Eventually she made it back. The street outside the garage was busy, people strolling along in the direction of the pub. Girls in heels, men in shorts and surf tees hollering as the TVR rumbled past. Friday night, she realised. The warm Cornish air smelled of salt and play, and Nic felt suddenly, blessedly numb. Let the fears shout, and eventually they wore themselves out.
Sebastian marched across the garage forecourt, big hands on narrow hips, and started down the road towards the car. His gorgeous face was set hard, his green eyes narrow and flinty, and he looked like he wanted to kick someone into the middle of next week.
Nic dropped the window as he got closer.
‘Where the hell have you been?’ he shouted, seemingly not caring one jot that he was in the middle of the street and people were staring. ‘I thought something bad had happened!’
Nic looked up at him. The fear came back, only to be drowned out a second later as the walls holding in her desire gave way and she was flooded with hot, sharp need. ‘I went for a drive’ she said simply. ‘I needed to clear my head.’
‘Don’t ever do that again,’ he warned her, keeping pace as she crawled the car along the road. She bumped the front end over the lowered edge of the pavement and rolled it into the workshop.
Nic sat for a moment, listening to the snarl of the engine and the thump of her heart. Then she turned it off, pushed open the door and got out. It took every ounce of concentration she possessed to clamp down her anxiety and put one foot in front of the other, but she had to do this.
‘You lost,’ Sebastian said, folding his arms and leaning back against the Ferrari, his dark hair and dark clothes contrasting sharply with the red paintwork. He looked like the devil standing there, watching her. She didn’t know what he saw, but his gaze made her feel like she was on fire. ‘Now I get to choose the forfeit,’ he said softly, dangerously.
Nic faltered. She felt hunted, even though he hadn’t taken a single step closer, but she could see all the power in his body, in those tanned, muscular arms and long legs and big shoulders. More than that, she could see that he knew. He knew just how badly she wanted him.
Sebastian unfolded his arms and beckoned her closer. A delicious shiver worked its way down her spine. ‘Come here.’
She knew it was wrong to give him control like this, but just the thought of it had her insides exploding with hot anticipation, and heat rushing between her legs. Her breasts throbbed so much she could barely stop herself from touching them, from trying to ease the ache.
‘Come here,’ he said again. ‘Now.’
Nic had no choice but to obey. She instinctively knew that this time, he wouldn’t stop. All she had to do was let him take her wherever he wanted her to go. Her body felt alternately hot and numb as she walked towards him.
He let her get within a couple of feet before he ordered her to stop. His gaze travelled from the top of her head to her feet, and he took his time about it. Then, ‘Strip.’
The command was issued so softly that at first Nic thought she’d heard him wrong. But one glance at his face, the hunger burning in his expression, told her she’d heard him right.
She pushed her knuckles against her mouth, then dropped her hand. Turning around, she walked over to the control panel on the wall and flicked the switches, leaving the side of the workshop where she stood bathed in darkness.
And Sebastian dressed in light.
It went against every instinct she possessed, every fear she had, fired up her own self-loathing into a burning taste in the back of her throat, but she knew she had to do this. As the grills for the workshop came down and shut out the rest of the world, she pulled off her boots and peeled away her t-shirt and threw them in his direction.
The button for her cut-offs gave way with the slightest of touches, the fabric aged and soft, and as they slowly slid down her legs she risked a look at him. His cheekbones were dark with colour, his eyes almost black as he watched her through half lowered lids. She slid off her knickers, plain old cotton that had long ago given up pretending to be any colour other than grey, tossed those towards him, and heard him exhale.
She stood there in front of him, wearing nothing but her nerves, totally exposed except for the darkness which surrounded her, protecting her. There was only her and Sebastian and the promise of sex and pleasure, locked together in their own little bubble far, far away from the rest of the world.
He swore.
Nic said nothing. She just let that dirty little word shimmer in the space between them, let herself feel the intent and the promise and the need behind it. There was no past, no present, no disappointment. She felt suddenly, shockingly powerful. Sebastian was the one giving commands, but he wasn’t the one in control.
‘You like the darkness,’ he said.
‘Yes.’
‘Have you ever driven in the dark?’ he said, his voice low and smoky and teasing, as he took a step closer. ‘Turned off the lights and let your instincts guide you?’
‘N…No.’ Nic whispered. She could barely believe what she was doing. She hadn’t been fully naked with someone else in the room since…well, since she’d been old enough to dress herself. It felt exhilarating.
‘How about blindfolded?’ Sebastian said. ‘Imagine it, Nic. You’re completely in the dark, and you’ve got to trust the person with you. Got to give them total control. Would you do it?’
Give them control. Give Sebastian control. Not her, not her fears. Give that responsibility up. Would she do it? Her hands settled on her hips, warm palms on warm skin.
‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘Yes, I would.’
‘Go in the office,’ he ordered her. ‘Turn off the lights, put your tidy little backside on that desk and start imagining.’
‘Imagining what?’
‘All the filthy things I am going to make you do.’
Nic pulled in air, let it out again with a moan. She hesitated just long enough to see those bright green eyes narrow in warning before she turned and started to walk. It took every ounce of concentration she possessed not to run. Hands shaking, she opened the office door and went in, her imagination running wild.
The desk called to her. It had sat in this office for as long as she could remember, a memory held in every scratch. She’d learned how to rewire a dashboard sat at that desk, had spent hours sat poring over the Highway Code before passing her driving test two days after her seventeenth birthday.
And now she was going to learn how to do something she’d tried and failed at so many times before. She was going to learn how to…
The sound of the workshop doors opening shunted the quiet aside.
Chapter Nine
Why were the doors opening? What the hell was going on? Nic couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t do anything except listen, her hearing super-tuned by panic.
And then things got a million times worse. ‘Sebastian!’ The female voice rang out, clear and lovely and so very familiar. The slap of flip-flops matched the pounding of Nic’s pulse. ‘It’s good to see you!’
Her hands became fists, and Nic looked upwards, as if she could find some answers in that direction. Why now? Why? Her mind flashed to her discarded clothes on the floor of the workshop, her tattered knickers, and humiliation drenched her.
She was in the office stark naked and Sebastian was on the other side of the building, fully clothed, with Ella. Holding a fist against her mouth, Nic silently screamed.
Then she grabbed a pile of folders from the top of the filing cabinet and flung them across the room. They slapped against the wall and exploded, invoices fluttering through the air like white-winged butterflies.
Her skin goosebumped, her nipples tightened against air that felt unpleasantly cold, and anger started to give way to the sickening slide of reality. One look at her clothes on the floor and Ella would know that she’d walked in on something. One look at Ella and Sebastian would be on his knees and ready to beg. Quick as a shot, Nic pushed the office door closed and locked it.
She didn’t care what happened. But she was never leaving this room ever again. She had coffee, and thanks to Sebastian’s stash of jelly sweets in the top drawer, she had a food supply. She’d quite happily stay in here until she shrivelled away to nothing and if that made her a drama queen, so be it. Because now she’d caught a glimpse of what it was like to not be the ugly sister, she’d rather stay in here forever than go back to the way things were.
‘Ella. What a surprise.’ Sebastian tucked his hands in his pockets and hoped his hard on wasn’t too obvious as he watched his ex-girlfriend float around the workshop. ‘How are you?’
‘Good,’ she said, wafting over to the Ferrari and giving it the once over. She turned and glanced at him over one tanned shoulder. She was just as blonde and pretty as he remembered, in a flowery dress that drifted around her ankles, and did absolutely nothing for him. ‘Where’s Nic?’
Naked in the office. ‘She just popped out for a minute. Listen, Ella, do you think you could…’
Ella turned back away from him, ran a hand over the bonnet. ‘And how is she?’ She sounded odd, he thought. Something was up. Mentally kissing his chance of hot and inappropriate desk sex goodbye, Sebastian wondered when he’d become such a good guy. ‘She’s fine,’ he shrugged. ‘She’s Nic.’
Pale blue eyes stared straight into his. ‘Right,’ Ella said simply, a don’t mess with me look on her face. ‘Are you sleeping with her?’
The truth seemed the least problematic option. ‘No.’
‘Are you thinking about it?’
‘Right now I’m trying not to.’ Sebastian scooped up Nic’s clothes from the floor, hiding them behind his back. ‘Satisfied?’
‘Not really.’ She turned on her heel and started walking towards the office. ‘Nic, get out here!’ She got silence as her answer. ‘I know you’re in there!’
Sebastian fell in alongside Ella, touched his fingers to her arm and stopped her. ‘Why don’t you go on up to the flat, make yourself a drink or something, and I’ll tell Nic you’re waiting when she gets back.’
Ella narrowed her eyes. ‘I know she’s in there.’
‘Now really isn’t a good time.’ Sebastian positioned himself in front of the office door and stared down the woman who had been his lover. Where Nic was dark and pale, Ella was blonde and tanned, curvaceous and confident. She was his type in every way, and yet it was Nic he was defending. Nic he was thinking about. Nic he wanted.
Ella pursed her lips, a strange look on her face. ‘I knew this would happen if I left the two of you alone. Tell Nic to meet me upstairs.’ And with that, she turned on her heel and skipped off.
Sebastian breathed in the silence for a moment, trying to work out what the hell had just happened, other than that he’d been about to have the most exciting sex he’d had in a long time, possibly ever, and he’d been interrupted and he wasn’t too happy about it.
He set his hand to the office door and knocked. ‘Time to come out, princess.’
‘I am never leaving this room ever again!’
‘You’re going to have to.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I can’t have sex with you through the door.’
He heard something that sounded like a scream before the door opened a couple of inches and a slender, pale hand poked out. ‘Can I have my clothes?’
Frustrated as he was, Sebastian recognised that picking up where they’d left off wasn’t going to happen. Not with Ella upstairs, and the all too obvious strain in Nic’s voice. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ she said. ‘Please just give me my clothes.’
He did as she asked, handing through her knickers, shorts and t-shirt followed by her boots. The door slammed firmly shut and opened again less than a minute later. Combing her fingers through her hair, Nic angled her way rapidly past him, shoulders slumped, gaze locked on the floor.
‘Hey,’ Sebastian said, his fingers grazing her shoulder. Her hands came up, and she dodged away from him as if he was something repulsive.
‘Just…don’t.’ There was such raw emotion in her words that he pulled back, even though every male instinct he possessed told him that what she needed right now was his tongue in her mouth and his hands on her arse and the hot, hard comfort of his body rocking in to hers.
He wanted to give that to her, but he knew that it wasn’t what she wanted. So instead he stepped away and watched her make her way towards the stairs that led up to her a flat like a criminal making her way to the gallows.
Her hands shook and she had to force herself to take the stairs, her legs a dead weight. Pausing by the door to her flat, Nic drew in a shuddering breath. What was she so afraid of? She hadn’t done anything wrong. Ella was the one who had run away. Ella was the one who should be feeling sick with anxiety.
But things weren’t as simple as that. Standing there in the hallway, Nic was forced to accept she didn’t know her stepsister at all. The woman on the other side of that door was a familiar stranger. Only one person in the building knew either of them and he couldn’t be part of this conversation.
Pulling in a deep, steeling breath, Nic opened the door and walked into her flat. She hadn’t seen Ella in weeks and she’d missed her. Okay, so maybe they’d never been close, and for the past few years had been work colleagues and not much more, but they were still family. They’d always got on okay, hadn’t they? Nic had worked damn hard to make sure that they did, always biting her tongue, never letting her true feelings show. She didn’t expect hugging and crying and shrieking or a big TV drama reunion, but she didn’t want this to be horrible and awkward, either.
She found Ella in the kitchen, filling the kettle. ‘You look well,’ she managed awkwardly, saying it before looking at her stepsister and realising it was true. Ella’s hair had lightened to a stunning white blonde, and her skin glowed. She looked disgustingly healthy. ‘California obviously suits you.’
The kettle wobbled, sending water spraying everywhere. Ella set it down with a curse, grabbed a tea towel from the drawer and dabbed at the worktop. ‘Nic, we need to talk.’
‘What about?’ Nic picked up the kettle. ‘Do you want tea? You must have missed it while you were away. I’ll make some. I’ll make a pot, actually.’
‘I don’t want tea.’
Nic gripped the handle of the kettle tightly. She set it back down. A sudden sense of appalling anger took hold of her, and she stared at the small white tiles on the wall until her eyes felt like they might bleed. Too many years of never getting mad with Ella stood in front of her, a brick wall built of habit and fear, and finally the injustice of it took hold.
She spun round. ‘Then what the hell do you want? And while we’re asking questions, Miss Perfect, why don’t you start by explaining what the hell you were thinking? How dare you disappear like that and dump me in it?’
‘Because I was sick of my life! I hate this stupid place, all the dirt and noise and people treating me like a second class citizen because I work in the office and don’t know the first thing about cars!’
Nic had to grab the edge of the worktop to keep herself upright. ‘What?’
Ella slumped back against the sink and folded her arms. ‘It’s not rocket science, Nic. You’re the one who knows the business. I was never anything more than a spare part. I got up one morning and realised I either did something about it now, or I’d be stuck with it forever.’
‘But…but…it was your family’s business! Your dad gave it to you!’
‘No, he gave it to us, because he’s too soft-hearted to give it all to you. You’re the daughter he always wanted. You’ve got more mechanical skill in your little finger than I have in my entire body.’
‘And what about you?’ Nic challenged, shocked at being made out to be the bad one. ‘What do you think it’s like having someone so damn perfect as a stepsister? I could never compete with you. Never. I know what people used to call me at school, Ella. How they used to look at me.’
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‘I never wanted a sister,’ Ella snapped.
‘That makes two of us. But we’re stuck with it.’
The two of them glared at each other, only the small space between them and years of practising restraint stopping the fight from becoming physical. Nic stared hard at the stepsister she’d known for more than half her life, and saw someone she didn’t recognise. Not the teenager she’d been so sickeningly jealous of, but a woman she barely knew. ‘You cut your hair,’ she said softly. ‘Why did you cut your hair? It was so beautiful.’
‘You dyed yours.’
Nic put a hand up to her hair. ‘It went a bit wrong. Were you really jealous of me? When we were teenagers?’
‘Hated your guts.’
‘Oh.’ She stood in silence as she digested this bit of information. ‘Just so you know I didn’t like you either.’ Her skin prickled, and she realised that Sebastian was standing in the doorway.
‘Wow. Sisters fighting,’ he said. ‘This could only be hotter if you were twins. Or if you were wearing bikinis and wrestling in mud.’
‘Shut up Sebastian.’ The two of them said in unison.
‘Do you want him back?’ Nic said suddenly, staring at Ella, seeing her clearly for the first time. ‘Is that why you sold him the business? Is that why you’re here?’
‘No, I don’t want him,’ Ella scoffed. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. And let’s face it, Nic, even if I did, I could never compete with you.’
Nic thought that was quite possibly the most insane thing she’d ever heard. ‘Did you forget to pack your brain when you left California?’
Ella stuck out her elfin chin. ‘Nope. Clearly yours isn’t fully functional though, if you still haven’t worked it out.’
‘I don’t want to fight with you,’ Nic said slowly.
Ella sighed, and wrapped her hands around her waist. ‘Me neither,’ she said. ‘But don’t you think it’s way past time we were honest?’
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