Mask - A Stepbrother Romance

MASK

© 
2016 by Caitlin Daire

**Warning: This novel contains explicit sexual situations which may be objectionable to some readers. Not recommended for anyone under the age of 18.**

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COPYRIGHT

Please respect the work of this author. No part of this book may be reproduced or copied without permission. This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.

This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Any similarities to events or situations is also coincidental.

© 
2016 Caitlin Daire

All Rights Reserved

Chapter 1

Rayna

“Wanna drink?”

My friend Liana held up a beer as she returned to her bedroom, and I grinned at her. “We haven’t even gone to the party yet!” I said.

“Don’t they have pre-drinking over in the States?” she asked. “Oh wait, I forgot…back home, you aren’t even legally allowed to drink yet, are you?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Feels so weird knowing that I can just walk into a bar here.”

“Pub,” she replied, sticking her tongue out. “That’s what we call it here most of the time. Now that you’re gonna be living here, I’ll have to teach you all the lingo.”

I smiled again and smoothed my dress down as I considered her words. I’d been in London for a week now, and it had still barely hit me that this was my home now; this unfamiliar city, with its comparatively ancient architecture, quaint little shops and far narrower streets than my hometown all the way across the Atlantic in good old California.

But this was it—England was where I lived now, after I’d moved over here with my Mom.

After spending my entire life up to this point in the States, it was safe to say that this recent move had been a bit of a shock to the system. One of the first things I’d noticed as I stepped off the plane was how cold it was. Compared to the balmy Californian summers I was accustomed to, London was friggin’ freezing! I wasn’t entirely convinced that this new lifestyle was going to suit me at all, because I’d always been such a beach bum, and my usual wardrobe of shorts and casual tank tops was going to have to change dramatically. Luckily, I’d been shopping just before I came, and I’d purchased a myriad of oversized sweaters, coats and jeans.

I wouldn’t have come here permanently if I’d been given the choice, but I wasn’t an idiot—I knew I wasn’t ready to face the world without my Mom around just yet. Yes, I was nineteen years old; at an age where I could’ve remained behind, living by myself, and I wouldn’t have minded doing so if she’d simply been moving down the street…but she’d moved to a different continent entirely. I knew I wasn’t ready to be
that
far away from her just yet—especially seeing as she was the only biological parent I had in my life—so here I was.

She was about to marry Gerald Wilde; a wealthy English businessman who she was certain was the love of her life after a whirlwind romance. They’d met online, and after I’d finally met the guy in person, I half-wondered how certain she really was, but that wasn’t something I would ever say out loud.

I didn’t really know a lot about Gerald, apart from the fact that he had a huge manor on an estate on the outskirts of London, a very profitable corporate finance business, an enormous luxury car collection, and a son who was about the same age as me. Mom had shown me a photo of the pair of them together when she first met Gerald, but I hadn’t taken much notice at the time, because I hadn’t expected it to go this far. I’d honestly thought it would fizzle out long before it got to this stage. I wasn’t aware that people actually moved across to the other side of the world to be with someone they met online; it sounded more like something from a rom-com movie than real life.

I could see what she saw in Gerald, though. He was successful and good-looking—and speaking of good-looking, so was his son, from what I vaguely recalled of the photo I’d been shown—but I still wasn’t totally convinced that this was the best decision for any of us. As a result, I’d only been to Gerald’s manor house once since I’d arrived in London. I’d let Mom go on ahead to settle in before I joined her, assuming she might want some ‘alone time’ for a few days with her new fiancé before I moved in with them. That way the two of them could figure out if this was really the best choice for them.

So, instead of living in the manor house, I was staying with my friend Liana for the time being. I’d met her online in a chat room years before, and we’d stayed in touch our entire teenage lives. We’d always promised that we’d meet up at some point in our lives, so I’d been absolutely over the moon to learn that I would be living near her when we moved to England. As soon as she’d heard about it, she’d invited me to stay in her spare room whenever I wanted, and I’d jumped at the opportunity when I’d first arrived and realized that Mom and Gerald might want some private time together.

Tonight, Liana and I were heading to what sounded like an amazing masquerade party that a friend of hers was hosting. I hadn’t been prepared for such a lavish affair, so yesterday we’d gone out shopping so I could buy something suitable to wear, and I was now clad in a silver sequined knee-length dress which showed just a hint of cleavage and hugged my curves well. The color of the material made my skin look even more tanned than usual, and a black lace mask sat snugly around my deep hazel eyes. I wasn’t normally one to think highly of myself, but as I looked in the mirror, I couldn’t help but be pleased at what I saw.

My first proper night out in the UK, and I’d scrubbed up pretty well!

“Ooh, I think I hear the cab outside. Come on, let’s go!” Liana said a moment later.

She was the complete opposite of me in terms of appearance. She was tall, slim and leggy with the palest blonde hair I’d ever seen, which she’d had cropped into a pixie cut. Her choice of a pastel pink dress and matching mask made her look almost ethereal, and while she was completely and utterly gorgeous, I didn’t feel intimidated in the way that I usually would in the presence of a girl like her. Liana was a great friend who’d never try to make me or anyone else feel bad, and I was feeling rather confident in myself, which was a sure sign that tonight was going to be an amazing night.

“Okay, let’s do it,” I said. I smiled back at her as she grabbed my hand and dragged me out the door into the black cab waiting outside.

She chatted away excitedly as we drove to our destination. “We’re going to have so much fun,” she said. “There are normally loads of people at Tom’s parties.”

I sat there, trying not to be too nervous. Now that we were actually on our way to the party, the whole concept of socializing with a bunch of strangers was starting to creep up on me a bit. I’d always been quite sociable in America, but I didn’t know anyone here aside from Liana, and I didn’t want to be clingy and hang off her like a mollusk all night.

“Not just my friends,” she continued. “There’s always random people he knows from his classes at uni, and others too. What I’m trying to say is…there’ll be heaps of hot guys there! Maybe you can meet someone, huh?”

I giggled at this. Liana had always struck me as boy-crazy. In the time that I’d known her, she’d confided many crushes, boyfriends, and hook-ups to me, and she always seemed to fall hard before getting bored and moving onto the next. She was nowhere near settling down, but then again, at my relatively tender age, neither was I.

“I don’t know about that,” I said. “I’ve only just moved here, so I’m not sure that complicating my life with a guy is such a good idea.”

“What are you on about? You’re still a teenager…but only for a few more months. You need to act like a teen and have
some
fun before you hit the big two-zero! Besides, guys here will go nuts for your American accent—probably even more so if they know you aren’t looking for something serious.”

“Mm…maybe.”

Before I had time to decide once and for all whether I wanted to meet a sexy guy tonight, we pulled up outside the house the party was being held at.

To be honest, I wouldn’t really call it a house. It was more like a freaking mansion; nearly as big as Gerald’s manor, and the main party room we entered a few minutes later was almost as grand as a palace ballroom. It was decorated in shades of gold and deep purple, and everywhere I looked, there was something fancy in my line of sight. Liana’s friend Tom was either rich as hell, or English parties were far different to the beachside barbeques that I was used to.

“Let’s get a drink!” Liana said, clearly unfazed by her surroundings.

It took an hour and four drinks for me to start to relax and enjoy myself. By this point, Liana had introduced me to about a dozen people, and now she was voraciously making out with one of them on the dance floor. At first this had been fine because I’d been talking to a group of people she knew from her high school days, but then I’d gone to the bathroom, and I hadn’t been able to find them upon my return, so now I was alone and feeling quite awkward.

I finally spotted someone I’d been introduced to earlier across the dancefloor, but my thoughts of going over to her were interrupted by a husky masculine voice speaking directly into my ear.

“Not dancing like everyone else?” the guy asked, his voice tinged with amusement.

I turned to see a tall, muscular man standing beside me, and I looked him up and down as my mouth dried up out of sheer nervousness. I couldn’t see all of his face because of the black mask he had covering some of it, but I could tell from the rest of his features that he was handsome as hell, and his hard physique alone was enough to make me feel rather hot and bothered. He was rocking a tuxedo like no one I’d ever seen before; it seemed to fit his sculpted body perfectly.

In the dim light of the room, I could just make out his grey-blue eyes behind the mask, and the way he was looking at me sent a bolt of electrified desire racing through my body.
I had a brief thought of him pulling me closer, bending me over the nearby drinks table and taking me right there in front of the rest of the partygoers, and while the thought was gone in seconds, I was left with a treacherous blush on my face.

When I didn’t reply immediately, he took a step closer, and I almost shivered with desire under his gaze. “Sorry, it’s loud in here. Didn’t mean to sneak up on you,” he said.

“I…uhh…that’s okay,” I said, feeling my cheeks heat up. I wasn’t normally a big flirt, but I was usually at least capable of forming a coherent sentence around members of the opposite sex. But not tonight, apparently…at least not around this guy.

“Ah! You’re American,” he said. He gave me a smug smile, as if my nationality answered his earlier question, and I didn’t know what to make of this response. Was he insulting me because of where I came from, or was it some sort of odd English flirting technique?

Either way, it didn’t matter—I still found him to be hot as hell.

The effect he was having on me was bizarre, and I decided to put it down to the booze. I just couldn’t find any other rational explanation for the way my body was already seeming to crave him despite the fact that I couldn’t even see his entire face. As I watched him lift his drink to his lips, I noticed a glimpse of a black tattoo twining around his right arm that had me wanting to see more, and as he ran his fingers through his thick dark hair, I wished that it was my hand there instead.

Yup…it was definitely the alcohol making me this man-crazy.  At least that’s what I was going to tell myself for now.

“Um, yeah, it’s my first time in England,” I finally said, seemingly able to speak normally again. “I only arrived a few days ago.”

“On holidays?”

“No, I’ve actually moved here from California with my Mom. Transferred my college course and everything. When the next term starts, I’ll be at the University of London.”

“Nice. I’ve got some friends who go there. I went to Manchester Uni myself. Well, up until a year ago, anyway. So what are you studying?”

“I’m pre-law,” I replied.

He raised his eyebrows. “So you’re beautiful
and
smart, huh?”

I shyly cast my eyes down at the floor before looking back up at him. “Thanks,” I said softly.

He must have sensed my awkwardness, because he grinned and smoothly went on without adding to my embarrassment. “So you’re gonna be a big legal eagle one day, huh?”

“Maybe,” I said with a smile. “I’m not sure exactly what I’ll be specializing in, but I think entertainment law would be really cool. Although that’s more applicable back in America in my home state, where the big movie industry is.”

“True.”

“But while I’m here, I’ll study as much as I can and figure out if there are any other things I’d like to specialize in. I was actually driving past somewhere with my Mom yesterday, and there was a sign saying there was some sort of archaeological dig-site nearby. It reminded me of a class I took once on heritage law, and that was always really cool to learn about.”

“So maybe you’ll end up doing that, then,” he said with a nod. “That’d be awesome. There’s a lot of archaeological stuff that goes on in this country. Like up in York, there’s a lot of cool ancient stuff from when it was first established in Roman times. And in Leicester, they recently found King Richard III buried under a carpark. Crazy, right?”

I nodded. It was amazing how much this guy knew about such random subjects, and he made me feel totally at ease talking about it. Liana’s earlier words suddenly flooded my mind, and I considered them.
Why not have a little fun while I’m here? Especially with a guy that’s so damn hot.
There was nothing wrong with a few kisses and some groping on the dancefloor, and after all, like Liana had alluded to, I’d only be nineteen once, right? Pretty soon I’d be out of my teens and well on my way to adulthood, and there’d be less chances to throw caution to the wind and make out with hot guys at parties.

“So aside from that dig-site you drove by, have you seen any of the major sights around here yet?” he asked, eyes still twinkling under the mask. Something about the way he spoke had me thinking about seeing all of
him
, rather than London Bridge or Big Ben.