Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33526 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33526 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Alaric lifts an eyebrow. I’m unsure if it’s a warning or a look of intrigue. I decide to push my luck and his resolve by licking the dildo from root to tip. Shoving the whole silicon down my throat, I gag so badly that I panic.
Chapter Nine
Alaric
Every nerve I possess vibrates to the brink of destruction. My willpower is an acrobat walking on an unraveling tightrope.
I have a mind to take my belt to her sexy apple-shaped ass for the games she’s playing. Someone needs to remind Ella that playing with fire will get her burned. Her gaze is like kerosene, tempting an arsonist to break and give in to his deadly addiction.
I stand in my corner, my cock so hard that I’m worried it may explode from the burning need to unload. I don’t come with others—never have. Sure, I ejaculate, but always in private. I can’t describe the pathology of it. Perhaps it’s self-punishment of the shame rooted deep within me.
My mind wanders back to that night when things were simpler. For two months, the three of us got to know Ella. At first, it was for Celeste. She wanted us to manipulate and deconstruct Ella so we could mold her into whatever we wanted. But as we got to know her, things shifted.
We’d each built a bond with Ella since we met. She embodied a feminine kindness and compassion we’d never known. Everything she did was laced with care and empathy, yet we couldn’t push her around because she called us on our bullshit without fear or hesitation.
She smiled as she placed the freshly cut flowers in the basket. “I thought I’d end up tolerating the three of you. Never in my wildest dreams did I think you’d become my friends.”
“I want to be more than your friend,” I blurted before I could stop myself. I cringed at my admission, wanting to kick my own ass.
Ella gazed at me in unadulterated shock. “What?” She lost her footing and stumbled.
Lunging, I braced her fall, jubilant at the heat of her body engulfed in my arms. She clamored to free herself, but I didn’t want to let her go. Bringing my face closer to hers, I crushed our lips together, losing myself in the only kiss I’d ever shared with a woman. I didn’t know why I’d dived in. I was well aware of the dangers, but all I could think about was my desperation to taste something pure and untainted for once in my life.
Her lips held the flavor of honey. I pondered why that substance was so prevalent in the bible, where it was mentioned sixty-one times. In Exodus, God told Moses he’d take his people into a land of milk and honey. Was Ella the promise of freedom? I’d never believed in the bounty of an omniscient being, but right now, I’d fall to my knees in worship of this woman. Maybe she was the key, my messiah, my savior, and my prophet.
She pushed at my chest before pulling me close as if she couldn’t decide what she wanted. I couldn’t blame her. Something in her subconscious must have warned her that I was impure and unworthy, unlike her. We were the juxtaposition of sin and virtue battling for dominance, knowing we were the polarity of the other.
“You’re supposed to be my brother,” she whispered against my lips. “This is wrong.”
“Stepbrother,” I corrected, the taboo of her words causing my cock to rise. If only she knew how much I enjoyed fucking people meant to be my siblings.
“Is that how you justify having sex with Asher and River?” Ella asked, almost knocking my ass to the ground.
Instantly, irritation bloomed within me. I was discreet with my relationships, but I wasn’t ashamed. Too many people and obstacles could rip my world apart in an instant. I might not care about many things, but I loved Asher and River and would do anything for them.
I should play it cool and pretend I didn’t know what she was talking about, but I didn’t. “How do you know about that?”
Ella flinched, dropping her gaze to the vegetation scattered around the garden.
Panic. It was an emotion I knew well. It was the suffocating knowledge that you’d been caught, and everything was about to crumble beneath your feet. “I’m not gonna hurt you, Ella. We’ve had to be careful. Most people look down on the relationship we’ve fostered. Yes, we’re stepbrothers, but we’ve also grown up with each other, which adds another layer of fucked up to the taboo.”
“I would never judge those who bonded to survive,” Ella whispered.
“Pardon?”
“Asher told me how you helped him.” She paused and gazed at me as if hoping I’d say something, but I remained quiet. People talked too much, never listening to understand but only to respond. I didn’t want Ella to feel like I wasn’t listening to her.