A LADY FOR A DUKE
The Duke was standing in the middle of the room, his hands in his pockets, his head tilted to one side. It was a relaxed, casual pose, and yet the way he looked at her was anything but casual. The deep midnight of his eyes burned and he radiated a subtle, sensual energy that made the air around him crackle.
He looked like a man who'd never heard the word 'no' in all his life. Unluckily for him, 'no' was the only word she had.
"There's no reason why I should stay," Anna clasped her shaking hands together in an effort to still them. "I'm not marrying you."
His gaze flickered, his mouth curving slightly, and she had the disturbing thought that far from putting him off, her insistence was only inciting him further.
"But you haven't heard my proposal yet," he said mildly. "Isn't that why you're here?"
"I don't need to hear it. I already know that my answer will be no."
"Of course. But you can hardly tell your father that you heard me out when you haven't, in fact, heard me out.... Anna."
Chapters
Share
Chapter 3
Anna's blush returned, though she ignored it as fixedly as she'd ignored it the first time. If he could be perfectly calm about this, then so could she.
"Yes, I believe so." She threw him a disapproving look. "There's not much to look at after all." She expected him to be annoyed or even a little chagrined. He was not.
Instead, he laughed, and the sound hit her like a shock, wrapping around her, deep and dark as melted chocolate. And all she could think was that she'd never heard anyone laugh like that. In fact, it had been a long time since she'd heard anyone laugh at all.
"Far be it from me to disagree," he said, "but the blush in your cheeks would seem to indicate otherwise."
Oh, yes, he's very dangerous.
That laugh of his was still resounding through her entire body, like she was a tuning fork he'd just struck, and she couldn't understand why. She couldn't understand her response to him at all. She only knew that some instinct inside her was urging her to get away from him and as quickly as possible.
However, Anna had given up listening to her instincts, because they were always wrong. And besides, running away would be to acknowledge that this man had got to her in some way, and she could never allow that.
"The blush in my cheeks has more to do with being suddenly accosted by a naked stranger than anything else," she said. "You could put on your shorts, you know."
He raised one straight dark brow. "You could also turn around."
Anna ignored the burning in her cheeks. "It's a bit late for that now, isn't it?"
"Indeed." The glitter of amusement in his eyes changed, shifting into something else, something more intense. "In that case you won't mind if I take my time about it." He tilted his head again and, though his gaze didn't move from her face, she felt as if he'd scanned every inch of her body. "Feel free to resume blackberry picking. Or you could stay and watch me dress. Either isn't a problem for me."
She opened her mouth to tell him that she certainly wouldn't be staying, but he didn't wait for her to respond, instead turning and going over to where a pair of black running shorts and expensive-looking running shoes sat. Then he began to dress in an unhurried fashion. His movements had an athletic grace to them that held her oddly mesmerized and she realized after a couple of moments that, far from resuming her blackberry picking as she'd fully intended, she was in fact standing there doing exactly the opposite.
This was ridiculous.
"I'm going now," she announced, both to herself and to him.
He didn't respond, bending to tie the laces of his running shoes, black hair gleaming in the sun. Yet her feet wouldn't move. It was as if her body had a mind of its own and what it wanted was to stay near him, which made no sense whatsoever. She'd had a couple of crushes on boys back in high school, but not since. She didn't have either the time or the inclination for such things, not when her primary focus was looking after her father and earning enough money to cover their expenses. That was far more important than mooning over some man, so why she was still here, fascinated by this particular man, she had no idea.
He rose again, his T-shirt still in one hand. He made no move to put it on and when he turned to face her, his incredible body still mostly on show, he didn't smile.
And all of a sudden Anna was certain that the danger she'd sensed from him before was about to make itself known and bizarrely, instead of fear, a sensation that felt a lot like excitement curled through her.
You know this is wrong. Walk away.
But the air between them was thickening with the strangest kind of tension. Hot and electric, like the atmosphere just before a summer storm. She needed to leave, get away from him and his disturbing presence. Get away from the rush of what should not be excitement that crowded in her throat and from the fluttering in her stomach that felt like the wings of a thousand butterflies all beating at once. Get away from this physical response that she knew was wrong and bad for her, yet could not ignore, no matter how hard she tried. But she didn't move. She stayed exactly where she was.
He started towards her like a great panther stalking its prey, moving with purpose, approaching her without any hesitation, coming so close that she could see drops of water glistening on his skin where he hadn't finished drying himself. She could smell, too, the fresh scent of the lake on him, undercut with something warmer, spicier and deeply masculine.
Her breath caught. Did men always smell this good or was it just him? He was so tall she had to tilt her head back to look at him, which she couldn't recall ever having to do with anyone before.
"Look at you." His deep voice was soft and warm with a familiarity that held her rooted to the spot. "You have leaves in your hair." He reached up and she was powerless to stop him as he casually extracted something from the tangle down her back. "You are very beautiful," He added, as he extracted another leaf. Then without any hesitation he slid the fingers of one hand into her hair and closed them into a fist, holding her firmly but very gently, the slight pressure making her tilt her head back ever further.
Anna was absolutely transfixed, her heartbeat so loud she couldn't hear anything else. Couldn't see anything else but the darkening of his eyes. She'd never been touched like that before. Never had a man stand so close she could feel his heat, smell his warm, spicy scent. Never had strong fingers in her hair, carefully securing her.
Hunger rose inside her, forbidden and hot and desperate, though for what she had absolutely no idea, and it scared her.
Cedric watched her. The glint in her eyes had gone molten, like liquid gold in the sunlight, and her cheeks were flushed. Her mouth looked full, as if begging to be kissed, and he could see the fast beat of her pulse at the base of her throat.
You may also like
9.4
Michael Carter is an undercover FBI agent on a mission to take down ruthless mafia king Fernando Ramírez-the man he believes killed his sister. But getting close to Fernando means playing a dangerous game, one where seduction and power blur the lines between enemy and lover.
When Michael uncovers a shocking truth, his thirst for revenge turns into a fight for something far more dangerous-his own heart. Now, torn between duty and desire, he must decide: destroy the man he swore to take down or surrender to the one thing he never saw coming.
Love has never been more lethal.
7.2
Azura Briggs was just a broke college student working freezing valet shifts to pay her adoptive mother's crushing medical debt.
Her desperate life shattered the night a bulletproof Maybach violently cornered her in an alley, and a ruthless billionaire kidnapped her by mistake.
After a harrowing escape, Azura was forced to take a humiliating "plus-one" gig at a high-end gala just to survive. But her date turned out to be the billionaire's arrogant nephew, who promptly abandoned her to the wolves. Cornered by a sleazy executive and his psychotic wife, Azura was publicly slapped, her dress torn, and left bleeding on the floor while hundreds of elites watched in disgust.
Just as she prepared to fight to the death, the crowd violently parted. Hunter Mcintosh, the terrifying man who had kidnapped her days ago, dropped to his knees in the broken glass and wrapped his bespoke jacket around her trembling shoulders.
Azura was completely paralyzed. Why was the monster who threatened her life now destroying billionaires just to protect her?
But the illusion of safety didn't last. Trapped in his Maybach hours later, Hunter threw a draconian employment contract at her feet.
"Sign it, and her care is covered. Forever."
He knew exactly how to break her. He was offering to pay off her mother's debt, but only if she signed her life away to become his personal assistant. With no other way out, Azura picked up the heavy pen.
9.7
Eighteen months ago, the man I loved shattered my heart, claiming everything between us was a mistake. Now, he's back, a ghost of his former self, a rookie tryout in my pro esports team. And I will make him regret crawling back.
Clifton, captain of a legendary esports team, was secretly battling a severe wrist injury that threatened his career, every match a fight against his own body. He pushed through the pain, ignoring doctors' warnings, desperate to maintain his god-like status.
His world was already on the edge, but nothing prepared him for seeing Justice Terry again in the team basement. Justice, pale and trembling, his eyes wide with naked terror, was now a rookie tryout.
Clifton had spent a year and a half trying to forget that rainy Chicago alley, the raw revulsion in Justice's eyes, the whispered "it wasn't real" that had left him heartbroken. Justice had vanished, and Clifton had erased every trace. Now, the boy who once looked at him like he was the sun was back, flinching at his touch, displaying a deep, primal fear. Amidst sponsor pressure and whispers of being "washed," Clifton saw Justice's return as a chance for vengeance. He publicly humiliated Justice on a live stream, forcing him into a suicide mission, then coldly benched him.
Yet, the satisfaction never came. Instead, a hollow emptiness and a torrent of questions: What had truly happened in the past? Why was Justice here, and what trauma had carved such fear into his bones?
Clifton, unwilling to be fooled again, swore to uncover every secret and every lie. He would force Justice to explain why he had returned, even if it meant tearing down everything they both had left.
7.3
Take her."
" Aunt!" A horrified gasp followed.
" Do you mean it ?" A deep gruffly voice questioned. His voice was dripping with malice and beneath his eyes he gazed at the girl figure mostly on her bra straps and her ass slightly shot out.
What if the deal you made turned into an unimaginable mistake beyond your control?. Several deals can be made in life , but one can either change or ruin your life . .
Ixora was sold as a commodity to loan shark. No she was replaced with the debts of her greedy and wicked Aunt , Clarice .
She was sold as a toy. Not knowing whose master to serve . Ixora found herself in the most dangerous clan in Spain as a sex toy. A toy that warms it's master bed and satisfy its master primal urges. A toy the master discard however and whenever he likes.
A toy with no say or doing.
Mafia's are everywhere , dangerous and wealthy. They own everything. Money , wealth , power belongs to them. They were dreaded so much that normal peasants like Adrianna never wanted to come across with them.. But Ixora ended up as a sex toy in a devil harem . The most dangerous harem in the whole of Spain.
How did she end up this way? . Why is fate so cruel to her. At the age of twenty she is being sold out as a sex toy and worse , on her birthday!!!!
~
Hades Kings , the most dangerous Mafia Don in Spain. The King of Mafia's heirs. He is ruthless than the devil himself. His jawline line sharp and well chiseled , his features irresistibly seductive. It can break every wall of your resistance and his dark gray eyes that carried so much power within them . Hades who we call DIABLO [ DEVIL] , A SADISTIC AND CRUEL PSYCHOPATH
Hades King is the leader of Kings empire , Kings Villa , Kings airline , King's brewery, King's publishing house , King's foodies a popularly know global restaurant and various more companies you can imagine. He got wealth at his feet and power in his grasp.
Women's flooded themselves around him shamelessly . The men looked unto him with envy. But Hades has a dark past. One that hadn't been noticed by anyone yet and he is not ready to share it with anyone.
IN HIS WORLD, WHERE, :
El amo es traición (LOVE IS TREASON~)
El cariño es quinididad (AFFECTION IS INQUITY~)
La devoción es mortal (DEVOTION IS DEADLY ~)
Hades got entangled with all these .
8.3
Imogen Montgomery was the perfect billionaire heiress, deeply in love and ready to marry her fiancé, Clark Ellis.
That all ended the night her cousin Kathleen ripped the sapphire pendant from her neck and pushed her into a pool of toxic chemicals to die.
Two years later, Imogen's eyes snapped open. But she didn't wake up in a hospital. She woke up tied to a stained mattress, trapped in the battered body of Briana, a teenage girl from the slums who had just been sold to a local trafficker.
After violently fighting her way out of a cheap motel, she discovered the horrifying truth. Kathleen had taken over the Montgomery Group. She had locked Imogen's grieving parents away in a psychiatric facility as prisoners.
And worst of all, Kathleen was now flaunting her stolen wealth online, preparing to marry Clark.
A wave of pure, white-hot rage boiled in her blood. Kathleen had murdered her, stolen her family, and was playing the perfect grieving cousin. How was she supposed to fight back? She was just a runaway nobody now. If she tried to expose the truth, Kathleen's security would shoot her dead in the street.
She needed a weapon. She needed a shield. She needed the one man Kathleen feared.
Covered in mud and blood, Briana intercepted Clark's car in the freezing rain. She was going to infiltrate his home as his vulgar, unhinged fake mistress, and she would drag Kathleen straight down to hell.
9.5
Smoke and silence rule the ruins of the Mantle pack. Lyra, once a fierce warrior-wakes shackled and ritual-silenced, her wolf buried but not dead, a living emblem of everything Lucius, the cruel Alpha of Onyx Crest, used to cement his power. Brian, the heir raised to obey, is taught to deny the bond he never wanted; one whispered word from Lyra cracks that obedience and sparks a secret, dangerous connection.
As their flickering bond strengthens, Lyra's wolf claws back to life and Brian's loyalties split, igniting a rebellion against a family built on sacrifice and fear. When Asher seizes the crest and brands them fugitives, what begins as escape becomes a fight for more than revenge-it's a war to remake the packs into something kinder and just, and to claim a throne built on unity rather than domination.