by Naomi Niles
“I assure you,” I replied through gritted teeth. “I am nothing like you.” He boomed out with laughter, which caused a red mist to descend over my eyes. “I’ve spent my whole life working to become the complete opposite to you.”
A million expletives ran through my mind, but I forced myself to keep them inside. As angry as I was, it was much better that I kept at least some peace–I didn’t want to be forced away from Danica at this stage, when she’d only just started talking to me again.
“Okay, son, anything you say.” I held my fists tightly together, trying my best not to lash out. I could feel myself taking deep breaths, but they weren’t calming my down at all. “We’ll all see soon enough, anyway.”
And then he walked from the room, leaving me to stew in my anger. I couldn’t believe how bad he’d made me feel with just a few short words. How the hell did he manage to have so much power over me? It wasn’t fair. How dare he make any kind of fucking judgment on my behavior when he was the worst kind of human being on the planet? It wasn’t right.
I was so filled with rage that I didn’t even know where to put myself. I wanted to run away, to punch every surface I could find, and to scream and yell all at once. But I couldn’t do any of those things, not if I wanted to prove him wrong.
Just let it go, I tried to tell myself, think of the day ahead. Focus on you and Danica, instead.
I got my phone out, just to look at the photograph of Danica on my screen in the hope that her face would make me feel better. Her shining eyes and beauty went some way to calming me down, but it was still there stewing its way inside of me, like a nasty, vicious virus that I couldn’t shake.
“You’re just like your old man, you.”
How the hell could he even say that? I didn’t really know him, and he certainly didn’t know me, so what was he trying to suggest? Was he hinting that I intended to seduce Danica? That was certainly the impression I got from his words.
Okay, admittedly there was an element of guilt that I wasn’t being totally honest with him on that front, but that didn’t make me like him. I met Danica before; I liked her so damn much that I could easily fall fully in love with her. She wasn’t just some bimbo that I wanted to screw, it was nothing like that at all.
I would never, ever be like him.
I fucking hated his guts.
“Right,” I muttered to myself. “It’s time.”
As I trudged up the stairs, I tried desperately to shake my black mood, but it was hard. All the excited energy that I’d been feeling the previous night and this morning had been replaced by a weird anger–one that didn’t feel like it would ever go.
My fucking dad was an asshole. I hated him with a passion. Apart from getting to see Danica again, I wished that I never came here.
Knock, knock.
It wasn’t until Danica’s face peeped around the door, that I actually managed to push all of that aside and focus on just her. A photograph wasn’t enough, but the real thing was enough to overcome any negative emotion. When I was by her side, I could feel the intensity of that connection again, and somehow that managed to make everything okay again.
“Are you ready to go?” I smiled. Even with no makeup on, and her hair hanging naturally down her back, she was the most beautiful woman that I’d ever laid my eyes upon.
There was no way I could let her go, not for anyone in the world.
Especially not for him.
Chapter Nineteen
Danica
“Oh my God, you were amazing!” Rhett declared, sounding genuinely shocked by my kayaking abilities. Had he not been there at Camp Woodtree? Had I not beaten him on more than one occasion? There was absolutely no reason for him to be so stunned now!
“I wish that I could say the same about you,” I laughed, clearly joking. He was brilliant, but I was enjoying having some of our banter back, and I couldn’t resist winding him up.
“Yeah, yeah,” he shoved me playfully, and as soon as his hands touched my arms, the sparks shot back through me. From the way that Rhett jumped away as if he’d been electrocuted; he could feel it, too.
Uh oh!
I shot him a smile, trying to dispel some of the awkwardness, but it was back with a vengeance. This trying to be friends when there were clearly so many emotions flowing between us was not going too well. It was as if there was a massive elephant in the room, and neither of us were ready to address it.
Aside from that, the day had been absolutely magical–a welcome break from the rest of my insane summer which had been plagued solely by a wedding that wasn’t even mine. The weather was bright and cheerful, the water had been perfect for kayaking, and we’d even seen some awesome wildlife to top everything off.
For me, it had been the perfect date.
Not that this was a date, of course.
Urgh, I really wished this was a date!
“Shall we have some lunch?” Rhett asked, changing the subject drastically. “I packed a picnic for us.”
At the mere mention of food, my stomach started to rumble and I realized just how hungry I was. “That sounds great,” I grinned enthusiastically. “Thanks.” I felt touched by the effort that Rhett had gone to, making this an amazing day, and the fact that he’d even bothered to pack some food didn’t go amiss.
“Okay great,” he started to scan his eyes along the sandbank. “If I remember rightly, there’s a really nice picnic spot along here.”
I followed behind him closely, suddenly wondering if he’d ever taken another girl along here to eat. The pit of unwelcome jealousy started to eat me alive, which I knew was very wrong. If we were going to be stepbrother and stepsister, then seeing each other with other people was inevitable.
I knew that, so why did it hurt so badly?
“Here,” he suddenly announced, dragging my attention back to him. As I glanced up, I found myself in a gorgeous, secluded like area, surrounded by trees, with a small gap revealing the river. It was absolutely amazing, and exactly what I needed.
“Wow,” I gasped, sitting down on the warm ground. “This is lovely.”
“I came here a couple of time with my friend James,” he said casually, whist unpacking the awesome food that he’d brought with him. I couldn’t help feeling glad that he’d not been here with a date before; that would have been too weird for words. “When we were kayaking or hiking.”
“Yeah?” I asked, intrigued to find out more about him. “That must have been fun.”
As he told me some more about his childhood, and we tucked into some incredible sandwiches, I found myself becoming mesmerized by his eyes once more. Maybe this was too soon, maybe I shouldn’t have agreed to hang out with Rhett until I was fully over him, but at the same time, I was so glad to be there.
I felt like I was on an emotional rollercoaster, one with no end.
“Are you okay?” Rhett eventually turned more serious, and the imploring look he gave me had me wanting to open up.
“Honestly?” I asked. “Not really. I don’t feel like anything is right about our situation.”
He looked down at his shoes, sadness filling his expression. “I know, it’s very…complicated, isn’t it?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to. We both knew that we were in a mess.
“Is that all?” He continued, causing my heart to thump loudly. As I glanced back up, he was staring right at me as if he could see right through me, as if he knew that I was holding something back from him. Did he know about the baby? Is that what he was referring to? I knew it was impossible because I hadn't told a soul, but that didn’t stop me from panicking all the same.
Then, my body did something crazy, something that I’d promised myself I wouldn’t. Instead of making a decision about the right thing to say, I leant forward and I kissed Rhett passionately on the mouth.
At first, he seemed too stunned to even consider resisting or reacting, but after a few moments, a lusty haze overtook us both, and he placed his hands on the back of my neck, pull
ing me in for a deeper kiss. As our lips moved together in harmony, everything else in the rest of the world seemed to melt away, and all I could think about was me and him.
Rhett started to crawl over me, pushing me back into a lying position, and I didn’t even consider stopping him. Sure, this was taboo and very wrong, and yes we were outside in public where we could get caught at any moment, but somehow that made it all even better. It made my anticipation and excitement levels even higher.
The stakes were so high, which made this ever more passionate.
After a few moments, he pulled back to look at me, resting his forehead against mine. Something about his intense gaze had me stopping, just waiting under his scrutinizing stare. I could tell that he was drinking me all in, and I liked that. I’d never felt so wanted by anyone in my entire life before, and there was something very intoxicating about that.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he murmured, before pulling me in for yet another kiss.
There was no way I could resist that–even if I’d wanted to, which I really, really didn’t.
He quickly began tugging at my dress, trying desperately to get it over my head. There was no resistance from me; I wanted it all gone. I could feel the sun beating down on the parts of my skin that were already exposed, and I wanted that for all of it.
All of our clothing suddenly felt weighty and annoying, and I needed us both to be naked. It didn’t matter that rest of the world could see us if they wanted to, it felt like we were a team and that was all that mattered.
His kisses rained down over my neck and chest as he slid my bikini top off, giving him better access for his lips to find my nipples. Once he was there, he kissed and licked, sending bolts of desire racing right down into my bikini bottoms. A loud moan escaped my lips, and I felt him everywhere, all over me, and I never wanted this moment to end.
As the t-shirt he was wearing flew off over his head, I allowed my fingers to explore the sculpted torso that lay beneath. It was an odd sensation to be back here–strange and familiar, wrong and right–it made all of the sensations that Rhett was giving me that much more intense.
I slipped my fingers under his shorts and into the waistband of his boxers, feeling my heart thumping against my chest. I was never normally this forward when it came to my sexuality; I was normally more timid, shyer.
With Rhett though, things were different.
Better. More intense. I felt like I could really let go around him.
I wrapped my fingers around his length, enjoying the feeling of his thick, rock hard erection that I knew was just for me. He gasped out in pleasure as I started to move my hand around him. I experimented with thrusts to see what worked best for him before settling into a comfortable rhythm. His arms trembled above me as he struggled to hold himself up, but I just kept on going, enjoying watching him fall apart.
“Oh fuck, Danica,” he gasped loudly, really starting to buckle with desire. “You’re amazing. I… I need you.”
There it was. The chance to have him again.
It was difficult to think straight with all of this desire coursing through me, but I tried to do so all the same. Just in case. I needed to take a moment before all of this went too far. If we did this, it would change everything. There was a lot at risk.
Then again, everything was already being risked with the secret baby that was sitting in my stomach. What did one more fool around matter? Especially when it felt so good.
“I need you, too,” I whispered into his ear, excited that she was finally giving in to the temptation that she’d been craving so badly.
As if it took all his strength, he lifted himself up enough to tug my bikini bottoms down and he started to tease me with his fingers. His touch was expert, as if he already knew my body better than I did. It reminded me of the first time that we were together in the best way possible. I arched my back and moaned in pleasure underneath him, losing myself in all that he was doing to me.
“You feel amazing,” he gasped. “I’ve missed you so much.”
And with that, I felt him move his fingers out of the way, and his cock started to tease my entrance once more. It was as if he was giving me the opportunity to change my mind, but I definitely wasn’t going to. Not now. So I wrapped my hands around his back and drove him deep into me.
“Oh God,” I cried out. He felt so good, even better than I remembered. Our bodies melded together as if we were meant to be. There was no way that this could be wrong, when it felt so damn perfect.
He was moving powerfully above me, showing me every inch of his muscular body as he did, and it was perfect. We were both vulnerable, exposed, and everything about that was amazing. It made it feel a million times better.
After only a few more thrusts, a pool of heated pleasure started to form in my stomach, as if it had just been waiting there for him to arrive once more. It began small, but soon began to pulsate in waves, crashing right through me, until I was falling, crumbling underneath him. It came on so quickly, so intensely, that I almost didn’t know what to do with myself, but that didn’t matter because Rhett was there to kiss me, to hold me, to make me feel special and loved.
Loved.
I’d had orgasms before, but never quite like this, and it was making me think things that were even more appropriate. I couldn’t love Rhett when I wasn’t even supposed to like him. It was all too much, too intense.
As the pleasure raced through Rhett’s body, I watched him intently, wondering if he was feeling anything of the same, and in the heat of the moment, I really felt like he might, which made me far happier than it should. But then as we lay there, panting next to each other, I watched his face change, and a harder expression overtook.
“What do we do now?” I asked, unable to just allow that to happen without saying anything.
“I don’t know.” He shook his head, looking sadder than I’d ever seen.
To stop the tears from spilling down my face, I grabbed my clothes and threw them on my body, trying to focus on the task at hand.
“Come on,” I said, pointedly avoiding his eye contact all over again. “Let’s just go home.”
How the hell had I gone from on top of the world, to back under the rock that was leaning heavily on my shoulders all over again?
What a God damn mess!
Chapter Twenty
Rhett
The drive back from Delaware was long and painful. I knew that I’d upset Danica with my odd attitude, but I couldn’t seem to reel it in, even when I was aware that I was screwing everything up. I’d totally fucked up one of the nicest days that I’d ever had in my entire life, and there was nothing I could do about it. Luckily, she kept drifting in and out of sleep, which made it slightly easier, but only the smallest amount. The tension didn’t ebb away, even as she snored.
The sex had been surprising–a nice shock, but unexpected all the same–and the reality of that decision had hit as soon as we were done. Although it hadn't been planned, and it had been utterly amazing, I couldn’t stop the guilt that instantly flooded through me, once the fog of lust had descended.
“You’re just like your old man, you.”
As soon as we’d given in to temptation, my dad’s words returned to my mind with a vengeance. Only this time, I began to fear that he was right. Before, when Danica and I had slept together, we hadn't realized what we were. Now we knew, and I’d still done it. I’d still gone through with it, fully knowing that it was wrong.
All my big-man thoughts from before this day about not caring about my dad and Lyla, and wanting to pursue Danica anyway vanished. What replaced it was a scared little boy who didn’t know what was going to happen next. It was as if I’d sobered up, and left a whole big mess behind me.
I felt like I was wrong about everything.
If Mom was convinced that Dad could change, then maybe I should have given him the chance. I came here determined to not even give him the time of day, and that wasn’t really the smart, adult choice to make. I sho
uld have behaved in a much more mature manner, and I was only just realizing that much now. I started to doubt everything about myself, and I started to believe that the only one who was wrong about anything was me.
I wasn’t sure what was messing with my mind the most–the fact that Danica and I really should have stayed away from one another, or the fact that I could be on the way to becoming the man that I hated the most in the whole world.
It was just a terrible situation; I’d really gotten myself in to one hell of a mess and I wasn’t sure what the solution was.
As soon as I pulled up into the driveway of my dad’s home, Danica grabbed her belongings and stomped out of the car, slamming the door behind her. As I watched her walk into the house without even speaking one word to me, I knew that I’d royally screwed things up once and for all. I wasn’t sure that she’d ever be able to understand my dickish behavior–especially when I didn’t understand it myself–so I couldn’t even explain it to her.
What sort of woman would want to know me after being that way when we’d just had sex? No one. There was no one.
You fucking idiot, I thought to myself. What the hell have you done now?
I slumped my head onto the steering wheel, feeling like the whole world was collapsing in on me. I needed an escape. I had to get out before I did any more damage, so I did the only thing that I could. I picked up my phone, and I called my mom.
“Hello?” She answered after only one ring. “Rhett, are you okay?” The fear that she had in her voice made it very difficult not to just fall apart. I no longer had any idea what I was doing, and I really needed to run away from it all. For the first time in my entire life, I actually wanted to take the coward’s way out.
“Mom?” I croaked. “I am just calling to let you know that I’m coming home.”
“What? Why? What’s happened?” There was a cynicism in her voice that suggested she had been waiting for this phone call. But of course, the reason behind it would be the last thing she was expecting.