
Safe Haven
Amber Kuhlman Thielman · Completed · 39.9k Words
Introduction
He might very well be Seattle’s most eligible bachelor, and a billionaire but his arrogance is a total turnoff. When he sends his assistant to ask me out on a date, for him, I never want to hear the name Elijah Trevino again.
Who does this guy think he is? God? Just because he’s rolling in the dough and is sexy as sin means nothing … at least not to me. I’m not like those other girls, and Elijah is about to find that out for himself.
If he wants me, he’s going to have to work harder than that.
Elijah
She’s a soft-hearted girl with a big city mouth, and I knew the moment I saw her at that Safe Haven fundraiser that she’d be mine. Why? I have no idea.
I want her. No, I need her. I crave everything about her, from those curvy hips to the soft and luscious lips.
Women don’t say no to me. But she did…
And now I want her even more.
Chapter 1
The first time I laid eyes on Elijah Trevino, the handsome billionaire and Seattle’s most eligible bachelor, it was at an after-party for my work’s fundraiser. I was four glasses of champagne when I spotted him across the room talking to my boss—or more appropriately, nodding along politely as she ran her mouth. I had no idea who he was, and why should I? Elijah Trevino seemed to be just another pretty face in the crowd, someone I could capture a mental image of using later to please myself in my bedroom. I hadn’t had sex in months, but that was no reason to take off my panties for the first desirable man I laid eyes on. Give it another few weeks, and I might consider getting drunk and laid all on the same night.
Just not tonight.
Sitting up at the bar, I crossed my legs and took another sip of booze, wishing this thing was over so I could change out of this little black dress and into a pair of cozy sweats and slippers. I wanted to go home and binge-watch raunchy romance movies with a glass of wine and a bowl of popcorn. I just wasn’t one for high-class parties, especially ones that made our company seem like we were begging for money, but the higher-ups had insisted because, well, we were broke … and I knew that. So, here we were.
“It will be good for the kids,” our bosses had told us. “Do it for them.”
Ironically, the children weren’t even here tonight. If one didn’t know better, nothing about tonight’s party screamed homeless children. Instead, the expensive booze was limitless and wealthy women and men flaunted their rich people’s clothing and smug smiles, knowing damn well that our company would be nothing without them. We would be nothing.
“Ava,” my co-worker Sandy hissed, claiming the empty stool next to me. She swayed a little, drink in her hand sloshing over the side as she took a seat. She didn’t seem to notice. “Elijah Trevino is here.”
I raised the glass to my lips and took a sip. “Who?”
“Elijah. Trevino.” She ran a hand through her mousy brown hair and straightened the glasses perched on her nose. Her face was flushed red like she’d been taking a jog, but she always looked like that. She leaned over me and asked the bartender for a refill, swallowing down the rest of whatever concoction she held between slender fingers.
“The name doesn’t ring a bell,” I said with a shrug.
“No?” Sandy tilted her head nonchalantly towards the handsome—okay, gorgeous—man I’d been scoping out only minutes ago. “That’s him,” she breathed. “That’s Elijah.”
“He’s cute,” I said, and damn if he wasn’t. “Should I know the name?”
“Oh-em-gee,” Sandy said with a dramatic sigh. I’d tried to tell her before that talking in acronyms wasn’t cool, even if the teenagers at our youth house did it daily, but she hadn’t taken it to heart. “Elijah Trevino is only the richest man in the city. Not to mention the sexiest. I mean, come on. He’s drool-worthy.”
While my nether bits lit up like a summer sky every time I caught sight of the guy, I couldn’t let Sandy know that. I was a self-proclaimed feminist, a strong, independent woman who didn’t need a man to keep her satisfied.
At least, that’s what I kept telling myself, mainly because no man had stuck with me for long.
“The only drool-worthy thing in my life is a delicious piece of chocolate cake and a shot of tequila,” I said, and Sandy glared at me. “What? I’m easy to please.”
“Did you hear what he did?” she asked, lowering her voice. “He donated fifty grand to the youth house.”
“Fifty grand, huh?” Okay, color me impressed. Most wealthy businessmen in the charming city of Seattle didn’t care to take a second look at our youth house, fondly named Meadowbrook. Who had the time to care about a non-profit home that housed troubled youth, anyway? Not them, apparently.
Sandy and I were counselors at the center, and I couldn’t speak for her, but I loved my job. I loved the kids, and I enjoyed doing what I did … but it was hard, especially when finances were pinched. Once a year—sometimes twice—we were always so near shutting down that our boss would tell all the staff to look for another job. And then every year, just like this year, we’d have a stroke of luck, and something would happen that allowed us to stay open. Although losing a job would suck, losing the kids would be even harder. They had only us, nowhere to go but there, and sometimes I wondered if anyone on the outside understood that.
“I think he’s single,” Sandy mused. The stars were practically dancing in her eyes.
I watched Elijah part from our boss, Katie, and then browsed the room, making small talk with the rest of the guests. He had a confident walk, a sexy one like everywhere he went, he owned the place, and everybody better know it. While most women—Sandy, for example—found that attractive, I wasn’t one of them.
Arrogant men turned me off.
“I think I’m going to go home.” With a small sigh, I checked the time on my phone. It was getting far too late, and I was still too sober to stay even a second longer.
“Don’t go,” Sandy pleaded. “I haven’t gotten anyone’s number yet!”
Somehow, this was my problem. I tried to be a good friend, but sometimes I just didn’t have the energy for it.
“I don’t know about you, but I have to work in the morning,” I said, feigning a yawn. Sandy had a bad habit of not getting to work on time if she was up too late the night before. Despite some of the other staff raising their concerns to Katie, we couldn’t afford to let her go. Most of us got just above minimum wage for pay and no benefits, so it was crucial we didn’t lose staff to something so trivial. She was an excellent employee, too, if not naïve and scatterbrained, but we all loved her, anyway. She was a part of the Meadowbrook family.
“Alright,” Sandy groaned. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
I bid her goodbye and gathered my jacket to shield myself from the cold Washington air. I waved at Katie across the room to make my departure known and then excused myself out the front door. It was drizzling, just slightly, but the air felt good and pure on my face, as though the rain could wash away the day's exhaustion. I pulled my phone from my pocket and ordered an Uber, then reached for my purse, only to find that I’d left it somewhere inside.
“Damn,” I muttered and turned back to search for it in the foyer.
I rummaged for a moment through strangers’ coats, scarves, and other belongings, trying to remember where I’d left my purse. I was about to give up and report it to the front desk when a finger tapped my shoulder from behind.
“Yours?” a deep baritone asked. Spinning around with a small gasp, I came face to face with none other than Elijah Trevino. He held out my tacky aqua-colored purse with the fake jewels embedded on the outside. A few were missing. I kept meaning to invest in a new one, but other things like rent and my power bill had taken priority each time. I hadn’t noticed—or cared—until now, as my cheap, tacky purse hung from the fingers of a handsome billionaire.
“Thanks,” I mumbled and hitched it over my shoulder. I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks, and I hoped he wouldn’t notice. My life was the furthest thing from glamorous that it could get, and I didn’t mind that. But a man like Elijah Trevino most definitely did. He was a billionaire; money practically grew from the top of his head. I was nothing to him, and I didn’t know why he’d even bothered to speak to me.
I was about to turn and leave again when I caught sight of my boss Katie watching us over the heads of the crowd. She caught my eye and raised an eyebrow expectantly, making me freeze on the spot. It took all I could not to groan aloud. I was tired, overheated, and had a headache from one too many glasses of champagne. I wanted to go home and cozy up in my bed with my dog, Salazar. I did not, however, want to make small talk with Elijah Trevino to please my micromanaging boss.
Too bad, Ava.
“Mr. Trevino, right?” I offered my hand, knowing that if I bailed now, Katie would have words for me tomorrow. And I just wasn’t in the mood for that. “I want to thank you so much for your generous donation to Meadowbrook. On behalf of the children, we appreciate it immensely.”
For a moment, Elijah said nothing at all. And then, slowly, a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Or, more accurately, a smirk. A self-confident, cocky smirk.
“Anything for troubled youth,” he said, running one hand through his coal-black hair. The tiny gesture made my heart skip a beat—was it getting hot in here? I ignored it and plastered the fakest smile I could muster instead, nodding enthusiastically. He was just another rich douche, no different from the others who floated around this fundraiser like sunshine glowed out of their asses.
This one just happened to be cute.
Handsome?
No, gorgeous.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Trevino. And thank you again.” I turned away before I could get unfairly wrangled into any more mindless conversation and stepped towards the door, praying that Katie was no longer watching me.
“Wait.” Laying one hand gently on my arm, Elijah stopped me. A jolt of electric energy sizzled through my body when his skin touched mine, and I pulled away in surprise, speechless for a moment. His eyes met mine, eyes so fantastically green and brilliant that I had to mentally remind myself to keep breathing before I passed out. “Call me Elijah,” he said. “And when can I see you again?”
I was surprised, primarily because of his cocky insistence, like he was making a statement instead of asking a question. What did this guy want from me? Sure, he was cute, but there was no way in hell I was his type.
He doesn’t even know my name.
“I’m sorry.” I peered out the front window as a car that looked like my Uber pulled up to the sidewalk. “I have to go. It was nice to meet you.”
“You’re not staying?” He sounded hurt, if that was possible, but it was shielded a bit by the curiosity in his tone, as though no one had ever run away from him before, and he was wondering why I was.
“No,” I said, reaching for the door before my ride took off without me. “I hate these kinds of things. I’d rather be home.” The words slipped out before I could stop them, but Elijah surprised me by smiling. He even chuckled, a low, throaty laugh that sent a shiver of pleasure down my spine.
“I don’t either,” he said. “Want to get out of here?”
I did. Of course, I did. But men like Elijah Trevino had an agenda, and I wanted no part.
“I’m sorry,” I said again and stepped through the door. “I have to go. Enjoy your party.
Last Chapters
You Might Like 😍
How Not To Fall For A Dragon
Which is why it was more than a little confusing when a letter arrived with my name already printed on a schedule, a dorm waiting, and classes picked out as if someone knew me better than I knew myself. Everyone knows the Academy, it’s where witches sharpen their spells, shifters master their forms, and every kind of magical creature learns to control their gifts.
Everyone except me.
I don’t even know what I am. No shifting, no magic tricks, nothing. Just a girl surrounded by people who can fly, conjure fire, or heal with a touch. So I sit through classes pretending I belong, and I listen hard for any clue that might tell me what’s hidden in my blood.
The only person more curious than me is Blake Nyvas, tall, golden-eyed, and very much a Dragon. People whisper that he’s dangerous, warn me to keep my distance. But Blake seems determined to solve the mystery of me, and somehow I trust him more than anyone else.
Maybe it’s reckless. Maybe it’s dangerous.
But when everyone else looks at me like I don’t belong, Blake looks at me like I’m a riddle worth solving.
Goddess Of The Underworld
When the veil between the Divine, the Living, and the Dead begins to crack, Envy is thrust beneath with a job she can’t drop: keep the worlds from bleeding together, shepherd the lost, and make ordinary into armour, breakfasts, bedtime, battle plans. Peace lasts exactly one lullaby. This is the story of an orphan pup who became a goddess by choosing her family; of four imperfect alphas learning how to be better. Steamy, fierce, and full of heart, Goddess of the Underworld is a reverse harem, found-family paranormal romance where love writes the rules and keeps three realms from falling apart.
A pack of their own
The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates
"Let me go," I whimper, my body trembling with need. "I don't want you touching me."
I fall forward onto the bed then turn around to stare at him. The dark tattoos of Domonic's chiseled shoulders, quiver and and expand with the heave of his chest. His deep dimpled smile is full of arrogance as he reaches behind himself to lock the door.
Biting his lip, he stalks toward me, his hand going to the seam of his pants and the thickening bulge there.
"Are you sure you don't want me to touch you?" He whispers, untying the knot and slipping a hand inside. "Because I swear to God, that is all I have been wanting to do. Every single day from the moment you stepped in our bar and I smelled your perfect flavor from across the room."
New to the world of shifters, Draven is human on the run. A beautiful girl who no one could protect. Domonic is the cold Alpha of the Red Wolf Pack. A brotherhood of twelve wolves that live by twelve rules. Rules which they vowed could NEVER be broken.
Especially - Rule Number One - No Mates
When Draven meets Domonic, he knows that she is his mate, but Draven has no idea what a mate is, only that she has fallen in love with a shifter. An Alpha that will break her heart to make her leave. Promising herself, she will never forgive him, she disappears.
But she doesn’t know about the child she’s carrying or that the moment she left, Domonic decided rules were made to be broken - and now will he ever find her again? Will she forgive him?
The Human Among Wolves
My stomach twisted, but he wasn’t finished.
"You're just a pathetic little human," Zayn said, his words deliberate, each one hitting like a slap. "Spreading your legs for the first guy who bothers to notice you."
Heat rushed to my face, burning with humiliation. My chest ached — not from his words alone, but from the sick realization that I had trusted him. That I had let myself believe he was different.
I was so, so stupid.
——————————————————
When eigteen-year-old Aurora Wells moves to a sleepy town with her parents, the last thing she expects is to be enrolled in a secret academy for werewolves.
Moonbound Academy is no ordinary school. It's here young Lycans, Betas and Alphas train in shifting, elemental magic, and ancient pack laws. But Aurora? She's just...human. a mistake. The new receptionist forgot to check her species - and now she's surrounded by predators who sense she doesn't belong.
Determined to stay under the radar, Aurora plans to survive the year unnoticed. But when she catches the attention of Zayn, a brooding and infuriatingly powerful Lycan prince, her life gets a lot more complicated. Zayn already has a mate. He already has enemies. And he definitely doesn't want anything to do with a clueless human.
But secrets run deeper than bloodlines at Moonbound. as Aurora unravels the truth about the academy - and herself - she begins to question everything she thought she knew.
Including the reason she was brought here at all.
Enemies will rise. Loyalties will shift. And the girl with no place in their world...might be the key to saving it.
Accardi
“I thought you said you were done chasing me?” Gen mocked.
“I am done chasing you.”
Before she could formulate a witty remark, Matteo threw her down. She landed hard on her back atop his dining room table. She tried to sit up when she noticed what he was doing. His hands were working on his belt. It came free of his pants with a violent yank. She collapsed back on her elbows, her mouth gaping open at the display. His face was a mask of sheer determination, his eyes were a dark gold swimming with heat and desire. His hands wrapped around her thighs and pulled her to the edge of the table. He glided his fingers up her thighs and hooked several around the inside of her panties. His knuckles brushed her dripping sex.
“You’re soaking wet, Genevieve. Tell me, was it me that made you this way or him?” his voice told her to be careful with her answer. His knuckles slid down through her folds and she threw her head back as she moaned. “Weakness?”
“You…” she breathed.
Genevieve loses a bet she can’t afford to pay. In a compromise, she agrees to convince any man her opponent chooses to go home with her that night. What she doesn’t realize when her sister’s friend points out the brooding man sitting alone at the bar, is that man won’t be okay with just one night with her. No, Matteo Accardi, Don of one of the largest gangs in New York City doesn’t do one night stands. Not with her anyway.
Let Them Kneel
Cast out by her pack. Forgotten by the Lycans.
She lived among humans—quiet, invisible, tucked away in a town no one looked at twice.
But when her first heat comes without warning, everything changes.
Her body ignites. Her instincts scream. And something primal stirs beneath her skin—
summoning a big, bad Alpha who knows exactly how to quench her fire.
When he claims her, it’s ecstasy and ruin.
For the first time, she believes she’s been accepted.
Seen.
Chosen.
Until he leaves her the next morning—
like a secret never to be spoken.
But Kaelani is not what they thought.
Not wolfless. Not weak.
There is something ancient inside her. Something powerful. And it’s waking.
And when it does—
they’ll all remember the girl they tried to erase.
Especially him.
She’ll be the dream he keeps chasing… the one thing that ever made him feel alive.
Because secrets never stay buried.
And neither do dreams.
Rise of the Banished She-Wolf
That roar stole my eighteenth birthday and shattered my world. My first shift should have been glory—blood turned blessing into shame. By dawn they'd branded me "cursed": cast out by my pack, abandoned by family, stripped of my nature. My father didn't defend me—he sent me to a forsaken island where wolfless outcasts were forged into weapons, forced to kill each other until only one could leave.
On that island I learned the darkest edges of humanity and how to bury terror in bone. Countless times I wanted to surrender—dive into the waves and never surface—but the accusing faces that haunted my dreams pushed me back toward something colder than survival: revenge. I escaped, and for three years I hid among humans, collecting secrets, learning to move like a shadow, sharpening patience into precision—becoming a blade.
Then, under a full moon, I touched a bleeding stranger—and my wolf returned with a violence that made me whole. Who was he? Why could he wake what I'd thought dead?
One thing I know: now is the time.
I have waited three years for this. I will make everyone who destroyed me pay—and take back everything that was stolen from me.
Invisible To Her Bully
The Lycan Prince’s Puppy
“Soon enough, you’ll be begging for me. And when you do—I’ll use you as I see fit, and then I’ll reject you.”
—
When Violet Hastings begins her freshman year at Starlight Shifters Academy, she only wants two things—honor her mother’s legacy by becoming a skilled healer for her pack and get through the academy without anyone calling her a freak for her strange eye condition.
Things take a dramatic turn when she discovers that Kylan, the arrogant heir to the Lycan throne who has made her life miserable from the moment they met, is her mate.
Kylan, known for his cold personality and cruel ways, is far from thrilled. He refuses to accept Violet as his mate, yet he doesn’t want to reject her either. Instead, he sees her as his puppy, and is determined to make her life even more of a living hell.
As if dealing with Kylan’s torment isn’t enough, Violet begins to uncover secrets about her past that change everything she thought she knew. Where does she truly come from? What is the secret behind her eyes? And has her whole life been a lie?
Falling For The Biker: The Vice President's Girl
His eyes darken, flicking to my mouth.
"It's wrong. Your brother would slit my throat for just standing this close. But tell me, little bird" his breath ghosts my skin, "are you trembling because you hate me… or because you've wanted this just as much as I have?"
Wren thought she'd buried the chaos of New Orleans for good—the clubs, the blood-soaked loyalties, the men who lived and died by their kuttes. Seattle gave her everything she ever wanted: freedom, love, a future.
But one betrayal shatters it all.
Dragged home by tragedy, Wren finds herself under the watchful eye of Ezra Jax—the Raven Reapers MC's vice president and her brother's best friend. He's infuriating, dangerous, and far too tempting for a man she should never touch.
And the deeper Wren is pulled back into his world, the more she realizes nothing about her past—or about Ezra—is what she believed.
In the chaos of gang wars, mounting debts, and old betrayals, he becomes the one constant. The more she fights him, the harder she falls. And the more he pushes her away, the more lethal his pull becomes.
Because in this world, love isn't sweet.
It's brutal. Bloody.
And it's bound to break them both.
When loyalty is everything and love can cost your life, will Wren risk her heart on the one man she was never meant to love?
My Vampire Professor
You ordered a skilled call boy for yourself to take your v-card
He was indeed skilled and crazy hot. You left cash and run away the next morning.
Later, you run into the "call boy" in your classroom and found he's in fact your new Professor
“You forgot your stuff”
He gave you a grocery bag in front of everyone with a poker face
"What...?"
It was the cash you left...and your bra












