State of Affairs ⚖︎ "You missed a talking point on page four, Governor," I said, sliding the briefing file across his heavy mahogany desk. Tennyson didn't look at the file. His dark eyes stayed locked on my mouth, completely devoid of the golden-man charm he'd just fed to a crowd of thousands. "Lock the door, Milan," he murmured, his voice low and exhausted. "You have a press briefing in ten minutes, sir. And your wife is waiting in the lobby." He stepped around the desk, invading my space until the scent of cedar and expensive bourbon swallowed me whole. His hand brushed my waist, his thumb pressing possessively against my hip. "I don't care," he breathed, his facade finally shattering. "Lock the damn door." 🏛️ To the world, 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐲𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬 is untouchable. He is the state's golden man, a devoted husband, and a man with a spotless reputation. Everyone worships the ground he walks on. Everyone except his executive assistant, 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐊𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐚. Milan has a strict two-year plan: survive the Governor's temper, secure her recommendation letter, and catch a one-way flight to Washington, D.C. Her job description: hand him his black coffee, fix his crooked ties, and treat the most powerful man in the state like a normal human being. But her immunity is exactly what breaks him. Behind the heavy oak doors of his office, Tennyson sheds his perfect mask. He is cynical, ruthless, and spiraling into a dark, desperate obsession with the only woman who doesn't want anything from him. He becomes addicted to her warmth and slowly to her. As late nights at the office blur into a secret arrangement, Milan thinks she has the situation under control. But she doesn't know that Tennyson's public life is a PR lie. She doesn't know that the Governor has absolutely no intention of letting her go. 'Cause what the Governor needs, the Governor gets.

Zyera Ambers minds her business. Cody Whittaker is the business at elite Aethelred University. Heir to a fortune and drowning in privilege, he's used to getting everything-and everyone-he wants. When the one person who doesn't acknowledge his existence captures his twisted fascination, a quiet obsession is born. Now, the king of campus will stop at nothing to make the scholarship artist his most prized possession.

Rule #1: Date within your circle. Rule #2: Uphold the family image. Rule #3: Never, ever get distracted. Carter Vanderbilt has followed the rules his entire life. As the golden boy of the conservative elite, his path was set: marry a suitable girl, run the family empire, and maintain the status quo. His current fling, Ashley, is the perfect "pick me" placeholder-until Meredith Bridges walks in. Meredith is kindness and light, a beautiful black woman who represents everything his world is not. And Carter can't look away. His fascination quickly twists into a dangerous obsession, making him question every belief he's ever held. Ashley isn't about to let some "sweetheart" steal her trophy. She's played the game too long to lose now. Watch as a man's entire world unravels for an obsession that was never part of the plan. He was taught to build walls. She's the reason they'll crumble.

"If that demon were to see you, he would kiss your eyes and repent. Your body is sinful perfection. It's the apple begging to be bitten. You are like the tree in Eden in which no one- not even God himself- would be able to resist." ----------------------------- Saint Jones The boy who's hated Luci Black since the day she came to Kingston High. The boy who's bullied her since day one. The boy who can't help but get angry every time he looks at her. The boy with an aura of goodness radiating out of him. The boy who knows her secret. The boy who is trying to hide his. Luci Black The girl everyone can't help but stare at. The girl with the unrecognizable aura to her that makes people angry. The girl who tries very hard to be good. The girl that will never be "good enough" The girl with the secret no one must know. What will happen when the two secrets are revealed? What happens when Heaven and Hell meet?

I died yesterday. But to make no mistake. This is not a story about death. This is a story about love. Not lust. Not anger. Not forgiveness. Not desire. Just love. Stories aren't so simple this way anymore I think. This one is simple enough. Girl meets Boy. She hates boy, but she finds him intriguing. She learns more about him and suddenly his golden dark brown eyes remind her of the setting sun. Suddenly hate... is dislike... then friendship... then kindness... Suddenly it is love. In this story... Girl meets boy. But first the girl must die. Second she has to become his food. Third, the Boy must reveal his darkest secret. That he is no boy at all. But a monster the world had thought they'd killed off long, long ago. A Nosferatu. A lineage of vampires that would make any man's -magical or human-blood freeze over in fear. So really this story is dead Girl meets undead Boy and discovers she must be his food for eternity. But trust me, I promise... it's not that complicated.

She was the undesired outcast, who stood out, yet simultaneously blended effortlessly into the background. I could see the panic in her glassy brown eyes as she prayed her way through the crowded hallways. She'd tightly clutch that cross around her neck, full lips whispering, asking her God to spare her from their scornful glares, hateful comments, and the occasional rough-up. Silly girl. Did she not know that he was not listening and he would never save her? Like Jesus, she was the sacrificial lamb. The anxiety-riddled girl would burst through the doors of the school's library with her chest heaving, heart racing, and sweat dripping from her temples. I'd watch her from the shadows as she stored her items behind the check-out counter, preparing for her free period she spent assisting the school librarian. I clenched my teeth, watching her wheel a cart of books throughout the aisles as she cheerfully hummed her Sunday hymnals. She wore a green and blue pinafore dress that fell mid-calf on her shapely body. She attempted to hide that body from me with oversized clothes, but you could never outfox a fox. They spoke pure blasphemy when they labeled her undesirable because I desired Jezebel Holmes in the worst way. Those opaque white stockings our classmates teased her for wearing did nothing but spur countless hours of fantasies. I'd dream about ripping her tights apart, right at her center, revealing her virginal cotton white panties covering her untouched paradise. I'd yank them to the side and taste her fear in her cum. Her stockings would find themselves strangling her neck while I fucked a believer out of her. I would be the one she'd pray to absolve her of her sins. I would be the one she would seek protection from. I would be her guiding light. I would be her God. #1 in Dark Romance #1 in Tainted Love #1 in Preacher's Daughter 1st Place in General Category - Hearts Award

Nori Michaels has heard horror stories about the south from every family member possible. They were even more appalled when they were informed that Nori managed to get a very well paying job in Texas for a very influential white family. They saw it as a death sentence. Nori saw it as an opportunity. She was too ambitious for her own good. Nori thought she could handle anything thrown at her until the house owners brute of a son comes to stay for while. Oh Nori was not prepared for him...

[Book 1 in the Putrid Heart Series] Many would describe him as a mad man. Someone that needed saving. But since when does the devil ask for help? He tricked people by using strategies and their weaknesses against them. Massimo was a man to be feared. Yet even the most powerful man fall in love. Oh and he fell, miserably.

Jeannie Jones is studying to get her master's in biology and medicine.Hawthorne Gable is a troubled government agent tasked to watch her every move. Will these two neighbors open their doors and their hearts to each other?

New to the small southern town, brown-skinned Evalyn Brown answers an ad for domestic help. Enter her new employer, the disagreeable and decidedly white William Davis, who works for the town's police department. As time progresses, their relationship to each other, their small town, and the people who inhabit it changes. In the mid-1900s in a place so easily described as backwards, change can very rapidly become a dangerous friend. x He said nothing but continued to approach, and I started backing up, my hands in front of me to create space. He advanced until I had nowhere to go, and the stories of southern Negro women being lynched, beaten, raped, and on swirled in my mind. There were some battles to fight, and this was not one of them. I just wanted to appease whatever angry beast I had stirred within him and go back to my role as his quiet housekeeper. "William, I - ." Idiot! His whispered name slipped from my mouth before I could stop it. Today was the worst possible day to mistakenly call him by his first name. I closed my eyes as tears escaped out their corners. I didn't want to watch whatever was going to happen next. "Look. At. Me." His words were a constrictor that wound around my neck and tightened. His heady, hot breath fanned over my face. I opened my eyes and peered through my tear-blurred vision. His orbs were almost black as onyx, but tumultuous and frightening. He studied me and my pulse thudded deafeningly in my ears. "I want you to stop." His voice was low and threatening.