Page 195 of Modern Romance December 2025 1-4

Especially him.

Because this time, she melted into him without any chains to hold her back. This time, she wrapped her arms around his neck, something Jovi would normally never allow, but it was different when it was Rux.

For many reasons, but most crucially, because the way she held on to him allowed him to kiss her that much more deeply. And he found that there was very little he wouldn’t do for a result like that.

He kissed her and kissed her, and the flames that roared through him nearly took over everything—but he had the presence of mind to remember that they stood near windows. And that he knew better.

With what small part ofhimremained, he picked her up again and this time she held on and crossed her legs around him so her ankles dug into the small of his back and her thighs gripped him too. And when he made a groaning sort of sound that, she pulled her head back to look at him.

“Jovi—” she began.

“Quiet,” he muttered, and kissed her, but he didn’t let himself linger.

He also didn’t put her down. With one hand, he cupped her spectacular ass as he went to make sure the door was locked and bolted. Then he walked through the main room with all its windows and into the dark cave of the bedroom in the back.

“You really do have a thing against windows, don’t you?” she said as the darkness of the bedroom swallowed them whole.

“I have a thing against snipers,” he replied shortly.

And he supposed it was a reminder of what kind of people they were and what kind of lives they’d both led that all she did was nod.

Jovi didn’t need any lights to know where he was going, or any time for his eyes to adjust. He simply walked forward, waited until his shins found the bed, and toppled them both straight down into the mattress.

He didn’t land with all of his weight on her, but he gave her some of it and felt that melting sensation inside intensify when she made a little sighing sound, a softer echo of the noise he’d made before.

And it was possible—probable—that lying down with her like this was a mistake, he acknowledged, but he didn’t give a shit.

They were on a bed together and she was beneath him and he thought that if he didn’t make her come at least three times, he might explode.

He told himself that there was truth inthat, anyway. There was only honesty in a woman’s orgasm and men like his cousins who joked about not letting their women finish, or suspecting that they were faking—

All you’re doing is telling on yourselves, he had told them once, and had only shrugged at the chorus of invective and character assassination.If all you do is disregard a woman’s pleasure, you might as well use your hand.

Another thing his cousins hadn’t cared for, particularly Carlo.

But he didn’t need to remember the women he’d been with, or care about them at all, to appreciate the radical, intimate knowledge a woman’s orgasm allowed him.

And once heknew, he didn’t have tofeel.

Jovi stretched out beside Rux. He took her jaw in his hand and he kissed her even more deeply than before, making it long, lingering. Making it dirty and deep.

And when she was writhing there beside him, he let his other hand move down the length of her body.

He didn’t stop kissing her, but he quickly became consumed with the shape of her. Oh, he’d paid attention to her before. He hadn’t been able to keep himself from noticing every detail—but this was different.

This wasn’t work.

He gathered her wrists in one of his hands and stretched them high over her head. He made a low noise of approval as her breasts jutted out, and settled in beside her to finally free them from those ridiculous cotton pajamas she wore. He could have finessed the buttons, but he didn’t—choosing instead to yank them free, sending the buttons scattering.

And he felt her shiver each time a button popped. It felt like a gift.

Jovi couldn’t recall the last time he’d received anything like agift.

When he finally spread the panels of the pajama top open, he could see that one of his suspicions had been true. That flush that started on her cheeks moved all the way down her neck to redden her breasts as well.

Clearly he had to taste it.

He started at her temple and took his time tracing that blush of hers. Over the arch of her cheekbone, then the cheek below. He skirted her distracting mouth, finding his way to the column of her neck instead. She smelled like candy and she tasted sweeter still, and for the first time in his life, Jovi found himself combating what could only be a sugar high.