Tyrant Twins: A Dark Twin Romance

by Isabella Starling

  Because it might have been my idea, but it should have been me sitting there with her. I should be the one she looks at adoringly with those huge eyes, not my brother. And I’m afraid that had I stayed there longer, he would be the one to get hurt, not June…

  I walk around the streets, pretending I don’t care while my mind swims with ideas of how to get June away from Parker. But I can’t, and I won’t. I’ve held back for so long, and I’ll just have to last longer. I can't have her.

  My promise to her mother is still fresh in my mind. She didn't want us together. I need to honor Rachel’s memory, not disrespect it.

  Time passes slowly, and finally, I’ve had enough. It’s pitch-dark outside, and the few streetlights in our neighborhood are barely throwing any light on the pavement as I make my way back home. I stop under our brick apartment building, glancing up at the window that I know is in our kitchen.

  The light is on.

  I can just picture them, sitting at the table I paid for, eating food that Parker made, my paper bag forgotten on the counter. I want to grind my teeth with pure rage, but instead, I settle for punching the façade of our building.

  I cuss loudly and look at my bleeding knuckles, nursing my hand.

  “Well, that didn’t help much.” Someone conveys my thoughts out loud, and I turn toward the voice like it’s a siren calling to me. Of course, it’s June. She’s standing by the entrance to our building, Parker’s sweatshirt peeking out of her pristine white coat.

  That alone lets me know she knows nothing about how hard life can be because, in my version, I'd probably get the white coat dirty on the subway, on the bus, just from fucking living my life. But if hers get so much as a little stain on it, she can just replace it with another one. It’s an endless supply of white coats for her, and a loop of torn jackets for me.

  I rush into our building, ignoring June completely. But instead of backing off like I expected she would, June steps in my way, and I brush against her.

  That alone sends a shiver through my body, and my muscles clench with how badly I want her. I’m so far gone—when did this happen? I thought I had myself under control.

  “Wait, please…” she whispers, and I stop because as badly as I have to, need to go on, I would do it all for her. I will stop, and I will listen, even if it breaks me.

  “June, let me be,” I repeat my own words from the previous day. “Please. I can’t right now. I'm sure you had fun with Parker, but I don't have the energy to deal with you every fucking day.”

  I can feel her frown even though I’m looking at the floor, trying hard not to glance up at her beautiful face. I can imagine her lips setting in that pout of hers, the one that always gets her what she wants. And I know full well that if I see it now, this encounter will be no different. She has me twisted around her little finger, and she doesn’t even know it.

  “Why do you try so hard to push me away?” she asks sadly, her words breaking syllable by syllable. “I know you hate me… I know you have reason to. But I tried to help you. I tried to give you money. Tried to get you an apartment. How can you be so self-righteous?”

  I finally raise my gaze, though I still have to look down at her. June’s tall, but I still tower over her with my six-feet-four inches. I survey every area of her face, letting myself savor this moment.

  Her nose is like a button, small and perfect. Her skin is flawless as though she’s never even heard of the word puberty. Her eyes, such a deep-sea blue. Her hair is dark, curled today, and falling on her shoulders in artful waves. It looks pretty, but I prefer it natural—straight with a few waves here and there. I don't let myself get started on those lips because if I look at them, I won’t be able to stop. I really fucking won’t.

  “I’m doing this to protect you,” I tell her. “And you really should know why already. Do I need to spell it out for you?”

  “Protect me from what?” she asks innocently, ignoring everything else I’ve said. I want to show her so badly. I want to press her against the wall, kiss her roughly, and push my hand between her legs. I want her to know I’m not her stepbrother anymore, and I haven’t been for years in my mind. I’m a man, and I want to fucking have her, whether she likes it or not.

  She’s the solution, not the problem. And the game Parker and I are playing will never work, because, in the end, it will be all about June and the stiffness between my legs at the mere thought of her.

  I shake my head, groaning because words are fucking hard right now.

  But then she steps closer, and I catch her scent, teasing me relentlessly. It’s not what I would have pictured, not what I had in mind in all my forbidden fantasies. She’s not peaches and cream—she’s wild strawberries and champagne, melting on my tongue. Of fucking course she is. Even the way she smells is expensive.

  “I won’t stop coming back,” she says, our bodies almost touching but not quite. “I’ll be here, and I’ll wait for you. Because at the end of the day, you are and always will be my brother.”

  The frustration boils in my blood, and my hands fly up, grabbing her roughly by the shoulders. “I’m not your brother, June,” I hiss. “We’re not blood. We’re not family.”

  I can see I’ve upset her, and it’s for all the wrong reasons. She thinks I’m telling her I don’t care about her, but I do—fuck, I do. In all the wrong ways, in all the wrong places, I care about June Wildfox.

  I don’t tell her that. I look into her eyes, and she returns the favor, her pupils dilated, the irises reminding me of the lake we visited in the summer when we were young. She’s all that I’ll never have. And then she says something that fucking floors me.

  “I don’t really want you to be my brother.” I almost miss it. She looks down, and I stare at those long, full lashes sweeping across her cheeks. I want to taste her so badly. “You never were, as much as I tried to make you,” she goes on. “Parker was my brother. You ignored me, didn’t want to spend time with me. You never called me little sis, like he did.”

  She looks up at me, her eyes full of hurt and sadness.

  “I don’t need another brother,” she whispers as my stomach fucking flips, praying for the words I want to hear. “I need … I need something else,” she murmurs, her eyes fleeting toward mine, looking for comfort, for the love she lost when our parents passed.

  I’m sure I could have her at that moment. But images of our parents dance before my eyes, reminding me of one thing.

  She’s my sister. It’s my duty to protect her, and I’ve done everything but that so far. Is it fair to take advantage of her now when she’s at her weakest? And I got her into this fucking mess. So, it's up to me to keep my word to our parents and make sure she doesn't get hurt even more.

  "Don't push me away," she begs. I shake my head again, pushing past her into the building, past a neighbor. I press the elevator button, but June's there again, unrelenting. "Don't go, Kade, please. Give me another chance. I want to prove something to you..."

  "What?" I demand. "That you're a fucking kid? Because that's what you're acting like."

  "No." She shakes her head just as I open the door to the elevator. She steps in before I can stop her, and I grunt a curse, getting in beside her.

  "You're not getting in my apartment," I tell her roughly. "I don't fucking want you there."

  “Why do you always have to have the last word?” She stands in front of me, blocking my exit from the elevator.

  “Think you got me confused with Parker. Move, June.”

  “No, talk to me.”

  “I said, move.” I push her aside, and she stumbles. I want to help her up, but I don’t. This is a crucial moment—I need to do everything and anything in my power to push June away. But she didn’t seem to get that memo, and the more I fight to be free of her, the more she follows me around like a lost fucking puppy. “What do I have to do to get rid of you?”

  “I know you don’t want to get rid of me.”

  “How can you be so sure?” I hiss. "Remember wh
at your mother told us in the treehouse, June?"

  "She's gone," she argues. "She can't stop us now."

  "And you really think I'd do that to her?" I turn to face my stepsister now, eyes flashing with anger. "You really think I'd break the promise I made to her, now that she's no longer here to finally tell us it's okay?"

  "You can't let what she said stop you." June shakes her head resolutely. "She didn't know. She didn't get it."

  "Know what? Get what?" I'm acting like a jerk, but I can't stop myself. I need June to see this in the same light I do. I need to nip this in the bud before it becomes a real fucking problem for both of us.

  "This," June breathes. "Us."

  "There's no us, June." I fumble for my keys and make a move to unlock the door, but she steps in front of me before I can do that.

  "Stop lying to yourself," she pleads with me. "Will you for once acknowledge what we have here, Kade? Please. I'm begging you."

  My cock hardens at her words, and I hate myself for how weak she makes me. I don't respond. I don't trust myself enough to speak right now.

  "Please, Kade." June keeps going. "Please. If you don't want it anymore, I'll understand. Just tell me. Say it right now. Tell me to leave you alone, and you won't hear from me again."

  She's giving me an easy way out, and I know I should take it. Yet my hands fist at the mention of losing her, and a snarl rips itself from my lips. I don't respond, and she steps closer, hands grabbing my jacket and pulling me in. I'm painfully aware that my brother is on the other side of the door. My brother, who doesn't know about any of this, and who has already put his own plan into motion to get June.

  "Please, Kade," June repeats. "Tell me to stop."

  She leans in close. It takes every vestige of willpower I have not to pull her against me and crush my lips to hers.

  "Just tell me it's over. I'll go. I won't bother you again. Is that what you want, Kade? For me to disappear?"

  I shut my eyes, trying to block out her pleading voice. If I ignore her for long enough, maybe she'll just leave. And I'll be beating my cock until the fucking morning thinking about the way she smells and the way her body feels against mine.

  "You know what?" Her voice is small. She's giving up. "Fine. I'll go. You don't have to tell me. I can tell when I'm not welcome."

  She pulls back, but before she can take a single step away from me, I've wrapped my fingers around her wrist and pulled her back.

  "You're not fucking going anywhere," I hiss at her, pressing her back up against our front door. June takes a sharp breath, her eyes hopeful as they meet mine. "You keep fucking teasing me, June."

  "I'm not teasing." Her voice is barely above a whisper. "I'm just asking for what I want... What I need."

  “What do you need, June?” I ask roughly, wanting her to say it.

  She’s shaking in my hands, but her eyes stay on mine, begging me for more. “I want you to make it better,” she admits. “I want the pain to go away.”

  I think of her then, all alone in that huge fucking house. She didn't just lose us; she lost her mother and our father, too. And now she's all alone.

  “I’ll only make it worse. This is not right. You know how pissed off they’d be.”

  A moment of silence follows as we both remember our past mistakes.

  “I don’t know right or wrong,” she whispers. Her hands flutter to mine, and her touch is soft, forbidden, and dangerous. “This time, they can’t stop us…”

  I exhale for what seems like the first time in months, in years. My resolve weakens, wanting her so fucking badly. I’ve let our parents hold us back before, but that ends here and now. I’m done fighting my instincts.

  I want June Wildfox, and tonight, I’m claiming her for myself. My brother be damned.

  8

  Kade

  Our bodies are touching, and I can feel her heart beating wildly against my chest. We haven’t done it yet—haven’t done anything we shouldn’t have. But we're getting so fucking close. Dangerously close. I can feel June's breath on my lips.

  But then she stands up on tiptoes, and her lips find my cheek. It’s a brotherly kiss if I ever saw one, but when she moves away, I see all that she can never ask of me in her eyes. And I’m a goner. I grip her arms and pull her even closer, her breasts pressing against me.

  “Are you sure?” I whisper, only inches away from her pretty face.

  Her eyelashes flutter, and she nods eagerly. "Don't you want to kiss me, Kade? Nobody's here to see us... or stop us..."

  I lean forward, and my lips brush her forehead. “You want me to kiss you here?” I ask.

  She shakes her head, and I move to her closed eyes, my lips gentle on her lids as she trembles in my hands. “Here?” I ask again.

  Another tentative shake of her head follows. I slide my lips down her face, feeling her skin with my mouth. Finally, I stop an inch from her lips, resting my lips on her cheek. “Here?” I whisper roughly, barely able to hold back.

  And she shakes her head again and whimpers against me, wanting more. So I do what she wants, what I’ve wanted for years. My lips touch hers, and I feel the tension between us. Her lips are soft, rosy, plump.

  Wrong.

  I bite on her bottom lip gently, and she asks for more.

  Forbidden.

  She crushes her lips against mine and pushes her little tongue in my mouth, exploring, desperate for me, wanting more.

  We shouldn’t.

  But we do.

  We kiss, and I wrap my arms around her as though I’ll never let go. I ignore all the alarms going off inside my head, and I take her, claiming her as mine. I do what I’ve always wanted to do. June Wildfox will never be with another man. She belongs to me. Her mouth is ice cold, and mine is burning with heat. She melts into my embrace as our kiss deepens.

  “More,” she whimpers when I try to move back, her hands desperately gripping mine. “Please, I need more.”

  I obey. I kiss her until her knees go weak, and it feels like I’m the only force holding her up against the door of our apartment. And after what seems like hours, but minutes at the same time, I step back, and she nearly topples over, finding my eyes with hers.

  “I’m…” She starts apologizing, but her sorrys drift off into silence.

  “Don’t,” I say. She smiles, her hand flying up to her face and touching her lips, swollen from my kiss. “Don’t say you’re sorry.”

  So I don’t, and we just look at each other, contemplating what we’ve done. Then a phone starts buzzing, and I realize this isn't the first time. I heard their vibrations while we were kissing but chose to ignore them.

  "Fuck," she finally breathes, pulling out her phone from her designer purse. She nearly drops it; her hands are shaking so bad. But finally, she manages to pick up. "Hello. Yes, yes, I know. I'll be right there."

  She pockets the phone and shoots me an apologetic smile. "My driver. I have to go."

  "Now?" I want to ask her to stay, especially after what happened. But not when she won't even look at me, refusing to meet my eyes. She's regretting the kiss. She must be. "You don't want to come back in?"

  "I can't." She tucks her hair behind her ear and contemplates her next words before finally looking at me. "Walk me out?"

  We take the elevator down, but instead of being charged with sex, the air is tense.

  June's limo is waiting in front of our building. Some people watch the driver get out. This is not a common sight in our neighborhood. I greet her driver, whom I know from the house where we all used to live. He doesn't show any surprise about me being there with June. I guess he gets paid not to.

  "June, when will I see you again?" I ask her, hating myself for showing my weakness. I only have one, and it's her. "I need to know when—"

  "I don't know," she cuts me off. "I'm sorry, I just... I don't know."

  She rushes to the car, not waiting for the driver to open the door for her. As the car door slams behind her and the car drives off, I stare there, loo
king at it rounding the corner, feeling more confused than ever.

  She was the one who initiated all this. She was the one who wanted me, who pushed me, who begged me to do this. And now she's fucking pushing me away again. Classic June.

  I walk back home and let myself into the apartment. Parker's fucking beaming, and I want to erase that smile off his face because I know my girl put it there in the first place.

  “I thought it was best to set the plan into motion as soon as possible,” he tells me as soon as the front door is closed. I haven't even taken my fucking jacket off yet. “I invited her over as soon as you went off to work.”

  "Great," I mutter, pretending to read something on my phone.

  “She fell for it!” he says excitedly, laughing like a child. I want to hurt him and imagine my hands wrapping around his neck. I’ll be damned if I let him hurt June. “She was here so fast, Kade, you would not believe it. So fucking desperate to see us again.”

  He tells me about how he made lunch for them, how they had a nice meal, and talked about how hard it is without our parents. What a shame it is that we lost touch, and that we should stick together.

  “I didn’t call her sis once.” He winks at me. “You know, wouldn’t be good for the plan we have.”

  This goes on and on and on.

  “And then she said she was cold, and I let her borrow my hoodie. She said she missed the smell of me,” he finishes, and I want to fucking strangle him.

  “Your plan is genius,” Parker commends me. “I’m so glad you thought of that. I can’t wait to get what is rightfully ours. I’ve been thinking about what area I want to move to later,” he says thoughtfully as though it’s all a done deal, and finally, I’ve had enough.

  “Parker,” I say, reminding myself to tread carefully. Once my brother is hooked on an idea, it’s hard to turn him off it. And if he thinks for one moment, I’m telling him not to do it, he’ll go ahead just to spite me. “We were so drunk last night.” I chuckle.