Page 71 of Aftertaste

“No…no one.” I hated how unsure I sounded. “It’s—”

I didn’t get the chance to finish what I was saying because he’d crossed the ten feet from my door to my bed and snatched it from me. He threw it down onto the floor just as it beeped again. “You keeping secrets from me, Thalia?” His face came closer to mine and I tried to keep my features neutral, but it was hard when he was so close.

“No.” I shook my head and grasped my hands in my lap, squeezing them. If I had something else other than him and his dark eyes to focus on, then maybe I’d get away from him unscathed.

I should have known better though. Dale never did anything he didn’t want to. He lived for moments like these; the spark in his eyes at my obvious fear told me as much.

“You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?” He tilted his head to the side, his voice deceptively calm. “Little sisters don’t lie to their big brothers.”

My nostrils flared at his words. He wasn’t my big brother; he hadn’t been from the moment he’d gotten into bed with me and pushed his erection into my ass.

I didn’t know whether it was the sound of my cell beeping a second time, or the way I’d felt more like me than ever since meeting Haven on Friday, but my mouth opened, the words escaping before I’d even registered. “You’re not my brother.” My chest heaved. “Brothers don’t treat their sisters—”

His hand whipped out, his palm wrapping around my throat and squeezing so hard I could barely catch my breath. “Like what?” he asked, his easy tone now turning to the one I was more used to. Dale pushed his weight into me, causing me to lean back, and I hated how I couldn’t fight back and get him off me. He had the advantage, just like always.

“Like…” I croaked out, but his hand squeezed harder, making it near impossible to say anything else.

“Like what?” he asked again. A grin spread over his face. He was enjoying this. The bastard loved making me feel like I had no control.

I grasped onto his arm, digging my nails in, trying to silently tell him I couldn’t talk or breathe. He didn’t move though, not until I felt like I was going to pass out.

He let up his grip, just enough for me to pull in sweet oxygen. “Like what?” he repeated.

I stared into his eyes, knowing I wouldn’t win this. I never did. “Like nothing,” I whispered. “Sorry.”

“That’s not a real apology.” His eyes narrowed as his hand around my neck pulled me back into a sitting position. He turned his body so that his groin was level with my face. His other hand undid the top button and then his thumb and finger pulled his zipper down.

I pulled in another breath, wincing at the burning in my throat, but also at the sight of his hard cock. It was nothing I hadn’t seen before. Deep down I wondered if I’d ever be away from this—away from him.

Slowly, his hand moved from my throat to the top of my head where he grasped my hair and yanked me toward him. My shaking hands reached up, taking the base of his cock. My mouth opened, my eyes closed, and I took myself off to the place in my mind where I was safe. The place where he couldn’t get to me.

Siblings

Haven

“You gonna just stare at that screen all day?”

I tilted my head at the sound of Rush’s voice, but I didn’t move my gaze off the screen as I waited for a reply from Thalia. “Huh?”

“I said.” I heard Rush come closer and the sofa dipped next to me. “You ever gonna get off that thing?”

I hummed a noise in the back of my throat, not really committing to a yes or no answer. The truth was, every spare second that I had over the last nine days, I’d checked my cell. Thalia and I had messaged back and forth non-stop, getting to know each other without actually seeing each other’s faces. And tonight was the night I was going to bite the bullet and ask her out on a date.

My stomach rolled at the thought. What if she said no? What if she didn’t want to do anything in person and wanted to keep it all over messages? I shook my head. No. We’d met in person, it wasn’t like we’d first met online. So, she’d say yes, right?

Fuck. I hoped so.

“Haven? Haven?” A puff of air moved the hair off my shoulder. “Haven!”

“What?” I snapped back, turning my body to face Rush. “What do you want?”

He raised a brow, giving me his signature look. “I’ve been trying to get your attention since you walked in the damn door.” He paused, waiting for me to say something, but when I stayed silent, he continued. “That was over an hour ago.”

“So…”

“So.” He turned to face the armchair next to the sofa where his girlfriend, Sofi, sat. “So you came over tomyapartment, just to ignore me?”

My cell pinged and I immediately looked back at it, eager to see what Thalia had replied, but before I even got the chance to open the message up, Rush snatched it from me.

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