Novels by DUNNIADE

ROWANThe rink smelled like cold sweat,and ice exhaust.My chest burned as I stepped off the ice, my skate guards clicking against the corridor behind the home bench, pulling my gloves off with my teeth. My knuckles were bloody from raw friction. I leaned back against the rusted storage lockers, my head thrown back against the wall, trying to get my breathing under control."You’re going to tear those laces again."The voice sank straight into my marrow. I didn't move. I couldn't... My heart slammed against my ribs so hard it rattled my teeth.I opened my eyes slowly. Standing three feet away in the shadow of the equipment rack was Theo.He looked fucking lethal. Sharp jaw, dark hair messy from the damp air, his black coat tailored, his eyes burning with that same arrogant, beautiful malice that used to ruin me when we were seventeen. He looked like the absolute worst decision I’d ever made, and my body recognized him before my brain could even register the terror."Theo," I choked ou

JULIANThe silence inside Rowan’s sports car was heavy enough to give me a migraine.My head was throbbing where the metal light had split my temple open. Blood had run down my neck and dried, gluing my hoodie collar to my skin. I kept my face turned toward the glass, watching streetlights smear across the wet window like bleeding yellow ink.Rowan didn't say a word. his knuckles raw and white, his jaw clamped so tight the muscle twitched every time he shifted gears. He wasn't acting like the untouchable captain who had me pinned against a library hours ago. He looked unhinged. Bloodshot eyes, pale skin, driving like he was trying to beat a police scanner.He killed the headlights two blocks from my building, jerking the car to the curb under a dead streetlamp.Without looking at me, he grabbed a heavy, unopened plastic water bottle from his gym bag in the back and crammed it against my lap."Put it on your head," he grumbled. His voice cold and curt."I don't need your fucking water,

JULIANThe lock clicked. The heavy glass door began to swing open.Panic flashed through Rowan’s eyes, the calculated, razor-sharp panic of a pristine varsity athlete whose multi-million-dollar pro career and powerful family legacy were hanging by a single, fraying thread. If Miller walked in right now and saw the captain of the varsity hockey team unzipped and pinned to a table, Rowan's squeaky-clean reputation would bleed out right here on the library carpet. His future would be dead before it even started.In a split second, the predator instinct in my chest completely overrode my desire to humiliate him. Nobody gets to break him but me.With a sudden, violent surge of adrenaline, I grabbed the front of Rowan’s jacket, yanking his massive frame off the table and shoving him hard into the shadow of the towering bookshelves behind us. Before he could even push back against my grip, I stepped squarely into the doorway, blocking the guard’s line of sight entirely as I zipped up my hoo

JULIAN "Rowan?" Maya gasped, jumping out of her seat. "What are you doing here?"Rowan didn't look at her. His eyes were pinned entirely to mine, his fists clenching so hard at his sides that his whole body was shaking."Get out. Maya, get your things. We're leaving. Now.""Rowan, what is wrong with you?!" Maya demanded, her voice rising. "Julian is just here for tutoring!""I said get your fucking things, Maya!" Rowan roared.She flinched, tears of shock springing to her eyes. She grabbed her bag, shoving her books inside with trembling hands, and bolted out of the room past him without another word.The moment her footsteps faded into the distance, Rowan slammed the glass door shut, locking it from the inside with a sharp click. He turned on me, his face twisted into an expression of pure, murderous hatred, and lunged forward."I told you!" he screamed, his hands crashing into my chest, trying to shove me back."I told you to stay away from her!"I didn't even try to fight his grip

JULIANI sat on the edge of the mattress in my flat, the adrenaline from the locker room had finally leveled out, leaving a cold, clean focus in my chest.Rowan was a joke. The town’s hockey god, the pristine captain, was nothing but a submissive whore for the younger brother of the guy he had put in a cell. The way his body had given up, the way he had arched his hips into my hand while I squeezed his neck—it was pathetic. Physical violence wasn't going to be enough to break him. If I just beat him to a bloody pulp, he’d look like a martyr to the scouts. To destroy a god, you had to make him ruin himself. You had to drag his dirty secrets into the light.I pulled out my phone and unlocked it. I bypassed my primary contact list and opened the burner app.Maya Ashcroft.I pulled up her public university profile. She handled the student-athlete compliance tutoring logs at the athletic center, and her schedule was right there. Tuesday nights. Late shift at the campus library.I typed ou

ROWANI slept like shit. It felt like roadkill.The rink felt fuller than usual. Everyone seemed to be way too chatty. My mood was as sour as it could possibly be, my head spinning. I’d gotten drunk last night—too much—that I’d woken with a terrible stomach ache. I’d gotten dressed and started classes, only to take a weed break in between, and now the high was getting to me.It was all because of that fucked up face I saw last night. I didn’t know who the dipshit was, but he had so much familiarity to the one person I’d tried not to ever think of or remember. They looked identical. So much so that it fucked me up a bit. Perhaps I was getting over myself.“Boys!” Coach Ted called, slamming his palms together to get our attention. I snorted, dragging myself along with the other boys.“I have good news. Great ones, even. Y’all remember our outsource for a new recruit?” The coach asked. The boys buzzed, answering in an excited roar, causing me to raise my head slowly.“Well, here he is. E