was lying on a beach, cradled by soft, sugar-white sand. The turquoise waters of the Caribbean lapped in gentle waves, caressing her bare feet, the crash of the surf steady and hypnotic. Above, the sun shone bright in a robin’s egg blue sky. Occasionally a puffy white cloud would drift across it, providing a hint of shade, but mostly she just felt warm and content.
Except her nose. That was really cold.
Actually, so were her cheeks. She lifted a hand, pressing her fingers against her face, wondering how her skin could be so cold when she was lying in such deliciously warm sunshine.
Beside her, a man groaned, as if he, too, was loving the feel of the sun, and the island breeze blowing across his skin. The sound was intriguing, and she moved closer. He was hot against her, big and powerful, with sweat-slickened muscles that she traced with her fingertips. She kept her eyes closed, not needing to see his face, somehow sensing she already knew who it was.
Or, maybe a little afraid she wouldn’t see the face she wanted to see.
“Mmm,” she moaned as she pressed her cheek against his chest. Languorous heat slid over her; she was lulled by his rhythmic exhalations, and by the sound of his steadily thudding heart.
Wait. Too scratchy. He should be bare-chested.
She waited for the dream to change, waited for the feel of slick, male skin against her face. Instead her cheeks just got colder, and the texture against her jaw scratchier. Not smooth, slick skin. Something like…wool?
Though she desperately wanted to grab the dream and sink into it again, she’d passed the tipping point into consciousness and knew it was no use. The dream was over. She was awake. Her face was cold because she was trapped in a building with no power and no heat. It was scratchy because…because… .
She opened her eyes. Waited to let them adjust to the darkness. Saw a shape. A body. A scratchy sweater on which her cheek had been resting. A neck. A face. Oh. My. God. Ross. Ross?
She froze, unable to move a muscle as she tried to understand. She’d gone to sleep alone, worried, angry, wondering what would happen tomorrow if nobody came to check the building.
And had woken up in bed with Ross Marshall.
It was him, no doubt about it. The guy who’d broken her heart, the one she’d sworn would never get close enough to hurt her again, was sleeping beside her in the fold-out bed! Not just beside her, but practically underneath her. Apparently, in her sleep, she had curled up against him, raising one leg and sliding it over his groin, her arm draped across his flat stomach, her face nestled in the crook of his neck.
She was practically humping the guy.
And he was sound asleep.
Lucy’s first instinct was to leap up and run. Her second, to grab a pillow and beat him over the head with it, demanding to know what the hell he was up to.
But then her brain took over.
Because, as far as she could tell, Ross hadn’t been up to anything except sleeping. She’d been the one getting all creepy-crawly, sucking up his warmth while she’d dreamed of exotic beaches and blazing sunshine. Probably not too surprising, considering Ross was still just about the hottest man she had ever laid eyes on. Even in the nearly pitch-black room, it was impossible to miss the sensual fullness of his mouth, the slashing cheekbones, that angular, masculine face. His lashes were sinfully long for a guy, hiding those jewel-green eyes.
All the coldness she’d been feeling, at least on those parts, which weren’t covered by Ross, dissipated. There was only warmth now. In fact, certain places of her anatomy throbbed with it.
She was suddenly very aware of the position of her arm across his waist, how it dipped low on his hip. Her leg had slipped so comfortably between his, she was almost afraid to move, lest she wake him. But staying like this was torturous.
Because it was simply impossible to have her legs wrapped around him, to feel him pressed against her, without remembering the past; all the ways he’d delighted her, pleasured her, thrilled her. The man had taught her things about her body she hadn’t even known were possible.
While one day ago she would have sworn she was not the least bit susceptible to him anymore, the woman who’d had to get herself off in the bathtub a few hours ago would say otherwise. As would the one who now felt totally at the mercy of her girl parts.
Her nipples were tight and incredibly sensitive against his chest. The barest movement sent the fabric of her soft sweater sliding across them, and since she’d been in a hurry and hadn’t grabbed a bra, the sensation was definitely noticeable.
That wasn’t all. Her thighs were quivering, and between them, her sex was damp and swollen. The urge to thrust her hips nearly overwhelmed her, and she had to forcibly remind herself it was not polite to rub up against a sleeping man just to get a little satisfaction.
Though, to be totally honest, she suspected—no she knew—he could give her a lot of satisfaction.
She closed her eyes, took a deep steadying breath, willed her body into standby, then tried to extricate herself. Bad enough to have to wake him up and ask him what the hell he was doing here—or explain the silly story about why she was. But to do it when he knew she’d been using him as both a heating blanket and a potential sex toy was more than she could stand right now.
Holding her breath, she lifted her bent leg, drawing it back off his groin. Slowly, oh, so carefully. But when she shifted a little too low, and her jean-clad thigh brushed against the money-spot on the front of his trousers, she stopped with a gasp. Because those trousers were not flat anymore. Definitely not.
He was hard, erect, aroused.
And, she greatly feared, awake.
He confirmed it by dropping a big hand onto her arm, holding her right where she was—right against him.
“Stop.”
“Uh…how long have you been awake?”
Please don’t say long enough to know I’ve been climbing all over you in your sleep. Though, judging by the ridge in his pants—the big, mouthwatering ridge—that seemed pretty certain.
“I just woke up a few seconds ago,” he claimed.
He could have been telling the truth, the gravelly note in his voice hinted at sleep. So maybe his body had just been doing its nocturnal thing. Perhaps the fact that her thighs were spread and practically begging to be parted further didn’t factor into the big erection pressing against the seam of his pants.
Stop thinking about his pants. And what’s in them.
Yeah, fat chance of that. Every cell she had was on high alert, and her blood roared through her veins. She might have told herself a thousand times that she never wanted to see Ross again. But being here, in his arms, knowing his body was reacting to her even if his mind didn’t know it, was the most exciting thing she’d experienced in ages.
There was no sense denying it, at least to herself. She wanted him. Against all reason and all common sense.
Or maybe not. What if it was reasonable? Maybe it made perfect sense to take this unexpected moment
