ROYAL ROCK(139)

I slowly helped him undress again, noting the tension in his body. He was clearly angry, but he was doing his best to suppress his anger. It surprised me how much he seemed to care, and the lengths he was wiling to go to just to keep me safe.

Finally, we lay back down in the sheets, out bodies tangled together, my heart beating fast. I knew sleep was going to be hard to come by, but I also knew I was safe. I was safe with Nate, even if he was a dangerous killer. And my stepbrother.

And the man I wanted to fuck more than anything in the world.





16





NATHAN

It took all of my self-control not to get up out of that bed as soon as Claire fell asleep, get in my car, and hunt down that bastard Joshua. I only had a first name and my memory of his face, but that would have to be enough.

I knew the smarter play was to wait. So long as Claire was with me, she was safe. They clearly wanted her above all other things, and frankly I didn’t give a shit about her dad’s business one way or the other.

And so I slept, maybe just a few hours, but I did sleep. I woke up with the sunrise, got out of bed, and got dressed.

“Where are you going?” Claire asked, groggy.

“I’m going for a run.”

“Okay. Have fun.” She rolled back over.

“Claire, don’t leave the house until I get back. Understand?”

She grunted at me, clearly annoyed that I was still talking to her. I smiled to myself and then turned and left. I knew the other guys her dad had hired to watch over him and Lucille would keep the house safe at least.

I hit the sand, running hard, my mind a mess of conflicting emotions. The night before had been intense, a wild and passionate fuck fest rivaling anything I’d ever experienced, but made even better by the fact of it being with Claire. On top of that, now I had a name, an adversary. I knew what my mission was and who my target was going to be. It was only a matter of time before her father got in touch with us and I got enough information to hunt the bastard down.

The real problem was what exactly I wanted from Claire. She was my stepsister, and she was a virgin, but she was fucking incredible in bed, and her body got me hard even while I was exercising. She’d somehow lodged herself into my brain, and I was beginning to realize that there was no turning back.

Still, there was the matter of her being my stepsister that we had to deal with. Personally, I couldn’t have cared less about all that shit. What mistakes our parents made shouldn’t have anything to do with us, and if they wanted to make each other miserable, then fine by me. But I wasn’t going to live my life based on what stupid shit my pill-popping, drunk mother did.

As I began to head back toward the house, I realized that I needed to deal with one issue at a time. The most pressing thing was the danger from the Broken Hearts. My never-ending need to fuck my stepsister until she could barely walk would just have to wait.

As I walked into the house, sweating and slightly out of breath, I saw Jonathan sitting at the kitchen counter drinking a cup of coffee.

“Good morning, Nathan,” he said.

“I thought you were back in the city.”

“I was.” He paused, looking concerned. “Claire messaged me late last night, said I needed to come home urgently.”

I smiled to myself. That girl knew what she was doing sometimes.

“And you drove all night?”

“Damn right. What’s happening?”

I poured myself a cup of coffee, letting the suspense sink in.

“Well, I think we’ve figured out who exactly is behind all this.”

He looked at me hard. “Go on.”

“I told you about the Broken Hearts.”

He nodded. “My private detective hasn’t been able to verify any of that, by the way.”

I snorted, not surprised. I was sure he wasn’t going to go as far as I did to get information, but he needed to if he wanted the truth.

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” I said.

“I worry. I’m not sure what’s happening around me.”

“They made another attempt on Claire. Did she tell you that?”

He shook his head. “No. She didn’t mention it.”

“At your club.”

He paused. “Bastards.”

“I agree. But fortunately, I was there to stop them.”

“And nobody at my club helped?”

“It was back in the alley. They weren’t around.”

“They have cameras. They should have seen.”

I raised an eyebrow. “They didn’t.”

“I’m going to get that evidence.”

“No,” I said quickly, not wanting him to find a tape of me trying to finger fuck his daughter. “Don’t bother. They wore masks. And besides, we know who’s after you.”