Clutch

Battered, barefoot, and huddled under a bookstore awning in the pouring rain, Blue only knows one thing. After 15 months of captivity, finally she is free. Self-made millionaires JD and Ark are not out to save anyone when they stumble upon a wet and shivering girl one early Sunday morning. But when you sell sex for a living and salvation rings your bell, you answer the call. After years of searching, love lifts the veil of darkness, and three people - with three very big secrets - find themselves bound together.

I'm Lincoln Wade. Jaded genius, obscenely wealthy, capable of violence, and looking for revenge. Molly Masters might have delusions of grandeur. She might see me as some superman capable of cleaning up the scum, filth, and corruption in Cathedral City. But I'm not the hero she's looking for. I'm the dark alley where all her good intentions hide. So be careful what you wish for, Molly Masters. Because you're about to get it.

He's empty, inhuman, dishonest, and cruel. She's never wanted anyone more. Sydney has lived in fear for eight years after freelance assassin, Merc, failed to rescue her from a cult-like militia group. Left in the hands of a sadistic man, she did whatever it took to survive. But Merc's last words gave her hope. Hope he'd be back to finish the job. After Merc is betrayed by her father, Sydney becomes his target. He wields sex, drugs, lies, and love like weapons.

RK Saber ran from tragedy five years ago when his car went over the side of a mountain in a prom-night crash. Consumed by guilt, he walked away from Juilliard and morphed into Rock, front man for the global rock-band sensation Son of a Jack. Five members. Five best friends. Five rising stars burning so bright, they had to know it couldn't last. When tragedy strikes again and the band goes from five to two, RK is sentenced to...home. Back to the place where all his nightmares started.

Twenty-eight-year-old James Fenici has been an assassin since he was 16. He's amassed debts and favors from countless Company brothers and participated in hundreds of Company jobs. But there are not enough favors in the world to clear his debt and make him worthy of the only girl he's ever wanted. Eighteen-year-old Harper Tate is the girl who doesn't exist. Born and raised on a mega-yacht in a tropical paradise, she was destined to be a secret until now. Now she must choose between two Company men.

I've never been afraid of the dark...but that doesn't mean I wanted to live in it. Maybe everyone wants what they can't have, but I should've thought it over before I unlocked the door to their forbidden world. Number One is mostly silent. He watches me very carefully. Number Two is mostly gentle. But it's the other side of him I like best. Number Three is mostly reserved. It was carnal, it was sensual, and it was erotic. That's it. That's all it was supposed to be. A trip into the dark. A peek into the forbidden. I just didn't expect to like them.

Marnie's first big FBI case ended with a bullet in one shoulder and a chip on the other, a queasy heart and a serial killer in the wind, leaving her a public flop and a private wreck. When the FBI's preternatural crimes unit tracks her down at a remote mountain lodge for her insight on a local case, her quiet retirement is promptly besieged by a stab-happy starlet, a rampaging ghoul, and a vampire-hunting jackass in tight Wranglers. Marnie figures the only real mystery is which one will kill her first.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Look up Landon Roderick, that boy from childhood whom I'd never been able to forget - even though he so easily forgot about me - and call him. Then again, anything sounds like a good idea when you've had a little too much wine before bed, right? It was supposed to be just a quick, meaningless prank call. Instead I went off on him - unloading 13 years of pent-up emotions. I didn't think he'd call me back.

He wants things from me. Dirty things, nasty things, forbidden things. And I have to give in. His attention is completely inappropriate, but I can't say no. The way he looks at me...the way he watches me through my bedroom window...the way he drags me deeper and deeper into his completely forbidden fantasy just...turns me on. He knows it turns me on. He holds all the power. He holds all the cards. He holds my entire future in his hands. I have to give in. Because Mr. Alesci is my teacher. And I need everything he's offering.

Five Aston has known Rory Shrike for as long as he can remember. He played with her in the sandbox. He went to every damn horse show just to be supportive. He helped her with her French, walked her home from school, and faked his test scores just to stay with her a little longer and not be sent off to college early. But eventually he had to move on. And so did she. Never has a second chance meant so much to a boy who loves a girl.

Rook Walsh is tragic. Because life so far - just sucks. Some girls get parents. Rook got the foster care system. Some girls get Prince Charming. Rook got an abusive frog. Some girls get lucky…. Rook got a second chance. And she took it. Because when fate throws you a bone - you grab it with both hands and run. Antoine Chaput knows the minute he spies Rook in his photography studio that she's got "The Look." The dark and desperate look he must have to land the exclusive Tragic Media contract. Rook is paired up with top model, Ronin, and he's everything her abusive ex-boyfriend wasn't.

"Figure out what's good for the City and put it first," she says. Oh, honey...what's good for the City is bad for the people. Trust me, I know. I'm Case Reider - insane Alpha, nefarious inventor, and I understand this town better than anyone. Cathedral City needs me all right. Just not the way you think. I'm not the justice you're looking for, Lulu Lightly. I'm still the same villain you left behind. Only now...there's something very, very wrong with me.

Jackson "The Beast" Boudreaux is rich, gorgeous, and unbelievably rude to the staff at Chef Bianca Hardwick's New Orleans restaurant. Bianca would sooner douse herself in hot sauce than cook for Jackson again, but when he asks her to cater his fundraiser, Bianca can't refuse, knowing the cash will help pay her mother's medical bills. Then Jackson makes another outrageous request: Marry me. The unconventional offer includes an enormous sum - money Bianca desperately needs, even if it does come with a contract - and a stunning ring.

Seoafin "Finnie" Wilde was taught by her parents that every breath was a treasure and to seek every adventure she could find. And she learns this lesson the hard way when they perish in a plane crash. But she never forgets, and when she discovers there is a parallel universe where every person has a twin, she finds a witch who can send her there so she can have the adventure of a lifetime. But upon arrival in the Winter Wonderland of Lunwyn, she realizes she's been played by her twin and finds herself walking down the aisle to be wed to The Drakkar.

Part of a small demon lair in Las Vegas, tattooist Harper Wallis lives a pretty simple life. That changes overnight when she discovers that her psychic mate, or 'anchor', is a guy who's rumoured to be the most powerful demon in existence. Compelling, full of secrets and armed with raw sexuality, Knox Thorne is determined to claim her as his anchor, creating a psychic bond that will prevent their inner demons from ever turning rogue.