Bound By Blood Anthology

Mauro’s eyes cut to me and I blushed, feeling caught, as if my inappropriate thoughts were written all over my face. I was glad he didn’t know how I felt toward him. He’d think I was being silly. “We’re well equipped with canned food and a change of clothes. A few days down here won’t be a problem.”

I nodded, then flinched when something crashed over our heads.

Mauro narrowed his eyes.

“What was that?”

“I think they threw over one of the shelves. They might be looking for a safe. Maybe this attack isn’t about us, but about information they hope to acquire.”

Again, I nodded. I’d never much cared for mob business. I’d never gotten a taste of what it entailed—until now. Mauro had been risking his life for years, since he was younger than I am now. Maybe that was why the age difference of five years between us sometimes felt so much bigger.

“Try to get some sleep. I can dim the light,” Mauro said.

I quickly shook my head. There was no way I’d fall asleep now. Adrenaline pumped through my body.

“Why don’t you watch some TV while I try to figure out a way to send out an emergency signal?”

I dropped in front of the TV like a five-year-old, but what else could I have done? My legs were shaking and my brain capacity close to zero. I took the remote and began to mindlessly flip through the channels. But I kept the volume low so I’d hear what went on above our heads, and my gaze kept returning to the trapdoor, the only thing between us and our potential murderers.

That and Mauro. He was a good shot. He’d protect us.MauroI was interested in modern technology, but trying to send out an emergency signal past whatever block our attackers had installed was well beyond my knowledge.

Stella’s eyes kept alternately following me and checking out the ceiling. She was still shaking and goose bumps pimpled her skin. Her nipples peeked through her nightgown in the most distracting way possible.

“Aren’t you cold? You can change into other clothes,” I suggested eventually.

Stella followed my suggestion and surprised me when she put on one of my sweaters. For some reason, the sight of her in my too-big clothes was even more of a turn-on than her flimsy nightgown had been. Damn it all.I spent the night and most of the day going over the manual for the keypad and turning on the heat. More to distract myself than for any practical purposes. I sat on one of the bunk beds while Stella had curled up on the sofa, only her shins and feet peeking out from my sweater.

She dozed off twice but jerked up shortly after, her breathing shaky until her eyes settled on me. “Can’t you read beside me?”

I got up and walked over to her, then sank down next to her feet. Stella propped them up on my thighs, and without thinking, I put my palm on her calf. Her skin was soft, warm and now that I felt it, I couldn’t stop thinking how much better it would feel if I trailed my hand up to her sensitive inner thigh or even higher.

I shoved the thought out of my head and focused on the tiny font of the manual. Stella sat up and caught me off guard by turning around and settling her head in my lap. For a moment, I stared down at her caramel hair, half torn between shoving her away because I really didn’t need additional images of her face close to my dick haunting my nights, and tugging my waistband down and sliding my cock into her mouth.

I shifted when I felt the treacherous blood flow down into my groin area.

“Anything interesting?”

“No,” I gritted out. Stella met my eyes, frowning. My sudden tension didn’t make sense to her. “Did you hear something? Are we in danger?”

I was in danger of losing my sliver of self-control, and she of losing her honor.

Something in her expression shifted, as if she knew what I was thinking.

I’d on occasion thought she’d looked at me with more than step-sisterly affection, but had blamed it on my own forbidden desires. Now I wasn’t so sure anymore.After an early dinner of a can of cream of mushroom soup and some crackers, Stella slipped into the tiny bath-cupboard. The door was thin and I could hear every muttered curse as she tried to change in the narrow space. I tried not to imagine how she undressed, how she’d look naked.

“Ouch!” Stella muttered.

I chuckled despite the situation.

Silence followed behind the door.

“Can you hear me?”

“Of course, I can hear you.”

More silence. “You have to cover your ears.”

“Stella, I’m not going to cover my fucking ears. I know how it sounds when someone pees, so get on with it and don’t you dare turn the water on to cover up the sounds.”