Chapter 9
Stella
Oh. My. God. I can’t believe this is happening. A manic smile spreads across my face, and to his credit, he only looks a little bit alarmed at my reaction.
“Truth,” I declare, because you can’t do dare right out of the gate. It’s simply not how these things are done.
“What would you have done if I wasn’t here to let you in yesterday?” James asks the question so seriously. It’s sweet how concerned he is, even though he’s trying to look intimidating.
“Probably camped out in the hallway, called Hazel or Beck to come help me? Not sure.”
“You almost walked right past the place,” he accuses.
“I was so focused on not falling over and staying warm, I didn’t see where I was.”
“And look how that turned out for you.”
“Excuse me! Is this truth or dare, or truth and judge?”
“I’m not judging.”
“You so are.”
He sighs, clearly regretting a lot of his recent choices. “Your turn.”
“Okay, truth or dare, stud?” He raises an eyebrow at the nickname. I’m goading him and he’s not stupid enough to not realize it.
“Truth.”
“Why won’t you tell your parents you don’t want to run the company?” He stares at me emotionless.
“Dare.”
“Nope! Can’t switch now!” I smile at his frustration.
“It’s not done. In our family. All the eldest sons have run it for the past few generations.”
“So, you’re afraid to disappoint them?”
“Not really.”
“Then what are you afraid of?”
“I’m not afraid,” he says defensively.
“Alright, alright. Backing off.” I settle back into the couch.
“Truth or dare, sunshine.”
“Truth.” He accepts my answer and thinks for a moment.
“Did you actually not know who I was that night? At the bar?”
Oh. Definitely wasn’t expecting that.
“No,” I say earnestly. “I was there with the girls for my birthday, and Hazel went to the office with Beck—”
“To fuck.”
“Most likely,” I laugh, “and Nessa was off dancing with someone, I think? I just wanted to watch the band, and you were…” I struggle to find the right word.
“Hot?” His face is so freaking smug.
“Mesmerizing.” His expression softens. “I couldn’t take my eyes off of you. You’re impressive.” I shrug as disbelief colours his expressions. “Truth or dare?”
He looks at me a moment longer before answering. “Dare,” he says, polishing off his drink and putting the empty glass on the table with the rest of our food remnants from the day.
“Run out in the snow in nothing but your boxers.”
His mouth drops open, and he guffaws. “Really?”
“Really.” I smile like I’ve won, proud that I’ve found something he’ll never do.
Until he stands up.
Without breaking eye contact, James slowly strips, his black t-shirt flinging across the room as he teasingly pushes his sweats down. I can count the defined abs he has, and his arms bulge with every movement. My eyes are drawn down and I almost stop breathing.
Holy mother of God. I look at his generous package. The man is freaking blessed. Am I drooling? I think I’m drooling. I look up from his… well, his dick, and see the freaking arrogant-as-hell grin on his face. I point to the door.
“Run, run, little man. It’s not getting any warmer out there.” I put on a fake scowl that he laughs at.
“Oh, there’s nothing little about me, sunshine.
I’ll be right back.” The man freaking WINKS as he darts out to the hallway.
I race to the window to watch his demise.
To my dismay, he strolls out of the building confidently in his bright red knickers, arms outstretched before he places his hands on his hips.
He turns to look up at me and waves before tipping backwards into a huge snowdrift that’s collected on the sidewalk.
I burst out laughing as he attempts to make a snow angel before dragging himself out of the icy bank and running back inside.
I sit back down to wait for him, and right before he runs in there’s a screech in the hallway, followed quickly by a door slamming.
“I guess that’s one way to meet the neighbours,” he jokes, and I’m enraptured.
I’ve never seen him smile or joke like this.
Like there’s a weight he’s been carrying around that he’s finally put down, if only for a moment.
He looks lighter, freer. He shakes some snow out of his hair before grabbing his grey sweats again and bundling back up.
I don’t even pretend I’m not staring at him this time, admiring his toned body and tight ass.
“You need a coffee or something, stud?” I laugh.
“Probably,” he says, making his way to the percolator. “You want one?”
“Nah, I don’t drink coffee.” He spins around.
“For real? Don’t you work in a coffee shop?”
“I do, I just drink tea. I don’t love all the caffeine in coffee. It makes me anxious. I started avoiding it a few years back.” I used to drink it by the bucketloads when Mom was sick and I had to stay up with her. I don’t tell him that, though. It’s a little too heavy for this afternoon.
“Alright, my turn,” James says as he plunks down with a coffee for him and a hot water with lemon for me, which I graciously accept. I turn fully on the couch to face him, sitting cross-legged.
“Dare.” I figure if he did one it’s only fair that I do, too.
“I dare you to give me a foot massage,” he says, smug as ever.
“Seriously?” I’m skeptical of his motives considering the smirk he’s sporting.
“Well, you are the one who made me run out in the snow. My toes are cold now.” He puts on the most adorable pout I’ve ever seen on a grown man, and a few giggles sneak their way out as I concede.
“Alright, stud. Wouldn’t want your poor little toesy-woesies to fall off,” I mock as he swings his feet up into my lap.
He reclines, folding his hands behind his head as I rub my own together to warm them before taking one of his feet and pushing a thumb up through his arch.
A groan rumbles through his chest, and I shift in my seat.
I will not get turned on by this. I will not get turned on by this.
Little does he know I am an expert foot massager.
Since my mom’s treatments made her ankles swell, I’ve learned the tricks of the trade.
Not to brag but James is going to be putty in my hands before he knows it.
I get into all the muscles I can, remembering how much Mom liked it when I went around the bones of her ankles, and I know he likes it just as much when I see little goosebumps pop up on his calves.
When I switch to his other foot after a while, he opens his eyes again.
“As much as I’m loving this, I think it’s your turn, sunshine.”
“Sure thing, stud. Truth or dare?”
“Truth,” he answers without hesitation.
“Alright. I’m an only child, so I need to live vicariously through you. What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done as a big brother?”
“Dated her best friend, and when she dumped me, it was like she dumped Nessa, too. Never spoke to Nessa again.” I sit in shocked silence, weighing my next words carefully.
“I meant like, a prank? But we can do the deep dark things, too, I guess,” I laugh nervously.
“Ah, then putting mayo in her hair conditioner.” I cackle at his answer.
“Okay, that’s pretty good.”
“My turn, truth or dare,” he asks, pushing his feet further into my hands, clearly not done with his foot massage.
“Truth.”
“What’s your biggest fear?” He closes his eyes, leaning his head back against the couch.
“Probably not doing enough or seeing enough before I die.” His head pops up, giving me a perplexed look. “Sorry, was I supposed to say snakes or something?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Then, snakes. They’re gross little buggers.” He barks out a singular laugh. “Your turn, stud. Truth or dare?”
“Dare.”
I already know what I want to say, but I pretend to hem and haw for a moment. He sits up, crossing his own legs and leans towards me with a quirked brow and a playful grin.
“I dare you to kiss me.” He freezes for a minute, his eyes wide, searching mine. He tracks the movement as I bite my lip, contemplating for a moment.
“Stella…”
“Please.” The word is no more than a breath, a wish.
I know I’m pushing it, I know it’s a bad idea, but I also know how badly I need to taste him again.
I watch him with longing, holding my breath as I wait for him to decide, the seconds moving like hours.
Something behind his eyes shifts as he studies me, tension visible in his posture.
I’ve ruined it. We were having such a nice time and I’ve wrecked it all. I start my bruised retreat back to my own side of the couch when he makes his decision.
“Fuck it,” he says, surging forward. He wraps his hand around the back of my neck, pulling me toward him, crashing his lips into mine.
I surrender completely, allowing him to part my lips, gasping into his mouth as his tongue strokes mine.
His other arm bands around my back, holding me close as he bends over me, causing me to lay back.
The weight of his body on mine is delectable.
Need surfaces viciously as I drape a leg over him, needing him closer, tighter, fiercer.
Just more. My breath catches as he pulls away from my mouth to kiss my neck, the same place he left a hickey when we first met.
Every single nerve ending is on fire, and when his fingers delve deep into my hair and maneuver me for better access, I let out a throaty moan.
“Fuck,” he groans into my skin, sending shivers skittering down my body.
I could die a happy woman right now.
Almost.
“James,” I say, my voice breathy and wanton.
“What do you want, sunshine?” he rumbles into my ear, nipping at the lobe and making me shiver.
“I want you.” I can hardly form a cohesive thought, every part of my attention is on him. There’s nothing else. Only him.
“Ah, ah, sunshine, tell me exactly what you want and maybe I’ll give it to you,” he says as he presses himself further into the cradle of my hips.
“I want to have sex,” I gasp.
He jerks to a stop. Pulls away, looking down at me, his tight grip paralyzed by my statement. All the building heat between us has leeched from his demeanor.
Without a word he unwraps himself from my legs and walks away.
Ouch.
“You know, a simple no would have been fine,” I say crisply. My heart lurches painfully. I thought we’d had some tension building, and the way he makes me want him… But he doesn’t see me that way. He sees me as his little sister’s barely-legal friend. Or maybe he’s not that attracted to me.
I grab the throw blanket again, wrapping myself in flannel and shame while he does something in the kitchen. Embarrassment burns my insides, eating up the joy of the day. It was so stupid of me to ask. It was stupid to hope that he wouldn’t turn me away.
I take some calming breaths, not allowing the angry tears to fall while I compose myself.
I hear him sit at the table, so I can tell he’s not coming back.
I wish I could leave and hide, but with the wind howling so hard the window panes rattle, I know I have no other options.
I have to suck it up and fix this so we can at least be in the same room together.
I pull on my big girl pants, as Hazel would say, and walk over to the kitchen where he’s frowning so hard at a can of beer that it might actually implode.
“I’m sorry,” I squeak out, my voice cracking slightly at the end.
“It’s fine,” he says, still not looking at me.
“No, it’s not. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable in your own home. I shouldn’t have said that, and I want to apologize. Can we forget it happened?”
“You want me to forget you asking me to fuck you? To be your first?” His eyes are blazing when they turn to me.
“Yes. I’m sorry I asked for something I knew you didn’t want to give me. It was unfair.”
He scoffs at that. “We can’t date, sunshine.” His eyebrows pull together as he examines me.
“I never said I wanted to date you.” I retort, indignant. “I said I wanted to sleep with you.”
“I’m sorry, repeat that?”
I do, rattling back what I just said.
“Let me get this straight. You want me to fuck you so that when you eventually travel, if you meet some guy you like, you won’t be a virgin and it’ll be less awkward?”
“Uhh… yeah?” It sounds so much worse when you put it that way.
“I’m supposed to be your fucking training wheels. Goddammit.”
“You make it sound so… careless!”
“It is, Stella! This is a recipe for disaster.”
“It’s not, I’ve thought this through. I don’t want to date, I find you attractive. That’s all there is to it.”
“Oh yeah? That seems unlikely.” He stands up and stalks towards me, backing me into the wall, trapping me with his solid frame.
I meet his gaze, refusing to stand down, startled at the unfamiliar flutter that stirs in my belly as his pupils bloom.
“I see those innocent blue eyes, sunshine. And they spell nothing but trouble. They’re begging me to take what I want.
To stuff you full until I’m imprinted in you the way you are in me.
” He cups my mound, pressing dully into my clit, only enough to tease.
I try to move closer, but I’m held still when his fingers grip firmly around my waist.
He leans close to purr into my ear. “I also see how sweet you are. How you’d want to wake up in my bed and let me take you over and over again.
How I wouldn’t be able to stay away from you.
How I would give you more and more until you couldn’t take it.
” A shiver rolls through me, and I arch into him as his breath caresses my neck.
“And I would keep you. Those eyes would keep me giving you anything you wanted, bowing at your altar. I would submit to every craving of yours, every whim. You’d have me coming back for more each time. You can see it, right?”
“Yes!” I gasp, hating that he’s right. Hating that as he taunts me, he’s right that once would never be enough. I would learn to crave him, to seek him out. I would let him use me for his pleasure, knowing he would give me mine as well.
“I wouldn’t be able to stay away from you. Neither of us want a relationship. We shouldn’t start. I’ll be addicted. I’ll need you.” He starts to pull away from me and a slow whine creeps out.
“Wait! What if it was just for the storm?” I ask, and he stills.
“Just for the storm?” I can’t wait any longer, the anticipation burning me up from the inside, needing him to make it better.
“Please, I need…” I don’t know how to think, how to articulate what I want from him. It flips a switch, and his features darken with lust. He grabs my waist and walks me backwards, steering me towards the bedroom.
“Oh sunshine, I know exactly what you need.”