Tease - A Stepbrother Sports Romance

by Caitlin Daire

  I could see what she saw in Gerald, though. He was successful and good-looking—and speaking of good-looking, so was his son, from what I vaguely recalled of the photo I’d been shown—but I still wasn’t totally convinced that this was the best decision for any of us. As a result, I’d only been to Gerald’s manor house once since I’d arrived in London. I’d let Mom go on ahead to settle in before I joined her, assuming she might want some ‘alone time’ for a few days with her new fiancé before I moved in with them. That way the two of them could figure out if this was really the best choice for them.

  So, instead of living in the manor house, I was staying with my friend Liana for the time being. I’d met her online in a chat room years before, and we’d stayed in touch our entire teenage lives. We’d always promised that we’d meet up at some point in our lives, so I’d been absolutely over the moon to learn that I would be living near her when we moved to England. As soon as she’d heard about it, she’d invited me to stay in her spare room whenever I wanted, and I’d jumped at the opportunity when I’d first arrived and realized that Mom and Gerald might want some private time together.

  Tonight, Liana and I were heading to what sounded like an amazing masquerade party that a friend of hers was hosting. I hadn’t been prepared for such a lavish affair, so yesterday we’d gone out shopping so I could buy something suitable to wear, and I was now clad in a silver sequined knee-length dress which showed just a hint of cleavage and hugged my curves well. The color of the material made my skin look even more tanned than usual, and a black lace mask sat snugly around my deep hazel eyes. I wasn’t normally one to think highly of myself, but as I looked in the mirror, I couldn’t help but be pleased at what I saw.

  My first proper night out in the UK, and I’d scrubbed up pretty well!

  “Ooh, I think I hear the cab outside. Come on, let’s go!” Liana said a moment later.

  She was the complete opposite of me in terms of appearance. She was tall, slim and leggy with the palest blonde hair I’d ever seen, which she’d had cropped into a pixie cut. Her choice of a pastel pink dress and matching mask made her look almost ethereal, and while she was completely and utterly gorgeous, I didn’t feel intimidated in the way that I usually would in the presence of a girl like her. Liana was a great friend who’d never try to make me or anyone else feel bad, and I was feeling rather confident in myself, which was a sure sign that tonight was going to be an amazing night.

  “Okay, let’s do it,” I said. I smiled back at her as she grabbed my hand and dragged me out the door into the black cab waiting outside.

  She chatted away excitedly as we drove to our destination. “We’re going to have so much fun,” she said. “There are normally loads of people at Tom’s parties.”

  I sat there, trying not to be too nervous. Now that we were actually on our way to the party, the whole concept of socializing with a bunch of strangers was starting to creep up on me a bit. I’d always been quite sociable in America, but I didn’t know anyone here aside from Liana, and I didn’t want to be clingy and hang off her like a mollusk all night.

  “Not just my friends,” she continued. “There’s always random people he knows from his classes at uni, and others too. What I’m trying to say is…there’ll be heaps of hot guys there! Maybe you can meet someone, huh?”

  I giggled at this. Liana had always struck me as boy-crazy. In the time that I’d known her, she’d confided many crushes, boyfriends, and hook-ups to me, and she always seemed to fall hard before getting bored and moving onto the next. She was nowhere near settling down, but then again, at my relatively tender age, neither was I.

  “I don’t know about that,” I said. “I’ve only just moved here, so I’m not sure that complicating my life with a guy is such a good idea.”

  “What are you on about? You’re still a teenager…but only for a few more months. You need to act like a teen and have some fun before you hit the big two-zero! Besides, guys here will go nuts for your American accent—probably even more so if they know you aren’t looking for something serious.”

  “Mm…maybe.”

  Before I had time to decide once and for all whether I wanted to meet a sexy guy tonight, we pulled up outside the house the party was being held at.

  To be honest, I wouldn’t really call it a house. It was more like a freaking mansion; nearly as big as Gerald’s manor, and the main party room we entered a few minutes later was almost as grand as a palace ballroom. It was decorated in shades of gold and deep purple, and everywhere I looked, there was something fancy in my line of sight. Liana’s friend Tom was either rich as hell, or English parties were far different to the beachside barbeques that I was used to.

  “Let’s get a drink!” Liana said, clearly unfazed by her surroundings.

  It took an hour and four drinks for me to start to relax and enjoy myself. By this point, Liana had introduced me to about a dozen people, and now she was voraciously making out with one of them on the dance floor. At first this had been fine because I’d been talking to a group of people she knew from her high school days, but then I’d gone to the bathroom, and I hadn’t been able to find them upon my return, so now I was alone and feeling quite awkward.

  I finally spotted someone I’d been introduced to earlier across the dancefloor, but my thoughts of going over to her were interrupted by a husky masculine voice speaking directly into my ear.

  “Not dancing like everyone else?” the guy asked, his voice tinged with amusement.

  I turned to see a tall, muscular man standing beside me, and I looked him up and down as my mouth dried up out of sheer nervousness. I couldn’t see all of his face because of the black mask he had covering some of it, but I could tell from the rest of his features that he was handsome as hell, and his hard physique alone was enough to make me feel rather hot and bothered. He was rocking a tuxedo like no one I’d ever seen before; it seemed to fit his sculpted body perfectly.

  In the dim light of the room, I could just make out his grey-blue eyes behind the mask, and the way he was looking at me sent a bolt of electrified desire racing through my body. I had a brief thought of him pulling me closer, bending me over the nearby drinks table and taking me right there in front of the rest of the partygoers, and while the thought was gone in seconds, I was left with a treacherous blush on my face.

  When I didn’t reply immediately, he took a step closer, and I almost shivered with desire under his gaze. “Sorry, it’s loud in here. Didn’t mean to sneak up on you,” he said.

  “I…uhh…that’s okay,” I said, feeling my cheeks heat up. I wasn’t normally a big flirt, but I was usually at least capable of forming a coherent sentence around members of the opposite sex. But not tonight, apparently…at least not around this guy.

  “Ah! You’re American,” he said. He gave me a smug smile, as if my nationality answered his earlier question, and I didn’t know what to make of this response. Was he insulting me because of where I came from, or was it some sort of odd English flirting technique?

  Either way, it didn’t matter—I still found him to be hot as hell.

  The effect he was having on me was bizarre, and I decided to put it down to the booze. I just couldn’t find any other rational explanation for the way my body was already seeming to crave him despite the fact that I couldn’t even see his entire face. As I watched him lift his drink to his lips, I noticed a glimpse of a black tattoo twining around his right arm that had me wanting to see more, and as he ran his fingers through his thick dark hair, I wished that it was my hand there instead.

  Yup…it was definitely the alcohol making me this man-crazy. At least that’s what I was going to tell myself for now.

  “Um, yeah, it’s my first time in England,” I finally said, seemingly able to speak normally again. “I only arrived a few days ago.”

  “On holidays?”

  “No, I’ve actually moved here from California with my Mom. Transferred my college course and everything. When the next term starts, I’
ll be at the University of London.”

  “Nice. I’ve got some friends who go there. I went to Manchester Uni myself. Well, up until a year ago, anyway. So what are you studying?”

  “I’m pre-law,” I replied.

  He raised his eyebrows. “So you’re beautiful and smart, huh?”

  I shyly cast my eyes down at the floor before looking back up at him. “Thanks,” I said softly.

  He must have sensed my awkwardness, because he grinned and smoothly went on without adding to my embarrassment. “So you’re gonna be a big legal eagle one day, huh?”

  “Maybe,” I said with a smile. “I’m not sure exactly what I’ll be specializing in, but I think entertainment law would be really cool. Although that’s more applicable back in America in my home state, where the big movie industry is.”

  “True.”

  “But while I’m here, I’ll study as much as I can and figure out if there are any other things I’d like to specialize in. I was actually driving past somewhere with my Mom yesterday, and there was a sign saying there was some sort of archaeological dig-site nearby. It reminded me of a class I took once on heritage law, and that was always really cool to learn about.”

  “So maybe you’ll end up doing that, then,” he said with a nod. “That’d be awesome. There’s a lot of archaeological stuff that goes on in this country. Like up in York, there’s a lot of cool ancient stuff from when it was first established in Roman times. And in Leicester, they recently found King Richard III buried under a carpark. Crazy, right?”

  I nodded. It was amazing how much this guy knew about such random subjects, and he made me feel totally at ease talking about it. Liana’s earlier words suddenly flooded my mind, and I considered them. Why not have a little fun while I’m here? Especially with a guy that’s so damn hot. There was nothing wrong with a few kisses and some groping on the dancefloor, and after all, like Liana had alluded to, I’d only be nineteen once, right? Pretty soon I’d be out of my teens and well on my way to adulthood, and there’d be less chances to throw caution to the wind and make out with hot guys at parties.

  “So aside from that dig-site you drove by, have you seen any of the major sights around here yet?” he asked, eyes still twinkling under the mask. Something about the way he spoke had me thinking about seeing all of him, rather than London Bridge or Big Ben.

  “No, not yet,” I said. I smiled, feeling a warm blush fill my cheeks. “But I certainly want to.”

  I ran my eyes slowly up and down his body, knowing that I was suddenly being far more forward than I’d normally be, but no longer caring. Liana was totally right about what she’d said earlier, and if I didn’t have some fun now, I might end up regretting it one day.

  The masked stranger leaned even closer to me, allowing me to soak in his scent. It was musky, manly, and dear god, it turned me on like crazy. “Will you need a tour guide for that?” he asked.

  The conversation still sounded innocent enough, but the sexually-charged undertones were definitely there. There was no mistaking that, not even for a second.

  “Sure. I’ve always wanted a tour guide in a mask,” I said. “Makes me feel like I’m with the Phantom of the Opera or something. Always had a crush on him when I was a kid.”

  His handsome features twisted into a smirk. “So you’d even be okay with your tour guide being a complete stranger in a mask?” he asked.

  “Especially a stranger in a mask. That’s actually always been a fantasy of mine,” I said with a coy smile.

  On the outside, I might’ve appeared confident and seductive, but on the inside, my heart was hammering like mad, and my brain was screaming, oh god…oh god…what the hell are you saying? I couldn’t believe these words were coming out of my mouth, but somehow they felt perfectly natural to speak. Whoever he was, this sexy stranger was bringing something out in me that I hadn’t even known was there till now.

  “I can make that happen,” he replied. “Why don’t we start with a tour of this grand old house?”

  “I’d love that.”

  He grabbed my left hand and started to lead me up the double staircase on the right-hand side of the elegant party room, and suddenly I was certain that it wasn’t just the booze that was causing my head to swim and my panties to practically melt. It was him; the sexy masked stranger, and the lust that was consuming me with every step I took as I followed him.

  We were moving through the party in a haze, as if everyone else there had vanished and it was just me and this stranger left. The desire that was pulsing through me was driving me wild, and for the first time in my life, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this man. Sure, I’d dated and been attracted to other guys before, but it had never been quite like this. I’d never felt like I might actually shrivel up and die if I didn’t have them right at this second, but that was how I felt about Mr. Mask.

  The room he led me into moments later was cold and dark, and I could only make out vague outlines of the furniture, but I still felt his presence; hot, sexy, and oh-so delicious. His hand wrapped around mine and I gasped out loud as he pulled me in.

  “You’re so fucking hot,” he growled in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

  “It’s actually a bit chilly in here….oh,” I stupidly said, only realizing what he really meant at the last possible second.

  I felt his lips curl into a grin against my neck as he lowered his mouth to the sensitive skin there. “You’re funny,” he murmured.

  I gasped, unable to utter another word as his mouth descended on my throat. It was so dirty, being here in complete darkness with a total stranger….and yet it was the sexiest thing I’d ever experienced. He nibbled on my neck, gently at first, then harder and harder, and then he drew back. I heard his footsteps heading a few feet away, then the clicking sound of a switch being turned on, and a split-second later, the room was bathed in light.

  “I wanted to see that body of yours properly,” he said by way of explanation, his gaze roaming over my curves.

  I looked around. We were in a large bedroom, which was just as ornately-decorated as the rest of the house that I’d seen so far. It even had a four-poster bed, like I always saw in movies about old-fashioned English places, and I sucked in a discreet gasp as I took it all in, amazed by everything that the owner of this house had. Mom and I had moved around a lot when I was younger as work in her field was hard to come by, which meant I’d never been able to have lots of stuff, and it had never bothered me before. But now that I’d seen Gerald’s manor along with the house I was currently in, it made me wonder for the first time about all the things I’d missed out on by growing up in a lower middle class environment.

  Before I could think anything else, I was sucked into my ‘stranger’ fantasy once more. The guy I’d secretly nicknamed Mr. Mask was directly in front of me again, looking down at me as if he could see right into my soul now that the darkness in the room had dissipated, and he traced his hand around the back of my neck, the touch of his fingertips making me shiver with bliss as his lips moved slowly to meet mine. He kissed me gently at first, but it wasn’t long before our embrace turned wilder and frenzied. An involuntary moan escaped my lips as our tongues clashed and warred in a bid for domination, and he grabbed me even tighter.

  I felt him hitch my dress up, and a fire ignited in my stomach, completely taking over me. This wasn’t like me at all. I’d never gone so far as to have sex with someone I’d literally only just met moments ago, but I was more turned on than ever before, and I needed to get it out of my system...and soon.

  I grabbed hold of his shirt and dragged him backwards until I felt my back hit a cold wall, and I reached my hand down a second later. I was thrilled to find that he was already hard for me; his cock throbbing against his black pants, and his fingers traced the edge of my panties, sending me crazy with desire. I tossed my head back as he peppered kisses along my neck, earlobes and collarbone, and he let out a low groan as he moved his fingers under the lacy material, feeling the wet wa
rmth that lay below. It was almost as if he hadn’t expected me to be that turned on by him so quickly, which made me feel strangely powerful.

  He clearly wanted to explore further, and my panties were in the way, so he tugged them off.

  I let him.

  As I stepped out of them, I yanked at his belt, needing it gone as well. I was no longer thinking about what I was doing or pre-emptively regretting my wanton actions like I usually did every time I went further than chaste kissing with a guy. I was just allowing my body to do what it wanted—probably for the first time in my life.

  And damn, it felt good.

  I’d never been this turned on in my entire life; intense pleasure bubbling just under the surface as he kissed my throat and my collarbone, slowly descending to my cleavage. As I fumbled with his zipper, he stepped back to take a look at me. I was being scrutinized under his intense gaze….and suddenly it didn’t feel so great anymore.

  My body might’ve been begging for me to have this guy, and my mind might not have cared about how I might feel about my actions in the morning, but my heart did. My heart always cared, and it wouldn’t let me do this with a guy whose face I’d never even seen, no matter how hot the fantasy.

  I dropped my hand from his zipper and looked up at him. “Let me see you,” I whispered.

  “You can see me already,” he said, and then his mouth was on mine again.

  He wasn’t patient, sliding his tongue inside my mouth and pulling on my bottom lip gently with his teeth. I could feel the heat building up between my thighs, but I pushed aside the sensation and broke away from his embrace.

  “Please,” I said. “Take off the mask. I want to see all of you.”

  He stared at me for a few seconds, seemingly considering my statement, and I held my breath, feeling a stark tension suddenly flowing between us; something other than the sexual tension of a few moments ago. Then he finally lifted his hand and tugged away the dark mask, revealing his face.