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Bodyguard Autumn Blake doesn't do relationships. They are messy things, and her life is about order and staying detached. She works only for female clients. Period. When she gets a request to protect a male IT specialist on a two-week assignment in Cayenne, it's too tempting to resist. The country holds a special place in her heart. And what trouble could a computer geek be? A ton, she soon discovers. Her new client could have walked off the cover of a top men's magazine. When their gazes collide, awareness slithers up her spine. For the first time, Autumn wishes she could change her past, wishes that there wasn't a stone-cold lump where her heart should be. And it's too late to turn down the assignment. Martin Whitmore is not a typical billionaire playboy. Not only is he as sexy as sin, but he's also the British government's secret weapon against cyber criminals. He's used to women throwing themselves at him. So, it's comical that the first woman he's wanted in a long time seems determined to keep him at arm's length. He can tell that she wants him just as much, but something or someone is standing in the way. He will stop at nothing to remove that obstacle. Will his determination overcome her reticence? Read on to find out!
18 September, 2003.
Later, in moments of despair, Autumn Blake would close her eyes and remember the way her older sister Stella shoved her protectively behind her slightly taller body as they faced the gunman.
The move startled the masked man standing several feet away. Over Stella's shoulder, Autumn watched as he paused and then lowered the weapon.
For a millisecond, she thought that he would spare their lives, thought that there was a conscience somewhere inside the man who had just extinguished four lives with single bullets to the head with frightening speed and accuracy, thought that perhaps the memory of the happy times he had shared with her and her sister would stay his hand.
She was wrong.
His finger tightened on the trigger, and once again, she heard the frightening sound as the bullet left the silencer of his gun, a sound barely louder than a puff of air.
Her sister gave a soft sigh and tumbled back onto Autumn, taking her to the floor.
And though she'd had no experience of death until minutes ago when she'd seen her father, her mother, her grandmother, and step-grandfather executed, Autumn recognized it in the crushing weight of her sister's body and in the harsh coppery smell that filled her nostrils as Stella's life-force seeped hotly between them.
She closed her eyes tightly as she heard the man's heavy thread on the polished wooden floorboard and prayed that he was making a quick getaway.
Instead, there was a creak as the front door opened, and his voice hissed, "Get in here, Caleb! Shit hit the fan."
A moment later, she heard a strangled gasp and a shaky voice say, "You said no one was going to get hurt, Uncle Finn. You said you were only going to rob the safe."
"Someone changed the stupid combination. Plus, I don't know why they weren't in their fucking beds fast asleep!" The man retorted, sounding furious that the occupants had changed the security code of the safe and stayed up later in their own home than he'd expected and inconvenienced him. "Grab her chain and get their phones!" he commanded in a distinctive voice that Autumn would have recognized even if his nephew hadn't just called him by name.
She closed her eyes more tightly and held her breath as she waited for the man's sixteen-year-old nephew to comply.
"I can't, Uncle Finn," the young man made a retching sound.
It was immediately followed by the sharp retort of flesh on flesh.
"Pull yourself together, boy!"
Whimpering as he did so, the young man grabbed the 24-karat necklace with its diamond-encrusted locket that Stella had been given only the day before as a sweet sixteenth birthday present. The chain held valiantly for a few seconds, and Stella's head lifted off the floor and Autumn's shoulder where it had come to rest. As the clasp gave way and it fell back with a muffled thud, the young man gave another whimpering moan.
Autumn listened as they moved around the living room, identifying the young man's lighter sneakered thread as he collected her and Stella's iPhones and his uncle's firm step as he quickly divested the other bodies of valuables.
Her mind revolted as she imagined him pulling off the diamond choker and matching tennis bracelet her mother had worn for the party earlier, as well as her wedding band and engagement ring with its obscenely large diamond.
Perhaps he'd first gone for her father's Rolex and the only jewelry he wore, a heavy signet ring with the Latin: Fideles Ubique Utiles. Faithful and Useful Everywhere is the motto of Gotham's College, the secondary school he'd attended as a young man. The school Stella had also attended and the one which Autumn was due to start in less than a month.
Autumn's grandmother and her husband, on a visit from the UK to celebrate Stella's sixteenth birthday, only wore their wedding bands.
Autumn lay holding her breath until, seeming satisfied that he had taken everything of value, the man ordered, "Let's get out of here!"
She turned her head and watched them leave, her eyes daggers of rage that would have pierced them both through the heart if it depended on her will.
The older man's stocking mask disguise hadn't fooled her.
Or anyone else present in the house before the madness had begun.
Finn Maxwell, the burly, almost six-and-a-half-foot security guard her father had recently hired. His dead sister's son, Caleb Grayson, had been posted outside as a lookout before he had been called indoors to help loot the bodies.
Shy Caleb, who had earlier danced with Stella at her birthday party and, appeared a hopeless fool in love. As he was about to leave the room, he turned his head at the very last minute to cast one last sorrowful glance at his dead classmate.
Through the fine mesh of his stocking mask, his eyes connected with Autumn's.
She saw his slim body jerk in shock.
He froze, the look in her eyes seeming to hold him spellbound.
Then he broke the connection and pulled the door shut behind him.
18 September, 2010.
7 years later.
Just when Caleb Grayson had finally forgotten those rage-filled, accusing eyes, he was shaken out of his sleep to find them staring out at him from the holes of a black balaclava.
He shook his head, thinking that the young girl had once again come to him in a dream as she'd done countless times before.
But this was no nightmare.
This time, she was as real as she had been the night his uncle had massacred everyone else in the house.
And this time, she was older and stronger.
Strong enough to pin him effortlessly to the bed.
"Never spare someone's life when you've taken everything that mattered away from them." The words were softly, calmly spoken with a faint British accent. Other than the tip of the knife at his throat, it could have been a lover whispering into his ear. "It's crueler than killing them."
"Please don't kill me," he begged.
Lady Aubrielle Dane and Dorian St. Laurent once dreamed of a future together, their love burning bright against the shadows of duty and expectation. But when debts threaten to consume his estate and her brother secures a marriage offer from the wealthy but enigmatic Lord Evercroft, their dreams crumble into bitter reality. Dorian refuses to let her go without a fight, desperate to defy fate and claim the woman he loves. But Aubrielle knows the truth-love will not save them from ruin. Bound by loyalty, honor, and the weight of family duty, she must make the ultimate sacrifice. As she walks toward a future not of her choosing, will the love they shared fade into the past-or will it haunt them forever?, will her marital status with Evercroft lead to a good end or not?.
Amelia wakes to find herself among Twelve kidnapped women including herself. Whilst finding a way to escape with her fellow group of kidnapped women, they get taken to an island after their failed attempt to escape. On getting to the island they find out that they were chosen to become mates to some sets of werewolves through a blood ceremony that turns them into werewolves. Amelia becomes mated to an unexpected werewolf from an unexpected household. She then finds a way to rescue the women and escape with them. Who is this werewolf?Will they both accept each other as their mates?Will Amelia find a way to escape with the women?How will she proceed with her werewolf life?..
Yelena discovered that she wasn't her parents' biological child. After seeing through their ploy to trade her as a pawn in a business deal, she was sent away to her barren birthplace. There, she stumbled upon her true origins—a lineage of historic opulence. Her real family showered her with love and adoration. In the face of her so-called sister's envy, Yelena conquered every adversity and took her revenge, all while showcasing her talents. She soon caught the attention of the city's most eligible bachelor. He cornered Yelena and pinned her against the wall. “It's time to reveal your true identity, darling.”
Janet was adopted when she was a kid -- a dream come true for orphans. However, her life was anything but happy. Her adoptive mother taunted and bullied her all her life. Janet got the love and affection of a parent from the old maid who raised her. Unfortunately, the old woman fell ill, and Janet had to marry a worthless man in place of her parents' biological daughter to meet the maid's medical expenses. Could this be a Cinderella's tale? But the man was far from a prince, except for his handsome appearance. Ethan was the illegitimate son of a wealthy family who lived a reckless life and barely made ends meet. He got married to fulfill his mother's last wish. However, on his wedding night, he had an inkling that his wife was different from what he had heard about her. Fate had united the two people with deep secrets. Was Ethan truly the man we thought he was? Surprisingly, he bore an uncanny resemblance to the impenetrable wealthiest man in the city. Would he find out that Janet married him in place of her sister? Would their marriage be a romantic tale or an utter disaster? Read on to unravel Janet and Ethan's journey.
Life was perfect until she met her boyfriend's big brother. There was a forbidden law in the Night Shade Pack that if the head Alpha rejected his mate, he would be stripped of his position. Sophia's life would get connected with the law. She was an Omega who was dating the head Alpha's younger brother. Bryan Morrison, the head Alpha, was not only a cold-blooded man but also a charming business tycoon. His name was enough to cause other packs to tremble. He was known as a ruthless man. What if, by some twist of destiny, Sophia's path were to intertwine with his?
Mia's life is spiraling out of control. Abandoned by her mother, bullied mercilessly at school, and thrown into a household of four dangerously attractive stepbrothers, she's desperate to find her footing. "You look absolutely edible," Sean growled, his eyes devouring her. Mia felt a rush of heat between her thighs "Oh, you think so?" she purred, turning to face him. She reached out and traced her fingers along the ribbon that wrapped around his waist. "Well, I've been waiting for this all day. And I'm starving." Sean's smile grew into a predatory grin. "Then let us feast," he said, and in a flash, the ribbon fell away, exposing his rock-hard length. He stepped closer, and Mia felt the warmth of his breath on her face as he whispered, "You're going to take every inch of us tonight, aren't you?" With Rolex's teasing smirk and Sean's quiet, hot stares, Mia doesn't know where to turn-or who to trust. Every glance, every touch leaves her breathless, confused, and craving more than she should. Will Mia survive their games, or will she lose herself in a dangerous world of secrets, seduction, and forbidden desire? One house. Four brothers. Endless temptation.
"I stood at the edge of my heart and watched him choose her. In the end, I was not the one he needed. I was simply the one he settled for." - Noelle ~~~~~~~ I thought I was the one he loved. But a few days before our wedding, I saw him in a way I never had before. His eyes softened as he spoke to her. His first love, and the very woman who had left him in pieces. Heartbreak was something I knew too well. And as I watched the love he still held for her in his eyes, I realized what I had to do. I couldn't marry a man who wasn't truly mine. With no means to cancel the wedding and lacking the courage to confront him, I made a desperate choice to leave. I painfully gave his first love my treasured engagement ring thinking it was for the best and the only way to free myself. But when he saw that ring on her finger, the fragile world I had tried to escape began to shatter. His obsession to find me and bring me back ignited a dangerous game of cat and mouse.
COALESCENCE OF THE FIVE SERIES BOOK ONE: THE 5-TIME REJECTED GAMMA & THE LYCAN KING BOOK TWO: THE ROGUES WHO WENT ROGUE BOOK THREE: THE INDOMITABLE HUNTRESS & THE HARDENED DUKE *** BOOK ONE: After being rejected by 5 mates, Gamma Lucianne pleaded with the Moon Goddess to spare her from any further mate-bonds. To her dismay, she is being bonded for the sixth time. What’s worse is that her sixth-chance mate is the most powerful creature ruling over all werewolves and Lycans - the Lycan King himself. She is certain, dead certain, that a rejection would come sooner or later, though she hopes for it to be sooner. King Alexandar was ecstatic to meet his bonded mate, and couldn’t thank their Goddess enough for gifting him someone so perfect. However, he soon realizes that this gift is reluctant to accept him, and more than willing to sever their bond. He tries to connect with her but she seems so far away. He is desperate to get intimate with her but she seems reluctant to open up to him. He tries to tell her that he is willing to commit to her for the rest of his life but she doesn’t seem to believe him. He is pleading for a chance: a chance to get to know her; a chance to show her that he’s different; and a chance to love her. But when not-so-subtle crushes, jealous suitors, self-entitled Queen-wannabes, an old flame, a silent protector and a past wedding engagement threaten to jeopardize their relationship, will Lucianne and Xandar still choose to be together? Is their love strong enough to overcome everything and everyone? Or will Lucianne resort to enduring a sixth rejection from the one person she thought she could entrust her heart with?