Reckless With Their Hearts

by Terri Anne Browning

  “That’s E for you.” Sebastian sat back in the corner of the sofa, trying to relax. “She is such a pain. I don’t know why we keep her around these days.”

  That got a pillow tossed at him from Eve, but she was smiling. “I love you too.” She assured him. “Next time you can do my banking.”

  “Sure. But just so you know we plan on switching banks as quickly as possible.”

  Chapter 2

  How she fell asleep was still a mystery to her. But around three thirty she awoke gasping for air. She had dreamed the entire thing again only this time she had died, not the masked man who had attempted to take her as a hostage.

  Eve sat up in bed, sweat beading across her forehead and upper lip. Wiping a hand across her face she got out of bed and reached for her robe to cover the tee shirt and panties that were her normal pajamas. She slipped it on but didn’t bother to tie the belt knowing that everyone should be sound asleep anyway.

  Tired but knowing that she would never be able to get back to sleep again after her nightmare she went downstairs to sit in front of the fireplace in the family room. The house was so big it wasn’t surprising for guests—which were rare—to get lost in the maze of halls. When Eve had first come to live here it had been somewhat of a headache to remember where each room was.

  Garth’s room—which he had once shared with her mother—was in the east wing. On the first floor of the east wing was his home office and the library. The middle of the first floor, at the rear of the house was the kitchen which would make any chef weep with appreciation. The west wing of the house was where her room was, along with Sebastian’s as well as a few quest rooms. Quinn and Cameron’s rooms where in the middle of the second floor which for some strange reason was always quieter.

  The first floor’s west wing housed the family room as well as several other large rooms that were rarely used. Eve entered the family room and crossed to the fireplace. It was a gas fire log and she moved to sit on the floor in front of it. The Christmas tree was still lit up making a nice night light in the corner of the otherwise darkened room. She had decorated the tree herself a few days ago with a little help from Garth.

  It looked festive and cheerful, something that her mother would have adored. Giselle Savage had been a wonderful woman: Spirited, well-bred with a French aristocratic father and an English mother. Eve looked a lot like her and unfortunately had inherited a lot of her spiritedness. Her red head showcased exactly what type of temper she had.

  Eve missed her mother. Even though they had spent most of each school year apart until she was thirteen, they had been close. Her father, who had died when Eve was just a baby, hadn’t been a great guy. Geoff Patel had been an angry man, emotionally abusive if not physically. Some had wondered how someone so high tempered as Giselle had put up with the man. But when Giselle had met Garth she had found her own Prince Charming.

  Eve knew that as much as she missed her mother, it didn’t come close to how lost Garth felt.

  “Little girls should be in bed sleeping.”

  She raised her head to find Sebastian standing over her. For all his height and weight he moved deceptively quietly; 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 must 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 his 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. And while some men preferred younger, barely legal girls to boost their egos, he wasn’t one of them. He preferred older women, closer to his own age.

  But when it came to Eve he had been fighting his growing desire for her for more than a year now. Sometimes the very power of her effect on him terrified him. So he would tease her, comment on her still being a kid to irritate her, but mostly to remind himself to behave.

  Once in the kitchen he finally released her hand and moved around making them both a mug of hot apple cider. While he waited for the cider to warm he made himself a sandwich and opened a bag of chips.

  “Did you notice something different about Cameron?” She questioned, taking a nacho cheese chip from his plate and nibbling on it.

  Sebastian frowned. There had been something different about his little brother that had seemed a little off. But he had been too busy trying to calm down after the news of the near miss with Eve. He had thought perhaps Cameron was having some problem…But maybe not.

  “He’s lost some weight.” Eve went o
n, taking another chip. “Which is just wrong. Food is his greatest love, always will be.”

  Sebastian shrugged. “Yeah, I guess he has.” Feeling a little irritated that she had noticed something like that about his brother—he refused to call it jealousy—he took a bite of his sandwich.

  “Well, he was in the international papers a few weeks ago with some French girl. Do you think he likes her?” She reached for the sandwich that he had just set down and took a small bite. “Mm. This is delicious. I didn’t realize how hungry I am.”

  “I’ll fix you one.” He offered reaching for the platter of deli meats, glad that she was feeling up to eating again.

  “Can I have this one?”

  “Sure, knock yourself out. I will just eat this one.” He went about making another sandwich, watching her take a slightly bigger bite than the last time. “You have lost some weight too. Has everything been okay here?”

  “I had a stomach bug last week. It wasn’t fun.” She shrugged her slim shoulders. “Garth gave it to me, which I am still pretty miffed about. But other than that all has been going well.”

  When the cider was hot he poured her a mugful and set it beside of her plate. “Careful.” He warned.

  “Thanks.” She took a tiny sip and raised her eyes to meet his gaze. “You are very domesticated, huh?”

  Sebastian grinned. “Of course. One of us has to be.”

  “I can make you a full multi-course dinner, I will have you know.” She assured him. “And you know you can’t resist my French desserts. My time in a Paris boarding school wasn’t a complete waste.”

  It was true. He couldn’t resist her French pastries. But when he thought of her cooking them for him, he always imagined her in a tiny French maid outfit. Yeah, he tried not to think about that too often. Way to dangerous!

  Just the thought drifting through his mind made him hard. He shifted to make the pressure between his legs bearable. “Have you finished your Christmas shopping?” He asked, trying to get his mind on something other than Eve’s luscious body.

  “Yes. Actually I finished it yesterday.” She grimaced. “Luckily nothing was broken.”

  “What did you get me?” He asked, sorry that he had made her remember the events of the day before.

  “I’m not telling you. You will have to wait and find out Christmas morning.” She smiled a teasing little smile that made him ache to kiss her. “But I promise you will like it.”

  “Ah, come on babe. Give me a clue. Just a little one?” He urged, wanting to see her eyes light up again he leaned across the island where she was seated and took the half eaten chip from her fingers and devoured it. “Please?” He gave just a little pout.

  It was a mistake. He had no business being this close. Now he could see her blush and her eyes, as green as any emerald glaze with passion. He swallowed a groan, feeling his erection pulse. Was it him or had the chip tasted better for having touched her lips..? Such pretty, pouty, kissable lips.

  “Eve…” He closed his eyes, fighting his desire to reach for her. To taste those luscious lips. “Go to bed, sweetheart. It’s not safe here right now.”

  “I don’t think of it that way.” She whispered. “But I guess I should go on up.”

  He opened his eyes to find her still seated across from him. Her eyes bright with desire and something else. They locked gazes for a long moment, and then with a grimace she got to her feet, taking her drink with her. “Good night Sebastian.”

  He cleared his throat. “Night, E.”

  Chapter 3

  The next morning an FBI agent came to the house. He was a good looking man in his late thirties with an easy smile but a notable temper under the surface. Eve took one look at the man and was thankful that he was one of the good guys.

  He wanted to ask her a few questions and she led him into Garth’s study. The house was quiet for the most part. Sebastian and Garth were at the office getting some things taken care of so they could take all of the next few weeks off. Cameron had gone out, probably to do his Christmas shopping—he always left it to the last minute. Quinn was still in bed. Jet lag always disagreed with her.

  She motioned for Special Agent Brayden Walsh to have a seat while she took the chair’s twin and turned to face him. He was very good looking, she had to admit. Maybe six feet with short raven black hair, dark olive complexion, and nearly chocolate yes.

  “I’m sorry for the ordeal you were put through yesterday, Miss Patel. I will try not to take up too much of your time.” His voice was a little rough, not like he was a smoker, but more natural and probably scary when he raised it.

  “I understand that these things have to be done. I guess since banks are under federal protection you guys had to come in and take over.” She gave him a small smile. “I will try to answer your questions as best as I can.”

  He pulled a small black notebook and a pen out of the inside pocket of his jacket. “The man who was not dispatched…you have met him before?”

  Eve nodded. “Yes. He’s been a teller for a few months now and I stop by that branch at least once a week. He had waited on me several times in the past.”

  Special Agent Walsh asked several more questions. He asked about how things had transpired. Had she seen these men before, did she recognize their voices? She told him that the teller had addressed one by name, Frank, but otherwise knew nothing else about them. After telling him everything she could remember about the events from the day before and answering more questions along the way, more than an hour had passed.

  Agent Walsh finally put away his notebook and pen. “Thank you for talking with me. You have been more informative than any of the others who were there. If this guy doesn’t take a plea you will probably be called on to testify.”

  She stilled. “I will?” She bit her bottom lip. The thought of having to be in the same room with that man, telling everyone what had happened—the death and carnage—made her feel cold inside. Numbly she followed him to the door.

  He reached out and squeezed her ice cold hand briefly before releasing her. “It will be alright. If it comes down to a trial I will make sure you are safe.”

  Later Eve sat alone worrying about the possibility of going to trial. What if, even though she testified, Zach got acquitted? Stranger things had happened. Then would she be safe…or would this man want her dead? After what she had witnessed yesterday she didn’t think he would second guess killing her. Or even having someone else do the job for him!

  Before long she had worked herself into a state of sickness worrying about it so much. When Quinn came down hours later she found a very pale, glass eyed Eve curled up on the sofa in the family room.

  “Sweetie, what’s wrong?” She questioned, dropping down beside of her.

  Eve was shivering even though the room was slightly over warm. “An FBI agent stopped by to talk to me. He said I will have to testify if the guy doesn’t take a plea.”

  Quinn pulled her head onto her lap and covered Eve with the afghan from the back of the sofa. The younger woman was chilled through. Quinn began stroking her fingers through Eve’s long red hair. “Hon, don’t worry about something that may not even happen. And even if it should you know we won’t let anything happen to you. Everything will be alright, love. I promise.”

  Eve continued to lay there for a while. Slowly she pushed the stress away and let Quinn’s fingers combing through her hair soothe her. Her body temperature returned to normal and thankfully the shivering stopped.

  She must have dozed off because the next time she opened her eyes Sebastian was carrying her up the stairs. She blinked up at him. “What time is it?” She asked around a yawn.

  “Late. Close to midnight.” He gave her a grim smile as he continued to walk. “You must have been exhausted to have slept through us getting home.”

  They had reached the top of the stairs and he turned toward her bedroom. “Quinn told us about your visitor. Sorry I wasn’t here.”

  He opened her bedroom door without drop
ping her and shut the door with a kick of his foot as he started for the queen sized bed. There he carefully placed her in the middle and when he stood he wasn’t so much as breathing hard. “Get some sleep, baby.” He murmured. “Things will be better in the morning.”

  Eve sat up. “Wait. Don’t go!” She called when he turned for the door.

  Sebastian turned to face her. “What’s wrong?” He seemed concerned.

  She bit her lip, unsure what she was doing. “I…I don’t want to be alone.” She answered honestly. “Would you stay with me for a little while? Please?”

  He frowned, but returned to the bed and sat down on the edge facing her. “Quinn said you were very upset when she came down earlier. Surely you know that we would never let anyone hurt you, E. I would never let anyone hurt you.”

  “It just scared me thinking about having to face that man again.” She sighed as she pushed the hair back from her face.

  “Sweetheart, it might not have to happen. But if it does I will be right there with you. You aren’t alone in this Eve. This isn’t something that you have to face on your own.” He reached for her hand and casually entwined their fingers.

  “Promise?” She whispered, blinking back tears.

  “I promise.” With his free hand he wiped away a tear that had slipped down her right cheek. “Don’t cry.” He groaned and pulled her into his arms. “It tears me apart to see you cry.”

  She rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist. In his arms like this she felt safer than ever. It also caused her heart to start racing and the very scent of him had her melting in a very feminine way. Unconsciously she snuggled closer and let her lips brush his neck.

  Sebastian tensed at the feel of her rose petal soft lips brushing across the sensitive skin of his neck. Skin that had not ever been sensitive before now. That innocent little kiss had him rock hard and aching. He pulled back a little to look down into her beautiful face. “Don’t do that Eve.”

  “I’m sorry.” She breathed. “I…You don’t like it?”