Once You're Mine

Reviews

• Cenigh

  Finished February 17, 2026

  The banter between the couple is good, especially in their text chains. Hayden's obsession, proteciveness and jealousy are off the charts. The couple has great sexual chemistry together. I giggled every time Hayden reprimanded her for cursing, "Language, Miss Green." I loved how there were bits of humor interspersed throughout the story, the incident where he almost crashes his car because he is distracted, him nearly losing control anytime she bites her lip & Harper (who is a great side character) has some funny scenes as well. Hayden is a wealthy lawyer with a penchant for vigilante justice when the judicial system fails. He becomes utterly and totally obsessed with Calista; he also personifies touch her and die. His intensity only increases after he realizes there is no fighting his obsession with Calista, telling her he wants to possess her numerous times, which unsettles her. He believes & tells her there are no boundaries between them. Calista develops strong feelings early on for him as well. He stalks her, she does not know he is her stalker, and ends up turning to him for protection from said stalker. Calista feels safe and cared for in his presence. She is afraid that he cannot give her the commitment she craves though and is afraid he will eventually leave. Hayden is pissed at himself for not being able to control his obsession/desire/feelings for Calista, he has always been able to keep his emotions & impulses under control before her. Hayden can be too controlling at times. He only wants the best for her and to make her happy. However, at the beginning her wants do not take precedence over his wants or her safety. The reader learns early on a very big secret, which is likely to end their budding romance, and you wait for that shoe to drop throughout the story. The author does a fantastic job of expressing the MC's emotions, making them so visceral you feel them come off the page in waves. Hayden is such an obsessed MMC that at times it makes you want to kick your feet and sigh. There is a good mystery in how certain events connect to others; it is easily surmised, but still enjoyable. It ended on a cliffhanger, so I will be diving right into the 2nd half of the duet. “What the fuck are you doing to me?” I ask her. “Why can’t I walk away from you? Or get you out of my fucking head?” “I refuse to be alone in my obsession,” I grit out between clenched teeth. “You will suffer like me. I’ll accept nothing less. Then, maybe we can ease the desperation in one another as I fuck you until there’s nothing left of me, until I’ve lost myself in you so completely that I no longer recognize myself.” “I have to know,” Hayden says, his tone more forceful. “Who put their fucking hands on you? I want a name.” *“I’ve got you, Callie. You’re safe with me. I’ll never let anything hurt you. Anyone who tries will suffer. Now, breathe in and out slowly through your mouth.” “You’re safe,” Hayden says, sweeping his thumb over my cheek. “I’ve got you.”* I’ve become addicted to her. I know this and won’t deny it any longer. But what I can’t come to terms with is my need for her. How strong it is. How all-encompassing. She has obliterated my control. Like a vortex, she pulls me to her, leaving behind my goals and desires—even my need for justice—until nothing exists except her. “I will always chase you.” “You belong to me, Callie. You have since the first time I saw you. I knew it then, and I’m telling you now, you’re mine.” “Keep fighting me,” he says, his voice becoming guttural. “It only makes me want you more.” “But I don’t want normal if it means I can’t have you.” A choked sound escapes my throat as his words pierce the last of my defenses. No one has ever looked at me the way Hayden does. And they certainly have never gone through the lengths he has to keep me safe. Not even my father cared this much, and he loved me. Whatever Hayden feels for me, it might be stronger than love. But it’s more dangerous as well. “Language,” he says, his tone laced with warning. “If you want to dirty your mouth, I know plenty of ways to do that without the use of words. “Never,” he says, the sound guttural and deep, as if summoned from the depths of his soul. “Do you hear me, Callie? I’ll never leave you. Not in this life or whatever comes after. You are mine. And I will burn this world to fucking ashes before I let anything take you from me. Or me from you.” “I’d give you anything if it meant I’d get to keep you.” “Keeping me means surviving you.” His brows snap together. “Explain.” “If I give myself to you—” “When,” he interjects. I glare up at him, but it lacks any real heat. “If I give myself to you, you’ll break me into pieces so small I won’t be able to put myself back together or make myself whole.” “I’ll fuse your broken pieces with mine. Together, we’ll be whole, Callie.” “When it comes to your well-being, there are no limits on what I’d do to keep you safe.” “I’ve never felt this loss of control, this all-consuming need for someone.” His hand flexes against my hip, a sense of urgency in his fingertips. “I can’t let you go now that you’re here. If I did, it’d be like removing my lungs. I wouldn’t fucking survive it.” I won’t allow anything or anyone to get in between me and Calista. Not even herself. Ironically, she’s the one putting up the biggest obstacle. “There is no future without you in it.” “You’re mine in life and death. There is no end when it comes to us.” “I don’t believe that.” He shrugs. “You don’t have to. I know it to be true. You’re looking for security in material things, so ask for what you want. Money, done. Abstinence, done. Only for a time anyway. A marriage certificate where you’d be my wife and therefore entitled to all my assets? Done. I’d marry you tonight if that’s what you wanted. Whatever it takes to get you to finally understand that you’re everything to me.” "I take care of what belongs to me.” The law has limits. I don’t. Not when it comes to protecting the woman I… My breathing halts. I’m not sure how to finish that thought. The only thing I know for certain is Calista’s mine. Forever.

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• jay

  Finished July 12, 2025

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