Bad Apple: A Stepbrother Romance (Devils & Angels Book 1) Read online

  I fisted my hands underneath the desk. I also tried to control my expression before something leaked out, though I wasn’t sure myself exactly how I felt.

  True, in the beginning, I felt the same about him. Rogue was an annoying, selfish bastard who didn’t put anyone ahead of himself. I didn’t think he’d do well outside of prison, either. Who knew how he managed to get out early on good behavior. I didn’t doubt that he’d find a way to send himself back there.

  After less than two days, though, those thoughts had changed. Yeah, he had been annoying yesterday, but at least he’d tried to be considerate. And I had seen him show emotions that I didn’t believe he was capable of, which meant the real him was buried underneath the asshole still.

  There wasn’t any choice in this.

  “I won't kick him out,” I said with as much confidence as she’d spoken.

  “It really would be for the best,” she said. “It would certainly save me the trouble of having to babysit him when he’s not going to change and it will mean just filling in more paperwork. Seriously, I could do without the hassle.”

  She was annoying me. She knew nothing about Rogue or I. Then again, she’d made it clear that she didn’t care. All she was worried about was the paperwork.

  “In the first place, I’m not even doing this for Rogue. Whatever he does, in the end, it's up to him, but I’m going to at least try to do something. It’s for the sake of my Richard, he’s sick...otherwise, I wouldn`t bother.”

  Ms. Brent sighed as if she was disappointed in me in some way, and I scowled at her. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with my decision, but she seemed to think I lacked in some way, and I didn’t like that.

  “You're too kind, Claire,” Ms. Brent said. “Just because his dad is sick, doesn’t mean he’s going to suddenly change, you know? He might just go further off the rails. And besides, according to the hospital’s records, Rogue’s only been to see him once briefly and seems to be spending the rest of his time drinking. I’ll be seeing you around, Claire.”

  She walked away, and I just watched her go, holding back the urge to hit her. We were a lot alike, but that pretty much just meant we were guaranteed to dislike each other. And she was just pointing out things I’d wanted to ignore myself.

  Shit.

  I headed back up to Simon’s office. It hadn't been ten minutes yet, but Simon was already sitting there, looking over a bunch of documents.

  “Claire, you’re back,” he said, getting up in what felt like slow motion as he was struggling to get up.

  I held back a wince. We were still in the middle of the meeting, but it had been two hours already, and I didn’t know how long it would take for him to finish. I had to do a lot of begging to be let off, calling a family emergency, until he allowed me to leave work early in exchange for another meeting bright and early tomorrow.

  I hurried out of the office, barely remembering to pick up all the documents I would need. I knew Simon would ask tomorrow if I’d looked over the documents at all so I’d need to do some work at home tonight.

  I needed to see Rogue and speak to him. It only just occurred to me, but he and I hadn't had a real conversation since he came to stay with me. It was about time we did and it would start with me apologising for being an ass when he’d cooked dinner and I came home late.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Rogue

  It felt as if as quick as I’d closed my eyes to sleep then I’d opened them just as quickly. I squinted my eyes in the light flowing into the room. I’d be tempted to go into Claire’s room and sleep there, but I found the guestroom just as comfortable as her bed. The light in this room wasn’t as much as hers, and instead of her white deco, this room was more sensible in dark brown and blue colors.

  My eyes were a bit sensitive because I was hung over, but I got over it quickly and pushed myself up.

  “Ugh,” I groaned as I slipped out of bed carefully, my stomach swaying, feeling a bit dizzy.

  Dammit, I’d made a mistake. I’d drunk so much, and I’d missed breakfast, too. I felt a bit nauseous, so I didn’t think I could handle eating, either, and I needed a quick way to get the alcohol out of my system. Shit, there was only that, and it was the most disgusting thing ever, but I would need it.

  “First, shower,” I muttered to myself, my nose wrinkling as I became aware of my stink.

  I tossed my clothes off. This bedroom had a second door inside it, and I took a chance to check it out and saw it had a bathroom, too. I wondered how much it cost Claire to live in an apartment this fancy, and if she lived all by herself. From what I’d seen, there hadn't been anyone else living there, at least.

  Come to think of it; I should be thankful she wanted to take me in. Then again, I really had no where else to go. Dad was stuck at the hospital and Hannah was looking after him.

  Thinking about that brought back thoughts about Dad, and seeing Hannah at the hospital by his side.

  After my mom died, it was just Dad and I for a while. He wasn’t the best dad there was, too busy to spend time with me most of the time, but I had plenty of friends.And then I got my ass arrested, and with him being sick, Dad was a lot more reliable than I was, even though he’d practically abandoned me, I was the one to completely turn my back on him when shit went down. I ended up in prison.

  When they got married, I didn’t fucking care either way. Now, I felt like I owed her a lot of thanks for not leaving my dad.

  I should have been thinking of was how he was doing, whether he was all right.

  I stepped out of the shower with a towel slung over my shoulder, wiping down my hair. I’d realized already that I had been acting like a child. So what if I didn’t get from Dad back then? I didn’t realize until we’d lost Mom the big gap between us. It was only after she was gone it felt like I was living with a stranger, I didn’t know how to talk to.

  Maybe it was the same for Dad. And I should have tried to talk to him back then instead of going off the rails. But I’d been young and brash. Not to say that I was much older now, but after three years in prison, I’d picked up some interesting experiences.

  Dad, in his way, was trying to lend a hand by asking Claire to look after me. She wasn’t obligated to just because I was her stepbrother; we didn’t see each other all that much, anyway. I’d probably spoken to her more recently than I had since we met. If not for worrying about my dad, she still would have tossed me aside to rot, I was sure.

  “Shit,” I muttered in a huff. “I need to thank them both, don’t I? For caring enough to try and keep me out of prison.”

  I sat down on the edge of the bed, naked, but not feeling like getting up just yet. I checked the time on my phone and saw it was after lunch, but still pretty early in the afternoon.

  Also, I had to apologize. And we needed to talk. Whoever I got to see first was the one I’d get to talk to first. I didn’t even know if Dad would be in a position to talk to me, and that chat might be a long one in the end. As for Claire…well. We would see.

  “Clothes, clothes,” I muttered as I got up to look around the room.

  I had come out of prison with only the clothes on my back. Ever since I’d come to this apartment, I’d only changed in this one outfit. Looking around the guest room, I hadn't checked it out properly, but as I did I found some of my old clothes. It felt like fucking heaven as I slipped on a change of clothes.

  “Damn, how long has it been since I’ve gotten to change clothes?”

  The prison clothes didn’t count. I may have had more than one set, but it all looked the same, either way.

  With nothing else holding me back, it was time to go. Then I bent to pick up my shoes and winced when I felt a piercing pain in the back of my eyes, and I swayed, nearly falling flat on my face.

  First, I needed to get rid of this fucking hangover.

  This part, I wasn’t looking forward to. I went to the kitchen to make a little remedy. The hair of the dog. It had been a while since I’d had to sober myself up,
and I’d forgotten just how disgusting it tasted, especially since I liked to mix liquors. I went back to brush my teeth to get rid of the smell, and it was even more disgusting. But I couldn’t show up at the hospital and have people thinking I was drunk. It would just ruin what I was trying to do.

  “Now,” I breathed out, walking stiffly to the door.

  I was ready to leave. There was nothing left to get ready. I had the house keys and some cash on me, and I knew the way, too, so it wasn’t like I would get lost, or something. There was nothing left to do but open the door and step out. I went to reach my hand out to the doorknob…

  Only, I didn’t. Because my hand was frozen and I’d barely reached for it.

  Move it, Rogue Rest, I growled to myself.

  My hand moved an inch and another inch. I moved it until I at least had it on the door handle, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn it.

  I was fucking scared.

  Too scared to open that door, to go out there and face my mistakes. To go and face my dad when I was just barely sober, not knowing his fate, lying in a hospital probably dying while I got out of prison and went out drinking over some stupid argument I got into with Claire.

  What would Dad think of me? Would he look at me in disappointment again? Would he look at me at all? I hadn't gotten much from Claire about what his situation was besides what was ailing him, and when I stopped by the hospital before, I didn’t stop to check and see how he was doing.

  Was it too late to even apologize?

  My hand squeezed hard around the door handle, my chest squeezing along with it until my eyesight went fuzzy and I felt like I couldn’t breathe properly, but I had to be a man and stop acting like a fucking mouse.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Claire

  I parked the car and paused to take a breath, running a hand through my hair. I’d driven home, but it felt ridiculous like I’d run all the way there. Because my heart beat just wouldn’t fucking slow down at the thought of trying to talk sense into Rogue.

  I started to regret fucking him at all, now. I still didn’t know the reason for his attitude yesterday. All I needed to know was that it was a problem and I might have contributed to it somehow. The entire thought seemed impossible to me, but it would be bad if he suddenly got the wrong idea about that night.

  I needed to explain things to him, and then we could settle down into a somewhat normal housing relationship.

  Thinking that, I jumped out of the car with determination. My heart didn’t calm down, but I knew how things had to be, especially after that visit from his parole officer. If we weren’t careful, he really would be going back in the slammer soon.

  What happened last night, him leaving because he was mad at me for whatever reason, could not happen again.

  I made my way up to the apartment, and the closer I got, the more it felt like my heartbeat was getting louder to the point it was blocking out all other sounds. I got to my door and reached for the keys, unlocking it, then twisted and pushed. Surprisingly, I faced some resistance, and it was enough to bring me out of my head as I frowned.

  What the heck was going on?

  I tried to push again, and this time the door opened. But I looked up and froze when I saw Rogue was standing on the other side of the door, and when I stepped inside, we became close. My eyes widened, and my breath hitched in my chest from the surprise of it.

  “Rogue,” I gasped out, wanting to take a step back, but that would put me back outside the house.

  I hesitated to step forward, but Rogue stood, while staring at me with the door open and me with one foot still outside the door, literally. He could have taken some steps back, given me some room to get inside. Instead, he grabbed me by the shoulder and tugged me inside, then pushed the door closed. Then, he pushed me back and crowded me against the door.

  “W-what are you doing?” I stuttered, my voice a little high from the surprise.

  I blinked in surprise, staring at Rogue. I’d only just noticed, but he’d finally changed his clothes. And not just any clothes, but proper clothes, a pair of slacks, a white button-down shirt with the first button open. A pair of black shoes. No leather or wide necklines flashing off the tattoo on his shoulder.

  “Were you planning on going out?” I asked.

  Was he going to visit his dad at the hospital?

  “Do you—”

  I was going to ask if he wanted to leave right then. It wasn’t too late, but time was still moving. And we might miss the visiting hours if we took too long. But Rogue surprised me, pressing me into the door with his body, and then pressing his lips against mine.

  My eyes widened, and I made a sound of surprise. Rogue nipped at my lip, making me gasp, and his hand squeezed around my waist. My eyes slipped closed as I kissed him back, wrapping my arms around his neck, pressing my body against his.

  Fuck!

  My body reacted to his like a conditioned reflex, and my thoughts went to our one night together just a day ago.

  After a while, he let us both breathe, and I glared at him because he was making me go back on my plans, dammit.

  “Rogue,” I growled, though my voice came out sounding breathless. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  He smirked. “I don’t know, Claire, what does it look like I’m doing, hmm?”

  His arms around me tightened as he pressed my hips against the door with his, and I gasped, feeling his hard-on against me. I remembered having him in me very clearly, and a throbbing started between my thighs, wanting him again.

  I was sort of angry, though mostly at myself. Maybe I should have just called him out instead of coming inside. But when I glared up at his eyes, whatever words I’d been about to say froze in my throat.

  Rogue might be giving me the same cocky smirk as always, but the look in his eyes was different. He looked so unsure of himself, just like a little kid, and suddenly, the position we were in didn’t even seem appropriate. I didn’t know what his problem was, but I wanted to get some space between us so I could ask him.

  As if he realized what I was planning, his arms tightened around me, and he pressed his mouth to mine again. I pressed my hands against his chest to try and push him away, but my body wasn’t obeying me anymore. He licked and nipped at my lips until I parted them for him, then licked his way into my mouth.

  I moaned, my body shuddering as he thrust his tongue in and out of my mouth as if mimicking how he was going to fuck me later. My hips bucked against his and I felt his chest rumble against mine when I rubbed against his erection. I did it again. And again.

  Fucking addictive, that sound he was making.

  More.

  As if he heard, he stopped kissing me, but his hands didn’t stop running all over my body, moving up and down my waist, one hand cupping my ass, the other moving to grope at my breast. And I could only writhe against the door as he played with my body.

  “Rogue,” I gasped out. “Fuck me. Right now.”

  He grinned down at me. “With pleasure,"

  We tore at each other’s clothes, our mouths meeting in another rough, wet kiss. We weren’t taking off all our clothes, in too much of a hurry to do all that. I undid his belt and his pants, and he shoved my shirt out of the way, then tugged my bra down to free my breasts, his other hand underneath my skirt tugging down on my panties. Rogue left my lips and leaned down to lick and bite at my nipples. If he wasn’t holding me against the door, I might have fallen to the floor because I lost feeling in my legs.

  “Arms around my neck, Claire,” Rogue commanded, face still pressed against my chest.

  I did as he asked, and he raised up as his hands caught the back of my thighs. I held on tightly as he lifted me up and braced me back against the door with his body, wrapping my legs around his hips, so his arms could go around me once again, and he rocked against me. I whimpered, the head of his cock pressing against my clit driving me wild with need, as I rocked back against him. Rogue made a growling sound that I couldn’t h
elp but find sexy, and my body broke in small shuddered as if I was close to coming already.

  “Come inside me,” I moaned, squirming, head was thrown back against the door. It arched my boobs into his face, and he bit my nipple again, making me cry out. “Rogue! Fuck me!”

  He didn’t make me wait, and I held my breath as I felt the head of his cock poised at my entrance. Then he slammed his hips forward, pushing all the way inside me, and I let out a loud, wild cry.

  Shit. The neighbors…

  Still, I didn’t care anymore now than I did before. Rogue was slamming into me with every one of his thrusts, making me cry out louder with each one. I hugged him with my whole body, my walls squeezing down on his cock as it moved in and out of me. He was so rough, but I liked it.

  “Rogue!” I cried out, knocking my head back against the door as he twisted his hips and hit a spot inside me that made my insides tremble.

  Like he’d found gold, he held onto me tighter and fucked me in short, sharp jabs aimed at that one spot. I rolled my head against the door; teeth gritted to hold back a scream as the heat in my body grew unbearable. Shocks of pleasure were running up and down my spine, my body growing taut, and I felt like I was about to split apart.

  “Claire!”

  Rogue slammed his hips against mine one last time, and we both came, my walls convulsing around him as his cock spasmed and my insides grew hot as he came inside me. My body shook against the door as I dug my nails into his back.

  Ugh, we forgot condoms again, was the first thought in my mind as my body calmed down. I wasn’t on any contraceptives so it was a problem.

  Come to think of it, didn’t this happen before, too?

  I frowned, trying to think back to that first night, but then Rogue shifted, moving his still hard cock inside me, and I groaned as he grunted.