Hunger (A Stepbrother Romance Novel) (9 page)

Daniel looked at me seriously. “We make him jealous.”

~*~*~

Phase three was a go the next morning. The plan was simple.

Last night after Luke walked out, Daniel called a friend of his to arrange a date. His friend was a guy named Greg—a college-aged guy that Daniel had hooked up with a couple of times. He said that Greg owed him a favor and the guy had readily agreed to pose as my ‘date’ with no questions asked.

I swear, Daniel will rule the world one day.

He had left a little while earlier after a rather awkward dance between him, Luke, and me in the kitchen this morning. We were all waiting on the coffee to brew and Luke and I were pointedly ignoring each other as Daniel acted as a sort of buffer.

After he left, I hid in my room. I was just waiting for six o’clock, when Clara would come to my room and tell me dinner was ready, and I would tell her I had a date coming to pick me up.

According to Daniel, the pieces would all fall into place from there.

And they did. Just as he planned.

Clara told my dad who called me out of my room and demanded to speak to my date when he arrived. I waited at the kitchen table—all dolled up in one of my new outfits—while purposely avoiding the dark glare Luke was shooting at me.

When the doorbell rang, I ran for it. I was surprised by how attractive the man behind the door was, but I didn’t have time to gawk.

“Hi, I’m Jenna. My dad wants to talk to you.
Please
play along,” I whispered as I heard footsteps approaching behind me.

“I got this,” he whispered back before turning to address my father. “Good evening, Mr. Drayton. I’m Greg.”

They shook hands and I watched as my dad narrowed his eyes. “Nice to meet you, Greg. I’m sure you can understand why I’m a little surprised that my daughter has a date with some guy I’ve never heard mentioned before.”

“Well, it’s kind of a blind date. Daniel set us up.”

“Huh,” Dad said dryly as he looked him up and down. “Exactly how old are you, son?”

“Twenty-two.”

“You go to school?”

“Yeah. Engineering major.”

My dad looked impressed and finally, he offered a smile. It was a little reluctant, but it was there nonetheless. I mentally sighed with relief as he reached up to give him one more handshake.

“Alright, you two have fun. Have her back by eleven.”

I was shocked at the extension of my normal curfew, but I
was
now eighteen and out of high school. Maybe this was the new normal for me. I did a mental happy dance that got cut to an abrupt halt when I noticed Luke from the corner of my eye.

He was lingering in the doorway of the kitchen, glaring hatefully at Greg. At the same time, Greg noticed Luke and he subtlety reached over to rest his palm on the small of my back.

“Ready to go?” he sweetly asked.

“Sure,” I replied, forcing a smile for the show.

We said a brief good-bye then exited the house, Greg guiding me all the way to the passenger seat of his car by my back. He opened the door for me and I thanked him, sliding into the seat and letting out a heavy sigh.

An actress, I was not.

When Greg got in and turned the key over, he turned to me and said, “Daniel’s meeting us at the diner.”

“Oh, thank god,” I breathed out, then remembered my manners. “I mean, no offense or anything. It just would’ve been awkward spending the next five hours together alone.”

Greg chuckled. “I hear that.”

“Thanks for doing this, by the way.”

“No problem at all. I take it the really pissed off looking guy is the one we’re trying to make jealous?”

“How much did Daniel tell you?”

“Pretty much only that.”

“Yeah. He’s the one.”

Greg nodded, keeping his eyes on the road. “I can see why. He’s fucking hot.”

“Isn’t he?” I asked, already liking Greg enough to confide in him a little. “Daniel seems to think going on a date with you is somehow going to push him over the deep end. I just worry that it’s not going to be that simple.”

“Oh, the date isn’t what’s going to do it.”

I furrowed my eyebrows together, totally confused. “It’s not?”

“Hell no. It’s when I drop you off. That’s what’ll
really
set him off.”

“What exactly about that is going to set him off?”

Greg glanced at me and gave me a dry look. “Just trust me. Or trust Daniel. This was his idea, after all.”

I didn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified by that.

~*~*~

After bullshitting at the diner for two hours, then the three of us going to catch a movie together, it was nearing my curfew and time for Greg to take me home.

Daniel gave me a hug before we parted and whispered, “Just play along with Greg. He knows what to do.”

I nodded as I pulled away from him and got back into the car, waving at Daniel as we pulled away from the theater. It was a twenty minute ride home and we were really pushing it. I just hoped my dad trusted me enough not to wait up for me.

We were counting on someone
else
waiting for me.

“Here we are,” Greg said as he pulled up to the curb.

I twisted in my seat to face him. “So how’s this going to work? Are you walking me to the door and kissing me goodnight or are we trying to sneak you in or—”

My rambling was cut short as Greg grabbed the back of my head and pulled me close to him. He pressed our lips together gently but moved his head around more forcefully and I knew—I just
knew
—that he must have seen Luke watching from his window.

After all, our bedrooms had a perfect view of the street. Greg must have seen him watching and now we were putting on a show. I grabbed his head and made a muffled noise of surprise as he pressed his lips a little more firmly against mine as he tried to drag me over onto his lap. It was an awkward position, but I could just imagine how illicit it would look like from the outside and forced my body to stay in place.

When he pulled his lips minutely away from mine, he whispered, “Sorry. I’m not trying to molest you or anything.”

I moved my head to mimic kissing his neck. “It’s fine. I think I get it.”

“Wonderful. But we’re going to have to call it quits now, darling.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s coming out here and I value my life. Tell Daniel we’re even.”

I bolted upright in my seat and turned wide eyes out the passenger side window. Sure enough, Luke was marching down the lawn straight for his car.

“Thanks again,” I whispered as I hurriedly rushed out of the car.

The moment the door slammed shut and I took two steps into the yard, Greg peeled off into the distance. Thankfully, he didn’t spin his tires and wake up the whole neighborhood. I turned and watched as Luke approached me, that predatory look back in his eyes.

He grabbed my arm hard and pulled me against his chest, breathing heavily as I stared up at him with a mixture of fear and desire. I tried to decipher the look in his eyes, but it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Anger, hurt, desire, and possessiveness were waging a war there and I was completely entranced by the display.

So much so that it shocked the hell out of me when he abruptly pulled away and yanked me behind him as he stormed back to the house. I could feel the bruises forming on my upper arm and winced as I tried to keep up with his quick pace.

He didn’t speak and I was too confused to think of anything to say, so I just followed behind him in silence. He let go of my arm to close the front door quietly and lock it, then grabbed me again and dragged me down the hall to my bedroom.

I expected him to ream me out over making out with Greg in the car or threaten to tell my father if I missed curfew again or something like that. But he just pushed me into my room and followed behind me.

I stood frozen still as I watched him close the bedroom door and twist the lock before he turned back to me with that same stormy expression in his eyes.

“What the fuck was that?” he whispered harshly.

“W-What?”

Luke wasn’t in the mood for games or for my ignorance. He stalked over to me and I instinctively stepped back until the back of my knees bumped against my mattress. He gripped my shoulders hard and I winced again.

“That guy. That date. That impromptu little make out session. What the fuck was
that
? What fucking game are you playing?” he growled, shaking me a little at the end as he demanded answers.

“I’m not playing—”

“Bullshit,” he hissed, leaning down to bring our faces inches apart. “You think I’m stupid? You think I can’t see what you’ve been trying to do? The bathing suit, the game last night, this farce of a date? Are you trying to make me fucking
crazy
?”

I gulped, the guilt twisting into a hard knot in my stomach. I should’ve known that this would bite me in the ass. The only thing I could really do now was admit to my crimes.

“Yes.”

Luke let go of me and reared back, staring at me with disbelief. “This
was
a game to you. All of it.”

“Yes. I’m so sorry.”

My apology seemed to make him angrier. “What the hell was the end goal of this, huh? Just to see how far the addict could fucking bend until he snapped?”

“No! No. It wasn’t like that,” I tried to tell him.

“Then
what
? What do you
want
from me?”

“I want
you
,” I told him—honestly and desperately.

There was a long pause where he looked at me incredulously, as if he really couldn’t bring himself to believe that had been my real goal all along. But I had openly told him what I wanted from this game—there was nothing more I could do besides wait for his reaction.

Turns out, it was worth the wait.

One hand went to the small of my back and the other went around the back of my neck and he hauled me against his body. As the breath smashed out of my lungs from the force of it, he captured my lips in a searing kiss that stole the rest of my breath away and made me see stars.

Unlike the kiss with Greg, this was
real
. His lips moved against mine passionately, as if he were trying to mark his territory using only his mouth. He pulled away to bite my lower lip roughly before soothing over it with his tongue and then going back to kissing me.

I opened my mouth to keep up with his movements, and he slid his tongue into my mouth and claimed me there as well. As I felt my body starting to go lax from the lack of air and the sheer desire, I slowly fell backwards, and he moved with me, draping his body over mine on my bed.

Luke pulled away and grinned down at me. “This is what you want? To get fucked?”

I nodded, my eyes drifting shut as he ground his heavy erection against my body. He let out a shuddering groan as he rocked his hips against me, dipping down to give me another heated—but brief—kiss.

He pushed himself off of me and I whimpered, sitting up to ask where he was going. Before I got all the way up, he put his hands under my armpits and lifted me to my feet. My mouth fell open in a moan after he spun me around and pressed himself snug against my back as his hands roamed over my front.

“You want me to be the one to pop that cherry of yours?”

“Please,” I gasped when his fingertips dipped into the V-neck of my top.

I let out a startled moan when he suddenly gripped the sides of the neckline and ripped, literally tearing my new shirt right down the middle. My head rolled back to lean against his shoulder as he roughly palmed my breasts through the bra.

“Why me?” he growled. “Why couldn’t you just find someone else to fuck you?” Even as he said the words, he was maneuvering his body away from mine just enough to rid me of the tattered remains of my top and my bra.

Once my breasts were free from their confines, he cupped them almost lovingly and hummed softly into my ear. I moaned when he tweaked my nipples and he quietly whispered, “Tell me you like this.”

“I love it,” I whimpered back.

“Tell me you want my cock.”

“I need your cock inside me,” I breathed out, my embarrassment pushed firmly to the side in favor of meeting my body’s increasingly needy demands.

Luke’s lips went to my neck and he kissed me there, making goosebumps prickle my flesh as I shivered. “I don’t think I could deny you anything,” he murmured, sending a full-body shudder through me.

His hands left my breasts and trailed down my bare stomach until they landed on the buttons of my jeans. He unbuttoned them as he continued to kiss my neck, then his lips trailed down my spine as he slowly pulled them down.

He was kneeling behind me as he helped me step out of my heels and pants. I was shaking with nerves, knowing he was staring at my ass clad in only a tiny red thong.

Luke reached up and pushed me forward until I was bent completely over the side of the bed. I tried to turn my head back to watch him as he pulled the string of fabric to the side and spread my cheeks, but I couldn’t see anything from this angle.