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My stepbrother could be a jerk. He hadn’t always been, at least, not at first, but things had changed over the five years we’d known each other, and this time, when I’d screwed up, he knew he had me.

I got caught partying, again, and I knew the consequences, so when Jace offered me an out, I had no choice but to accept.

His terms: one weekend of submission.

To him.

One weekend where he owned me. The thought of it, of me, at his mercy, burned. He knew it too, I could see it in the smirk on his face. But I agreed.

I had no idea what lay in store for me, but the one thing I did not expect was that I’d like it. That I’d like his dominance. That I’d want it, want him, more than anything else in the world.

chapter 1~

Jace~

It never fucking failed. The minute I opened my beer and sat down — finally — at one in the morning, after an entirely too long day, the doorbell rang. I glanced into the hallway but didn’t bother getting up. Instead, I picked up the remote and turned on the TV. Maybe whoever it was would go away if I ignored them.

Ding-dong.

Nope. No such luck.

Another ring, this time, two in quick succession.

“I’m coming. Hold your horses, man.”

Who could it be at this time of night anyway? When I reached the door, I looked out the side window to find a patrol car parked along the curb. Lights weren’t flashing though, which meant it was probably Mack.

I sighed. This was getting old.

I opened the door to find Lisa, my twenty-year- old stepsister, struggling to free herself of my friend Mack’s hold. He had her cuffed, though, so not sure what she thought she’d do when he let go of her.

“Hey, Mack, good to see you”—I made a show of checking my watch, more for Lisa than for Mack—“at one in the morning.”

“Jace.” Mack nodded. I knew our wealth intimidated him, but he could be such a prick. I’d known him throughout high school. We’d been in the same graduating class but on wholly different social spectrums. I’d been one of those kids everyone liked—students and teachers alike. Captain of the football team who could manage to score straight A’s with minimal study. It pissed people like Mack off. He’d had to work a hell of a lot harder and, for some reason, he always held it against me that he lived in a trailer park while I’d grown up in a mansion. I was never mean to the kid — told a bully to back off once — but all it got me was more resentment. And, now, he was a cop in our little town.

Throwing all hundred and fifty pounds around whenever he could. Good news was, he had a crush on Lisa, who could always manage to find herself some trouble. Given my father’s high-profile government job, that wasn’t a good thing.

“What did she do this time?” I asked, meeting Lisa’s glare as I did.

“She got picked up on a bust. Pot, nothing major, but it’s her third time.” He gave her a chastising look, at which Lisa rolled her eyes.

“Christ, Lees.” I shook my head. “Where the hell is your head?”

“Screw you, Jace. What are you, my dad?”

The palm of my hand itched to smack her ass as our eyes locked in battle.

“I got to her before they could make the arrest,” Mack said.

I expect a favor back.

I only stood there staring at him like I didn’t follow. It always made him fucking nervous.

“If I got caught, I mean,” he stammered, exactly like he used to in high school. I patted his arm. I could give him that.

“You shouldn’t have done it, Mack. Maybe it would have taught her a lesson to be booked along with her criminal friends.” That last part was directed at my stepsister.

“It was pot. I’m not some fucking criminal!”

We both ignored her and Mack shrugged his shoulder. “Thought it might cause some trouble for your dad,” he said, oh so kindly.

I didn’t have to say a word because Lisa shoved at him with her elbow then. He turned to her, the crush he’d had on her since high school still apparent in the way he looked at her now. Lisa, however, ungrateful spoiled brat she was, just gave him her signature

“when hell freezes over” look.

“I’ll get her out of the cuffs,” Mack said.

“Good idea.” As much as I thought Lisa needed to learn the lesson a public arrest could teach, I also knew how bad that would be for my dad. He was up for re-election this term, and vultures waited around every corner for a story like this one to break him. The damage to him would not be worth the lesson she might not even learn.

But then another idea did shine its light on me, one I’d jacked off to often in the last couple of years.

Mack un-cuffed Lisa and handed her over. I took her by the arm. “Say thank you to Mack for his kindness, Lisa.”

“What do you think you’re doing?” Lisa asked, looking from my face to where I held her arm, and back.

“I’m trying to make a decent human being out of you. Now, say thank you so we can let Mack get back to work. He has an important job.”

Her eyebrows went up and I almost busted a gut laughing with her right there. But it had been a long time since Lisa and I had shared a smile, much less a full out laugh. Instead, she turned an expressionless face to Mack and smiled the most bogus smile she could.

“Thank you, officer,” she said, her voice sickly sweet.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “I’ll take it from here, Mack.”

“Have a good night.”

“You know, I think I will. Thanks.” I dragged step-sis inside and closed the door.

“Okay, big brother, you can let go of me now,” she mocked.

I was pretty sure if you looked up spoiled brat in the urban dictionary, you’d find Lisa’s picture right beside the definition.

You’d also find it alongside words like selfish, callous, and cold. And she’d been so sweet when I’d first met her. I guess a lot could change in five years. Well, it was high time she learned that lesson. Hell, it was beyond overdue.

“Sure thing, sis.”

She huffed, her eyes on mine, searching for something. The last few times she’d been picked up, I’d given her a talking-to, then, after much begging on her end, agreed not to tell her mother or my father. But, clearly, I’d been going about this the wrong way because it’s not like it worked. Not like she’d never done it again. And now she stood there, staring at me, looking a little confused for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and walking toward the staircase.

“I’ll let Mom and Dad know about this little incident when they get home. Let them handle this. I’m sure it’s what they want to deal with after a night on the town. Guessing car privileges are first to go, right? Wasn’t that what it was? Oh, but wait, with the pot….” I made a face as if thinking hard, but in reality, this was too damn easy. “I think that may impact allowance.”

For a moment, albeit the briefest of moments, she looked almost innocent. Or scared. Probably the latter. I’d known Lisa for five years now. She’d been fifteen when my dad and her mom had introduced us, saying they were getting married. I’d been three years older and had a clue what was going on. My dad had been open about dating, and he and my mom had been divorced for years. Lisa, on the other hand, hadn’t had a single clue. Her mom had apparently told her a few minutes before introducing her to me and my dad, and I still remember the look on her face, how white she’d gone, how quiet. I remembered talking to her that night, and every night over the next few months. We’d gotten pretty close, but then, something had changed and that Lisa had disappeared, to be replaced by this one, this cold, calculating bitch who now stood glaring.

She came back toward me, stumbling once on her way. Her gaze scanned me from head to toe. “What do you want, Jace?”

“What do you mean?” I asked in my sweetest voice.

“You always want something.”

Well, that was true. But I was only human, and, in this case, what I wanted was for her as much as for me. Okay, maybe at the start, and perhaps during the execution of the plan forming in my head, it could be perceived as being more for me than for her, but ultimately, she’d reap the benefits, too. Although it would probably take her a while to see it that way.

“What is it, money?”

I gestured around me. This was my dad’s house. The money she was offering me came from him. I shook my head. “I’ve got more money than I know what to do with.”

“Then, what? What do you want to keep this little incident between us?”

“Like the last two times I kept your secret, you mean?”

She folded her arms across her chest and continued to glare then nodded once. It was a jolty, short sort of nod. I had her, and she knew it. It made my smile widen.

“You know what I want?” I walked toward her and put my hands on her shoulders, squeezing. Oh, but how my palm itched to bend her over, bare that spoiled little ass and spank it, taking her down a notch. But it wasn’t time for that. Not yet.

“Believe it or not, I want you to be a better person, Lisa. We are family, now, after all. And, quite frankly, your acting this way is hurting our family, but, most especially, it’s hurting you.” It was all true. I did want her to be better, to get over whatever was going on in her head or talk to me about it like she used to, and just be herself again.

Be the girl she’d been when I’d first met her, not this person whom I didn’t like very much. But she’d cut me off a couple of years ago, and I had no idea of the reason for it. Well, okay, I may have had some idea. There had been one night when we’d been talking. She’d always come to my room and we’d lie in my bed and talk. Those nights were nice. I liked being with her. But then she’d kissed me. It wasn’t like I hadn’t wanted the kiss, but I was three years older than her, technically an adult. She’d been fifteen, jailbait. And — and this was the biggest and — she was my stepsister. Yes, there had been a growing attraction between us, but I was sure I could keep it cool. And I had. But my rejecting her had effectively ended any friendly relations between us. I’d tried to talk to her about it, to explain that it wasn’t her I was rejecting, but she wouldn’t talk to me, not any more than she had to.

In a way, I guess I was the reason for her being like she was, at least partially, and that made me feel even more responsible to help fix it. But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit more sordid, and much more interesting, thoughts crept up right alongside that responsibility.

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