Page 216 of Merciless Desires

“Dax…” Her eyes brimmed with unspilled tears. “I don’t know what to say.”

I let out a breath, releasing all the demons that over the years had taken up residence in my bones. “Say you’ll be my wife.”

Her face bloomed with shock.

“Say you’ll be my Rose Thorn.”

She pressed her fingers to her lips and stifled an adorable giggle. “Seriously? That will be my name?”

I wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her into me, feeling my cock stiffen as I held her close. “Fuck yes. And you will be the most beautiful, most fragrant, most lethal Thorn that ever lived.”

She peered up at me and her expression darkened. Shadows amidst light. Imperfections against wholeness. She was multi-dimensional, multi-faceted – the full package.

And I knew then, not only had I met my soulmate, I’d met my match.

The End

Follow Rose and Dax’s story in Jagged Thorns, book 1 of the Thorn Trilogy.

Find out more here: http:www.januaryjamesauthor.com

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About the Author

January James lives in East Sussex, UK, with her husband, daughter, crazy sprockapoo, Ralph, and the occasional errant grass snake. Until recently, she inhabited the fast-paced, adrenalin-fuelled workplaces she writes about as a communications professional. Now she spends her days dreaming up new characters and stories and trying her best to avoid indoor soft play.

https://www.januaryjamesauthor.com/

Volume Five

MY DEBT TO PAY BY MERISSA BARTLETT

He has to have me. And what he wants, he gets, at any cost...

Marcella is well-versed in the workings of the criminal underworld. She keeps her head down and takes care of her younger sisters. But when her father sells her to the head of the infamous Cortese mafia, everything changes.

Matteo is ruthless, a king among pawns, destined for an empire just out of reach. The only thing standing in his way is the stipulation that he needs a queen to rule his kingdom.

He draws Marcella into his tangled web of darkness and desire. He soon realizes that his deepest obsession could become his greatest weakness if he's not careful.

In the world of Matteo Cortese, debts are often paid in blood.

Chapter One

MATTEO

Warm blood splattered across my face.

The man who had stolen from me screamed, but I wasn’t looking at him.

I was looking at Adriano Moretti.

Moretti was merely a made man I wasn’t familiar with, but the fact that he had come to me asking for help caught my attention. Since he had been brave enough to admit he needed help, I would allow him the chance to work something out.

I twisted the arm of the useless man in front of me, hearing another bone snap. I couldn’t be bothered to remember his name. He was insignificant.

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