Protect & Serve(73)

I ran—well, stumbled—to my kitchen, drinking down a glass of water as quickly as I could, hoping to at least begin the process of sobering myself up before my stepbrother arrived. My heart was pounding and I could feel the heat between my legs as it refused to abate. All I could think of was how much I wanted him, my own emotions betraying me as I half-panicked and half eagerly anticipated Tristan’s arrival.

This is going to be a disaster! I thought, downing another glass as I made my way to my bathroom to start running a cold shower to pull me out of my drunken haze. All that I could imagine as I thought of Tristan was how incredible he must have looked tonight for Patricia to so easily want to go down on his dick.

My breath caught as I stepped into the cold shower, letting out a loud gasp as I felt the exhilaration of the freezing chill wash over me like a floor. For a few moments I was finally free of the thoughts of my stepbrother’s member dancing through my mind as it slid into my imagined cunt. I felt like a slut, practically chomping at the bit at the idea of his dick pulsating inside of me.

After a few minutes beneath the chilly waters I stepped out, running to my bedroom for a hopefully appropriate outfit that would allow easy access to my more intimate areas. I didn’t want this to be easy for either of us. This couldn’t end the way that I was picturing. I refused to give in to the base desires that flooded my mind. I didn’t need the scandal any more than my family did.

Imagine the headlines: Matchmaker Beds Playboy Stepbrother.

It was not something I aimed to let slander my good name.





8





Chapter 8





I hardly had the chance to knock once before Gwendolyn grabbed me by the front of my shirt and pulled me inside with strength I’d never expected from her. She looked like she’s only just stepped out of the shower moments before, her hair wrapped up in a loose towel fashioned into a turban. How she’d managed to shower in the short time since I’d called boggled my mind, though the distinct scent of alcohol on her breath made me wonder as to why she’d felt the need for a shower so necessary.

“Are you feeling alright?” I asked, one eyebrow cocked.

“Am I feeling alright?” she asked, barely holding herself back from screaming at me from the top of her lungs. “You do realize that she was a client of mine, yes? Meaning that she holds me responsible for her date going so poorly?”

“It isn’t that big of a deal,” I said, trying to wave it off. “Plenty of fish in the sea, and all that, yes?”

“No! Tristan you can’t do this! You came to me so that I could help you get yourself married, and yet the first woman I set you up with you practically brush off when she offers to blow you? You of all people refused sex from a willing woman?”

“We’ve been over this, Gwennie. I just wasn’t feeling into it, that’s all,” I said, glaring at her as I sauntered over to her kitchen. “I have every right not to want to have sex with anyone I choose for any reason I choose.”

I couldn’t deny that Gwendolyn had done well for herself, her apartment was enormous, and impeccably decorated in a fashionable modern style. I’d hardly had the time to find myself a proper place to live that was truly my own, instead invading one of our family’s less used properties in London.

“You don’t get to make that excuse when you’re the one who wants to find himself a wife!” she said, raising her voice.

I could already feel myself stirring.

“You’re going to apologize to Patricia and hope to God she gives you a second chance,” Gwen said, her face red.

“I don’t think that I am,” I said, opening up her fridge to see what she might have that I could drink. After what I’d just gone through, I knew I needed something to dull my thoughts. Sadly, the wine bottle my stepsister had been happily drinking before my arrival was all but empty. “I didn’t fancy Patricia, and I don’t think that she’s what I want in a wife.”

“Oh? And what exactly are you looking for that Patricia doesn’t have?”

“She’s not you, for one,” I said as I shut the refrigerator door.

I shouldn’t have said it. It was a stupid, insensitive thing to say, not just because it was inflammatory, but because I hadn’t thought the consequences fully through. I hadn’t spared a moment to imagine what that confession might be like on Gwen’s ears, or on her heart. Sure, I’d known for a while now that I wanted my stepsister, that I craved her in ways that were entirely unsuitable, but she didn’t know that.

Or did she? She blinked at me, hard, clearly surprised. But not shocked. Not staggered. The look on her face almost seemed to say, “You too?”