Maybe it was for other people. But I used to sink into my head and worry about how I looked, what I said. The true horror was I’d freaking act in bed. I hadn’t been myself.
But with Lucian, I couldn’t be anything but. Even if I wanted to, he’d notice. And he would draw me out of any shell I could hide behind.
Expression light, he nudged me onto my back and then rested his head in his hand as he lay at my side. His other hand settled gently between my breasts, as if to guard my heart. The action was so tender my chest constricted. He didn’t seem to notice but studied me with a pleased expression. “You thirsty?”
I hadn’t thought so until he asked. “I could go for some water.”
The laugh lines around his eyes deepened. “I’ll be right back.” He kissed my mouth, then, with that effortless grace of movement, rolled over and got out of bed.
I settled back and watched him walk utterly naked across the room. Nude Lucian’s swagger was a sight to behold, that insane butt flexing and squeezing with every step. Even the man’s calves were stunning. A sight gone too quickly as he went into the bathroom to wash up.
As soon as he was done, he ambled off to the kitchen. I resettled myself in bed, fluffing bunched and scattered pillows and straightening the sheets that had somehow managed to become a long twist. The rattle of a tray announced Lucian’s return. I flopped back against the pillows, breath short, and held up a hand.
“Slow down!” I pleaded. When he did, the dark wings of his brow lifting in amused confusion, I grinned. “Let me get a good look at you.”
A flush started along his neck and crept up to his ear. But he complied, his gait loose hipped and rolling. “This slow enough?”
“I think I need to film it for posterity. I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated a man’s legs more.”
That got a smile, though it seemed more of a “The woman is ridiculous, but I like it” one. “If you’re good”—he set the tray on the side table—“I’ll let you ride my thigh later.”
That should not have made my sex clench with anticipatory heat so very hard. But it did.
Lucian looked me over. “Although I have to say you didn’t do yourself any favors putting on that shirt.”
“Was that bad?”
“Very,” he said sternly. “You’ll be taking it off soon, or no thigh ride for you.”
“Yes, Lucian.”
Lips twitching, he handed me a glass of cool water with a twist of lemon. I smiled at it.
“What?” He sat on the edge of the bed.
“You. Putting a lemon slice in the water.” I took a sip.
“It makes it taste better,” he grumbled, still a bit pink around the ears.
“It does.” I drank some more, then handed it to him. “You’re adorable.”
He rolled his eyes and took a drink.
“You like taking care of people.”
Lucian offered me more water. “I like taking care of you.”
I took another long drink. “And I’m in true danger of letting you do it all the time. But it’s more than that. You have this innate sense of seeing something ordinary and making it extraordinary.”
“You’re trying to embarrass me, aren’t you?” He accepted the glass and drained it.
“No. I’m giving you a compliment.”
Lucian set the glass down, a bemused expression playing over his face. “I have no idea how to handle those.”
His honesty startled me. “You’re fawned over by almost everyone you meet. Even dickhead Greg was sucking up to you.”
Lucian ducked his head, shaking it a bit. “But I’m not that man anymore. Even when I was playing, that type of praise felt rote. It was more about my performance than who I was as a person.”
Slowly I nodded. “When people tell me how much they love Princess Anya, I can’t help thinking, ‘But you’re supposed to. That’s my job.’”
“And yet if they complain or pick it apart, you can’t help but think they’re fools who don’t appreciate talent when they see it.” He said it with the dry humor of a man who’d lived it.
I laughed. “Yes, true. Although it sounds horrible when you say it out loud.”
“Such is the strangeness of fame.” He shook his head lightly again, then turned to the tray and picked up the white pastry box. “You haven’t opened this.”
“I was too nervous.” I held my hand out for the box, and he gave it to me, his bemusement growing.