Chapter 2 #2
Baffled, I pull the phone away from my ear and just stare at it. There's no way I heard her correctly.
"What? All of what? All of Chemistry? You want me to teach you all of Chemistry right now? What the hell were you doing in class? What about the tutors? Something? Anything? What the hell, Lila?"
"Don't be mad," she cries out. "I tried.
I really tried. But this professor is like a traveling adjunct or something?
Nothing he talked about was in the books.
He'd go off on these weird tangents about bats in the belfry, napalm, and oh, you'll love this.
He had a whole discussion on how breasts are made up of fat. "
I blink, doing my best to digest her words. I mean… he's not wrong. But… "What the hell does that have to do with Organic Chemistry?"
"I don't know!" The wail in her voice nearly vibrates the phone. "I've tried the tutors, but it's like they're speaking Greek to me. I just don't get it."
"Latin or German more likely." I half wince as I await her response.
"Not funny, Nate."
Chuckling, I shake my head. "I thought it was humorous. What are you working on right now? What made you call me?"
"Can I switch to video?"
"Not unless you want to see a whole lot of me you'd rather keep out of your mind."
The line goes silent as she seems to puzzle through my words. "You're naked? Why are you talking to me naked? That's weird."
"Well, you did call me while I was trying to soak."
"Who the fuck soaks at like…" she goes silent again, presumably so she can count the hours between us. "One-thirty in the morning?"
"Someone who's worked all damn day keeping people safe and just wanted a moment to relax." It comes out gruffer than I anticipate, but honestly, I'm so tired and weary I can't seem to control my vocal tone.
"Sorry. I'll just send you a picture."
"That would probably be for the best."
Putting the phone on speaker, I step out of the tepid water and wrap myself in a towel. Even with the small soak, my muscles still scream at me. Soon I'll be able to take a break. Soon I'll have a moment to just breathe.
Once I'm in bed, I scroll through what she sends me and smile. Thankfully, it's just basic Chemistry. Just how I remembered it. Nothing new. Nothing fancy. Nothing that really calls for an emergency. For me, at least.
With a soft sigh, I settle in as I do my best to sum up an entire semester in small, easily digestible bites for her to understand.
At least an hour goes by before my eyelids droop down and I start to nod off at the melodious sound of her voice.
Now that it's not laced with panic, it's actually quite soothing.
"Nate?" Her voice is soft and tentative. "Are you still there?"
"Yes, Lila," I grumble, my voice thick with sleep. "Still here."
"You were snoring."
"Was not," I tease as my mouth stretches wide in a grin.
"Was too," she counters. "Could we possibly pick this up again tomorrow?"
"That would probably be for the best. Night, Little Lily."
"Night pain in my ass."
"Yeah, but a pain in your ass that's going to help you pass this class."
As she hangs up, a smile lingers on my face as I burrow into the sheets. As controlling as her dad is, I'm sure he'd understand not doing so well in one class. And given what she told me, I think a strong argument could be made that it's the teacher and not her that's failing.
Bats in the belfry? Napalm? There's definitely something in his belfry if he thinks that'll help anybody learn. Shaking my head, I close my eyes and drift back off.
A sharp ping rings out, shattering the silence. I crack my eye open. Could she be sending me another formula she's struggling with? A concept she could just look up on the web?
Pulling my phone close to turn off notifications for the night, I pause. SwiftCart? I didn't order anything from them. Especially not this close to moving back to Colorado. Hell, I'm trying to pack up what I've already got.
As I scroll through, my curiosity turns to forbidden arousal. Sex toys. It's certainly not for me. It's for Lila.
She orders so infrequently that I forgot I had put her on my family plan. It started out as a way for her to get things she needed without her dad knowing, things I wouldn't tattle on her about. Before, she'd just use it for music he wouldn't like or romance novels he wouldn't want her to read.
Since she joined when she was underage, it made me approve every purchase as if I were a parent instead of her stepbrother. Even though she's nineteen, nearly twenty, it still considers her a dependent. Which means I'm still having to approve everything she buys.
I didn't care about anything she read or listened to. I've always been of the opinion to let people do what they want as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else or encroach on their freedoms. As far as I know, she never realized I was always behind the scenes saying yes to her micro-rebellions.
I'm sure if she did, she wouldn't be buying smutty things like Snowed In With the Knotty CEO or Knotted and Bound by the Dominating Daddy.
Yeah, the titles made my dick twitch, and if I'm being honest, it was odd but a little arousing knowing my stepsister liked strong, deviant Alphas. But that was books. It was harmless.
This time, however, I'm now staring at massive dildos and knot stretchers, thick silicone cocks in a vast array of sizes, some with obscenely large knots at the base.
Something I never expected to see on my phone.
They're all in various lengths and thicknesses, as if she can't decide which one she wants to try first.
I shift uncomfortably, my cock stirring despite my exhaustion.
Blood rushes south as unwanted images flood my brain, and just as quickly, I shove them out before they can take erotic form.
What in the hell could she be needing all this for?
I know she's stressed about this final, but I'm not sure if that's quite the sort of relief I expected her to seek out.
Scrolling a bit further, I pause on the last item.
It's a kit that looks innocuous on the surface, but is anything but when you actually read the description.
Beginner to Advanced Knotting Collection.
Complete with a training dildo that inflates to mimic a real knot locking inside her, stretching her out until she's helplessly tied to it.
Well fuck.
That just tells me way more than I needed to know about my stepsister's private life, and way too much about what she fantasizes about when she touches herself. Does she picture an Alpha pinning her down, forcing his knot into her tight heat while she whimpers and begs? But of course she does. It’s the plot of every book she reads.
I scrub a hand over my face, willing away the unwanted stirring of arousal.
She's an adult. She can buy whatever the hell she wants.
It's none of my business what she does with it. It’s certainly none of my business how she'll look with her pussy stretched obscenely around fake knots, training herself like a good little omega.
Groaning, I hit approve on the order before I can think too much about it, then close the app and toss my phone onto the nightstand. My cock is half-hard now, and I refuse to acknowledge why. If I let myself go down that path… but that’s simply too dangerous.
I'm just tired. That's all this is. It’s just exhaustion making me react to things I shouldn't. Once I get some sleep, I'll forget all about this, and when I see her at Christmas, everything will be normal.
Just like it should be.