When she brushes past me I act on instinct, wrapping my fingers around her wrist and gently tugging her body back toward me until we’re chest to chest. I run one hand down her spine to the edge of her dress and drag my fingers up until they’re cupping her ass cheek. My other hand cradles her chin, my eyes dropping to watch as I brush my thumb over her wet bottom lip.

“Stay,” I say quietly, my voice guttural and raw. Lifting my eyes to hers, I watch as she first watches my thumb before hooded eyes meet mine again. “Stay the night with me, Luce.”

“I thought you’d want me to go. I was trying to make it easy on you.”

My heart thumps in my chest at the realization that she thought I wanted her to leave.

“I don’t want you to leave. We’re not finished tonight,” I add with a wry smile.

The fist that’s been threatening to squeeze that last breath out of me all night clenches. My breathing is tight as I wait for her answer.

She hesitates for just a second, her eyes scanning my face, studying me before she nods and smiles, then confirms her decision with a quick brush of her lips against mine.

Something has shifted between Lucia and I. Something I want to explore.

Something that scares the living shit out of me.

I open my eyes to a sun-filled bedroom, freezing in place when the bed moves behind me.

It wasn’t a dream.

Lucia’s soft, warm body nuzzles into my back. Her small satin-smooth hand glides over the middle of my spine and around my chest while she places soft kisses on my shoulder, rubbing her cheek against my skin as she goes.

“Morning.” Her gravelly sex-filled voice makes my hard-on throb and demand attention despite the scattered senses holding me back.

Now it’s morning, the haze of lust is no longer clouding my perspective.

Last night was a turning point for me—for us. We have to talk today. I need to gauge her thoughts on whatever this is that’s building between us and ascertain what she wants moving forward. All I know is I haven’t felt so affected by a woman, so utterly confused and conflicted at the same time as being aroused and alive¸ in a very long time, if ever.

Rolling over toward her, I lower my head to hers. I ease my tongue into her mouth as I push her onto her back. Resting my weight against her supple flesh, my forearms lie on either side of her head as my hands tangle in her hair. Our kiss is soft and slow, full of exploration and discovery. There is no rush to be anywhere, no worry about being interrupted, and no desire on my part to ever get out of this bed.

I raise my head, regretfully pulling my lips away from her swollen delectable ones and smile down at her as my hands run over her cheeks to cup her face. “Good morning.”

“That was a very thorough way to say good morning”

“And what do you think about the direction I’m taking?”

“Oh, the direction you’re heading in is perfectly fine. In fact, it seems we’ve reached an unexpected stop sign that no longer requires your adherence.”

Smiling down at her, I find myself loving the mischievous gleam in her eye. The one she gets when she’s teasing me, and she’s not afraid to show me she’s enjoying every minute of it—as am I.

“Do you have plans for the day?” I ask, as my fingers caress her temples in slow methodical circles. She closes her eyes and moans as her fingers bite into my shoulders.

“Hmmm.”

“A bit distracted there, Luce?”

“Your hands are too damn good. Where have you been hiding all my life?”

I can’t help it. With the mask left shattered downstairs, I no longer feel bound to keep up appearances. At this juncture, if Lucia didn’t like what she saw, she wouldn’t be lying in my arms and in my bed right now. I need to move past the circumspect existence I’ve been abiding by in order to move forward.

“What was that look?” Luce asks quietly, snapping my eyes back to hers.

“What look?”

She lifts her hands to my face and gently traces my frowning brows until her fingers meet between them. “That look. It was like a dark shadow crossed your door then disappeared just as quick.” Her eyes scan my face slowly. “It’s rather disconcerting when you’re lying naked beneath a man whose beautiful face is marred with a frown. So again I ask, what was that look about?” Her voice is determined and forceful, leaving me with no doubt that she wants an answer and preferably the truth.

Can I trust my instincts to discuss this openly and honestly? Something I haven’t done with anyone other than Grant and even then, that was a fair few years ago when we’d both had copious amounts of tequila and were lying drunk on a Mexican beach? Do I really want to take the risk of disgusting her with my truth, the forbidden desires I’ve held for so long? Or worse still, face the threat that these very desires pose if they were to be made public?

“I’m finding myself off my game when it comes to you.”

Her fingers twitch against my cheek and her eyes widen slightly. “Really?” Her eyes flutter as she starts to shut down, and I fear that the small insight into my vulnerability has changed her opinion of me. “Look, I know I kind of took over last night, but there is no way I was ever in control. I know that, Callum.”

My lips curl up. “Beautiful Lucia, control is never an issue between you and I. And last night, you blew my mind—”

The adorable grin returns. “Among other things . . .”

That sense of humor of hers, the mischievous gleam in her eye telling me she’s enjoying this causes a full, beaming grin to make an appearance. “Yes, among other things.” I take a deep breath and shift to the side, not wanting the full weight of my body to lean against hers.

“Breathe, Cal. You can talk to me. You can trust me.”

I study her, but there is nothing except sincerity written all over her face. “I’m starting to believe that.”

“Then let me in. That guard you have has been missing in action since last night, and I like it. I want to get to know the man behind the face, behind the papers, the reputation, and the profile. I want to get to know you.”

“Few people get to know the real me.” My voice is wistful as I look up and stare out the window, distracting myself with the bright blue cloudless sky. Luce’s fingers twitching on my cheek draw my attention back to her.

“I’m sensing that too.” Her fingers roam my face, gently touching, tracing the lines and contours. Her eyes never once leave mine, silently encouraging me to reveal more of myself.

“I’ve always been a private person. There are some parts of me it’s safer to keep to myself.”

“Like last night?”

I nod, the words clogged in my throat. How am I supposed to tell her what I fantasize about? How am I to know she won’t freeze beneath me and flee? “I—”

“There are boundaries you want to push?”

Clearing my throat, I carefully calculate what I want to say so that there can be no misinterpretation or miscommunication. “Yes. That is one way to describe it.”

“Are you a dominant? Do you need control?”

Lifting my spare hand up, I reach behind and grab my neck, rubbing it with my fingers when the muscles start to tighten up. Releasing the long, slow, deep breath I’d been holding in, I think about what I can say and how I can say it. “I like it. But I don’t need it. Not in the way you think. It’s hard to articulate.”

“You articulate just fine, Cal. You’re not going to have me running for the hills.”

“You sure about that?”

“Are you some hardcore sadist that dreams of inflicting infinite amounts of pain on me?”

“Fuck no.”

“Let me tell you what I think. Last night only served to commit me further to the cause of shattering that glass box you surround yourself with.”