When protection becomes passion, and secrets threaten everything, love must fight its way to the surface.

A high-stakes bodyguard is hired to keep her safe-but the danger comes from the heart he never meant to lose. The boss's best friend crosses the line from off-limits to all-consuming. A soulful musician finds healing in the arms of a younger man who hears what no one else does.

In the dark corners of the supernatural, a vampire is bound by blood-and by fate-to a love he thought he'd never deserve. A hardened alien warrior risks everything for the mate he's sworn to protect. A lone alpha carries a secret that could destroy the woman he can't resist. And in a neon-lit city where humans rebel against code, an AI protector discovers the only variable he can't calculate: desire.

From the shadows of warzones and wolf packs to music halls and moonlit bedrooms, these seven stories prove that the most powerful bonds are forged not in safety-but in surrender.

Can they protect the ones they love without losing the very parts of themselves they swore to guard?