FOUR #3
Yeah, that’s not my phone, sweetheart, I thought, shooting Lincoln a death glare as I rolled off her and stood up. His smirk split into a wide smile as he took in my hard-on. “Yeah, you might want to do something about that, too.”
“Fuck off, Lincoln!” I hissed, turning away from my unsuspecting victim and readjusting my junk.
After another shut the fuck up glare at my brother, I turned back towards Amelie.
She was now sitting up, straightening her skewwhiff PJs: tiny shorts which showcased her perfect legs.
Legs, which I imagined would feel so good, wrapped around my waist. I noticed her nipples were hard against the strappy pink top she wore. Interesting.
Pissed off and thoroughly frustrated, I needed to get her out of there. “Get up,” I ordered, which caused Lincoln to shoot me a look. One that suggested that he didn’t agree with my tone. Yeah, well, screw him.
“Sorry?” Amelie said as I leaned down and helped her off the floor, not too gently, I might add. “I said, get up.”
“I dropped a glass.”
I released her wrist and dragged a hand across my jaw.
“I need to tidy up the mess I made.” Her voice was suddenly frantic. It was only a glass, for fuck’s sake. Her offer to clean up just pissed me off even more, like she was the hired help or something and was worried she’d be punished. “Look, you can go back to bed. I’ll sort it.”
“Hey, sweet-cheeks. I don’t think we’ve met?” Lincoln said, shoving off the counter and lowering his arms. He held out his hand for Amelie to shake. I remembered the way I’d ignored her offer of a handshake earlier.
“Really? You’re doing this now?” I said with a disbelieving look.
“No time like the present, brother. Sorry, I wasn’t at supper earlier. Had a work thing. I’m Lincoln, the good-looking member of the family.”
“You mean the most annoying,” I huffed, bending to retrieve the bits of tumbler. It was my fault, really, as she’d only dropped it when I’d piledrive her from behind.
“Amelie. Vanessa’s niece.” After briefly shaking his hand, I watched as she wrapped her arms around her scantily dressed body.
Recalling Jessa’s words that Lincoln found her pretty, a shard of jealousy shot through my chest, and I moved to stand in front of the shivering girl, shielding her body from his gaze.
“I don’t mind clearing it up. Honesty,” she said, attempting to move around me.
Linc chuckled, seeing exactly what I was doing. “Don’t worry about that, Kitten; Kieran can do it. In his condition, the last thing he needs is to see you on your knees.”
Motherfucker. “Lincoln!” I snapped, checking the floor for any other pieces of glass and hoping Amelie didn’t check me out too closely. My sweats were still slightly tented. My brother’s presence should have calmed that shit down, but nope. My third leg was still half-mast.
“His condition. I don’t follow?”
“Come on, Kitten, let’s get you back upstairs,” Lincoln said, placing his arm around her shoulders and leading her from the kitchen. I shot daggers at them both as they left me with my not-so-little problem.
After making sure all the glass was gone, I quickly mopped the area, counting the minutes it took Lincoln to escort Amelie to her room. Was the fucker tucking her in or something? How long did it take to walk the girl upstairs? Fortunately, my junk had calmed the hell down.
After around five minutes, which felt more like twenty, Lincoln appeared around the corner and walked into the kitchen with a cocky swagger. The grin on his face was huge, and I watched him scornfully as he picked up an apple from the counter and bit into it.
“You’ve got it bad. How long has she been here?” he said in between bites, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he chewed.
“You’re such an annoying prick,” I volleyed back, putting the mop back into the bucket.
“Bite me,” he laughed.
I rolled my eyes, holding back a smile. Lincoln and I bickered like there was no tomorrow, but we were tight.
“You done?”
“Just about,” he replied, looking down his nose at me. His face then became serious. “What the hell was that?”
“What?” I replied, feigning ignorance, relieved that my stonker had thankfully gone away.
Throwing his core in the bin, Linc spun back around and leaned against the counter. “You know what.”
I glanced towards my crotch. “It’s called physiology. I daresay it happens to you in the morning, too.”
His dark brows inched towards his hairline. “It isn’t morning, Kieran, it’s the middle of the fucking night.”
I waved him off. “Whatever, man. It was a natural reaction. I’m not made of stone. The girl hardly had any clothes on; what do you expect?”
“I would expect you not to be mauling our stepmother’s niece on the kitchen floor at two AM.”
“Mauled is a stretch,” I scoffed, my eyes roaming over him. He was wearing a white shirt and black dress trousers. There was lipstick on his collar: fucking clichéd. And to think he had a go at me for having a boner after being pressed up against a female.
I moved to stand in front of him. “Is that a hickey?” I asked, tilting my head to the mark on his neck.
Lincoln ignored my comment, flicking his head towards the ceiling. He then adopted his big-brother voice. “Whatever’s going on with you, you need to kill it. Shut that shit down. We don’t want any more complications in our lives, and you need to concentrate on finishing school.”
I released a sigh and rolled my eyes. “Yes, Dad.”
He wasn’t impressed by my lip. “I mean it, Kier.”
“You’ve got it wrong. I don’t see her like that.”
“Bullshit.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“You warning me off because you see something you like?” I said with a scowl.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You know I’m working on something else.”
Shit, yes. I’d forgotten about that. I recently found out that the teacher Lincoln was hitting on was one of mine.
“Still? You and Miss Hanson? Are you insane?”
“Is that a rhetorical question?” Linc said with a chuckle, and the guy had a point. It was well known in the village that the eldest Rook wasn’t wired right. That’s what the army does to a person.
“I mean it, Lincoln. Is that where you were tonight when we were hosting the new stray Vanessa brought into our lives?” We’d all assumed Linc had been hooking up with some rando when he got back from Iran, but nope, it turned out it was someone we both knew.
“That little brother is none of your business.”
“If you're dipping your wick in school ink, it is,” I rasped. Everything about that question sounded wrong. I massaged my temples with my fingers, closing my eyes for a beat. As I dropped my hands and glared at him, he didn’t even blink.
Lincoln’s expression was calm, the guarded fuck.
You could never read him; my father and I always said he should play poker for a living.
Well, until you pissed him off. That’s when his mood was made as clear as crystal, and that was the point where you should haul ass.
My brother in a temper was a dangerous thing to witness. Next to him, my moods were a cake walk.
Pinching the bridge of my nose with my finger and thumb, I asked, “Please tell me you’re not fucking my teacher,” before glaring across at him.
“OK then, I won’t,” he said with a smirk, walking to the fridge and pulling out a juice carton.
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re going to get, dickwad. As I said, it’s not like it’s any of your business anyway,” he replied, taking a greedy drink of OJ.
“Why the fuck would you go there? Wasn’t she your teacher too?”
“She was. She isn’t now.” His tone was matter-of-fact as he placed what was probably an empty carton back in the fridge. No doubt Vanessa would be up my arse about that in the morning.
I moved towards him as he turned back to face me. “Is that your admission that you started things up with her when you were at school?”
He viewed me with shrewd eyes. “I’m admitting fuck all, and why do you care so much?”
“I don’t care,” I reassured him.
“Doesn’t sound like it to me, shithead. Why don’t you concentrate on the little boner you have for the girl who is now basically our sister, and leave me the fuck alone?”
“She isn’t our sister. What I may or may not have with Amelie is way saner than you with Miss Hanson, an older woman, I might add.”
“Harmony is two years older than me, Kier. She’s hardly drawing her fucking pension.”
Shaking my head, I jammed my hands through my hair.
I knew it had been going on, but now that it was out in the open, it felt way too cringe.
How the hell could I sit through a lesson with her now?
“Oh my God, that’s sick, and I don’t mean ‘sick’ in a good way.
My brother is dicking my music teacher. How messed up is that? ”
“Only as much as you allow it to be in your head, sunshine.”
“Does the woman have a magic pussy or something?”
“First of all, get your head out of the fucking gutter. When you grow up, you’ll realise that relationships aren’t always about getting your dick wet.”
“Whatever, hypocrite. I’m going to bed.” I turned away with a huff. I’d had enough for one night.
“Sweet dreams, princess,” Lincoln called, his tone suggesting he was amused.
As I walked away, I knew that night would be anything but sweet. Every part of my body remembered Amelie's, as if she were now imprinted on me.
And I knew nothing good could come from that.
When I got to my room, I dropped trou and glanced down at my dick with disdain; he had let me down that night. After changing into dry joggers, I grabbed my phone from my jeans. Just as I was about to put it on charge, a message blew up the screen. It was from Lincoln.
DICKHEAD: Stop jerking off over our new houseguest.
ME: Stop thinking about me jerking off over our new houseguest. You fucking perv.
But he was right. I needed to rein it in. After a first impression which was at the height of all fuck ups, I knew I needed to do everything I could to keep a distance between the girl who was now living with us, and if giving Amelie Thorn the cold shoulder was the way to go, so be it.