♦ ♦ ♦

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙬𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚’𝙨 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙣𝙚. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘼𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙧𝙖 𝘾𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞, 𝘮𝘢𝘧𝘪𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥, 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺.

𝙍𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙣 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙣, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘺, 𝘮𝘢𝘧𝘪𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯. 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦, 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘈𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘢 𝘨𝘰. 𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙧.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘧𝘪𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨.

♦ ♦ ♦

Aurora

It pains me to admit this, but my future captor is fucking hot.

Yes, future captor. Future, as in, within the next hour when he drags me away from here. Captor because that’s his job. Instantly, I hate him for two reasons: for my family sending him instead of coming themselves, and simply because he’s one of them—a monster from the same world that hasn’t acknowledged my existence in many years.

He’s larger than any man I’ve been around—not that that list is particularly long. Standing, he’d easily tower over me, and if I’m honest, would probably break me the moment he touches me. Dark hair and a handsome face. A strong jaw, which I’ve never understood the appeal of, but seeing him, I can appreciate the feature. He’s older than me, by a few years, that I can tell. Mid-twenties, perhaps?

Even his stance exudes power, and as much as I hate to admit it, I wouldn’t mind being overpowered by him. He stands with his back straight and his legs slightly spread. One hand is stretched toward me, while the other is by his side, resting on his hip. I assume there’s a weapon there.

When he speaks, it’s with the most delicious, deep rumble. The kind of voice I’ve imagined in my head in the past, with my fingers stroking between my legs.

“Aurora Corsetti. An honour. My name is Rosen Carrigan. I work for your brother, and I’ve come to take you home.”

♦ ♦ ♦

Read the FIRST CHAPTER today!

♦ ♦ ♦

USA Today Bestselling author M.L. Philpitt writes both dark romance and paranormal romance. When she’s not writing made-up realities, she’s reading them. She lives in Canada with her four pets and survives life with coffee and an obsession with fictional characters, especially the morally grey kind. By day, she masks herself as a therapist, and is still waiting for her Hogwarts letter so she can be sorted into her Ravenclaw house.