A Taste Of Him: The One I Was Never Meant to Want
Her Bestie's Brother
She only came over to spend time with her best friend-
not to run into her infamous senior brother, the campus playboy everyone warned her about.
Every time she saw him, she felt nothing but disgust.
How could someone who had a sister he adored still treat girls like toys?
But when he walked into the house with a group of girls trailing behind him, her frustration finally snapped-
and she cursed him out without caring who heard.
Then came the day they all hung out, played too much, drank too much...
and the night spiraled into something neither of them ever expected.
A reckless moment.
A passionate night.
A mistake-or something else?
Now, she can't stop asking herself:
Will this change the way she sees him?
And more dangerously... will this change him?
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Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Jaxon's pov- Morning at the Graysons'
Amelia came early to catch up on schoolwork she missed during vacation. Since we were both seniors-and since she believed we were still something-I was stuck helping her.
"Baby, I'm tired," she whined.
I exhaled. "Stop calling me that around people. What should my parents think?"
I didn't wait for her reply. I walked into the kitchen.
The aroma hit me first-barbecue, seafood, spices.
"Mom... What's going on? Are Nana and Grandpa coming?"
She gasped softly. "Oh, my darling, did I forget to tell you? The Smiths are coming. For a reunion!"
I paused.
Aurora... here?
"Oh! And tell Amelia to join us too," Mom added. "Her parents won't be home until night. Be a good boy."
Of course.
Upstairs, Amelia was half-buried in my sheets.
One glance at her bare thigh peeking out-and immediately, unwanted heat stirred in my stomach.
I looked away fast.
I didn't want to make a terrible mistake in my parents' house.
A cold shower was mandatory.
Under the running water, the mint soap, the steam-my mind wandered places it shouldn't. And when I stepped out, towel slung low around my waist, Amelia wrapped herself around my back, arms sliding over my bare chest.
I stiffened instantly.
"Amelia. Respect my home, at least."
She groaned. "Jaxon, I'm your fucking girlfriend. Why are you denying me?"
I pulled her off gently. "You're not. We only hooked up two days ag-"
That was when it happened.
The door burst open.
And there she stood.
Aurora.
Frozen.
Mortified.
Her eyes dragged-unwillingly-over my body, then lower...
and I realized, too late, that the towel didn't hide much.
Especially not the bulge pressing against the fabric from Amelia springing on me a minute earlier.
Aurora's face twisted with shock and disgust-and she slammed the door so hard the walls shook.
My entire body went hot.
Not with embarrassment.
With something else. Something I shouldn't feel.
"Jaxon-" Amelia started.
"Just go downstairs," I snapped. Harder than I meant. "Everyone's waiting."
My pulse was loud in my ears.
She saw me like that.
Why did I even care? A lot of girls wants to see what she saw freely.
Layla poked her head in moments later.
"Mom says the Smiths are here-oh. I didn't need to see all this."
"Ever heard of privacy!?" I barked.
"Bet," she said, rolling her eyes.
I wasn't mad at her.
I was mad at myself.
And at why my stomach flipped when I thought of Aurora's expression.
~~~
Aurora's pov
It was the weekend, and today was finally the day Mom and I would properly visit the Graysons. The first time I ever stepped into their house was because of Layla, and it barely counted-i didn't meet her parents. Today was meant to be a full reunion.
I woke up earlier than usual.
The first golden rays of the Californian sun spilled through my half-open curtains, washing my room in honeyed light. The Ravenwood's breeze drifted in, soft and salty, carrying faint whispers of jasmine from the yard. It slid across my bare shoulders as I stretched, legs dangling lazily off the bed.
I tumbled over my pillow, brushing a cascade of flossy chestnut waves out of my face. The tug pulled a tiny groan from my lips.
"Aurora! Be ready in an hour!" Mom yelled from downstairs.
My phone buzzed with a notification from the female football group chat.
"Official match in one month. I expect more resilience and team spirit - Coach Ramirez."
I squealed quietly. This already made my morning. I couldn't wait to tell Layla.
I stepped in front of the mirror and admired the look I'd chosen last night:
A sleek jade-green sundress that hugged my body just right. The soft fabric shaped my waist, skimmed my hips, and stopped mid-thigh-playful, but not too loud.
My nails-glossy nude with tiny gold flakes-glimmered when the light caught them.
I wrapped my chestnut hair into a tight doughnut bun.
Then I fastened the friendship bracelet Layla and I got together.
"Aurora!" Mom called again.
"I'm coming!" I yelled back, slinging my sleepover bag over my shoulder.
The moment I stepped into the living room, Mom eyed me top to bottom.
"Oh wow. Who are you looking sexy for? Hmm? You've got a boyfriend"
I groaned loudly. "Mom, please don't ruin my beautiful morning."
She laughed, grabbing her car keys. But before she opened the driver's door, Dad called her phone-and her mood shifted instantly.
She stepped out and slammed the door harder than necessary.
Her voice turned sharp and frustrated. She paced the length of the car; her hands cut through the air with every word. I couldn't hear the conversation, but the tension wrapped around my ribs.
I hoped it wouldn't ruin her day.
~~~At the Grayson's house ~~~
Mrs. Grayson said Layla had gone upstairs to call Jaxon, so I followed.
I should have remembered it was his room.
I should have knocked
I should have done anything except what I did.
I opened the door.
And instantly regretted being alive.
Jaxon stood there-wet hair falling over his eyes, towel hanging dangerously low on his hips... mint scent drifting through the air.
Amelia behind him.
Hands on his chest.
Both are still half-naked.
And him,
Hard.
My throat closed.
I gasped.
Nearly swallowed my tongue.
My heart slammed into my ribs so loud I thought everyone heard it.
I searched the room desperately-praying Layla was magically in there.
She wasn't.
I slammed the door with enough force to cause trauma to the wood.
I leaned my forehead against it.
Breathing fast.
Face burning.
"What the hell did I just see?"
I bolted to Layla's room.
Flopped onto her bed.
Covered my face with a pillow.
Layla came out of the bathroom humming.
"Hi gir-why do you look like you fought with God?"
"Let's just go eat," I muttered, refusing eye contact.
At the table, Amelia already sat pretty-acting innocent.
Mom glared at us. "You two took too long."
"Sorry, Mom."
"Where's Jaxon?" she asked.
"Right here, Mrs. Smith."
He arrived smelling like mint and trouble, dressed in a perfectly tailored two-piece.
His wet hair still framed his face carelessly... tauntingly.
He slid into the only empty chair.
Between me and my mother.
I grabbed my phone and texted Layla under the table: "Please switch seats "
Before I saw her reply-
Jaxon snatched my phone.
"We've wasted enough time," he said. "Let's eat."
He winked.
I clenched my hand into a fist.
"Damn him," I whispered under my breath.
And silently added-
"Why does he have to look like that today of all days?"
Amelia's pov-
Jaxon walked in and I nearly choked on her own breath.
He looked criminally good.
The two-piece.
The damp hair.
The mint scent.
The quiet, dangerous confidence.
And then he went straight to her.
The girl from earlier.
The one who walked in on us.
He took her phone.
He winked at her.
my stomach twisted.
Who the hell is she?
And why was she getting the attention I fought so hard for?
Even if he has other flings. I wasn't losing him.
Not today.
Not ever.
I would find out who that girl was.
And handle it.
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9.3
Elena died on the operating table, betrayed by her husband, her unborn child already gone.
But death? Just her intermission.
She woke up in a whole new world-a beastmen's world, where females are rarer than diamonds and the strongest males go mad without a woman's mark to calm them down.
And her?
Labelled the weakest female alive. An F-rank body with a joke of a status.
But hidden inside? Unlimited mental power.
Just as she's figuring out this mess, a system pops up with one hell of an offer:
Complete the missions. Bond with assigned males. Save this world.
Do all that, and you get a one-way ticket back home. for revenge.
Sounds simple? Think again.
A Wolf General, colder than a blizzard, who should have ended her-ended up letting her mark him.
A Fox Prince, all charming smiles and secret schemes, who started playing games only to lose his own heart.
A golden Dragon, sunshine-bright and fiercely possessive, who declares her his destined treasure.
A shadowy Serpent, too patient and too dangerous, watching her every move from the dark.
A Phoenix King, whose love burns so hot he'd reduce empires to cinders for her.
They all need her mark. They all want her.
And sharing? Not in their vocabulary.
Too bad for them-
She's not here for love stories.
She's here to survive.
To climb.
To turn their legendary power into her own stepping stones.
And one day.
To go back and make her betrayers wish they were never born.
7.2
Genevieve woke up choking on her own blood, a fatal gash tearing through her abdomen. The memories of a primitive world crashed into her mind—she had transmigrated into the body of a sadistic beastman Mistress.
But the five powerful beastmen "mates" standing over her hadn't come to her rescue. They had come to watch their tormentor die.
"We should just leave her," Kameron sneered coldly. "The scavengers will clean up the mess."
Gilberto spat in disgust, while Angelo, a silver-scaled snake-man, trembled in pure terror at the sight of her. The original owner had whipped them, humiliated them, and driven another mate to suicide. Now, they were letting her bleed out in the mud, their eyes filled with undisguised loathing and satisfaction.
She was a top-tier apocalyptic survival expert, yet here she was, paying the ultimate price for a stranger's monstrous sins. It was a bitter, unacceptable irony to die helplessly in the dirt while her supposed protectors waited for her corpse to rot.
She refused to accept this ending.
Forcing a chaotic surge of energy through their shared Biological Link, she brought all five men to their knees in agonizing pain, commanding them to carry her back. In the dark cave, without a single scream, she plunged her bare hands into a fire and brutally cauterized her own gaping wound with searing ash. As the beastmen stared in horrified awe at the unbreakable soul now occupying the tyrant's body, Genevieve wiped the blood from her face and began to rewrite her fate.
8.0
For Claire, Christmas has always been about survival. She only wanted to keep life steady for her daughter Emma after heartbreak and loss. Moving to a quiet snowy town was meant to be a fresh start, not the beginning of something new for her heart.
Jack, a widowed single father, has built his world around his children. He has hidden his own longing for love beneath duty and routine. But when Claire and Emma step into his life, the walls he carefully built begin to melt away like snow under the winter sun.
As festive lights glow and snow falls gently around them, Claire and Jack discover laughter, warmth, and the kind of connection they never thought they would feel again. Their children bond, their hearts open, and slowly, a friendship begins to grow into something far deeper.
But love after loss is never simple. Can Claire trust her heart again. Can Jack embrace the future instead of living in the past.
This Christmas, two families are given a second chance to heal, to hope, and to find themselves forever in each other's arms.
Christmas in Your Arms is a heartwarming holiday romance filled with tender moments, snowy nights, and the magic of love that feels like coming home.
7.1
On her eighteenth birthday, Melissa expected a fated mate bond and a future as Luna. Instead, she received a public humiliation that shattered her soul. Her childhood sweetheart, Kelan, rejected her for her best friend, and her own family sold her to the highest bidder like livestock, to Alpha Draven the Demon of Dark Moon Valley. He is a man twice her age, a tyrant who bought Melissa to break a dark bloodline curse. He expects an obedient pawn and a submissive wife.
He didn't expect a strategist. From the shadows of Draven's stone fortress, Melissa begins a cold-blooded campaign of revenge. She isn't just surviving; she's siphoning wealth, buying up her ex-mate's debts, and plotting a coup. But her plan hits a deadly snag when she touches Briston, the Alpha's son and heir. The spark is undeniable. The Moon Goddess has played a cruel joke and Melissa is fated to the son of the man who owns her.
7.9
On Christmas Eve, the snow fell in relentless sheets.
My grandmother and I were cast out into the snow as if we were nothing by my uncle.
My aunt cursed me as a bad luck charm, while my uncle's boot landed fiercely in my chest.
I knelt in the freezing snow, clutching my grandmother's body as it grew cold, my nails digging into my flesh, convinced that death awaited us tonight.
Suddenly, the blinding headlights cut through the night.
A convoy of Rolls-Royce cars, bearing diplomatic plates, silently blocked the entrance to the rundown neighborhood.
The elderly butler strode directly to my grandmother, who had been "blind" for forty years, and knelt on one knee, "Your Highness, forgive us for arriving so late."
7.1
I lay paralyzed on stiff white sheets, a prisoner in my own skin, listening to the rain lash against the window like nails on a coffin. My father, Elmore Franco, didn't even look at my face as he checked his clipboard. He just listened to the steady, monotonous beep of the heart monitor-the only thing proving I was still alive.
Without a hint of remorse, he pulled a pen from his pocket and signed the Do Not Resuscitate order. My stepmother, Ophelia, stepped out from behind him, wearing my favorite pearl necklace and smelling of cloying perfume. She leaned close to my ear to whisper the truth that turned my blood to ice.
"It was the tea, darling. Just like your mother. A slow, tasteless poison."
She chuckled as she revealed that my fiancé, Bryce, had a two-year-old son with my sister, Daniela. My inheritance had been funding their secret life for years, and now that the money was secure, I was an inconvenience they were finally scrubbing away. As my father yanked the power cord from the wall, the beeping died, and the darkness swallowed me whole.
I was being murdered by my own flesh and blood, used as a bank account until I was no longer needed. I died in that sterile room, drowning in the realization that every person I ever loved was a monster who had been waiting for me to take my last breath.
Then, I gasped. I woke up in a luxury hotel suite surrounded by silk sheets, five years in the past-the very morning of my wedding. Next to me lay Basile Delgado, the "Wolf of Wall Street" and my family's most dangerous enemy. In my first life, I ran from this room in a panic and lost everything. This time, I looked at the man who would eventually destroy my father's empire and decided to join him.
"I'm not leaving, Basile. Marry me. Right now. Today."