RICH BOY BRIT (A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance)(55)

Claire gripped his hips and with wild eyes pleaded with him to take her. He drove into her like he was sprinting towards the end of a marathon and was anxious he would be overtaken by a competitor. Such was the urgency of their need as she spread her legs to receive him and he sank all the way into her. Claire screamed and dug her nails into his flesh as he ravaged her, but she was open to this kind of abuse and begged him to go harder. And faster. She held his hips and kept him inside her, burying him deep when he plunged, and Chance bellowed like a wild animal as he took her.

Not long after they had begun, he could feel the blood rushing below, and he closed his eyes and squeezed her breasts and filled her with his love. As Claire came, she wrapped her legs around him even tighter and took it all as if she would never taste him again.

When he lay next to her afterwards, his chest heaving, she knew she could never be away from him. He made her come alive when she didn’t even know she had died. She looked over at him and grinned, and he stroked her face with his forefinger. They both smiled at each other. Something about their taboo relationship made having sex with each other so much more spectacular.

***

Claire’s mother paid her a visit the following morning. Willow stood there with her arms folded across her chest and watched Claire walk around the room like she wasn’t there.

“Are you going to talk to me?” she finally asked.

“That depends,” Claire responded. She pulled on her summer dress and caught her hair at her nape with a scrunchie.

“On what?” Willow asked. She tried to go to her, but Claire sidestepped her and went to the balcony instead.

“How do you just run off and get married to a man you only met a week ago?” Claire asked, turning to her mother with disgust. “Did you forget what the last divorce felt like? Did you forget your promise not to get close to any man like that again? Was it his money that caught your eye?”

“You’re pushing it, missy,” Willow admonished her daughter. “I remember what I said, but sometimes things change. I love Bryan.”

“Do you even hear how that sounds? You don’t even know him. This is not the normal order of things. First, you get to know the guy, then you decide to marry him if he is worthy of your love. You don’t even sound like you really love him.”

“Bryan is a great guy, and he treats me like a queen,” she smiled. “When he asked I didn’t think there was any other answer to give. He wanted to at the time, so we went to a chapel nearby and did it.”

“Without stopping to think about how I’d feel,” Claire reminded her softly.

“Are you upset because I got married, or because of Chance?” she asked.

Claire turned to her with a terrified look on her face. “So you do know about Chance.”

“Bryan told me last night how close you guys actually are, and I am sorry, Claire. I did not set out to destroy you. I was encouraging you all along to let your hair down, but I wasn’t aware that you had. If I had known, I would have reconsidered being with Bryan.”

“Which proves you don’t love him at all,” Claire confirmed. “Maybe you can just call this off.”

“You know I’m not going to do that.” Willow looked at Claire, and the words she didn’t say were loud enough for Claire’s heart; as far as Claire was concerned, Willow’s selfish act had made it an awkward situation for her and Chance now.

Claire glared at her mother and walked back to the bed. “So what now, Mom? You move in with your new husband and I pretend I never met Chance? What about when I run into him at a family dinner or something? We were here…in this room…making…” She couldn’t even bring herself to say the words. Her eyes watered and she turned away, but Willow was able to read the words she didn’t say.

“Oh my,” Willow said and covered her mouth. “I didn’t know it had gotten that far.”

“Well, maybe if you had introduced me to Bryan before getting married, we would have cleared up most of this. Instead, I’m left with the bitter end of the stick…again. Your decisions are always so selfish, and I always get caught in the crossfire.”

“Claire, honey, I’m so…”

“Just forget it, Mom,” Claire heaved an exasperated sigh. “Just go.”

“Actually, the reason I came here was to invite everyone to breakfast. We started off on a bad foot, and I would like to make it right.”

“So I’m just supposed to go to breakfast and pretend this is all okay?” Claire asked. “Mom, I gave my virginity to Chance.”

Willow looked at her, and Claire could swear she saw the life go out of her. Willow dragged herself to a nearby chair and sat down. “Claire, I don’t know how to start…”

“Mom, please, just save it. I would have done it even if I had known you married his dad.”

“I don’t know…”

“You’re the older person here and should know. I need to shower. And yes, I’ll be down for a family breakfast,” Claire said sarcastically.

“Claire, we need to talk about this.”

“No, we’re done. You may leave my room now,” Claire said, moving to the door and opening it for her mother, who hesitated for a second before getting up.

“I don’t expect you to act like it’s okay, Claire, but I expect your respect when you see Bryan. Please,” Willow said as she walked to the door. “Breakfast is at nine.”