Under Siege

by Aria Cole

  She rolled her eyes before a slow grin curved her lips. “Thanks for rescuing me. That was way more fun.”

  “Happy to be at your service anytime, precious.” I hooked her hand in mine and walked us back to the door, opening it for her and letting her walk in ahead of me. She spun, a beautiful smile splitting her face, and she was about to open her mouth to say something before someone else cut in.

  “Skylar! I’ve been looking for you—oh.” Mark, my mother’s soon-to-be husband appeared from behind her. “I see you’ve met Darcy’s son. We were hoping to introduce you officially, but looks like you’ve beaten me to it. Darcy?” Mark looked over his shoulder before my mother appeared behind him.

  “Oh, hi, honey! I was looking for you. I wanted to introduce you to your new stepsister, but I guess you’ve already found her. Skylar and I met for the first time tonight. Isn’t she just the prettiest thing?” My mother's eyes gleamed back at me.

  Fuck. My. Life.

  Six

  Skylar

  “Skylar, this is Hudson, Darcy’s son.” My father’s words ran like a speeding train through my head.

  How had this happened?

  Why was God punishing me?

  I was pretty sure I was being punished for something at this point.

  How was it possible that the man I’d been sleeping with, the man who’d given me the very best orgasms of my life, was actually my new stepbrother. Clearly, God had one helluva sense of humor, and right now, his attention was aimed at me.

  “So, did you just meet here, or…?” Hudson’s mom asked politely, eyes circling from her son to me and back again. I frowned, thinking there was no way out of this one, before Hudson saved me.

  “Met up last night, actually, in town at one of the local watering holes.”

  “Ah, so that’s where you were last night.” Darcy smiled, before realization seemed to dawn and her eyes grew wide as dinner plates. “Um, Mark, honey, can I have a word with you?” She hooked my father’s hand in hers then hauled him down the hallway and out of view.

  “Fuck.” Hudson shot a hand through his hair, eyes turning to me. “Didn’t see that one coming.”

  I stood speechless, the last few terrifying minutes cycling in my head. “I don’t even know what to say.”

  Hudson’s grin split a little wider, his hand locking with mine and pulling me against his body. “Fucking your stepbrother now—I knew you liked it kinky.”

  My mouth shot open, horror and anger and every other conflicting emotion playing on my face. “That’s not true! What—” I huffed, frustration dripping out of every pore. “You’re incredible.”

  “You already told me that last night.” He nuzzled into my neck, tongue darting out to lick along the crease.

  “Stop, now is definitely not the place—”

  “Overthinking again.” He covered my mouth with his in a deep kiss, shutting me up and turning me to putty in the same instant. Hudson had a superpower, I was sure of it. “I think we’ve done our due diligence. I need you alone now.” He took my hand and hauled me right back out of the door we’d come in, striding to his bike, which, funnily enough, was parked only a few spots away from my car. We’d missed each other earlier by just a few tick marks, but we had each other now, and if his grip was any indication, he wouldn’t be letting go.

  “Leave the car here. I’m thinking we’ve both got the same thing we’ve got to be at tomorrow, so I’ll bring you.”

  “Bring me?” I gasped as he hauled me onto his bike. “Is that…allowed?”

  “A man can bring his little step-sis to the wedding, right? I’m pretty sure that makes me a gentleman.”

  “Oh my God, there aren’t even any words to describe how vile you are.”

  “The way you scream my name when my head is between your thighs is a good start.” He revved the engine to life with a wink.

  “I don't know if I’m making the best decision of my life or the worst going home with you right now.”

  “Got news for you, precious. The time for decisions was last night. Today, you’re all mine. Tomorrow too. There’s no turning this train around. You’re stuck with me.”

  I huffed out a breath, enjoying the feeling of butterflies battering my insides at his words. “Looks like I’m stuck with you even more than I realized.”

  “Ain’t that the truth.” He grinned that crooked grin, eyes sparkling before he tore out of the parking lot and down the street, aiming straight for my house. He’d already weaseled his way into my heart; so what if our parents had just dropped a bomb? I was living recklessly, feeling and not thinking, and we weren’t related anyway, so it’s not like there was anything awkward about it.

  Or there shouldn’t be.

  Until I thought of Christmas dinners and summer barbecues and what would happen if Hudson and I didn’t work out. What if he was a raging lunatic asshole who was going to trample all over my heart and leave it bleeding in the dust?

  I gripped at his waist, holding on a little tighter, before he took one hand off the handlebars and covered mine.

  Just that small touch had my body loosening, my anxiety easing, and the sense that this was right -- and so was he -- growing strong again.

  We’d face tomorrow however it needed facing. But right now, it was just him and me on the back of his bike, and I kind of loved it.

  * * *

  Later that night, long after the shock had worn off—and Hudson had given me four mind-bending orgasms—I burrowed into the haven of his arms, a sense of dread taking root in my belly. “Tomorrow is the wedding.”

  “Yup,” he breathed, fingertips tracing circles around my nipple.

  “Tomorrow, you leave?”

  “Yeah.” The word escaped his lips on a soft puff of air.

  “I hate tomorrow already.”

  “Me too.” The words stretched between us, unspoken thoughts hanging heavy. “Being lost in you is something spiritual, Sky. I’m not the same man when I’m with you. I’m better.” His words were like a wringer to my heart. How had we found ourselves here? Riding the impossible high of stolen first moments right into the inevitable crash and burn of impossible love. “I never saw you coming, precious. You completely blindsided me.”

  I curled into his body, unable to take the loss of this man just yet. Tears pricked at my eyelids as he tucked me under his heavy arm, stroking my hair with his callused fingers and whispering sweet nothings in my ear. Everything he did was meant to make me feel better, but somehow it made it worse. It made everything worse because tomorrow he was leaving, and the simple fact was we should just go back to our real lives and forget this ever happened. Now more than ever.

  We couldn’t show up to family gatherings hand in hand. We couldn’t live under the guise of love when so much dysfunction surrounded our coupling.

  I stroked his chest, wishing more than anything that today hadn’t happened so we could go back to just being us, Skylar and Hudson, two strangers who met in a bar and fucked one night.

  But we would never just be that anymore. We were now the stepsiblings who’d fucked, who’d filled in all the missing pieces, who loved each other? Was that true? Did he love me? Because I was starting to think I could love him, just when it was all being stolen away.

  “Penny for your thoughts?”

  “Just overthinking again,” I muttered, trying to control the cracks from shattering my voice.

  “We’ve got to train that out of you,” he whispered softly, emotion flowing through his words as much as mine.

  “Yeah.” I frowned, trying desperately not to crumble in his arms.

  “Sky?” he murmured against my skin.

  “Yeah?”

  His fingers laced with mine as he took his time replying. “I love you more than I thought I could ever love anyone. I just want you to know that.”

  My throat ached with the lump I was trying to squash, until finally the levees burst, and I let a few stubborn tears trickle down my cheeks. I tried to hide it, but
I didn’t do a very good job when the salty wetness on his chest drew his attention to my face.

  He pulled me closer, hands in my hair as he kissed away the trails of tears.

  Hudson had turned my world upside down then soothed away the tight feeling that clenched my heart whenever I thought of him leaving. He knew my soul inside and out, and letting go of him tomorrow would be the hardest thing I’d ever have to do.

  Seven

  Skylar

  “I guess I didn’t think very far ahead last night when we left. This dress on the back of your bike is going to be a challenge.” I frowned, glancing at the seat of his bike then down to my full-length gown.

  He smiled, helping me onto the back of the bike. “I’ve got you, precious.”

  He tucked me sideways on his lap, holding me nestled in his strong thighs, one arm looped around my waist as he fired up the engine.

  “I’m pretty sure this isn’t safe.” I loved him pressed to me, the smell of his skin intoxicating, the feel of his broad form against mine making me lose my senses a little more.

  “Remember what I told you the first night?”

  I shook my head, struggling to remember so many of the things. My brain had been in full meltdown mode once his touch heated all of my nerves.

  “I said I’d rather die than let anything happen to you.” His eyes nailed mine for a moment. “I meant it, Sky. I meant every word I said this weekend. You’ve just got to give me the go-ahead, because I’m all in.”

  He swept the air from my lungs as he eased slowly into the parking lot, which was already filling up with rows of cars.

  “I don’t think we can.”

  “We can do anything, precious. Life is ours for the taking.”

  “You say that like it’s so simple, so easy.”

  “It is when you know something is right. I’m a guy who lives by his instincts. If it doesn't feel right, I don’t do it. But this…” His palm tightened at my knee. “Everything about you feels right.”

  “What, are you going to move up here? I just can't up and leave everything—”

  “I would, for you.” The bike pulled to a slow stop, his eyes hovering over mine as we shared a thousand unspoken words.

  “I can’t ask that of you. I’m sorry, Hudson, but I think we just chalk this up to—”

  “What? To a one-night stand? To a fling? I told you, it was never that for me, and it’s the furthest thing from it now. I love you, Sky, and I can’t just turn that off.”

  “I know, I know, I…” My heart nearly cracked open. “I love you too, but—”

  “But shit.” His face hardened, and he pulled me from the bike, setting me on my feet and straightening my dress for me. “The big moment’s about to start. We should get in there.” He was effectively shutting me down. I’d hurt him. Somehow, I’d hurt this strong, stubborn, maddening man. What had my life become?

  We walked side by side, Hudson’s hand noticeably absent from my own as we walked into the garden my father and Hudson’s mother had chosen to be married in. We trekked down the aisle, splitting when the usher escorted me to the groom’s side, Hudson to the bride’s side.

  A thousand pounds of cement crashed down on my chest then, making it hard to breathe as I settled in my seat and tried to focus on the next few minutes. I swiped at the screen of my phone, fighting the tears from my eyes as I sat still, waiting for this goddamn wedding to start so that it would be over and I could get the hell out of here.

  My phone vibrated with a message, an unknown number popping up on my screen.

  “Weddings are for happy tears, not sad ones.”

  I smiled, sniffing before I typed back. “Are you just staring at me from over there?”

  “You're the most beautiful girl in the room, how could I not?” Came his instant reply.

  Fingers of love unfurled in my stomach as I wished he were sitting right beside me now. To hell with what anyone else thought; he made me feel better, and that’s all that mattered.

  “You’re a charmer.”

  “So that explains why your stepbrother found his way into your pants this weekend. ;)”

  I nearly choked on my tongue with his last text. I shot a glare over the crowd at him, and he shrugged, that cocky grin deepening on his face.

  “I don’t know if I hate you or love you.”

  “Acting like stepsiblings already.”

  “Hudson!” I typed out fiercely, my heart thundering as an amused grin finally spread its way across my face.

  “What? Made you smile, didn’t I?”

  I turned, sending him one long look before his grin cracked open and he chuckled loudly. A few of the people sitting around him cast him a glance before he shrugged and waggled his eyebrows at me.

  God, I loved that man.

  Damn me to hell if it was wrong, but the way he lit me up could not be denied.

  The music started then, and I made a point of tucking my phone into my purse so he knew I was onto his games and he couldn’t fuck with me through the whole ceremony. Even if the ceremony would be a whole lot more interesting if he did.

  My father made his way down the aisle, pausing to wink once at me before stopping at the altar. He was such a sweet old guy, and when my mom had up and left him for another man when I was three, he hadn’t batted an eye, only went on raising me the best he knew how. He even jumped into a half-assed marriage with a woman when I was a teenager under his sweet but misguided assumption that I needed a mother figure. I think she and I fought more than the two of them did. Thankfully, that marriage didn't last long; within six months she was talking to a divorce lawyer. It was good to have my dad back, and it wasn't long after that he began grooming me to run his accounting business alongside him, and I liked it. And while maybe it wasn’t my dream job, it kept me happy and kept a roof over my head, so I was thankful for all the things he’d given me.

  I didn’t know anything about Hudson’s mom, but if she raised a son like Hudson, then I had to have hope she was a good woman who would be there for my dad. If Hudson had gotten any of his loyalty and protectiveness from his mom, then I had a feeling my dad would be A-OK.

  By the time the bride and groom were finally kissing, I was swiping at happy tears and lost in the moment of love with them. As the music kicked up once again, they walked back down the aisle hand in hand, deliriously happy grins plastered onto their faces. I clapped and cheered for them, putting aside my helpless feeling only for a beat to share in their moment.

  As the crowd flooded down the aisle after the happy couple, Hudson found me in the chaos and threaded his fingers with mine. “That was the longest thirty minutes of my life.”

  “Oh, look how happy they are. It’s good.”

  “I was only watching you. Every emotion that crossed your face as you watched them nearly undid me, Sky.”

  He paused, stilling where I stood and leaving us alone as the crowd moved to the tents set up for the reception.

  “Why do you keep saying these things? You’re making it harder, Hudson,” I nearly sobbed, finally cracking from the pressure.

  “Because I say what I mean, Skylar. Always have and always will.”

  I frowned, appreciating his honesty, even though his words were like an arrow through my heart.

  “We’ve got a party to get to. I’ve only got a few more hours with my favorite girl. I want to spend them wisely.” His eyes shimmered down at me, seeing straight into my soul.

  I nodded, letting our hands tangle as we walked across the lawn to the covered tables. Just before we reached the tent, he angled me around the corner. “Where are we going?”

  “Need a minute alone with you if I’m going to get through this night.”

  Warmth curled through my stomach with his words.

  As soon as we turned the corner, his hands were at my waist, his lips attaching to mine in a desperate kiss. His heavy cock pressed between us, the memory of that pierced wonder sliding in and out of me sending shockwaves through my pussy
.

  “I want to taste you.”

  “What?” he murmured against my lips.

  “I want you in my mouth, Hudson.”

  “Sky—” I cut him off when I dropped to my knees, hands working at the zipper on his pants. “Fuck. If you wanted to suck my dick, precious, all you had to do was ask.” His stormy eyes peered down at me, both of his hands working into my hair and tightening. “Tell me what you want.”

  “I want to suck you off.” Embarrassment colored my cheeks, arousal flaming between my thighs. He arched one eyebrow, stroking my cheek tenderly, waiting for more. “Please, I want to swallow your dick, Hudson.”

  “Good girl.” He pulled the zipper down on his pants and fisted his cock at the root. Just the vision of him, broad and commanding, standing with his dick in his hand and waiting for me to suck him off was powerful. I wanted to be good enough for him. I wanted to bring him to his knees.

  “Use your tongue,” he growled, the tip already glistening with a bead of precome.

  I cupped his heavy balls in my palm, enjoying the shudder that came from somewhere above me before I stroked the tip of my tongue up the silky skin of his shaft. His hips jerked, small grunts on his lips as I ran my tongue along the ridge and caught the barbell with my tongue. He grunted when I tugged on it softly with my teeth before swallowing him completely, forcing the tip of his thick dick down my throat.

  His hands tightened in my hair before I sucked up the length again, my thighs shifting back and forth as his hips jerked, his cock twitching as I sucked and swallowed.

  “Christ, Sky, I won’t last long if you keep doing that.” He growled, pulling me up to his lips and tangling our tongues together. “You’re too beautiful to be on your knees anyway.”

  He dropped to his knees then shoved my silky dress over my thighs. His hand slid against my wet pussy, swirling my arousal before his tongue lapped up my drenched seam. I sighed, hands digging into his hair for support. He wrapped one of my knees around his neck, allowing me to lean into him as he sucked and hummed at my clit.