Stepbrother Unsealed(17)

I stared at the words and maps on my screen, pushing a lump down my throat. Chris couldn't have been involved...right?

The timeline fit. So did his attitude, foul tempered and dark, assuming this wasn't just the norm for him.

My heart starts racing, and I reach up, rubbing my eyes. He'll never talk – not willingly, anyway. But I don't need to know every dirty, gritty, classified detail of what happened in the three way firefight with the terrorists and Iran.

My greedy little heart skips another beat. I feel like the biggest bitch in the world for wanting to base a paper off my asshole SEAL stepbrother, but what else am I supposed to do when the universe has dropped a goldmine in my lap? Assuming it doesn't land me in his first, I mean.

It's all right in front of me. A story that'll knock the Professor's socks off. All I have to do is dig.

I tell myself I have limits. I won't compromise his privacy or national security, no, but I can't ignore all the crazy possibilities here. I pull up a blank document and begin typing furiously, the start of my emotional study in SEAL psychology.

I'm chewing my lip, tasting the last of his kiss lingering on my skin. I need to get closer to him, have to feel whatever he's feeling in life.

We don't need to be best friends. We have to stop short of being lovers. What if I just pretend to like him?

Virgin or not, I know how to flirt. Marnie and my other friends always told me I was cute, and I don't think it was just his own horndog desires that nearly brought him to his knees last night.

It seems insane on the surface, yeah, but there's a chance it'll also get me what I want, what I need to finish my degree with every door in the world wide open.

A few minutes later, and it's all worked out. I'm going to apologize to Chris tomorrow and beg him to stay in our house this summer.

If I can get him to agree to that, I know it won't take much to pull more out of him. We'll play truth or dare. No, I'm not disciplined like a SEAL, but I'm confident I can control myself.

I'll smile sweetly, tell him anything he wants, maybe even make out if it gets me more, brings me deeper into his life.

I won't whore myself out. I'll stop short of doing anything crazy – he's my freaking stepbrother!

I don't care how hot he is, or how wet his filthy mouth gets me sometimes. I know I can resist.

Pushing him away tonight tells me I can keep control. I'll stop him before he goes too far. If he gets pissed and goes running to his floozies, I won't get jealous.

It's hard, but it isn't impossible. I'm on target, and a strange kinda confidence tears through my veins.

I'm going to strip him down, turn his secrets into something beautiful to share with the world.#p#分页标题#e#

This bad boy and all his mysteries are mine. It's only a few hot summer weeks. If I can walk the tightrope without letting him catch on, or find his way into my bed, I'll never have issues saying no to a man again.

I drift off to sleep wearing a wicked smile. Chris and I should've been fucking right now, if Evie hadn't hooked up with my dad, but I'm done spilling tears over what might've been.

Having him as my pet project will do more for me than finding out how hard he can slam me into the mattress. He's going to help me grow up, jump start my life, and not by getting my panties off.

I'm a vibrant young woman, and I can do this. I won't buckle to Chris Cleveland. I'll show my warrior stepbrother who's in control once and for all.





IV: Landmines (Chris)


Every time I turn around, there's a fucking landmine.

I head for base early that morning, grabbing all my crap and hoisting it into my truck. I fight not flip off the prissy shithead in the mansion's guard shack when he opens the gate, giving me another one of those looks that tells me I don't belong here.

Base is supposed to be my safe haven. It's cramped, spartan, but I've lived with it for almost five years. Enlisting makes you appreciate any warm bed without the threat of some evil bastard sneaking up in the dark and blowing out your brains with a quick, silent shot.

And compared to all the bullshit drama at home? Staying on base sounds pretty damned good.

Mom's shown her true colors for about the thousandth time. Marriage hasn't changed her a single shade, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna crash in that god forsaken house while her and sugar daddy beat me up about my career.

Delia's feelings are crystal clear, too. She threw her hands at me last night like I was carrying the plague when I shoved my lips on hers, grabbed her incredible ass. I was ready to bed her over the bed and pick up right where we started on the beach.

Today, with less whiskey in my veins, I couldn't totally blame her for being such a bitch.

I'd almost fucked up royal. Bitch or beauty, she's my stepsister, and she's got a point about all the inevitable hangups that'll come from getting nasty.