Billionaire Rancher Stepbrother

by Tee, Marian

  A rather perverse way to make her feel special, Sarah knew, but she would take what she'd get.

  They started walking, Damian taking charge of wheeling her luggage next to him while she kept pace on his other side.

  "You never offered to pick me up before," she remarked.

  "You never refused to take our jet back home before."

  "Oh."

  "Why did you?"

  "I was thinking I should try being a little more independent—-"

  "Perish the thought."

  A smile broke out of her face. Sarah found these rare instances where Damian sounded British terribly sexy, but she knew better than to tell him. Querulous man that he was, he was likely to start acting and talking like a redneck just to piss her off.

  When they reached the parking lot, Sarah couldn't help but gaze admiringly as Damian loaded her luggage into the trunk like it didn't weigh heavier than a basket.

  "I spy muscles," she teased in her usual singsong tone.

  He turned to her, saying gravely, "I spy drool."

  What? She panicked right away and had only started checking the corners of her mouth when she saw the smirk that had unfolded over Damian's lips. Argh! She rushed forward to sock him on the shoulder, but he caught her hand mid-air, and Sarah immediately forgot all about revenge as her breath caught at his touch.

  Damian, who was old-fashioned in the sense that he didn't like having a woman strike him for no reason, was about to gently reprimand Sarah for her actions when he belatedly noticed the way she was staring at him. Her lips were also parted slightly open in seeming invitation for a kiss, and the sight had him swiftly letting go of her hand.

  "For fuck's sake, Sarah."

  All thoughts of admonishment were immediately forgotten, and taking top priority was bundling Sarah into the passenger seat before anyone could catch a glimpse of the expression on her face, which was anything but sisterly.

  Sarah could hardly contain herself as she watched Damian swiftly walked around the car to get behind the wheel. She waited until he had shut his own door closed before blurting out, "You still want me!" Her tone was joyous, almost bragging, but her dark eyes, full of ill-concealed relief, showed the true state of emotions.

  Damian didn't even answer her, but she didn't care. She knew what she saw, and after all these years in which he had shown her nothing beyond brotherly affection, well...

  "I know I promised you that night I'd forget what happened," she confessed, "but I lied."

  Silence.

  "I'm in love with you, Damian. I never stopped."

  Still more silence, and just when she thought it would end there, she heard him say, "I know."

  Four

  Damian's deeply tanned skin was glistening with sweat by the time he hit the treadmill's Stop button, and his heavy-hitting run cooled down into a more leisurely walk. He reached for his phone before stepping off the machine, and a quick scroll showed twenty-plus messages waiting to be read...with over half of it coming from the girl he had dumped on the front steps of the family ranch.

  Sarah: Please come back.

  Sarah: I've only three days of spring break left.

  Sarah: I promise we won't talk about the awkward stuff.

  Sarah: Just come back home. Please?

  He reached for his hydro flask just as another member of the gym approached him, a rich divorcée in her thirties who was on the prowl for Husband #4. "If you happen to be free tonight—-"

  Sarah: If you come back today I'll give you a blow job. No questions asked before or after.

  After reading Sarah's message, Damian ended up spewing water all over the divorcée's face.

  Shit.

  He gave the woman a curt apology before walking out on her, hell-bent on getting to the locker room before anyone noticed the sudden bulge behind his shorts. And there'd even be more trouble, Damian thought irritably, if people thought it was because of the woman he had accidentally spat out water on.

  Damian stripped out of his clothes as soon as he got into one of the frosted-glass cubicles and switched the shower to full blast. Icy cold water jetted down in the next moment, but the billionaire remained absolutely still underneath it. This would probably end up giving him pneumonia, but anything was fucking better than having to resort to jerking himself off to a measly fucking text message—-

  Fuck.

  As soon as he allowed himself to think about Sarah's text, an erotic and decidedly forbidden vision followed: his beautiful, outrageous Sarah, her nubile body completely bare to his sight, an impish smile curving over her lips as she met his dark gaze...just before slowly kneeling down to take his already engorged phallus into her small, lovely mouth.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

  His eyes squeezed shut as blood rushed to his head, and his hard body turned rigid for the worst possible reason. He tried to get the vision out of his mind, but his imaginary Sarah was just as stubborn as the real one. Refusing to go away, she remained on her knees while her head energetically bobbed up and down as she sucked harder and harder—-

  A low growl tore out of his throat.

  Fuck.

  But this time, he had completely lost. He no longer gave a fuck about who would hear or know. His fingers were tightening around the swollen girth of his penis, and then he was stroking himself furiously, the jerking movements of his fist at pace with the sucking sounds his imaginary Sarah was making.

  Suck. Suck. Suck. Suck. Suck.

  And then he was cumming, his powerful body shuddering, as her name rolled silently down his tongue.

  Sarah.

  ****

  Damian's phone started ringing as soon as he was out of the locker room, and he swore under his breath when he saw Josiah's name flash on its screen. He reluctantly answered the call, and as expected, he didn't even get a single word in with his father immediately going off on a rant.

  "What the hell are you doing there? You should be here with us, your family!"

  "Someone has to remain an adult," Damian mocked, "since you've opted to play hookie—-"

  "Bullshit," Josiah growled.

  "Careful, Father. Remember you've already been diagnosed of being hypertensive—-"

  Josiah rudely cut his son off, demanding, "Do you know that she's going out for a ride with Colton today?"

  Damian's grip on his phone involuntarily tightened, but his voice remained coldly indifferent when he spoke again. "I see nothing wrong with that—-"

  "Keep talking like that," Josiah warned, "and you'll soon hurt her past what she can endure."

  And did Josiah really think he didn't know that?

  Damian threw himself at work for the rest of the morning, but by the time his PA came in to ask him about lunch, he had already risen to his feet and heard himself say, "I'm heading back to the ranch. If it isn't life and death, don't call or it's someone's job on the line."

  The drive back to the family ranch from Jackson Hole usually took an hour and a half, but Damian had shaved off a good number of minutes from this by swapping the SUV he normally drove for a sports car he had revamped for off-road use.

  A ranch hand saw him coming and immediately pointed towards one of the trails leading to the river bank. "I saw Ms. Clarke head that way."

  Damian got out of the car with a frown. He hadn't asked a single thing yet, dammit. So why the hell was Greg assuming he was looking for Sarah?

  "Shall I drive your car back to the garage, Mr. Fox?" Greg's tone was hopeful. It had just occurred to him that now was his only chance to drive the billionaire's sports car, whose rigged performance and looks had it featured in numerous automobile magazines. And to further improve his chances, he then quickly added, "If you set off now, sir, you could still probably catch up with Ms. Clarke and Mr. Moore."

  ****

  After giving Rainbow a quick, affectionate pat on its head, Sarah left her horse to graze at its leisure while walking back to where Colton was seated by the riverbank. Tall, blond, and boyishly good-loo
king, he also had the fortune of possessing incredibly wealthy parents and an assured future as a NFL quarterback. While most women would've killed to be in a relationship with him, his current companion unfortunately wasn't one of them.

  "You're looking prettier every time I see you, Sarah Bear." Any compliment from him was usually enough to have girls swooning on his feet, but this time it only had the girl seated a good three feet away from him rolling her eyes.

  "Drop the act, Moore," Sarah retorted, "and for the nth time, will you please stop calling me that? You know how Damian hates it—-"

  "He isn't even here to hear it," Colton protested.

  "It doesn't matter," Sarah said stubbornly.

  "I really gotta hand it to you, Ms. Clarke. Your loyalty knows no bounds."

  "Stop pretending to be jealous," Sarah said with a snort. "We both know you only think you want me because I'm the only girl in town you haven't gotten to bed."

  "One of these days," Colton threatened, "I'm going to make you fall for me—-"

  "When pigs fly—-Colton!" She sputtered in a mixture of indignation and laughter when Colton, who was typically known as the gentlemanly type, actually threw his empty can of soda at her. "Jerk!"

  Almost one hour later, and Colton was half-bored, half-annoyed as he was forced to listen to Sarah worry over her stepbrother's actions.

  "I know Damian's read my messages, Colt," Sarah was sharing unhappily, "but he hasn't replied to any of them."

  And so it continued, with Colton making sure to grunt, nod, or shake his head whenever Sarah required a response. It had been this way between them for over three years now...and counting.

  Colton could still remember the night they had first met, and Sarah had come crashing into his life, literally. He had taken one look and had fallen for her like a ton of bricks while Sarah, on the other hand, even at that time, had only eyes for Damian.

  The next time they met, it had been at Josiah and Naomi's reception, and Colton had been overjoyed when he found out she was going to live next door. He had asked her to dance the first chance he got and invited her to go clubbing, thinking it would be smooth sailing from there on. But instead she had shaken her head at him with a sheepish smile. 'I'm sorry. I'm already in love with someone else.' Her gaze had swung away from him as she spoke, and following her line of sight, it was then he had come to realize his rival was none other than Sarah's own stepbrother.

  A sudden squeal from Sarah yanked Colton back to the present, and his lips twisted when he saw the painfully familiar look of excitement on Sarah's face.

  "He finally texted you?" he asked dryly.

  "He's looking for me as we speak," Sarah reported happily while quickly rising to her feet. She dusted her jeans off, wanting to look more presentable, and it was then that her gaze absently drifted to the ground, where a gartersnake happened to be slithering straight towards her.

  Even though Sarah knew it wasn't poisonous, snakes were one of her biggest fears, and just the thought of having its cold, slimy scales graze against her skin had her in a panic, and she quickly turned around to run—-

  And ended up once again crashing into Colton's embrace, her body fully pressed against his lean, hard form.

  Colton stiffened.

  Sarah paled.

  "I'm not gonna lie, Sarah Bear," he whispered. "Your breasts feel too damn good against my chest." The words were meant to make light of the fact that the briefest contact between their bodies had him sporting a hard-on, but to his shock, he saw Sarah's eyes filling up with tears.

  "W-What's wrong?" he stammered.

  But she had already wrenched herself out of his hold and was running away.

  Five

  Sarah had never felt so dirty. Before college, she had attended an all-girls Catholic school her entire life, and she had never gone out on a date because none of the boys she met had felt "right". Only Damian had been different, and she hadn't felt any shame at all whenever he touched her.

  From time to time, however, she would often find herself wondering if another man could make her feel the way Damian did, and now she had her answer. More than making her feel soiled, it also felt completely wrong, to have her breasts against Colton's chest and hear him actually say he enjoyed it.

  Fingers suddenly cupped her elbow from behind, and thinking it was Colton, Sarah immediately cried out, "Let go!" She struggled to free herself, but he was too strong, and before she knew it, he was already forcibly spinning her around.

  "Damian?" She stopped moving right away as a sense of relief washed over him. Damian...Damian would make her feel better. Damian always made things right just by being there—-

  Oh!

  Too late she noticed the grim set of his jaw, and somehow she knew. She just knew, and the realization made her recoil from him with a choked sob.

  "You saw it—-"

  His lips tightened, and that was answer enough for her. She tried to run away for the second time, but Damian was a lot more forceful than Colton, and soon enough, his strong, hard arms were tightening and locking her in place.

  "Let me go—-"

  "Quiet." To other people's ears, the command, despite the gently firm tone he used to deliver it, would most likely have sounded cruel and harshly insensitive. And while it might be so, Damian didn't really give a damn. He knew what his Sarah needed, and in times like this, Sarah always preferred to be handled with a firm hand.

  "Breathe."

  He saw her lips tremble even as her chest slowly rose and fell.

  "That's it, love."

  Her tears continued to fall, but already he could feel the tautness gradually easing from her body, and he began stroking her back to help her relax.

  Looking up, she asked with a sniff, "How did you find me?"

  "Doesn't matter. All you need to know is that I'm letting you cry for another minute if you wish...but after that, you're to cease wasting your tears on another man."

  "Jerk." Her fist struck his chest. "You really think saying that would make me feel better?"

  "Yes."

  Instead of answering, Sarah laid her head against his chest, and moments later, he felt his shirt growing wet under her cheek.

  Time dragged ever so slowly, and every second was an infinite struggle to remain in control and not give in to the rage still churning inside of him. He had seen every fucking thing unfold, and the only reason Damian had kept his distance was the knowledge that Sarah being Sarah, having him confront her while she was in a compromising position would only cause her greater distress. She might be brash and coquettish at first glance, but he knew his Sarah well. She was a closet prude, and so he had waited until she had left before walking up to Colton and driving his fist into the boy's face.

  When the minute he had given her finally came to pass, Damian slowly released her and cupped her chin to force her to meet his gaze. "Feeling better?"

  She nodded. She could actually breathe a lot more easily now, and her chest didn't feel as tight as it had been earlier.

  "Still have the urge to cry?"

  She shook her head.

  "Sure?"

  She was about to nod when she realized where this was all leading to. Shit. This was Damian, after all, and he had this nasty habit of playing big brother at the most horrible times. "Wait—-" But of course it was too late, and he had already flicked her forehead...hard.

  "Ouch!"

  Another flick.

  "That hurts!"

  "Good," he snapped. "Maybe next time, it will get you to think twice about being alone with Moore."

  "What happened was an accident—-"

  "That wouldn't have happened in the first place," he said between clenched teeth, "if you didn't let yourself be alone with him."

  "He's my friend—-"

  "A male friend," Damian snarled, "who's been slavering over you for years."

  Her eyes widened, and before she could stop herself, the words were already out of her mouth. "Are you jealous?" Damian's blue ey
es immediately blazed at her in anger, and she winced. Right. Totally wishful thinking that she could make him admit—-

  "You know I am."

  Sarah's stunned gaze flew back up to his...and the first thing she saw was his head dipping...just before his mouth crashed over hers.

  Oh God.

  Her eyes squeezed shut even as her heart slammed against her chest, and her entire body burst into flames.

  God. Oh God.

  "You're mine, dammit," Damian growled against her lips, "so will you take better care not to let any other man touch my property?"

  She tried to answer. She wanted to answer, would've loved to assure him that she was all his and always would be. But she couldn't, with Damian kissing her so hard she started seeing stars. When he finally lifted his head, Sarah could only gasp for breath as she stared up at him, body still trembling but this time it was purely out of excitement and desire.

  "Where did he feel you?" Damian demanded.

  "B-Breasts—-" The word was barely out when he had her back pressed against a tree trunk, and his large, strong hands were palming her heaving tits. She started to moan, but the sound was lost in his kiss. His tongue thrust in just as his hands started mashing her tits, and she could only buckle against him.

  God, it had been so long.

  He started pinching her nipples, and she moaned and buckled harder against him while her hands swept wildly over his back. Up. Down. Up. Down. She was just so insanely restless, and when his dark head bent down to take one covered nipple into his mouth—-

  Sarah bit her lip hard. Oh God. She mustn't make a sound. Couldn't make a sound. Shouldn't make a sound. But it was as if the more she was controlling herself, the more Damian wanted to have her wild in his arms, and while he switched his attention to her other breast, she felt his fingers sliding inside her jeans—-

  She looked up, stunned, and blue eyes that glittered with lust immediately took hold of her gaze. And then slowly...so, so damn slowly, Sarah felt his fingers stroke her already folds, just before his middle finger thrust inside of her.