THE SERPENT'S KISS: A NOVELLA

Disgraced paleontologist Dr. Elara Vance has nothing left to lose. Her greatest discovery was stolen by the mentor who destroyed her career, and now she spends her days cataloging fossils in a museum basement, waiting for a lawsuit to finish what he started.Then a stranger walks into her office with an impossible offer.Kaelen Blackwood is wealthy, secretive, and carrying a 19th-century explorer's map to a lost city buried deep in the Amazon - along with proof of a legend Elara can't ignore: a serpent's venom said to heal any wound. It's the kind of find that could restore everything she lost. It's also the kind of find someone will kill for.As Elara and Kael race into the jungle, the line between rivals and allies blurs fast. He doesn't trust easily. She doesn't forgive easily. But stranded together in ruins that guard secrets older than the empires that built them, alliances become something else entirely - and the enemy hunting them isn't the only danger closing in.The man who ruined her life once already isn't finished. And Kael's past has a way of catching up with both of them.Some discoveries change everything. Some kisses are worth dying for.