I ducked my head to hide my smile. “I know.”

“You love it. Admit it.”

“I’m hardly about to cop to that and lose my advantage, now am I?”

“Hell.”

Grinning in victory, I snuggled down in the bed and tried to relax enough to sleep. Lucian apparently tried as well. The bedsheet rustled as adjustments for comfort were made. Once settled, we lay stiffly side by side, each of us too aware of the other to make the slightest of movements.

Outside, the wind howled and rattled against the glass, as if in protest of being kept out. Lucian cleared his throat and then stilled. My lips twitched as the pent-up nervousness I had been feeling all night came to the surface. A snicker rose in my throat. I struggled to keep it under control, but a titter came out in spite of my best efforts. The silence made it worse. I lost the war and giggled again.

“What is so funny?” he asked in the darkness. I could tell by his tone that he was trying not to smile.

I laughed again, trying in vain to stop.

“I don’t know,” I said between snorts and sputters.

“For Christ’s sake,” he exclaimed, sounding fully exasperated, which only made me laugh harder. I felt him turn toward me. “Are you going to tell me what is so funny?” He sounded strange in the dark room.

“Everything. This situation, your lack of sleepwear . . .” The giggles had me again.

“You’re impossible,” he said, trying to sound stern.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing, but a snort escaped. There was a quiet pause.

He snickered in the darkness. The sound of it set me off, and that set Lucian off, until we were laughing uncontrollably with the bed shaking under us.

“Oh stop; my sides hurt,” I said, gasping for air. It was nerves. I knew that was what had set me off, but I couldn’t get my laughter under control.

“You started it!”

I dropped my voice to imitate him. “I could sleep over the covers.”

“Look who’s talking. You should have seen your face.”

The moon chose that moment to peek through the clouds, and its blue light poured through the window, illuminating the room. Lucian was looking down at me, eyes crossed, tongue sticking out in a truly terrible goofball expression.

“That’s it . . .” I picked up my pillow and hit him with it.

He laughed in protest. “It’s on, honey.”

A soft pillow hit my face as he launched his retaliation.

I screeched in outrage, whacking him on the chest and diving under the sheets before he could get me.

He ripped the covers back, coming after me with a hearty laugh. I covered my head with my hands to protect myself, but he pulled them down, holding them securely with one large hand, and hit me soundly with his pillow.

I shrieked and tried to pull my hand from his viselike grip. Lucian only laughed harder as I struggled. I managed to get one hand free and dug my thumb into his ribs. He skirted away quickly, but I had found his weakness and went after him.

“Oh, no you don’t!” I rolled halfway onto him and poked his sides mercilessly.

God, but he was adorable when he laughed like that, carefree and boyish. And sneaky. In a blink, he had me on my back.

I shrieked again, trying desperately to tickle him but having a hard time of it since my hands were trapped under me. My hand broke free, but he caught it and pulled it over my head. The action brought us face to face.

We went still, our chests heaving. Lucian’s eyes searched mine, his breath fanning my face softly. Neither of us moved. I blinked back at him, utterly aware of the hard length of him pressed against my sex with only the barrier of our underwear preventing him from sliding in.

“We probably woke the whole house,” I said in a strangled whisper.

His lids half mast, tension rode him so hard he trembled. And for a brief second, I thought he hadn’t heard me at all. But then he swallowed audibly, and his voice came out hoarse and taut. “That’s my cue to make a joke, but my mind is blank, Em, because I can’t . . . I can’t.” He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them wide. “I can’t fight this anymore. I want you. I want you so fucking much.”

My breath expelled in a rush. His gaze flicked to my mouth and then back to my eyes. Another tremor went through him. “Do you want this?”

Bad idea. The worst.

“Yes.” It burst out of me. “Yes.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Lucian

Yes. That was all I needed to hear. I felt the word along my heated skin, tasted it on my tongue. One simple yes, and I trembled. Limned in moonlight, she gazed up at me, indigo eyes wide and wanting, lips parted and waiting.