"Tomorrow, we don't have to speak of this again." I hardly know what I'm asking. I just know I want whatever it is. He watches me with an intensity only he is capable of. "Put my hand where you want me to touch you." **** Vaela should never have gone up that mountain. She should never have tried to find the Immortal Prince. But she did, and now she's mortal in a land of immortals, fighting to find her mate in order to save her own life. Yet the handsome, seductive Prince trying to save her life is getting in her way. How can she concentrate on finding her true mate when she is confined to his home, unable to resist him? Unless, of course, he is the answer to all her problems. *Mature Content! Read at your own discretion!*
~Vaela
My feet scuff over rocks, gloved fingers gripping slick ice as I climb.
"Can you wait up? I'm going as fast as I can and am seconds away from breaking my ankle."
Turning, I look over my shoulder. My friend and companion for this trip, Eyla, struggles up a particularly steep part of the cliff, bundled in layers of clothing to the point I can't see her face.
"We are nearly there," I assure her, prying my numb hand between two slabs of rock, hoisting myself up onto a ridge.
"Exactly, so wait up."
With two feet planted on the flat edge of the ridge, I look out over the view. Sharp mountain peaks rear up into the sky, grazing the clouds. Below, a layer of hazy fog wraps around the thick base of the mountains, shrouding our view of the village tucked into the valley.
"I'm sorry, I'm just anxious." Leaning down, I grasp Eyla's awaiting hand, her feet scrambling on ice as she struggles up the crux of this climb.
This trip has been in planning for months now.
Only a few feet above us, a cave is situated snugly into the mountain. Rumours suggest that somewhere in this mountain, a pureblood immortal lives in solitude. Not only is he a pureblood, he is a Sin.
Eyla braces her hands on her knees, breath clouding in front of her face.
"You have..." I motion to my own face with my finger, grinning at all the snow that has gathered on her features.
"Yes, I know, you were kicking it all down on me. Jerk," she mutters, brushing the flakes away hurriedly. When she looks back up at me, I realise how poor her attempt was, snow still dusting her dark lashes and tinted cheeks.
I tilt my head, smiling. "It suits you."
She ignores me, tilting her head back to examine what's left of the climb.
"What do you think we are even going to find up here anyway?"
"An ancient burial site, maybe an old rendezvous point for powerful immortals from centuries ago, maybe a pond of eternal life..."
Truth is, I don't exactly know. I've researched this place to death, and yet no one can truly confirm it's origin, it's inhabitants, or what is hiding up there. Eyla and I are to be the first to explore it.
Eyla gapes at me, her large brown eyes practically swallowing her face. "Seriously?"
"You can't be having second thoughts...Not when we had to hunt down that crazed lady and get her to transport us all the way up here," I remind her.
I nudge my foot into the rock, testing it's ancient stability.
"Could she not have transported us right into the damn cave?" Eyla mutters, adjusting her gloves.
I don't divulge the manner of ridiculous things I had to do to conjure up enough money to pay the old hag off. She doesn't have the ease of magic like the pure bloods do, to transport herself and others around at leisure. I'm not even sure she's going to be there to take us back at dusk.
"It's shrouded by magic. That's why I'm so interested in being the first one up there," I exclaim, dragging myself up the rock, my stomach pressing painfully against its jagged surface. I hate ice. I hate snow. I had this.
"Fine, but if there a single vial of eternal life juice, it's mine."
Why Eyla is so interested in eternal life when she is an immortal whose lifespan lasts into the centuries, I'm not sure. I have other motivations.
"Alright, but if there are chests full of priceless jewels, they are mine," I tease, holding my forearm up to block against a stack of disturbed snow that rains down upon me.
"Okay. Maybe we can share," she grumbles.
With one last push, I'm up onto the final ridge. Eyla follows my route, a string of creative profanity joining her climb upward.
"Up here," I encourage, grabbing her wrist, tugging her up the final part. "Don't slip on the ice."
She's shuddering under my grip as I steady her. The height is dizzying, the thinning oxygen forcing me to calm my hurried breaths.
"It's freezing up here." Eyla turns, teetering on the narrow ridge. "I may not be able to die from falling from these heights as an Immortal, but it's sure going to impair my life for awhile."
"Then don't fall." I shrug.
She whips her head toward me, gaze narrowed. "Have I ever told you I'm grateful for you being the most annoying person I've ever met."
"Sarcasm isn't very becoming of you." I turn, scrambling up the short slope, revealing the mouth of a cave tucked into the mountain side.
"This is it..." Eyla marvels, swatting me away as I lean over to turn her flash light on.
"This is the entrance. Let's go in."
I hope she can't sense the wariness in my tone. Thick, pointed icicles hang at the entrance, daring us to enter the cave of shadows. Trudging through the snow, I wrap my fingers through Eyla's, until she halts abruptly.
"Ah...maybe I don't like this idea suddenly." Her eyes are squeezed shut.
I tug her hand. "You can stand out here in the cold if you like."
Her expression contorts, thoughtful.
"Maybe I can be convinced if there are pretty pure-bloods in there."
Pretty is one way of describing them, albeit I've never actually laid eyes upon one. Although the chances are low of us actually stumbling into one in this single cave, it is amusing to imagine Eyla trying to seduce one.
"There might be."
Eyla let's out a huffed breath. "Fine..."
We wander into the cave, flashlights beaming through the thick shadows. The wind vanishes, however the air is still bitterly cold, with an earthy taste to it. Ice crunches at our feet, echoing through the unnerving silence.
Eyla tugs her mouth covering off, while I pull my hood back. "This place is creepy."
"It has to have something in it, I mean look at the way this place is built. It can't be fully natural." I run my hand along one of the walls, feeling the solid structure. Under the ice, the faintest trace of unfamiliar material can be made out.
Eyla wraps her arms around herself, keeping her flashlight pinned straight ahead. "Just like it's not fully natural for us to have essentially climbed a mountain to get here."
"You didn't even have to do much climbing," I remind her.
My hand suddenly loses contact with the wall. Turning my light, I examine a gap in the wall. Beyond, an emerald hue is visible, outlining the walls to another part of the cave.
I snag Eyla's jacket with my fingers. "Follow me through here."
Turning, I squeeze myself through the gap, emerging into the other side to reveal an astounding sight.
"What is that?" Eyla gasps.
I grin. "Exactly what I was looking for."
Forged into the ground rock, is a small pool full of a rich, magical green liquid. Many shallow pools surround it, all full of this pristine substance. It emerges from a spot on the wall, dripping down slowly to the main pool, which drains into a crack in the floor.
"Is this the eternal life thing? If so, I may have a long life span, but I'm going to need to keep up with my pureblood boyfriend." Eyla steps forward, the reflection staining her skin.
I grab her arm, yanking her back. "Woah, don't touch it."
"Why not?" She tugs away from me, although examines the pool warily, rubbing her arm.
"It could be anything," I snap, squatting down to get a closer look. "This is magic remember, we can't take any chances."
It's not as if I blame her. The way the liquid ebbs fluidly along the rocks, the colour otherworldly, is hypnotic. This is not a creation from nature, but from magic.
Eyla rubs her gloved fingers along her lips, thoughtful. "Then why did we come up here?"
"To prove this exists. I mean, surely pure-bloods come up here." I twist, examining the rest of the cave. The alluring reflection of the pool traces the jaggered walls and ceilings of the cave structure, revealing nothing more magical.
"Let's go explore the rest of the cave then," Eyla drawls after a long moment, turning back toward the narrow entrance.
As I raise from my crouch, my foot slips, the edge of my boot skimming over the water. Droplets spray up my pants, just as I scramble back, knocking my knee against the sharp edge of the rock.
I yelp, the liquid so cold it burns my skin, a few droplets landing on an exposed part of my ankle. Pulling my pant leg up, I examine the spot. Stunning, neon liquid beads atop my skin, then dribbles before being soaked into my skin
Eyla's face is muddled with horror. "Are you okay?"
For the briefest of moments, I'm knocked back, the ghost feeling like my blood has completely stopped moving in my veins halting my breath at my lips.
And then everything resumes, something seeming to have lifted itself off me. The world around my buzzes. My tongue tastes sour, my ears ringing and my skin burns with the low temperature.
"Something is wrong," I breathe, tugging my gloves off my hands.
"What are you doing?" Eyla stands a few feet back, examining me with caution, wary I'm about to transform into some ranging beast.
Leaning back, I fold my pant leg up until it reveals my knee. The wound is nasty, blood dribbling down my leg from a layered mess of uneven scratches and gashes.
I just stare at it, seconds passing as horror so cold, so bitter it's heavy in the way it settles in my stomach, the weight of it revealing a crushing revelation.
"I'm mortal again," I whisper.
Sienna has been in love with her Alpha since she could remember. He's rough, dangerous and the epitome of raw sex appeal. The problem is, he is her best friend, and strictly off limits. Tradition mandates he marry a woman of noble birth, and that is not her. She knows this is for the best, until she becomes his mistress, and things start to change. As she falls for her best friend, she must reconcile a deadly secret she has been keeping from him for years, that could change everything. Onyx has sacrificed everything to become Alpha. So, not marrying for love shouldn't be such an issue. His entire life he has denied his feelings for his best friend, until he is forced to take her as his mistress to grant her protection. With threats growing against them, and when his prospective wife candidates start showing up murdered, he make some difficult decisions.
On a quiet Spring morning, Avila awoke, six months after her death. By some miracle, she was suddenly alive, with no memory of her life. Confused, Avila is thrust into a world of where she is a Princess with a secretive family who battles a vicious rebellion. And, she is engaged to a wealthy, handsome Prince who couldn't stand who she was before she died. Avila is forced to piece together her previous life while making sense of her current one, but with a rebellion member who is in love with her, and the attraction growing between her and the Prince, things are only getting more complicated.
"I can't tell what is real and what is a dream," I murmur, looking up to his silver eyes, glistening mist swirling within his irises. "But I know I can't hold myself back from you any longer. Luella has been having the same dreams every night involving two silver eyed men, who remain elusive during the day, but come alive from the shadows by night. After visiting a therapist who tips Luella off on what could be the cause of these dreams, the start to become more frequent, to the point she can no long tell the difference between dream and reality. Who are these silver eyed men? One wants her desperately until he doesn't, while the other is always there when she needs him, until he is not. That is, until she swears she is seeing them in her waking life. And suddenly, her dreams might just be coming to life.
Having survived the River, Akara wakes alone, and with a decision to make. Find Marek, the mysterious hunter who saved her life through deception and lies? Or find Taius, the King, who's lies are coming to the surface. And through the decision on who to trust, Akara must battle through her emerging powers, and her torn feelings between Marek and Tai. And her decision will reveal a connection far deeper than what she ever thought she was capable of.
“I...I’ve never had an orgasm before!” I blurt out, backing away a few steps. He sits up, dark hair ruffled and messy from the fingers I ran through it. His eyes, once wide, slowly darken. “You what?” He breathes. *** Running from a dark past, a girl stumbles into a territory ran by a notorious Alpha. He's cold, dangerous and poisons her, forcing her into his proximity. But she harbours a dark secret, which when revealed to the wrong people, causes her to become tied to the Alpha in an arranged marriage that reveals more about them than anticipated... Including the bond they share when they touch. And the Alpha too has a secret, an obsession. For her. __ Themes: Fated Mates, Forced Proximity, Arranaged Marriage, Werewolf (Alpha), Romance, Smut, Dominance. (18+)
"So you're a virgin, then." He says it so blatantly it rattles me to the core. "No! I mean, would it matter if I were?" "I suppose not," he muses, his gaze shifting back to me. "But when I look at you, I want to violently fuck you until you cannot move for days." ---- On a hiking trip with a friend, Meara accidently breaks an ancient curse, releasing a powerful Alpha from another time. He wants revenge from who imprisoned him as much as he wants her, and Meara may be the only one who can stop him. But she has a life she isn't ready to give up. And yet, there is no escaping a seductive Alpha and a deadly curse that has been unleashed across her Pack that threatens her life.
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.
"Never let anyone treat you like shit!" I learned that the hard way. For three years, I lived with my in-laws. They didn't treat me as their son-in-law but as a slave. I put up with everything because of my wife, Yolanda Lambert. She was the light of my life. Unfortunately, my whole world came crashing down the day I caught my wife cheating on me. I have never been so heartbroken. To have my revenge, I revealed my true identity. I was none other than Liam Hoffman—the heir of a family with trillions of dollars in assets! The Lamberts were utterly shocked after the big reveal. They realized what fools they had been for treating me like trash. My wife even knelt down and begged for my forgiveness. What do you think I did? Did I take her back or made her suffer? Find out!
In order to fulfill her grandfather's last wish, Stella entered into a hasty marriage with an ordinary man she had never met before. However, even after becoming husband and wife on paper, they each led separate lives, barely crossing paths. A year later, Stella returned to Seamarsh City, hoping to finally meet her mysterious husband. To her astonishment, he sent her a text message, unexpectedly pleading for a divorce without ever having met her in person. Gritting her teeth, Stella replied, "So be it. Let’s get a divorce!" Following that, Stella made a bold move and joined the Prosperity Group, where she became a public relations officer that worked directly for the company’s CEO, Matthew. The handsome and enigmatic CEO was already bound in matrimony, and was known to be unwaveringly devoted to his wife in private. Unbeknownst to Stella, her mysterious husband was actually her boss, in his alternate identity! Determined to focus on her career, Stella deliberately kept her distance from the CEO, although she couldn't help but notice his deliberate attempts to get close to her. As time went on, her elusive husband had a change of heart. He suddenly refused to proceed with the divorce. When would his alternate identity be uncovered? Amidst a tumultuous blend of deception and profound love, what destiny awaited them?
"Love is blind!" Lucinda abandoned her beautiful and comfortable life because of a man. She married him and slaved off for him for three long years. One day, the scales finally fell off her eyes. She realized that all her efforts were in vain. Her husband, Nathaniel still treated her like shit. All he cared about was his lover. "Enough is enough! I quit wasting my years with an ungrateful man!" Lucinda's heart was shattered into many pieces, but she summoned up the courage to ask for a divorce. The news caused a stir online! A filthy rich young woman recently got divorced? She was a good catch! Countless CEOs and handsome young men immediately swarmed to her like bees to honey! Nathaniel couldn't take it anymore. He held a press conference and begged with teary eyes, "I love you, Lucinda. I can't live without you. Please come back to me." Would Lucinda give him a second chance? Read to find out!
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."
Iris grew from an orphaned child to the adopted daughter of the Stewart family at age ten, finding warmth in her nominal uncle Vincent's kindness. Seven years later, she became his secret lover. When Vincent's engagement was announced, gossip spread about the notorious playboy CEO finally settling down. But only Iris knew the extent of his cold, two-faced nature. Iris fell for Vincent and, through tears, begged, "Marry me," only to be met with his frosty refusal. Defeated, she accepted a lawyer's proposal, sparking public excitement. Then, on her wedding day, Vincent pleaded desperately, "Don't marry him…"