I gave a low growl and did what she asked, continued to fuck her while she fought with everything in her power not to come around my cock. Feeling her squirm around me, being held at the very edge, was making it harder and harder to keep from coming myself. But I needed the sex to last as long as she could take it, needed to be inside of her for as long as I could. Her body was shaking, and when I reached down to rub her clit she moaned and started bucking underneath me.
“Stop,” she whimpered, but her hands were on my ass and were holding me inside of her.
“Angel,” I breathed, slowing my hips down. “We’d better stop now, okay?”
She gave a low sigh, letting go of me as I pulled out of her. I wanted nothing more than to keep teasing her body over and over but I didn’t think I could handle it anymore and I knew she couldn’t. She lay in my bed for a moment, her body trembling, her poor pussy wet and needy. She needed to come and yet she was going to hold herself back, all because she thought that receiving pleasure from me would be going too far, as if the sex hadn’t counted if she didn’t get off from it. It was silly, but I wasn’t going to press her on it.
She stared at me for a moment, then slipped out from underneath me. She found her nightgown and put it on, then disappeared from my room without a word.
9
Eric
I sat in the garden outside, sitting on a bench and staring up at the sky. The stars were clear and bright out here, something I hadn’t realized that I’d missed until I’d come back to the country. Living in the city had given me the chance to start my life, to meet new people and change the way I thought about several things. I had been spoiled growing up, narrow-minded and cruel. But I had grown into a man who tried to do what was right.
I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Ella in her nightgown. She stopped when she saw me, her eyes on mine, and I could tell immediately that she was beyond flustered. Her face was flushed and her hair was damp with sweat, curling around her forehead. I could see the outline of her nipples through her white dress as she stood there, squirming as she stared at me.
“Hi,” I said to her, reminding myself of what I had just been thinking—looking at Ella this way, no matter how sexy she looked, was not the right thing to do. I looked away from her. She approached me at the bench, standing shyly in front of me.
“Hi,” she said softly, looking down at my face. Her eyes were filled with unfiltered lust as they rested on mine, something that was clear and undeniable. I couldn’t look away from her even though I wanted to. She sighed after a moment, breaking my gaze, and looked up at the stars just as I had been doing before she walked up the path.
“Why are you up?” I asked her.
“I was with your brother,” she said, chewing on her bottom lip. “But I—I didn’t finish.”
I swallowed hard, imagining what she must have been doing with Julian to turn her on this much. He must have gotten to touch her in the ways that I had dreamt of doing since we’d come back, since the moment I’d first seen her at dinner the first night.
“You didn’t come?” I asked her.
“I didn’t want to,” she said. “I almost did. But that—it would have been wrong.”
“Wrong?”
She leaned down and tasted me then, taking my lips with her mouth in a sweet, hungry kiss. I couldn’t help but kiss her back, though I kept my hands in my lap. I wanted to touch her body, to pull that dress over her head, but I wasn’t sure what it meant that she’d been with Julian.
“Why are you doing this, Ella?” I asked her after she kissed me again.
“Because there’s something wrong with me,” she said, looking me in the eye.
“There’s nothing wrong with you.” I put my hand to her cheek, stroking her lips with my thumb.
She nodded her head up and down. “I want both of you. My stepbrothers. When I—I was with Julian, I kept wishing that you were there with us.”
I couldn’t speak. The thought of sharing her with Julian was strange; I didn’t know how I felt about it.
She leaned down to kiss me again, and this time I responded by slipping my tongue into her mouth to taste her. I couldn’t help it. I found myself wrapping my arms around her waist, pulling her against me while we kissed. While I tasted her, I traced my hand over her neck, stroking her throat with my thumb before bringing my hand lower. I pulled her breasts out of her dress, cupping them in my hands while we kissed. I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to touch her, to give her pleasure—especially since she seemed like she was already dying to be touched.
Ella whimpered when I pulled my mouth away from hers, lowering it to take one of her nipples between my lips. She had beautiful breasts, small and pale with rosy pink nipples that stood out with arousal. I could tell they were sensitive—she squirmed when I flicked at it with my tongue. I teased her other nipple with my fingertips, pinching it between them. Lust had overwhelmed me, made me stop thinking about what I should and shouldn’t be doing. I sucked on her breast hungrily while she ran her hands through my hair, switching to the other nipple and giving it the same treatment as the first.
“Eric,” she breathed. “Would you—would you fuck me?”
My cock was already rock hard—it had been since she’d confessed that she had been with Julian—but it twitched in my pants at her words, throbbing against my zipper.
“No,” I said to her, fighting to get the word out. “I don’t think that I should.”
“Why not?” she asked. Her hands were still in my hair, tilting my head up to look her in the eye. “Because of Julian,” I said. She sighed then as I kissed her neck, then her lips again. I pulled away before she could kiss me back, pulling her dress back up over her breasts.
“We shouldn’t be doing this.”
She stared at me for a moment, then nodded. She looked embarrassed, and if I hadn’t just told her that we couldn’t touch each other, I would have kissed that look off of her face.
“It’s okay, Ella,” I assured her, but she turned away from me and hurried along the path. I didn’t follow her, instead remaining on the bench. I thought about how conflicted she must be—not only were we her stepbrothers, but she wanted both of us, and she probably also still thought about the way we had treated her before.
I got up a few moments later and went to bed, and by the time I got up in the morning I was ready but nervous about what I had to do. Julian was the most important person in my life, my closest friend and confidant. I would never betray him by coming between him and Ella if he didn’t want me to, but I wondered how he would feel when I told him that Ella wanted us to share her.
I found him in the dining room eating breakfast and sat down across from him.
“Can we go for a drive after breakfast?” I asked him. We had always had important talks in the car. It was a way to keep our hands busy and stay calm. We never fought because we always talked it out, and I was hoping that it would be the same in this situation.
He raised his eyebrows at me.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said, running my hand through my hair. “I just want to talk to you.”
He nodded. “I have a feeling I know what it’s about. I’ll meet you outside in a few minutes.”
“Thanks, Julian,” I said and went into the kitchen to get something to eat. Ella was in there, and when she saw me her eyes darted away from me. I thought about going to her but then thought better of it, instead staying quiet as I rifled through the fridge. I grabbed something and shut the door, looking over at her as she leaned against the counter, her eyes avoiding mine.
“Good morning,” I said to her.
“Morning,” she said, and then left the room abruptly. I stayed in the kitchen and ate alone, then met Julian outside where he was already waiting in the car. We pulled out of the driveway in silence, and I waited until we got on the road before I spoke.
“Ella,” I said. “I saw her last night after you—” He glanced at me. “Do you want to know?�
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“Yes,” I said, though I wasn’t sure why.
“She came into my room in the middle of the night and just climbed on top of me. She wouldn’t—she wouldn’t let me make her come.”
“She told me that,” I said. He opened his mouth, then closed it.
“What else did you talk about?”
“She said that she wished I was there while she was with you.”
He looked over at me, almost for too long. I had to remind him to look at the road.
“What do you think?” I asked him after a moment of quiet that made me nervous.
“Are you okay with it?” he asked me. I didn’t know which answer he wanted or was expecting, but I decided to tell him the truth as I always had and always would.
“I like the idea,” I said to him, feeling my body heat up when I admitted it.
“So do I.”
I let out a breath of relief. “Do you think she would really agree to it?”
“It would take some convincing,” he said. “She’s so shy. God, it was sexy. Once you get to touch her—”
“I did touch her,” I told him. “But only barely.”
“Barely?” he asked, raising one eyebrow.
“I sucked on her nipples.”
He took a deep breath. “That is so fucking sexy.”
“She’s really embarrassed that she wants it,” I told him. “She thinks it’s wrong.”
“She kept saying it would be wrong to make her climax. I wanted to tell her it was ridiculous.”
“That must have been hard.”
He grinned. “You have no idea.”
“We have to convince her that it’s okay to want us both. I hate thinking that she’s walking around feeling ashamed about it.”
He nodded. “I think since I’ve already been with her, I could warm her up to the idea, ask her if she wants to call you in.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Although thinking about you getting to her first…”
“It’s worth the wait, Eric.”
“I can only imagine.”
We had circled back to the house then and Julian parked, turning to look at me.
“You sure you’re okay with this?” he asked me, looking into my eyes.
“I am,” I said. “I want to give her what she wants.”
“So do I,” he said. “We’ll figure something out tonight. Maybe she’ll go out with us.”
“Maybe,” I said. “Do you want to ask her or should I?”
“I will,” Julian said, and I agreed, hoping that he wouldn’t have trouble getting Ella to let down her guard and let us in.
10
Ella
I spent most of my day upstairs in my room, calling out that I was sick whenever anybody came to my door. After seeing Eric at breakfast, I had realized that I couldn’t face either one of them. I was appalled at my behavior—all of it, from the hook-up at the party to the way I had danced with both Julian and Eric and the way I’d let them touch me last night. It had been too much; I had been out of control in a way that I had never been before, and I realized that the best thing I could do would be to stay away from both of them as much as possible. I knew that I couldn’t spend every day for the rest of their visit in my room, but for now I was content to lay in bed and avoid them as best as I could.
There was a knock on my door just before dinner, a heavy pounding that came from an angry fist.
“Ella,” came Lola’s sharp voice from the other side of the door. “You open this door right now. This is my house, I—”
She cut herself off when I threw open the door, crossing my arms over my chest.
“What is it?” I asked her, knowing that I shouldn’t be so bold with her.
“Are you coming down to make dinner?” she asked.
“No,” I said flatly and shut the door in her face. I turned away from the door, my eyes going wide in surprise with myself. I hadn’t thought to lock it, and it flew open behind me as my stepmother stormed in.
“I will not have you taking advantage of me any longer,” she said when I turned to look at her. I laughed dryly, unable to even process the absurdity of the words I was hearing.
“How am I taking advantage of you, Lola?” I asked her.
“You’ve been up in this room all day. Your grandmother’s care costs half my fortune and I let her stay here for free. I expect you to work around the house when you can.”
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose with my finger and thumb.
“I didn’t feel good today, okay?” I said to her. “I’m sorry. I’ll get back to work tomorrow.”
“You’ll get down there and make dinner tonight. You’re obviously not sick, you’re just lazy.”
“I am not going downstairs tonight.”
Her eyes narrowed into slits. “You ungrateful—”
“What’s going on?”
Julian appeared in the doorway, looking in at his mother as she stood close to me. Her hand was raised as if to strike me, though she had never done so before. I’d never been so rude to her before either, never stood up for myself in such a way that would make her so angry.
“I’m trying to convince Ella to come down and make dinner,” Lola said, slowly lowering her hand when Eric appeared beside Julian.
“Do you want to make dinner, Ella?” Julian asked.
“No.”
Julian looked at his mother. “She’s not making dinner,” he said flatly.
“It’s not up to you,” Lola spat. Eric stepped into the room then and toward his mother.
“Come downstairs, Mom,” he said in that patient voice of his. “I’ll make us something.”
Lola had her mouth open as if to speak and she shot me a look, one that I returned with an unwavering gaze. In that moment, I wasn’t afraid of her as I usually was. I didn’t care what she did to me. I wasn’t even thinking about my grandmother—something that I would feel guilty about later. I was only thinking about getting away from Lola.
She and Eric disappeared from my room and Julian stood there, his eyes on my face. Then he crossed the room and opened my closet, looking inside.
“What are you doing?” I asked him.
“Packing,” he said, grabbing a large bag from the bottom of the closet and thrusting it into my hands. “We’re going away for the weekend.”
“What?” I asked him, standing still, the bag hanging in my hand.
“We’re going to the lake. You and me.”
“I can’t, Julian,” I said. “My grandmother—”
“She has a nurse. I saw the number in the kitchen. She’s coming for the weekend.”
“Julian, I don’t think this is a good idea,” I said to him, biting my lip. He took the bag from my hand, looking me in the eye.
“I’m not going to touch you without your permission,” he said, studying my face. “Never.”
“I know,” I said, swallowing as he crossed the room to my dresser. He started pulling things out and putting them carefully in the bag, packing them as if they were his own things. I took the bag from him and started to pack it myself, ignoring the satisfied smile he gave me when he realized that I was agreeing to go. I knew for certain it wasn’t a good idea and yet getting out of the house sounded like the best thing for me. I tried to tell myself that I only wanted to get away, that the fact that I would be alone with Julian had nothing to do with it.
“Finish packing. I’ll meet you downstairs in a few minutes.”
“But Eric and your mother—”
“Eric is keeping her busy so we don’t have to deal with her while we’re leaving,” Julian said. I felt a surge of gratefulness wash over me.
I went and waited in the hall for a few minutes while Julian packed his own bag, then met me by the door with a smile and walked me out to his car. We put our bags in the trunk and got in. Before he started the car, he turned to look at me.
“Are you okay with this?” he asked. I nodded. I had been hesitant, but now that we were alone I felt comfo
rtable and safe, despite the feeling that hung gaping in the air between us. The last time I had seen Julian, I had been underneath him, begging him to keep going while I fought back the urge to come. It had felt good, so good that I couldn’t stop and yet holding back my body had been one of the hardest things I had ever done. I told myself I wasn’t going to climb him again no matter how this weekend went.
“If you’re expecting this to go like it did the other night…” I said, but trailed off.
“I’m not.”
“Okay,” I said, looking down at my hands. “Where are we going?”
“Have you ever been to the lake house?”
I snorted. “Yeah, your mom used to take me there on our girls’ weekends. We got our nails done and massages.”
He grinned. “I can’t promise you I’ll do your nails, but I can certainly give you a massage if you’d like.”
I thought about that, about his hands all over my body, and squirmed in my seat.
“What are we going to do out there?”
He shrugged. “We’re going to relax. No worries. You’re not going to think about Lola. Or your grandmother.” “Oh? Do you have some way to take my mind off of those things?” I asked him, knowing it was a flirty question. I couldn’t help but fall into the pattern of insinuation with him, my body always hoping that he would push it further and further until I had something to fantasize about.
“I have a few ideas,” he said, glancing over at me. “But we’ll see how the night goes.”
“I see,” I said, lifting my eyebrows at him. He shot me a smile and I had to smile back. I thought about leaving my grandmother alone and felt guilty, though I didn’t say anything to Julian about it. I had to remind myself that he had called the weekend nurse, that she would be okay for a couple of days without me.
“I should have said goodbye to my grandma,” I said, sitting up straight and looking over my shoulder down the road. “She’ll worry—she’ll wonder where I went.”
“I talked to her, actually,” Julian said. I stared at him.
Dirty Ella: A Fairy Tale Inspired Stepbrother Romance Page 7