Kevin and Sean, who were now behind her, rolled their eyes. It didn’t look like her forwardness surprised them in the least.
“What about you, Chris? How would you like me?” She placed her hand on my chest and ran it down.
I spared a pained thought for the incredible conversation she’d interrupted. Finally, I’d had a chance to talk to people who understood music. It was like going my whole life speaking two languages, and only just finding out that there were others who understood the second tongue.
Where is Leah?
I didn’t want her to see me like this, with her friend wantonly riding my lap in her living room. When I looked across the room, Leah quickly turned away, back to her friend.
She knows. In fact, the sudden attention of one of her best friends was all too suspicious. She threw her at me.
Anger coursed through me. At being rejected, thrown a diversion. She wanted to play this game?
Fine. We’ll play.
I ran my hands down Tyra's back until they rested on the firm, tight globes of her ass. I squeezed, and the yoga pants she was wearing did nothing to hide the incredible feeling of her ass in my hands.
“This one is good, but I think I’d prefer you bent over in front of me even better. It’s a lot easier to smack your ass from there. Something tells me you’re a girl who would like that kind of thing.”
Tyra rotated her hips, grinding herself against me at the sound of my words.
“Ooh, yeah. That would be pretty damn good.”
She grabbed my hair with both hands and pulled my face toward hers, launching straight into a deep kiss. Her tongue penetrated my mouth and danced around my own, as aggressive as I would have expected from her boldness.
“Wow,” she breathed. “You are a good kisser. I can’t wait to see what you do in the sack.”
The surrounding space had vacated—we had our own personal bubble in the corner of the room. It was late enough, people were drunk enough, and the music was loud enough that no one seemed to mind that Tyra full out accosted me in the living room.
Even though I kept looking over to the kitchen where Leah stood talking, I never caught her looking in our direction again. Putting on a performance and nobody cared, least of all the one I’d orchestrated it for.
“So, you’re Leah’s stepbrother, huh?” Tyra asked. Her hips continued a slow rotation in my lap, and despite my intentions, I could feel myself getting hard.
And although I only wanted Leah, I had to admit that her friend was a stunner.
“That’s right. As of Saturday.”
“Isn’t it awkward? Since you hooked up and all?”
“She told you?” I looked sharply at my stepsister. Her back faced us, but if people could feel stares then her hair would soon light on fire.
“We’re best friends, silly. We share everything.” As she said share, she settled even more fully into my lap.
“Is that right?” What had I got myself into?
“She told me how good you were, you know. Mind-blowing. Rocked her world. I can’t wait to see what all the fuss is about.” She pulled me back in for another kiss.
Rocked her world? It was good to know that I hadn’t been imagining how good the sex between us was. She wasn’t pushing me away because she’d had a bad time.
The performance had gone on long enough. It was time to talk to Leah. I grabbed hold of Tyra's shoulders and pushed her away. “I’ve got to hit the bathroom and grab a drink. Raincheck?”
She pouted, but swung her leg off me so I could get up. “Better not be too long.”
When I got to the kitchen, Leah wasn’t there.
“Hey, Kevin, is Leah in the bathroom, or something?”
The violinist shook his head. “I think she said she was going to bed.”
“Bed? But it’s only… midnight. Wow. Didn’t realize it had gotten so late.” Still, would she go to sleep with everyone still in her apartment? Without saying goodnight?
Doubt fogged my mind. Maybe she didn’t want me around and inviting me here was just a pleasant gesture that I wasn’t supposed to accept.
“There you are,” Tyra said as she latched onto my arm from behind. “What do you say we take a little two-man party back to your place? I’m in the mood for some better music and Leah said that yours was great.”
“You know what?” I said. “Let’s go do that.”
Cold water splashed against my face helped a little to wake me up and shake off the hangover.
But only a bit.
God, why did I drink so much last night?
I knew why. It’s because it was the only thing I could think of to get my mind off what was happening in the corner of my living room. Even when I’d turned away so my eyes couldn’t see, my mind painted the picture for me: Tyra gyrating in Chris’ lap as they made out on my couch.
And it was all my fault.
My phone beeped and my heart stuttered. It was a message from Chris.
Ignore it, Leah. That’s the best thing you can do. Just ignore it.
Once I’d hid away and pretended to go to sleep last night, it didn’t take long for Chris and Tyra to vacate the apartment. I wonder if she appreciated his throbbing music as much as I did? Did they dance until they couldn’t take it anymore and had to have each other?
Dammit. I had to get my mind off it.
I unrolled my yoga mat in the middle of the living room and settled into my morning routine. The familiar movements helped calm the thoughts that rampaged through my mind like the bulls in Pamplona.
Settling into my practice, I performed three sun salutations, then pushed myself as I fought to stretch my body to its limits.
In upward dog, I found my eyes only a couple feet away from where Chris sat the night before while Tyra straddled him. Just like that, the memories and thoughts came flooding back.
I collapsed on the floor.
“I shouldn’t fucking care this much about him!” I shouted to no one. “He’s my goddamn stepbrother! It can’t happen!”
A ringing beside me broke into my moroseness and the phone was almost flung across the room before I restrained myself. I took a look at the display.
Tyra.
Calling to compare notes? She had no compunction about sharing all the dirty details. I usually told her to can it, but secretly enjoyed hearing about all the guys she screwed and the positions they liked, kinks they had. It was funny hearing about the guys who were all macho in the club but craved her taking control in bed.
Did I want to hear all the gory details from her hooking up with Chris? Could I put myself through that?
“Hey, Tyra. How was it?” I told myself that I answered only to make sure she made it home, not because I had a morbid fascination and wanted to relive my experience through her. Even if it meant that Chris has screwed someone else.
I pushed them together, I reminded myself. It might not have happened if I hadn’t.
“How was what?” she asked.
“You know, the sex. I know you left with Chris last night. Good, right?”
“I wouldn’t know,” she said. “We left together, but no matter how I tried or what I said, he wouldn’t take me home with him. That fucker left me with the biggest case of blue balls I’ve ever had.”
“He what? You didn’t sleep with him?” I almost dropped the phone from my hands and got off the floor to sit in a more natural position on the couch.
“I wish. No, he squirmed away from me, and after he’d gotten me so riled up, too. I had to resort to using Dudley for about an hour last night to get over it.”
I laughed. “Have I told you that you share way too much information? The fact that I already know Dudley is your vibrator is just sick.”
It felt good to laugh. It hadn’t felt like a day where I would be doing too much of that. Everything seemed a lot brighter now, like clouds had rolled back from the sun.
“Yeah, well, I won’t change now. You up for coffee after class? I’m still a little hung
over.”
“You and me both, I was just trying a little yoga to get over it, but I’m down to grab a cup in a bit.”
“Perfect. Text me later.”
“Bye.”
I tossed my phone on the couch and bounced up to my feet. A sudden burst of energy rushed through me, and I threw myself back into the yoga with more enthusiasm than before.
He didn’t sleep with her. It should have worried me that the thought was so uplifting, but I didn’t care. Happiness flooded my system, and that was enough for now.
Each pose grew more and more difficult as I pushed my body to its limits, stretching and holding beyond what was normally possible. Sweat gathered on my skin in little dots, shimmering in the diffuse sunlight that filtered in through the windows.
As I came out of sirsa padasana, someone knocked on the door. I looked down to check myself. Short yoga shorts and a sports bra weren’t that bad, and I was too warm to throw something else on.
When I opened the door, I froze.
This needs to stop happening.
“You weren’t answering my texts,” Chris said. “So I thought I would just drop in.”
He dressed simply in a white shirt and jeans, but his muscles were visible through the clothes, and he made it look good. Manly.
“Um, come in.” Why was I never able to think around him? Not that my mind slowed down, more like it leapt from thought to thought and raced around so fast it kept getting in its own way.
I was hyper-aware of how little clothing I had on and the sweat that covered my body. And how he looked at me.
His eyes burned a hole right through me, the irises dark and stormy. “You’re looking good. Was I interrupting something?”
I flushed. As per usual. It was like my body couldn’t handle a compliment from him. “Just about finished doing my morning yoga. Sorry about this.” I waved down at myself. “I’ll go put something else on.”
“No,” he said. “You’re fine in that. More than fine.”
His voice was a low growl, sending a tug straight to my loins.
I knew saying it would make Leah uncomfortable. And I knew that stepping close to her would make her even more so.
I did it anyway. I liked to make her uncomfortable. To push her and see if she could take it. To watch the way her cheeks turned delicate pink when I drew close.
“Why did you come?” she asked, her voice low as she looked up at me. We were inches apart.
I teased her a little more. “If you checked your phone, then you would already know. Thank you for the party last night. It was… Fun.”
She swallowed and her eyes traced my face. “That was the idea. I’m glad you had a good time. Tyra seemed to like you.”
“She did. But she’s not my type.” She’d backed against the counter and I put one hand on either side of her.
It almost didn’t matter what words came out of her mouth. Her eyes spoke. The eyes of a trapped woman who wasn’t sure if she should run or fight, or accept her capture.
“And what’s your type?”
I let my body nudge even closer to her. As close as two people could get without touching. Goosebumps pebbled her flesh even through the sweat as I brushed against the tiny invisible hairs covering her skin.
“Brunette, smart, sassy. A bit of a good girl who knows that deep down, she has a bad side.”
Her lips parted. They were right there, waiting for me. I held off, fighting the urge to take what her body offered and overwhelm her.
“I don’t think there are any girls like that here,” she said, the words barely audible. She stared at my lips as if she expected them to disappear.
When her pink tongue flicked out to lick her lips, I couldn’t resist any longer.
My left hand came up to hold the back of her head as my right crushed her body against mine. I took her mouth and kissed her hard, finding her already kissing me back.
Hormones raced through me, and my mind shook from excitement in a way that Tyra hadn’t been able to induce. This was what I needed. This was the slice of heaven I felt every time we touched.
I dropped my hands to her ass, so shapely and perfect in her tight yoga shorts. When I grabbed her cheeks and lifted, she jumped up and wrapped her legs around me as I set her on the counter.
When I dropped my lips to her neck, I heard her moan above me.
“Oh, yes,” she whispered as her hands buried themselves in my hair and held me to her. “That feels so good.”
I wanted to give her endless pleasure, push her higher and higher until she passed out from the bliss. I ran my hands up her sides before coming to the front to play with her breasts through her sports bra. I recaptured her lips and stifled the loud moan coming out of her.
This was what I’d wanted ever since I’d woken up Friday morning to find her gone. She was like a drug, and after one taste I’d gotten hooked. There was one thing I knew—I could never overdose on Leah.
Her legs still wrapped tight around me, I picked her up and carried her to the living room, getting to my knees and setting her on the couch. With eager hands, I hooked my fingers into her shorts.
As if snapping out of a dream, Leah shook.
“Wait.” She put her hands over mine, keeping them where they were. “Chris, we can’t do this.”
I growled. “What do you mean? We aren’t hurting anybody.”
“No, seriously, Chris, stop. I can’t go through with this. I know it feels good—God does it feel good. But it’s wrong. We’re related now.”
I shook my head. She concerned herself with pointless shit. “What does it matter? We don’t share the same blood, and our parents just got married last weekend. We’re adults, Leah. What they do should have no impact on us.”
“Maybe, maybe not. I love my father. I don’t want to give him any reason to be disappointed or upset because of something I’ve done. I doubt he’d approve of this.” She struggled to sit up fully and took my hands off her legs. “Besides, we aren’t right for each other. We could have pointless sex for a little while, but what would that accomplish? It’s not like we’re going to date.”
I knew she was right. She was so much better than I could hope to be, with a bright and cheery future ahead of her. All I had to look forward to was an endless string of days driving a forklift in a warehouse. No matter how much I wished it was different, that was my life.
“So, what? We stop whatever this is? Pretend that we feel no attraction toward one another? Live a crappier life because we aren’t supposed to be together?” It was hard to keep the bitterness out of my voice, and I stopped trying. I put my hand back on her thigh. She shivered. “I know you feel this, too, Leah. I’ve never felt this with anyone else.”
She closed her eyes and bit her lip, then reached down and removed my hand again. “Chris. You know stopping this is the right thing to do. The proper thing. There are millions of women in this city. You’ll find someone else.”
Her voice was shaky, as though she didn’t believe what she was saying.
“I’m not looking for someone else,” I said as I stood. “Not when I know what I want. Who I want.”
The tension was incredible, and when it snapped either we would go at each other like rabbits in heat, or else have a monstrous fight.
Leah didn’t take the bait, but just curled up on the couch, holding her knees to her chest. “Please leave, Chris.”
That’s it? After everything we said, I didn’t want to just leave things hanging the way they were, but there was no other way out.
I stalked to the other side of the living room.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “I told you to leave.”
My patience ended.
“Fucking hell, Leah. I’m just grabbing my jacket where I left it last night. That’s the whole reason I came over here.” I took the leather coat and slung it over my elbow. “I’ll get out of your hair, then. It was nice knowing you.”
She didn’t move as I walked to the front door and
let myself out. Slamming the door didn’t give me the satisfaction I wanted. The angry sound just echoed down the hall and mirrored the emptiness I felt inside of me.
“That was a sloppy delivery, Leah.”
I looked at Dr. Patterson in shock. The professor had never said anything but good things about my acting skills aside from the odd bit of constructive criticism.
“Try to draw your attention back to the room, if you will.”
I nodded, but the coaching shook me.
“Marco, tell me you didn’t sleep with another woman,” I said to the dark-skinned Italian who was my partner for the scene. “I need to hear it from your lips.”
Inwardly, I winced. I hadn’t practiced the scene at all in the run up to my other audition, and it showed.
“Bella, you know you’re the only one for me.” David took my hand and knelt down in front of me. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to stay by your side. Please, let me stay.”
It was an eerie echo of the conversation I’d had with Chris earlier that day. It was hard not to see his face on the man who knelt down in front of me. I tore my hand out of his grasp and turned away, tears springing to my eyes.
“Tell me,” I said. “Speak the words, or I’ll never talk to you again.”
“I…” he faltered. “I can’t, Bella. I can’t lie to you. But it meant nothing. Please, you have to believe it! I thought you were dead!”
“And how long after you thought I died did you sleep with that whore?” I said. “No, Marco. This is the end. Goodbye.”
I walked across the stage, exiting the scene to applause from the small group of classmates watching.
David stood and held his hand out as I came back to him, and we turned and gave a little half bow to the room.
“Much stronger on the finish,” Dr. Patterson said. “Good recovery, Leah. That was well done. You’ve always been great at summoning genuine emotion, and that’s one of the hardest things for an actress to learn.”
“Thank you, sir,” I said.
Pulse: A Stepbrother Romance Page 6