[COMPLETED] "Love can be cruel," he mutters. "I thought it would be the reason I would propose, but it's not. Love never wins, does it?" Cruel. Devious. Twisted love. Love can play games, and we just happen to be the pawns. We play our moves strategically like a game of chess, until it comes to this moment. We can let the world separate us, stop us, pull us apart. We can let this old love between us fray at the edges. If love is a game, then Cato and I are destined to lose. "You're right," I whisper. "But love still exists. Even for a moment." His knuckles brush against my waist, before he decides to pull me flush against his chest. We're close, and burning, and his breath feels like electricity on my skin. In his green eyes, I see remnants of the heavens, the northern auroras flashing illuminating inside of them. He holds a new world inside of him, and I long to be the first to discover it. Cato's nose brushes up against mine, the space between our mouths fading like stardust. "Even for a moment," he murmurs my words against me. At once, our tensions release. ─── ·𖥸· ─── One half of her heart belongs to the man from the stars. The other belongs to the man of smoke and ash. Maureen Harradan lives at the bottom tiers of society. Scorned by anyone above her, she finds her fate entwining with Cato Leveque, a wealthy astronaut returning to Earth with new discoveries and secrets. When rumours spread of Cato's uncertain scientific plans, Maureen finds herself working alongside Thomas Smyth, who runs one of the most powerful criminal operations in the city. She must choose which man to believe, and put her entire reputation on the line while running from an unwanted past. Will Maureen's heart choose to follow the man of the stars? Or will she find peace from the criminal of the streets? ─── ·𖥸· ─── Started February 22, 2022 Completed July 9, 2022. 90,000+ words

Forced into an engagement with a man she doesn't love, Reyna must ignore her bond with her father's general in order to avoid a war and save her throne. ***** As the first female heir to one of the great Northern Kingdoms, Reyna panics when her claim to the throne is threatened by the discovery that her father's general is her soulbound partner. She forces herself to ignore their connection, determined to be more than a general's wife, only for her father to manipulate her into a political engagement with a man she could never love. So to forge her own path forward, keep her throne, and confront her feelings for the general who owns her heart, Reyna must find a way to refuse this arranged marriage without destroying her kingdom in the process. [[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]] ---------- Cover designed by Ren Tachibana