GRIND: A Stepbrother Romance Read online

  I raised a brow at her. "Wow, really?"

  She quickly nodded, her head bobbing along like a small child. "Right? Like, how unprofessional. Don't worry though, they'll still get that nice bill of theirs," she said, guessing my reaction. "Let me know if you need anything extra!"

  I turned to face the empty, echoing clubhouse and let out a long breath. Without the hunky Liam keeping my body—and thoughts—occupied, I aimed to chill out some more. Slipping the headphones out of my purse, I put them on over my ears and grabbed my cellphone. All I wanted to do now was to drown out everything else and be left alone with my sadly horny body.

  Since no one else was there, I draped my robe outside the door to the sauna and slipped inside completely naked, the hiss of steam hitting me in the face as I opened the door. The sauna room was both suffocating and snug, enveloping me into its arms. I found a corner on the wooden teak bench and took a seat. The heat from the sauna was almost no match for the heat that Liam had caused between my thighs.

  Fidgeting with my phone, I found my favorite new meditation track and leaned my head back against the wall, closing my eyes as I pushed play.

  Let the image of the sandy beach take you to your inner mind. Now breathe in. Breathe out, the soft spoken voice said in my ears.

  Instead of some sandy beach, I imagined Liam's magic fingers on my thighs again. I groaned, wishing beyond anything that he would just touch me between my legs, even if only for a moment. I was aching with need, squeezing my thighs together tightly before letting my spread legs fall to either side, trying to relax them. It didn't help one bit with how badly the pounding deep inside my pussy was killing me.

  LIAM

  The whiteboard in the employee's lounge seemed awfully empty, and when I double-checked, sure enough, Keith had called in sick. I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and cracked it open, gulping it down easily.

  That last client—a Miss Aly Waterhouse—refused to leave my thoughts, making my throat dry. With those round, sexy curves laid out for me to feast my eyes on, I was very thankful that the only person in the room with me was Aly, lying face-down on the massage table. That way she couldn't see the hard-on I was sporting during our session… Although judging by the soft moans that I heard while my hands were on her thighs, I wasn't the only one having trouble keeping things to myself.

  "Liam! Just the man I was looking for!" Henry, our staff coordinator, bellowed as he walked into the lounge.

  "Hey, Henry."

  "I don't know if you noticed, but we're a little short-handed for the day. I don't suppose you would mind helping out?"

  Henry's gray mustache twitched, and it was clear from the ruddiness in his cheeks and the sheen on his forehead that he'd already been running himself ragged as it was.

  "Sure thing. What do you need me to do?"

  The look of relief on his face was instant. "After that last appointment cancelled on us, it looks like the woman's clubhouse is empty for the day. We'll need to restock any towels, collect used towels and linens, and just make sure it's cleaned up in there. I'll go around the lobby area and straighten up while Marisa is on her break."

  Nodding, I added my name under the space for Woman's Clubhouse Duties and made my way across the spa to grab a laundry bin. At least it would help me clear my mind of Aly Waterhouse and her soft, dewy skin.

  Luckily, there weren't a whole lot of used towels strewn all over the place like on our busier days, so it didn't take long to clean them up. The dampness in the locker room was getting to me, making me feel as though I was working inside of the sauna itself.

  Which reminded me… I nearly forgot to check inside the sauna.

  I pushed the laundry bin along, wiping up a few wet spots on the floor as I went, and stopped outside of the women's sauna, perplexed. The white robe that was hanging on the door made me pause. Henry did say that the clubhouse was empty… and he was spot on when it came to knowing who was where inside the spa.

  I simply shrugged my shoulders, figuring that maybe one of the women put their robe on the door and then took their towel inside, wrapping it around themselves as they emerged. Or not. I grinned to myself, knowing how some of the women were hardly ashamed to walk around naked. I'd even come across a few of them like that, accidentally.

  The steam coating the glass should've made me stop and think some more, but by the time I had my hand on the door handle and pulled it open, it was too late. The sauna was still on, and not only that, it was occupied.

  By none other than Aly fucking Waterhouse.

  Through the steam, I could make out her outline, sitting on the far side of the sauna, cross-legged on the bench. There was no white towel in sight, and she was totally naked, her eyes closed and relaxed as she listened to something through her thick headphones.

  I should turn around. I should shut this door and pretend I never saw her. This is breaking pretty much every single rule there is.

  I tried to tell myself all these things and more, but it was no use. I had about five seconds before the sauna would cool off enough to catch her attention, or I could step inside and see what happened next.

  I shut the door quietly behind me, my brain no longer thinking about the consequences. Taking in a deep, thick breath of steam, I licked my lips and took a few steps closer to her. With her eyes shut, she wasn't paying any attention and had no idea I was even in there with her.

  The more I looked at her sitting there in all her beautiful, sexy glory, the harder my dick became. And the harder my dick got, the less I started thinking like a normal person and the more I started thinking like an animal. There were no thoughts except how I could manage to touch her like I had before.

  I stripped my polo off, tossing it to the side, my eyes glued on Aly. The way she'd moaned in the room, how she kept squirming as my fingers got closer and closer… if she only knew how badly I wanted to sink them knuckle-deep inside of her…

  The numbers dialed down as I turned the switch on the inside wall, giving us a little actual breathing room for what I had planned. Settling myself in front of her, I hardly cared that my knees were soaked on the floor. I was almost at eye level with her and desperately wanted to kiss her.

  ALY

  As much as I tried to concentrate on the beach and the swaying palms and all that jazz, it was completely hopeless. Every time I thought about the waves crashing at my feet, I imagined Liam and his magic fingers rubbing my shoulders. And when I was supposed to be letting all the thoughts in my mind float away, instead I was thinking how soft his lips would be on mine.

  My eyes fluttered as a chill took over me right as my thoughts lingered more on Liam. If I were sitting like this on the massage table right now, what would he do? If he were interested, maybe he'd smile and lean forward, his face so close to mine… I took in a quick breath, nearly startled at how my mind was playing tricks on me. It almost felt like I really was close to him.

  And maybe he'd kiss me, his lips melting against mine. My breathing picked up as I imagined it so well that my mouth moved against his phantom mouth. In my mind he was coaxing my lips open, his tongue slipping past and enveloping my mouth in his. I shuddered under the way my mind was working against me.

  Holy shit! I'd tried so many times to get to this meditation zone where things felt real and tangible, and I'd finally made it! Maybe there was something to sweat lodges and meditation after all.

  Getting more into the fake Liam's touch, my heart raced. In my mind he was still kissing my mouth, exploring me with his tongue, but for some reason, I felt his mouth skip to the corner of my chin, trailing kisses down my neck until he hit an exquisite spot right under my earlobe…

  My eyes flashed open instantly, all of the feelings so intense that there was no way… And crouched right in front of me, pulling back with his eyes wide, was the real thing. Liam was in the sauna with me, kissing me. Liam, my sexy massage therapist, was actually kissing me.

  I opened my mouth, but couldn't find the right things to say,
half incredibly vulnerable and violated, and half even wetter from the excitement that this real Liam had created in the pit of my belly.

  "Don't worry. No one's coming in here. I turned down the heat just a little, too. I'm sorry, it's just… there's something I've been wanting to do since I first heard you moan on the table."

  I was in such shock that I couldn't move. It was a rarity that I was struck speechless, but my body was so relaxed that my mind must have reached that state too, because even though I knew it was wrong and that it could possibly cost Liam his job, I didn't want to stop him.

  He took my silence as consent and dropped his mouth down to my collarbone, this time his hands on my sides, his thumbs pressing into my hips. My eyes fluttered quickly and I looked down at the dirty blonde hair that was tickling my chin, unsure of how I could possibly be this lucky.

  In the back of my mind I reminded myself that maybe this was just the universe making up for the lack of bedroom skills that Josh possessed. He'd never been able to bring me to orgasm, ever—not that any of my previous experiences had either. And something like this would've never even crossed his mind. Who knew, maybe I'd be in a different place if he'd learned a thing or two…

  Josh was vehemently kicked out of my mind as Liam’s hands went to my breasts, heaving them in his hands. I knew my double-Ds were a lot to handle, but I was proud of them, even more proud of them while he pinched each hardening nipple between his finger and thumb and rolled it around, tugging at it and causing me to gasp out loud.

  Realizing that I too, possessed a pair of hands, I tangled them in his hair, my chest heaving against him. Whatever I could do to bring him even closer.

  Liam's mouth was hungry for more, and he dropped his head down, his tongue skirting around my sensitive areola and darting out at my nipple before he sucked it into his mouth with a resounding pop. I leaned back even more and whimpered uncontrollably when Liam's hand undid my legs, pushing my thick thighs wide apart. Oh my God…

  There was a pause of movement from Liam’s hands as he moved his mouth to my other nipple, my mouth popping open and my chin quivering when his fingers lightly traced at the apex of my thigh.

  With the heat of the sauna pressing in on me, and the heat that was already starting to build inside of me, I was sure that I would explode before I left this room today. Liam would make sure of it.

  Trying to hold on before everything slipped out of my control, I opened my eyes and watched Liam pull his mouth away from my breast. His mouth zig-zagged along my body, kissing my side here, dipping his tongue into my navel, and nipping at my rounded hip, dragging his teeth along my skin. When he pulled back, a twang of disappointment rushed through me, until I realized slowly what he was doing.

  As much as I resisted, knowing that if I watched him it would only turn me on even more, I couldn't help but catch Liam's icy blue gaze. It was a solemn expression at first, but the corner of his mouth quirked up, and it became the edge of a very naughty smile, one that told me he took great pleasure in making me squirm.

  He stroked along the soft flesh that was too close to my swollen folds. He teased me this way, his face drawing closer. I thought I'd scream out if he didn't just do something.

  Then I felt as though I was being peeled apart like a flower, my outer lips gently pulled aside to reveal the warm, pink insides that were soaked with excitement. The steam hit me and I sucked in a quick breath, trying not to hyperventilate.

  Liam saw the intensity in my eyes and sought to soothe my needs, his tongue slowly trailing along my pussy, dragging it up to the very top. He avoided my clit at first, and I let out a cry anyway—both from frustration and the way he left me shivering. His tongue delved into my core, lapping at all the wetness he'd created there, and my legs were shaking… There was no way my moaning wasn't being heard outside of this tiny room.

  When Liam's tongue snaked along my inner lips, trailing around my swollen bud, I prayed to God that he would just put me out of the best misery I'd ever known. He hooked his two thick fingers inside of me and pressed up, his thumb carefully rubbing at the small gap of skin between my pussy and my clit, and I felt everything in me preparing for what came next.

  As Liam's tongue darted everywhere around my clit, he stroked at my g-spot, and with his other hand, he pulled back the small hood of skin that left me feeling the most open and exposed. I could feel him take a deep breath, breathing my scent in, before his mouth caught my clit between his lips, sucking at me.

  I came apart all at once, but he did not slow. In fact, he sped up his pace, with his fingers now pumping in and out of me and his tongue whipping around my clit inside his mouth. My hips bucked against his face and all I wanted was more, more. I couldn't stand the thought of him leaving me, or that this was already done.

  His fingers and mouth were everywhere on me, and I rocked against him, pinpricks lighting up behind my eyelids. Never, never, never had anyone made me come. Never had anyone known what they were doing and cared enough to get me to this point.

  My breathing hitched and I looked down at Liam, whose wide smile made me feel giggly and sleepy all at once. Or maybe that was what it was like when someone went down on you…

  Chapter 3

  ALY

  I could tell by the way Sage kept eyeing me across from the couch that I was about to get the shakedown. "What?" I asked innocently, sipping my latte.

  My younger sister snorted into her wine glass, rolling her eyes at me. "Don't play dumb with me."

  Lifting a brow in her direction, I tried to play it off. "I have no idea what you mean, sis. But if you don't stop staring at me like that, I'm going to dump this drink in your lap."

  If Sage rolled her hazel eyes any more, she'd be looking out of the back of her head. "Oh please. Just spill it—and no, I don't mean your drink. Tell me about your spa trip earlier!"

  Sage worked with our mother at Sun-Kissed Leaves, the local wine distributor that Mom owns. They were both total workaholics, so I knew my sister must have been dying to live her spa fantasies out vicariously through me for the moment.

  I sighed, unable to help the blush that crept across my cheeks. "It was good."

  She sat back and studied me, pursing her lips to the side. "Well, you do look relaxed."

  "Oh, I feel light as a feather," I replied, thinking about how completely blissed out I felt as I walked out of the spa only a few hours ago.

  "It seemed to do the trick," Sage added, sounding somewhat skeptical.

  I traced the rim of my latte cup, thinking about the special kind of magic Liam had in store for me inside the sauna. If I thought about it even more, I could almost feel every stroke of his tongue along my skin. I cleared my throat, still blushing.

  "Are you okay? I mean, are you running a fever or something? Your cheeks and ears keep flushing pink. I hope you didn't pick up something at the spa."

  Holding back a knowing chuckle, I shook my head. "Oh no, not at all." I glanced down at the bottle of Sauvignon Blanc that was chilling on ice next to Sage. "Be a good sister and give me some of that wine you're drinking." I plopped down on the leather couch next to her, grinning. There was no way I could keep Liam a secret from her of all people.

  "So the spa trip was good… My massage therapist was like, insanely hot. You can only imagine what that must have been like."

  "You little minx! How hot are we talking, exactly?" she replied, flipping her long brown hair over her shoulder and sounding pleasantly scandalized.

  "It was like he walked off one of those soap operas set on the beach, I swear to you. Dark blonde hair, gorgeous blue eyes. Muscles on muscles, tan, charming smile. I didn't know whether to run out of there or to strap myself in for the ride."

  The show on the TV in front of us was playing the latest episode of WAGS. I pouted, asking Sage to turn off the mute button. "I'm so far behind, it'll probably take me forever to catch up. I was so busy studying for the bar and everything."

  We relaxed, tuned in to our favorite show
, and nearly finished the bottle before the credits rolled on the screen.

  I leaned back and sank into the couch, sighing contentedly. "I have to admit, it feels so nice to relax and not be thinking about the damned bar exam. After practically worshipping the law books I'm ready to kick back and binge on some TV."

  A weird expression flitted across my sister's face. I knew exactly what she was going to say before she even said anything.

  "Okay, I have to ask you. I promised myself I wouldn't ask you about what happened with Joshua while you were studying… but now that you're home, I have you face to face. Tell me, what happened?"

  My head lolled back against the firm, dark cushion as I groaned. "I thought I was supposed to be relaxing," I whined. I knew she was right, but I hated dredging all of that back up, right on the heels of the fantastic send-off Liam provided me earlier.

  "Come on, Aly. You can't expect me to pretend it didn't happen. I mean, you were engaged to get married and then suddenly you weren't."

  Letting out a pitiful sigh, I sat up and drained the rest of my wine glass. "All right, all right.”

  Sage already knew part of what the problem was, as many times I’d confided in her my doubts over Josh and his family. They were pure money through and through, and with his impossible to please mother, Olivia, I never really felt like I'd be happy as a Banks.

  "He was just such a pussy, you know? Never wanted to displease dear old Mama. After I spent part of Christmas break with them, I felt like I was being suffocated. There were so many rules, so many expectations. It was like dining with the damn Queen of England, for God's sake!"

  Sage mulled it over for a bit, setting her glass down. "Yeah, but if you’d married into that family, you'd be set for life."

  I frowned at her. "I'm not a gold digger."