She scooted up the stairs, and I winced when my cock slid from its favorite spot. I gripped her hips and ripped her back to me. I crushed her in my arms and kissing her neck, gently this time.
“Did I hurt you?” I whispered in her ear.
“No, I just. I need to—”
“I need you to know I’ll never hurt you again, Anna.” I meant every word.
She sighed as I kissed up her earlobe and smoothed my hands around her waist. “I want to believe you. I do. But this … this thing we’re doing. Whatever it is. It doesn’t change the past.”
“I can’t change it. It’s true. But I can make it up to you. I keep trying. What else can I do?”
She relaxed against me the slightest bit. “You’re definitely making a grade-A effort. I’ll give you that.” The smile in her voice soothed my frantic heartbeat.
“Good. I’ll keep making it as long as you let me.”
“No promises, Niles.”
“Right.” I smiled, my heart warming at the sliver of a chance she was giving me. “No promises.”
Chapter Five
Annalise
I stared hard at my reflection. I’d cleaned up and gotten dressed—again—after the incident on the stairs. Niles was waiting for me, but I was trying to figure out who was staring back at me from the mirror.
I had just let Niles fuck me not once, but twice. I shook my head, doing my best to ignore the patches of pink high on my cheeks, the slightest hint of exhilaration still flowing through my heart. What am I doing?
Fucking your stepbrother over Christmas break was taking the “good will toward men” part of the season too far. I groaned when I thought about what Mom and Brent would think if they found out. Mortification spread throughout my body, tamping down the rushing endorphins of only moments before. I needed to stop this, to put an end to what was going on between Niles and me.
“Anna?” Niles’ voice floated up the stairs and into my room.
“Coming!” I yelled back and then realized what I’d said. Palm meet forehead.
Thankfully he didn’t say anything as I hurried down the stairs and past him. He did smile, though. I had never realized what a gorgeous smile he had, how the dimples appeared and made him even more boyishly handsome. Stop, Anna.
I donned my scarf, hat, and gloves. Niles was ready to go, holding our skis and poles. I hadn’t intended to ski all day with him. But I wouldn’t get too far without my skis.
He leaned the equipment against his chest and pulled the door open for me, mischief still in his baby blues. “After you, as always.”
I strode out and down the steps. He followed behind and we crossed the street toward the gondola entrance. He put his hand at my lower back, guiding me around the other skiers and past the icy patches. I didn’t need his help, but something about the slight pressure at my lower back comforted me. The ache inside reminded me of what we’d just done, but somehow his steady hand spoke more about our newfound truce. Well, if rough sex under our parents’ noses could be called a “truce.”
We got in line to ride up, families crowding inside, waiting for the next gondola. He was at my back, his warm breath playing at my ear. It was as if all my nerve endings belonged to him or were somehow attuned only to him. I strained to hear any change in his breathing to sense any shift in his body.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yeah.” We stepped into the gondola. He took the seat right next to me and threw his arm around my shoulders. It was easy, right.
Two giggling girls took the seats opposite us. They both stopped chattering for a moment and gawked at Niles. I glanced over at him. He wasn’t looking at the blondes. His gaze was glued to me. He gave an easy smile and squeezed my shoulder.
We began our trip up the mountain. The snow was thick and white beneath us, only ski lines marring the smooth surface. Niles kept his arm around me, keeping me grounded even as we floated up and away to the middle of the mountain. The two girls chattered — talking about their plans for the rest of the day or what they wanted for Christmas.
The sounds faded to the background and all I could sense was him right next to me. The man who’d made me come harder than I ever had in my life. I shook my head, as if that would clear it.
“It’s okay, Anna. Don’t overthink it.” His low voice was steady and soothing and his pressure increased on my shoulder, warmth transferring from him to me.
How could he know the storm roiling inside me? And worse, how could he know to say exactly what I needed to hear?
“Are you, um, are you single?” one of the blondes blurted. It appeared she’d surreptitiously unzipped the top of her ski jacket during our ride so that her cleavage was proudly displayed.
Niles pulled me into his side. “Do I look single?”
Blondie frowned and zipped up her jacket. Her cohort snickered until Blondie elbowed her in the ribs.
We rode the rest of the way in silence, though my smile may have spoken louder than words.
Once we came to a stop, the blondes exited in a huff. Niles led me out and we sat to get our skis situated. He was attentive, helping me snap everything in place before starting on his own skis. I stared down at his thick red hair, made markedly brighter by the backdrop of white. When he looked up at me with his sapphire eyes, a host of butterflies sprang up in my stomach.
“All set?” He stepped into his skis.
“Yes.”
“Which run are you feeling?”
“Oh, we don’t have to, I mean, you don’t have to go on the slopes with me. I stick to the medium runs, blues mostly. You’re probably more of a double black diamond guy or something.” I wanted him to stay with me, but I didn’t want to ruin his day with the bunny hills.
“Blues are fine by me. If you remember, dark blues are my thing.” He winked, devilish and handsome.
“Are we back to the rowing again?” I laughed. “Blue versus blue?”
“Indeed we are. I’m glad things can always come back around to what’s most important in life.” He stood and readied his poles. “After you, my lady.”
I took off, gliding up the slope until we reached the open ski lift. After a short wait, we hopped on and sailed up the mountain a bit further. The sun was high and bright, the snow beneath us blinding.
“Perfect day to ski.” He put his hand on my knee and massaged it, his long fingers splayed against the white of my pants.
“I know. Brent and Mom should have saved shopping for later.” I didn’t know what I’d actually said. I could only think about his hand on my knee, his fingers, the way they’d been inside me not that much earlier.
“What slope are you thinking?”
“Pussyfoot,” I answered, once again, without thinking.
He laughed and moved his hand further up my thigh just a bit. Thank god I had clamped my oversized Jackie-O sunglasses on or he would have seen the intense red blush that crept into my cheeks.
“That’s one of my favorites, as well.”
I know.
Reality was muffled, the only sound the wind and the only sensation his hand on my leg, rubbing circles against my inner thigh. I slid from the lift and onto the platform, and he followed. We skied to the top of the run.
Before I could start down, he tightened up the scarf around my neck. Then he pulled a tube of lip protectant from his pocket and smoothed it along my lips. Strangely erotic, he looked into my eyes as he did it. I should have felt ridiculous – a grown woman getting babied like that – but I felt protected, happy even.
Once he was done with my lips, he quickly smoothed some on his own and stowed it back into his pocket.
“Ready?” he smiled and my breath caught.
“Yes.” He was melting me bit by bit, just a snowman on a hot day.
I broke my gaze and looked down the slope. The snow was perfect, still smooth from a recent grooming.
I pushed my poles into the powder and stroked lightly down the slope. Niles was at my elbow in a moment, both of us gliding easily down the curving trail of white. The wind hummed through the trees along the edges and chilled the few spots of exposed skin on my face. I didn’t care. The feeling of easy speed was exhilarating. There were only a few other skiers around us, leaving us in our own little bubble.
“Never knew simply sliding down a hill could be so much fun, yeah?” he said over the sound of our skis.
“I’ve never really thought about it like that, but I guess that’s what we’re doing.” I laughed.
He returned my smile before digging in his poles and shooting out ahead. He looked back and waggled his eyebrows. A challenge. He may have been a double black diamond skier, but he wasn’t going to beat me on my favorite run.
I dug my poles in and shot down after him. He turned back forward and got serious, pushing himself farther out in front. I tucked in, and flew down, right on his tail. He glanced over his shoulder, a look of surprise on his face at how close I’d already gotten. Then he dug in harder and faster, both of us flying past other skiers as Niles called out “on the left” or “on the right” as we went.
I had always been competitive. In school, in soccer, in anything that I felt I excelled at. I didn’t excel at skiing, but I would be damned if I would let Niles beat me.
I pumped my arms, digging the poles in even as they skittered along the surface. We were racing down the mountain, the scenery blurring in a green and white wave of speed. My heart was pumping and my knees started to burn from the tension. I bent them further and leaned into it, barreling ahead and getting to Niles’ elbow.