Hello there, I think to myself as I open one eye lazily, Colt’s naked body next to mine. After yesterday's stress...and drama, I wouldn’t mind waking up to this every single morning for the rest of my life.

I reach for him, caressing his cheek, and it almost pains me when he stirs. He looks so peaceful when he sleeps. Still handsome, of course, but it’s nice seeing him like this; when he’s awake, there’s always a fire in his eyes, and he looks so restless.

“G’morning,” he whispers, opening his eyes and smiling. He reaches for me with one hand, placing it on my waist, and then lays a kiss on my forehead.

“G’morning, brother,” I say with a soft chuckle, and he narrows his eyes at me.

“Stepbrother,” he corrects me, but I know he enjoys the way I tease him. I don’t know, there’s something very exciting about calling him ‘brother’. It’s taboo, it’s wrong...And the way that forbidden word falls out of my lips feels so deliriously sexy.

“Oh, is that so?” I ask, placing my hand on his stomach and then sliding it down his hard abs. I go as low as I can, his already erect cock standing in the way of my hand. “Because I’m in the mood for some brotherly action…”

“When are you not in the mood?” He grins, the hand he has on my hip moving up the side of my body. I’m still naked; I drifted off after the sex marathon we had last night, and so he reaches for my right breast, squeezing it. I let out one heavy breath, my nipples hardening as I feel the pressure of his fingers on my flesh.

“It’s your fault…” I purr, moving my fingers up and down his shaft. “How am I supposed to resist you? My own...brother?”

“You’re not,” he says, letting go of my breast and moving his hand down my body, resting it right between my thighs. I gasp as I feel his fingers on my wet folds, a pleasant electric feeling spreading from my pussy to the rest of my body.

I start stroking him harder, moving my hand up and down, and then close my eyes. Colt’s running his fingers over my pussy lips and then, without even a warning, he slides one finger in. He curls it upward like a hook, only stopping when his fingertip finds my G-spot. I gasp again, my body tensing up as that sweet anxiety of lust starts to take over.

“I love that look on your face,” he whispers, and I can only imagine how I must look right now, eyelids shut tight and lips locked into a strained smile of pleasure.

“I bet you do,” I half-moan, my voice quivering as he presses harder with his finger, sliding another one in. I’m about to tell him that he loves many other things about me when he shuts me up, pressing his thumb right above my clit. “Oh,” I pant, my insides suddenly burning up.

I clench my teeth, with that fire inside of me growing and growing until it becomes untamable. My muscles become taut and then, in a fraction of a second, a violent spasm of ecstasy washes over me as I come. I grab at the sheets, bunching them up as I push against the mattress with the balls of my feet.

“Now,” Colt whispers, leaning into me and brushing his lips against my ear, “you’re ready for the main course.” He slides his fingers out of me and, still lying by my side, kicks the sheets off our bodies. I’m about to open my eyes, just so that I can enjoy the sight of his naked body, when he places both hands on my hips and makes me roll to the side. With my back now turned to him, he closes the distance between us and a shiver goes through me as I feel his rock hard abs against my back.

His thick shaft is pulsing between my ass cheeks and I push my ass against him, swaying my hips from side to side and grinding against him.

“That’s the spirit,” he whispers, and then grabs his cock and pushes it down, its tip right against my pussy. Wasting no time, he thrusts; his shaft pushes its way past my folds, going deep inside of me, and I moan as I feel his long inches straining against my insides.

The pleasure raging through my veins is so intense that it feels like my eyeballs are on fire. Pushing my ass back against him, I rock my hips hard, trying to match his relentless thrusts. With my eyes still closed, I let the sound of flesh on flesh drown my conscious thoughts; right now, I’m a wild beast living on instinct alone. And it feels amazing.

“Harder,” I breathe out, and his cock goes so deep inside of me that I have no option left but to scream as loud as I can. So far, nobody called up and told us to be quiet, so I guess we’re good.

“If it’s harder you want...That’s what you’ll get,” he tells me, hooking his fingers on my hip and slamming his body against mine so hard that I wouldn’t be surprised if his cock ripped me in half.

“Oh, God, this is...this…” No words can describe how good it feels to have Colt fucking me, so I settle for a catch-all term. “FUCK!” I scream at the top of my lungs, a tornado of pleasure taking me by assault. It feels like I’ve been kicked in the gut and, at the same time, it’s the best feeling in the world. I knew what an orgasm was before Colt and Daniel, but I had no idea what an orgasm could be.

I keep on screaming and, by God, it feels good. So good. I needed this. Somehow, it feels like I’m exorcising my demons. After the confusion with my lawyer, and that fight with Daniel...I needed the release.

“So good…” I breathe out as Colt keeps on thrusting, pistoning into me mercilessly. He keeps doing it until I notice him breathing raggedly, his whole body tensing up as his cock throbs violently inside my pussy. A heartbeat later and he’s gushing a torrent of cum inside of me, its salty warmness coating my insides. I moan as he fills me up to brim, my muscles still twitching, and take one hand behind me just to hold his body. “So good…” I repeat, not moving until he finally stops cumming; and, let me tell you, that takes quite awhile.

“Fuck,” he finally breathes out, sliding out of me and rolling to his back. I do the same, and we just stare at the ceiling while we catch our breath, the morning sun streaming inside the room past the curtains and kissing our naked and exhausted bodies.

“Thank you,” I whisper, reaching for his hand and squeezing it.

“For what?” he asks, turning to me while holding my hand in his.

“For being here,” I say, and that’s all I have. Right now, I need him with me. If Colt wasn’t around...I don’t even want to think about the sobbing mess I’d be right now.

***

“Eggs?”

“Sure.”

“And toast?”

“Of course,” I say, smiling. We’re sitting in the hotel dining area, having breakfast, and this is the most normal I’ve felt in days. We’re just a man and woman, having breakfast together, and nothing else exists. The real world is a billion miles away right now.

Except, of course, that’s exactly when destiny decides to laugh at you.

“And here they are!” I hear the words, but I’m not even able to process their meaning. I’m just focused on the voice—her voice. I turn slowly on my seat, my blood freezing in my veins, and there she is. It's as if I'm staring a ghost.

My mother walks up to us and, without a single word, sits down. With a smile on her face, she reaches for one of the strawberries in the bowl at the center and plucks one out. “Delicious!” She cries out, taking a bite out of it. She's acting as if she never left. As if she didn't just up and vanish a year ago.

“What are you doing here?” Colt asks her, reaching for my hand under the table and holding it. He knows that I’m in no state for a fight with my mother, so he’s taking the lead. Still smiling, she now reaches for a piece of toast.

“Aren't you happy to see me? I hear about your awful fight with Daniel.” You left us, so why do you all of a sudden care? I think to myself, clenching my free hand into a fist and digging my fingernails into my palm. “Don’t look at me like that, Karen. I know I’ve never been...a good mother. But I’m trying to make things right. I'm here now.”

“The hell you are! You have no right to come into our lives and...and…” I feel a sob climbing up my throat and I grit my teeth, choking it down. I won’t let her see me crying—not this time.

“Karen, please...Let me explain,” she continues, this time lowering her voice. I always keep my guard up around her, but this time, I can’t help but hear a note of honesty in her voice.

“Let’s get out of here, Karen,” Colt says, getting up and looking at me. But, instead of just following his lead, I keep glued to my seat, staring straight into my mother’s eyes. “Thank you,” she whispers, a faint smile on her lips. What’s that in her face? Sorrow, guilt, shame?

“You and Daniel…” I start, lowering my voice as well. “You planned this together. You’re trying to leave me penniless. And Colt as well.” It's the only thing that makes sense to me right now.

“No,” she replies, shaking her head slightly. “You’ve got it all wrong, Karen. Do you really want to know why I'm here? I'm trying to protect you—both of you,” she says, looking from me to Colt. “As you found out, Daniel was already working to secure the money for himself. He probably told you some sob story about keeping the family business alive, but that’s not what he wants the money for, Karen. As soon as he got your signature, he’d be running for the hills and you’d never see him again.”

“Just like you did before,” I say, anger bubbling up to the surface. Is she telling me the truth? Was Daniel scheming against Colt and I all along? I feel that sob coming again and, once more, I choke it down. I don’t know how I’m going to take a betrayal like this...After the moments we shared, after everything...How could my own stepfather act like this?

“Just like I did before,” my mother admits, looking down. There’s sorrow in her face, and I know that my words hurt her. That was my intent, yes, but I’d take them back if I could. Somehow, I feel sad for the woman in front of me.

“You’re lying…” Colt says, trying to keep a semblance of hope alive. But I don’t think that even he believes what he’s saying. After my conversation with Mr. Williams, Daniel’s role as one of the good guys has become hard to believe...for both of us.

“I’m sorry, Colt...But that’s the truth,” she continues. “And he has set things in motion. Soon enough, I don’t think that even your signature will be enough to stop him, Karen.”

“But why…? Why is he doing this…?”

“I think that he got jealous, Karen. About you and Colt, I mean,” she looks from me to Colt, and then back. Perhaps seeing the surprise in my face, she continues. “Yeah, I know about the two of you. And I don’t care. I might've been a terrible mother, but you deserve all the happiness you can get. That’s why I came back...I needed to see you and your brother again. I wanted to be with my family. And when I realized what Daniel was planning...Well, I just couldn’t let him go through with it.”

“Thank you,” I find myself saying, the words coming out of me before I can stop them. I can’t believe that I’m actually having a conversation—and not a fight—with my mother. “How...how can we stop him then?”

Colt sits down again, still holding my hand but now ready to hear what my mother has to say.

“It’s simple enough. I already had a lawyer draft up a contract,” she pulls an envelope from the inner pocket of her jacket and then takes a folded sheet of paper out of it. She lays it flat on the table and casually waves her hand over the small print. “This basically says that, instead of having Daniel be responsible for the money in the trust, that you’ll hand over that responsibility back to me.” She pauses and, reaching across the table, grabs my hand. “Once that’s done and we clear the paperwork...I’ll make sure that every penny goes back to you, far away from Daniel’s reach. And then, maybe, you’ll give me a chance. I know that I’ll never be able to make up for lost time but…”

I bow my head. I need to tell her something more.

“Mom,” I say, with a pause. “Daniel and I…”

I can’t finish my sentence.

All of a sudden, Colt takes my hand.

“The three of us have been…intimate,” Colt says to her.

She looks at me. And then at Colt.

“You mean, you and my daughter, and my husband?” she asks. Colt nods. “All three at once?”

I nod.

Suddenly, her eyes well up with tears and I find myself holding her hand in mine and squeezing it. She pushes the contract across the table, taking a pen out of her purse.

“Sign here and I’ll never bother you again,” she says to us. “I don’t think I’ll want to.”

Grabbing the contract, my eyes go straight for the empty line at the bottom, the one where my name should be.

“Are you sure about this?” Colt whispers, looking me in the eyes.

“No,” I respond, being as honest as I can, “I just want to put all of this behind us.”

I place the tip of the pen over the blank line, my fingers trembling slightly. It’s time for this mess to be over.

“HOLD THAT PEN!” A loud voice reaches us, and there’s no mistaking it; it’s Daniel’s voice. I turn on the seat again, just in time to see him walk inside the dining area, an apologetic hotel clerk trailing behind him.

“It’s time we have a conversation. A family conversation.”