Blurb:

Joyce Venera would admit she had a pretty sweet life. She had both a father willing to pay her way and a promiscuous night-life most would kill for in the prime of her life. But just because she had it easy didn’t mean her friends did.

Her best friend, Raven Noels, worked a boring day job as a barista trying to make ends meet while maintaining a rivalry with the Latina bombshell Carmella, who managed to get ahead of her in both social and financial circumstances despite coming from the same upbringing and suffering from the same pain. She felt entitled to a good thing and believed she had found it in Dominic Santos.

Naturally Joyce was inclined to help her friend get the guy she was crushing on. There was only one little problem…she was already sleeping with him.

Tensions rise as she tries to help Raven connect with him while keeping her in the dark about their carnal nights. And what starts with entering his inner circle of friends ends with her finding herself in love for the first time and the pain that come with it.

College Days & Carnal Nights: Spiral of Firsts is the first of a brand new series in the New Adult Genre and follows the lives college students from different origins running through the motions of Love, Betrayals, and Misunderstandings.

Warning! This novel contains graphic sexual scenes and language only appropriate for readers 18 years or older. All characters depicted in this story are over 18 years of age.

Excerpt:

Joyce saw her father out and waited for him to drive off before she called out loud enough to reach Mike through the walls. “He’s gone!”

The door opened and Mike walked out, honestly happy for her to have regained a bit of control over her life again.

She ran up and embraced him, giddy with joy and high on elation. “It worked! It worked!”

He remained calm in contrast to her excitement that seemed to swell and render her speechless.

Unable to find decipherable words for how she felt, she allowed her body to express itself, taking them both by surprise as her lips lunged for his and connected. With her conscious mind catching up to her body and pulling back her head, Joyce found herself swallowing as the looming sensation between them that moment seemed to spark something. “Um…”

“What was that?” Mike asked, noting the subtle shift in emotions and atmosphere. Everything seemed lighter and he felt himself getting warmer and his throat dry.

Joyce herself couldn’t explain it. Was it just gratefulness for everything he’d done? No, that was part of it, but not the whole. There was something deeper that led to the kiss that was spontaneous and…well, not bad.

It was a compulsion that rose up from her subconscious, a base desire that she hadn’t experienced before. The manifestation of that feeling she had but couldn’t describe before now until that instant. Thus, when she wrapped her arms around his head and started breathing heavier as she inched towards his face again, it was somewhat of a surprise to her as well.

“I don’t know,” she admitted, eyes closing softly as her head moved on its own. If she had to explain how it felt, it was as though the morning sun had shone on a budding rose and caused it to bloom within seconds, an event that should be slow arising instantly. It was intoxicating, sending her heart into a frantic beat as her body screamed for her to indulge in what was about to transpire. “But it feels…nice…”

At the same time Mike was also unable to escape the torrent of familiar emotions that followed—one that was a blend of lust and love he had suffered for in the past. It was like a nostalgic and raging landslide, rushing forward and barreling over all doubts and fears and dragging them into a single mass of uncertainty. Lust-fueled thoughts and genuine concerns blended seamlessly as she kissed him again and bewitched him with the softness of her lips.

It was a gentle feeling, as soft and pliable as a marshmallow while just as sweet, different than the raw and lewd ecstasy of sex, but satisfying all the same. Moreover, it was addictive. The fact that they managed to separate after for a moment seemed almost painful.

Joyce leaned more into his larger frame, unsure of what was guiding her but following at what felt like the promise of a greater pleasure than ever before if she continued. Whatever it was between them now was powerful, even if spontaneous. Without a second thought she kissed him thrice more, putting her full weight into it as the rush of sweet desire swallowed them both and rationality faded to the backdrop.

Their minds and bodies gave up control and gave into something greater until they split apart in response to the need for air.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s come over me. You’re different from the other guys I’ve been with, in a good way.” Joyce had a soft smile on her face, clinging to his warm body as a sense of security and comfort flowed into her. “I just like being near you and touching you…”

“You think you’re in love with me?” he asked skeptically, eyebrows arched.

“I’ve never been in love before,” she reminded him gently of their conversation during the car ride that night at the club. “Is this what it’s supposed to feel like?”

“I think so…” He recalled the long-lost relationship that normally tore at his heart. Only this time he could clearly feel traces of what there was in the beginning, before the ugliness. “The last time I was in a relationship it felt the same at first. Unable to keep your hands off one another, the need to be touched and everything…”

“In that case…” Joyce trailed off as she looked into his eyes again. She wanted more of the foreign experience found within the husky man she was with, more of his warmth and everything that entailed. “Listen, I know this must be awkward and the fact that I might not be right in the head, maybe even a little needy, but…would you like to go out with me?”

“I don’t know. Rushing seems like a good idea now and the first part is fine while the high is there, but what’s waiting there after the magic fades away? Being in love is like being on drugs, great for a moment but the consequences stick for a lifetime.”

“I want to try.” She lifted his hand and interlocked her fingers with his. “I want us to try. In all honesty, even though this feeling is so new to me and almost overwhelming, I think it’ll be fine. This is our bodies telling us that this could work, that we can guide each other—you can teach me what love is and I can show you that you’re perfect the way you are.”

“I…I guess I’m just being paranoid,” he conceded, putting on a fragile smile as he looked down. “Maybe this is fate’s way of telling us to try, given how we suddenly met and then meshed. I mean, we just happened to randomly bump into each other outside the diner and go to the same university—”

His voice didn’t reach her after that as the pleasant feeling in her stomach dropped when he mentioned that meeting. The one she orchestrated. She considered telling him it wasn’t so much fate as it was a plot to get close to him and wring out information…

That sounds bad, she concluded.

In the end, she couldn’t confess out of fear. Fear that this delightful feeling they shared would become tainted if she admitted it was built up on less than nice intentions, rather than fate. Fear that the sweet man in front of her would be hurt once again. So she embraced the lie as her new truth.

Giving him another kiss and losing herself in his crystalline-blue eyes she asked, “Where should we go for our first date?”

“It’s been awhile since I’ve done this so…can I get back to you on it in a few minutes?”

“Sure.” Joyce broke the hold she had on him and placed her hands behind her back as she backed away. “I’m gonna go change into something comfortable and call up Eve and tell her I’m in love for the first time. I’m so excited!”

Mike watched her until she entered her room and then sighed with a small, unsure smile. It honestly felt like they were rushing things and he had been burned before. Sure she didn’t mind he was a little husky, but in the past his ex didn’t either. Was he really ready to get back out there?