There was something profound about returning to your roots, like a tree reaching deep into the earth, drawing strength from the past to grow tall and strong. It could be the best thing for me—a chance to rebuild. This was a place where I didn’t have to be perfect, where people remembered the girl I’d been before life tore me apart. It could be a chance to start over—not somewhere new, but where it all began.

~Noelle Nichols, Christmas Cancellation

“Why do you call me Mouse?” I asked.

“It suits you.”

“It makes me sound small and weak.”

“Small doesn’t mean weak, Mouse.” His gaze settled on mine. “Predators watch the doors. They never think to watch the walls.”

For years, the dungeon beneath my bedroom taught me what happened to men who defied my father. Then they dragged in the Irishman—blindfolded, beaten, and chained—and, for the first time, the dungeon held a man who refused to beg, bargain, or break.

My father could hurt and humiliate him, but he couldn’t make him kneel.

For the first time in my life, hope had a voice—and it was Irish, furious, and defiant.

“I’ll be gentle with you, Mouse.” I lowered my mouth until it was barely above hers. “But don’t mistake gentle for restrained. I want every one of those pretty little sounds you make.”

Her pupils blew wide.

“And before I’m finished with you, I want to hear you scream my name.”

Those crystal-blue eyes of hers…they cut through all the bullshit and pierced my soul. I was forever lost to her. That twenty percent angel, eighty percent devil mix made me want to dive headfirst into whatever underworld she’d take me.

~Conan Thorin, Day Shift

God forgive me for what I’m about to do to the girl praying inside that church.

~Lucian Byrne, Eyes of the Unholy

He, a man who took what he wanted, had no way of knowing that he held a woman who had never been taken. He had no idea I was still a virgin, that I’d never done any of this before.

I’d kept it to myself, thinking I would know when the right time would be for my first lover.

And now, somehow, the right time looked a hell of a lot like being pinned against a wall and f***ed by a man who’d stalked me for weeks.

~Lyla Oakley, Eyes on You

“I want to teach you things you’ve never even thought to ask for.” His teeth caught my earlobe. “I want to ruin you for every other man.”

A shiver moved through me.

“Ruining,” I sighed.

His lips curved against my neck.

“Aye. Ruining you.”

His free hand drifted lower over my stomach.

“Spoil you so fucking badly that no other man ever has a chance.”

Safe was no longer enough.

I wanted her happy.

I’d gone into the dungeon to find out whether Lachlan Byrnes could be trusted and returned wanting his hands on me and his violence aimed at everyone else.

God help anyone who stood in his way when Lachlan got free.

God help me when he turned all that attention back on me.

I was already half out of my mind over a man who’d barely touched me.