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Chapter 4
Evie moaned at pleasurable sensations. She was in a state of half slumber, having this incredibly pleasant dream. Hot hands were caressing her body, touching her most indecently, and yet she couldn’t help but enjoy the feeling. She’d had similar dreams before, but this time, it was a little different.
The hands were expertly flicking her nipples, cupping her breasts in a way that shot wicked sensations down her belly. Her nipples turned into hard, aching peaks, and she leaned firmer into the caress, wanting more of the contact, needing more of the contact.
She felt a tingle low in her belly, demanding something. Evie whimpered and shifted restlessly, pressing her buttocks against something hard and hot behind her. One hand moved down from her breast to caress her ribcage, her belly, and lower still.
Evie caught her breath as the hand cupped her most intimate place. She was jolted awake by the sensation and jumped in reaction, but arms hard as steel and hot as coal kept her in place.
This wasn’t a dream anymore. Evie’s eyes widened. She was being caressed so intimately by… She managed to collect her wits enough to remember that she was sharing a bed with a notorious rake!
But it was so delicious that for a moment, Evie was tempted to stay in bed and let him do whatever he wanted with her. As long as he didn’t stop. But as pleasurable as the sensations were, she knew this wasn’t right; she needed to get out of bed.
She wriggled again, and her buttocks ground against a hot, hard rod. Her breathing grew heavy, either from shock or from excitement. Her body felt like it was on pins and needles. She squeaked and managed to untangle herself from Gabriel’s grip. She shot out from the bed and stared at him wide-eyed.
Gabriel groaned and propped himself on one elbow, looking as confused as she felt. His hair was falling over one half of his face, his lips were plump, and his chin was covered with light stubble. All in all, he looked sinfully delicious yet boyishly innocent. Evie had an inexplicable urge to crawl back into bed and kiss him senseless.
“What?” Gabriel rubbed his eyes with his knuckles. “What happened?” His voice, low and hoarse from sleep, sent a pleasant tingle down her spine. His untidy appearance gave him a roguish look and somehow made him so much more handsome. The unfairness of it all, of him looking so gorgeous, of her wanting him beyond reason, made her irritable.
“What happened?” she gasped, fairly bristling with indignation. “You tell me!”
“What are you talking about?” He looked extremely confused, and understanding finally dawned on her. He was so used to spending his nights with his lovers that he was caressing her in his sleep, without even realizing what he was doing. Here she was enjoying his touch, wishing she could spend eternity in his arms, and he was asleep! He wasn’t even touching her; he was touching some other woman in his dreams.
“Never mind,” she grumbled and turned away from him. Tears of indignation burned at the back of her eyes. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Hadn’t she been affronted just a moment ago that he was touching her so scandalously? And now she was upset that he wasn’t aware that he was touching her.
Oh, Evie, you are such an idiot. She rummaged through her valise, took out her brush, poured cleaning powder on it, and walked to the washbasin. Gabriel groaned and collapsed back on the bed, throwing one arm over his eyes.
“Something’s bothering you,” he said.
She threw him a glance over her shoulder. A sheet was covering him from thigh to abdomen. The rest of him was naked.
“Dm lws shep laken?” she asked while brushing her teeth.
Gabriel chuckled. “Did you say something?”
She spit and turned to face him, her hands gripping the washbasin from behind. “I said, do you always sleep naked?”
Gabriel took his arm from his eyes and surveyed his appearance. With a shrug, he returned his arm to cover his eyes. “I do, actually. I don’t own a night shirt. I went to bed in a robe last night, but I obviously took it off during the night without realizing it. I’m not used to restraining clothing while I sleep.”
“Obviously not,” she muttered under her breath.
“You see,” he continued, as he sat up in bed, regarding her intently. “I am not used to sleeping in a bed with a woman without… actually bedding her.”
Evie felt a fierce blush creep up her neck and onto her face. Curse her fair skin.
“You are shameless,” she said, for lack of a decent reply.
“I have to be. I’m a rake, remember? Couldn’t go far with shame pulling me down.”
Evie looked down at her feet. She could practically feel his gaze like a caress.
“All right, tell me,” he coaxed. “What did I do?”
Her head shot up. “Nothing.”
“Look, I am really not used to this. I spend almost every night with a woman. So, if I did something untoward in my sleep, it was an involuntary reaction. Nothing personal.”
Evie felt as if a huge boulder was stuck in her throat.Nothing personal. Of course, it wasn’t personal.
