Stepbrother Savior Read online

  “I’ll go too,” I said.

  “What?”

  Taking a deep breath, I said, “I’ll go talk to somebody. I’ll talk to the cops or a counselor, or something. About Carlos. About my dad. Whatever. If you go, I’ll go.”

  Jake’s expression softened so much that it nearly erased the lust. “Just when I think I’ve got you figured out…”

  “Will you go?”

  He nodded. “How about you?”

  “Yeah, I will. Maybe it’ll help me figure out why every guy I’ve ever dated before was a complete loser…but I think I know why. I think I didn’t believe I deserved a guy like you or that you’d ever be able to care about a girl like me.”

  “Listen, Nicole,” Jake said, very seriously. “You deserve better than a guy like me. But I more than care about you.”

  It seemed like the best thing I’d ever heard. Moved, I kissed his hand again and said, “I more than care about you too.”

  At hearing that, he leaned up, and drew me into a kiss. A kiss that said a lot more than words. And when we were through, I asked, “Now, can we have sex again?”

  ~~~

  So, the awesome thing about sleeping with a guy who is a boxer? Stamina. Whereas the first time had been hesitant to start, then crazy fast at the end like a race we both wanted to win…the next times were slow. Languid. Like a marathon.

  Even though a part of me wanted to curse every other girl that he’d obviously practiced on, I had to admit, I was reaping the benefits, because Jake had a way of settling in, holding back, and just going at it until he’d brought me off at least two or three times before finding his own release.

  It was pretty mind blowing.

  I rode him.

  He rode me.

  Then we did it again in the shower—after which we ordered Chinese food for sustenance. Any thought of our leaving that night was gone because neither of us wanted to face the outside world.

  But when my mom called, our happy delusions came to a crashing end. “Nicky?” Mom screeched on the other end of the line, terror in her voice. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” I mumbled, wishing Jake hadn’t answered.

  Mom said, “Carlos told me you went out for coffee before he got up and never came back. You didn’t show up for work. He must’ve called here a hundred times looking for you.”

  Carlos is a lying asshole. That’s what I wanted to say to my mom.

  But before I could, she added, “I’ve been calling your phone, and when I got no answer, I was scared half out of my mind.”

  I checked my phone, which was dark as a brick, long-since having run out of battery. I somehow hadn’t thought to grab the charger when fleeing from the guy who punched me. “Oh. Yeah. It’s dead. Sorry about that.”

  “What in the world are you doing at Jake’s?” my mom asked. “I would’ve never even thought to find you there. I was just hoping he’d help join the search party I was about to send out looking!”

  Ok, so this was going to be hard to explain. And I think Jake must’ve heard my mom on the other end, because he winced. “I’m really sorry I worried you, mom. I just—Carlos and I broke up.”

  That seemed to be the least complicated explanation.

  Mom paused. “Does he know that, honey? Because he doesn’t sound like he knows…”

  “Oh, he knows,” I said, because he had to, right? “I walked out on him last night with nothing. Jake’s house was close. So…um…here I am.”

  “I’ll come get you,” mom said, calling to Larry to get her keys. “I’m getting in the car right now.”

  Panic seized me. I knew I was going to have to talk to my mom about the abuse. Talk to the police, too. And a counselor. Or whatever. I’d promised. But the thought of having to face our parents and explain this new relationship Jake and I had…that was going to kill me, I was sure.

  It was going to turn Jake back into a jerk and ruin absolutely everything.

  “Mom, don’t, please. I—”

  Jake took the phone from me. “Hey, Renee.”

  Renee. Not mom. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

  “Nicole’s okay,” he continued, talking into the phone in a very calm, controlled voice. “But we’re both pretty tired and we’re settled in. She wants to see you. Both of us do. But do you mind if I drop her at the house tomorrow?”

  I couldn’t hear what my mom was saying on the other end.

  She must’ve calmed down.

  “It’s fine,” Jake said. “Really, it’s no trouble. I know. Glad to help. Love you too. Hug dad for me.” Then he frowned. “Yes. Family has to stick together, I know. Me too.”

  By the time he hung up, I was staring openmouthed at how easily he’d handled her. But Jake didn’t seem to come through it unphased, and ran a shaky hand through his hair. “I hope that’s what you wanted. If you want me to drive you over there, I will. I’m kind of feeling like a sicko pervert right now.”

  I slapped my chopsticks down on the counter in frustration. “Why?”

  “Because your mom just told me how grateful she was that in marrying my dad, she found a good big brother for you. She told me that family has to stick together, and actually thanked me for taking care of you.”

  “But you did take care of me!”

  Over, and over, and over again…

  He cringed. “I seduced you…”

  I snorted. “You didn’t seduce me. I seduced you.”

  Jake, who was standing by the table, put both his hands flat on its surface, and eyed me. “That’s not how I remember it.”

  I shrugged a shoulder. “Then you remember it wrong. And in any case it doesn’t matter. Because it’s not wrong, Jake. We’re not wrong together, you and me.”

  To prove it, I reached for him, unzipping his pants and stroking him with my hand. He groaned, putting his hand on mine as if he wanted to stop me, but couldn’t bring himself to. “You’re not playing fair, Nicole.”

  “Fair is your thing, not mine,” I said, getting off a little bit on the way he was trying to fight his desire for me, trying to hold it back, but not managing to hide it from me one bit. “Because I don’t care if it’s pervy. Yes, I want my stepbrother to put himself inside me, bare, and drain his balls. I want you to fuck me, Jake, and make me come.” With that, I dropped my panties, hopped up onto the countertop, spread my legs and began to touch my sore but already engorged pink parts. “Please, please, please, make me come on your cock again.”

  If I hadn’t seduced him before, I did then.

  He didn’t stand a chance.

  Watching my fingers play where he’d sucked and fucked me earlier that night, he was mesmerized.

  We did it right on the kitchen countertop.

  And it was so good, his knees nearly buckled when he came.

  I tried to screw him so well that he’d forget all the weirdness about our relationship, but I worried that we’d only screwed ourselves to such exhaustion that we were too tired to argue about it anymore. Either way, I was grateful to fall asleep in his arms that night. A place I felt safer than I’d ever been.

  At least until the banging on the front door.

  ~~~

  “Nicky!” I heard my name being shouted from the edges of my sleep, along with a battering from the direction of the living room.

  And it took me a moment to realize what was going on.

  “I know you’re in there, you cheating bitch!”

  “Jake, wake up,” I whispered, my heart pounding as loudly as the bashing on the door. “It’s Carlos. He’s trying to break in.”

  Then I realized, in my bleary state, that Jake was already awake. What’s more, he was already half-dressed, and was holding a gun in his hand. My eyes widened at the sight and I sat up in bed, staring in shock at the grim expression on Jake’s face.

  An expression I’d never seen there before.

  Jake looked hard. Serious. Deadly. And he put a finger over my lips as if to silence me. “Let him knock. Let him shout himsel
f hoarse if he wants. But if he breaks in this house to come after you, he’s going out in a body bag.”

  I went rigid with fear, from head to toe, because he sounded like he meant it. Like maybe he even welcomed it. And by instinct I reached for my phone, finally eager to call the police for the first time in my life.

  Then I remembered the phone was dead.

  “Nicky!” Carlos screamed from outside. “Nicky, you either come out and face me or I’m coming in after you, you little whore.”

  I’d never heard Carlos so unhinged before. And it reaffirmed all the reasons that I’d left him. But I also was afraid of what he might do if I didn’t go out and talk to him—or what Jake might do.

  In the dark, I managed to find my pants. And a shirt. I didn’t know if it was Jake’s or mine, but I slipped it on. But as I started to rise from the bed, my lover shook his head. “Don’t even think about going to him, Nicole. He’ll hurt you, and then I’ll have to take him out.”

  Okay, so while I admit, it was a little thrilling to have someone threaten to kill someone for me, it was entirely sobering to think it might not be an idle threat. Carlos was all bluster and bullying. But Jake? My nice guy had just turned into someone that ought never to be messed with.

  All at once, a crash sounded in the bedroom.

  I screamed, realizing that it was a broken window. And I ducked out of the way of the flying porch chair that Carlos threw inside.

  After that, things happened so fast, it was a blur.

  I remember Jake pulling me away from the window, and spinning me to the relative safety behind the bed. Then I saw Carlos lumber into the jagged window, kicking glass out of his way, calling me every name he could think of in English and a few in Spanish as well.

  He didn’t get very far. I’d say he was a mere five feet into the room before Jake stepped out of the shadows, put Carlos into a headlock, and pressed the muzzle of his gun against my abuser’s forehead. “Big mistake, asshole. And I’m so glad you made it.”

  ~~~

  Carlos went rigid with fear. I don’t know what he’d been thinking, breaking into someone’s house. I don’t know if he’d been thinking at all. But given the way his nostrils flared over the strong lock of Jake’s arm, he seemed to realize that he had, indeed, made a big mistake.

  “Oh my god, don’t kill him!” I shrieked at Jake.

  Not because I gave a shit about Carlos at that moment. Not beyond the fact that he was a human being. But because I thought Jake really was going to do it, or try to do it, and everything between us would be ruined in blood forever.

  “No?” Jake asked, with a snarl. “Someone needs to put him down before he hurts any other women. And if he survives this, he just might be stupid enough to break into someone’s house again and risk being shot in self-defense.”

  Oh, shit. Mr. Law & Order was already thinking about the rules and what he could get away with in terms of murder. I thought bad boys were bad. Turns out good guys were much badder.

  “Please, Jake!” I cried, flipping on a light, hoping that might calm things down. But it only showed the wreckage of the bedroom, with glass and splinters of wood everywhere.

  “Do you hear her begging for your life?” Jake asked Carlos, who obviously couldn’t reply over the chokehold my stepbrother had on him. “You beat her. You called her a whore. And yet she’s pleading for your life.”

  “Only because you don’t want to do this, Jake.”

  “Oh, but I do,” he replied, cocking the pistol.

  Fuck!

  Carlos nearly pissed himself at the sound of it.

  I reached for Jake’s phone, which I could now see on the bedside table. Holding it up I said, “I’m going to call the police, okay?”

  Jake gave a bark of bitter laughter. “Now she wants to call the police. She didn’t want to call them before, to protect herself from you, but now she’s ready to save your worthless life.”

  “And send him to jail!” I cried, because I thought I heard some real pain and doubt in Jake’s voice, and I couldn’t bear it.

  He’d saved me. He’d saved me from Carlos. He’d saved me from myself. In the space of a single weekend, he’d saved me from a past I didn’t even know I was running from. And I was falling in love with him. Maybe now wasn’t the best time to tell him, but I worried what could happen if I didn’t. “I’m not trying to protect him, Jake. I’m trying to protect you. To protect us. I want there to be an us. And I’m ready and willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. I love you, okay? Please. I know you love me too. So I want you to prove it. The right way.”

  Jake’s arm tightened on my abuser’s neck, but he didn’t pull the trigger. Instead, he met my eyes and gave a single nod.

  And I dialed 911.

  ~~~

  I awaken to the scent of bacon, coffee, and Jake.

  The three best scents in the world.

  We’re up early on a Sunday afternoon so that he can take a run before hitting the gym. Afterwards, we’re doing dinner with our parents. Mom and Larry weren’t thrilled to learn about our relationship, but they’re slowly coming around. Especially now that the court case is over, the window is repaired, Carlos is serving time, and Jake and I are still going strong.

  Mom has to admit that we’re good together.

  Really good together.

  Larry thinks so too, but still worries that his son is taking advantage of me.

  If only he knew.

  Anyway, dinner gets a little easier each time, and it’s likely to go even better tonight because I’m cooking, and because our parents are worried they’re going to miss us when we move to the city.

  I start school at the state university on a work-study program this autumn and Jake is moving with me. The future looks bright, but the present is pretty fucking great too.

  Stumbling out into the kitchen, I find Jake flipping some sizzling bacon in the pan. “Good morning, beautiful.”

  “Mmm,” I say, wrapping my arms around his waist, kissing between his shoulder blades. “And coffee’s already on. You’re my savior. I’m so hungry.”

  “For me or bacon?”

  I grin. “Both. Maybe at the same time?”

  “Kinky,” Jake says, with a bit of a leer.

  “Yeah, well. I’m in love with my stepbrother. You don’t get kinkier than that.”

  Jake turns around with the spatula and waggles his brows. “That sounds like a challenge.”

  “Bring it on,” I say, kissing him full on the mouth, loving that down deep, he’s a little bit dangerous, but never to me.

  “Mmm,” he says, kissing me. “Jesus Christ, Nicky. How do you do that to me?”

  “Do what?”

  “Let’s just say that knowing you’re mine…well, I’m not feeling the slightest bit numb.”

  He’s aroused is what he is, and we’re going to have sex, right here, right now, on the kitchen countertop. Again.

  It’s practically tradition now and I’m always ready and willing.

  I guess it might be because whenever I think about that night Carlos broke into the house, I remember how ready and willing Jake was to protect me. And I’m pretty sure that’s going to turn me on until the day that I die. So, maybe I’m not as fucked up as I used to be, but there’s still a little bit left. And for now, I might as well enjoy it.

  EXCERPT

  BILLIONAIRE STEPBROTHER OBSESSION

  Stephanie Brother

  ~~~

  CRYSTAL

  I am absolutely certain this is not a good idea, not a good idea at all. Nervous and a bit scared, l wonder who I'm kidding This is insane. Utterly. But there is a longing in my chest that isn't leaving me a choice. Just my luck that I had to fall head over heels for my own stepbrother, Jimmy. The one guy that I should stay far away from. But I can't, not any longer. I've denied my feelings for him for far too long, feigning ignorance of my own feelings for convention's sake. I mean, what would people say if I presented him as my boyfriend? That's not even ta
lking about how mom and dad would respond. That is what has held me back for so long.

  The last Christmas was the most terrible ever by far. I'd do anything to avoid Jimmy. Anything. Being near him was one big heartache from start to finish. But I'd fake it. Fake being happy around him while I was pining away for so much more than the casual interaction that was the norm. After he returned to college, I tried to forget about my feelings and distract myself by focusing in on all the hot guys available at school. Plenty of them who made it clear they'd love to lay their hands on me. Hell, I even came close to just go with the flow. But that is not how the heart operates. At night, each night, it was always Jimmy who would appear in my mind as I stared into the darkness of my room. The one guy who just did it for me. The one guy who would make a warmth explode in my chest that was always followed by a heartache that I tried to deny.

  My stepbrother the hunk and the sweetest guy ever, also heir to a multi-billion corporate empire. That is how it has been for months now. And you know what? I even thought I could get away with it. Told myself that I'd get over it. Shows how foolish I can be when I want to. But when he returned home from college for the summer vacation two weeks ago, the warmth that exploded in my chest the moment I laid eyes on him told me that enough is enough. Teaching me one vital lesson: you can only fool yourself for so long. I've been on a non-stop seduction campaign ever since, but not getting anywhere near the kind of feedback that I'm after. So today I intent to go for the kill, all or nothing. Consequences be damned. I know I am being foolish. Maybe even juvenile and just acting my age. I'm also only too aware that maybe he just doesn't feel for me the way I feel for him, a thought that has my heart sink in my chest like the Titanic; broken in two and beyond repair.

  But my heart isn't going down without a fight. I'd rather make a fool of myself and know for certain that it wasn't meant to be than hide in fear for the heartache that the thought of his rejection brings. I can't say I'd blame him if he were to reject me, I'm his stepsister after all. And I'm certain that despite having turned eighteen last month, he probably still can only perceive me as the girl he met for the first time only three years ago, not the young woman that I've become.