She dropped the knife to the floor and yelped out in surprise and pain. “I’m bleeding!” she cried.
Max whipped around from the boiling pot and grabbed Allison’s finger.
“You cut it pretty deep there,” he said examining it.
“Let me help you.”
Allison stood pinching her finger to try and stop the bleeding as Max disappeared and returned with bandages and alcohol.
“Here, let me see it.”
Allison cautiously extended her finger to him, and he cleaned it and wrapped it tightly in the bandage. The alcohol stung the cut, and Max pressed her finger into his fist, shushing her whimpers.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I’ve tended to worse wounds in the army. I hope it feels better.”
As the pain began disintegrating, her whines subsided. They stared at each other for a brief second, eyes on eyes, and Allison broke the gaze in self-consciousness.
Her eyes shifted downward to his lips; her fantasies were beginning to be more and more lifelike, and she could feel his lips on her bare chest, touching and caressing. She could barely hold it in any longer. She pulled her finger out of Max’s hand.
“Max… let’s keep cooking.”
“But is your finger okay?” he asked.
Allison nodded. “Yes, it’s fine. I’m getting hungry.”
Allison watched the sunset after their dinner. She sipped on lemonade on the back patio as the sky got darker with every passing minute, the sun eventually dipping behind the trees she’d walked through with Max earlier in the day.
She was grateful for her new life in the large mansion, yet her head was too clouded still by the forbidden thoughts she couldn’t shake, and it was killing her slowly. She wanted so badly to escape her own mind.
“Allison!” Max’s voice called from the inside sunroom. “Your mother wants to talk to you!”
Allison hopped up and ran inside to find Max holding the phone out in front of him. As he handed it to her, he gave a quick, “I’ll leave you alone,” and vanished to another room.
Allison pulled the phone up to her ear. “Hello? Mom?”
“Hi, sweetheart! How is it going at home?” She had never heard her mother sound so cheerful in all her life.
“It’s good, mom. Max is taking good care of me.”
There was some background chatter and Margot’s voice was starting to blend with it. “I’m glad to hear it, honey. He is so handsome, isn’t he?”
Allison looked to her left and to her right to make sure Max was not within earshot. “Yeah, he is really handsome.” She couldn’t help but smile.
“Well, I just wanted to call in and check up on you. Richard and I are on our way to bed. It is way, way past our bedtime. I love you, and I will see you in about a week! Behave, okay?’
Allison bit her lip. “I will try to… bye. I love you.”
She hung up the phone and walked inside to find Max, sitting on the couch and reading. He was wearing glasses, she’d never seen him in glasses before. He looked stern and intellectual, his face concentrated on the book in his lap.
“Hey,” she said quietly, hoping not to break his mental trance on the page.
“I’m going to go shower. Thanks for letting me talk to my mom.”
He sat up and stretched his arms from sitting in the same position for too long. “Sure, no problem. She wanted to talk to you.”
Allison watched the veins in his arms flex as he stretched, and she turned around to head to the bathroom. Dropping her clothes and turning on the hot water, she stepped into the bathtub, and for the first time since moving into the mansion, she started to cry.
She was confused and ashamed and tired. The thought of living in the mansion for years to come and trying to hide how she felt seemed impossible. Her mind began to race.
Should she move out? Look for a job and find an apartment somewhere? Go back to school?
The possibilities ran through her chaotic thoughts as she tried to think of all options to break free. She couldn’t shake the thought of Max. There was no one she’d ever wanted more.
She let the hot water run down her face and legs and breasts for several minutes as it calmed her tears. Once cleaned and put together, she stepped out of the shower and looked at herself in the mirror.
She did not see a twenty three year old woman. She saw a confused girl, and she knew she needed to change that.
Allison retired to her bedroom wrapped in a towel and sat down on her bed. The night had fallen now, and she could hear the singing of insects outside her window. The breeze blew in, and it cooled her hot skin. She had worked herself up so much that the feeling of sleep was beginning to overcome her.
Her door opened, and it startled her. Max entered without a knock, and she pulled her towel up higher to fully cover her chest.
“Excuse me,” she said. “You didn’t ask to come in.”
“I’m sorry,” he said with a sigh. “I feel like I need to tell you something, though.”
Allison adjusted her posture, sitting tall on her bed, intrigued. “And what would that be?”
Max walked over to her bed and pulled her up by her arms. Without hesitation, he pressed his mouth to hers, locking her into a passionate kiss that spun her blood wildly.
She touched the back of his neck and he wrapped his arms around the small of her back, pulling her in as close as their bodies would allow.
When he released, Allison felt a euphoric fog dance around her. She was not sure if it had actually happened or if her imagination had really become that vivid and realistic.
“What was that?” she asked.
Max took a few steps backwards, still holding her eyes to his, and she watched as his wall fell down. “I’m sorry, Allison,” he said. “I couldn’t take it any longer. I’ve wanted to do that since the moment I saw you.”
Stunned, Allison quivered and replied. “You have?”
“Yes,” he said. “But I didn’t think I should, given the circumstances. I can’t resist you, though. I want you so badly.”
Allison began slowly taking steps towards him, her hands releasing her towel as she walked.
“I want you, too,” she said. “I didn’t think it was right. I was so ashamed of it. But it was getting too hard to control.”
Max let his eyes drift around her naked frame, his hands beginning to meet her flesh, and as he cautiously touched, their breathing grew heavier.
“I’m not holding back anymore,” said Allison.
“Max, I think I love you. I’m sorry if that frightens you.”
Max, with heaving shoulders and pleading eyes, grabbed Allison and they fell to the bed, he lifted his shirt and revealed his scarred torso, scars accumulated from combat, still looking Allison in the eye.
“I love you, too,” he whispered. “You don’t frighten me anymore.”
Allison fingered his scars, looking closely at them, then up at him.
“Where did you get these?”
“Do they bother you?” he asked.
“No,” she replied quietly. “They’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.”
She worked her expeditious hands all the way down to his pelvis, touching and grabbing what was once forbidden. She could feel he was ready and full.
His jeans slipped down to his ankles as he lay on top of her exposed frame, and he pushed inside. His eyes closed as he entered her, and they both inhaled with bliss.
His thrusts were sturdy and slow at first, they adjusted to each other’s movements, and he leaned in to kiss her forehead, quietly asking, “Are you sure this is okay?”
“Yes. Keep going.”
Allison grabbed the comforter and balled in her white, bloodless fist, anchoring her position as he increased force until he was as deep as he could be.
“You feel amazing, Max,” she burst through short breaths.
He grabbed her hand and engulfed it inside his, pushing until they were completely saturated and wet with each other.
“Touch my neck,” Allison moaned. “Please.”
Max placed his hands firmly at the base of Allison’s neck, her eyes falling back in ecstasy, and her cries increased in volume.
“I’m so close,” he muttered through gasps. “Come with me, Allison. Come with me.”
The sweat from his forehead dripped down to her breasts, and she felt her own eruption brewing. She was so close, he was so close.
“I’m almost there. Don’t stop.”
Their synchronized intimacy, heavy and aqueous, began shaking the floor as the bed banged against the wall. Max, unable to hold it any longer, gave three final thrusts inside Allison, and they released together.
He finished and looked down at her, pushing strands of hair out of her face, and he kissed her.
Allison reached up and held Max’s face in her hands, his façade completely dissipated. They stared at the faces of their new love, quiet and content.
“What do you think is going to happen now?” asked Max.
“I don’t know,” Allison replied. “I’m used to not knowing.”
Max took one of her hands from his face and brought it to his lips, gently nibbling each finger and caressing it against his rough cheek.
“Perhaps we will know tomorrow…”
Max pulled out and lay next to Allison on her bed, wrapping his arms around her and pressing her head into his chest. He gently stroked her hair until her breathing was shallow and steady and her eyes were closed in dreams.
Allison dreamt of Max once more that night. They were sitting on a park bench with books and iced teas, reading excerpts to each other.
She couldn’t quite remember when she awoke the next morning, but she swore they were both much older in the dream. Aged with lines in their faces. Perhaps it was a sign to her, but she wasn’t sure. She was used to not knowing.
***
Stepbrother: Forbidden Pleasures
Felicia Sexton
Copyright 2015 by Felicia Sexton
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced
in any way whatsoever, without written permission
from the author, except in case of brief
quotations embodied in critical reviews
and articles.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any
person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
First edition, 2015
Chapter 1
There’s nothing wrong about it. Just breathe, Linda. He helps you, that’s it. It’s not charity. He expects your involvement in return. Just breathe and do your best.
It was the first day at a new job, and I tried to make myself look confident and professional. Yet, I couldn’t get rid of a thought that the boss was my step-brother.
How could it happen? As easy as that. My dream was to go to college, but I was tired of working endless shifts in dirty snack-bars or cheap cafes. I hated them.
I changed eight places in six months and nothing helped. It was the same story everywhere: omelet leftovers, grinning managers, freakish clients who didn’t know what they wanted… It was the only way for me to get some money for a college though; I didn’t see any other way out.
However everything changed when my mom married a man who turned out to be a billionaire. He could pay my tuition fees in Harvard! But I didn’t want to.
It would be unfair. Live off a complete stranger? Yes, he was my new dad; a step-dad, to be precise, but it wasn’t my line to beg for money, giving nothing in return.
Then his son, Jeff, suggested that I should take a position of his secretary. He would pay me, and I would work. Just like that. No weird offers, just a fair job and a good salary. This meant that I could abandon my disastrous attempts to be a waitress. Finally! So I agreed.
I didn’t know how to behave though. I wasn’t really familiar with my new step-brother; I just saw him a couple of times and we had a few short chats. He was always out on business or somewhere else, so I didn’t have a chance to get to know him better.
Jeff was tall, dark-haired and incredibly attractive. He had a soft, deep voice, strong arms and an athletic body. I saw him once diving in my new dad’s swimming pool. I wasn’t spying, I swear, but I was always so curious about the swimming pools and people who owned them…
My mom and I used to live in a small two-bedroom house. A tiny garden and a gnome greeting at the doors – that was it.
Now we moved to a house which resembled a palace, and I was dazzled by the number of rooms, corridors and a swimming pool which offered enough space for a whole swim team.
So here I was, standing in the office hall, waiting for Jeff. I felt incredibly stupid in a tight dress and my new stilettos. It was much better at home, when I turned in front of the mirror and looked stunning. Here, in the office, nobody noticed me and passed as if I was invisible.
Just breathe. He will come eventually. Or did he forget about me? What if it slipped out of his mind? What if he’s on some business trip now, and I’m going to spend the whole day here in the hall?
“Linda! You’re so early.”
I turned around and saw Jeff.
“You look beautiful,” he said and smiled. “Are you ready for your first day?”
“I am,” I said.
“So let’s start.”
He showed me my desk at his office door and told me how to use the phone. Then some documents followed and more, and more… My head was spinning.
By lunchtime, I was exhausted, but excited. I loved everything about the job: the clean, bright office, professionally-dressed colleagues, discipline… It was so different compared to the filthy snack-bars I used to work in!
Now I didn’t feel weird in my new outfit; I felt gorgeous. After all, Jeff said I looked beautiful. That was what I needed: his appreciation.
Not only was he giving me some money, he was also raising my self-esteem. Being a waitress is not a dream, it’s a short stop on the way to something grand. Working in a real office is different though; I felt it was the thing I could do after I graduate from my college.
“Do you want to have lunch with me?” Jeff asked. “I’ll show you the best place.”
Did I mention that I loved everything here in the office? I meant including Jeff’s smile. I hadn’t had a lot of time to take a good look at him before. Now I worked with him and I just couldn’t but see him all the time. I realized it’s hard for me to shift my glance from Jeff.
“Sure!” I agreed. “Let’s go.”
Now I was ready to go anywhere with him. I was so grateful for my new job…
He showed me a small restaurant nearby.
“I always have my lunch here,” Jeff explained.
I noticed he also gazed upon me as if he was assessing me. I blushed.
“It’s so hot here,” I explained quickly. “Such a warm summer this year!”
“Oh, yes. I wish I was in French Côte d'Azur right now,” he said. “I think I’ll go there eventually at the end of the week. I have a contract to negotiate… And you go too, of course.”
“Really?” I was surprised.
“You are my secretary. It’s your duty,” he said smiling.
I laughed.
“I love my new job!”
“I’m glad you like it.”
Chapter 2
After the lunch, we returned to the office. We had an awkward moment leaving the lift; it was too crowded and I stepped out first, but Jeff did the same. We turned out to be face to face in the corridor, and Jeff’s hand was resting on my waist.
“Sorry,” he said at last. “These lifts!”
He didn’t look he was sorry though. I realized he touched me on purpose. I blushed again, but Jeff, fortunately, didn’t notice. What was he doing?
I could swear he was attracted to me, but it was rubbish; he was my step-brother and we worked together. There were two serious arguments why he wasn’t allowed to like me.
The first week went by quic
kly. I still couldn’t believe I worked in a large office with my step-brother, wore smart dresses and high heels and had my own responsibilities which didn’t involve any dirty plates. I made coffee for Jeff, of course, but it wasn’t too hard, and I didn’t have to wash the cups. At last!
At the end of the week, we flew to France. Earlier, I booked two business-class tickets to Nice, thinking it was a dream. I’ve never had a seat in business class (the price was horrific!), and I’ve never been to France.
Moreover, I’ve never travelled to Europe at all! And now I had four days to enjoy sunny Côte d'Azur. Not forgetting about my work responsibilities, of course. I packed two swimsuits and a straw hat, ready to put them on as soon as possible.
We had four days in Nice, and Jeff managed to settle all his business in the first three hours.
“I thought it would take more time,” he smiled. “Now let’s enjoy France.”
A silly romantic girl would imagine that Jeff knew the contract wouldn’t take much time and asked me to book our trip to France with something on his mind.
Stepbrother: Forbidden Cravings: Stepbrother Romance Boxed Set Page 12
