DARK PARADISE
/1/129726/coverbig.jpg?v=d952b45e9b05aae9f5803a8b2c8d4fc6)
The Hockey Prince's Secret Ice Queen
All I wanted was to find a computer genius to process the non-linear dynamic equations for my ecological model. Instead, I found myself cornered by Julian Andrews, the university's hockey prince, trading a public, staged kiss for his academic support. To finalize our "deal," I was dragged to the campus ice rink. The cheerleaders and puck bunnies immediately swarmed him, mocking my plain clothes and treating me like a pathetic joke. Brooke, the head cheerleader, even set up a figure skating competition with a date with Julian as the grand prize. She performed a basic spin, blew him a kiss, and smugly waited for me to fall flat on my face and humiliate myself. His hockey teammates laughed from the sidelines, watching me try to support Julian as he stumbled around the ice like a newborn giraffe. But as I held his warm hand to keep him from falling, I couldn't help but feel something was terribly wrong. Why was a top-tier athlete faking such awful balance? And why did his ice-blue eyes stare at me with such knowing anticipation, as if he already knew about the professional figure skating past I had spent years trying to bury? "Just let go and skate." He whispered, slowly releasing my hand. I took a deep breath, glided to the center of the rink, and landed a flawless double Axel. As the entire rink fell into a dead, shocked silence, I realized I had just exposed not only my own hidden past, but also the biggest secret of the campus god.
Chapter 1 No.1
Sage POV:
"Let me kiss you."
The request was a low, hurried murmur—warm, quiet, and laced with the faintest edge of mortification.
Stunned, I snapped my head up toward the sound.
Julian Andrews filled my vision. He easily towered a head over me, his lean, athletic frame silhouetted against the bright morning glare, casting a long shadow across the cobblestones. Briar University's star forward. Team captain. The athletic department's untouchable golden boy.
Campus rumor had it that Julian was notoriously indifferent, never sparing anyone a second glance.
Behind him, a solid wall of navy-and-gold varsity jackets blocked the brick path. His teammates were whistling, shoving each other, and effectively cutting off my only exit.
The sudden commotion immediately bottlenecked the morning foot traffic. Whispers rippled through the crowd, and within seconds, a dozen students reached into their pockets out of sheer muscle memory, black camera lenses catching the light as they aimed squarely at us.
Julian's sharp eyes tracked the movement, his jaw tightening into a hard, irritated line.
Before I could take a single defensive step back, he closed the distance between us. Leaning down into my space, his broad shoulders shifted in a subtle, fluid maneuver—throwing up an impenetrable physical wall that completely shielded my face from the intrusive glare of the cameras.
His sharp, striking face hovered breathtakingly close. His deep baritone brushed against my ear, lost to the autumn wind, meant for me alone:
"Sorry to drop this on you," he whispered, his pale blue eyes disarmingly earnest, holding a quiet heat that sent a tremor straight down my spine. "The guys backed me into a locker-room dare... but I'm not here to use you as a joke. We can fake it. Angle it so it looks real—whatever you're comfortable with. Just help me get them off my back, and I owe you one."
It was only then that my brain finally rebooted.
What on earth? He's actually trying to kiss me?
A sharp flare of pure absurdity hit me, and my gaze dropped to my reflection in the dark glass door of the adjacent building: an oversized, faded gray hoodie that swallowed my frame whole, soft, thin jeans worn at the knees, bare-faced dark circles carved beneath my eyes from forty-eight hours of non-stop coding, my dark hair hastily twisted into a cheap plastic claw clip, and a pair of oversized, thick black-rimmed glasses sitting heavy on the bridge of my nose, completely hiding my face.
I looked like a refugee from an all-night disaster. How had Briar's golden prince ended up in front of me?
When I looked back up, my breath trapped in my throat anyway. He was too close, his clean scent of winter mint and cedar wrapping around my senses. Having those pale blue eyes staring straight down at me made my chest tighten in a way I really didn't want to acknowledge.
"Clock's ticking, Cap!" Landon howled from the sidelines, hands cupped around his mouth as the rest of the players lost their minds laughing. "Plant one on her, or enjoy the five-AM bag skate!"
A raucous chorus of barks and chest-thumping went up from the team.
A few yards away, two girls heading toward the dining hall froze in their tracks, pointing their phones.
"Wait, who the hell is that?" one of them laughed loudly, zooming her camera in on my face. "She looks like she just crawled out of a dumpster. There's no way Julian's actually kissing her. Post it on Sidechat right now—this is going straight to number one."
The cruel words hit like a splash of ice water, snapping me out of my daze and instantly killing the stupid flutter in my chest.
I hated the attention.
Four years ago, after my family and my former training partner framed me and destroyed my competitive skating career, I swore I would never be public entertainment again. I buried my name, switched majors, and hid behind oversized fleece and thick glasses just to live an invisible life. If I ended up on the campus forums with Julian Andrews, the internet vultures would dox me before noon—and drag up the toxic scandal I had bled to walk away from.
My research was already on the verge of falling apart. I didn't have time for this circus.
I locked my grip around my heavy binders, my knuckles straining white.
"Find someone else for your dare, Andrews," I said coldly, taking a step back to put distance between us, my voice tight with adrenaline. "I'm not interested in being part of your game. Move."
I kept my head down, attempting to brush past him.
"You're Sage Kelley, right?"
The sound of my name brought my boots to an immediate halt.
I blinked up at him, caught completely off guard.
"Professor Beaumont's senior research student," Julian straightened up slightly, his cadence measured and even, carrying an intellectual sharpness that seemed impossible beneath a varsity jacket. "I saw your Havenwood Creek senior capstone proposal sitting on his desk over Sunday dinner."
My heart gave a hard, hollow thud. Professor Beaumont was my academic advisor—and the guardian of the final research endowment my late father had left behind.
Julian leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a near-whisper against the whistle of the wind. "I spent an hour going over your codebase."
My lips parted. "You... read my proposal?"
"Your simulation keeps crashing because your core fluid algorithm strategy is flawed," Julian murmured, his pale blue eyes deadly sharp. "And Uncle Des mentioned that if you don't deliver a working version by this Friday, the department is pulling your grant—which means you don't clear your senior thesis, and you don't graduate in May."
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end.
Friday was the deadline. If the funding was pulled, the project died, my senior capstone failed, and I would be forced to stay another semester without my degree. Worse, my father's final ecological legacy would be reduced to scrap paper.
I had been panicking over that exact deadline for two days straight, and Julian had just laid it out like it was nothing.
Worse, I couldn't even brush him off. I had heard the rumors about Beaumont's nephew—the CS prodigy everyone in the department talked about. I just had never realized it was him.
"I know how to fix your algorithm," Julian stated plainly, laying his cards on the table, his gaze locking onto mine with an unshakeable, quiet certainty. "Help me get through this bet. In return, I'll rewrite your boundary calculations tonight. Deal?"
/0/65204/coverbig.jpg?v=6f1080bd776349d8df6c82a884fc6a01)
DARK PARADISE
What happens if the King of all Demon Kings falls in love with a human? That's what Alarik Bruce Skyler, the devil Lucifer who has the strongest and greatest throne among demons, feels. The immortal creature accidentally falls in love with a pure human who is the eldest daughter of one of his foll
/0/30659/coverbig.jpg?v=58c06b9e512d4cbaa7ff6f716c071fa7)
Paradise Island
A group of students went to Paradise Island to conduct a documentary video on culture and beautiful scenic spots in Pangasinan. The story revolves around two lovers Dianne and Marvin who are torn apart and reunite as they build friendships with their companions, and struggle to escape a frightening
/0/39751/coverbig.jpg?v=60ea59390c3c20b4f6887cc066f10fc9)
Azora's paradise
Azora being the only daughter of Late Chief Miller is provided with all the comforts of the world .She grows up to be an independent female who is determined to prove to everyone that a man is not needed to attain success . Her rejection to every man that comes her way boosts her ego and pride. Who
/0/1550/coverbig.jpg?v=20171116210433)
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. The first version, published in 1667, consisted of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse.
/0/63746/coverbig.jpg?v=c74d08139b0a36abc9bf697be10a6aab)
Mafia Paradise
"Fuck!," she moans as my finger slides fully inside her, her body responding instantly. "More," Elisia demands, breathless. "Really?" I taunt her. "Beg. You know how this works, Elisia. I'm in control, not you." "I'm not begging you," she retorts, though her voice wavers. Without hesitation, I pul
/0/30122/coverbig.jpg?v=da51f304a0092cf3dd10c5dbd6ac87d3)
The Gangster's Paradise
Austin Martin is a billionaire CEO who has everything in the palm of his hands. He loves his wife. He is manipulative, cunning, ruthless and deceptive. above all a good father to his children. Blessing Pitt is a good mother and good wife to Austin. A witty, sarcastic woman...yet an intelligent Lawy
/0/68172/coverbig.jpg?v=dbdc644da9d3ba28a0ee493b1ada3ae7)
Mafia King's Paradise
Warning: Strong language, Sexually explicit, use of weapons and knives, murders and sexual aggravations, please read with discretion, only should be read by people above the age of 18. Stanley Rodriguez was on a mission to take over another mafian empire, which happened to be a threat to his busine
/0/44936/coverbig.jpg?v=5871a621ef766db91bca9a7f520df6d7)
Trapped In Paradise
Despite her reluctance, Anna James agrees to work with her friend Ridley to prepare a prestigious bachelor party in the Caribbean since she needs the cash. After meeting the wealthy, attractive billionaire who hired them, Jason Stryker, she finds herself attempting to deny her attraction to the self
/0/8341/coverbig.jpg?v=6773111285efb32ee455e1d58f980079)
/0/1656/coverbig.jpg?v=3923ab6258d4d27b89252ee84498a76b)
This Side of Paradise
This Side of Paradise is a novel about post-World War I youth and their morality. Amory Blaine is a young Princeton University student with an attractive face and an interest in literature. His greed and desire for social status warp the theme of love weaving through the story.
/0/2577/coverbig.jpg?v=d5720c0b9afe015c706c5fae3be9b595)
The Paradise Mystery
Trajectory presents classics of world literature with 21st century features! Our original-text editions include the following visual enhancements to foster a deeper understanding of the work: Word Clouds at the start of each chapter highlight important words. Word, sentence, paragraph counts, and re
/0/56279/coverbig.jpg?v=6d8cd8ab60b9b50fb254d674441ccb18)
Love in the paradise
"Love in the Paradise" beckons readers into a world where tropical breezes whisper secrets, and every sunset paints a canvas of romance. Set against the backdrop of a lush island paradise, this captivating tale follows the intertwining lives of diverse characters whose paths converge in unexpected w
/0/14662/coverbig.jpg?v=d2cbafd227e0ffe27f72c77a1319bc95)
/0/58467/coverbig.jpg?v=826938fa2d6147a359ff89b8580da6c0)
A Paradise in My World : Series #1
A story of an extraordinary girl from the Island of Siargao. All about her life experiences, her feelings, and her sacrifices. She focuses on her family, but one day her priorities were changed. She experienced more of a life that she felt like living on with it and not just barely surviving. Would
/0/16716/coverbig.jpg?v=2de17d68008b6cc9c266fd098227c5cc)
The Putumayo, The Devil's Paradise
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so th
/0/73685/coverbig.jpg?v=27f2a74181df514f2a55f57f4ba4d982)
Dark Chemistry
"Everything of you is a non-existing dangerous drug, Natalia. And I'm addicted to it." He rasped beside my ear then slowly but seductively brushed his nose on my neck and then my hair like he was smelling my body and my hair. I stopped breathing as I started feeling like I was going to pass out.
/0/31201/coverbig.jpg?v=1255536fd43b2cb11e44995799e0b444)
Dark Goddess
( 18➕ ) Hadria Blake went from living in a group home to being whisked across the country to the most prestigious school of the USA, Deitus Academy, school for deities. Until her seventeenth birthday she had believed herself to be a normal human girl. Her biggest worry being what she would do in a
/0/42747/coverbig.jpg?v=c9ed3231749133673b0d8958678d7cfe)
DARK OBSESSION
Obsessed with awaking his wife, Augustine vowed to sacrifice anyone in order to bring her back to life, be it his daughter. Is it because of his immense love for his wife or is there a hidden motive behind it? Celine, a young 18 year old maiden vows to protect 'the vessel' from her father. Will she
/0/41251/coverbig.jpg?v=b69de359044a017ceaf9228cb997c891)
PARADISE IN A BOARDING SCHOOL
Micheal had the best time of his life in school, adventures upon adventures. Had a relationship with Chloe which escalated to having a sex relationship with other girls. Rose, Chloe and Lisa got pregnant for him and he became a father at the end.
/0/66478/coverbig.jpg?v=16c16c83d0347a9d0064cae9340d81de)
Dark Hearts.
Melia Rixe's life is seriously flatlining. Between being abused by her addict mother, working multiple jobs and paying off her debts, she's more than fed up with her life. A night of drunken confessions and passionate kisses brings Bastian Monroe into her world. The hot Manhattan elite billionaire C
