot only a mate should touch. “Because, little wolf,” he whispered, his voice dark velvet against her skin, “you belong to me—and I’m done pretending otherwise.” _______ Stabbed by the man she once loved and betrayed by the friend she trusted most, Valentina was reborn in the ashes of heartbreak. No longer the obedient luna of the Shadow Crust pack, she rises from the shadows to reclaim her life—and her power. But home is no longer safe. Her pack is in ruins. Her father? Bewitched by a mysterious woman named Carmella. And fate? Cruel, as always. Because waiting for her in the heart of the storm is the man she should never desire—Andres Donovan, the cold and dangerously obsessive Lycan King… and her second-chance mate. He watches her with eyes full of secrets, speaks in riddles that echo of a past she can’t remember, and touches her like he’s been starving for centuries. But as enemies close in, alliances fracture, and war brews over the divine blood flowing in her veins, Valentina must decide: Will she fight fate again… Or surrender to the one man who could ruin her—or save her?

Alexander Gracias is the youngest CEO in Littleton Global’s history. Brilliant, ruthless, and utterly untouchable. Women are easy distractions he never lets too close… until the night he sees her. A mysterious stripper with hypnotic green eyes who vanishes before he can get her name. But fate has a wicked sense of humor. On day morning, she walks into him. demure, professional, and wearing a name tag that reads Mackenzie Jordans. His new secretary. His forbidden temptation. Mackenzie has spent years hiding a dangerous secret, one that could destroy the life she’s carefully built. By day, she’s the perfect assistant. By night, she’s Ramona the seductive performer stripper Now he’s determined to own her in the boardroom and beyond. But the closer he gets, he see she was a hard shell to crack. In a game of power, desire, and dangerous secrets… Who will break first? Excerpt from the book: “You look like you don’t scare easy,” she murmured as she came closer, her voice a low purr barely audible over the music. “I don’t scare at all,” he replied, taking a slow sip. She smiled at that, circling behind him. “We’ll see about that.” Her fingertips brushed along the back of his neck, feather-light. Then she came around to face him again, planting one heel between his knees. With a languid roll of her hips, she lowered herself onto his lap, her hair spilling over her shoulder, brushing against his cheek.

I couldn't tell him that I was pregnant. I was 18 confused and pregnant but still it was a secret from him. Five years later I’m confessing the truth to him but only because I have no other options, he is the only person that can keep us safe. I’m back but only because He is my last hope of getting through this predicament I find myself in. The plan is straight forward; Get what I need and get the hell away from him before I end up getting my heart broken by him again. I am going to ignore how my heart his smile make me feel butterflies. How his velvet voice turns me on. How his touch makes my Heartbeat faster. I can’t let Jace Harrington ruin me again, this time it’s not just my heart that is on the line but that of my little kids also.

“Me?” I asked, a smile playing on my lips. “You already have me.” His response was immediate, like he had been waiting forever to say the words. “Not the way I want. Not the way that matters.” ******** I sat in a bar, determined to drown out every single one of my sorrows after my marriage came to a painful crash, but he strolled in, all seductive smiles and an accent that rippled through me. Theon Murphy, a man made of dark chocolate, velvet kisses, and sin. That one night wasn’t supposed to happen, and I wasn’t supposed to walk into my first day of work to find my one-night lover seeking a care nurse for his grandfather. Me. Now we’re forced into a fake relationship that feels all too real, and every time he kisses me, the world stops and stills like a chaotic painting. When he makes a declaration, expressing his need to love me for real; would I be able to take the tattered fragments of my heart and piece them into something that deserves his love, or would the external forces creeping in on us arrive before I can make up my mind? My Billionaire Rebound is a book wrapped in layers of seduction, indecision and the crippling need to belong to someone trustworthy. Would Alina finally find her happily ever after? Or does fate have one more cruel twist up its sleeve?

A heart-wrenching story following a young Cassandra whose only ambition in life has been to get out of her shell and have her name recognized. That is until her first meeting with her fellow competitor at a prestigious internship. Will Cassandra give up her dream of success or choose the internship she’s dreamed of for as long as she can remember. And will that choice be made before her time runs out?

Bliss Carnap's life has been a tumultuous journey. Orphaned at birth, she was raised by her aunt, Deaconess Patricia, in Dakota. However, Aunt Patty's desperation for wealth led her to exploit Bliss, introducing her to prostitution at just 13 years old. Bliss was forced to grow up too quickly, learning to numb herself to the trauma. By 18, she had lost count of the men she had been with. Her life was a mere existence, devoid of emotions. That was until Zeke Kian, a charming soccer player from NYU, entered her life. Zeke is determined to win Bliss over, but she is unwilling to open up, fearing the vulnerability. As Zeke pursues Bliss, she must confront her dark past and the emotional scars that haunt her. Will Zeke's persistence break down Bliss's defenses, or will she remain trapped in her shell of numbness?

The room reeked of spilled champagne and poor decisions. Siena Blake blinked against the harsh morning light slicing through velvet curtains, her body aching in places she didn’t want to think about. She wasn’t in her bed. She wasn’t even in her house. And the man lying beside her—a stranger with a dangerously perfect face—was the proof. It was supposed to be her bachelorette party. One night of wild abandon with her friends before tying the knot with the man she’d loved since childhood. Instead, she had woken up in the arms of someone else, with no memory of how she got there. But that wasn’t the worst part. The worst came later—when she found police outside her house, her father being dragged away in handcuffs, and her fiancé, Zane, sending her a venom-laced message: “You’re a whore, Siena. Return the ring or I’ll leak the footage.” Within hours, her life was in ruins. Her family disgraced. Her heart shattered. And the man from that night? Lucian Voss—the most feared CEO in the country—stood behind it all, either by fate or by design. What started as an accident would become her obsession. Because five years later, she’s coming back… With a secret child. A mission for revenge. And a dangerous deal with the devil who unknowingly fathered her baby.

> “Stay still, Little Thorn… I want to taste you slowly.” His voice was velvet and ruin. His mouth, a weapon. And I—fool that I was—leaned closer. Before death wore a suit and called itself a lover, I used to believe in beauty. Before the blood. Before the runes. Before I painted the image that killed my parents—I believed my art could save me. Now I know better. I was just weeks from graduating when the painting came to me like a fever. I didn’t choose it. I didn’t plan it. My hands moved, possessed, dragging symbols I’d never seen and a face I’d never forgotten—his. Eyes red as wine. A crown pierced with thorns. And a girl in the center… me. Offering herself. I signed it with a mark I didn’t recognize. I sold it to a stranger. And days later, my parents were dead—no wounds, no reason, just... gone. The police said stress. I say fate. Now I’m being hunted by a world I didn’t know existed. Vampires with ancient courts and older grudges. Symbols that whisper in my blood. And Lucien D’Aragon—the vampire who says I summoned him with my brushstroke. That I belong to him. He says I’m his prophecy. His ruin. His Little Thorn. But I’m not just prey. Something is waking in me. Something hungry. Something I was never meant to survive. If I give in, I lose everything. If I fight, I might finally learn the truth. About my art. About my bloodline. About what really happened that night. And why he keeps whispering that I was painted for ruin... but made for him.

"Let me go," I snapped, even though my voice wasn’t as sharp as I wanted it to be. “No,” he growled, lips grazing the shell of my ear, his breath warm and wicked as his hand slid down, fingers pressing just above my thigh, and trailed all the way to my wet fold. “You want to hate this, don’t you?” he whispered, mouth trailing hot kisses along my neck as his hand shifted my underwear, “But your body’s begging, baby.” I gasped, lips parting, and before I could spit out a comeback, he crushed his mouth to mine. The kiss was rough, full of hunger, and I whimpered into his mouth before I could stop myself. My body pressed into his, desperate for more. But he suddenly pulled both his lips and hand back, “Say the word and I’ll stop.” I stared at him. My chest was rising and falling too fast. My lips were swollen. My thighs, God, I was throbbing. I want, I need. He pressed a knee between my legs and my and I mewed. Yes, me. I mewed like some needy, pathetic bitch in heat. For him. "That’s what I thought," he growled, and the next second he pinned both my wrists above my head and kissed me like he was trying to ruin me all over again. **** Liora once has a powerful name, a future paved in gold, until Tristan Cole walked in and tore everything apart. Now, years later, Liora is forced into a marriage contract with the very man who destroyed her life, all to save her dying brother. But Tristan wants something more dangerous. Her heart. Her body, all of her. Will love be her ultimate undoing? Or will she crawl out of wreckage and gain control?

{TW: DARK ROMANCE, ABUSE, DADDY KINK, PSYCHOTIC, VIOLENCE.} “Won’t you like to open your gift, Bambi?” It wasn’t a question. César Navarro never asked. He commanded. When Anya Esmeralda Torres untied the silk ribbon and lifted the lid of the velvet box, her world shattered. Inside, staring back at her with dead, lifeless pupils, were the green eyes of Giovanni De Luca…..the man whose gaze had made her uncomfortable all evening. Her scream ripped through the silence. “Now his eyes will never trouble you again.” He said it like he’d given her a necklace. Like dismemberment was romance. Like murder was love. César Navarro, known in the underworld as Calavera, wasn’t just the founder of a billion-dollar tech empire. He was the Skull—mafia heir, executioner, and obsession wrapped in a tailored suit. And Anya? She was his cage bird. His possession. His favorite game. But Anya wasn’t born to be caged. She was fire—wild, defiant, desperate for freedom. And no matter how many diamonds he draped her in, she vowed to escape. The question is: can you ever run from a monster who always finds you? Or will love become the