Her balance gave way and she could do nothing to stop falling flat on her back, bumping her head in the process.
Sebastian dropped to his knee beside her, his gorgeous features set in concerned lines. "Are you all right, pedhaki mou?"
She couldn't speak, her breath having been knocked right out of her. The best she could do was a series of guppy-like movements with her lips.
Strong hands gripped her shoulders and gently pulled her into a sitting position, causing a whoosh of air to make its way into her lungs.
"Thank you," she croaked out.
He probed the back of her head with his fingertips. "Does this hurt?"
"Just a little."
"There is no bump forming."
"I'm all right."
He didn't release her, but continued checking for injuries in a way that left her trembling with want. "What were you doing?"
She felt heat blister her cheeks while she tried to control the urge to touch back. "Stretching."
"You fell."
"You surprised me," she informed him in a cranky tone that made her cringe inside. "I lost my balance."
"Ah, so it is my fault."
She tilted her head back to see his face, unable to credit the humor in his voice, but it was reflected in his molten metal eyes. So was a warmth she would do well to pretend was not there.
"Yes."
"Then I must do something to show my remorse at causing such a mishap."
Her jaw locked against any word she might have uttered as his mouth came down to meet her own.
It was not a flaming kiss, had no overt passion in it, but nevertheless, her heart went wild and her body ached to align itself with his.
Thankfully, his hold on her shoulders was too strong to allow her to do it and humiliate herself in the process.
He lifted his head. "You have sweet lips, Rachel."
She licked them, tasting only him. "Thank you."
"So polite." He kissed her again, this time letting his lips linger for a few seconds, letting his tongue slip out to gently mesh with her own.
He pulled back far enough to speak. "Have I made up for my transgression?"
His breath brushed her lips tantalizingly and she wanted to continue the kiss, but she forced out a choked, "Yes."
"That is unfortunate."
Oh, man... this guy was one-hundred percent lethal. "Y-yes, it is."
"Maybe I should put something on account."
She couldn't say anything as his mouth came over hers again, but just as the kiss was turning wickedly interesting, Phillippa's voice came from the doorway.
"Is she all right, Sebastian? What happened?"
Making a low sound of frustration, he lifted his head and looked over his shoulder. "I startled her when she was stretching and she fell."
"I'm fine," Rachel added, prickling with hot embarrassment at having her clumsiness revealed as well as being caught kissing him.
"Are you sure? You are still on the floor."
Sebastian's laughter made his chest vibrate against Rachel and she felt herself falling further under his spell. "She is still on the floor because I have not let her up yet."
"Oh."
There was a wealth of meaning in that little word and it seemed to disturb Sebastian because his joviality disappeared and he made quick work of getting them both back on their feet and then stepping away from her. It felt like a rejection and she wanted to remind him he'd been the one to kiss her.
However, his white shirt showed smudges and wrinkles from her dusty hands where she'd unwittingly clutched at him and she had to admit, if only to herself, that she'd been a more than willing participant.
"Aristide is here. We will have lunch and then he will take me back to the mainland."
"You're leaving?" Rachel asked.
"Yes. I must get back to my garden."
"Thank you for your help with Andrea's things."
"It was my pleasure. You are a gentle young woman. I have been grieving my uncle's death and you kept my mind set on the present, not the past. It is I who owe you my thanks."
Rachel did not know how to react to the praise or the look of frowning interest Sebastian was bestowing on her. She felt like a moth in a jar and was finding it just as difficult to breathe.
"I like you," she finally managed to get out and Phillippa smiled.
"The feeling is mutual."
Thankfully, Sebastian said something about Rachel getting cleaned up before lunch and made it possible for her to make her escape.
Sebastian watched Rachel hurry from the room, her cheeks as red as ripe pomegranate seeds. "She does not know how to take a compliment."
"I imagine with
her mother, she did not receive many," his mother replied as they made their way downstairs.
"No, I do not suppose she did."
"Andrea Demakis brought a great deal of pain to our family."
"Yes," he growled, wishing his body wasn't still reacting to holding Rachel in his arms.
His mother gave him one of those looks he'd never learned to decipher as they entered the dining room. "To be such a woman's daughter would have been even more painful."
"She did nothing to stem her mother's downward spiral this last year."
"Perhaps she felt she had no influence."
'Or she found her own comfort more important to her than that of an old man."
He had no trouble interpreting his mother's expression now. Disappointment radiated from her dark eyes and he gritted his teeth against justifying his accusation against Rachel. He had a feeling nothing he said would improve the situation.