Gideon & Gage, Book One

by Hawthorne, Olivia

  “See something you like?” I asked.

  Shaking his head in disbelief, he crossed his arms over his broad chest, the wet, short sleeves of his black t-shirt barely stretching enough to accommodate his biceps.

  “You’re off limits for several reasons, and you know it. But I won’t lie and say I hate the view.”

  I opened my mouth to respond, but Gage sauntered back in with his arms full of shopping bags and old newspaper. “I found enough paper to hopefully get things heated up in here.”

  He stopped in his tracks and glanced between Gideon and I. With a slow tone to his voice, he said, “She’s out of her clothes, bro. I think it’s time for you tie her back up.”

  Chapter Eight

  I stepped off the porch to get a better look at the sky in the distance. Over the sprawling fields to the east of the ranch house I saw distinct funnel shaped clouds forming over the earth.

  I’m no meteorologist, but I’ve seen The Wizard of Oz. I knew what those meant, and none of it was good.

  I stepped back inside out of the pouring rain, grabbed a couple brown paper bags and newspapers off the table, crumpled them up and walked back into the living room.

  What I saw almost knocked me back on my ass. I knew Holly was a hot girl, she was the complete package really, but I hadn’t realized how hot she was until I saw her peeling her pants off her long, shapely legs in front of my brother.

  Who, I might add, had his mouth hanging open like some half witted yokel.

  My cock throbbed at the sight, I didn’t say a word until she settled into the couch and started to tease Gideon.

  I stepped back into the kitchen, unseen, to compose myself. I knew this was probably part of her plan to catch us off guard and make another run for it, but I still couldn’t deny the effect she had on my body.

  But fuck, she was my stepsister and a fugitive. A wanted fucking criminal. She was everything that could possibly be off limits for me, and yet I couldn’t help but think about how it would feel to run my hands the length of her strong, curvy body, kiss her passionately, nip her neck, plunge myself deep inside of her. God.

  I shook my head to clear my thoughts, gave myself a mental talking to, and went back into the living room.

  I barked at Gideon to tie her up again before we both lost our senses.

  I crouched in front of the fireplace and snapped a match across the brick, lighting it on fire and transferring it to the paper.

  “Oh wow, impressive for a city boy,” Holly purred from behind me. I turned to look at her, she was trying her hardest to be sincere but I could sense the mirth behind her words.

  She was mocking me, but that was fine. She could mock all she wanted, I just knew she wasn’t getting away again.

  Changing the subject, I said, “Did you see those clouds? How bad does it get down here?”

  “Well,” she said slowly, “I have to be honest. I’ve never seen it this bad.”

  “Shit, we might be here for at least another night,” Gideon said as he slipped the zip tie around her delicate ankles. She crossed them dutifully and he tightened it.

  “Ouch,” she whimpered. He drew his hand back and looked apologetic.

  “Sorry,” he said and settled on the couch next to her again. She took full advantage of having her feet together, twisting and stretching her legs to give us both a good look.

  Not that I minded taking a peek.

  I stoked the fire and got the wood crackling and flames leaping high. I pulled an armchair close to the fire and looked over at Holly. The flames left shadows dancing along her golden skin, highlighting her curves and angles, leaving me breathless.

  She had a small smile playing at the corner of her lips when she caught my eyes raking along her body. “You boys, I tell ya. A girl has got to be flattered around you two, but I can’t help but feel a little like your next meal.”

  “I would make a crass joke about eating you right now,” Gideon laughed, “but I’m going to hang onto my professionalism like it’s a life raft and I’m lost in the middle of the ocean.”

  “Are you calling me the ocean?” she smirked.

  “I’m calling you a dangerous, and beautiful, woman,” he replied.

  She looked over at me, locked her gaze on mine, and asked, “What do you think of me, Gage? You’ve always been the quiet one. I’d often wondered if you hated me as much as I hated you growing up.”

  She pinned me with a knowing stare, challenging me in a way that no woman had challenged me before. Holly had always been competition for me in my father’s house. She was just as smart, her grades were just as high, and her achievements rivaled mine on my best of days. I wasn’t the star when I was staying with my father – not like when I was back home with my mother. Gideon could never keep up, but Holly? Her intelligence and talents had always kept me intrigued.

  I laughed finally, running my hand through my messy hair and raising a brow. “I think you are a master manipulator. You are a brilliant woman who knows how to get exactly what she wants. But we’re not your professor, and this isn’t about getting a good grade. This is serious, Holly, and we’re serious about helping you once we get you back to New York.”

  She pouted, but I could see my words had struck something inside her. After a few minutes of staring into the fire, she broke the silence and said, “I worked hard, you know.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “For my grades. I never manipulated anybody into giving me anything. Not for grades, not for a job. I’ve worked hard my entire life,” she said, staring me down, daring me to contradict her.

  “It was just an example,” I said and waved her off, “Settle down. I can clearly see how competent you are. You already got farther from us than any other criminal, so count yourself lucky. We almost fell for the old ‘hide in the bushes, toss a rock at the boat house’ trick.”

  “That damn branch,” she grumbled, “If it hadn’t snapped I’d be halfway to Mexico by now.”

  “Count yourself lucky,” Gideon said and pointed outside. The weather had gotten worse, if that was even possible. The clouds forming on the horizon were black, ominous, and promising this was only going to get worse before it got better.

  “I’m glad you aren’t out in that,” I said softly, meaning it. I did believe her, I knew she hadn’t pushed her friend overboard, but I also believed in the justice system. I had to believe in it. It was my job to believe in it. If she didn’t kill her friend, then she would be found innocent. It was as simple as that. We didn’t send guilty people to prison.

  Or at least I slept better at night telling myself we didn’t.

  And yet, she seemed so terrified, there was a part of me that wondered if my simplistic view of things was the reality on the ground. And would I be willing to possibly sacrifice Holly’s future to test my theory?

  I watched Gideon chat her up, relaxing her and setting her at ease. She drew her feet up onto the couch again, stretched her legs and somehow placed them in Gideon’s lap.

  He was rubbing her ankles where the zip tie was holding them together and telling her some story about this guy we’d almost lost last year in Mexico when he’d dressed in full drag and hidden in a maternity ward, and I watched her face light up as he talked.

  She was genuine and gorgeous. Her laugh lightened my heart and her wit made me swell with pride.

  She did underestimate Gideon though, I could see that. People often mistook his positive nature as lack of intelligence. They thought he was all brawn and no brains, but it wasn’t the case.

  We were both deep thinkers, I just tended towards the serious side of things whereas Gideon preferred to laugh. We balanced each other out, and sometimes I wondered what life would be like without my twin. How would we manage without one another once our lives moved on?

  “You must think this is the most boring thing ever,” Holly said.

  It took me a moment to realize she was talking to me. “This?” I asked. “What do you mean?”

  �
�I mean country living. You know we’d lose power several times a year back when we lived here. You had to get used to roughing it a little.”

  “You mean because I’m a city boy?” I asked with a laugh.

  “Yeah, exactly that. You guys don’t exactly strike me as the outdoor types,” she said.

  “You don’t know us at all,” I said. “I wouldn’t mind something like this some day. Get out of the spotlight, away from the city.”

  “You realize the nearest Starbucks is like, a couple hundred miles at least, right?” she grinned.

  “Yes, I do,” I smiled back. “I can survive without my mocha frappe grande cinno.”

  “You just made that up,” she giggled, “that’s not even a drink.”

  “I swear he makes these crazy drinks up every time we’re in a coffee place,” Gideon told her. “He likes to fuck with the baristas.”

  “Speaking of drink,” I said, “do we have anything other than water and tea?”

  “Check the kitchen,” she said, “You might find something left behind after my grandparents vacated the property.”

  I looked down at her and remembered again that we were in her childhood home, a place of extreme joy and grief, and yet she had come back here. She was a complicated woman among her other traits, and I found her intriguing.

  I walked back and looked around, there was nothing apparent. I tried the tap and all I got was a dry knocking sound. So much for plumbing.

  As I was leaving the room, a recognizable blue box on the ground caught my eye.

  Beer! The kids had left their beer behind when we’d run them off. I picked it up. It was a twenty four case with more than half left for the three of us.

  I held it in front of me and walked back to the living room, grinning brightly as I announced, “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

  * * *

  “You’ve seriously never had sex at our parent’s place?” Gideon laughed as we each took a sip of beer. We were playing “Never Have I Ever”, the drinking game where you had to take a drink if you had actually done the thing a person claimed to have never done.

  Holly had apparently never had sex at home, which was shocking really, considering the number of visitors Gideon and I had entertained at their house and our mother’s place over the years.

  It was a dangerous game, drinking in this situation, but I was bored, the weather was horrible, and we were stuck.

  Besides, some fatalistic part of me wanted to see where this would take us.

  “I have a good one,” Holly giggled and sat up, dropping her feet to the floor. She winced and pulled them up immediately. I could see the red swollen band around her ankle where the zip tie was digging in.

  Gideon shot me an accusatory look, as if it were my fault she needed to be bound in the first place.

  I sighed, set my beer down on a nearby table, grabbed my box cutter and knelt in front of her.

  “I think I like you like this,” she smiled, “On your knees. Worship me, slave.”

  I looked up at her and was shocked by the heat in her eyes. Her voice and smile were playful, but she had a smoldering fire in her gaze. My cock ached at that and I shifted to ease up on it a little in my tight jeans.

  I slid the box cutter across the zip tie and tossed it to the side. I stood and sat down in the chair again. “Don’t run,” I commanded, “If you do, we’ll catch you and bind your wrists too. Remember that.”

  “I won’t run,” she said with wide eyes, I could tell she was playing at the innocent act, but I liked it. I liked her.

  “Okay, what’s your question?” Gideon asked, bringing her feet back up onto his lap. I watched him massage her feet and ankles, saw him working his huge hands up her legs, kneading her muscles and stroking her skin. I was sure her clothes had dried ages ago, but none of us had made any mention for her to put them back on.

  She leaned back and closed her eyes. She moaned and said, “Sorry, I forgot what I was talking about.”

  “You were going to ask us a question,” I said, my voice perhaps a little too harsh, but I was trying to concentrate on not leaping on my fugitive stepsister and ravaging her hot body right then and there.

  Gideon shot me a look that let me know he was thinking the same thing.

  “Oh that’s right,” she said and her eyes snapped open. She held her beer up and said, “I have the perfect one. Never have I ever been in a threesome.”

  Her eyes narrowed as she watched us both, moving from Gideon to me and back again.

  A smile played on her lips as we each reached for our beer bottle. We took a drink, set it down and she laughed brightly.

  “I knew it!” she squealed, “I could just tell that you guys have done some crazy stuff.”

  “You aren’t exactly a virgin yourself,” I said, looking her up and down.

  “I know,” she replied, “but I’m boring. I’m really, you know, vanilla.”

  “Have you ever wanted to try different things?” Gideon asked with a sly look.

  “Like what?” she said, “Like being with two men at once? Maybe brothers? Maybe twins?” She gave me a sidelong glance and my cock hardened at her words.

  Damn her. I was losing my head and I was only on my second beer. God knows what was going to happen if we kept going down this dangerous path.

  And god knows I couldn’t stop myself even if I wanted to.

  And I didn’t want to.

  Chapter Nine

  They were falling for it. I could see it in their eyes as the alcohol slid down their throats. Unfortunately for me, however, they were starting to grow on me. I hated that I had to leave them behind, that I had to be the one who got away, but I couldn’t let them drag me back to New York.

  I knew Oliver already had his bases covered, and I hadn’t even taken a swing at the proverbial ball.

  The more I talked to the twins, the more I realized they weren’t the arrogant assholes I’d always assumed they were. Stuck in this storm and doing whatever kept us from dying from boredom, I’d learned a lot about them…I’d taken the time to talk to them, something I’d never done in the past.

  If the situation was different, and if my life wasn’t on the line, I would have enjoyed this day a lot more. Every so often I felt my guard drop, but the realization that these were the men who were stripping me of my freedom set that guard back in place to shake away the attraction I was developing. Not to mention the fact that they were my stepbrothers and just flirting with them was dancing on the boundary of the taboo.

  And I was a good girl. I couldn’t possibly step over that line, no matter how much my body was telling me it might not be so bad.

  “So,” I started to ask, my voice wavering just a bit from the effects of the beer, but my question bolstered by the previous question I’d asked. I forgot about the game we were playing, my curiosity getting the best of me, and finished the question. “Have you two been with the same girl at once?”

  Both of their mouths twisted up at the corners and I knew the answer before they said a single word. I was leading them down a specific path, one that would plant ideas in their heads and hopefully knock them off their own guard long enough for me to get away.

  Gage took a swig off his warm beer and answered, “We have. It’s not something we do all the time, but there have been instances.”

  I smiled and mirrored his actions by taking a fake swig off the bottle I was holding. “Did it happen when you two were younger, or…”

  “Once in high school, twice since we’ve become celebrities. Fan girls can be freaks sometimes, if you know what I mean,” Gideon answered. He chuckled to himself before adding, “But it’s not something we do regularly. Usually, it’s a thing that just, kind of, happens.”

  “Just, kind of, huh?” I asked, my eyes widening when he looked at me.

  I couldn’t deny that he was turning me on at that moment, but I reminded myself that the warmth I felt crawling along my bones was the alcohol and not the way his hands moved over my le
gs. He hadn’t yet ventured into dangerous territory, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen with a few more beers running through his veins.

  Glancing over to where my clothes were piled on the floor, I had to resist the urge to walk over and get dressed. I felt stupid sitting around in the strapless bra I’d worn with my evening gown on the boat, and the men’s underwear that Anthony had given me before I fled New York.

  However, seeing the way Gideon and Gage couldn’t keep their eyes off me kept me from crawling over and checking to see if my clothes were finally dry.

  “You know,” I said, tipping my bottle in Gideon’s direction, “You two are still soaking wet. You should probably lay out your clothes by the fire so they dry.”

  Gideon smiled and shook his head. “Actually, they’re almost dry just from my body heat, but thanks for the concern. We’ve been through worse than this and lived to tell about it.”

  “You could catch something, though,” I answered. “The wind blowing through the windows is really cold.”

  Gage shifted in his chair and narrowed his eyes on me. “Why are you trying to convince us to get undressed, Holly?”

  My head snapped in his direction and I feigned innocence. “Just don’t want you two to get sick is all. I’ve had pneumonia before and it’s not a fun experience.”

  “We’ll survive,” Gage grumbled. Standing up from his chair, he crossed the room to grab another bottle from the box. He glanced in our direction. “You two ready for another?”

  I shook my head, but Gideon slammed down the rest of his and nodded that he wanted a third.

  Attempting to hide the smile that was pulling at my lips, I acted like I took another sip, but in truth, I was spitting the beer back into the bottle.

  “You need to catch up, Holly. Didn’t college teach you how to drink faster than that?” Gideon asked.

  I laughed in response. “It did, but in college, the beer was cold. I’m not used to drinking it warm. Makes my stomach feel funny.”