I leaned in close to Ian and laughed as he told me something. I only half-listened. I wasn’t even sure if it was a joke or not. It didn’t matter; I was pretty trashed.
I risked a peek in Cole’s direction. I felt a secret thrill when I saw his face, darkened with anger. Was he jealous? Did it hurt?
Ian’s hand, which had been resting possessively on my waist, was starting to creep lower. I knew if I leaned against him just right, if I looked up and tossed my hair; he would kiss me. What would Cole think about that?
I took another long sip of beer. Ian stepped in front of me, blocking my view of Cole. Our bodies were close. His arms were wrapped around my waist, pulling me even closer. A hand cupped my ass, drawing my body up against his hard form. I looked up at him expectantly.
I wasn’t thinking about our imminent kiss. I was just wondering if Cole was watching? How far could I push him?
Cole was besides us in an instant. “Okay, Ava. I think it’s time we headed home now.” He was using that commanding Dom voice of his.
Ian looked surprised at the intrusion. “Who’s this guy? Your Dad?”
Cole grabbed my hand and started pulling me away from Ian. “No, I’m her brother.”
I didn’t have time to analyze it, but his answer made me mad. Flipping mad. I started struggling and pounding on his arm trying to pull away. “He’s not my brother. Would I fuck my brother?”
We were starting to attract attention. Ian’s friends and even some other patrons were all beginning to watch the scene.
“Ava, let’s go. Now.” Cole ordered.
I knew I was creating a spectacle, but I couldn’t stop myself. “What are you going to do, spank me?”
That made Ian let go of me, and I stumbled right into Cole’s arms. I clung to him for a moment waiting for the room to stop tilting. I was drunk.
“Where’s your jacket, Ave?” Cole was asking.
Who cared about my jacket? I was in Cole’s arms again.
Chapter 19
COLE
I should have suspected earlier that she had snuck out of the lodge, but it was Ava. She never did anything sneaky. I sat for over an hour in front of that fireplace, waiting for her to come out of the closet-sized room, wondering if she was that stubborn to avoid me all night.
Even if we ended up fighting, it would have been better than me sitting there by myself, knowing she was just in the next room. I couldn’t stand it anymore. Finally, I got up and walked to her room. I could see her light on through the crack in the door. None of the doors latched properly.
I knocked. “Ava, there’s some leftover pizza in the fridge. Aren’t you hungry?”
There was no answer. She was that stubborn.
It was so quiet in there. Either she had fallen asleep, or… I pushed open the door … she had snuck out.
“Dammit.” I was pissed. The thought of her walking alone outside in the dark, in a strange place, when it was absolutely freezing, ticked me off. How could she be so stupid? I was out the door within minutes.
I headed toward the village area with all the shops because I had no idea where else I could look. Most everything was closed for the evening, so I decided to check the bar, hoping she’d be there. I was flooded with relief when I found her.
It quickly turned to anger. She was drunk which was annoying, but when I saw her flirting with some guy, I almost lost my mind. When the dickhead started rubbing up against her, I wanted to split a few heads open in the room.
She was far too drunk for her own good, and I had to get her home. She didn’t seem to appreciate my interference, but that was too fucking bad. When she made that crack about me spanking her? Well, she was damn lucky that I hadn’t taken her up on the offer, right then and there.
It took a few minutes to find her jacket, because she had me searching on the ‘left side of the bar’ – completely opposite of where she had left it. Her sense of direction was atrocious when sober. When she was drunk – she had no clue. We stepped outside and she immediately began walking the wrong way.
“This way, Ava.”
She looked confused. “Huh?”
I grabbed her hand. It was freezing. “Hold my hand – or you’ll be walking into walls any minute.”
I steered her around a lamp post. “Are you cold?”
“No.”
The temperature was well below freezing. “Where are your gloves?”
She held her free hand up in front of her face and wiggled her fingers in amazement. “I have no idea.”
I felt a smile tugging at my lips. “Put your hand in your pocket. I’ll keep this one warm.”
The hand I was holding was already warming up. She stuffed her other hand in her jacket pocket and then walked right into me. We detangled from each other. Then, she did it again.
She laughed. “I can’t walk with my hand in my pocket.”
“You’re really drunk.”
She laughed again. “Just a little bit.”
She’d only been out of my sight for a little over an hour. “How many drinks did you have?”
She held up some fingers. “Just three beers… Plus one. And that thingee.”
“Put your hand back in your pocket. What thingee?”
She slipped her hand back in her jacket pocket - at least doing what I asked. “That other thingee that made me all tingly.”
What the hell, had that dickhead given her something? “Ava, was the thingee - a pill?”
“No! Of course not.” She seemed indignant that I would ask. “It was some kind of weird shot. A Jager Bomb, he said.”
Shit, all that caffeine on top of the beers – it was no wonder she was a mess. “It’s Jagermeister and Red Bull. Jesus, you’re going to be up all night. You’re wired and loaded at the same time. Terrific.”
“I’m not loaded!” she argued. “I’m just tingly.”
I glanced at her. “Uh huh. You know, you shouldn’t take drinks from strangers, especially if you don’t know what’s in them.”
“Don’t be so paranoid.” She rolled her eyes. “I watched the bartender make it. Plus, Ian said I was adorable.”
I felt a stir of anger. “Ian? That dickhead?”
Ava stopped walking. “He’s not a dickhead. He was nice. Maybe a little bit grabby… but nice. He said I was adorable.”
I grunted. “Adorable, huh?”
She looked up at me, her eyes shining. “Yeah, I’m adorable.”
I couldn’t help it. “Like a kitten?”
She frowned. “You’re just jealous.”
I didn’t know how to answer her, so I kept quiet. Maybe I was.
We kept walking for a few minutes until she broke the silence. “I like your tattoos. When did you get them?”
My stomach clenched. It seemed like the conversation was steering into dangerous territory. “A couple of years ago.”
She tripped on the uneven sidewalk, but I kept her from falling. She continued seamlessly. “How come you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t know I needed your permission.”
She smirked. “Dad would kill you if he saw them.”
Like I gave a fuck what her father thought of my tattoos? My voice was measured, “I don’t really care what he thinks.”
“You certainly keep them pretty hidden from him.” For a drunk, she had a lot of insight.
I didn’t respond.
We were still far from our condo and she was starting to slow down. The freezing weather didn’t seem to be bothering her one bit.
I pulled on her hand. “C’mon Ava. We’ve got to keep moving.”
She stopped. “I think I’ll just take a rest here for a minute. You go ahead, I’ll catch up.”
I sighed. “I’m not leaving you and we’re not stopping. It’s freezing out here.”
She huffed like a toddler. “Well, I need a rest. We’ve been walking for hours.”
I was getting annoyed. “We’ve only been walking for ten minutes. But I’ve had to traipse all ov
er the place looking for your sorry ass tonight, so lets go. I want to get back and warm up.”
She was like a mule. I pulled on her arm, but she wouldn’t budge. I used my most authoritative voice. “Move, Ava. Now!”
She was so stubborn. I wasn’t going to fucking win with her.
“Fine,” I sighed in defeat. “Get on my back. I’ll give you a piggyback ride.”
Her eyes lit up and she made a girly squealing noise. It took a few tries, but finally I was holding her securely on my back. She was squeezing her limbs tightly around me and her chin was resting on my shoulder. We walked for a few minutes before she started giggling.
I felt myself smiling at her laughter. “What’s so funny?”
“I’m just picturing you in that gladiator costume.”
My smile disappeared. I stumbled and almost dropped her. “It was part of my job - I had to wear that.”
“The cape!” She burst out into more laughter. “Those shorts!”
Holy fuck, I could strangle her. “What about you in that stupid peacock mask? What the hell was that all about? You know, if you hadn’t worn that ridiculous mask, none of this would have ever happened.”
She stiffened on my back. There was no more laughter. “Didn’t I tell you that I never wanted to speak about it? Ever?”
“You’re the one who keeps bringing it up.” I said a little too harshly.
She hissed bitterly. “You do realize that you’ve scarred me for life. Permanently.”
I had no answer.
Shit, she was starting to cry. There was a slight warble to her voice, “Four hundred dollars I paid and I still got dumped.”
Shit. She started crying harder.
Hearing her cry hurt worse than getting kicked in the nuts. “Ava, please stop crying. Ahh, Jesus, you’re a horrible drunk.”
She sniffled. “Well, you’re a horrible brother.”
I was the worst. “I know that.”
Suddenly, she decided that she wanted to get down. She started rearing backwards and pushing against me. I tried to grab her legs to stabilize her, but she was thrashing wildly.
She started falling off my back and the only thing I could do in that moment was to twist my body so that we’d hit the snow, not the cement sidewalk. Luckily, I twisted enough so that she landed mostly on top of me.
The snow was soft and powdery, so I didn’t get hurt from the impact with the ground. I checked to make sure she was okay; her body was draped on top of mine and we were pretty tangled up. She didn’t look hurt, but she was staring at me intently.
All I could think about was kissing her. She was lying on top of me, blood was rushing to my cock and she looked so beautiful. Luckily, I wasn’t that dumb; I didn’t move a muscle.
But she did. Her lips started lowering towards mine and a million thoughts crowded through my head - I needed to stop her, she was drunk, this wasn’t right… Instead, I let her kiss me. I let her tongue slide next to mine until the need inside me flared up like the blazing sun. I was pushing into her mouth, demanding everything from her, but even then, not able to satisfy my overwhelming hunger.
We kissed for an eternity, and still would have been kissing if her ice-cold hand hadn’t touched my face and shocked me out of my lust-induced bliss. I shook my head and fought to come to my senses. This was Ava that my cock was throbbing for.
I rolled her off of me and sat up. It was the first time we’d ever kissed and I had let all the emotions that I’d repressed come raging back. I was an awful brother… but I was starting not to care so much.
~~
We trudged the rest of the way back to the ski condo in silence. Ava headed straight to her room, but I noticed the connecting door to our parent’s unit was open. I knew my Mom had probably been waiting up for us, so I decided to head her off at the pass. The last thing I needed was for her to see Ava in her drunken state, or for Ava to say something incriminating.
My Mom must have heard us come in. “Hi Cole. Did you guys go out?”
“Yeah. We went to the bar for a little bit.” I started stripping off my coat and sweatshirt. After being in the bitter cold, it felt like a sauna inside the condo.
“Oh, that’s nice. Did you hear they’re expecting fresh snow tonight? I know you and Ava will be off skiing all day.” My mom looked at her watch and continued, “We made reservations at the Greenwood Tavern for 7 pm tomorrow. Make sure you tell Ava if we don’t see you before.”
“Okay, I will.” I was half distracted by the banging noises I heard coming from the bedrooms. What the hell was Ava doing in there?
My mother stifled a yawn. “Alright. Have a good night, honey.”
“Goodnight, Mom.”
She closed the connecting door and I breathed a sigh of relief. One crisis averted. I pulled off my boots and set them by the entrance door to dry.
I didn’t hear any more banging noises; in fact, everything had gone silent. Was it possible that Ava had passed out so quickly, even with all the caffeine running through her system? With any luck, she’d sleep it off and never remember that kiss…
I messed around in the kitchenette for another twenty minutes or so, eating a slice of pizza and putting away some food I had brought with me, before I decided to turn in myself.
I headed to my room and froze in the doorframe. The light in my room was blazing and fuck me, Ava was lying passed out on my bed almost completely naked, except for her panties and a pair of crazy wool socks that went up to her knees. My cock was rock hard in an instant.
Groaning, I flicked off the light switch, feeling like the world’s biggest pervert. I knew she’d be freezing if I left her so… exposed, so I walked to the bed, trying to keep my eyes averted, and tugged on the sheets beneath her.
She rolled around for a few moments, but finally I was able to guide her under the covers. I had her tucked in and was ready to leave when she grabbed my arm.
“Cole?” she mumbled.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
She didn’t open her eyes, but she smiled dreamily. “Don’t leave.”
I sat on the bed next to her; she had such a death grip on me anyway, and waited for her breathing to grow steady and her grip to loosen. When she was finally asleep, I slipped out of the bed and picked up my gym bag from the floor on my way out.
I closed the door to my room. I couldn’t sleep in Ava’s room – the bunk beds looked too small even for a ten year old and Ava’s bags were strewn all over the bed. It looked like I was going to have to sleep on the couch.
The couch was too small for me to stretch out fully; I couldn’t get comfortable. It was lumpy and smelled like wet dog. Tossing and turning in frustration, my restless mind kept replaying everything that happened with Ava.
The stuff that had happened with April had been sizzling hot, but I gave myself a pass on that – I truly hadn’t known it was my sister. Now that I did, why couldn’t I shake these crazy feelings I was having? Maybe it was because they had been there all along. The mind-blowing kiss had just made it undeniable.
I spent the remainder of the restless night on the couch thinking about one thing: how I was going to seduce my sister.
Chapter 20
AVA
“It’s 8 o’clock already. There’s five inches of fresh powder on the ground. You’ve got to get your lazy ass up.”
I cracked my eyes open. Cole was sitting on the end of my bed. Shirtless. My heart started racing as my groggy brain tried to figure out what the heck was going on. Was I dreaming?
I couldn’t peel my eyes away from his body or his tattoos, but my mind was slowly putting the pieces together. Last night. I got drunk. The whole thing was still fuzzy. I struggled to sit up, but then realized that I was naked under the covers.
Shrieking, I pulled the covers up to my chest. “What are you doing in here?”
Cole smiled lazily. He was enjoying this. “This is my room. You’re in my bed. You’re the one who crawled in here. Naked.”
Oh my Go
d. My face flamed with humiliation. What else had I done? Or said? I couldn’t think clearly with Cole sitting a few feet from my naked body.
“Don’t worry.” Cole smiled reassuringly. “It’s not like I haven’t seen your body already.”
I was speechless. Embarrassed. And suddenly very turned on.
Cole lifted his hand; he was holding a glass. “I brought you a glass of water. And something for your head if you need it. You should probably stay away from the caffeine this morning.”
My mouth was uncomfortably dry. I had drunk about twice as many beers as I usually did, plus I had that weird Jager Bomb. I had downed them fast and on an empty stomach. No wonder I had been so trashed.
The night before started playing through my mind: flirting with Ian, trying to make Cole jealous, causing that awkward scene at the bar, stumbling home, Cole carrying me on his back. It was all mildly embarrassing, but something I could work with.
It took a few more seconds, but my mind finally caught up to the kiss. I had full on, no doubt about it, pinned him in the snow and went in for the kiss. And, unless my mind was playing tricks on me, he had kissed me back… rather hungrily. In fact, we had made out for an indecent amount of time.
I was stunned. My mouth was hanging open in shock.
Cole was smirking. Knowingly. “It’s fun reliving the memories, huh?”
“I was drunk.” I was pleading with my eyes, for him to let me off the hook.
“You were…” he paused for a second, “adorable. Yes, that’s the word I was looking for.”
I groaned. I wanted to throw the pillow at him for teasing me, but I refrained from starting something in my naked state. “Can I just have that water now? My mouth is so dry.”
He held up the glass. “Sure, here it is. Come and get it.”
“I can’t get it! I’m… naked,” I protested.
I was practically hyperventilating, but Cole looked so calm. “You’re not naked - you’ve got panties on. And adorable socks.”
My Stepbrother the Dom (Stepbrother Romance) Page 10
