“I Never Thought I Could Feel So Much. And For The Past Two Years, That’s What I’ve Done. I’ve

“They looked at each other like they were . . . in love. My chest hurt, and my smile fell. I wished love was visible, like the sparkles on Elena’s gown. Or the shimmer of the sun on skin. Then it couldn’t be hidden or faked.

I wondered what love felt like.

I wondered if it even existed.”

The Maddest Obsession by Danielle Lori

“Would I have still turned out to be the same untrusting, skeptical human I’ve become had I experienced more good times than bad?

Maybe so. Or maybe not. Sometimes I believe personalities are shaped more by damage than kindness.

Kindness doesn’t sink as deep into your skin as the damage does. The damage stains your soul so bad, you can’t scrub it off. It stays there forever, and I feel like people can see all my damage just by looking at me.”

Heart Bones by Colleen Hoover

“There’s only one thing in this world that turns me on. And I love her in lace.”

This Man by Jodi Ellen Malpas

“What are you doing sneaking into my backyard in the middle of the night, stealing my roses?”

Oh, fuck.

I’d completely forgotten about the flowers. Now, I feel them plastered to my rapidly breathing chest, my fingers wrapped around the stems in a death-grip.

I tuck my hair behind my ears with my free hand and explain, “I only took the dying ones. Not the good ones.”

Mr. Edwards throws them a distracted glance like he couldn’t care less about the flowers. “Yeah? Why not the good ones?”

At his question, I lower my eyes to them. I finger the yellowed edges lightly. Some of the petals are so loosened and dry that a puff of air could make them fall apart.

Poor babies.

“Because no one else wants the bad ones,” I say.

“And you do.”

I look up. “Yes. I always want the bad ones.”

Bad things. Bad roses. Bad crushes.

His frown gets even deeper. I almost wonder if he’s doing himself a permanent injury by frowning this much. “Why’s that?”

“Because everyone wants something pretty. Something that’s fresh and beautiful. Something that’s perfect. But then, what about the things that are imperfect? Things that might not be as pretty or as conventional. Things that might be weird, outdated or outcast? They’re not in much demand, are they? They’re not wanted. But I do. I want them. So they don’t feel rejected.”

Dreams of 18 by Saffron A. Kent

“I’m —”

I lean in then and smell the triangle of his throat, cutting him off.

It’s something that I’ve been wanting to do ever since I saw that patch of skin in his office a few days ago.

And now that he’s here, I couldn’t stop myself from giving in and I was right.

I was so fucking right.

His scent is thicker here.

Thicker and headier and I have to open my mouth to take it in.

Leather and cigar smoke.

With a hint of cherries.

That’s new though and I wonder if I can lick it too. I wonder if I could take a bite out of it, his throat. Just to see if it tastes the same as it smells.”

Hey, Mister Marshall by Saffron A. Kent

“You can open your eyes.” Watching her thick eyelashes blink open, I notice absently that she’s wearing less makeup than the first time we met. Less of that black liner under her eyes. When did she make the change? I probably should have—would have commented on it if I wasn’t too focused on the blue eyes themselves to notice how they’re made up. I like her either way…but God, I love her like this. Sucking in a breath over the haphazard Christmas lights, pleasure and nostalgia and joy washing across her features. Damn. I’ve done something right in my life if I get to watch this happen up close.”

Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey

Our chests heaved as we collapsed under the polar moon after our run, the cabin only feet away, the books we’d stolen at my side. For a while, we stared up at the stars inside the deep Norse Woods, the place where all the wild things were. I turned my head to Fallon, watching her chest rise and fall, her stomach dip, her lashes flutter, her mouth part.

“Do you think they know we’re looking at them?” she asked, keeping her gaze in the sky. “You know, the stars?”

My gaze flicked up at the same sky, then back down to her. Her mind held a universe of questions, most of which she already had the answers to.

“I think the stars are probably asking themselves the same question,” I told her, tapping my fingers along her wrist, feeling her pulse kick.

“What do you mean?”

“You believe you’re gazing at the stars, when, in all reality, the entire galaxy is gazing at you.” I squeezed her hand, unsure of why I couldn’t just say I loved her. Why I couldn’t tell her something so real and true. I’d never been good at anything, but I’d always been good with her in my own, strange way.

Hollow Heathens by Nicole Fiorina

“Oh—and in case you forgot, we’re naked. Now, I know some women have issues with their bodies. Maybe you’ve got a little extra junk in the trunk? Get over it. Doesn’t matter. Naked kicks Modest’s ass every single time. Men are visual. We wouldn’t be fucking you if we didn’t want to look at you. You can write that down if you like.”

Tangled by Emma Chase

“I want to defile the prestigious Plaza Hotel by having you ride me like a slutty mermaid in the bathtub.”

Tangled series by Emma Chase