Aaliyah Mercer never planned to catch the eye of the campus's most respected professor. She was just trying to survive her sophomore year balancing track, six siblings, and a past she never asked for. Professor Malachi Rothwell wasn't supposed to notice her. Nine years older, painfully disciplined, raised on intellect and family expectations-he never crossed lines. Not with students. Not with anyone. But over the school year, something shifts. Not all at once. Slowly. Intellectually. Quietly. Until she is the only thought he can't outrun. Their attraction grows in silence in late-night library shadows, in classroom debates that feel too charged, in the soft places where she lets him see her and the hard places he never shows anyone. One semester becomes two. Winter turns to spring. Spring becomes summer. And on chapter fifteen, a line finally breaks. Now they must survive what happens when a forbidden love becomes the only truth that makes sense.

"She came at the right time....a walking miracle."

She was supposed to die in that warehouse. Instead, she became his. Jaslyn was just a girl in the wrong place at the wrong time-kidnapped, brutalized, left for dead. But when Cain showed up, dragging hell behind him, she didn't just get rescued-she got recruited. Now she's not the victim. She's the weapon. Trained by the most feared man in the city, Jaslyn moves through blood and betrayal like she was born for it. The girl who used to flinch now pulls triggers. The girl who used to beg now gives orders. And Cain? He doesn't just want her sharp-he wants her loyal, cold, and just as savage as him. Bodies drop. Enemies burn. And the city starts whispering her name with the same fear they whisper his.

𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐘. " A rare and nearly obsolete word meaning 'the act of loving in return' or 'loving someone in the same degree'. " 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐃 © 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐌𝐘𝐒𝐋𝐈𝐌𝐄. (not edited).

Pushing himself from the door Gulian neared her, standing in front of her. "I want you to stop seeing 𝙝𝙞𝙢, that's what I want." Kyomi scoffed as she shook her head. "Why would I stop doing that? Just 'cause you call yourself asking nicely?"

𝖶𝗁𝖺𝗍'𝗌 𝗎𝗇𝗌𝖺𝗂𝖽 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗀𝖾𝗌 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀.

❝Can't have anybody knowin' I fuck witchu.❞ 𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐓 • /ɪˈlɪsɪt/ 𝘢𝘥𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 something forbidden, secret, or morally questionable-like a relationship, action, or desire that goes against the rules, whether societal, legal, or personal.

No description just read 🙃

"𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲, 𝗟𝗶𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴"

Dave East is used to having any woman he wants, no strings attached. Will he be able to handle his match? Will he be able to just test these waters? Or will he need more than a taste test? 👀