“Not really.” I choked on my tuna sandwich, trying to discreetly wash it down with my Diet Coke. I hoped the look she gave me was of concern and not suspicion. “I think he’s been busy with the boat.”
It was her turn to choke on her sandwich. “Really?” She took long sip of lemonade to make the coughing stop. Even better, I was off the hook. “What’s he doing to that boat? If he makes it so I can’t sell it—”
“Ma, he’s been taking sailing lessons.” I put down my sandwich and watched her mouth drop. “I was shocked too. He suggested we all go down to the marina, to watch the fireworks. I figured we’d get kicked out immediately, between him and Matt. They don’t exactly look like the boating type. But he’s got all these old man yacht-owning friends and he fessed up to what he’s been doing.”
“I would’ve loved to see that.” Mom looked close to tears. “Did he take you out in the harbor?”
“No. He said he wasn’t ready for that yet.” Shit. “I don’t know if it was supposed to be a surprise or not, so I guess I’ll ask him, and act surprised if he says yes? But it was nice being out there. Have him take you.” I almost said, you won’t miss Dad so much when you’re there, but every once in a while, my teeth caught the thoughts that shot out of my brain at warp speed.
Mom took a deep breath. “Everyone was really happy to see the two of you getting along at the party.”
I could only imagine what they all had to say. If Nikki was right that we sucked at keeping a secret, and they could tell. If they saw us through his bedroom window, really getting along. I braced myself for the but.
“Thank you for that, Gemma. That party could’ve been really difficult, but I had a wonderful day.”
“I did, too.” The usual road bumps were there, but I couldn’t say any of it was bad. Except for the getting caught part.
“Did the two of you have a chance to talk about the will?” she asked.
More choking on my tuna. Crap.
“You still have a couple weeks to make a decision, but don’t let it go down to the wire. If the two of you can work with each other to put together that party, you can work this out.”
“Sort of.” My heart was frigging pounding. “We’re not really getting anywhere with it. It’s a life changing decision, and I’m not going to concede to him, just to play nice. I’ve been doing that my whole life, and I can’t do it this time. I have to stand my ground.”
Mom sighed and wiped her mouth. “Has he said what he’d do with the money? I know what you’d do with it. But when I ask him about it, he won’t give me a straight answer.”
“I’m sure he’d put it into the band.” Interesting. He didn’t tell me exactly what he’d do, either. Not seriously, anyway. He’d given me a bunch of flip answers. I could tell anyone who asked what I’d do with each one of the five million dollars.
Mom drew her eyebrows together. “You can still split it. I honestly think that’s the best option.”
I shook my head. “Bret won’t do it. Says that’s not what Dad wanted.”
“Whatever you do, don’t tear the family apart. We all need each other, now more than ever.”
It was too late for that. What Bret and I had done, we could never fix. And I liked it that way.
**
“So Nikki and Matt are like a thing,” I said to Bret after dinner a couple nights later.
He hadn’t been home much since the Fourth. I tried not to take it personally, but my, how the tables had turned. Now I knew how it felt, and I didn’t like it. I was on the prowl for him like a rutting beast, and he retreated. Maybe he just didn’t want me anymore. Maybe it had nothing to do with me.
Yeah, right.
He was under my skin, and I couldn’t scratch the itch.
“Yeah.” Bret chuckled. “Matt said. It’s funny, because he’s a real laid back guy, and Nikki’s so in your face. I think that’s what he likes about her.” So they’d talked. I was dying to know about that conversation, but we’d get to it.
“Nikki invited us out with them.” I leaned against the deck railing, as Bret cleaned the grill after tonight’s dinner. His triceps tensed with every stroke of the brush that dislodged the grizzle and cooled fat from the metal. “You know, like a double date.”
The brush stopped. The muscles froze, save for a tick under his skin.
He only turned his head, eyes heavy lidded and obscured by the shadow of his lashes in the waning light. “What do you think about that?” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he waited for my answer.
“I think it sounds like a fucking disaster.” Did his body actually just deflate when I said that? “We should’ve never been so cozy in front of them. It was too dangerous. Nikki keeps asking me questions about you, like she’s going to make me trip up and admit something I shouldn’t. The problem is, it’s not that hard for me to do it.”
“Not going with them is just as bad.” He closed the lid of the grill and turned toward me. “It looks like we’re hiding. We don’t have anything to hide.”
“We have everything to hide,” I said too loudly. Shit. Mom moved around in the kitchen, her silhouette busy against the lights of the house. “Focus. We need to steer this back to what it is. This is why I didn’t want to get anyone else involved. We can’t hang out with other people. They know.”
“What is it, Gemma?” Bret stepped closer, his voice low and husky. It was the tone that made my nerve endings dance like prima ballerinas. If he told me to take off my clothes right now, I’d do it, with my mother on the other side of the sliding glass door. His gaze fell to the thin white rope in my hand, and his body tensed, but he didn’t ask more questions. The one that lingered between us was already enormous.
“So I’m Gemma now?” I rubbed my thumb against the rope, knowing I had his full attention. Tremors ran through my body, and I didn’t know why. It wasn’t anger or excitement. Maybe it was fear.
“I don’t know who the hell you are sometimes.” Bret sighed. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“What this is?” I asked.
Bret nodded.
“It’s about five million dollars. And the clock is ticking.”
“Like a fucking time bomb.” One side of his mouth lifted in a smile, but it wasn’t sexy. It was feral. Okay, maybe it was a little sexy. He tilted his head in the direction of the rope in my hand. “So what do you plan on doing with that? Do you want me to shove it up your cunt and fuck your ass while I slowly pull it out? Then I’ll tie it around your throat like a collar and parade you through town at the end of it, so everyone will know what a filthy little slut you are. Is that why you’re afraid to go out with Nikki and Matt?”
Holy fuck. The ballerinas jumped in time to the fireworks exploding in the corners of my vision.
“No. You said my secret was safe with you.” And it was a lie, apparently. I pulled the rope taut between my hands, tangling my fingers in the folds.
“It is.” Bret folded his arms across his chest. “But I also told you I was going to push you as far I as could make you go. I’m a lot of things, Gemma, but a liar isn’t one of them.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. Get out of my head, you bastard. “I was going to invite you upstairs.” My legs shook under my dress. I’d have to crawl back up to my bedroom. “If you want to find out what the rope is for, I suggest you follow me.”
Chapter Fourteen
I didn’t have to tell Bret to take his clothes off when he followed me to my room. As soon as he closed the door, he peeled his shirt away from his dewy body and dropped his shorts. Tonight he was larger than life, filling the room more than he ever had before. Tension took up the rest of the space, thick, full, and heavy. Just like us.
I let my dress fall to the floor. The hand that held the rope grew clammy. Bret’s body rippled with anger and need, and if this were a normal arrangement, I’d expect him to push me on the bed. Against the wall. Down to the floor. Take the rope from me and bind me with it, or make good on his promise from a few minu
tes ago. But we were in my bedroom, and he waited for my instructions.
I still didn’t have any control over the situation.
Words would fail me, so I jerked my head in the direction of the bed. Bret didn’t say anything. He complied, looking for confirmation, lying on his back, cock at glorious attention. Yes. That was exactly what I wanted. I nodded, and he relaxed, peace falling over his body.
I climbed on the bed and settled on the pillows, with Bret’s head between my legs. His only movement was a slow blink. I tangled my fingers in his silky hair. Sun and salt water had bleached it out, and buttery blonde streaked its usual honey tone. If he still took sailing lessons, he did them shirtless. His face and the skin that peeked through the tattoos were deeply bronzed, the only tan lines falling from his hips to just above his knees. It wasn’t fair that a human being could be so breathtaking. Especially when he was my stepbrother.
I began massaging his scalp, roughing his hair. I worked slowly, round, firm strokes starting at the top of his head and circling his hairline with just the right amount of pressure. Bret turned to putty under my touch, as I worked the top of his spine with my thumbs. His mouth parting was the only reaction he gave me, as I ran my finger along the outside of his earlobe, stopping to play with each piercing.
He was mine.
The massage continued. I followed the line of his eyebrows, ghosted my fingers over his lips, and ran my thumbs along the stubble on his jaw, before falling to his collarbones. This was the fun stuff. I traced over his tattoos. The grayscale wings that spanned his pecs, meeting a skull with stars for eyes that decorated his sternum. More stars and feathers fell over the plane of his rippled stomach before meeting the full-color flames the rose from his hips. I’d never taken the time to consider his artwork, and now I saw it for what it was. A slow, beautiful descent into Hell.
Bret swallowed hard when I picked up his nipple rings and tugged, before rubbing the taut nubs between my fingers. His gaze was fixed on the swell of my breasts, I wouldn’t have expected anything else.
I rose to my knees. “You never told me your safe word.”
His lashes fanned over his cheekbones, as he shook his head.
I dropped my face to his, letting my hair cover his skin. “Say it out loud.”
Bret tensed under my touch. “I don’t have a safe word, Gemma.”
“Neither did I, until you made me come up with one.” I pulled the rings, straightening my body so his nipples stretched when I moved.
He bowed his back, and his eyes snapped back open. Frigid green-gray steel. “I don’t need a fucking safe word.”
“Okay.” I picked up the rope that lay beside my leg. “You can borrow mine if you change your mind.”
We locked gazes, as I untangled the rope above his head. His mouth was set in a hard, angry line, and I hoped he was too pissed off to notice my hands shaking. I leaned over his body and took a firm hold of his cock, before slipping the rope under his balls and looping the slack several times around his shaft. Bret gasped as I tugged on the rope to make sure the knot was secure.
I positioned myself over his face, surprised I didn’t drip on him. I tightened the rope between my fingers. “Eat my pussy,” I rasped, barely able to speak.
Bret’s arms tensed, his fingers twisting into the sheets like a cold, hard machine, as he braced himself to obey my command. Electricity raced through my veins at his first contact. He swirled his tongue, as tense as the rest of him, sucking my clit hard. My core pulsed, spasms overruled heartbeats, and I floated above his body, hoping I could retain control. Bret licked, nipped, and devoured me like a condemned man having his last meal before being led to the electric chair.
A sleeping lion had awoken below me, and I knew better than to provoke him. In theory, anyway. In reality, I was going for broke. I pulled the rope and Bret groaned, his roar echoing against my pussy and bringing my orgasm to life. It rocked through me with an intensity I was stupid not to expect. I braced my arms on either side of his body, but Bret didn’t stop.
I still had him by the balls. I tugged the rope, and he clamped his lips on my clit in response. Once I steadied myself, I took his cock in my hand, rubbing the shaft underneath the rope and manipulating the steel balls that pierced it. The sounds coming out of Bret couldn’t belong to a human. The vibrations along the surface of my skin were the only thing keeping me from falling on top of him.
Bret’s shaft swelled. Neither of us could keep this up much longer. I slipped my lips over his cock and sucked hard on the metal ball at the tip. I found the other end of the piercing with my fingers, caressing the spot that drove him wild while I worked the head with a completely different intensity. Bret startled me, when he grabbed my thighs so hard I thought he was going to rip me in two. I didn’t stop, I took as much of him in my mouth as I could. I didn’t have the control over my body I usually did, and I had to try like hell not to choke to death on his dick. What a way to go.
I milked him with my lips and tongue as he came. He panted against my pussy, completely spent. I dropped to his side, my fingers trembling as I untied the rope.
“Holy shit, Gemma.” Bret trembled with aftershocks from his orgasm. “You just stepped into my dirtiest fucking fantasy and made yourself the star of the show.”
I knew it.
“I’m hurt.” I pouted, sat up, and ran my fingers through his damp, sticky hair. He may have actually looked better this way. “I should’ve been there already.”
Bret shook his head, but worked himself against my hand, still wanting more. “I never gave that person a face. I didn’t think they’d ever be able to live up to my expectations, and it wouldn’t be fair to anyone when I was disappointed.”
I caressed his head and lips just as softly as I began, and he eased his arm around me, like he did on the boat. Instinct took over before reason could tell me to run, and I lay down beside him, my head so close to his chest I could hear the frantic beat of his heart. Mine was going haywire too. Shit. This plan was going to backfire.
Chapter Fifteen
“I have an idea.” Bret startled me when he sat beside me in one of the lounge chairs by the pool. It was late afternoon, the time of day when Hell’s gates opened and spewed out the heat of its fury. He pulled his shirt up over his head, nearly messing up his topknot in the process. “You just have to trust me.”
Already it sounded like a disaster. “You’ll have to follow me into the pool if you want to tell me anything. I’m melting.” I put my Kindle down and headed to the water. I was soaked with sweat and could hardly concentrate on the words in front of me anymore, let alone on whatever Bret was about to propose.
“I’d follow you anywhere, Gemma,” Bret said in a voice so low, I wasn’t sure I heard him right.
My heart and pussy pounded in tandem. I stopped before I got in the pool. “What did you say?”
True to his word, he was right on my heels. His mouth dropped. He must not have meant to say that out loud. “Nothing.”
Bret had taught me many things over the years. When his signature grin that meant nothing but sex and sin spread over his face, it gave away two things—I’d heard him just fine, and he was done for.
“That’s what I thought,” I said as I stepped into the water.
We both needed relief from the relentless heat outside and between us, and we dipped underwater right away. Bret paced, splashing water between his hands, while I settled on the lowest stair that still allowed me to keep my head above water. “So what’s this great idea of yours?” I asked.
“What are your days off next week?” He dropped to my eye level, on his knees.
“Tuesday and Wednesday, same as always. Why?”
“Perfect.” Bret started pushing water between his hands again. “I was thinking of a little road trip.”
“Have fun?” I wasn’t sure where he was going with this.
His hands stopped, but the waves reflected in his eyes. “I want you to come with me.”
&nbs
p; “Bret.” I groaned. “That’s a terrible idea.”
“Why?” He splashed me. Like we were kids again, I pushed the water back at him harder. Our competition didn’t start this summer. We just upped the ante. He wiped the water from his face before explaining himself. “I think it may be good for us to get out of the house. Be on neutral ground. Switzerland, so to speak.”
“My passport expired.” I leaned back, letting my breasts bob on the surface of the water. “Anyway, it’s a terrible idea.”
“Very funny. I was thinking more like New Jersey.” Bret never got sick of staring at my tits.
I thought about teasing him with a nip slip, but Mom would choose that moment to come outside, and I really didn’t feel like being homeless. “Even worse.” I laughed. “Why? And how would we ever pull it off? Can’t be like, oh hey, Mom, Bret and I are going on a road trip together.”
Bret raised an eyebrow, looking a little disappointed. “Why not?”
“Because the rest of the world thinks we hate each other. They aren’t that far off.” His eyes changed again. Fuck. There was no way I could go to New Jersey with him. “It’s weird, even if it was somewhere good. And neither of us have any money. That’s what this whole thing is about. Remember? Which of us is poorer? We’d have to pay to stay in some fleabag, no-tell motel on the shore. If we’re lucky, they’ll let us pay by the hour.”
He laughed. “That’s exactly why we can and should go. We tell Ellen we’re getting out of here to settle the will business. As I said, neutral territory. Away from anything that reminds us of Dad. She’s been on my case about it—yours too, I bet—so she’ll go for that. Since that money is all but legally mine, the trip’s my treat.”
“And they say chivalry is dead.” I attempted a smile, but my blood boiled at the thought of losing to Bret. Did refusing to go on this trip count? “Why can’t we go to the Cape or to Boston? Or the city.” Or anywhere but New Jersey. In college, that’s where we went to get drunk and act stupid. Going there with Bret would be nothing but trouble.
Dirty Little Secret: New Adult Rock Star Romance (Not Exactly A Stepbrother Romance Book 1) Page 11
