Free Mystique by Ann Cristy Page B

babbled.
    "With feet in them, I'll bet."
    "I used to until we were able to buy
a better heating system for the house," Misty told him blankly. "This
is a dream." Her voice was muffled as he slipped his silk pajama top over
her head. "What will you wear now that I have your pajamas?" She
looked down at herself, noting that the hem of the top fell below her knees.
    "My mother buys them for me so that
if the place burns down I won't have to run naked into the street. She has high
hopes that I'll at least keep them at my bedside."
    "You sleep in the nude," Misty
pronounced solemnly.
    "Yes. You'll get used to it."
    "I am signing myself into an asylum
tomorrow," she told him, wiping at the tears on her cheeks.
    "I'll make you happy," he
promised.
    "You'll hate me in three
months," she vowed.
    "Never." Luc led her to the bed
and stared down at her with an expression that sent warmth to all her
extremities and set off a throbbing pulse in her very core. After a few moments
he urged her under the sheets. "Would you like some company to keep you
warm?" he asked, his voice sounding thick to Misty, who was half asleep.
    "No." She yawned. "I
always sleep alone. You go walk the dog."
    "After tomorrow you won't sleep
alone," he muttered, his voice growing fainter as Misty sank deeper into
sleep.
    The sound of an insistent buzzing almost
awakened her. Then the noise stopped, and she snuggled into the warm down quilt
that covered her, rolling over onto her stomach.
    "Wake up, darling."
Luc shook her gently, chuckling when she groaned as he pulled the quilt off the
bed. "I fully intended to let you sleep longer, but we have a problem
that—Lord, where did you get those scars on your backside?" He cursed
softly as he lifted the pajama top higher and examined her. "If you hadn't
twisted the top up, I might not have noticed these. I sure as hell didn't
notice them when I undressed you." He muttered another low curse as his
hand gently traced the raised welts.
    Misty shivered and, pushing
the pillow off her head, turned on her side to face him, trying in vain to pull
the pajama top down. "Give me back the covers," she mumbled,
regarding him through bleary eyes.
    Luc didn't bother to remove
the towel from around his waist before he slipped into bed beside her and
gathered her close to him. "Tell me. Was that where the dog bit you,
darling?"
    Misty nodded, burrowing her
face into his neck and reveling in his warmth. "I hadn't teased the dog. I
was just walking past on the sidewalk."
    "And your father accused you of
teasing the animal," Luc said in low tones.
    "Yes." She gulped. "He and
Mr. Marris, the owner of the dog, said that I must have provoked it because Sandy was usually friendly." The words bubbled from her like air escaping from a
balloon.
    "Why didn't the doctor recommend cosmetic
surgery?"
    "My father didn't take me to the
doctor until the bites were infected."

"Damn him! You might have contracted
tetanus from being left untreated." Luc cuddled her closer.
    "My mother poured iodine on the
bites." Misty shivered as she remembered how much it had hurt. She'd
screamed so loudly.
    "Good God," Luc whispered, his
hand trembling as he stroked her hair.
    They lay there in silence, Luc's slow
hand soothing her. Then, abruptly, he stiffened. "I forgot. I got a call
from Aileen. It seems we have visitors. Your three sisters have come to stay
with you."
    "My sisters?" Misty shot up to
a sitting position in bed and whirled to face him as he rolled onto his back,
his hands clasped behind his head. "Are you sure? My sisters?" He
nodded.
    Misty bit her lip. "I haven't seen
them in years. Gosh, they must be—"
    "Eighteen, nineteen, and
twenty-one," Luc supplied. He reached up and twisted a finger in her thick
hair. "Don't worry. I called my sister Alice, and she's going right over
to your apartment. She has three grown children, two boys and a girl, all of
whom are living on their own in various parts of the country. She and her
husband John love their