Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
I held onto my innocence for the one man who refuses to claim it. My step-brother.
Caleb left a year ago with no explanation. I was sure he hated me.
But now he’s back. All muscle, and dangerous restraint. He works with his hands, and protects with his fists. And when someone tries to drag me away?
He handles it.
Now our parents are gone. The house is quiet. And the man who once walked out to protect me is standing in my bedroom doorway.
He says I don’t know what I’m asking for. He says once he starts, he won’t stop.
I tell him I don’t want him to. I’ve been his since the day he left. And this time…
He’s not going anywhere…
A spicy-hot, over-the-top stepbrother romance featuring a possessive alpha and the innocent girl who never stopped loving him. No cheating, no cliffhangers, just off-limits obsession and an inevitable HEA
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
1
ELIZA
“Have you ever done yourself up, Eliza?”
I blush hard in the mirror at Mara as she works the curling iron through my hair. When she first plugged it in and brought it close to me, I was sure it was going to scorch every single follicle off of my skull and leave me bald for life.
Reaching up, I take one of the curls between my fingers and examine it.
“I’m not gonna look like I’m…trying too hard, am I?” I ask, already wanting to crawl under the bed and hide.
Mara laughs. “Despite what men say about loving the ‘natural’ look, they like hot chicks, bro! And we’re making you hotter than you’ve ever been.”
I barely recognize my reflection in the mirror. Fake eyelashes, mascara, blush, concealer—all things I never wear. Honestly, I wouldn’t even have a clue how to put them on if it wasn’t for Mara.
Can you believe that? Nineteen years old and I don’t know how to do my own makeup?
But I have to admit, I kind of like the way I look with my face all done up. Normally, I just wake up, shower, throw on some sweats, and go about my day. I was actually planning on wearing that tonight, but Mara had other plans.
“You can’t go to the club in that!” She laughed when she burst into my room like a perfume-covered tornado. She had a bunch of dresses with her that I never ever would have bought, and told me to pick one.
It then took ten minutes of persuasion to get me into a tiny piece of black fabric that hugs every inch of my curves like a second layer of skin. I’ve always been self-conscious about specific parts of my body—my hips and breasts especially—but this dress does wonders for me.
“Are you sure this isn’t…too much?” I ask, trying to tug the hem down a little more on my ample thighs. “It’s not really hiding…anything…”
“That’s the point!” Mara replies, twisting her lips as she shakes her head at me. “Your legs are thick, girl, and boys love ‘em. You gotta show ‘em off!”
I’ve no clue where Mara gets her self-confidence from. She’s the total opposite of me when it comes to boys. They scare the bejesus out of me, but Mara always seems to have fun with them She’s the only reason I’m actually going out tonight.
“I dunno,” I mutter. “Maybe I’ll just stay in and work on some of my sketches…”
If you look up ‘introvert’ in the dictionary, there should be a picture of me. I’d rather be drawing or taking photos than playing a team sport or doing a girl’s night out.
“No, no, no,” she scolds, waving her finger in the air. “We are going out, having drinks, and maybe you’ll even get yourself a little strange…”
She winks, causing me to blush even more. I’m a virgin. Mara knows this. Me getting ‘a little strange’ tonight would be in fact…strange, if not downright impossible. I’m saving myself for a man who has zero interest in me—who is ten years older than me, looks at me like an annoying little girl, and hasn’t interacted with me in months.
My step-brother Caleb.
He moved out right after I turned eighteen when his mom, Sara, married my dad, Daniel. Now the only time I see him is at a family dinner, but he never says a word to me. My stomach twists into knots every time he averts his eyes from me. Honestly, I don’t even know what I’m doing to piss him off.
Maybe if he saw me in this dress with this makeup on things would change. But then again, he has no shortage of girls throwing themselves at him. He’s tall, gorgeous, broad-shouldered, and doesn’t give a damn about what anyone thinks about him.
From the way he acts, I bet he hates me right down to his core—thinks I’m a spoiled little brat. I’ve never had a job, but Caleb was doing manual labor since he was fifteen. He’s never said so directly, but I know he thinks my art is silly. Just another dumb girl who thinks she’s going to change the world.
Mara finally finishes with my hair and sets the curling iron aside. I stand up and take a look at myself in the full-length mirror, and my heart starts racing. So much cleavage.
“Yeah, this isn’t a good idea,” I say, starting to sweat. “I’m gonna look like a fresh beef steak to those guys—”
“That’s the idea!” Mara persists, taking my arm like a sweet old grandma. “And I’ll be there to look out for you.”
“And we’re gonna be drinking? What happens if we get caught with fake IDs?”
Mara gives me that look she always gives me when I’m going into my mom-mode—thinking too much about something. Picturing all the things that could go wrong instead of thinking about everything that could go right. That’s how she puts it.