Very Lightly

Valeria was just a wife on paper. Three years of a hellish marriage with the only man she had ever loved but it ended in divorce one rainy night. “Sign them. I can no longer stand to see your face or pretend like I don't want to strangle you with my bare hands everytime I lay eyes on you.” He barked coldly, throwing the papers on the table in front of her. She couldn't say it was unexpected. It had always been a matter of time. Once childhood friends, everything had gone to hell because of one woman, Isis Whittaker, Luka's late fianceé. An unfortunate accident. An incriminating message. Somehow, Luka came to believe Valeria was responsible for the death of the woman he loved and took it upon himself to punish her personally. Three years of torment and being labelled a murderer. She'd never thought the ending would be so…cathartic. Her hand lightly grazed her stomach as she signed the papers. Terrified of how she would explain she was pregnant from a night of passion he didn't even remember, she no longer needed to tell him. She would make sure he was never going to find out that she was carrying his son, the heir to the Thorne Empire. But then again, things never quite go as planned, she should have realized this by now…

In two steps he was on her, yanking her up straight and turning her around to face the wall. She gasped at the change in dynamic: her teasing and taunting were shoved roughly to one side and now he was in full and total control. Jo trembled as he dropped a slow, sexy kiss on her right shoulder, then lightly nipped her soft skin before moving his mouth to her ear. “Don’t you move, angel,” he murmured. “Keep facing forward.” **** Jolene Angeles is fresh out of a nightmare marriage and parked at a roadside biker bar hunting for one thing: Mr. Right Now. In a few days, she’ll have a new job, a new city, a new life, and a single, forgettable one-night stand feels like the perfect way to burn the past down. Then she meets Zeke. Silver-eyed, dangerous. Exactly the kind of mistake she wants. One night, no names, no aftermath. Zeke “Silver” Bennett doesn’t lose control. Ever. He learned that lesson once, and it nearly destroyed him. So when he spots the dark-eyed woman across the bar, he knows the rules: one night, clean break, no complications. Until fate throws them together again... and secrets start detonating. They didn’t tell each other the truth. Now they’re forced to decide: can trust be built on lies? And if the truth finally comes out – raw, painful, unforgiving – will either of them be brave enough to risk real love?

Looking up I see a boy I had never seen before, a cocky smirk graced his features. "Here you go" he said handing me the pencil I just nodded my head confused as to where he came from since the hallway was dead silent just moments before. Looking over his shoulder I see six other guy's watching the situation. Looking them all up and down I can't deny that their all definitely attractive. Looking back at the guy infront of me I look into his brown eyes a light spark of pink shinning in them. I smiled slightly not being able to find my voice so I begin nodding my head a little in thanks. Turning to walk away I begin to exit the hallway "what no thank you?" a voice called out causing me to turn around. Looking back I see the guy that handed me my pencil his arms lightly spread out with shock across his features. "Right, thanks" I started staring at him before looking at the other six as they all stared at me expectantly, at this moment I guess I really had no idea why. "Oh, right" I started causing them all to perk up "welcome to our hell hole new kids" I continued with a smirk opening my arms up, just like the guy did when he called out to me.

Addy Walker once believed love was supposed to be loud—felt in bedtime stories, laughter in the kitchen, and the warmth of arms that made the world feel safe. That’s how it was before her mother died. Before her father changed. Grief hollowed him out. The man who once teased and protected became a shell—quiet, cold, unreachable. Then came the bottles. The slammed doors. The bruises. Addy, now eighteen, has learned to survive in silence—walking lightly, speaking carefully, hiding her pain beneath long sleeves and polite smiles. She works long hours to keep food on the table while her father sinks deeper into debt and addiction. One night, she comes home to a dark, freezing house—again. The electricity is off. Again. And she knows why. She confronts him, her voice sharper than it’s ever been. He denies it at first, but the truth is already spread across the kitchen counter in final notice bills and losing betting slips. He’d gambled away the electric bill money on a horse. The argument erupts. He screams, she stands her ground. When he slaps her, she doesn’t flinch. Something inside her shifts. She’s done waiting for the man he used to be. Addy packs a bag. She’s leaving—for real this time. No plan. No destination. Just freedom. But as she storms out into the rain, a long, black car pulls up to the curb. A man steps out—tall, broad-shouldered, older. His face is hard, almost frightening in the shadows, but he’s striking. Dangerous. And calm.

My mafia husband, Vincent Santoro, was born a monster, incapable of loving anyone. But one day, I discovered he was hiding a ‘forbidden fruit’. A girl from the slums, Claire Murphy. Scarred by life, yet as beautiful as a wildflower growing through concrete. For a man who'd waded through blood his whole life, she was a fatal attraction he never saw coming. He thought he'd covered his tracks. He was wrong. At the Santoro family's annual dinner, I confronted him about Claire, tears streaking down my face. He just lightly frowned, then had his consigliere slide the divorce papers across the table to me. "Isabella. Sign it. The three North Side docks and the shipping lines are yours." I tore the papers to shreds. He just kept raising the offer. He had me thrown into the freezing waters of Lake Michigan. He blew up my family's distillery—the Romano family's legacy. Finally, he took my parents. Tied them in an abandoned warehouse and made one watch as he set the other on fire. "Sign, or watch them burn. Your choice." I begged him on my knees, but a roar of flames consumed the world— The heat seared my skin, the ash of my parents clinging to my face. "No... NO!" When I opened my eyes, I was back. Back on the day I first learned about Claire. This time, no tears, no drama. That night, I called my family in Sicily and set my escape in motion. But the moment I vanished from his world… Vincent Santoro went insane.

"Dear cousins… I belong to you all, whether you want me or not." She said icily, stripping out of her clothes, a black lacy bra and matching bikini thong panties. Looking at the triplets, her mind reeled and part of her told her to get out of the room, but her dark sexual desires had taken control of her body and she felt her arousal becoming almost complete. Zenon leaned over, unable to control his rising member and the uncontrollable pheromones coming from her. He kissed her lightly on the mouth at first. Then finding no resistance on her part, pressed his mouth hard to hers, smothering her mouth with a kiss that took her breath away. As they continued to exchange tongues, she moaned slightly as Kade's hand slid under her mould in her parted thighs. Her arousal was complete and her moans were becoming more pronounced, driving Knox insane as he battled to control his wolf threatening to take over his body to mark her as his. *** Nineteen-year-old Olivia is an omega—wolfless, unshifted, and unloved. Taken in by her late mother’s pack, she’s nothing more than a shadow in the beta’s household, serving the cruel Beta’s daughter, Sheryl, and enduring the scorn of her own blood relatives. Her only plan? Disappear the night of her nineteenth birthday… right after Sheryl turns eighteen. As she slips away from the party, ready to vanish for good, something impossible happens. Three dominant, powerful Alpha heirs appear before her. And when the mate marks burn across their skin, the pack is thrown into chaos. She is the destined mate of All three of them! But there’s just one problem—they’re her cousins. And the Luna, their mother and her aunt, will do anything to sever the bond…..

What could possibly go wrong when Maria is assigned as the personal doctor to the heir of a billionaire clan who just woke up from thirteen months in a coma? Probably unintended sparks and complicated intimacies. The saying that 'opposites attract' can't be more true between these two contradicting beings. *** He frowned down at her, moving towards the bed again, and sealed her lips with a palm. "Stop smiling like that," he said, in a deep rumble, brown eyes darkening with a different emotion she couldn't put into words. Her brows creased slightly before pulling his hand away and then chuckled lightly at his strange set of words. "Why? Is it not funny?" She asked with amusement, looking back at him with her grin getting wider. A groan softly broke through his lips, and his frame lowering towards her brought her chortle to an abrupt end, making her freeze in place when his face was a mere inch from hers. Her breath hitched for a second as she gazed into those dark eyes that could melt her in just one look, the softest of whispers breaking free from him, his fingers gently tracing over her jaw. "Because if you continue..." he paused, taking his time to finish his thought as his thumb ran up along her cheek. "... I am going to kiss you." Her eyelids stretched open at his words, gasping silently, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. "Mr. Stanley..." And before she could complete words she wasn't even sure of saying next, he captured her mouth with a passionate kiss that stole her breath away, all sound from her vanishing in that instant. ***

Gilbert Pierce, my wife's male trainee, bragged that he could disarm a bomb just by relying on his senses and with his eyes closed. However, he misjudged it and triggered the bomb's secondary detonation sequence. I stepped in at the last second and used the most dangerous method available, liquid nitrogen flash cooling, to save the entire building. Gilbert was pulled off frontline duty and placed on suspension for review. My wife, Jasmine Clem, tried to speak up for him, but I stopped her cold. "If you defend him now, you won't save him. You'll just get dragged down and suspended alongside him." Unable to handle the pressure, Gilbert blew himself up in an accident. In his suicide note, he accused Jasmine of choosing self-preservation when he needed her most. Jasmine said nothing. She only locked that letter away in her study. Years later, Jasmine became a nationally renowned bomb disposal expert. During a terrorist attack, I was captured and strapped with a timed explosive. Jasmine came to the scene personally to defuse it, but right in front of me, she repeated the exact same mistake her trainee had made years ago. She watched the countdown and smiled lightly at me. "See? He was just nervous back then. If I had encouraged him, he'd be a hero now." The bomb detonated, and I was blown apart. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the moment she was about to defend Gilbert. She didn't know that inside that building sat the nation's most classified core servers.

He watched her for a long moment, the anger in his eyes unmistakable. She imagined he was thinking of ways to punish her, but nothing prepared her for what he said next. "Strip." It was one word, but she doubted if she heard him correctly the first time, was he really going to punish her? "What… what was that?" She asked innocently. "Strip, Nancy." "I won't." "So you refuse me, I see." he said it lightly, the evil smile still playing on his lips. "That will not stop me from having you though" "You won't." She said firmly "Won't I?" She had expected to arouse his anger tonight, but nothing prepared her for the icy rage that contorted his features and the resentment and coldness in his eyes. "Has he touched you yet?" Derek asked suddenly, his eyes still hard on her and his look ever so cold. "Depends on the kind of touch you mean," She replied in a soft, tempting voice, "He has touched me in certain ways. But you are my husband and I should not be telling you that.” "No," he returned coldly. "We are just master and slave, nothing else links us.” ***** Forced to marry against their will, Nancy must not only prove to Derek Lincoln that she was never his lost betrothed, but she must also prove to the parents of his real betrothed that she is not their daughter. But when a man is this beautiful and yet so arrogant, God knows loving him could not be so difficult. Except he is strongly involved with his mistress, who would give anything to have him, even if it meant killing his present wife. But was he worth it? Nay. To him, she is just a personal whore.

Kim Coleman is a very stubborn 21 year old who has trouble expressing her feelings. Her life was always very calm, but after a love failure everything begins to turn upside down. Kim never imagined that her best friend, Isaac, secretly loved her and his confession took her by surprise. Isaac has a unique sense of humor. He has always been very protective of her, but he is not the only one who tries to steal her heart. She has a new neighbor named Ezra, he is a very nice and chivalrous man. They both have very strong feelings for Kim, but there is not much they can do because she knows exactly who her heart belongs to. Kim thinks she has everything under control, but she couldnt be more wrong. Suddenly, strange things begin to happen to her, and it is clear that there is a person who is obsessed with her. Kim feels cornered and cannot trust anyone, anyone could be the culprit. She wants to find out who is behind it all, but the truth can be very difficult to face.