"Will it kill you to back the fuck up?" I snapped. "Yes, princess," he whispered sweetly against my ear, voice full of that sick affection. "It would. I would drop dead right here if I couldn't be next to you." "My lucky day," I muttered sarcastically.

Malika Danai is pressure. Friendly, social, and loved by all, Malika thrives in college and is often seen as a mirage - seemingly real and attainable but disappears when approached. She's a party girl to the core. Loves to drink, flirt, and explore with her best friends, Ayana and Isabella. Her beauty is undeniable. With curly black hair cascading over her shoulders and golden-brown skin that glows no matter where she's at, Malika's presence is impossible to ignore. Her dark brown eyes often sparks with mischief, and her full two-toned lips often curves into teasing grins that hints at secrets she rarely shares. Malika excels at a lot of things but she was never the study type. She prayed the night before exams and hoped that her grades would at least give her a passing score and somehow, that always worked. Until now... Her grades are barely holding on- good enough to pass, but not good enough for a sorority like the Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA). She wants to join. No she needs to. It's the only way she can prove to her mother that she's worth it. And she'll do whatever it takes. Even if it means casting her pride aside to get help from the boy who loathes her existence. Meanwhile... Theo Sinclair is a weapon. An academic weapon that nobody can beat. Coming from an old money family where the expectations and bars are set high, Theo surpasses them all and is often pushed towards greatness by his family. Yet he has a big flaw: boredom. Because of his uncaring attitude towards everything and everyone around him, Theo is often alone. Deliberately avoiding attention and validation from peers; he thrives in the silence and rhythm of his own scheduled routines. He has only one rule; 'Never let myself feel things I can't control.' To him, parties are ratchet and vile. An enigma vastly contrasting his reverence for solitude, silence, and carefully ordered thoughts. So when he's pushed into an unwanted arrangement, he resents the intrusion because slowly, his rule...

Close your eyes. Breathe in. Feel the air turn thick, heavy with cigar smoke and expensive cologne. You can almost taste the whiskey on his tongue, can't you? General Marcus "Reign" Blackwell is power wrapped in ink and royal blood. He commands armies, breaks enemies, and fucks whoever he wants-until he sees *her*. Dr. Aaliyah Monroe. Quiet. Brilliant. Curvy African-American goddess who codes weapons in the dark. Shy smiles. Soft voice. Vanilla skin that glows under fluorescent lights. One breath of her scent and the untouchable general unravels. He dreams of her every night. Strokes himself raw imagining her thighs wrapped around him. Watches her sway to R&B in her apartment through shadows he shouldn't cross. Calls her *dove*, *tiny momma*, *my wife*-long before she ever says yes. She thinks it's temporary. He knows it's forever. He kneels for her. Begs for her. Cries for her. Marks himself with her initials while she sleeps. And when she finally rides him-slow, commanding, glasses slipping down her nose-he sobs her name like prayer. This isn't love. This is obsession carved into worship. This is a man who would burn the world just to hear her giggle and boop his nose. But when the first fight comes... When she needs space and he needs her closer than air... Will his dove fly away?

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.

He blocked her in. She shut him down. Now, the whole town is waiting for the explosion. Sage Woodson didn't come back to Liberty Creek to fall in love. She came to bury her grandfather, sell his estate, and get back to her life as a high-powered Chicago ER nurse. She has a plan, a timeline, and zero patience for the locals. Especially not for the arrogant Fire Captain driving a midnight-blue F-150 who thinks he owns the road. Captain Connor Stapleton is used to being the hero. He's used to respect. He is not used to a curly-haired tourist publicly questioning his manhood in a crowded coffee shop parking lot. They were supposed to be enemies. But when Sage inherits her grandfather's rusted-out 1969 Chevelle, she realizes the only mechanic in town skilled enough to save it is the very man she swore to avoid. A wager is struck: Connor has one week to get the engine running. If he fails, Sage leaves for good. If he succeeds? She owes him a date. But late nights in a humid garage have a way of blurring the lines between fighting and flirting. As the engine roars to life, so does a possessive, feral hunger that neither of them expected. Connor doesn't just want a date. He wants to ruin her for anyone else. And Sage is realizing that the only thing scarier than leaving... might be staying. Small town. Big truck. Massive attitude.

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...

❝𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝.❞ In which an intern has a sex contract with her boss. || MATURE CONTENT || Cover by @vanillalust

Aaliyah never planned on catching the eye of Leo Ramirez. A quiet, brooding basketball player who looks at her like she's trouble & like he'd burn the whole world for her.