Reckless With Their Hearts Read Free Page A

should be in bed sleeping.”
    She raised her head to find Sebastian standing over her. For all his height and weight he moved deceptively quie tly; something that had always fascinated her. Heart racing—but not from fright—she gave him a small smile. “The fire was telling me stories again.”
    His brows rose and he dropped down beside of her on the floor. “Anything interesting?”
    She shrugged. “Keeps me entertained.” Over the last six years she has spent many sleepless nights right here in front of the fireplace on a winter night. She had always sworn that the little flames where talking to her, telling her stories.
    Sebastian stretched out his long legs and laughed softly. The deeply rich sound caused her spine to tingle. “Well we both know it doesn’t take much to entertain you, so it can’t be that interesting.”
    She wrinkled her nose at him. “You best be nice to me mister.”
    “Oh yeah? Who’s gonna stop me if I don’t?” He grinned. “You?”
    “I’ll tell the new cook to burn your pancakes.” She threatened with a grin of her own.
    “Brat! Alright, I’ll be nice.” He yawned. “You couldn’t sleep?”
    “Bad dreams.” She glanced back into the flames. “I’ve never been so scared in my life as I was yesterday…”
    He reached out and clasped her left hand in his much larger one. “I can’t begin to imagine what that mu st have been like. Just thinking about you going through it makes me sweat. It terrifies me that we came so close to losing you, baby.”
    Heat shot up her arm at this touch, but she had had a while now to learn to hide her body’s reactions to his touch—his sheer nearness. She had developed a crush on him when she was fourteen. She had thought she had outgrown it, but last year she had realized that he could make her body react in a physical way. Lust was a hard emotion to tame. Mixed with her love for him it was a near combustible combination.
    “How was your latest trip?” She asked in an attempt to get her mind off how he was making her feel with his nearness. “China wasn’t it?”
    “Yes. And it was productive. I think you will like the Christmas present I picked up for you there.” He was playing with her fingers now; stroking each digit, picking at her manicured nails.
    “I’m glad you are home. It was getting a little lonely around here without you.” He was the only one of her three stepsiblings that was home more often than not. “I missed you.”
    “Good to hear.” He murmured. “I missed you too…A little.”
    Eve raised one well shaped red brow. “Well gee; I guess you did get homesick if you actually missed me.”
    He snorted, it was a sexy sort of snort. “More like I was bored and missed getting to tease you kid.”
    His constantly calling her ‘kid’ and ‘baby’ was really getting irritating and even making her a little mad. “Stop it. I am not a little girl anymore, Sebastian. I will be twenty in three months. I’ve been an actual adult for almost two years now.”
    “Yeah, I can see that.”
    Something in his tone made her lift her eyes to meet hi s gaze. She nearly gasped. Was that desire she saw in his blue eyes? Longing? But then he grimaced and the expression was gone leaving her wondering if it was real or just a play of the firelight. “How about a snack? Or a warm drink? That might help you sleep.”
    Eve blinked at the quick change of subject, and then figured she had imagined the look in his eyes. Wishful thinking, more likely. She nodded. “Okay. Hot apple cider sounds good.”
    He got to his feet smoothly and offered her his hand to help her up. “I think I can manage that.”
    --
    Sebastian didn’t release her hand as they made their way through the quiet house to the kitchen. Even though he knew he should.
    Yes, he knew that Eve was nearly twenty. Maybe he kept trying to make himself forget those facts in an attempt to keep his own desires locked up. He was thirty years old, to her nineteen however.