Deadly contract
"So we have a deal, do we? We do things my way, no argument, no buts."
"Yes," she bit out.
"Good,"he said, smiling wryly to himself at the thought that yes wasn't a word Joy was used to saying to men. But she was going to say it a lot during their time together. He would make her say it. No, he would make her want to say it.
34-year-old Joy Mike, who, after a failed engagement and struggling with infertility, seeks to conceive a baby alone. Childhood acquaintance and now successful, attractive John Davis intervenes with a tempting proposal: he will help her conceive in the "traditional way". The contract leads to intense passion and emotional risk for Joy as she risks losing her heart to the man who promised her a baby, but not a marriage.
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Chapter 2
John smiled wryly. “Don’t sound so shocked, I’ve wanted you since the first moment i saw you today, not to mention for years while growing up.”
Joy blushed furiously, shocked, yet secretly elated to discover that the feelings which had so blindsided her today had been returned for so long.
“But don’t start thinking that I’m doing this just because of that, because I’m not.” Even as the denial left his mouth, John suspected he was morally skating on thin ice here. If what he was saying was strictly true, then why no just do what she suggested, go to this clinic and give them a sperm sample?
The truth was he did want to have sex with her. At the same time, he did also believe that normal intercourse was the best chance Joy had for falling pregnant. Clearly, coldly clinical method hasn’t worked. She needed to relax, to enjoy herself.
John decided to be bluntly honest with her. “Not that I won’t enjoy having sex with you,” he admitted . “But that’s not the only reason I’m suggesting we actually sleep with each other. It’s because i think you’re more likely to fall pregnant that way. Which is what you want, isn’t it? To have a baby?”
John’s saying the word “baby” dragged Joy back to the present. She’d been off in another world ever since he’d confessed to wanting to have sex with her since they were teenagers. “What? Oh yes, yes, , that’s what I want,” she said. “A baby.”
“So what do you say, Joy?”
“I don’t know what…….” The idea of actually sleeping with John made her head spin.
He sighed. “What don’t you know?”
“Look, I can understand that my suggestion has come as a bit of a shock to you, so why don’t we go somewhere for coffee and talk about it rationally?
“I dont think I’m capable of being rational about this. You’ve totally blown me away. I have to think about this on my own.”
John nodded. He wanted her to say yes with a depth of desire which shocked him; something in him was demanding that he and only him should give Joy the baby she so desperately wanted. How ever, much as he hated it, she needed time.
“I’ll take you home.”
Joy sighed. The idea of going home and facing her mother while she was trying to decide something so huge didn’t appeal either.
“How about we drive to Erina Fair and see a movie ? You can pick something you’ll like, some macho action flicks with lots of car chases and killings. You can get all involved in that whilst i sit in the dark and think.
He laughed, “ You are such a sexist Joy. I happen to like a wide range of movies, not just macho action flicks as you put it.”
“Oh sure,” she said in droll tones.
“I’ll prove it to you.”
He surprised her by choosing a romantic comedy, one of those friends into lovers plots which had become popular lately. Joy might have enjoyed it if there hadn’t been so many sex scene, all of which were extremely raunchy. Clothes were stripped off at regular intervals as two friends had wildly uninvited sex in every conceivable place and position: on the floor. On the sofa. In a lift. Even in a meadow. The ending annoyed her as well it was pure Hollywood fiction where the protagonist feel in love and lived happily ever after. As if that ever happened.
“Is that what you’re afraid of?” John said as they left the theatre. “That if we have sex you might fall in love with me?”
Laughter spluttered from Joy’s lips before she could smother it.
“Right,” he said drily. “Obviously,?that’s not what you’re afraid of.”
No, she said. Her feats had nothing to do with love. She stopped walking to turn and look up at him with thoughtful eyes.”
Suddenly, she couldn’t do it.
“No, John,” she said, and pulled her arm away from him.
“No what?”
“No, I’ve decided not to accept your offer. Thank you for making it; it was amazing generous of you. But it’s just not going to work for me. Please don’t argue with me about this or tell me I’m being irrational. Because if you do I know I’m going to burst into tears again.” Which was true. Her emotions, already fragile, were in danger of embarrassing her once more.
She couldn’t tell what john was thinking. He face had always been hard to read.
“I see,” was all he said. “Well, it’s your life, Joy. You do what you think best.”
“Thank you,” she said, struggling to keep the tears in check. No point in going for coffee then, is there?” He said brusquely. “I’ll take you home.”
Joy’s mother was still up watching television when she let herself into the house. Her mother glanced at the cock on the wall . It was only just after nine.
The same thought kept Joy awake long after she climbed into bed. She tossed and turned, her mind torturing herself with the horrible “what if? “ what if she didn’t fall pregnant next month? What then? Would she keep on trying or resort to more complicated and expensive procedures live IVF? How long could she keep doing this before she went stank, raving mad?
The man himself was thinking along those same lines as he stood at his bedroom window, staring down at Joy’s house as he’d done so many times when he’d been a boy,
Okay, so his offering to be her sperm donor had begun as a gesture of kindness, but it had quickly changed to one driven by his male hormones. He wanted her, naked and wiling in his arms. He made his way downstairs where everything was quiet; his parent had gone to bed some time ago. Switching on the kitchen light, he went to the drawer where his mother kept an assortment of Biros, writhing pad, and different size of envelopes. Selecting what he wanted, he returned to his room, switched on his bedroom lamp and sat down to right. It took him several attempts before he got the wording just right but eventually he was satisfied.
Dear Joy.
By the time you read this I will have left. Not Australia l, as my family believes. I have an apartment in Darwin where I go every winter for a weeks rest and recreation. This time, how ever, i intend to stay longer, though please keep this information confidential. Joy, I presume you are determined to keep trying for a baby by your anonymous donor. And that’s your right. But if it’s not successful, I wish you to know that my offer is still open. I can’t promise you romance but I do promise you what i think you need very badly. Here are my mobile and satellite phone numbers so that you can contact me no matter where i am.
Your friend always, John.
He added the numbers then slipped the note into an envelope and wrote Joy’s name on the front, having already to drop the later into her mailbox tomorrow whilst she was at work. By the time she got home he would be long gone.
Then it would be up to her.
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9.2
For three years, Rachel lived in a marriage that almost no one knew existed.
To the outside world, Captain Jared Holland-the cold and powerful second son of the influential Holland family-was single.
Only a handful of people knew the truth: Rachel was his legal wife. Their marriage had begun because of a mistake and was bound by a prenuptial agreement that promised it would end quietly after three years.
And in Jared's heart, there had always been someone else-Olivia, his foster sister and first love.
When Rachel returns from a grueling flight and sees a video of Jared desperately carrying Olivia to the hospital, the last illusion she held onto finally shatters. That same night, she signs the divorce papers and walks away with nothing but a suitcase and her dignity.
But when the time comes to finalize the divorce, Jared refuses to sign-always finding excuses to delay it.
The woman he once ignored is now determined to leave.
And the man who never valued her is suddenly unwilling to let her go.
Rachel looked at the man in front of her and frowned: "Jared what are you playing? Sign the divorce papers."
Jared smiled, "Darling, I am sorry, I was wrong. Please, let's not get divorce."
7.9
June was an ordinary architect struggling to pay rent, completely estranged from her high-society mother.
But one night, she was kidnapped and beaten in an abandoned warehouse by Gage Becker, the city's most ruthless billionaire, who demanded payback for her mother's sins.
Gage pointed a high-definition camera at June's battered face and video-called her mother, threatening to release the footage and ruin her upcoming billion-dollar wedding.
"I will never throw away a billion-dollar marriage for a useless daughter."
Her mother's cold voice echoed through the warehouse before the line went dead.
From that moment, Gage systematically destroyed June's life. She was publicly humiliated and forced to hack off her own hair with a cigar cutter. She was blacklisted from every firm in the city, evicted by her landlord, and violently mugged in a freezing New York blizzard.
Curled up in an icy tunnel waiting to die, June felt a suffocating despair. She hadn't spoken to her mother in months. Why did she have to endure this hell for a woman who didn't even care if she lived or died? Why was a monster like Gage so obsessed with driving her to the grave?
When Gage's armored Maybach pulled up, he stepped into the snow to mock her, waiting for her to finally surrender and beg for his mercy.
But the absolute humiliation snapped the last thread of June's sanity.
Instead of crying, she lunged forward with feral energy and sank her teeth directly into the devil's flesh.
8.6
I was the untouchable Mafia Queen, but my reign ended in the blood-soaked depths of a damp dungeon.
My half-sister, Kelsey, drove a rusted, sharpened spoon into my chest, screaming about the unfairness of fate.
In my past life, my father sold me to the ruthless Don Dante Blackwell as collateral to pay off his debts.
To survive, I took a black-market fertility drug, birthed his heir, and clawed my way to the throne through sheer ruthlessness.
But in the mafia world, a pregnant woman isn't a queen; she's a walking target.
I survived countless bombings and poisonings, only to be betrayed and slaughtered by my own family.
Until my last breath, I couldn't understand. I had sacrificed everything to secure our survival in the empire. Why did my blood and tears only earn me a rusted spoon to the heart?
Opening my eyes again, I am seventeen, sitting in my father's drawing room.
Two black velvet boxes sit on the mahogany table.
Kelsey greedily snatches the box containing the fertility drug, her eyes gleaming with feverish triumph.
"I'll take this one, Papa."
She thinks she is stealing my golden ticket to the crown, completely unaware that she just chose a death sentence.
I lower my gaze, letting my eyelashes mask the cold, lethal amusement pooling in my eyes as I take the remaining box.
Inside is the detailed psychological profile of the Don's dead fiancée.
This time, I won't be a breeding mare fighting off assassins. I will dissect the devil himself.
7.2
Every story in this collection is a direct line to your own wanting, each read leaves you drenched, and craving more thighs pressed together, breath caught in your throat.
From a stranger's fingers finding you in a crowded bar to the slow, devastating unraveling of a woman on her knees, these are the moments you'll return to, again and again, until you're trembling.
Warning: "Not for the faint of heart-only for the Dirty Slut-Seekers who crave the filth.
Open the book only when you're ready to be ruined, and consumed by your filthy fantasies.
7.5
Plot.
Synopsis.
Liora could never belong. The daughter of an extramarital affair, she had lived in the shadows, cut off from the rest of the family, and learned to fend for herself while surviving. Stripping gave her life now, but everything changed one wild night.
Two days before his wedding, Darius entered her club, craving for the last taste of bachelorhood, he pays Liora for a special dance which led to a one-night stand. Neither of them expected to see each other again or that Liora's long lost sister, Selene, was the bride waiting at the altar.
The one-night stand becomes a dangerous truth that must be hidden. Lies never remain hidden, however, and when Liora learns she is pregnant with Darius's child, silence may be not be an option for her.
Exposition.
Liora, a daughter born as a result of her father's infidelity with a maid, which resulted in the divorce that separates her from her big sister. Due to the family's financial difficulties faced while growing up and the consequent death of her father, Liora eventually becomes a stripper to put food on her table. Unknown to her at the time, she carried the hidden omega bloodline from her father's alpha lineage, suppressed by years away from the pack.
Inciting incident.
One night, she is hired by a man who is getting married in just two days and wants to enjoy his last moments of bachelorhood. She ends up having a one-night stand with him. The moment they touched, an undeniable mate spark ignited between them-raw, electric, and impossible to ignore-but neither understood its full power yet.
When Liora returns home that same night, she encounters an old man who introduces himself as the butler of the Blackwood family, tells her she has been invited to the wedding of her sister. This comes as a shock-Liora grew up knowing she had a sister, but Harlan never allowed them to meet. He carried that secret to his grave, and after his death, Liora stopped thinking about it. Despite her hesitation and doubts as to if they got the wrong person, she agrees to attend.
Rising action.
She arrives the night before the wedding , finds out she has been a daughter of the well known Blackwood family all along and learns the truth: it was her stepmother, not Harlan, who had always been against their meeting. The stepmother is currently serving time in jail for a minor business-related crime and her elder sister, Selene had her research done to find her because she wanted to reconcile with her younger sister and what better opportunity than a wedding. Liora also discovers that Selene is a sweetheart who had longed to meet her, but had been forced to stay away because of Ravenna's influence.
But then, another huge blow hits-Liora finds out that the man she was with last night, the one she slept with, is the man Selene is set to marry, Darius. She holds this secret to herself, haunted by the mate pull that now torments her every thought.
The marriage happens, and it all goes well. After that, Selene gives Liora a new path, far from her old job. She brings her into her home and starts to look after her. But soon, Liora finds out she is going to have a baby. With fear and shame, she hides this news.
Climax.
When Ravenna is released from prison, she is furious to find Liora living with her family. She makes it clear that she does not accept her, resenting her existence as a reminder of Harlan's infidelity. A few days later, Selene announces that she is pregnant too. Ravenna immediately becomes protective of her "real" daughter, which only deepens Liora's insecurities. She considers leaving before her secret is exposed.
But fate intervenes. An accident happens, and they find out Liora was pregnant. Since she was once a stripper, no one talks about the dad. But Darius, who knows they share risky secret, sets up a secret meeting for them to talk. He wants to know if he is the dad, and Liora says yes-but she will keep it quiet and plans to leave soon. In their tense exchange, the mate bond flares again, confirming what they both sensed that first night.
Ravenna,who happens to be at the wrong side at the right time ,overheard part of their talk. With doubts in her mind, she quietly does a DNA test between Darius and Liora's unborn baby.
The results confirm he is the father. Seeing her chance to drive a wedge between the sisters, she keeps the secret until the gender reveal party for both daughters. There, in front of everyone, she exposes the truth. The revelation makes headlines.
Selene feels utterly betrayed-by both her husband and her sister. She leaves Darius's house with Ravenna and sends divorce papers days later. Liora feels destroyed, her betrayal now public, and her pain is doubled when she learns Selene has lost her baby and is battling ovarian cancer, which requires an urgent bone marrow transplant.
Through her best friend, Dr. Thorne, Liora learns this. She gets tested and finds out she is a match , but her unborn baby stops her. Darius knows she got test
8.6
Genevieve was heavily pregnant, holding the legal papers that would transfer her massive family trust fund to her loving husband, Clinton.
But as she approached his study, she heard a familiar giggle. Through the cracked door, she saw her cousin Carolynn sitting on his desk, her skirt hiked up, while Clinton smirked and poured bourbon.
"Once she signs those papers, we don't need her anymore," Clinton laughed coldly. "The kidnapping is staged for tomorrow. She and the brat disappear permanently."
Genevieve gasped, and he spotted her. When she frantically tried to run, her trusted housekeeper blocked the stairs. Clinton dragged her back, beat her mercilessly, and locked her in a freezing, underground cellar.
Denied any medical help, she endured agonizing hours of labor alone in the dark, only to deliver a stillborn child. Clinton then walked in, ruthlessly tossed her dead baby's tiny body into a pile of dirty rags, and brutally strangled her.
As her lungs burned and the world faded to black, her heart shattered into a million jagged pieces. She had given him everything. How could they be so monstrous as to murder her and her innocent child just for money?
Opening her eyes again, the freezing cellar was gone.
She was standing in an emerald silk gown at an elite charity gala—the exact night their original kidnapping plot began, a month before she even announced her pregnancy.
This time, the naive socialite was dead, and she was going to make them pay in blood.