Hearts of Darkness: A Valentine's Day Bully Romance Collection

by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

  As Brent’s car pulled away, I turned my attention back to Kade and glared. “What was that about?”

  “What was what about? The part where I was walking home and saw a fogged-up piece of shit parked in front of my house or the part where I caught you acting like a whore right in front of our house?”

  I frowned, stifling a shiver as he called me a “whore.” Though a part of me wanted to slap him for the insult, another part felt exhilarated at the embarrassment of being caught. In fact, I found my body growing hot and my breath coming in shallow from it. The whole scene was a mess, and I could feel my inhibitions shattering under the weight of his glare. I should’ve slapped him for that kind of statement. Instead the embarrassment of being caught by him caused an entirely different reaction.

  “W-why are you so mean to me?” I whimpered, running out of witty comebacks. “I... I know I should’ve been more careful, but... couldn’t you just be nicer?”

  “I don’t need to be nice to you. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not nice to anybody. Why the hell should you be any different? I didn’t fucking want you here in the first place!” he stepped closer, his body shadowing over mine. “You’re just the unfortunate baggage that’s come from my old man being a sad and lonely sap. I didn’t even want to have to see your mother in the first place, but it was either her or juvie, and if I’d known that sitting in front of some head-shrinker would land a porn star in training on my front lawn then I might’ve rethought that decision.”

  “I’m... I’m not normally like that...” I looked down, feeling my cheeks go hot.

  “Uh huh,” he scoffed, “Is that why you’ve got page-after-page of dirty stories in your journal?”

  My eyes widened and my body burned. “You’ve read my—”

  “And don’t think I haven’t noticed you staring at me!”

  “What? I do no—”

  “Save it,” he glared, grabbing a tuft of my hair and lifting my face to his. “I see how you stare, I’ve read what you wrote, and I even saw you shiver at me calling you a whore. I know your mom’s probably told you I’m a psycho—and that might be true—but don’t go treating me like an idiot. You think I can’t tell? You’re getting turned on from this, aren’t you? Just look at yourself!”

  I gasped, opening my mouth to deny his claim, only to realize that I couldn’t. There was no denying what was happening. My body was reacting... exactly how he was claiming. My breaths had grown heavier, and I could feel my nipples tightening with more desire than what even Brent’s touch had earned. And, to make matters worse, the pain of him yanking my hair was getting me wetter than I’d ever remembered being in my life!

  “That’s right! You can’t deny it, can you? I bet you’d even let your psychopath stepbrother...” he leaned down and teasingly pressed his lips to mine.

  The kiss was meant as a punishment, but it seared my entire insides. The hard pressure of his lips bruised mine and yet I craved more. Even now, my body pushed for more and I felt my lips return his kiss as his tongue swept into my mouth, branding me as his own. My hands reached up to his jacket and I squeezed the lapels of his coat to keep upright. After a moment he pulled away, and I caught sight of his eyes, filled with their own heated desire. The moment was short lived, however, and they quickly returned to the icy glare I was used to.

  “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from me. I won’t be as gentle next time,” he turned, not even waiting for a response and headed inside.

  I stood, staring after him, my knees shivering beneath me. That had been gentle? So what would not gentle feel like? The thought got to me, and my knees finally gave away and I fell onto our front lawn, pressing my fingers to my burning lips. I knew he’d make good on his warning, so why was my body still burning for more? I knew I needed to stay away, but I wanted so much more. I wanted to feel his touch again. My body craved it!

  After a moment, I found the strength to move again and headed inside, going straight for my room, I fell on my bed, not bothering to change. My phone buzzed and I looked to see Brent had texted me. I paused, about to reply, but finally turned my phone off and set it aside, reaching for my journal and the vibrator I kept hidden under my mattress.

  “MINA! ARE YOU GOING to sleep all day?” my mother’s voice called from my door, her voice and the knocking startling me.

  “Huh? What time...” I paused, turning to the digital clock beside my bed that read 2:04pm. “Oh jeez! Yeah! I’m getting up!”

  “Come on! Kevin opened the pool for us! Let’s go for a swim!”

  “Oh, uh... yeah! Great!” I called back, trying to shake the last of the previous night’s memories.

  I yawned and sat up, turning my phone back on to see I had three new messages from Brent. I sighed, setting my phone back down, deciding I’d deal with Brent later. I stood from the bed and paused, looking out my window, seeing Kade standing by the pool already. He was already wearing a pair of faded cutoffs that must’ve served as his swimwear, and I found myself once again entranced as he worked to peel off the t-shirt he’d been wearing. He was sinful to look at and I knew I should’ve looked away. It would’ve been the proper thing to do. Then, as another idea for a journal fantasy crossed my mind—a fantasy he’d no doubt get his calloused hands on later—his eyes met mine from the pool deck. They locked on me like a predator’s, and I found I couldn't even look away. I was embarrassed... no, I should have been embarrassed, but any embarrassment I was feeling wasn’t doing to me what it usually did. Instead, that feeling was creeping back in my stomach.

  After a moment, I decided to be a bit daring—see if I could do to him what he was doing to me—and pulled off my nightie. I watched his cold, predatory eyes heat up at the sight of my exposed breasts, and, realizing what I was doing, he scowled and turned away as my mom’s voice called to him from the back porch. Smirking, I moved from the window and opened my closet. So he was affected by me then. As much as he wanted to pretend he wasn’t, his eyes had given him away.

  “Alright, brother,” I teased the word as I rummaged through my closet, “you wanna play? Let’s play!”

  After a moment of choosing the perfect bathing suit, I moved to my mirror to check my appearance. I smirked, pulling my dark-brown hair out of the ponytail it was in and letting it fall down my back. I had recently dyed my hair, keeping my natural dark brown but adding honey-blonde highlights, which helped to accentuate my bright blue eyes. I’d originally done it for Brent, hoping that an edgier style might spice up our relationship. My wandering gaze caught sight of the reflection of my lips, noticing they were still swollen from last night’s onslaught. Though they were still tender from the abuse, I was pleased with the ripened appearance they had from Kade’s savage kiss.

  “Cocksucking lips” I’d heard them called. The thought brought a coy smile to my face, and I watched as an erotic and bold girl—standing bold and unashamed in a small blue bikini that just barely hid a pair of already puckered nipples adorning their C-cup mounds—smiled back at me in the mirror. Though I’d always been proud of my chest, Brent had often said that it was my ass that drove him wild. Thinking of this, I turned my back to the mirror and hiked up the matching blue bikini bottom until I was satisfied that Kade would get an eyeful. Finally, after making sure that my swollen womanhood was contained, I started for the door.

  “Mina? Are you coming down?” my mother called up to me.

  I smirked, knowing I was ready and grabbed my bathrobe, wrapped it around my body and made my way downstairs, heading to the pool. As I stepped onto the back porch, I was greeted with the sight of Kade as he prepared to dive into the water. Stepping the length of the diving board, he shot me a momentary glare—a silent threat for my earlier flashing—and I used to opportunity to shed the robe on the back deck. Cold, predatory eyes went wide once again, and Kade’s footing betrayed him as he missed the final step and careened clumsily over the edge, splashing loudly with a painful-looking bellyflop. I was still giggling as he e
merged, panting and coughing, but my laughter was stifled as his enraged eyes locked on mine and he swam to the edge of the pool and, in one swift, flexing motion, pulled himself out of the water. My breath caught and my body trembled with a glorious mixture of desire and terror as he stepped towards me, the water glistening off his tensed muscles. I’d played his game... and he was still winning. He really was a dangerous man.

  “Are you going to swim or just stand there like a cheap porno extra?” he growled.

  “I... I... I-I’m s-sor—”

  “You apologize as gracefully as you flash, whore!” he said the word again, but there was something different in how he said it this time. My stammers choked as I watched his scowl shift into a smirk. “So let’s see how you swim, huh? How about a race?”

  “A... a race?” I wasn’t sure if I’d heard him right over the pounding of my heart. Then, remembering that I’d set out to push him, I nodded. “Okay... a race.”

  “Alright then!” he moved to the edge of the pool. “What are the stakes?”

  “Why don’t we decide those later?” I paused, seeing my mother step out.

  “What are you two doing?” she smiled.

  A moment of embarrassment—the real kind—passed as I realized I was standing there practically naked, but, smart as she was, my mother didn’t think twice about it. And why should she? We were siblings in her eyes.

  “We were about to have a race,” Kade grinned. “Why don’t you judge us, Marissa?”

  My mom had been hoping for a long time to see the tension between her daughter and new stepson turn to something more friendly, so it wasn’t surprising to see her face light up at the friendly exchange. Though she couldn’t begin to imagine just how “friendly” we were getting, I guessed this was exactly what Kade had in mind. She nodded and smiled, “A race, hmm? How exciting! Alright... how about the first one to make three full cycles back-and-forth wins?”

  We both agreed—our locked gazes never parting—and my mother settled into her lawn chair as we both jumped into the pool. At her call of “GO,” I pushed off and started for the other side, swimming as fast as I could. I didn’t bother seeing where Kade was as I finished my first cycle. After another round, I paused long enough to see we were both neck-and-neck and I pushed with all my strength to get the lead. As I went to push off to start my second lap, I misjudged the distance and cried out as I twisted my ankle against the slippery sidewall. My face crashed under the surface of the water as I cried out and a flood rushed into my lungs, sending me into a coughing fit that only dragged in more lukewarm water and chlorine. Through the blurriness of the water, I could see Kade’s silhouetted form swimming towards me before I allowed the blackness to envelop me.

  THE SUDDEN RUSH OF air into my lungs caused the burning sensation in my chest to grow and I pitched forward, coughing up pool water and whimpering in pain.

  “Sweetie, are you okay?” my mom kneeled by me, rubbing my back. “Lucky for us, Kade knew CPR and saw you drowning as soon as he did!”

  “I-I’m...okay,” I looked over to see Kade sitting at the other side of me, his expression unreadable. “Thank you, Kade...”

  “It was nothing. Not like I was about to let you die,” he stood. “Your mom would never let me hear the end of it.” He shrugged, “Next time know your limits”—he smirked—“and know better than to challenge me.”

  I watched as he turned and headed into the house and looked down at my foot, testing my ankle and crying out from the wave of pain that I was rewarded with. My mother instantly helped me lie back down and placed a towel to support my foot.

  “I’ll go get Kade to bring you to the couch, I’m going to call Kevin and we’ll get you to the hospital,” my mother said, already hurrying off.

  A moment later, Kade came out and kneeled down to pick me up, moving me to the couch. I bit my swollen lip, enjoying the feel of his chest against my body and leaned into his hold.

  “Don’t lean into me too much,” he set me down as fast as he lifted me.

  Before I could respond, my mother was back and explaining that Kevin would be home soon to take me to the ER.

  TWO PAINSTAKING HOURS later and we were finally finished at the ER, finding out that it was only a sprained ankle. They wrapped it and gave me crutches until I was fully healed. I bit my lip as Kevin helped me out of the car and my mother handed me the crutches. Kade hadn’t joined us for the hospital trip and as I stepped in, I was greeted to Kade sitting on the couch with a redhead straddling his hips. He turned his gaze to us, not bothering to break the kiss until the girl did. I frowned, trying to ignore the sudden jealousy I felt at the sight.

  “Kade, your stepsister just got out of the hospital, can you not at least show a little concern?” Kevin glared over at his son.

  “Why? She looks fine to me,” he narrowed his gaze at me before turning to the redhead, leaning forward in her ear, whispering something that made her giggle.

  “See you later, Kade-sweetie,” she smirked and excused herself, heading past us to the door.

  “It’s alright, Kevin,” I smiled softly, “thanks for taking me to the hospital, I think I’m going to get some rest...”

  He nodded, keeping his stern look to Kade and I headed up, using the crutches as a support to get up the stairs. Finally, I made it my bedroom and sighed, changing into my pajamas and fell back on my bed. My phone chimed again and I turned, seeing eight messages from Brent. After a moment, I picked up my phone and dialed his number.

  “Mina? Is everything okay? Why haven’t you answered any of my texts?” I bit my lip at the sound of how concerned he was for me.

  “I’m fine, I wont be in school tomorrow...I sprained my ankle in the pool today and my mom wants me to take the day off to rest my foot.”

  “Damn...I’m sorry, did you see the doctor to make sure it wasn't anything worse?”

  “Yeah, we spent the afternoon at the ER...I just got home. I’m sorry, Brent...I left my phone here and didn’t get a chance to respond until now,” I knew it was a small lie, but I didn’t want to explain that I’d been avoiding him.

  “That’s fine, I completely understand,” he sighed. “I’m sorry for sounding so worried, I guess I was being stupid.”

  “It’s okay, it wasn’t stupid. I appreciate your concern,” I faked a yawn. “Anyway, it’s been a long day...I think I’m going to try and get some sleep.”

  “Of course! I’ll talk to you tomorrow after school, have a good night, babe.”

  “Thanks, you too!”

  I hit end and set my phone away and fell back on the bed, my mind instantly going back to Kade and the redhead. Grumbling, I rolled over, pressing my face into the pillow, crying out into the pillow to muffle my sound.

  “Charming.”

  I turned, seeing Kade standing at the door and bit my lip. I hadn’t even heard him come in and looked away, my face heating from being caught. “Why are you here?” I pouted.

  “You ruined a good time back there,” he narrowed his eyes; that predatory gaze coming back to do what his words didn’t need to... but this time there was a heat—an intense and scorching one—that replaced the once cold weight of his eyes. “Plus... my old man’s not allowing any more girls in the house.”

  “How was I supposed to know you were going to be doing that in the living room?” I glared over at him, sitting up from the bed. “I had no control of when we came back...”

  “Doesn’t really matter,” he rolled his eyes, stepping in and sitting on the edge of my bed. “You’ve been fucking with my life ever since you moved in, and now you’ve cost me pussy in my own home!” he looked over his shoulder and smirked, “At least that’s what I thought at first...”—he turned and climbed over me, pinning my shoulders on the bed—“Until I remembered this little game you’ve been playing with me!”

  “Wh-what are you doing?” I gasped, “Our parents are only two rooms away!”

  “That’s right, they are! So it’d be awful easy to stop me, woul
dn’t it?” He leaned down so close his breath tickled my ear, “So...? Is that what you want? You want me to stop? Scream if you do. It’s... just... that... easy.” He smirked, trailing his hand down my stomach. “But I don’t think you will.”

  I opened my mouth to cry out, but the truth in his words muted everything but the raspy breaths. His hand found its mark over my PJs and caused a whole new flood of confused emotions inside me. I realized then that I didn't want to contemplate his words any further, I just wanted his touch. I hated that he did this to me—I wanted to hate him!—but I couldn’t. Even then my body was arching up for him, pleading with him in ways I couldn’t vocalize.

  “Mm...the slut wants this bad, doesn’t she?” he smirked, leaning down, pressing his lips to my ear. “Wouldn’t your boyfriend get upset with you?”

  “Slut,” like “whore” from the other night, sounded so right coming from him. I wanted it; I needed it! I wanted to be his slut; I needed to be his whore!

  “A-ah! Y-you’re not helping this!” I gasped in pleasure.

  “Who said anything about helping,” he chuckled taking my chin in his grip and lifted my face up. “I like playing with you...”

  His lips came down on mine again and I moaned, moving my arms to wrap around his neck as he kissed me hard. His tongue danced with mine and while the fight for dominance was there, I gladly handed it over to him. I didn’t want to be in control; I wanted to be controlled, and my bad boy stepbrother was just the man to do it!

  I moaned as he lifted himself from my body just enough to pull my PJ top from me. He smirked at the sight of my bare breasts and leaned forward, running his tongue down my collarbone.

  “Mm! I remember these all too well,” he purred, moving down to my chest. “You know, your tits are a lot bigger than I’d have thought.”

  “O-oh! Touch me more!” I whimpered, arching against him, moving my hands into his thick, dark hair.