Sweetest Venom

After catching her fiancé buried between her sister’s thighs, Maria ran. Straight into the arms of the last man she should’ve fallen for—his father. ~~~~ MARIA: The future I imagined went to shit the night before my wedding. Being betrayed by those closest to me nearly fucked me up, leaving me broken and in need of an escape. When I fled, I did it with zero plans—nothing but rage in my heart and my suitcase in hand. But then fate threw me into Declan: older, dangerously compelling, but also equally scarred. He took me in when I was stranded—no questions asked. It was the last thing I expected, but he continued to care for me, keep me safe and... warm me up. In more ways than one. As days pass, ignoring the heat, chemistry, and.. persistent feelings between us becomes... tough. I feel his eyes on me all the time, and my heart rate triples without permission whenever I bump into him in the house. He clearly wants me. I want him too, but I can't allow it to happen. Because he's the father of the man I now despise the most in the world. DECLAN: I took her in because I wanted to help. Who am I kidding, it's more than that. I couldn't help myself. From the moment I laid eyes on her, she had my heart in a choke hold. And as the days went by, resisting her became the sweetest torture. It became like hell to keep my hands to myself, or my mind from imagining obscene things whenever I see her. But we’re not free to give into this. She’s only 23, and I’m... nearly twice her age. And what's worse, I'm the father of the man who broke her heart.

Book 1: My Badboy Knight Tasha: I should know better than to fall for another guy who might break my heart again. But Nate Adams stormed into my life, crumbling down the walls I began building around my heart. He makes me want to fall in love again. This time, with him. Nate: Tasha Quinn is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. Everything about her is beautiful. Hot. Sexy. Perfect. I am fucking in love with her. I have always been in love with her. She is my sweetest addiction. Book 2: The Playboy King Diane: Leo King doesn't give a fuck about love, dating, or any other cupid shit like that. He never lacks enough women to fuck in bed, is annoyingly attractive, and constantly oversteps his boundaries around me. Just because he's the heir to the generational wealth of the King Family doesn't mean he can have any woman at his beck and call. College was supposed to be my chance to start my life afresh, away from my past traumas. But Leo King is making things very hard for me. And living with him is also not helping me at all. Leo: Diane Brandon is the pain in my ass. Ever since she started living with me after my sister Marissa relocated to France, she's been dictating to me how I should live my life in my own house. I hate how she also acts like she is some quiet angel with no demons. But everyone has a skeleton in their closet, whether big or small, and I can feel down to my bones that Diane is hiding something truly dark beneath that cheerful, seductive mask of hers. She is making my life miserable. A little dig-up for payback wouldn't hurt.

I was born with a rare condition. My blood carried healing properties strong enough to neutralize any poison. When Garrett Frank, the young heir from Osbury, was bitten by a venomous snake, he was hanging by a thread. In that desperate moment, I slit my wrist and used my blood to cleanse the venom from his body. Only later did I find out that whoever saved Garrett's life would become the future Mrs. Frank. But after Garrett took over the family business, the first thing he did was drain every drop of blood from my body and have me chopped up and fed to his dogs. "At that time, Loretta had already brought the antidote," he had said coldly. "If you had just waited another five minutes, I could've married her openly and honorably. "But you had to interfere. You stole her place as Mrs. Frank, drove her into despair, and pushed her to take her own life. Since you claim your blood can cure any poison, let's see how much antidote it can make." They bled me dry and threw me into a cage for his dogs. I died there, torn apart and unrecognizable. Afterward, my parents went bankrupt because of the Franks. Both of them took poison and died together. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the very day Garrett had been bitten by the snake. Michelle Frank, Garrett's mother, looked at me with desperate hope. "I heard you have that rare healing blood," she said. "Will you please save my son?" I quickly shook my head. "That's just a rumor, Mrs. Frank. And honestly, using blood as medicine sounds pretty unsanitary. Please don't worry. I heard Ms. Huber is on her way with a special antidote. Your son will be fine!" Still, a small part of me couldn't help looking forward to what would happen. If I didn't step in this time, Garrett wouldn't just fail to inherit the family business—he'd be lucky to live another month!

While studying abroad, I move into a shared apartment. Not a single day goes by without my housemate, Stuart Harper, calling himself some variation of a sweet, brave, and responsible guy. On the very first day he moves in, he hires workers to take out the insulation from the walls. I confront him about it, but he simply grins at me and proudly boasts about his decision. "That was all just some shoddy foam that the construction workers padded the walls with. Not only was it useless, but it was even taking up so much space. The fact that I forked out my own money to get rid of it proves that I'm such a sweet and responsible guy!" With a scowl on my face, I explain to Stuart the purpose of having proper insulation. He immediately leans in close with an admiring gaze. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea! I just wanted to do something nice for us. What should I do now? You have to help me think of something!" I naively assume Stuart just lacks common sense and doesn't act with malice. Thus, I willingly enter into a cycle of always cleaning up after his messes. One day, I get a fever. He ends up buying a secondhand electric slow cooker and declares he's going to take care of me by cooking me soup. My head throbs as I quickly put a stop to his attempt to heat the electric slow cooker on the induction stove. I tell him to let me catch a nap before I teach him how to cook later. But not long after I fall asleep, he secretly sticks the electric slow cooker into the microwave to heat it up. The microwave explodes. As the flames start to spread, Stuart screams and dashes out of the apartment at once. The fire alarm wakes me up. I try to evacuate the burning building, only to find that Stuart has locked the door from the outside. In the end, the fire burns me to a crisp. After that, however, he starts twisting things around. He goes online and says with a helpless expression, "My housemate set the apartment on fire while cooking. I'm the one who had to call the fire department on his behalf, and I even had to compensate the landlord for him. I'm definitely the sweetest, bravest, and most responsible guy to ever live!" As the online community proceeds to condemn me, Stuart uses the attention and publicity to go viral as a content creator. Some time later, my eyes open again. This time, I'm going to roast him good.

My mate, Jasper Morrison, says coldly, "Elena, I'm breaking our mate bond." We stand on the open ground at the edge of the Silvermoon pack's territory. The full moon hangs high overhead, and this should be the sweetest moment for fated mates. We've loved each other for ten years. And now, he's about to break the bond Moon Goddess has given us. "Why?" I ask in a shaky voice. "You're an orphaned wolf," he says, turning his face away. "You don't have the bloodline to match me. The pack Elders have already approved this." A tearing pain rips through my chest. Having the mate bond stripped from me feels like my soul is being torn apart. I collapse to my knees, gasping for air. "Serena's father is one of the strongest Alphas in the North," Jasper says, looking down at me without a trace of guilt. "She'll help me rise as the strongest Beta in the Silvermoon pack's history." "You said…" I clench my teeth, fighting the pain. "You said you'd spend your life with me." "I was young and foolish," Jasper replies, already turning away. "The bonding ceremony is in three days. I suggest you don't cause trouble." Moonlight glints off his retreating form. I watch him walk away, my fingers clutching the moonstone bracelet my mother left me. It's my only keepsake. A message from an unknown number appears. "Elena, this is Damon, your older brother. I've been looking for you for 20 years." "I've attached a black card with unlimited credit. The resources of the entire Blackwood pack are at your disposal. No matter what you're facing, I've got you." I stare at the screen. The Blackwood pack? The top wolf pack in North Anthica? Another message soon pops up. "I'll come get you in three days. Wait for me." My finger hovers over the delete button. It has to be a scam. I'm just an orphaned wolf. How could I possibly have a brother from the Blackwood pack? Just then, a voice message from Jasper arrives. "Elena, for old times' sake, I'll arrange a place for you in one of the pack's spare houses when the ceremony ends. You can stay as part of the pack. I'll take care of you." He wants me to watch him bond with another she-wolf and thank him for keeping me in the pack. I delete Jasper's contact, then rename the unknown number in my phone to "Damon". My fingers tremble as I type a single word. "Okay."