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Ronan

M y baby girl is so curious.

I thought I heard something rustling our way, but with the retreat, I can at least muster up that it was Cal. It’s why I wasn’t going to let Eamon’s insinuation of me using her against him fester. I’ve come to care far too much for that woman and won’t have some bullshit miscommunication have her thinking otherwise. She was probably sick, even just for those couple of seconds with the thought. And if that’s the case, I’ll have to punish her for even thinking that to being a possibility.

“No, you didn’t.” I cut into his aggressive lie. “If you had told her, she would be here with you or blowing up Cal’s phone.”

“You were too busy fucking her to know if she were or not.”

“No, Brother, see that’s where you’re wrong. You assume too much. I’m not just fucking your stepdaughter, I’m dating her too.” He goes to open his mouth, but I keep talking. “I was helping her take photos for her… Instagram, I think. Showcasing the work she’s done to the cabin.”

I’d told her it was risky to be showing the cabin considering Eamon wasn’t supposed to know, but she said he didn’t have social media so it was fine. Obviously, she was right on point.

“Your timing was perfect, I do love to show off how good my girl is at sucking my dick.”

“Why her?” he asks through his teeth.

“Why anyone else when she exists?”

His nostrils flare. “You are sick. She’s your niece, Ronan.”

“Step, but even that won’t be for long.” I clear my throat and tuck my hands into my pockets. “This isn’t about our little squabble, Brother. So, I’m going to need you to keep your mouth shut about Cal being here.” When he rolls his eyes, I take a step in his direction. He tenses but doesn’t retreat. “You won’t tell Jasmine that you know Calista is staying here with me, do you hear me?”

He shakes his head. “I have to tell her now.”

“No, you don’t. You’ll allow her to tell her mother I’m here when she’s ready. You will do this for me, or I will blackmail you to make sure you keep those thin lips shut.”

When his head drops back, he sighs out through a loud groan. “How many times do I have to apologize?”

“Until you are six feet in the ground.”

The shock in his expression has me chuckling. “I never wanted—”

“Yeah, yeah. Save it. Again, I don’t blame you for what happened. I do for not coming when I called for help. In the courtroom, when I told the judge at seventeen that our uncle raped and abused me, you got up there and defended him!”

“I didn’t know! You were sick and on medication! What did you want from me?!”

“To BELIEVE me!” I shout, removing my hands from my pockets and pointing at my chest. “To take my side! For once in your fucking life! To have chosen me over everything else because that’s what you were supposed to do as my big brother. It shouldn’t have mattered if I was lying or not. You held NO hesitation to believe Dad and my rapist, Eamon. None!”

He looks away from me, just like he did that day in the courtroom. “You were a coward.”

“I was… but this time I want to make it better. I want to be better for you—help you!”

“No, you don’t. Because if you did, you wouldn’t only have been to this cabin twice, but instead a dozen times.” He just shakes his head, but I don’t stop. “I don’t want your pity, or your sympathy. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t grovel wanting to try and give it to me.”

His chest rises and falls as his breathing gets heavier.

“Eamon, you won’t tell Jasmine—”

“I have to—”

“If you do, I will tell her about your affair.”

When his head snaps back to me, I tilt mine, waiting. We stand here for a moment, locked in a stare. Dread and a gut-wrenching fear flicker in his brown eyes.

I hate how much he looks like our dad.

“How…” I know it’s not really a question he wants answered.

“Thanks for the confirmation.” That deepens his sickly appearance. I’m pretty sure I’m beginning to see green.

I already knew that he was, not only because of the signs Cal was mentioning, but I asked Glen for some help with tailing my brother. When I said my obsession with Calista was unhealthy, I meant it. My means to make her mine without any complication has no boundaries.

“Our dad would always be out too, working late my ass. The pain he put Mom through… I hated him for it, but equally myself because he blamed me for his infidelity. The fact you hadn’t had dinner with your wife in weeks according to Cal, told me everything I needed to know. The fact that this ‘slip up’ happened months after both of us moved in here together, is also enough to solidify the fact.”

“I’m not.”

“Okay, Bro.” I release a pfft and shake my head. “Don’t tell her, Eamon, I mean it. Also, while we are on the topic, you will start preparing for a divorce.”

Any means.

“W-What? Who the fuck are you to demand that?”

Rubbing my cheek, I grin. “A man obsessed, angered, and tired of not getting what I want. You want to begin fixing this?” I gesture between us. “That’s where you can start. Plus, how much love can you have for Jasmine if you are cheating on her.”

“What would that even fucking prove, Ronan? Huh?”

I slowly turn from him, giving him my back.

“What would it prove?!” he delivers slowly this time.

“That for once you’d make a selfless choice for my betterment.”

I’m through the front door in a matter of a few steps. His car is started and backed down the driveway before I’m closing it softly behind me, looking for my baby girl. I don’t have to search, thankfully, as Calista is standing in front of the fireplace, staring up at me with her hands gripping her phone.

“What did he say?” she asks, fidgeting around in place.

Does she really care that much about what her mom thinks? That woman can rot in a sewer for all I care for the things she let happen to Calista. For her to still be this concerned speaks to her innocence.

Again, since the first time her mom visited here, she hasn’t returned. The blowup at the dinner shouldn’t have deterred her to come back around to see her daughter.

Pfft. Fuck them both. Maybe they do deserve each other, but I don’t want that. If Eamon is sleeping around, I need him to divorce Jasmine, so that I can have Cal without her overthinking what she is to me. I may fuck around and call her my step-niece, but she isn’t and won’t be forever.

“Once you left?” I finally say after freaking her out with the moment of silence. “Or a recap of what you already heard.”

Her gorgeous citrus eyes round. “You knew I was there?”

I smirk, giving her a nod. “Yes, but it’s okay. Spy on me all you want.” I mean that in every literal sense. I’ll never hide anything from her. The good, the bad, my ugly—I wear it on my sleeve. I also have no desire for anything but this cabin and her. Not to say I won’t be of use to her. I’m looking for work so that I can take care of her. Last thing I want is to be a bum.

“Okay then, after. Does my mom know?”

“No, baby girl, she doesn’t. And he ain’t going to tell her either.”

As I get closer to her, she slowly tucks her hands behind her back. “How can you be so certain?” The moment I’m close enough, I search for her wrist and pull it from around her.

After a deep breath, I place it against my cheek, then let her go to move it back like she always does. It has her stepping closer to me, and me putting an arm around her neck. “He… hmm.” I pause, staring at her unyielding gaze. “There is two parts to that answer. One of them won’t hurt you, the other might. I’ll tell you both, but only if you want to know them.”

“Does it have to do with me?” The lace of virtue in her tone has me smiling wider, because damn, we could not be more opposite.

“No, it doesn’t, but it will hurt you in some way regardless, I’m sure.”

“Tell me the one that won’t hurt me, while I decide.” She draws her fingers up through my hair, grabbing at the short length.

“I told him it was the least he could do for me to allow you to tell your mother when you’re ready.”

The soft pull of her lip between her teeth has me needy to have it between mine. “I think I’ll just keep that answer, for now… but if I want to know later, will you tell me?”

“Yes, of course.”

She looks up at my hair, her cheeks are turning a deep shade of red as she blushes. “Are you becoming soft for me?”

“I don’t know what that means.” I lean forward and grab under her thighs, hoisting her up to my waist. “Explain.”

She presses her forehead to mine, still fumbling around with my hair. It’s about the only place that I can have her constantly touching without any problem. I can’t deny loving the pleasure that shoots down my spine when she tugs on it while I eat her out.

“It’s when someone that’s normally rough and tough, aka you, begins to be less so for someone.”

I hum. “Have I not technically always been this way with you?”

“Uh, no.” She’s so quick to respond, I’m slightly offended. It’s possible she sees it because she begins to explain. “You weren’t anything I didn’t want you to be with me.”

“Better…” Before moving us to the bedroom, I lock the front door. I think Eamon has a key, but I doubt he’ll be barging in again after what he saw. My hope is he dreams of my cock down his stepdaughter’s throat; that’ll be for some good karma.

“I like your roughness,” she continues as I open the door to the garage and hit the button to close it up. I have to adjust her so she doesn’t slip, and thankfully her legs circle enough to stay upright. “I equally like seeing this softer side of you.”

“Whatever you say, baby girl.”

I have to admit, I’m afraid she’s falling in love with me. It isn’t that I wouldn’t want to reciprocate that back, I’m just not entirely sure I’m capable of it. The last person I expressed that feeling for was my mother, and we see how well that ended for me.

I’ll just need time to figure out if what I’m feeling for Calista is that, but I hope it is.

“Is this a bad time for me to ask you a personal question?” She withdraws her hand from my hair, bringing both to her chest before leaning forward into me. I enjoy carrying her like this, and if I had unlimited stamina like that vampire dude from the television show she’s started to make me watch, I’d do it all day.

“Only if I get one in return.” I tap our bedroom door open with my foot.

“Sure.” She pauses briefly, and as she does, I toss her onto the bed. She squeals and immediately takes off her shirt. “Kids, marriage—have you ever thought of those things?”

I shake my head.

Before she goes for her bra, she stops and stares up at me expectantly. I didn’t realize I needed to go into further detail.

“I haven’t previously thought about them. Something someone once told me stuck with me, and after that, imagining anyone wanting to be with me for extended periods of time, didn’t seem possible.”

“You are the kind of heavy that isn’t worth carrying, Ronan.” I shake her voice out of my head.

Calista’s brows pull together. “I can…” I feel like she wanted to add to that, but she ends it there.

“You say that now.” I pull my shirt off, then undo my belt. “My question.”

“Wait.”

She moves her hands behind her back and unclasps her bra, allowing her full breasts to come into my view. I’ve seen them every day since I made her mine, but I still get instantly hard at the sight of her half-naked body. I’m unabashedly addicted to her.

“Yes?”

“Would you?”

“Would I what?”

“Consider them.” Her voice trembles through her words.

I let out a sigh, unsure how to answer. Honestly, the idea of being a dad terrifies me—I can only imagine what a psych evaluation would say. They’d probably deem me unfit to even have a pet. Then there’s marriage; I saw what happened with my parents, how that ended. Eamon’s infidelity is just another warning sign. And Jasmine isn’t even his first wife, which makes me wonder what happened to the one before.

That being said, I would be lying if I hadn’t contemplated grabbing onto her IUD and snatching it out of her. The thought of her pregnant with my child has made me feel strangely more possessive than I was before it floated around in my brain.

Don’t even get me started on imagining a ring around her finger, a telling story to anyone that she’s not available and is mine. I've never felt anything this intense—it's entirely new.

Then again, everything with her is.

“Forget I asked.”

I didn’t mean to be quiet for as long as I was. “No, sorry.” Sighing, I offer a smile. “Can we get a dog first?” It’s not delivered playfully, because I’m dead serious. I need to know if I can take care of something other than me. I’m still learning to do that for the grown woman laying half-naked before me.

Her lips part slowly in the center, slowly, and I’m excited to be biting them soon. “Then you’d consider them?”

Humming softly, I crawl onto the bed and between her legs, grabbing her leggings and removing them. “Yes.”

“Okay, thank you.” I understand her wanting to know. If that’s something she wants in the future, and I didn’t, maybe those are make or break.

Again, too bad for her, even if I said no and she tried to leave I’d be clamping her to the bed. Imprisonment wouldn’t be the worst thing, right? I’d still fuck and feed her.

Joking , of course.

“Now for my question.” I spread her legs wide, taking in her pink cunt and how soaked she is. “Did it excite you when your stepdad walked in on you choking on my cock, baby girl?”

She rests her hands over her head, crossing her wrists over one another. “Yes, Daddy, it did.”

I groan. “I knew it would. This weekend, I’m going to take you somewhere.” As I speak, two fingers slip through her slit. Her back lifts from the bed as I swipe up to her clit. “I’ve been waiting to bring it up, but now I just know you’ll enjoy it as much as I will.”

“What is it?” she pants through her question.

“Patience, you’ll see. For now…” I shift back and lift her hips, proceeding to curl her forward. “Let me give my good girl her reward.”