One night. No one will know.
HATE TO WANT YOU
Forbidden Hearts #1
Alisha Rai
Releasing July 25, 2017
Avon Books
Alisha Rai, one of contemporary
romance’s brightest stars, makes her Avon Books debut with the first novel in
the sexy Forbidden Hearts series!
One night.
No one will know.
That was
the deal. Every year, Livvy Kane and Nicholas Chandler would share one perfect
night of illicit pleasure. The forbidden hours let them forget the tragedy that
haunted their pasts—and the last names that made them enemies.
Until the
night she didn’t show up.
Now
Nicholas has an empire to run. He doesn’t have time for distractions and
Livvy’s sudden reappearance in town is a major distraction. She’s the one woman
he shouldn’t want . . . so why can’t he forget how right she feels in his bed?
Livvy
didn’t come home for Nicholas, but fate seems determined to remind her of his
presence—and their past. Although the passion between them might have once run
hot and deep, not even love can overcome the scandal that divided their
families.
Being together
might be against all the rules . . . but being apart is impossible.
Excerpt (Rated R)
Despite
her ridiculous schoolgirl outfit, she wasn’t the girl she’d been when she left
town. Her hair, her clothes, even her attitude was subtly different. He’d
watched every change happen over the past decade in a time-lapse video. There
was nothing he didn’t like about the differences in her now.
Dangerous.
Right.
Right. This was about sex. Nothing else.
She
headed down the walkway, the flickering streetlamp in the parking lot
burnishing her hair with red and black. She didn’t wobble a bit on her
pencil-thin heels, reassuring him that though she’d been in a bar, she wasn’t
anywhere near intoxicated.
He
got out of the car, taking care to pull his collar up and lower his head,
feeling ridiculous as he did so. He was a grown man. Who cared if he had sex
with another consenting adult?
Lots
of people, starting with his father, but he wasn’t going to think about them
right now.
His
strides were longer than hers. Her heels and skirt made it difficult for her to
do more than mince. He made it to the door a second after she got it open, and
followed her in, kicking the door shut behind him. She stripped off her light
fall jacket and tossed it on the floor. “Liv—” was all he had a chance to say
before she was in his arms, shoving him back.
It
was dark, the only light coming in from the crack between the dingy curtains.
Her lips pressed against his, and he inhaled the scent of her, each drugging
kiss making his head spin. She crawled up him like he was a pole, her arms and
legs clutching for balance.
It
took him only a second. One second of having those red lips devouring his
hungrily, one second of that hot sinner’s body pressing against his own, and
all semblance of rational thought flew out of his brain.
Who
cared about tomorrow? He was too enflamed to wonder about anything but the here
and now. Too excited to even consider this a bad idea. He kissed her back as if
he would die if he didn’t get her mouth, licking and sucking and memorizing the
very taste of her. He slid his hands over her ass, gripped her luscious cheeks
tight, and spun her around, pushing her up against the door.
He
ripped his lips away, holding her from him when she might have forced her way
back. “How do you want it?” he growled. He had an inkling, from the signals she
was broadcasting, but it had been a while since he’d had to read those signals.
“Hard
. . .” She scraped her nails over the back of his neck. “Use me. Make me feel
it tomorrow.”
The
wild look in her eyes was sharper than he’d ever seen it, and it ramped up his
own lust. He dragged his hand over her ass, rubbing the fabric against her
bottom. “This outfit is indecent.”
Her
lids dropped to half-mast, and she arched her back. “You don’t like my clothes?
I’m heartbroken.”
“You
look like a schoolgirl.”
She
tightened her legs around his waist, rubbing up on him. Her heat and wetness
was obvious, even through the twin barriers of her underwear and his pants. “A
naughty one? Who needs to be punished?”
He
should feel ridiculous, but instead his body hardened more, blood engorging his
dick. “So naughty.” His hand slipped up her leg to her hip and the strip of
fabric there. He used his other hand to arch her back farther, feathering his
fingers up her spine. “I could see your ass while you were walking outside.” He
traced his hand around the waistband at her back and clenched the fabric in his
wrist, pulling the bikini and her tights taut, digging into the folds of her
pussy. Her eyes widened.
He
tightened his grip. “Were you purposefully strutting around in this skirt, your
ass hanging out of it?”
“N-no.”
“You’re
lying. Do you know what I do to liars?”
Her
nails dug into his skin. “Tell me you spank them.”
A
red haze swam in front of his eyes, and he pushed her legs down so she was
standing. Then he grabbed her by the waist and spun her around to face the
door.
He
grasped her by the hips and pulled her to stand with her back in an arch, then
flipped up that ridiculous plaid skirt. It took him a second to lower her
tights to her thighs. Her red panties barely covered the curves of her ass,
making him growl. He didn’t know what bar she’d been in, but he imagined her
seated in some dingy smoke-filled dive, anonymous bastards salivating over her
tight body. Fuck, all it would have taken was one shimmy, and everyone could
have gotten a free show, these tempting round globes exposed but for the silly
scraps of fabric she’d put over them.
You
have no right to be jealous.
He
palmed her cheeks, rubbing his thumbs over the plump flesh. “Do you know how
badly I wanted to pull you onto my lap and flip this skirt up the second I saw
you?”
“To
fuck me or to spank me?”
“Both.”
She
arched her back more, her ass wriggling. He didn’t think, merely lifted his
hand and smacked one full cheek, his rational, caring side standing far apart
and watching in horror. He’d never spanked a woman before. As scrappy as Livvy
was, he hadn’t thought she’d like this.
Her
moan suggested otherwise.
He
got it. He got the appeal of this, with Livvy bent over in front of him, legs
spread, skirt lifted, red panties exposed, and the hot flesh of her ass filling
his hand. He slapped her other cheek, and she moaned again, louder. Hell. He
could see the appeal of literally doing anything with Livvy, to be honest.
“Was
that okay?” he had the semblance of mind to ask her.
Her
hands had braced against the door, and her fingers curled in. She nodded, her
red-streaked hair rippling over her back.
His
next tap was harder. “You’ve been so bad, Livvy. Tempting all those men
tonight. Tempting me.” He smacked her again. “You’ve never stopped tempting
me.”
She
whimpered. “I’ll stop.”
“We
both know that’s impossible.” He squeezed her left cheek, dropping to his knees
behind her. With his teeth, he carefully lowered the panties over her ass to
meet the rolled-up waistband of her tights. He stayed there, luxuriating in her
body as he pressed soft kisses over each cheek, punctuating each tender touch
with a slap of his hand.
When
she was rocking back against his mouth, he pulled away. He came to his feet.
Unable to take his gaze off her tight body, he walked backward until his knees
hit the cheap bed. Nicholas slid down to sit on the floor, his back supported
by the bed. The sliver of streetlight illuminating the room highlighted her
sweet, reddened buttocks. He tore at his jeans, growling when his hand met his
throbbing cock. He needed to jerk off or get in her pussy. Something. Anything.
Literally whatever would relieve this ache as soon as possible.
She
peeked under her arm and straightened, skirt dropping down to cover her bottom.
A
crime, covering that butt.
Livvy
stripped off her tights and panties and then turned to face him. “Nicholas?”
He
ran his hand down his cock once, then twice when he noted the hunger in her
gaze as she watched him fondle himself. He grazed the tip, and his body jerked.
“Take off your clothes. Shirt first.”
“Do
I have to?” Her breathless question was pseudo-innocent.
“Unless
you want to be punished.” How he’d punish her, he wasn’t sure. More spanking?
Licking her until she wept with the need to orgasm? Fucking her until she
screamed?
These
didn’t sound like terrible punishments for either of them.
Her
fingers fumbled with the buttons of her shirt, and she undid them one by one,
so slowly he knew it was a tease. He tightened his hand on his cock, because he
knew if he didn’t, he’d demand she come over here so he could rip the offending
material right off her.
She
stripped it off her shoulders, leaving her in her bra, her toned belly inviting
his lips.
“Now
the bra.”
She
unsnapped the front snap and drew both cups of red lace away from her breasts.
They were perky and lifted on their own, the small handfuls the perfect fit for
his palm. Her brown nipples were tight and pointed, giving away her excitement.
Her breasts rose and fell, her gaze locked on his hand. He made his pulls
slower and more explicit, both to give her a show and to make sure he didn’t
blow too quickly.
Her
hand dropped to the waistband of her skirt, shoving it down, leaving her
completely naked. She licked her lips, making the remnants of her lipstick
shiny and vibrant. He imagined those lips wrapped tight around his cock, him
whispering, Suck me, while guiding her head over his
lap.
He
shook his head, trying to shake the filthy image from his brain, and released
his cock. “Come here.”
She
walked over. Her hand unselfconsciously slid over her belly and pussy. She was
wet and hot and plump, nearly hairless, save for a small landing strip. The pot
of gold tattooed at her hip was a dark shadow. “Closer.”
What I thought about Hate to Want you
Livvy Kane and Nick Chandler were childhood sweethearts torn apart by tragedy. Even though they have loved each other since childhood, their feuding families keep them apart except for one night a year when they enjoy one illicit and steamy night together. It's sort of a Romeo and Juliet love affair that goes on, for one night only.
I really liked Livvy. She's not afraid to acknowledge and feel her emotions, even when she is dealing with some fairly serious mental health issue by way of depression. This aspect of Livvy's life is handled with sensitivity and compassion and it fit so well into the story. Nick has a harder edge, but these two complement each other very well, and that's what makes them work in spite of their families differences.
There was more to this story than I thought there would be. This is my first book by Alisha Rai, and I'd heard some buzz in my twitter timeline about her writing, so I wanted to see what it was all about. Hate to Want You is a nicely done romance that doesn't skip on the steam or the story and I really liked that about this contemporary romance.
The heat level can be pretty steamy with this romance, and pushes the edges of bdsm play. It worked well for me because there were so many emotions swirling around during these scenes that made it exciting and interesting and had these characters connecting in a way that made sense for them.
There's a lot of pent up anger, frustration and tension in this story, between the drama that goes on between the two families and the forbidden love between Livvy and Nick. As I said earlier, there's a lot of emotions and they are drawn beautifully by the author.
So overall, an engaging and sexy story. Looking forward to more from this world.
An ARC was provided for review.
Alisha
Rai pens
award-winning, sexy, contemporary romances and is the first author to have an
indie-published book appear on The Washington Post’s annual Best
Books list. She spends most of her time dreaming up sexy heroes and heroines,
traveling, and tweeting. To find out more about her books or to sign up for her
newsletter, visit her Website.
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Thank you for reading and reviewing HATE TO WANT YOU!
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