Romance: Yes, Stepbrother!

by Annie Valentine

  “You were doing fine at the club.”

  “We were in public. Nothing much would have happened.”

  Ranael smirked and slid his hands across Caitlin’s hips. He nudged her legs apart with one knee, and she obliged, moving her feet to widen the space between them. His amber gaze fixed on her eyes, he stepped forward. Caitlin gasped and Ranael watched her eyes turn stormy gray. Shakily, she put her beer down on the kitchen counter too.

  “And now, Caitlin?”

  The young woman let the tip of her tongue sweep across her top lip. Her hands moved slowly and wandered up his sides, over his shirt. She dragged her fingers across his chest and lightly scratched his nipples through the cloth. Ranael growled and bucked into her, bringing their lower halves together. Their moans mingled in the air as his erection came in contact with her center. The dark haired man brought both hands up and tangled his fingers in Caitlin’s lighter, chestnut tresses. Her gaze flickered back and forth between his gold eyes and his lips. Ranael brought his head down until his lips hovered over hers.

  “Caitlin?”

  With a sigh, Caitlin closed the distance between them. Their lips touched, clung, parted, and Ranael’s tongue teased Caitlin’s sensitive skin, begging for entrance. She granted his silent request and Ranael lost no time. His tongue pushed past her parted lips and set about plundering her moist mouth. One of his hands snaked down her back to grab her ass. Caitlin hummed in the back of her throat. She broke the kiss to nibble on his jaw, delighted at the faint rasp of his stubble against her lips. She kissed and licked her way to his ear, sucking the lobe into her mouth. Ranael growled at the sensation and brought his hands further down onto Caitlin’s thighs until he reached the hem of her dress. He nudged the cloth up slowly, caressing her skin as he moved the dress out of the way. Caitlin moaned right in his ear as his fingers teased her core through her panties.

  “Please.”

  “You sure?”

  Caitlin didn’t answer. Instead, she grabbed the hand playing so close to her most intimate flesh and ground shamelessly against his fingers.

  “Please!”

  Ranael moved his head so he could kiss along Caitlin’s throat. And he mimicked her actions by rubbing his tumescent erection against her hip.

  “Follow me,” he muttered against the sensitive skin just beneath her jaw, sending delicious shivers running along her spine.

  The beers were abandoned and Ranael steered Caitlin backward toward the bedroom. As his fingers came to tease her nipples, he felt the chain that held her jade pendant. He sighed.

  “Let me take this off. I don’t want to break it or anything.”

  Caitlin smiled through the slight haze of lust she had entered. Carefully, she drew the silver chain and the pendant attached to it over her head. She then set it on the sideboard. Ranael lost little time after this, leaning down to kiss her. Then, in one movement, he lifted her up in his arms, holding her legs apart on either side of his waist. Caitlin choked back a lustful groan as she was once more pressed against his hard-on.

  “God!”

  The word was torn from her lips as Ranael started to grind firmly against her.

  “Last chance,” he warned as he bent his head, his lips finding the skin at the top of her breast and sucking it into his mouth.

  “Oh God, don’t stop!”

  Caitlin’s words came out as a breathless whisper. And it was all Ranael needed to hear. He walked to the bedroom with Caitlin still in his arms. He let her down gently by the bed, sliding her body down along his and drawing a low moan from the two of them. Deftly, Ranael found the dress’s zipper and drew it down before pulling the satiny cloth off Caitlin, leaving her only in her black lacy underwear. Her own fingers made short work of the buttons holding her lover’s shirt together. She pushed the cotton off his broad shoulders, running her hands along the firm lengths of his arms. As the shirt caught at his wrists, Caitlin grinned wickedly at Ranael and pushed him onto his bed. The dark haired man fell backward, his hand loosely trapped behind his back by his half-off shirt.

  “What are you doing, Caitlin?” he growled playfully.

  “Taking advantage of you,” came her reply.

  Her heated gaze fell on his well-defined chest, sparse black hairs trailing across it and down past the waistline of his trousers. Soon enough, her lips were retracing the path her eyes had taken along his body. She nuzzled against the coarse hair at the center of his chest and took a detour to lick around a flat nipple. She repeated the motion on the other side and added a little nip. That sent his hips flying off the bed and Caitlin stopped for an instant, smiling up at Ranael.

  “Sensitive?”

  The dark-haired man only growled at her. Caitlin chuckled and continued her explorations, following the trail of hairs down his body. But suddenly Ranael sat up, wrestling both his shirt and Caitlin until she was the one lying down in bed, pinned under the weight of her soon-to-be lover.

  “I think it’s only fair I had my turn.”

  Ranael made short work of the bra’s little hooks. Then he was suckling on her nipple. Hard. It had been too long. Too long since Caitlin had experienced anything but her own hands on her body. And when Ranael reached down inside her panties, he only had to brush the center of her pleasure twice. She came with a long shudder and a sigh. When she opened her eyes, it was to see Ranael’s amber gaze on her. In the semi-darkness of the room, his eyes almost seemed to glow golden.

  “You okay?” he asked with a half-smile.

  “Heck, yeah,” Caitlin husked.

  Only when he moved his fingers to pinch her clit did she realize he had been waiting for her.

  “What was it you just said about being fair?” she gasped as she tried to undo his belt buckle.

  “I don’t like to play by the rules.”

  Ranael moved his hand further down to run his index along her entrance. Caitlin moaned and her legs moved to allow him better access. He eased a finger in her then two, slowly pumping in and out of her. Caitlin felt the passion within her blood ignite and she tugged hard on Ranael’s belt. The leather slid out with a rasp and the young woman lost no time unbuttoning his trousers. She reached inside, taking his hard length in hand and squeezing softly.

  “You gonna kill me, girl.”

  With a smirk, she tugged on his trousers with her free hand. Ranael smiled back at her and together they pushed his trousers and boxers down to his knees. He hopped off the bed to get rid of the restricting clothes then moved to cover Caitlin with his body. The young woman pulled him down to her, letting him rest between her thighs. Then Ranael reached between them to position himself at her entrance. He pushed in a long leisurely stroke and Caitlin sunk her nails in his back, her head thrown back, and a low cry escaping from between her lips. Just as slowly, Ranael retreated before he pushed once more into Caitlin’s willing body, setting a steady rhythm for her.

  “So beautiful. So snug. Perfect. Caitlin, you’re perfect.”

  Caitlin flushed under the combination of his praise and his attentions. Ranael reached with one hand to tweak one of her nipples then roll it between his thumb and index. Caitlin keened a lust-filled noise that reverberated around the room and seemed to set off Ranael. He gripped her hips and thrust hard and fast into her moist warmth.

  “Ah! God, yes.”

  Encouraged, Ranael pushed Caitlin’s knees up and draped her legs over his shoulders before he repeated the movement, pushing as deep as her body would allow and bumping into that spot deep within her.

  “Yesss…”

  Caitlin’s hiss cut through the last restraints on Ranael’s passion. He pumped hard and fast into her, delving again and again in her heat, grinding his body into hers, sometimes changing the angle of his penetration just enough to heightened the sensations for Caitlin. Ranael grunted with each stroke, searching for just enough control to do what needed to be done. Finally, he let Caitlin slide her legs from his shoulders. She placed her feet flat on the bed and started to move her hips
in time with his thrusts. The dark man watched her for a moment, her chest flushed with her arousal, before he leaned forward and grasped a nipple between his teeth, licking and suckling as he went. The added stimulation proved too much and Caitlin shouted her wordless release to the skies. Ranael grunted as he felt her sheath contracting around his member. Three more strokes and he followed her over the edge.

  Ranael rolled away onto his back, breathing heavily. For her part, Caitlin moved to nuzzle against his chest, his coarse hairs rubbing deliciously against her sensitive skin. Soon, both had closed their eyes in a bid to slowly come down from their high.

  *

  **

  Ranael lay in the darkened room, the sheet pushed down around his waist. The scent of their combined arousal still hang heavy in the air and the girl was asleep beside him, her head snuggled onto his chest. The archon had pretended to fall asleep after he’d come, but it just wasn’t in his physiology to snooze after sex. He ran a hand through his longish hair. He hated this. Caitlin was a nice girl, and he’d just taken advantage of her. Fair enough, he hadn’t forced her. But he was still feeling like a jerk. As Caitlin’s breathing grew deeper, Ranael made his move. He gently maneuvered her head onto the pillow and brought the sheet to cover her up. Ranael stood naked by the bed for a moment before he bent to drop a kiss on top of Caitlin’s head.

  “I’m sorry, girl,” he whispered. “But I have my orders.”

  Their clothes were strewn across the room. Ranael shook his head as he observed his shirt hanging from the bedside lamp. He bent to retrieve his boxers and put them on before moving to the living room. There on the sideboard was the object of his mission. It was quite amazing how something so small could contain so much power and the potential to bring entire civilizations to their knees.

  Ranael wrapped the silver chain around a finger, lifting the device to eye level. The Terrans had not realized what they’d found, which wasn’t that surprising. It did look just like any other piece of rock out there. With a shake of his head, Ranael crossed the room. He sat in front of the clunky box and screen that passed as advanced electronic on this planet and typed in his identification. Tiamat came online on the screen. Unwilling to risk waking Caitlin, the archon typed in the order to contact with Strategos Ariuk, with the request for his superior to contact him by jacking into the Terran instant messaging system. He placed the Potential onto the data port he had set up out of view beneath the desk. On his order, Tiamat would start to download everything it could from the device. An unobtrusive ding pulled his attention back to the screen. With a sigh and a silent curse to those who couldn’t seem to understand the problems of field work, Ranael opened one of the drawers of the desk and pulled out his holocom, affixing it to his arm. Tiamat had already ported the transmission for him.

  “Archon Pahadron, I do not appreciate being called out of schedule. Or being asked to break the no-contact laws without a good reason.”

  Ranael gritted his teeth to stop the twitch of his eyes, knowing that to show his irritation was a bad idea. He turned his head slightly, making sure Ariuk hadn’t woken up Caitlin even as he turned the volume down.

  “I have managed to secure the Potential, sir.”

  “Already? And why are you whispering, archon?”

  “The person currently in possession of the Potential is in the other room, hopefully still asleep, sir.”

  Ranael’s delivered this in a voice as neutral as he could. Let Ariuk hang himself if he tried to report him for suggesting to jack into Terran communication systems. He knew very well that, given the circumstances, he’d made the right call.

  “Where is the device?”

  “In the data port. I was about to authorize the data download.”

  “Port the device here.”

  Ranael blinked once. Twice. “Please repeat that order.”

  “You heard me, archon. Transport the device onboard the Wanderer, of the Third Mercy Fleet. Use an encrypted hyper-wave line.”

  “Yes, sir,” Ranael replied in a low tone as he typed the order across to Tiamat.

  The screech of static caused Ranael and Ariuk to wince. The archon cursed under his breath and made to stand, in a bid to close the bedroom door. But the interferences stopped almost as soon as they’d started.

  “What in the name of the Empire was that?” Ariuk shouted.

  Ranael was tempted to shout back. He breathed slow and deep as he once more turned his head toward the bedroom. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing the long black locks back and away from his eyes. On the screen, Tiamat filtered data at an amazing rate, pulling together the pieces relevant to him. As he read that report, he couldn’t help but gape.

  “The Potential has been claimed.”

  “What?”

  Ranael knew better than to sass and repeat himself. He concentrated on reading the data that Tiamat was pulling for him.

  “The Potential was found precisely ten weeks ago. The young woman was found a 98.76% match on first approach.”

  “That’s impossible,” Ariuk interjected.

  Ranael pursed his lips but continued. “Given the high match, the Potential initiated the link itself. When my sweep was detected, it then initiated the Kashyk protocol. The link was successfully completed just two weeks after the meet. Quite surprising, even with that high a match in the first place.”

  “Are you telling me that a Terran girl has managed to link to one of the most powerful artifact in the known universe before anyone could do anything about it?”

  Ranael couldn’t resist this time. “Actually, sir, it seems the device linked to her.”

  Another burst of static had Ranael moving to pull the Potential from the data port before the noise could achieve what Ariuk’s shouting hadn’t yet. He held up the silver chain until the fake green gemstone hang at eye level. Suddenly, Ranael was quite glad he hadn’t directly touched the fake stone: there was no telling how the Potential’s AI would have reacted. Given the device and Caitlin were now inseparable, it wouldn’t surprise the archon if other side-measures could be initiated if the AI decided it was warranted. After all, it had put the Kashyk protocol in place within minutes of claiming Caitlin.

  “Never seen one before.”

  Ranael’s gaze cut to his holocom screen. Strategos Ariuk was looking at the Potential. The stone glowed green then started to float in mid-air. Startled, Ranael let go of the necklace. The Potential floated its way across the room and into the bedroom through the still open door.

  “Get the device and get back to the fleet.”

  “Sir, the Potential is already linked to a Terran woman.”

  “Do what you have to get it back to the Fleet, archon.”

  “But sir?”

  “This is not up for discussion.”

  Ranael straightened in his seat and turned back to face his commanding officer.

  “Sir?”

  “That’s an order archon. Get the Potential back to the Third Mercy Fleet by any means necessary.”

  “Sir. Silver Custody authorizes making contact. Not grabbing. Or more.”

  “Well I’m authorizing it, archon. Do I need to scramble a team to come and do your job for you?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Then stand by for confirmation, since you seem to enjoy doing things by the book, archon.”

  The holocom screen went blank and Ranael cursed under his breath. He sat back on the couch. If Ariuk was going to do things properly, he would request a high-priority contact with whoever was currently in charge back on Jeduthun. That meant a delay of a few hours, at best. And so, Ranael settled in to do what he hated most: wait.

  CHAPTER FIVE: Run

  Caitlin leaned a hand against the wall, head spinning. What on earth had she just stepped into? Who was Ranael exactly? A shock of sensation ran through her body and her head shot up, seeing her jade pendant floating in the air before her eyes. She took a step back but the pendant only floated closer until the stone rested against her skin, ju
st above her breasts. Caitlin blinked as she felt… peace and calm flood her mind. Her hand came up, pressing the pendant against her. Only it wasn’t just a pendant. Ranael had called it ‘potential’. She knew she’d come in at the tail end of the conversation, but she’d gathered that much. And whoever wanted her necklace would take her along with it if needed.

  Awareness zinged through her and suddenly, Caitlin was moving. She picked up her clothes and put them on. Then she was by the window, getting it open as quietly as possible. She picked up her shoes but didn’t put them on yet. Instead, she stepped through the opening and went down the metal steps of the fire escape. Caitlin blinked once on the street. She knew John had been right: Adam would be waiting for her back home. John would probably be out all night, so going back was out of the question. Besides, her bag — along with her cash and credit card — were back in Ranael’s flat. A quick glance at her watch told her it was too early to call anyone. Caitlin put her shoes back on and started walking.

  By the time she made it back to her neighborhood, her watch told her it was nearing four in the morning. She’d been lucky. Rain was holding off and it had been an unseasonably warm night, considering this was late autumn. Plus, she’d chosen to wear chunky, low-heeled shoes last night so aside from aching legs, she wasn’t feeling too bad. Discounting the fact that she’d just been used by a man. Again.

  She finally stood across from her flat. She didn’t want to run into Adam or Ranael. And given the curtains were still closed, she knew John hadn’t made it back yet. He hated artificial lighting almost as much as she did but for completely different reasons. He simply couldn’t see the point wasting money to light somewhere when the sun could do the job for free. Leaning back against the wall of the alleyway she was hiding in, Caitlin threaded both hands into her chestnut curls. She needed to know if the flat was safe. Her neighbors would be able to tell her if Adam had been round — he was far from the quietest of people when drunk and angry. But that meant taking the risk of approaching when he might be lurking around. Or Ranael, for that matter.