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I could do it now. I could march into her room, rip her clothes off, and do incredible, erotic things to her.

She might be reluctant at first, but I’ve seen the way she responds to my touch. She wants it as much as I do.

I groan louder than before as my cock throbs, aching to feel her.

Throwing the blankets off my body, I slowly sit up on the edge of the bed. Now that I’m fully awake, I can assess the level of pain in my side. It’s not as bad as I expected. I think she helped me clean it and bandage it fast enough that it’s already healing.

I’ve always been fortunate enough to heal fast.

I rub my hand over my cock, adjusting it as it sits awkwardly stiff in my pants.

Fuck. I want her. I need her.

Looking towards the bedroom door, a sly smile touches my lips.She’s right there, across the hall.

I can’t do it. I know that.

But it’s a tempting thought.

No.

I’ll get into the shower, nice and cold to blast these thoughts away, then put a fresh bandage over the suture tape. Once that’s done, I’ll be fresh and ready to start the day.

Lara is not from my world; she doesn’t even know what she’s been tangled up in here with me.

She’s innocent and doesn’t deserve to have that innocence taken away from her just because I can’t control my cock.

Or because my stepbrother has it out for me.

She almost died last night because of me.

Dammit. She stopped asking questions when she realized I needed help. But those questions are still there. They will still need to be answered.

It isn’t fair of me to hide things from her anymore.

She has to know.

Her innocence—that naïve sweetness about her—will be broken when she is exposed to therealworld. But there is no choice in the matter.

Besides, her father is the one who made the choice long ago; he is the one who is responsible for involving her in this world of mine.

I push myself to my feet, taking a moment to make sure I’m steady.

In the bathroom, I kick off my pants and carefully peel the outer bandage off, throwing it into the wastebasket.

I climb beneath the steady spray of water. It massages heat into my tense muscles. I hang my head forward, letting the water pulse over the back of my neck.

I’ll take her to work with me today. It’s the best way I can think to ease her into the idea of what I do. I’ll tell her the truth piece by piece, so she doesn’t get overwhelmed all at once.

Either way, it’s going to be a shock for her.

After I’ve scrubbed my body and allowed the hot water to soak away my tension, I push the lever all the way to the cold side, and a fresh blast of icy water slams into me, stealing my breath away for a moment.

My mind goes silent. My thoughts freeze.

No worry, no stress, no concerns—just ice-cold water flooding over me.

By the time I climb out of the shower, it’s like I’ve had a reboot.