He stared at her with his mouth hanging open. ““Christina, that’s brilliant.”
She blushed. “Really? Thanks.”
He turned back to stare at the computer. “That’s an amazing idea, really. Come with me, and we’ll present it to Josh and Adriana, the team that designed the ad. You can shadow them while they make the changes you’ve suggested.”
“That would be AWESOME!”
Without thinking, she leaned down and planted her lips on his cheek. Even though it was an innocent kiss, desire welled inside of him. She felt him recoil away from her lips.
“Sorry,” she whispered, putting her fingers to her lips and backing away. “I just got really excited.”
“It’s fine. Just don’t let anyone else see you doing that,” he said as he pushed his chair back. He was glad the contact didn’t last any longer.
“Come on,” he said, leading her to the door. “Let’s put your ideas to work.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Christina kicked off her shoes and collapsed on the couch. Not that her day had been difficult, but those strappy heels had been a terrible idea. Even though they made her calves and ankles look amazing.
Speaking of amazing, that was the word she’d use to describe how Lucas looked now. He had always been gorgeous, but now he was beyond gorgeous. He was… amazing!
There was something about the way he rolled up his sleeves and stretched over his desk that sent shivers to her toes. She wondered what he looked like without the expensive clothes. She wondered how he had changed over the years.
She closed her eyes and began to doze.
* * *
“Hey, kid.”
Christina frowned. She was twenty. She was certainly not a kid anymore. “I’m in college,” she pointed out as she rolled her eyes. “I’m not a kid anymore.”
Lucas shrugged and leaned against the kitchen counter. She could feel the intensity of his gaze as his eyes swept over her. She was dressed only in a pair of yoga pants and a tank top.
“You have the word juicy written across your ass,” he said. “That still makes you a kid.”
“What are you doing here, Lucas,” she asked with a frown. Her mom hadn’t said anything about him stopping by. He didn’t usually stop by until Christmas, and that was still a week away.
He flashed a wicked smile, and she ached to touch him. God, he always looked so good. She wanted just one taste of those sensuous lips.
He said, “Your mom said she was having issues with her car, so I offered to stop by and take a look at it today.”
“You know anything about cars?” she asked dubiously. Lucas was the button-down business type. He wasn’t the hands-on type.
He stepped closer to her, and her body immediately responded. She shivered as he stopped only inches from her. “I have many talents, kid,” he whispered. He reached his hands up and opened the cupboard behind her for a glass.
Every nerve in her body screamed to be touched. God, she wanted him to lift her up on the counter and devour her.
He snickered as though he knew what she was thinking and tuned to get some water out of the refrigerator. Her eyes narrowed as she watched him walk away. He wanted to tease her?
Two could play at that game.
The sound of her ringtone shook her awake. She blinked her eyes in surprise, as if she expected young Lucas Powers to be standing before her. She crossed her ankles and squeezed her legs together to squelch the fire in her vagina. Shaking her head, she dug into her purse until she found her phone.
It was her mom.
Her heart sank, and she blew out her breath. She hadn’t told her mom that she was working for Lucas, but she knew her mother well. If she didn’t answer the phone, her mom would probably assume something terrible had happened and call the cops.
“Hi, Mom,” she said, sounding as cheery as she could.
“Hi, honey, how are you?” Her mom always sounded excited to hear her only daughter’s voice. “I’ve been leaving you messages, but I guess you’ve been too busy to call.”
There is was; the guilt that came with every call from her mother. Christina said, “I’m sorry, mom. I’ve been slammed with school and stuff. I was going to call this weekend.”
“Well, I’ve been dying to know about the internship you applied for. Your text message said you got it, but then you didn’t give me any more details. Tell me all about it! Where is it? What are you doing?”
Christina thought about lying to her mother, but then decided against it. What was the big deal? It all happened innocently enough. It wasn’t like she and Lucas planned it.
She took a deep breath and said, “It’s at Pearl Magazine.”
There was a pause on her mother’s end of the phone. “Pearl Magazine? Isn’t that where Lucas works?”
“It is,” Christina said with a laugh. “Actually, he’s my boss. Isn’t that funny? I didn’t even know that he worked there, and then there was mix up about the new interns, and he wasn’t supposed to be my boss, but then he was. It was all really strange. But he promises to keep things professional if I do!” The information was met with silence. “Mom? Are you still there?”
“I’m here sweetheart,” he mother said quietly. The humor had left her voice, replaced by caution. “I’m just processing the news. So Lucas is your boss. Well, isn’t that nice. That means you’ll learn something rather than just feeling useless.”
“Yes, I hope so.”
“Chris, why didn’t you just tell me?”
“I just told you,” she said defensively. “I’ve been busy.”
The concern returned to her mom’s voice. “Oh, honey, do you still have a crush on Lucas?”
“Mom!” Christina hated how her mom could still make her feel like a whiny teenager. “Look, it’s not like that. I did feel weird about it in the beginning, so I didn’t tell you. But it’s working out just fine. It’s not a big deal.”
“His father and I used to joke about the chemistry between you two,” her mother teased. “We thought it was cute.”
Christina’s cheeks flushed at the thought of her mother and Doug having a laugh at her expense. She said, “There’s no chemistry. I was a stupid teenager and he was an attractive man. I’m all grown up now, mother, and he’s my stepbrother.”
“Emphasis on the word step,” her mother said dryly. “Christina, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I was just teasing you, but I see that I’ve hit a nerve. Do you want to talk about it?”
Yes. She desperately wanted to talk to someone about it, and normally that someone would have been her mother. They were close, but for some reason, she was embarrassed to talk about her feelings for Lucas with her mother. It just made her feel… dirty.
“No. There’s nothing to talk about,” she said, hoping her mother wouldn’t press the issue further.
She heard her mom sigh on the other end of the phone. “Okay sweetheart, I’ll let you get some rest. Just keep this in mind; sometimes it doesn’t matter how you meet someone. It only matters that they entered your life for a reason. Life is strange like that. Don’t let fear stop you from doing what it takes to be happy.”
“Thank, Mom,” she said softly. She clicked off the phone and stretched across the couch. Had her mother just given her the go-ahead to pursue her stepbrother? She knew her mom was progressive, but wow, this was a bit of a shock.
“No,” she said aloud to herself. A relationship with Lucas would be amazing, but it would also be confusing for everyone involved. Talk about an awkward Christmas at grandma’s house! “Granny, you remember Lucas, my stepbrother AND my boyfriend… Granny? Granny?”
She had to find a way to get Lucas out of her head. And maybe the best way to do that was to figure out why he was always in her head. It was easy to obsess about something she couldn’t have. She did it all the time. But maybe, if she just has one night with him, she could get him out of her system. They could go back to being boss and intern… stepbrother and stepsister…
/> What about the repercussions of their actions? Their relationship didn’t just end with the job. And what if he turned her down? How humiliating would it be to have to see him four or five times a year for the rest of her life knowing that he had spurned her advances?
“But he wants me, too,” she whispered. She could see it in his eyes when he thought she wasn’t looking. She could feel it in the way his body tensed when she was near. She had seen the bulge in his pants on more than one occasion.
Perhaps if she timed everything just right, he wouldn’t have the power to tell her no. And maybe afterwards, they could both finally find some peace in their life.
CHAPTER NINE
She showed up at Lucas’ apartment unannounced with a large pepperoni pizza and a six pack of Sam Adams, his favorite beer, or so she recalled. She rang the bell and did her best to wait patiently.
Her heart was beating in her ears. She took a few deep breaths and by the time he came to the door, she had a smile plastered on her face.
The door opened and he stood there looking at her with his mouth hanging open. She was dressed in leather mini-skirt and heels that showed off her legs and a black button up that complimented her breasts.
His lips moved for a few seconds before any sound came out. “Christina? What are you doing here?”
She shrugged. “I was having drinks with friends and suddenly remembered how much you loved pepperoni pizza and Sam Adams beer.” She held up the pizza and the six pack. “I thought to myself, hey, why don’t you grab a pizza and a six pack and go see Lucas.”
“Uh, OK,” he said, taking the six pack and stepping aside. “Come on in. Pardon the mess.”
She hadn’t been to his apartment in years, but nothing had changed. The place still looked like a college dorm with its cheap raggedy furniture and expensive high tech gadgetry. There was a worn couch in the living room, and a sixty inch flat panel on the wall with a split screen showing two simultaneous football games.
She followed him into the kitchen and set the pizza on the counter. He put the beer in the refrigerator and told her where to find plates. He popped them each a beer and they stood in the kitchen to eat.
“That smells amazing,” he said, snagging a piece of pizza and bringing in to his plate. It was warm and tangy in his mouth as he bit down. He nearly moaned. She smiled as she watched him chew.
“I appreciate this,” he said, licking his lips. He picked up the beer and toasted her with it. “Thanks, sis.”
“I’m not your sister,” she snapped.
The beer stopped halfway to his mouth. He’d meant to tease her, not piss her off. He gave her a serious look. “What’s really going on here?”
She took a moment to choose her words, then looked him in the eye and, perhaps for the first time, opened her heart to him. “I’m not seventeen anymore, Lucas. I’m not that teenage girl who loved to tease you because she knew you’d never do anything about it. We are adults. And it’s time we discussed this sexual tension between us.”
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” he said emphatically. “We tease each other in fun. We always have. There’s no sexual tension between us.”
“Really?” she cocked her head and stepped a little bit closer. “So your pulse doesn’t jump whenever I move close to you like this? You don’t look for an excuse to get away from me whenever things get a too hot to handle?”
He cleared his throat and backed into the counter as far as he could go. She continued to move towards him like a cat stalking its prey.
He said, “Look, I can’t deny that I find you attractive. You’ve always been attractive. And maybe, when we were younger, we went a little too far with our teasing. But things are different now.”
“They are different now, Lucas,” she repeated. Her whole demeanor changed as she stopped inches from him. She took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. “I don’t want to keep denying it. Do you?”
“Christina, we can’t do this,” he said weakly, as if wearing down. He couldn’t deny the fire that was burning low in his belly. The closer she got, the more his body reacted.
When she looked at him, it wasn’t the look of a spoiled teenager hell bent on making his life miserable. It was the look of a confident woman that knew exactly what she wanted.
“Every time I touched you when we were young,” she whispered, “It wasn’t to torment you. I just wanted to know how your skin would feel under my touch. I wore the skimpiest bikinis I could find just so you would feel like I did.”
He swallowed hard. “That was torture, but I wanted you even when you were dressed in sweats.”
“We’re not kids anymore,” she said, her breath warm against his face.
“Christina, I’m your stepbrother. I’m your boss,” he hissed. He wanted to step back, put more space between them, but he had nowhere to go. When she finally got close enough to touch him, she reached out and lightly brushed her fingers over the material of his shirt, tickling his chest. His muscles tensed, and he held as still as possible.
“In three weeks, you won’t be my boss anymore,” she reminded him softly.
He struggled to be the voice of reason. “There will always be Christmases and Thanksgivings,” he said, swallowing hard. “How will we keep the family from knowing that we did this?”
She raised her head and stared into his eyes. One by one, she slipped the buttons of his shirt undone. “I would rather live with my guilt for the rest of my life than spend it wondering what it would feel like to have your lips on me. I can’t get you out of my head, Lucas. Every man I’ve ever been with, every guy I’ve ever dated, has always had something that reminded me of you. And I have a feeling that they’ll pale to the real thing. Please. Make love to me now.”
Christina spread open his shirt and felt all resistance leave his body. With a growl, he grabbed the back of her head and brought it up for a searing kiss. As her lips touched his, all logic fled. The only thing he knew was that the woman of his dreams was standing in front of him and asking him to fuck her.
She put her arms around his neck and he embraced her silky warmth. Shivering under her touch, he drew her closer so that she practically melted on him. His hands tangled into her soft locks of hair as his mouth moved urgently on hers. Just the taste of her was enough to dissolve any resolve he might have left.
Grabbing her waist, he lifted her until she was seated at the edge of his kitchen table. She pulled the shirt off his shoulder as he gently laid her back. Even fully dressed, she was an erotic sight as he loomed over her.
Gently, he undid the pearl buttons that held her crisp black shirt in place. His breath was heavy as he finally spread the shirt and gazed at her body. Beneath, she wore a lavender lacy bra, and as her breath deepened, her chest heaved. He slid a finger over the lace and smiled.
“I’ve never forgotten that purple bikini,” he muttered.
A wicked smile crossed her face. “I knew you remembered it.”
“Damn right I did,” he breathed. “And now I’m about to do to you everything I wanted to do then.”
He lifted her up, reached around, and undid her bra. Removing it and her shirt, he finally reached down to run his tongue over her sensitive nipples. She cried out and arched into his touch and moaned as he finally fulfilled one of his desires.
With one hand, he skimmed her legs until he was reaching under her skirt. She twisted her legs around in a breathy moan as he moved higher and higher up.
“Please,” she whispered softly. “Do it.”
He leaned up to capture her lips again, and he stroked her softly beneath her skirt. She made a little mewling sound in her throat, and suddenly, he was desperate to know what she would sound like when he made her fall apart.
Abandoning her lips, he traveled down her body, softly blowing on her skin. Every inch of her body was perfection, and he wanted to make sure that he didn’t miss anything.
He wanted to touch her everywhere, see what made her shiver and what ma
de her moan. She planted her heels on the side of the table and lifted her hips as he hiked her skirt up to her waist. As he gazed at her matching panties, he realized that he had officially ruined this table forever. He would never be able to look at it again without thinking of her.
And suddenly, he didn’t care.
He pulled the scrap of lavender lace down and gently kissed her shaved mound. “Oh,” she hissed as he flicked his tongue over her clit. He knelt before her and parted her pussy lips with his fingers and fulfilled what had become one of his favorite fantasies.
Soon, she was crying out as he brought her closer and closer to the edge. Only when her hips surged off the table and her body shook did he finally release her.
CHAPTER TEN
Christina shuddered when she finally came crashing back to earth. She was aware of her body sliding across the wood as Lucas lifted her easily from the table and carried her to the bedroom.
She’d dreamed of this moment for years, and nothing had come even close to the truth. Despite having already found her release, she found herself yearning for more.
As he laid her gently on the bed, she ran her hands across the comfortable material underneath her. He carefully eased his body on top of her and kissed her forehead.
“Are you sure you want to do this,” he asked, brushing her lips with his. She could taste her juices on his tongue.
She reached out and ran her hands over his chest until she could playfully dip them under the waistband of his pants. A delirious look of pleasure crossed his face, and she knew there was no going back.
“Don’t you dare stop,” she whispered.
For a moment, she felt him leave her. Propping herself up on her elbows, she looked up to find him removing the rest of his clothes. As they piled into a heap on the floor, the look in his eyes mirrored her own emotions. She reached for his hard cock and pulled him to her.
Her breath caught in her throat when he plunged into her in one powerful emotion. She cried out in pleasure as her rhythm came to match his. Their bodies melted together. She wrapped her legs around him and used her feet against his ass to force him to push deeper and deeper into her. They were a perfect fit.
Romance: My Stepbrother's Plaything Page 3
