Discovered by My Stepbrother Read online

  I finished unpacking, putting my two small cases of clothes away in the huge closet while getting used to the idea that this was going to be home for the next few months. I wish I’d known in advance so I could have at least packed appropriately.

  Looking out at my little patio, I wondered if Austin would let me stay longer than that? Since it turned out that it was actually kinda fun to hang out with him, and with Mom and Dad abandoning me 3,000 miles from home without so much as running it by me first I wasn’t exactly feeling like going back to live with them.

  I pulled my laptop out of it’s case and headed back to the room that Austin had had turned into a home office. I pushed the door open and found myself in the mother of all man caves.

  “Holy shiiiiiit.” I let out an appreciative whistle. Austin turned around to look at me as if he had no clue what I might be referring to.

  The room was a decent size for the overall size of the house, but still not very big. I walked in and found myself standing behind a soft leather couch that faced a giant flat screen TV— “How big is that thing?”

  “That’s what she said…ba duh dump!” Austin turned back around to face the giant monitor. He was holding his game controls in his hands, but he’d been playing with the sound muted. He laughed at his joke and paused his game. When I didn’t respond, he turned back to face me again and this time laughed at my open jaw. “It’s 130 inches. I had it custom made for the wall. It was the biggest I could put in here without warping the image.” His eyes fell on the puny little 15 inch folded laptop that I had cradled in my arms like a baby.

  “You wanna plug that in?” He asked.

  I snapped out of my stupor. The flat screen dominated the wall and made the room look like a private movie theater. I didn’t know they could make TVs that big. “Yeah.” I looked around at the desk with the computer equipment on it and my heart took flight at the sight of the big screen monitors. “I was hoping I could use your monitor?” I asked hesitantly.

  I knew this was Austin’s “office” and he needed all the computer equipment for his work, but I was hoping I wouldn’t have to spend the rest of the summer working on my laptop. It’s so much easier to work on a bigger screen.

  Austin was already at the computer, moving his personal stuff and reaching for my laptop. Soon he had it all connected and was powering up my system. I was still mesmerized by the giant wall of colored lights. It amazed me that at that size, the resolution still looked perfect. I was about to ask if that had been custom made too when I caught Austin staring at my monitor.

  He was so intent on what he was seeing that I rushed to his side, worried that I’d left something open that might be incriminating. Until I realized I didn’t have anything incriminating on my computer.

  I had to move in close behind him to see what he was seeing. I could smell his special blend of soap and cologne and Austin and I could feel the heat coming off of him as I stood just behind him, close enough to rest my cheek against his arm.

  I stood on my tippy toes for a good look at the screen that was tilted back far so that it was in his line of sight.

  All I saw was my wallpaper image.

  It was one of my favorites, a dark night sky scene that shattered into thousands of smaller fragments as though it had been nothing more than a snow globe that had been hit with a hammer. Each piece of shattered sky showed the concave reflection of a girl’s face. It was the same girl in each piece, but each face showed a different expression. The pieces stretched out like they were exploding away from the viewer, infinitely into space awash in deep hues of purple and blue.

  But that didn’t explain Austin’s fixation.

  I looked up at him quizzically, “Is something wrong?” Austin knows so much about computers, all I really know is how to create my art. My stomach dropped and churned. If something was wrong with my computer, I could lose a lot of original work that I hadn’t been able to back up yet.

  “Where’d you find this picture?” Austin asked without looking away from it.

  “It’s mine.” I thought the duh was sufficiently implied by my tone.

  Austin turned his head to look down at me, “Yours?” He sounded like he genuinely did not understand the meaning.

  I sighed maybe a little more dramatically than was necessary. I certainly hadn’t spent any of the last few years following any of his goings on— I hadn’t even recognized him when I first saw him— so I guess it wasn’t surprising that he hadn’t been paying attention to me either. But still. It’s my art. It’s like, the only thing I have going for me in the whole world.

  “Mine.” I repeated with more emphasis on the possessive and less implied duh, “I did it. That’s my work.”

  Was that admiration that I saw creep into his gaze? Something new moved into his stormy gray eyes, something that made my inner places go all warm and wet again. “This is your artwork? Do you have any more?”

  I was glad for an excuse to move out from under his eyes, I sat down at the desk and pulled up the file with the new works and flipped through them.

  Austin watched the images scroll across my small screen and then he reached over and turned on one of the 32 inch monitors he’d just connected to my laptop. I continued to scroll through the scenes: reds and oranges with winding ribbons through space, deep indigos for the creepy forest one, a collection of browns for a piece featuring random shoes on a tree of life theme.

  Suddenly he reached for a remote and there were my images! In full uber-high def on that ginormous flat screen wall.

  Even I had to stop and gawk at that. I’d never seen my work blown up that big before. It was awesome. Not “awesome” like people say “awesome” all the time, but awesome. As in I was just staring at my own art with my mouth hanging open like I’d never seen it before.

  “Where do you get the pictures?” Austin asked as he continued to flip through the gallery.

  “I usually start with photos.” I answered

  “Where do you get the photos?”

  “I take them.”

  “Nina,” He turned and looked at me again, “this stuff is really good. How many do you have altogether?”

  “Well, probably a few hundred. I started doing the digital stuff my junior year, but it’s only been the last 6 months or so since I found the app that I like to use for it.”

  “Do you mind if I show these to some people?” He had that look on his face like he was plotting something. But what did I care? I gave him my website address where all my stuff is already on display (in low resolution, of course) for the whole world to criticize.

  Several weeks later, Austin came home and told me that he had someone who was interested in buying some of my work. If I was interested in selling it. So I went with him to his office in town where Austin introduced me to an Asian guy who looked like he was 16. Austin introduced his friend as “Brent.”

  Brent was actually 25, he was raised here in the states and now he lived in Singapore where he ran a multi-billion dollar software company. Brent said he really liked my art and was interested in purchasing some of it for his offices. He had looked through my website and had picked out several pieces that he wanted to have printed on big metal sheets.

  When he asked how much I wanted for the exclusive rights to each of the pieces he’d chosen I had no idea what to say. I didn’t even know if I was ready to sell the rights to any of my pieces. The idea that I’d never be able to sell prints of those same pieces again kinda changed my concept of what my work was worth.

  Brent nodded his understanding and handed me a small piece of paper. When I unfolded it and saw the number written in neat print, I did my very best not to gasp out loud. A hundred thousand dollars was more money than I’d ever expected to see at one time in my life.

  I smiled at Brent and graciously accepted his offer, trying to sound as calm and professional as possible. He shook my hand and complimented me again on my work, promising that he would be sure to share my name with anyone who complimented
his new office artwork.

  Austin walked Brent out of the office while I sank back down in a chair and held Brent’s hand written offer against my chest. I breathed deep. A hundred thousand dollars!

  It was nowhere near the kind of money that Austin was dealing with but it was still more than most people made in a year. While I waited for Austin to come back, I thought about all the things I could do with the money, but I knew I’d better ask Austin for his advice on how to invest it. Who knew when I might have another big sale like this.

  Austin came back to the office, closing the door behind him to give me a wide grin, “Wow! Nina! that was awesome!” He pulled me out of my chair and hugged me tightly against him. He was elated about my sale, but suddenly all I could think of was him. The feel of him against me. His strong arms wrapped around me, lifting me off of my feet to spin me around the room, pinned against his hard chest so tightly I could feel muscles against my breasts.

  I wrapped my arms around his neck for balance and found my face dangerously close to his. Our eyes locked on each other and Austin’s mouth moved just a little closer to mine. My breath hitched in my chest as I prepared for the feel of his lips against mine. Then, suddenly I was back on my feet looking up at those stormy eyes smiling down on me— from a distance.

  A week later, Austin came home and dropped an official looking envelope on the desk in front of me where I had been working in his office. I recognized the name of Brent’s software company on it so I ripped it open. I pulled out the check that represented my first real art sale and dropped my jaw when I found myself staring at the $700,000 in the little box for the amount of the check.

  I stared at it. I read the line where the amount was written out in full. I stared at the number again. I looked at Austin who was standing above me, beaming down at me proudly. I handed him the check with a quizzical look on my face— too stunned to verbalize my question.

  Austin frowned, “Not right?” he asked as he took the check from me. He looked at it calmly and then handed it back casually— as if it had been a $20 check from our grandparents for a birthday present or something, “What’s wrong with it?” He asked.

  “Uh…” I stammered, “Is that a tip?” I had no idea how rich people did things, but over half a million dollars seemed like an awful lot of money for a tip.

  Realization spread across Austin’s face. That wide, easy smile took over his face and he began laughing at me.

  I felt my face turning red, blushing so hard I could feel the tops of my ears burning. I had no idea what was so funny to him, but it didn’t seem funny to me.

  “Austin. Please be serious for a minute.” I pleaded, “It’s not funny. I don’t get it.” I was confused and his laughing was making me feel stupid. I was getting pretty upset for a girl who was holding a check for nearly three quarters of a million dollars. The frustration was getting the better of me and my eyes started to water.

  Austin saw my expression turn cloudy and immediately stopped laughing at me. He was positioned directly in front of me in a flash, kneeling on the carpet between my knees with his hands planted firmly on the tops of my thighs. He looked up directly into my eyes, “I wasn’t making fun of you, Neen. You just seemed so confused, I thought it was cute. It’s nice to see someone who isn’t jaded by these kinds of numbers.” He moved his hands slightly higher on my thighs, so slightly I almost didn’t notice. “You know, I work with all these people who are so used to seeing nine zeros at the end of every number, and then you’re totally stunned by a check you already knew was coming. It was really refreshing and I…”

  The tears were drying but I was still feeling hurt and confused. His face was so close to mine now, his voice soft with apology, those blue-gray eyes staring at me with sympathy and bemusement, the corners of those perfect lips turned upward in a hesitant smile.

  “But Brent only offered me a hundred thousand dollars.” I said in a meek voice, trying to explain my confusion, “the check is for seven hundred thousand. I don’t understand why he overpaid me so much? Does he owe you money too and he just added it on there?”

  I saw light flicker across those stormy eyes as recognition dawned across Austin’s face. “The offer was for a hundred grand for each image.”

  He watched the information sink in to my brain. A hundred thousand dollars for each image that he’d chosen? My mouth dropped open again. My eyelashes fluttered a few times as I blinked rapidly as though it would help me understand better. I was about to say something, I have no idea what, because within seconds Austin’s mouth was on mine, firm and insistent, his tongue pushing past my lips and between my teeth.

  While it would still take me some time to adjust to the outrageous art sale, it only took a split second to adjust to the feel of Austin’s lips against mine. The smell of him so near to me. The warmth where his hands pressed down on my thighs. The growing heat pooling between my legs. The closeness of him to me.

  I had imagined this moment so many times since our reunion. There had been so many moments over the last few weeks when I thought it might happen, only to have him catch me completely off guard now.

  I felt my body melting into his touch, moving my face close to his as he deepened the kiss. His hands began to roam up my torso. I prepared to feel them over my breasts, my nipples stiffening in anticipation, but instead his hands moved to my arms and slid up over my shoulders to brace my face. I leaned forward a little further, pushing him off balance and causing him to topple over backwards, pulling me with him onto the rug.

  The kiss continued long and deep but I ached to feel his hands against my flesh. I pressed my breasts against his chest while my pelvis lined up against the hard bulge in the jeans he wore.

  I moaned at the feeling of him pressing against my sex as my hands began to tug at the t-shirt that was tucked into the waistband of his jeans.

  He broke the kiss when I moaned and rolled over so that I fell away from him. The sense of loss was immediate and maddening. I raised my hands to grab him around the neck and pull him back to me but he caught my wrists and held them tightly against his chest.

  I felt the wild beat of his heart.

  I knew he was using a lot of restraint to hold himself back. I just didn’t understand why.

  “Nina.” Those stormy gray eyes were dark with his internal battle between lust and decency. I saw the pained expression on his face and it began to dawn on me that he might not have worked through this to the same extent I had. “I don’t think we should…” His words trailed off as I parted my lips and arched my back trying to press myself against him again. He closed his eyes and inhaled sharply as I made contact against that hard bulge in his pants again.

  “We shouldn’t.” He said it simply and quietly and I think it was intended for himself more than me.

  There was no convincing me. I wanted to feel him against me again and I writhed in his grasp and panted my conviction, “We should,” I purred at him, “Oh God, Austin, we should.”

  He looked at me questioningly. Surprised at me, “Are you sure?” He leaned down and ran his warm mouth over the line of my jaw, nibbling his way down my throat, “Are you really sure, Neen? Because people are going to say it’s wrong. Mom and Dad are going to come unglued,” I giggled, a little at what he was saying, a little because he was tickling me, “and if we do—” he looked back up at me, staring into my eyes with purpose and sincerity,“if we do, it has to be because you mean it. I want you, Nina, but I want you forever. I feel like just found you and I don’t want to lose you because of some stupid impulse.”

  He waited for me to answer. A thousand thoughts raced through my head. He was right, people would talk if we were a couple. We were young. He would be my first. What if we faced all that persecution and it didn’t even work out?

  I took a deep breath. I saw the need in his eyes.

  I wanted to take the chance.

  “Yes, Austin. Please. I love you.”

  I didn’t have to beg hard, as soon as the words
had escaped my lips, his were claiming them again. This time without hesitance or apology. Clamped firmly against my mouth, his tongue dancing with mine as his hands began an unabashed exploration of my curves. The warmth of his palms was lighting me on fire every where he touched me. He yanked at my blouse until it was a limp pile of fabric on the floor next to us, then he pulled the cups of my bra down until my breasts rose free for his mouth and hands. Each dark pink nipple puckered and hardened for him as he sucked them, one at a time, flicking the tip of his tongue across them and blowing lightly against them.

  I had his shirt untucked from his jeans and my hands were busy trying to touch him everywhere at once, relishing the combination of smooth skin over hard muscle his own nipples tight as I drew my fingers lightly over them.

  Once we gave in to our forbidden passion we were helpless to try to stop ourselves. Our touches became more urgent, our kisses more hungry. I rose up on my elbows to unsnap my bra and he moved to straddle my thighs as he pulled the t-shirt over his head.

  Now we were naked from the waist up and we could see each other fully. His gaze fell on my heavy breasts and I had just a second to be self conscious under his eyes before I saw the desire in them, “You are such a beautiful woman, Nina.” There was no mistaking the huskiness in his voice as he bent over me again to lick and nip my smooth orbs as he worked his way down along the slight rise on my stomach.

  His hands fumbled with the fly of my jeans and soon he was sliding the offending garment over my legs until they joined the blouse in the growing pile of clothes beside us. He kissed his way back up my legs from my ankles to my cotton panty covered mound. His face buried between my legs, inhaling my musk deeply.

  He hooked his thumbs through the sides of my panties and slid them down slowly. When they had been added to the pile, he returned his attention to v-shaped valley where my thighs came together. He pushed my knees apart and slipped his tongue along the edge of my hole.