Ranker's Return - Chapter 263

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.”

“Let me go Henry,” I said coldly. “I am not yours, not anymore.”Henry scoffed. “You will always be mine. I was your first mate.”“And yet you rejected me. I don’t need you anymore, I have-”“Who do you have, Nyssa? Him?” He laughed humorlessly. “You don’t even know who he is.”Rowan growled, a low warning sound. “Shut the fuck up!”“Why?” Henry shot back. “Tell her what you’re hiding, Rowan, let’s see if she still loves you after.”*********************Nyssa was once the beloved of the pack—the Beta’s daughter, mated to the Alpha.But once her parents died, and she was unable to shift, her life began to crumble until she was finally rejected by her mate, Henry.It was hard enough that he left her for her best friend, but as the Beta’s daughter, she was forced to remain with him until an attack leaves their pack vulnerable and they have to seek help for the lycans.What was meant to be a diplomatic trip turned into chaos when Nyssa realizes she is mated to Rowan—the lycan king.Lycans and wolves don’t get along, and there is a lot of history between the three of them.To Nyssa, the angel she doesn’t know is better than the devil she knows,But what happens when that angel is just another devil in disguise?After all, Rowan is hiding some dark secrets of his own, the kind that threatens their already fragile bond.Would she be able to handle the pressure? Or will she go back to Henry who may have never gotten over her in the first place?

VOLK SMAAAAASSH!Reincarnated with a body like a nuclear bomb, let's turn this magical world into a nuclear wasteland!As someone who loved fighting, Volk Mogger was the most miserable of them all.Born with a small frame, tiny limbs, and underdeveloped muscles, he struggled to grasp anything that was taught to him. He was relegated to merely watching others fight—whether on the internet, on television, or in real life.One day, while riding in his wheelchair, he was abducted and taken to a strange place for a radioactive experiment, which ultimately failed.However, Volk soon discovered that he had been reincarnated in a magical world as a member of an Orc horde, which was hunted by higher life forms despite merely wanting to establish a land where they could honor their traditions and build a home alongside their symbiotic partners, the Elven Witch races.Suddenly, a system screen appeared before Volk, announcing that he had acquired the power to transform into an invincible radioactive titan who yearns to be the strongest of them all.However, this transformation had a time limit, and to extend that limit, he had to win! But win what?Ding!| Beat up the Orcs thief who stole your spoil and a chance to have a wife!| Reward: Extend the radioactive time to 2 minutes.| Failure: Minus 1 minute.| Current radioactive time: 2 minutes. |

After four years, He Yiming finally became a Sect Master, activated the sect system, and received sign-in rewards!

The system summoned the souls of humans from Earth, reshaped their bodies, and  made them disciples of the sect!

With that, the sect’s style of operation drastically changed!

Even though they couldn’t even kill the monsters in the novice village head, they just had to do a suicide attack to defeat it. That, and a whole lot of shenanigans as they innovate the world of cultivation!