Viper
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The Hockey Prince's Secret Ice Queen
All I wanted was to find a computer genius to process the non-linear dynamic equations for my ecological model. Instead, I found myself cornered by Julian Andrews, the university's hockey prince, trading a public, staged kiss for his academic support. To finalize our "deal," I was dragged to the campus ice rink. The cheerleaders and puck bunnies immediately swarmed him, mocking my plain clothes and treating me like a pathetic joke. Brooke, the head cheerleader, even set up a figure skating competition with a date with Julian as the grand prize. She performed a basic spin, blew him a kiss, and smugly waited for me to fall flat on my face and humiliate myself. His hockey teammates laughed from the sidelines, watching me try to support Julian as he stumbled around the ice like a newborn giraffe. But as I held his warm hand to keep him from falling, I couldn't help but feel something was terribly wrong. Why was a top-tier athlete faking such awful balance? And why did his ice-blue eyes stare at me with such knowing anticipation, as if he already knew about the professional figure skating past I had spent years trying to bury? "Just let go and skate." He whispered, slowly releasing my hand. I took a deep breath, glided to the center of the rink, and landed a flawless double Axel. As the entire rink fell into a dead, shocked silence, I realized I had just exposed not only my own hidden past, but also the biggest secret of the campus god.
Chapter 1 No.1
Sage POV:
"Let me kiss you."
The request was a low, hurried murmur—warm, quiet, and laced with the faintest edge of mortification.
Stunned, I snapped my head up toward the sound.
Julian Andrews filled my vision. He easily towered a head over me, his lean, athletic frame silhouetted against the bright morning glare, casting a long shadow across the cobblestones. Briar University's star forward. Team captain. The athletic department's untouchable golden boy.
Campus rumor had it that Julian was notoriously indifferent, never sparing anyone a second glance.
Behind him, a solid wall of navy-and-gold varsity jackets blocked the brick path. His teammates were whistling, shoving each other, and effectively cutting off my only exit.
The sudden commotion immediately bottlenecked the morning foot traffic. Whispers rippled through the crowd, and within seconds, a dozen students reached into their pockets out of sheer muscle memory, black camera lenses catching the light as they aimed squarely at us.
Julian's sharp eyes tracked the movement, his jaw tightening into a hard, irritated line.
Before I could take a single defensive step back, he closed the distance between us. Leaning down into my space, his broad shoulders shifted in a subtle, fluid maneuver—throwing up an impenetrable physical wall that completely shielded my face from the intrusive glare of the cameras.
His sharp, striking face hovered breathtakingly close. His deep baritone brushed against my ear, lost to the autumn wind, meant for me alone:
"Sorry to drop this on you," he whispered, his pale blue eyes disarmingly earnest, holding a quiet heat that sent a tremor straight down my spine. "The guys backed me into a locker-room dare... but I'm not here to use you as a joke. We can fake it. Angle it so it looks real—whatever you're comfortable with. Just help me get them off my back, and I owe you one."
It was only then that my brain finally rebooted.
What on earth? He's actually trying to kiss me?
A sharp flare of pure absurdity hit me, and my gaze dropped to my reflection in the dark glass door of the adjacent building: an oversized, faded gray hoodie that swallowed my frame whole, soft, thin jeans worn at the knees, bare-faced dark circles carved beneath my eyes from forty-eight hours of non-stop coding, my dark hair hastily twisted into a cheap plastic claw clip, and a pair of oversized, thick black-rimmed glasses sitting heavy on the bridge of my nose, completely hiding my face.
I looked like a refugee from an all-night disaster. How had Briar's golden prince ended up in front of me?
When I looked back up, my breath trapped in my throat anyway. He was too close, his clean scent of winter mint and cedar wrapping around my senses. Having those pale blue eyes staring straight down at me made my chest tighten in a way I really didn't want to acknowledge.
"Clock's ticking, Cap!" Landon howled from the sidelines, hands cupped around his mouth as the rest of the players lost their minds laughing. "Plant one on her, or enjoy the five-AM bag skate!"
A raucous chorus of barks and chest-thumping went up from the team.
A few yards away, two girls heading toward the dining hall froze in their tracks, pointing their phones.
"Wait, who the hell is that?" one of them laughed loudly, zooming her camera in on my face. "She looks like she just crawled out of a dumpster. There's no way Julian's actually kissing her. Post it on Sidechat right now—this is going straight to number one."
The cruel words hit like a splash of ice water, snapping me out of my daze and instantly killing the stupid flutter in my chest.
I hated the attention.
Four years ago, after my family and my former training partner framed me and destroyed my competitive skating career, I swore I would never be public entertainment again. I buried my name, switched majors, and hid behind oversized fleece and thick glasses just to live an invisible life. If I ended up on the campus forums with Julian Andrews, the internet vultures would dox me before noon—and drag up the toxic scandal I had bled to walk away from.
My research was already on the verge of falling apart. I didn't have time for this circus.
I locked my grip around my heavy binders, my knuckles straining white.
"Find someone else for your dare, Andrews," I said coldly, taking a step back to put distance between us, my voice tight with adrenaline. "I'm not interested in being part of your game. Move."
I kept my head down, attempting to brush past him.
"You're Sage Kelley, right?"
The sound of my name brought my boots to an immediate halt.
I blinked up at him, caught completely off guard.
"Professor Beaumont's senior research student," Julian straightened up slightly, his cadence measured and even, carrying an intellectual sharpness that seemed impossible beneath a varsity jacket. "I saw your Havenwood Creek senior capstone proposal sitting on his desk over Sunday dinner."
My heart gave a hard, hollow thud. Professor Beaumont was my academic advisor—and the guardian of the final research endowment my late father had left behind.
Julian leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a near-whisper against the whistle of the wind. "I spent an hour going over your codebase."
My lips parted. "You... read my proposal?"
"Your simulation keeps crashing because your core fluid algorithm strategy is flawed," Julian murmured, his pale blue eyes deadly sharp. "And Uncle Des mentioned that if you don't deliver a working version by this Friday, the department is pulling your grant—which means you don't clear your senior thesis, and you don't graduate in May."
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end.
Friday was the deadline. If the funding was pulled, the project died, my senior capstone failed, and I would be forced to stay another semester without my degree. Worse, my father's final ecological legacy would be reduced to scrap paper.
I had been panicking over that exact deadline for two days straight, and Julian had just laid it out like it was nothing.
Worse, I couldn't even brush him off. I had heard the rumors about Beaumont's nephew—the CS prodigy everyone in the department talked about. I just had never realized it was him.
"I know how to fix your algorithm," Julian stated plainly, laying his cards on the table, his gaze locking onto mine with an unshakeable, quiet certainty. "Help me get through this bet. In return, I'll rewrite your boundary calculations tonight. Deal?"
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I Still Hate You
Ethan Miller was the hottest guy in Greenville High School. Girls loved him, guys wanted to be him. He just had one problem, Corey Price. Corey Price was the complete opposite of Ethan. Ethan did not like his lingering looks and admiring glances. It made him furious. Corey was the bane of his existence. Ethan's solution was to beat and torment Corey and make his school days unbearable. Corey's wounds never healed. His fondness of Ethan turned into hatred and he vowed to never forgive him. But, he spent years working on himself and has emerged a stronger, better person, ready to take on new challenges. Finally confident, he's about to take on a new job. Until he discovered who his new boss was. It was none other than the monster himself. Ethan Miller
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MY INDIAN WIFE
Never in her wildest dreams did Mishka imagine that her life would be turned upside down as soon as she stepped into London. "Marry my grandson!" Grandpa Leo's demand threw her off guard. Marriage was not part of her plans, yet she accepted the proposal to marry the most eligible bachelor in London, leaving her dreams behind. Christian had everything planned out in advance. He intended to propose to his girlfriend right after securing the position of CEO at the Knight Group, but a woman derailed all his plans. "If you want to become the CEO of Knight Group, you must marry the girl I have chosen for you!" Grandpa Leo's firm decision put Christian's future at risk, but he quickly devised a plan. "Sign these papers!" Christian demanded in a deep, authoritative tone, extending the file towards Mishka. "What is this?" She narrowed her eyes, taking the file. "Read and I'll explain everything," Christian answered. His cold eyes stared at her, and as soon as Mishka opened the file, her face lost all colour reading the bold letters. "CONTRACT MARRIAGE" Will she give into Christian's demand, or will her masterstroke change the dynamics of the trap he set for her? What will happen when Christian and Mishka's entirely different worlds crash? Will love find its way through the web of lies, deception and mysteries? Let's find out in the story! COPYRIGHT ©️ 2020 AUTHOR ANIKA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Love Slave to the Mafia Boss's Passion
[WARNING: MATURE CONTENT] "Each time you break a rule; I'll claim a part of your body as mine" Forced to marry the heir of the largest mafia syndicate to pay for her parent's debt and her grandmother's hospital bills. "Live with my son for 30 days, if you don't fall in love with him, I'll cancel this contract." Can Malissa live with the handsome, hot and dominating Hayden for 30 days without falling for his charms? However, there are rules to living with this lusty monster and as Malissa breaks them, she learns of pleasures that she never knew existed. As his touches set her on fire, her heart starts to melt. But does the two have a future together when Hayden is in love with someone else and Malissa cannot get over her ex-boyfriend? READ NOW to find out!
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Unmasking the Viper
My life as a Dallas socialite seemed perfect, dwelling in a grand mansion built with old money and maintained by new. Then, my husband, Ryan Lester, walked through the door with a woman I' d never seen, Sabrina Chavez, announcing she was "staying with us for a while." Her feigned innocence turned
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The Viper of Milan: A Romance of Lombardy
It is a day in early summer, as beautiful as such days were in the Southern lands of 500 years ago. It is Italy steeped in golden sunlight which lies like a haze over the spreading view; the year 1360, when cities were beautiful and nature all-pervading. Here is Lombardy, spread like a garden in the
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Craving for My Stepdad's Love: Where Desire meets Taboo
Lauren Wayne has always carved for the one man she shouldn't-Shane Shepherd, her father's best friend. He was everything she ever wanted-Older, six foot tall, and dangerously sexy. On her 18th birthday, she dared to kiss him only to be met by his rejection and just when she thought she had finally
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The Viper's Nest Unraveled
My life was one of quiet harmony, raised off-grid with ancient wisdom, seeing the world's hidden currents. But Elias, my adoptive father, sent me back to my biological family, the opulent Whitmores, to untangle a spiritual unease he promised only they could resolve. What I found was not a home, b
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The Vipers We Loved
My name is Jennifer Johns, and for twenty years, I poured my life, my love, and every dollar into raising my best friend' s children as my own. I did it because their mother, Sabrina, supposedly died of cancer, and her last wish was for me to protect them. Then, my adoptive daughter, Molly, stood
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Viper's Kiss: A Billionaire's Reckoning
It was supposed to be the biggest day of my life. The day I, Alex Peterson, heir to a global empire, announced my engagement to Jess Vanderbilt, the perfect corporate alliance. Expensive sheets, blinding penthouse sun – a picture of success. But then, the memory hit me. It wasn't a nightmare; it
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Viper's Kiss: A Wife's Revenge
The phone call came on the hottest day of the year. My son, Leo, was locked in a scorching car by my husband' s stepsister, Casey, while my husband, Coleman, stood by, more concerned about his vintage Mustang than our barely conscious child. When I shattered the window to save Leo, Coleman forced m
