22 NSFW Sex Scenes From Romance Novels That Leave You Begging for More

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Whether you’ve only dipped your toe in 50 Shades of Grey or you’re a longtime connoisseur of bodice-rippers, it’s never a bad time to dive back in to your favorite romance novels — or even just replay your favorite scenes. And if you’re new to erotica, welcome! Romance novels are an often-overlooked category of literature, but it won’t take you more than a few chapters to realize engaging characters and a page-turning plot can exist right alongside sex scenes so raunchy and explicit they have you reaching for your favorite vibrator.

Between erotic Anne Rice classics, millennial rom-com romance novels by Jasmine Guillory, Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series and so, so much more, there’s enough material here to keep you reading under the covers well beyond lockdown. And if you don’t know where to start, check out these extremely NSFW sex scene excerpts below.

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A version of this story was originally published in 2020.

Bridgerton: The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

“Simon stopped breathing until her forefinger touched his nipple, and then his hand shot up to cover hers. ‘I want you,’ he said. Her eyes flicked downward, and her lips curved ever so slightly. ‘I know.'”

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

“He focuses on my mouth, then back to my eyes again, then back to my mouth. ‘Tate,’ he whispers. He says my name so softly I’m not even sure if his mouth moves. I don’t have time to respond. His hand leaves the button of my shirt and slides through my hair at the same moment as his lips connect fiercely with mine. He slides his body on top of me, and his kiss instantly becomes intense. Deep. Dominating. His kiss is full of something that’s never been there before. Full of feeling. Full of hope.”

You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria

“‘Just touch me,’ she whined, arching impatiently against his hand. He couldn’t make either of them wait any longer. Slowly, he brought his middle finger down and slid it gently over her folds. Jasmine threw her head back. ‘God, yes. Keep going.’ He did it again, this time his fingertip slipping between and gathering her wetness. He parted her with two fingers and found her clit, rubbing it in small circles. She cried out against his lips, and was lost. The taste of her, the smell of her, the feel of her so close against him, skin to skin. Time and space had no meaning anymore. There was only her.”

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Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibber

“He found the strip of condoms he’d packed, ripped one open, managed to roll it on with gritted teeth. Maybe she would’ve done it for him, and maybe that would’ve been hot as hell, but since he wanted to actually get inside her before he went off like a gunshot, he needed to keep touching to a minimum.

Of course, as soon as he thought that, she grabbed his hair and dragged him down, pressing all her soft, lush curves against his body. Her skin was hot and damp from the exertion of her orgasm. Her pussy was wet and open, ready for him, begging for him as she spread her legs and reached down to grasp his erection. In his ear, she whispered, ‘Hard, please.’”

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

“Two fingers worked into her, and her eyes rolled back into her head. He began a steady rhythm as his tongue flickered over her, and she couldn’t prevent her hips from rising to meet his thrusts. Oh God, she was riding his hand, smothering his face with her sex. That had to be bad. She told herself to stop. She couldn’t. Somehow, she found her hands tangled in his short hair. Her body was coiled tighter, grasping at his fingers, so wet now she could hear the slippery sounds every time he drove back into her.”

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

“Making out with him in bed was even better than it had been against the door. Now he knew what she liked, the moves that made her moan and gasp and sink her fingers into her shoulders.

He sat up and smiled down at her, his eyes on her bright red panties. She mentally thanked Maddie for ordering her to wear a matching bra and panty set. Then all thought s of Maddie and anyone else left her mind. He moved like a flash down her body, pulling those panties off as he went and throwing them across the room. And then he set about doing things to her with his fingers and his mouth that almost made her black out.”

The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by Anne Rice

But even as he smiled, he felt the hot fluid between her legs for the first time, the real fluid which had not come before with her innocent blood. “That’s it, that’s it, my darling,” he said. “And you mustn’t resist your Lord and master, hmmmm?”

Now he opened his clothing and took out his hard, eager sex, and mounting her he let it rest against her thigh as he continued to stroke her and work her.

She was twisting from one side to the other, her hands gathering up the soft sheets at her sides into knots, and it seemed her whole body grew pink, and the nipples of her breasts looked as hard as if they were tiny stones. He could not resist them.

He bit at them with his teeth, playfully, not hurting her. He licked them with his tongue, and then he licked her sex, too, and as she struggled, and blushed and moaned beneath him, he mounted her, slowly.

Again she arched her back. Her breasts were suffused with red. And as he drove his organ into her, he felt her shudder violently with unwilling pleasure.

An awful cry was muffled by the hand over her mouth; she was shuddering so violently it seemed she all but lifted him on top of her.

Bared To You by Sylvia Day

“My head thudded against the glass, heat pulsing through my blood from the point where his tongue was driving me mad. My leg flexed against his back, urging him closer, my hands cupping his head to hold him still as I rocked into him. Feeling the rough satin strands of his hair against my sensitive inner thighs was its own provocation, heightening my awareness of everything around me…”

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

“You’re mine, mo duinne,” he said softly, pressing himself into my depths. “Mine alone, now and forever. Mine, whether ye will it or no.” I pulled against his grip, and sucked in my breath with a faint “ah” as he pressed even deeper. “Aye, I mean to use ye hard, my Sassenach,” he whispered. “I want to own you, to possess you, body and soul.”

50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James

“He leans down and kisses me, his fingers still moving rhythmically inside me, his thumb circling and pressing. His other hand scoops my hair off my head and holds my head in place. His tongue mirrors the actions of his fingers, claiming me. My legs begin to stiffen as I push against his hand. He gentles his hand, so I’m brought back from the brink … I come instantly again and again, falling apart beneath him … then I’m building again … I climax anew, calling out his name.”

Lick by Kylie Scott

“‘God, David.’ I arched against him when he moved to my other breast. Two fingers worked inside me, a little uncomfortable but nothing I couldn’t handle. Not so long as he kept his mouth on me, lavishing my breasts with attention. His thumb rubbed around a sweet spot and my eyes rolled back into my head. So close. The strength of what was building was staggering. Mind-blowing. My body was going to be blown to dust, atoms, when this hit. If he stopped, I’d cry. Cry, and beg. And maybe kill… I came, groaning, every muscle drawn taut. It was almost too much. Almost.”

Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin

“When she saw that he was dissolved with pleasure, she stopped, divining that perhaps if she deprived him now he might make a gesture towards fulfillment. At first he made no motion. His sex was quivering, and he was tormented with desire… Marianne grew desperate. She pushed his hand away, took his sex into her mouth again, and with her two hands she encircled his sexual parts, caressed him and absorbed him until he came. He leaned over with gratitude, tenderness, and murmured, ‘You are the first woman, the first woman, the first woman…'”

Night After Night by Lauren Blakely

“He drove his tongue inside her, setting off another shattering moan that was music to his ears. She was quite an instrument to play, so finely tuned, and if he touched her right, she made the most glorious sounds — raw, intense, absolutely delicious noises of pleasure as he plundered her with his tongue. She grabbed his hair, yanked and pulled him closer as he’d told her to do. He thrust one finger inside her, crooking it and hitting her in the spot that turned her moans into one long, high-pitched orgasm. She shuddered against him, her legs quaking, and when he finally slowed to look up at her, he saw her hair was a wild tumble, and her face was glowing.”

Exit to Eden by Anne Rice

“Then his hands came to life. He went as if to rub his wrists, then he reached for the blindfold, his fingers dancing right in front of it without touching it, and then he reached out for me. I jumped. He caught me by the arms, wrapping his fingers all the way around them and bringing me forward. And then he realized I was naked, and he felt my sides and my breasts, giving a little startled noise.”

The Sexual Life of Catherine M by Catherine Millet

“Ringo came and took his place on top of me, while the third boy, who was more reserved than the other two, rested on one elbow beside us and ran his hand over my upper body. Ringo’s body was very different from Andre’s, and I liked it better. He was taller, more wiry, and one of those men who isolate the action of the pelvis from the rest of the body, who thrust without smothering, supporting their torso with their arms. But Andre seemed more mature to me, his flesh was not so spare, he already had less hair and I liked going to sleep bundled up next to him with my buttocks against his belly, telling him we were a perfect fit.”

Sex Love Repeat by Alessandra Torre

“‘You are mine,’ he grunts out, pumping into me, the length and level of his arousal brutal. ‘Mine,’ he swears, as he releases my mouth and turns me around, pushing me forward as he yanks my legs back, one hand hard on my back, the other gripping my ass. He doesn’t slow the movement, giving me full, hard thrusts, my breasts bouncing from the top of my dress, the mirror above the sink giving me a full view of my slutdom. Paul, in worn jeans, a white tee-shirt, light hair mussed, mouth open, intensity over his face. His reflection pulls at my hair, tilting my head back, and I find his eyes on mine in the mirror.”

The Rogue Not Taken by Sarah MacLean

“He spread her wide and she closed her eyes at the touch, lewd and lascivious and lovely, at once thankful for the darkness and quite desperate for the light. ‘Did you touch yourself?’

“She shook her head, her hands searching for him. Finding his soft hair. ‘No.’ He stopped again and her fingers curled against him. ‘It’s true. I didn’t. But …’

“He blew softly on the exposed center of her. ‘But?’

“She inhaled, the breath ragged and not enough, and though it was he who knelt, it was she who confessed.’But I wanted to.’

“He rewarded her honesty with his mouth, consuming her like fire, his tongue stroking in long, slow licks, curling in a slick promise at the hard center of her pleasure, and she lifted her hips to meet his remarkable mouth, not caring that the action could be called nothing but wanton. She did want. She needed.”

Wolf Among Sheep by Sara Dobie Bauer

“‘Kiss me, Avery,’ I whisper. He slips his lips against mine once before opening my mouth with his tongue. I moan and pull his body down tightly against me, skin to skin. No teasing this time, my journalist. I will feel you. All of you. He sucks on my lower lip. He runs his fingers through my hair. Then his hand is on my breast, thumb on my nipple.

“Noelle is at our side, watching, touching herself. Only once does she lean forward and suckle at his shoulder. His mouth leaves mine and finds hers. He earns a delicious purr before I pull on his hair to get him back to me.

“I am dripping, and I can feel Avery, hard against my stomach, bigger than my husband. I wonder if Timothy will like that or turn Avery into a submissive pet, punished for his obscene show of masculinity. Then, he’s pressed to my opening, but he freezes. I look into his curious eyes. ‘Yes,’ I sigh.”

The Match of the Century by Cathy Maxwell

“He kissed her ear, as he said, ‘I don’t want either of us to ever forget this night.’

“She answered by plastering her mouth on his and kissing him in a way she’d never thought possible, her hips moving against him, knowing there must be more. Ben settled himself between her legs. She cradled his hips with her thighs. And then he was at the portal. The sharp pain she had once endured was a distant memory, and nothing, absolutely nothing in this world, felt as good as the sensation of him slowly sliding into her.

“‘Are you all right?’ he asked. He sounded as if he was holding himself in check, as if it took all of his will to do so.

“Elin arched and stretched beneath him. Her movements sent him deeper, and she liked that. ‘I’ve never been better,’ she practically purred.”

The Surrender Gate by Christopher Rice

“The sudden, delicious sense that Jonathan is hers, for now, entirely and completely hers, fills her with as much force and speed as his hard cock. As his thrusts gain a steady tempo, she brings her hands to his pecs, his nipples, down his abs, clamping her legs around his waist, driving him further into her until their sweat-slick bodies are sliding together, and he’s whispering in her ear, ‘I never knew you were such a dirty girl, Emily Blaine.'”

Enchanted by Nancy Madore

“When at last I entered his chamber, I was positively quivering with excitement. The Beast was sitting in a chair in a remote corner of the darkened room. Removing my robe, I positioned myself on the edge of the bed in just the way he liked best, as was my habit. Within seconds I was soaking wet and aching for him. That’s the way it was for me with the Beast. It was enough just to wait there, trembling and poised on my hands and knees, anticipating what was to come, to bring about that kind of response in me.

“I had not even heard him move when suddenly I felt his crude hands caressing my soft skin. ‘Turn around,’ he said suddenly in a gruff whisper.

“I paused for a moment, stunned.

“‘I want to see your face tonight,’ he said simply.”

The Juliette Society by Sasha Grey

“He starts to kiss me, softly, sweetly, tugging at my lips with his.

“He cups my breast, brushes the nipple with his thumb.

“I reach down and stroke myself where all the sweat gathers, where the smell of my sex is strongest. I stroke it and then lick my fingers and stroke it some more.

“He gently bites my top lip, sucks it. Tugs at my nipple, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger.

“I feel it harden.

“I feel him harden.”

A version of this article was originally published in April 2014. 

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