Video Poker 9/6

I promised his dying father I'd forgive him 1,000 times Celestine Valancourt kept that promise for three years, enduring Kier Thornwell's cruelty, his family's contempt, and the humiliation of being the "nobody" wife of a billionaire. She hid her identity as the true heiress to the Valancourt Empire, waiting for the man his father believed he could become. Promise 1,000 came on the worst night of her life. Pregnant and hopeful, she overheard Kier with his mistress, who was also pregnant. The woman he actually loved. The family he really wanted. Celestine signed the divorce papers, terminated her pregnancy, and disappeared. She returned home to accept the arranged marriage she once fled to Lysander Ashcroft who is now the richest man on Earth. And he doesn't care that she's 6 years older than him, or divorced, or broken. He only cares that she's finally his. Lysander is everything Kier wasn't: possessive in the right ways, protective to the point of worship. With him, Celestine discovers what it means to be truly cherished. But when Kier discovers the truth, that his ex-wife is the most powerful woman in the world, that she'd been pregnant with his child and chose to erase him completely, he realizes he's lost everything. Now he'll do anything to get her back. But Lysander Ashcroft doesn't share. And Celestine? She's done being anyone's second choice. “You are mine, Celestine and not a possession or a trophy. You're mine to protect, mine to cherish, mine to keep and I, Lysander, will never let you forget what it feels like to be loved the way you deserve.”

Days before my wedding, I received a video of my fiancee, Alice Moore, being violated against her will. By the time I find her, she's covered in bruises, her body bare. She wails as she punches me in the chest, demanding to know why I didn't come to her sooner. She says her life has been ruined. As I hold her close, I make her a promise, saying that I would never scorn her. I even promise to give her 10% of my company shares as a wedding gift, hoping that it will put her at ease. Everyone says I've lost my mind for going to such lengths for a woman who has been sullied by another man. But then, I end up overhearing Alice giggling away with her friend in the bathroom. "That fool actually believed me and thought I'd been abducted. Cole and I went at it for three days in a row. I had the best time of my life! Oh, well. Since I can't marry Cole, my only option is to let him be the first man I take to bed before I get married." Miranda exclaims in shock, "What if Luke finds out about it? Aren't you afraid of that happening?" "He's a complete idiot. He even promised to give me his company shares as a wedding gift!" Alice retorted derisively. "There's no way he'd find out about this. I'm only marrying him because his family is one of the richest in the city. Otherwise, you couldn't even pay me to date him. Who would want a guy as boring as him?" I remain frozen outside the bathroom, feeling like I'd just taken a plunge into icy water. So be it, then. The wedding ceremony will proceed as scheduled, but I'll have to make some adjustments as to who the bride will be.

Azalea grew up in a male dominated pack. The daughter of an Alpha who was used to secure an alliance with a neighboring Alpha. She is promised to be handed over when she turns 18. She has other plans. Shortly before her 16th birthday those plans have to be pushed forward when her pack is raided and she goes on the run. She disappears into the city. Drake, is a warrior and the mate of a diplomat sent to handle relations with an American pack from his pack outside of London. Things take a turn for the worst and his mate, Sonja is killed. But fate is funny and has plans for him, yet. The hybrid Vampire/Werewolf has a second chance mate and it isn’t who everyone is expecting. 12 Year old Ezekiel just celebrated his birthday and he knows al what a bastard his father can be. He sneaks to keep an eye on him during his meeting with the diplomat and when things go south and bloodshed, death and mayhem ensue, he gets knocked out. His dreams swim with a blend of reality and fantasy as he imagines himself in his sister’s body and then in the hybrid, Drake’s. If he were his sister, he could freely and openly love a man such as Drake, but he has been taught, his entire life that love between men is wrong, vile and unnatural, then why when he wakes up after a 6 year coma does it seem so right to learn that Drake is his mate? Where has Azalea gone? Will they be able to find her so that he doesn’t have to become Alpha, or is he stuck with a destiny he can’t escape?

Warning!!! Dearest gentle reader, this book is highly rated 18+..... It contains mature content, explicit words, BDSM, and hardcore sex. If you like soft romance, reader's discretion is adviced. “You are mine now, Aria. Look at him like that again, and I will not only disown him as my son. I will have his manhood cut off, toss it to the omega she-wolves, and make them choke on it while he watches as he bleeds to death,” he whispered. His voice was low. Deep. Dark. Curling around me and causing my stomach to flutter. ******** Aria Nightwind was born to rule. She is the firstborn daughter of a noble bloodline, trained in the art of war and politics. She has spent her life proving herself to her father, but no matter her effort or sacrifice, she was never enough because she was a girl child. The only one she was enough for was her mate, or so Aria thought, until she caught him in bed with her brother! Humiliated, rejected, and on the verge of losing her birthright to her younger brother, Aria took up a new challenge of fighting for the one thing that is rightfully hers… - Zane Blackstone is a 6 black-inked beast in regal attire. Alpha King. Billionaire. Ruthless. Unpredictable. Unhinged. Wild and with an inborn likeness for anything sinful or forbidden. He doesn't forgive or feel. He closed off his heart after the death of his wife. His empire was built on years of hard work, sacrifice, resilience, self-denial, and discipline. He had everything figured out for himself. He didn't believe in love or romance… All he wanted was sex… Well, that was a sudden twist in events that made him cross path with Aria, his Son's ex-mate.

Celeste knew both happiness and sadness, but she had never lost hope, until the time when she lost her dad and her world came crashing down. What was the point of hoping and wishing, when everything she wished for would slip away right from her hands, like water running down her fingers? Pain and depression in itself are unbearable, but what would happen to a person if they have to deal with financial stress too? Celeste had to juggle not only schoolwork but also juggle three different jobs. With great difficulty, she was able to finish her bachelor's, and now she was finally able to get into her dream university for her master's. All this while she thought being far away from home would somehow take her troubles away too, but that wasn't the case. She had a looming 1-year student loan and was barely getting by with a full-time degree. And that's when she was forced to do something that she didn't really think she would have to do. She found herself browsing through what it would take to be a sugar baby and was mortified that it required the sugar baby to have consensual sex and her graysexual ass could never. She was saved from the nightmare when she met a mysterious rich boy/man who was willing to act as her sugar daddy, well not really. Gabrielle a boy of just 23, and an owner of a multi-millionaire company. He had money and everything nice right at his feet. But just like Celeste, he was a broken boy too, craving for a family that was already 6 feet under the ground. And who knew that both of them would find each other and maybe just maybe they would find what they lost all hope for.

Astrid Olsen was not your typical heiress since her mind was more on the scientific side of things. She did not want to be tied down and when her father claimed that she will be marrying someone that was his business partner's son, Astrid did the only thing that she knew ever since she was a little girl. She pursued higher education and never turn her back on it. She had gained 6 Ph.D. scrolls, so what's one more, right? Well, it all changed when she was short on funds for her research and she had to make a deal with a devil. Even when he was a fair hair specimen with cobalt blue eyes that would sure to make any woman weak in their knees, including Astrid herself. Eliot Park, a brilliant scientist and inventor as well as a notorious billionaire, wanted more than anything to be the best of the best. And he managed to do it until one person was determined to see him fail in the newest pharmaceutical discovery. He knew that he had to do something drastic if he has to maintain at the top. Even sacrifice his bachelor's life to be tie down to the one scientist that will be making a ground breaking discovery to the world. And he did marry her for financial gain in his life. But, the more time Eliot spends his time in the company of Astrid, the more he felt something that he never did before. Was this just lust between them or something more? What will Eliot do when he realized something has shifted between him and his contractual wife? What will Astrid do? Will she run away again like she did before or will she be brave enough to convey her feelings?

Born an Omega, Sorrell came into the world with very few prospects in life but refused to let those stand in her way. For as long as she could remember she has dreamed of being a pack warrior, wanting to fight for her pack and prove that Omegas are more than just servants. Determined to not let anything stop her, she holds firm despite catching the eye of the new Alpha. She can't understand why the obnoxiously good-looking Alpha has taken such an interest in her, but it all makes sense when on her 18th birthday she learns they have been fated. Sorrell was ready to become a pack warrior but becoming a Luna to a pack who definitely don't want her is not something she was ready to sign up for. Will she turn her back on fate, or can Alpha Alden convince her to take her rightful place as his Luna? Bite-Size Luna is a prequel novella to A Queen Among Alphas, book 1 in the Queen Among series. It is set 49 years before the events of that book. It can be read as a standalone book, but you will enjoy the references more if you have read A Queen Among Alphas. Here are the books in the series: A Queen Among Alphas - Book 1 Bite-Size Luna - A Queen Among Alphas Prequel A Queen Among Snakes - Book 2 Runaway Empress - A Queen Among Snakes Prequel A Queen Among Blood - Book 3 Whole Again - A Queen Among Alpha's spin-off A Queen Among Darkness - Book 4 Dark Invocation - A Queen Among Darkness spin-off A Queen Among Tides - Book 5 Valor, Virtue, and Verve - A Queen Among Tides Prequel Spin-off A Queen Among Gods - Book 6 A Queen Among Tempests - Book 7

On the day of my wedding, the video I had painstakingly prepared was suddenly replaced with intimate photos of my fiancé and my foster sister, Lindsey Remmington. Within minutes, it hit the top of the trending list. Overnight, I, a celebrated actress, became the abandoned bride of a wealthy family and a public laughingstock. Just when I thought I'd reached rock bottom, Connor Presley, the heir of Elluel City's most powerful family and the boy I'd grown up with, returned from abroad. In front of flashing cameras, he knelt with a diamond ring and proposed, silencing every rumor and every sneer. After we married, we appeared inseparable, our affection the picture of perfection. The only flaw was his infertility—his condition made it nearly impossible for me to conceive. For three long years, I underwent countless rounds of IVF. At last, I became pregnant. Connor was overjoyed. To celebrate, he threw an extravagant party in honor of our long-awaited child. But in the middle of the revelry, one of his closest friends, drunk and unguarded, muttered in Russian, "Connor, you've gone too far. Just because Lindsey was afraid pregnancy would ruin her figure, you put the zygote into Rachel's body and let her carry the baby for you two? If she ever finds out the truth, you'll regret it for the rest of your life." Connor's expression didn't waver. "This was Lindsey's only wish. I had to grant it," he replied coolly. "Besides, having a child with Lindsey has always been my dream. Only her child deserves to be the heir of the Presley family. The days ahead are long—I'll make it up to Rachel, eventually." I stood frozen, my body trembling uncontrollably. That night, I made an appointment for an abortion. When Connor stormed into the hospital, raging like a madman, I looked up at him with chilling calm and said, "I understand Russian."

Serena Sinclair is the most attractive she-wolf in the Mystic Moon pack. Many wolves are head over heels in love with her. But when she's about to become Alpha Caspian Lockwood's Luna, the video of her wild and loose side in bed gets sent to every wolf's phone in the pack. She falls from grace immediately. Not only is she demoted to the status of an Omega and has lost her right to become the Luna, but the wolves who were once respectful to her keep humiliating her as well. They even run all the way to the Sinclair residence just so they can pelt her with more curses and slurs. Serena runs off to look for Caspian, consequences be damned. After all, he's the only one who has those videos in his phone. But the moment she arrives outside his house, she overhears his subordinates' voices. "This way, Serena will never become your Luna, Alpha Caspian. She can only watch as you mark Aurelia as your mate." "Serves her right, honestly. She's the one who's been shamelessly clinging to the Alpha's side. She has no idea how much the Alpha loathes her. In order to avoid touching her, he often cleanses the scent every night before telling his younger brother, Forrest, to sleep with her and record those racy videos." "If she finds out that her lover's younger brother is the one whom she's been sleeping with all these years, will she die of an aneurysm on the spot? Ahahaha!" Serena's wolf keeps howling in her mind. She can only cover her ears as she flees away from the Lockwood residence. The last shred of hope is already gone. After that, she goes through the procedures of leaving the Mystic Moon pack once and for all. But when she's truly gone, why is it that everyone sinks to their knees and begs her to return to them?

I’m Connor Macleod—captain of the college hockey team, campus golden boy, the guy who never has to try too hard. After the whole scandal freshman year—when a drunken video outing me went viral and everyone suddenly knew the captain of the hockey team was gay—I expected to lose everything. But the opposite happened. My teammates had my back. The campus didn’t care. If anything, people accepted me more than I ever expected. So yeah, being openly gay was never the problem. Catching feelings? That’s the part I’ve always avoided. And Maxime Tremblay?He was supposed to be the same as every other guy. A one night stand Except one night turned into weeks. And somewhere between his sharp tongue, his stupidly cute beanies, and the way he looks at me like he actually sees me and I forgot the rules. He thought we were becoming something real. And I let him believe it… right up until the night I proved him wrong in the worst possible way. The problem is, for years I thought I wanted someone else. Tyson Bennett—the guy I chased, the one I was sure would finally make me feel something real. The guy who was supposed to end my endless string of hookups. But when I finally got him?It didn’t feel right. Now Maxime hates me. He won’t look at me. Won’t talk to me. Won’t give me the time of day. And for the first time in my life… I actually care. Because I don’t want Tyson anymore. I don’t want another meaningless night. I want the guy with the beanies, the sharp mouth, and the heart I shattered. And this time? I’m going to fight like hell to win him back.