Page 170 of Modern Romance May 2026 Books 5-8
She arched into him, into his touch. Fingers brushed taut nipples, teeth scraped against the curve of her shoulder. Physical pleasure after wave of physical pleasure… That coiling rush of need…
It made no more sense than her whirling feelings, but it was concrete. He would take her up peak after peak, and there would be a conclusion. Simple. Straightforward.
He tugged the loose pants from her, and they fell easily to her feet. Her underwear were next, until she was once again naked, with him fully clothed behind her. What did that say about them?
Didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he touched her where she throbbed in desperate anticipation. “Zer—”
He turned her to face him in a rough move, his eyes blazing. His breath heaving nearly as much as hers was. But it was the direct gaze that had her heart tripping over itself. Had her wishing she was stronger, smarter, something.
But she was none of those things. Not when his mouth crushed to hers. Then she was only his.
He lowered her to the ground, the give of the mat beneath her, the hard, hot weight of him above her. He slid his hands over her arms, arranging them over her head, then clasping her wrists together with just one of his hands.
She knew moves that could knock him off, and she had no doubt he would get up if she asked. If she demanded.
This was not force. It was something else entirely.
And it required her acceptance as much as his. His understanding as much as hers. She had been coming to grips with trusting a man she shouldn’t, but she had allowed him to believe she was still skeptical.
Now he must know. Now he must see.
And still she did not try to buck him off. She did not tell him to stop when he sheathed himself in a condom. She arched her body to his and moaned in time with him as they joined.
It was an explosion that eviscerated foundations. That tangled up and crossed all her carefully placed wires. Wild, restless, desperate. Different than other times before, like they were fighting each other in the midst of all this erotic pleasure.
She shuddered through one climax and then the next, sobbing out his name, his grip on her wrists never loosening. She never wanted it to.
“Ari.” His voice was rough, fierce. “Look at me.”
She blinked her eyes open to meet his gaze, held it as he slowed, driving her up into something else. Not a fight this time. No… But she only knew of fights and survival, so she didn’t know what this was.
Except too much. Too big. Her heart felt like bursting and tears pricked her eyes, but she still couldn’t look away from the dark depths of his. Even as the crash came over her, and he thrust deep into her one last time, growling out his own climax, they held each other’s gaze.
For ticking moments after. As if they both had the same question echoing unanswerable in their heads.
Whatwasthat?
Pinned beneath him, the waves of pleasure slowly ebbing out as her breathing began to even enough to realize his was in the same state hers was, and that did nothing to steady her or make her feel better.
If they were both upended, how would they survive this?
She closed her eyes on a wave of emotional pain. What was she doing? She knew better. She’d always had to know better. She was letting a soft life make her soft when that would only lead to her own doom. Perhaps his, too, but he was a man. A rich man. He would survive.
What would she do?
He finally released her wrists. Carefully, balancing his weight, he moved off her and got to his feet. He held out a hand to help her up.
For a moment, she could only stare at the offered hand. Her brain wasn’t functioning. Everything inside of her was jumbled.
“Come. Let us get ready for dinner.” His voice was little more than a rasp, belying the simply words.
What had happened wasn’t simple, for either of them.
But. Dinner. Yes. They had…plans. And that was just…sex. They had done it before. They’d likely do it again. It wasn’t different. She had to determine it couldnotbe different.
But when he helped her to her feet, he did not meet her gaze, and she did not meet his, and everything that had once felt easy no longer did.
Chapter Twelve
