The Forbidden Throb

The Forbidden Throb

Riley · Completed · 200.8k Words

921
Hot
165k
Views
9.6k
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

They say your life can change in a heartbeat.
Mine changed in the time it took to open a door.
Behind it: my fiancé Nicholas with another woman.
Three months until our wedding. Three seconds to watch it all burn.
I should have run. Should have screamed. Should have done anything except stand there like a fool.
Instead, I heard the devil himself whisper in my ear:
"If you're willing, I could marry you."
Daniel. The brother I was warned about. The one who made Nicholas look like a choir boy.
He leaned against the wall, watching my world implode.
My pulse thundered. "What?"
"You heard me." His eyes burned into mine. "Marry me, Emma."
But as I stared into those magnetic eyes, I realized something terrifying:
I wanted to say yes to him.
Game on.

Chapter 1

Emma's POV:

"Remember to maintain your elegance at all times, Emma. Posture straight, movements deliberate."

My mother, Victoria, circled me like a fashion consultant preparing her client for the runway.

I stood before my bedroom mirror, obsessively smoothing down the pale blue silk dress I'd bought specifically for tonight.

Tonight marked my first formal event with the Prescott family—their annual charity foundation gala.

With graduation approaching for both Nicholas Prescott and me, our families had begun pressing about marriage plans.

My mother adjusted the pearl necklace at my throat—one of the few nice gifts she'd received since marrying Robert Williams, a rare extravagance in her otherwise practical second marriage.

"This could be our family's turning point, Emma. The Prescotts have honored the agreement between our families even though..."

She trailed off, unwilling to directly reference our family's financial collapse after my grandfather died.

Before I was even born, my grandfather—the formidable Richard Johnson—and David Prescott had formed a friendship that transcended business.

The story goes that when my mother was seven months pregnant with me, to ensure the profound friendship between our families would continue for generations, they'd made a solemn promise: I—still nestled in my mother's womb—would one day marry a Prescott son.

When Grandfather died suddenly and our family fortune collapsed under poor management and mounting debt, everyone expected the Prescotts to gracefully withdraw from the arrangement. They didn't.

Someone whispered how lucky I was, how I'd managed to 'secure my future' despite our family's setbacks. Even my friend Olivia joked about me winning the 'Boston Brahmin lottery.'

Everyone saw a fairytale—the middle-class girl whisked into high society, a modern Cinderella story.

But behind the carefully filtered Instagram posts and polite smiles at events, I felt increasingly like an actress playing a role in someone else's production.

"Nicholas will be here any minute," my mother said, glancing nervously at her watch. "Remember, the Prescotts value punctuality."

As if summoned by her words, the doorbell rang. I grabbed my clutch and took one last look in the mirror.

Before I could reach the door, my mother caught my arm, pulling me close. Her voice dropped to an urgent whisper against my ear.

"Remember who you are tonight, Emma. This isn't just dinner—it's an audition for your future. Smile, charm David Sr., and try to engage more with Nicholas's family tonight. Last time you barely said three sentences all evening. You're both graduating soon—it's time to think about next steps."

I forced a smile, the knot in my stomach tightening.

Next steps. Always the next steps.

The doorbell rang again, sending a jolt through me.

I hurried across our modest foyer, my heels clicking against the hardwood as I smoothed my dress with one hand and reached for the handle with the other.

Nicholas stood at the door in his perfectly tailored suit, his handsome features arranged in an expression of barely concealed impatience.

Car keys to his Porsche dangled carelessly from his fingers as he exchanged brief pleasantries with my mother, his gaze barely meeting mine before urging, "We should get going. We're about to be late."

Within moments, we were descending the front steps of our modest townhouse toward his gleaming black Porsche.

In Nicholas's Porsche, the leather seats cool against my bare legs, an awkward silence settling between us.

"You look nice," he finally said, eyes never leaving the road ahead.

"Thanks. You too." The silence stretched between us, broken only by the purr of the luxury engine.

When he spoke again, we were already crossing the bridge toward Beacon Hill.

"Listen, Emma, about tonight..." He shifted his grip on the steering wheel, eyes fixed on the road ahead. "I know my family can be... intense about these things. Marriage, timelines, all that."

I turned to face him, waiting.

"I'm just saying, if they start asking questions—about us, about the future—maybe we could keep things vague?" His tone was casual, but I caught the edge beneath it. "I'm not ready to have the marriage conversation yet. Business school, the London internship next summer... there's still so much I need to figure out first."

"I understand," I said carefully, the words feeling heavier than they should.

Being caught between Nicholas's hesitation and our family's expectations wasn't a position I'd asked for, but here I was. "I'm not trying to pressure you into anything."

"I know you're not." He glanced at me briefly before returning his attention to the road.

"But my grandfather doesn't see it that way. Once he gets an idea in his head, especially about family legacy and continuing the Prescott line..." He trailed off with a slight shake of his head. "Look, I just need us to be on the same page tonight. Can you do that for me?"

I nodded and turned to watch the city lights pass by, fighting the familiar hollow feeling.

Nicholas exhaled, his shoulders visibly relaxing. "Thanks for understanding."

Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the Prescott Foundation Gala.

The historic Boston hotel glittered with chandeliers and old money, doormen in crisp uniforms ushering guests inside. Nicholas handed his keys to the valet, then placed his hand lightly at the small of my back—the first time he'd touched me all evening.

We approached his family.

David Prescott Sr., the family patriarch, regarded me with gentle vision.

"Emma, looking lovely as always," he said, kissing my cheek with practiced precision. "Your graduation is approaching soon, isn't it? What are your plans afterward?"

Before I could elaborate on my recent plan, Nicholas's phone buzzed in his pocket. Then again. And again.

His smile never faltered as he maintained the conversation, but his fingers twitched slightly each time.

After fifteen minutes of perfunctory small talk with various Prescott relatives, Nicholas checked his phone and leaned close to my ear.

"I need to step out for a moment—some business with a few classmates," he murmured, already scanning the room for his exit. "You're okay on your own, right?"

I nodded reflexively, my smile fixed in place.

What choice did I have? You can't hold back someone already halfway out the door. I watched his retreating back as he navigated through the crowd with practiced ease, leaving me alone in a room full of Boston's elite.

Taking a deep breath, I decided that if I was destined to be stranded here alone, I might as well savor what hospitality was offered.

But as I turned around, I collided with a solid wall of dark suit and subtle cologne.

My apology died on my lips as I stumbled backward, only to be steadied by a gentle hand at my elbow.

"Careful there," came a warm, gentle voice from above.

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

I Loved You in Silence, You Betrayed Me in French

I Loved You in Silence, You Betrayed Me in French

34.7k Views · Completed · Joy Brown
I swear, I hate my husband.

At my birthday party, my husband whispered to his mistress in French that he missed her. His voice was low, but I heard it all—the black lingerie, the bit about how pregnancy makes you more sensitive. His French clients around us were laughing. He turned and put his arm around me, claiming he was just helping his clients come up with sweet nothings.

He doesn't know I understand every single word. Just like he doesn't know that inside my body, I'm carrying his other surprise. And his mistress—she's pregnant too. Two wombs, one secret.

Confrontation would be too cheap. Tears are worthless. I quietly started cataloging the hidden networks my father left behind, activating the Swiss accounts.

In seven days, Zoey Smith will cease to exist. And what will my husband's reaction be?
Alpha Nicholas's Little Mate

Alpha Nicholas's Little Mate

1.1m Views · Ongoing · Becky j
"Mate is here!"
What? No—wait… oh Moon Goddess, no.
Please tell me you're joking, Lex.
But she's not. I can feel her excitement bubbling under my skin, while all I feel is dread.
We turn the corner, and the scent hits me like a punch to the chest—cinnamon and something impossibly warm. My eyes scan the room until they land on him. Tall. Commanding. Beautiful.
And then, just as quickly… he sees me.
His expression twists.
"Fuck no."
He turns—and runs.
My mate sees me and runs.
Bonnie has spent her entire life being broken down and abused by the people closest to her including her very own twin sister. Alongside her best friend Lilly who also lives a life of hell, they plan to run away while attending the biggest ball of the year while it's being hosted by another pack, only things don't quite go to plan leaving both girls feeling lost and unsure about their futures.
Alpha Nicholas is 28, mateless, and has no plans to change that. It's his turn to host the annual Blue Moon Ball this year and the last thing he expects is to find his mate. What he expects even less is for his mate to be 10 years younger than him and how his body reacts to her. While he tries to refuse to acknowledge that he has met his mate his world is turned upside down after guards catch two she-wolves running through his lands.
Once they are brought to him he finds himself once again facing his mate and discovers that she's hiding secrets that will make him want to kill more than one person.
Can he overcome his feelings towards having a mate and one that is so much younger than him? Will his mate want him after already feeling the sting of his unofficial rejection? Can they both work on letting go of the past and moving forward together or will fate have different plans and keep them apart?
Omega Bound

Omega Bound

1.8m Views · Completed · Veronica White
Ayla Frost is a beautiful, rare omega. Kidnapped, tortured, and trafficked to rogue clans and corrupt alphas to do with as they pleased.  Kept alive in her cage, broken and abandoned by her wolf, she becomes mute and has given up on hope for a better life until one explosion changes everything. 

Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life. 

Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
Shattered Girl

Shattered Girl

869.1k Views · Completed · Brandi Rae
Jake's fingers danced across my nipples, squeezing gently and making me groan in pleasure. He lifted my shirt and stared at my hardened nipples through my bra. I tensed, and Jake sat up and moved back on the bed, giving me some space.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. Was that too much?” I could see the worry in his eyes as I took a deep breath.

“I just didn’t want you to see all my scars,” I whispered, feeling ashamed of my marked body.


Emmy Nichols is used to surviving. She survived her abusive father for years until he beat her so severely, she ended up in the hospital, and her father was finally arrested. Now, Emmy is thrown into a life she never expected. Now she has a mother

who doesn't want her, a politically motivated stepfather with ties to the Irish mob, four older stepbrothers, and their best friend who swear to love and protect her. Then, one night, everything shatters, and Emmy feels her only option is to run.

When her stepbrothers and their best friend finally find her, will they pick up the pieces and convince Emmy that they will keep her safe and their love will hold them together?
After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms

After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms

1.3m Views · Ongoing · Louisa
[Dear readers, if you loved this book, be sure to read my new recommended read: Cheating Husband, Vengeful Me.]
From first crush to wedding vows, George Capulet and I had been inseparable. But in our seventh year of marriage, he began an affair with his secretary.

On my birthday, he took her on vacation. On our anniversary, he brought her to our home and made love to her in our bed...

Heartbroken, I tricked him into signing divorce papers.

George remained unconcerned, convinced I would never leave him.

His deceptions continued until the day the divorce was finalized. I threw the papers in his face: "George Capulet, from this moment on, get out of my life!"

Only then did panic flood his eyes as he begged me to stay.

When his calls bombarded my phone later that night, it wasn't me who answered, but my new boyfriend Julian.

"Don't you know," Julian chuckled into the receiver, "that a proper ex-boyfriend should be as quiet as the dead?"

George seethed through gritted teeth: "Put her on the phone!"

"I'm afraid that's impossible."

Julian dropped a gentle kiss on my sleeping form nestled against him. "She's exhausted. She just fell asleep."
Goddess Of The Underworld

Goddess Of The Underworld

719k Views · Completed · Sheridan Hartin
Left at a pack border with a name and a stubborn heartbeat, Envy grows into the sharpest kind of survivor, an orphaned warrior who knows how to hold a line and keep moving. Love isn’t in the plan…until four alpha wolves with playboy reputations and inconveniently soft hands decide the girl who won’t bow is the only queen they’ll ever take. Their mate. The one they have waited for. Xavier, Haiden, Levi, and Noah are gorgeous, lethal, and anything but perfect and Envy isn’t either. She’s changing. First into hell hound, Layah at her heels and fire in her veins. Then into what the realm has been waiting for, a Goddess of the Underworld, dragging her mates down to hell with her.

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.
The Prison Project

The Prison Project

1.1m Views · Ongoing · Bethany Donaghy
The government's newest experiment in criminal rehabilitation - sending thousands of young women to live alongside some of the most dangerous men held behind bars...

Can love tame the untouchable? Or will it only fuel the fire and cause chaos amongst the inmates?

Fresh out of high school and suffocating in her dead-end hometown, Margot longs for her escape. Her reckless best friend, Cara, thinks she's found the perfect way out for them both - The Prisoner Project - a controversial program offering a life-changing sum of money in exchange for time spent with maximum-security inmates.

Without hesitation, Cara rushes to sign them up.

Their reward? A one-way ticket into the depths of a prison ruled by gang leaders, mob bosses, and men the guards wouldn't even dare to cross...

At the centre of it all, meets Coban Santorelli - a man colder than ice, darker than midnight, and as deadly as the fire that fuels his inner rage. He knows that the project may very well be his only ticket to freedom - his only ticket to revenge on the one who managed to lock him up and so he must prove that he can learn to love…

Will Margot be the lucky one chosen to help reform him?

Will Coban be capable of bringing something to the table other than just sex?

What starts off as denial may very well grow in to obsession which could then fester in to becoming true love…

A temperamental romance novel.
The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates

The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates

2m Views · Ongoing · Jaylee
Soft hot lips find the shell of my ear and he whispers, "You think I don't want you?" He pushes his hips forward, grinding into the back of my ass and I groan. "Really?" He chuckles.

"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?
Alpha Twins' Mate's broken Human

Alpha Twins' Mate's broken Human

167.8k Views · Ongoing · dragonsbain22
Chiara was raised in the orphanage of the Silver Aspen pack. Not an overly large Pack, but a strong Pack. As a human, she takes the brunt of the pack's bullying, especially the "Ranked Squad" as she calls them. When she turns 18 earlier than she thought, and gets a wolf, will she be able to accept what she is after all the abuse? Accept her wolf? And accept the Twins as her mates? Or will she retreat into herself and leave the Twins struggling to reach her to make things right? Read along to find out.
A Lesson in Magic

A Lesson in Magic

234.7k Views · Completed · Kit Bryan
One day I'm dealing with cranky toddlers and parents who work too much to actually parent, the next my life is turned upside down and I'm working in a bar for supernaturals. I might not know how to mix drinks, but strangely enough the skills needed to deal with misbehaving children seem to work well enough on vampires, werewolves and even witches. The good news is this job is interesting and hey, my boss might be a demon but I'm pretty sure that under all the grumpy expressions he is a total softie. The bad news is that humans aren't supposed to know about all this magic stuff and so now I'm magically bound to this bar until I can convince them that I won't go telling everyone. Or I die, whichever comes first. Sadly dying is seeming more and more likely because someone is after me. I don't know who or why but they are dangerous and they have magic. So I'll domy best to survive, and if that means spending some extra time with my scary but gorgeous boss then so be it. I'll convince him to trust me if it's the last thing I do.
Rise of the Banished She-Wolf

Rise of the Banished She-Wolf

336.2k Views · Completed · Lily
"White wolf! Kill that monster!"
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.
I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis

I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis

513.9k Views · Completed · Jessica C. Dolan
Being second best is practically in my DNA. My sister got the love, the attention, the spotlight. And now, even her damn fiancé.
Technically, Rhys Granger was my fiancé now—billionaire, devastatingly hot, and a walking Wall Street wet dream. My parents shoved me into the engagement after Catherine disappeared, and honestly? I didn’t mind. I’d crushed on Rhys for years. This was my chance, right? My turn to be the chosen one?
Wrong.
One night, he slapped me. Over a mug. A stupid, chipped, ugly mug my sister gave him years ago. That’s when it hit me—he didn’t love me. He didn’t even see me. I was just a warm-bodied placeholder for the woman he actually wanted. And apparently, I wasn’t even worth as much as a glorified coffee cup.
So I slapped him right back, dumped his ass, and prepared for disaster—my parents losing their minds, Rhys throwing a billionaire tantrum, his terrifying family plotting my untimely demise.
Obviously, I needed alcohol. A lot of alcohol.
Enter him.
Tall, dangerous, unfairly hot. The kind of man who makes you want to sin just by existing. I’d met him only once before, and that night, he just happened to be at the same bar as my drunk, self-pitying self. So I did the only logical thing: I dragged him into a hotel room and ripped off his clothes.
It was reckless. It was stupid. It was completely ill-advised.
But it was also: Best. Sex. Of. My. Life.
And, as it turned out, the best decision I’d ever made.
Because my one-night stand isn’t just some random guy. He’s richer than Rhys, more powerful than my entire family, and definitely more dangerous than I should be playing with.
And now, he’s not letting me go.