Charged: A Stepbrother Romance Novel (With FREE Bonus Novel Heated!) Read online

  Leighton placed the bunch of roses he’d bought for Gracey down on the table and immediately called his lawyer. This was definitely not part of his morning plan.

  Chapter 8

  With little to keep them there legally, the Detective was required to release the girls as soon as he received the call from Leighton’s well connected and very powerful legal team. This wasn’t before he’d intimidated Isabella enough to make her weep floods of tears, and grilled Alexis enough to make her develop quite the crush on him. Had Detective Foster been a dozen years younger and a few million dollars richer, she would have let him take her then and there across the table in the interview room, several other younger police officers gathered behind the two way mirror to watch, and applaud dramatically when they were done. As it was, Detective Foster was neither rich, nor particularly young, and neither did he seem all that interested in whom he was beginning to believe responsible for Philip’s murder. Alexis had flatly denied she’d killed her husband, on the grounds that she was in a much worse situation now than she was before his death, but hadn’t hidden her hatred for the man, nor her happiness that he had indeed passed away, mostly painfully. She wasn’t at all surprised he’d been murdered, and wondered if Leighton, perhaps in collusion with Gracey might have been the man responsible. Foster thought she was diverting his attention away from the truth and figured that as soon as his forensic team had finished at the house, the big fat finger of guilt would point directly at the old soak smoking away like a chimney in front of him.

  Under questioning, Gracey had been steely. She was genuinely shocked at the news, and genuinely pissed to be held against her will, and accused of something she would never have considered, let alone put into practice. Foster was convinced enough by her that he actually began to feel sorry for the misplaced girl. She seemed nothing like the rest of the family, and appeared genuinely upset by her stepfather’s death. She told the detective the most likely candidate would have to be her eldest sister Pandora. She believed Isabella incapable on grounds of genetic stupidity and her mother too clever to attempt something so stupid, especially without checking the will first.

  Leighton had a car pick up the girls and bring them back to the house. He was standing on the porch with Alexander awaiting their arrival, when the car pulled up to the front door.

  Alexis waited for the driver to open her door, before she stormed out of the car and up to Leighton.

  “Fucking police”, was all she mumbled, a near burnt out cigarette stuck to the lipstick on her lower lip, before staggering through the wide front doors and towards the drinks cabinet, as though she still owned it.

  “They are still here”, Leighton called behind him.

  Isabella was still crying when she breezed past him, while Pandora licked her lips seductively, stood in front of him momentarily, went as though to say something before leaning into him on tiptoes, pressing herself purposely into him and kissing his cheek.

  “Thank you, darling”, she said, cynically. “I don’t know what we would have done without you. It’s so nice to finally have a big brother to look after us and keep us safe.”

  Gracey was the last out of the car. She ruffled Alexander’s fur and stood for a moment in front of Leighton without saying anything. There it was again, that buzz that seemed like the world bending between them.

  “Thank you”, Gracey said, before squeezing Leighton’s hand and heading inside.

  In the kitchen, Pandora found the roses. Believing they had to be for her, she immediately busied herself with sorting them into a vase ready to put on proud display, rather than asking if she was indeed the intended recipient, while she figured out just how she planned to seduce her billionaire. Leighton didn’t look like he planned on going anyway just yet, but she didn’t want to risk losing everything if he did.

  ***

  Gracey had just about finished tidying her room when Leighton knocked on the door. The police had taken over two hours to swab, dust and test everything they considered suspicious, and Gracey had taken just about the same amount of time putting everything back in order.

  If she had known it was going to be Leighton she’d have changed out of her sweat pants and vest top, brushed her hair and pulled it into something resembling a hairstyle, she might have even asked him to wait while she took a shower and composed herself, but it was exactly that, the simplicity of the clothes that he caught her in, the complete normality of the situation that stole one of Leighton’s heart beats and made him falter momentarily. It was a feeling Leighton was not used to. It was a feeling that reminded him of middle school, when he first clapped eyes on Theresa Clarke. He’d followed that girl like a puppy dog, the cock tease that she was, and learnt a very important lesson from it. It was a feeling he’d not had cause to experience since, in any one of the hundreds of different relationships he’d partaken in. It was a debilitating and confusing feeling, and one which almost sent him away again without saying a word. But this was Leighton Tempest, and Leighton Tempest didn’t give up so easily.

  Gracey looked incredible. It was impossible for anyone to deny that. Perfect skin, amazing curves, eyes that seemed to change colour under different lights. The girl was innocent but experienced, young but mature, and Leighton wanted her more than anything else. Getting the inheritance was a bonus, but getting Gracey would be the real prize.

  “Do you have a moment?” Leighton said finally, his business sense kicking in.

  “Sure”, Gracey responded, her heart beating wildly. Was this a good thing to do? Was inviting this incredibly handsome, red blooded male into her bedroom a sensible thing? The man that seemed able to make the world explode in a million different colours right in front of her eyes, her skin flush red and her pussy tingle in a way she’d never experienced before. Was this what she wanted?

  Leighton came into the room and closed the door behind him. Gracey’s pulse rate quickened as he came towards her. She had no idea what to do. Finally she sat on the edge of the bed, her back curled in perfect posture, her tits thrust forwards unconsciously. Leighton joined her, close enough to show his desire, far enough away to not be overly intimidating. Leighton took her hand in his, while Gracey bit her lip gently. She looked at him, smiled and then looked down, her cheeks flushing red, embarrassed at the thought. Anyone else and Leighton would already be undressing them, dotting the delicate skin of their neck with kisses. Anyone else and they’d have their hands all over his sizeable cock, breaking the skin from the glans and drawing it over his frenulum in urgent strokes, ready to tease him inside them. This was different. Pandora would fuck him hard, her pussy wet with desire, but it would mean nothing. It was Gracey he wanted and only Gracey that would matter.

  Her pussy was so wet, he could have slid two fingers inside her tight little hole and she would barely have noticed it. He could have slid his cock inside too without needing to part her lips first with his tongue. Leighton’s cock swelled at the thought of it. He wanted to taste her pussy hole. He wanted to rip her panties and fuck her deep while they still clung to her leg. He wanted to force his tongue up inside her meat and finger her delicate little teenage asshole until she begged him to stop.

  Finally, after what seemed like an aeon of silence, Leighton leaned into Gracey. The time had come, he couldn’t hold himself back any more.

  “I want you”, he said, while he guided her hand to the rock hard bundle pushing the front of his trousers into a peak. “I want you so much.”

  Gracey let herself fold into him. She gathered the shape of his cock in her hand and dreamt of everything she was desperate to let herself do to him. She pushed against his meat and felt just how hard and strong it was against her touch. She wanted it inside her, there was no question about that. It would be so simple too. There was just a thin layer of fabric between them. She could pull her panties down, fight him to the bed and run his hugeness inside her. It felt so good just thinking about it, her whole body began to ache, but there was something else she just couldn�
�t get out of her head. This was her stepfather’s son, and no matter how much she wanted it, there was something about that fact that made her desire feel forbidden. There was something that was telling her she couldn’t go on. No matter how much she wanted him, there was something holding her back. Leighton was a stranger to her, but they were essentially stepbrother and stepsister. They could never be.

  “We can’t”, she finally said, tensing up in his arms and going to pull herself away. “We just can’t.”

  Part Two.

  Chapter 9

  Pandora leaned against her bedroom door, her head tilted upwards to give her eyes that sultry, curious look she performed so well. With her leg bent at the knee and her foot pressed lightly against the wood of the door frame, socks pulled up over her knees to frame a square of perfectly supple skin the lower part of her negligee wasn’t quite long enough to cover, she looked like she was waiting for the man of the house to join her. When he passed, pausing briefly to take her in, she fell in step with him, refusing to be ignored.

  While Pandora skipped around him, Gracey lay flat in bed, cursing her inability to let herself go.

  “I don’t know what you see in her”, Pandora chirped, her arm drawing across Leighton’s back, just to make sure he was fully aware she was there. “She’s never even had a boyfriend.”

  Leighton made it to the top of the stairs, where Pandora was quick to halt his progress. Leighton couldn’t help but smile. In a different world, she would have already been his. He had to admire her balls-out attitude.

  “I can give you everything you’ve ever wanted”, Pandora said, her fingers working along the hem of her night dress, pulling it up just far enough to give Leighton a tease of her panties. “You just tell me when you’re ready.”

  Leighton sighed. Pandora was a pretty girl, but she wasn’t presenting much of a challenge. That kind of thing just didn’t interest him, at least not at the moment. If Gracey continued to refuse him though, he might just have to change his mind. Pandora looked like she could suck a baseball through a party straw, and if it was going to be a quick fuck to close the deal after selling the house and grounds, it might just work. Until he knew where he stood with Gracey though, he’d just have to keep Pandora on a long leash. Girls like her were dangerous, and nobody knew that better than Leighton Tempest.

  “Goodnight, Pandora”, he said, before stepping past her and out on to the stairs.

  Pandora watched him go, admiring both his fortitude, and the way his ass flexed in his dress pants.

  “She’ll never give it up to you”, she shouted after him, loud enough that Gracey could hear her. “She’s as frigid as an Eskimo, that one.”

  Chapter 10

  Esmeralda was concerned about her CEO. It was unlike Leighton to leave it so long without reporting in, and she was beginning to wonder if he was either losing his mind or whether there was something that was physically stopping him from calling. That and she was jealous. When the phone finally rang, she was in the process of booking herself a flight to see what the hell he was playing at and drag him back home, hopefully still in the capacity of her lover. In her rush to answer it, she knocked a full glass of wine over that exploding against the carpet dramatically, creating a red patch that looked like spilled blood.

  “Fuck”, she barked into the receiver, looking at the mess she had created.

  “That’s a bit forward isn’t it?” Leighton responded.

  “Where are you?” Esmeralda said, composing herself enough to hide her concern.

  “Things are taking a lot longer here than I thought they would”, Leighton said.

  Esmeralda knew him well enough to know that if he wasn’t lying outright, he was bending the truth to suit him. She looked around the room for the tissues, dropping to her knees to daub the stain when she found them, knowing the best thing to do was to let him talk.

  “The police have put a hold on the inheritance money until this mess of this murder is solved. That means I can’t legally sell the property until it all gets sorted out.”

  Esmeralda straightened up. Kleenex on a red wine stain was like fighting the aids virus with a throat lozenge. “Put the legal team on it”, she said. “You’ve got meetings here, we need you back.”

  “It’s not as simple as that”, Leighton said, and Esmeralda knew exactly what that meant without him needing to go any further. It meant there was something that interested him more than just the money. There was a girl. That thought made her heart leap.

  “Don’t get involved in something you can’t fix”, she said.

  “Since when have you ever known me to do that?” Leighton retorted.

  “Since when have I ever known you?”

  Leighton felt a pang of guilt. He’d kind of abandoned Esmeralda, even though he was clear with her that any interaction they had together was simply just that. A fuck and nothing more. A good fuck at that, but a fuck nonetheless. He knew he shouldn’t feel guilty for moving on, but he did anyway. Even before he got with Esmeralda, he always knew he would.

  “Is that a professional or a personal question?” he asked.

  “That depends on whether we have a professional or a personal relationship.”

  Leighton sighed. This was always the difficult thing with women, they became too attached. He never thought Esmeralda would be one of them. She was a ball breaker if ever he knew one, but here it was, as clear as day. She resented him for whatever they had ending.

  “I knew you’d fuck me and leave”, Esmeralda said. “Is that it now? Is that us over?”

  “Are we really doing this?” Leighton asked.

  Esmeralda sighed.

  “I thought we were clear.”

  “You were clear”, Esmeralda said, suddenly feeling angry. “That’s not the point. Why are you calling anyway?”

  “I’m going to be here for a bit longer. At least until they get the assets released again.”

  “Or until she says yes you mean?”

  “I’ll be back soon.”

  “She must be something.”

  “Can you reschedule all important meetings, send anything crucial over to me for conferencing and get the rest of the team to handle anything else?”

  “That’s it then is it?”

  “Look, don’t make this harder than it is already”, Leighton said.

  He knew that if things didn’t work out with Gracey, Esmeralda would take him back in an instant, but he didn’t like to be pessimistic. Gracey may take some work, but he felt confident that eventually she would definitely be his. And besides which, Leighton liked nothing more than a challenge. Even with the slight chance that she wouldn’t, of course, there was always the commiseration fuck of Pandora. He couldn’t go back to Esmeralda after that, it just wouldn’t be fair. Cheating was not in Leighton Tempest’s make up. He’d been on the receiving end of it once before, and he knew how painful it was to know not to do it. Honesty was the best policy in the long run, even if in the short run it would make him public enemy number one. He owed Esmeralda that.

  “I should have known.”

  “I thought I was clear about that before we began”, Leighton said.

  “So it meant nothing to you.”

  “That’s not what I said. Come on Esmeralda, I expected more than this from you.”

  She was trying to be strong, and trying not to let it bother her, but it did. It had taken long enough for Leighton to give her the time of day, let alone give her the best orgasms she’d ever had. She knew better than anyone that no-one actually got to keep Leighton Tempest, but now she was on the receiving end of that information, it seemed a lot harder to take than she imagined. It had been almost two weeks since he’d first gone away, which was enough time for her to prepare, only it really wasn’t. And it wasn’t as if he was being direct. Clear yes, direct no.

  “Fuck”, she said again, unable to hide her frustration.

  “I thought I should call”, Leighton said. “I get it if you feel like you can’t wor
k with me anymore.”

  “What has she got that I haven’t?” Esmeralda complained, embarrassed she was going this low, but unable to stop herself.

  “It’s not like that”, Leighton said.

  “What is it, big tits? A virgin? I let you fuck me in the ass, twice. I even sucked your cock after-”

  “Esmeralda, please”, Leighton said. “You’re embarrassing yourself. And anyway, it was three times. And you were the one who suggested sucking it after anyway.”

  “Fine”, she said. “Fine. Look, just don’t break her heart will you, or yours for that matter.”

  “Call me if there is anything urgent”, Leighton said. “Can you do that?”

  “Yes”, Esmeralda said. “I can do that.”

  “I’ll be back soon”, Leighton said, even though he was unsure whether he really meant it.

  Chapter 11

  Gracey wondered if she’d fucked things up completely. She’d not seen Leighton at the house for the last few days, and there was no sign of when he planned to be back. She knew there was a hold on the inheritance money, and she worried that as soon as that problem was sorted, Leighton would be out of their lives forever, especially now that he’d shown her his true feelings, and she’d denied him. She felt like time was slipping away from her. She also had no idea what she planned to do if Leighton sold the house. She had a job, which meant she had enough money to find an apartment if she needed to, but what if she couldn’t find somewhere that allowed pets? What would happen to her sisters and her mother too? She had enough money for herself, but definitely not enough to support them as well. Besides which, she didn’t want to think of a situation in which Leighton wasn’t with them. Whatever she felt for him, she knew it was significant, even if there was something stopping them from being together. She knew it wasn’t technically illegal, but she knew it wasn’t right either, no matter how much she wanted it. But what was the alternative? If she let Leighton slip through her fingers, what would happen to her and her family? She knew that bitch Pandora would be all over Leighton as soon as he gave the go ahead, and now that she’d said no to him, she worried that he would say yes to her.