You could cut the sexual tension between Bash and me. We were like two dogs in heat, sniffing each other and I couldn’t wait for the day he finally snapped and mount my ass.

It had been a little over a week since I walked in on Aldis and Camile. Don’t ask me how I feel about what I saw. Is it messed up, yes. Is it any of my damned business, not one bit. I continued to avoid them at our nightly family gathering and have not since, bothered to ‘meet Calista halfway’ as Papa encouraged. I dreaded the thought of finding out any more of their secrets.

If Camile knew I knew, she showed no signs of it. Aldis, on the other hand, went out of his way to win my attention.

So, you understand, my brother was a sick fuck who walked around with a hard dick and delighted in me knowing, how much me finding out his dark little secret, turned him on.

I almost preferred he’d seen me as a threat to be rid of. That, I could combat. This, I didn’t know what to do. It was like being covered in slime that refuse to wash off, no matter how hard I scrubbed.

He was discreet, never more than a slight shift of his hand to stroke himself. A shiver of disgust ran through me each time he found a reason to reach past me and press his erection into my ass when no one was looking.

The fucker was so slick, if I retaliated the way I wanted and run my knife through his eye, everyone would think I’d lost my mind. I’d contemplated more than once telling Papa only to change my mind.

No matter how much they’d warmed to me. In the eyes of the rest of the family I was the outsider. Even if Papa Knight were to take my word, there was no way the rest of them would believe me over the perverted bastard.

For a long while I lived with my head on a swivel, waiting for the day he escalated.

On this particular night the family and I were gathered in the drawing room. The Farmer’s Market was open, and I was pestering Aunt Olida to come with me, while Morana cocked her ears pretending not to listen.

“Fire the woman.” Tolrin snapped, having had enough of listening to Calista gripe about her event coordinator’s incompetence.

“I didn’t hire her. Mother did.” The idiot girl scowled.

If Camile heard one word of her daughter’s complaint, I’d be surprised. The woman’s cold blue eyes hadn’t lifted off me since I entered the room and sat next to Papa.

“Sorry for the delay,” Uncle Ashon apologized, strolling into the drawing room.

He was an hour late but had called ahead to relay security at one of their warehouses had been comprised. No one was expecting him to show up. He circumvented the room.

“Neice.” he motioned for me to get up.

I jumped up and grabbed the case of dominos off the table between our chairs. “Bash come play me,” I said as I headed toward the card table.

No complaints, no lame excuses about needing to call it a night because of an early morning. Lately, he’d been staying back later than usual. I’d like to think it was because of me.

“One game.” Of course, he wouldn’t have been Bash if he’d simply complied.

Cool fingers grazed my wrist. It took everything in me not to jump out of my skin.

“Can I join?” Blue eyes cold as a glacier lake bore through me.

Every fibre of my being screamed no.

Aldis waited, a stupid grin slanted his thin-lipped mouth.

I didn’t get the chance to answer. Camile called his name as she rose to her feet and bid the others goodnight. Calista hung off her arm, and they both waited for Aldis to join them.

Unbidden, the image of Camile on her knees slobbering all over him, sprung to mind. A shudder raced through me.

Still holding my wrist, Aldis stood. “Another time,” he said light-heartedly and discreetly brushed his crotch against the back of hand as he squeezed past me.

Gritting my teeth, I walked off on stiff legs. His ice-cold touch lingered long after Bash and I settled at the table and started our first game.

A game I no longer wanted to play. A game I did everything in my power to bring to a quick end. I couldn’t get to my room and shower fast enough.

“What’s wrong?” Bash asked, eyeing me under the hood of his brow.

“Nothing.” I tried cheering up. “And don’t try to distract me from this ass-whopping I’m about to lay on you.”

He chuckled. “Sure, Pretty.”

It was the first time he said anything remotely close to flirting to me. My eyes popped wide. “Endearments, uh?”

“You don’t like the name?”

Sixes dominated the table. He dropped his six-four with three dominos left in his hand, and I jumped at the chance to lay my double-four down.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You are…pretty.”

“I know,” I said, fiddling with my double-five in the hopes he played six-five at the other end. Or I’d be forced to draw. I had four cursed doubles in my hand.

Laughing, he played four-one. The one double I didn’t have. Damn him. I knocked and drew from the pile. Couldn’t play, so I knocked again. “You plan on doing anything, about it?”

Bash gaze flicked up from his hand to stare at me, his long fingers tapping against the back of his dominos. He dropped his double-one, leaving me with no other choice but to knock and pick again. I drew four-three. I had no play and my hand was growing bigger while his was dwindling.

“Look I’m no homewrecker, if it’s serious between you too, just say the word and I’ll back off.”

His lips slid into a crooked smile, as he dropped the five-one giving me a chance to play my double five. But we both know he held, the final six, six-one in his hand, and I had no way of stopping him.

 “I’m not involved with Cali, if that’s what you’re implying.”

“I don’t know,” I sang, “you two put on quite the show. I mean damn, she all but pissed on your leg.”

Bash chuckled, a deep rumble in his chest. “That was all for you.”

“And you played along.”

“Mhm,” he agreed with a nod of his head, and slapped his last domino on the table. “We’re family, we lookout for each other.”

Old me would have taken offense and gone off at the mouth. I kept my cool. “And I’m not family.”

“Not then.”

“Not now.” I set my hand down and pushed to me feet.

He’d won the game and I’d lost interest.

“Hey,” he reached for my arm, stopping me from leaving. “I didn’t say that to upset you.”

“No worries. Good game.”

I patted his shoulder and headed over to where my father and Uncle Ashon were quietly speaking with their heads close together. The others, Morana Olida and the Crow had already called it a night. I hadn’t even noticed they were gone.

“I’m heading up.” I pecked papa’s check, gave a quick nod to Ash and left.

I was halfway up the stairs when Bash caught up to me. He cupped my elbow, herded me up the rest of the stairs and pinned me against the nearest wall the moment we reached the landing.

He leaned into me, gaze tracing my face like he was talking himself out of a disaster we both craved. Our breaths came hot and uneven, colliding in the inch of air between us. 

“You don’t make it easy, to behave.” His mouth brushed mine, a feather-light touch that promised everything and left me hungry for more.

I leaned in when he drew back, a sound catching in my throat, desperate to close the space. “I like misbehaving, don’t you?”

Bash straightened, dragged his large hand up my side and wrapped it around my throat. His thumb traced my lips. “Pretty, I don’t think you know what you’re asking for. I’d ruin your tight little body.”

Again, he nipped my bottom lip, fleeting, gone before I could claim the kiss. Each retreat left me breathless, aching for the weight of his mouth.

“Do you think you can handle a man like me, little girl.”

Pinned to the wall under his grip, I tilted my head. Tongue swiping out, tracing the warmth of him as I reached between us and gripped the hard bar of his erection. “This feels very daubable.”

“Fuck.” With a rough exhale, his restraint shattered.

We collided, wild and hungry. His tongue swirled around mine and sucked me deep into his mouth. His free hand palmed my ass, pulling me close. He ground into me, his big, hard dick pressing between my legs. I touched him everywhere my hands could reach, digging my nails into his taught back.

I couldn’t get enough.

We couldn’t get enough of each other.

Greedy for more, I unbuckled his belt and reached into his pants for my prize.

“No,” he growled, breaking the kiss.

He stepped back.

Panting, I waited—heart hammering, lips tingling—for him to say something. “What?”

He shook his head, breaths ragged. “We can’t.”

“You’re boring me.” I scoffed.

“I’m serious.” He licked his lips, gaze dipping from my face to the rapid rise and fall of my chest.

The alter-top of my green maxi-dress had slid down barely covering my nipples. I don’t move to fix it, instead I pushed the swells of my breasts together and used the tip of my tongue to push the material out of the away.

My pierced nipple perked up. I swirled my tongue around the turgid peak, lathering it up, before I sucked it into my mouth around a moan.

Bash hissed, squeezing the thick bulge straining against the front of his pants.

I caught the half-moon ring between my teeth, tugged on it until it slipped from my mouth. “Want a taste?”

“Hollis,” he warned, stepping forward. “We’re family, this is a bad fucking idea.”

“Fuck me or walk the fuck away.” Completely, over the bullshit I pull my top up.

He hesitated, shook his head and walked off.

Asshole.

Did he think I was going to chase him?

Please.