Stephanie Watkins

"Open wide, Golden Boy. I know you’ve been imagining sucking my c*ck in your head the entire practice." ​The cold floor of the locker room is bruising my knees, but it’s nothing compared to the grip Michael Rossi has on my hair. My mouth is stretched tight around his c*ck, my heart hammering against my ribs in a rhythm of pure, unadulterated shame. I’m the star defenseman for the Knights, the disciplined, untouchable Axel Thorne, and yet here I am, choking on the pride of my greatest enemy while he talks to me like I’m his favorite toy. ~~~~~~~ They call Michael Rossi the “Menace,” and for once, the media isn't exaggerating. He’s the jagged edge of the Rebels’ front line,a dirty, arrogant prick with a god complex. I’ve hated him since the night he stole my girlfriend just to prove he could. For eighteen months, he’s dismantled my peace, chirping in my ear and checking me into the boards with a smirk. ​Now, a viral "spite kiss" has trapped us in a PR contract. To save my career, I have to be his boyfriend. I’m supposed to play along with the man who ruined my life, but the closer I get, the more I realize the rivalry was just the beginning. ~~~~~~~ ​Axel Thorne is the "Golden Boy", disciplined, loved, and blissfully oblivious. He thinks I’m the villain who stole his girl; he doesn’t realize I only did it to see the look in his eyes. This rivalry was never about the game; it was about obsession. I’ve spent every restless night imagining how it would feel to finally claim him. ​Axel thinks we’re faking it to save our career. He’s wrong. I’m playing a game where he only wins by losing himself to me.

The Serbian White Eagles aren't just a soccer club; they’re my family’s legacy, the blood in my veins, and the pride of my community. But pride doesn't pay for the stadium lights or clear the mounting debt. I fought until my hands were raw, exhausted every favor, and spent every last cent I owned trying to keep us afloat. Finally, I had to admit the truth: we were dying. And I, Aleksa Pavić, was not going to give up. There was only one man left in Toronto with the power to stop the bleeding: Maksim Volkov. The CEO of FC Vorkuta, my f*ck*ng rival, and a man whose presence is as cold and precise as a winter morning in the city. I walked into his office smelling of rain and desperation, bracing for a shark. I expected him to demand my soul or laugh as I knelt to beg. Instead, he was... kind. He offered me a seat, a glass of vintage scotch, and a voice like silk that promised to protect my talent. He looked at me not as an enemy, but as something precious, he’d been waiting years to hold. I signed the papers before I realized the ink was a blood bond. "I’ll pay your debts, Aleksa. I’ll save your legacy. All I ask in return is the one thing you’ve spent your life guarding: I want you and everything you have." Maksim Volkov's calm voice rose in the room. Maksim didn't just save my team; he bought my life. He hasn't used a single chain, yet I am more captive than I’ve ever been. Between the security that follows my every shadow and the way he maps my body with a devotion that feels like a prayer, the exits have all vanished. He’s erased the seams between us until I don't know where my hate ends and his obsession begins. I never saw it coming, and now, as his hands find me in the dark, I have no idea if I want to escape... or if I’m finally ready to drown in the love of the man who ruined me.

"You are absolutely my f*ck*ng woman, Dani. Got me?" I squeezed my eyes shut. "Dani," he pressed. "Do you get me?" "No, Austin, I don't," I admitted as I pulled my robe closed again and sat up. "You confuse me." He dragged his hands down his face. "Tell me what's on your mind." I sighed. "You're everything my parents warned me against. You're secretive, but you're also honest. I feel wholly protected by you, but then you scare me more than anyone I've ever known. You're a bad boy, but when I dated a so-called good one, he turned out to be the devil, so, yeah, I don't get you because you're not what I expected. You drive me crazier than anyone I've ever met, but then you make me feel complete. I'm feeling things I don't quite know how to process and that makes me want to run. I don't want to give up something that might be really, really good, but I also don't want to be stupid and fall for a boy just because he's super pretty and makes me come." Danielle Harris is the daughter of an overprotective police chief and has led a sheltered life. As a kindergarten teacher, she's as far removed from the world of Harleys and bikers as you could get, but when she's rescued by the s*xy and dangerous Austin Carver, her life is changed forever. Although Austin 'Booker' Carver is enamored by the innocent Dani, he tries to keep the police chief's daughter at arm's length. But when a threat is made from an unexpected source, he finds himself falling hard and fast for the only woman who can tame his wild heart. Will Booker be able to find the source of the threat before it's too late? Will Dani finally give her heart to a man who's everything she's been warned about?