BAD HEART: A Stepbrother Romance (A Step Over the Line Book Book 2)

by Hayes, Aurora

What is he doing with all that money?

  Jake walks right by me and to the door. I wait patiently as we’re outside walking to the car. He gets in the passenger side and I get in my side. I have to hurry and drive away before anyone realizes that Jake has snuck out of the police station.

  I give it a mile, maybe less, before I look at him and speak.

  “What the hell…”

  “Can I smoke?” he asks.

  “No,” I say. “Not in my car.”

  Jake shakes his head. He then boldly takes his cigarettes out of the bag and sticks on between his lips.

  “I hate you,” I say. “So much.”

  “No you don’t,” he whispers, the unlit cigarette bouncing between his lips.

  “Before I ask about the fight, why do you have so much cash on you?”

  Jake takes the cigarette from his mouth. He holds up the bag. “It’s two grand, sweetie.”

  “Yeah, that’s a lot of money to me.”

  “You’re rich.”

  “My father is rich. I’m not.”

  “Your boyfriend is rich,” he says with a smirk.

  “Again… I’m not.”

  Jake drops the bag. He sighs and runs his hands through his hair. “I always have cash on me.”

  “For what? Drugs? Women?”

  He snorts. “I don’t pay for women, sweetie.”

  “You’re gross. How…”

  The question is How many have you fucked since me? but I can’t ask that question. I can’t go there. I don’t want to know. But I kind of do.

  “How what?” he asks.

  “How could you be such an asshole all the time?”

  “You really want to know why I’m carrying two grand?”

  “Actually, I really do.”

  “Because I always do, sweetie. Okay? Because I never know when something is going to go wrong. If I need a place to crash and pay. If I need money to go somewhere for a little while. My life isn’t like yours, okay?”

  “Like mine?”

  “You’re pampered,” Jake says. “It’s all laid out for you. You have your father and his money. He chooses your boyfriend. College is all taken care of. The path is there and you just walk along it. Nothing bad can ever happen.”

  The words cut into me and hurt me.

  “You really believe that, Jake?” I ask.

  “I don’t need to believe it. I see it. You all went to New York as the perfect family, right? And when I get cut out and off for good, and I’m forced to disappear… that’s why I keep some cash with me.”

  It’s actually almost heartbreaking to hear.

  We’re almost home now. I don’t know what else to say to him. So I sit in silence and just drive.

  “Want to know about the fight?” I ask.

  “Sure,” I whisper.

  “I was about to go down on a woman in the bathroom. Then some guy that wants to fuck her busted in with two of his friends. So I had to fight them.”

  My heart races with anger. “A woman… I should have guessed.”

  “Hey, I’m not fucking dead,” Jake says. “We have a deal again, right? I still have needs. You have your boyfriend to fucking take care of you. What about me, sweetie?”

  I clench my jaw shut tight. I want to explode on Jake, but I don’t know what I’d actually say right now. Maybe he has a point. Maybe he doesn’t. I don’t know.

  What I do know is that when I see the driveway to the massive house my father calls home (well, I guess we all call it home, even Jake), I’m somewhat relieved. He’ll go into his room and I’ll go into mine. I’m sure he’ll have hell to pay in the morning (or in a few hours when the sun comes up) for the fight.

  “I guess we’re done talking,” Jake says as I park the car.

  “What else is there to say?” I ask. “I can’t make you stop who you are.”

  I put the car in the park and he puts his hand on mine, squeezing tight.

  Everything seems to stop. Time stands still. The car is completely silent.

  We just sit there.

  “Jade, look at me,” Jake says.

  “No,” I say.

  “Why?”

  “I just don’t want to.”

  “What the fuck do you want from me?” he asks. “You want me to jerk off and wait for you to figure out what you want out of life?”

  “I’ve seen you jerk off before.”

  “Yeah. I did that to get to you. Seems like it worked since you remember it.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “Time and place, sweetie,” he says so boldly.

  I have to get out of the car.

  I wiggle my hand free from his grip. I get out of the car and slam the door. I pout. I actually fucking pout. My hearts wishes Jake wouldn’t have let my hand go so easily. He should have pulled me. Right into his arms. And press his lips against mine.

  The car door slams and I turn to see Jake already walking away.

  I open my mouth but nothing comes out.

  He’s your stepbrother, Jade. Just let it go. Let him go.

  __

  7.

  (Jade)

  The house is still quiet. I purposely just stand in the foyer and listen to Jake as he rummages around the kitchen. I look to the stairs. I can easily just walk up them. Right? Just go right back to bed, right back to my dream. That’s where everything is safe. My dreams don’t count. I can fantasize about anything I damn well please. The temptation, the risk, the reward, well, that’s right there in the kitchen.

  It gets very quiet and I wonder where Jake is.

  Maybe he’s passed out on the floor or over the counter.

  I walk to the kitchen and look around the corner. Just like the rest of the house, the kitchen is huge. Two ovens, two countertop cook sets, two sinks, and two dishwashers. No lie. This is what it takes to make my father feel happy.

  Jake is standing at the main island, hovering over the sink, a glass of water next to him. He dumps the water and goes back to the fridge. He reaches up top and pulls a bottle of whiskey from the top.

  Secret hiding spot.

  He twists the cap off and takes a sip.

  I just stare. I want to say something to him. Like, didn’t you just get drunk and get into a bar fight? Doesn’t your face hurt from getting punched? It was just an hour ago you were in a jail cell. What the hell, Jake?

  I take one step and I hear, “I can fucking see you, sweetie. Whatever you think you need to say, spit it out. I’m not in the mood.”

  I swallow hard. He’s so goddamn sexy and commanding, I hate it.

  I creep into the kitchen like I need to be quiet. Trust me, I don’t. The house is so big that I actually have privacy. Which seems very weird and contradicting to the life my father wants me to live.

  I’m creeping because I’m afraid of Jake. Afraid of what he might do and afraid that I’ll like it. We have a deal to keep things calm, but that’s only words. Words aren’t worth a thing. That’s something my father taught me a long time ago. Things he’d say and do never matched up. Plus, look at this thing with Hunter. It was all words. Nothing more. Nothing less.

  I walk to the sink and stop. I reached into the sink, grab the glass, and fill it with water.

  “You should have some,” I whisper.

  “Why?” Jake asks and looks at me. “Afraid I’ll be hungover when I get in trouble?”

  “I never said that,” I say. “It’s been a long night.”

  “Thanks for that, Mom.”

  I swallow hard. He doesn’t even call his own mother Mom. He calls her by her first name, Rebecca. I want to know why. I want to know everything. But I know that if I dare to get closer to Jake, things will happen. Risks will be taken. Hearts will be shattered. Maybe lives will be destroyed.

  “Just go to bed,” he says. “Okay? Please. Don’t stand there and try to figure me out. Nobody will ever figure me out. Maybe not even me.”

  “Jake…”

  He puts a hand to mine for the second time tonight
.

  I don’t care who he is or what he’s done. He’s fucking beautiful. Stepbrother or not. Whether he smokes or not. Whether he fucks women for the fun of it or not.

  He’s simply fucking beautiful.

  I can see it. And I want it. The good, the bad, the everything.

  “Thank you for coming to get me,” he says softly. “I didn’t want to have to crash there all night and deal with whatever happens tomorrow. I… I kind of had nobody else to call, you know? You were the only one I could think that would be sober and tucked into bed.”

  “Like a good girl princess?” I ask.

  Jake smiles. “No, sweetie. Like a good person. Because that’s what you are. I…”

  Jake sighs. He swallows. He takes his hand away. Then he looks forward, trying to avoid my eyes now.

  I slowly back up. I make it about ten steps and then stop. My hands dangling at my sides, my palms sweaty, my finger twitching. I know exactly what’s going through my mind right now and it’s not good. Well, it’s GOOD but it’s not good.

  I have a choice. I can start stepping again and not stop. Or I can…

  “I haven’t slept with him,” I say.

  “What?” Jake asks.

  “Just so you know. If it means anything to you. I haven’t slept with Hunter. I haven’t done… anything.”

  “Good to know.”

  Silence again.

  “I don’t know…”

  He looks at me. “We have a deal. I don’t care what you do with your fucking pussy, got it? And you don’t care what I do with my dick.”

  I gasp.

  The nasty, vulgar side of Jake is lingering again.

  “Fuck you, Jake,” I say. “I just wanted you to know.”

  “Fine,” Jake says. He turns and steps toward me. “Why did you tell me that?”

  “Because I don’t want Hunter like that. Or at all. It has no meaning.”

  “Yeah? And…”

  “And it drives me… I just don’t want you to get in trouble for dumb reasons. Because you think I’m fooling around with someone else.”

  “Why does it matter?” Jake asks. “We have a deal.”

  “We had a deal to begin with.”

  Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…

  Jake is closing in on me now. I shuffle my feet a little, but I’m not going to the doorway to the kitchen. I’m going to the corner of the counter. And Jake isn’t stopping. He’s coming toward me, his eyes devouring me. Controlling me. Commanding me. Just like he did that night in the bathroom when we shattered our deal for the first time.

  “So what is it?” Jake asks. “You’re going to come to me for a quick fuck when you need it? Nothing else?”

  My hand is on the move. I slap Jake across the face. It just happens so fast. I don’t want him as much as I do want him. My head is spinning.

  I feel the corner of the counter behind me.

  I stop moving.

  Jake doesn’t.

  He’s right there, right at me.

  He touches the front of my PJ’s and gently lifts my shirt. His fingers touch my belly and I’m set on fire. I’m trying to control my breathing, but if I do that, I’m literally going to pass out.

  “I started the night fucking hungry,” Jake whispers. He puts his forehead to mine. “I’m not going to go to bed hungry. Understand?”

  I lick my lips. “So the deal…”

  Jake grins. “There was never a fucking deal, sweetie. I just take what I want, when I want it.”

  My mouth opens and I’m left paralyzed.

  Jake wraps his fingers around the top of my PJ bottoms and pushes. Down they go, leaving me exposed to Jake.

  Who does this? Who just walks up to a woman and pulls her pants down? Jake does. And who just lets someone like Jake do it? Me.

  His hands touch the outsides of my legs. He moves up and in, fingertips against my smooth mound. Our eyes lock as I feel one hand turn. His fingers slide between my legs. One finger grazes along my wet folds. Jake curls his finger and touches my hole. I jump and sigh - it feels so good already.

  Jake takes his hands away and backs up a couple steps. His lip curls and he looks angry. He looks so angry. I’m just standing there, feeling so vulnerable to him and his touch.

  My bottom lip starts to quiver. I have no idea what to say.

  I wish I could be in his mind right now and know what he’s thinking.

  I want to tell Jake this… I find the words… I’m ready to talk…

  And he comes at me again.

  His hands smack my hips and he lifts.

  I cry out and then yell even louder when my bare ass touches the cool counter. Jake’s hands are fast as he rips my PJ bottoms off my body. They’re on the kitchen floor. My ass on the counter. My legs spread wide open for his taking.

  Jake put his hands to my waist and holds me as he crouches down.

  I whimper when I realize what he’s about to do.

  He’s hungry… for me…

  I then think about what he had gotten into a fight about. My legs instinctively try to close. I don’t want him touching, licking, or fucking anyone and then spreading stuff with me.

  His hands grab my knees and he refuses to let me close my legs.

  “What?” he growls.

  “You were with someone…”

  “No. I wasn’t. I tried. It didn’t happen. Got it?”

  I nod. “Jake, I don’t fool around…”

  “Yeah? Neither do I, sweetie. I know what tastes best.”

  My legs suddenly become tingly and I don’t refuse Jake anymore.

  His hands grip comfortably at the inside of my thighs and his mouth comes forward with ease. I look down and see - and feel - the tip of tongue slice bottom to top at my slit. Just that one motion is almost enough for me. My toes curl and I bite my bottom lip as I groan.

  Jake moves his tongue top to bottom and repeats the same move. He does it, again and again, forcing my body to move with him. I thrust at him, my hips rocking with the rhythm of his wild tongue. I feel his hands move up my legs even more. His tongue then rests against my center and he presses hard, penetrating me. When he makes a circle, my body jumps.

  He takes his mouth away and groans. “Fuck, sweetie. You have no fucking idea how good you taste.”

  “Jake… don’t stop…”

  “Come,” he orders. “Come for me right now. I want to taste all of it.”

  Jake’s mouth is back at me. His lips suck hard on my clit, the tip of his tongue finding my sensitive nub and keeping right there. Up, down, circles, pressing, my body doesn’t know how to react. The pleasure mounts with ease, along with the fact that I’m in my own kitchen, ass on the counter, getting taken care of like this. Not to mention I haven’t had an orgasm in a while. And it’s Jake. My stepbrother.

  Stop thinking that.

  But I can’t.

  He’s my stepbrother. And I fucking love this.

  I reach down and dig my hand into his hair. I hold tight as his tongue keeps working. My body is convulsing and I slide my ass right to the edge of the counter. Jake hurries to move his hands to my ass and he holds me in place.

  He keeps me on the counter as I press my other hand to the counter and start to lift. My head falls back, hitting a cabinet. I groan and start whimpering as the rush begins. My right leg wraps around to Jake’s back.

  The warm caress from deep inside me begins and I can’t control my body any longer. I start to come and Jake is right there to take care of me. With each pulse of my insides, I throb and feel more wetness spill from me.

  Jake’s tongue begins to lap down and back up, the wet sound turning me on even more. He stays right there the entire time. Even after my body starts to calm, Jake is still tasting me. When he does move away, he does it slowly, standing back up. He puts his forehead to mine again.

  His lips are an inch from mine. I want him to kiss me, even if that means I’m going to taste myself. He’s done it before to me. I don’t care.

 
; Jake doesn’t kiss me. He pushes away from the counter. He walks to the sink and grabs the bottle of whiskey. He holds it up and struts out of the kitchen.

  “Have a good night, sweetie,” he says as he disappears.

  I’m left sitting there, naked, on the counter, my legs spread, glistening. My nerves throbbing with gentle pleasure. My heart pounding. My hands tight at the edge of the counter.

  One thing I know for sure… there is no such thing as a deal with my stepbrother. I want him and he wants me. This is a very dangerous game to play, but it’s so worth it.

  __

  8.

  (Jake)

  I sit on the roof and smile, knowing I got what I wanted. The taste of whiskey and pussy on my lips. Not just any pussy either. Jade’s sweetness. It seems crazy to think, but something about her is just so different and good. I can’t get enough of it. She’s an addiction.

  I taste another gulp of whiskey and then light up a cigarette.

  Right across the horizon is the first flicker of a new day. A small crack, a sliver of light as the world keeps turning. I’ll face all the shit as I need to face it. If the asshole from the bar wants to press charges, so be it. If Thomas freaks out and kicks me, oh well. It will only hurt his image, not mine. As for Rebecca? She’ll use it as an excuse to wear a pretty dress and slam her face into a glass of wine.

  I have to be honest. None of it makes sense. I just always did my thing. Had a dump of an apartment, some cash in my pocket, and an urge to fuck. I like to fight. I love to drink. Everything is always just there for the taking.

  I look to my right and realize what’s fucking ruining everything for me.

  Her.

  Jade.

  She’s destroying it all.

  From the second I saw her, she was just different. I never figured we’d have a chance to hook up, but the more I heard her name, the more I wondered. Then she fucking shows up to a party I’m at and I just go for it. I push her buttons and corner her to chase her the fuck away. And what does she do? She gives it up. She offers her body to my commands. So I destroy her. I can still hear her cries of pleasure and pain. I can still see her body after we were done. So sexy. Even when I had to clean up a little blood.

  I never take care of anyone. Not even myself.

  But Jade…