Page 14 of Sinful Desires

Once we were upstairs, the penthouse was dark and quiet, which was no surprise considering the late hour. I waved Miles on behind me. “There should be ointment in my medicine cabinet.”

“You don’t have to do this for me.” Yet he followed me to the upper level where I knew there was a tube of Neosporin in my bathroom. I didn’t think about it. I didn’t plan it. Maybe somewhere in my subconscious, it seemed like the only thing to do. I had watched him knock somebody out for my sake. I could at least spare some antibiotic ointment.

“Nice room,” he murmured behind me when we reached my suite, looking around the bedroom as I flipped the light switch.

“They didn’t change much when I left for college.” That was my way of explaining the teenage photos still sitting on my childhood dresser. There was no reason for me to get rid of them now. If anything, they made me smile when I looked at them, even as I tried to remember the version of me who existed ten years ago. Back before I knew I had a stepbrother.

“I imagined you and Valentina sharing a room, but then I suppose there was no need for that.”

“Oh, God.” I flipped on the bathroom light and opened the medicine cabinet over the vanity. “I could never share a room with her. For somebody so organized when it comes to her schedule, she is the most disorganized person in every other way.”

“I thought twins were supposed to be alike.”

“Wash your hands,” I ordered rather than get into personal twin business he didn’t deserve to know about. “And your face.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I forced myself to ignore his sarcasm, remembering how scared I was when that guy had taken me. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that one of my cousins wouldhave jumped in if they realized what was happening. But they hadn’t. Miles had. Miles who was not related to me by blood, had gotten nothing from me but negativity to this point. He had jumped in without waiting to be told, without asking questions.

“Does it hurt?” I asked, squeezing some of the ointment onto my finger and reaching up to dab it on his cut. Why was I doing it? He could’ve done it himself. Was I stupid enough to feel all protective of him now? I couldn’t be. Still, there was nothing wrong with being human toward somebody else. I could put everything else aside for tonight.

“This is nothing compared to some of the scrapes I’ve gotten into,” he assured me, one corner of his mouth pulling up in a smirk. “You should’ve known me in my younger days.”

“You do seem like somebody who could handle himself in just about anything,” I admitted.

“That sounded suspiciously close to a compliment, you realize.” His eyes twinkled when I risked looking into them. “You may want to be careful, or I might suspect you’re becoming fond of me.”

“Don’t ruin it.” But I was grinning when I looked up from his knuckles, now shining with a fresh layer of ointment. He was grinning back when our eyes locked, and someone stole all the air from the room. The gold seemed more prevalent for some reason, standing out against the green. Maybe it was the lighting. Maybe it was the three glasses of wine I drank, not to mention the whole fight thing. Nobody ever told me that could be an aphrodisiac.

“You’re a little windblown.” He reached out, brushing his fingers through my hair like he was trying to tame it after a ride with no helmet. “You’ll have to tie your hair back the next time we take a ride.”

Fighting to ignore the tingling of my skin, I whispered, “Who says there’s going to be a next time?”

Snorting softly, he replied, “You should’ve seen your face when we got here. Wait and see. I’ll have you wrapped around me again.” There was barely a chance for me to process that before he added, “On the bike, of course.” Right. Which meant there was no reason for my insides to go all hot or my heart to take off like a speeding train. No reason for the warmth of his breath fanning across my face to leave me fighting the impulse to lean in and find out what his generous mouth tasted like.

“Or now…”

Before I could pull myself back from the brink of an abyss, he pressed a hand to the small of my back and brought my body against his. I was still reeling from his sudden move when his mouth found mine, and a shock wave rolled through me. Pure heat, sizzling, searing my skin, and setting my mind on fire.

Stop this. I knew I had to. This was bad, and it couldn’t happen. He was my freaking stepbrother and wrong for me in every conceivable way.

My body didn’t think so, especially not when leaning against the vanity. He parted his thick thighs and pulled me closer while his tongue slowly stroked mine. He kissed me deeply and thoroughly like a man with all the time in the world and nothing better to do while the hand against my back slid south until he cupped my ass. Too good. I was powerless, completely under his spell, with no hope of resisting.

I didn’t want to resist.

My pussy was wet and throbbing by the time I broke the kiss to come up for air. His lips moved over my jaw and down my throat while his soft grunts filled my ears. I let myself test the softness of his curls, lust flaring hotter at the sound of his helpless groans. Something big and hard pressed against my lower belly, and I could imagine myself rubbing my body against it to make him groan again. I could imagine a lot of things, starting right here against the vanity before moving to the bed.

Which was a serious problem.

What the hell was I thinking? My eyes flew open, and dread flooded my heart, dousing the flames that had been licking at my self-control only seconds ago. “You should be fine now,” I told him in a breathless whisper, breaking away from his embrace like he was on fire. He may as well have been. I knew I would certainly get burned if I stayed too close for too long.

He didn’t seem surprised. A little regretful, maybe, but that probably had more to do with the erection jutting out from his jeans. “Whatever you say,” he murmured, a little breathless as he ran his hands through his hair to smooth down what I had tangled.

“And thank you,” I added because it seemed like the right thing to say.

“Hey,” he murmured, examining his knuckles, then looking at me with that same funny little smirk. “You’re mystepsister,right?”

I didn’t know what to say about that, so I settled for stepping aside and letting him walk past me through the bedroom. Somehow, I managed to wait until he was out the door before clasping my hands over my head and closing my eyes. I was caught between anger at myself and that weird, warm sense of gratitude that almost made me do something extremely stupid not half a minute ago.

I had come within moments of sayingfuck itand giving in to the weakness I had for him. Disgusting. Stupid. Shameful, so long as I was being honest with myself.

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