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‘Wake up.’
Oh, God. It was definitely him. She would never forget that seductive baritone—or the wicked things he had done to her body. She threw a panicked look over her shoulder. Why couldn’t she see him? And why was he telling her to wake up? What did he want?
No...
Ethan.
She sucked in her breath, opened her mouth to scream, but the wall of heat suddenly engulfed her and then something hot and firm covered her mouth.
For a moment, a sense of comfort and security enveloped her like a cosy blanket. Then her body stirred in those strange places where she ached, tiny pings of sensation darting along her nerve endings.
Annah came fully awake. She stood beside the bed, held up by strong arms, her breasts squished against the hot, hard planes of a muscular chest.
Luca’s mouth was on hers, and she was kissing him back.
A sound of surprise squeaked in her throat.
He lifted his head. His gaze locked on hers, eyes dark with concern. ‘Are you all right?’ he said after a moment.
She pulled in a shaky breath and nodded.
‘You were going to scream,’ he said.
She nodded again, not yet trusting her voice. He must have kissed
her to silence her. Thank heavens. Imagine if she had screamed. Goodness knew who might have come running and discovered her here in Luca’s room. Victor. Celeste. Eva. The very idea made her cheeks sting with mortification.
Luca stroked her hair back from her face. ‘Were you sleepwalking?’
‘Sort of,’ she croaked. ‘More a panic attack combined with not being properly awake.’ She shrugged, the movement jerky. ‘It’s nothing. It used to happen a lot when Ethan was a baby.’
He frowned. ‘Something usually triggers it?’
‘Not really.’ She eased away from his bare chest and noticed the drawstring pyjama bottoms riding low on his hips and, lower still, the unmistakable tenting of the cotton fabric. Her gaze darted back to his.
He shrugged, a sexy half-smile slanting his mouth. ‘I’ve just been kissing a naked woman.’
Reminded of the fact she wore not a stitch, she clasped her arms across her front and looked at the chair on which her clothes lay. ‘I should get dressed and go check on Ethan.’
‘I looked in on him twenty minutes ago,’ Luca said, surprising her. ‘He’s fine. Asleep.’
She swallowed. ‘What time is it?’
‘It’s only midnight.’ He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. ‘Wait there.’ He strode off, disappeared into his enormous walk-in wardrobe, and came back with a soft towelling robe.
He held it open and she slid her arms in. ‘Thank you,’ she murmured, ridiculously touched by the simple gesture. She tied the robe at her waist and noticed the pool of soft lighting in a corner of the room where a lamp, a coffee table, and two upholstered chairs resided. An open laptop sat on the table. ‘Were you working?’ she asked.
‘Just keeping on top of some things.’
She bit her lip for a second. ‘I... I could go.’
In answer, Luca slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her tightly against him. ‘You’re not going anywhere.’ His gruff statement made her body tingle with a rush of pleasure. He tipped up her chin. ‘You’re going to tell me about these panic attacks.’
The pleasant tingling gave way to a prickle of dismay. ‘There’s not much to tell.’
‘It won’t take long, then,’ he said, his tone dampening her hopes of avoiding a conversation altogether. His gaze dropped to her mouth, the banked heat in his eyes sending a shiver of secret delight through her. ‘And afterwards we will go back to bed, yes?’
She sighed. She hated talking about herself, especially if it made her feel anything less than strong and capable. Knowing what she’d rather do, she pouted her mouth and trailed her fingertip through the dark hair on his chest. ‘Or we could just go straight to bed.’
