Best Erotic Romance

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Foreword

  Introduction

  WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS

  FIRST NIGHT

  ANOTHER TRICK UP MY SLEEVE

  DRIVE ME CRAZY

  ONCE UPON A DINNER DATE

  HE TENDS TO ME

  GUEST SERVICES

  MEMORIES FOR SALE

  BLAME IT ON FACEBOOK

  THE DRAFT

  TO BE IN CLOVER

  HONEY CHANGES EVERYTHING

  CHEATING TIME

  OUR OWN PRIVATE CHAMPAGNE ROOM

  TILL THE STORM BREAKS

  THE CURVE OF HER BELLY

  DAWN CHORUS

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  ABOUT THE EDITOR

  Copyright Page

  FOREWORD

  Shayla Black

  Erotic romance. The words sound divine and naughty. They conjure up images of silk sheets, heavy breathing, steamy nights, damp skin, and pleasure beyond our imagination. But more than that, erotic romance says something about us on a deeper level. It’s not just sex. Erotic romance marries our hopes and fantasies, our dreams and desires. Erotic romance opens a gateway to deeper connections to other people through the most physical expression of our bodies.

  The stories of erotic romance connect our sexual selves with the romantic in us. From a writer’s perspective, it’s the marriage of two established genres: romance and erotica. Romance is a genre full of hope and fulfillment. We read it in hopes of finding our perfect mate, our very best tomorrows, and the rich emotional lives we’d like to lead. Romance is a journey about people finding one another. It’s a fantasy that teaches us that no matter how dire the circumstances, true love wins out. It’s the reader’s path to believing that everyone has a destined someone and no one will be forever alone.

  Classic erotica is one person’s journey to self-fulfillment through sexual expression and exploration. Trying new things with new people to create new boundaries and norms is what makes erotica so appealing. Every scenario is open to interpretation, to emotional expression. The sky—and human experience (with a bit of embellishment for fantasy)—is the new limit.

  When we put the two genres together, it creates a reading experience that embraces eternal hope and deep sensuality at the same time. It’s the ultimate expression of body and soul together. It’s a journey that leads us to both our heart’s desire and our self-actualized personal best, all because we expressed our deepest sexual self with the person we love and formed a bond meant to last through either a meaningful encounter or the rest of our lives.

  Erotic romance takes us to the deepest part of ourselves, forces us to dig deep and ask what we really want. What are we willing to overcome for sex? For love? For something we’ve always longed for? It allows us to explore deeper longing, deeper conflicts, and even cross boundaries that we wouldn’t cross in real life. It allows us to forget our mundane daily existence.

  Join these writers on their journey. Embrace these stories for what they are: a true mirror of our inner needs, our longing to combine souls, to discover our truest selves. Explore. Fantasize. Wonder. Romance opens worlds for us. It teaches us to reach for what seems too far away. Enjoy the fight, the conflict, the growth of these characters. Romance is often called a flight of fancy, a genre in which to lose oneself, but there is a truth to romance that serves the greater good. We need to escape our day-to-day lives. We need our happy endings. We need to believe that we can be complete. Join us on this journey and let your fantasies feed a deeper truth. We are not alone. We are only whole when we truly love both ourselves and another human being.

  And the journey never ends…Enjoy.

  INTRODUCTION: SIMPLY THE BEST

  What does it take to be the best? That’s the question I kept in the forefront of my mind as I edited Best Erotic Romance. And so, when I sat down to sift through the submissions, I found myself reading many of the stories two or three times. It’s a complicated process, trying to determine what makes a story the very best of the genre. Obviously, excellent writing and storytelling are key, but I also looked for stories with characters I could believe in and root for. Characters I could fall in love with, just as they were falling in love (or finding ways to stay in love).

  I am delighted to present this inaugural collection of Best Erotic Romance, the collection that I hope will set the bar for future editions. These are the stories that touched my heart and ignited my libido, that made me think about the nature of desire and the unpredictability of the human heart. Each of these seventeen stories weaves love and passion so tightly that one cannot be separated from the other. And isn’t that what a lasting relationship is all about? The need for connection and commitment, memories and history—and hot, wanton, uninhibited sex with a partner who knows us better than we know ourselves.

  From tales of love (and lust) at first sight, such as Delilah Devlin’s “Drive Me Crazy” and Nikki Magennis’s “Dawn Chorus” to stories of established couples still passionate for each other, such as Andrea Dale’s “Memories for Sale” and Kate Pearce’s “Cheating Time,” the stories in this collection show that true love lasts, real passion never waivers, and lovers who are meant to be will always find their way back to each other. These lovers aren’t afraid of going after what they want, whether it’s long-lost love in “Blame It on Facebook” by Kate Dominic or a hot threesome between a married couple and a female friend in Erobintica’s “Till the Storm Breaks.”

  The authors in this collection know that opening one’s heart comes with great risks and often greater rewards and that open communication and a spirit of adventure can make for a scorching sex life. They have created characters who believe all is fair in love and war and who take no prisoners in their quest for emotional and sexual fulfillment. Here you will find lovers exploring their desires in bedrooms, heating things up in the kitchen, splashing around in the bathtub, playing with sex toys, drinking champagne, getting it on in hotel rooms, staying warm in winter cabins, flirting in trucks and bars, making out in the great outdoors, and making love at dawn and midnight—all in the name of that greatest of all human desires: true love.

  So, dear reader, I invite you to explore this delicious collection of erotic romance selected especially for you. I think you will find that what makes a story the best of its kind is the same intangible that makes people fall in love. It’s magic, I think. And when it comes to love and war, there’s only one thing I know for sure: love wins. Love always wins.

  Kristina Wright

  In love in Chesapeake, Virginia

  WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS

  Sylvia Day

  It was 115 degrees in Las Vegas, but Paul Laurens could have sworn the temperature dropped from the chill in his former lover’s gaze.

  Robin Turner entered the Mondego Hotel’s ground-floor lounge like a gust of arctic air. Her long blonde hair was restrained in a sleek chignon and her lush body was encased in a pale blue dress that wrapped around her curves and tied at the waist. Nude-colored heels gave the impression that she was barefoot, while a chunky aquamarine necklace circled her throat like ice cubes.

  Paul’s grip on his beer bottle tightened and his dick thickened in his jeans. How they’d ended up in bed together was still a mystery to him. One minute they were riding the same elevator and the next he was riding her, the attraction so fierce and immediate he couldn’t remember how they reached his room or even shed their clothes.

  Taking a long pull on his beer, his gaze followed Robin’s progress across the barroom. She approached a booth where a guy in a suit stood to greet her. The man kissed each of her cheeks before they sat. Paul knew he couldn’t stay in the same room with her and not have her, so he gestured for
the bartender and ordered a martini extra-dirty to be sent to her table.

  “Your brews are popular,” one of the cocktail waitresses said as she collected the drink and placed it on her tray. Her smile was an invitation. The way she looked him over made sure he got the message.

  “I’m glad to hear that,” he replied, breaking eye contact to convey his lack of interest. Convincing the Mondego to carry his microbrews had been his first toehold in Vegas. The resort’s contract funded his biweekly trips to pitch his product to other establishments in the area, which in turn had allowed him to have Robin for a year. His weekends with her had been the most valuable and treasured blocks of time in his life.

  Until four months ago, when he’d fucked up and lost her.

  Tossing some bills on the bar, Paul vacated his barstool and carried his beer out to the elevators. He’d left flowers for Robin with the front desk, along with his room number in a note. Although he knew she must have checked in yesterday, she hadn’t contacted him. He’d tried to convince himself that she was busy getting ready for the jewelry trade show that opened today in the hotel, but that look she’d just shot him proved the lie. His only consolation was that she wasn’t indifferent to him. He could only hope that meant she wasn’t totally over him. He’d take whatever he could get from her right now—an argument, a slap to the face, anything at all. As long as it gave him the opportunity to say what needed to be said.

  He was stepping into the elevator when he smelled her. Inhaling deeply, Paul pulled the fragrance of vanilla and something flowery deep into his lungs. Awareness sizzled down his spine and fisted his balls, his dormant sexual needs stirring after months without her. He hit the button for his floor, then moved to the back of the car and turned around. As Robin took up a position beside him, anticipation thrummed through his veins. He briefly wondered what excuses she’d made to her companion, then he pushed the thought aside. He didn’t give a shit. The only thing that mattered was that she’d followed.

  An elderly couple and three suit-clad gentlemen entered the car and faced the doors. As the elevator began its ascent, Robin balanced on one stiletto, drawing Paul’s gaze. He watched as she pushed her underwear down, pulling one leg free and then the other.

  Jesus. His dick throbbed with eagerness and fantasies of stepping behind her, lifting her dress, and pushing into her right there filled his mind.

  A soft ding signaled the first stop. The businessmen got off and four teenagers in bathing suits got on. Training his gaze straight ahead, Paul reached over and slipped his hand inside the overlapping front of Robin’s dress. She sidestepped closer, putting him slightly in front of her, inviting his touch. He cupped her baby-soft hairless pussy, his fingers curling between her legs and finding her hot and damp. His dick swelled further, and he finished his beer to hide a telling groan.

  The car stopped again and the elderly couple exited. As the teenagers moved out of their way, the lone girl in the group glanced at Paul. Interest flared in her kohl-rimmed dark eyes. She checked him out, reading his brewery’s logo on his T-shirt and eyeing the tattoo that peeked out from beneath the sleeve. She was following the line of his arm down to where he was parting the lips of Robin’s cunt when the two boys with her spread out in the absence of the couple and cut off her view.

  Robin sucked in a sharp breath when he pushed his middle finger inside her. Her tight, plush sex sucked at him greedily, and his eyes grew heavy-lidded, lust riding him hard. Pressing his heel to her clit, he massaged her, getting her ready for the pounding drives of his cock. He’d meant to talk with her first, but she was hot for it and God knew he was hot to give it to her. Stumbling through his life without her had been torture. At times, he thought he’d go insane from the need to hear her voice and feel her body against his.

  The kids stepped off at the next stop. The car continued its ascent to the forty-fifth floor with only the two of them on board.

  “I’ve missed you,” he said gruffly.

  In answer, she thrust her desire-slick pussy into his hand. “You’ve missed this.”

  Her cool voice sliced into him, but her body betrayed her. She was scorching hot and delectably wet. As he finger-fucked her juicy cunt, soft sucking noises filled the car. Her composure lost, she gripped the brass handrail and moaned, shamelessly widening her stance.

  The moment the car reached his floor, Paul pulled his fingers free and caught her up, tossing her over his shoulder and dropping his empty bottle in the trash can conveniently placed just outside the elevator. He had a condom between his teeth and his keycard in hand before he reached his suite. Kicking the door open, he propped Robin against the inside of the stationary half of the double-door entrance. His button fly was open before the latch clicked shut.

  His jeans dropped to the entryway’s tile, the weight of his chained wallet hitting the floor with a thud. A moment later, her lacy underwear fell from her fingers and fluttered down. As he sheathed his cock in latex, Robin pulled her dress up to take him. Paul paused to look at her, his chest tightening. She was unruffled elegance above the waist and a walking wet dream below it. Her legs were long and lithe, her sex pouty and glistening.

  He’d been dead when she came into his life, frozen in grief over the death of his son and the subsequent dissolution of his already-broken marriage. That first elevator ride with Robin had been like a flipped switch, jolting him out of his coma. She’d forced the air back into his lungs and the blood back through his veins. He had begun to live for the weekends he spent with her, craving her laughter and smiles, her touch and her scent.

  But when she’d suggested they take their relationship to the next level, he had panicked, prompting her to walk out on him with her head held high and his heart in her hands.

  Reminded of how damned lucky he was to have her ready and willing again, Paul pinned her slender body against the door and took her mouth in a lush, hot kiss. His lips sealed over hers, his tongue gliding along the lower curve before slipping inside. She was stiff at first, resistant, which got his guard up. When it came to physical intimacy, they’d never had any barriers between them.

  As he stroked his tongue along hers, Robin reached for his cock and slung one leg around his waist. She jacked him with both hands, making him so hard and thick he groaned into her mouth and slickened her fingers with pre-cum. She used him to prime herself, massaging the tiny knot of her clitoris with the head of his dick. Impatient, he brushed her hands aside and tucked his cockhead into her slit. She was so ready, he slipped through her wetness and sank an inch inside her. As her cunt fluttered around him, his chest heaved with the loss of his control. What he wanted was to nail her to the door with pounding thrusts; what she needed was to know that he was committed to making their relationship work.

  “Hurry,” she hissed.

  Before he could rein himself in, her hands gripped his ass and yanked him into her. The unexpected thrust sent him tunneling deep. His palms hit the door on either side of her head and a curse burst from his lips.

  “Robin, baby,” he growled. “Give me a damn minute.”

  But she was already coming. With her head thrown back against the door and a purely erotic moan of pleasure, her cunt tightened around his aching dick like a tender fist. When the delicate muscles began milking his length in incredible ripples, he lost it.

  “Ah, shit,” he gasped, feeling his balls tighten and semen rush to the tip of his cock. Gripping her ass in the palms of his hands, Paul fucked her convulsing pussy like a mad man, banging her with hammering strokes. The violent orgasm was the rawest of his life, the pleasure so pure and hot he couldn’t stop the growls that tore from his throat. Or the words. “Robin...fuck...I love you, baby. Love you...”

  Dripping with sweat and shaking, he sagged into her as the white-hot ecstasy eased, his hips grinding mindlessly as he emptied himself inside her.

  She shuddered in his arms and a soft sob escaped her. “God... You’re an ass, Paul. You know that?”

  Fucking brillian
t. He finally told her how he felt and it lacked all grace or romance. She’d walked away thinking he just wanted to get laid, and he’d hardly redeemed himself by cursing out his feelings in the middle of a full-throttle, no-preliminaries screw that had probably been heard by every guest on the floor.

  His forehead touched hers.

  Her arms fell to her sides, her exhales gusting over the perspiration-damp skin of his throat. “I have to go.”

  Paul’s gut knotted. He couldn’t let her walk out again. He wouldn’t survive it a second time. Gripping her behind the thighs, he hefted her up and kicked free of his boots and wide-legged jeans. In just his socks and shirt, with his dick still hard and buried in the sweetest pussy in the world, he carried her to the bedroom on shaky legs. “Not until you hear me out.”

  “I heard you loud and clear the last time.”

  Gritting his teeth, he pulled free of her and dropped her on the bed. Before she could scramble away, he caught her ankles and lifted her legs high and spread them wide. He looked down at her succulent pink pussy, the plump folds glistening with her desire. “I wasn’t done. I’m not done.”

  “I’m done.”

  He licked his lips, hungry for the taste of her. “We’ll see about that.”

  Recognizing the intent in Paul’s hazel eyes, Robin struggled to back away before he destroyed her again. She loved a man who was damaged. She could work with that if Paul wanted to heal, but he didn’t. The look on his face when she’d suggested they rendezvous in his hometown of Portland had told her all she needed to know—she was his biweekly screw, his hot piece in Vegas. And everyone knew what happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas.

  She’d walked out of his hotel room that night with the intention of not looking back. She had told herself Paul Laurens was just a brief spate of madness in her life. But watching him leave the bar just now had been too much for her. She’d left her brother at the table without a word, chasing a man she couldn’t recover from.