Does It Hurt?

A woman running from a violent past takes a job at sea under a false name, hoping to disappear. Instead she becomes entangled with Enzo Vitale, a brooding, dangerous man drawn to the deep ocean and consumed by his own thirst for vengeance. When a storm wrecks their vessel, the two are stranded together on a desolate island, trapped in a crumbling lighthouse with nowhere to run and no one else for miles.

Enzo wants her pain, and she is unnervingly willing to give it, but the island holds a threat far more sinister than either of them. As supplies dwindle and something malevolent makes itself known, survival stops being about staying hidden and becomes about staying alive.

Does It Hurt? is a standalone dark romance by H. D. Carlton, a high-heat, high-suspense story that blends an isolated survival thriller with an intense, morally grey romance. It is written for readers who seek out the darker end of the genre and should be approached with its content warnings in mind.