Sword Among Us - Chapter 39: Xu Xin Visits

BOOK TWO OF THE HAMILTON SERIESWARNING: A Regency Era novel. Adult content with detailed smut…Read at you own risk⚠️⛔️Genre: Historical Romance / Smut / Enemies-to-Lovers / Mystery / Comedy[Book Two of the Hamilton Series. Can be read as a standalone, but better enjoyed after Lady Ines’ Scandalous Hobby.]To the world, Duke Rowan Hamilton is the perfect gentleman. But in the bedroom, he is a man possessed.Rowan Hamilton has it all: a Ducal title, the face of a fallen angel, and a smile that makes debutantes faint. He is the “Golden Duke”—charming, responsible, and utterly adored by society.But it’s all a lie.Beneath the coats and polite manners, Rowan is a man haunted by a ghost. For three years, he has remained faithful to the memory of a masked woman who stole a kiss, bested him at a game of chance, and vanished into the night. He doesn't want any one as his wife; he wants her.When his domineering aunt tires of his bachelorhood, she hires London’s most notorious underground matchmaker to force the issue.Enter Miss Delaney Kingsley.She is sharp-tongued, infuriatingly competent, and entirely unimpressed by his title. Her mission? To drag Rowan to the altar with the season’s “Diamond,” Lady Celine, within three months to collect the juicy payment Rowan’s aunt had to offer.Rowan intends to fire the meddlesome woman. But when Delaney looks at him with those hazel, intelligent eyes and orders him around like a young lad, he feels the first spark of life he’s felt in years.He decides to play her game. He will let her “coach” him on how to woo a lady. He will let her teach him how to dance, how to flirt, and how to seduce.But he has no intention of using those lessons on Lady Celine.“You were hired to find me a Duchess, Miss Kingsley. But the only person I want in my duchy and in my bed... is you.”As the lessons turn into forbidden nights and the bickering turns into scorching passion, Rowan begins to suspect that his matchmaker is hiding a secret of her own.She moves like a shadow, handles a rifle like a soldier, and tastes exactly like the ghost he’s been hunting for three years.What to Expect:* The Golden Retriever Duke: Who turns into a possessive Alpha behind closed doors.* The Matchmaker Trope: She’s trying to marry him off; he’s trying to take her clothes off.* High Heat: Slow burn that explodes into intense smut.* Competence Kink: He falls harder every time she bosses him around.* Cameos: Featuring the chaotic domestic life of Duchess Ines and Duke Carcel (and their baby Harry!).Excerpt:“Your Grace, please focus,” Delaney snapped, adjusting his cravat with efficient, gloved hands. “Lady Celine is waiting in the ballroom. You must look at her as if she is the only woman in the world.”Rowan caught her wrist, stopping her movements. He stepped into her space, backing her against the heavy oak door of the study, his “Golden Boy” mask slipping to reveal the hunger beneath.“And how, exactly, does one do that, Miss Kingsley?” he whispered, his voice rough. “Show me.”“I—I cannot show you, I am merely the coach—”“Then teach me,” he growled, lowering his head until his lips brushed the sensitive skin of her neck. “Teach me how to pretend I am not burning alive every time you walk into a room.”

Sylas Gray returns to his hometown in the countryside for a winter vacation to his ancestral home, only to find himself caught in the midst of an apocalyptic outbreak. The world descends into chaos as the undead overrun everything, and the small town he grew up in is no exception.With hope dwindling and death lurking around every corner, Sylas witnesses unspeakable horrors—brutal killings, betrayals, and the darker side of human nature. Yet, amidst the despair, Sylas refuses to give up. Determined to escape the town and reach the capital, he is thrust into a shocking revelation.A mysterious change occurs within him, granting Sylas the ability to sense and control space. He discovers that he possesses a pocket of space within his own body—a power that could be his key to survival.Follow Sylas as he embarks on a perilous journey, fighting to survive, uncovering the truth behind the apocalypse, and discovering the true potential of his newfound abilities.

“I, Benson Walton, reject you, Selma Payne, from being my future Luna and mate.

“If you’re sensible, you’ll find a quiet place to die on your own, instead of tarnishing our people’s glory.

“You’re just an ugly toad. Stay in the mud quietly, and don’t burden our pack.”

On Benson’s nineteenth birthday, he found out that we were destined mates. But I didn’t expect that he would rather endure great pain than accept me. Every word he said smashed directly into my heart, and the pain made me tremble uncontrollably.

I learned I wasn’t my parents’ biological child when I was sixteen. Although they thought of me as an angel that a stork had given them, it didn’t change the fact that I was a weak, little human.

I was just a soft egg who would fall over with a poke, a loser who couldn’t even see the road without help from the moonlight. My existence brought shame to my parents, and to my pack!

Perhaps I should have died in the woods from the start. With that thought in mind, I decided to return them a pure and unblemished pack tonight.

So, I jumped off a cliff and thought I would die. I never imagined I would be saved, and my true identity turned out to be the Lycan King’s only daughter who had been lost eighteen years ago. I was also heir to the throne!

That surprised me a lot. I was actually a werewolf? But… Why was I so weak? Was this all just a mistake?

To become a qualified heir, I concealed my identity and received training. However, could that frivolous instructor who was in charge of training me really help me awaken my wolf, or was he simply taking advantage of me?

As I grew stronger and became a public figure, others attacked and plotted against me many times. Did they have anything to do with those who kidnapped me all those years ago?

I have to catch them! I’ll protect my family, and my lover!

In the first reincarnation of Earth, the immortals vanished.In the second reincarnation of Earth, the dragon race disappeared.In the third reincarnation of Earth, mankind faced despair.Living in the third reincarnation of Earth, Ding Huan does not want to die.