Forbidden: Ultimate Stepbrother Collection (23 page)

Chapter 8

Tommy

After a night of angry seas and cold fog, the sky over the calm water glowed clear and blue. Everyone, it seemed, had had a bad night. Even Max had told me to fuck off when I knocked on his door. It would be just fine if Crystal stayed in the cabin the rest of the day, and even the rest of the trip, for that matter. I’d regretted inviting her along almost as soon as she stepped onto the gangplank in her high heels. And that regret had grown as the day progressed. The night before, when a little seasickness had turned into a traumatic event, I’d decided the less time spent with her, the better. This time
off-again
was really going to mean off.

I finished reading my emails and put down my phone.

Dani walked out on deck holding a plate of fruit. She was wearing a tissue thin swimsuit cover-up. It was transparent enough to make the pink bikini underneath that much more intriguing. I’d gone to bed with that vision of her standing half naked, wrapped in paper towels, in my head and had woken up with a stiff cock. She was Twiggy, the bratty, albeit, very cute, stepsister. Having my cock stand at attention at the mere thought of her was messing with my head. But then, I reminded myself, it was not really all that scandalous. Dani and I were both adults now, and we weren’t relatives in the biological sense. Watching her as she sashayed toward me in an itsy bitsy bikini, my dick once again agreed with my reasoning.

Dani pointed to the empty lounge next to me.

“Go ahead. It’s just me and the seagulls, although they took off once I finished my breakfast muffin.”

Dani kicked off her sandals. “They are a mercenary bunch, those gulls.” She untied the tiny ribbons that held together the sheer panels of the cover-up. She lowered the light material from her shoulders but stopped and waved her hand. “Look that way. You’re making me feel self-conscious.”

I laughed. “May I remind you that you were standing in front of me draped in two paper towels just last night.”

“That was different. I was a professional in the throes of combat. And, besides, those paper towels were far less revealing than this bikini, a purchase that I am now seriously rethinking.”

I looked toward the water for just a second but then turned back to her before she had a chance to sit. “Nice. Curves really work on you. And I’m glad you didn’t rethink the bikini.”

She threw the gossamer thin cover-up at me. Practiced cad that I was, I pressed it to my face. “Hmm, nice fragrance. Perfume?”

“Yes, it Eau de Coppertone.” She pulled her suntan lotion out of her straw bag.

I held up the garment. “A piece of cellophane wrap would be just as effective as this cover-up.” I placed it on her bag. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“Speaking of complaining, how’s your little cabin mate? Did she make it through the night?”

“I assume she’s still alive. I slept out on the deck lounge. I saw what she did to your shirt and that was all the warning I needed.”

I pulled the sunglasses off my head and over my eyes so I could take full advantage of watching Dani put suntan lotion on her legs. I leaned my head back but kept my eyes pointed her direction. She filled her palm with lotion and spread it along her shins and up along her creamy thighs. The vision of paper towel wrapped breasts was now being replaced with the image of Dani’s long, slender thighs wrapped around me as I jammed my cock into her. I grabbed the hat I’d worn outside and put it on my lap to conceal the raging erection her little lotion application had caused.

But I forgot that the woman next to me was not just some lightheaded beauty sitting there. This was Dani, smart, intuitive and altogether way too savvy for her own good.

“That erection would have been far less noticeable if you hadn’t used your hat to point it out like a damn X on a pirate’s treasure map. Guess you’re thinking about that helpless, little lollipop you left in your bed, huh?”

Without turning my head, I stared at her through my black shades as she innocently continued to slather lotion on. She was still the same, completely clueless about the effect she had on the opposite sex. Even as a lanky, flat teen, she would walk through the mall and I’d see every male’s head turn. But Dani would flounce innocently past them not noticing the stir she’d caused. “Nope not thinking about the
lollipop
, and that name sounds way too good for her. At the moment, Crystal’s like one of those itches that you just can’t reach to scratch.”

Dani tried, but failed, to suppress a smile. She yanked the ponytail out of her hair. It fell around her glossy shoulders like gold silk. She pulled her sunglasses out of her bag and leaned back against the lounge. I took a few seconds to gaze at her profile and the tiny nose that turned up just at the tip to give her that impish quality I’d always loved.

She reached up to adjust her glasses, and I noticed a tiny sparkle on her finger. I thought back through some conversations I’d had with Nana, which could have been about anything from the pathetic state of things in the country to a new recipe she’d found for her favorite dessert, hash brownies. But I definitely recalled her mention of Dani’s engagement. It was a topic that I’d brushed off but not because it didn’t interest me. It had. I remember thinking that some lucky guy, who probably didn’t deserve her, was going to walk beautiful, fun Dani down the aisle.

“Nana mentioned you were engaged,” I blurted clumsily, since it seemed sort of out of the blue, even though I’d been thinking about it. “A musician, right?”

She turned her face without lifting her head from the lounge. “Yep, landed myself a damn rock star. He’s lead guitarist and singer for a band called Steel Wire.”

My head popped up. “Really? They’re getting pretty famous, aren’t they? I like their stuff.” For some reason, as I was complimenting their music, I was writing myself a mental note to erase them from my playlist. I’d seen the lead singer, and he looked like an asshole. Definitely not good enough for Dani.

“Yeah, they’re moving up in the music world,” she said unenthusiastically. She fished into her bag and pulled out a crossword puzzle book.

“You don’t sound too happy about it.”

“Nope, I’m just over the
fucking moon
about it.” She pulled out a pencil and stuck it behind her ear as she searched through the puzzle book. As much as she’d changed physically, everything about her was the same— cute, quirky, hard to look away from.

“Well, if you’re over the fucking moon, then I don’t need to pursue the topic any further. I mean the
fucking moon
sounds more definite than just the plain old moon.”

Her soft lips jutted out in an angry pout. How’d she make a pout look so fucking hot? Holy shit, I was having one erotic thought after another about my stepsister.

“Well, you’re tough, Dani. You’ll be able to tolerate all those groupies hanging around with that unbreakable confidence.”

She tossed the book on her lap and stuck her feet on the ground, straddling the lounge as she sat up and looked over me. “See, that’s the kind of male ego bullshit I can’t stand. Why is that acceptable? Why should I just have to accept the fact that girls will be handing Axel permanent markers to sign their fucking boobs and belly buttons? I guess that’s just some inane, unwritten male rock star law—” She lifted her finger as if she was pointing to and reading a big sign. “Me rock star, me get to fuck all women, whenever me want to.”

“I’m guessing that that particular law was written for the rock stars who are also cavemen.”

She sat back with a huff. “You’re all Neanderthals, let’s face it.”

I looked over at her. She fidgeted with her puzzle book, well aware that I was staring at her. “Frankly, rock star or not, I’ve seen that dude, Axel, singing and being interviewed on Youtube. He’s not good enough for you, Twiggy. You need someone who makes you the center of the fucking universe. That’s what any guy who’s lucky enough to land you should do.”

She didn’t answer, but the tiny twitch on her lip told me the topic had really upset her. I decided to drop it.

The sliding door opened, and Crystal walked out with Olivia and Max. I was pissed that my alone time with Dani was over. She sat up.

“You don’t have to go,” I told her. “Nana would have expected you to be enjoying yourself like the rest of the guests.”

“I was knocking and pounding on the nurse’s station door,” Crystal said with her hands on her hips as she skewered Dani with a glare. “No one answered.”

“No, that’s because I’m out here,” Dani said sharply. “What is it you need?” She got up from the lounge and stuffed her things in her bag.

“I need something for this godawful headache. I think it was those damn pills you gave me last night.”

“Those pills were what helped you sleep off the seasickness. But, next time, you could just ‘weather the storm’, both figuratively and literally,” Dani said.

It was obvious Crystal didn’t have a fucking clue what Dani was talking about.

Dani walked toward them. Crystal and Olivia sneered at her bikini, but Max had a decidedly different reaction. He whistled loud enough to scare off a few pigeons from the railing. “Twiggy in a bikini, and I must say, pink is your color.”

Dani ignored his comment. She seemed to still be upset by our earlier conversation, and horrible asshole that I was, I was taking some comfort in thinking that maybe her engagement wasn’t going so great. Why that gave me comfort, I didn’t know. I should have been happy that she’d found someone who would provide her with an awesome life. But thinking of her with that guy just wasn’t sitting right with me. It was probably just because the guy seemed like a douche. I mean, it couldn’t have been anything else, no matter what tricks Nana was trying to pull.

Chapter 9

Dani

I finished logging the first aid for the day. It was almost shocking how many entries there were considering we’d only been out to sea for three days. Aside from a deep one inch cut on the deckhand’s palm and a second degree burn on the forearm of the cook’s assistant, most of the entries were for Crystal. She was certainly a delicate and somewhat clumsy little thing. One thing was obvious, Tommy was wishing that he’d perused his list of potential yacht companions a little longer.

There was a knock at the infirmary door. I walked through to the door, expecting to see a distraught Crystal on the other side with a curling iron burn or stubbed toe because those were still on the list of possible injuries she hadn’t incurred yet. But Max’s smiling and rather sunburned face met me.

“Max, you need to put on sun block.” I stepped closer to get a better look at his nose. “You’ve got a little blister forming. I’ll get you some salve.”

“Later, Twiggy. They lowered the diving board. I can’t get Olivia or Crystal to go swimming. That’s when it occurred to me— Twiggy. She’s always up for anything. Shit, you were the only girl I knew who used jump off the rocks at the river. Let’s go. The water is clear as glass.”

“Where’s Tommy?”

“He’s doing some work in his cabin. Come on, Dani. I don’t want to go in alone. What if there’s a shark?”

I laughed. “I see. So, I’m invited in case you need first aid for a shark bite.” I glanced back into the room. “Not sure if my bandage supply will be enough for a shark bite.”

“Actually, I just wanted you out there to fight the damn thing off.”

“I’m not making promises about that, but I think I will join you. The water does look tempting. I’ll be right out.”

Crystal was safely tucked on a lounge for the time being. I considered pulling all the cotton from the infirmary to pack around her, but she’d probably have some major allergic reaction to it. Max was sitting at the edge of the diving board, a springy piece of fiberglass that, with the push of a button, jutted out over the turquoise water.

“Is that the plank the crew has to walk if we shirk our duties?” I asked.

Max looked back at me and smiled. “It’s about time. I was waiting for you.”

“Damn, Max, were you always such a chicken shit?”

“Pretty much.” He stood at the tip of the board. His shoulders were the same blistering red as his nose.

“When you get out, I’m slathering you in sun block, Mr. Lobster. I don’t need you collapsing from third degree burns.” I glanced back toward the women. They seemed to be sleeping beneath their sunglasses. “We’ll leave the collapsing to Crystal,” I said in a lower voice.

Max laughed. “Good one, Twiggy.” He turned around and cannon balled into the water. He surfaced and flipped his hair back. “It’s pretty warm. Come on in.”

I walked out to the end of the board. I gazed at the water and then made a show of squinting out past him. “What was that?” I asked, putting just enough alarm in my voice to make Max start swimming for the ladder.

“Psych!” I yelled and jumped out over him. I popped up next to him.

He was just recovering from my practical joke. “Still the comedian. Tommy always used to say if she weren’t so damn cute, she’d be really annoying.”

I moved my arms to tread water. “There’s no way Tommy ever said that about me. Well, maybe the annoying part.”

“You’re right, I didn’t say it,” a deep voice drifted down from deck. Tommy had his forearms resting against the railing as he gazed down at us. “I said ‘the really annoying thing about Dani is that she’s so damn cute, it’s hard not to like her’.”

I stared up at him, and there was a long, intense moment when it was just the two of us gazing at each other. There was no one else. Just Tommy and me, looking at each other, trying to figure out what the hell was happening between us.

“Are you done working? Come on in. Dani has promised to fight off any sharks,” Max said.

I turned to Max. “That’s what you think? If I see a dorsal fin, I’ll be swimming right past you to that ladder.”

I tried not to pay attention to what Tommy was doing on deck, but my gaze was always drawn to him when he was nearby. He walked over and talked to Olivia and Crystal for a few minutes. Then he stripped down to his swim trunks. He walked to the end of the diving board and dove in. He disappeared under the surface, camouflaged at first by the splash. But when the water cleared, I saw him swimming underwater and straight toward me. I screamed and splashed water at him, ignoring the silly logic of trying to splash someone who was already underwater. I was sure he would grab me, but instead, he popped up directly in front of me, looking just as spectacular wet as he did dry. I was shocked at how disappointed I was that he hadn’t grabbed me.

Our gazes locked again. Like magnets. His dark lashes were clumped together in long spikes, and something about it reminded me of the teenage Tommy, heartbreakingly handsome, ridiculously confident and still not quite hardened to the world. It was happening more often, these odd moments where suddenly, we were alone, as if no one else was on the boat except the two of us, two people with a short history that had been more significant than either of us had realized.

Max swam over and splashed both of us out of the short trance we’d found ourselves in. “Why don’t you two stop making googly eyes at each other like two teenagers in heat.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Tommy asked. He floated onto his back. His hard muscular body coasted up and down with the mild current.

“Oh, come on,” Max said, “you can cut the sexual tension between you with a fucking hacksaw.”

“What the hell do you know about sexual tension, Max? You spend so much time with your hand on your cock, it never has time to build up tension,” Tommy said.

I was sufficiently embarrassed. “Well, I must have just entered a time machine because suddenly I’m back with eighteen-year-old Max and Tommy. I think this recreational swim has come to its natural end.” I swam back toward the boat.

“Look what you did, Tommy. You embarrassed Twiggy, and now she’s leaving. And insulting your buddy, Max, like that when he bought you twins for your birthday.”

“Wait. What?” I pushed my feet down to stop my progress toward the boat. I turned around. Tommy, still drifting on his back, lifted his head from the water. Tommy Hawkson rarely looked embarrassed, but I was pretty sure I was seeing it now.

“Max, why the hell do you have to bring that up right now?” Tommy asked.

“Too late. It’s been brought up.” I swam closer. “Do tell about this interesting twin gift, Max. Sounds like an unusual gift.” I was teasing, of course, and deep down, I wasn’t completely sure I even wanted to hear. Or maybe deep down, it interested me. Nana was never prudish or conservative when she spoke, and she’d sprinkled Tommy’s wild sex life into the conversation more than once. Most of the time, I’d reacted like the teenage version of Dani, with an ‘ooh, spare me the details, Nana’. But the adult Dani wanted to hear.

Tommy’s eyes flickered green with anger. “You were right, Twiggy. We must have fallen through a time portal because the nosy, snoopy sixteen-year-old Dani just joined us in the water.”

“O.K. that’s just stupid. Nosy and snoopy are the same thing.” I looked over at Max. “And now that you have his swimsuit in a bunch, I’m even more curious.”

Max opened his mouth to speak but then took a cautionary glance at Tommy. He flinched in fear and pushed back in the water a few feet. “Nah, I don’t want to get pounded out here in the Caribbean. Then there would be blood and sharks and a whole mess and someone ending up without a limb. Let’s just say, I bought Tommy a party of three for his birthday.” He blurted the words fast and swam like a real shark was chasing him back to the boat.

I smiled over at Tommy. “And here I thought Nana was over exaggerating.”

“I need to have a serious talk with my grandmother.” He swam closer. I pushed my hands through the water to move back. But he followed.

There were only a few inches of blue Caribbean water between us.

“It’s all right, Tommy. After the parade of girls you brought home when you were a teen, I’m not exactly shocked by the idea that the parade hasn’t ended.” I’d pushed one button too many. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t shut down my silly yammering yet. It seemed to have something to do with the nervous flutters that kept swarming me every time I got near Tommy.

“Can’t stop a parade until the finale shows up.” There was a dark green glint in his eye as he spoke, but I wasn’t entirely sure what the hell he was talking about. “Speaking of Nana, seems awfully coincidental that she cancelled and gave me the two weeks and that she hired you as the medical staff member.” He was angry that I’d teased him. I could hear it in his voice.

“I’m not following.”

“Really?” Then, without warning, he reached over, and beneath the clear water, his fingertips trailed down the skin of my belly, stopping just before dragging down the top of my bikini bottoms. It was the lightest touch, but I drew in a shuddering breath. It was the most sensuous thing I’d had happen in a long time.

He grinned, obviously sensing just how skilled he was and how much I’d felt that light caress. “Guess my years of practice and the never-ending parade of women have taught me a few tricks.”

I swam back away from his touch. “Shit, still the same cocky asshole you always were, Tommy.”

“Yep, sorry to disappoint you and Nana, but I’m not changing anytime soon.” With that, he swam toward the boat.

“Wait,” I called to him. “What are you talking about?” I swam after him. Talking and swimming in a choppy ocean was not easy, but my dander was up. “You don’t actually think that I planned this with Nana?”

He reached up to the ladder and pulled himself up a rung. I was treading water beneath him. I was so hot with anger, I half expected steam to be rising off the watery surface.

He stopped his climb and looked down at me. “Just saying, Twiggy, it’s an awfully big coincidence that you and me ended up on this boat together.”

I laughed harshly. “You haven’t changed a bit, you arrogant boob. What the hell makes you think I wanted to be stuck on this floating hotel with the likes of you?” A new laughing sound rolled up from my chest. Could have been the drop in body temperature from sitting in water or just the rage I was feeling at his suggestion, but the laugh sounded slightly hysterical.

“We haven’t seen each other in years and, boom, suddenly you’re on my family’s yacht playing doctor.”

Tears stung my eyes. I was ashamed that I was crying, but I was beyond pissed. “I’m not playing. I have a fucking degree. But you’re right. You caught me. I’ve been pining for you this whole damn time, Tommy. That’s why I’m engaged to a rock star, and he’s fucking nuts about me.”

“And are you
fucking nuts
about him?” he asked.

I hesitated. I hated that I hesitated. “Yes, I love Axel.”

“Groupies and all?”

Tears mingled with the salt water on my face, and for the first time, he seemed to have noticed how badly his words had stung me. His face smoothed to a look of sympathy. “I’m sorry, Dani.”

“Tommy!” a familiar whiny voice rained down from the deck. “I cut my finger on a wine glass. I need that nurse person to come up.”

Tommy rolled his eyes.

I grabbed the bottom of the ladder. “I just realized how perfect my word choice was. It is a parade, and there seems to be no shortage of clowns. Now move up the ladder so this
nurse person
can help her ridiculous patient.”