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 5
Chapter Five (5)
Aurora's POV
The reunion party was alive with chatter, laughter, and the gentle clink of cutlery and glasses. Everyone seemed so comfortable, so intertwined, like a big, perfect family-but I couldn't relax.
My eyes kept drifting to Jaxon, That damn shirtless figure, sprawled on the couch like he owned the world, stretching back my phone as if it were some fragile, meaningless object. The infuriatingly casual way he held it made me want to throw it across the room.
"Why would you even grab it like you own it in the first place?" I muttered under my breath, immediately texting Layla: "Let's go get our nails done, parents said yes!"
We were practically at the glass doors when Mrs. Grayson's voice floated from the dining area:
"Amelia should come with you both, if you don't mind."
I snapped: "No!" while Layla simultaneously said, "Yes."
I shot Layla a warning glare, girl, it's our first outing together! She could only shrug apologetically, whispering: "I'm sorry."
Jaxon's calm voice slid into the moment, colder than ice: "Oh yes, I think she needs to go with you both too, so she doesn't get left out." He brushed past me deliberately, the faint touch of his shoulders sending a hot pulse up my spine. I grind my teeth and give in, muttering under my breath in defeat.
Amelia insisted on driving, which meant I got to know her a little better while she navigated the streets of Ravenwoods. My hands flexed over the emerald-green nail polish I had picked-a tribute to Jefferey's braces, and Layla had chosen her own color. Amelia's long, sharp red nails drew my attention despite myself.
Getting home, Amelia waved goodbye. Layla and I went straight to our paired assignments. I was halfway through freshening up when the door burst open.
"AHH!" I shrieked, my eyes flying wide. Shirtless Jaxon stood there, stormy grey eyes locked onto me like I was a puzzle he needed to solve.
"What the actual fuck!" I yelled, pressing my hands to cover my chest as the bralet did its best to contain everything.
"I just came around to see if Amelia was still here," he said in a hoarse voice, his gaze sliding dangerously down to my waist beads.
"Then you call her, you fuckin' prick!" I yelled, grabbing the nearest object and hurling it toward him.
He closed the door slowly behind him, as if daring me to react further. I sank to the floor, clutching my head and muttering curses under my breath.
Layla emerged from the restroom, lotion in hand.
"Yo! Did you see a ghost?"
"I thought you locked the door while I was in there," I muttered, voice low.
"Oh, no, I didn't. What's wrong?" she said casually.
I crawled onto the bed, whispering nothing.
"Can we continue our assignment later? I'm feeling weak," I said, forcing a smile.
"Weak? Should I help you get something you can use?" she asked, panic flickering across her face.
"No, just rest a bit," I said, closing my eyes.
In School,
The partying weekend had left me drained. Arriving early, I called Layla immediately. A notification popped up from Jefferey:
"Princess, are you in school already?"
"Yes," I texted back, smiling.
"Oh, same here. Can you come around the love pack?"
"Sure."
I found him easily. Jefferey enveloped me in a warm hug, faintly smelling of cherry. His hands traced my arm to my palm, kissing it softly. His eyes flicked to my nails and sparkled:
"Ooouuu! My favorite color?"
"Yup," I said, smiling.
"Come here, princess," he said, pulling me into another hug. He handed me a paper bag.
"I want you to wear this today. The male team is having a friendly match, and I want you to cheer me on."
"Your jersey?" I asked, astonished.
"I've got something else. I just want to see you cheering me up."
The bell rang in, and I sped off to class, stashing the bag in my locker.
Class ended, and I was feeling drained.
"Layla, is the men's football team playing today? Will you go?"
"Definitely. Jaxon's on the team, so why not?" she replied, surprised I didn't know.
"Jaxon plays football too?" I asked.
"Of course. He's one of the top three players... yes, that's my brother," she said, doing a little chicken dance.
I jumped in excitement.
"Girl, Jefferey gave me a jersey to wear! Let's go cheer him on!"
Layla squealed, and we ran to the field.
The crowd's cheers were everywhere-but I felt eyes burning into me. Whispers rolled around:
"Are they dating?"
"Why is she wearing Jefferey's jersey?"
"She's not even that pretty."
I rolled my eyes. Layla dragged me to the first row. I loved the view. My eyes immediately searched for Jaxon, and as if sensing me, he locked eyes with me. Tension surged.
Jefferey waved from the field, and I smiled, waving back.
The match started, Jefferey's team scoring first. The crowd erupted. Jaxon's team fought back fiercely. By the end, Jefferey's team had won, and I rushed to congratulate him, leaving Layla to catch up later.
---
I was at the last corner of the hall, scrolling through the match pictures that were already posted on the school's platform, when I collided with someone-hard.
"Uurrghh!" I groaned, clutching my head. "Jaxon?! Why would you have to stand on the way?" What the hell. Angry from pains forming on my head.
"And what's the reason for this?"Jaxon asked, staring cold and harsh, lifting the jersey between two fingers like it was something contaminated. His brows pulled together in a bored frown, eyes dragging over it like he was personally offended by the color alone.
"Do I look like someone you fuck around with? What right do you have to question my choice?" I snapped, brushing past him.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me back with enough force to knock my balance off. My foot slipped, and before I could even process what was happening, I stumbled straight into him. My body collided with his, My breasts were practically on his chest, warm and solid. In the messy blur of movement, one of his large hands landed firmly on my bum, while the other slid instinctively to my waist beads, his fingers brushing my skin. dizzy shiver racing up my spine.
A cold, sickening wave shot through me-disgust so sharp it made my stomach twist. My skin crawled where he touched me, heat rising not from embarrassment but pure humiliation. My breath caught, my heart punching against my ribs as the reality of his hand on me hit like a slap to my chest.
Before I could think, before I could even blink, my body reacted.
My palm flew up on instinct, fueled by shock-and I slapped him, hard, the sound cracking through the air like my own heartbeat trying to escape my throat.
My fingers stung, my pulse roared in my ears, but I didn't care.
"Get your hands off me.i whispered silently.
And he let go immediately.
Layla arrived seconds later.
"What's happening here?" she asked, scanning for trouble.
I ran off without changing back into my dress. I couldn't let this ruin our friendship.
"I'm not one of those girls he can mess with never!"
I can't bring myself to tell anyone what just transpired between us.
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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."