Red Hot Lovers: 18 Contemporary Romance Books of Love, Passion, and Sexy Heroes by Your Favorite Top-Selling Authors

by Milly Taiden

  “I’ll show you to the back,” the man said.

  We walked along an entryway, through a formal living room, and into an enormous sunroom looking out on the backyard. Noise began to penetrate as we crossed it, the thump thump of a bass guitar.

  Colored lights on wire crisscrossed through the trees and arced over a pool. A few souls were actually swimming in it.

  Naked.

  I guess I had my answer.

  A quick scan as we headed toward the door told me that Tina was not one of the people in the water. I didn’t realize how tense I’d gotten as I looked. I really didn’t know anything about her outside the hospital.

  The door opened, and the music hit full force. Laughter, talking, glasses clinking.

  I wasn’t going to know a soul other than Tina. And if she was as impaired as she seemed, she could be throwing up in a bathroom somewhere by now. She was very small. It wouldn’t take a lot. I scanned the crowd for drunk, high, and potentially about to be ill people, especially the ones in the pool, where they could drown. I noted flushed faces, anyone showing signs of distress.

  Then I made myself stop the damn party triage.

  You could take the doctor out of the hospital, but you couldn’t take the hospital out of the doctor.

  I wandered through the clumps of partygoers, trying to spot either Tina’s blond head or a black-hoodie girl covered up. I paused to tap out a quick message to her: I am here.

  A waiter passed by with a tray of champagne and stopped to offer me one. I almost waved him off, then decided to blend in. I could at least hold the glass. I took one.

  Then I spotted her.

  She was still wearing the hoodie, but it was unzipped, revealing the front of the strappy shirt. Still, the effect was definitely muted, nothing like seeing her bare shoulders and arms and the swaths of revealed flesh.

  She patted her pocket for her phone, probably reacting to the buzz of my message. A beefy tricked-out twenty-something guy in a leather jacket was talking to her, looking down at her shirt. He had his hand on her shoulder. She swayed a little. She had definitely been drinking. I could see it.

  These people were closer to her age, more her style. I was this uptight doctor with a horrid schedule and a seriously ill sister. She should be partying like this, not sneaking in random hours with me between my very pressing responsibilities.

  I began to back away.

  I bumped into a girl. I turned to apologize. Her wild black hair blew every direction.

  “Sorry!” she said. “I couldn’t zig away from your zag!”

  “My fault,” I said.

  She squinted her eyes at me. “You seem familiar.” Then she laughed. “Everyone does. Most of the people here are actors.”

  “Are you?”

  She shook her head. “I got dragged here by a friend.” She glanced at the pool, then looked away. “It’s a little wilder than I could have ever imagined my bachelorette party being.”

  Bachelorette! “You know Tina, then?”

  The girl stared me in the face again. “I knew it! You’re the doctor!”

  She grabbed my arm and started dragging me toward Tina, who was trying to subtly look at her phone while the guy, probably the star of some movie I didn’t have time to see, kept chatting her up.

  I dug my heels in. “I think she’s busy with that other fellow.”

  That made the girl stop. Then she started laughing. I could tell when she got past the point of no return on it, because she held on to her belly and her hair started to fall in her face.

  “Are you all right?” Maybe she’d had way too much to drink. I held on to her arm. “You don’t want to hyperventilate.” I leaned over her. “Try to relax.”

  The girl began gulping air.

  Tina apparently had spotted me, as I heard her say, “Darion’s still on duty.”

  I looked up. She was smiling at me, not seeming to notice that the movie stud had followed her.

  “Did you get her started?” the guy asked. “Because it can be seriously hard to turn that giggle box off.” He circled Tina to get to the other girl. “Sometimes I like to fuel the fire.” He grasped the girl by the waist and began tickling her.

  She burst into a renewed fit of laughter.

  “That’s Corabelle,” Tina said. “And her groom-to-be, Gavin. They have these sort of epic tickle fights.”

  About three tons of weight rolled off my shoulders. Corabelle was the girl who had given Tina the apartment. And the guy talking to Tina was the fiancé.

  Tina took my hand in hers, surprising me. “I’m glad you came.” She leaned on my arm. Yes, a little tipsy, no doubt about it.

  Another girl with bright pink hair came up behind her and leaned over her shoulder. “About time you got here,” she said to me. “I thought about three of these hot actor guys were going to throw your girl over their shoulders and make off with her.”

  I squeezed Tina’s hand. “Would this be Jenny of the Pink Monster?” I asked.

  “The one and only,” Tina said.

  Jenny got between us, draping an arm around both of our necks. Her face got very serious. “I hear you got the first shot at popping the Pink Monster’s furry cherry. It’s all yours.”

  And just like that, she disappeared again.

  “Did you get to meet the director?” I asked Tina. She had mentioned Jenny was secretive about him.

  Corabelle was gasping now, trying to break the chain of giggles. “No! That’s the crazy part.” She sucked in a few more breaths of air, elbowing Gavin in the ribs when he threatened to start her up again. “We’re here, at his PARTY, and he’s nowhere.”

  “Really?” I glanced around. “That’s pretty odd.”

  Tina said, “We’re starting to think she and Frankie are actually the same person. They’ve got the same taste.”

  “This isn’t his house, then?” I asked. Nothing was pink or tacky inside.

  “Oh, no,” Corabelle said. “It’s the producer’s.” Her face was finally returning to a normal shade after her giggle marathon.

  A huge splash in the pool made us all turn to look. A fully dressed man surfaced and dogpaddled his way to the side.

  “That’s a lot of naked chicks in the pool,” Tina said.

  I pulled her closer. “Thinking of getting in there?”

  She lifted her gaze to mine. “What would you do to me in there, in front of everyone?”

  And there went the crotch. And no lab coat. I pulled her in front of me and fitted her body against mine. “Use this, maybe?” I whispered in her ear.

  “I think they’re worse than we are,” Corabelle said to Gavin.

  “Dude, word to the wise?” Gavin pointed into the far corner of the massive yard. “Cabana house. Back fence. Unlocked. Lockable.”

  “Is that where you two disappeared to a while ago?” Tina asked.

  Gavin yanked Corabelle up against him. “Maybe.”

  Tina glanced down at the full champagne glass in my hand. “You’re not drinking that.”

  I passed it to her. She was having fun. I hadn’t been around a lot of alcohol-impaired people in a while. I was fine with it as long as no one left. The car accidents were the worst in the ER. Then seeing those BAC levels and knowing it was all preventable.

  I tried to shake it off. This was a party. Nobody had to go anywhere, and that’s what taxis were for.

  “Something cooled your jets,” Tina said. She whirled around to face me. “Maybe I need to get naked in the pool after all.” Despite the night chill, she pulled the hoodie off and laid it over her arm. I remembered how easy it was to peel that shirt away from what I wanted. Her friends seemed easygoing, so I leaned down and kissed her, and not gently either. Hard and long, until she pressed her body up against mine.

  When I released her, Gavin and Corabelle had moved over to a long table filled with food.

  “Get drunk with me,” Tina said. She stopped a waiter, downed the champagne I gave her, and set the glass on his tray. The
n she took two more. “You need to get a little crazy for once.”

  “I think we might have done that last night,” I said.

  “Mmmm,” she said, passing me a glass. “But now we’re going to get crazy here.” She took my hand and led me through the party to the corner Gavin had told us about.

  Another splash meant someone else had joined the group in the pool. The band finished out a number, and the singer said into the microphone, “Either that water is heated, or you’re all crazy drunk.”

  “It’s heated,” Tina said to me. “Jenny warned us that this party would get a little wild.”

  “And yet you stayed.”

  “Corabelle’s two nervous friends left half an hour ago. We stayed around, hoping to catch this mysterious director.”

  “Gavin crashed the bachelorette?”

  “We brought him to get us all home. Corabelle’s more fun when he’s around. She feels safe.”

  We arrived at a line of small outbuildings. “What about you?” I asked. “Do you feel the need to be safe?”

  Tina whirled around. “I figured out a long time ago that nothing’s safe.” She grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me toward one of the cabanas. “And that goes double for men like you, dear doctor Darion. You look safe, but oh, you are not.”

  She opened the door to the building. The inside was dark and warm, lightly illuminated by a small space heater.

  “Nice,” she said. “You might want to lock the door.”

  I did so. My heart was revving up. I knew what she was up to, but I didn’t have a clue what she’d do next.

  A narrow bench on one wall held a few towels. In the center of the cabana was a pair of outdoor chairs with high backs. She drained her champagne and pointed to mine. “Bottom’s up, doctor.”

  I did as I was told. She took the glass and set them both on the table between the chairs.

  “When I met you earlier in Surgical Suite B, did you have anything particular you didn’t get to do?”

  She made me so crazy. My blood was pumping now. Heart rate 120, easy. “Maybe,” I said.

  “So, why don’t you do it now?” she asked. “And don’t be nice about it.”

  I yanked her against me, and seared my lips into hers. She arched against my body. I’d spent a lot of time wondering about her, and what she liked. I had a good idea now. But now she wanted something rougher.

  I could do that.

  I yanked the shirt over her head. The pale light from the space heater exposed the pink lines the straps left on her body. I bent down, capturing a breast in my mouth while squeezing the other with my hand.

  She moaned and clutched at my shoulders. “Yes, baby,” she said.

  My free hand went beneath the skirt, a little surprised to find panties this time. Screw that. I yanked at the elastic and snapped the thin band in two.

  “Well, then,” she said. “Don’t let anything get in your way.”

  My hand went up inside her, showing no mercy. She gasped, then writhed against me, and I worked every inch of her, so slippery. God. But as soon as she started to tighten against me, I pulled away.

  “Shit, Darion,” she said. “You’re killing me.”

  I walked her over to the wall and turned her away from me. I reached around and got to her from that angle. She pressed against me, gyrating, her hands bracing her.

  “Bend over,” I said in her ear.

  “Yes,” she said.

  I felt like I’d lost my head. I was driven by this need of her, how she prodded me. I yanked my belt open and pushed my pants and boxers out of the way. The khakis had hit the floor when I remembered the condom and dragged one out of my wallet.

  The boots made her taller, and as I came back up from locating the package, I could see up her skirt. Instead of going straight for the endgame, I twisted beneath her, spreading her feet farther apart and pressing my mouth between her legs.

  “Oh my God,” she said, and shifted against me, pressing down.

  She was so damn wet. I licked between the folds, then reached to open her wide. Now there was no stopping her, and she pulsed against my mouth, crying out, her muscles quivering as the orgasm crashed through her.

  Jesus, she was hot. I felt like this part of my life had just opened up and sucked me in, this whole other dimension I had forgotten existed.

  “I can’t get pregnant,” she said. “I do both the shot and IUD. I’m clean.”

  I tossed the condom across the room. “Me too.”

  “Dump it in me,” she said. “I want that.”

  I don’t think I’d had an erection that hard in my life. I stood up and got behind her. She was so ready. I eased inside her like sliding into a hot bath, enveloping and warm.

  “You can’t hurt me,” she said.

  I held on to her hips. I didn’t think I’d ever wanted to plow into someone as badly as I wanted this. She pushed back against me, and I just unleashed. The faster I pushed it, the more she cried out with yes, yes, more, harder.

  I grabbed her hair and held it fast, and then I could tell she was going to come again. God, this was something unbelievable, addicting. I reached for her, circling that hot nub, and now she was crying out, pushing against me, and I just let it go, emptying into her. It was such a different feeling, and I had to think if I’d ever done it like this before, skin to skin. If so, I didn’t remember it.

  She was sucking in air, gulping, and I could sense something had changed. She was emotional, touched by something. I pulled out of her and turned her around, holding her tight. It was like that night on the beach, when she’d gotten defensive and pushed me away. I needed to figure out a way to prevent that this time.

  I backed up and sat in one of the chairs, dragging her onto my lap. She curled up on me, breathing fast, making little sounds of distress.

  “Hey, hey, I’m here. I’ve got you.” I wrapped her up in my arms, holding on tight. I feared the worst, that she’d shove at me and stomp out, no shirt and all. That one of these times she’d decide enough is enough and just quit.

  I held on to her, smoothing her hair. She wasn’t crying, just making these noises, and breathing. Post-traumatic stress, maybe? I had to stop diagnosing her. Just be.

  The chair swiveled, so I rocked us back and forth until she began to quiet down. I tried to stay relaxed. I wanted to see her through this to the end. She would not push me away this time.

  Gradually her breathing slowed. After a while I realized her respiration was even, so I dared to look down. Her hair was everywhere, and her eyes closed. The alcohol, I thought. It had done its job. She was asleep.

  I shifted a little so that we rested together more comfortably. The party was still loud outside. This was just about the craziest thing I’d ever done, sex with a girl I had known only a little while at a stranger’s house.

  But Tina was nothing like anyone I’d ever known. A set of total opposites. Tough. Bitter. Unorthodox. Sexy. God, the way she’d wanted it so rough.

  But then also vulnerable, sensitive, gentle.

  I was going to fall so damn hard for this girl.

  ***

  Chapter Thirty Seven: Tina

  I hadn’t counted on a hangover to beat all hangovers when I volunteered to babysit.

  Gavin turned from the mirror. “Tina, I have to say it. You look terrible.”

  Unlike me, he looked pretty stunning in a black tux, even if the pants trailed over his white socks.

  “Thanks, mister. You look awesome.”

  Manuelito sat in my lap, licking a lollipop. Corabelle was working today, and Gavin had his three-year-old son. I told them I could tag along to help out while Gavin got fitted for the wedding. I hadn’t thought about how it would be the morning after the bachelorette and I might not have my head on straight.

  “Dude, you’re rockin’ that!” Gavin’s friend Mario came out of his dressing room. “But not as good as me!”

  Mario twirled in his tux. He was the best man. His dark skin offset the black
even better than Gavin’s. Too bad he couldn’t last two dates with a girl. I hadn’t quite pegged the problem yet.

  “Tia Tina?” Manuelito showed me his lollipop. He grabbed his tongue. “Hurt.”

  I took the sucker from him. A tiny piece of the wrapper was still on it, creating a little bump in the surface. “Wrapper,” I said. “Let’s just get a new one.” Concentrating on trying to pry a tiny piece of paper from a half-eaten sucker was way too much for my pounding head.

  I pulled a new one from my bag, unwrapped it carefully, and handed it to the boy. Normally we would color or build Legos. But today I could barely hold myself upright.

  “You need to rehydrate,” Mario said, laughing. “I should have gone to that party. Especially in this.” He spun around in front of the mirror.

  “Those actresses would have spit you out like three-day-old gum,” Gavin said.

  “Nah,” Mario said. “I’d be on the cover of some salty tabloid.” He ran his hand through the air with each word of his headline: “Rich movie star elopes with hot garage mechanic.”

  I stifled a laugh. “Mario, you do dream big.”

  Gavin punched him in the arm. “You find a date for the wedding yet?”

  “Someone will come along,” Mario said.

  The seamstress, an energetic girl who couldn’t be much over twenty, came in. “Anyone ready for a hem?” she asked. Her sleek blond hair was tied up in a bun.

  “I’m ready for anything with you,” Mario said.

  And that’s when I got it. Too eager. Too pushy. Only a narrow swath of girls would go for that, and they weren’t interested in long-term stuff. One-and-dones.

  The gospel I had once preached. Look at me now. Four times with the doctor in 24 hours.

  I closed my eyes. I was way over the top on this.

  Manuelito tapped my leg. “Tia Tina?”

  “Yes, sweetie?”

  “Play game?”

  “Sure.” I turned him around on my lap. “I Spy? Practice your words?”