Stepbrother's Secret

What is going on with me?

I shouldn’t want to hold hands with my stepbrother, should I?

Finally, Tristan lets go and steps back, guiding me toward the building with his fingers on the small of my back. A doorman opens the glass double doors for us and we step into a black and white marble hallway with gold accents, green potted plants spaced evenly apart. My mouth is open wide enough to catch files, but I can’t believe this is where I’m going to live. I’ve read about doorman buildings in some of my books and old editions of Daddy’s Sunday paper, but I never expected to see one in real life, let alone call one my home.

Tristan presses a button for the elevator. My first ride in one. Ever.

I’m excited…right until I step into it. And it starts to fly up. Up. All the way to the top of this building that reaches into the clouds? Oh God. Oh God. That’s so high!

“Cate?” I look over at my stepbrother to see him watching me with mounting concern. “Jesus, are you all right?”

I shake my head vigorously.

That’s how I end up in Tristan’s arms, clinging to him like I did in the glen.

Only this time, I don’t know how I’ll ever let go.

3

Tristan

Fuck.

I stare at our reflection on the other side of the elevator. At the girl using my forearm as a seat for her impertinent backside, my opposite hand buried in her unruly blonde hair.

Her legs hugging my waist like a lifeline.

Trembling. The way she might after an orgasm.

My cock has been hard since I saw Cate on the tire swing, but it begins to leak now, no longer able to withstand the pressure she creates in my balls. The goddamn dress barely covers her backside and God help me, I lift the hem a few inches, groaning silently at the tight, tanned cheeks of her ass, spread just enough to show me her light pink asshole. I drop the hem quickly before she notices, calling myself a sick bastard for taking advantage of her when she’s obviously terrified. Clinging to me for comfort, trusting me because I’m her stepbrother.

I can’t touch her.

Can’t turn and pin her to the wall of the elevator, hit the emergency stop button and fuck her virginal body, our relation be damned.

How can I even consider it?

There is a camera in this elevator. I’m already going to have to perform damage control from simply holding Cate like this. With her pussy squeezed up against my fly, all hot and sweet, no panties to cover her. She’s so inexperienced, she doesn’t even seem to register my throbbing erection or what it means, even though she certainly feels it.

God. God, how am I going to stand this? Being near her? I should have avoided this temptation at all costs, but when my father suggested she remain in North Carolina, I couldn’t abide that, either. I need her near me. Need to care for her. Protect her.

I turn my head and inhale the wild berry scent of her hair, barely resisting the impulse to open my mouth on her neck, get the taste of her on my tongue.

The elevator dings and she trembles again, whimpering and tightening her hold around my neck. Man, you truly are a bastard. Instead of comforting her, I’m lusting for her young body in ways I’ve never lusted before. Didn’t even know were possible.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” I say gruffly, unfurling my fist from her hair to stroke it gently. And when she relaxes a little, my heartstrings pull taut. “I should have warned you how fast it would go. I forget you haven’t been exposed to a lot of things and I apologize.”

“No, I’m sorry,” she whispers. “You must think I’m so silly.”

“I could never think that.”

The elevator doors open and I step out of the elevator, into the marble corridor. Slowly, I carry her down the hallway lined with paintings and golden sconces, counting the cameras that turn slowly to keep us in view.

On the ride from the airport, I received a text from the realtor with the apartment number, letting me know there would be a key waiting beneath the welcome mat. But I’ll need to set down my stepsister in order to retrieve it. I’m loath to do so, even though we’re being watched, even though it’s fucked up and has already gone too far, but I linger with her in my arms, rocking her side to side, absorbing the innocent heat between her legs.

“I have to set you down now, Cate. So I can get the key. Are you okay?”

She nods into my neck, her legs unhooking from around my hips. With a sniff, she slides down the front of me, her eyes reflecting her curiosity when her softness drags over my erection. Thankfully, she only studies me through her eyelashes, but doesn’t ask questions. What the hell would I say? That in less than five hours, I’ve developed a deep, dark obsession with my stepsister and it’s taking further hold by the second?