My stepbrother.
The man who’d just been gifted the family company.
And he had just fucked me senseless.
I slowly pulled myself from his arms and slid my body down onto the floor. Tears burned behind my eyes as I picked up the pieces of clothing that were scattered along his floor, and the only thing I could think about was the bratty little dickhead I’d grown up with. Christian, the little boy that would never leave me alone when I was younger. Christian, the slacker idiot in high school who never had to work to get the good grades.
Christian, the boy I’d called my stepbrother for years.
I had fucked the man that little boy had turned into.
I put on my clothes as I walked down the hallway, and by the time I got to his front door, I was slipping on my shoes. I was fully sober despite the four glasses of wine I’d had at dinner, and my mind was swirling with questions and things I didn’t understand.
When in the world did I start feeling this way about Christian?
Why the fuck didn’t we talk about work during dinner?
Why the hell had Christian taken me somewhere so nice?
Why in the world did I dress as if he would?
What the hell had I just done?
I grabbed the rest of my stuff and threw open his front door. I didn’t care if I didn’t lock it behind me, and I didn’t care if it woke him up. All I knew was I couldn’t stay here. I couldn’t face him in the morning knowing what we’d done. I’d just fucked my business partner, I’d just fucked the man whose company I was trying to usurp, and I’d just fucked my stepbrother.
What in the world would my father think of me now?
Chapter Seventeen
Christian
I stretched my arm across the bed and expected to feel her there. I expected my hand to flutter across that soft, pliable skin I couldn’t keep my tongue off last night. I expected to thread my arm around her waist and pull her close before I buried my nose deep into that jet black hair before I snuck my leg in between hers.
I expected to feel the closen
ess of her body as we woke up together.
Instead, I found the bed empty. My eyes popped open, and I looked around the room, but none of her clothes were to be found. Suddenly, every single memory from last night came flooding back to my mind, and I was painfully aware of what had happened.
I had slept with my stepsister, and I had wanted her there when I woke up this morning.
She had looked radiant last night. From the way her clothes draped around her curves to the way we talked easily with one another, it was incredible. We had discussed nothing about work and had opened up to one another in a way I had never experienced growing up around her, and I was excited to be shown that part of her.
I saw the part of her that reveled in the beauty of a sunset. I saw the part of her that needed a little bit of alcohol to forget things. I saw the part of her that wasn’t perfect, that needed something to ground her to reality.
I saw her vulnerability, and it made her shine in ways I don’t think she realized.
I sat up in bed and stretched before I swung my legs over. My thigh rested upon a crusted spot on my bed, the only evidence I had of what happened last night. I couldn’t blame her for leaving, but it felt empty without her here. The room smelled like her. The bed had her scent. I bet if I went downstairs and sat on that couch it would puff up residual smells of her the moment I crushed the cushions.
My house had easily soaked her up, just like my body had.
I had wanted to wake up to her. To enjoy breakfast and laugh alongside her in my kitchen. I hadn’t been ready to let go of her yet. I felt that we still had a great deal to enjoy with one another.
I had wanted to wake her up with my head buried between her legs. I didn’t have time to show her that part of me last night.
What I did know was we needed to talk. I needed to make sure she was alright, and if I knew Stella as well as I thought I did, I had to reassure her this wouldn’t affect the company. While I wasn’t under the impression she was still attempting to take it from me, this would be something that could spiral her back to that train of thought.
And that was the last thing I wanted.