Drake Sisters 02 - The Twilight Before Christmas

?” His choice of words should have been insulting, but the gentle concern in his voice made them an endearment.
    Hannah nodded but didn’t look at any of them, stil clearly fighting for air.
    “Maybe that’s a good idea, Hannah. I’l go with Matt and just look around a little, and you and Abbey pul out the diaries and see if you can find anything that might help us figure this out,” Kate said. “Matthew, are you certain you don’t mind? I want to walk around town and just get a feel for what’s going on.”
    “I don’t mind. Are you going to be warm enough?”
    “Just how dangerous is this, Kate?” Jonas asked.
    “I honestly don’t know,” she replied. “I wish I knew. We thought if we went out together, al of us might be able to pick something up, but I already feel it. I think I can track it.”
    Matt cleared his throat. “Track a shadow?” If they weren’t al so serious, he would be thinking it was a Hal oween prank. He glanced up at the house. The fog was a heavy shroud, almost obliterating the house. He could see the lights of the Christmas tree, but only as pale, orange-glowing haloes distorted by the blanket of grayish white. He went stil . The fog was changing color, darkening from white to a charcoal gray. Just as the fog had done in the snowglobe when he’d picked it up to examine it.
    “The fog is bad, Kate. I’ve never seen it like this,” Jonas said. “Stay close to Matt. I’l take Hannah and Abbey back to the house.”
    Hannah stiffened and looked at Abbey. Abbey smiled. “We’l make it home fine, Jonas. It’s just up the hil . We know the path.”
    “I’m coming with you, Abbey, so don’t argue.” Jonas turned resolutely toward the house. “Matt, if it feels wrong to you, or you think Kate’s in any danger at al , get her back here and don’t let her give you any nonsense.”
    Kate smiled at Jonas. “I never talk nonsense. You take care of my sisters because if anything happens to them…”
    “I know, I’ve heard it al before.” Jonas waved at her, and the fog swal owed them up, even muffling the sound of their footsteps on the path, leaving Kate alone with Matt.
    She looked up at him. “You don’t have to do this, you know. I’m capable of walking up and down the streets of Sea Haven.”
    Matthew stared down into her beautiful sea-green eyes. “But I’m not capable of leaving your side when there’s even a hint of danger near you.” He lowered his head slowly to hers, drawn as if by a magnet, expecting her to pul away, giving her plenty of time to think about it.
    Kate watched his eyes change, go dark with desire, right before his mouth took possession of hers. It didn’t matter that the air was cold, and the wind chil ed them, their bodies produced a remarkable heat, their mouths fused with fire. He dragged her against his body, his muscular arms enveloping her, holding her as if she were the most precious person in the world to him. He was exquisitely rough, yet impossibly gentle, voraciously hungry, nearly devouring her mouth, yet so tender he brought tears to her eyes. She had no idea how he did it, but she wanted more.
    “You’re not good for me,” she whispered against his mouth.
    His tongue slid along the seam of her lips, teased her tongue into another brief, but heated tango. “I’m absolutely perfect for you.” He tugged at her cape until her body was pressed tightly against his. “I was born to be with you, Kate. You’re supposed to be some kind of a magical woman, fil ed with the second sight, yet you don’t see what’s right in front of you. Why is that?” He didn’t give her the opportunity to debate, he just kissed her long and thoroughly.
    Kate felt her insides melting, turning to a warm puddle and settling somewhere in her lower region as a frustrating and unrelenting ache. Her knees actual y went weak. “I can’t think straight when we’re kissing, Matthew.”
    “That’s a good thing, Kate, because neither can I,” he answered, his lips drifting into the hol ow of her neck and back up to find her ear.
    Heat pulsed through her, but she forced herself to pul away from him. He wasn’t for her. She knew that, and once he found out what she was real y was like, he’d know it too. She might seem courageous and strong, but when it came to losing him, she knew she’d be very fragile. Starting up with Matthew Granite was a decidedly ridiculous thing for her to do. “Matthew, real y, I have to find this malevolent shadow