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“Says the woman flailing about. Just put on your regular pajamas. I can control myself.”
“I was being thoughtful, Luca. There’s no need to be rude about it. Anyway, I’m fine now that I took my pants off. I’ll survive the night.”
He made a grumbling sound. “Go to sleep.”
“I plan to when you stop talking to me.”
He went quiet then, and I stared up at the ceiling, trying to force myself not to wish for his arms around me.
Eventually, I fell asleep.
I woke to a hand on my bare breast and my back cradled against a hard chest. Luca’s hot breath was on my neck, and in his sleep, his thumb rubbed my beaded nipple.
“You took your shirt off,” he murmured.
Okay, not sleeping.
I opened my eyes, peering down at myself. I was naked except for my underwear.
“Shit. I don’t remember doing that.”
His laugh was gritty and low. “You really hate wearing clothes to bed.”
“Despise it.” I wiggled back to steal some of his heat. “How did we end up in this position?”
“I woke up here.”
“And you didn’t immediately vault out of the bed?”
His teeth nipped my shoulder. “Are you complaining?”
“Just asking. I have no complaints at all.”
We stayed like that, Luca holding me and stroking my breast, me pretty much basking in the contact. He was aroused, and my panties were soaked, but neither of us made a move to take it further.
In a lot of ways, this was as far as we’d ever gone. The intimacy of these quiet moments soaked beneath my skin and embedded in my heart. I wanted this, but I was so afraid to voice it. Luca had been explicit in what this was and wasn’t, and he hadn’t wavered from that.
Was this wavering?
I shut my eyes, closed off my thoughts, and enjoyed the unparalleled bliss of waking in this man’s arms.
Clara showed no signs of going home. This was her third night here, and judging by how clear her eyes had been the last two mornings, she really was resting better in our guest room.
Neither Luca nor I could possibly begrudge her presence. Clementine had taken to her also, curling around her belly when Clara sat down, purring to her little heart’s content.
I slipped between the sheets wearing a black satin nightgown. It was my longest, least embellished gown. But Luca looked at me like I was armed to the teeth.
He was on his back, reading a novel. I’d learned Luca preferred science fiction. But he rested it on his chest to look at me.
“Hey, you,” I said softly.
With a sigh, he knocked his book to the floor and opened his arms. “Come here.”
Without a single beat of hesitation, I threw myself onto him. My leg draped over his, arm curled around his bare middle, my head snuggled on his shoulder. Locking his hand on my hip, he dragged me a little closer.
Neither of us said a word about what we were doing. It was like we both knew if we did, it would break the spell. We would have remembered why this was off-limits.
I wasn’t going to be the one to replace the space between us. Luca would have to kick me across the mattress to be rid of me.
