Swagger: A Stepbrother Romance (10 page)

They turned left and began walking along the edge of the duck pond. “Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure about that. You know the twelve year old little girl from seven years ago, feels like a lifetime ago. I’m not that girl anymore.”

“Is that so?” Reed looked down, his blue eyes catching her green ones, a hint of a grin on his face.

“It’s a fact. As a matter of fact, I could just possibly be that sex-crazed, stalker type that you’ve been warned about.”

The declaration, while he sensed was complete bullshit sent another rumble of desire through him. She was right though; she wasn’t that little girl anymore. That realization quieted his conscience, giving is desire free reign.

Chapter 2

“You know, all of my friends had a crush on you,” Chloe stated, as they walked down a wooded walking trail that would lead them to the top of the hill which overlooked the duck pond. What she’d admitted was true. It had pissed her off back then – hardcore.

Is Reed and his girlfriend breaking up? Will you ask if he’ll maybe go out with me?
Abagail had had the nerve to ask, numerous times while they were young. Like he’d seriously consider a group of twelve and thirteen year olds. But then again they all had aspirations of marrying their favourite rock stars as well.
 
That didn’t happen either.

“I kinda figured.”

She cocked a brow up at him, grinning wide. “It was the apparent, huh?”

“Very. Each time you had a sleepover they’d all peek into my room, giggle when I spoke to them and run off.”

“Going into your room and kissing you was one of their favourite dares.”

A roar of laughter erupted from him. “What? Are you serious?”

Laughing with him, Chloe shrugged. “No one ever won that dare. But they all had aspirations of one day doing it.”

For the first time in close to forty minutes silence overtook the non-stop chatter they’d been indulging in. It felt nice being with him. The feeling was a combination of the easiness she felt when with a good friend, but at the same time there was a definite sexual attraction. She was certain he’d begun to get hard when she’d hugged him and her body had reacted.

Truth was, her body hadn’t forgotten the feel of his large, hard body crushing against hers and was demanding closer and more intimate contact. Each time a gust of wind struck she’d catch a hint of his cologne she felt like swooning, it smelt so damned good it was nearly impossible to keep her distance from him. And there was something messed up and slightly taboo about desiring him, and she liked it, although she had no intention of letting him know that.

They reached the top of the hill and walked up to the wooden railing. Crossing her arms over the railing, Chloe leaned forward taking in the breathtaking view below them. As Reed stepped up behind her, placing a hand on the small of her back and leaning over her, goosebumps began to form on her arms and her heart rate accelerated. He was so close she could feel the warmth of his breath on her neck which sent a shiver down her spine. He took a step closer, his hand sliding from the small of her back to her hip and his front gently pressed against her back.

Closing her eyes, Chloe caught her lower lip between her teeth and prayed he couldn’t tell the affect he was having on her, not until she knew 100% his thoughts. How embarrassing would it be for her to give away her attraction for him when he still saw her as his little step-sister. Abet to his own admittance, a hot little sister.

But damn, he’d been so touchy feely throughout the walk. Nothing inappropriate or bold enough to give her a definite green light, but little things that kept her conscious that she was attracted to him. He’d brush a strand of hair from her face, or place his hand at her back. Even taking her hand a couple of times to guide her to the correct path when the path forked. Just enough to confuse the shit out of her.

 
They stood looking over the pond for what felt like an eternity and with each second that passed the desire increased, turning Chloe into a ball of nerves.

“So I’ve got a question for you.”

She was so tightly wound that when he spoke, Chloe yelped and spun around finding herself trapped between his body and the wooden rail at her back. Gulping down the lump forming in her throat, Chloe’s eyes moved up his chest to look him in the eye.

“Wh-what’s that?”

“What did the winner of truth or dare get if they actually succeeded in getting a kiss from me?” Amusement and a little of something more shone in his eyes as he looked down at her. With him being so close he appeared much taller, larger, more domineering and never sexier.

“Bragging rights.” She swept her tongue along her glossed lower lip. His eyes followed the movement of her tongue, before lifting to meet hers. Her uneasiness intensified, heat forming between her legs. “We knew none of us would ever get to kiss you so never bothered to actually come up with a prize if it happened.” She shrugged, her cheeks burning from her embarrassment and unease, he was never supposed to know about that. She regretted bringing it up. All she wanted to grab the lapels of his jacket and pull his lips down to hers worse than she’d ever wanted anything. It was killing her to restrain herself.

“I see.” He seemed to be enjoying her unease and his grin was damned sexy. “But you never partook in this challenge.”

Chloe opened her mouth and snapped it shut, not sure what to say. If she thought she was embarrassed before, his comment made her realize it could get worse. Because deep down, secretly, she did have a small crush. Their parents had only been married for a few years, so they never really established that brother/sister bond, they’d been more like roommates.
  

She crinkled up her nose, pretending the idea was unheard of. “W-what? I mean… You were my step-brother!”

“And you did.” His smile widened.

“I was twelve.” She gave him a push, but he didn’t budge, and the smug smile remained. She wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole or for him to kiss her and get it over with.
Please God, one of the two!
She silently prayed.

“And you had a crush for your older brother. That’s very twisted little sis.” He leaned in a little closer. His lips just barely more than an inch from hers. Despite the teasing she could see the desire flaring up in his eyes.

“
Step
-brother.”

“Right. That’s what I meant.” And the bugger had the nerve to wink. She hadn’t remembered him to be so cocky and so self-assured and so… She sighed. Sexy. God, so sexy.

No way, I’m not going to give you the satisfaction. I’m not going to admit it
, Chloe vowed. As the seconds turned to minutes the anticipation was driving Chloe to near insanity.

He reached up and brushed his knuckles against her cheek. Her breath hitched in her throat and she found her legs felt weak under her. “That was a long time ago.” She could hear the breathlessness in her voice, as she pressed her palms against his chest and fingered the lapels of his wool jacket. “I can’t hardly remember what I felt back then.”

“Right.” He leaned in a little further, until his lips brushed hers as he slipped his hand from her cheek to the back of her head. “And what about now?”

She let out an unsteady breath. “What about now…”

“Do you want to kiss me now?” As he asked the question, he pulled her lower lip between his teeth and gently sucked it into his mouth. Did that count as a kiss?

He released her lip as she sighed out the word, “Yessssss.”

She expected him to kiss her hard, to devour her at her admission, but he didn’t. He took his time, his lips and tongue teasing making her moan softly. Fisting the lapels of his jacket, she pulled him in tighter to her coaxing him to deepen the kiss, parting her lips and inviting his tongue in.
 

His tongue slipped between her lips and the feel as his touched hers sent a shiver through her, making her moan against his lips. Her moan seemed to rile him up, and his kiss became more frantic, demanding. The fire within her which had been simmering until that point roared to life, taking her by surprise. She’d never had such an explosive reaction to anyone before. Why him, why now, she had no idea, but was powerless to fight it. She pressed her body tight to his, her body rubbing against him and coaxing his cock to thicken against her stomach.

Reed groaned as pulled out of the kiss, but didn’t step away. His free slid to her lower back, pulling her even tighter against his erection. “What in the fuck are we doing Chloe?”

Looking up into his eyes, the lust she saw within them made her pussy clench as it ached to be filled. She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out, only a soft sigh-like sound.

“Fuck I want you,” he groaned as he brushed her hair to the side and lowered his lips to the side of her neck. “And you smell so good. My God.”

Letting her head drop to the side, giving him better access to the sensitive flesh Chloe couldn’t answer. She closed her eyes, indulging in the scent of his cologne as her hands slid up and under his jacket to grip his shoulders. Her knees were becoming weak as his tongue and teeth teasing her neck sent shivers through her. Each nip, each flick of his tongue fuelled the fire within her.

~*~*~*~

What in the hell am I doing?
The question flashed through his head. He didn’t have an answer. He was beyond thinking, his body had taken over, his cock was calling the shots. He hadn’t had sex in several months and hadn’t masturbated in over a week. Not jacking off before a date was a BIG mistake. The soft, unsteady breaths she was taking and the way her body was responding to his, grinding against his cock and dry humping him was driving him to insanity. His hand slid from her lower back, under the waistband of her jeans to cup her round ass cheek. He pulled her tighter to his cock.

It’s 2pm. It’s the middle of the day! You’re in the open. People could see. Kids could see
. The thought pulled him back to reality. It took every ounce of willpower that he had in him to pull back from her and take one step, two steps back.

As his head cleared and he got his desire under control he looked at Chloe. Her cheeks were flushed, her full lips pouty and her chest heaving as she also fought to bring herself down from the high they’d been riding together. The need in her blue eyes was so intense that he had to take one more step backwards to keep from going to her again. And damned that perfume of hers, it clung to him, called to him, reminding him of how good it felt to have her held tight against him.

“Oh man. I - ” Reed thrust his hand into his hair and sighed. He could almost feel the tension between them as they both fought to simmer their desires.

After a minute she caught her lower lip between her teeth and slowly released it. A hint of a devilish gleam was in her eyes. “Guess this means I ended up winning, huh?”

A roar of laughter ripped through Reed and he closed the distance between them. Instead of kissing her with passion that would no doubt put them back in the position he’d had to fight to pull himself from, he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “Guess so. Too bad you guys didn’t decide on a prize, you’d be able to collect.”

She shrugged, her grin widening. “At least I have bragging rights.”

“Bragging rights, right.” He moved around her to lean back against the railing. “So what are you going to do?”

She turned to face him leaning one elbow onto the rail and placing her chin in her hand, her eyes searching his. “What do you mean?”

“I mean.” He motioned between Chloe and himself. “About this. Are we going to pursue this? Don’t you think our parents will have a fit.”

“Do you really care.”

He didn’t skip a beat in answering. “Not really. I can handle Pops.”

“Me either.”

“But perhaps we should keep this to ourselves, for now. Just until. At least from the folks.” The divorce between their parents had been a very nasty one and he had no doubt there was still animosity between them. The last thing he wanted was for either of their parents to be interfering or trying to sabotage something that may be a good thing simply because of their hate for the other one.

He held his breath, hoping she wouldn’t take his suggestion the wrong way. In his experience women tended to overreact when he suggested something like this. To his relief she let out a loud huff of air and smiled, nodding eagerly. “I couldn’t agree more. At least until we know… you know. My mother still curses when she hears William’s name.”

“Yeah. Bout the same on my end as well. The name Susan usually spurs a drinking binge and then a not so pleasant trip down memory lane.”

“So deal.” Chloe stuck her hand out to him to shake.

Grabbing her hand, he pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her lower back. Giggling she slid her arms up his chest and locked her fingers behind his neck. “I think it would be more appropriate if we sealed the deal with a kiss.”