Marcus Romulus
Nicoletta woke without immediately understanding where she was. The first thing she felt was warmth. The second was an arm wrapped around her and the steady, powerful beat of a heart beneath her cheek. Her head rested on his shoulder, and her body, covered only by a soft blanket, was pressed close to a man’s.
He was not asleep. His hand slid lazily along her back, and his lips curved into a barely noticeable, sincere smile—the one she saw rarely, only when he was real. Without masks.
“What?” he asked when he noticed her tense slightly. “Too hot?”
Nicoletta lifted her head. Her hair was a little tousled, her lips swollen from the night’s kisses. She looked into his eyes and immediately looked away, biting her lower lip.
“What was that… last night?” she asked shyly, her v
