The heavy smell of cigarette smoke couldn't even mask the metallic smell of aged blood beneath the floor boards. These were dangerous men. Boys with knives and painted skin.. ~ We laid in the darkened room letting the comfortable silence cover us. His tattooed hand lightly stroked the moist skin of my arm. Yuji was beautiful.. "I'm going to hell..." He said nonchalantly. My eyes danced along his strong jawline and shoulder length, tapered hair. Currents of silky, onyx hair. "I've touched such a pure soul with unclean hands..." He sat up, climbed to his feet and grabbed his silk robe from the door, concealing the Oni and blossoms that adorned his back. [Completed 02/27/20] *************************************************** Warning: This book is rated M for mature. This novel will include sexual situations, violence, and crude language. Let's try to be adults about this. If I catch you copying my book, I'll sue.

"When I'm with you, I get the feeling"

I will cross the ocean for you I will go and bring you the moon I will be your hero, your strength Anything you ne- Scratch that No, the fuck I won't !

Since I was sixteen I've always known the kind of life I wanted for myself. I wanted the love. The peace. The happiness. The marriage. The family. The home. But sometimes life doesn't always go as planned. Instead of getting what I wanted, I got what I needed. I got lessons. I got heartbreaks that forced me to grow. I got silence that taught me how to listen to myself. I got endings that pushed me toward new beginnings. And even though it wasn't easy, every detour shaped me into the person I am today. Stronger. Wiser. More passionate about the life I'm still building. And despite all of that, I still want the love. The peace. The happiness. The marriage. The family. The home. I still want it all. Because no matter how many times life has tested me, the desire for those things has never left. It's only grown stronger. ~ Crystal

I cupped her face, planting a soft kiss on her beautiful lips. "Don't ever run from me, baby," I said softly, letting my thumb trace her jaw. "I love the chase." Her jaw tightened, her hands coming up to try and move mine. "Stop calling me baby, Ezra," she snapped, eyes flashing. I couldn't help but grin, dropping my voice to something low and dark. "Ohhh, now my baby has a problem with me calling her baby?" She shot me a glare, but I just tucked her hair behind her ear, pressing another kiss to her lips-gentler this time, lingering. "You don't get to tell me what to call you, baby." I leaned in closer, brushing my nose against hers. "You're whatever the fuck I call you."

Aisha believed moving to Canada would give her the marriage she prayed for. Instead, it became the place where everything fell apart. When her relationship collapses under betrayal and secrets she never saw coming, Aisha walks away thinking freedom is finally hers. She's wrong. Her past refuses to let her go-and one decision made behind her back drags her into a world far darker than she imagined. Her survival comes down to one man. Sameer Asad is everything people fear and whisper about-powerful, ruthless, untouchable. A man who doesn't interfere unless it benefits him. Until her. One look at Aisha unsettles him in ways he doesn't understand. She belongs to another man... or so he believes. When he learns the truth, restraint becomes impossible. He wants her. But wanting her means becoming her shield-and her greatest danger. In the cold depths of a Canadian winter, Aisha must decide: run from the darkness she escaped... or step into the arms of the man who could either save her-or destroy her. Because with Sameer Asad, protection has a cost... and love is never safe.