Page 52 of Stepbrothers

“I’m sure.” Clarice paused. “So when will he be back?”

“When will who be back?” Parker appeared holding an empty water jug.

“Trig,” Jenny said.

Parker half shrugged. “When he’s finished saving the world, I guess. Why?”

“I just wondered.” Clarice tried to sound nonchalant, but she couldn’t help her curiosity. Parker and Hugh were gorgeous and sexy and were pressing all of her buttons at once. Would Trig be the same? Or would his job as a soldier have made him into a different type of man? And would she want him to be the same? Where the heck would that lead her?

“I’m going to skip tea, Jenny,” Parker said. “I, too, have to get back to the city.” He nodded at Clarice. “Would you like a ride?”

Clarice looked at her mother. “Would you mind? It would save the taxi fare.”

“Of course I don’t mind. It’s been lovely to see you.” Jenny smiled.

Five minutes later, after a swirl of goodbyes and hugs, Parker pulled out of the huge driveway onto the tree-lined road. The Ferrari’s engine purred.

“Did you enjoy yourself?” Clarice asked.

“You know I did.” He threw her a grin.

“I was talking about the meal.” She clutched her small purse.

“It was delicious. Your mother is a good cook.”

“She isn’t usually, it must be the kitchen.” Clarice giggled.

He reached across and touched her knee. “Did you enjoy yourself?”

“Apart from the sore ass, yes.”

“Really?” He glanced across at her. “You didn’t enjoy Hugh tipping you over the bench and spanking your bottom just a bit?”

“No, it hurt.”

“But it turned you on.” He re-held the steering wheel to negotiate a roundabout. “You say one thing, yet your body says another.”

She frowned. Being smacked like a naughty little girl was humiliating. But being fucked like a desired, craved, lusted-after woman was thrilling in a way it hasn’t been before.

“We just want the best for you,” he went on. “And to see you succeed and be satisfied in every aspect of your life.”

“I’ve managed perfectly well for the last twenty-seven years, you know.”

“I’m sure you have. But this is how we live.”

“So it seems.” She stared out of the window, conflicted emotions pinging around inside her. This relationship was dangerous, forbidden, erotic and new. Plus, it was with not one but two men. Another first.

Parker started to chat about his work, then a holiday in Cape Town, and then Trig’s obsession with paintballing when they were teens that usually saw him bruised up the worst.

Eventually, he drew up outside the entrance to her flat.

“Thank you,” she said. “For the ride.”

“You’re welcome.” He gently took her hand and raised her knuckles to his lips, kissed them tenderly. The gesture was at odds with the way he’d fucked her mouth earlier.

“I love the color of your eyes,” he said softly.

“You do?” She hitched in a breath, her heart beating faster. She didn’t want to go. She wanted to stay with him.

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