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Chapter 3
Darcy Princeton, Prince of Darkness
Sakura knew she had a fifty-fifty chance of living or dying once she saw the car heading straight at her. Before she had time to react, she felt herself smashing against hard metal and flying back, landing on the road. She had a moment of sheer panic, wondering if she’d live, when Toby ran to her and started barking at her and licking her hand with concern. Laying there motionless, she stared dazedly up at the sky through her hair covering her face, wondering if she was dead already. God, her head was spinning out of control and her body was aching something sorely.
She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing. Toby was still barking at her to get her attention, but she had no strength to response just yet. She needed to clear her head and get her bearing back first.
Before her, the brothers rushed out of the car, their stomachs flipping in dread as they wondered what the heck had just happened. Sebastian, being the one responsible, had assumed the worst and wondered if he had just killed the girl even though he knew in his gut he’d stopped the car just in time. If he hit her at all, it was probably only slightly, which would have caused her to fall back like so. When he saw the slender body lying there motionless as if she was really dead, his adrenaline went into overdrive, and at lightning speed, he rushed to her, his mind buzzing with concern.
“Oh shit!” Conrad shrieked in dismay, his eyes intense on the girl before them. “You hit a girl, Sebastian. You freaken hit a girl.”
“I’m calling the ambulance.” Nicolas dug into his backpack, searching for his cell phone.
Sebastian, who was now kneeling beside Sakura, called out to her, his voice hoarse “Are you all right? Hey, can you hear me? Are you all right?”
When Sakura didn’t response, Darcy growled as he rushed over to them, his mind racing and his heart pounding with dread. “What do you think? You bloody hit her, for Christ’s sake! She’s probably unconscious.”
Just then the other car drew up behind them, followed by, “Hey, what’s the holdup?” from Tristan.
“Accident!” Conrad shouted back.
“What the hell!” Logan muttered as they all got out of the car.
On the other side, Sakura, still oblivious to Sebastian presence beside her, stroked her hair back from her face and managed to sit up. Toby jumped into her lap and asked her with his eyes if she was all right.
“I’m fine, Toby,” she said, patting his head in reassurance. The dog whimpered at her and licked her hand.
Sebastian sighed in relief when he heard she spoke, not to him but to the dog. “Are you all right?” he asked again, knowing she hadn’t heard him the first time. When she didn’t respond again, he assumed she still couldn’t hear him and wrapped his hand around her slender arm to get her attention.
The moment she felt warm, strong masculine hand touching her, Sakura felt tingles of sensations rushing through her being, and she shivered at the alienated feelings. She held her breath as he continued to ask her questions she didn’t want to answer.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” Sebastian asked insistently.
What the hell do you think? She wanted to shout at him. You nearly killed me with your reckless driving.
“I’m fine,” she replied none too gently.
At this point, Darcy was by Sakura’s side opposite Sebastian. He said, “Hey, how bad are you hurt? Let me see.”
Sakura held her breath the moment Darcy demanded her attention. The voice! Oh gosh! The voice! She had the feeling she’d heard that voice before. Only now it was deeper and manlier and caused her stomach to flip and her heart to race.
She finally lifted her head and came face-to-face with a handsome young man with raven-black hair and mauve-gray eyes. Sakura held her breath as she stared at Darcy, drowning herself in the depth of the unique color that once had looked at her with affection.
Darcy felt his body go rigid and his heart skipped a couple of beats the moment he saw the dark-haired, dark-eyed beauty that was their victim. To say she was beautiful was an understatement. She literally took his breath away. Suddenly he felt the world swimming around him and something deep within him stirred, inching its way from within the locked chains that kept it imprisoned, preventing it from ever escaping. Then it happened. A soft, gentle voice echoed in his head. Darce! My dear Darce!
That voice! Whose voice is that? Why did it call to me? Why was it referring to me as “My dear Darce?”
Darcy didn’t have any answers to these burning questions that suddenly started swirling within his head.
Under his intense gaze, Sakura felt the heat rising steadily within her. Involuntarily, she trembled and quickly glanced away—only to meet Sebastian’s eyes. Instantly, she was lost in the azure color.
Sebastian too was staring at her. Holy shit! was his thought the moment he had seen her face fully for the first time. She is a beautiful creature, all right.
“Sebastian!” Nicolas called out. “Is she all right?”
Sebastian finally managed to get his wits back and uttered, “I think so.”
Sakura drew her arm away from Sebastian’s grasp and looked away, feeling his intense stare was beginning to unnerve her. She was hoping he’d walk away and leave her alone when the man gave her a fright by touching her again. He was in fact closer to her now. She could feel his warm breath against her skin and the heat of his large, masculine body against her small, soft one. Her whole body involuntarily squirmed deliciously under his touches. More than a little surprised at her own reaction to the man, she pushed him away, causing him to fall on his backside in surprise. Tristan laughed from the distance, and Sebastian gritted his teeth, knowing his brother was enjoying his embarrassment.
“I’m only trying to help,” he said to her.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” Darcy queried, his eyes still on her. “No broken bones?”
Sakura turned her attention to Darcy and instantly felt her heart do another somersault. Any moment now, she thought, he’d recognized her. Any moment now, he’d remember who she was. The thought didn’t sit well with her.
“How’s that ambulance going, Nicolas?” Conrad asked his eldest brother, who was apparently still searching for his cell phone.
“It’s in here somewhere,” Nicolas muttered under his breath.
“If it were a serious accident,” Conrad said, “she would have died by now.”
Nicolas frowned. “What about your cell phone?”
“I’m fine. No need to call for an ambulance,” Sakura said loudly.
“Are you sure?” Sebastian asked, moving his face even closer to her. Shit! He could smell her—wildflowers and honeysuckle and something else. Something sweet. It tickled something nice and warm within his being. He loved it.
“Yes. I’m fine, thanks,” she said firmly.
“No, I don’t think you’re fine until you’re checked thoroughly,” Sebastian said, and without her consent, he scooped her into his arms.
Sakura gasped as she was being lifted in her adopted brother’s strong, powerful arms. She was shocked. In fact, she was outraged. “What are you doing?” she snapped at him. “Put me down this instant!”
Sebastian was so taken aback by her burst of outrage that he didn’t know what to do. The other brothers, who had gathered behind Sebastian, looked at one another. This was new, all right. Any other girl would have been over the moon if Sebastian were to pick her up like that. But not this one. This one demanded he put her down—immediately! What was even more odd was the fact that Sebastian had willingly scooped her into his arm, which of course made the brothers suspicious—especially Tristan. They moved around to get a better look at their victim.
Sebastian let go of her and stood up. He didn’t know what to do since she had rejected his offer to help. He didn’t want to touch her without her permission, nor did he want to walk away and leave her sitting there. Then he sensed his brothers gathering around him, and when their victim finally raised her fa
ce to them, he heard Tristan suck in his breath and say, “Holy smokes!”
Like moths attracted to a flame, the rest of the brothers saw the most enticing image they’d ever seen. This was, of course, instantly followed by sharp inhalations. Sebastian wanted to hide the poor girl—who he thought was too pretty for her own good—from his brothers’ prying eyes.
Sakura didn’t like the fact that she had not only two of the Princeton brothers but all seven of them to deal with. Sebastian was still staring at her as if God himself had just descended from heaven. Nicolas looked so shocked to see a woman and a dog in the middle of nowhere that he couldn’t speak. Tristan, Logan, Hayden, and Conrad just gawked at her as though they were watching a really interesting movie. And Darcy? Her heart jolted within her chest as she met his gaze again. Those eyes—so intense—were on her. She felt her body quivering and quickly glanced away.
Fully conscious of her predicament, she hugged Toby even tighter against her chest, unaware that in doing so she was enriching the men’s experience of her beauty—with her sitting in such a position that the hem of her dress rested high on her thighs, showing off her slender legs. Not to mention the thin straps of her dress that had fallen down her arms, the material barely covering her breasts and hinting at just how beautiful they could be if she were naked.
Sebastian had had enough. He couldn’t take it anymore, with his brothers enjoying the poor girl in such a dire situation. He bent down to help her, his hand touching her arm once again. She gasped and pushed him away.
The brothers watched in shocked surprise because no female had ever pushed Sebastian away. Girls flocked to him—as they did to all his brothers. It was the Princeton charm, not to mention the mere fact that they were very good-looking. Women found them hot and would do anything to date them; even just getting close to them was a dream come true. But it was odd indeed that this young woman was pushing Sebastian away. Did she not find him attractive? Or any of them for that matter?
Toby chose that moment to bark a friendly greeting to the intruders, sensing the seven men were only trying to help his poor master. Then, without ever consulting with Sakura whatsoever, he jumped out of her arms and into Sebastian’s.
“Hey.” Sebastian chuckled. “You’re a friendly one, aren’t you?” Then he glanced up, eyeing Sakura, who looked rather upset about the whole thing. “Unlike your owner.”
Sakura noted that his eyes were glinting at her, which caused her heart to beat faster. She quickly looked away and began to gather her stuff that had flown out of her bag.
As she was doing this, they simply stood there and watched her. It wasn’t the fact that they were heartless and didn’t want to help, but it was because what they saw was preventing their male brains from performing their functions properly.
Sakura was bending over on her knees as she was gathering her camera, notebook, sketchbook, and coloring pencils. They could clearly see the enticing view of her cleavage, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Then, once she was done, Sakura tossed back her tresses, seemingly in slow motion. It was like she was one of those models in the hair commercials Tara longed to do.
Slowly, Sakura managed to get up and stood straight, her body sore all over.
She just couldn’t believe it. None of these men helped her stand. Not when they had been younger, after they played tricks on her, and not even now. The thought brought forward a rush of anger, and she saw red.
