Page 20 of Tarnished Embers

I breathe a quiet sigh of relief when she pulls away, only to grit my teeth when she does the same to Kit. I see his body shudder, his jaw clenching as he tries to hide his revulsion. She’s a fucking spider, but she’s all we have and all we’ve known for so long.

We’re quiet for a long moment after she leaves and closes the door behind her. I can’t help the maelstrom of toxic thoughts from swirling around my head; could we have tried harder to get away from her? Put our foot down a bit more? And most worrying of all, what is her fascination with our new stepsister? I toss the controller onto the bed, flopping back and covering my eyes with my hands.

“We should just tell her to fuck off, take Ember and leave.”

Kit sighs. “We can’t, not yet anyway. It’s not the right time. Prince said—”

“Fuck what Prince says!” I leap from the bed, my nostrils flaring as I pace beside it. I’m so fucking done being used by Odette. “Do you not see her interest in Ember? She’s fucking up to something, and I swear to god, if Ember gets hurt…”

The thought of Ember having to do what we’ve done…my fists clench at my sides. No, she has her dad, he’d never let that happen, and he’s loaded, so it’s not like we’re short of money anymore.

“She won’t get hurt, Oct,” Kit says, coming to stand in front of me, forcing me to stop pacing like a caged animal. Then he grasps the back of my neck, bringing our foreheads together. “She has us, and we won’t let Odette or anyone else hurt her.”

“I know.” I close my eyes and try to let the rage drain from me, taking several deep breaths until my tightly coiled muscles relax. “I’m just so tired of not being able to have a life, Kit. It was fun and games when we were younger, but I want to do what I want for once.”

“We will. We’re set up here, money isn’t an issue anymore, look at this place.” He pulls back, using his grip to turn my head, forcing me to look around at my room. He’s right, it’s the nicest bedroom I’ve ever had, and the one back home wasn’t bad. We were okay money-wise, we weren’t loaded like Ember and her dad, but we had everything we needed. My shoulders loosen further as his logic sinks in and pushes some more of the panic and anger away.

“What are you going to do when you grow up?” I ask him. It’s the question that we have asked each other ever since we were little. It’s become more of a comfort over the years, something to keep us from going crazy as our control was slowly taken away.

He chuckles, letting me go and sitting back down on the bed, then his hand runs through his hair as he stares into the distance. “I think I’d like to study architecture. The gallery we went to today? It was incredible, and I’d love to work with old buildings, maybe. Not sure I’d be any good at it, but I’d like to try.” He looks up at me, his deep blue eyes calmer than I’ve seen them in a while. “You?”

Musing, I chew my lip, looking around at the plush room. “I’m pretty good with computers,” I say slowly, churning the possibilities around in my head. “I think maybe game design.” I’m warming to the idea the more I think about it. I like the creative element and I enjoy the challenge of playing them. I used to want to be a cop, farmer, fireman; it’s changed a lot over the years, but Kit has always had an interest in art and design. “Or become the most sought-after hacker in the world.” I catch the pillow that Kit throws at me, and then I flop back onto the bed, picking up the controller again, my thumbs playing with the controls. “The fuckers stole our night with her.”

“Yep, they sure did,” Kit replies, picking up his own controller and resuming the game. “We’ll have to be quicker tomorrow night.”

“Amen.” The thought of our new little sister has my dick twitching again. She’s a shining beacon we’ve all needed for far too long, a light that calls to our darkness.

She doesn’t know all your secrets though, she’ll probably be disgusted if she finds out…

I shut down that fucking cunt of an inner voice, not allowing my fears and worries to take root. We’ll just make sure she never finds out about all of that. It’s all in the past, and that’s where it’s going to stay.

CHAPTERNINE

“WHITE LIES” BY BOLSHIEE

EMBER

Iwake up to delicious warmth, the combined scents of rum, leather, and toffee apples mixed with that undeniable musk of man filling my nose and leaving me feeling calm and desperate all at once.

It’s still early, the sky outside just turning lilac with the rising sun, and ignoring my lust, I wiggle from between my sleeping stepbrothers and head to the bathroom to pee.

After washing my hands, I stare at my reflection, at the way my eyes sparkle for the first time in years and the way my cheeks are slightly flushed, trying to recognise myself. This is the girl who had sex in the shower with her new stepbrother, someone she’s only known for a little over a day. One who wants to have sex with the other three too and has every intention of making it happen, fuck the taboo nature of it all. Who feels so comfortable with the new men in her life that she’s not quite sure how she lived without them before.

“You weren’t living, Ember. You were surviving,” I whisper to myself, watching my lips move and knowing that I’m speaking the truth.

Ever since cancer stole my mother five years ago, I’ve been lost, my anchor gone, and my father becoming almost like a stranger as he threw himself into work to escape his grief. Oh, and apparently dating with marriage in mind, that seemed to have been a thing I knew nothing about. My stomach tightens, my eyes misting at the thought that I’m moving on without my mum. I know she would have wanted me to and would be ecstatic that I am, but I can’t help the flash of guilt that she’s not here and I am.

The need to paint suddenly overwhelms me, and I follow the urge, leaving the bathroom and walking over to my nook by the large windows. Taking a fresh sheet of paper, I clip it to my easel and then pick up a pencil, closing my eyes for a moment as I just breathe.

Opening my eyes with renewed purpose, I grab my headphones and then open Spotify, selecting one of my favourite songs. The deep, seductive tones of Bolshiee singing “White Lies” caresses my ears, making my nipples pebble, and my hand flies across the page, the lines taking the shape of three figures, limbs tangled.

Grabbing my watercolours, I mix up copper and green, letting the paint drip down the page. Then I add yellow in the middle, my breaths coming in pants as my fingers practically throw the colours onto the paper, my thighs becoming slick as I lose myself to the fantasy in front of me.

Strong hands grasp my upper arms and I gasp as I’m spun around. Prince’s green eyes are so dark that I fall into them headfirst, losing myself in their depths. My brush darts out, painting a strip of yellow across his chest, claiming him as my own. His lush lips split into a wide, feral grin and his hands travel upwards, the sensual song filling my ears as he grips the neck of the shirt I’m wearing, his shirt, then he yanks.

The fabric rips down the middle as my brush hits the wooden floor with a clatter, the sounds muffled by my headphones. My body jerks with the force, my heart pounding as his emerald eyes devour me. Reaching past me, he takes hold of the brush that’s covered in the exact shade of his eyes and brings it between us.

The first stroke of the bristles has my entire body lighting up, the cold wetness of the paint doing nothing to cool my fevered skin. He trails it down my breast, around my nipple, and then moves to the other side, repeating the movement until my body quivers with every touch of the brush. My fists clench and unclench at my sides, the touch of the brush more sensual than I ever knew it could be. The telltale tingles of an orgasm brushes along my nerves, and my thighs squeeze together as I seek friction to ease the desperate need he’s building.

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