Stepbrother, Mine #2 (8 page)

“What the hell, Sylvie?”

“Who’s Sylvie?”

She was just a shadowy shape beside him but he didn’t have to see her face to realize … it was Dana’s voice.

He sucked in a breath, then rolled onto his back.

“Shit.”

When he’d woken up to her soft body next to his, he’d thought she was Sylvie. He’d
wanted
her to be Sylvie, desperately needing to be a Dom again.

He loved the tenderness that he and Dana had shared, but he knew he needed more.

“No one important,” he answered. “Just someone I know casually.”

Dana tugged the pillow from beneath her stomach and dropped it on the floor, then rolled toward him.

“You seemed to be having a not-so-casual dream about her just now.”

“I’m sorry, Dana. I was asleep. It didn’t mean anything.”

“But why are you dreaming about her when you’re here with me?”

He could hear the hurt in her voice. How could he make her understand that it was just that he had needs she couldn’t meet for him?

He’d had a life before the two of them started this whole thing, and he would have a life after they parted at the end of their two weeks. Maybe it would be better not to say anything. She had to get used to the fact she was only in his bed for a short time.

“This Sylvie … you treat her differently in bed than you do me.”

“That’s true. She meets a different need for me.”

“What kind of need?”

Fuck, did she really want to get into this now?

“Dana, I don’t really want to start this conversation in the middle of the night.”

“But I want to know. She meets different needs for you. If I understood them better, maybe I could—”

“No.”

“But—”

“I said no, Dana.”

“Mason, I—”

He rolled onto her, holding his weight on his arms, her trapped between them, and glared down at her. “This stubbornness of yours is exactly why you can’t meet those needs. Now go to sleep or I’ll send you to your room.”

She frowned but held her silence.

He rolled onto his side again, then wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a spooning position, facing away from him.

“Now go to sleep.”

*   *   *

Dana lay in Mason’s arms and sighed. She had been an idiot for telling him she loved him in the shower. But the words had just slipped out.

She knew Mason wouldn’t allow this relationship to continue. She’d always known it. But she was a dreamer and in all her dreams, she wound up in a happily-ever-after relationship with Mason. Spending her life with him, as husband and wife.

That was her biggest and brightest dream. She’d give up almost anything for it.

But her blurting out an “I love you” just made things worse. That’s probably why he’d dreamed of another woman. One who didn’t stress him out with unwanted emotions.

One he could allow himself to fall in love with because she wasn’t his stepsister.

The way he’d handled her when he’d thought she was Sylvie was … disturbing. And exhilarating. He’d punished her, smacking her bottom until it burned. But it had excited her. And when he’d tugged on her hair, pulling her head back … shivers had quivered through her.

*   *   *

Dana picked up the tray that held orange juice in a crystal glass, a fine china coffee cup filled with steaming coffee, a china plate with a silver cover to keep the contents warm, silverware, and a pristine white linen napkin. She carried it to the dresser and set it down, then turned to the bed.

Mason lay there with his arm casually thrown over his face, the blankets sprawled across his waist, baring his broad muscular chest and shoulders. She wanted to climb right back into bed with him. To reach under the covers and find out if he was hard, then stroke him awake. But she was haunted by what had happened last night.

Mason had taken her virginity and then only hours later had dreamt about another woman. And then, when she’d questioned him, he’d told her she didn’t meet his needs.

Her heart ached.

He met
her
needs. Every one of them.

Except for loving her back, of course. And that tore at her soul.

As if Mason could feel her scrutiny, he opened his eyes. He blinked, then gazed in her direction.

“Good morning,” he murmured, his voice sleep-roughened.

She longed to sit on the bed beside him and stroke his raspy, whisker-shadowed jaw. To press her lips to his chin and drag her teeth along the coarse stubble, then run her hands down his sculpted chest.

“Good morning,” she responded. “I have breakfast for you.”

She turned and lifted the tray, then carried it to the bed.

He pushed himself upright and she set the tray on his lap. She lifted the silver top from the plate.

“Eggs and bacon and those silver dollar pancakes you used to love so much.”

He smiled and gazed up at her. “You made this?”

Her cheeks heated. “No, I asked the butler to arrange it. I would have, but you didn’t have the ingredients in the kitchenette.”

“It’s okay, Dana. You don’t have to cook for me. I was just curious.”

She sat on the chair near the bed. “I would like to cook for you.”

He laughed as he poured syrup from a tiny silver pitcher onto his pancakes. “Okay, we’ll arrange that sometime.” He glanced at her. “Have you already eaten?”

“No, my breakfast is on the table.”

“Get it and we’ll eat together.”

She nodded absently as she watched him take a bite of one of the small pancakes.

“Mason?”

He tilted his head toward her, then frowned at her serious expression. “What is it, Dana?”

“The conversation we started last night … When you said I didn’t meet your needs…”

He put down his fork, his expression grim, hesitating.

The silence was too much for her, so she had to fill it. “When you were dreaming about that other woman … Sylvie … the way you made love to her…” It reminded her of when she’d seen him with the maid. “I think I should tell you that I once saw you and…” She sucked in a breath. “I saw you and Maria … uh … having sex in the den.”

His expression turned pained. “When?” he asked sharply.

She stared at her hands, her fingers twisting around each other. “It was on prom night.”

The fact that he asked her when … did that mean it had happened more than once? But, of course, it had. Why would she believe otherwise?

“You couldn’t have seen. You’d already left with your date.”

She shook her head. “I changed my mind while we were driving away. I didn’t want to be with
him
that evening. I wanted to be with you. So I told him I felt sick and had him bring me back to the house, then I raced inside looking for you.”

“And you found me.” He frowned. “Damn it, Dana. You should never have seen that.”

“I didn’t really understand at the time. You seemed to be … forcing her.” She shook her head. “But everything I knew about you told me you wouldn’t do something like that.”

“Fuck, Dana, I wish you hadn’t…” His hands clenched into fists. “You shouldn’t have seen that,” he repeated in a low mutter. “Maria … she liked it rough. She liked a man to take control, and she liked to struggle. Fuck, it must have looked to you like I was raping the woman.”

“I would never believe that. And even though I was still young, and inexperienced, I could tell she was … enjoying it.” She shook her head. “But it was confusing to me.”

“Dana, I’m sorry you witnessed that. But what happened after you saw us? Did you go out to your prom after all?”

She shook her head. “I went up to my room and just stayed there until morning.” Sobbing her heart out.

Mason pursed his lips and nodded, probably figuring out the latter part.

“You know I struggled with my attraction to you back then,” he admitted. “Being with Maria gave me a way to alleviate that yearning.”

So it wasn’t just the one time.

Dana’s heart sank at the thought that he could so easily escape his desire for her, which meant it had only been a physical attraction, nothing more.

He lifted the tray from his lap and set it on the bed beside him, then sat on the side of the bed.

“Dana, I think it’s time we had a little talk.”

“About why you said I don’t meet your needs?”

“That’s right.”

A low trilling sound caught his attention and he picked up his cell phone from the bedside table and glanced at it. His lips tightened and he glanced at Dana again.

“It seems this conversation will have to wait. I have to go meet someone.”

“Now? But—”

His sharp gaze spiked through her and she fell silent.

He stood up and, totally naked, walked to the bathroom. Once the door closed, she couldn’t help herself. She hurried to the bed and picked up his phone and glanced at the text he’d received.

Need to talk to you at once. It’s urgent. Meet me at Le Noir right away.

It was from Maria.

*   *   *

Mason walked into the stodgy club, with the oak-paneled walls, elegant crystal lighting fixtures, and heavy wooden furniture. He stepped into the private room Maria had reserved for them, then closed the door behind him. Maria, dressed in an elegant, tailored jacket and matching skirt in dark blue silk, sat on a leather sofa, a decanter of white wine in front of her. She held a tall, stemmed crystal glass in her hand.

“There you are, Mason.”

“Hello, Maria.”

She placed her glass on the round table in front of the couch, then stood and walked toward him, smiling. “Surely I get a kiss.”

He leaned in to kiss her cheek, but she turned her head and pressed her lips to his, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him close. As her tongue glided into his mouth, he grasped her hands and tugged them from his neck, then pressed her away from him.

“That’s not really appropriate, Maria.”

“Really? We used to do far more than that.”

“Yes, before you became my stepmother.”

She laughed. “Ah, it’s inappropriate to give you stepmother a kiss, but fucking your stepsister is quite acceptable.”

He frowned. “How do you know about that?”

She rested her hand on his upper arm. “Mason, we both knew it was inevitable.”

He walked to the leather chair facing the couch and settled into it, not willing to play this touching game with Maria. “I asked how you knew.”

She strolled back to the couch and poured him a glass of wine. She handed it to him, then sat down again.

“Still playing the maid, I see,” he said.

She smiled seductively. “I’m willing to play a lot more with you. I’m sure the staff could bring me a maid’s costume pretty quickly and we could replay some of our finer moments.”

“None of our moments were fine, Maria,” Mason said grimly.

She leaned forward. “That’s not true, Mason. Some of my finest moments were with you.”

He almost thought her eyes looked a little misty at those words.

“And surely you are at least a little thankful at how I helped you survive your lust for your little stepsister. How would you have gotten through that time without me?” She picked up her wine and took a sip.

“Which leads us back to the question of how you know about Dana and me.”

She sighed and leaned back against the couch. “Is it really so hard to guess? The dim-witted little brat put her picture up on that website, offering her innocence to the highest bidder.” She raised an eyebrow at Mason. “You really didn’t think about the fact that that’s exactly the type of site your father would follow?”

Fuck, of course it was. His father was … sick. He’d always wanted his women young.
Too
young.

Mason’s stomach clenched. Fuck, the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree. After all, he’d lusted after Dana himself since she was sixteen.

The difference was that Mason hadn’t acted on it.

Until now.

“Fuck, Maria.” So Chas knew that Dana had offered to sell her virginity. “But how did he know I was the buyer?”

Maria crossed her legs, her high-heel-clad foot rocking nervously. “When he saw her picture on there, he became obsessed.” Her gaze settled on his, and he could see the anxiety in her eyes. “He was adamant about buying her contract. But when he contacted them, he found it was already sold.” She waved a hand in the air. “Of course, the service wouldn’t tell him to whom, but you know your father. He wouldn’t take no for an answer, so he used his contacts and several bribes to find out.” She sighed. “When he learned it was you who had bought her…” She pursed her lips. “That it was you who was going to fuck her for the first time … he was livid.”

Her gaze sharpened. “That’s why I told you it was urgent that we talk. I wanted to warn you. Your father is more than furious about this. The two of you locked horns about her in the past, and you prevented him from fucking her then. And now, when she willingly offered up her virginity to the highest bidder, you swooped in and stole her right from under his nose. He is beyond reason and has decided to do something about it.”

Mason’s eyebrows arched. “And what might that be?”

Maria leaned forward, and her worried expression filled him with icy apprehension.

“I don’t know exactly. But he said he intends to destroy you.”

Her fingers tightened around her wine glass.

“And her.”

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