After a moment, he walked over and grabbed his laptop off his desk and brought it over to the bed, powering it on.
I waited anxiously for it to boot up, holding my breath.
When the screen booted up to the OS window, Stefan stuck the flash drive in the USB slot.
I thought I would explode as I waited for it to load.
When the folder and thumbnail file finally popped up on the screen, my heart jumped. I peered at it closely. It was a video file. A crushing dread descended upon my body and I began to get dizzy.
Stefan turned to me, fear in his eyes, his hands trembling. “Are you ready?”
Of course I wasn’t ready. But Stefan had to go open the bag of worms, and now I had to look.
I nodded, feeling like I was going to faint.
Tapping the laptop’s trackpad, he double-clicked the file.
A dark room appeared on the screen. It looked somewhat familiar to me. A few seconds later, two individuals walked into the room, one led by the other, and my heart dropped in my chest as I watched in horror as the couple, who were dressed in costumes, proceeded to have hot, steamy sex. Even as I was horrified, I couldn’t help it, knowing who it was. It got me aroused, seeing how just passionate, how nasty and hot we’d been. No wonder Stefan made the connection that we both wanted it.
Still, someone had recorded us. The fact smacked me in the face when the video got to the point that I took off his mask, and then a little bubble popped up with our names and our student ID photos superimposed on them. Stefan looked at me then, his eyes filled with horror.
Stunned, I could only return his look as I realized the ramifications of watching our own sex tape.
* * *
“Who could have done this?” I asked breathlessly from my perch on Stefan’s bed, my pulse racing in my ears. Part of it was my horror, but another part of it was that I wanted that night again, to do it over and over and over.
Stefan slowly closed down the laptop screen, his chiseled features white as a sheet, his large hands visibly shaking. He was caught up in the horror of the implications, of the threat we’d just gotten. Besides when I told him about the baby, I’d never seen him so afraid. Being the strong alpha male that Stefan was, that alone made me even more frightened about our current predicament.
“It was Jace.” Stefan’s deep voice came out in a feral growl that I felt within the pit of my stomach. “It had to be.”
I stared at the laptop and then the small flash drive that contained the damning video of Stefan and me having sex, wishing I could drop it into a pit of molten lava. “But why? And how? The Sacrifice was before the investigation and your fight with him. What would be his reason . . .” My words trailed off as I remembered Jace’s words.
We’d been out on one of our ‘dates,’ and I’d asked him just why he was so hard up for trying to fuck me and to embarrass my brother. Jace had already had two beers, and apparently, he was loosened up enough that he told me the truth rather than some of the typical bullshit he’d fed me the rest of the time.
I’ve been here a whole fucking year, working my way up the social ladder, becoming one of the most popular athletes on NSU’s campus. Meanwhile, your stupid brother just transfers here mid-semester, gets into Alpha without even trying, and is now considered the top dog by the fraternity. How fucked up is that?”
“He hated me the moment I joined Alpha Gamma, that’s why,” Stefan replied, confirming what I already knew. “I’m better looking, stronger, and I was just as popular. And you know what?”
“What?”
“I don’t think this is the first time that this sort of thing has happened. The recording part, that is.” At my raised eyebrow, Stefan continued. “I wouldn’t put it past them. I mean, after all, they record all of their hazing.”
“They do?” I asked with some surprise, though I should have known better. It’s stupid, but a lot of college kids these days aren’t too bright.
Stefan stopped pacing to nod. “Yeah. I’ve seen a couple of them. Some real fucked up shit, let me tell you. But when the investigation storm hit, they had someone smuggle them out of the Alpha dorm and hide them.”
I remembered what some of the girls had to do to join Kappa, and seeing how the guys were probably ten times worse, I was suddenly filled with curiosity. “Did you have to get hazed to join Alpha?”
Stefan’s handsome features twisted into an appalled expression that I would have thought adorable if not for our circumstances. “Fuck, no! What kind of dude do you take me for, Bella? Do you honestly think I’d let someone stick a rod up my ass? Or let someone force me to snort some guy’s ball sack?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at Stefan’s tone. On the other hand, the idea of some guy being humbled by Stefan did have a bit of a kinky appeal all of a sudden. “No. You’re not the kind to be sniffing.”
“It’s not funny.” Stefan rolled his shoulders and neck as if working out a kink. “As soon as the fellas heard that I transferred to NSU and was looking for a frat to join, they let me join on my own terms.”
Stefan’s expression turned thoughtful. “But still, whoever sent this must want something from us. Why else would they want us to watch . . .” his voice trailed off as his eyes fell upon the package that the USB device had arrived in.
Slowly, he picked it up and looked inside before turning it upside down. Sure enough, a folded-up note fell out into his palm. Stefan glanced at me once before opening and reading it.
My heart jumped in my chest at the frozen expression on Stefan’s face. “What does it say?” I inquired breathlessly, fearing the answer.
Without answering, Stefan handed it to me, my heart feeling as if it was going to pound out of my chest as I read the words scrawled in large print.
TELL THE TRUTH OR ELSE.
The taste of sawdust filled my mouth as the note fell from my hands to the bedroom floor.
“Oh, God,” I whispered, my limbs shaking violently, my heart racing faster than a track horse. The room started spinning around me and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. My vision narrowed until it was one black dot, and all sound began to fade away.
“Don’t start panicking, Bella,” I dimly heard Stefan say in the background. To my faded hearing, he sounded extra muffled. “Everything is going to be okay. We’ll get through this as usual . . . Bella?”
I fell back on Stefan’s bed, my eyes rolling into the back of my head. I honestly don’t know how long I was passed out—probably only a few seconds—but I awoke to the gentle touch of Stefan’s hands on my forehead.
“Bella,” he breathed in relief when he saw my eyes flutter open. “You kind of scared me there.”
“I don’t know what just happened,” I said weakly. “The room started closing in on me and I felt like I couldn’t breathe.”
Stefan delivered a soft kiss to my lips and cupped my cheeks in his hands, stroking them gently. “It’s okay. You were probably just having a minor panic attack.”
I stared up into Stefan’s eyes. They were so beautiful, but what really touched me was the love and concern for me reflected in them.
“You think so?” I asked.
“Yeah.” Stefan brought his lips down on mine again, more firmly than the last. “But I know something that will relieve some of that stress and make it a little better.”
“What’s that?” I asked, excited by the huskiness in his tone.
Stefan’s eyes flashed. He began kissing me on my neck, each kiss burning more than the last, and then worked his way down my stomach. He lifted my blouse, exposing my belly that was still flat and not yet showing the life that was growing inside it.
When he was done ravaging my midsection, he deftly undid my jeans and slid them halfway down my thighs. By this time, my panties were soaking wet and my limbs were shuddering with anticipation.
And Stefan was never one to disappoint. He pulled my panties to the right side of my thigh, exposing my swollen clit and wet lips. With a sound of hunger, he place
d his mouth around my mound, sucking and slurping up my juices with powerful suction.
My lips parted and I let out a half-moan, half-cry of pleasure at the incredible sensation. “Shit!” I cried out, my thighs quavering around Stefan’s neck. “That feels so good.”
Stefan paused for a moment to grin up at me, his lips wet. “Good.”
He returned to kneading my clit with his teeth, this time with even more force. I dug my nails into the bedding to deal with the incredible sensations washing through my body and clenched my teeth, fighting to stay quiet. My parents were still in the house, and though our house was quite large, I was sure they'd hear me if I kept this up.
After a moment, Stefan stuck two fingers inside, sliding them in and out as he slithered his tongue over my clit, sending shockwaves of pleasure rolling through my body.
Fighting to keep all sound in, I reached down and grabbed Stefan’s hair while he went to town, running my fingers through the soft silkiness and making it a tousled mess.
Stefan stared up at me as he kept his mouth glued to my pussy, his powerful fingers ramming in and out of me. Gazing into his eyes, I was struck by the intensity and the incredible sensations that were sweeping through my body. It became too much to hold in.
The room began to swim in my vision, my body temperature rising. I could feel the tidal wave building deep in the depths of my stomach, demanding release.
I parted my lips to cry as I felt it coming, ready to explode like a supernova, when the door swung open and a familiar voice demanded,
“What on earth are you two doing in here?”
Stefan
In an instant, I saw shock register on Bella’s face as the door to my bedroom swung open and panic gripped me. Moving incredibly fast, I pulled back from between Bella’s thighs and shoved her away from me, quickly jumping up from the bed and out in front to obstruct the view, hoping Bella would pull her pants on in time.
Garbed in a red evening gown made of silk, her hair done up into a French bun, Evelyn, my stepmother, strode purposefully into my bedroom, looking ready for battle.
She came to a halt in the middle of the room, and I briefly wondered if she had seen me between her daughter’s legs.
If she had, we were up shit creek. There was no way I was going to explain that shit away.
I could already see the look of outrage on her face.
Evelyn placed her hands on her hips and stared at me suspiciously. “What were you two doing?” she demanded.
Don’t crack, don’t crack, I chanted to keep calm. What made matters worse was that I had a boner as large as the Empire State Building. Good thing my cock was pointed downward in my jeans so it wasn’t sticking out in a way that was obvious.
I casually took my forearm and wiped Bella’s sweet juices from my lips. “Nothing,” I replied, thinking fast. I nodded to a half-empty coke can that was conveniently sitting on the nightstand next to my bed. “I was just sharing a drink with Bella, talking about what we planned on doing now that we’re back at home.” I cringed inwardly, hoping she’d accept my flimsy excuse, keeping my exterior calm and collected.
Evelyn peered around me to get a better look. Behind me, I heard the bed creak and I hoped that Bella had gotten her pants on in time. “You sure about that? You two scrambled away from each other faster than two squirrels chasing after a nut as I walked in.”
I let out an inward sigh of relief and relaxed. She hadn’t seen what we were doing after all, and I chuckled nervously to myself.
Before I could reply, Bella was at my side with a scowl on her face, her arms crossed around her chest. She had apparently managed to get her jeans back on in time, though her clothing looked rumpled.
“Jesus, Mom,” Bella hissed with venom. “Do you know how to fucking knock?”
I could tell that Bella was using faux anger to deflect some of Evelyn’s curiosity, but I didn’t think it was necessary. It was obvious Evelyn hadn’t seen me whipping Bella’s pussy with my tongue, so there was no need for the extra theatrics.
Evelyn appeared taken aback for a moment by Bella’s rage. “I didn’t think I had to, seeing as this is my house and that you two just got back home. I was just coming up here to tell Stefan something, and I didn’t realize you were both in here,” she replied when she had regained her composure. “And I most certainly don’t appreciate how you’re talking to me. You may be grown now, but you're still my little girl. I know Stefan says you were having trouble at school, but that doesn’t mean you can come home and take it all out on me.”
“Well, learn some basic manners and I won’t have to,” Bella snapped.
I nudged Bella with my elbow, hoping she’d take the hint. She was taking the fake anger thing a bit too far.
Evelyn stared at her scowling daughter, looking like she was about to explode. I knew I should head things off before things got out of hand, so I moved forward, put my hand on her elbow, and then led her out into the hallway.
“Evelyn,” I said, lowering my voice so Bella wouldn’t hear once we were a few steps away from my bedroom. “Please don’t take anything Bella says to heart. She really is going through a rough time after what happened at school. I’m sure she doesn’t mean to act this way.”
Evelyn glanced at the doorway to my room, looking like she wanted to march in there and grab Bella by the hair and demand an apology. “Why do I think that you are making up excuses for Bella again, hmm? You don’t think I remember how she acted before you guys left off to college? You saw it yourself.”
“But this is much worse than that,” I pointed out, not in a million years willing to say that I knew exactly why Bella had been acting that way, or that I’d been treating her like shit intentionally because of our mutual desire and inability to do something about it. Instead, I fell back on our cover story, which wasn’t really all that much of a cover. “Bella was harassed by a pack of assholes the entire time she was at NSU. She’s traumatized and is having trouble dealing with it.”
Evelyn gave me a hard look and I tried to quell the surge of anxiety that rose inside.
I’d been hoping that my parents wouldn’t question my story about what had happened back at NSU. While they both seemed to eat it up, I knew that it would only be a matter of time before more questions arose.
One thing that we had going for us was the fact that they had no idea of how Bella and I felt for one another. I mean, to them, there had never been any signs of inappropriate attraction. I was too busy trying to bang any girl with two legs, and Bella was too busy being a cold-hearted bitch to me.
So, I was pretty sure that even if the rumors of Bella and me having sex ever made it back to their ears, they'd just dismiss the notion.
After a moment, Evelyn glanced at my doorway and then bit her lower lip thoughtfully, the anger dissipating from her face. “Was it really that bad?”
“It was,” I replied.
“My God.” Evelyn lowered her voice to a whisper. “Do you think your father and I should file a complaint against the school?”
“No,” I said quickly.
Evelyn raised an eyebrow. “Why not? If those boys you were talking about caused Bella this much distress, they deserve to be punished.”
I shook my head. “That’s not going to happen. Those guys are like the most popular dudes in the school and they have rich parents. You’d just be wasting your time filing against them.”
Evelyn scowled. “Your father has money too. He can make things happen.”
“I know, but it's probably better if we just let it all be in the past. You know the Governor won’t want to risk a scandal at a state school, and Bella wasn’t hurt. It sucks, but it’ll be fine.” God, I can bullshit when I need to.
Evelyn, for the first time, looked hurt. “But I’m her mother, Stefan. I should be the one she comes to first with these types of things.”
“I know.” I said, placing a reassuring hand on Evelyn’s shoulder. “But don’t worry. I’m sure Bella will come to yo
u with everything that she’s going through when she’s ready. In the meantime, I’ll continue giving her the support she needs. Trust me, I won’t let any harm come to her. In fact, I kicked the living shit out of one of the dudes who was harassing her.”
Evelyn’s face lit up like a light bulb. “Did you? We aren't going to be hearing threats of a lawsuit like before, are we?”
“No, it wasn't that bad. But he got the message.”
“All right, Stefan, I hope that's the case. I really do appreciate your being there for Bella,” Evelyn said as she pulled me in for a warm embrace.
“It's no big deal,” I told Evelyn as we pulled apart. I beamed at her to make her feel even more at ease. It was hard not to gag on my next words. “As her stepbrother, it’s my duty to be there for her.”
“And that’s all I can ask of you.” Evelyn turned to leave. “I’m going to go talk to your father about Bella. Maybe he’ll know what to do.”
Shit.
The fraudulent smile on my face was frozen. “You do that.”
When Evelyn was gone, I returned to my bedroom to find Bella sitting on the bed, staring at the flash drive resting in her palm.
She looked up at me as I closed the door behind me and locked it. “How’d you get rid of her?”
“I just told her that you were going through some things and that I was providing the shoulder you needed to cry on, and that you'd come to her with your problems in due time.” I approached the bed, my eyes on Bella. “It’s not too far from the truth when you think about it.”
Bella stared at me. “And what did she say?”
I paused in the middle of the floor. “She mentioned talking to my father, but I’m not sure what else. Look, Bella. We’ve got to be strong. We can’t crack under pressure. Besides, Evelyn just asked me that as a question. I told her that you were fine, so I doubt she'll make anything of it.” When Bella refused to look my way, I sat down next to her, took two fingers, and lifted her chin toward me. “Can you be strong for me? For us?”
Bella stared at me a long time, her lips quivering, tears in her eyes. Finally, she sniffed. “I’ll try.”
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