I used to believe there were lines in life you don't cross. Don't lie. Don't cheat. Don't steal. Until I learned people don't always practice what they preach. I turned in my badge and gun and walked away from everything. Then I got the call no one wants, and I'm back in New Orleans. What I don't expect is for her to be here, too. Another line you don't cross? Don't touch your best friend's little sister. She's always been off-limits. Too bad I don't follow the rules anymore.

He's arrogant. She's self-righteous. I hate him. I want her. I've been turning him down for two years straight. Every shutdown makes me work harder. I'm not a one-night stand kind of girl. She doesn't realize I won't settle for only one night. He's a distraction I don't need. She'll say yes eventually because I'm not giving up.

The first time I met Hudson Rothschild was at a wedding. I’d received an unexpected invitation to one of the swankiest venues in the city. Hudson was a groomsman and quite possibly the most gorgeous man I’d ever laid eyes on. He asked me to dance, and our chemistry was off the charts. I knew it wasn’t a good idea to get involved with him, considering the wedding I was at. But our connection was intense, and I was having a great time. Though the fun came to a screeching halt when Hudson figured out I wasn’t who I’d said I was.

Look, but don't touch.... She might as well wear a neon sign that says it. It just makes me want her more. She might be above me in every way, but I still want her under me. I've got no business touching her rich-girl skin, but that won't stop me from stealing a taste. Because rules were meant to be broken - especially when the prize is so fine. In a world where nothing is as it seems, what's buried beneath these lies?

Ten years ago, Whitney Gable caught me off guard with her long legs and grab-you-by-the-balls blue eyes. I didn't know or care what her name was. Like any Riscoff worth the family name, I went after what I wanted. We burned like a flash fire until she married another man. She hates me, and she should. I objected on her wedding day. Now she's home, with those same long legs and man-eater stare, but there's no ring on her finger. They say a Riscoff and a Gable can never live happily ever after, but I'm not done with Whitney Gable.

I'm tired of being convicted without evidence all because my last name is Gable. The Riscoffs might own this town, but I'm done following their rules. If only I could forget just how easily Lincoln Riscoff can drag me under his spell.

Whitney Gable is the kind of woman you fight to the death to protect. To keep. To cherish. I've finally learned my lesson, and it's time to prove I'm the man who's worthy of her. I don't care what it takes, because failure is not an option. No matter who or what stands in our way - this time, she'll be mine forever.

The only permanent thing in my life is the ink I put on my clients. I drift from city to city, in and out of beds, from one tattoo shop to the next. Every time I start to put down roots, I rip them up. Until New Orleans. Until her. She's everything I'm not. Full of fire and life. An innocent where I'm a sinner. I want to consume her. Protect her. Keep her. But first I have to escape from beneath these shadows.

I'm the guy you love to hate. In every story in my life, I seem to end up playing the villain - and I've got the scars to prove it. That role works fine for me, because I'm sure as hell not anyone's hero. I run my life and my empire with an iron fist - until she knocks my tightly controlled world off its axis. She's nobody's damsel in distress, but I can't help but want to save her anyway. I guess we're about to find out if there's a hero buried...beneath these scars.

It didn’t matter that the ref called it a clean hit. Nico Hunter would never be the same. Elle has a good life. A job she loves, a great apartment, and the guy she’s been dating for more than two years is a catch and a half. But it’s boring…and she strives to keep it that way. Too many emotions are dangerous. Her own past is living proof of what can happen when you lose control. 

He’s a mystery. An enigma. His very identity is a secret buried beneath layers of deception. He’s also an addiction I can’t shake. An attraction I can’t fight. And then I found out exactly who he is - a man more dangerous than the devil himself. Now I need him in order to save everything that matters to me. I have to pull back. Protect myself from the danger that haunts his every step. Which would be easy...if I could stop myself from falling in love with him.

I was raised on the streets, so I know things are rarely as simple as they appear - especially this rich girl showing up at my pawnshop demanding a job. She's the most tempting thing I've ever seen, and I'll be damned if I can make her leave. S--t just got complicated...but when it comes to her, I want complicated. We're both fighting our own demons, and our only chance at a future is to let go of the past. But will we be strong enough to break free from beneath these chains?

You can only keep what you can protect. That’s all I’ve ever known. It’s the way I’ve lived my life. Now, everything I never knew I needed is at risk, and I’m not letting anyone take it from me. I won’t let anyone take her from me. They say love is a battlefield, so I’m ready for war. This time, it’s the fight for forever.

I've always known she was too good for me, but that never stopped me from wanting her. And then I finally had her for one night. A night I don't remember. I figured I'd blown my shot. But now she's walked back into my life, and this time I have the upper hand. I want my second chance. Will she be able to see the man beneath this ink?

I do what I want and who I want. I don't follow anyone's rules-even my own. I knew I shouldn't touch her, but it didn't stop me. Didn't stop me the second time either. Only made me want a third. My lifestyle suits the savage I am, and she doesn't. But Temperance Ransom is my newest addiction, and I'm nowhere near ready to quit her yet. I'll have her my way, even if it means dragging her into the darkness. Hopefully it doesn't kill us both.