I woke up the next morning to the sound of birds singing. My eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the bright sunshine that seeped into the room from the windows behind the bed.A gentle breeze created by the ceiling fan softly brushed my hair into my face, causing a chill to sweep over me. I pulled the comforter over my shoulders and sighed in contentment. My eyes opened again as I remembered what had happened.I had been in Heat.I hadn't realized it in the moment, likely because I was blinded by the sudden onset of pain. But I knew almost instinctively that's what had happened.Heat was rare-it occurred only after twenty-four hours had gone by of mates meeting each other and not consummating their bond. Most people didn't make it to this point. The fact that Luca and I did, however, was probably due to our unfortunate and unusual introduction. I couldn't imagine sleeping with the guy right after he'd kidnapped me, no matter how much I wanted to.I sat up in the bed.Feeling a cold breez

I glanced around me at the grocery bags that I would have to carry inside in the pouring rain. Looping as many bags as I could around my arms, I took a deep breath before opening the car door and making a run towards the house.Thankfully, the door wasn't locked and I made my way inside to the kitchen with relative ease. Placing the bags on the countertop, I made another trip to the truck, running through sheets of rain that fell from the sky. After a few trips, the truck had been completely unloaded and I was soaked to the skin.As I wiped the rainwater from my face, the lights in the kitchen flickered off."Wonderful." I mumbled.I looked out the kitchen window to see the trees outside swaying in the heavy wind. I could hear the pounding of rain against the side of the house as I stood there and listened to the storm.Beginning to take the groceries out of the bags, I blindly stocked the fridge and the pantry. As I emerged from the pantry, I saw the shadowy outline of Luca standing

I woke at the break of dawn the next morning feeling more rested than I'd felt in a long time. Getting out of bed quietly so as not to wake Luca, who was stillsleeping soundly on the floor, I left the bedroom and went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea.I sat out on the back deck drinking it, watching the purple sky slowly fade to pink and then orange. I tried not to spend those solitary, peaceful moments thinking solely of Luca.But I failed.He was all I could think of.His perfect tan skin.Obsidian-black hair that curled just so.Gorgeous green eyes that almost glowed in their intensity. Supple pink lips that were always plastered in a sexy half-smile. Not to mention a body that would have inspired Bernini himself.And that damned pet name.Every time the word 'amore' slipped off his tongue I felt a year added to my life. I only snapped out of my perverse thoughts when I absentmindedly took a sip from my mug and singed my tongue on the tea that was still too hot to drink.In t

I stared at the half-finished canvas in front of me; trying-as I had been for the past two hours-to gather the motivation to paint. I had nothing else to do and Luca had disappeared into his office above the garage.I fought the urge to slap the paint on my brush in a large 'X' across the canvas and trash it. All I had done for the past few hours had been stare at the imperfections and flaws that I saw and it infuriated me.Would I be able to finish the painting in a month? If I was, who knew if I would even see my parents on their anniversary...When would I give them the painting?I couldn't imagine just mailing them something that had taken me months to finish. All of my work up to that point felt useless. Taking a deep breath, I stood up from the floor and stretched my legs out.As I was walking downstairs to make myself a late lunch, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out to see Mady's name and photo flashing across the screen.I eagerly answered the call."Bitch, you are

The rest of the night passed without allowing for any more time to think.The boys plowed through the pizza and went downstairs to the basement to watch a hockey game while I stayed upstairs and took a bath.Luca came upstairs later that night after Bates and Blaine had left to find me sitting in the bed with my notepad resting on my knees as I doodled.He leaned over to look at the sheet of paper, seeing the dogwood flowers I had sketched out and begun shading."That's really good," he said.I couldn't help but blush."Thank you."He backed away and walked into the bathroom, staying in there for a few minutes to shower and get ready for bed. I was pestered the whole time he was in there by a nagging guilt in the back of my head.When he came out of the bathroom, dressed again in only boxer briefs, I felt like I was experiencing déjà vu.He grabbed the blanket that was thrown over the back of the chair beside the bed and tossed it to the ground.As he reached over to grab a pillow, I