“What about the stuff I don’t like?” I jokingly asked.
Allen’s face remained passive while he searched through the containers on the coffee table and shrugged. “Just throw out anything you don’t want.”
“You want me to throw out designer clothes? Are you high?”
“No, I want you to wear the clothes. But if you don’t like something, I’m not going to make you wear it,” he explained.
I frowned. “So return them.”
“It’s not worth the hassle. I don’t need the money.”
“Murder and kidnapping must pay pretty well,” I commented dryly, earning a chuckle from John and an unamused glance from Allen.
“You still hung up on that?”
My eyes widened as I looked to Allen incredulously. “Um, yes. How the hell would I not be ‘hung up’ on the fact that my stepbrother gets paid to kill people?”
Allen shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m certainly not losing any sleep over it.”
“Maybe that’s because you’re a sadist.”
“And here we are again, ladies and gentleman. Another sibling cat-fight. Is it going to be like this all week?” John asked with a chuckle.
Despite the logical part of my brain’s protests, I still took offense to the comment. I didn’t particularly like being lumped with Allen as siblings because we weren’t. We never had been. We were steps, sure, but we didn’t grow up together and never felt a sibling-like bond with each other. At least I had never felt one for him.
Considering how he felt about me all those years ago, I’m pretty sure the feeling was mutual.
I couldn’t work out why I was so upset though. If I was honest with myself, it was likely because even though I spent years trying to convince myself that Allen’s feelings for me were total bullshit or just a teenage crush, I couldn’t deny that I had also felt something for him in return. Just a sliver of affection— something that went far beyond a familial feeling.
Not that I had ever admitted that aloud.
But the truth was— Allen scared the hell out of me. Ever since the time he beat my boyfriend to a bloody pulp, I had been afraid of him. It was a surprise to find out that he does far worse things than just beat people up, and yet, I felt nothing. No fear. Just a weird sense of acceptance.
Maybe it was because I was certain that Allen would never hurt me or allow anyone else to do so, but I felt incredibly at ease here. At ease enough to jokingly argue with him even if my heart wasn’t really in it.
Of course, John had to go and ruin our playful banter with the sibling crap again. I sighed and shoveled another forkful of food into my mouth, ignoring the concerned glances coming from both the men in the room.
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” John said carefully, making me look up from the carton at his apologetic face. “I was just—”
“It’s fine,” I said hurriedly, not wanting either of the men to look too hard into why I would be offended by his statement. “I’m not offended. Just a little stressed.”
I forced a smile in an attempt to reassure them. John took it at face value and turned away, but one glance at Allen told me that he hadn’t bought it. I looked away from his intense stare, wondering how in the hell he could still read me so well after eight years apart.
Regardless of whether he believed me or not, he let it slide, at least for the time being. The three of us ate in a slightly tense, but not totally uncomfortable silence and when John finished his meal, he stood up and dismissed himself with a wave.
“It’s getting late and I assume you’ll be wanting to go to bed soon.”
“Yeah, that sounds good. Are you guys going to be out all night doing your evil deeds?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light and jovial.
John chuckled. “Something like that. But Allen will be with you tonight so you have nothing to worry about.”
I looked from John back to Allen and gulped. Even with the ugly clothes he was wearing, Allen was still attractive. Too attractive.
In fact, I was almost afraid to look at him for very long because in the past eight years, he had done a whole lot of bulking up. I didn’t want to look at him and notice all the ways he had grown into a man since I had last saw him.
Allen wasn’t even attractive. No, it was too mild a word. He was flat-out hot. Sexy. Jaw-and-panty dropping gorgeous.
The idea of being alone with him felt incredibly dangerous.
“See you in the morning, darling,” John said with a wink before nodding to Allen. “You too, man.”
“You know what I need?” Allen asked solemnly.
John nodded and Allen nodded back, the silence thick as they communicated with their eyes once again. After a brief moment, John turned and left, heading right out the front door. Not even a minute later, I could hear the engine of his car roaring as he pulled onto the street and drove off.
Leaving my stepbrother and I truly alone for the first time in eight years.
The last time we were alone together, he had told me he loved me then kissed me. I couldn’t even imagine what would happen if he offered a repeat.
It certainly would involve me stripping off those awful khakis.
With a start, my back went straight and I forcefully shoved away the thought of taking off Allen’s pants. I may have been a coward for running, but it seemed better than the alternative of wading through the awkward tension crackling in the air around us.
“I’m getting pretty tired,” I said as I stood up. “Do you want me to...?”
I gestured down at the cartons of food, unsure of whether or not Allen wanted me to clean up. I wouldn’t mind helping, but if he wasn’t going to ask me, then I’d gladly just run upstairs and hide for the rest of the night.
“No, I got this. Just help me carry the bags upstairs?”
I had almost forgotten about the bags of clothing Allen had purchased for me. I nodded and grabbed a handful, pointedly not reacting when he bent down close to me and grabbed a few bags before he began following me up the stairs to my room.
It felt a little weird referring to it as ‘my room’ already, but Allen had been pretty insistent that I make myself at home. So even though it was pretty strange, especially considering just this morning I had been staying in a completely different place, I was finding myself easily adjusting to the change of scenery. Much to John and Allen’s delight, I was sure.
“You can go through these the morning. Go ahead and get some sleep,” Allen whispered after he deposited the bags near the walk-in closet.
“Thanks again. For everything,” I added sincerely. Even though my dry comments might have said otherwise, I truly was grateful that I had him and John looking out for me.
“You’re welcome,” he said with a slightly bashful smile.
The sight of it immediately took me back to prom night and the events that followed it, back to when he kissed me and I was too shell-shocked to respond with anything other than kicking him out of my bedroom. It was damn near impossible for me to describe my reaction, even to this day.
Part of it had been out of anger— I felt like Allen had already fucked with my life enough.
Part of it was because the moment his lips touched mine—I knew he was telling the truth.
He really did love me. And in the split second when I allowed myself to just barely kiss him back, I could feel the fluttering of emotion in my heart.
But how could I possibly explain that to him now without sounding like a total nutcase? Sure, refusing to speak to him had been a massive overreaction on my part, but back then the biggest concern of mine had been my reputation. After the embarrassment with Don, I couldn’t stomach the idea of sullying my reputation any further.
And dating my stepbrother would have done irreparable damage.
“Goodnight,” I said awkwardly, wincing a little when I saw the disappointment in his eyes.
“Sweet dreams, Amber,” he said before turning around and leaving the room, the door softly clicking shut behind
him.
When I was alone, I flopped down on the bed and rubbed my eyes, wondering if I would even be able to sleep tonight after all the excitement of the day. Being almost traded to slavery then taken by a stranger to my long-lost stepbrother who was also in love with me was quite draining, but at the same time, I also felt more alive than I had in years.
Knowing I wouldn’t be able to sleep, at least not right away, I quietly sat up and slipped off my shoes, padding softly around the room as I gathered up the bags of clothes Allen bought me and dumping them out on my bed.
For better or worse, this was my home now and I was more than a little surprised to find that I had no problem embracing that fact. I just hoped it would become clear sooner rather than later whether it was going to be a good thing or a bad thing.
Chapter Nine
John
“She up yet?” I asked as I entered the kitchen and saw Allen sulking at the table over a cup of coffee.
He shook his head. “Not yet. She was up pretty late last night.”
I couldn’t stop the short burst of laughter that came out. “Damn. You got her already? You dog!”
Allen looked up from his coffee and shot me an unamused glare. “I didn’t get her. I heard her moving around a lot last night. Hanging up her clothes, I guess.”
That was understandable. After everything that happened yesterday, I would’ve been surprised if she had been able to fall right to sleep.
“She was probably just wired. Adrenaline rush, you know how it is.”
“Yeah but... I don’t know. I just wished she wouldn’t have acted like she was going to sleep. I would’ve stayed with her and—”
“And what?” I asked with a scoff. “Made love to her until she fell asleep? You know as well as I do how well that would’ve gone over.”
He snorted. “Like a lead balloon.”
“Exactly.”
Before either of us could say anything else, the sound of Amber’s footsteps moving down the creaky stairs hit our ears. Allen straightened in his chair and looked to the doorway, silently waiting for her to appear.
When she finally did, I glanced over and had to do a double-take. And I was man enough to admit that my jaw dropped as I scanned her body from head to toe.
“What in the—”
“Fuck? That’s exactly what I was thinking last night. What the hell, Allen?” Amber demanded angrily as she gestured down to the skintight dress she was donning. “You bought me nothing but short skirts and mini-dresses!”
My eyes widened and I turned to Allen. “You did what?” I asked disbelievingly, just barely resisting the urge to high-five him in front of the increasingly irate Amber.
Even though she was clearly pissed off with him, I really wanted to commend what an excellent choice it had been on his part. Not that she hadn’t been hot in her jeans and sweater, but to have all her goods on display like this was...
Well, there was a stiffening in my pants that was becoming rather difficult to ignore. I shifted to aim it towards the counter, hoping neither of them would notice how my cock was beginning to strain against my jeans.
“I told you that you don’t have to wear anything you don’t like, “ Allen said evenly and I wanted to pat the man on the back for sticking to his guns.
But I kind of wanted to chuckle at the same time. He was just begging for a bitch-slap.
Amber crossed her arms over her chest which only served to push up her already pronounced tits. I bit back a groan at the sight, wondering how in the hell she didn’t realize what she was doing to me with such a simple movement.
Make that us, I thought as I noticed Allen squirming around in his chair, obviously suffering from the same problem that I was.
“You couldn’t have at least bought me some underwear to wear with these?” Amber ground out and I nearly lost it.
“I did. They’re in the bag that—”
“Those aren’t underwear! They’re tiny scraps of fabric that cover nothing!” she shouted.
Fuck, the mental image alone was going to be the death of me. I turned fully away and tried to reign in my hormones, on the verge of just saying ‘fuck it’ and outright seducing her right now, whether Allen was on board with it or not.
Besides, Allen was obviously playing his own game here, which in my book meant that I was free to play one as well.
“Sorry to interrupt this little feud, but what do you want to do today, Amber?” I asked, adding a touch of sweetness to my tone before giving her a flirty smile. “I’ll be your jailor while Allen takes care of some business.”
She looked bashful for a moment and I saw a slight blush stain her cheeks, the image somehow making me want her even more. From the corner of my eye, I watched as all the color drained from Allen’s face as I staked my claim on his girl for the day.
“Don’t you need sleep? I don’t know how late you were out.”
I shook my head while I did a full-body stretch, lazily smiling when I saw her eyes briefly dash down to look at the bulge in my jeans.
“Nah. I had a nap when I got in, I’m good for the rest of the day at least. Probably for the night as well,” I added with a wink.
Allen stood up abruptly, his chair scraping loudly against the floor as he pushed it back. “I need to get ready for work. John, a word?”
I coughed a little and shook my head, trying to dislodge myself from where Allen had tightly gripped my forearm and started to drag me behind him.
“Can’t this wait?”
“No, it can’t,” Allen ground out as he pulled me out of the kitchen.
He waited until he heard the sound of Amber mulling around the kitchen looking for breakfast before he turned to me and spoke.
“You will not touch her. Are we clear?”
I rolled my eyes. “What happened to our agreement?”
“The agreement,” he ground out between his clenched teeth, “Still stands. But if we’re doing this— we’re starting it together. And I’m having her first.”
Even though the thought of spending an entire day with her in that tight little dress made me so hard I was ready to burst— I knew that Allen would murder me if I made a move without him present.
Of course, that didn’t mean that I couldn’t spend the day pushing her in the direction I needed her to go in hopes of making something happen tonight.
“I won’t touch her, I promise.”
He looked mildly satisfied by my answer and nodded sharply. “Good. Thank you.”
“No problem. I’ll see you later on, yeah?”
“Yeah, probably around six or so. I’ve got a lot of shit to get done.”
“Good luck.”
Allen snorted as he walked away.
“I don’t need luck.”
* * *
Allen
After I finished arming myself with a few emergency weapons and getting dressed for the day, I took the stairs down two at a time just to poke my head in the kitchen and make damn sure that John was sticking to his promise of keeping his hands off Amber for the day.
The two were sitting at the table chatting amicably over two cups of coffee and the sight made my heart clench. Even though I had forbidden him from touching her, I could already foresee him finding other ways to win her favor just by speaking to her.
Charming bastard.
Why couldn’t I have that? Why couldn’t Amber and I just sit together and talk like a couple of normal adults? It was another painful reminder that my past would always come back to bite me in the ass.
Then again, I never expected to have her back in my life at all.
So— glass half full.
“I’m off. See you two later,” I called from the doorway.
“Later, man,” John called back with a wave before turning his attention back to Amber, who was pointedly ignoring me.
I swallowed the sting of rejection and stalked out of the house, knowing that her frosty behavior was only because of the whole clothing fiasco.
&
nbsp; Truth was— it really hadn’t been my intention to go out and buy slutty clothes just to see her walking around my house like that. Not at all. I had originally intended to pick out a few totally neutral items— like jeans— until a shop girl asked me what Amber’s inseam was.
I had no fucking idea, so I changed my tactic to dresses and skirts. I figured since I didn’t need measurements for those, I’d surely have better luck.
Or at least that’s what I thought right up until I stepped into a store for younger women and spotted all the mini-skirts and strapless dresses and started mentally dressing my sexy-as-sin stepsister in every article of clothing I laid eyes on.
And that was where the trouble began.
Because from that moment on, I went totally nuts. It started with the skirts and low-cut tops, then the dresses, then the nighties, then finally the frilly underwear that I wanted to tear off with my teeth.
Ultimately, I had set myself up for a week of blue balls unless John could somehow sway Amber into this twisted ménage he had proposed. Because I wasn’t enough of an idiot to think she’d come to me on her own, or to me by myself. It was going to be all three of us or nothing.
I tried to summon back my anger at the thought of sharing the woman I loved with another man, but was surprised when I realized I no longer could. At all. It was just... gone.
Maybe it was the direness I felt over my chances of scoring her alone or maybe it just all came down to the fact that John and I already shared far more than most people did any ways.
Or perhaps I’m going insane.
That sounded like a winner. Either way, I prayed that John would make some headway with Amber today. He promised not to touch her, but I knew him well enough to know that his promise didn’t mean he wouldn’t be working her in other ways.
The thought raised my hackles and I gripped the steering wheel so tightly, my knuckles turned white. Not at the thought of Amber and John together, but at the thought of them together without me.
Before this is all over, I’m going to go batshit crazy. Assuming I’m not already there.
Dominion (Alpha Domain #1) Page 7