by Selena Kitt
“David—”
“And what do you think he’s going to do to you if I let you go home with your cunt full of my nut? You think he won’t notice? Because, as a man, I can guarantee you that he will. I would.”
Tears were making her eyes glassy and I tried to reign in a sliver of self-control, silently loathing myself for being the one to make her cry.
No. It’s not me. It’s him. This is his fault.
“Stay with me,” I whispered gently, moving to cup her cheek gently. “I would never hurt you, Rose.”
She shook her head hopelessly, the movement jarring her tears loose and they streamed freely down her face. “He’ll find me. He always does. He’ll find me and he’ll hurt you.”
My eyes widened for a fraction of a second before I allowed the absurdity of her comment to make me roar with laughter. She winced at the loud sound, looking at me once again with a mixture of incredulity and confusion.
“Oh, Rose. That fucker couldn’t hurt me if he tried,” I choked out, still trying to stifle my laughter. “And if you stay here, I’ll never let him hurt you again.”
“But—But he’ll come for me.”
“Let him,” I whispered, leaning down to kiss the tear tracks on her cheeks, then pressing light kisses to her closed eyelids, her nose, and the corners of her lips.
The sound of her soft sigh made my heart pound hard against my chest and a feeling of warmth spread through my body when her tiny hands came to rest on my back, hugging me closer to her.
Chapter Four
ROSE
I wrapped my arms around David and hugged him, silently praying to any higher power that was listening to let him be right. The last thing I wanted was to go back to Brandon, especially not after finally reconnecting with David, the man I had once wanted more than air.
I still wanted him that much, even after our long separation.
But even though I wanted him, even though I wanted to stay, I didn’t know if I could. It was abundantly clear that the past three years had changed him a lot more than they had changed me and I was worried about the man he had become. His behavior was already a little frightening.
My mind and my heart were screaming at me, logic trying to get me away from him, but my emotions desperate to cling on tightly and never let go. When he tilted his head and fully pressed his lips to mine again, I knew I couldn’t just give him up.
“I’ll stay,” I whispered breathlessly when we finally broke apart.
He smiled and I pulled my hands to my face, wiping away what was left of my tears.
“Are you hungry?” he asked quietly, taking my hands in his and pulling me towards the kitchen.
“No,” I said, tugging his hands to make him stop. “Not yet. Can we just... talk?”
“Of course,” he motioned towards the couch, the one he had just fucked me on, and I felt a shiver go up my spine. I made my way there and sat down, modestly closing my legs in a vain attempt to keep his attention on my face.
He plopped down beside me and got close, wrapping his arm around my back as I turned to face him better.
“How... How have you been?” I asked lamely, not quite sure where to start.
David laughed. “No complaints. Although I would’ve been better with you at my side.”
I blushed and looked down, my eyes settling on his chest. “When did you move to New York? Last I heard you were in Miami.”
“I moved here when I heard you were going to school in the city.”
I snapped my eyes back to his, looking at him sharply as I asked, “And where did you hear that?”
“I have my ways of finding things out,” he replied vaguely.
“And... And you’ve been following me?”
He shook his head. “I delegated that duty. I have a few men who keep tabs on you. I didn’t trust myself to be in your vicinity without acting on it.”
There was an unsettling feeling rising in my stomach as countless questions flew through my mind. “They take pictures of me?” I asked in a small voice.
“Sometimes, yes.”
I twisted my hands together nervously, fighting back my fight or flight instincts as they screamed at me to run. “You... called them your men? What does that mean?”
“It means they work for me.”
“Doing what?”
“Whatever I tell them to do. Things like watching you, collecting you—”
“Collecting? Really? You mean kidnapping.”
David smiled and pulled me closer to him. My body tensed with fear, but he only brushed a kiss to my forehead and whispered, “Call it whatever you like. Things of that nature, though.”
“Anything else you want to tell me?” I asked with a sense of dread.
I dared a look at his face, noticing that his brows were drawn together as he considered my question. After a long moment, he shrugged, shaking his head as he said, “Nothing comes to mind.”
His nonchalance angered me and I ground out, “What kind of business are you in that requires your ‘men’ to follow women and kidnap them?”
“Collect,” he corrected me with a grin. “And you’re the only woman I’ve ever cared enough about to follow.”
Again, my heart and my mind battled for dominance, my heart clenching at his admission but my mind demanding a real answer instead of the artful redirect.
Before I had a chance to demand an actual answer, he spoke again.
“My business itself is confidential. I’m afraid it would cause you more damage to know what I do than if I left you in the dark.”
That’s so not what I needed to hear.
“Let go,” I mumbled, my voice gaining strength when he didn’t comply with my request. “Let me go, David.”
He hesitantly let me go and I stood up, running my hands through my hair as I started to pace the room. David stood up too but allowed me my space, instead settling for lingering beside me with a concerned expression.
“Rose, just relax.”
“You’re joking, right? How can I relax? You sound like some sort of criminal!”
I watched his face closely for any minute reaction but his expression remained stoic. I hoped that his lack of reaction meant I was wrong, but it was impossible to tell. I stopped pacing and stood before him, jabbing a finger to his chest as I said, “Tell me. Whatever it is, just tell me. Please.”
His eyes lit up as a smile slowly stretched across his lips. He looked down at my finger, still pressed against his chest, then back up to my face.
When his gaze landed on my lips, I realized my mistake. By standing so close and touching him, he obviously thought that I was losing steam. David bent over and picked me up bridal-style, carrying me out of the living room and down a hallway. I slapped at his arms, shouting for him to let me go but he just kept on walking, smiling from ear to ear the entire time.
We entered what appeared to be his bedroom and he carried me to the bed, laying me down gently before climbing on top. My legs parted for him on their own accord and his smile turned lustful as his eyes started to droop with desire.
He kissed me lazily, propping up on one elbow and running his free hand down my body in a possessive manner. He unbuttoned the shirt I was wearing easily, slipping inside and pinching one of my stiff nipples. I moaned into his mouth at the sensation and my hips bucked, grinding against his cock.
David pulled his lips from mine and growled, “I need to take you again.”
“W-Wait!” I gasped out, halting his movements before he had a chance to free his cock from his shorts. “Just wait. You have to talk to me. I can’t—I can’t stay here unless you do.”
His lust-hardened look softened and he nodded, backing off of me and sliding off the bed until he was standing beside it. I buttoned the shirt quickly and accepted his hand to sit up. David crouched down, looking up at my face as he said, “Let’s talk.”
“Thank you. I need to know—”
My inquiry was cut off by a loud bang, followed by two sets of
footsteps running towards the bedroom. David stood up, placing himself between me and the doorway, shielding me from the possible danger.
I clutched his shirt to my body, watching with wide eyes as my two kidnappers appeared.
“Boss. We got to go. Target’s been spotted,” the blonde man that I bit earlier in the evening said.
David nodded sharply, turning to his right and striding into his walk in closet. I didn’t move, hoping not to attract the gaze of either of the two men who had yet to notice me sitting on the bed in the relative darkness of the room.
A moment later, David emerged from the closet, fully dressed in an Armani tuxedo. I felt my jaw drop as I looked at him, wishing it was a little brighter in the room so I could get a better look. He looked between me and my kidnappers a few times, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
“Jeremy.”
The tall, dark-haired kidnapper stepped forward, hands folded behind his back as he waited for my stepbrother to give him an order. It was incredibly strange to see David so at home while ordering around other men, especially one almost twice his size.
“Stay with Rose. Give her whatever she wants. Within reason, of course.”
I stood up then, terrified by the idea of being left alone with one of the guys who forced me to come here but the look on David’s face left no room for argument. I did my best sad eyes, silently begging him to trust me enough to leave me alone.
“Rose, sweetheart,” David started slowly, speaking as if he was about to break terrible news to someone, “We’ll talk when I get home in a couple of hours. Just stay here, watch a movie, whatever. Jeremy’s good company, he’ll take care of you.”
Jeremy nodded and looked my way. “Sorry about kidnapping you, by the way.”
I snorted, pointing a finger towards Jeremy while looking at David, “See? He knows it was kidnapping.”
David gave me an amused smile before shaking his head, leaning in to press a brief kiss to my lips. “I’ll be back very soon, alright?”
Whether I liked it or not, I knew I was stuck here with Jeremy as my babysitter. I shrugged and turned back to the bed, plopping down with a huff. David chuckled before following the blonde one out of the room, Jeremy lingering in the doorway and scratching the back of his neck.
At least he’s just as uncomfortable with this as I am.
“You need anything?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Alright, I’ll be in the living room then. If you want to watch a movie or need something to eat, just ask.”
He turned to walk away and I shouted, “Wait!”
“Yeah?”
I didn’t want to ask this man for anything, but I wasn’t willing to go snooping around the house either. I was too afraid of what I might find. So I sheepishly croaked out, “Bathroom?”
Jeremy gave me a crooked smile and pointed down the hall. I held down the hem of David’s shirt as I went to the doorway, looking in the direction of his pointed finger.
“Thanks,” I said, thankful that he simply nodded and left me alone after that.
After voiding my bladder and cleaning up the mess of David’s cum that was drying on my inner thighs, I stood in front of the mirror and splashed some cold water on my face. When I was done drying off I went back into the bedroom, closing the door behind me as softly as possible.
While I didn’t want to snoop around the entire house, I did have an urge to snoop in David’s bedroom.
I started with the small end table beside his bed, grunting with disappointment when it was only populated by an old book, a mess of gold condom packets, and a pair of silver handcuffs. I shivered with desire as I shut the drawer carefully, mentally picturing what exactly David liked to use those cuffs for.
Pushing my perverted thoughts away for the time being, I made my way over to his dresser and rooted around his meticulously folded clothing carefully, trying not to let anything get out of place while also looking for some sort of clue about his ‘business’. I got through all four drawers then went to his other dresser, repeating the process.
Nothing.
The only thing left in the room to check out was the closet and the old saying ‘skeletons in the closet’ gave me pause as I reached for the door handle.
Did I really want to know what kind of demons were in David’s closet?
Want to know? No. Need to know? Yes.
I twisted open the handle and stepped inside, searching blindly on the wall for a light switch. When I finally found it I flicked it up, closing my eyes as the bright light practically blinded me. After my vision finally adjusted to the light, I looked around with a frown.
It’s just... clothes.
He had a lot of clothes; suits, dress shirts, slacks, jeans. You name it, he had it. And everything was hung up on wooden hangers, sorted by function then again by color. I blinked a few times, taking in the almost obsessive-compulsive way that he had organized his closet. I spotted a drawer beneath his shirts and opened it to find a variety of belts and ties, all neatly in place, then slammed it shut with a huff.
What the fuck?
Right as the thought crossed my mind, something shiny caught my eye as I half-heartedly began to flip through his suits. I pushed them apart, eyes widening when they locked on the set of chrome handguns strapped to the wall behind his suits.
With renewed interested I started moving all his clothing to the side. Behind his jeans there was a shotgun, behind his t-shirts there was some sort of rifle. I wish I knew enough about guns to know exactly what I was looking at, but I didn’t. My knowledge of guns extended to how to shoot a pistol, but I couldn’t even load one if I needed to.
Maybe they’re for hunting.
Yeah. Hunting. In New York City.
I rolled my eyes at myself and pushed aside his dress shirts, gasping when I saw the variety of knives hung to the wall. After I located every weapon he had hidden, along with the chilling discovery of one empty spot, I flipped the light off and closed the doors, leaning my back against them and taking deep, calming breaths while my heart pounded wildly against my chest.
There’s an explanation for this. They’re probably just for protection.
I repeated it over and over in my head until I felt my heart rate return to normal and my fear beginning to dissipate. Knowing that I wouldn’t get any answers until he got home, I laid down on his bed for a nap, covering myself with a sheet just in case Jeremy came in to check on me.
Someone was shouting and I bolted upright in bed, terrified that I had napped for too long and forgot to make Brandon’s dinner before he got home. He hated when I did that.
As I groggily glanced around the room, I remembered where I was and sighed with relief.
No beatings today.
My relief was cut short at the sound of more shouting, then the sound of what I assumed was the front door slamming shut. A few seconds later, a pair of heavy footsteps approached the bedroom. I sat up further, hoping that it would be David returning and not Jeremy.
When the door creaked open slowly and I saw a silhouette that was undoubtedly David, I smiled to myself in the darkness. Then I reached over to the bedside table and flipped on the small lamp.
“Hey, I just woke up and—”
My words died in my throat when I looked at him. He had his black suit jacket slung over his shoulder and his tie had been pulled loose at the knot, the top two button of his white dress shirt now unbuttoned.
And the shirt wasn’t white anymore.
Ice cold fear ran up my spine as I forced myself to ask, “Who—whose blood is that?”
The End
Continued in Book Two
ABOUT ARABELLA ABBING
Arabella Abbing's favorite types of men to write about are stepbrothers and alpha males. Arabella writes both full-length novels and short, sizzling tales of dark and forbidden desires.
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Billionaire Stepbrother: Summer by Emilia Beaumont
Chapter One
I was supposed to get a tan that summer; spend time with my friends, go shopping, you know the normal girl-stuff you do and indulge in before heading off to university. I was supposed to do a lot of things but everything changed the moment I stepped foot into Chamberlin Tower; I became a prisoner with no hope of escape.
