Crude: A Stepbrother Romance (16 page)

“You and Paige are getting along pretty well then now?”

I blink, my heart threatening to climb out of my fucking mouth as I just stare at Joe for a second.

Holy fucking Christ.

“Yeah she’s, uh, pretty OK,” I say, feeling my pulse staggering back to that of a normal person’s as I shakily pull on the cigarette between my lips; “Actually, she’s pretty great, sir.”

Joe shoots me a quick look that almost says “careful, kid”, and I can almost
see
him suddenly re-thinking all those nagging little fears he had about me that first day in the driveway.

I need to nip this little flicker of doubt in the bud right here and now; “I mean, you know, for a being kind of a book-nerd.” I shrug, trying to look totally casual and forcing my face to look like even the
thought
of Paige McCauley turns me off.

Joe nods, smiling at me.

Mission, success.

“She needs to concentrate on her studies.”

“She’s a hard worker, Joe; she’ll be great.”

Joe nods, puffing on his cigar; “She’s tough to get through to sometimes; you know, since her mother left like that when she was so young.”

My mom’s mentioned this before, of course, but I’ve never heard details. I feel like now with Paige hiding half-naked and probably freaking the fuck out four feet away in the pool house is probably
not
the opportune time.

“Well, she’s a great kid; she’s gonna be ready for Columbia with no problem.’”

He turns and nods at me; “I’m counting on you to make sure she is, Knox.”

I shoot him a quick look; “Sir?”

“I’d like you to keep a close eye on her,” He turns and looks me dead in the eye; “You know, spend time with her and keep her in line.”

So, Joe’s asking me to spend
more
alone time with Paige? Spend
more
time shadowing her and “keeping her in line”?

“I’m on it, sir,” I say with a big grin on my face that I suddenly hope to God Paige can see from where she’s hiding.
 

“Good man, Knox.” Joe nods before clipping the end of his cigar and tucking it back into his case; “You know, I’m glad we had this chat, and I’m glad to have a guy like you keeping tabs on my little girl.”

Noooo
problem
; I think to myself as I try and calm my raging nerves once more just long enough to shake Joe’s hand before he turns and heads back to the house.

“Keep a close
eye on me!?
” The door to the pool house bangs against the wall as I slam it open, clutching the towel and my jeans to my body as I glare at Knox; “
keep me in fucking line?
” I mean what the
hell
, Knox!”

He frowns, and even in the dim light from the back porch and the moon, I can see how tense and shaken he is; “Hey, I handled it, OK?”

“You
handled
it?”
 

“Yeah, I
handled
it, Jesus.” He suddenly bends down and plucks something from underneath the lounger chair; “Oh, here, you forgot these.” He grins as he hands my damn
panties
, and I snatch them out of his hand as my face blooms hot with embarrassment.
 

And suddenly all the shame comes rushing back at me as I think about
what
exactly I just did, and specifically
who
I just did it
with
. What the hell am I doing, and what is
wrong
with me?

More importantly, what is wrong with my dad? “Keep a close eye on me?” I mean what the
hell
?

But of course, deep down, I know he’s also right. I
am
slipping, and there’s no room for slipping when it comes to my future and success.
 

“Hey,” Knox says with that roguish grin on his face; “I think I did OK.” He steps close to me; “Maybe a
reward
kiss
is in order, huh?”

And I want to. Of
course
I want to. I want to keep kissing those lips until I’m gasping for breath. But we can’t;
I
can’t. I can’t keep flirting with this sort of danger anymore, not with what’s at stake for my future. Sneaking off with bad-boy Knox to roar around town on his motorcycle and play secret concerts as some sort of alter ego is fun for
right now
, but it’s only going to hurt me in the long run.

And I know I have to stop this right now, before it gets any worse.

I’m pushing him away before I can think about his lips anymore, and shaking my head; “I have to go study.”

He frowns; “Hey, not even a ‘thanks for a great night’ goodnight kiss?”

“I said
no
, Knox.”

His eyes narrow at me; “Well, fucking fine, then.”

I’m turning and running for the back door of the house before I can say something worse; before I can say more things to just make the whole situation fall apart more than it already is, leaving Knox there in the shadow of the pool house. And then I’m sneaking in through the kitchen, hearing the sounds of television playing sports news in the great room as I slip quietly up the back stairs clutching my panties and my jeans in my hands like some horrible walk of shame.

A horrible
incestuous
walk of shame.

I panic for a second when I can’t open my bedroom door before I remember that Knox locked it from the inside. I groan as I make a quick dash for his room to sneak through the connecting bathroom into mine.

The room smells like him. It’s a weird thought, but it also stops me cold in the middle of the floor once I’m in there. There’s a shirt of his draped over a chair, and I bite my lip as I let my fingers trail over it. I frown, puzzled by the business school books on his desk before I hear the slam of the back door and quickly dart into the bathroom and then the sanctuary of my own room.

*****

I’m trying to fool myself into believing I’m actually studying later, my eyes roaming over the same six words in my biology book again and again as my heart still races in my chest. I hear the sound of him stomping up the stairs eventually, and then the sharp punctuation of his door slamming shut.
 

Crap
. I sink my head down into my book, feeling
horrible
about the way I handled all that downstairs. Yes, I was freaked out after standing there, scared shitless in the dark while my freaking
father
talked with Knox, and I was confused by him telling Knox to make sure I wasn’t “messing up”. But still, Knox didn’t deserve that. A part of me wants to get up and go say something to him, but I force myself to stay where I am and focus on the stupid book in front of me.

Oh my God
,
I had oral sex.
 

I mean, can I just stop and appreciate that for a second? OK, of course it sounds so damn
clinical
when I say it like that, but seriously; someone’s mouth and tongue were on my clit, and it felt
fantastic.

No, not
someone
,
Knox.

My stepbrother.

I cringe a little as the word reverberates through my head. OK, not
yet
he’s not. And even if he
was
, it’s not like it’s illegal or anything, right? I mean we’re both eighteen, both consenting adults, and we’re not
actually
related. Frowned upon? Mortifying and world shattering if anyone - say, my
dad
- found out? Check and check.
 

But he’s not your stepbrother….not YET.

Fuck this. I’m slamming my book shut and jumping out of my bed before I can second guess myself. And I’m storming into the bathroom not even caring that all I’m wearing is a t-shirt and panties as I slam the door to his room wide open and step.

“Paige?” He’s in bed, reading a book, and he looks up sharply at me and my wild entrance. His eyes suddenly land on the fact that I am very,
very much
not wearing any bottoms aside from my panties; “What the fuck are you doing?”

But I’m striding across the room, feeling all the bravado and fearlessness I can muster in the world coursing through my veins as I pull back the sheets and slide into bed with him.

“Jesus, Paige, what the f-”

“Shh, shut up,” I say, grinning as I press a finger to his lips. His perfectly curved, totally kissable lips; “I know what I’m doing.”

“I seriously doubt that.” His eyes are sharp as his icy blue gaze bores into mine.

“I do, and I know what I want.” I’m sliding against him, pressing my body against his and feeling the heat of the bare skin of his shirtless torso pressing hotly against mine.

“I’m supposed to keep an eye on you,” Knox growls.

“I can help with that,” I say quietly, pulling my t-shirt up over my head and dropping it over the side of the bed.

His eyes drop down to my naked breasts, dancing across my rapidly stiffening pink nipples; “I’m supposed to keep you focused,” He murmurs, leaning down towards my mouth.

“Believe me,” I breathe; “I am.”

I can feel my pulse pounding in my ears, my heart about to jump out of my mouth. Part of me wants to run from this room right now, to flee and forget this whole thing every happened.

But the other part is
very
ready to see what comes next; “You were right, you know,” I say softly, leaning into him and letting my hand trail over the muscles of his abs and chest; “You handled that
very
well outside, and I think you do deserve that reward.”

It’s now or never. It’s moving this final inch closer to his lips or running away right now.

I kiss him.

He groans into my mouth as I open my lips for him, our tongues dancing around the other’s as our lips seal tight. His hands are on my skin, sliding up my body and making me melt under his touch as they trace up to cup my breasts in his palms. His thumb flicks across my nipple, and I whimper into his mouth, my hands clutching at his skin and drawing him closer and tighter against me.

I’m so hot for him, so ready for this moment, and it’s then that I know exactly what I’m doing. On a night of firsts, there’s another one I’d like to check off the list.

He looks confused when I break our kiss, his brow knotting. But that looks quickly turns into something else as I start to slide my way down his body.

“Uh, Paige? What are you doing.”

I lightly kiss his navel, feeling the muscles there ripple under my lips before I look up at him with my eyes hooded; “I think you know.”

He raises an eyebrow, a grin starting to spread across his lips; “You sure?”

“Just...just tell me what feels good.”

The bulge in his pajama pants is throbbing and hot under my touch as I run my fingers across it before I slide them up and into the waistband.

It’s now or never, because after this, there’s no going back.

I tug.

Oh my God
.

He’s
huge
, thick and throbbing and almost pulsing at it pops out when I tug his pajamas down. OK, I mean again, it’s not like I’ve got
any
frame of reference here, but holy crap is he big.

That fits inside of people? Holy shit.

I slowly bring my hand up and with a small gasp, I start to wrap my fingers around him. He’s burning hot to the touch, and the combination of silky soft and hard as iron is fascinating to me as I start to slowly stroke my hand up and down him.