H Duty

They say love is all you need. They’re wrong. Sometimes, no matter how much you want to stop it from happening, you have to watch the person you love most in the world slip through your fingers. Even when it feels entirely wrong, you can still find yourself sitting in a lawyer’s office with your spouse, negotiating the terms of your divorce. It doesn’t matter that she’s the only woman I’ve ever loved. Or that we both meant it when we promised each other forever. It matters even less that she can still make my knees weak with nothing more than a smile.

As a single mom with my hands and heart full, finding love is the last thing on my mind. Then Everett Windward comes along. My new neighbor is charming, handsome, and sexy—and before I know it, I have a new friend…with benefits. Fun and filthy benefits. There’s just one problem—He’s also my son’s teacher. That alone should have me pumping the brakes… except it doesn’t. I’m drawn to him and to the way he makes me feel. Everett has a filthy side that has reignited something inside of me that I haven’t felt in years.

You want to know the secret to everlasting happiness? Never fall in love. That was the wisdom my father imparted to us James boys after our mom died, and it’s a piece of advice that’s served me well. Until dear old Dad asks me for a favor over Sunday brunch. No big deal, right? I love making my old man happy. Except this “favor” is a lot more complicated than picking up his dry cleaning. Dad wants me to marry and provide a few heirs for the James empire, and he’s even done me the courtesy of handpicking my bride-to-be. Lucky me.

To most people, he’s the Chicago Falcons starting right winger and hot single dad, but to me, he’s my first boyfriend, my first kiss, my first love. Eight years ago, that all changed when our lives took us in two different directions. Our break-up almost broke me, so I kept my distance until our hometown called me back to where our story began. I promised myself a quick visit to help my family out, and then I’d leave town before he even knew I was back, which should have been easy. He’s way too busy being a professional hockey player and raising his son to ever find out.

While running away from a heavy-handed boyfriend, I end up in the car with two callous hitmen. Gentry and Karson take me on a road trip I didn’t know I needed, and I become the breath of fresh air between two brothers who suffocate beneath waves of animosity. In battles fought and scars earned, we forge a triad of destruction and leave countless bodies in our wake. We just need to ensure we aren’t among them at the end of each day. Easier said than done when our biggest threats may be each other.

The Obsidian Order demands not just survival but submission. Every trial, every secret unearthed, binds me deeper to this clandestine world where power is currency and loyalty is conditional. Yet beneath the surface, a rebellion simmers within me. And Delilah, my obsession, my bride, is the reason. I vowed to protect her, to fight for her. But can I defy the very Order that shaped me? For my little raptor, I'd take on the world. Because she is everything.

The Obsidian Order only cares about three things: secrecy, loyalty, and power. Every man born to the founding families is bred for this purpose, to serve the society and its objectives. As a result, we are the elite. Untouchable. Unbreakable. If we make it through the Trials. I will, as long as my obsession doesn't get the best of me. This girl… If the Order doesn't kill me, she'll be the death of me. Because I won't give her up. She's mine.

Life coach and best-selling author Victoria Price has it all: a successful career, fabulous friends, a fantastic penthouse in Manhattan. What she doesn’t have—and doesn’t want—is a husband. Fifteen years ago her high school flame broke her heart so badly she swore she’d never love again.

Gabriel Wolfe, the fallen dark angel and club president of the Hounds of Hell MC. His life has been infused with darkness and trauma since the day he was born, forcing more than just desensitization to violence and chaos. Forcing him to crave it to feel stable. Secure. Whole.

I'm not a good man, and I've never pretended to be. I don't believe in goodness or God or any happy ending that isn't paid for in advance. What do I believe in? Money. Sex. Macallan 18. They have words for men like me - playboy. Womanizer. Skirt chaser. My brother used to be a priest, and he only has one word for me: sinner.