Hard Fought (A Stepbrother Warriors Novel)(18)

"Lex," he replies grimly, clearly none too pleased by the situation. "And who the hell is this?" he asks, nodding at Carter.

"This is our new step-brother," I say with a cheery smile.

"Oh, wonderful," Jack replies sarcastically.

"Sorry," Carter says, clearing his throat. "I thought you were an intruder."

I let myself slide off of his back and swim over to Jack to give him a hug. "You OK?" I ask, examining him for bruises. He and Carter look like physical matches for each other, but Carter had the element of surprise. Jack is lucky he tackled him into the pool instead of the hard tiles surrounding it. "What are you doing here so late anyway?"

"I just wanted...wanted to see everyone," he explains.

"What's going on?" I glance up to the side of the pool to see the entire household lined up. I look over to Bree, who asked the question.

"From what I can gather, Carter tackled Jack into the pool because he thought he was coming to kill me, or you, or maybe all of us," I say as Jack and I walk into the shallows and up the steps onto dry land.

"That's quite an introduction," Bree says, looking from her brother to Jack, her mouth twitching as though she's holding back a laugh.

"Not funny," Jack grumbles, narrowing his eyes at her. She shrugs with a giggle, and the household begins to disperse. He sighs. "I need a beer. Lex, talk tomorrow?"

I nod and the two of them walk into the kitchen together. I smile, glad to see they've become friends, and happy to see my older brother again. I turn back to the boat house, feeling suddenly chilly in my soaking wet clothes.

"Alexa!" I hear Carter call after me, followed by splashing sounds. His feet slap against the stones behind me as I punch in the code for the boat house. He catches the door before it closes and follows me up the stairs.

"Go away!" I call after him as I stomp into my room.

"Alexa. Would you rather have me or your father's security goons following you?"

"Security goons."

"Liar. You know I'm better than them."

"Don't care."

"Well, I do. You need to accept the fact that I'm going to be watching after you."

"Fine," I reply, and pull my soaking wet top off and toss it through the open bathroom door and onto the tile.

"What are you doing?" he asks with a frown.

"Just going about my life," I reply, pulling off my pajama pants and throwing them after my top. I stand in front of him in my underwear, which is practically see-through now that it's wet. "With you watching."

"Obviously we need to establish some boundaries," he replies. I stare at him, my head cocked slightly to the side.

"Obviously," I say. "First off, don't tackle any of my family members."

"I acted on instinct," he growls. "If I had stopped to—Alexa!" he breaks off as I reach behind me and unsnap my bra, dropping it to the floor.

"Feel free to leave at any time," I murmur.

He clears his throat. "If I had stopped to question whether—" I hook my fingers around my panties and push them to the ground, stepping cleanly out of them.

He stares at me for a moment, his eyes consuming my naked body, and then strides across the floor, his arms wrapping around me and pulling me tightly against him.

"This is a terrible idea," he grunts, one hand grasping my hair as the other slides across my ass.

"Don't think I'm not still pissed at you," I mutter back, taking the hem of his shirt and pulling it over his head as he momentarily drops his arms.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he breathes, his lips inches from mine. My body temperature spikes as he covers my mouth with his. I've never wanted someone more.

He grabs my ass cheeks with both hands, pulling me against his hips. His erection presses into me, and I remember his massive size with a shiver. Our tongues dance together and he begins to walk me back toward the bed. Just before we reach it, I take his hips in my hand and turn him around, then hook my foot behind his ankle and pull, tripping him backward onto the bed. I fall on top of him, grinding against his cock as I press my mouth against his.

He groans, and I slide down, kissing his neck and then biting down hard on the muscle next to his throat. I continue on, wanting to taste every inch of him. I feel his coarse chest hair against my lips and nose, and then move to the side, sucking his right nipple into my mouth. I kiss and lick down the middle of his abs, guided by the line in between them straight over his belly button and down to his happy trail. I unbutton and unzip his jeans and then take them and his boxers in my fingers and lift them up and over his cock and then all the way down to the floor, leaving them in a wet mess on the ground.