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

by Milly Taiden

  Jet’s eyes brightened back up, “I was hoping. Not assuming.”

  He crawled over me, his body dwarfing mine in a way I hadn’t noticed before. But then, before, we’d never been naked together. I’d never felt his body hover over mine.

  Our lips met, soft and sweet, salty; I could taste myself on him. I pulled him close, ran my hands over his body, everywhere, I wanted to touch him everywhere, to know his body as I knew my own. To feel his heart beat faster as we came together.

  I wrapped my legs around his hips as we kissed, as I sucked on his tongue, drew his lips between my teeth as he’d done to me. Tentatively, I ran my finger over his nipple ring.

  “Spitfire, if you don’t quit touching me, I won’t be able to last.”

  “Guess it’s going to be a quickie then.”

  His mouth dropped open and he stared at me for a moment before chuckling. “There’s always round two.”

  I smiled, feeling shy for a split second before saying what I really wanted to say. “And three and four.”

  With a growl, he clasped our hands together, bringing mine above my head, holding me there with one hand easily. I squeaked, which turned into a low moan of pleasure as he pressed himself into me, slowly, inch by inch.

  “Sweet Jesus, Spitfire.” He spoke in a hushed tone, reverent almost as if he wasn’t sure. He pulled back, leaving me empty. I wormed a hand free from his, reached around, and cupped his ass, jerked him forward, feeling him fill me in a single thrust. His eyes were wide. “Just wait, let me . . . I can’t.” His words were a jumbled mess.

  “Fuck me, Jet.” I said it, and then couldn’t believe I said it, and by the way his eyes snapped to mine, neither could he.

  “Potty mouth.” He gave a thrust into me, all the way to the hilt, and then slowly pulled out again. “I like it.”

  I giggled, tried to at least, but it turned into a whispered plea, words of desire fell from our lips. Good words, ones that had him thrusting and driving me to a second climax. This was a first; I’d never climaxed from sex, though this didn’t feel like just sex. Something more. Better and right.

  His skin was slick under my hands as I clawed at his back, not meaning to, but unable to stop myself. He bit down on the side of my neck and a new pleasure danced along my nerve endings. I writhed against him, unable to control myself, not wanting to.

  His pace quickened, his body slammed into mine with a speed and ferocity I couldn’t grasp, but didn’t ever want to stop. His muscles bunched under my hands, his rhythm scattering as he tensed, came with a shout that might have been my name, but I couldn’t hear over the climax that burst over me, turned my body into a rolling wave of pleasure that left me a puddle of nothing on the bed, clinging to him.

  Our breathing wasn’t breathing, but panting. We were panting for air, and I could feel his heartbeat galloping along wildly, out of control.

  He moved as if to roll off me.

  “Stay.” I touched the side of his face. “Please stay.”

  “I’m not going anywhere, Jasmin. I don’t want to crush you.”

  “If I can survive you and Hugh sitting on me, I can survive you laying on me.”

  I stroked my hand through his hair and he lowered himself back down, bodies fitting against one another.

  “Are you still afraid?” He murmured against the skin of my neck, kissing me lightly.

  “No. Not of this, not of you.” How could I be? Yet even as I said the words, my fears tickled at the back of my head. Now I knew him, inside and out; how much worse would his death be when it came? Because it would come, in my life that was a certainty I had to face. Death was everywhere with me. With everyone I loved.

  I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, touched each of his vertebrae down his back. “Maybe a little afraid.”

  He lifted his head, propped himself up so he could look me in the eye. “Of what?”

  I could do this, I could tell him. “Everyone around me dies, Jet. Everyone. How can I have this with you, loving you, knowing that you’ll die and I’ll be alone, destroyed? That’s what I’m afraid of. Not being alone, that I can handle. I’m afraid of having my heart shattered again. I’m afraid of that more than anything else.”

  He touched the side of my face, took my jaw between his fingers, gave me his soft smile, the one that made my heart melt and dance at the same time. “I’ll make you a promise. I won’t die on you, not if my life depends on it.”

  “You can’t keep that promise.”

  “Have I broken any of my promises to you?”

  “The kissing one.”

  He pursed his lips. “Shit, I forgot about that one. Except that one, I’ve kept them all.” He lifted his eyebrows. “I won’t let myself get killed. I won’t die on you, Spitfire. I can’t imagine not ever seeing you again. That would be worse than dying. Trust me.”

  I slid my arms around him and hugged him close, breathed him in, and let my heart go one last time.

  “I trust you.”

  18

  Jet

  Three days of Jasmin. Of being with her, touching her, tasting everything she had to offer. We never left the apartment, not even when we ran out of milk. We made do with what was in the fridge and cupboards.

  Once the dam broke, we couldn’t get enough of each other. The shower, the kitchen, the floor, and the couch all got christened. The bed, the wall, the coffee table. The place didn’t matter because it was her, it was my Spitfire whispering in my ears, grabbing my hair as she screamed my name, it was her sweet body that spasmed around me, drew me to heights I didn’t know existed.

  Sunday night came too quickly. We made love with a frantic need, almost as if we knew this weekend had been a boon. Did I tell her it was manufactured? Shit, she’d never talk to me again. Yet I had to tell her; honesty, trust. I wanted all of that with her.

  She was curled against me, hands folded against my chest, her breath slow and even. I couldn’t sleep as I wracked my brain, as I stared at her profile, so I slid my hands over her body. Teasing her awake.

  There were no words, just the soft flutter of breath and kisses, the feel of her hand around my shaft, then getting bolder, reaching past to stroke my balls. I groaned and rolled to my back, let her take control, something she was so very, very good at.

  Her mouth started at my neck, while her hands slid up and down my shaft, teasing me with her silken hands. She tugged at my nipple ring with her teeth, stretching me upward, the zing of pain and pleasure mingling into a heady turn-on.

  “Oh god, Spitfire, don’t stop.”

  She didn’t say a word, just made her way lazily down to my throbbing hard-on, her lips touching just the tip, tongue darting out to flick it. I had to restrain the urge to push her faster, knowing this sweet torture would only make coming that much better. One hand on my nipple ring, the other on my balls, her mouth slid up and down my shaft, lips tight, tongue swirling.

  “Oh fuck,” I hissed, feeling the pressure building fast, my body on the verge of letting go. This was the problem, if there was one. No matter how many times we had sex, no matter how many times we came screaming together—much to the displeasure of the old man downstairs—the second she touched me like this, I could barely hang on, barely keep myself from coming in three seconds flat.

  Still, she said nothing, let her hands and mouth work me over. She sucked at the tip, grazing it ever so lightly with her teeth, tugging me upward as she massaged my balls, her other hand splayed on my chest, flicking and tugging on my ring.

  I fought the pleasure, but couldn’t keep my eyes from her, from watching her beautiful body love me as if . . . as if she did love me. She’d said it once, the words slipping out in the middle of a ramble, so I didn’t know . . . what if this was just a release for her? A way to break out of a rut? A way to get me out of her system as Lily had thought?

  I shuddered as she sucked hard, her mouth and hands moving faster, driving me into a wild rhythm I couldn’t control, even if I tried.

  Th
e climax shattered me, stunned me with the force of it, letting go in her mouth as she squeezed my balls, milked me for every last drop. I jerked and writhed under her touch, hers and only hers.

  “That okay for you?” She crawled up my body, sitting on my stomach. I could feel her center, wet and hot, and I knew just how fucking tight it was. Already I was hardening again, thinking about thrusting into her. But not yet.

  I rolled her onto her back and then stood, stared down at her like the first time we’d made love. Sweet heaven above, had it only been two days ago? If this was our last night together, then I wanted a memory of something more, of something I’d only before imagined.

  “Touch yourself,” I said. “I want to watch you touch yourself.”

  That delectable pink color rose up from the base of her neck; something I would never tire seeing. I hoped she never lost that innocence, that soft beauty.

  Tentatively at first, her hand dipped between her legs and I watched, unabashedly turned on by the sight I’d imagined so many times. Her knees parted, opening fully, showing me her beautiful petals I’d kissed and touched. Now her finger circled her clit, teased it as her other hand paused at her breast, uncertainty scorching her features.

  “Jet—”

  “You are beautiful, Jasmin. I want to watch you come undone, want to see you, all of you.”

  A whisper of a smile ghosted across her lips. “And after?”

  I touched her foot, lifted it up and kissed the inner side of her ankle. “Anything you want, Spitfire.”

  “Hmm,” she murmured, her fingers sliding down to steal moisture from her center, then back up to her clit, rubbing with two fingers, pressing her hips forward. When her eyelids fluttered closed I touched her foot again, getting her attention. “Eyes open, beautiful, look at me.”

  The eroticism was not lost on either of us, I think. Her eyes dilated as her fingers worked her clit and nipples, teasing and tugging. My gaze wandered to where she touched herself, burning the vision in my mind. I held her one foot up, kissed her ankle, stroked her calf, fought not to touch her anywhere else. This was a memory I would hold. If this was our last night, then I would make sure I could see her forever like this, see her coming for me. Only me.

  Her stroking sped up, and the little whimpers I knew meant she was close started to spill out of her lips.

  “Come for me.”

  Her lithe hips bucked and writhed, but her eyes never left my face as she came with a soft moan, her hands slipping from her body.

  I reached behind me to the dresser and the last condom from the box I’d brought, slipped it on with a single hand.

  “Last one.” I pouted, shaking the empty box.

  “I guess we’ll have to buy more then.” She giggled and my heart skipped. Maybe this was not our last night?

  I wrapped my hands around her tiny ankles and lifted them up so her ass was an inch off the bed. She locked them behind my head and I bent over her, almost folding her in half. Her hands splayed on my chest, fingered my nipple ring; touched the scars there on my ribs. I didn’t mind. In her I’d found the peace I’d always looked for, the healing I’d never found. She didn’t make me whole, but she calmed the wildness in me, and then brought it crashing out with a touch of her hand.

  I slid into her, her wet heat curling around me, clutching me as her muscles tightened around my shaft.

  “Please, Jet, don’t go slow. Just . . . go.” Her half whimpered plea was all I needed.

  I slammed my body into hers, harder than I ever had before. Her gasp brought my eyes to hers, but she wasn’t hurting. She panted alongside me, mouth parted, fire racing between us, a second climax building in her, I could feel it gripping me, drawing me deeper into her. Over and over I thrust into the warmth, her legs.

  “Fuck me, Jet. Please.”

  I didn’t hold back, didn’t think about anything but her. Jasmin, my Spitfire, and sometimes potty mouth. Her gasps turned into screams as we rode the wave of pleasure, the fire of it sending me over the edge. I collapsed onto her, pleasantly exhausted, feeling more undone than I could have ever imagined.

  “I can’t control myself when I’m with you,” I groaned, forcing myself to stand back up, keeping her legs where they were and then pulling her up with me. Cupping her ass, I wobbled toward the bathroom.

  Laughing, she wrapped her arms around my neck and squeezed with her legs, which only tightened her inner muscles on my shaft, waking it up again. “What are you doing?”

  “Shower.”

  “We don’t have any more condoms,” she said. “And the last time we were in the shower you had to get out to get one.”

  “I can control myself.” I stepped into the bathroom and turned on the hot water, still not putting her down.

  “Really? I don’t know about that. Didn’t you just say you couldn’t control yourself?” She nibbled on my earlobe, sucking it into her mouth, repeating the same moves she’d used on my shaft. Mother in heaven, I wasn’t so sure of anything anymore.

  The water came on, and I reluctantly put her down, pulling myself out of her sweet, tight center. I kissed her eyelids, her cheeks, chin, and finally her mouth. “Shower with me.”

  In my mind, I could see it already, the soap and warm water, her slippery, soft skin. I would make her come while I was on my knees, my face in her sweet, sweet—

  The front door of the apartment slammed and Lily’s voice shrieked into existence. “I have never been so furious in my life!”

  We jumped as if we were teenagers caught by the unexpected return of a parent. Jasmin grabbed a towel and tossed it me, her face a mixture of nerves, horror and a smile that trembled.

  “Don’t let Lily scare you.” She tucked a towel around her own body and stepped into the hallway, closing the door behind her. I turned the water off, cleaned myself up and leaned against the bathroom door. Feminine voices were lowered, just at the level where I couldn’t make out their words. Sweat broke out all over me; depending on how Lily spun it, I could end up looking really, really bad . . . .

  And then they weren’t lowered anymore.

  “What do you mean?” Lily shrieked. “He has to leave, you said two days, three at the top. You said you could get him out of your system!”

  “I didn’t say that, you did,” Jasmin yelled, but I was still hearing Lily’s words.

  Get me out of her system, had Jasmin known all along . . . fuck, she’d been in on Lily’s plan.

  The door creaked open and Jasmin stood there, clinging to her towel, so like the first time we’d made love. “Jet, I’m so sorry. I didn’t . . . I don’t know what to say.” The light in her green eyes was gone.

  I stood and moved closer to her, anger burning its way through me. She was using me, just like all the other women I’d known. “So, did you have fun? Get me out of your system? Have a good time with the bad boy—”

  She stepped back, her eyes widening. “Please don’t. I’m sorry, I should have told you. It wasn’t like that for me.”

  I grabbed her arms, forgetting about my towel, and dragged her into the bathroom. She squeaked and Lily came stomping down the hallway, got a look at me and her eyes popped open wide.

  I slammed the door in her face, earning a gasp out of Jasmin, and then Lily started to pound on the door. Ignoring Lily, I pulled Jasmin tight against my body.

  “Let’s make one thing clear,” I whispered in her ear, feeling like a fucking schmuck for believing Lily. This was, I had to admit, a manipulation I never saw coming. “I came here to make you see that I loved you, not to get you out of my system. Lily and Jasper thought this was a phase; it isn’t a phase, it never has been. Not with you. But it looks like you’re no better than any of the other women I know.”

  She stopped struggling as I spoke, her eyes filling with tears. “I don’t want you out of my system, Jet. I had to prove to Lily that you mean more to me than that. That I do love you.”

  “Fuck Lily! This isn’t about her; it’s about you and me.”
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  She gulped a sob and then the rest of her words hit me.

  “You love me?”

  “Since Mexico,” she whispered, her eyes lifting to mine. “Maybe a part of me hoped that a weekend with you would burn you out of me, but I knew it would only make it worse. Knew that it would break my heart. But I was willing to go through the aftermath for the moments I would have to hang onto.”

  Emotions battled inside my head and heart. She’d put her heart on the line, taken a chance. Fuck, why was I so angry, wasn’t this what I wanted?

  I let her go, grabbing the towel and wrapping it around my waist. “Why is Lily back early?”

  Jasmin slumped against the door, her arms wrapping around her torso. “Something happened with her and Jasper. She won’t tell me, but I think maybe . . .”

  I was already shaking my head. “No, he wouldn’t have slept with her.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  I tipped her head up, stared down into her green, green eyes. “Jazzy, he hasn’t slept with anyone for years.”

  Her mouth turned into an “o” of understanding. I leaned in and kissed her, stealing the exhale of air, breathing it into my lungs. I pulled back just enough to speak. “I love you, Jasmin Vargas.”

  A tear trickled down her cheek, dropped onto her chest. I kissed it away. “God, don’t cry. I don’t want any regrets, to think I screwed up and didn’t ever say it when I was awake.”

  Her hands slid up and cupped my face, her lips pressed into mine, her words a bare whisper. “I love you too. Can you forgive me?”

  “Hmm. Let me see. You fool me into spending a weekend in your arms, so that you can tell me that you love me and want to keep me forever?”

  She tried to suppress a smile, but it crept out. “When you put it that way, I see that perhaps I was being too hard on myself.”

  With a shout of laughter, I scooped her up in my arms. “Well, then we need to finish what we started.” I traced along her jaw with my lips, feeling our bodies fitting so perfectly with one another.