My Guardian Knight by Lynette Marie Page A

sadness in her eyes made him think she didn’t have much hope of outrunning her aggressor.  
    What would it be like to see her pretty smile on a regular basis, without the guarded look in her deep brown doe eyes?  To see those eyes shine with happiness?  Would the almost black color lighten to a warm chocolate brown?  
    Every time she turned her gaze on him he felt as if he’d been punched in the gut.  Since this was something he’d never experienced before, he was unsure how to handle it.  If he offered his help too soon, he might very well scare her off.  On the other hand, if he waited too long, his help might come too late.
    The woman was an enigma.  He prided himself on being a good judge of character, and all his instincts told him that Amanda was a good person.  But he couldn’t quite read her as well as he could read most people.  It was as if she held her true personality back and only allowed a portion of herself to show.  Sebastian was very interested in finding out what the real Amanda Darcy was like.
    He yawned and glanced toward Matthew, who had fallen asleep against his mother’s arm.  With a thankful sigh, he let his own head sink back and fell fast asleep.
     
    Amanda woke up, for the first time in years, feeling peaceful and refreshed.  Her sleep-dulled mind grasped to find the reason for this unfamiliar feeling, and she smiled as she turned her head and realized it was pillowed upon Sebastian’s hard arm.  So that was it, she thought dreamily, Sebastian’s calming presence.  Since he was still asleep, she laid her head gently on his shoulder for a moment, glorying in the feel of having someone else beside her.  With him here, she didn’t feel so alone, so desperately lonely.
    With a sigh she sat up and glanced at Matthew, who was still sound asleep.  Through the window she could see rain pouring down in torrents from a dark gray sky.  A furious wind whipped the trees this way and that like strings of limp spaghetti.  A fitting way to resume her trip to St. Louis, she thought ruefully.  Just as she was considering dozing off again, a jerk beside her brought her up short.  Sebastian’s head was thrashing from side to side and he was mumbling ferociously.  The scowl on his face could have frightened the devil himself, and his muscles were rock hard with tension.  Amanda couldn’t understand what he was saying, but she got the feeling this was more than just a bad dream.  She watched him in confusion for a while, uncertain what she could do to help him.  Finally in sympathy she laid her hand on his arm.  Immediately he sat up straight and turned to her, his blue eyes wild.  She gasped involuntarily and he turned away from her.
    She didn’t say anything, unsure whether or not he was still asleep. His thrashing had quieted, and he sat still as stone, staring straight ahead.  Amanda laid her hand on his, and he looked at her then, the wildness gone from his eyes but replaced with an infinite sorrow that brought tears to her own eyes.  “I had the dream, didn’t I?” he asked quietly.
    Amanda said nothing, but gazed at him through eyes full of understanding.  She didn’t need to confirm what had happened, he already knew.  “Would you like to talk about it?”  He shook his head, daring a look at the people around him and found to his great relief that most of them were asleep and unaware of the demons that plagued him.  He sighed, running a hand through his hair.  Every time he thought he was over the guilt the dream came again, reminding him of the horrible thing he had done.  He would never be free of it. 
    Never.  His conscience would not allow it.
                  “Sebastian?”
    His eyes found hers reluctantly.  Out of all the people aboard why did it have to be Amanda who witnessed his nightmare?  She’d certainly think less of him now.
    “Talk to me,” she urged in a quiet voice.  “Tell me what happened so you can free the demons