"In my world, there is no lovemaking, just plain fucks with no strings attached. I cannot love you, Elna." Grinding my waist against his groin, I cup his face and say, "Then fuck me." * * * When Elna's father first suggests an arranged marriage between her and Brandon Stark-the hot British billionaire-she is reluctant to go on a date with the man. On realising the dire state of their family business and the stress it puts on her beloved parents, Elna makes the bold decision to go ahead with it. Her family comes first. What she expects is a cold, cordial marriage. What she hopes is for their relationship to eventually lead to something more, as was the case with her parents. Ambitious go-getter that she is, Elna takes it upon herself to make her calm, controlling, anti-romance husband fall helplessly in love with her. But what she doesn't expect is to be drawn into Brandon's BDSM world of chains and whips, doms and subs. Will Brandon's love be more than Elna can handle?
"You will be fine, El," Pa starts. "After all, your ma and I never married out of love, but look at us now." His brown eyes take on a dreamy look and my lips curve into a small smile that disappears as soon as his gaze returns to my face. "So in love."
He takes my left hand in his, squeezes it as his way of reassuring me but I am far from reassured. A foreign emotion claws at my throat, tears burn the back of my eyes and I make a sound between a choke and a sob.
Why me? Why us?
I steal a glance at Pa's face, there's no sign of laughter. Instead, I'm met with lines that have etched deep into his forehead, sunken eyes from lack of sleep and cracked lips.
The tiny mole on his nose seems to have grown bigger, maybe it is my imagination. His shoulders are hunched, eyes hold great wisdom like they have seen things he must not voice out. His movements are slower than they should be as if he has thought long and hard before deciding to move.
When did Pa grow this old? He looks to be somewhere around his mid-seventies when he is ten years younger and I wonder if they lied when they said, Black don't crack. Maybe they did. Because Pa has cracked or will crack soon unless I agree to his offer.
A weight settles on my shoulder, the idea in itself makes me shudder involuntarily. This request he asks of me will change my life forever but I know I will do it. I will do anything for my parents to be happy again.
"I'm doing this because I love you." I place a kiss on my father's forehead, towering over him with my 5'11 height, one of the qualities that earned me modelling gigs before I quit. "I hope this works out well."
"I love you too and it will. I won't set you up for this if I wasn't so sure." His eyes water a bit but he doesn't cry. "You know this, El."
Do I? This is a set up, the only option is yes.
For his sake.
Sighing, I sink into the worn-down chair in this dilapidated office with chipping paints and rat-infested ceilings. If I look closely, the mould on the ceiling will have a more definite form. Sometimes, it's a map, other times, it's any shape my mind eye conjures.
"Say hello to ma for me," I say as he stands with a groan, "I'll swing by next week."
He sweeps his coat to one side so he can place a hand on his waist. We stare at each other long enough for me to glimpse the disappointment and hurt brimming in his eyes but he doesn't say anything. I have not been home in days, weeks; it reminds me too much of all we have lost. They might act like all is fine but it isn't and I can't pretend.
Pa finally sighs in defeat, he can already tell they will not be seeing me at home this weekend or next. He blows a kiss in my direction and I return it without looking him in the eyes. I am a bit angry at him, Ma and myself for the things I cannot change.
His fragile footsteps are slow and calculated but the wooden floor still creaks under his weight. Some of the nails of the floorboards are missing, a little misstep and you will be slapped into oblivion by the unforgiving wood. The whole place needs renovations but it guarantees privacy for talks like this.
At the door, Pa turns around to face me, waving lovingly at me as if to say he knows he has asked too much from me already. And I send him a smile that is the opposite of what I feel on the inside. I have to do this for them. They have already done enough.
When he is gone, I locate my black handbag on the floor, the hand-me-down from Ma I have owned for more than three years. My fingers brush the brown envelope and I withdraw them sharply as though it burns. I shove the file deeper into my bag, wishing this is a dream so I can wake up and declare this a nightmare. But it is not; this is real.
I make my way out to the front of this single-storey building, stopping to stare long and hard at what used to be our favourite place in the world. The letters, N PAR hangs precariously from the building, I step back. It used to be ANN PHARMA written in gold letters but the other letters have fallen off.
Pa claims it was named after Ma whose full name is Annika; she is his good luck charm. When Ma got tired of correcting people for mispronouncing her name, she decided to go by Ann instead. Only Pa can pronounce her name correctly, it means grace unlike my name, Elna which means beloved.
I shiver a bit as the cold evening air lashes angrily at everything in sight, pulling my coat tighter to my chest. Ignoring the catcalls that are thrown in my direction, I start the short journey to my apartment.
“Marry me, Leilani.” “What?” “We will have rules. There will be a contract.” Eyes widened in shock, she muttered, “You want me to be your wife? A contract wife?” * * * After her Tinder date goes horribly wrong, Leilani heads off to join her best friend at a wedding. There, she meets a man with the strangest proposal ever. A contract marriage. A normal person would have said no but a lonely person would consider the idea. So, she says yes to this hot, handsome stranger. Marrying a stranger wouldn’t be the worst decision she has taken. Or so she thinks, until she heads to the office the next work day and the head of department tells them the company has experienced a major change. A change as major as getting a new boss, who also happens to be her new husband.
Tessa is the picture perfect student with good grades, flawless attendance and a charming smile. With one year left to graduate high school and a bucket list imposed by her best friend, her goal is pretty much the same with an extra addition--tick off every item on the cursed bucket list. But trouble comes knocking in the form of blue eyes, muscled body and an ego the size of her head. What happens when the school's bad boy, Benjamin notices her in a boxing ring?
When the Alpha of Zebulun dies without an heir, the throne automatically falls to his sister, Hadiza, the mateless beta. But there's one problem. Female wolves cannot lead. Desperate to find her mate and keep the throne in her family, she joins a dating site that connects humans and werewolves. One mistake--a matchmake gone wrong leads Hadiza to an unexpected date with her mate, a human besotted by his long term girlfriend.
The day Lilah found out that she was pregnant, she caught her fiancé cheating on her. Her remorseless fiancé and his mistress almost killed her. Lilah fled for her dear life. When she returned to her hometown five years later, she happened to save a little boy's life. The boy's father turned out to be the world's richest man. Everything changed for Lilah from that moment. The man didn't let her experience any inconvenience. When her ex-fiancé bullied her, he crushed the scumbag's family and also rented out an entire island just to give Lilah a break from all the drama. He also taught Lilah's hateful father a lesson. He crushed all her enemies before she even asked. When Lilah's vile sister threw herself at him, he showed her a marriage certificate and said, "I'm happily married and my wife is much more beautiful than you are!" Lilah was shocked. "When did we ever get married? Last I checked, I was still single." With a wicked smile, he said, "Honey, we've been married for five years. Isn't it about time we had another child together?" Lilah's jaw dropped to the floor. What the hell was he talking about?
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.
Ava Adler was a nerdy omega. People bullied her because they thought she was ugly and unattractive. But Ava secretly loved the bad boy, Ian Dawson. He was the future Alpha of the Mystic Shadow Pack. However, he never gave a damn about rules and laws, as he only liked to play around with girls. Ava was unaware of Ian's arrogance until her fate intertwined with his. He neglected her and hurt her deeply. What would happen when Ava turned out to be a beautiful girl who could win over any boy, and Ian looked back and regretted his decisions? What if she had a secret identity that she had yet to discover? What if the tables turned and lan begged her not to leave him?
RATED 18+ (WARNING) - EXPLICIT SCENES. "Strip for me" the beastly alpha called, his voice echoed from his dark cell, causing a shiver to go down her body. She couldn't fight the way her body reacts to him. Her nipples harden from his touch. "I can smell your wetness omega" he mutters, his hands tracing under her skirt till he feels up her wet jeweled folds, causing a hiss from her lips as his fingers push in. He whispers to he ears, a voice filled the dangerous promise "you are mine" .******. Elise Aldermen is the daughter of the Silvernight Pack's chief alpha. She has waited her whole life for her marriage ceremony, hoping it would be the best day of her life. However, she gets the shock of a lifetime when her betrothed coldly rejects her and makes her a slave after finding out her true origins, even though they were already bound. Not Not only is she claimed to be a bastard on her mating day, but she is also disowned and rejected by her pack and mate. Elise's life turns into a nightmare as she is thrown into the dungeons as the cruel alpha's slave, only to be handed off to his greatest beastly champion, who dwells in the dark cells. Elise soon discovers that the beast she is now forced to be marked and bound to is more than a monster; this beastly alpha could also be her fated mate.
Lindsey's fiancé was the devil's first son. Not only did he lie to her but he also slept with her stepmother, conspired to take away her family fortune, and then set her up to have sex with a total stranger. To get her lick back, Lindsey decided to find a man to disrupt her engagement party and humiliate the cheating bastard. Never did she imagine that she would bump into a strikingly handsome stranger who was all that she was currently looking for. At the engagement party, he boldly declared that she was his woman. Lindsey thought he was just a broke man who wanted to leech off her. But once they began their fake relationship, she realized that good luck kept coming her way. She thought they would part ways after the engagement party, but this man kept to her side. "We gotta stick together, Lindsey. Remember, I'm now your fiancé. " "Domenic, you're with me because of my money, aren't you?" Lindsey asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Domenic was taken aback by that accusation. How could he, the heir of the Walsh family and CEO of Vitality Group, be with her for money? He controlled more than half of the city's economy. Money wasn't a problem for him! The two got closer and closer. One day, Lindsey finally realized that Domenic was actually the stranger she had slept with months ago. Would this realization change things between them? For the better or worse?
Janice, the long-forgotten legitimate heiress, made her way back to her family, pouring her heart into winning their hearts. Yet, she had to relinquish her very identity, her academic credentials, and her creative works to her foster sister. In return for her sacrifices, she found no warmth, only deeper neglect. Resolute, Janice vowed to cut off all emotional bonds. Transformed, she now stood as a master of martial arts, adept in eight languages, an esteemed medical expert, and a celebrated designer. With newfound resolve, she declared, "From this day forward, no one in this family shall cross me."