Melting His Iced Heart
The sound of loud slapping windows jolted her from her sleep. She carefully got down from the bed, walking towards the window to shut it closed.
She froze instantly, turning cold with fear at the familiar figure standing right outside her window.
She staggered backwards. "No," she shook her head in disbelief, but that didn't stop him from jumping through her window.
She ran for the door, desperately trying to unlock it, but it wasn't even budging. Her heart raced in her chest, her palms clammy, and then she felt his large presence behind her, slamming his hand on the door right beside her head.
She slowly turned to find those cold gray eyes staring at her.
She trembled. "H-how did you f-find me?"
A sinister smirk suddenly appeared on his lips, his eyes shining with an evil glint.
"Didn't I tell you, Lilian? You run, I chase."
His hand shot to her throat, his thumb caressing it gently, and then he covered the distance between them, leaning in for his hot breath to fan her neck.
His hand held her small waist, pulling her impossibly closer to himself.
"Now you must be punished, princess."
In a bid to escape her cold husband and her cruel family, Lilian finds herself in an even more dangerous situation that either mends or breaks her.
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Chapter 6
"Sold!!"
The word echoed through the hall like a gunshot.
Lilian could not breathe.
The crowd erupted in murmurs, some irritated, some impressed. A billion dollars had just erased every other bidder from existence.
The guard gripping her arm loosened his hold instantly. His arrogance vanished. No one wanted to offend the man who just spent that much money without blinking.
Xavier stepped forward.
He did not rush.
He never rushed.
The clicking of his shoes against the polished floor cut through the noise. Men parted without being told. The conductor forced a smile, bowing slightly.
"A pleasure to see you here, Mr. Rune."
Xavier did not look at him.
His gray eyes stayed locked on her.
Lilian felt exposed, even though she was barely covered already. Shame burned through her skin. Anger followed quickly behind it.
He stopped in front of her.
For a second, neither of them spoke.
Then his hand lifted.
She flinched.
His fingers brushed the torn fabric at the front of her dress, pulling it back into place. Not to hide her from the crowd. To cover her.
"Untie her," he said calmly.
The cuffs were removed immediately.
Blood rushed painfully into her wrists. She nearly stumbled, but she refused to fall. Not here. Not in front of these men.
She raised her chin.
"You shouldn't have come," she whispered.
He tilted his head slightly, studying her like she was a puzzle he had already solved.
"And let them touch you?" His voice was low. Controlled. Dangerous.
Her throat tightened.
"You agreed to the divorce."
"Yes."
"Then why are you here?"
A faint smile touched his lips. It wasn't warm. It wasn't cruel either. It was certain.
"You really thought I would let you be sold to someone else?"
The word someone else scraped across her nerves.
He turned to the conductor and handed over a black card.
"This establishment is finished," he said.
The conductor blinked. "Excuse me?"
Xavier leaned closer, voice soft enough that only the man could hear. "You just auctioned something that belongs to me."
The conductor's face drained of color.
Within seconds, Xavier's men flooded the room.
Lilian watched chaos unfold. Guns drawn. Doors locked. Shouts rising.
Her heart pounded.
This wasn't a rescue.
This was an execution.
Xavier wrapped his coat around her shoulders and guided her off the stage.
"Walk," he murmured.
Her legs obeyed before her mind could argue.
Behind them, the first gunshot rang out.
She did not look back.
Outside, cold air hit her face. She sucked in a breath like she had been drowning.
A sleek black car waited.
He opened the door for her.
She hesitated.
"If I get in," she said quietly, "I'm not free."
His gaze held hers.
"You were never free, Lilian."
The bluntness stung.
She slid into the car anyway.
The door shut. The world outside vanished.
For a while, there was only the sound of the engine and her uneven breathing.
She stared at her wrists. Red marks. Bruised skin. Proof.
He followed her gaze.
"They won't hurt you again."
She laughed softly, bitterly. "You sound like a hero."
"I am not a hero."
"No," she agreed. "You're worse."
He did not argue.
"Did you know?" she asked suddenly.
His eyes shifted to her.
"Did you know my father would sell me?"
"Yes."
The word landed like a slap.
Her head snapped toward him. "You knew?"
"I suspected."
"And you did nothing?"
"I monitored the situation."
Her chest heaved. "I was dragged into a cage!"
"And I bought you out."
Her hands shook. "You let it happen."
His expression hardened. "You chose to leave my protection."
"I chose freedom!"
"You chose to trust a man who has never treated you like a daughter."
Her voice cracked. "You had no right to use me as bait."
His jaw flexed.
"I needed confirmation," he said. "Now I have it."
"Confirmation of what?"
"That Yhuan Hart is willing to trade blood for business."
Her stomach twisted.
"You're playing games with my life too?."
"I'm securing the board."
She hated how calm he was.
"How long were you watching?" she demanded.
"From the moment you landed."
Her breath caught.
"You tracked me?"
"Yes."
Rage surged through her. "You have no boundaries!"
"You are alive because I have none."
The car slowed as massive gates opened ahead.
She stared at the emblem etched in steel.
A phantom mask.
The air felt different here. Heavy.
The car drove through.
Men lined the driveway, standing straight. Armed.
They bowed their heads as Xavier stepped out.
Fear radiated through them. Respect, but sharpened with fear.
He walked around and opened her door.
She stepped out slowly.
"Where are we?" she asked.
He looked at her.
"Home."
The word felt wrong.
Inside, the mansion was grand but cold. Marble floors. High ceilings. No warmth.
This was not the life she knew in Hong Kong.
This was something darker.
Men moved aside when he passed. No one looked at her directly.
"Take her to the medical unit," he ordered.
"I don't need-"
He shot her a look.
She stopped talking.
A female doctor cleaned her wounds in silence. Professional. Efficient.
When it was over, she was led to a bedroom larger than the entire cell she had been kept in.
The door closed.
She stood in the center of the room.
She felt smaller here than she did in the cage.
Minutes later, the door opened again.
Xavier stepped inside alone.
No guards.
No witnesses.
Just them.
She crossed her arms instinctively.
"You destroyed that place," she said.
"Yes."
"How many died?"
"Enough."
Her stomach tightened.
"You act like you saved me."
"I did."
"You killed people."
"They were selling people."
Her voice faltered.
He stepped closer.
"You think the world runs on laws?" he asked quietly. "It runs on power."
"And you think you have it?."
"Yes."
She looked at him long and hard.
"You could have let me go," she whispered.
"And watch you walk into hell?"
"I was already in hell."
His hand lifted suddenly, gripping her chin gently but firmly.
"You don't get to decide that alone."
Her pulse raced.
"I am not your property."
His thumb brushed her lower lip where the fabric had torn earlier.
"You were nearly sold as one."
She slapped his hand away.
"I would rather die than belong to you."
The air between them shifted.
His eyes darkened.
"You tried to leave," he said evenly. "You tried to erase this marriage."
"Yes."
"And what did it cost you?"
Her throat closed.
"You think this world is kinder without me?" he continued. "You think there aren't men worse than I am?"
She did not answer.
Because she knew the answer.
He stepped back.
"You are under my protection now," he said. "No one touches you without my permission."
She stared at him.
"And if I don't want your protection?"
His lips curved faintly.
"You don't get that option."
Her heart pounded.
"You don't own me."
He walked to the door.
Before leaving, he glanced over his shoulder.
"Lilian," he said quietly, "the next time you try to run..."
He paused.
Her breath caught.
"...make sure I don't find you."
The door shut.
She stood frozen in the silence.
Outside her window, she could see armed men patrolling the grounds.
High walls.
Locked gates.
Security cameras turning slowly.
She had just escaped one prison.
And now, she had just entered another.
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9.2
For a thousand years, the city of Crescent Falls has survived beneath the shadow of an ancient savior. Each century, a man is chosen as an offering to Sariyah-the being said to have once driven demons from the world. When Bastion, the man Ember loves, is taken after daring to refuse her, Ember's grief turns into defiance, and she vows to bring him home no matter the cost.
Her search forces her into an uneasy alliance with Orion St. James, a dangerously charming immortal with a violent past and secrets tied to Sariyah herself. Bound together by a magic neither of them wants nor understands, Ember and Orion are drawn into a hidden war beneath the city-one involving cultists, monsters, and an ancient order known as the Watchers.
As Crescent Falls begins to fracture, Ember experiences unsettling visions that hint her bloodline is far more entangled with Sariyah than anyone ever suspected. Strange new powers awaken within her, blurring the line between protector and destroyer, while enemies gather and old loyalties are tested.
With the city on the brink of collapse and unseen forces moving in the shadows, Ember must decide how far she is willing to go to save Bastion-and whether becoming something darker is the only way to stop an evil that has ruled unchallenged for centuries.
Because some thrones are not inherited.
They are taken.
7.3
Laura Brooks thought she was just an ordinary woman working a normal job-until one reckless night with a stranger changed everything.
Damien Blackwood isn't just dangerously handsome-he's the ruthless Alpha of the most feared werewolf pack in the region. For ten years, he ruled with violence and strength, but the moment he saw Laura, a human, he knew the truth: she was his mate. His Luna. His obsession.
Terrified, Laura tried to run. But fate was cruel. Caught between two rival Alphas-Damien, who would burn the world to keep her, and Kael, who wanted her as a weapon to destroy him-Laura was dragged into a world of blood, betrayal, and war.
Laura's fate is sealed in violence. To save her life and their unborn child, Damien makes the one choice that changes everything: he turns her.
Now Laura is no longer just human. She is Alpha's mate. She is Luna. And the world will learn why no one steals from Damien Blackwood.
7.5
Princess Adrienne doesn't do gowns, politics, or obedience. She does swords, battle, and telling arrogant princes exactly where they can shove their heroics.
So when the cocky bastard who "saved" her on the battlefield turns out to be Prince Orion-her betrothed-she's ready to murder him before she'll marry him.
He's a legend. Undefeated. Insufferable.
She's savage. Stubborn. And refuses to be any man's prize.
Neither wants this marriage. Both have secrets. And when duty forces them together, the hatred burns almost as hot as the desire they're trying to ignore.
In a game of crowns, the most dangerous move is falling for your enemy.
8.3
I was the "crazy girl" my family sent to a survivalist commune in Utah to rot. Four years later, I returned to Manhattan with a titanium USB drive and a heart full of ice, ready to blackmail the one man who could burn my family to the ground.
But I underestimated how much they hated me. My fiancé, Preston, was already laundering money through my inheritance and sleeping with my replacement. He didn't even flinch when I showed him the evidence of his crimes.
Instead, he grabbed me by the shoulders, smashed my phone, and shoved me out of his moving Lincoln into a midnight storm. I hit the wet pavement hard, my knees scraping against the asphalt as I watched him drive away, laughing about how I was a "dirt-poor exile" that nobody wanted.
Within minutes, my credit cards were flagged as stolen and my father’s lawyers were drafting a statement calling me mentally unstable. I was left shivering in a puddle of oily sludge, wearing a ruined Chanel suit, with no money, no home, and no one to hear me scream.
I couldn't understand how they could be so cruel. I was their flesh and blood, yet they treated me like a broken toy to be discarded in the trash. I was a "distressed asset" in a city that only valued gold.
That’s when a black armored SUV pulled to the curb. King Wagner—the ruthless shark of Wall Street and Preston’s own uncle—looked at my muddy face with cold, calculating eyes. He didn't offer me pity; he offered me a leash.
"You belong to me now," he whispered, pulling me into the dry warmth of his car. By the next morning, he had announced our engagement to the world, turning me into the very weapon that would slit my family's throat.
7.1
His grin spread and he leaned closer to me, his scent overshadowing my senses. "I own you and this entire place, Scarlett. Whatever I decide to do to them is none of your business, is that clear?"
"I hate you, Asher. I hate you with every cell in my body!" I seethed through my teeth, but his grin only grew wider.
"We both know that you are lying..." His fingers moved to my chest, slowly making their way over my breasts, searching for my nipple. "Your whole body can't survive without me."
***
Scarlett's holy union to Asher, the feared king of the Forgotten Lands, was meant to unite kingdoms but behind closed doors, her marriage becomes a prison. Asher wants an heir, a throne, and revenge against the family that once ruled over him. Scarlett is only the means to an end.
Caught between a husband who breaks her body yet craves her soul, and a trusted friend whose loyalty hides a thirst for power, Scarlett learns that love in the Crystal Peaks is never gentle. It is claimed, twisted, and betrayed.
As war brews, dark magic awakens, and an enemy long thought dead returns, Scarlett must decide who she truly belongs to... and how much of herself she's willing to lose to survive.
Because in a world ruled by monsters, the most dangerous thing a woman can be is loved.
Book 3 of The Lycan King Series.
8.8
I spent three years hating Damien Castillo, the ruthless mafia Don who kidnapped me from my engagement party and ruined my reputation.
But in the end, it was my perfect fiancé, Julian, and my sweet half-sister, Sophia, who slipped the deadly poison into my wine.
As the venom burned through my veins in that freezing cellar, I watched Julian smile. He and Sophia had orchestrated my brutal death. She had been sleeping in his bed all along, intentionally miscarrying his bastard child just to frame me as 'impure' and strip me of my family's protection. My own father used me as a political pawn, letting them throw me away like garbage.
And Damien? The monster I had fought and despised for years marched straight into a suicide ambush for me. He was riddled with bullets, turning his body into a human shield just to buy me a few more seconds of life.
"Touch her and you die."
I died in that blood-soaked basement, clutching his lifeless body, suffocating on my own blind trust. Why did I ever believe the golden boy who betrayed me? Why did I fight the only man who truly loved me?
Opening my eyes again, the stench of copper and mold was gone, replaced by the scent of Cuban cigars and black silk.
I was back in 1928, on the exact night Damien stormed my engagement party and locked me in his penthouse.
This time, when the ruthless Don approached me, I didn't scream or run back to my killers. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.