Drowned under his Touch
/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?"
/0/86595/coverbig.jpg?v=023f39d311b12d9c07d1f0b6f8e0cc2d)
Beyond His Savior's Touch
My husband, Ben, a tech genius, poured his entire fortune into building a neuro-oncology center, a monument of science, all to save me from an aggressive brain tumor. Everyone called him a savior. But the day they announced the first human trial, his eyes, shining with feverish light, were not sole
/0/88152/coverbig.jpg?v=20250926180314)
His touch, Her undoing
Alegra De Luca and Fiorella Giordano have been inseparable since childhood. Now in college, their bond is tested when Allegra finds herself entangled in a dangerous and forbidden affair with Fiorella's father, Santino Giordano. Santino is no ordinary man, he's powerful, alluring and the ex husband o
/1/105154/coverbig.jpg?v=20260309065848)
His Dangerous Touch
Aurora Andrews has never known a life free from pain. Orphaned and left in the care of her cruel uncle and aunt, she endured years of abuse that taught her the safest place was in the shadows. But even in college, her silence couldn't shield her from the cruelty of her peers. Just as she reaches he
/0/40953/coverbig.jpg?v=791a51d187e4c3c4f3e45d79c0524f29)
UNDER HIS RULES
From the beginning, Samuel Aarick (CEO of Flown Enterprise) had his eyes on Beatrice. Besides the debt her father owed, Samuel felt that Beatrice deserved to be one of his kept women at the headquarters. In addition to being an influential CEO in the Southern Region, Samuel is also the leader of the
/1/103688/coverbig.jpg?v=071b9fe5c1b3c58ab91256380ffee7b6)
Under His Billionaire
One childhood crush. One unbreakable rule. One mansion where every hallway feels like a trap. For fifteen years, Leighton Hayes has loved Noah Knight from afar, the untouchable older brother of her best friend Chloe. Now twenty-three, broke, and freshly homeless, Leighton has nowhere to go but th
/0/52834/coverbig.jpg?v=20240416150440)
Under His Temptation
Life changes like a wheel that spins endlessly, like Elizabeth Khan's journey after meeting rich businessman Alexandre Jhonson—unfortunately, someone from Elizabeth's past returns to stalk her and ask for what she once gave. Will Alexandre be able to protect Elizabeth? Will Elizabeth be able to find
/0/68451/coverbig.jpg?v=354f0cd7f5702d9cde2f8df7cdd2bb88)
UNDER HIS PROTECTION
Samantha Blake, a 25 years old ambitious and independent woman. Sweet and innocent but feisty when the need be. Her life takes a turn for the worse, when her fiancé cheated on her and stole all her hard earned money. Trying to pick up her life of what's left of this broken pieces, she is kidnapped a
/0/47923/coverbig.jpg?v=45534e54ad36109b6f207435dbe4052f)
Under His Rule
The Son is the key to get the inheritance that is only for him, Frianka Hera Wurzel is the heir of the Wurzel Sun Family, but why does her father have to torture her, when she is his only child. True love never exists! so there is no problem if you just give birth to a man without involving love. D
/0/88479/coverbig.jpg?v=9a950b904671c2d3902415d09044312f)
Beneath His Touch 1
Elena Vargas is a young lawyer struggling to keep her late father's law firm alive when Damian Blackthorne, a ruthless billionaire, sets his sights on destroying everything she holds dear. He's powerful, cold, and dangerously attractive-the last man she should be near. But every encounter ignites a
/0/89240/coverbig.jpg?v=db5321cbc3d6cfc40599a219d8006b7b)
Seduced By His Touch
"Why do you hate me so much?" Amara asked, her voice shaking. "I've never done anything to you." Where power, passion, and painful memories collide, Amara Denz never imagined the same man who made her life a living hell at Lyons College would be her ruthless, charismatic boss. Now CEO of a thriving
/0/47670/coverbig.jpg?v=20231114165720)
His Mild Touch
When Patricia's father proposes an arranged marriage with Trystan Oscar, a charming British billionaire, she reluctantly agrees to a date. Faced with the dire state of their family business and her parents' stress, Patricia prioritizes her family's well-being. Expecting a distant, business-like ma
/1/105954/coverbig.jpg?v=e07f203525618a6f8d7e40b58e3f2b5b)
Blooming Under His Shadow
He is power, control, and consequence. She is everything he never planned for. Lucien Blackwell rules his world through silence and precision, dismantling threats before they speak his name. When betrayal from his own family forces him to tighten his grip, the last thing he expects is her-a florist
/1/100186/coverbig.jpg?v=f03a8385926f402600e86dcae7157a88)
Pleasure Under His Command
🔥🔥Warning – 18+ Only This story is full of raw passion, steamy romance, and tantalizing tension. By turning these pages, you confirm you are 18 or older and ready to be seduced by a world of pleasure, desire, and temptation. Read responsibly... welcome to an erotic world. He touched her in ways
/0/54423/coverbig.jpg?v=9b57aa36b2147e81cfdf7eed3e05bc61)
Under His Deadly Fangs
She is destined to be the queen, the heir of an empire. She is destined to rule the underworld and make the demons kneel over her. Even though she is the most powerful one, others belittle her. How can she tame the outsiders?
/0/55045/coverbig.jpg?v=20260526072025)
Under his shield
In "Dare's Revenge," Luna's life revolves around a daring game, until a reckless prank aimed at the aloof student council president, Zyron Cullen, takes an unexpected turn. Fuelled by a dare and a thirst for vengeance, Luna sets out to humiliate Zyron, but the prank backfires, leaving him drenched i
/0/94256/coverbig.jpg?v=3c2b390bbb0ef58f4a7f340af1271480)
He Drowned Me, I Burned His World.
My fiancé, Anthony, built an entire virtual world for me after a climbing accident left me in a wheelchair. He called it Aethelgard, my sanctuary. In his game, I wasn't broken; I was Valkyrie, the unrivaled champion. He was my savior, the man who patiently nursed me back from the brink. Then, I saw
/0/48241/coverbig.jpg?v=fcdf63aa6e0e2dba17a622c891b8c3ae)
Under His Obsession
Michael was a spoiled brat girl. When she was in highschool she had a crush on her cousin, but she put it aside because they were cousins. They were very close, he was always by her side whenever she needed someone to hold on to. Not until one day her cousin r*ped her?and no matter how she tried too
/1/130872/coverbig.jpg?v=4e48a83907f6bb5df0be87b0e1238d70)
Under His Ruthless Protection
Bestselling romance author Amethyst Langston survived eight days of unimaginable horror at the hands of a ruthless killer. Now, she's desperate for a fresh start. But one disastrous blind date with arrogant billionaire Declan St. James changes everything. He's cold, powerful, and haunted by his ow
/1/110757/coverbig.jpg?v=46f162627e57c61668d6c0d7e3d9e9c2)
His Fathers's Ring, His Son's Touch
Lucas Vane was my ruin. My first love, my greatest regret, and the man who shattered my life before disappearing into the shadows. I thought I had finally escaped his reach, until a desperate debt forced me into a cold, clinical contract with the one man I should have feared more. Victor Vane. The
/0/25547/coverbig.jpg?v=20260518175818)
Her Touch
Eli I sit outside in my truck and wait, my cock hard and thick, throbbing with need. Today’s the day, but we have to keep up appearances. There are already too many eyes on us. One step out of line and it could be bad. She’s the most important thing in my life, and I will do everything to protect h
