Mockingbird (A Stepbrother Romance #2)(38)

The look on her face is priceless, and I enjoy soaping her up as much as I enjoy the event that led to it, even if my legs feel like jelly. Washing her up turns into just holding her from behind, her breasts cradled in my arm as I slide my hand between her legs. The wet heat I feel isn't from the shower water.

It isn't long before she can't stand up anymore, her legs shaking hard, so I lower her to the bottom of the tub with me and slowly finger her there, savoring the feeling of her tight walls gripping my finger, wishing I could take her fully. I should stop this, but her excitement drives me on, her moans are like a song calling my name.

She arches against me, her legs jittering as they shoot out straight in front of her. She feels tight all over, her muscles coiled until they feel like they'll pop, her soft skin furnace hot. I ease off when I feel her getting close, again, and again, and again, until there's no turning back and she bucks against me. Her little squeaks are adorable, it's like she's afraid to moan.

Then she relaxes. The water is going to go cold soon if we don't get out. She reaches out and turns it off with her foot, and lays there, a content smile on her face, until she finally sits up.

When she steps out I have to do it. I grab a towel and sit her down, and start rubbing her down. She trembles, her face twitching between confusion and enjoyment. I've never felt an urge to do these things before. When I'm done I'm done, but soon I find myself running a brush through her hair, smoothing it to her head.

I could get used to this.

I don't have anything to change into, so I end up putting my old clothes back on, slowly as I watch her dress. It's fascinating. Not like I've never seen a woman put on clothes before, but her ever movement draws my eye. Even watching her slip into a bra is sexy, and her choice of underwear isn't what I'm used to, just plain white cotton. She tugs up a pair of loose lounge pants and a shirt that all swallows her curves, but when she moves the way they drape over her body hints at what lies underneath.

"Dinner?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not much of a cook," she confesses, shrugging. "I can microwave something."

I feel like I'm in a dreamworld. She's so… normal. She hums as she cuts slits in the plastic wrapping on some microwave dinners, and fidgets, her fingers drumming on her hips, while they cook. She stands off to the side when the microwave warms up.

"Why are you doing that?"

"I don't want to stand directly in front of the beams. It gives you brain cancer."

She flinches.

"Uh, sorry."

"You don't have to try not to say the word cancer around me ever again."

She smiles sadly. "You had a rough time growing up, huh."

I can't help but look around. "It wasn't like this. It's just you and your Mom?"

"Yeah. Dad divorced her. I have a half-sister I've never met, out in Arizona."

I laugh. She shoots me a look.

"It wouldn't surprise me if I have some half-siblings running around out there somewhere."

Diana eyes me. "Your Dad is that kind of guy, huh?"

I swallow, hard. "I, uh, he must have sowed his wild oats. Before I was born, I'm sure. I was just joking. I don't know of any siblings."

"You know my Mom went to Las Vegas with this guy."

"Right, he's my father. We've met."

The microwave dings and she sets the tray before me, and starts heating her own, again avoiding standing directly in front of it while it cooks. The food is passable, but I eat it hungrily. I am hungry, but it's almost like I don't want to insult her cooking. Diana picks through hers, her cheek propped on her fist. She looks at me, her mismatched eyes sucking my attention away from everything else in the room. I feel something on my foot and realize it's her toes.

For someone so inexperienced she has a hell of a sex drive. I'd think twice would be enough, but apparently not.

Every time I think about laying her down and giving her a first time she'll never forget, I think about the awful thing I'm conspiring to do to her. I want to use all my tricks, satisfy her in ways her inexperienced imagination can't even begin to conjure. I want to make her mine, possess her totally and completely.

If I do that I may just destroy everything, her included. I don't know if I can take that risk. I don't know if I can bear that weight.

Then I realize what's getting to me. It's just like I thought before. All this time I haven't been on the outside looking in, I've been trapped inside, staring through the invisible bars of my gilded cage, and Diana is opening the door and beckoning me to fly free.

I have to tell her the truth, but how can I?





Chapter 10: Diana





My alarm beeps and before I can shut it off, another hand mashes down on the snooze button. Apollo reaches over me and lets his arm lay over my side as I curl up against him. He moves closer, and I feel something poke my back.

I twist around in his arms to face him, slip mine around him and rest my cheek against his chest. I can feel his heart beating, and the scent of his body floods my nostrils every time I take a breath. I can't believe it's already been four days. His eyes close and he presses his face into my hair, and his breathing slows. Then the alarm goes off again, and his whole body jerks. He reaches over and fumbles with the clock until it shuts off again, this time for good. You'd think he'd have learned where the button is by now.