A Dark Psychological Thriller Romance
He’s hunting a killer. She’s hiding from the past. Their collision was inevitable—but surviving it might not be.
FBI profiler Mateo Garcia came to New Orleans chasing a ritualistic serial killer—the same one who left his wife dead and his world in ruins.
His search leads to Solstice, a seductive nightclub pulsing with secrets, lies, and occult whispers.
There, he finds Melody—a mysterious woman with eyes full of fire and a past she refuses to reveal. She’s everything he shouldn’t want: beautiful, dangerous, and bound to something darker than she admits. But when her secrets start to align with the killer’s path, Mateo is forced to make a choice…
Trust the woman who might be lying. Or lose the one lead that could stop a murderer.
Melody knows what men like Mateo are capable of. She’s seen the violence. Survived the betrayal. But when he touches her, it doesn’t feel like danger—it feels like surrender. Like salvation. Like a man unraveling for her in real time.
In a city where death wears many faces and desire can be a weapon, love might be the deadliest risk of all.
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Case File Addendum – Reader Advisory
Contents include: graphic violence, trauma of both the body and the soul, sexual violence, and grief that doesn’t play fair. Expect organized crime and occult influence threaded through every page, with an FBI profiler who can’t decide if he’s chasing justice or his own obsession.
Filed under: dark romance • romantic suspense • psychological thriller
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Status: High heat, high danger
Proceed with caution, agents. The full dossier of tropes and triggers is classified in the book’s opening pages. Enter at your own risk.
Genres:
“I understand,” he said. “I’ll go now.”
Her voice called out after him once he’d turned away. “You’ll leave me alone, then? You’ll stop watching me? Following me?”
Mateo turned back, something in him flaring to life like a spark. He had just been thinking that he should do that very thing, yet hearing those words come out of her mouth stoked something in him that he couldn’t identify.
What the hell was she doing to him?
“Leave you alone. Leave you …”
He shook his head, advancing on her again. She fled until her back hit a wall, and he pressed her against it.
“Don’t you think I would if I were capable?” The words fell off his tongue before he could think them over. She wasn’t the only one falling apart. His hands trembled as he brought them to her waist. “But I can’t. I won’t.”
She whimpered and squirmed against him.
His cock swelled in response, and he thrust his hips to pin her, groaning at the way she felt against him. Soft and yielding. Warm and tempting.
“You want to fuck me,” she said with a dry, derisive laugh.
“Yes.”
“Are you insane? You’re willing to jeopardize your job, your investigation, for some pussy?”
He spun her so she faced the wall, then took hold of her wrists and forced her hands against it. She wobbled on her heels, but Mateo steadied her with an arm around her waist.
“It’s more than that,” he whispered against her neck. “Yes, I want your pussy. I want you wrapped around me, wet and hot and clenching me tight. I want you on your back, on top of me, on your hands and knees. But I want other things too. I want your eyes and your mouth. I want your scent and your skin. I learned the taste of you and haven’t been able to sleep from craving more. The taste of your tongue, your nipples, your clit. I want it all, Melody. I want your secrets. I want you.”
Her breaths had grown heavy and harsh, her body quaking against his as he let his hands roam. He mapped her curves, cradling her breasts, smoothing his palms down her waist, gripping her hips.
“Tell me to stop,” he growled, nipping at her ear with his teeth. She gasped and arched, pressing her ass against his crotch. He groaned, bringing one hand up to her throat. He circled the delicate stem of her neck, thumb tracing over her racing pulse. “Now, Melody.”
She raised her arms so that her hands grasped the back of his neck. Holding him close, she undulated against him, teasing him.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “I’ll fall apart if you stop now.”
“Fuck,” Mateo muttered, surging against her and pressing her against the wall.