Twenty Times Tempted: A Sexy Contemporary Romance Collection

by Petrova, Em

  Reaching her hand out, she silently asked him to join her. His expression unreadable, he came toward her and took her hand.

  “Come here,” she said, sitting in the corner of the leather sofa, her back to the arm, and tugging him down. She patted her lap, and he looked at her as if she was acting strange. To her surprise, he relented. Stretching out on the sofa, he lay down on his back, the back of his head on her lap. When she began massaging his shoulders, he caught her hand. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I want to. Doesn’t it feel good?”

  “Feels amazing, but you don’t have to.”

  “Something tells me I do.”

  He didn’t stop her a second time. She rubbed his muscles until her fingers ached. There were so many knots, even a professional massage therapist would have a hard time. She then started running her fingers through his silken, wavy hair and gently rubbing his temples. His soft moan said he approved.

  “I should really get up,” he spoke in a weary voice, but he didn’t make a move and sighed long. “I have things to do.”

  Leaning over, she started unbuttoning a few buttons of his shirt and sensually slid her palms over his warm, muscled chest. His breathing went shallow as she lightly massaged his pecs, her breasts grazing the top his head. She smiled, tenderly kneading his chest muscles with her fingertips, moving lower to his abdomen, and then sliding her hands back to his shoulders. “Then get up already.”

  His hand came up and cupped the nape of her neck. Her lips kissed his once, then again, and when she kissed his chin, he nuzzled his face between her breasts. She laughed softly, sat back, and resumed her massage, but it seemed she’d awakened the desire in him as well.

  Logan got up and faced her, bracing one hand on the back of the couch. With his handsome features half cast in shadow, he’d never looked more arresting—or more dangerous. There was no tiredness in his eyes now. She grazed the sides of his face with her fingertips, traced down his jaw, and drew him in. With a sexy half smile, he moved forward and brushed her lips.

  Electric heat ignited inside and she whimpered, lost in his sensual spell. He drew back an inch and dropped his gaze, as if he were about to say something. Maybe now he would tell her what was on his mind, what weighed him down…

  He kissed her, hard, and her thoughts vanished like powder on a breeze.

  His hands took hold of her arms and pulled her up to her knees on the sofa, and she succumbed to the forceful domination of his kiss. He grazed his mouth down her neck with a slow slide on her skin. A shock wave ran through her body as she clung to his arms for support. The straps of her dress were tugged down, and with a little rotation of her shoulders, she helped him pull the dress to her waist. She leaned back on the arm of the sofa, lifting her bottom so he could pull the garment off.

  She watched as he stood up and carefully laid the white gown on a chair and then undressed in front of the fireplace. All that toned perfection, sinewy muscle, and masculine, athletic limbs absolutely sang to her femininity. From his legs, up to his…yeah, that perfect cock… Her heart pounded with excitement. With a quick lift of her lashes, she met his eyes, and a tremor rippled through her. She unhooked her strapless bra and dropped it, opening her arms to him.

  He came down and took her waist to set her on her back.

  A quiver surged through her veins.

  Now that was more like the Logan from earlier tonight.

  The sensual aggression had returned, and she knew he’d demand nothing but her complete surrender. Probing his tongue in her mouth, he gently squeezed her breast, jutting his knee to her legs, making her spread. His hand snaked down her body, the caress a command, his touch controlled. Sliding down inside her panties, his fingers parted her slick center. Her heart seemed to rush to that spot, and she inhaled sharply at the contact. A loan moan escaped her while he tenderly stroked her clit, teasing the nub with slow precision before circling and circling the hard bud.

  “Logan, please.”

  “I know what you like, don’t I?”

  “Y-yes. Oh, yes.”

  He pulled off her underwear and dove down to her breasts. Arching, she moaned as his tongue caressed her sensitive, swollen nipples, dropping one kiss here, another there. She was in heaven, hearing the crackling of the fire as her lover kissed and nipped at her body attentively, taking his time. No other man had ever doted and lingered on her body like Logan did, rubbing his mouth over her hips, licking at her inner thighs.

  With a growl, he grasped her hands and pulled her up. “Come here.” He moved to a sitting position, bringing her with him. She spread her legs to straddle him, passion and longing colliding. Their mouths met again hungrily, and he raked his hands through her hair, unclipped her faux diamond hair clip, and flicked it behind him. Her pussy was soaked and more than ready to receive him.

  They’d stopped using condoms after they’d both gotten their test results last week, and since she was on the pill, it was safe to go without. Jordana liked how they could make love at whim, trusting he only shared his body with her, and vice versa.

  Grinding her hips, lost in sea of passion, Jordana tipped her head back as he pumped his hips. While she panted with wild arousal, he explored the soft lines of her waist, hips, and butt. “You are…” he spoke huskily, “by far the sexiest woman I’ve ever met.”

  The sexiest? She almost laughed breathlessly, feeling a smile tug at her mouth.

  If he thought so, then who was she to argue?

  “So feminine,” he murmured, tracing a sensuous path up her neck. “So mine.” He spoke the last word in a whisper, and she almost didn’t hear him over the blood roaring in her ears.

  His? The sweet possessiveness of that barely understood word stole her breath. Unable to take any more foreplay, she fisted the back his head, poised herself on the tip of him, and slowly lowered as he filled her. The size of him made her gasp, and her tightness made him groan. Panting, the heat of the fireplace at her back, she pumped on his cock, up and down with the wet heat of her pussy enveloping him.

  Logan groaned, gripping her hips, his jaw clenched. He closed his eyes. “Fuck. You own me,” he said, encouraging her to ride him faster, lightly giving her butt a tap.

  She panted, a bright flare of inner fire consuming her every cell. She was unable to discern reality from fantasy. “Logan, I’m coming…” And as the orgasm splintered her soul, she opened her mouth and cried out long, grinding her hips on him.

  Holding her waist, he kissed between her breasts and lifted her from his cock. Turning her to all fours on the sofa, he entered her from behind, and she squeezed her eyes shut as he thrust deep and hard. He leaned down to cup her breast, pumping into her body, murmuring words she couldn’t hear. She dropped her head, closed her eyes, and arched her back, digging her nails into the couch.

  His pace increased, hips slapping against her ass, grunts of pleasure from both of them filling the quiet living room air.

  Faster he moved, softly calling her name as she bumped against his rhythm.

  “Yes, baby. You know…what I need,” he panted. And then with a loud curse, he came, slowing down, still hard inside her.

  So tired, shaky, barely able to move or make a complete thought, Jordana became a rag doll in his hands as he pulled out and brought her back into his arms. With her body tucked close to his, her eyelids heavy, she barely registered the brush of his hand as he moved the damp tendrils of her hair clinging to her neck. He kissed her shoulder and her lips moved in a drowsy smile. The man had thoroughly taken her body to new heights, and while he might not know it, he’d just stolen another piece of her heart.

  Hours later, it was nearly dawn when his hands roused her from a dead sleep. Her eyes fluttered open to see the last moments of night give way to the first glow of sunrise. The living room was cast in a dark orange hue, soothing and peaceful, mesmeric.

  “Wake up, Jordana,” she thought she heard Logan whisper, his hand charting a course down between her legs, his fingers
stroking her until she was wet with need.

  Caught between the last vestiges of slumber and pulse-awakening desire, she moaned as Logan skillfully strummed and teased her sex.

  Panting between parted lips, Jordana’s ache for him bloomed hot and bright, seizing her every cell. She lifted her leg and spread her lips, feeling the head of his cock. Slowly, he pushed inside inch by inch until he was as deep as he could go, thrusting in and out. His fingers dug into her hip as he breathed heavily on her neck, burying his nose in her hair. Interlacing her fingers through his, she bit her lip at the intimate, sensual joining of their bodies.

  He pulled out, moved on top of her, spread her legs, and plunged inside, his manner shockingly desperate all of a sudden. The intimacy faded as he moved, head low, thrusting hard. She tried to meet his gaze, but he wouldn’t look at her, coming down to bury his face in her neck. Her heart lurched with his withdrawal, the disconnection.

  Stay with me. Clinging to his shoulders, she met his pumps and closed her eyes, the rush powerful, unstoppable. Her body paid no mind to her reeling thoughts, burning for her climax as an inexplicable tinge of fear caught hold of her. Tears threatening behind her eyes, she held on to him as he slid his hand from her knee to thigh and back up. He guided her leg wider and thrust deeper, faster. She bit her lip. His name tore out of her throat as a half sob, half plea.

  With a guttural moan, he climaxed only moments after she did, his body stiffening, every corded muscle tight.

  The turbulence of his passion robbed her of speech.

  It wasn’t until she belatedly kissed his jaw and pressed her cheek to his shoulder that he stiffened to slip away and get up. Leaving her cold and a little confused.

  Crossing an arm over her breasts, she sat up, wiped her cheeks, and then ran a hand through her tangled hair, gasping at the giant knots she found.

  Last night she hadn’t even washed the makeup off or combed her hair. She was afraid to see what her morning-after looked like.

  A blanket was thrown around her. Over her shoulder, she smiled in thanks.

  “It’s early,” he said. “Why don’t you go upstairs and sleep in some more?”

  She got the impression he wouldn’t be joining her, seeing as how he was already dressed.

  “Coming with me?” she asked with hope in her eyes.

  “I have a lot of work to do,” he replied. “I’m usually up at this time, even on the weekends.”

  “You slept in when we were in Vegas,” she pointed out, standing up. “Remember?”

  He gave her a warm smile. “Of course I do. I wish we were there right now so I could pretend I didn’t have a care in the world.”

  “But you do.” Now that he’d just had her heart pounding and her lungs screaming minutes ago, she didn’t think she could go back to sleep, but she felt slightly dismissed by his work mode. Which, while she didn’t like it, she understood. He sent her a grateful smile as she made her way to his bedroom and picked up her weekender bag on the way. At least she brought one of her books to work on.

  After washing her face and combing out the massive knots in her hair, she climbed between the cool sheets. His smell was all over the bed, and it made her ache for him to be there with her. There would be no lounging around on a lazy weekend with Logan unless he’d penciled it in.

  The peculiar feeling something had changed between them refused to dissipate. Where this emotion stemmed from, she didn’t know, only hoping her instincts were wrong.

  A flutter in her stomach made her squeeze her eyes shut.

  The last time she prayed her instincts were wrong, they were right.

  ***

  Several hours passed, and Logan had expected Jordana to come downstairs pouting for his attention. Whenever he pulled himself away from a woman’s arms in the name of work, that inevitably happened.

  Not this time.

  Even though he’d been acting like a brooding bastard since last night, she didn’t ask any questions, didn’t complain. Really, she was too good for him, he thought sullenly.

  Disliking how hard and fast he was falling for her, and knowing how easily others saw it, he made a determination to distance himself from Jordana and slow these rapidly growing emotions so he could control them. At least until he got his head out of the clouds and stopped looking like some infatuated sap.

  The ringing of his cell phone caught his attention, and he was surprised to see his father’s name on the screen. He put him on speakerphone. “Top of the morning, Dad.”

  “I knew you’d be up.”

  Logan’s mouth half lifted. “You haven’t called me this early in a long time. Everything all right?”

  “Well, it was—until twenty minutes ago. Can you tell me why your mother is calling me about your love life?”

  Logan paused in his movements. “Say again?”

  “She called me at the crack of dawn asking about this Jordana girl you’re seeing. She wanted to know if I, out of all people, knew who, what, where, and why. I asked her what made her think my grown son would tell me a word about whom he’s dating, and she went off about us being two of a kind, blah, blah, blah. She’s afraid this, er, relationship is serious. Thought since you apparently have been keeping her such a mystery, you’d talk to me about it.”

  “I haven’t been keeping Jordana a mystery. Mom is exaggerating. I can’t believe she called you.” As far as Logan knew, his mom hated speaking to her ex-husband unless it was unavoidable.

  “Fair warning, Logan, you’re driving your mother nuts with your obtuseness. She mentioned something about Vegas and you almost eloping too. Now, that got my attention. Who is this girl who’s got your mom all wound up?”

  Logan rose, picking up his iPad to check one of his financial accounts. “Just someone new in my life, Dad. The trip to Vegas was completely misconstrued, thanks to Libby. It was a crazy couple weeks putting out that fire.”

  His dad made a disgusted noise. “I don’t even want to hear it. One of the perks of living five hours away is not having to deal with your mother’s meddling friends. Speaking of being down here, it’s been a minute since you’ve made a visit. Too busy for your old man?”

  Yes, as you were too busy for me when you were my age. “Maybe I’ll make it down there next month.”

  “You and Jordana should meet us in Miami for New Year’s. Now that’d be fun.”

  Oh, he could just imagine. “I’ll think about it and let you know,” he replied in a noncommittal tone.

  “All right, son. How smoothly are things running with Gerard Hamilton?”

  “As smooth as gravel,” he drawled in a distracted tone as he paced the office.

  Eli bellowed a laugh. “I knew as much. If you want my advice—”

  “I have everything under control. Enjoy your weekend. We’ll catch up later.”

  He chuckled. “Right, right. Bye.”

  What the hell was his mother up to? Trying to ferret out information from his father was odd. Guess he shouldn’t have dashed from the party last night without introducing her and Jordana. He had no doubt his mom would call him soon, since Rachel obviously said something to her about him being taken, after all.

  Damn, he was tired.

  With everything else on his plate, things were moving fast, and for once, he was behind instead of ahead.

  He cursed under his breath.

  Looking up the stairs, knowing Jordana was waiting for him, he wondered if he should ease up where she was concerned, at least until he could handle whatever they had going on in small, manageable pieces.

  No more gossip. No more observations of love in his eyes. No more nosy questions.

  Time to rein it in.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Finally, I get to place a face with a name.” Ashtyn stood to shake Jordana’s hand.

  “So good to finally meet you,” Jordana greeted.

  It had been quite the obstacle course even to get access to Logan’s offices. She had to sign in at the security desk, wait
for a visitor’s badge, and then her arrival had to be announced to reception at the executive offices, with a final approval from Ashtyn Turner. Had Logan been expecting her, it probably wouldn’t have been that difficult.

  With pretty, light blue eyes, a shiny blond bun atop her head, stylish glasses, and wearing a well-designed pencil dress, Ashtyn represented the chic and polished executive assistant.

  “Mr. Savant is in a meeting, but he should be out any second. Here, I want to show you something.” Ashtyn pulled out a notebook. Holding it open to Jordana, she carelessly brushed her manicured fingers to flip through pages and pages of notes. “See the proof of my hard work? It’s all about finding the elusive Jordana Shaw,” she teased.

  “Oh, my.” Jordana admired the meticulous notes. Doctor’s names, receptionist’s names, when she called, whom she spoke to. A red X meant Jordana didn’t work there, a blue question mark indicated no answer, and a yellow said the doctor was no longer in business or had moved. “I’m impressed! That’s a serious investigation.”

  “I took it seriously because Mr. Savant marked it high priority. Every time he asked me if I’d found you and I had to say no, I really felt like I was letting him down,” she laughed. “Anyway, I’m so glad you agreed to be his plus-one for all those events. At times, it’s an exercise to motivate him to attend those things.” She gave a kind, soft smile, cocking her head. “Now he has you.”

  Jordana grinned, taking a seat on the plush leather loveseat. “We had lovely time at the Unchained benefit. Logan said you were supposed to come. Why didn’t you?”

  Ashtyn’s gaze clouded and shifted away, and she closed the notebook and put it away. “My husband had something more important come up. Maybe next year.”

  Sensing heavy disappointment, Jordana was about to ask Ashtyn if she’d like to meet for coffee sometime, but when she heard Logan’s smooth, deep voice from a nearby conference room, her stomach did a hot, fast flip.