Page 2 of Safe and Sound

Of course I do. I’ll be wearing a purple Calla Lilly…dark purple though. I’ll leave all the bright purple ones for you. And you can wear a choker with the letter ‘R’ on it.

R? His first name starts with R. The excitement way outweighs the nerves.

Let’s do it! When?

I’m going to meet my secret…boyfriend! He could become my real boyfriend if everything goes right! This could be the moment everything beautiful starts for me! No way am I going to let my nerves get in the way of my possible Happy Ever After! No way am I not taking this chance!

Chapter Two

Rennik

Ishowed up early enough that I would be able to spot my mystery woman before she sees me. I like having the upper hand in situations, I like to be in control, and I like what I know so far aboutStarryeyedBaby. Her profile picture is just her back with her face turned away from the camera hidden in shadow but just that glimpse of bare back had my heart beating a little harder and my attention well and truly snagged.

And after three weeks of getting to know her, I can say without hesitation that she’s kept it. I should have asked her to wear flowers in her hair so she would be easier to spot. God knows a choker isn’t going to really stand out in a club like this one. It’s not a full-blown sex club…that’s downstairs, but there’s plenty of kinks being sampled and flavored in here tonight. It’s very telling that my innocent girl didn’t know about the club or had never even heard of it.

The time we chose to meet comes and goes and no one in the place seems to fit the bill forStarryeyed. She stood me up. The woman I’ve been fascinated with and thinking about for three fucking weeks stood me up. I take the flower off and crush it in my hand. Sadness hits me hardest but also anger. All she had to do was tell me no if she didn’t want to meet but instead, she just stood me up.

But maybe it’s my fault as much as hers. Maybe I pushed too hard. Maybe I asked for more than she was ready to give me. I am well aware that most people think I am harsh and commanding. A complete asshole.

The image of my stepsister floats through my head. She tells me often enough that I am in fact a complete and total asshole. I saw her just a couple of days ago. Normally dinner with her and my stepmother is…tedious at best. It usually ends with me and Estella in an argument but the last couple of times have been…different. She's not really rising to my bait and seems distant. I’ll have to check in on that and make sure whatever’s got her attention isn’t something that could come back to hurt my dad and her mom. God knows someone has to keep up with that girl.

I like Ava, I really do. She’s good for my dad and she loves him like something I’ve never seen before. Ava is the reason -well, one of them- I signed up for the stupid dating site in the first place. I want someone to look at me like my stepmother looks at my dad. The other reason would be Estella and the little incident the last time I had to save her from herself -and that stupid friend of hers.

I had just brought her home from a club where she had used a fake ID to get into. I dropped the stupid friend off and took my stepsister straight home. My dad and her mom were out on a date, so it was just us once I got her back. I was already riled up, mad as hell I was stuck on babysitting duty. She had started to mouth off and I gave her a warning that she ignored immediately. And then…I threw her over my knee and started spanking her.

She was wiggling and screaming and it didn’t take long for…something awful to happen. I ended up pitching her on the floorand leaving the house without another word. Thankfully she’s too vapid to realize anything happened but that was the moment I pledged to find someone so I didn’t have to worry about shit like that ever happening again.

My attention comes back to the present and just like a bad dream…it’s like I conjured her out of thin air. My fucking stepsister is here! In this fucking club!

She walks over to the bar in a dress way too short for someone so young. What the absolute hell is she doing here? My night goes from bad to worse as I see her looking around while the guy next to her checks her out. When the guy leans forward and starts talking to her I am up and moving before I can stop myself.

I grab her arm as she’s backing away from the guy and start pulling her to the back. The owner of this bar is an old buddy of mine. I helped him by investing in it so I know where all the hidden spots are. My temper is off the leash now. Not only have I been stood up but now I have to put up with her! Great!

She struggles with me -or tries to but it only takes a matter of seconds before I have her in the back with the door shut and locked behind us. She spins around with a healthy dose of fear in her eyes before recognition hits her. Then her eyes sparkle with anger and her cheeks redden. The image is a powerful one and one that is not supposed to affect me at all…but does.

It only makes me madder that my mind takes me there. To the question I refuse to ask myself. Is this what she looks like when she’s cumming?

“What the…? What are you doing here? Did you follow me?!”

“Me?!” I’m a full-grown fucking man, not a fucking kid like she is! “What the hell are you doing here, Estella?”

“I…I’m meeting someone here.”

I’m about to lash into her when I notice what is around her neck. No! No, no, no!

Encircled around her neck in burgundy red is a choker with a little golden ‘R’ hanging from it.

“Someone with the initial ‘R’?”

“Yes. How did you…?” I pull the crushed flower out of my pocket where I shoved it when I got up to drag her back here. It completely stops her from saying another word.

“Oh God! No!” She shakes her head back and forth vigorously, but nothing is going to change the facts.

The woman I was waiting on, that had captured my interest so thoroughly, is my fucking stepsister.

Chapter Three

Estella

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