Reckless With Their Hearts (2 page)

“Where is everyone?” A sudden voice called out, but not the voice they had been expecting. This one was deeper, masculine. Sebastian. Eve tensed in Garth’s arms, almost nervous to face the eldest of her stepsiblings.

The door to the family room opened and there he stood in the doorway. Sebastian was a Viking
warrior, something she had always teasingly called him. His extensive height, blond hair the aura of power and danger flowing off of him had intimidated her at first. Standing at well over six feet five inches, with his dark blond hair needing a trim, and his blue as a clear summer day eyes gazing at her she felt anything but intimidated these days.

Seeing her leaning agai
nst his father he raised a brow in that arrogant way that always made her want to slap his handsome face. “Having a snuggle before the kid goes up for night-night?” He teased.

“Having
a snuggle so I can reassure myself that Eve is actually here and unharmed.” Garth shot back, in no mood for his son’s humor.

The slight quiver in the older man’s voice caught his son’s attention. He dropped his satchel on the floor and crossed to them.
“What happened?” He demanded, noticing just how pale Eve was and how gray his father was under his tan.

“It’s a long story.” She tried to excuse, not wanting him to know just yet.

But Garth jumped in and filled him on the day’s event. She watched as Sebastian paled. He swallowed hard twice before reaching for her. She went willingly, melting against his hard body. And for the first time that day the tears burnt the backs of her eyes. Her throat grew tight and a sob escaped her. He held her close and she felt his lips caress her forehead. The first tear spilled from her eyes and the dam was open. She clung to him.

--

When he had thought about the upcoming holidays and going home to spend it with his family after more than a month of going around the globe checking up on various problems and what-not within the Savage Corporation he hadn’t once thought that he would be walking into something so mind numbingly horrific.

No, he had thought about the many presents he had picked up along the way; something different and special for each member of his family. Like the funny hats he had picked up for Quinn and Eve in Spain two weeks ago. Or the hand crafted watch he had gotten in Switzerland
for his father. Or even the gag gift he had purchased for Cameron a month earlier. He had imagined the laughs and hugs and Eve’s unbelievably precious giggles when they opened up each gift.

But to come home just hours after Eve’s brush with death and to have her fall into his arms sobbing? That had not once crossed his mind. And now he sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace with her
on his lap still clinging to him. Her sobbing had subsided to little hiccups and her tears had soaked into his shirt but he didn’t care. He stroked his fingers through her long copper red hair in the soothing way he knew she enjoyed.

Garth had left the room a few minutes ago to check up on Cameron and make some coffee, but mostly to keep busy. Sebastian knew that his father cared about Eve as much as he did any of his own children. Not only because she was all he had of the woman he had loved so much, but because Eve was special.
She had the kindest, most caring heart he had ever come across. The day’s events had shaken him badly.

Just thinking about what might have happened was enough to make Sebastian tremble. He tightened his hold on her for a moment before continuing to comb his fingers through her gloriously beautiful hair. If he were honest with himself he would admit how much her hair alone affected him. As did the light scent of the perfume she wore; the same perfume he gave her every year for her birthday. Her perfectly shaped firm breast
s pressed against him at the moment…Well if he were admitting things to himself he would have to admit that he was a weak man when it came to his reaction to every little detail about his beautiful stepsister.

Not that he would admit that to anyone, but especially not to Eve. Letting a female know that you were weak were they were concerned was dangerous. Sebastian liked all kinds of danger and took plenty of risks:
Sky diving, swimming with sharks, rock climbing free style…But letting a woman know when he was affected was just too dangerous in his book. It was just desire after all…

“I’m sorry.” She whispered suddenly and pushed herself off his lap and away from him. She wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands. “I guess it finally caught up with me.”

He felt the loss of her against him like a lost limb. But he hid it behind a cocky smile. “Yeah, it was just an excuse to touch my sexy body. Your secret’s safe with me.”

He meant it
as a joke, like he always jokingly flirted with her. But he saw the flush creep into her beautiful face and her eyes lowered. Whoa! Did she want him? Just the thought was enough to make him ache.

Don’t go there, Sebastian!
He mentally shouted at himself.
She’s still a kid. Hands to yourself!

She slapped him on the chest. “You wish, pig.” She gave a forced little laugh and scooted over a little more, putting several inches between them.

The door to the family room swung open and Quinn hurried into the room. Her long caramel hair was pulled into a ponytail and the almost feral look on her beautiful face would have sent anyone running for shelter. It was the look of a mother bear in need of protecting her cub. In this case Eve.

“Oh honey.” She crouched down in front of Eve. “
Thank God you are alright!”

Eve threw her arms around her
, hugging her tight. “Quinn!” She cried. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

Garth and Cameron came into the room.
The younger man carrying a bowl of popcorn in one hand and shoving the snack into his mouth with the other. To see all three of the Savage men was to witness a trio of Viking warriors, although Garth’s hair was more silver than blond now. They all stood close to six and a half feet with Sebastian the tallest. With their powerful builds, even Garth for his age, the power just exuded from them.

Even Quinn, though her hair was a lovely caramel color was unusually tall, standing an inch over six feet. E
ve, above average at five feet eight inches felt like a shrimp around all of them. But they also made her feel incredibly safe and that was something that she need more than ever right now.

“Well, this Christmas has been eventful.” Cameron joked around a mouthful of popcorn. “Let’s try to keep the excitement level down though, okay? My heart can’t take anymore.”

“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.”

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 ha
d 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 famil
y 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 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.”