“My love has no borders, sweetheart,” he said gently. “Wherever you are, wherever you choose to be, I will be at your side.”

~Braxton Thorin, Mission Shift

“So yeah,” she continued, her voice softer now, “I’m not some coldhearted killer who loves this shit. But I’ve had to become someone who could survive it. And if that means you and everyone else see me as the villain, so be it. At least now I’m finally fighting for something that matters.”

~Daria Melnichenko, Mission Shift

I was a man, and she felt like every bad decision I’d ever enjoyed making.

A Manhattan mafia man and a princess hidden inside a cartel compound on the side of a Salvadoran volcano should never have met.

Certainly not in a dungeon with me chained to a chair and her holding the key.

I would never call the lies, torture, blood, or loss that brought us here a gift. But chance no longer seemed big enough to explain how two lives that should never have touched had somehow collided in the darkest of places.

I didn’t want to share.

Didn’t want to let her go.

I wanted Isabella Eliana Duarte in my bed, in my life, and eventually wearing my fucking name.

Selfish?

Absolutely.

I’d worry about that tomorrow.

Tonight, she was mine.

“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.”

“No one will ever hurt you again, not on my watch. I’ll stand between you and the world if I have to. You’re my heart, my soul, and I’ll spend every last breath ensuring you feel loved, cherished, and safe.”

~Dr. Atticus Thorin, Night Shift

I was beginning to understand that once Lachlan decided something was his responsibility, the cost to himself stopped being part of the equation. Pain, danger, inconvenience—it didn’t seem to matter. He would do what he said he would do and deal with the consequences afterward.

Kol seemed intent on savoring every moment, stretching time until it became a malleable, pliant thing in his hands. His deliberate and precise way of claiming my body would leave an indelible mark on my memory. It was both exciting and a little terrifying, the thought of this confident, possessive pilot taking command of my pleasure.

~Noelle Nichols, Christmas Cancellation

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