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Chapter 22
Protection
Sakura Princeton was more than a little humiliated at the circumstance she found herself in and blushed a becoming pink. She stole a peek at her adopted brother Sebastian Princeton to see if he was pissed because he had to carry her or if he was repulsed by her state of disarray and wetness, which she thought would really bother him because she was messing up his clothing.
Sebastian, aware of her eyeing him, glanced at her and gave her a sympathetic smile.
Sakura didn’t like the compassionate look he was giving her one bit. She knew he felt sorry for her after what had happened. Her being maliciously shoved into the deep pool by Alaina in an intention to cause harm. Instantly, she was pissed with the whole situation. She didn’t want Sebastian—or any of the brothers for that matter—to feel sorry for her. She wasn’t weak. She was a strong woman. Well, at least she thought so anyway. For sure, she wasn’t a child who needed strong men to support her. Nor did she need a man like Sebastian Princeton to carry her.
She cleared her throat and said softly, “You can put me down, Sebastian. I can walk.”
Sebastian gave her a quick glance. Noting her dishevel, exhausted appearance, he decided she wasn’t fit enough to carry herself up the stairs to her own bedroom. Without giving any answer to her request, he headed straight up to the second floor.
“Sebastian?” Sakura tried again, thinking he didn’t hear her the first time. “I can walk. You can put me down now.”
When he still didn’t response, she sighed. “Sebastian!” she said again, tugging at the collar of his shirt to get his attention.
Sebastian finally turned his attention to her again, his eyes dark and his face impassive.
“Put me down,” she begged. “Please. I can walk fine.”
“No,” he replied simply. “Not here.”
Sakura blinked. “Why not?”
“Because you’re still in shock, and your dress is too big and long,” he said.
Sakura blinked again. “I beg your pardon?”
Her dress was too big and long? What did that have to do with anything?
“You’ll trip,” he explained as if to a child.
She frowned. Of course she wouldn’t trip. She wasn’t a toddler who had just begun to learn how to walk, for God’s sake.
The youngest of the Princeton brothers Conrad, who was walking beside them with the pup Toby in his arms, offered happily, “I can carry you if you don’t want Sebastian to.”
“She’s fine where she is,” Sebastian said, heading straight to Sakura’s bedroom door.
Seeing that it’d be difficult for Sebastian to open the door with Sakura in his arms, Conrad rushed up first to do it for his brother. Once inside, Sebastian gently put Sakura down, in which case Sakura murmured a “Thank you” to him.
Toby dashed up and barked happily to get Sakura’s attention. In response, Sakura gave her dog a smile and patted his head in affection. Then she pulled the oversized dress around to properly cover herself.
“Thanks for bringing me back,” she said, her eyes on the carpet where her soaked dress dampened it.
“Go get changed,” Sebastian instructed. “You’ll catch a cold if you don’t get that dress off.”
The moment he said dress, she looked down at herself, the bridesmaid’s gown clinging to her. She was a sorry sight all right.
“I’ll find you something to change into,” Conrad offered, marching up to her wardrobe.
“No!” she shouted. “It’s okay. I’ll do it myself.” But it was too late. Conrad had the wardrobe door wide open and was searching through it.
“Go on,” Sebastian said, nudging her toward the bathroom. When she didn’t move, he wrapped his hand about her arm and led her into the bathroom himself. Once there, he turned on the shower.
“What are you doing?” she asked, confused.
“Helping you,” he said. He gently twisted her around so her back was to him. Then, without warning, he unzipped her dress all the way down her back.
Sakura wasn’t prepared for that. In fact, she wasn’t prepared for the dress to fall from her person either. She screamed in fright, then caught it in the nick of time, at her waist.
Sebastian wasn’t prepared, either, to see her half-naked in front of him. He couldn’t help but notice the smoothness of her slender back all the way down to the curve of her backside. As she caught the dress at her waist, he had a good view of her breasts, and, by Jove, they made him want to weep with joy. They were the most amazing breasts he had ever seen: porcelain white, full, round, and perked at just the right angle. Perfect in a man’s hand.
Sakura pulled the dress back up to cover herself, barely. As in the nature of any woman, she only covered her breasts, so her back was still totally exposed to him.
“Sebastian, please get out,” she said quietly, her cheeks blushing. “And bring me a towel.”
Sebastian was used to seeing half-naked women. It was just kind of normal since Alaina, Tara, and their friends were always in their bikinis during the summers. Then sometimes the urge came and he’d brought home those occasional women for the night, but even when they were naked in front of him, he needed to be worked on in order to get going. But not this time. Not with this one. This one was a bit different. This one made his heart race and his palms sweat. This one made him hard on sight. And she didn’t even do anything. In fact, she was telling him to leave.
He took a step back, trying to control himself, trying to calm down, trying very hard to suppress his desire for the girl before him.
“I got the dress,” Conrad called out.
Sebastian heard his brother coming toward the bathroom, and before Conrad had the chance to peek inside, he grabbed the dress, said, “Towel!” and slammed the door shut again.
Sakura relaxed, thinking Sebastian had left. She gathered her long hair, bunched it up, and let it rest over one shoulder. Then she proceeded to turn to the running shower.
Sebastian was hoping his desire would die down, but it was getting worse. His hand tightened on the dress. Shit, he thought. He had to get out of here.
“Where’s the towel?” Conrad called out from the other side.
Sakura was testing the water with her fingers and reluctantly turned to answer Conrad. She gasped in fright when she saw that Sebastian was still in the bathroom with her.
“Sebastian!” she shrieked, her voice husky. “What are you still doing in here?”
Sebastian tried to sound as normal as he could and managed a cool reply. “Waiting for the towel.”
Sakura tightened her grip on the dress at her chest and frowned at him. He couldn’t blame her for that. He was rather thankful she couldn’t see him going hard with desire for her.
He passed her the dress, and after turning the doorknob, left the room in a hurry. A moment later, he opened the door again and threw her the towel.
Once the door was latched again, Sebastian turned to look at Conrad, who was now sitting on the carpet with Toby on his lap.
Sebastian came to sit beside his brother, his back resting against the bed. He turned his attention to Sakura’s bedroom and was instantly surprised at what he saw. He thought her bedroom would be plain with just a normal-sized double bed, a wardrobe for her clothes, and perhaps a study desk. But this was far from it. Her room was designed and decorated tastefully, with a soft, earthy palette. There was a featured wall where the head of the queen-size bed rested—lovely pink cherry blossoms and golden leaves. There was a French-Georgian style recliner, sofa, and study desk and chair. He noted the laptop, camera, and sketchbook and pencils neatly arranged on the antique desk. He especially loved the flower arrangement sitting to the side, magnolia and cherry blossoms. What a beautiful combination.
“I hope she’s all right,” Conrad said.
Sebastian glanced at Toby, who was having a nice, relaxing time on Conrad’s lap.
“Me, too,” he replied.
At that moment the door
burst opened and Darcy Princeton, the sixth Princeton brother, walked in.
“Where is she?” he asked, his voice dark with concern.
Sebastian nodded to the bathroom, indicated that their adopted sister was in there.
“Is she all right?” Darcy couldn’t help himself asking.
The brothers didn’t answer. Truth be told, they didn’t know. Darcy understood and came to sit on the other side of Conrad, folding his arms across his chest. The three waited in silence, dreading to find out if their victim would be all right after the attempted murder. A few minutes later, Sakura opened the door, and they all hastily stood.
Sakura was so shocked to see three men in her bedroom waiting for her that she couldn’t do anything but stare, momentarily forgetting why she was in such a rush to get out of the bathroom with her wet hair in a wild mess and her skin not yet dried properly.
Yes, once she had gotten hold of herself from the fear of her drowning, showered thoroughly, and gotten out, she realized Conrad hadn’t given her any underwear. And why would he? He hadn’t a clue as to where they were and probably didn’t think she needed any too. And here she was, standing there with only the dress on, her skin still wet and her hair still wild, looking at the three uninvited men in her room.
Sebastian had a good, thorough look at his very pretty adopted sister. That white dress was rather fetching on her, showing off her very slender figure. The top bit, however, was designed in such a way as to hug the breasts. The neckline was rather low and showing porcelain-white skin that begged for a caress. Not to mention there were buttons in the front starting from about her diaphragm to the top. Gosh! Did she not think to button up properly? He could bloody see her skin beneath. And yes, that damn cotton material was rather thin, and since her soft, smooth skin was still bloody wet from the shower, it was showing the shape of her breasts and nipples very clearly.
