ACHING MY STEP BROTHER

RACHEL The whole place throbbed with bass, lights flashing like they were trying to blind someone. I’d never liked parties too loud, too sweaty, too many people pretending to have the best night of their lives.But it was Tiara’s birthday, and she’d dragged me here with the same force a tornado uses to lift cars.I was just trying to breathe through the chaos when a hand slid around my waist slowly, and very confidently.My heart jerked as I spun around.Some ridiculously fine, annoyingly smug guy staring at me like he had every right to touch me.“Excuse me, riff-raff. Can you just fucking piss off?” I yelled so loud my throat burned. If the music wasn’t blasting through the walls, the whole house would’ve frozen at the way I shouted at the guy.I hadn’t even wanted to come out tonight. But Tiara had begged like she always did but tonight she actually managed to convince me with that trophy speech “Come on, Rach, loosen up, live a little.And… It worked.All my life had been a tight

RACHELHe slammed into me again, harder, and faster, this time, until my mind went completely blank except for him.“I love how f*cking tight you are, freckles,” he groaned, gripping my hips like if I even moved an inch, he’d lose himself.It was insane. One moment I was furious at Raymond for making out with another girl, and now I was here, being absolutely wrecked on the bed of a stranger who touched me like he already owned every part of me.Before I could breathe, he flipped me onto my stomach. One finger slid into me, deep and slow, at first, pulling a broken moan out of me before I could even think of Jack Robinson.“F*ck,” I gasped.He kept going, like my voice only pushed him further. His finger curled, twisting deeper until my hips were moving on their own, matching the pace he set.“Do you want me inside you again?” he asked, his voice low and dark.“Yes… please.”That was all he needed. He slammed into me from behind, one hand gripping my ass like he needed it to stay upri

THANEWhen Pops said I’d be meeting Sarah’s daughter over breakfast, I didn’t think much of it, another polite smile, another forced family introduction.What I didn’t expect was for her to be the same girl I had my hands all over last night.Yeah. Her.The short firecracker with the sharp mouth and the tighter-than-sin attitude.She's not my usual type. Girls below my chest height normally don’t get my attention, but damn, she made it hard not to look twice. Or want a third round.Funny how life works. I thought I was getting a stepsister.Instead, I got her.I was ready to tease her just to watch her react when Sarah’s head popped into the doorway, cutting through the whole mood.“When did you get back, Thane?” she asked, wrapping me in a side-hug.I flashed her a lazy, sheepish smile. The one she never sees through.“Well, I couldn’t help but rush down when I heard I’d be meeting my hot—” I paused, pretending to censor myself. “My step sister. I like her already.”Racheal rolled he

THANERachel is stubborn as hell. She’d been following my lead just fine… right up until I said she wasn’t going to school today.Okay, maybe I said it the wrong way, but still. What more does she want after I already explained? I don’t trust Joe. Not for one second. My gut says he’s already clocked Rachel, and I’m not about to let him start trailing us down to her school like some unhinged creep. It's better she's left out of whatever games he intends to play.And don’t even get me started on the idiot beside me who thought it was smart to bet his car in a game against a cheating psycho like Joe.“Hello?” Rachel snapped from the back seat. “I’m not talking to myself here, am I?”Right. She was still raking about school. At least Noah was in the passenger seat and not her. Small mercies I'm grateful for.I pressed the gas a little harder, not that the pedal was actually responsible for my headache. “English isn’t complicated, sis. I don’t need to repeat myself ten times.”“You’re ser

THANE“Why the hell did you let her go, Thane?” Noah’s voice followed me as I headed toward the elevator. I didn’t respond at first, but then he grabbed my arm, forcing me to stop.“Can you just slow down and listen to me?” he demanded, almost yelling, though he caught himself when the security guards shot him a glare sharp enough to cut glass. I should have just told them to blacklist him the last time he stumbled into my office drunk after Tiara broke up with him. Too bad for him, they might break up again after today.“You don’t seriously mean what you said to Rachel, do you?”“Look,” I said, dragging a hand through my hair. “If you care about her, go find her. She chose to go with someone she only just met today. Am I the crazy one here?”He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s your fault. You just let her walk away like that. Rachel shouldn’t be with Wendy, Thane. You know that.”Really? Like I didn’t know. The same person who deliberately brought her along as some kind