Stepbrother Untouchable (10 page)

“And you've never seen her again?”

“In court a couple times. But after that, she wasn’t really
interested in seeing me. She tries to call here sometimes, maybe she feels
guilty. She always tries to blame my dad for what went down,” he adds bitterly.

“Did you think that if…if you had been better, she wouldn't
have left?”

He shrugs. “Doesn't matter now. Why are you asking about
this stuff? Did I talk about it when I was drunk or something?”

“No, no.” I put my coffee down on the nightstand. “She
called here last night.”

“Eileen? You
talked
to her?”

“Well, yeah, she was really upset.”

“Fuck, Brynn,” he swears, standing up. “Why would you do
that? This has nothing to do with you.”

“I was just trying to help…”

“I don't need your help,” he spits at me.

“Would you just listen for a second?! She called because she
thought you might be willing to listen to her after what the woman said on the
TV show—”

“What are you talking about?” he growls.

“She said your dad was cheating on her, that's why she left.
Nothing to do with you.”

“Get out,” he says, raising his voice and pointing to the
door.

“Nate, my dad left, too, OK? I know what it's like. But she
sounded so lost, she's desperate to talk to you. I'd kill for my dad to sound
like that about me.”

“Oh, so that's what this is about,
your
daddy
issues.”

“No! That's not what I meant,” I plead, his words stinging
to my core.

“Look, I'm sorry that your dad isn't around, but your whole
situation has nothing to do with mine!”

“Fine!” I shout, feeling hurt. I push off the sheets and
stand up. “I promised her I'd tell you, so I did. I'll never try to help you
again.”

“That's all I ask!” he calls after me as I stomp out of his
room.

I slam my bedroom door behind me, my fists balled in anger.
I walk straight to my bed and grab my pillow and swing it down as hard as I can
onto the mattress.
I. Can't. Believe. I. Ever. Had. Feelings. For. That.
Asshole.
I think as I bring the pillow down again and again until I'm out
of breath.

It's officially time for me to move on.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“You look nice,” my mom says as I enter the kitchen, giving
me a wink.

“Mom…” I reply, rolling my eyes.

“Well, you do! Where are you two going tonight?”

“La Mirabelle.”

“French—how romantic!”

“It's just a first date, OK? Don't get too excited.” I turn
as Nate and Pierce enter from the dining room.

“I just have a good feeling about this one, that’s all.” She
continues, pouring me a glass of water, “And he's picking you up, right?”

“Oh, do you have a date tonight, Brynn?” Pierce asks,
wiggling his eyebrows at my mother.

“Yes,” I groan, not wanting to make a big deal out of it.

“Greg! The intern from your office,” my mom tells him.

“Well, well. You know, I remember seeing you two huddled
together in the copy room last week, and thinking to myself, ‘those two would
make a fine couple.’”

I blush as my mom smiles enthusiastically. It's amazing how
quickly things have gotten back to normal after that woman went on TV. For
about a week, a handful of photographers waited around outside the gate, but
they eventually left when the buzz died down. Pierce told us he has investigators
working to discredit the woman’s claims, and that everything will be back to
normal. As for Nate and me…

“So it'll just be the three of us for dinner then,” my mom
chirps.

“Two, actually. I’m going out tonight, as well,” Nate replies
casually. I manage to resist the urge to look at him.

“Oh?” my mom asks.

“Nate, you should’ve let Holly know about your plans. How
many times have I had this conversation with you? Responsibility,
responsibility, responsibility,” Pierce says as he crosses to the fridge. I
glance at my mom, but she's looking down at her chopping board.

“Sorry, Holly,” Nate says dutifully.

“It's alright, really,” my mom says quietly. Thankfully, the
doorbell rings and I can excuse myself. Angry as I am at Nate, I still don't
like to hear his dad speak to him in such a condescending way.

I walk down the hallway to the foyer, and hear my mom and
Pierce following me. I wince. I was hoping I'd get out the door without them
all meeting—wishful thinking, clearly. I smile at Greg as I open the door. He's
wearing a navy blazer and khakis, and looks a little nervous.

“Hey, Greg,” I greet him.

“Greg! It's so nice to meet you,” my mom says from behind
me, forcing me to open the door all the way.

“Good to see you,” Pierce says, shaking his hand.

“Mr. Thornhill,” Greg replies formally. I see Nate appear in
the entrance to the living room, leaning casually on the doorjamb but saying
nothing. He smiles at me as I catch his eye. I frown at him and look away.

“Have her home by ten,” Pierce instructs Greg.

“Yes, sir,” Greg replies.

Pierce slaps him on the back just as I'm about to protest.
“Don't worry, Greg, I'm just giving you a hard time.”

“Oh, you had me for a second there,” Greg says, exhaling in
relief.

“Well, we should get going,” I cut in so that Pierce doesn't
have the chance to make any more
hilarious
jokes. “See you later!” I
call, pulling the door closed behind me. I just catch Nate's smirking
expression before I shut the door.

“You alright?” Greg asks as we walk to his car.

I force a smile and nod my head. “Yes, sorry! My mind
wandered for a second. So, have you ever been to this restaurant before?”

Greg chose a very nice French restaurant for our date, it's
a cozy, softly lit place set in the hills of Potomac. The wait staff is clearly
passionate about their food, and delighted to have a young couple on a date
that they can fawn over.

“So, how is it working for your stepdad?” Greg asks with a
grin.

“You know, it's not that bad. I hardly ever think twice
about it, really. He's all the way at the top of the company, and I’m all the
way at the bottom, so we rarely interact on a day-to-day basis.”

“Speaking of being at the bottom, Roderick called me Steven
yesterday,” Greg says, referencing Pierce's business partner.

I laugh. “No! Is there even a Steven working there?”

“Nope! That's the worst part. Who knows who he was thinking
of…” He shakes his head remorsefully. “How come Pierce's son isn't working at
Thornhill and Co.? Didn't want to work with his dad?”

“Um, the opposite, actually. Pierce is pretty hard on
Nate...I feel kind of guilty about the whole thing because I think Nate wanted
the internship, and then Pierce offered it to me to punish him. I tried not to
accept, but Pierce insisted, and we’d just met, you know? I didn’t want to be
rude. Not to mention, my mom and Pierce haven't known each other for very long,
so I was a little taken aback by how quickly they’d gotten married…” I bite my
lip. “Sorry, wow. I'm rambling.”

“It's OK, I get it. My parents are divorced, too.”

“Well, mine aren't actually divorced. They weren't married
in the first place,” I clarify. But Greg isn't listening—he's squinting at the
entrance to the restaurant.

“Speaking of…isn't that Nate now? Did you tell him we were
coming here?”

“No, what? It can't be him,” I reply, turning around to look.
But sure enough, there he is, with a brunette stunner on his arm. That asshole!
There’s no way this is a coincidence—he must have overheard me telling my mom
that Greg was taking me here.

“Brynn!” Nate says with a smile, leading his date over as
the hostess trails them. “I didn't know you guys were coming here too! Greg,
right? I'm Nate.”

“Good to meet you,” Greg says, shaking his outstretched
hand.

“And this is Sophie,” Nate adds, indicating his date.

“Hey,” she says, glancing up for a moment from the cellphone
in her hands.

“Did you all want to sit together?” the hostess asks. “We
could pull another table over.”

I could kill her.

“What do you think?” Nate asks Greg, his grin at
full-wattage.

“Um, yeah, sure, why not?” Greg complies. I quickly stand
and make my way over to Greg as a waiter helps the hostess pull another small
table over. I'm not going to sit next to Nate and risk a repeat of that
thigh-touching incident.

“I'll let you two sit next to each other,” I explain with a
saccharine smile as I take a seat next to Greg.

“We just ordered so you're not too far behind,” Greg says as
the hostess hands Nate and Sophie menus.

“Could we get a bottle of Dom for the table?” Nate asks the
waiter, who nods happily and scurries off.

“Oh, you don't have to—” Greg begins.

“No, I insist. We're interrupting your date here,” Nate
replies magnanimously.

“I love champagne,” Sophie pipes up, finally putting her
phone away. I narrow my eyes at Nate and he studiously avoids my gaze.

“So, what were you two lovebirds talking about before we got
here?” Nate asks Greg.

“Nothing, really,” Greg replies glancing at me.

“You know, with your light hair, you two could almost be
related. Cousins, maybe,” Nate observes, leaning back in his chair. I swiftly
kick his shin under the table. I see his jaw tighten but he doesn't even make a
sound.

“Oh my god, totally!” Sophie agrees. “I made out with my
cousin once, but I didn't know he was my cousin at the time. But then it
happened again…”

I glare at Nate as Sophie launches into her story, and he
smiles back at me. It's going to be a long night.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I spin around in Nate's desk chair as he shuts his bedroom
door behind him. I've been waiting here, fuming, ever since Greg dropped me off
twenty minutes ago.

“Jesus! What are you, a Bond villain?” he asks, genuinely
startled.

“What were you thinking?! I know you did that on purpose to
ruin my date, you fucker!”

Nate shrugs. “Come on, you really going to tell me you were
having a great time before I got there?”

“Oh, so you were just helping me out, is that it? Greg was
completely weirded out by the whole thing.”

“Sophie had a nice time.”

“Sophie, please! Where'd you find her? A high school dance?”

“I like her,” he says with a smug grin as he sits on his
bed.

“Oh, really? So why aren't you with her right now? Couldn't
seal the deal?”

His smile falters a bit. “Maybe I didn't feel like it.”

“Well, I guess there's a first time for everything. Just
stay out of my life, OK?” I say, and stalk toward the door.

“I'll stay out of yours if you stay out of mine,” he
counters.

I turn to face him, “Is that what this is about? You’re mad
because I told you your mom called, so you try to ruin my date?” I hold out my
hands in surrender.

“No, it wasn't that.”

“Then what? I don’t have time to play games with a crazy
man-child.”

“I'm sorry, alright? I just didn't like seeing you with that
guy…something about his face is just, so punch-able,” he says, standing up and
walking over to me.

“Why? This is the second time you've come between me and a
guy.” I hold up a hand to stop him from protesting. “And yeah, I know, Jackson
wasn't a good choice, but that's not the case with Greg, OK? He’s a nice guy.
So tell me, why do you care?” I challenge him as he looks down at me. There's a
long pause as his pupils dilate, I can practically feel him struggling with the
truth, but I refuse to move until he admits it.

“You know why,” he says, looking me in the eye, his voice
low and husky. Before I know what’s happening, his arms are around me, pulling
me against him. His urgency takes my breath away—his fingers reach desperately
under my shirt, grabbing at my bra strap and expertly undoing the clasps. His
mouth devours mine as he reaches back around my waist and picks me up
effortlessly, bringing me over to his bed. As Nate puts me down, I realize my
bra is hanging free in the back, and he breaks away from our kiss to rip off my
top. He pauses to look down at my breasts curving out of my limp bra before
diving into my neck. “Oh god, Brynn, I have to have you,” he groans.

I gasp as he sinks his teeth into my skin and then flicks
his tongue across my taut neck muscles on his way up to my ear. My knees buckle
as his tongue presses into my ear, and I grab onto his neck for support. My
mind can't keep up with what's happening, all my thoughts are a blur, but my
body is urging me on, desperately.

As he sucks on my earlobe, I slide my hands down and under
his shirt, finally feeling the body I've coveted for so long. His abs are even
harder than I thought they would be, and they flex under my soft fingertips. I
keep sliding my hands upward, feeling his nipples harden under my palms, and I
feel the growing bulge of his cock pressing against my thigh…

I turn Nate Thornhill on. Holy fuck.

The thought drives me crazy and I feel myself instantly
become moist with wanting, my body overcome with illicit, sinful lust. No man
has ever made me feel this way before.

He steps back for a moment and pulls off his shirt, tossing
it carelessly on the ground, revealing his incredible body for all its glory.
Thousands of hours spent at the gym on and on the field have painstakingly
sculpted his muscles into a fucking masterpiece for womankind. He slowly
reaches forward and takes my bra straps under his expert fingers, pulling them
off my arms and tossing my bra onto the pile of clothes on the floor. I shiver
involuntarily as he looks down my exposed body, exhaling softly out of his
mouth. He sinks to his knees in front of me and leans forward, kissing me
gently on my stomach. I place my hands on his shoulders as he moves up, running
his tongue underneath the crease of my breasts. I cry out as he takes my right
breast into his mouth, sucking hard on my nipple. He brings one hand up to
massage my left breast, and I dip my head back, feeling pleasure swell in my
body like I never have before.

I feel his fingers hook over the top of my skirt and slowly
pull it down as his mouth moves to my left breast, softly biting it before
flicking his tongue back and forth across my areola. I hear my skirt fall to
the floor and his hands glide up my legs from my knees, his thumbs hooking
around my inner thigh. He dips his head and kisses me softly just above the top
of my white cotton underwear.

“I've been dreaming about how sweet you taste,” he murmurs,
almost inaudibly. He pulls my panties down just a bit and runs his tongue over
the now exposed skin. I begin to shake, a mixture of unbridled desire and
nerves, as he slides my underwear down to my ankles.

I feel his warm breath on my skin, just a moment before his
mouth is on me, kissing and licking my most intimate of places. I moan
involuntarily at the sensation…it's completely new to me, and it feels better
than I ever could have imagined. He flicks his tongue across my aching clit,
sending jolts of rapture through every inch of me. With one hand I tighten my
grip on his strong shoulders, digging my fingers into his hair with the other,
and letting my head dip back in utter bliss as he licks my pussy with slow,
strong strokes.

“Oh my god, Nate…” I hear myself moan from far away as I'm
carried off by wave after wave of pleasure. Before I know what's happening, my
body spasms, and I feel Nate grab my ass to keep me upright and pressed against
his skillful mouth.

As I begin to come down, I feel his licks becoming gentler.
He reaches up and puts his finger to my lips, and I instinctively take it into
my mouth, licking and sucking his finger, thinking about how incredible it
would feel to do this to another part of him…

He pulls his finger out of my mouth and slips it carefully
inside my tight pussy. He circles it around slowly, and I can hear him grunt in
satisfaction at my wetness. My eyes begin to open slowly and I glance down at
him. He catches my eye and stands up, dipping his head down and catching me in
a kiss, his finger still inside me. My eyes widen as I taste myself on his lips
and he pushes his tongue inside me with abandon.

“I'm going to make you feel so fucking good,” he promises
with a wicked smile, undoing his belt buckle and unzipping his pants in one
fluid motion before pushing them and his boxers to the ground. I gape at his
massive cock as it's unsheathed from his underwear. Its size snaps me back to
the reality of what’s about to happen, and I feel overcome with fear and
adrenalin…but I can't take my eyes off it. I want to feel him inside of me so
much, but I think there's one thing I need to tell him first.

He bites his lip and moves against me again. I can feel his
cock, throbbing and ready, against my stomach. He wraps his arms around me, and
eases me back onto the bed and lays on top of me, kissing my neck.

“Nate…I…I have to tell you…” I murmur, his mouth a complete
distraction.

“Mmm, whatever it is, it doesn't matter now,” he replies,
biting my earlobe.

“It might, though. I just thought I should tell you, or warn
you maybe, in case I'm not very good—”

“I doubt that—”

“I'm a virgin.”

I feel his body stiffen as the words cross my lips. He pulls
back and looks me in the eye.

“What? No. No way.”

 I nod. “But it's OK. I want to do this.”

“How…how are you a virgin?”

Oh, dear. This is not the kind of conversation I want to
have right now. “I don't know, I just am. It just hasn't happened yet, but I'm
ready now.” I assure him.

“But you've…you must have done some things…” he begins
worriedly.

“Yeah, sure, you know, kissing…”

“And? Wait, was that the first time anyone's ever gone down
on you?”

I can only shrug. “I didn't think it would be that big of a
deal. I just was telling you, in case I'm not that good, or if I bleed or
something.”

He rolls off of me and sits up. Shit.

“Brynn, it is a big deal, it's a very big deal to
me
.”

“I don't understand…” I reply, sitting up and pulling the
sheet over to cover me, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.

“It's just, your first time…it's going to mean a lot to
you.”

“So?” I say, confused. He spreads his hands open on his legs
but doesn't say anything. I feel a sensation like a rock sinking to the bottom
of my stomach. “Oh…you're saying it will mean a lot to
me
, but it won't
mean a lot to
you
.”

I stare straight forward as he turns to me. “Brynn, you're
smart, gorgeous, funny, ambitious…you're wonderful…but like I told you before,
I don't lie to women and say that I'm interested in something more when I'm
not.”

“I guess I forgot about your policy,” I reply flatly,
feeling like the biggest idiot in the world. The biggest
naked
idiot in
the world. “Could you…could you close your eyes?”

“Brynn, I've seen—”

“Just close them, OK?” I glance at him to make sure he's
complied, and then stand up and begin to gather my clothes from the floor. I
slip everything back on as quickly as I can, and then look back at him. His
eyes are closed, and he's sitting nude and perfectly still on the edge of the
bed. He looks as perfect as I've ever seen him look, which is really saying
something. My heart breaks a little, as I move to the door and shut it behind
me.

I hurry down the hall and into my own bedroom, which now
feels cold and empty. I crawl into bed without bothering to take off my clothes
and pull the covers over me. I'm no different to Nate Thornhill than any of the
other girls he's been with, and I should have known that.
Stupid, stupid,
stupid
.

I hear a soft knock at the door and pull the covers up a
little higher, but don't answer. If it's my mom, I don't want to see her, and
if it's Nate, I really don't want to see him. There's another knock, a little
louder, and then the door is slowly pushed open. I can just see Nate's shadow
in the moonlight. He closes the door behind him and moves into the room. To my
surprise, he walks around the foot of my bed and to the other side, then hops
on, lying down over the covers next to me.

“I'm sorry,” he whispers, laying his hands over his stomach.

“You don't have to apologize. You were just being honest.”

“No, I think I do. And I'll stop interfering with you and
other guys.”

I clear my throat to keep the pain down. “Good.”

“I don't really have female friends…” He says.

“Dana?”

“Dana and I are, well, fuck buddies, mostly. And that's what
she wants, too, so it's OK.”

“Mmm.”

“But I'd…I'd like us to be friends.”

“We're already step-siblings,” I point out.

I can hear him smile next to me. “True. But that wasn't by
choice.” He pauses. “I like you. I can't deny that I'm attracted to you, of
course, but I'm just not the relationship kind of guy. Not to mention the kind
of issues that dating my own stepsister would bring up.” He sighs. “So can we
be friends?”

I consider for a moment. If I'm Nate's only female friend,
then I really am different to him. Maybe not in the way I'd most like, but
still, it's something.

“OK. Friends, then. Wait, actually,” I turn onto my side and
face him. “Before we're officially friends, I have to ask you some non-friend
questions.”

“OK…” he replies warily, turning on his side, too.

“Was I…am I…OK at all that stuff? You know…”

He laughs. “What we just did, you mean? Yes. You are more
than OK at it.”

I smile. “When did you lose your virginity?”

“When I was fourteen.”

“Wow.”

“She was my friend's older sister.”

“Wow.”

“How many women have you slept with?”

“Oh my god, I don't even know…”

“Wait, really? You don't even know?”

“I mean, dozens? I don't count.”

“Sheesh. OK, one more: why aren't you the relationship kind
of guy?”

He pauses. “I don't know,” he says softly. “I tried a couple
times, but that kind of closeness, it just makes me uncomfortable. That's all I
know.”

I nod, sensing he's telling me everything he can, and roll
back over onto my back. I like the feeling of lying here with him next to me. I
feel much more comfortable than I would have thought possible. I feel my eyes
beginning to flutter closed as sleep pulls me under.

“Brynn…I…” I can just hear Nate say. “You're going to make
some man very happy one day.”