TASTE: A Stepbrother Romance Read online

  “Alice!” Damon calls out. I hear sheer terror lacing his voice as I hit a soft surface with a light thud. I can hear Damon’s voice coming from outside the door so I am still alive. “Alice, talk to me!”

  I lift my head, a little dazed. I don’t feel any pain so nothing is broken.

  What did I land on? I ease up to examine what I am lying on.

  “Holy shit,” I breathe when I realized that I am sprawled on a huge dirty couch. This accident could have gone a lot worse.

  The door bursts open and Damon comes rushing in. His handsome face is twisted in panic and fear. “No, Damon, don’t let the door—”

  But it's too late, the door slams shut. Crap.

  He is looming over me, running his hands over my body, which is shamefully turning me on.

  “Alice, thank God. When you didn’t answer I thought the worse.”

  I slap at his roaming hands. “Stop that, I’m fine.” I giggle. “This couch just happened to be right under where I fell through. I am counting my lucky stars.”

  He remains silent. I watch as he runs his fingers through his hair. I can’t help but notice that his bronze skin is still a little ashen. He lets out a strangled laugh—if that’s what it can be called. “I don’t think I have ever been so terrified in my life,” he glares at me, “I told you to get down from that damn roof. Why don’t you ever listen? You could have been killed.”

  I laugh. “Relax, Damon. As you can see everything is fine, I’m still alive and kicking.”

  “Damnit, Alice, it isn’t funny. I could have lost you. I love you,” he blurts out.

  Chapter Eight

  My mouth falls open and I gawk at him, dumbfounded. What? I wonder if my fall has affected my hearing. Did I hear him correctly? “I beg your pardon?”

  He is staring at me horrified. I think he just realized the words that he blurted out. “I-I-” I have never seen Damon anything but cool and in control. Now he is stuttering and struggling to get his words out. I watch his throat as he swallow hard. He sighs in defeat. “I love you, Alice.”

  I shake my head, still unable to comprehend or believe. “Damon—”

  He holds a hand up. “Let me just get it all out. I think I fell in love with you three years ago. I had only seen you around before then and I thought what everyone said about you was true. But when I actually met you, I discovered that everyone was wrong. You are warm, kind, funny and so responsive to my every touch. I have spent the past few years fantasizing about you, Alice. Wondering when I would get to see you and touch you again. Something happened to me that night in your bedroom,” he laughs. “It’s like you cast a spell on me. When I found out about this trip, I jumped at the chance to come in hopes of seeing you. I had every intention of apologizing for the way I treated you. But to my surprise you showed up with a damn fiancé,” he shakes his head and grunts, “I don’t know why I thought you would still be single. Of course some lucky guy would snatch you up.”

  My mouth is still hanging open and I suddenly burst into a fit of laughter.

  He scowls at me and I see hurt flash across his face.

  “No, Damon, I’m not laughing at you. It’s just that I have been head over heels in love with you since we were kids, but you never paid me any attention. Sometimes I wondered if you even knew I existed. I have often fantasized about you telling me that you love me too. I can’t believe it’s actually happening. I just never imagined it would happen after I have fallen through a roof and am lying on a dusty old couch in an abandoned, decrepit cottage. It was always way more romantic in my fantasies. You know, with roses and champagne and huge bed with silk sheets and a romantic music in the background.” I throw my head back and laugh harder.

  I sober a bit and eye him from beneath my lashes. He is now standing beside the couch with his hands on his hips. His lips are twitching and soon he is laughing as well. “I’m sorry to have disappointed you, Alice.”

  My laughter subsides and I sit up straight. “It’s quite alright, I will take a confession of love from you anytime and anywhere.” I admit softly. “There’s one thing that bothers me.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You said you developed feelings for me when you came to my house. Why did you do what you did?” The memory still causes pain even after everything he has just confessed.

  He scratches his head. “I was an idiot, Alice. A few of my friends invited me to some Christmas party and I refused. I told them I already had plans. I mentioned that my dad and I would be going to your house for dinner because our parents were dating. They started teasing me about the—” he stops abruptly.

  I look up at him sadly. “It’s okay, Damon, you can say it. I have heard it all.”

  He remains silent so I say it for him. “Let me guess, the ice queen, the frigid bitch, the tease… shall I continue?”

  He appears aggravated, “You are none of those things.”

  “But you thought I was.”

  “Let’s leave the past where it belongs, Alice,” he continues his story. “Anyway they teased me about you possibly becoming my stepsister. One of the guys, Mark, told us about the night he bought you home and how you teased him and left him hanging. So we devised a plan of revenge,” he snorts, “God, I can’t believe how childish and stupid I was just three years ago.”

  “I knew it was a bad idea the minute I walked into your house. But I did it anyway just to prove myself to the boys because they insisted that I couldn’t get you to do anything sexual.”

  My eyes fill with tears as I remember my shock the humiliation. “So I guess everyone had a good time laughing at me when they saw the pictures.” I sniff.

  Damon kneels before me and cups my chin. “No one saw those pictures.”

  I raise my gaze to meet his. “What?”

  “I never showed anyone the pictures. I told my friends that nothing happened and that they were right, you didn’t give me the time of day. I’m the only person they laughed at Alice, not you.”

  My heart soared. I was immensely relieved that a bunch of assholes don’t still have naked pictures of me somewhere. That possibility has haunted me for years. That was part of the reason why I resented Damon so much. “Oh, thank God,” I whisper. “What did you do with the pictures?”

  His face breaks out into a sheepish grin. “I, uh, kept them in my phone to admire for a little bit. I deleted them after I had them thoroughly etched into my memory.”

  I grunt loudly. “Pervert,” I mutter.

  Damon laughs, “I won’t deny it, Alice. Do you expect any better from a horny young man?” I smile and throw myself into his arms. He rises to his feet and holds me tightly. “Does this mean I am forgiven? Please tell me that you don’t hate me anymore.”

  “I never hated you, Damon. I tried hard to. I even convinced myself that I did. But as soon as I set eyes on you our first day here, I realized that I never did. I forgive you.”

  He covers my mouth in a deep kiss and quickly pulls away. “Good, now let’s get the hell out of here.”

  “Uh, one problem, we are stuck in here. I tried to tell you not to let the door close because it can only be opened from the outside.”

  He looks around. “Maybe we can go through a window.”

  I plop down into the dusty couch once more. “Good luck getting them open.” I pat the cushion beside me. “Might as well get comfortable, we’ll be here until someone realizes that we are missing.”

  “Shit,” he mutters, eyeing the couch with disgust. His shoulders drop and he drags his feet toward the couch and flops down, sending a puff of dust into the air. “We’ll have to shower in bleach after this,” he murmurs.

  We sit in silence for a few minutes. “I can’t marry, Richard,” I say as if just making the discovery.

  “I would hope not,” Damon states.

  I glower at him. “I hate that I will have to hurt him. I never intended for anyone to get hurt. I never should have accepted the ring in the first place.” I now realize that I made
a big mistake. I should have waited to feel the things I feel when Damon looks at me and touches me before I made a commitment. I most certainly don’t feel desire run through me like electricity when Richard kisses me. I drop my head in my hands. “I’m the worst person in the world.”

  He pulls me to him. “Don’t say that. We are all allowed to make mistakes.”

  “What are we going to do about our parents?” I ask. “More than likely they won’t accept what has happened between us.”

  “We can keep things a secret for a little while,” he recommends.

  I nod. It’s probably for the best. I can’t stand the embarrassment of explaining our relationship to Mom and Jared or anyone else for that matter.

  Damon pulls me close so that I am straddling him. He pulls my dress down to expose my breast. He leans forward to take a nipple into his mouth. “Damon, what are you doing?”

  “We might as well pass the time with a little fun. I want to be inside of you,” he says in between kisses on my chest.

  “Again?” I ask incredulously. He’s insatiable and I love it because I can’t get enough of him either. He has given me a taste of the pleasure that can take place between a man and a woman and I will always crave more. He shuffles me around so that he can free himself from his pants. His already rock hard erection springs free. He lifts my hips and guides me down onto his length. I gasp as he enters my passage. His hands tighten around my hips when my muscles grip him and I engulf him inch by slow inch.

  “Ride me,” he bites out through clenched teeth.

  My eyes widen a bit. I’m not sure how to be in control like this.

  “Just move like this.” He lifts me up and slides me back down on his length.

  I blush deeply and moan in pleasure at the same time. I begin to slide up and down tentatively at first. Once I discover the blissful sensation, I pick up speed. I begin to rock my hips back and forth and he throws his head back.

  The muscles in his neck and shoulders strain as I ride him to the heights of pleasure. “You feel so amazing, Alice. I love you,” he whispers.

  I am elated by those three words. Words that I have longed to hear for years. “I love you, too,” I whimper just as my body is wracked with tidal wave of pleasure. I throw my head back and I can feel my eyes roll back with the powerful sensation. My muscles tighten even more around him and he tips over the edge.

  His large body convulses and then he relaxes against me. His head is resting against my chest and I hold him close. I hold him in my embrace for a while until I start to shiver. With the embers of passion now dissipated the cold begins to seep back in.

  Damon eases me off of him and adjusts my underwear. I flinch when I feel the wetness on it. I could really use a shower right now. He pulls my dress down and stretches out on the couch, pulling me on top of him. “This couch is disgusting, but seeing as we are already in it, we might as well get comfortable until someone comes to let us out of here,” he shudders. “This thing is no doubt packed with germs.”

  I giggle at the derision in his voice. “I never pegged you to be a germaphobe.”

  He grunts his response. He covers us with his coat and I snuggle closer, soaking up the warmth radiating from his body. I listen to his steady heartbeat which soon lulls me to sleep.

  ***

  “I found them.” Richard’s voice penetrates my slumber. Am I dreaming? I feel Damon’s body beneath mine as I slowly come awake.

  “Shit,” I hear Damon mutter.

  I lift my head wondering what is wrong. I look down at him with a frown.

  “Alice,” he says softly. “I’m sorry I didn’t hear him coming.” My frown deepens.

  I follow his gaze toward the door. My eyes widen when I see Richard standing in the doorway with a flash light. I gasp and spring up, quickly putting distance between me and Damon. But the damage has already been done.

  Richard looks from me to Damon and back. I witness as the confusion on his face turns to that of understanding. He has caught me in a compromising position with my stepbrother. He knows. “Richard,” I whisper.

  I see hurt in his eyes before he turns away and shouts, “They are in here everyone. They appear to be just fine.”

  My grandparents, mom, and Jared all appear at the door. Mom rushes forward. “Thank goodness you two are okay. We began to worry when hours passed without a word from either of you.”

  Jared shines his light up at the hole in the ceiling. “What happened?”

  “I, uh, fell through the roof. Damon came in to check on me and we got locked in here,” I explain. All the while my gaze darts repeatedly to Richard. He is still standing at the door, his shoulders rigid and his jaw clenched.

  Both my mom and Grams gasp in unison and rush toward me. They cluck and fuss like two mother hens. “Honey, how did you manage to fall through the roof? Are you hurt? Nothing is broken is it?” Mom fires questions at me.

  I bat at the two pairs of hands fussing over me. “I’m fine. No injuries sustained.”

  We all walk back to the house in the still dark and biting cold morning. My teeth begin to chatter. Damon shrugs out of his coat and throws it over my shoulders.

  I catch Richard throw the two of us an angry look, which is very much out of character for him. But who can blame him?

  If I found him sprawled on top of another woman with lips swollen from kissing and rumpled hair, I would suspect the worst and I too would be pissed. I stifle a groan. What a damn mess. I didn’t want him to find out like this.

  Back at the house I finally have the shower I’ve been craving and luxuriate under the hot water as it warms me from the outside in. When I finally step out of the shower, glad to be clean and warm, I drag my feet back to my bedroom to get dressed. Everyone else has retired to bed but I have to confront Richard.

  I wonder what Damon is doing in his room. I curse myself for thinking of him when I should be worried about the conversation my fiancé and I are about to have.

  I quickly throw on a robe and head to his room.

  I reluctantly lift my hand to knock on his door.

  “Come.”

  I push the door open at the single word. I enter and close the door behind me. I turn around with my gaze pinned to the floor.

  I don’t know where to begin. I swallow hard, “Richard I-”

  “It’s alright, Alice.”

  I slowly look up to meet his gaze. I realize that he has done away with the Aly he often uses.

  “You don’t have to explain anything. I guess I knew there was something between you and Damon since the day we arrived here. I mean the way he looks at you and the way you steal glances at him when you think no one is watching was pretty hard to miss. I just didn’t want to believe it.”

  I can do nothing but stare at him in stunned silence. I had no idea that Damon and I were that obvious. Good Lord, has everyone else noticed too? I suddenly want the ground to open up and take me in.

  “Do you love him, Alice?”

  I am startled by his question. “I-I do.”

  “Did you ever really love me?”

  “Of course I did, Richard. I still do,” I answer without hesitation.

  “But not like you love him?”

  My shoulders sag in resignation. He hit the nail right on the head and I can’t deny it. “You are right.”

  He nods. “I understand Alice. I’m hurt but I can’t even be mad at you. Everyone deserves happiness. If Damon makes you happy, go for it.”

  I stare at him in disbelief. He is so calm and understanding, it boggles my mind. “I’m so sorry, Richard. I never meant to hurt you, I swear.”

  He walks forward and plants a kiss on my forehead. “It’s okay. I’ll catch a flight back home as soon as the sun comes up.”

  “No, Richard, you don’t have to do that. You can stay and we can fly back together.”

  “Thanks, babe, but I really can’t stay.”

  I smile slightly when I hear his usual endearment. I guess it’s a sign that h
e really doesn’t hate my guts. I slip the ring he gave me off of my finger and offer it to him.

  “Keep it.”

  “I can’t,” I say.

  He shrugs, “There’s nothing I can do with it now except sell it. I don’t want to do that. Keep it as a gift, that way you know you will always have a friend in me.”

  My heart melts and I embrace him. “You are going to make some girl very happy some day.”

  I leave his room not able to stay any longer. I can’t bear to see the sadness in his eyes and know that I am the cause of it. I pad down the hallway to my room. I stop in front of my door. I give in to temptation and turn to make my way to Damon’s room. As I lift my hand to knock, the door swings open and I nearly make contact with his broad chest. I drop my hand and raise my brows at him in question.

  He lifts his shoulders. “I have been waiting for you. I heard your footsteps,” he explains.

  “I did it. I am no longer engaged.”

  He lifts his hand to caress my cheek. “Are you okay?” He asks. I nod and he stands aside to let me in.

  Epilogue

  I push my apartment door open with my foot. I quickly walk to the counter to deposit my bags of groceries. This is the first time in almost two months that I have invested the time to buy food. I haven’t had much interest in eating or anything else for the matter. I have only been able to drag myself to work every day and back home to spend the evening and nights crying.

  I have been a walking advertisement for depression since Damon broke my heart again over the Christmas Holiday. It seems like it is becoming a trend for him to cause me misery at Christmas time. I don’t think I will ever be able to enjoy that particular holiday ever again. I begin to put away the groceries. I can’t help but go back in time like I have done just about every day.

  After I broke off my engagement with Richard, everyone demanded to know what had happened between us. I let it spill that it was because Damon and I loved each other. I can still remember the deafening silence as my grandparents, mom and Jared stared at me in shock. If it wasn’t so damn embarrassing, it would have be comical. The expressions on their faces were priceless.