Criminal: A Bad-Boy Stepbrother Romance Read online

  He’d taken down all those thugs, nearly killed Ryder too, though once that was done, it was as if I watched the steam come out of him. He had deflated before my eyes, and staggered, nearly falling over before I could get to him and help him into my car.

  I’m in shock, and I nearly miss a familiar sight. It’s a little motel, recessed into the trees, but the neon lights are still on. I remember the name vaguely, and I point to it as I start slowing down.

  “Kaiden, I remember this place. When the house was being fumigated that time, we stayed here a few nights, remember?”

  Kaiden looks where I point, his thick, strong neck no longer supporting his head so sturdily thanks to the beating.

  “Of course I do,” he rasps to me, so damn tired and weary. “Mom and dad left us to our own devices most of the time there, and we broke into the manager’s office. Found all those porn mags and liquor stashed in his desk,” he remarks with a dry, brief laugh. “We could be such little shits. But hey, we never got caught. And that’s what really matters,” he adds jokingly.

  I laugh, biting down on my lower lip as I pull in, parking the car out of sight of the road. I’d completely forgotten that. He had a habit of bringing out the rebel in me, making me want to misbehave.

  He still does.

  I open my door and come around to his side, leaning in the open window.

  “Stay here ‘til I get us a room, no need to draw more attention to ourselves than needed.” Of course, with my torn tank top and dirty mini skirt, that’s going to be easier said than done anyways.

  He looks me over, and even in his wounded, pain-racked state, he manages to crook a brow and look interested. “Dressed like that, Princess… I don’t think you can avoid drawing at least half the world’s attention. But you’re right I guess. Best we leave it at just half if we can help it,” he prods me back, reaching out and pinching my side through the tear in my top.

  A week ago—hell, a day ago—I would’ve flipped at him. Let my fear of falling for him make me push him away again.

  But I’m too exhausted, and he looks too good for me to keep it up. Maybe it’s just that I’m running on instinct, that adrenaline is still pumping through me, that I nearly died, but I just don’t care anymore about pushing my emotions down.

  I bite down on my lower lip, tugging it into my mouth as I stare at him, my heart skipping a beat before I take a step backward. Quickly I turn to make my way to the front desk, but the entire time, my mind is stuck on him.

  I look around, and even in the darkness, I can see how little the motel has changed. It’s aged a bit over the years, but it’s quiet and surrounded by trees and privacy. I make my way into the office, ringing the little bell before trying to fix my hair in the reflection of the window.

  “You need a room?” comes a bored voice, and suddenly I’m reminded of the last motel I was at and what a mess that became.

  I turn and smile at the young man, and nod.

  “Okay, we have a double bed available just next door,” he says, taking the key off the hook board and I pause.

  “What about two singles?”

  My heart is instantly racing, and my stomach lurches though I don’t know if it’s out of fear or excitement.

  He shakes his head.

  “Just the one double. There’s a school group in,” he replies, and my heart beats faster, my body feeling suddenly warm.

  “So it’s just the one room, nothing else?”

  “Right. You want it?”

  I head back to the car, keys clutched in my hand.

  Kaiden looks like he’s passed out, and I rush over to him. But before I can even reach out and shake his shoulder, his eyes open and he looks to me.

  “Don’t tell me we’re sleepin’ in the car. As I recall, that didn’t work out so well for you last time,” he remarks with a wry smile. He sees me dangling the keys and pushes the door open to get out.

  “They only have the one room,” I say as I try to help him out, “but they have a vending machine in the lobby with some Tylenol and water.”

  I feel hot and uncomfortable, though, and the thought of sleeping with him in the same bed is messing with my mind.

  He looks down at me as we make our way to the room.

  “There’s something else you’re keeping from me?” It’s half-accusation, half-question.

  I hate that he can tell, and I just shrug, trying to look nonchalant.

  “Just the one bed is all.”

  He’s looking down at me, brow arched in silent questioning as we reach the door.

  “I dunno if either of us is in much shape for sleeping on a floor tonight,” he says. He’s still holding his side as he leans against the door and I work the old-fashioned keys in the door. “And as old school as this place is, they might take issue with us livin’ in sin like that.” He has a big grin on his broad, handsome— but battered— face.

  I roll my eyes, but I have no idea how to feel about it as I push the door open and take in the familiar smell. It’s like I’m taken back five years, and I’m just a kid again. But I flick on the light and help Kaiden to the bed and I’m reminded of just how much I’m not.

  “Stay here, I’m going to grab you some Tylenol,” I say before making my way out once more and to the machine. I’m grateful for the time away, but honestly, all I can think about is coming back to him.

  Spending the night with him.

  It’s so wrong, picturing his body pressed to mine, the way it makes my knees tremble with desire and my hands shake with uncertainty. Maybe I should just spend the night in the car, get away from it all and then just... take off.

  But I know I can’t. We’re in this together now, and I’m not going to run from it.

  When I return to the room with the Tylenol and water, though, and see him shirtless, laying back on the bed, I can’t help but stare.

  His broad chest exposed, thick, corded muscles all on display as he rubs at his body, testing his ribs, clearly checking to see if any were broken. He's bruised, badly so, and cut in a few places, but none of that ruins just how much sex appeal my he has as he lays there, inspecting himself.

  “Luckily, none of those idiots were clever enough to buy a pair of steel-toed boots,” he says. Judging by the grimace he gives as he presses along one rib, though, they’d done one hell of a job without it anyhow.

  I go into the bathroom, grabbing a towel before returning to him, kneeling on the bed.

  “Here,” I say, passing him some pills and the bottle of water as I bring the slightly wetted towel to the bow of his lip, cleaning him of the blood from his nose.

  The motel is completely silent, and I know it’s probably just before dawn. There’s that strange stillness in the air, like all the world has fallen away. Everyone but Kaiden and I, holed up in a motel room at the edge of town.

  “We should really go to a hospital,” I say with a whisper, my hand reaching out, trembling before I lightly touch my fingers to the bruise along his side. He winces, and I withdraw my hand, but I continue to stare.

  “You know we can’t do that,” he says, his bare chest heaving with his heavy breathing. He’s a massive man, and so battered and bruised, he looks like he’s a gladiator from out of the past, having come to save me when I needed him most.

  He lets me clean his wounds with the wet towel, knocking back the pills and water after I move from his face, on down to his bloodied torso. Though all the while, his eyes are upon me no less intently than mine are on him.

  “Whatever happens, I don’t want you to be in any more trouble, Princess. You hear me? That money is sittin’ and waiting for you, and whatever comes, I need you to be safe, so I know you’ll be able to enjoy it. That means more to me than anything right now,” he says, his husky voice so rough and firm.

  When I don’t respond fast enough for him, pondering his words and what they meant, he reaches out, grasps my arm and squeezes. His bicep bulging as he does.

  “You hear me, Princess?” he says, bu
t his words aren’t angry, they’re… loving.

  My eyes flit to his, and I nod gently, though I have that sick feeling in my stomach and I know I’m not going to run this time.

  More importantly, I’m not going to let him run.

  I hold his green, smoldering gaze and swallow.

  There’s always been this strange emotion, this connection, and we’ve both tried so hard to ignore it. It wouldn’t be bad just to ignore it one more night. Just fall asleep, like we were kids sharing a bed.

  I sit back, putting the towel aside before taking off my high heels and letting them drop to the floor.

  “We’ll figure it out tomorrow.”

  Though how I would keep my calm next to my girlhood crush, when he’s lying there, glistening and bare-chested, looking gloriously tough after putting his life on the line for us both…

  He doesn’t quite let go of my arm though, and no sooner are the heels off than he tugs me in. I land upon his lap, where he clearly intended me, and he pays no heed to the pain that must’ve caused on his battered form.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever had so clear a view of what to do in my head than right now, Abby,” he says, his voice deeper, darker. Filled with lusty desire that made him into a man that was irresistible to all the ladies.

  Me included.

  “I saw my life flash before my eyes back there,” he says, continuing on as he looks over my face before resting his gaze back to mine. “And my only regret… was not letting you know how much you meant to me. How much… how much I fuckin’ wanted you in my life. In every way.”

  I pause there, in part because I’m afraid of hurting him, and in part because I’m simply stunned by his words. There’ve been hints, clues, little subtle things that I kept thinking were all in my head, but now...

  Now there’s no denying it.

  Staring up at him, I swallow, and my lower lip trembles as his hand moves from my hand, running up my forearm, then my bicep, then up to my jaw, forcing my gaze to not falter from his.

  “I know it’s wrong, dammit,” he curses, the words so raw and unhindered, spilling out after long being kept in check. “And you can pull away at any time and I’ll stop… pretend none of this ever happened, if you will, Princess. But… fuck it.”

  That was that. He had lost his patience for words, and simply pressed in, pushing his lips to mine and kissing me hard and deep. His eyes shut as our mouths melded, his tongue sliding between the seams of my lips and beyond, despite the groan of pain he couldn’t suppress.

  I’d thought about it for so long, daydreams and fantasies alike all centered on those lips meeting mine, yet the reality of it could never have compared to those thoughts. Of how firm his lips are yet how soft and yielding they are against mine, how insistent he is. My breath is short, and I can barely contain myself as his tongue caresses mine.

  My better judgment tells me to do just what he offered. Pull away. Stop it. Stop him. This is wrong.

  But I can’t. There’s a shy, hesitant moan that escapes me, and no matter how wrong it is, I’ve wanted him for so long...

  Kaiden pulls me in closer against him, all the bruises and battered bones be damned, he wants me pressed in against his flesh and that’s what he takes. And I can feel him… so lewdly pressed beneath me, that manhood which had pleasured so many women just a couple of feet from me through the walls between our rooms… it was now not even an inch away.

  Separated only by his dusty jeans.

  Our lips smack, and he wraps both arms around me, resting his hard, strong hand upon my thigh running up to my hip as he squeezes and rubs at me. He’s insatiable for me, and his every motion speaks to that. There’s no longer any hiding just how deep the well of his emotions run.

  They run at least as deep as my own.

  And the fact that I don’t pull away, that I don’t run, that speaks volumes and only encourages his motions.

  Most of my clothes are torn, my miniskirt barely covering my ass, my tank top stretched and loose. I feel dirty, sore, and yet I don’t care about any of that.

  Instead I push back against him, my hand going to his shoulder as I rub him.

  I can’t believe it’s finally happening. It’s so surreal, but if it’s a dream, I don’t want to wake up.

  Those strong fingers of his slide up along my thigh, in underneath my skirt to grasp at my bare cheek to the side of my panties. My shame is cast aside by him as he kisses me deeply and feels my body.

  It isn’t long before he pushes me over, onto my back atop the bed as he comes with me. His big, broad form looming large as he kisses me, feels me.

  Appreciates my every inch.

  It’s like a testament to how great his desire for me is, and how strong he is, that his powerful body holds itself up over me with all feelings of pain pushed aside. Forgotten.

  And with it went all the cultural taboos. The fact that we both know this is forbidden, if not legally, then socially. The fact that we both know we’re off-limits to one another.

  The fact that that’s what’s kept us apart for so long.

  But with his heavy, muscular body weighing down on me, I’ve never felt more right. Despite the fact that I’m a virgin, that I’ve never gone further than a little touching with a guy, and had heard him screw so many women, that was what got me the most.

  If there’s anyone in the world I wanted to give my virginity, though, it’s him.

  I knew he would understand my body better than even I could, judging by the many pleasured sounds I heard each night for so long. And I knew, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that he would look out for me.

  His actions tonight prove it.

  Kaiden squeezes my ass cheek, then slides his two hands up my side. He takes hold of my flimsy tank top, the garment already ripped, and pulls it up over my head to grasp at my breasts. His fingers sink into the flesh over the top of my bra, and though I was tiny—oh so tiny compared to the women he went with!—he revels in my breasts as if they were the most sumptuous tits he’s ever felt.

  A low, husky growl rumbles out of his broad, barrel chest, and I can feel his dick throb through his jeans so excitedly.

  Throbbing, hard for me.

  It almost makes me sick, that rolling pit in my stomach growing.

  I shouldn’t be doing this.

  I shouldn’t be kissing my step-brother, and I definitely shouldn’t be getting so wet at the fact that he’s got an erection over me. That he’s squeezing my breasts, and making my body sing.

  But I’ve never been more turned on in my life, and I can’t hide the little moan that escapes my lips, or the way my body rolls into his hands, begging for more as my legs spread. I want him so bad, no matter how wrong it is.

  I’ve never made love before, but with Kaiden—despite all my reservations about how taboo it is—it feels more natural than drinking water. It’s like the absolute perfect outcome, tailor-made for me.

  His every touch, his every kiss, so satisfying, intensifying. I’m putty in his hands, and he’s taking full advantage of that, undoing my bra, squeezing at my chest as it returns to its almost flat state, undeterred by it.

  Even knowing all the gorgeous women he’s been with, he makes me feel like I’m the best. The most beautiful. The one he desires most. I believe it, despite all of my own inhibitions and self-doubts.

  Those full lips of his move down from mine, smacking noisily across my neck, along my collarbone. Until at last, he’s at my breasts, kissing in around my pink areola, skirting their edge as he moves ever closer, circling around until the first touch upon my tender tits makes me gasp and squirm.

  I glance down when I can, but my eyes keep fluttering closed, my body jolting against his as his tongue teases one of my nipples to hardness. He runs the flat of his wet muscle along it before sucking it into his lips. I gasp, sucking in breath, my pussy throbbing with need and desire.

  All logic has fled me, all sense of right and wrong. Instead it’s just me and Kaiden, giving in to what we
’ve tried to hide from for so long.

  My legs wrap around his hips, and I grind against his stomach, though it does nothing to quell my need, just fueling my passion higher.

  “Oh God,” I gasp as his teeth lightly clamp around my nipple, tugging it gently and lighting a spark of excitement in my loins.

  He's big, he’s strong, he’s a rough guy with a rough past, but he handles me with such care. Teasing me with his rough edges, but never hurting me.

  It’s intoxicating, to be held in his arms, under his power, laying all trust in him as he squeezes, rubs, bites and suckles at me. Counting on Kaiden to lust for me, ravage me, but not go too far with my delicate, untouched body.

  He tugs at my nipple, suckling it before letting it snap back into place. His big hands slide down my sides, reaching in beneath my skirt. Instead of pulling my panties away though, he begins to gently rub his thumb over the fabric, along my slit… feeling the warmth and wetness there, rubbing my most sensitive of areas as he continues to tease and provoke my body to new heights.

  I shouldn't be doing this. There's no way that I can survive this, go back to just being normal with him. Not after getting what I've been wanting and looking for for so long.

  Years of fantasies and daydreams couldn't have prepared me for the reality. Not even listening to him as he’d take another woman just inches from my head could've made me realize what it would actually be like when I'm in his arms.

  He touches me, ignites such a need, and I press in against his fingers, hoping and praying that he won't stop even as I will myself to just... what? Push him away? Put an end to all this, to put us back right where we were all those years, fighting our desires? To lose him all over again?

  I'd been without him for so long, tried to push these feelings from my mind, but they didn't go anywhere. They just remained, lingering in my sub-conscious, begging for me to just give in to passion, to give in to my needs.