Drake Sisters 02 - The Twilight Before Christmas

wasn’t a good idea. They weren’t a good idea.

    He simply lowered his head and took possession of her mouth. His kiss was anything but gentle. He dragged her close, a starving man devouring her with hot, urgent kisses. The breath slammed out of her lungs, and every nerve ending in her body screamed at her. Electricity crackled between them, arcing from Matt to Kate and back again. Fire raced over her skin, melting her insides. He took the lead, kissing her hungrily, hotly, his tongue dueling with hers, demanding a response she found herself giving.
    Her arms crept around his neck, her body pressing close to the heat of his. She felt so much heat, so much magic she couldn’t think straight.
    The blare of a horn made Kate jump away from him. Matt cursed and glanced at the highway in time to see his brothers waving, hooting, and honking as they drove by. “Damned idiots,” he said, but there was a wealth of affection in his voice impossible to miss.
    Kate pressed a trembling hand to her swol en mouth. Her skin felt raw and burned from the dark shadow on his jaw. She didn’t dare look in the mirror, but she knew she looked thoroughly kissed. “They saved us.”
    “They may have saved you, but I’m in dire straits here, woman.” And dammit al , he was. What was it about this woman that made him lose control whenever he was around her? Was she real y a witch? He was going to have a few things to say to his brothers when he got his hands on them. He wasn’t looking forward to the ribbing he was going to get after being caught necking like a teenager with Kate Drake. It didn’t help matters that he saw Jonas Harrington cruising by very slowly, obviously looking for them. Damn Danny and his radio. It would be al over Sea Haven if they weren’t more careful, and the last thing he wanted was for Kate to run from him because of gossip.
    He touched Kate’s red face. Her soft skin was raw from his whiskers. “I should have shaved, Katie, I’m sorry. I wasn’t planning on kissing you.” So, okay, he wanted to kiss her. He’d hoped to kiss her. He’d actual y gotten down on his knees briefly last night when no one was around and asked for a Christmas miracle, but she didn’t need to know how badly he wanted her.
    The way he said Katie, turned her heart over, sending a mil ion butterfly wings brushing at her stomach. “I don’t mind.”
    He caught her face in his hands. “I mind. I need to be more careful with you.” Abruptly he let her go and opened the door. It was the only safe thing to do when she looked so tempting. The chil from the sea rushed in to displace the heat of their bodies inside the car.
    Kate didn’t wait for him to come around and open her door. She was too shaken, too shocked by her reactions to him. It was so un-Kate-like of her. Kate the practical had just made a terrible mistake, and she couldn’t take it back. She could stil taste him, stil had his scent clinging to her body, stil felt a tremendous, edgy pressure, a need as elemental as hunger and thirst. She stood in the wind and lifted her face, hoping her skin would cool and that the raging need that was always inside of her would once again find rest.
    Matt took her hand and led her up the broken and uneven path to the building. She didn’t resist or pul away.
    “The structure’s sound,” she assured him as she unlocked the door. “I want to be able to incorporate as much of the original building as possible when I expand. I was thinking decks outside with some protection against the wind for the sunnier days, and indoors, a large area with chairs and smal tables for reading and drinking coffee or chocolate or whatever. There’s a large stone fireplace in what must have been an office, and I’d like to keep that too if possible.”
    Kate covered her anxiety with talk, pointing out the rustic features she wanted to save and as many of the problem areas as she knew about. She was very aware of Matt’s hand holding hers securely. Twice she tried to casual y disengage, but he tugged her across the room to examine a rotted section of wood near the foundation.
    “Where do the stairs lead?” He opened the sagging door and peered down into the dark interior. The stairs appeared to be very steep and halfway down he was certain the wal s were dirt. “Is there a light?”
    “Of sorts,” Kate said. “It’s over the second stair down. I can’t reach the chain.”
    “Why wouldn’t it be up here?” He pul ed the chain