Valentine's Day stirs up trouble in four stories where desire comes barbed.
A convenient fake arrangement starts clean and simple. Then the pretending slips. Fingers linger. Looks last too long. What was play-acting grows heavy and real, and walking away suddenly feels permanent.
In the shadowed halls of the Thorn Court, a reluctant bride is claimed by an elusive fae lord. His glamour is beautiful and dangerous in equal measure. Stone floors chill bare feet. Whispered vows pull her deeper, forcing a choice between freedom and the pull of staying forever.
An Unseelie shadow bind coils tight around two lives. Darkness presses close, its inky hold strengthening with every forbidden touch. Light pushes back. So does fear. Trust forms anyway, fragile and costly, with everything on the line.
During a high-risk extraction, a rescue turns personal. Sirens fade. Adrenaline spikes. Proximity blurs duty into want as rescuer and rescued run out of time, knowing one wrong move ends it all.
Pretend turns real. Thorns bite. Shadows tighten. Danger sharpens every want until temptation threatens to take everything.
How much blood does desire ask for?
***
This scorching tale is part of the Valentine Struck series where Cupid's arrows deliver irresistible, high-heat romance that will leave you breathless and begging for more.
Valentine's Day comes in thick and warm, no warning. Love hits hard and doesn't ask permission. The Valentine Struck series gathers five steamy collections where billionaires stake their claims, alphas mark their mates, fae bargains lock in dangerous wants, covert operatives read desire like code, and rivals push too close to ignore.
These stories move fast. Fake dates turn real by the second drink. Immortal hunger meets mortal skin. Contemporary heat tangles with paranormal edge, roses cutting as often as they bloom. There's a ballroom echoing with music at midnight, a gala floor slick with spilled champagne, chocolate melting on warm fingers. Every anthology carries its own pressure point, its own cost.
Each strike lands clean and deep, changing the shape of everything after.
One night. One choice. No way back.
