Falling For Sakura (Falling For Sakura Trilogy, #1) (32 page)

A P
assionate Kiss

Sakura spent the next
day with Ned at his cottage, painting. She’d been lucky since everyone had left the house early to meet up with Mary and Peter’s parents, who were arriving early that morning. Then of course they’d go to the Princeton Hotel and Resort on the other side of the island, finalizing everything for the wedding reception.

“You could never stay put, could you?” Ned asked, watching her from his side of the room.

“No, I can’t,” she replied. “And stop lecturing me. Be nice since I’ve brought you carrot cake.”

“Did you make it?”

“Of course not.” She chuckled. “Your dear sister did. She told me to tell you to stop telling everyone that she’s neglecting you.”

“She’s a good girl,” Ned said. “I’m going to make lunch. What do you want in your sandwich?”

“Ham,” she said, doing a little dot of pink to make the cherry flower on the canvas.

“Okay, be back in a minute
,” Ned said and then disappeared out the door.

They had lunch in quietness and afterward continued with their painting
s. It was late by the time Sakura decided she had enough and headed back to the house.

“I’m driving you there,” Ned said and made her get in the car.

Sakura shook her head and just did what he told her to do. Once they got to the mansion, Sakura cursed loudly.

Ned chuckled. “I thought I taught you better than that,” he said. “Next time use a better swear word.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” Sakura said, eyeing Sebastian getting out of his Mercedes-Benz. He was of course followed by Conrad, Hayden, and Nicolas. Tristan, Logan, and Darcy came out of the other car. She wondered why she had to arrive home at the same time they did.

The brothers stood watching her as she and Ned got out of the car.

Sakura turned to Ned and said, “Why don’t you come and say thank you to your sister for the cake?”

Ned chuckled. “Sca
redy cat.”

Sakura bit her lip and muttered, “I’m not a
scaredy cat.”

Of course
, he gladly came to her side and escorted her toward the house.

“Ned Fabre?” Nicolas asked.

Ned chuckled. “Master Nicolas, how are you? And Master Tristan, Logan, Sebastian, Hayden, Darcy, Conrad?”

The brothers nodded at him
, surprised that he still remembered them even though they had only met once or twice in the last couple of years.

“Why is Sakura with you?” Conrad asked.

“She’s my student. Such a slow learner, she is.”

Sakura folded her ar
ms across her chest. “Excuse me, but I am not a slow learner.”

“What are you teaching her?” Hayden asked.

“Painting. She loves to paint the sakura tree,” Ned said.

“Sakura tree?” Logan asked. “That’s her name
.”

“Cherry tree,” Sebastian said, and the brothers nodded in understanding.

Sakura said, “Ned dear?”

“Yes, Sakura dear?” Ned turned to her.

“Beth? Cake? Thank you?” She gave him a fake smile.

“Ah, of course.” He turned to the brothers and said, “Must thank my dear sister for the cake she gave me.” With that, he nodded at the brothers and headed into the house. Sakura quickly followed him, still limping a little. The brothers headed into the house as well.

After saying good-bye to Ned, Sakura lied to Beth that she was hungry and thus had her dinner in the kitchen before everyone else.

“Tell Mom
Brenda and Daddy James I’ve already had mine,” she said, heading out the door. “I’m going straight to bed now.”

“But it’s only six o’clock
,” Beth argued.

“Yes, I
know, but I’m tired,” she said, hiding a smile. “Good night, Beth.”

“I swear to you, Sakura, you’re very odd these days. Eating and sleeping at the oddest hours,” Beth mumbled to herself.

Sakura rushed to her room, trying very hard to hide her amusement. After browsing the Internet and doing a bit of research on apartments in New York, she did feel rather tired and went to lie down on her bed. She patted Toby as she closed her eyes, slowly falling asleep.

When she woke up next, it was pas
t midnight. The house was so quiet that she could hear her own heartbeat in her ears. No longer tired, she felt rather restless and wondered what she should do. Then she thought of something. She’d go down and practice her floating. Then the thought of Sebastian and Tara flashed into her mind. She cursed under her breath.

Stop thinking about him, Sakura
. You’ve got to stop. He’s a stupid man anyway.

She couldn’t find her swimsuit anywhere and cursed fluently this time as Ned had taught her to. Fifteen minutes later, she gave up and headed out the door anyway. She came down to the indoor po
ol area and found it was very quiet. The whole place, however, wasn’t at all dark, and she decided she wouldn’t switch on the light.

Decision made, she headed straight to the pool, took
off her clothes and left only her bra and panties on. Slowly, she lowered herself into the water. It was warm. She sighed in relief. When she realized she didn’t drown, she giggled.
Yes!
She was floating.

H
appily, she floated her way around the pool. Now and again, she’d open her eyes and stare up at the high ceiling. She marveled at the beautiful prism of white and blue the water made on the wall. On the other side, the moon was bright and high above, shinning in through the skylight. It was beautiful. She couldn’t believe she’d never done this before.

She was back at the edge of the pool now, her eyes close
d as she was floating there, not thinking about anything at all. That was when she heard footsteps coming in. She flashed her eyes open and held her breath.

The footsteps were quite heavy. Could it be one of the brothers? What? At this time of night?

The footsteps were getting closer and closer. Then she heard the person climbing up the ladder.
Darcy?
She looked up at the figure at the top of the high diving platform but only saw a dark shadow. Then she heard the board squeaking and then she saw the figure of a man jumping off and then—

Splash!

Sakura searched around as the person disappeared underwater. Perhaps she should take the chance and run off. After all, it wasn’t like whoever it was knew she was here anyway.

Nodding at that decision, she was about to
turn but felt somebody in the water in front of her. Then an enormous body popped up, his massive chest pressing against her so she was imprisoned against the wall of the pool.

Sakura gasped
, and her heart thumped hard in her chest as she stared at the huge silhouette before her. The strong face was above her, water dripping, caressing it.

“
Darcy?” she whispered softly.

The body stiffened. Sakura watched in awe at the muscular arms that came up and trapped her on both sides. She licked her lips.

“No, not Darcy.”

Sakura felt her stomach flip. It was Sebastian.

“You were hoping it was him?”

She blinked. “I thought—”

“Well, that’s too bad for you. I know how you wanted it to be him.” Sebastian cocked his head to one side. “And here the girl who said she’d never commit incest is doing the very thing.”

Sakura bit her lip. “What are you talking about?” She shoved his right arm so he’d move away from her.
He wouldn’t budge. He chuckled.

“Sebastian,” she began again, licking her lips, staring up at the dark form of his face. “I’m going now.”

“But I thought you were here practicing your swimming.”

“I’m done practicing.”

“How much has Darcy taught you, Sakura, apart from kissing you, that is?” he asked sarcastically.

Sakura gasped. “What?”

“Twice, I think,” he continued.

“Sebastian, can you just stop it
?” she snapped, her voice quivering.

“Stop what?” he asked easily
, though his voice was cold and hard.

She stared at his
chest. “I don’t know.”

H
e pulled her to him, his strong arms at the small of her back. Sakura was squeezed up against his massive form, and she couldn’t struggle free.

“What are you doing?” she asked, panic in her voice.

“Teaching you how to swim, which Darcy has neglected to do,” he said, pulling her along with him. He swam on his back, drawing her on top of him. “Pretend I’m a floating board. Now kick your feet.”

His arms tightened about her waist so she wouldn’t slip away from him. Sakura could feel the length of him against her.

“I’m not in the mood to learn,” she snapped and then hit his chest with her small fist.

He just laughed. “Go on
,” he urged. “Hit harder.”

“You’re crazy,” she said.

“I suppose I am,” he replied easily. “About you and Darcy and those kisses.”

Sakura struggled in his arms again as he kept taking her around the pool, his arms tight about her.

“Do you like him kissing you?”

She was angry now. He had no right to ask her such a que
stion. In fact, he had no right to interfere with her life at all.

“So what if I do?” she asked. “Now stop pestering me.” She shoved him from her and turned. She di
d her best paddling back toward the edge of the pool.

Sebastian watched her go for only an instan
t, and then in a split second, he caught her by the waist and pulled her back to him again. He twisted her around, smashed her against him, brought his hand to hold the back of her head, and slammed his lips down on hers.

Sakura wasn’t prepared for his brutal kiss as he assaulted her lips. He was so wild that he scared her. Suddenly he pulled back, frowning down at her, noticing she was rigid and shaking like a leaf within his embrace.

He sighed and closed his eyes. No, he shouldn’t have been doing this to her. He loved her, so why was he hurting her?

When he opened his eyes again, he knew he had to win her over. So he kissed her again. This
time, though, it was gentle and very passionate. Her lips were soft and warm against his, both his hands cupping her face. Slowly, his tongue played with her lip, teasing, caressing, stroking, and licking her along the length of those marvelous, sensuous lips. Then he made her open her mouth for him, and when she did, he plunged his tongue in, exploring her, tasting her, teasing her, and caressing her with all the experience he had.

Sakura struggled to gai
n her mind back. She was lost, so very lost in this wonderful, delightful, heavenly kiss that Sebastian was giving her. How could she feel this way? With only a kiss? But oh, it was such a kiss. She was breathless; she was mindless. Her body melted within his embrace. Her heart raced a million miles a minute. And something deep and hot burned within her being. She softly groaned.

She was totally lost as he deepened the kiss
. His fingers dug deep into her wet hair while he had one hand down the small of her back, pressing her against him.
Oh, God!
She could feel him growing hard. And instead of anger or revolt, she felt herself growing warm and excited.
Oh, God!
She desired her own adopted brother.
Oh, God, no!
She couldn’t. This was wrong.
Very wrong.

When she felt his pressure on her lips lessen, she knew this had to stop because otherwise she’d be totally lost. She took the chance and moved back, pretending to be angry. Yes, it was better that he thought she didn’t like him. That way he wouldn’t pursue this weird relationship that she knew was likely to happen if she didn’t pu
t a stop to it. That way she wouldn’t hurt him in the long run. That way she wouldn’t hurt herself.

“If you ever kiss me again, Sebastian Princeton, I’m going to bite you,” she said.

He stared at her, his face a mask. His eyes, however, spoke volumes because they were flashing blue fire.

Sakura moved back, but before she got any f
arther, he pulled her back to him and kissed her again, this time deeper and wilder as he plunged his tongue into her mouth, stroking and lashing his tongue against hers. His hand was strong and firm behind her head, holding her still as he continued to kiss her. His other hand was on her lower back, pressing her against him.

Sakura couldn’t do much more than respond to his demanding kiss. Her whole body shuddered in pleasure as he expertly played with her. His mouth and lips were warm against hers and she felt weak and dizzy. When he let her go, she gazed at him, dazed.

“You didn’t bite me,” he said, a devilishly handsome grin on his face.

Though her head still felt somewhat light, the meaning of his words didn’t miss her. In retaliation, she moved her head to his shoulder, opened her mouth wide, and bit him hard.