Free For the Love of Sami by Fayrene Preston

cradling her in his arms.
    "Now, suppose you tell me what was frightening you so much."
    His voice was low and soothing, and he wore only the slacks he had had on earlier in the evening. Sami lay her hand on his chest, weaving her fingers through its hair, wanting beyond anything to hold onto him. "I—I can’t," she whispered.
    "Yes, you can. It’s important."
    "I don’t know . . . I’ll try. I’ve had it before . . . the nightmare. All my life."
    He placed a tender kiss on her hair. "Is that why you don’t like to sleep at night?"
    She nodded.
    "Tell me about it." He placed a hand on top of the one she had on his chest, and she could feel the steady beat of his heart against her palm. "I want to know what scared you so badly."
    It was something she rarely talked about. "No—it’s nothing."
    "That I don’t believe."
    She shook her head.
    "Sami. I want to know. I need to know. Please tell me." He wasn’t commanding her. He was asking gently.
    She sighed. "It’s always the same. I’m a little girl again, and I get locked in a closet for being bad."
    She felt Daniel go still. "That actually happened to you, didn’t it?" he guessed perceptively, his voice sounding oddly taut. "And that’s the reason you’re afraid of the dark and small, enclosed places?" He drew her even closer, until the side of her face rested in the warm hollow between his shoulder and neck, and he didn’t seem to notice that she hadn’t answered him. "And you’ve had nothing but trauma since yesterday. No wonder you had the dream again. No wonder you can’t sleep. No wonder. "
    "Did I wake you?" she asked, reluctant to move.
    "No, I was awake. I had my door open so I could hear in case you needed anything."
    His words vibrated under her cheek, and she rubbed her face against the sound. She felt so safe in his arms. "Will you stay with me for a while?" Did his heart actually miss a beat, Sami wondered, or was that just her imagination? "Please?"
    "I’ll stay as long as you need me." He ran his hand up and down her spine. She knew he meant to comfort, but an insidious warmth began to seep through her veins. He gave a little laugh. "It’s too bad I didn’t have a nightgown here you could wear."
    "I never sleep in nightclothes anyway."
    She knew it wasn’t her imagination this time. His heart missed a beat and then began to thud faster. He made a slight change in his position, and Sami asked, "Are you uncomfortable holding me?"
    He let go of her hand, which still lay on his chest, and moved his down to the curve of her hip. His long fingers curled caressingly over the soft flesh that was covered only by the sheet.
    "No," he whispered hoarsely. "I could hold you all night."
    Her hand roamed restively through the thick hairs, by chance grazing the flatness of his nipple, and she felt a tremor shudder through him.
    "Sami," he muttered thickly. "Lie still."
    A hot wave of abandon tingled along her skin, and her senses spun. She moved her fingers back to the nipple, running her finger across the pebble-hard tip.
    "For God’s sake, Sami!" His fingers bit into her soft flesh, his breathing ragged. "What are you trying to do?"
    Throwing her head back, she looked straight into the blue depths of his eyes, which showed the same fire she was feeling. "Make love to me, Daniel."
    "Do you have any idea what you’re saying?" He groaned, beginning to run his hand compulsively down her thigh and back up again to her hip in long, slow strokes.
    "Oh, yes," Sami breathed unevenly. "I want you to touch me, to kiss me, to make love to me . . ."
    "God!" Daniel bent his head, taking her mouth in a fiery kiss and thrusting the sheet away from her.
    Sami’s pulse raced out of control, and it felt as if every bone in her body had melted. As she opened her mouth to his tongue, he slid his hand up to her breast in an encompassing embrace, while at the same time rubbing a finger back and forth across its pointed crest. Her blood rushed, wild and chaotic, through her