Showing results by narrator "Lilly Drake" in All Categories

On the outside, it looks like I've got it all together. I'm killing it on the football field, pushing harder than ever before and breaking league records. But on the inside, I'm a mess, the pressure of the game too much, the betrayal from someone I trusted weighing me down with every breath. I'm drowning and there's no one to pull me up. Until her. I tried to stay away, to keep my distance so I wouldn't ruin us both, but I was powerless against her. She's everything I didn't know I wanted and more than I could ever deserve.

I’ve spent too many nights caught between reality and nightmare, each bleeding into the other like a twisted dream I can’t wake from. The Devil’s Backbone Society continues to host our deepest terrors. The weight of betrayal crushes me, pressing down on my chest—bitter and suffocating. I don’t know what would be worse: losing the ones I love, the ones who have become my anchors, or losing myself entirely. In the end, is there even a difference?

King Midas made me the woman I am today. Notorious. Unattainable. His. The thing about being confined is that you believe it's to keep the bad out...Until you realize it's about keeping you in. I'm now in a strange kingdom surrounded by liars, with no allies of my own, but I won't sit idly by and let myself wither. No, something's bloomed from the pit of my repression. Something dark. Something angry.

Every end is also a beginning. I thought I was going to die, and would have if it weren't for Slade. The only way he could save me was to open a rip between worlds. The only way for me to save myself was to go through it. Sometimes, fleeing one dangerous place just brings you to another.

King Midas rescued me. Dug me out of the slums and placed me on a pedestal. I'm called his precious. His favored. I'm the woman he Gold-Touched to show everyone that I belong to him. To show how powerful he is. He gave me protection, and I gave him my heart. And even though I don't leave the confines of the palace, I'm safe. Until war comes to the kingdom and a deal is struck.

My life has been made up of gilded lies. But death has been shaped from rot. Like a phoenix caught fire, I need to rise from the ashes and learn to wield my power. My wings may have been clipped, but I am not in a cage, and I'm finally free to fly from the frozen kingdoms I've been kept in.

War has broken out between Annwyn and Orea, though that's not the only battle being waged. There's a fight inside me, and it's one I'm determined to win, no matter how much they try to strip me down and hollow me out.

My father sold me to the Shadow King. Faerie is a completely different world than the one I'm used to. Winged creatures fly in and out of mirrors, and fantastical gardens conceal treacherous illusions. Shadows draw me in a little more for each day my magic grows, but I can't afford to let my guard down. To survive, I must play by the king's rules and protect myself from the nightmares, dreams, and fantasies that govern his seductive realm. Most of all, I must resist him. If I don't, my kingdom will fall.

Ford Ivanov follows the rules. I was born to break them. A single scandalous moment turns into a year of lies, stolen kisses behind closed doors, and whispered promises in the night. Sneaking around with my brother's friend is forbidden. Because where I come from, love isn't just dangerous; It's deadly. The lies are unraveling. And in a world where love is a weakness, we're about to find out just how strong we really are.

You want my advice? Never look a gift horse in the mouth. You don’t want to see the rotten teeth. In this case, the gift is a scholarship to attend the prestigious Neveah University. The rotten teeth? Well, they came in the form of my brand new stepbrother and his little cohort of entitled, arrogant best friends. Four dangerously handsome and stupidly wealthy men who made up their minds about me long before we met. Men who are used to getting everything they want no matter what the price.

Just when you think it can’t get any worse, the universe seems to take that as a personal challenge. The Devil’s Backbone Society has their fingers everywhere. It’s more than a secret society―it’s a leash and a prison sentence. The elders insist it’s about making connections that will help you for the rest of your life, but what they don’t tell you is how long―or, in this case, short―your life might be.

For ten years, I lived in a gilded cage inside King Midas's golden castle. One night changed everything. Now I'm here, a prisoner of Fourth Kingdom's army, and I'm not sure if I'm going to make it out of this in one piece. They're marching to battle, and I'm the bargaining chip that will either douse the fire or spark a war.

Life as I knew it ended with a bullet. It stole my brother from me and destroyed my family. From the ashes, I rose stronger and meaner, to exact the kind of revenge best served bloody and cold. I took out every single person I held responsible. Except one. He’s a phantom but his days are numbered. I won’t stop until I’m done. Then she shows up—the forbidden fruit, a light to my darkness. I should resist her because what I touch, I destroy. My feisty wildflower deserves more: more than this, more than me.

Wren was born bearing a Mark on her forehead. She's always known she would be Given to serve the gods in her twentieth year, and she's eager to work for them since they keep the kingdom safe. That is, until she sneaks into a Giving Ceremony and watches as her best friend is slaughtered in the name of the gods. Horrified, Wren escapes her village under the cover of darkness. Her plan is simple: flee the kingdom and stay alive. Surviving is going well until she stumbles upon an injured, unconscious man in the woods. Unwilling to leave him to die, she heals him.

You know the story where the hero comes in and saves the day, rescuing the heroine right in the nick of time? This isn't that story. Instead of a knight in shining armor, he's a sexy, tatted-up Bratva boss with a reputation for being brutal and fierce. Vasily finds me after I've already been brought to my lowest—broken by cruel men until I barely recognize myself. He doesn't offer me salvation. He offers me protection and revenge. And I gladly take it. Because I don't need a knight in shining armor. I need a villain who doesn't mind getting his hands dirty.

As a Bratva boss, I'm not allowed to make mistakes. But I make a big one when I kidnap the wrong damn woman. It's not safe to let her go, so instead, I take her up on her offer and hire her to work for me. Under my watchful eye, I make sure she does what she's supposed to and upholds our agreement. As much as I try to keep her at arm's length, she keeps getting under my skin. All the possessive and protective instincts that I never knew I had come out with Maddie. She likes to tease me and taunt me, trying to get me to claim her. She has no idea how much I enjoy the hunt.

I only came to Blackwell Falls to find my missing sister. First on my list of suspects: the notorious Kings of Aventine. Now I'm forced to live with the three men I can't afford to trust. Rock tries to fool me with a soft touch, kind blue eyes, and the nurturing I secretly crave. Brooding, dark-eyed Oscar takes pictures of me when I'm not looking and tempts me with his piercings, inked skin, and honeyed words.

I never would have moved to Chicago, if I had known he would be there. Moving to a brand new city to share an apartment with my older brother was bad enough. Becoming neighbors with Kane Barlow, my brother’s arrogant pro-hockey-playing best friend, was just the cherry on top of the dumpster fire my life has become. Did I mention that Kane is also the guy I had a secret fling with years ago? I haven't seen him since and let’s just say his icy glares and frigid demeanor are reason enough for me to get my own place.

I use my body to make men fall to their knees. I just wasn't expecting a man as powerful as my boss to fall for the act. Dutton Taylor is a man who is not used to hearing no. Good thing denying dangerous men just so happens to be my specialty. The past broke me, and I refuse to be tempted by promiscuous lies. I'll do whatever it takes to protect my son and the new life I've built for us. We should keep our distance. But my body doesn't get the memo… and neither does he.

Detective Braxton Hero should keep his distance from me. Even though I can't seem to stay away from him. Letting him get too close is a mistake. One I can't stop making. He sees me. The woman I pretend to be and the one behind the mask. And for the first time, I don't know which version is real. Even though I've spent my life in the shadows, I've never been conflicted about who I am… until he blurred the lines. The thought of him seeing my darkness does something to me. He makes me want things. Things I can't have. A life that isn't mine to take. A love built on lies.