Romance: My Stepbrother's Plaything

by Valentine, Annie

  By: Emily Sharpe

  Michaela and Raya, an MOB Romance

  ©Emily Sharpe, 2015 – All rights reserved

  Published by Steamy Reads4U

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events are purely coincidental. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.

  This book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please return it to the seller and purchase a copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Warning

  This book contains graphic content intended for readers 18+ years old.

  If you are under 18 years old, or are not comfortable with adult content, please close this book now.

  Chapter One

  Raya had always been jealous of Michaela. She was the one who, at their tiny school of only twenty kids, got all of the attention. Their father loved her best, calling her his beautiful girl and other such things. The only person who had favored Raya had been their mother, but after she passed away when they were six, her opinion stopped mattering to the little, broken family. Their father was horribly ill, and Michaela became the town harlot. She could pick up a few extra pennies that way, while Raya went out and worked the fields for local farmers. She came home exhausted and worn out, wanting nothing more than to take a hot bath, only to discover that Michaela had beaten her to it and used up all of the hot water.

  Instead of pitching a fit, Raya made dinner for the three of them, and after that, Michaela would come downstairs and claim that it wasn’t good enough. She would only eat a portion of her plate, and their father would eat even less than that. Raya was the only one left in the household who ate a full meal. After dinner, she would go upstairs, and take a cold bath. It froze her to her very core, but at the very least, it woke her up.

  Raya would wake with the roosters the next morning, usually long before dawn, and head out to work. She had fun, though, caring for the animals. Oddly, the cows were her favorite. She loved their big, sad eyes, and the way they would bellow. Raya could run her hands across their short hair, and they would nuzzle against her for more contact with a human who was actually gentle with them. She loved the horses as well, giant creatures that seemed far more dangerous than they actually were. When she was allowed to, she would take the horses and ride them until between her thighs was rubbed raw, and she was panting and red-faced.

  The only problem was that they still didn’t have enough money.

  Their father had a chronic chest cold, some type of disease from when he had traveled to lands far away. Neither of the girls understood what the doctors said, aside from when they said that it was expensive.

  Michaela picked up a job at the local grocer, but even that wasn’t good enough. Her pay was only a quarter a week, whereas their father’s medicine cost upwards of three dollars a week. There was nothing they could have done, until the stranger rolled into town.

  Michaela took an instant interest in him. She wanted to get her hands on any handsome man that she could, but the stranger was elusive. No one was sure where he was staying, or what he wanted. Some believed he was a murderer on the run, others believed that he was looking for a wife. Michaela took a sick delight in those sorts of rumors. What she wouldn’t give to be married off to some stranger and be freed from her obligations as both a daughter and a sister.

  Raya lived her life as normal when she heard about the stranger. She didn’t care about passersby, in their town, it was more common than not. People blew through on their way to California from New York, or to New York from California. It was a pit stop of sorts, and tourism was the town’s biggest source of income. During the winter months, they were hit hard, and barely had enough to go around. The summer months, though, were a different story. Money was easy to get and freely flowing.

  The only time that Raya was bothered by the stranger, was late one August night. She arrived home earlier than Michaela, a rarity. While she could, she ran to the bathroom and took a steaming hot bath. Raya sighed pleasantly as the water relaxed her, washing over each of her muscles and relaxing her to her very core. She leaned her head against the porcelain lip of the tub, sighing and closing her eyes. She could understand why Michaela was always so calm. Leading a life of luxury such as this, it wasn’t hard to imagine how good the rest of her life was.

  After her bath, Raya dried off, and dressed herself in her usual—though mildly taboo—outfit of pants and a blouse. She was given strange looks around town, but if she was going to ride a horse the proper way, she wasn’t going to do it in a frilly dress. Before she even got downstairs, Raya could hear her sister’s lilting voice, the strained voice of her father, and a voice of a man she didn’t recognize.

  Hair still sopping wet, Raya entered the living room. Her father had been stretched out on the couch until he was comfortable, with Michaela in their mother’s rocking chair. Raya furrowed her eyebrows at the sight, they never sat in their mother’s rocking chair, as a sort of respect for the deceased woman.

  A man, the one she hadn’t recognized, was lounging in the cushioned chair. He had wispy shocks of black hair that were swept to one side, and dark bags under his eyes. If it weren’t for the expensive taste to his clothes, and the way they were maintained, Raya might have thought that he was a homeless man. Of course, Michaela never would have taken a homeless man into their house.

  Michaela perked up when she saw Raya, a grin spreading across her face. “Raya!” she said, gesturing to her sister. “You remember her, Joel, I told you about her. She’s my younger sister,” Michaela explained. She flipped her long, ringlet-spiraled hair over her shoulder. She’d gotten all of the good genes. Raya could never grow her hair past her shoulders, whereas Michaela’s fell down her back like a waterfall of chocolate curls.

  The stranger turned in the chair to better face Raya, who didn’t make a move. She didn’t even offer the slightest of smiles to the man. He did all the work for her, looking Raya up and down and letting a grin spread across his face.

  “You sure are cute, Raya. It’s nice to make your acquaintance,” he said.

  “Likewise,” Raya said, though her tone was short.

  The stranger, Joel, laughed a little bit. “Michaela, you didn’t tell me that your sister had an attitude.” He turned his smile back to Michaela, who had plastered a sickly sweet expression on her face.

  “Usually she doesn’t,” Michaela said. “I think it’s just because you’re a new person in the house. Isn’t that right, Raya?” Michaela was giving her a pointed look, as though letting her know that if she didn’t act up right away, she was going to be in some serious trouble.

  “Yeah, that’s right,” Raya agreed, though she felt distant as she said the words. “I’m not used to it, that’s all.”

  “That’s alright,” Joel said. He had a sort of twang to his words, one that Raya wasn’t used to. He didn’t look like a Southern boy, though. Perhaps a Northern boy. “I think girls with a little attitude are pretty.”

  Raya blushed, and Michaela seethed. She had always been the one to receive all of the attention in the family. To hear Raya get complimented was close to poison to her, making her heart constrict and her veins boil with anger.

  “I think she’s got no manners,” Michaela retorted. Joel laughed hard at that, and her honey-sweet smile returned once more, spreading across painted lips. “So, Joel, why are you here?” she asked.

  “Are you on your way to New York?” thei
r father asked. “Boys like you from the West are always on their way to New York. They think a small life in a big city is gonna make them important.” He shook his finger. Raya rolled her eyes, he had always been a rambler. “It’s the big lives in the small towns that are important.”

  “Daddy, you’re going to bore our guest,” Michaela chided. “Why don’t we let him answer for herself?” She leaned back in the rocking chair, and it let out a delighted squeak at being used again. “What are you here for, Joel? There’s been plenty of rumors.”

  “I’m looking for a wife,” Joel said.

  Michaela sat up immediately like a bolt of lightning. “I knew it!” she cheered. “Some people were saying that you were just a vagabond, but I knew it wasn’t true.”

  Joel nodded, tossing his gaze between Michaela and Raya. “I’m looking for a wife,” he repeated, “and I want both of you.”

  Chapter Two

  Michaela let an unattractive screech rip through her, a noise she would normally never be caught making. Her eyes were blown wide—she was absolutely aghast that Joel had dared to say that he wanted the two of them. What did Raya have to offer that she didn’t? Raya wasn’t even a proper lady, running around on farms and wearing men’s pants. Maybe she wore them well, but they still looked horribly out-of-fashion. Her skin was burnt and tanned to a near brown, with dark eyes and bushy eyebrows. Michaela on the other hand, felt she was the incarnation of beauty. She wore the best dresses that she could buy, her hair was long and full and gorgeous, and she had inherited beautiful caramel colored eyes from their mother.

  “Michaela, what in the world was that?” their father growled. “Don’t be rude in front of our guest.”

  “I’m sorry,” Michaela said, though it wasn’t an apology at all. She hadn’t even come close to an apologetic tone of voice. “Did you say that you wanted both of us?” she asked. She could feel the color drain from her face at the casual look on Joel’s face.

  “That’s exactly what I said,” he agreed. “Is that really so strange to you?”

  Michaela’s instant reaction was to say that yes, it really was, but she kept her mouth shut, formulating a better way of saying what she wanted to say. She didn’t know how to phrase it, without shoving Raya under the bus, although maybe that might have been for the best.

  “Someone needs to stay and take care of our father,” she said, settling for a diplomatic answer. It had always been a skill of hers, finding the middle ground between two extremes. She had studied Aristotle at the school, and despite having a hard time understanding all of his texts, she understood the gist of it. “You can’t take the both of us, it has to be one or the other.”

  She glanced up at Raya, who seemed happy enough with the answer. Michaela knew that she would have preferred to stay and work on the ranches anyways, taking care of their father to the best of her ability.

  “That’s right,” Raya said. “He’s ill, and he needs someone to be there for him.”

  Michaela was almost amazed that she had agreed, raising an eyebrow at Raya. She was expecting her sister to have made a fuss about being brushed aside, but she didn’t seem to mind.

  “I’m sure Raya wouldn’t mind staying,” she said, with a pointed look at her sister.

  Raya had no complaints. She nodded her head, and leaned her weight on one foot. “That’s right, too. I would rather stay here and take care of him,” she said. “Besides, Michaela would make a better bride.”

  Joel looked between the two girls, as if weighing his options. His eyes lingered on Michaela, who fluttered her lashes and made herself as attractive as could be. She had porcelain skin, and delicate hands meant to dote upon men. She wasn’t at all like Michaela, who seemed to be the wild child of the two. Joel smiled, and leaned back in the chair.

  “If money is what you’re concerned about, I don’t think you’ll have to worry for too much longer,” he said. “I have enough money that I could cover your father’s medical bills for years to come.”

  “Well that’s very generous, but what about somebody to take care of him?” Michaela pressed. She could practically tell that Joel was avoiding the topic, as if he was trying to make it more of a surprise that he planned on having the two of them.

  “I think that’s what hospitals are for,” he replied. “Honestly, Michaela, I don’t think there’s a problem here. I think maybe you’re just a little jealous of your sister.”

  “Why would I be jealous of her?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at Joel. Just moments ago she had been enraptured by him, but then he had shattered the image beyond belief. She found that her anger boiled close to the surface, and it was getting ready to boil over. “I’ve got all the good looks, I can get any man that I want, and I’ve got a job that keeps me from getting sunburned and injured.”

  “Michaela,” their father scolded, “this isn’t a competition. You’re only enforcing his opinion that you’re jealous of Raya. Just keep your mouth shut and let the men do the talking.”

  Michaela shot a glare at her father that had gone amiss by him, but not by Joel or Raya. They both watched as her face transformed from doll-like to horrible, screwed and twisted. Raya raised her eyebrows, but the cruel expression only further interested Joel.

  “What you’re trying to say, Joel,” their father began, his voice drawling, “is that you’re offering money for my daughters. My only two daughters, the last two women in my family until they have children of their own.”

  Michaela had regained her usual, composed self, and she looked between Joel and her father. She found it fascinating that Joel was so interested in two small-town girls, polar opposites of each other, that he was willing to spirit them away to wherever he came from.

  “I am,” he agreed in his drawl. “And it’ll be a compensation most generous, I assure you. Your daughters will be well cared for, and will want for nothing.”

  “I’ll have you know,” the old man said, interrupted by a fit of violent coughs that wracked his entire body. Michaela stayed where she was, in a sort of spite of the old man. Raya rushed to his side, helping him to sit up. His coughing soon cleared, and he batted away Raya’s concerned hands. “That polygamy is illegal in these here United States.”

  “My intention was never polygamy,” Joel said, the words easily rolling off his tongue. “I’ll choose one girl or another eventually, but right now I like the both of them. I would like to get to know the two of them, a courting of sorts, if you will.”

  “A courting?” their father mused. He stroked his long beard, staring Joel down. “Why can’t you do that here? Why must you take them away to where you came from?”

  “I’m afraid that I cannot shower them in gifts whenever they would please if I’m so far away from them,” Joel replied. It was as though he had each of his answers easily formulated and planed out. “If I were to bestow Michaela with the most beautiful of dresses, and Raya with the fastest riding horse in all of the lands, it will have to be at my home. I can assure you, sir, that nothing inappropriate will happen.”

  Michaela blushed and turned her head aside. Her hair fell to cover the redness tinting her cheeks without the slightest tint of rouge. “Joel, you really shouldn’t talk that way in front of ladies,” she chided.

  Joel grinned at the response he had been given by the older girl. He was fascinated by her outer appearance of an angel. He wanted to tear her mask off and crush it beneath his foot. He wanted to see what the girl was truly like.

  “Begging your pardon, miss,” he said with a little tip of his head, as though he were wearing a hat he might dip in greeting. “I hadn’t considered your delicate sensibilities.”

  The girls’ father harrumphed in disdain. “Sir, if you cannot consider my gentle lilies’ feelings, then I don’t believe that you are the man for them.”

  “I believe I could be the man for them, if you only gave me a chance to prove my worth,” Joel said. “I’ll give you two hundred dollars right now, in cold, hard cash, in exchange for the two
of them. They’ll leave with me in the morning—I’ll have a coach purchased for them, and we will depart. They will write to you any chance they get, and if they are unhappy, they can leave.”

  Michaela, her blush now gone, turned to look at Joel again. He was leaning forward, with a serious gleam in his eyes. He looked like a man on a mission, and it only made him that much more handsome.

  “Daddy, won’t you consider it? I really think it’s a good idea,” Michaela said. “Two hundred dollars is a lot of money.”

  “Quiet, girl,” her father snapped. He stayed silent for a long time, stroking his beard and ignoring the lava oozing from Michaela’s fiery blood. “It’s a deal,” he finally said.

  Chapter Three

  The next day, Raya found herself waiting on the front porch with Michaela. All of their things had been packed up and were sitting between them in only three suitcases. Raya had only taken up one of the suitcases, whereas Michaela had used two of them. She was sitting on the white swinging bench, fanning herself delicately. She was dressed to the nines, as though a journey across the country was a trip to the theater.

  After the deal had been made with Joel, he promptly left. The three of them sat in silence for a long time, Raya with furrowed eyebrows and a deep frown. Michaela had squealed in excitement, throwing herself into her room and beginning to pack right away.

  Raya had only felt a deep sense of betrayal that had soured her gut.

  She supposed that, at least, she would be getting out of their small town. She could look forward to a better place to live, with better people, and she wouldn’t have to work anymore. Raya let a heavy sigh pass between her lips.

  “What’s the matter with you?” Michaela asked. A light sheen of sweat had beaded along her hairline. It was nearly one hundred degrees, and there she was, sitting in full dress.