Hunger (A Stepbrother Romance Novel) (12 page)

The next time I woke up, I was alone again. I glanced at the clock and noted that it had only been an hour since the shower Luke and I took together. I stretched before standing up and heading to my dresser to grab some clothes.

As I passed by the mirror—I froze. I gaped at my own reflection, taking in everything from the slight discoloration around my breasts to the deep bruises on my hips. It hadn’t slipped past my notice that Luke was pretty rough, but it was still surprising to see my own body looked so... used.

Used in the best kind of way.

For some reason, that thought reminded me that I had rudely snubbed Daniel the previous day and turned my cell phone off. I felt guilty about it now and powered it back on before getting myself dressed for the day.

Once it was back to life and I was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, I scrolled through the texts I’d received since turning it off. There were multiple apologies from Daniel and requests to text or call him. Deciding on the latter, I dialed his number and pressed the phone to my ear.

“Oh thank fuck. I was starting to think you were never going to speak to me again.”

I laughed. “It’s been less than a day, Daniel. Don’t be a drama queen.”

“You sound happy,” he observed.

“I am. Everything kind of... worked itself out last night. And this morning,” I added quietly.

“Oh my god, I need details.”

“Not now,” I said, glancing to the door as if Luke was going to burst in at any second. “But soon. I’ll call you later to set something up. I just wanted you to know I’m not mad at you.”

“Yay! You
better
call me later or I’ll be knocking on your door in the middle of the night.”

“Duly noted,” I confirmed before ending the call just as my bedroom door opened.

“Hey,” Luke said, smiling as he came into the room. “I thought I heard you up and about.”

“Where have you been?” I curiously asked.

“Making coffee and staying away from you,” he admitted as he wrapped his arms loosely around my waist. “If I stayed in bed, we would’ve never left it.”

I tipped my head back, trying to silently will him to kiss me. “You wouldn’t have heard me complaining.”

He hummed in contentment as he leaned down and gently kissed me, one of his hands coming up to possessively slide up my neck before gently gripping my chin. I melted into the kiss, swept up by every emotion and sensation I seemed to experience every single time he touched me.

When he pulled away, he was grinning down at me. “I do believe I heard you say that I was going to kill you.”

It took me a moment to understand what he was talking about, until I remembered saying I wouldn’t have complained. I frowned and shook my head, “Oh, that wasn’t a complaint. Just a fact.”

He laughed lightly and pulled me closer to him. His eyes were roaming all over my face as he played with the strands of my hair and he softly admitted, “You know, I could really get used to this.”

“So could I,” I said honestly, staring into his eyes and hoping he could see my sincerity.

“I haven’t felt a connection like this with someone in a long time. Not that that makes it right.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

He sighed and pulled his hand away, but didn’t let me go. He was staring hard into my eyes when he said, “This—
Us
—It’s not a good idea. Even if we could get past all of my personal issues, our parents are about to get married. It’s... unconventional, to put it lightly.”

I cocked my head to the side and raised an eyebrow. “So then it surely would be a good fit for you.”

To my surprise, he cracked a smile and laughed. “You’re not wrong. But that doesn’t mean it’d be a good fit for
you
.”

“But isn’t that my decision to make?”

His eyes met mine again. “It is. But regardless of which choice you make—it’s not likely to end well.”

“How can you say that without even giving it a chance?” I asked, a nervous laugh slipping past my lips.

Why did it feel like we were breaking up?

His expression became deathly serious and he plainly said, “Because I know myself far better than you do. Once I have you—
really
have you—I won’t let go.”

I swallowed hard, the severity of that sentence sinking in. “Don’t you already have me?”

“No.”

I shook my head, denying his claim. “You’re wrong. You
do
have me. Look at me,” I exclaimed, lifting up my shirt and tugging the jeans down my hips.

His eyes tracked my movements and widened when they landed on the bruises marring my body.

“Don’t you get it? I
already
belong to you.”

Luke swallowed thickly and backed away, closing his eyes as he shook his head. “I’m trying to give you an out, Jenna. Just fucking take it.”

Like hell I would. Remembering something from last night, I marched towards him, yanking his Henley to the side and exposing what I knew was there. I pointed to the mirror beside us.

“And you belong to me,” I whispered as I trailed my fingers over the bite mark I had left on him in the heat of the moment.

I felt that it was true in my heart. I was his just as much as he was mine. Like he had phrased it before—it was too much, too fast—but it was there. The connection couldn’t be denied.

And try as he might, I knew he wouldn’t be able to fight his hunger for long. It’s a battle he would lose if he even bothered to try.

Luke seemed aware of it as well. His jaw clenched and he tightly stated, “Last chance. This is it, Jenna.”

“I’m not afraid of you, Luke,” I told him, not missing the way he was subtly puffing up his chest in a weak attempt to threaten me. “I want you.”

He crashed his lips to mine, giving me the roughest kiss I’d gotten from him yet. I couldn’t break away because of the hand holding the back of my head in place. Not that I really wanted to, but breathing was quickly becoming an issue as I tried to keep up with the frantic kiss.

“I’m the most possessive man you’ll ever meet,” he warned breathlessly, his wild eyes darting between mine.

“I know.”

“I’ll flip my shit if I ever see another man touch you.”

“I know.”

He gripped my hair and closed his eyes, his lips just barely brushing against my own as he spoke. “I won’t be able to walk away. I’m already attached.
You
are my addiction now.”

“Luke?”

“Yes?”

“Kiss me.”

I could taste the saltiness of the tears that had streamed out of my eyes when he kissed me. When he tasted them as well, he pulled away from my lips and kissed the tracks where they fell.

It was too late. I was in too deep already.

He wasn’t the only one who couldn’t walk away.

~*~*~

“You look like you’re feeling better,” Clara noted when I took my seat at the dinner table that night.

I couldn’t stop my eyes from darting across the table for the briefest of moments, just long enough to see a corner of Luke’s mouth curl up in a smirk. I quickly looked back to Clara and nodded.

“Yeah, I am. Must have been one of those twenty-four hour bugs or something.”

“In the summertime? Seems odd,” my dad commented, even though he didn’t even bother to look up from the newspaper as he said it.

“Well, I went to the movie theater the other night with Greg.”

A shaky exhalation made me focus on my peripheral vision, where I could see Luke gripping his fork and taking deep breaths to reign in his reaction. Thankfully, I seemed to be the only one to notice.

“Oh, those places are
filthy
!” Clara exclaimed. “No wonder you weren’t feeling well. Did you wash your hands before you left? Goodness, just thinking about those sticky seats makes me want to clean the entire house.”

“Calm down, Clara,” my dad said with a chuckle. “You act like you went there yourself.”

She continued to mumble about poor hygiene as she turned back to finish preparing dinner and while my dad was still distracted by the paper, I turned to give Luke a flirty smile.

“How was your day?” I slyly asked.

He smirked. “Wonderful.”

My dad looked up and between the two of us suspiciously. “You act like you two aren’t in the same house all day.”

“I spent most of the day in my room,” Luke smoothly reasoned.

“Oh yeah? Doing what?”

“Reading up about local colleges.”

I was shocked by how easily the lies seemed to come out of him until I considered that perhaps he was telling the truth. I had slept for over an hour and he had been in the kitchen for the longest while. Maybe he really had been looking at colleges.

Dad seemed interested now, folding up his paper and setting it to the side as he looked over at Luke. “Anything catching your eye?”

I could see the corners of his eyes crinkle up as he smiled and I felt a light blush creep up to my cheeks.

“You could say that.”

Throughout dinner, my dad harassed Luke with questions about what he was considering and Luke gave back just as good as he got. I learned that—at least for the moment—he was considering taking a few welding classes at the local community college because he had a buddy who could get him a job if he completed the course.

The thought of enrolling in college in the fall hit me like a load of bricks. What was going to become of us if I went off to an Ivy and Luke was here in community college?

He really didn’t seem like a long distance kind of guy. Hell, I
knew
he wasn’t. He was far too much of a jealous person to let me out of his sight like that.

“Jen? You okay?”

I turned to look at Clara, then glanced around the table when I noticed everyone was staring at me.

“Oh. Yeah, I’m fine. Just zoned out for a minute.”

Dad and Clara were satisfied by my response, but Luke’s eyes narrowed, aware that I was lying. He furrowed his eyebrows as he studied me, trying to read whatever it was from my expression.

I put on a mask of neutrality, hoping that he would be able to wait until late tonight to barrage me with the questions I knew were coming. I still had to make the call I promised to give Daniel and set up a time to give him all the details.

Plus, I really needed his advice.

~*~*~

After dinner, I narrowly managed to dodge Luke and locked my bedroom door before flopping down on the bed and dialing Daniel’s number. He answered on the second ring.

“Yo, girl. You’ve got some good timing. I was just breaking out my ski mask.”

I rolled my eyes as I rolled onto my back and stared up at ceiling. “What were you going to do? Rob a convenience store?”

“Nope, just break into your house and kidnap you.”

“So just a normal day at the office.”

“Mm-hm. So what’s up?”

I lowered my voice just in case anyone was eavesdropping, even though I knew it was highly unlikely. “Luke and I are together. Like,
seriously
together. I think.”

“You
think
? Or you
know
? What the hell happened?”

“I wish I could explain it, but I don’t know where to start. It’s really not a conversation I want to have over the phone either.”

“Top secret stuff, huh? Alright. Breakfast tomorrow morning at the diner?”

“Sounds good,” I confirmed, sitting up slightly when I heard a soft knock on my door. “I got to go, someone’s at the door.”

“Gee, I wonder who it could be.”

“Shut it. See ya tomorrow.”

“Be safe!” Daniel called as I ended the call and tossed the phone to the side.

I opened the door and forced a smile for Luke. He rolled his eyes and pushed past me and I shut the door behind him.

“Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

His eyes hardened. “This will never go anywhere if you plan on lying. That shit doesn’t sit well with me.”

I sighed and raised my hands in the air. “Fine. I’m just worried.”

Luke frowned. “About what? Our parents finding out? I’m sure it’ll happen eventually but probably not until—”

“No, I’m worried what’s going to happen in the fall when my dad expects me to go off to Connecticut for college and you...”

“Get left behind,” he finished with a nod of understanding. He shrugged a little, giving me an apologetic smile as he said, “I’m sorry, darling. I’ll never be able to get into any of those Ivy League schools and I don’t really want to. But I won’t stop you from going.”

“What about not being able to let go of me?” I asked quietly.

“I didn’t say I’d let go. It’ll just take some planning. I’m sure there are community colleges in Connecticut.”

“You’d come with me?” I asked, surprised that he would even consider it.

“Of course,” he said with a smile. “You’ve got a lot going for you. I... I have considerably less options. So if that means you need to go somewhere, then I’d go with you.”

I was shell-shocked. I didn’t really know how to respond to his very casual admittance that he’d follow me to college if asked.

Then I remembered that he didn’t even mention being asked.

Right. Stuck with him. Won’t walk away.

The smile that came to my lips was probably insane, but I couldn’t help myself. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him soundly, pushing any lingering fears away. Everything would be fine.
We
would be fine.

~*~*~

I let out a harsh stream of breath when I slid into the passenger seat of Daniel’s car the next morning. He cocked an eyebrow but said nothing, just put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway.

Once we were on the road, I sourly said, “I almost thought he was going to tie me to the bed to keep me from leaving.”

“Oooh, how very caveman of him. Is that the kind of guy he is?”

I shook my head and laughed incredulously. “Oh, you have no idea. Don’t get me wrong though, he was super up front about it. He literally told me, ‘I’m the most possessive man you’ll ever meet’. He wasn’t fucking lying.”

Daniel gave me a half-shrug. “Be honest though, you fucking love it.”

“I do,” I admitted with a sigh. “But not when it interferes with hanging out with my best friend. Like, he knows you’re gay, but he still hears the word ‘
man
’ and automatically thinks ‘
another penis near my girlfriend
!’ It’s insane.”

“So is that what you are? His girlfriend?”

I was a little thrown by the question—primarily because I didn’t have an answer to it. Daniel must have sensed my hesitance to answer, because he quickly added, “Not that labels mean anything, especially to someone like me. But you said...”

“I know what I said. And I have no idea. We never discussed it.”

Daniel nodded thoughtfully as he pulled into the lot of the diner. “So, what
have
you discussed?”

A blush crept up to my cheeks and he spotted it instantly, making a whooping noise before raising his hand up and demanding a high five.

“My girl finally got laid!” he said loudly as he got out of the car.

“Shut up,” I hissed. “And my god, don’t call me that around Luke. He might punch you.”

“Duly noted,” he responded as he held open the door for me.

We ordered coffee as usual and a light breakfast, chatting idly about what he’d been doing for the past few days until our food arrived. We ate in relative silence but once the waitress took away our empty plates and refilled our coffee mugs, he turned his no-nonsense eyes to me.

“Okay, spill.”

I leaned over the table and whispered. “He said he’d come with me to Connecticut.”

He leaned in as well, his eyes widening with shock. “You two have been together for like five minutes!”

“I know! I’m equally thrilled and disturbed.”

Daniel narrowed his eyes and asked, “Any mention of the L-word yet?”

“No, no. Nothing that big yet. Although...”

“Although what? Spill!”

“Some of the things he says... both during and after sex. He’s just so... intense. And then there was a conversation we had the other day.”

Daniel groaned and scrubbed a hand down his face. “If you don’t tell me right now, the suspense is going to kill me, Jen. It’s going to kill me right here over an empty plate of pancakes.”

“He said I’m his addiction now.”

Daniel sat back and studied me closely, obviously wanting to say something but unsure of whether it was going to piss me off or not. When I made a face at him, he finally said it.

“That’s worrisome, Jen.”

“No shit.”

“Why don’t you start at the beginning and tell me everything that’s happened between you two? I don’t want to form an opinion based on one sentence. Oh—and spare no details about the sex. It’s my turn to live vicariously through you.”

I waved the waitress over for a refill as I began to tell him the entire story.

~*~*~

After I told him the entire story—sharing only as minimal sexual details as I possibly could—Daniel leaned back into his booth seat and folded his arms across his chest. He was frowning, obviously deep in thought as he considered every aspect of what I had told him.

“Are you worried?” I asked, wanting a second opinion.

“Not going to lie—I am. Just a little.”

“Why?”

He sighed. “Jen, this guy is your first. You’re bound to feel at least a slight attachment to him just for that reason alone. I’m worried that you’re getting yourself in way too deep with a man who could possibly be dangerous.”

“You didn’t stop me from sleeping with him,” I argued, irritated that Daniel was fine with me just ‘getting laid’ but freaking out because I wanted a relationship with the man.

“Maybe I’m projecting, I don’t know,” he said.

It was a strange sight to see. Daniel was staring at his coffee cup pensively and while the two of us had been through a lot together, it was rare to see him being so... serious. He really was concerned. I reached my hand across the table and laid it over one of his.

“Look, I know what I’m getting myself into. If I get hurt, it’s on me. I
know
that.”

Daniel smiled sadly and shook his head as he took my hand with his own and gave it a light squeeze.

“Oh, sweetie. You saying that just proves how much you
don’t
know what you’re getting yourself into.”

I wanted to question what he meant, but when he called the waitress over and asked for the check, I knew the conversation was over for the time being.

~*~*~