Stepbrother: Forbidden Cravings: Stepbrother Romance Boxed Set (14 page)

Chapter 5

Max used his father’s credit card to purchase groceries for dinner that night on the condition that Allison cooked it. She’d never made much more than spaghetti or grilled cheese before, but decided to give it a go.

Max assigned her to cook brown rice with vegetables, an easy dish he felt she could manage.

“I don’t expect you to screw this one up,” he said. “And if you do, I have Pizza Land on speed dial.”

“Have faith in me!” she defended. “I’m not that terrible.”

Max brought over the box of rice and set it next to Allison on the counter.

“Prove it then.”

Looking at the box of uncooked rice then back at Max, Allison decided to come clean.

“You know, Max. I’m really not as incompetent as you think I am. I was mostly just faking it.”

“Faking it? How so?”

Allison began tugging at the cardboard flap on top of the rice box in nervousness.

“I guess it was a lot of acting. I was actually completely capable of all the things you asked me to do. I mean, really, did you think I was that clueless when it came to cleaning gym machines?”

He brought over the zucchini and tomatoes and cocked his head to the side.

“I guess not. But why would you fake something like that and waste both of our time?”

“Kinda going back to what we were talking about earlier… it was nice having company. I mean, it was nice having you as company.”

Max looked at Allison, unsure of what to say. He dug through a drawer and pulled out a small knife, scooting it close to her empty hand on the counter.

“I see. Here, can you start cutting tomatoes? I’ll get the water boiling.”

Allison picked up the knife and started dicing the tomatoes as told. They were handpicked by Max earlier in the day from the garden, a moment she wished she could have watched.

She imagined him hovering over the vegetables with dirt on his arms and face, yanking at the ripe ones, gritting his teeth in the mid-day heat.

Her imagination deepened with the thought of herself joining Max in the garden, him feeding her fruit and allowing the juices to drip from her chin to her breasts, and as she got lost in her mind, her hand slipped and the knife cut her index finger.

She dropped the knife to the floor and yelped out in surprise and pain. “I’m bleeding!” she cried.

Max whipped around from the boiling pot and grabbed Allison’s finger.

“You cut it pretty deep there,” he said examining it.

“Let me help you.”

Allison stood pinching her finger to try and stop the bleeding as Max disappeared and returned with bandages and alcohol.

“Here, let me see it.”

Allison cautiously extended her finger to him, and he cleaned it and wrapped it tightly in the bandage. The alcohol stung the cut, and Max pressed her finger into his fist, shushing her whimpers.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I’ve tended to worse wounds in the army. I hope it feels better.”

As the pain began disintegrating, her whines subsided. They stared at each other for a brief second, eyes on eyes, and Allison broke the gaze in self-consciousness.

Her eyes shifted downward to his lips; her fantasies were beginning to be more and more lifelike, and she could feel his lips on her bare chest, touching and caressing. She could barely hold it in any longer. She pulled her finger out of Max’s hand.

“Max… let’s keep cooking.”

“But is your finger okay?” he asked.

Allison nodded. “Yes, it’s fine. I’m getting hungry.”

Allison watched the sunset after their dinner. She sipped on lemonade on the back patio as the sky got darker with every passing minute, the sun eventually dipping behind the trees she’d walked through with Max earlier in the day.

She was grateful for her new life in the large mansion, yet her head was too clouded still by the forbidden thoughts she couldn’t shake, and it was killing her slowly. She wanted so badly to escape her own mind.

“Allison!” Max’s voice called from the inside sunroom. “Your mother wants to talk to you!”

Allison hopped up and ran inside to find Max holding the phone out in front of him. As he handed it to her, he gave a quick, “I’ll leave you alone,” and vanished to another room.

Allison pulled the phone up to her ear. “Hello? Mom?”

“Hi, sweetheart! How is it going at home?” She had never heard her mother sound so cheerful in all her life.

“It’s good, mom. Max is taking good care of me.”

There was some background chatter and Margot’s voice was starting to blend with it. “I’m glad to hear it, honey. He is so handsome, isn’t he?”

Allison looked to her left and to her right to make sure Max was not within earshot. “Yeah, he is really handsome.” She couldn’t help but smile.

“Well, I just wanted to call in and check up on you. Richard and I are on our way to bed. It is way, way past our bedtime. I love you, and I will see you in about a week! Behave, okay?’

Allison bit her lip. “I will try to… bye. I love you.”

She hung up the phone and walked inside to find Max, sitting on the couch and reading. He was wearing glasses, she’d never seen him in glasses before. He looked stern and intellectual, his face concentrated on the book in his lap.

“Hey,” she said quietly, hoping not to break his mental trance on the page.

“I’m going to go shower. Thanks for letting me talk to my mom.”

He sat up and stretched his arms from sitting in the same position for too long. “Sure, no problem. She wanted to talk to you.”

Allison watched the veins in his arms flex as he stretched, and she turned around to head to the bathroom. Dropping her clothes and turning on the hot water, she stepped into the bathtub, and for the first time since moving into the mansion, she started to cry.

She was confused and ashamed and tired. The thought of living in the mansion for years to come and trying to hide how she felt seemed impossible. Her mind began to race.

Should she move out? Look for a job and find an apartment somewhere? Go back to school?

The possibilities ran through her chaotic thoughts as she tried to think of all options to break free. She couldn’t shake the thought of Max. There was no one she’d ever wanted more.

She let the hot water run down her face and legs and breasts for several minutes as it calmed her tears. Once cleaned and put together, she stepped out of the shower and looked at herself in the mirror.

She did not see a twenty three year old woman. She saw a confused girl, and she knew she needed to change that.

Allison retired to her bedroom wrapped in a towel and sat down on her bed. The night had fallen now, and she could hear the singing of insects outside her window. The breeze blew in, and it cooled her hot skin. She had worked herself up so much that the feeling of sleep was beginning to overcome her.

Her door opened, and it startled her. Max entered without a knock, and she pulled her towel up higher to fully cover her chest.

“Excuse me,” she said. “You didn’t ask to come in.”

“I’m sorry,” he said with a sigh. “I feel like I need to tell you something, though.”

Allison adjusted her posture, sitting tall on her bed, intrigued. “And what would that be?”

Max walked over to her bed and pulled her up by her arms. Without hesitation, he pressed his mouth to hers, locking her into a passionate kiss that spun her blood wildly.

She touched the back of his neck and he wrapped his arms around the small of her back, pulling her in as close as their bodies would allow.

When he released, Allison felt a euphoric fog dance around her. She was not sure if it had actually happened or if her imagination had really become that vivid and realistic.

“What was that?” she asked.

Max took a few steps backwards, still holding her eyes to his, and she watched as his wall fell down. “I’m sorry, Allison,” he said. “I couldn’t take it any longer. I’ve wanted to do that since the moment I saw you.”

Stunned, Allison quivered and replied. “You have?”

“Yes,” he said. “But I didn’t think I should, given the circumstances. I can’t resist you, though. I want you so badly.”

Allison began slowly taking steps towards him, her hands releasing her towel as she walked.

“I want you, too,” she said. “I didn’t think it was right. I was so ashamed of it. But it was getting too hard to control.”

Max let his eyes drift around her naked frame, his hands beginning to meet her flesh, and as he cautiously touched, their breathing grew heavier.

“I’m not holding back anymore,” said Allison.

“Max, I think I love you. I’m sorry if that frightens you.”

Max, with heaving shoulders and pleading eyes, grabbed Allison and they fell to the bed, he lifted his shirt and revealed his scarred torso, scars accumulated from combat, still looking Allison in the eye.

“I love you, too,” he whispered. “You don’t frighten me anymore.”

Allison fingered his scars, looking closely at them, then up at him.

“Where did you get these?”

“Do they bother you?” he asked.

“No,” she replied quietly. “They’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.”

She worked her expeditious hands all the way down to his pelvis, touching and grabbing what was once forbidden. She could feel he was ready and full.

His jeans slipped down to his ankles as he lay on top of her exposed frame, and he pushed inside. His eyes closed as he entered her, and they both inhaled with bliss.

His thrusts were sturdy and slow at first, they adjusted to each other’s movements, and he leaned in to kiss her forehead, quietly asking, “Are you sure this is okay?”

“Yes. Keep going.”

Allison grabbed the comforter and balled in her white, bloodless fist, anchoring her position as he increased force until he was as deep as he could be.

“You feel amazing, Max,” she burst through short breaths.

He grabbed her hand and engulfed it inside his, pushing until they were completely saturated and wet with each other.

“Touch my neck,” Allison moaned. “Please.”

Max placed his hands firmly at the base of Allison’s neck, her eyes falling back in ecstasy, and her cries increased in volume.

“I’m so close,” he muttered through gasps. “Come with me, Allison. Come with me.”

The sweat from his forehead dripped down to her breasts, and she felt her own eruption brewing. She was so close, he was so close.

“I’m almost there. Don’t stop.”

Their synchronized intimacy, heavy and aqueous, began shaking the floor as the bed banged against the wall. Max, unable to hold it any longer, gave three final thrusts inside Allison, and they released together.

He finished and looked down at her, pushing strands of hair out of her face, and he kissed her.

Allison reached up and held Max’s face in her hands, his façade completely dissipated. They stared at the faces of their new love, quiet and content.