Page 6 of Tarnished Embers

“I like the idea of being next door to you, Sugar,” he purrs, and again, all the hair on my body stands on end as his gaze slides up and down me. I just hope the walls are thick, because the idea of him being able to hear every noise I make in my room is enough to have me in cold sweats.

“Can you show me my room, Little Cinders?” Cas gently asks, stepping in front of me and once again bringing me back to the present, grounding me in the way that he seems to be able to do. I could kiss him for that.Fuck! No kissing your stepbrothers.

Taking my hand in his again, he tugs me towards the door. Kit keeps hold of my other hand, both of them refusing to let me go, and I can’t say that I dislike being between them.

We come to the last room at the end of the corridor, and before Cas even opens the door, I know just how wide his grin will be. I’ve never enjoyed the colour brown before, but when he looks back over his shoulder at me after opening the door, his copper eyes twinkling, I know that fate really is some kind of masochist.

“Aside from my bedroom, these rooms were all decorated by the interior designer Dad hired. I had nothing to do with the colours up here,” I rush to tell them, feeling the need to justify how perfect these rooms are for each of them, but Cas’s grin just gets wider.

“Of course they were,” Oct says, his voice light and teasing as his fingers brush the back of my neck, sending a tremble over my muscles. Cas pulls me into his room, and as Kit refuses to let go of my hand, he comes too as we look around.

“Sirs, Miss,” a male voice interrupts, and I jerk my hands out of their grasp, my fingers gripping each other tightly as I spin, looking at Reginald from across the room with wide eyes. I can just make out the three guys around me, Oct still at my back, all with completely nonplussed expressions on their faces, the bastards.

“Yes, Reginald?” I ask, my voice higher-pitched than usual. My stomach churns, as if I’ve been caught doing something I shouldn’t have.

“I’ve instructed the staff to bring up the bags. We just need to know which room is whose?”

“Oh, of course. This is Cas’s— I mean Caspian’s room. The one next to this is Prince’s. Then Kit’s is on the other side of mine and Oct’s is next to his.”

“Thank you, Miss. I shall get the bags into their rightful places shortly,” he replies, giving us a small bow which still makes me cringe even though he’s been doing it since we moved here two years ago. If he saw anything before he spoke, he doesn’t make any kind of reference to it now, just turns and leaves like the professional he is. My shoulders rise and fall with a deep inhale, and then turning back around, I face the guys, my new stepbrothers, once more. I have to take a step back though when I find Oct smirking at me as he stands closer than before.

“I’ll leave you to settle in. I have some coursework I need to catch up on anyway. Dad has some plans for dinner, I’m sure, so I’ll see you then?” I don’t mean it to sound like a question, to sound so fucking desperate, like I need them more than I really ought to. I meant to be firm, confident, but I guess that ship has fucking sailed.

“Wouldn’t miss it, little sis,” Oct answers first, and I blink at the nickname. They’ve each given me one and although I always thought they were cheesy, I secretly have always wanted a guy to give me one. Preferably, one I was dating and not my new siblings, but this seems to be my life now so I may as well roll with it.

He strides towards me, leaning in to place a kiss on the corner of my lips, leaving them tingling and me aching for a little more. I know the placement is completely intentional as he gives me a wink and then saunters out of the door.

Kit is next, kissing the other side, and his tongue flicks out just briefly to taste me. A shuddering exhale leaves my lungs, but all I can do is stand still and flex my fingers at my sides as his hand ghosts across my hip. “See you soon, pretty thing.” And then he’s gone.

Prince stalks over to me, and something inside me recognises him as an apex predator, but my fight-or-flight mode is firmly stuck on freeze because I just watch, my heart pounding in my ears as he gets closer. His hand captures my chin, his jewel-green eyes tracing over my face as if he’s memorising every line. He lowers his face until his lips are a hair’s breadth from my own, and if I take a big inhale, I know that the distance will close. A part of me wants to do it too, and my lids lower over my eyes in preparation, his intoxicating, spiced rum scent making my head spin.

Instead, cold air hits my lips as his warm breath moves to my ear. “Until dinner.” His voice is a low, husky whisper and sends shivers cascading down my spine with the promise in his words.

I blink, and he’s gone, leaving me chilled and feeling empty, my arms coming up to wrap around myself. Then there’s just Cas left, standing a few feet away and watching me with an intense stare.

“Are you okay?” he asks gently, and my lips tremble as the past hour comes crashing down around me, a small whimper leaving my throat. It’s all just been so much, finding out that not only was my father seeing someone without telling me, but got married and I didn’t even get an invite, and now, not only do I have a new stepmother, but four super hot stepbrothers that I want to ride like a train, even though that’s all kinds of messed up. Never mind the fact that they seem to be interested in me as more than just their new sister. It’s all a fucking mess and tears sting my eyes as everything suddenly hits me. “Oh, baby.” He rushes over, sweeping me into his arms and pulling me so close that the front of our bodies mould together. “I know that this must be so fucking crazy for you, and I’m sorry to add to any kind of heartache that you’re going through,” he tells me, placing a kiss on the top of my trembling head, the tears I was trying to hold back spilling down my cheeks at his sweet words. “But I won’t apologize for wanting you just as much as my brothers do. You are perfect, Ember. We will take care of you, whatever you need, you only have to ask and I swear it will be yours. There is just one thing we won’t do.”

I pull back, my neck craning even as my fingers clutch at his already wrinkled T-shirt, moisture dotting my eyelashes. “What’s that, Cas?”

“We won’t leave you alone. You are now ours. You are the first thing to ever truly belong to us, and we will never let you go.”

CHAPTERTHREE

“HEAVEN” BY JULIA MICHAELS

EMBER

Pleasure shoots up my spine, my eyelids fluttering as I have the most intense sex dream I’ve ever had in my life. My entire body feels as though it’s on fire, my nerve endings tingling, leaving me mindless with pleasure.

“That’s it, little sister. Come all over your brother’s face,” a deep, husky voice whispers in my ear, and shivers tickle my skin as I struggle to drag myself awake.

The sparks flying from my core are all-consuming though, and I’m lost in the depth of just how fucking good it feels and how incredible the way his tongue moves is on my pussy, licking, sucking, and sending shock waves all across my body like he’s running a live wire over my skin.

“Fuuuuck,” I groan, my fingers tangling in the hair of my lover, pulling him closer, urging him deeper. His low rumbles of appreciation vibrate across my slick pussy, adding to my building orgasm, and I’m a slave to this euphoric feeling he’s giving me.

Another set of hands caresses my breasts and lips suck my nipples, Fucking hell…it’s like they both know exactly how to play me because I’m soon alight, my entire body going rigid as a pleasure so decimating I know I’ll be useless afterward sweeps me under.

They don’t stop though, determined to wring out every last drop of my climax until I’m a twitching hot mess, whimpering and pleading for a reprieve.

---