Worried with his wife's views about sex, and her refusal to let him please her the way a woman should be pleased, Karl refuses to give her the one thing she so desperately needs, which is a child. This sets him on a path to distract himself, leading him to an unlikely fellow, his first love.
She had tears in her eyes when she knelt before him and took him in her mouth. Karl knew her religion was against it, yet, he had let her go through with it. She used her lips just like he had told her to, but she did it with fear written on her face. No matter. Before the night was over, those tears would no longer linger when he showed her what she and her tribe had been missing.
Karl and his wife, Lexi, had been married for two months, and all that time, he had not had sex with her because of her view about sex.
Lexi was taught to believe that women were mares, meant to be mounted and ridden. "A horse," Lexi had said, "should feel the ache and pain of its riding, and the rider is to feel the pleasure."
"I guess you've never ridden a horse," Karl had said. "People normally get sores from riding horses, and since women aren't horses, they shouldn't be ridden like horses. They are beings of pleasure, meant to feel ecstasy, the shattering euphoria of climax, the point all should reach. They should be treated like glass, gentle to hold and feel, and consumed with pleasure like fire."
They had argued again and again about it, but Karl had stood by one argument. "If I can't give you multiple climaxes, then, I won't make love to you."
Karl had found that the sight of her naked always turned him on, stirring up an urge he usually found hard to extinguish. Save for the fact that Lexi was always shy to be naked around him, she also thought it unholy and totally avoided it.
Karl, half consumed with passion, looked down to see rivulets of tears run down Lexi's face. Then, he felt her pain and his passion died.
"Stop," Karl said. "Stop. I can't make love to you like this." He separated himself from her and used a sheet to cover her.
Lexi took to her feet sniffing. And with her face to the ground, she asked, "What did I do wrong?"
"What did you do wrong?" Karl asked, unbelieving that she had asked such. "You were crying like I was about to rape you. Why was that?"
"Rape would have been better," she said. "My mother said it's a man's way over a lady during times of war."
Karl laughed a little. "War? Rape? You think rape is better than this?"
Lexi nodded, still not looking at him with her face to the ground. She looked like a slave, and he hadn't married a slave.
"Look at me," Karl said gently. He walked up to her and held both of her shoulders and she flinched. "Look at me."
Lexi raised her eyes to look at his briefly, then she settled it just beneath his, enough for him to see the violet in her eyes.
"What do you fear?" Karl asked.
"I've told you before?" she said. "It's against my religion. If caught, I'll be killed."
"And what would happen to me?"
She shook her head. "Nothing. They would let you go. They would blame it on the woman. Eve was the cause of the fall of creation. The woman is dangerous. Give her little power and she would lust after more. She is not to be trusted."
Karl nodded. "Okay. Do you know when a man marries a woman, they literally become one?"
Lexi nodded.
"Then, if I'm married to you and we're one, why would they want to harm you separately, and spare me?"
"I don't-"
"Don't answer. Your people are naive. Your men are brash, and your women are suffering."
"Don't insult my people. They are good people. They-they-they help with-"
"I didn't mean to insult your people. I was simply telling the truth," Karl said. "Now, your father gave you to me. He wanted to give you for free, like something of no worth. I could see the glee on his face. He was pleased to be rid of you. I, however, wouldn't have you for free. I paid dowry bigger than anything that would be charged for the most expensive girl in your tribe. I did that because you hold value to me. Now, you're mine. Mine." Karl slightly shook his head. "And I'm not sharing you with anyone, not even your people. You're not the first woman I've been with, but you're the last I ever need, and I need you to understand that. I won't have any other lady except you, and if you fear your people so much, then, we can leave."
Karl saw the look of uncertainty on her face. He didn't know how else to convince her.
Lexi boldly looked him in the eye. "It's been two months. Two months. Usually, when a man takes a woman as his wife, he has her immediately, and in two months, she starts showing signs. I've seen how it is done. The chief sometimes has sex with his wife in the center of the village to show us how. Other men too. Have you seen this before?"
Karl had seen this barbaric practice countless times and he nodded. "I have," he said.
"Why not just take me like that?"
"Don't you see the women usually hurt, and sometimes bleed?"
"It's all part of the process. It's how it was meant to be."
Karl released her shoulder. "I guess that's why you came to me today. Because your mother asked if you're pregnant."
Lexi had shame written on her face as she lowered her gaze. "Yes. I'm not cursed. My people think I am."
"Well, if for any consolation, I don't think you're cursed either."
"I was willing to compromise."
"You had tears on your face," Karl said. "Aside from the fact that my people are more civilized than yours, I am a gentleman, and I can't force myself on you, or please you in a way you wouldn't like."
"I don't like all you've said we should try. It's not customary."
Karl curtly nodded. "Okay. When you're ready for me to really make love to you, let me know." He brought his lips to her forehead and kissed her there. "I'm going out with my men. I'll have your tent guarded so no one seeks your life, since that's what you fear."
And with that, Karl donned on his dress, and he walked out of the tent.
Tim is drawn to his alluring neighbor, Cynthia, whose charm ignites a spark during a rainy evening chat. A seemingly innocent exchange quickly escalates into charged texts and an invitation for cuddling. Unaware that Cynthia is married, Tim steps into her home, anticipating passion but walking straight into a web of illicit desires and dangerous secrets not knowing who really Cynthia is.
Right after his first encounter with The Secret, Grey enjoys the comfort of his home when he is called back to service to serve The Secret, a force he can't say no to. This time, she gives him various tales, like avenging the dead, and his favourite, looking after Helen.
After a sex filled night with a beautiful, strange lady, Elvin is torn between eagerness to say goodbye to this lady, and the desire to have one more feel of last night when the government declares a lockdown. He finds himself trapped inside his home with her, and just like him, she also wants more experiences like last night, although, through a series of games.
For ages, the harmless, resting form and grave of five sisters—a beautiful, tidy house has stayed silent, and undisturbed. Suddenly, this house is broken into by outlaws. There are set out conditions for humans to reside within this house, but unaware of the consequences if the rules are broken, and the powers that reside within the house, these outlaws cause further damage, thereby awakening the sleeping powers within the house. These powers, hungry, itchy, and thirsty, feast on these men and regain their strength. As they release themselves, and find their way out into the world, their new assignment becomes finding, stalking, and hunting those who buried them in here, locked them inside the house, and eventually turned them into the house, and their tone to man is one man deems unfair.
A love story between an assassin and a lady.
She is one who loves fiercely, but it always ends badly for her lovers. One boy upsets her pattern of love crisis, and she would rather leave him, than destroy him. However, there's more to this boy than she realizes.
When they were kids, Derek saved Norah's life. Years later, after Derek ended up in a vegetative state from a car crash, Norah married him without a second thought and even used her medical knowledge to heal him. For two years, Norah was devoted, seeking his affection and looking to settle her life-saving debt. But when Derek's first love returned, Norah, faced with divorce, didn't hesitate to sign. Despite being labeled as forsaken, few knew of her true talents. She was a race car driver, a famed designer, a genius hacker, and a renowned doctor. Regretting his decision, Derek begged for her forgiveness. Just then, a charming CEO intervened, embracing Norah and declaring, "Back off! She's my wife!" Taken aback, Norah blurted out, "What did you say?"
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?
Her fiance and her best friend worked together and set her up. She lost everything and died in the street. However, she was reborn. The moment she opened her eyes, her husband was trying to strangle her. Luckily, she survived that. She signed the divorce agreement without hesitation and was ready for her miserable life. To her surprise, her mother in this life left her a great deal of money. She turned the tables and avenged herself. Everything went well in her career and love when her ex-husband came to her.
Rumors said that Lucas married an unattractive woman with no background. In the three years they were together, he remained cold and distant to Belinda, who endured in silence. Her love for him forced her to sacrifice her self-worth and her dreams. When Lucas' true love reappeared, Belinda realized that their marriage was a sham from the start, a ploy to save another woman's life. She signed the divorce papers and left. Three years later, Belinda returned as a surgical prodigy and a maestro of the piano. Lost in regret, Lucas chased her in the rain and held her tightly. "You are mine, Belinda."
To exact revenge on her treacherous fiancé, Yvonne enticed Clayton into a liaison that promised advantages for both. Yet, when Yvonne spotted a woman resembling her at Clayton’s side, she recognized she was nothing more than a substitute. Discovering Clayton’s upcoming wedding, she departed with a generous severance sum. “Clayton, this is truly the end,” she declared resolutely. On the very day Yvonne was set to marry someone else, Clayton showed up, desperation clear in his eyes as he dropped to his knees. “Yvonne, please, don’t go through with it. Don’t marry him.”
Sandra Hill, the long-lost real heiress of the Hill family, was shunned by her own kin. Instead of embracing her, they bestowed their affection upon an impostor. They even arranged her to marry a vegetative man in place of her so-called “sister”. Sandra sneered, refusing to put up with this humiliation, cut off ties with the Hill family immediately and ran into the flash marriage with Wesley Cooper, her unconscious billionaire husband. With her incredible medical skills, she defied the odds and revived him. Little did she expect that her husband spoiled her with all his love... A medical genius, a computer prodigy, a national treasure in painting, and a racing legend... Her husband revealed her various identities, leaving the Hill family regretful. Her father came pleading, "It's Dad's fault. Please come back." Her mother wept, "Mom will protect you from now on. Please come back." Even her five brothers knelt before he, begging for forgiveness. Yet, Sandra's smile held a hint of mockery as she vowed, “Never!”