Stepbrother: Forbidden Cravings: Stepbrother Romance Boxed Set (5 page)

Chapter 6

It was a long and hot summer. Bill Torvald and Katherine Grissom’s return did not restore the house to how it was before they left.

It was obvious that something happened. Something bad, so it seemed.

The dinner table was quiet. They no longer got together for breakfast on Sundays, nor did Ethan play his games with Bill.

There was a feeling in the air that everyone in the house knew, but didn’t know how to talk about it. What would they say to Kelly and Ethan? 

But that tension hardly discouraged the two from sneaking into each other’s rooms most nights. She came to love in those dark hours, staying up all night talking about anything that came to mind, and before the sun bloomed on the horizon, they would bid their dues; knowing that the morning and all through the day, Ethan would have to be her stepbrother and nothing more.

In those months, Kelly's sentiment for their love gained a new understanding. It didn't feel like she was doing something wrong, no. Something defiant maybe. But nothing wrong.

In fact, it was just the opposite: they were doing something for the greater good, something for love, despite the norms of society. In her eyes, they were romantic heroes, like the ones she read about in pieces of fiction.

Near the end of summer, Edna the housemaid went to visit her family in west Virginia for two weeks.

On a Saturday evening, the parents went off to dinner, leaving Kelly and Ethan alone at home.

They shared a seat on the balcony of his room. She in his lap, cradled in his arms.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better summer.,” she said.

“Me neither.”

“You know,” she began, running her hand through his feathery, raven-black hair, “I really never thought you’d like me.”

"Why was that?"

"Well there was
that
, but I don't know. I guess I just wasn't confident in myself."

He pecked her forehead, "well I'm glad you decided to be brave," he whispered.

"Why is that?" She asked, looking to lead him in.

"Because I love you Kelly Grissom."

She smiled. It was true. That which was only fantasy came into fruition. It all seemed to come down to that moment outside, watching the heavy moon dispel an angelic glow.

In Ethan’s arms, she was lifted back inside, placed gently onto his bed. Their hands met and locked, their eyes closed in anticipation of a dream.

She helped him slide off his jeans. And, still with her panties on, Ethan licked two fingers, then slid them beneath. Kelly moaned freely, and loudly--but she shut quiet suddenly.

A bang at the door. "Is someone in there with you?" the voice slammed. It was Bill.

They didn't hear them come back because they were so lost in themselves. Never would Kelly figure out why they came home early.

It would always play around in her mind, long after she and Ethan decided it would be best to call it quits. But they were in a predicament right then and there.

Another bang, then in staccato "Ethan. Is. Someone. In there. With you? I'm not going to ask again son, I'm going to need you to open this door.”

“What?” Ethan called to bide time. As his father repeated himself, Kelly ran into the bathroom connected to Ethan’s room.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure, dad."

"Alright, well, look, Katherine’s worried. Kelly’s not in her room, do you know where she went?”

Kelly could only hear them from the bathroom.

After a while the words became low and muffled. She knew that Ethan was controlling the situation. Her head felt light, but her heart was skipping like mad.

It felt like half an hour passed, then suddenly, a divot of light cut into the bathroom, then waxed. Ethan stood at the door. She couldn’t see his expression, but there was an obvious lack of that silvery smile in the darkness.

She knew something was terribly wrong.

“So you’re going to go out from the back door, then come back to the front and ring the doorbell. I told them you went out with your boyfriend, so you’re probably going to have to explain that to Katherine when you come back in.”

She nodded.

“And stay up tonight,” his glare seemed grave, “we have to talk about us.”

Kelly did just as he told her. She sneaked out and returned, as though she’d been gone the entire time.

She argued with her mother at the door. Katherine asking “Who is this boy?” and so on.

Just poking at what she believed was a lie. But Kelly didn’t budge, then went back to her room.

The text came around two in the morning. It shook on her nightstand with mute urgency, though it didn't startle her. She'd been waiting for Ethan’s text the entire time.

Her phone read, "meet me out by the pool". Which they never did because it was in view from their parent's bedroom. But it would be the last time they would meet and surely Bill and Katherine were asleep. But, she often wondered if they were so suspicious that it kept them up at night.

She swallowed that sentiment and made her way downstairs.

When she got outside, he was just as she always imagined him: relaxed, confident, with not a shred of doubt in his manner.

Laying on a pool chair, he beckoned to her with open arms it seemed, but when she got close, he patted the pool chair beside him, telling her to sit there.

It felt, to her, like a re-enactment of their first time together. He dejected, but she so passionate, nothing more than...well at that time she wanted nothing more than to build a relationship with Ethan, and now she wanted nothing more than restoration. That was the key difference.

She sat down in the beach chair beside his.

“We've been caught my love. I don’t think your mom bought that story. My dad came into my room like at 12 to talk to me.”

He paused, silent.

“What did he say?”

But she knew what Bill said. She didn’t hear it for herself, but she knew.

That pause seemed to stop the world--save for the crickets, relentlessly singing into the night--all and every night--filling the air with their longing for love.

She heard the crickets’ music.

“What did he say?” she asked again.

“We can’t see each other anymore,” he said, not looking at her but looking off to the pool.

“What did he say?” she asked one last time.

“It doesn’t matter what he said,” with a stern voice.

“This isn’t something that I want Kelly.”

She didn’t reply, just looked ahead to the blue pool. From the corner of her eye, she caught him looking at her, then facing him: a trace of a tear’s path ran to his chin.

She lunged to him, almost in desperation--she felt his warm cheek on hers, making her way on top of him--and he succumbing to her desires once more.

They quickly turned around. He wanted to take control so he got on top. Looking over his shoulder, feeling his warmth inside of her, she couldn’t help but shiver a cold-electric when she made eye contact with their parent’s blacked bedroom window.

They could very be watching them. But she let it go completely when she felt his tongue swirling around her nipples--another shiver running through her, but this one of a different sense.

He did everything slowly: peeled her panties off and removed his shirt--slowly; ran his hands over to her cheek and kissed her slowly, endlessly, slowly--whispered that he would always love her and penetrated her--slowly; and, as though he were playing an instrument, pushed and pulled--slowly, slowly until she squealed and struggled to catch her breath.

Kissing his neck, she whispered, “come for me baby.”

And he did. They lay there on top of each other long after. Savoring the fleeting moment.

When she woke up that morning, everything was silent. It was a Sunday.

It was absurd how things changed. No longer did Ethan and his father play outside of the Torvald home, no. Neither was it the Torvald home anymore.

It had been altered, settled into something new: The Torvald-Grissom home.

But one thing stayed the same: she didn’t have a chance with Ethan. That seemed to come around full circle. This irony, maybe, is what paralyzed her until the afternoon, unable to find the strength to get out of bed, until her hunger-pains forced her to.

What added to her suffering was knowing that he was right there, not even a minute away. But they agreed that they would not try to see each other.

If they saw each other around the house, they were to act as they did the first week he moved in. They would exchange a hi and bye. Nothing more.

Finally, she got out of bed.

She didn’t care what she wore. She put on anything then went down stairs. As she made her way to the kitchen, she couldn’t help but stray to his stairwell--the one that lead to the hall of his bed room.

Kelly stood at the bottom of the stairs.

She wasn’t sure for how long, and she wasn’t sure how long he’d been playing--but Kelly sat there and listened to his music. She imagined that he was playing for, or to her.

In this moment, she knew that she would soon live yet another episode of forbidden pleasure while reviving those hidden wildest desires.

Seduced By My Stepbrother Cowboy

Veronica Sexton

 Copyright 2015 by Veronica Sexton

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced

in any way whatsoever, without written permission

from the author, except in case of brief

quotations embodied in critical reviews

and articles.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any

person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

First edition, 2015

Chapter 1

Summer and her mother, Denise, had packed up everything they owned over the weekend and were dragging a U-Haul behind her mother’s truck to their new home. They hadn’t slept in almost two days, and they chugged coffee after coffee as they drove to their new home in Colorado.

Denise’s new husband, Kevin, was a wealthy consultant from the Denver area. Summer couldn’t want to get out to his home. She envisioned her new life perfectly: weekend trips to Aspen, brunches overlooking the skyline in Denver, staring out onto a mountain sunset from the mansion. It was going to be amazing, she thought.

They crossed the state line into Colorado, and Summer’s heart began to beat more quickly.

“I can’t believe it’s only a few hours from now.”

“Yes,” said Denise as she sipped a latte.

“I can’t wait for you to meet Kevin. I think you’ll like him. He has a son not too much older than you. Dylan, I think his name is.”

Denise and Kevin had met while Summer was away at college and wed three months later. Summer had never met the man who she would soon refer to as her stepfather. She didn’t care. She was grateful he was going to be giving her a new life away from her duplex in Iowa.

“The GPS shows we’re almost there,” said Denise.

Summer looked out her window, confused and unsure. They were not close to Denver at all.

Everywhere she looked was just land and she could barely make out the Rocky Mountains in the distance. It was not the Colorado she’d imagined.

“Mom, are you sure we’re close?”

“Yes, Summer. In fact, it’s right up here on the left.”

They pulled off the main road and onto a long dirt path that stretched miles ahead. The car bobbed along on the uneven road and they passed a sign that read “Green Miller Ranch.”

“Oh, dear God…” Summer said under her breath. She feared what was to come.

The car continued down the road for a few miles. Summer stared out her window as she watched cattle and horses wandering around open pastures enclosed by wooden fences.

There were barns and old dilapidated buildings scattered throughout the property. She grew more and more tense as she realized how incredibly wrong she was about her new life. She almost wanted to turn back around and head to her duplex in Iowa, but she kept her mouth shut.

The road ended up by an old cabin-like house. It had a large, wrap-around porch and rocking chairs, one of which was occupied by a tabby cat, curled up and napping. Summer and Denise stepped out of the car and walked up to the door. Summer took a deep breath when her mother knocked.

An older, graying man with a strong build and cowboy hat answered the door.

“Hello, love,” he said to Denise and kissed her.

Summer noticed how kind this man’s face was.

“And you must be Summer. Welcome to your new home. What do you think?”

They stepped inside and Summer took a look around. A deer head hung over the brick fireplace, and the walls were all brown and wooden. The pattern of the furniture reminded her of a lumberjack’s flannel shirt.

“There’s a charm to it, Kevin. Although I have to say, I thought you lived in a mansion in Denver.”

Denise gritted her teeth at her daughter for the comment.

Kevin laughed.

“I did for awhile. I can run my business from home now, and I invested a lot of money into ranches. I live a much happier life now in this little town. I maybe check up on my main business by traveling out to Denver once a month. You can’t beat this life!”

Summer smiled softly at Kevin. He really did seem like a genuinely warm and simple man.

She was disappointed, but thought perhaps it was a life she could ease into and learn to enjoy. Perhaps.

“If you come out back, you can meet my son, Dylan. He’s only a few years older than you, I think. How old did you say you were?”

“Didn’t,” said Summer as they walked out the backdoor.

“I’ll be twenty-two in July.”

“What I wouldn’t give to go back to that age…” Kevin pondered to himself.