Romance: Yes, Stepbrother!

by Annie Valentine

  “John, I went to Bolivia with you.”

  “That was work! This is pleasure. Come with me to the Starlight Descent tonight. No blind date, I swear. Just the two of us dancing the night away.”

  Caitlin sighed loudly but she could see the futility of arguing against her friend.

  “Fine. I’ll come.”

  John fist-pumped the air and Caitlin smirked.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be getting somewhere right now? Go already.”

  John nodded and went off. The art major watched him go with a shake of her head. Sometimes, she wondered what went on in her best friend’s head. She looked back at her covered painting then down at her now-clean hands. With a shrug, she went to change into clothes that weren’t covered in paint and still went out for lunch. She shivered in the fresh November breeze. The light drizzle falling from the overcast skies didn’t help any either, and Caitlin put her gloves on and held her coat tight against her neck. She wasn’t going far, but it appeared that a couple of months in Bolivia had spoiled her for the typical Bostonian winter weather. The young woman made her way to her favorite coffee shop and was quite happy to escape the cold rain. Once there, she ordered a mocha with extra chocolate and her usual chicken salad sandwich for lunch.

  Caitlin managed to sit in her favorite spot, from where she could watch both the street, and people coming in. She stirred her mocha with a little smile. Though she was now on her own, she was content. John deserved the opportunity for advancement in his chosen career that would no doubt come of their summer trip. Professor Sanders had seemed happy with both of their work. Her sandwich arrived with a smile from Rose, the waitress.

  “Peter says he used full-fat mayonnaise but only put half the amount he usually dishes out. And apparently, he’s still waiting for you to call him now that you’ve seen sense and kicked Adam out.”

  “Well you can tell Peter that I’m not really looking at the moment, but I’ll keep him in mind.”

  The girl shared a smile with her. Both knew nothing would come from that banter. Peter Dunn was the owner of this little place. He was also forty-three and happily married, with five children. Peter and John had known Adam longer than they had Caitlin. But they had also both sided with her when they’d learned why she had decided to call it off with her once fiancé. He was nothing more than a cheat, and she was well rid. It didn’t stop the sometime melancholic mood that overtook her.

  With a slight shake of her head, Caitlin chased the darkening thoughts from her mind refocused on the world around her. She took a bite of her sandwich and smiled. It was just as good as usual. Peter Dunn refused to compromise on the quality of his ingredients, and it showed. This little place had a good reputation with the student crowd. They were cheaper than Starbucks and generally just as good. Business types ordered their lunches to be delivered but some of them sometimes made the trip down from their offices. Only the regulars came in most of the time, but it still wasn’t rare to not find a free seat during lunch. So Caitlin noticed him near enough instantly.

  His bronze-colored skin and longish dark hair told her he was probably of Spanish, South American, or Native American descent. He was built like a soldier of old: tall and broad-shouldered, his figure lean and powerful under a long-sleeved, black t-shirt. His dark blue jeans clung to all the right places. A black leather jacket and boots completed the look. Caitlin’s gaze lingered on his backside probably a bit longer than was polite or strictly necessary. The man made his way to the counter and stood on one side, perusing the offerings written on the old-fashioned blackboard place above and behind the serving area. Caitlin noted that she wasn’t the only one under the tall, dark, and handsome stranger’s spell: Rose’s gaze kept straying in his direction even as she served other customers.

  Caitlin shook herself. As nice as it was to look, she did have other things to do. Such as working out just which pieces she would present for the next exhibition. The art student grabbed her sketchbook and opened at the one before last page. Here were written all the paintings she was planning on producing in the near enough future. Crossed off were her most recent pieces. Highlighted were those pieces she had either sold off or previously shown at one gallery or another. The rather long list stared back at her from the page. It wasn’t really surprising that most of those titles had something to do with her little trip to the rain forest. Some of her older ideas and finished pieces were there too, but there weren’t quite enough of them to make a good showing of herself anywhere. Her fingers drifted down to her jade pendant as she studied the words before her. She’d managed to capture not only landscapes but also a fair few animals on film. And she was still in the process of transferring those images onto canvas. Maybe the simplest thing to do would be to theme her next exhibit around the rain forest. It was always a newsworthy topic and it could yield a good media coverage if she was lucky…

  “Excuse me, could I join you please?”

  Caitlin started at the deep bass voice that addressed her. She looked up to see Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome standing beside her.

  “Sorry, but there’s really no free seat.”

  Caitlin looked around and sure enough, the cafe had filled in with the lunch crowd.

  “Be my guest.”

  “Thanks.”

  The man sat and extended a hand across the table.

  “Name’s Ranael.”

  “Caitlin,” the young woman smiled.

  The two of them retreated into polite silence. Caitlin picked up her sandwich and took a small bite out of it, chewing slowly as she continued looking over her list. A strong gust of wind blew as a customer opened the door and the pages of her sketchbook started flipping. Caitlin made to drop her sandwich back on her plate but a large sun-tanned hand settled on top of the paper leaves. The young woman swallowed her mouthful of chicken and salad as she quickly wiped her fingers.

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome. Are you studying art?”

  Caitlin looked at the man opposite her, blinking and wiping her fingers on her napkin. He smiled and nodded in direction of her sketchbook.

  “Painting and art history.”

  “Really? Anything I might have seen around?”

  “Only if you’ve been around Boston for a while.”

  “Last few months only, I’m afraid. I’m here on business. I do know a little about art history.”

  Ranael’s smile seemingly had a way to set people at ease because soon enough, they were talking about their favorite art periods and artists. Ranael mentioned he loved Mesopotamian art and Caitlin shared her love for Gothic and Japanese art forms.

  “And where did you get that?” Ranael eventually asked, pointing at her necklace.

  “I was in Bolivia over the summer. It’s rough jade. Not pure enough to be worth anything, but nice enough to make a nice little souvenir.”

  The two continued to talk through lunch. Then Caitlin had to get ready for her afternoon seminar. Ranael stood as she did. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing the black strands behind his ears.

  “Would you let me take you out tonight?”

  Caitlin looked up into Ranael’s amber gaze. She lost herself in those golden brown depths for an instant.

  “Caitlin?”

  “Yes. I’ll go out with you.”

  “Great. Should I pick you up?”

  “I’ll meet you… Actually, my friend is going out tonight to the Starlight Descent. Would you like to come with us?”

  “The Starlight Descent? I think I’ve heard of it, yes.”

  “So you’ll come?”

  “Yes. Shall I meet you there at, say, seven?”

  Caitlin swallowed against her suddenly dry throat and nodded. Ranael fished for a card from his back pocket.

  “Here. Just in case you need to cancel.”

  “I don’t have a card to give you.”

  “Oh, don’t worry. I wouldn’t cancel our date for anything in the whole universe.”

  *

&nbs
p; **

  Ranael had watched the girl walk out of the coffee shop. A glance at the display of his handheld computer told him he’d managed to achieve his goal for this morning. The card he had given Caitlin King held a chemical compound that Tiamat could pick up even from orbit. If the Kashyk protocol reactivated for some reason, Ranael would not lose his target this time. He could now follow her without even coming close to her. Or so he hoped. The archon took his time getting out of the building. He knew the owners were friendly with the girl. And the last thing he needed was for someone to warn her off before their ‘date’ tonight.

  Standing outside the shop, the archon flipped the collar of his leather jacket up to protect him from the fine rain coming down. He then started to walk down the street. Ranael was still vaguely uneasy about the plan. He had managed to track the girl from the initial point of contact back in the rain forest, all the way here. The Kashyk protocol — the Potential’s main defense system — had made that task both very easy, and incredibly complex. Within the Potential’s wave systems was the ability to muddle the wave fields of their wearers, making them impossible to track at close quarters. The protocol was useless and even dangerous at range, because wave disturbances could be tracked from space, given enough time and data. But get within the direct range of their scrambling effects, and it became impossible to see your target. Ranael had followed the scrambling effect to the East Coast of the United States. Then he pinpointed her place on the map using the girl’s description and hear-says he’d managed to pick up in Bolivia.

  Strategos Ariuk had made it known that he was not harm any human or to blow his cover unless he had no other choice. So Ranael could only use subterfuge to get the artifact off Caitlin. But it just wasn’t the way the archon liked to do things. Give him a battle where he could face his opponent and look them right in the eye anytime. He hated having to lie and cheat to get closer from his target. He’d managed to get into her flat just a week after he’d tracked her down, but she was wearing the Potential system at all time. He’d have to find a way to get it off her.

  CHAPTER THREE: The Starlight Descent

  The Starlight Descent was probably one of the strangest clubs in town. It wasn’t so much that it catered to strange musical tastes. Instead, it seemed to cater to every musical tastes. Alternative, blues, country, dance, pop, R&B… Whatever the flavor, there was a room for you in the Starlight Descent. As she stood by the entrance, Caitlin could hear the dulcet tones of the latest pop star mixing with the pounding bass line of a dubstep tune. When she’d told John she had a date, he’d high-fived her then decreed he would be her wingman tonight. He’d also invited a few others from their respective colleges to tag along. And so here she stood, in shorter a black dress than she was used to wearing — yet another of John’s idea.

  “You need to get back on that horse and ride him ‘til morning comes.”

  Caitlin had very nearly spit out her drink, earning a very naughty smile from John.

  “Get your mind out of the gutter, girl.”

  But the art student knew perfectly well that the images her mind had conjured were the same John had thought of.

  “Hi there, beautiful.”

  Caitlin turned to see Ranael standing behind her. She felt her throat go dry as she took in the tight button-down shirt he’d changed into. He’d left the top few buttons undone and she caught a glimpse of dark curly hairs beneath the white cloth.

  “You okay?”

  “Sure,” Caitlin breathed. “I’ve got a few more friends than planned in there. I hope it’s all right.”

  “Of course. The more, the merrier.”

  Ranael smiled and motioned for her to lead the way. The two of them went in. The shock of the pulsing hot ambiance of the club compared to the cold evening air brought a gasp to Caitlin’s lips. Only seven in the evening, and people were already dancing onto the main floor of the club. Suddenly Ranael was there, right against her back, his hands clasping her shoulders.

  “You’ve never been here before?”

  His breath skittered across her neck. Goose bumps rose on her skin despite the heat.

  “No. It’s not my usual scene. My friend John kind of forced me into it.”

  Ranael stepped around her and released her shoulders. His right hand caressed its way down her arm though, until he held her hand. Together, they made their way to the bar and ordered their drinks. As Ranael paid for their order, Caitlin’s gaze skittered across the crowd, trying to find her friends. She spotted John, already busy on the dance floor. But he was looking at her, grinning like a maniac. He looked between Ranael and she then waggled his eyebrows. Caitlin rolled her eyes.

  The couple chose to ignore the mass of dancing bodies for now and grabbed a table on the edge of the dance floor. They tried to talk over the music, laughing as they had to shout their questions and answers even sitting side by side. Caitlin caught John giving her the thumbs up from the corner of her eyes at one point. She blushed and Ranael smiled as he followed her line of sight and toasted John with his half-empty beer. As they finished their drinks, Ranael stood.

  “Dance with me.”

  Caitlin let Ranael pull her to her feet and onto the dance floor. The D.J. was playing a pulsing beat and the couple stepped into the music, bodies flowing together with only enough space for a breath between them. Caitlin rose onto her toes, her hands coming to rest on Ranael’s chest for balance as she leaned into him.

  “I still can’t place the origins of your name,” she husked into his ear.

  “I’ll give you a clue. It’s not English,” he answered with a dark chuckle.

  Caitlin would have answered the tease but she was grabbed and physically pulled away from her date.

  “What are you doing?” asked an all too familiar voice.

  “Let me go, Adam,” Caitlin hissed as she tried to pull her arm from her ex’s clutches.

  “No way. Not before you tell me who he is.”

  “It’s none of your business, Adam.”

  “I suggest you let Caitlin go,” Ranael drawled as he stepped forward.

  “Let Kate go, Adam,” John growled from behind her. “She’s well rid of the likes of you.”

  With the two men offering support, Caitlin yanked her arm hard from Adam’s crushing grip. Ranael took another step, putting himself between Adam and Caitlin, his amber eyes looking decided dark.

  “Move it, Adam. Because if you don’t, we’ll move it for you.”

  John’s threat seemed enough and Adam moved away, pushing through the dancing crowd and muttering along the way. Both Ranael and John watched him go until they were sure he was leaving the club. Then Ranael turned to look at Caitlin.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Been better,” Caitlin breathed as she rubbed at her arm.

  “Name’s John,” the blonde man said from beside them.

  The taller, black-haired man turned and exchanged a handshake with him. “Ranael. Nice to meet you.”

  “Can you do me a favor and get Kate out of here? Adam’s got a hot temper and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was waiting for her back at ours.”

  “Sure,” Ranael nodded. “We’ll hit a museum or something. I’ll bring her back around midnight.”

  “Keep her out for the night if you want,” John smirked. “But make sure she gets just enough sleep.”

  Caitlin blinked as she watched the male bonding happening before her very eyes. She cleared her throat loudly.

  “You boys do remember I’m standing here, right? And I’m perfectly able to decide how my night should end.”

  The two men turned to her, the sheepish looks on their faces so similar that Caitlin couldn’t help but laugh. She gave John a hug.

  “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” her friend muttered in her ear.

  “Knowing you as I do, it leaves me with options as strange as going skinny dipping in the dark and having sex in the local park.”

  John chuckled and patted her back before r
eleasing her into her date’s care. Caitlin saw the warning look John cast at Ranael, and her date’s answering nod, but she chose to ignore it. Let the boys pretend to be alpha males for a while. It couldn’t hurt them any. Ranael smiled down at her and steered her toward the entrance.

  CHAPTER FOUR: A Union

  The rest of the evening passed relatively quick. True to his word to John, Ranael had taken Caitlin to a museum exhibit, quietly admitting to her that this was much more to his taste. Caitlin had laughed and agreed that however much she liked John, his way of ‘having fun’ was much different from hers. The perfect gentleman, Ranael neither mentioned the altercation at the club, nor did he ask who Adam was, though this last might have been obvious enough. The dark man did, however, try his best to keep Caitlin at ease. The young couple had whiled away the hours, talking about their shared passion for art. They’d grown closer until she’d been bold enough to pull Ranael into a corner and make out with him until fireworks sparkled behind her closed eyelids. Caitlin had not had such a nice evening in a long time. As Ranael unlocked his front door, she firmly pushed all thoughts of boring dates with Adam far from her mind.

  “I’m afraid I only have cold beer to offer you,” Ranael said as he rubbed the back of his neck with a little smile.

  “A beer would be nice.”

  Caitlin watched her date open his fridge, reach for two green bottles, and effortlessly twist the metal caps open. He handed her one bottle and held up his own, clinging the glass together.

  “To new friends.”

  “And maybe more,” Caitlin added, feeling reckless as she watched Ranael’s lips wrap around the neck of the bottle.

  Ranael smirked around the opening. And Caitlin blushed slightly. She took a large gulp of her drink in hopes of cooling herself. She hadn’t had to flirt in a while now.

  “You’re nervous.”

  “That obvious, eh?” Caitlin huffed a shaky laugh.

  Ranael put his bottle down on the counter and came to stand in front of her.