Page 31 of Modern Romance September 2026 Books 1-4

She buried her head in his neck, overcome with sensation, his hand still between her legs, cupping her. He’d just made her come, with his wicked mouth and hand.

She’d had orgasms before, when she’d touched herself, but never like this. Waves were still ebbing through her body.

She lifted her head and he said, ‘You’re so responsive, moro mou, it’s seriously sexy.’

‘What does that mean? Moro…moo?’ Her tongue felt thick, unwieldy.

Something flickered over his face for a moment and then he said, ‘It’s Greek, a term of endearment.’

And then he said, ‘If we don’t move, I’m going to take you on this couch.’

Hope said, ‘I don’t think I can walk.’ She felt like jelly all over.

‘Hold on.’

She did and Axel rose in a fluid motion from the couch and carried her out of the living area and into the hall and then up the stairs. Thankfully there didn’t seem to be anybody else about.

She was half naked. He was still fully dressed. He brought her to his bedroom and she had a glimpse of dark luxurious furnishings. But she didn’t care about that. They could have been in a hut on the side of a mountain.

Axel put her down on the side of the bed and Hope watched him as he stripped, revealing himself to her. Fully clothed the man was a titan. Formidable. Astounding.

Naked, he was simply…ridiculous. His skin was dark golden. There wasn’t one inch that wasn’t honed to perfection. Muscles defined and rippling. He was a god. Literally.

Her gaze tracked down from his broad chest to washboard-flat abdomen, narrow hips and the cradle of his masculinity where there was no mistaking how he felt about her. His erection was big. She’d never thought of that part of the male anatomy as particularly beautiful, but he was beautiful. And potent.

He said, ‘Hope, I can’t wait much longer.’

She looked up, mouth drying at the way he was staring at her. She stood up and felt gloriously unselfconscious in her nakedness. She tugged the dress off and then her underwear. She lay back on the bed. She’d never felt so in the moment. All concerns and considerations gone.

Axel emitted something else in Greek. Hope felt a little thrill to think that she was witnessing his civility being stripped away. His golden gaze tracked all over her body and then he disappeared into the bathroom. Hope came up on her elbows, but then he was back and rolling a protective sheath onto his erection and Hope felt a moment of regret that they’d have a barrier. She wanted to feel him skin on skin. She wanted to feel him explode inside her. It was a desire rooted in something very primal. An urge to mate.

Thank God he couldn’t read her mind. He would be gone so fast she’d have whiplash. And also, since when had she felt a powerful urge to procreate? She knew she wanted family some day, but it had been an abstract thing, not a…driving need.

It was as if, since meeting Axel, her biological clock had started ticking in earnest.

She moved back on the bed, taking up space in the middle. And then his hands were on her legs, pushing them apart. She’d never been so exposed in front of someone but she felt heady with adrenalin and excitement.

Axel came down on his hands over her and lowered his head to hers, covering her mouth with his. Drugging her with a deep kiss, not touching any other part of her body yet.

Then his mouth moved down, trailing along her jaw, and neck, shoulder. Her breath came quicker as he moved closer to her breasts—she was aching for his touch again and he didn’t disappoint, lavishing attention on each peak in turn until Hope was writhing under him, hands seeking to find purchase on any part of his body. Fingers struggling to wrap around his biceps, then tangling in his thick hair as he moved down, over her belly and down further to where her legs were splayed in wanton invitation to take her.

He put his hands on her thighs and knelt before her.

‘You are the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen.’

Hope was too delirious with lust to argue.

He was looking at her as if he’d never seen a woman before. It was unbelievably flattering. That sensation of feeling so…chosen hit her again and she had to push it down because it was dangerous.

He came down before her and she felt his breath on her inner thighs, then his mouth and tongue. She gripped the sheets under her hand and held on for dear life as Axel used his tongue and mouth on her, finding the sweet hot spot between her legs where every nerve ending was screaming for release again. And it didn’t take long. She exploded within seconds. She might have been embarrassed if her brain hadn’t liquefied.

Axel was over her now, on his hands, his body between her legs.

‘OK?’

All Hope could do was nod. She was boneless. And yet, as she took in Axel’s muscles bunching as he fought to give her time, she felt her inner muscles fluttering. She knew that whatever she’d experienced up to now had been a mere precursor.

‘I’m ready, Axel…’ It did occur to her to tell him exactly how inexperienced she was but right in that moment she was afraid to burst the bubble.