Published by Changeling Press
Cover Art by Bryan Keller
Release Date: April 15, 2022
Raina — A man took me from my home in Tahiti when I was only five. They called it an adoption, but I know the truth. My parents sold me pure and simple. My life has been one nightmare after another, a living hell that I can’t escape. When my owner gives me as payment to Feliks Sobol, I think it’s just like any other time. But it’s not. He’s different. Under the darkness and danger, there’s a tenderness I’ve never experienced. I want him. I shouldn’t, but I do. He might be the one who ends up breaking me.
Feliks — I’m the monster in the shadows, the man everyone fears. I’ve done unspeakable things, and I will do them again without a hint of remorse. I’m Bratva, born and bred. Hard. Unyielding. Yet when I’m around Raina, there’s another side of me that emerges. One that’s weaker. Wanting her could get me killed. Yet I can’t let her go. Until my brigadier demands I choose. Raina, or the woman I wish to marry. I decide to hold on to the power I’ll gain by marrying Natalia Gorev. I didn’t realize it was too late. Raina is already under my skin, and when she’s taken, I know I’ve made the wrong choice. I’ll bathe the city in blood if that’s what it takes to get her back. I only hope she can forgive me.
WARNING: This is a dark romance suitable for those 18+ and contains strong language, graphic violence, sexual situations, human trafficking, and a dark undertone that some may find objectionable.
UNOFFICIAL SNEAK PEEK…
**TRIGGER WARNING – Proceed with caution**
Copyright 2022, Harley Wylde & Paige Warren
Gary gave a shout. “No! You can’t take her bare!”
“Too late.” Feliks snarled at him. “You offered a payment. I accepted. On my terms. Gave her a thorough fucking, and I don’t like condoms.”
My heart hammered in my chest. Jesus. If he didn’t like condoms, had he just given me something? When he’d asked about me being clean, I hadn’t considered he wouldn’t be. Not that it mattered. My refusal wouldn’t have ended well. I knew if I contracted a disease, Gary would sell me off to a brothel and wash his hands of me. And it wouldn’t be an upscale place. No, he’d dump me in the worst whorehouse he could find.
“Mr. Sobol, I’ll need to be compensated. She’ll need the morning-after pill, and…” Feliks lunged at him and I fell to the floor without the support of his body. I watched in horror as Feliks threw Gary into the wall, the plaster cracking. Seeing the violence he was capable of reminded me he was no less a monster than the man who had bought me.
“Morning-after pill?” Feliks asked, his voice almost deadly. “She’s not protected against pregnancy, but you whore her out?”
“I’ll take care of it! I promise, Mr. Sobol. Please, don’t kill me,” Gary begged and blubbered.
Feliks stalked back over to me, wrapped his hand around my throat, and lifted me to my feet. My heart raced, and I wrapped a hand around his wrist, hoping he wasn’t about to strangle me. He pressed his fingers to the pulse point in my throat, a smile ticking up the corner of his lips. “So frightened, lastachka. I could snap your neck. Or maybe I could just fuck you again. The damage is done already.”
At that moment, I knew what choice I needed to make. It was the only one that would ever free me. I tried to swallow, but his grip tightened. “Do it,” I said, my voice almost a whisper.
His brow furrowed, and he squeezed tighter.
“Kill me, Feliks. Make it end.”
“You want to die, lastachka?”
“Yes.” I felt a tear slip down my cheek. Then another. “Death would be kinder than living.”
He growled, lifting his lip in a snarl. Leaning in closer, I felt the heat of his breath against my face. “You wish to die? What if instead I take you with me? Every time you utter such foolishness, I spank you, then fuck you.”
“Not foolish.” How could he understand? I doubted he’d ever been owned, humiliated, treated like trash. His grip was tight enough now that black dots swam across my vision.
“Sleep, lastachka.”
I felt my body grow heavy, and then everything went dark.