Cage of Desire: (Cage of Design Series, Book 1): An Alpha Stepbrother Billionaire Romance

by Christina Clark

  When I had finally recovered, after about five minutes of walking, I said, “Where are we going?” He smirked at me again and said, “Welcome back.” I blushed furiously, embarrassed that I had been so obviously smitten by him. I grinned at him and he grinned back, “We’re going to Central Park. I stalked your Instagram and I know you’re basically a sucker for anything that’s tourist-y and very New York. So we’re going to lie down in the grass and you can take pictures to your heart’s content.” I beamed at him, and he slipped his hand into mine as we walked down the sunlit pavement as he led the way, chatting happily about Instagram and summer vacations and New York landmarks.

  Chapter Twenty-Four: Eric

  “Can I come over?” I asked her, as we walked towards her apartment near Central Park. She turned red, and looked away before saying, “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” I regretted asking, and tried to fix the damage I had caused, “Oh- that’s totally cool. Um, I don’t wanna rush you into anything, I’m sorry-” But Mia cute me off, “Oh, Eric- I- you’ve been so honest with me; I don’t wanna lie to you.” I looked quizzically at her, hoping she wasn’t going to say something like she didn’t want to see me again. She took a deep breath and said, “Okay, I don’t actually live here. This is my mom’s place.” She looked at me nervously, and I frowned.

  “Okay, but why did you lie about it? I mean- are you uncomfortable with me knowing your address? Do you think I’m a stalker?” I was utterly confused, and worried about what had caused her to hide her house from me. She shook her head sadly, “It’s stupid, I know, but I saw your house and your car and your driver- and I just didn’t want you to see where I lived. It’s this dirty little apartment building and I just-” She couldn’t finish the rest of the sentence because I was kissing her again. I cupped her face in my hands, “You think I care about that?” She was still reeling from the kiss and I smirked at my own talent. She smiled at me, “No, but I do, just let me fix it up a little, okay?” I kissed her again, “Okay, sure.”

  So we headed to my place, and I realized after we entered my room why that had been a bad idea. It would bring up memories of what happened here yesterday, so thinking quickly, before Mia had time to register anything, I lifted her up and pinned her to wall; she wrapped her legs around my waist and squealed. I grinned at her, and stretched my neck out to kiss her again. She held my face and looked straight into my eyes nervously as she began to grind her hips against mine. I held her gaze as I carried her to the bed and threw her on there. She lay there and smiled up at me and leaned over her, raising a finger and beckoning me closer. I climbed on top of her and pulled off my shirt, and she ran her hands over my chest and across my abs. I leaned down to kiss her, but she pushed me lightly until she was sitting up and straddling me.

  She reached behind her and unzipped her dress so that she could pull her arms off it. It slid off her shoulders and stayed propped up by her breasts. I ran my hands lightly across her bare shoulders and was moving downwards as she moaned softly. I pulled down the dress so it was hanging at her waist like a skirt, exposing her lacy white bra which barely covered her beautiful chest. She cocked her head to one side and looked down at me, smiling sweetly. Her breasts were level with my face, and I buried my face in the soft white flesh, inhaling the intoxicating smell of her perfume and skin. Suddenly, my bedroom door burst open and Mia scrambled off me turning her back so she could cover herself up quickly. A looked around wildly- a leggy blonde stood in the middle of the room, looking at us. Her face was expressionless as her narrow eyes swept across my shirtless torso and Mia’s bare back as she struggled to get back into her dress.

  “Naomi?” I sputtered, “What the fuck are you doing here?” She pouted, “Babe is that how you’re going to greet me?” I got up and zipped up Mia, who was still struggling with the dress. I picked my shirt up off the floor and gestured for Naomi to follow me outside. “Mia, this will take just a second, I promise.” Once we were out of earshot, I turned to face Naomi, who was smiling like a cat ready to torture her food before eating it. “What the hell, Naomi? When a person walks in someone, they normally get embarrassed and leave.” Naomi’s smile grew wider and her eyes grew narrower, “Embarrassed is right, honey. What’re you doing with miss fatty over there? God, Eric, I leave and this is what you have resorted to?” I stared at Naomi like she was crazy, which I seriously suspected she was. And suddenly I realized how this must look to Mia.

  I grabbed Naomi’s hand and dragged her back to the bedroom; Mia was sitting nervously at the edge of the bed with a face full of worry. She looked relieved as she saw me enter the room, but he face fell again when she saw I was dragging in Naomi. “What is this, a threesome?” said Naomi in a bored voice. I ignored her, and smiled at Mia. “Mia, this is my sister, Naomi.” Mia’s eyes widened, and Naomi said in a petulant voice, “Stepsister, actually.” Mia stood up and walked over to Naomi, “It’s very nice to meet you, Naomi.” My stepsister looked Mia up and down, much like I did the first day I’d met her and tossed her short blonde hair, “I’m sure it is.” With that she turned on her heel and left the room.

  Chapter Twenty-Five: Mia

  I felt like every day with Eric just got more progressively embarrassing. When that tall beautiful girl had walked in, and I was sitting on top of Eric with my boobs and stomach hanging out, I wanted to die. She was everything I had hoped to be when I was younger: endlessly long legs, a slender frame, gorgeous tanned skin, a stunning face with high cheekbones and narrow eyes, and an air of glamour that I could never achieve. I recognized her as the girl from Eric’s Instagram photos and when he walked out of the room with her, a million thoughts came to my mind. Maybe she was his long-distance girlfriend who had come into town for a visit and caught him cheating with me. Or an ex who was here to announce she was carrying his child. I scolded myself for letting my imagination run wild, and decided to wait for an explanation before jumping to conclusions.

  But the explanation was even more bizarre than the ones I had imagined. His sister? Fuck. I mean, whose sister acts like that, leaning on him suggestively in pictures; walking into his bedroom like that; staring hungrily at his shirtless body? I was already feeling uncomfortable before she was rude to me, but now I wanted to cry. She looked at me like I was nothing, and left the room in a haughty cloud of disdain. Eric shook his head as she left. “I’m sorry about her, Mia. She’s a crazy bitch, just like her mom. Really, I’m sorry.” I stood up, not wanting to let him know how upset I was. “It’s fine, don’t worry about that. Look, Eric, I’m gonna go home, okay? You should spend time with your sister.” I started to leave when he held my arm. “Mia, I’m really sorry; please don’t be upset.” I shook my head and avoided his eyes as they searched my face, “No, really, I’m fine. I just think I should leave now.”

  He followed me to the front door as we passed by Naomi sitting in the lounge, with one leg crossed onto the other, exposing garter stockings and a thong. She looked mildly amused as she watched her stepbrother plead with me not to leave. I turned to him at the door, “Eric, it’s fine. I swear. Call me, okay?” I kissed him passionately, fully aware that Naomi was watching me with those narrow green eyes. Sure enough, as I broke away from Eric, Naomi’s eyes were fixed on me and her expression had turned sour. I left the house and hurried down the street. The sky was starting to darken, and I wanted to be home as soon as possible. I was so confused. There was something about Naomi that immediately set off alarms in my head, but maybe I was just insecure around her because she was exceptionally beautiful.

  Chapter Twenty-Six: Eric

  The minute Mia walked out of the door, I whipped around to glare at Naomi, but found myself face to face with her instead. She had silently walked up behind me while I was watching Mia leave. She tilted her head to one side, and locked her eyes onto mine. “Naomi,” I said in a resigned voice, but she didn’t let me continue, holding her finger against my lips. “Sshh… Just say you missed me. That’s all I want.” I shook my head angrily,
this wasn’t happening again. Every time I had a new girl that Naomi knew about, she was overly protective and critical, and she would start acting weird like this. I move away from her and went to the bathroom. I decided to text Mia while I was in there but realized had left my phone back in my room.

  I left the bathroom after I steadied my thoughts and came out to find Naomi lying down on my bed, holding my phone in her hands. She was scrolling through something, and announced, “Miss fatty sent you a text, something about calling you when she gets home safely. What is this, 1964?” I glared at her, and she shrugged her shoulders, “Whatever, it’s cute I guess.” She rolled over on her stomach, and looked at me over her shoulder, wiggling her ass at me. “Naomi, can I have my phone back, please?” She laughed and said, “Come and get it.” I leaned over her as I tried to take it from her grasp, but she turned and I fell right on top of her, my face inches from hers.

  She moved even closer, and I backed away. She sat up in my bed, and undid the top two buttons of her blouse. She slid the phone into one of the cups of her midnight blue bra, which was now on full display. I turned around, and rubbed my temples, “Naomi, can you stop that? Just give it to me, okay?” I heard a soft chuckle, but she didn’t say anything. When I turned around again, she had taken off her blouse entirely- wearing only her bra and a high-waisted pencil skirt. I gulped. Naomi was a beautiful woman, but I was very uncomfortable; she was my sister and even though we always flirted playfully, we knew it was a joke. She had never taken it this far before.

  “You know you want to. Why are you holding back?” she whispered in her throaty voice. She swung her long legs gracefully over the bed and straightened up, strutting towards me. She took my hands, and placed them on her waist. She brought her mouth close to my ear, and whispered, “Let go, Eric. Just give in to it.” I didn’t move, I closed my eyes, and remained frozen where I was. She sighed with frustration, and put her hands on top of mine, sliding them up her waist and letting them rest on her small firm breasts. I still didn’t respond, letting my hands fall to my sides. She leaned in and ran her tongue along my neck, biting gently. “Naomi,” I started, to say, but she kissed my mouth, “Don’t fight it, baby,” and she reached out to feel my crotch. I realized with a sinking heart that I was fully erect. She undid my belt and unzipped my jeans, pulling it down to my thighs and she sank onto the floor on her knees.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven: Mia

  I was almost home when my phone beeped, and my heart soared to see a text from Eric. It said, Mia please come back. Let’s not leave things like this. I read and reread the text a few times before I decided to head back to Eric’s ad talk to him about what had happened. It wasn’t his fault his stepsister had shown up in the middle of our date. It was her house too, I was being stupid. I would go over there and clear things up. I would even apologize to Eric. After all, this was the second time I had stormed out on him and both times, he hadn’t been at fault. Really, I was being silly. What if my mom had walked in on Eric and me like that? I’d have lost my shit, at least Eric had stayed calm throughout. And he had texted right after I left.

  I made my way back towards the house, and as I reached the front door, I felt all the confidence I had gained on the way here leave me as quickly as it had come. I wanted to see Eric and apologize, but I couldn’t face seeing Naomi again. She made me feel so inferior- next to her, I was even fatter and lumpier than usual. I thought back to what Claire had said to me yesterday, and I smiled. I took a deep breath and steadied myself as I reached out and knocked on the front door. I waited for two minutes but nobody answered. I knocked again, frowning. Eric had asked me to come back, hadn’t he? It had only been seven minutes since he had texted me, and about fifteen since I had left his house the first place. When nobody answered, I turned the doorknob and found it unlocked. I let myself in and made my way up to his bedroom.

  As I raised my hand to knock, I heard soft voices from inside the room. It sounded like Naomi was whispering and Eric was grunting at her- I paused and then leaned in closer so I could hear better. I could hear Naomi saying, “Just let it go, no need to get so worked up about it.” I only assumed she was talking about me, and my anger getting the better of me, I threw open the door and barged in. But what I saw made me freeze. My head began spinning wildly, and I thought I would vomit.

  Eric stood in the middle of the room with his pants down to his thighs and his tall erection pulled out, and Naomi was down on her knees, playfully flicking her tongue across it. His eyes were closed but he rested his hand on her head, guiding her up and down. His eyes flew open as he heard the door, and Naomi turned her face to look at Mia, an undeniable smirk on her face. “Oh my God,” I shrieked and then ran out of there and down the stairs as fast as I could. I heard Eric yell, “Wait, Mia! Please wait!” I didn’t stop, I just kept going; I had to get out of that house. I didn’t even close the front behind me, I just ran. My heartbeat was pumping in my ears and my stomach felt like it was going to burst. My thoughts raced and I couldn’t breathe. I leaned over the side of the road and threw up.

  The End of Book 1

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