Warm Embraces

Collapsing on the luxurious queen-sized bed, Sakura sighed in exhaustion, her body still trembling from the encounter. It was truly something to see her bully again face to face and stood up to her, battling with words.

Toby barked, which drew her attention. She rolled over and leaned in close to him. She said, "You don't like her much, do you?"

"Woof," was Toby's reply.

"Thought so," she said, chuckling. Then she tilted her head to one side. "Tara!"

Toby barked aggressively and growled.

"Alaina!"

Again, Toby barked aggressively and growled.

"Good boy," she said, pleased with his answers. Then just to test the little dog even further, she said, "Nicolas!"

Toby gave her a friendly bark and then stuck his tongue out.

"Huh?" She tilted her head, confused. "Sebastian!"

Woof! Woof! Followed by tongue stuck out, and he licked her cheek.

"Conrad!"

Woof! Woof! Followed by a roll over and little legs wiggling in midair.

"Darcy."

Toby rolled over, sat up straight, and gave her the wettest lick on her cheek ever.

"Ew!" She burst out laughing and then started tickling him. "You're being strange today." When she noted that the dog had enough, she sat up and said, "Right, I'm going to change out of this stupid dress. And you, mister…" She patted his head. "Stay out of trouble and stay away from Tara and Alaina. Understand?"

Toby barked.

"Good," she said as she got off the bed.

Woof! Toby gave her another bark to get her attention. She turned to him and saw that he was gazing at the door.

"All right," she said, unlocking the door and leaving it slightly ajar. "I'll leave it open for you but be sure you don't go annoying Tara and Alaina. You know they don't like you."

The dog barked again.

"All right," she said.

Toby ran over to his basket and made himself comfortable, afterward closing his eyes, and Sakura headed into the bathroom. There, she filled the tub with warm water and poured in some rose and lavender essential oil to help calm her nerves and relax her tense muscles. After stripping herself naked, she hopped into the tub and thoroughly enjoyed her bath. It was a while later when she realized she had to get out as dinner was just around the corner. She didn't want to be late since James would think she was avoiding the brothers once again.

After donning on a pair of skinny jeans and a simple white T-shirt and moisturizing her face with night cream and blow-drying her hair, she headed out, wondering where Toby could have gone off to since he wasn't in his basket. She was sure he hadn't gone far because she could hear him barking.

She headed down the stairs to the first floor, noting that the barking was getting louder. As she was crossing the hallway, she realized it was coming from within the library—hers and Toby's favorite place in the house, especially in winter when she read to him out loud. Toby seemed to enjoy her soothing voice as she read to him near the fireplace and him snuggling cozily on her lap. This time, however, she surely hoped he wasn't munching on books since she wasn't with him.

"Toby?" she called out softly as she opened the door.

Silent.

She moved in a little farther, narrowing her eyes against the bright glaring evening light that entered the room via the floor-to-ceiling window from the west side of the house. She blinked a couple of times to get used to the lighting, and that was when she saw Toby with Conrad. The dog was lying on the floor, and Conrad was rubbing his tummy. They were having a good time, all right. Toby must really like Conrad to allow the brother to touch him. Normally, he wouldn't let just anyone touch him unless he knew he was safe with that person.

"Toby?" she called out again. The dog heard her, and his ears perked up. He rolled himself up to his feet and barked her a happy greeting.

Sakura took another step forward, pleased to see he wasn't munching on books. Then because she wasn't paying any attention to her surroundings and only had eyes on her dog, she tripped on a pair of feet and fell forward, free-styling. Luckily, she didn't land on the hard floor and turn herself into a young corpse. Instead, she landed on a warm, masculine body.

"Shit!" Conrad shouted, rushing over to her while Nicolas looked at what damage his long legs had done.

"Get off her, Sebastian!" Conrad half-snapped, half-shouted.

When Sakura fluttered her eyes open, she was greeted pair of blue ones gazing her. Her heart decided to miss a beat then, and she froze.

"Get off her." Conrad demanded again.

Sebastian, still a bit dazed that a soft body had suddenly landed on him, wondered how he could get himself off when it was the girl herself who was on top of him. Furthermore, it felt perfectly right to have her there, and he didn't feel the need to remove her. Not to mention her face was only inches from his. Indeed, they were nose to nose and lips to lips; they could be kissing.

Goodness, but she looked fresh and utterly innocent, and it stirred something deep within him. It made him want to protect her, like he had wanted all those years ago but hadn't been able to.

"Sakura," Nicolas said. "I'm sorry my feet got in the way. Now, maybe you should get off Sebastian."

Sakura hastily pushed herself up, she found herself sitting on Sebastian's rock-hard belly, saddling him as Toby jumped into her arms and started barking happily. continued to hyperactively bark in her arms, she. Goodness, but she could feel the firmness of his six-pack abs beneath her, and suddenly her insides started heating up and she blushed crimson on the cheeks. Her whole body was quivering with reactions.

Sebastian, laying there, could feel the heat radiating from her body to his and hastily moved up so as to ease her from him. It was, after all, getting rather too comfortable for his liking, and he knew he was stepping on dangerous ground. He certainly didn't want to be turned on by his adopted sister—and in the presence of his brothers too.

His action, however, backfired. The movement caused Sakura's little bottom to slide down his tummy and land right on his crotch.

"Shit!" Sebastian swore under his breath, almost breathless at the contact.

"Ah!" Conrad pulled at his hair as if he were going crazy at seeing them in such an uncalled-for position. "Toby! What the hell are you doing! Sebastian! Get off Sakura right now!"

Sebastian could only close his eyes and rub his fingers and thumb against his forehead as he tried to control himself from the massive buildup of desire coursing through his body.

"Shut up, Conrad. You're giving me a headache with your shouting."

Shit! Shit! Shit! If she were to move herself up and down him, or even worse, wiggle her bottom while she was on top of him, he was sure he wouldn't be able to control himself any longer, and his pride and joy would surely make its appearance.

Nicolas burst out laughing. When he managed to stop, he scooped Sakura into his strong arms and gently lifted her up and away from Sebastian.

Once Sakura found herself landing on her feet on the soft carpet, she finally managed to calm Toby down. Then she gave Nicolas an appreciative smile before noting the dark scowl Sebastian wore on his face. She knew he was upset she'd landed on him. She also knew he really disliked her, and this encounter must have really pissed him off.

"Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to fall on you. It was an accident."

Sebastian watched her standing there above him, his heart pumping irrationally. Ah, fuck, but he wanted to pull her back on top of him and perhaps even roll her over so she'd be beneath him. Then he'd kiss her on her luscious lips and take that cute T-shirt off her so he could witness her beautiful naked body. Then he'd kiss those amazing breasts of hers and then—

Then she rushed away and out the door, leaving Sebastian lying there, wanting and craving what he was forbidden to have.

On the other side of the door, Sakura closed her eyes and her back against the shut door. "Oh, God!" she whispered under her breath, wondering in mortification if her adopted brothers thought she was some sort of stupid ninny.

What was wrong with her? Why didn't she get up the moment she'd landed on top of Sebastian? Furthermore, she'd even sat on top of him. On top of him! On top of his firm, six-pack that she could so feel beneath her.

Just thinking about it now made her blush with embarrassment, and she hugged Toby tighter against her chest.

"What's the matter?"

Sakura flashed her eyes open to see Tristan smiling at her—that flirty smile of his that any girl found most irresistible. His face was also only inches from hers, and she could feel his warm breath on her skin.

She licked her lip and stammered, "No… nothing. I was just looking for Toby."

Tristan tilted his head to one side. "You're blushing. Why? Has one of my brothers harassed you?"

"I said it was nothing," she muttered, her cheeks flaming hot. Then, before he could ask her any more questions, she hastily moved to the side, away from him, and rushed off with Toby in her arms.

Tristan watched her go, grinning knowingly, wondering which one of his brothers was responsible for his adopted sister's weird reaction.

Ah! She was blushing. A pretty blush, he thought. And her eyes, the deep-brown color, were exceptionally bright this evening.

Tristan opened the library's door then and came to witness a most interesting scene. Conrad, who was standing, was shouting at Sebastian, who was lying down on the floor.

"I told you to get off her!" he muttered.

Sebastian wasn't listening to his brother, though. He was dealing with his own problem. He had to dampen his hot, burning desire within him that had just been awakened by his adopted sister, who, he had no doubt, hadn't a clue what she'd done.

"Shut up!" Sebastian said. "My head is aching." No! he thought. That was a complete lie. His head wasn't aching. His body was.

Nicolas was chuckling away enthusiastically, and when his eyes met Tristan's, he gave his brother a wink.

That bastard Sebastian! Tristan thought. It was him who was responsible.

Tristan came in and demanded, "Did you harass Sakura?"

Sebastian took one look at his brother and moaned under his breath, "Not you, too."

On the stairs, Sakura put Toby down on the floor and asked, "Why are you playing with them? I told you before, they're not our friends. I'll let it go this time but not again, you hear?"

Toby stuck out his tongue and jumped about in his spot excitedly.

"You're a bit weird since they've arrived, you know. What's wrong with you?"

Then again, she thought, she too was being a bit weird. Well, at least her body was doing weird stuff anyway. Her heart seemed to race a lot lately. It was the brothers' fault, of course.

"Good," Conrad said from the distance. "Tristan will teach him a lesson. I told him to get off her, but he wouldn't."

Sakura froze in her spot as she heard Nicolas chuckling. "I'm more worried that Sebastian will bash Tristan's face in."

"Oh, yeah. Me, too," Conrad muttered. "But he wouldn't. They're brothers after all."

"Yes," Nicolas replied.

Didn't want to see them again so soon after the embarrassing incident, Sakura chose to run up the remaining steps. She was in such a rush that she blindly ran into someone, colliding her body against a firm, masculine one. She gasped and felt herself falling backward. Suddenly a pair of strong, powerful arms wrapped themselves around the small of her waist before she hit the floor, again. In respond, she hastily wrapped her arms around the person's neck. This was followed by their bodies turning together as if they were dancing, and then she felt herself falling backward again in another direction… and then thud.

The pain was most unbearable this time, as the heavy body was on top of her. She had to admit, however, that even though the body was hard and heavy, the feeling wasn't at all unpleasant and was rather warm.

She flashed her eyes open to see mauve-gray ones watching her. Suddenly, she caught her breath at the back of her throat as Darcy whispered, "You walked into me."

More heat creeping up her already flush cheeks, she said, "You're squishing me."

Darcy didn't move as he gazed down at her. His heart, apparently, was aching with familiar angst and delight of having her in his arms. She smelled beautiful too, of rose and lavender, and it caused his senses to float with wonder.

She was warm and soft under him, begging him to do more than just lie still on top of her. He wanted to kiss her, like he'd always wanted to kiss her and take her into his arms when they were younger, even after he'd started to believe the lies Alaina and Tara told him about her. Even after that awful incident at the tree house when he thought Sakura had wanted to cause Alaina harm and he hated her so much and treated her so badly, he had still wanted her. He hated himself for that. Hated himself for falling in love with the girl who'd wanted to kill his twin sister.

"Why aren't you getting up?" she asked. "I'm going to be a pancake soon if you don't move."

He couldn't help himself and smiled at her. Yes, it was both painful and pleasurable to be with her. The feelings that had tormented him a long time ago were now returning with a vengeance.

Darcy's smile was so beautiful that Sakura's felt her heart skipping. She licked her lips, wondering why he was smiling at her. She knew he still had a grudge against her since that awful incident years ago at the tree house. That was why he'd never talked to her again and had treated her so coldly. She'd never blamed him for that, of course, knowing very well he was just being protective of his sister.

"Your arms," he said logically, not at all displeased that her arms were wrapping around him like a lover's.

Sakura widened her eyes at the realization and hastily removed herself.

Darcy didn't want to move. In fact, he liked being in that position on top of her. He could feel her soft, womanly body beneath his, and it was making his being respond with desire. Her face was only inches from his, and he knew he could kiss her if wanted to. But he couldn't. Wouldn't.

Slowly—reluctantly—he moved back.

Sakura breathed in relief, and before she could bring herself to stand, she felt Darcy's arm around the small of her waist, pulling her to him. Their bodies were so close that they might fuse.

Standing there with Sakura in his arms, Darcy was hurting himself. He knew he was leading himself down a dangerous path, but it was just too damn tempting. He wanted to kiss her. No! He not only wanted to kiss her, but he wanted her to forgive him for doubting her innocence. He wanted her to forgive him of his horrible treatment toward her when they'd been children. He wanted her and her forgiveness so bad that it hurt inside.

"Darcy, what are you doing?" Conrad asked from the distance.

Sakura hastily moved away from Darcy, blushing profusely.

Darcy shut his eyes for a moment to regain control of his emotions. Yes, he needed to appear cool and in control in front of his brothers. He didn't want to show his brothers just how fragile he was emotionally, especially where Sakura was concerned. After all, he'd never shown his brothers anything other than the cool, collected, and arrogant Darcy who didn't give a shit what everyone else thought of him.

He turned calmly to Conrad and Nicolas, who were watching him, waiting for his answers.

"She fell," he said. Then before they could ask him any more questions, which he knew they wouldn't anyway, he removed his arm from Sakura's waist and then walked away toward the stairs.

Sakura watched him go. She was relieved that he didn't growl at her for running into him. She was also relieved that, for the first time, he had smiled at her. Perhaps, just perhaps, he'd forgiven her.

"You fell again?" Conrad asked. "You should be careful."

"I'm a bit clumsy today," she said. "I think we should go to dinner." With that, she walked past them, Toby trotting after her happily.

"Wait for me." Conrad chuckled, rushing after her.

Nicolas tilted his head to one side as he watched them go. "Darcy," he said. "You're letting down your guard, brother."