The Protection Agreement by A. Akinosho 💕 New Release Tour and $25 Gift Card Giveaway 💕 (Billionaire Romantic Suspense)

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He was hired to be her shield, but he never expected she’d be the one to pierce his heart.

Duty or desire—he’s sworn to keep her alive.

But staying close blurs the line.

When a threat puts her life in danger, there’s only one man capable of protecting her—a ruthless bodyguard with a fearsome reputation and loyalty carved into his bones. The problem? His family and hers are sworn enemies. And he learned to hate her last name long before he ever knew her.

This is duty.
A contract.
Nothing more.

Shared space. Constant protection.
No attachment. No temptation.

Forced proximity turns restraint into tension. Hatred softens. Awareness sharpens. Desire becomes impossible to ignore.
She’s a damsel in distress who refuses to be fragile. He’s a possessive protector bound by duty, fighting feelings he has no right to claim. Every glance is forbidden. Every moment together is a betrayal written in silence.

As enemies close in and pressure mounts, distance becomes impossible.

Because the longer he stands between her and danger, the harder it is to remember where duty ends—and desire begins.

He was sworn to keep her alive.
He just wasn’t prepared for what it would cost him.

Touch her… and die?

Bruce

Lexi returns from her room and takes the seat next to me. I’ve concluded that we are fighting a losing battle. It’s just a matter of time before the attraction between us takes over and its fiery flame burns through us. We are quiet, our eyes are trained on the movie even as I’m provocatively attune to her presence, her allure is seeping into every nook and cranny of my being. It doesn’t take long before she leans into me. I don’t move out of her reach. She’s soft and warm in my arms and my whole being is responding to her closeness. I need to get her in bed. I move her head from my shoulder.

“Hmm,” she groans. “Kiss me, Bruce,” she whispers. I pause for a moment, convinced I didn’t hear her.

“What did you say?” I ask, betting she doesn’t realize what she asked of me.

“Kiss me, Bruce,” she says, her voice barely audible. “I want you to kiss me. I took my meds.“ A chuckle escapes her “Be aware that I may not remember in the morning, so make it good so I can dream of you.” She grins, though a bit out of it.

I want her to remember, and I shouldn’t grant her request, but I’ve been dying to kiss her, so who am I to deny her request especially when she wants to dream of me. I shift positions so she’s on her back and I kiss her lips gently and she opens her mouth to let me in. I kiss her with the fervor of a starved man that I am. Her tongue swirls sweetly with mine. She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me closer and deeper to her. My tongue is seeking every inch of her mouth, my body is intensely aroused. A soft moan escapes her, it sends a charge through my body.

I can probably make love to her now and she wouldn’t stop me, but I also want her sober and consenting plus I want her to always remember us, every touch, every kiss and every thrust of me inside her. I slowly pull away. Breaking the sweet feel of our kiss.

Fuck, I just kissed Jonah’s girl and I fucking like it.

She smiles. “Goodnight, Bruce.”

She turns to her side and sleeps like she didn’t just break through every resistance shield of mine. I sigh because looking at her, I want more. I feel it in the blood thumping in my veins. My ragged breath that I fucking need to control. My hands running through my hair in exasperation of what I’ve just done. I know there’s no going back now.

Leaning down, I lift her in my arms. She giggles like a little girl. I should leave her in her room, but I’ve a need for her closeness, I can’t explain or control. I move slowly with her asleep in my arms and place her gently in my bed. She curls to her side and sleeps off. I sit on the bed for a moment watching her, “she can’t leave” the voice that slams in my head. Just as Declan’s words a while ago “when you kiss the one, you never want another” I feel the weight of what I’ve done. Kissed the one but she belongs to another man and not just any man. A man that hates my guts, paid me to keep her safe and sternly warned me not to touch her. I now know why, he made that request because he knows once I did.

He and I would be at war. Yet I find myself willing to go to war for her. Damn it

I move closer and kiss her temple, my palm gently touching her face. A giggle escapes her and I wonder if she’s dreaming of me. I cover her and get off the bed. I go into the bathroom to shower and relieve the monster awakening between my legs. I get temporary relief. Wrapping my towel around my waist. I peep to check on her. She’s knocked out. I put sleeping pants on and get in bed with her, pulling her into my arms and she doesn’t resist.

💕 To be released April 24💕

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Decisions that haunt,

Love that lingers

Anne

I’m a realist, cynical about falling in love. Until I met Declan - the rich and powerful player. With his quiet determination, he dismantled my cynicism and made me believe.

Before I know it, I’m flashing a radiant smile, dressed, and eagerly awaiting him at the altar.

Only, I got the text - "I'm not coming" – shattering my world.

Regret is a waste of time; I stand by my original convictions.

Years later, he’s back demanding a second chance, how dare he?

Declan

I shook on the agreement without hesitation because I had zero plans to marry for love. Ever.

Years later, Anne crashed into my life. I find myself craving what I thought I didn't need or want.

Unexpectedly, the agreement I made resurfaced, presenting me with a dilemma:

Marry as agreed or

Lose Anne forever.

Deal accepted, regardless of hurting Anne.

When I find Anne again, she’s engaged, far as I’m concerned, she’s still mine.

I’ll cheat, steal, and fight before I let Anne marry another.

All is fair in love and war. And this is war…hope he’s ready to fight?

The Handshake agreement is a contemporary an age gap, best friends brother, second chance romance with a Possessive MMC

The best laid plans sometimes crumble,

but fate has the perfect detour.

Ayodele

In desperate need of a solution, I’m about to lose everything—my education, my future—if I’m deported before finishing school. Osei, bless his heart, is willing to marry me, but his wandering eye would only bring more trouble than we need.

Enter Luke, my best friend’s brother, with a shocking proposal: a marriage agreement. A simple arrangement that could save us both.

He needs to escape the forced marriage his father’s pushing on him, and I need to stay in the country to finish school.

It’s a deal that works for both of us.

But neither of us expected that living together, pretending to be husband and wife, would blur the lines between what's real and what’s just part of our agreement.

I didn’t plan on falling in love with Luke, but sometimes the heart doesn’t care about the plan.

Luke

There was always a girl—a girl I couldn’t get out of my head. When I finally find her, she’s with the one person I could never betray—my brother.

I’ve kept my distance, believing that Ayodele was off-limits, only to learn she’s only my brother’s best friend. But crossing that line still felt forbidden. So, I’ve watched her quietly, wanting what I thought I could never have.

Now, she desperately needs help, and I see a way to help her—and myself. A fake marriage would solve both our problems. She stays to finish school, and I escape the loveless match my father is forcing me into.

It’s the perfect solution.

Or so I thought. What was supposed to be just an agreement is becoming something else entirely. The connection I’ve tried to deny is impossible to ignore, and keeping my distance is no longer an option.

Maybe this was never supposed to be a plan, because, neither of us is sticking to the plan.

No problem, right?

One apartment. One fake boyfriend. One agreement waiting to be broken.

Makayla:

I’m tired of my dad playing matchmaker.

As a music teacher juggling life with sickle cell disease, I don’t have time—or energy—for forced dinner dates with “eligible men.”

So, I come up with a plan: find a fake boyfriend, let him move in, and make it believable.

Daniel was never supposed to say yes.

He’s a grumpy, emotionally walled-off lawyer who hates chaos and clings to solitude.

But now he’s in my apartment—tall, brooding, infuriatingly neat—and fitting into my world way too easily.

I don’t believe in love. Not when life has taught me it rarely sticks around.

But something about him feels dangerously real.

Daniel:

Something about her captured my attention the moment I met her.

I knew I was in trouble.

Controlled and always alone—that’s who I’ve been.

But I said yes before I could stop myself.

Because moving into her tea-scented, music-filled home was the only way I could be close to her.

She’s sunshine and sharp edges. She hums while stirring honey into her cup and smiles through pain like it’s nothing.

This was supposed to be pretend.

But with every stolen glance and late-night conversation, the line between real and fake keeps slipping.

She doesn’t believe in love.

I never thought it was possible.

But living with her is rewriting everything I thought I knew—

And walking away might not be an option.

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A. Akinosho lives in her own little nest in Illinois. An avid reader and enjoy reading thrillers, suspense and romance novels (partial to romance genre). When, She’s not reading or keeping up with life. She enjoys writing and creating twist to stories. She loves writing about diverse characters, friendship and overcoming challenges through, what is perceived as a weakness.