Authors: Cassandra Cole
CHAPTER SIX
“Where’s your head, man?”
Adam looked up from the glasses he was rinsing out, realizing that he had missed two clients waving at him like geese. He quickly put the glasses away, took their orders and started mixing their drinks.
The other bartenders were scurrying around him, the night crowded despite the lack of live music. Adam had been told that it was some company event, and the number of suits standing around the bar was both out of place and off-putting.
Sarah’s words kept running through his head.
He had always been close to his stepsister -- even before she
was
his stepsister -- the bond between them stronger than he had had with anyone else except Kelly.
She had always been there for him, ever since his mother died, ever since their parents married and he had resented his father a bit for it. She had always stood by his side whenever he fell, holding out a hand to help pick him up.
She was right. He was always making bad choices, letting his arrogance take control of his and his daughter’s lives. He hated to admit it, but she was the balance he had needed throughout all this.
When Kelly’s mother walked out, Sarah was quick to step in, never leaving them for a second, picking up the pieces that his ex-girlfriend had left lying around. And Kelly loved her Aunty Sarah more than anything in the world: sometimes, he thought, even more than she loves me. Maybe it’s because she feels like she can depend on Sarah more...
He cursed under his breath. For a brief moment he hated Sarah more than anything in the world. He hated how much she knew him, how much she cared.
There were times he had even thought that Heather’s snide remarks about he and Sarah being in love with one another might have some meaning to them, a relationship that had never happened because of their circumstances.
He couldn’t deny how he felt, but he knew he wouldn’t act upon it. He couldn’t. It would just be… weird.
Plus, there was Heather. Whatever Sarah might think of her, he had a feeling that this move to Paris would be a great move for all of them. He had feelings for his stepsister, possibly the wrong kind, and as much as he loved her, as much as he knew that nothing would be as right as having her in his life, and in Kelly’s, he needed to get away.
The thoughts slamming around inside his brain were giving him a massive headache.
Adam winced as he dropped the glass that was in his hand and heard it shatter on the bar floor. Quickly pushing the glass aside with his foot, he started work on the next one, making a mental note to get the mess cleaned up later.
“Hey, man, that was my drink,” the suit waiting at the bar said, frowning.
“Sorry,
man
,” Adam waved. “I’ll fix you up another one.”
“I’ve been waiting for ten minutes,” the man argued. “How hard is it to get a fucking drink right?”
Adam bit his lip and forced himself not to answer, already confused and irritated with how the day was going.
“I mean, you
are
a bartender, right?” the suit asked.
“Just give me a second,” Adam said, staring the man down. “You’ll have your drink.”
“See, that’s the problem with these places,” the suit was saying. “They hire high school drop-outs like you, make them feel important, and you can’t even keep up with something as simple as pouring a fucking drink.”
Adam gave a heavy sigh. He set the glass down, turned without a word, and punched the guy hard in the nose.
The man hadn’t been expecting it. No one had. The punch came fast and true, landing center on the man’s face, the sound of his nose cracking almost as loud as the chatter around him.
Adam watched the man fall back, grabbing his nose as he landed onto the floor, blood flowing through his fingers.
In less than it took to blink an eye, Adam was over the bar, grabbing the man by the collar and landing one punch after the other before anyone could stop him.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Sarah pulled a t-shirt over her head as she opened her apartment door, her eyes shooting wide when she saw Adam standing in front of her, with Kelly by his side.
He looked like he had just been through a train wreck. His hair and clothes were disheveled. There were scrapes on his knuckles and face. He refused to meet her gaze. Sarah had a pretty good idea what was going on. Adam; typical. She reached out for Kelly’s hand and ushered the two of them in.
“What happened?” she asked, closing the door behind them.
“Daddy got into a fight again,” Kelly said as she broke away from her hand and raced to sit on the couch.
“Jesus, Adam, what the hell?” Sarah tried to get a look at the bruises and cuts on his face.
Adam pushed her hand away lightly, wincing at her touch. “You should see the other guys.”
Sarah scowled. “Very macho,” she said sarcastically. “One day you’re going to get yourself killed.”
Adam walked past her into the kitchen and pulled a glass from the cabinet, filling it with water. Sarah watched him silently as he drank, thinking of what to say, and then decided to just let it go.
“Come on, sweetie,” she said as she took Kelly by the hand. “Let’s get you to bed.”
Adam watched the two most important people in his life disappear down the hallway. He opened the refrigerator, grabbed the closest thing to a beer he could find, a fucking cherry wine cooler, and sat down heavily on the couch.
He could hear the two of them whispering in the room, unable to discern the words. He was beat, literally and figuratively. He sighed heavily as he laid his head back and pushed the cold bottle against his face. He closed his eyes, letting the cold soothe the burning in his face. He was dog tired. He felt himself starting to drift.
“You’re going to need more than that,” Sarah said.
“It’ll do for now,” Adam answered, opening his eyes as she sat in an opposite chair. “Thanks, by the way.”
Sarah shrugged. “It’s not like I have a choice, right?”
Adam took a deep breath and shook his head. “Sarah, please, not now,” he begged.
Sarah didn’t answer, though there was much she wanted to say. He looked like he’d had enough. She bit her lip and watched him as he moved the bottle from one side of his face to the other.
She suddenly felt an urge to take care of him, as she always had. She wanted to get the first aid kit from the bathroom and make sure none of his cuts were too serious. She fought the urge to baby him. Maybe that was the problem. She had always babied him. Maybe it was time for him to grow up.
“I can feel you judging,” Adam said.
“Well, what the hell am I supposed to do, Adam, give you a frigging medal?”
His eyes pleaded with her. “How about just being my sister?”
“Just because your dad married my mom doesn’t make me your sister,” Sarah shot back without thinking. She immediately regretted the comment.
Adam looked at her hard for a moment, and then a crooked smile crossed his lips. He toasted her with the bottle. “You are one bitter bitch, you know that?”
“No, because a bitch would have slammed the door in your face,” Sarah said. “You’re lucky I’m not kicking you out.”
“Would you let it go already?”
“No, you brought it up, so tough!” she yelled. She leaned over and pointed down the hall. They could hear Kelly singing the song from the vegetable play at school.
“You hear that girl singing in there? That’s your daughter, Adam. Your daughter! If you don’t care about your life, at least care about hers. She deserves better than a father who comes home from bar fights.”
Adam looked insulted, as he always did when she hit him in the face with the truth. “Hey, I take good care of my daughter,” he pointed. “I always put her first.”
“Really? Moving her to fucking France is putting her first? You’re doing that for her? Really?”
Adam slammed the bottle down on the coffee table and glared at her. “You just won’t let up, will you? You just can’t handle the fact that I might be moving on with my life with Heather, and you’re still stuck in the notion of what could have been if our parents hadn’t gotten married.”
Sarah clenched her fists, fighting the urge to get up and slam them against his already bruised face.
“You know what, fine, I’m tired of giving a shit,” she said, pushing herself off the couch. She picked up the bottle and through it against the wall. It bounced out of sight behind the couch.
“You need to calm down,” Adam said, his hands up to fend off an attack.
“No, I’m done mothering you,” she said, raving at him. “Go to France with your blonde bitch girlfriend. Just make sure you don’t forget Kelly in the airport, because that sounds like something you would do!”
She walked past him, smacking him across the head with the back of her hand. He listened to her footsteps as she walked down the hall and slammed the door to her bedroom.
Adam cursed under his breath, angry at how much she was getting under his skin, and how right she was. Damn it! He got up and stormed down the hall, threw open her bedroom door and barged in. Sarah was sitting on the foot of the bed, her hands balled into fists.
“You don’t get to judge me!” he yelled, pointing a finger in her face. “I was there for you whenever you needed me, Sarah. This has been a two way street. I put you and Kelly before everything else in my life. I supported you when you needed it!”
“Don’t you understand? That’s exactly what I did!” she snapped back, her eyes filling with tears. “I never dropped the ball on either of you! You and Kelly have always come first. Always!”
He held out his hands, palms up. “Then what the hell’s your problem?”
“You’re my problem!” she screamed. “Your impulsiveness! Your need to prove something when you have nothing to prove!”
“I’m trying to do the right thing here,” Adam snapped.
“By running away? Are you kidding me? Do you not think there’ll be a whole new set of problems waiting for you in Paris?”
“Have you ever stopped to think that maybe I need this? Maybe I need to get away from everything here?”
“Get away from what?” Sarah yelled. “What’s so bad here that you feel you have to run away from?”
“You said it yourself, Sarah, I mess everything up,” Adam shot back. “Why not leave and start somewhere fresh? What do I have to lose?”
“Me, you stupid fuck!” Sarah yelled. “I’m still here. If you leave you lose me!”
Adam felt like he’d been punched again. He stared long and hard at her, tears running down her cheeks, her shoulders shaking with fury.
“What are you saying?” His voice came out as a whisper.
“Don’t go to Paris.” Sarah bit her lip and gazed into his eyes pleadingly. “Stay for me.”
Adam’s frown softened as he looked her in the eyes, perhaps seeing her for the first time. Without another thought, he reached out and pulled her close, his lips locking onto hers, kissing her deeply as she wrapped her arms around him.
Sarah felt her body melt. She hadn’t realized how tense she was, the mix of emotions building like an overwhelming pressure inside her.
The touch of Adam’s lips to hers felt like wildfire racing through her, her muscles suddenly relaxing as she hung to him, kissing him.
Adam kicked the door closed and carried her in his arms, lifting her up so that she had her legs and arms wrapped around him.
He kissed her passionately, urgently, letting go of all doubts as he held her in his arms. Her hands clutched the hair at the back of his head, her lips entwined in his as he sat down on the bed.
Sarah broke the kiss, pulling back and looking deep into his eyes. She was still crying, but a hint of a smile had replaced the frown.
She looked beautiful in the dim light that was seeping through the window from the street outside. Her hair framed her face in waves and he lost himself in eyes he had once fallen in love with and had forgotten.
Sarah ran a finger down the side of his face, softly touching his bruises, as if trying to heal them. She felt light, as if a heavy burden had just been lifted from her chest, and when she bent down to kiss him again, the touch of his lips hit her hard.
His hands found their way under her shirt, caressing her back, his touch soft against her skin. She felt jolts of electricity race through her as he explored her with his hands, slowly pushing her shirt up as he undressed her.
He admired her in the soft light, the shadows across her naked body adding to her beautiful curves. His hands moved up her back, pulling her close as he buried his face between her chest, kissing lightly across her breasts to her shoulder and neck. She pulled at his shirt, and he helped her take it off before rolling her over on her back.
Sarah felt his embrace send shivers down her spine, his hands everywhere, his lips kissing in all the right places, tracing lines against her naked body.
She hunched up as he took one nipple into his mouth and sucked softly, his other hand gently massaging the other. She felt a moan escape her, her hands gently caressing the muscles of his back and shoulder as he drove her insane.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked, his hands already pulling her panties down, her legs bending to help him.
Sarah nodded, gasping as his lips touched her, his tongue tracing figure eights on her skin as he found his way between her. When he kissed her, she gasped, her hands grabbing his head as his tongue did things to her she had never experienced before.
She felt her toes curl as he worked her to one orgasm after the other, her moans louder, her face buried in a pillow to muffle the sounds.
She closed her eyes and bit her lip, smiling as he pulled off his pants, climbing on top of her, their eyes locked. She stared into them as if staring through windows to his soul, his emotions as clear as day, her feelings for him suddenly overwhelming. She kissed him deeply, her lips trembling in a gasp as he entered her, deep, large, filling.
She was lost in their movement. She had always dreamt of this moment, since they were teenagers when it seemed like they had their entire lives ahead of them.
Suddenly, Sarah felt lost in desire and ecstasy, in emotions she couldn’t fully understand, in the midst of feelings she never wanted to end. She wanted this to go on forever. She wanted him more than anything in the world.
Adam held her tight, running his hands across the curves of her body, kissing her breasts and neck, moving slowly and deep as he watched her.
She was beautiful, more beautiful than he had thought possible, and in that moment he felt like he could never leave her even if he tried. It felt right, like it was meant to be, their bodies locked together as they moved.
He had no idea how long it had lasted, how long he had held Sarah in his arms as he moved in and out of her, engrossed in ecstasy and wanting.
When he finally came, their bodies tangled up in each other, their breathing hard, he felt it hit him like fireworks. He felt every inch of his body and hers explode in unison, his eyes closed as he saw bright lights behind his lids.
He felt as if in a daze, and when they finally collapsed beside each other, naked and out of breath, he couldn’t let her go.
They fell asleep in each other’s arms, Adam’s eyes only closing after he saw Sarah’s smile as she snuggled against him.