I nodded, letting him help me to my feet… again. Somewhere along the line, Cole had studied Chivalry 101.
He led me down the hall and opened a door. I blinked, sure the margarita was playing tricks on my eyes. The room was huge, at least by my standards. A flatscreen was mounted on the wall across from a king-size bed. My actual bed wasn’t king-sized and Cole had one for guests. “There are towels and soap in the bathroom, and I’m at the end of the hall if you need anything.” He hesitated for a second and then gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “Goodnight.”
I watched him walk down the hall, admiring his ass again. A compliment and a kiss. My step-brother had changed in more ways than just getting taller and wider. And that bulge I had felt. Damn! I realized he had turned around and was looking at me. He had caught me checking him out. Double damn! I gave a weak smile, waved, and retreated into the bedroom, slamming the door behind me.
Chapter 3
After a nice, relaxing shower that finally allowed my nerves to unwind, I was snuggled into the huge bed with the covers pulled up to my chin. Cole had plenty of towels, and even a comfy-looking bathrobe hanging in the closet, but no nightgowns or anything else to sleep in. I could’ve probably bothered him for a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt but I figured I had embarrassed myself enough for one night, and his clothes would swallow me anyway. Panties would have to do.
I closed my eyes, trying to relax. I remembered Billy charging towards me, and then Cole slamming him against the wall. And then that damn tickle session had to intrude. I turned on my side. I hadn’t had sex in over four months, and I most definitely didn’t need to think about Cole’s masculine body bucking beneath me. I wasn’t going to think about those rock-hard abs… and I wasn’t going to think about that bulge in his pants. I wasn’t. Was. Not.
Eventually, I was able to doze off, mentally exhausted by the evening’s drama. The bed shifted and my eyes flew open as an arm wrapped around me. “Shhh,” Cole whispered in my ear. “It’s just me.” His hand cupped my breast, a finger tracing slow circles around my hardening nipple.
“Cole!” I gasped, reaching up and pulling his hand away. “What are you doing?”
He pulled his hand from mine and rested it on my stomach, sending chills through me as his fingers stroked my skin. “We both want this, Dani. Just relax.” His hand slid down my stomach as his lips found my neck. I couldn’t hold back the moan that escaped me. His fingers met the waistband of my panties, easily slipping beneath the material. I clamped my thighs tight together, but then his lips moved to my neck, kissing their way up behind my ear. “Oh god,” I moaned, relaxing my legs, allowing his fingers to travel lower.
I trembled as his fingertips grazed over the strip of hair above my mound, biting my lip as he ran his fingers down my slit. “Cole!” I whispered, my body betraying me, my hips arching against his hand.
“It’s okay,” Cole whispered, his breath hot against my neck. “Just let yourself go.” He once again began covering my neck and shoulder with kisses, his finger tracing a delicate line of fire up and down my slit. His teeth nipped my neck and I drew in a sharp breath as his finger brushed across my clit.
“Fuck,” I groaned, humping his hand. This was wrong but it felt so fucking right. I grabbed my breast, pinching and pulling on an erect nipple. “I want you,” I whispered, my voice heavy with lust.
Cole’s finger began rubbing my clit faster. I released my nipple, slid my hand down and covered his, applying more pressure. “Yes,” I gasped. “Yes-yes-yes.” The tension that had been building erupted. I thrust my hips forward, pressing against Cole’s hand, every muscle tight as I came.
My eyes flew open as I tried to catch my breath, my hand inside my soaked panties. I was alone. I sat up, looking around. It was a dream. I didn’t know if I should’ve been upset or relieved. I detected movement out of the corner of my eye and glanced towards the door. A shadow moved at the bottom of it, out in the hall. Was it Cole? Had he heard me?
I fell back on the bed. I didn’t even know if my cries of passion had only been in my dream or if I had really cried out. Even worse, a part of me hoped he had heard me, hoped he got excited listening to me play with myself as I dreamed about him. Of course, he wouldn’t know it was him I was dreaming of… or would he? I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep, tried to tell myself I didn’t want to dream about him again. It was going to be a long night.
Chapter 4
The next morning, Cole took me back to my car, and once again, I tried to ignore the throbbing between my thighs as the powerful engine vibrated between my legs while I held tight to Cole’s firm body. We drove into the parking lot, and then Cole unexpectedly turned around, getting ready to pull back out on the road. I patted him on the shoulder. “Hey! My car’s back there.”
“We’ll get you a new one.”
I whacked him on the back of his head. “Unlike you, I don’t have money to throw around.” I climbed – clumsily – off the motorcycle and turned to walk to my car. I froze as soon as I saw it.
“Dani,” Cole said. “Don’t worry about the money. I’ll get you a new car.”
It looked like a monster truck had driven across my car… and then backed up over it. There wasn’t any part that wasn’t bent out of shape. The top was caved in as if King Kong had decided to use the car as a chair. All the glass was broken. As I got closer, I saw that even the sideview mirrors were busted, and it looked like something had taken a shit in the driver’s seat.
I flinched as Cole’s fingers wrapped around my upper arms. I hadn’t heard him come up behind me. He pulled me back against his chest and kissed the top of my head. “It’ll be okay.”
I pulled away and turned around, tears beginning to run down my cheeks. I stared at my stepbrother, a man I might have possibly just put in danger because of the whackjob I had stupidly dated. “It’s not okay, Cole.” I motioned towards the piece of mangled crap that used to be my car. “There’s nothing okay about that. How did I end up with an asshole like that? Because I am stupid.” I sunk to my knees. “And he wasn’t an asshole at first. He was a nice guy, and then he got laid off.” I tried to catch my breath through my sobs, no longer trying to hold the tears back. “And then he got hooked-up with some bad people. He started drinking more and got meaner, and…” I shrugged, out of words, unable to give voice to the fear and the anger that I had lived with every single day. “Now he’s just mean, and his new friends are worse.” I looked up at Cole. “If he has a chance, he’ll hurt you. Bad.”
“Did he hit you?”
I looked up at Cole, surprised at his tone. His green eyes flashed like emerald daggers, sending a chill down my spine. And his voice; it was low, deep, filled with a promise of violence. I almost lied, but those eyes demanded the truth. “Once,” I said, softly. “That’s why I left.”
He nodded, holding his hand out. “Come on. I’ll take you home.”
I laughed, wincing at the despair in the sound. “He knows where I live, Cole. If my car looks like this, imagine what my apartment will probably look like.”
A muscle in his cheek twitched. “Then you’ll stay with me.”
I climbed to my feet, ignoring his outstretched hand. I was getting real damn tired of Cole having to constantly help me up. “I don’t need your charity,” I said through gritted teeth.
He tilted his head, looking at me. “Then don’t think of it as charity. Consider it payment.”
“Payment? For what?”
“For going with me to a party.”
I blinked, pretty sure I must have missed something… or Cole was being dickishly lame with covering up the charity angle. “I stay with you in that mini-mansion you call home and all I have to do in return is go to a party with you?”
“Yep. It’ll be boring. There will be lots of people… that I don’t want to talk to… and you can run interference against all the women who invariably throw themselves at me.” He flashed that wicked grin. I was starting to think he knew I coul
dn’t resist it.
I laughed. “Might want to dial down that ego a little bit. You’ll hurt your neck with that swelled head.”
The grin turned into a full smile. “So do we have a deal?”
I hesitated. “Cole, I wasn’t kidding. I know it goes against the man-code or something to back down but Billy can get really mean. You can take him in a fair fight but he might try something.”
“Don’t worry about Billy. He won’t mess with me… and if he does…” Cole shrugged. “It’ll be fine.”
I wasn’t as confident about that as Cole was but I nodded. “Then I guess you have a dinner date.”
Chapter 5
Turns out I had been right. We had gone by my apartment, only to find it completely trashed. Holes were knocked into walls, doors were ripped off hinges, and it looked like Billy had tried to burn the place down by dumping a pile of clothes in the middle of the bedroom and setting in on fire. Fortunately, the fire died before it could spread. Most of my clothes, however, were toast; the charred kind.
Cole had returned us to his house in record time, making me worry for my life as he zipped in and out of traffic. Once we got back, he surprised me even further. Not only did he have a really nice motorcycle, but he also had a limo, and a driver to go with it.
He gave me a quick peck on the cheek, gave me a black and gold credit card, and said to just tell the driver wherever I wanted to go. And then he was gone, zooming down the road on his Harley. I asked the driver where Cole had to be in such a hurry but all I got was a shrug. Getting the hint, I dropped the subject and proceeded to create a new definition for the term ‘power shopping.’
Cole didn’t mention a spending limit and I got the impression this party was fancy so I didn’t hold back. Fancy dress, shoes to go with the dress, and jewelry that was sparkly enough to go with anything. Nothing could be done about the clothes but I figured the jewelry could be returned. Since I didn’t want to live in evening wear, I also got some jeans, a few t-shirts, and a comfortable pair of shoes.
Buyer’s remorse kicked in big-time after I was back at the townhome. I sat on the bed, staring at the new clothes in the closet. Cole was going to kill me. He trusted me with a credit card and I went crazy. I flopped back on the bed. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I just hoped I didn’t screw-up his finances.
I sat up when someone knocked on the door. Before I could say anything, the door opened and Cole walked in. He smiled. “Hey, Rugrat. How’d the shopping trip go?” He looked inside the closet, then looked at me, one eyebrow raised. “That’s all you got?”
“Seriously?” I asked. “I was worried I got too much.”
He glanced back in the closet, frowning. “Well, that’ll do for tonight. You can do more shopping tomorrow?”
I stood up and walked to Cole, putting my hand on his arm. “Cole, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me but you have to stop.” I nodded towards the closet. “With what I make, it’ll take me at least three months to pay you back for that stuff… and that’s if the necklace can be returned.”
“You’re going back to work on Monday?”
I stared. “Uh yeah. I still have bills and stuff to pay.”
“Your ex could show up.”
I did my best to keep the worry off my face. I had tried hard not to think about that possibility. “I’ll just have to hope he doesn’t.”
Cole shook his head, his jaw tight. “No. Quit. It’s safer that way.” He raised his hand, shushing me before I could object. “If tonight goes well, I’m going to need an assistant. The job’s yours.”
I clenched my jaw. “I told you I’m not a charity case.”
“Who said anything about charity?” He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close, kissing the top of my head. “I’ll need someone I can trust, and someone I can get along with. You meet both qualifications.”
I closed my eyes and leaned in against him. Sexy hunk with money to burn climbing the corporate ladder. Why the hell did he have to be my stepbrother? He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. I could hear his heart beating, thumping so hard a person might have guessed he was running a race. I looked up at him. “You okay?”
His green eyes met mine and for a second, I was lost in a sea of emerald green. His hand stroked my back, sliding up and slowly combing through strands of my hair. I looked at his mouth as he licked his lips. He slowly lowered his head as I tilted mine back. His lips were just inches away, and then he was gone, stepping back and clearing his throat as he looked at the closet.
He nodded. “Yeah, that dress will be fine.” He looked at his watch. “Guests will probably start arriving around six.” He glanced in my direction for just a second, nodded, and then quickly left the room. I stood there, staring at the door, breathing heavy, nipples hard, warm and wet between the thighs. The next time I went shopping, it was imperative that I get a battery-operated boyfriend, because if Cole hadn’t stopped, I’m not sure I would have.
Chapter 6
Just like clockwork, guests started arriving at six. I could hear Jasper, the butler, welcoming people as they arrived. I didn’t even know Cole had a butler until I had gotten back from shopping, when Jasper himself had informed me that both he and the housekeeper-slash-cook, Greta, had been requested to keep a low profile during the evening and early morning so I wouldn’t be weirded out. I didn’t tell him I was weirded out by the idea of two adults camping out in their bedrooms because they had been told to. I planned on having a chat with Cole about that when I had a chance.
I took one last look in the mirror. The simple emerald-green dress clung in all the right places, showing enough leg to look sexy while still appearing professional. The heels weren’t something I’d be jogging in any time soon but they weren’t really uncomfortable. A simple diamond necklace hung down near my cleavage… as if the dress wasn’t focusing enough attention in that direction. I told myself I didn’t realize it was that long, but it was a lie. I wanted to attract attention; Cole’s attention. It was wrong. I knew it. I couldn’t help myself. The man did something to me every time he was near me, every time he touched me… and I craved more.
A quick knock behind me and the door opened. “Ready to play host and hostess?”
I turned and gasped. Cole stood in the doorway, wearing a tailored suit that almost made my mouth water. He smiled. “I clean up pretty good, don’t I?” I nodded, unable to find my voice. His fingers brushed his tie – emerald green – as his eyes roamed up and down my body. “I noticed the color of your dress and thought it would be nice to match, but I see now I shouldn’t have bothered.” He came up to me, looking into my eyes. “All eyes will be on you.” He traced my necklace with his finger. “You’re gorgeous.”
“So are you.” I chuckled, dropping my eyes to the floor. “I mean you look handsome.” I could feel his eyes on me and I had to resist looking back up at him. It was easy to get lost in those eyes, easy to forget we couldn’t be together.
His hand slid under my chin, slowly tilting my head up. He stared intently into my eyes. I nibbled on my bottom lip, stretching up towards him. He lowered his head, his lips moving closer to mine. I closed my eyes, trembling at the thought of what was about to happen.
A discreet clearing of a throat at the bedroom door had me snapping my eyes back open as Cole stepped away from me.
“Pardon me, sir and madam,” Jarvis said. “But I’m afraid Mr. C. has arrived and has requested an audience.”
Cole glanced at Jarvis, frustration and embarrassment waging war for dominance on his face. He nodded and Jarvis quickly disappeared down the hall.
He looked at me, his eyes roaming up and down my body. He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply three times, and then opened his eyes. That lopsided grin appeared and he offered me his arm. “Shall we, my lady?”
I laughed, following his lead, trying to put what had been about to happen behind us. I took his arm and walked to the door with him. I took a quick breath as we stepped out of the bedroom. I didn’
t know exactly what was going on but I knew it was important to Cole so it was important to me, too, although I wished with all my heart that we could just kick everyone out and send them home. It wasn’t his fault, but part of me was very displeased with Jasper for his rotten timing.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” a loud voice said from across the room. “Little Cole looks like one of the grown-ups these days.”
Cole laughed good-naturedly, approaching an older man who apparently never met a meal he didn’t like. They shook hands, the older guy’s smile getting wider as he eyed me. “Glad you could make it, Mr. C.,” Cole said.
Mr. C. continued mentally undressing me. “I am, too.”
“This is my… Danielle.” Cole wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close.
The old man laughed. “Your Danielle? Well, that’s too bad… for me; not bad for you.” He winked at Cole.
“Dani,” Cole said, “Why don’t you go get some wine? I need to discuss something with Mr. C.” He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.
Stunned, I nodded and headed towards the bar. Jasper intercepted me, holding a tray filled with wine glasses. “A drink, madam?”
I took a glass. “Thank you, Jasper.”
The butler nodded, smiling, and walked off. I watched as his tray steadily became lighter as just about everyone he passed helped themselves to a drink. Was Cole paying for all of this?
“Nothing beats wine to make the boredom go away.”
I turned to see a tall woman with long, flowing black hair looking at me. She glanced towards Cole. “Well, there’s something that’s even better that beats boredom, but it looks like you’ve got that covered.” She smiled, looking back at me. “I’m Abriana. My friends call me Abri.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Dani.”
“Dani?” Her eyes grew wide. “Oh my! Danielle? The Danielle?” She looked at me intently. “Of course you are. I see it now. He described you perfectly… although his description was a little out-of-date.”
Mafia Stepbrother Boxed Set Page 2