Free Secret Sins by Lora Leigh Page B

warmth, accepting and vibrating—
    A frown tugged at her brow, drawing her further from sleep.
    It was vibrating against her shoulder.
    No, it was purring.
    Forcing her lashes to open she turned her head to stare into the slitted golden eyes
     that peered at her as Oscar rubbed the side of his face against the curve of her shoulder.
    A peek at the clock on the living room wall assured her it was well after two in the
     morning. Archer had been gone all day and now most of the night.
    A plaintive meow rumbled from the cat’s throat as he rubbed against her shoulder again.
    “What do you want?” she mumbled. “Can’t believe you’re harassing me after stealing
     my bra and shirt. Those were damned expensive, you know.”
    A rumble between a purr and a meow sounded again as Oscar stared back at her with
     such arrogant command that she couldn’t help but think of Archer.
    “What do you want, anyway?” She really didn’t want to get out of bed. “Don’t you know
     I have to show up for work in like five hours? I need my beauty sleep.”
    The feline growling purr sounded again. This time, instead of rubbing against her
     shoulder, Oscar pushed at it with his big head.
    “Bossy.” Sitting up, she was prepared to push herself from the couch to get whatever
     the demanding fur ball wanted only to watch in surprise as he moved farther onto the
     couch and settled into the corner where her head had been resting.
    His eyes closed, shoulders shifting as he perfected his position and settled into
     sleep as though he hadn’t awakened her to do so. As though he wasn’t even concerned
     with her presence after forcing her awake so he could take his favorite position.
    “You ass,” she accused him, surprised by the animal’s audacity. “I was sleeping myself,
     you know.”
    And he obviously didn’t care. He didn’t even twitch at the anger in her voice.
    Shaking her head at the animal, Anna glanced at the front door, then at the clock
     again.
    “Did he finally wake you?”
    She swung around, nearly falling from the couch in surprise as Archer moved into the
     living room from the opposite doorway, obviously having come from upstairs and the
     shower.
    Damp, darker than its normal sandy blond, his hair lay around his face, obviously
     having just been dried with little care as to style. The ends curled haphazardly as
     the heavy strands framed his darkly tanned face and made his golden brown eyes appear
     more like hammered gold than normal.
    Broad, bare, his hard, darkly tanned chest, with a thin covering of male curls just
     lighter than the hair on his head, tempted her fingers. Tempted them with the need
     to touch him, to experience the feel of them against her sensitive fingertips.
    “How long have you been back?” She frowned at him, surprised that he had managed to
     come into the house without waking her.
    Surprised at how he had entered the living room.
    Hell, she had been sleeping not ten feet from the damned door and he’d slipped right
     up on her.
    It was all she could do to keep her gaze above his hard abs because she could see
     the muscles beneath the bronzed flesh tempting, drawing her gaze.
    “A couple of hours.” He shrugged as though uncertain.
    She bet he knew almost to the second exactly what time he had walked through the front
     door.
    “You should have woken me.” She watched his face, seeing the heaviness in his gaze,
     in the somber expression on his face.
    “You were sleeping too well.” His lips quirked with an almost gentle smile and his
     eyes seemed to warm as he watched her. “Besides, I knew Oscar would run you out of
     his corner eventually.”
    Glancing at the monster cat who took up at least a cushion of the couch by himself,
     she sniffed at his presence.
    “Damned fur ball,” she muttered. “The least he could have done was wake me when you
     arrived.”
    “He likes you.” Leaning against the door frame, his lips kicked up at one corner.
     “Anyone else would