SCORCHED: A Firefighter Stepbrother Romance Thriller (11 page)

Chapter 12

Tanya

My
heart hammered. My lips burned. Finally, my stepbrother was ready to talk about
our kiss—the one I couldn’t get out of my head.

But then
Gunner opened his mouth, and what came out was nothing good.

“I’m
sorry,” he told me. “It was a mistake. You were vulnerable, and I took
advantage of you . . . ”

I
settled back against my side of the divided tub and stared at the ceiling,
grinding my teeth so hard I couldn’t even hear my stepbrother’s voice. My hand
skirted the edge of the bucket of ice on the partition between us, the one with
a bottle of champagne inside it. The bucket was starting to sweat from the heat
of our bathwater, and soon enough the ice would be all but a memory… And nobody
likes warm champagne.

I
looked at my stepbrother. He was still rambling on, making excuses. Trying to
be the big damn hero.

Maybe
that was what he needed. But what I needed was
him
. I’d
known it from the moment I’d first seen his face again. I needed his touch. I
needed his kiss… And though I’d never experienced anything quiet like it
before, I knew I needed his dick pressing up hard and deep inside me.

To make
that happen, Gunner was going to need to feed that hero complex of his. Maybe
I’d have to play the villain.

I
grabbed the champagne bottle out of the bucket, and with a hard tug, popped the
cork. Gunner went silent as I put the bottle to my lips, chugging as much of it
as I could, sweet suds spilling down my chin and jaw.

A
little spark lit up inside me when I saw him eyeing me from his side of the
tub. He’d stopped talking and just stared, lips parted and just a little wet. His
tongue darted across them and he sucked the lower one in between his teeth as I
wiped my mouth with the back of my wrist and slammed the champagne bottle back
into the bucket between us.

“No
more games, Gunner,” I told him, grasping the sides of the tub. Then I hauled
myself over the divider and into his side, sinking into the bubbles. “There’s
something between us. And I think I know what it is. I think I know how we can
get past it. Besides, I’ve beaten death twice this week and I don’t want to die
a virgin.”

Gunner
sat up and stiffened, his jaw trembling, aching to spit out a coherent strand
of words. I could already see it in his eyes—that battle between desire
and responsibility.
Responsibility to me.
To society.
To himself.
To the
family that shattered when my mom died, and that had become irreparable when
Gunner left us.

We
weren’t a family anymore. We never would be again. Not like we used to be. And
where
there
had once been familial affection between
us, there was something different now: a dark, seething passion that was more
akin to hate than love.

I swept
my knees forward, positioning my hips against his and putting my naked body
right in his lap. I felt the tops of his thighs clench against me and his
manhood
throb
.

“All
this frustration, Gunner.
All this pain.
It’s got me
so worked up. My head spins whenever I look at you.” I lowered against his
shaft, and with an expert sway of my hips, brought him to full attention. He
grunted and pressed up, his dick nestled neatly between my pussy lips. “I think
you feel the same way.”

“Tanya,”
he began, but whatever protest he’d been trying to make died on his lips the
second he felt my tongue.

I ran
the tip of it up his earlobe before taking his flesh between my teeth. Just one
little nibble filled his cock with blood so warm I could feel it despite the
heat of the tub. I never stopped moving my hips, grinding and writhing slow and
steady. His prick pressed into my entrance, millimeters away from impaling me.
From taking me from
virgin
to…
Something else.

My
nipples hardened when he put his hands on my ass. He was shaking. I whispered,
“We need to get this out of our systems . . . ”

I threw
my head back as Gunner dug his nails into me and let out the lowest, sexiest
growl I’d ever heard. He was past the point of no return. He needed something
to satisfy the lust inside him. It would either be me, or his hand. I needed to
make sure it was
me
.

“Fuck
me, Gunner,” I moaned. He had the perfect view of my tits now—gleaming
and soaked and right in his face. “Give me everything you’ve got.”

Before
I’d even finished the sentence, Gunner lunged. He grabbed the sides of my face,
his fingers weaving through the wet tendrils of my hair. He crushed my lips
with his, stealing my breath and giving me life all at once. My nerves sparked
and sizzled. My pussy ached and pulsed. Everything in me—my body, my
heart, my soul—was ready for Gunner’s big, thick cock.

“No,”
he whispered.

I
stared, certain I’d heard him wrong. “ . . . 
no
? No what?”

But
then Gunner stood, cradling me in his arms.

“I’m
not
gonna
fuck you, Tanya.”

He made
quick strides toward one of the bedrooms and lowered me onto the bed. I was
still dripping wet from the tub, but all I could think about was what the fuck
I’d done wrong.

It was
obvious my stepbrother wanted me.
Needed
me. So why wouldn’t he go for it? Why wouldn’t he take the plunge?

“Oh!” I
breathed, eyes rolling back. Gunner had shoved my legs apart and stuffed his
face between them to lap at my clit.

Fiery
bursts of pleasure jetted through me, singing everything they touched. I bucked
into Gunner’s face, so eager for more. He knew exactly what to do, how to stoke
the fire inside of me. Figures that a firefighter wouldn’t only know how to put
out a fire, but how to start one, too.

“Gunner!”
I licked my lips, looking down at him, reveling in the image of his tongue
flicking between my folds. “Fuck!”

My
stepbrother was eating me out. There was no hotter sight in
all
the
world.

Gunner
lifted my calves over his shoulders, making way for one of his finger to push
into my hole. It was easy, given how wet he was making me, but still so
surreal. I’d never had anyone inside me before. Not even a vibrator. I closed
my eyes and moaned when he stroked my inner walls in search of my sweet spot.

“More,”
I groaned. I grabbed fistfuls of his hair and pulled. “God, Gunner. I thought
you weren’t
gonna
fuck me?”

“I’m
not,” he said, voice muffled against my cunt. Then he lifted up onto his hands
and crawled on top of me, that gorgeous body of his in full view. “I’m
gonna
make love to you, baby. Nice and slow.”

He took
my hands in his, lifting my arms above my head. I looked up into his face,
confused.

This
wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to get Gunner out of my mind. I wanted to slam
my pussy down on his cock so hard it hurt us both. And I wanted that pain to
take away the agony of losing him all those years ago. I wanted to use him to
get over my heartache. To make all
that rage inside me go
away.

As he
lowered his lips to mine and kissed me, I felt his dick slide toward my core,
and some part of me just knew that maybe this wasn’t what I’d wanted, but it
was sure as hell exactly what I needed.

I
arched off the bed as Gunner pushed his dick into me, spreading my channel
wide. I whimpered, lost for words as he stretched me. My God, he was so big! So
thick! The single finger he’d slipped inside me was nothing in comparison, and
I felt woefully unprepared to accept his girth.

But
then he nuzzled me, released my hands, and whispered in my ear, “Hang on tight,
baby.” And when I grabbed onto his shoulders, he finished thrusting inside me,
and my nails drew blood from his skin.

First
there was pain, a sharp plume that rained down little throbs of anguish onto my
quivering body. In a moment, every one of those embers turned into a passionate
flame, consuming me with the greatest bliss I’d ever known.

I
buried my face in Gunner’s shoulder. “Holy fuck,” I whispered.

My
stepbrother bit back a snarl of ecstasy. “I’m inclined to agree.”

He held
me under one thigh as he thrust into me again, spreading me wider with each
push. I basked in the sensation, letting it envelop me, letting it dance across
my spine. Gunner took one of my nipples into his mouth and bit down just enough
to make me yelp, then laved the nubbin with his tongue, swirling and sucking
until I was raising my hips in time to meet his and urging him to fuck me more,
more, more.

My
stepbrother was in so deep I could taste him. I knew I would never get enough,
knew that his flavor would haunt me until the day I died. All I had wanted was
to forget Gunner Cole, but now, with his dick buried to the hilt inside of me,
I knew I never would.

His
thumb on my clit ignited that stretched-too-thin feeling in my belly, the one I
always got whenever I was about to cum. Gunner touched me even better than I
touched myself, caressing and rubbing, flicking and tapping, pulling out all
the stops.

“Don’t
fight it,” he muttered against my ear. I answered with a gasp and he dipped his
thumb down near his cock, gathering more of my lust to smear across my clit.
“Just let go, baby. Let go for me. It’ll be all right.”

I knew
it would be. And yet some part of me was scared. Scared that if I let down my
guard, my stepbrother would hurt me again. Abandon me. I couldn’t bear to watch
him walk away again.

As if
he knew exactly what I was thinking, Gunner groaned into my neck, “It’s okay.
I’m not going anywhere, Tanya. Just let go. Cum for me, my sweet, beautiful . . . ”

I
couldn’t fight it anymore. Couldn’t fight
him
anymore. It was all too good.
Too perfect.
Too much.

With a
shuddering breath that swelled into a cry, I ceded control to my
stepbrother—to the one man I told myself I’d never let get close to me again.

And
then I came around his cock, a flood of rapture that spread through my every
limb, igniting my soul.

I
burned for Gunner. I flat-out immolated. I clawed and bit, kicked and flailed,
sang his praises at the tops of my lungs. Through it all he held me still,
humming a low chuckle in my ear, one that spurred my pleasure all the more with
the vibration of his dulcet tones.

“That’s
my girl.”

He
drove me wild. Insane. Pushed me to the brink of beautiful despair and then
made me surrender. I was nothing and everything all at once. I was a goddess
beneath him, ruler of ecstasy, worshipped by his lips, his tongue, his fingers,
his
arms . . . 

“I need
to let go, too,” Gunner told me, exhaling a sweltering breath again my hair. I
felt the tide of his dick swell up inside me, the dam that held back the
pinnacle of his desire threatening to burst. “God, you’re so perfect. I can’t . . . ”

“Cum
with me,” I begged him. “Please, Gunner. Cum . . . ”

For the
first time in his life, the sweet bastard obeyed me.

Gunner
pressed his forehead to mine, crying out as his orgasm overtook him. I felt
that shudder run from his toes up his spine, finally culminating in his
shoulders and biceps. He squeezed me tightly and dropped his face to my chest,
eyes shut tight, burying
himself
inside of me until
there was nothing left for him to give. I felt those hot torrents of his desire
stream into me, filling me to the brim with his essence—his
soul
.

I
couldn’t speak. I couldn’t breathe. Neither of us could. We just wrapped around
each other, naked and wet, and floated into oblivion—together.

Chapter 13

Gunner

I sat
up in bed I’d made love to my stepsister in, watching her curl up against me in
the soft,
cotton
sheets. I couldn’t remember ever
being so satisfied after having sex—not with anyone before her.

That
thought weighed on me as I sat there in the quiet of the late evening, the
lights dimmed down throughout our entire suite. Everything seemed so calm, so
peaceful, even though I felt like something should feel utterly wrong after
what I’d just done. I felt like someone should have burst through the door and
pointed an accusing finger at me, declaring my shame—but there was
nothing. Everything seemed right with the world.

I
watched the lines of her body shift as she squirmed underneath the sheets. I
felt her hand brush over my hip ever so softly before she turned over, facing
away.

I never
would have thought for a moment back when we were younger that we’d end up
here, sharing a bed together, making love. There were times back in those days
where I wished she’d just disappear. But no, I’d been the one who
disappeared—leaving her all alone with that monster of a father.
My
father.

I
breathed a sigh, eyes closed as I thought about what we had done. I hadn’t used
a condom. I’d taken her virginity and I’d done so much more… I turned in place,
opening my eyes and staring at her beautiful figure. She was so calm… I hoped
she was dreaming of comforting things.

Shit,
I thought with a
little, self-indulgent smile,
maybe she’s
dreaming of me.

I’d run
away once, and now she was the only family I had left—the only person in
my life I could say that I held any love for in
all the
world. She wasn’t some booty call or bar girl. Tanya was the only one who would
be worth protecting—and I knew that I had to keep her safe, no matter
what it took.

“No
one’s going to hurt you, Tanya,” I whispered as I lay back down beside her. I
stroked her hair away from her face and she gave a little grumble, but leaned
into my palm. “I’m going to make sure that bastard doesn’t ever hurt you again.
I promise.”

I
wanted to say one more thing. I wanted to say
I love you.
I’d said it before. Just not like this.

When it
came to things
like this,
I’d never
said it to anyone. How in the hell could I find it in me to start now?