Kissing My Stepbrother Was a Mistake II

Lila's POV

I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned for hours, and still I couldn't get a minute of rest. It was 2 a.m. and I should have been out cold, but all I could think about was Jax's words. He said he missed me. That shouldn't have meant anything. He'd probably said it to a million other girls, and yet I couldn't forget it.

Outside, the storm raged. Rain lashed against the windows and the wind howled. Mom and Richard had left before the rain started, and at this rate they'd probably spend the night at a hotel. Jax was somewhere in the house, probably in his room. What would he be doing? Sleeping, most likely.

My stomach growled, a low rumble that made me groan.

I slipped out of bed barefoot, tugging at my sleep shirt, a big tee that stopped mid thigh. A boy from school had given it to me. The kitchen was downstairs, so I could just sneak in and grab a late night snack from the fridge. Yup, sounds like a plan.

When I got to the stairs, a scent hit my nose. Whiskey.

I froze and listened. Sure enough, the TV was on and there was some shuffling coming from the living room. That meant Jax was awake too.

My pulse thrummed. I could go back upstairs and force myself to sleep, or stare at the ceiling till morning. I should do that. But whenever it came to Jax, I never could resist the pull, like a moth to a flame I knew would burn me alive.

So I walked into the living room with my chin held up. I stopped at the threshold when I spotted him. He was on the couch, sprawled out with one arm over the back and his legs stretched wide, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. His skin gleamed in the light from the TV, and the tattoos on his back snaked down his arms.

I stood there staring at my stepbrother in a very not so subtle way.

"Can't sleep?" His voice made me jolt. He turned and looked at me. "I heard your footsteps."

I swallowed. "Yeah, the storm is too loud."

Another lie. I'd been doing a lot of that lately, lying, I mean.

He nodded and grabbed the bottle, taking a long swig. "Mum and dad are gone," I said, like he didn't already know that. Nice one, Lila.

"Yep." His gaze dropped to my legs and stayed there. Heat rushed to my face and I shifted, crossing my arms over my chest.

He scooted over on the couch and patted the space beside him. "Here, come sit."

My mind screamed at me to run. This was a bad idea. I might end up saying something stupid that I'd regret in the morning. But then, he didn't see me like that, right? He'd said so himself, the day I foolishly told him I had a crush on him.

So I walked over and flopped down on the couch, keeping enough space between us.

He handed me the remote and our fingers brushed, and it sent a jolt straight through me. Why did my senses always go crazy whenever I sat near him? I focused on the TV and glared at it like it had personally offended me. Jax scrolled on his phone like I wasn't even there. What did you expect, to be worshipped?

A moment later he dropped his phone in the space between us, tipped his head back on the couch, and closed his eyes.

Thunder boomed and shook the house. The lights flickered, once, twice, then died. Darkness swallowed us.

Did I mention I was deathly scared of the dark?

I am. My heart lurched and, in a panic, my hand found Jax's chest. "Jax?"

His fingers caught my wrist. "I'm here, princess."

My breathing evened out at the sound of his voice. He'd called me princess before, and it was one of the things that made me think he actually felt something for me. I was wrong about that. This time shouldn't be any different.

"Come here," he said, pulling me closer until my head rested on his bare chest. His heart thumped under my ear and his hand settled on my thigh where the tee had ridden up, and it sent shivers down my spine. This close, his scent was everywhere. I'd never been this near to Jax before and I didn't know how to react, so I just kept still and focused on the beat of his heart.

He didn't say anything. He just held me like I belonged there. Were stepsiblings even allowed to be this close?

◊◊

I looked up at him. The room was dark, but I could make out the line of his jaw. My face inched closer to his. I knew I shouldn't get that close, I knew it was wrong, and yet I couldn't stop myself from pressing my lips to his jaw. It was a light, feathery kiss, the kind I knew he'd notice.

For a moment it was like he stopped breathing. His fingers, which had been tracing lazy circles on my back, went still. I regretted it immediately. Stupid, stupid, stupid Lila. Now he'd push me off and probably see me as some needy girl who couldn't control herself. Shame burned through me like acid.

"I'm sorry," I said, trying to get up. His hand squeezed my thigh.

"Where are you going?" he asked, his voice rough.

"I thought..."

His lips claimed mine before I could finish.

A small sound escaped me and he groaned. It wasn't slow or soft. He kissed me like he'd been starving forever. I melted into it, my hands in his hair, pulling him closer. He tasted like whiskey. This felt wrong and so right at the same time. I knew pulling away was the right thing to do, and yet I leaned in more.

In that moment I realized my feelings for Jax had never changed.

"We should stop," I said against his mouth.

"Yes, we should," he agreed, but his lips trailed along my jaw and down my neck.

"This is wrong."

"It is." He didn't stop. If anything, my words only made him hungrier. "You're right, princess. This is wrong. But fuck, if it doesn't feel like the only thing that makes sense."

I arched into him, my body betraying every rational thought screaming in my head. His hand tangled in my hair and tilted my head back, and I gasped his name, half plea, half prayer.

"Tell me to stop, Lila," he said, his breath ragged, his forehead pressed to mine. "Say it like you mean it, and I will."

I opened my mouth. The word was right there on the tip of my tongue, but it dissolved into a whimper. "I can't," I admitted. "God, I can't."

A ghost of a smile tugged at his lips. "Then don't."

And he pulled me into his lap, and the storm outside swallowed up everything else.