Page 14 of Modern Romance September 2026 Books 5-8

Fuck.

I’ve never wanted a woman this much. Have never been attracted to one so deeply it aches to not be touching her.

What if I want you to? She’s killing me. “It wouldn’t be right.” I turn and walk into her suite. I just need to put distance between us. Get out of her room and go back to mine.

“Why not?”

My laugh comes out strangled as I head for the door. “You’re my client.” I reach it. Wrap my fingers around the handle. One turn, a few steps, and I’m out the door.

I tell myself to do it. Turn the handle. Leave.

Instead, I look back over my shoulder.

She shouldn’t look so good in a simple sweater and leggings. She’s not even wearing makeup, I think irritably. Her hair is still damp from her shower, hanging in wet, dark ringlets around her elfin face. The light pink of her top makes her look so young, innocent, a stark reminder of the fourteen years between us.

But there’s nothing innocent about the way those black leggings hug the curves of her hips, follow the long lines of her legs down to her bare feet.

Her tongue darts out, flicks over her full bottom lip. I groan as I imagine her tongue on me. On my chest, my abs, my cock.

“I told myself tonight I was going to pretend to be just a woman.” She breathes in, the sound echoing throughout the cavernous room. “No crown, no title.”

She looks at me with such boldness it traps the air in my lungs. Yet beneath the boldness is a hopeful sweetness, a hope I’m suddenly afraid of smothering.

I meant what I said in the gondola. I will never get married. Will never promise a woman love and all the trappings that come with a ring. Not after seeing the hell that was my parents’ marriage. Not after being trapped in that foster home where every so-called gesture of affection came with conditions and expectations. Loving someone means surrendering control. Every time I’ve done that, I’ve been ripped apart.

Did you find what you were looking for?

Sophaya sees me. Sees past the walls into parts of me I’ve kept buried in the dark for decades. That should be a warning. But now, in this moment, it only makes me want her more.

“I can’t offer you more than one night. And after tonight, we would be bodyguard and client for the remainder of my contract.”

Triumph gleams in her eyes. “I’m only asking for one night.” She sucks in a breath, the motion making her pert breasts rise and fall beneath the fabric of her sweater. “Will you pretend with me?”

No. “Yes.” I try to keep my breathing controlled, to keep my heart from pounding. “Birth control?”

“I’m on the pill.”

“Are you okay with just that?”

My words register, and her lips part. “I’d like that. I’ve only been with one person, and we always…” A blush steals over her cheeks. “Always used a condom.”

“As have I.” The thought of taking her, of being the first man to take her bare, has me struggling to keep a grip on my control. “I haven’t been with anyone since before I started working with you. My last test was clean.”

Her eyes gleam. “As was mine. So what are we waiting for?”

I nod once, watch as she turns and closes the doors to the balcony before walking over to the wall and flipping a switch. The room goes dark, lit only by moonlight and the lights of the Grand Canal filtering through the gauzy curtains.

I don’t know how long we stand there staring at each other. But when she takes the first step toward me, my restraint shatters. I cross the room, my heart thudding in my chest. I wrap my arms around her, yank her small, slender frame against me and lower my head. Our lips meet.

And my world explodes.

We rip at each other’s clothes. The woman I once thought of as a prim, proper princess grabs the edges of my shirt and yanks. Buttons scatter as she places her hands on my bare chest. Her sharp inhale is like music.

I fist my hands in her sweater and yank it overhead, make quick work of her bra before I fill my hands with her breasts. She moans as she yanks my shirt out of my waistband. Her fingers fumble with my belt, then still as her head drops back on a long moan when I suck one taut nipple into my mouth.

We’re both fevered. Desperate. I try to slow down, but I can’t. My hand splays across her back as I devour her.

She pulls my belt loose. Grabs my zipper and pulls it down, slides her hand past the waistband of my briefs. My chuckle turns to a low-throated growl as she wraps her fingers around my cock. I raise my head from her breasts, reach down and capture her wrist.