Laughter floated into the bathroom to join her.

She closed the door then dug out her toiletry bag, had a shower in the large walk-in shower stall. After she dried off and brushed her teeth, she put on her pajamas. They weren’t sexy at all, but they were made of some kind of ultra-soft material she adored.

Anna left the bathroom to find Zar waiting his turn with a black toiletry bag of his own. He’d taken his suit jacket off, removed his cufflinks, rolled up his sleeves, and unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt.

Heat rose from the pit of her belly, and suddenly she didn’t need any sleep at all.

“Anna, is there anyone you need to call or hotel arrangements you need to change?” Zar asked. “I should have asked you before, but my attention has been a little scattered since the explosion.”

She winced. Oh no. “Yes, I meant to call the hotel I had booked in Cime, Lerasia, but I think it’s too late to save my reservation.”

“I’ll find you another place.”

“Oh, you don’t have to—”

“Cime is where my home is, Anna. I know the owner of a very exclusive property who always has a room available for last-minute important guests.”

She let out a deep breath. “Zar, thank you for offering to put in a good word for me, but I probably can’t afford something like that.”

“Anna, please.” He took one of her hands and kissed the back like he was some romantic knight in armor. “Let me do this for you. How many days were you going to be in Lerasia for?”

“A week.”

“You can see just about the entire country border to border in a week.”

“I’m not going to be sight-seeing the entire time. I’ll be doing some genealogy research there, too.”

“Genealogy? You have family there?” He sounded intrigued.

“I don’t know.” She yawned again. “That’s why I want to look, to see if the stories my grandmother told me were true.”

Zar stood there, smiling at her in a way she found disconcerting. It was as if she kept surprising him and he liked it. That was a surprise, too.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, tiredness weighing down her limbs again. Adrenaline wasn’t keeping up with her need for sleep.

“Climb into bed.” He paused. “Perhaps I should sleep elsewhere?”

“You don’t want to sleep with me?” As soon as the question was out of her mouth, she wanted to pull it back in. She sounded so needy.

“Oh, I want to,” he said, leaning down to kiss her again. “But I also don’t want you to wake up in the morning wondering how you ended up with a man in bed with you.”

“Zar, I’m tired, but I’m not that tired. You’ve made a big enough impression on me that I will never forget you.” She swallowed. “And, after what happened, what we saw... I’m looking forward to that cuddling you promised me.”

He kissed her again. “Your wish is my command, Princess Anna.”

“Hey,” she said. “That’s Dr. Anna if you please.”

The smile that filled his face was both surprised and delighted. “Dr. Anna,” he said in the purr she loved to hear in his voice. “Sleep well.” He kissed her again, long and slow. And when he let her go, she swayed a little.

She sighed. “If you insist.”

“I want you well rested when we wake up.”

That had a wave of heat rushing to her face.

His grin was more than a little naughty as he winked, then strolled into the bathroom and shut the door.

He might as well have set her whole body on fire. How was she supposed to get any sleep now?