Her Stepbrother's Secret Desire Read online

  She attempted to brush past him, but he stood his ground, blocking the entrance to his apartment. Running a hand through his short, dark hair, Ryker looked back over his shoulder and into the apartment. "Yeah, but you weren't due here until tomorrow."

  "Well, I was ready and came early. Don't be a dick, let me in. What's wrong with you?" She grabbed the handle of her suitcase and attempted to push her way past him to be stopped for a second time.

  Stepping out into the hallway he pulled the door closed behind him and stepped closer to her, lowering his voice. "Listen, can you maybe come back in an hour or two?"

  Crossing her arms over her chest she glared up at him, her 5'4 frame eclipsed by his larger one, which was almost a foot taller. "You know what? It's 9am and we're in downtown Boston. There's a drunk passed out in the lobby of the building and I'm not familiar with the city. So to answer your question, no, I cannot come back. Let me in. Now!"

  He sighed. "Fine. Five minutes, please."

  Pulling out her cell phone she hit her contacts button and showed the display to him. "If you don't let me in in five minutes, I'm calling your mother."

  A grin tugged at the corners of his lips, his dark green eyes gleaming with amusement. "Seriously, you’re calling Mom on me?"

  "Damn right, big brother, and you know how she can be."

  His jaw clenched. "All right. Five minutes. Promise." He disappeared back into the apartment before she had a chance to say another word, followed by the sound of the deadbolt locking behind him.

  Chloe's eyes scanned the dingy hallway of his apartment building. It left a lot to be desired – peeling paint, a couple of burnt-out sconces and scuffed and dirty ceramic floors. It was a far cry from her parents’ five-bedroom, 5,000-square-foot home in Bangor. "Welcome to the real world, Chloe," she muttered to herself.

  Voices sounded from within the apartment and it dawned on her what was going on. Ryker had a girl inside. A coil of jealousy formed in the pit of her stomach. The voices got louder and she couldn't help but put her ear to the door in an attempt to hear what was being said.

  The door opened suddenly, nearly toppling her over, if she hadn't grabbed onto the wall to support herself. She blushed, looking up to see an annoyed, leggy blonde woman in a tight blue tube dress that left nothing to the imagination standing before her.

  The woman's blue eyes glared at Chloe with a hostility that made her take a step back and shift uncomfortably from foot to foot. What was with the dirty glare Chloe had no idea, but whatever the woman's deal was, she didn't want any part of it.

  "Sylvia, come on. Don't be like that." Ryker appeared behind the woman, but she ignored him, continuing to glare at Chloe with open hostility.

  "You know what Ryker, maybe I'll call you sometime." She brushed past Chloe, purposely slamming her elbow into Chloe's upper arm.

  "Ow, what the hell?" Chloe frowned as she rubbed her arm and watched the woman strut down the hallway. Once the woman disappeared down the stairs Chloe turned to Ryker, eyebrow raised. "I thought you were supposed to be arresting hookers, not taking them home."

  Ryker's expression changed from annoyed to amused as he chuckled. "Yeah, well don't ever pick up women at bars. Not worth the headache."

  Chloe rolled her eyes at him. "Hmmm. I'll try to remember that. I just hope you double wrapped it on that one."

  Leaning past her, Ryker grabbed her two largest suitcases. "When did my sex life become your focus of interest?" He turned and walked back into the apartment. "Your room is this way."

  Since the day I first met you, she wanted to reply, but bit her tongue. Instead, she shrugged and said, "Just giving you some sisterly advice." Grabbing her remaining two bags, she followed him, closing the door with her heel. "I hear getting herpes sucks."

  Ryker laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

  Chloe eyed Ryker's tight, muscular ass under his pants as he walked ahead of her. It was wrong, so, so wrong, she knew this, but she couldn't help it. It isn't like he's my real brother, she tried to justify her infatuation silently. It was an argument she’d had with herself more times than she could remember.

  "Well, this is going to be your room." He set her bags down inside it and flicked on the light. The overhead ceiling fan came on as light illuminated the small space. "It's not much compared to home, but..."

  The room was sparsely furnished with a bed, nightstand and dresser, and the walls an off-white. "It's fine." She smiled up at him. "I'm a college student getting free rent; I'll take what I can get."

  ~*~ TT ~*~

  Ryker

  Ryker watched Chloe survey the bedroom with slight embarrassment. He had planned on spending the day sprucing it up for her arrival the following day. His embarrassment over the bedroom was nothing, however, compared to her catching him with Sylvia. Sylvia had been a drunken mistake from the previous evening – nothing more.

  One-night stands were not something he made a habit of, not anymore at least. He liked to think he’d outgrown his man-whore behavior, but he'd been as horny as hell lately, largely because Chloe was coming to live with him. He'd been avoiding going home to Bangor to visit because of her, more specifically because of his attraction to her. He’d decided it was better to keep the temptation at arm’s length than fight the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her pouty glossed lips, and pull her curvy body tight against his cock. The sight of her with Calvin in the hot tub was still branded on his mind and pissed him off all over again each time he thought of it. That was the moment he’d realized how much he wanted her, and a twisted part of him wanted her even more because she was off limits.

  Her living with him was going to be dangerous, but what choice did he have? She needed a place to stay and she'd worked hard to get the scholarship to pay her tuition, the least he could do was offer her a roof over her head for the duration of her studies. His attraction to her was his problem, not hers. Ryker knew he had to find a way to deal with the raging desire she evoked within him simply from looking at her and smelling the floral perfume that had been her favourite for years.

  "I think I can do something with this," she said more to herself than him, pulling her lower lip between her teeth as she examined every inch of the room.

  As she scrutinized the room, Ryker examined her gorgeous frame. She was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans that hugged her round ass to perfection and a form-fitting purple satin button-down shirt that had one too many buttons undone. From his vantage point, it gave him a perfect view of the contours of her breasts and the black lace bra containing them.

  He growled at himself and looked away, feeling like some sort of pervert for sneaking a peek at his little stepsister's breasts. How in the hell he’d spent several years living with her at his folks’ place without doing something about it, he had no idea. Taking a deep breath, he raked a hand through his hair before stealthily making his way to the door; he needed to put as much distance between them as possible.

  "Hey, did you say you were making me breakfast?" Chloe called after him.

  Ryker paused at the doorway, a grin touching his lips. "Nope. Don't believe I did." Unless her cooking skill had improved dramatically, he figured he'd be doing most of the cooking for the both of them. He was sure she'd attempt to pitch in, but truth be known, he preferred she didn't in that respect.

  "Could you?" she asked, her voice sweet and low, with much flattery lurking in it. He was instantly taken back to their younger years. Chloe hadn’t changed in that regard; she knew exactly how to get what she wanted.

  His grin widened. "All right."

  "I'll cook you supper in return." She chuckled lightly.

  Dear God, I hope not, he sniggered to himself, leaving the room and heading for the kitchen.

  *****

  Chloe

  As Chloe put her clothing away in the dresser and closet, she wondered if she'd seen what she thought she had, or if it was just wishful thinking.

  God, I just got here and I’m already reading more into his a
ctions than what’s real, she groaned inwardly. She was sure when she was checking out her room, Ryker had been checking out her. She really thought she was past her teenaged crush on him. Aside from his outburst at the hot tub, he'd never shown any interest before or after, so she knew she had to be mistaken. But, she was equally as sure she had seen a slight bulge pressing against the flannel lounge pants he was wearing.

  Not possible, he can’t be interested, she reasoned with herself, dismissing the thought because he'd just spent the night with the blonde. Why would he be with someone the day before she arrived if he had even a remote interest, right?

  Hanging up her final blouse, she stashed the suitcases under the bed and wandered into the kitchen. Was he really interested? Wasn't he? Would it be smart to even try to find out? Having secret fantasies of her stepbrother was one thing, but to actually initiate something with him was a gamble.

  The delicious smells of bacon and eggs frying made her stomach grumble as she entered the kitchen. Upon setting eyes on Ryker she was slightly disappointed to see that he'd pulled on a grey t-shirt with Boston PD printed across the chest.

  "Something smells delicious." She walked over to him, and slid her fingers along his lower back as she came to stand beside him at the stove.

  His body tensed at her touch, but quickly relaxed as he looked down at her, his green eyes piercing into her brown ones. "It's almost done."

  "You cooking me Sunday morning breakfast; just like old times." She gave him a playful hip bump as she grabbed a piece of bacon from the plate he'd just placed it on. “Whenever the folks were away.”

  "Not quite like old times," he said as he bumped her back and their eyes locked for just long enough to send a shiver through her. Clearing his throat and looking slightly uncomfortable, he reached into the overhead cabinet and pulled down a couple of plates, dividing up the food. Eggs, bacon, home fries and a slice of toast were arranged onto each of the plates before he handed her one.

  "So what do you mean by not quite like old times?" she asked sitting down at the small wooden two-person kitchen table and popping another slice of bacon into her mouth.

  He took a drink of his water and met her gaze. "Well, there’s no after-party mess to clean up. And you've grown up." He smiled uneasily. "We both have."

  "Yeah. Why haven't you come home this past year anyhow? Your mom has been rather upset over it."

  He lowered his eyes, avoiding eye contact. "Just busy. You know, work and stuff. I’m the new kid on the block, so to speak, so I have to work my ass off trying to prove myself."

  "She misses you." Chloe paused, not sure if she should say the rest, then decided what the hell. "I've missed you." She ran a hand through her long, dark curls and focused on her food.

  He didn’t comment, instead he scooped up a forkful of scrambled egg and stuffed it into his mouth.

  The remainder of their breakfast was used for idle chitchat, mostly about her upcoming classes and his work. She'd told him that she missed him and he hadn't responded, as far as she was concerned that told her all she needed to know. She'd misread him, plain and simple – a result of her wishful thinking.

  "I'm sorry, Chirps. It wasn't my intention to upset any of you," Ryker said as he stood and rinsed off his plate.

  Laughing, she followed his lead, passing her empty plate to him, and looked up to meet his gaze. "Oh come on, let's not start with the Chirps, it was an embarrassing name back when we were kids and it's embarrassing now."

  "It's not my fault that when you laugh really hard you sound like a bird chirping."

  "I do not." Chloe bit hard on her lower lip, forcing herself not to laugh and prove him right.

  "Oh?" He raised a brow at her and took a step toward her, determination and mischief in his gaze.

  She took a step back, keeping a solid two-foot distance between them. "Stop. Don't."

  Ryker lunged and gripped her sides, just below her breasts, proceeding with the dreaded tickle torture.

  "Noooo!" Chloe squirmed and wiggled, attempting to free herself from his tormenting hands, fighting her urge to laugh. But it was no use, he was relentless and within seconds had her squealing and laughing, with the occasional chirping sound as she attempted to bat his hands away.

  After a minute he released her, leaving her gasping for breath.

  Reaching behind her, he gave her ass a quick slap – it smarted, making her yelp. She glowered up at him, annoyed with the slap but mostly over the fact that he'd just proven his point.

  "Point proven, Chirps."

  Chloe groaned inwardly. Just like old times – but not.

  Chapter 2

  Ryker

  “Yes, Mother. Of course I am.” Ryker groaned inwardly and rolled his eyes at Chloe as they continued their walk through Boston’s public gardens. The gardens were beautiful and the fragrance surrounding them intoxicating, especially this time of year when all of the flowers were in full bloom.

  Chloe giggled.

  Yeah, yuck it up, he mouthed to her. She stuck her tongue out at him in return.

  “Are you making her feel at home?” his mother asked from the other end of the cell phone.

  “I’m treating her fine. She’s settled in and I’m taking her for a walk through the gardens as we speak,” he replied to his mother. Chloe chuckled again. “In fact, why don’t you ask her for yourself?”

  Chloe’s dark eyes went wide and she shook her head, her dark curls whipping into her face. No, no, no. Don’t make me, she mouthed to him, backing away from him and waving her hands in front of her.

  He watched as she spun and took off into one of the plots. She and his mother got along wonderfully, but like him, she knew once she was on the phone with his mother it would be a long conversation. “Oh, I just lost her Mom, she disappeared into one of the plots. Look, I gotta let you go and hunt her up before she gets herself into trouble.”

  He sighed in relief as his mother allowed him to end the half-hour-long phone call and he tucked the phone away into the back pocket of his jeans. He followed into the plot that Chloe had disappeared into. At the center of the plot was a large fountain featuring two swans facing away from each other with water spouting out from their bills. The walls of the plot were covered in greenery, little white flowers sporadically peeping out amid the sea of green. The little 20 x 20 plot seemed to be so out of place in the center of Boston, so much so that you could almost forget you were in the center of a large, bustling city while in it.

  Ryker caught up with Chloe at the back, perched on the edge of a concrete bench, her eyes watching the water as it cascaded down the sides of the sculpture. The sun’s rays turned the droplets of water into what appeared to be wet sparkling diamonds. “Isn’t it gorgeous?”

  His cock twitched in his pants as he allowed his eyes the luxury of taking in every inch of her body and the way the sundress she was wearing hugged her curves to perfection. He eventually nodded. “It is.” The gardens were unusually quiet tonight, maybe it was the after-supper lull, hard to say, but at that moment the urge to gather her into his arms and kiss her was unusually strong.

  The past couple of days had been agony for him. She seemed to have flourished from when he remembered her; her whole demeanor now seemed to scream sex and sensuality. Not over the top, but enough to make him want her. He knew he had to find a way to deal with his feelings, he just didn’t have any clue how.

  To make it worse, if he didn’t know better, it seemed like she was attempting to goad him. She was walking around the apartment with just a towel on in the mornings. Or she’d wear an oversized t-shirt without bottoms. On one instance she’d bent in front of him and he’d gotten a full view of her black lace panties covering her tight, round, perfect ass. If her plan was to drive him to insanity it was working wonders.

  Giving him a smile, she patted the empty spot beside her. “Can I ask you a question?”

  Ryker frowned as he took a seat beside her. “If you’re asking permission to ask a question, I’m
suspecting it’s a question I’m not going to want to answer.”

  “Maybe,” she shrugged. “Maybe not. But I’m kinda curious about something.”

  “All right.”

  She chewed at her lower lip, drawing his eyes to her lips, lightly glossed with cherry lip balm. “Why haven’t you ever had a relationship?”

  He cocked a brow up at her. “Huh?”

  “I mean, like, all the girls. Why all the girls? It’s like a parade of women you’ve been with. Don’t you want something more meaningful?”

  “God, Chirps.” He thrust a hand into his hair, not sure how to answer that. “You want the truth?”

  She laughed. “No, I want you to lie to me.” She gave his arm a playful swat. “Of course I want the truth.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Come on,” she said, nudging his knee with her own. “Spill it.”

  “I really don’t…”

  “Everyone has a strategy in life for everything they do, whether they know it or not.”

  He cocked a brow up at her. “That so?”

  “It is.”

  “Are you being the overachiever, as usual, and been digging into the psychology text books early?” A cocky grin spread across his lips. “Am I some sort of test project for you?”

  Laughing she shook her head, and then brushed a lock of dark hair from her eyes. “No, smartass. If you must know, it’s something Dr. Phil says. It’s not a direct quote or anything, I can’t remember the exact way he says it, but that’s the jest of it.”

  A roar of laughter erupted from him. “Dr. Phil, huh?”

  “Yup. But we’re getting off track. Why do you go through women like you do?”

  His smile faded. When the guys joked with him about it, it was all fun and games, but being called out on his doggish behaviour by Chloe was somewhat embarrassing. “I guess that –” He raked his hand through his hair again, not sure how to answer. “I just haven’t been with someone who has kept me interested beyond, ya know.” And it was the truth; he didn’t intentionally play the date and ditch game, it just happened.