Showing results by narrator "Philip Alces" in Contemporary

It all started with a contract signed by him, then by me, while our families watched. While my father sat silent, a man defeated, giving his daughter to the Benedetti monsters. I obeyed. I played my part. I signed my name and gave away my life. I became their living, breathing trophy, a constant symbol of their power over us. That was five years ago. Then came the time for him to claim me. For Salvatore Benedetti to own me. I had vowed vengeance. I had learned hate. And yet nothing could have prepared me for the man who now ruled my life.

After running from a past destined to kill him, Snow has been hiding on the streets. Tell nobody your name. Tell nobody your secrets. Trust nobody! These are the rules of the streets. His entire life changes when he saves an eight-year-old boy from a violent end. Christopher Manos is one of the most powerful crime bosses in the country. Don't ask anyone to do something you aren't willing to do yourself. Secrets can get you killed. Trust nobody! These are the rules he lives by. When his eight-year-old nephew disappears, he never expects the boy's savior to end up being his own.

I was as prepared as one could be when vanishing into the U.S. Marshal's Witness Protection Program. I just wasn't prepared for him.For ex-Navy SEAL turned mercenary Lake Freeman, escorting Lily Cross into the Witness Protection Program was just another job - until a better offer came along. Lake couldn't have cared less about the life he'd been hired to protect. After all, she was a part of the very organization that had cost him so much already. At least he never expected to care.

Emmett Gant was planning to tell his father something really important one Sunday morning - but his father passed away first. Now, nearly three years later, Emmett can't seem to clear up who he should be with - the girl with the apple cheeks and the awesome family, or his snarky neighbor, Keegan, who never sees his family but who makes Emmett really happy just by coming over to chat.

I'm an outlaw. I don't fall in love, and I sure as fuck don't run.... All that changed, though, when I met Jillian McAdams. I fell for a law-abiding sheriff, breaking my vows to my own club and turning her against her family of blue. An outlaw and a sheriff. It can end only one way - in mayhem. Now we both have to pay the ultimate price for betraying our families. I swore to kill my brother, his allegiance sworn to another club, if I ever saw him again. Yet here I am running to him in hopes to save Jillian's life....

As the president of the Sin City Outlaw Motorcycle Club, I fuck as hard as I ride and rarely go to bed alone. The women are fast, and the violence is intense. I excel in both. People either respect me or fear me. I'm not arrogant. It's just the truth.

I'm a hit man, an assassin. A deviant by all accounts. I never pretended to be the good guy. She was the opposite. But the minute she pulled the curtains back and saw my face, watched me screwing the blonde who happened to be my next mark, she sealed her own fate.

Noah Wilson isn't exactly "life partner" material, and he sure as hell isn't "father material." He's my older brother's best friend, and has been off limits, sworn off, locked in the highest tower and out of reach since we met over 10 years ago. With his devilish good looks, tattoos, motorcycle, and trail of broken hearts and tears, I've had good reason to stay away from the bad boy my mother warned me about. Until one night. One stupid, regrettable night that changed both of our lives forever.

I'm an animal, a member of the Sin City Outlaws motorcycle club that isn't capable of human compassion. So I've been told, anyway. Raven is my club's prisoner. I've been ordered to break her. It should be easy given my violent history. But being this close to a woman - this woman - for the first time in a long time, is like sharing company with the demon Lilith herself. She's my perfect toy. Filled with a dark rage. Blessed with perfected beauty. Sinfully sweet and wickedly divine. Everything about her solicits the demons inside me. I want to hear her screams.

Being the vice president of the Sin City Outlaws Motorcycle Club comes with its perks. Respect, power, and easy women whenever I want. I have control in everything I do. Because of that, I wasn't expecting my president to put me on babysitting duty, and on a female cop of all fu--ing people. I kill law enforcement, not protect them. Alessandra pretends to be the good guy hiding behind that shiny badge. But I see the darkness dancing in her eyes, and it draws me to her in the worst way.

I'm Mac, the intel guy of the Sin City Outlaws motorcycle club. When it comes to technology, there's no reading between the lines or emotions to decipher. I prefer two interactions with people. I either f--k them or kill them. Then Simone Ray walks into my life with sad brown eyes, beautiful lips, and pregnant with a child that could possibly share the same bloodline of a fallen brother. I'm the last person that should play daddy. I'm a biker and am no role model, but being with a woman who is anything but basic and far from a club chick stirs a wind of chaos that I can't escape.

Finn Stewart takes one look at Adam as he's applying to Candy Heaven and decides he's much too fascinating to leave alone. Finn is bright and shiny - and has never been hurt. Adam is wary of his attention from the very beginning - Finn is dangerous to every sort of peace Adam is forging, and Adam may just be too damaged to let him in at all.

When Skye Madden is caught trespassing at an exclusive ski resort while trying to support herself as a tabloid photographer, she is stunned to discover that her childhood crush, Aidan Hastings, is the head of security. More shocking still, Aidan tells her in no uncertain terms that if she is found snooping around the resort again he'll take her over his knee and give her a spanking she'll never forget.

Plain-Jane computer programmer Khloe Richardson needs a date - one to make the prince of her dreams jealous. Maybe then he'll finally see her as a desirable swan and not the ugly duckling in the second office from the left. But when she bids on a bachelor at a charity auction, the man she wins is millionaire Niall Hunter - who once made intense, passionate love to her and then left without a word. She's determined not to let her guard down again - among other things - around the infamous Irish lothario. 

Rico Gonzalves-Macias didn't expect to fall in love during his internship in New York - and he didn't expect the boss' son to out them both and get him fired either. When he returns to Sacramento stunned and heartbroken, he finds his cousin, Adam, and Adam's boyfriend, Finn, haven't just been house-sitting - they've made his once sterile apartment into a home.

In the Army, Robbie Chambers turned on his lover out of fear -- and he hasn't been able to live with himself since. Now he's out of the Army but still trapped in the closet that brought on his most cowardly moment, and he starts to think he'll never be able to fight his way free.

Ezra Kellerman flew across the country to see if he had another chance with the man he let slip through his fingers. He didn't. Rico has moved on, but he doesn't just leave his ex high and dry. Instead Rico entrusts his family and friends with Ezra's care. Ezra, confused, hurt, and lost, clings to Rico's cousin and his boyfriend as the lifelines they are - but their friend, Miguel, is another story.

After three years of waiting for "rabbit" Jeremy to commit to a life in Granby - and a life together - Aiden Rhodes was appalled when Jeremy sustained a nearly fatal beating to keep a friend out of harm's way. How could Aiden's bunny put himself in danger like that?

Stanley’s life took a left turn at a knitting shop and hit a dead end. The closest thing he’s had to a relationship breaks things off to date a "nice boy," and none of the pretty young things in Boulder’s limited gay scene do it for Stanley. He needs to reevaluate whether working as a floor designer for a series of craft stores is really where he wants to be. Then Stanley does a peculiar thing: he starts to live the life he fell into. Stitch by stitch, he knits his life into something meaningful.

Everything about Jeremy has always been a lie - including his last name. When one grift too many ends in tragedy, Jeremy goes straight. But life's hard for an ex-con, and Jeremy is down to panhandling and hope when Rance Crawford offers him work at a tiny alpaca farm and fiber mill. Jeremy takes him up on the job, thinking this could be his last chance to be a good man, and meets Aiden, who is growing into a better one.