by Harlow Grace
With tremulous fingers I lifted it from the box and held it up to the sunlight streaming through the kitchen window. The way the morning light hit it, it sparkled and made shapes all over the ceiling. I sucked in a breath at the sheer beauty of a magical moment.
“Here, let me put it on for you.” Oliver’s fingers brushed against mine, sending a bolt of lightning through my arm that spread straight to my core. “I’m glad you like it, little bee.” His voice was low and husky. He must’ve felt it too—the electric spark between us—interpreting it as my excitement about the jewellery.
Bending my head down, I couldn’t speak, so I just let him place it around my neck and fasten it at the back. His hands slipped around my neck, both thumbs massaging my nape in small circles. Then just as suddenly, he pulled away.
I gasped as he swivelled the stool toward him.
“You haven’t said thank you yet, little bee.” His eyes were liquid pools of chocolate. Soft. Beautiful.
I couldn’t tear my gaze from his. I clenched my thighs together, feeling the throb grow with each passing moment.
“Thank you, Oliver. It’s the most beautiful birthday present I’ve ever had.”
It was true. Nothing would ever beat this.
He took both my hands in his, rubbing my palms with his thumbs. How could such a simple action drive me completely crazy? I wanted to jump his bones, kiss his lips, throw myself at him.
Instead I sat there, staring into those eyes. This was a day of firsts. I only hoped I wouldn’t wake up to find it was all a beautiful dream. I reached up to touch the necklace.
“It’s called the circle of life, Maya. I hope it brings you happiness.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, my voice cracking.
Oliver swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded.
“And for the cake. It’s so sweet of you. I love it.” God, finally I had my voice back. “Where did you get it?”
He laughed. I had it specially made for you. The lady who runs the shop was so shocked when she heard you were eighteen and not eight. You should’ve seen her face. Hilarious.”
We both started laughing.
“Good morning, princess Maya,” Daddy said as he walked through the door. “And happy birthday to my most favorite girl in the world.”
He came up to me and pulled me into a hug, then kissed my forehead.
I closed my eyes and shot up a thank you to the heavens. The two men in my life had just made me the happiest girl alive.
Chapter Fifteen — Oliver
BEFORE: Midday
Since Alec arrived back from his morning rounds with patients, I’d left him and Maya in the kitchen. It seemed as if they needed alone time and I was more than happy to give them that. I’d gone so far out of my normal comfort zone with Maya, that I was relieved to get the hell out of there before I melted into a puddle at her feet.
For the first time I’d let my guard down. Let myself be “normal” around my stepsister and opened up more to her than I’d done with any woman. Not that there was normal in my life; everyone knew me as moody and broody and that was the way I liked it. It kept nosey people out of my business. Yet, on a deep level, I yearned for more of what happened between Maya and me.
I’d never known that just seeing a sparkle in a woman’s eyes and a sweet smile on her lips could make my heart so damn full.
Stuck with feelings that were so damn foreign to me that they made my fucking head hurt, I went back to my room, and lay down on my bed, reliving the moments in the kitchen.
If I had to be totally honest, Maya’s reaction had totally blown me away. I hadn’t expected her to go along with it, nor had I anticipated her reaction to my gifts. Knowing that money wasn’t an issue to her and that her father gave her practically anything money could buy, I’d chosen her gifts carefully. They had meaning to me, but I didn’t expect her to get it that easily. It was as if she just knew. How was that possible? I’d never experienced anything like it and it was driving me crazy because I both wanted more of it and I also wanted none of it.
I pulled a pillow over my head so I could think my way out of this fucked up situation. I had to do something to put the detachment between Maya and me back into play.
After going round and round in circles, I made up my mind on a course of action. I needed to bring Bianca back into the picture. She’d been moping since I’d fobbed her off in LA, but I needed distraction and a shield between Maya and myself before I did something really stupid.
I was going fucking soft. I didn’t know what it was about Maya that morning, but I just couldn’t bring myself to be the usual ogre with her. And it just felt so damn good that it scared the shit out of me.
Why couldn’t we always be like that when we were together? Why did we have animosity between us that drove us both to be ugly toward one another? I wished it could be different, but it couldn’t. I had to stay the fuck away from her even if I didn’t want to. My control was slipping and it worried me.
I’d always wanted her body. There was no surprise there. But today she pulled at my fucking heartstrings. The one place I let no woman go.
I hadn’t expected her to be in the kitchen so early, and when I saw her standing there, waiting for her coffee, she was lost in thought and totally in another place. She looked so damn vulnerable that all I wanted to do was pull her into my arms and tell her everything would be okay.
Maya unlocked a fierce desire in me to protect her and I didn’t know how to handle it. She’d reminded me so many times that I wasn’t her real brother, that it was stuck in my head. But the way I wanted to protect her was more than in a brotherly way. It was man to woman. Ancient instinct kicking in.
Fighting every urge in my body to go to Maya and tell her how I felt, to put this stupid shit between us to rest, I pulled my phone from my pocket. This was the only way I knew how to keep my distance from Maya. By putting Bianca between us. Even though lately the blonde annoyed me more than anything else.
Bianca had just returned from Denmark, and being eager to get back into my bed, it didn’t take much to convince her to drive to Mom’s house and spend time with me. She was leaving permanently for Denmark in a month’s time and indicated that she was more than willing to let me fuck her sideways before she left.
Two and a half hours later, Bianca arrived. She was still as hot and horny as always, so I took her up to my room and fucked her brains out, not caring about the headboard banging against the wall or Bianca's screaming when she came. The blonde could have been a blow up doll for all I cared. I had fucking demons to exorcise; it was going to take a hell of a lot of sex to get the image of Maya’s face out of my mind.
Images flitted though my head of Maya—all the faces I’d seen over the years. Sucking a guy’s dick . . . glaring at me with disgust . . . looking at me with tears in her eyes . . . her expression when she came . . . vulnerable and happy, smiling up at me.
My gut twisted into a tight knot. Of all the faces, it was the one I’d seen that morning that was fucking with my head the most. And her lips when I kissed her. Fuck, I’d never, never, never, felt like that with any chick. Instinctively I knew I never would either.
“Hey babe,” Bianca said sweetly as she slid her arms around my waist, bringing me from my thoughts. “You seem so far away. Come back to me. Kiss me, bad boy.”
Standing on tiptoes, she tilted her head backward and puckered her lips, waiting for a kiss. I leaned down and covered her mouth with mine, trying my best to get back into her and forget about the girl who was invading my thoughts.
“You’re so moody. What’s wrong, babe?” she said as the kiss ended.
I pulled away, irritability and the strangest hollowness filling my gut. I needed to cool the fuck down or I’d explode.
“Let's go for a swim,” I said, pulling her toward the door and down the stairs. I didn’t want to think about Maya for a second longer.
“Slow down, you’re going to break your neck,” Bianca squealed as we barg
ed through the patio door. She was practically breathless as we reached the pool area.
Letting go of her hand, I dived straight in. My heart nearly arrested from the sudden impact of the cold water. I swam a few furious laps, burning off as much energy as I could. Only after about five minutes did I notice that Bianca hadn’t joined me in the pool. She had settled onto a lounge chair and was watching me with a puzzled look on her face.
When I finally emerged from the water, dripping wet and feeling a lot better, I strolled over to where she sat paging through a magazine. I grinned down at her and shook my hair. Covered with water droplets, she shrieked. “Stop it! You’re so mean. My body is all hot from the sun and that’s just freezing.” Her nipples were hard under her bikini top.
“More reason why you should’ve jumped in with me,” I smirked.
“Not if the water is as cold as the droplets on me,” she said, pulling up her nose.
I wiggled both eyebrows at her. “I could’ve been feeling you up under the water to warm you up. You could’ve been riding my dick.”
She swatted my leg with her magazine. “Next time. I promise.”
Lying back on my chair, I stared up at my stepsister’s window. Why was I still obsessing over Maya? No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t shake thoughts of her. Christ, this was doing my fucking head in. I was a grown man of twenty-two and I was thinking more about Maya than of the girl lying right next to me. My fucking head was messed up.
“Babe, come over here,” I summoned. “My dick needs attention.” Maybe Bianca could distract my thoughts. Fuck knows my cock was hard enough—the cold water hadn’t changed anything about that.
She dropped her magazine and gifted me with a wicked smile. “Sure baby, I was wondering when you would be ready for me.”
“Get on your knees,” I growled. “Suck my dick and make me come.”
I need to forget another set of lips. The ones tormenting me. The ones I tasted earlier and want more than anything.
Alarm bells were going off in my head. Maya hadn’t resisted me. If I didn’t know better, wasn’t hundred percent sure that she detested me, I could’ve sworn she was loving every moment. She hadn’t kissed me back, but neither had she fought me off. And the way her eyes shone all the time and her lips trembled still had me hard. I’d felt like a fucking lightning bolt had struck me when I touched her hand, for fuck sake.
Could it be that there was something more than lust between us?
Christ, no. I couldn’t let that happen.
Don’t confuse lust with something else Oliver. It’s only your imagination. Rein it in, man.
Bianca slid off the chair and kneeled on the grass. She slid her hands towards my wet swimwear and made quick work of releasing my cock. Teasing me with her tongue, she licked up and down my thick shaft before taking the swollen head in her mouth. Leaning back, I closed my eyes as her mouth did its job, her tongue swirling around my cock.
“Suck my balls, babe, then take my cock deep down your throat.” I pushed her head down and held it in place, making her deep-throat me until she nearly gagged.
My skin crawled. Someone was watching us. My eyes popped open and zeroed in on where I felt it coming from. Her bedroom window.
I sucked in a breath when my eyes clashed with hers. There she stood, covered only in a white towel, her dark hair wet and dripping down her shoulders, watching me with an open mouth. I grinned up at her, so fucking turned on that she was watching that my balls contracted tightly.
“Show me your tits,” I said, knowing my voice would carry over the lawn and float up to her. Bianca’s head tried to lift, but I held her down with force. “Keep sucking babe, I'm so fucking close, I can feel it,” I hissed at her.
To my utter shock, Maya dropped the towel and pressed her perfect fucking tits against the glass. Her eyes were wild, her hand slipping down between her legs. Christ. As Maya’s fingers plunged into her sweet cunt, I came hard, pulsing into Bianca’s mouth with brutal force. I fought to keep my eyes open, but they closed of their own accord as I grunted out my orgasm.
Seconds later, my eyes flew open, pinned to the window. Nothing. Just a curtain flapping in the breeze.
Was I losing my fucking mind? Hallucinating?
I blinked fast, my mouth dry as I pushed Bianca away.
“Fuck, Oliver, what’s gotten into you lately? You’re like a bear with a headache. And your mood swings are driving me crazy.”
“It’s nothing,” I grunted, not in the mood to talk.
Fucking and women talking should be mutually exclusive.
Pouting, Bianca cupped her breasts and squeezed. “What about me, babe? You can't leave me all wet. And I’m not talking about the water, either.” In one fluid movement, she straddled my hips, pushed her bikini bottoms to the side and impaled herself onto me. Fuck, she was right. She was wet and warm, riding my cock like a wanton woman. I held onto her hips, helping her up and down. Thank fuck her eyes were closed, because try as I might, I couldn’t watch her face.
My gaze was pinned on a window. Waiting for another glimpse of a girl I had no place wanting. Illicit desire burned through my body, craving the tight pussy of the girl who filled my depraved mind.
Disappointment washed over me. Maya wasn’t there. As fucking crazy as it seemed I wanted to look into her eyes when the woman riding me came on my cock.
Yep, I was losing my fucking mind for sure. I was certifiable.
Obsessed with my stepsister. I still want her. What kind of immoral degenerate was I to crave her when I had a perfectly good pussy sitting on my cock?
Bianca came with a loud moan, uninhibited and never being one to hide her enjoyment. But me? I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t come inside her. Not with my fucking mind elsewhere. I had turned stark raving mad, like my father. It ran in my genes, and now I knew for certain I was just as immoral and sick as he was.
My plan with Bianca wasn’t working. The battle to exorcise my demons was an epic fail. Hopefully I’d succeeded in alienating Maya.
I was a monster. Dark. Depraved.
I wanted what I could never have.
Maybe it was time to admit that my obsession with Maya overwhelmed me. And since that morning in the kitchen it had gotten even worse.
Illicit. Burning like a raging fire inside me.
Two years had changed nothing. Nothing.
I wanted my stepsister.
More. Than. Ever.
I needed a new plan. A way to feed my obsession.
Chapter Sixteen — Maya
BEFORE: Early Evening
Remembering only too well the repercussions of the last party Larissa held, not to mention the red dress fiasco, I stood in front of my closet, unable to decide what to wear to my birthday party. I didn’t really care. Flicking through everything I owned, including the new dress Quinn and I bought only a few days ago, I discarded one item after the other. I'd reached that point every woman does—a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear.
My eyes glazed over and I turned away from the closet, leaving the doors wide open, and flung myself onto my bed.
I let out a long shuddering sigh. It was time I faced the truth: Oliver simply wasn’t into me, and nothing I did would change that.
How could I have gone from sad when I woke up, to happy beyond words at breakfast, to murderous in the afternoon? Easy. My stepbrother.
I’d been in heaven that morning when Oliver surprised me with my birthday gifts and how sweet he was to me. I was right—it was all a damn illusion. And I hadn’t discounted the alien theory either. Right this minute I could easily smash the fucking Maya the Bee cake into his damn face.
After Daddy arrived and broke the special something between Oliver and me, I was still a happy girl because my dad had sought me out and made a fuss of me all through the morning. He’d brought me flowers and a beautiful pair of diamond earrings that he wanted me to wear at the party.
But then Bianca arrived by mid morning. I couldn’t bel
ieve my eyes when she showed up out of the blue. I’d gotten the distinct impression from Larissa that they weren’t really an item any longer, but here the bitch was.
Oliver had literally chased my boyfriend out, yet he had his whore back and they had done a fine job taunting me with sex noises and wallbanging until it drove me crazy.
Had what happened that morning in the kitchen meant absolutely nothing to Oliver? Had I just wanted to see the sweet side of him when in fact there was none? How could I be so damn stupid to believe that he actually liked me—no, more than liked me, with the way he’d acted?
I wished my mom was there so that I could rant and rave to her. I’d tried to call Quinn, but she’d turned her phone off. Since she had a part time job over weekends, she wouldn’t be at my house until an hour before the party. It sucked, because more than ever, I needed her to help me get ready.
All the joy had been sucked right out of me. Every bit of happiness I’d felt that morning had evaporated after I’d had my shower and come to my bedroom to start getting ready for the party.
Still fuming about Bianca’s arrival and what went on in Oliver’s bedroom, I’d taken a step toward the window when I saw the two of them by the pool.
Gutted that Oliver had the bitch suck his dick out by the pool as if he wanted to be seen, I wanted to show him what he missed. I’d decided before Bianca had arrived I was going to give up my virginity to Oliver, that it was time I grew up and stopped being hot and cold toward him. I’d had enough of the cat and mouse games. I was going to tell him how I felt—how much I wanted him and let it go from there.
But no.
He had to spoil it all by getting his whore to come over.
I’d worked myself up in the shower, remembering the way it felt when he’d pressed his lips to mine and I could kick my own ass for not having responded.
And so I’d finger fucked myself out of pure frustration, letting Oliver watch because there was no way he was going to have me after all. And then I flopped onto my bed and cried my heart out. I was the stupidest girl on the planet. I’d let Oliver fool me into thinking he cared about me when in reality it couldn’t be farther from the truth. I had no boyfriend, and I certainly didn’t have Oliver.