Redemption: A British Stepbrother Romance (51 page)

W
hen was
the last time I’d invited a man up to my apartment for sex?

I’d usually start sleeping with boyfriends after a few dates, and even then the sex had just sort of happened. I’d never done the whole “do you want to come up for coffee” thing, “or Netflix and chill” as all my friends insisted on calling it.

None of those men had been anything like Riker.

Sure, we’d done it in the staff room at the bar, but that had been in the heat of the moment. This was a calculated, deliberate decision, and not one I usually made.

I slept with nice, polite gentleman, not people covered in muscle and tattoos. I didn’t feel intimidated by men like Riker—Mom had exposed me to many men with rough edges over the years—but I’d never been attracted to any of them.

I’d been expecting him to try and come up, but he never said anything. The disappointment crushed me, until I remembered that, fuck it, it’s the twenty-first century and I could ask him up if I want to.

Riker didn’t pounce on me as soon as we stepped inside my apartment. Instead, he stared at me for a few seconds, examining me from head to toe and back up again.

I’d been brave enough to invite him up here, but I wasn’t brave enough to take the next step. He’d have to take some of the initiative.

My heart fluttered as I waited for Riker to do something. Anything. I didn’t trust myself to speak. I’d managed to portray myself as a vaguely confident woman so far tonight. If I spoke now, the shakiness of my voice would make me sound like a timid virgin. That wasn’t me, and I had no intention of acting that way tonight.

Then he moved. Riker pushed me up against the wall, pressing his hands against it for support as he stared into my eyes with just an inch separating our faces. Our bodies touched, mine feeling petite and insignificant compared to his.

I resisted the urge to reach out and touch him as my heart now danced wildly inside my chest. Each breath sent my breasts up and out, enlarging the appearance of my modest assets, pushed up by a supportive bra.

Okay, it was a push up bra. ‘Supportive’ sounded less needy.

I admired the power in his two strong arms. He always held back during training, but now I could see just how strong he was. His muscles strained to break through the tight t-shirt, and veins pulsed down each arm as blood rushed around his body. Hopefully it was all heading to one place.

Riker’s lips slammed against mine. All his patience disappeared in an instant, as he let the frustration that had built up over the last few weeks come out in a flurry of passion. I collapsed back against the wall, unable to support myself with my weak knees as his tongue moved between my lips and gently caressed mine.

Riker’s hands moved down and grabbed hold of my ass cheeks, as he lifted me into the air and shoved me against the wall. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he pressed his hardness between my legs.

My sex ached for him. Just the sensation of his cock against me was enough to have me clawing at him in desperation and ecstasy. I couldn’t decide whether to pull his shirt over his head, or just rip it into pieces.

Riker used his legs to support my weight as he yanked my top off. My bra quickly followed although I barely noticed him remove it. Suddenly my firm breasts were exposed; the hard nipples pointing directly at him as if they knew the cause of their excitement.

I tried to pull Riker’s top off, but I couldn’t manage it in my position still wrapped around his waist.

“Bedroom,” Riker grunted.

I pointed towards the door on the right and Riker carried me over. I turned on the light as we walked through before Riker threw me down on the bed. He leaned forward ready to crawl on top of me, but I placed a hand against his firm chest and pushed him back. Or at least I tried to. I couldn’t have done much against his strength, but he stopped voluntarily.

“Get rid of that,” I said, pointing at his t-shirt.

I didn’t see why I should be the only one to go shirtless.

Riker peeled off his shirt to reveal the full glory of his upper body to me for the first time. It wasn’t as heavily tattooed as his arms. A dragon stretched across his chest, with the tail going down one side of his abs, and flames from the dragon going down the other side.

The middle of his torso was plain, and it was all the more glorious for that. From what I’d seen at the gym, Riker didn’t put a lot of effort into working out his abs, but he didn’t need to. He had so little body fat on him, that a six pack was clearly visible as he stood by the side of my bed.

He stripped off his pants while I admired his physique, and then climbed onto the bed, going straight between my legs.

Riker got right to the point in training, and he did the same in bed. His fingers immediately went under the waistband of my thin yoga pants and panties, as he pulled them quickly down my legs and exposed my complete nakedness to him for the first time.

A small part of me wanted to fight this. It didn’t look right. My tiny, frail frame, under the hulking mass of a tattooed street fighter, covered in muscle, with arms thicker than my thighs. It was like being a virgin again. Excited, but scared, and uncertain about how everything would play out.

My legs tried to shut, but he put his frame between them as he stared down at my exposed pale skin before him. I did the same to him. He still had his boxers on, but his hard cock was impossible to miss as it strained at the cotton, eager to be set free.

My mind flashed back to the last time he’d been inside me. I’d not been able to recreate that feeling alone. I needed this. I needed him. I needed it.

We made eye contact one more time before Riker’s head darted down between my legs. His hands took a firm hold of my thighs, fingers digging into my flesh, as his tongue penetrated my slick folds.

I might have been nervous and anxious, but that hadn’t stopped me form getting shockingly wet just from looking at him. Now his tongue was inside me, exploring my tunnel, before coming out and sliding up my lips to the pulsating bud at the top.

“I’ve wanted to do this since the minute I first saw you,” Riker said, as his lips broke away from my dripping wet pussy. “I knew you’d taste sweet and delicious.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but his lips went back to my entrance, and the only sound that escaped my mouth was a gasp. We’d been playing around for the last few weeks, but it had all been leading up to this. It was worth the wait.

Riker held my legs down hard as they tried to thrash wildly under the expert touch of his tongue on my pussy.

When he started sucking gently on my clit, I gave up even attempting to control any part of my body. He had me at his complete mercy.

And then he stopped.

I looked up at him incredulously. I’d been so close. So, so close.

“I like it when you come on my cock,” he explained.

I nodded. I could cope with that. “Bottom drawer,” I said, motioning to a chest of drawers by the bed where I kept the condoms. I’d learned long ago never to rely on a man for… well, anything really.

I watched Riker grab a condom and quickly cover his cock in the thin, lubricated silicone that just about stretched over his length. I wasn’t just wet between my legs anymore; I practically drooled in anticipation.

He lowered himself between my legs as I wrapped my arms around him. His skin was surprisingly smooth. I don’t know what I’d expected, but there was something about all the tattoos and muscle that made me think he’d be rough all over.

The tip of his shaft slipped up and down my slit, opening my lips so that I was ready to take him. Or, as ready as I’d ever be to take something of that size. The bottom drawer didn’t just contain condoms, but the toys in there wouldn’t be able to intimidate Riker.

Finally, he claimed me. He pushed forward and completely filled me. It had been a long time since I’d had a cock inside me, so my memory was hazy, but even so, I was sure it had never felt like this.

It had never felt so immediately fulfilling before. Even if he didn’t move, and just kept his cock buried deep inside me, I knew I’d come hard after just a few minutes from the feeling being this full. This satisfied.

Riker had me pinned down, unable to move as he buried himself deep inside me. This felt too good to be true. I’d wanted this since that night in the bar. Dreams were dreams for a reason; they weren’t supposed to actually happen.

Riker raised himself to his knees and lifted my ass into the air as he continued to pound the slick wetness between my thighs. His cock now pressed firmly against the roof of my tunnel with each thrust, as I stared at his arms, the muscles flexing as he held my hips in the air.

He effortlessly pounded away at me with brutal aggression, as my head sank further back into the pillow.

The first throes of ecstasy began in my thighs as they started to shake, even while supported by Riker’s strong grip. I sweated heavily, drips rolling down my sides and up the crevice between my breasts. I begged him to keep going, to fuck me harder, even though that might not have been possible.

He was so huge. Even when he pulled most of the way out, he still filled me more than most other men.

The fire burned in my core. I tried to draw out the pleasure as long as I could, but it had been so long. I couldn’t hold it back. The fire spread and began to consume me.

“Come for me, Nora,” Riker commanded. “I want to feel you come on my cock.”

The mental image of his cock slick with my juices turned the fire into an explosion. I groaned and clamped my legs around him, while my pussy clenched around his thick shaft. His cock pulsed inside me, but he didn’t release.

He let go of my legs, but made sure to stay inside me, as I collapsed down onto the bed in a sweaty, breathless heap.

“You look so beautiful when you come,” he murmured, as his hands squeezed my breasts firmly.

“I look like a hot mess,” I replied with a satisfied smile.

Riker growled before lowering his lips to my nipples and biting gently. His teeth on my skin earned a gasp, as he kept thrusting inside me, each time somehow managing to go deeper than the last.

I encouraged him with my hips, needing to feel his own finish as much as I’d needed my own. My wetness made it harder for him to stay inside me, but Riker kept thrusting and eventually I saw his release coming from the intense stare in his eyes.

Riker grunted and buried himself deep into my sex, before he stiffened up and ejected heavy spurts of his hot pleasure inside the condom.

His finish lasted for at least four heavy spurts, and I began to wonder whether the condom had any room left inside it. What I wouldn’t give to have that filling me right now. I wanted to feel the sticky liquid dribble down the insides of my thighs as a reminder of his passion.

Riker collapsed down besides me and threw the condom in the trash.

“I needed that,” I gasped. “God, I needed that.”

“I could tell,” Riker replied. “You were dripping wet before I’d even touched you. Just like that night in the bar.”

“I’m not going to complain if you want to let your hand linger between my legs a little longer than necessary.”

Riker stroked my thigh and slowly moved up to my aching sex. “Like this?”

I reached out a hand to push him away, assuming I wouldn’t be able to take anymore, but instead I found myself pushing his thick fingers inside me.

Riker fucked me with his fingers until his cock was ready to take over the work.

That didn’t take long at all, and neither did I.

I
usually slept
like a baby after sex, and with the amount of sex we had, I didn’t expect to wake up before midday. Instead I struggled to fall asleep, as my mind started challenging my actions.

My mind was my own worst enemy.
Why did you sleep with him? You’ve just made things awkward. You should have played hard to get
. Ugh.

The date had crept up on both of us unawares, which meant my brain hadn’t been in a dating mood at first. I’d showered after the training session, so at least I was clean, but I hadn’t shaved my legs—or anything else—for a few days. Not that Riker had complained.

I suppose after you’ve seen an adult spill food down themselves—and on the floor—you lowered your expectations a bit.

Talk about an ice-breaker. When your date has to show you how to eat your food, you know you can give up on any of the usual pretenses.

Even with that embarrassment, the rest of the date had gone smoothly. There were no uncomfortable silences, and we continued to gel like we did while training.

I woke up in the morning and heard Riker leave while muttering something about needing to get home to change and then head back to the gym. I was too tired to argue. To be honest, I was relieved that he hadn’t wanted to have sex again in the morning. My body was far too tired—and sore—to take any more.

I drifted off back to sleep, but my phone vibrated aggressively on the bedside table. Alison had emailed, asking why I hadn’t responded to her previous message. Or the one before that. She’d been trying to catch up for days, but she was only free in the evenings, and my evenings were all about training now.

I didn’t have anything to do until training this evening, and it was a weekend, so I invited Alison round for coffee. She didn’t live far away, so I got started grinding the beans while she walked over.

The coffee I made was better than most of the trash sold in coffee shops around here. It meant taking a thirty-minute walk to a fresh food market to get the beans I liked, but for the next week I would be drinking coffee that kept me awake all day and tasted sublime.

I’d need the coffee today. In addition to being tired, I knew I was going to get an earful from Alison. She’d been worried about me meeting Duke, and I’d ignored most of her emails. I was a shitty friend sometimes. Alison wouldn’t take long to remind me of that.

“Good to see you’re still alive,” Alison said, as I handed her a cup of coffee.

“Morning, Alison,” I replied.

“I haven’t heard from you in weeks.”

“Sorry, I’ve been busy.”

“I take it the meeting with your father went well?”

“Yeah, sure,” I replied. “I don’t see him as my dad yet, but he’s cool enough to have around. We’re never going to be as close as you and your dad, but I’m glad I met him.”

“You would say that though. Otherwise you’d have to admit I was right, and you’re far too stubborn for that.”

I’d never thought of myself as stubborn, but at some point, when enough people told you the same thing you had to start taking them seriously.

“Maybe you could meet him one day,” I offered. “He’s… interesting.”

“He’d better be to justify all this time you’ve been spending ignoring me.”

“You could be happy for me, Alison. I’ve just found a father I didn’t think existed.”

Alison sighed, and wrapped her arm around me for a quick hug which nearly made me spill my coffee. “Sorry sweetie,” she said softly. “You’re right. I’ve just missed you and I was worried you’d gotten in over your head a bit.”

I’d completely gotten in over my head, but that had nothing to do with Duke.

I told Alison about Duke and mentioned Gayle, but kept my relationship with Riker a secret. Alison had worried about me meeting my father; if she knew I had just gone on a date with a man convicted of attempted murder she’d never let me leave my apartment.

“How is the study going?” Alison asked “Are you still going to turn it into a paper?”

“What study?”

Alison rolled her eyes. “You said you were only hanging out at the gym to study your future clients.”

“Oh yeah,” I said, vaguely remembering the social study that I’d been intending to do before I’d met Riker. “I decided against that. It felt too invasive. I spoke to some of the members, but didn’t like the idea of publishing their stories.”

“I expect most of their stories have already been published in newspapers and court reports,” Alison replied snarkily.

“They’re not all criminals. And even if they are, that doesn’t mean they’re bad people. They’re trying to get back on their feet. That’s admirable.”

“Okay, okay. I just want you to be careful. Wait a minute, if you haven’t been doing the social study, why have you been spending so much time at the gym?”

“I’m training,” I replied.

“Training?” Alison looked at my body for the evidence of my extra work. “I knew there was something different about you. You’re more toned. Nice work.”

“Thanks. It’s hard not to get involved when you’re watching everyone else working up a sweat. I started to feel lazy, so I got stuck in. Plus, Duke wanted me to learn how to fight.”

“Wait, you’re learning how to fight?”

“Just the basics,” I replied. “For self-defense.”

“Fucking hell, Nora. Please don’t tell me you’re going to get involved in that little fight club he’s running?”

“Of course not. One of the fighters is training me. It’s fun. You can come along if you want.”

Please don’t come along
.

“I think I’ll stick to the treadmill. Maybe I’ll swing by and watch one day. Will your dad let me in even though I’m not a member?”

“Sure.”

Gayle had spotted the attraction between Riker and I from a mile away. Alison would notice the moment she walked in the door. Watching us training would be like watching softcore porn.

Alison used to be my go-to person when I wanted to talk about men, and she still should be, but I just didn’t feel comfortable talking to her about Riker.

She wouldn’t understand. Alison and I had always dated the same type of men—quiet, educated guys who either already earned a lot of money, or who would soon. Neither of us had ever gone for the “bad boy” type, other than a bit of dancing after a few drinks.

The second Alison knew I was dating an underground fighter, she’d try to pull me back onto the straight and narrow. I’d told Alison that I’d spent plenty of time growing up around either criminals or suspected criminals because of Mom’s job, but she didn’t understand that world at all.

To her, anyone who needed a lawyer in the first place was likely guilty of something, even if it wasn’t the crime they’d been accused of. She wouldn’t take to a man who’d been convicted of attempted murder.

I had two choices. I could keep Riker a secret from Alison, or I could tell her and hope that she would give him a chance like I had done. Riker had won me round, eventually, and I thought he would charm Alison, given time.

I didn’t want to lie to Alison, but Riker and I were in a weird no man’s land at the moment, and we didn’t need the added complication of an overprotective friend getting involved.

“What’s going on with you?” I asked Alison. Her social life tended to be as uneventful as mine usually was, but her job as a doctor meant she could usually be relied upon for interesting stories.

“Same old. I’ve been on ER duty the last week, so I’ve seen more blood and broken bones than I care to remember. And those are the good cases. The things I’ve seen recently...” she shuddered. “Enough to make me want to quit.”

Alison had talked about people dying while in her care before, and I knew she took it personally, despite her attempts to remain detached. “Just think about how many people you saved,” I said. “You can’t dwell on the ones you don’t.”

“Oh, I wasn’t talking about that. No, the haunting images this week are of people getting objects stuck places. Seriously, how do you get a roll-on deodorant stuck up your vagina?”

I laughed. “You should advertise the safety benefits of vibrators next to the posters for nicotine patches.”

Alison shivered again, and cringed as she tried to block out a mental image from work. Being a social worker wouldn’t be easy, but I could never do be a doctor. That was another level of crazy.

“You have today off work?” I asked.

“Yep. I have tomorrow off as well actually. Fancy going for a drink tonight?” Alison asked. “This coffee’s great, but I could do with something stronger. Or do you not drink alcohol now that you’re all fit and healthy?”

“I ate Chinese food last night,” I said, not mentioning that I hadn’t eaten it alone. “I might be exercising more, but I’m not healthy. Let’s do it.”

“Great. And who knows, we might meet the perfect man.”

I smiled and agreed, but I had a strange feeling I’d already met mine.