Sweet Addiction

241 Pages·2016·1 MB·English

by  Banks Maya

PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF
MAYA BANKS
“Heated investigative romantic suspense… Intense, transfixing.”
—Midwest Book Review
“Definitely a recommended read… filled with friendship, passion, and most of
all, a love that grows beyond just being friends.”
—Fallen Angel Reviews
“Grabbed me from page one and refused to let go until I read the last word…
When a book still affects me hours after reading it, I can’t help but Joyfully
Recommend it!”
—Joyfully Reviewed
“I guarantee I will reread this book many times over, and will derive as much
pleasure as I did in the first reading each and every subsequent time.”
—Novelspot
“An excellent read that I simply did not put down… A fantastic adventure…
covers all the emotional range.”
—The Road to Romance
“Searingly sexy and highly believable.”
—RT Book Reviews
“A must-read author… her [stories] are always full of emotional situations,
lovable characters and kick-butt story lines.”
—Romance Junkies
Berkley Heat titles by Maya Banks
FOR HER PLEASURE
SWEET SURRENDER
BE WITH ME
SWEET PERSUASION
SWEET SEDUCTION
SWEET TEMPTATION
SWEET POSSESSION
SWEET ADDICTION
Anthologies
FOUR PLAY
(with Shayla Black)
MEN OUT OF UNIFORM
(with Karin Tabke and Sylvia Day)
sweet addiction
MAYA BANKS
Heat / New York
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a
division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England •
Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) •
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of
Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) • Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel
Park, New Delhi—110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New
Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee
Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand,
London WC2R 0RL, England This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business
establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and
does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Copyright © 2012 by Maya Banks.
Cover art by Claudio Marinesco.
Cover design by Rita Frangie.
Text design by Kristin del Rosario.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or
electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of
copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
HEAT and the HEAT design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Heat trade paperback edition / April 2012
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Banks, Maya.
Sweet addiction / Maya Banks.
p. cm.
ISBN: 978-1-101-56157-7
1. First loves—Fiction. 2. Triangles (Interpersonal relations)—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3602.A643S825 2012
813’.6—dc22 2011037774
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ALWAYS LEARNING
PEARSON
To everyone who wanted to read Cole’s story
Table of Contents
Part 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Part 2
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Part 3
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Epilogue
PART 1
lucas
C 1
HAPTER
H
er laughter was the first thing that caught his attention. Vibrant and shining.
So effervescent and full of unfettered joy that it arrested him and he couldn’t
remember what he’d been thinking just moments earlier.
He turned, seeking the source of the captivating music. And then he thought
he’d heard it before. When he was much younger.
A lifetime ago.
Ren.
The memory of her still had the power to make him ache.
So much regret. Guilt. Wishful thinking. If only he had it to do all over again.
He hadn’t thought about her in a while now. Not because she’d slipped from
his mind, but because he’d willed himself to stop thinking of the beautiful, shy
eighteen-year-old girl who’d meant the world to him when he was in his early
twenties.
It still hurt him to bring her to mind years later. She reminded him of mistakes
he’d made. How he’d hurt her when it was the very last thing he’d ever wanted
or intended.
He scanned the interior of the restaurant, his eyes sharp as he took in each
table. But he couldn’t find the source of the burst of laughter, nor did he hear it
again.
“Is something the matter?” Damon Roche asked.
Cole turned back to his friend and dinner companion and cast an apologetic
glance in Serena Roche’s direction.
“No, nothing. I just thought I heard… I was reminded of someone I once
knew.”
Damon slid his hand from Serena’s arm and picked up his glass of wine. His
touch never strayed far from his wife. His now pregnant wife. If Damon had
been possessive before—and he was forbiddingly possessive of Serena—he was
even more so now that she was round with his child.
The two shared a nontraditional relationship. Serena was submissive to