His Fathers's Ring, His Son's Touch
Lucas Vane was my ruin. My first love, my greatest regret, and the man who shattered my life before disappearing into the shadows. I thought I had finally escaped his reach, until a desperate debt forced me into a cold, clinical contract with the one man I should have feared more.
Victor Vane. The powerful, terrifying patriarch who doesn't know the girl he just bought was once his son's greatest obsession.
Now, I am trapped between two worlds. I am the wife of the father, bound by a signature and a ring, yet I am pursued by the son who is determined to reclaim what he lost. As the lines between hatred and desire blur, I find myself craving the touch of the man who owns me, and the man who broke me.
Secrets can only stay buried for so long. What happens when the King finds out his Queen belongs to the Prince?
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Chapter 5
Victor's Pov
I watched my son's eyes. They didn't land on me first. They went straight to the girl shivering in my shadow. The shock that registered on his face was almost comical, a pale, wide-eyed disbelief that told me I needed to know something.
Beside him, his wife, Kendra, stood beside him.
I moved with a deliberate slowness, stepping behind Amara. I let my hand hover over her shoulder before bringing it down, my fingers curling over the curve of her collarbone. I felt her flinch, a sharp tremor running through her small frame, but I didn't let go. I pulled her back against my chest, my palm pressing firmly against her side.
"Lucas," I said, my voice a calm, low vibration. "I didn't realize you and Kendra were stopping by this evening."
Lucas's gaze snapped to my hand on her shoulder. I noticed his jaw tightened so hard I could see the muscle leaping in his cheek. "Dad? What is... who is she?"
I smiled. "This is Amara. And you should be the first to congratulate us." I leaned down slightly, my breath stirring the damp strands of her blonde hair. "She has just agreed to become my wife."
The silence that followed was absolute. Amara stiffened, her breath hitching as she tried to pull away from my grip. I tightened my hold just enough to remind her she needs my protection.
"It's... it's not-" she started, her voice a desperate whisper.
"Amara, this is my son, Lucas." I interrupted, my voice cutting through hers. "And his wife, Kendra. Now, I believe dinner is being served. We should eat as a family."
I sat at the head of the table. Amara sat to my right, looking small and fragile in the oversized velvet chair. Across from her, Lucas sat like a man made of stone, his eyes never leaving her face.
Didn't he like my idea of remarrying?
"You're not eating," I turned to Amara, nudging a plate of vegetables toward her. "You should eat. "
She looked at the food as if it were poison. "I'm not hungry."
"Well," I looked at everyone, sipping my wine. "We've decided not to waste any time. The wedding will be in two days. A private ceremony here at the estate."
Lucas's cutleries fell to the table. "Two days? You've got to be kidding me! You can't just... you don't even know her, Dad! This is insane."
"I know her well enough to know she belongs here," I replied, my voice dropping into a dangerous register. "And I don't recall asking for your permission, Lucas."
"Have you forgotten mom? It's just two years and you want to move on?" His voice was loud enough to stop everyone from eating.
Lucas stood up, his chair scraping harshly against the floor. "This is a mistake. A massive one." He looked at Amara, his expression held something I couldn't see.
He kept his eyes on Amara for three more seconds-three seconds where the air in the room felt like it might combust-before he turned and stormed out of the room. Kendra followed him, her heels clicking rapidly as they vanished into the hallway.
That look he had looked at her was disturbing.
I turned to Amara. She was standing now, her chest heaving, her hands gripping the back of her chair.
"I am not marrying you," she hissed, her voice trembling with rage. "I've made my decisions."
I stood up, moving around the table until I was standing directly in front of her. I was a head taller than her, my shadow swallowing her whole.
"Let's look at the facts, Amara," I said, my voice calm and clinical. "In forty-eight hours, you can be Mrs. Amara Hale. You will have the best legal team in the country making sure that glass award 'never existed.' You will have a security detail that will make you untouchable. You will never have to worry about a paycheck, a boss, or a dark alleyway again."
I stepped closer, until our chests were almost touching.
"Or," I continued, "you can walk out that door right now. I'll call the precinct and tell them exactly where to find the girl who fled the office tonight. I'll tell them about the blood on your coat. I'll let those men in black have their way with you. Which will it be?"
She looked up at me, her eyes shimmering with tears she refused to let fall. "Why do you want me? Why are you doing this to me? Why go through all this for a 'three-month contract'?"
"Because you are the only thing I want at this moment," I lied, though the truth was far more complex. "And because I like having beautiful things. "
I reached out, my thumb tracing the line of her jaw. "Three months, Amara. One season as my wife. In exchange, I give you your life back. Isn't that worth a signature and a ring?"
She closed her eyes, a single tear finally escaping and tracing a path down her cheek. She looked defeated, her shoulders sagging as she realized the cage she was in was gilded, but it was still a cage.
She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. "Fine," she whispered.
I smiled, pulling her into my arms. She felt cold, but she didn't fight me this time. "Good girl. Now, let's get you some rest. You have a wedding to prepare for."
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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.
9.7
I am the Fated Mate of Alpha Damien Blackwood, but because I was born a wolfless Omega, I was kept as his dirty little secret.
The constant rejection from my mate was literally killing me. The Pack Healer handed me my death sentence: Terminal Soul Wither. My life was ticking down to its final months.
While I sat in the dark, dying and gasping for air, Damien threw a twenty-million-dollar fireworks festival for his chosen future Luna, Isabelle. When he finally came home, reeking of her perfume, he only looked at me with eyes as cold as winter ice.
"It's your ovulation window. Let's get this over with."
He only wanted to use me to breed a powerful heir. He threatened to exile my only remaining family if I didn't comply, and even ordered me to draft a legal petition to invalidate my own existence so Isabelle could take my place. Even my adopted brother Jax, whom I suffered for years to protect, publicly threw me to the dirt just to ally with a powerful Pack.
I sacrificed my brilliant future as a top strategist to marry Damien, enduring three years of abuse and isolation. Why did I have to rot away in agony while they celebrated my replacement on glossy magazines?
I wouldn't let them watch me die in their golden cage. I signed the ancient Rejection petition, dropped the manor keys, and walked out into the freezing night.
This time, I chose to sever the bond myself.
9.3
"W-wait! Someone's comi- ah!" Dylan's gasps were muffled with a kiss that made his legs go weak.
"Want me to stop?" The whisper made him shudder.
"...no, b-but there's-"
"Then be a good boy and focus on me. Spread your legs."
Dylan as an innocent college student knew what he wanted in a guy and coincidentally, the Waltson's, their new neighbor, had a son Theo who was a perfect fit. But sadly straight and also not single. Aiming to drink out his sorrows at the school party and move on was an act he did not see ending with him sleeping with someone, but having no idea who it was the next morning.
Soon, his hunt for the truth gets narrowed down to the Waltson's, and he gets faced with the late realization that Theo wasn't the only son of the Waltson's. With his elder brother, Lucas, and a mute twin, Kyle, his options of his drunk one night widens from one to three.
Lucas and Theo had been present at the party, and Dylan saw his only chance of knowing the truth was getting closer to them. But to do that, he needed the help of Kyle who was anything but nice to him. His constant glares, his mischievous smiles, and his hand signs that get interpreted into nothing but lies. Almost like he was trying his best to keep him away from his brothers. And just when he thought that, he takes up the initiative to search up a sign Kyle had shown to him.
^^You and him are never going to work out. I'll make sure of that.^^
In the game of finding out what Kyle meant by that, he stumbles across something even bigger. The Waltson's secret
8.0
Henry Diego is new to Crosswell High School where he meets Archie Smith, who happens to be his mate and the Alpha of the Crimson Water Pack, a werewolf pack that resides in town. Once their relationship begins with a rocky start, Henry must deal with helping run a pack that he knows nothing about. From rogues to elders to unusual bonding with his mate, there are many positives and negatives that Henry must decide if he wants to be a part of.
8.3
⚠️ Warning: This book contains explicit scenes, strong language, mature content, sexual kinks and dark themes that may not be suitable for some readers. Read at your own risk.
Trevor Matai had already made himself an enemy of half the school just by being the smartest person in the class. So when he won the student body presidency, they just found newer and louder reasons to come for him.
What he was not prepared for was jerking awake from a nightmare in the middle of class, calling out Sean Pierre's name in front of everyone, and having a very visible and undeniable 'boner' to go along with it. Does that mean he got 'bricked up' for Sean.
That was quite unbelievable because Sean Pierre, who is a star quarterback and the school's golden boy, happens to be the most aggressively straight guy Trevor had ever been forced to share oxygen with. So, Sean was the absolute last person his subconscious should have chosen.
And now the whole school knew.
What followed was supposed to be punishment as a result of the two clashing over school activity funds. Instead, something neither of them planned for started building because the closer Sean kept him, the harder it became to pretend that none of it meant anything.
But Sean was the star quarterback and there were rules that came with that title. And wanting Trevor wasn't something the world around them was going to quietly allow.
Two boys with two different dreams that couldn't both survive this situation, which seemed like a rivalry that had already drawn blood and a romantic feeling between them that refused to take note of that.
Society had already written the rules, but they were about to break those rules and rewrite them.
Because when someone is willing to burn everything down for you... the only question left is whether you are brave enough to let them and decide what you are willing to risk for love.
9.2
He killed my brother. I swore I'd make him pay. But now I'm trapped in his penthouse... and I think I'm falling for him.
As the youngest son of the Romano mafia, Luca swore vengeance on the man who killed his brother-Damian Moretti, the cold, ruthless billionaire don of the rival Moretti family.
But when a failed assassination attempt leaves Luca at Damian's mercy, he's not tortured. He's... kept.
And he says Luca belongs to him now.