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is Leo s room, Maria?
At end of your hall, on the left.
Can he get me to your daughter s house in ten minutes?
Maria nodded quickly, her eyes gathering tears. She is not far. Pede Five minutes.
Good, Sam replied firmly. Tell your daughter we ll be right there and call an ambulance
to meet us at her house. I ll go wake up Leo. Meet us outside in a few minutes.
Maria stared back in shock and nodded.
Sam took her hand and squeezed it gently. Don t worry. Everything s going to be all right.
My brother, John, is a doctor, and he s made me attend first aid and nursing classes. I don t know
how to deliver a baby, but I can make sure your daughter feels comfortable until the paramedics
get there.
Efharisto, koritsakimou, Maria whispered.
Toni had given Sam a crash course in Greek before she had left and she smiled at the older
woman when she remembered efharisto meant thank you.
Without another thought, Sam sped back to the front hall. At the foot of the stairs, she
gathered her nightgown to her knees and sprinted up the stairs. She didn t have a moment to spare,
she thought, as she raced down the corridor, her heart beating wildly in her chest. Without bothering
to knock, she flung open Leo s door and squinted in the semi-darkness.
Leo, she whispered urgently. Leo!
She spotted his bed on the far right of the room and ran to it. Sam stopped dead in her tracks
and found herself standing above his sleeping form.
Anastasia Maltezos 31
What a sight! Sam couldn t help herself as she ran her gaze over him. The white, silk sheets
were draped just below his taut abdomen and she felt an alarming sense of awareness as she stared
at the sparse, dark hair exposed past the edge of the sheet. His bare, muscular chest was tanned and
chiselled as it rose and fell steadily. One sinewy arm was flung carelessly above his face, and she
glanced in wonder at his mouth, softer and more vulnerable in sleep somehow. Sam had almost
forgotten why she was there.
Leo, she whispered hoarsely, her throat curiously dry. Wake up!
He didn t budge.
She had already wasted precious seconds staring at his male splendour and she wasn t about
to waste another one. She thought about Nitsa and grabbed the edge of his sheet, flinging it off him.
I said wake up!
Sam froze.
Beneath the sheets he lay completely and utterly naked. Sam felt the blood drain from her
face as she stared at his glorious manhood. She d seen pictures and statues of the male body in her
life, but up close and personal, the effect was a little more daunting, a little more thrilling. She tore
her inquisitive gaze away from his masculine attributes and looked up at his face. His eyes were
wide open. He seemed disoriented and when his dark, fathomless gaze fell on her, he drew himself
up sharply from his bed and grabbed her wrist in a vise grip.
What the devil do you think you re doing, woman? he ground out, his voice hoarse and
deeper in his semi-awake state.
Sam ignored the oddly enough thrilling pain his grip on her wrist was inflicting, her only
thought to get to the poor woman who was by now overcome with panic and fear.
Get dressed. I think Maria s daughter s in labour and we need to get there before it s too
late. She noticed the glimmer of understanding fall over his dazed expression and pressed on,
She s all alone, Leo. She needs help. I think Nitsa s having her baby.
Realization must have dawned on him because she saw him clench his jaw, drop her wrist
and spring out of bed. Cussing softly in Greek under his breath, he reached for his pale blue denims
and shoved them on.
Are you sure she s in labour? he asked roughly, tossing her a dark look.
No, but we shouldn t take any chances, she replied, keeping her eyes glued to his face.
A few feet lower and she would have been staring at his Sam frowned. What was the matter
with her? A woman was possibly going into early labour and she was Sam turned away from
him, disgusted with herself, and went to the door.
Hurry. Maria is waiting for us downstairs. She s already called an ambulance.
32 Two in the Lion s Den
Sam turned and watched him throw on a white shirt. He left it loose around his muscular
frame as he grabbed a set of keys from his dresser. Her stomach flipped as she glanced at his
taut abdomen and finely honed chest. He could have graced the covers of historical romance
novels where the hero was an ancient Greek warrior. Sam swallowed hard. Her heart was beating
erratically and it was getting harder for her to gain control of her faculties.
She heard him draw in a harsh breath and she shot him a questioning look.
Sam could tell he was shocked as he raked a dark look over her. He was seeing her undressed
state for the first time and she watched his eyes narrow, his mouth tense as continued his thorough
appraisal of her slender curves draped in silk. She caught the flame leaping behind his eyes as
his gaze slipped to her small, firm breasts. She heard a barely discernible sound from his throat,
a small, yet perceptible groan and their gazes clashed. Sam felt it in the air. It was faint. Tension.
And it ran through the both of them. Nervously, she cleared her throat.
There s no& no time for me to get my robe.
Stay here. You ve done the right thing waking me up. I ll take over from here, he replied
hoarsely.
She clenched her stomach. Sam hadn t come in here to get him to jump to the rescue. She had
come in here to get a ride to Nitsa s. She placed her hands on her hips. Oh? And what will you do
if Nitsa s water breaks while you re there and the ambulance hasn t arrived yet? Are you prepared
to deliver a baby? His face whitened. I m coming with you, she stated firmly. I ve received
years of first aid and private nursing training. John s a doctor and he s always encouraged me to
be capable in the event of emergencies. I do volunteer work with a lot of children at an orphanage
and being qualified to treat sprains and cuts comes in handy. She turned away from his astounded
expression. Let s go. I ve never delivered a baby before, but I m all Nitsa has until the paramedics
get there, and I sure as hell won t allow your ego to stop me from at least trying to help her.
Thirty minutes later, Nitsa was safely secured on a gurney by one paramedic while another
one opened the back door of the ambulance. Nitsa s water hadn t broken, but after giving her a
quick examination, the paramedics had explained that a baby coming into the world early was
imminent.
Maria hugged Leo and Sam before she tumbled her ample body into the back of the
ambulance. Sam, you are an angel. Efharisto, koritsakimou.
Sam felt the excitement of the miracle of life around her. She glanced up at Leo standing
silently by her side and noted the quirk in his mouth, the softening of his eyes. It seemed even he
was touched by the miracle of life.
A paramedic rolled Nitsa past them, but the young mother-to-be put out a hand and grabbed
Sam s arm. Thank you, Sam. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your help. Nitsa s
eyes were bright with tears. I was so afraid. I don t know what I would have done without you
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