Knox barely bit back a moan when Claire sashayed into the kitchen for breakfast that morning. He kept his eyes glued to his bowl of oatmeal, though it was nowhere near as interesting as the long expanse of leg revealed by her short T-shirt and skimpy cotton panties. “Goddammit, Claire, put on some fucking clothes.”
She gave him a look full of innocent sweetness. “It’s so hot, and you’re the only one here. Why should I bother? It’s not like your dad and my mom are home. They’re off somewhere in Europe, probably not dying from the heat like we are here near Savannah.”
He growled low in his throat, clenching his fists together. It took everything he had not to lift his petite little stepsister off her feet, slam her on the table, tear the clothes from her body, and sink his cock deep inside her until she was screaming his name. Fuck, she was trying to kill him. A glance at his watch revealed he was going to be late for his shift if he didn’t leave soon, and it was a relief to have a reason to rush out, especially with her walking around so brazenly in that skimpy outfit.
His chair scraped the floor when he shoved back harder than necessary to get to his feet. As he slammed on his deputy’s hat, he glared at her. “Next time you’re in front of me, wear some damn clothes, or you’ll be sorry.”
She licked her lips, her eyes not betraying any fear, and it was clear his warning had done no good. “I am wearing clothes, dear stepbrother. Would you like to see me without them?”
With another growl that passed for words, Knox turned and stormed from the kitchen, slamming the front door behind him as he made his way to the police cruiser. She was trying to kill him, or drive him out of his mind. Didn’t she understand she was the reason he had fled to the military seven years ago? Could seemingly innocent Claire grasp how the dark urge he’d had to possess her, to claim and control her, had terrified him?
At twenty years old, he hadn’t known how to deal with the dominant side of himself, especially when the object of his obsession was his sixteen-year-old stepsister. From the time their parents got married the year before, she had been all he could think about. It had gotten to the point he’d wanted to beat every man who looked at her to a bloody pulp, and he’d been on the verge of telling her exactly how he felt.
Worse than that, he’d wanted to storm into her bedroom to show her how he felt. Night after night, he’d lain in his bed in the room next to hers, his hand stroking his cock while he fantasized about tying her up and eating her pussy until she screamed his name.
He’d known something had to change. The fantasies were becoming obsession, and he’d started planning how to make it happen. She had been too young and off-limits. That was clear, so he had chosen the only out available to a man without a college degree. The Marines had been glad to have him, and they had served him as well.
In the military, Knox had learned to hone his need for control, and he had harnessed his darker urges, or so he’d thought. He’d even managed to have a few normal relationships with women, though he’d be lying if he didn’t admit most of them had turned to Claire in the dark. Tall or short, curvy or skinny, black or white, it hadn’t mattered. In the dark, they all became blonde-haired, petite temptresses with curves that welcomed a man’s hands and hips meant for holding during a lusty fuck.
It had been his intention to retire from the Marines after twenty years, hoping by then she would have had time to get married, pop out a couple of kids, and his obsession would have died. Unfortunately, an IED in Afghanistan had changed his plans, derailing his goals.
With nowhere else to go, he had come home to recover and rebuild his life. It hadn’t been so bad the first few months, when his dad and Miranda were there to act as a buffer. The pain of his injury had also kept him focused and on track, keeping him from doing anything he might regret to or with his sweet stepsister.
Unfortunately, their parents had gone on a summer-long cruise just a couple of weeks ago, and the pain from his injuries wasn’t nearly as bad as it had once been with physical therapy and an occasional pain pill to help. In fact, he had healed well enough to work as a sheriff’s deputy, and while he was supposed to be enforcing the law, he couldn’t help thinking about all the bad, bad things he wanted to do Claire.
The worst part of all, she seemed to want him to do them. Oh, he wasn’t crazy enough to think she would want him to tie her up, pull her hair, or do any other dark things his body urged. She clearly shared an attraction with him though. It had been hard enough to resist her when he was certain she was oblivious to him in that way. Now that he knew she saw him as a desirable man, it was much harder not to claim her.
He just had to be strong. He reminded himself of that as he stopped at the police station and went to work for the day. No matter how much he wanted Claire, she was still his stepsister and still off-limits.
***
Almost as soon as Knox had left the house, Claire ran back to her room and fumbled in her nightstand for the vibrator she kept there. Just the sight of him could make her hot and horny in seconds. She was dripping cream down her legs by the time she lay down on her bed, pulling aside her panties so she could stroke her clit with the vibrating tip of the fake cock.
It was a poor substitute for the one she really wanted, the one she imagined was long and thick and would stretch her in a way no man ever had before. Everything else about him was big and larger-than-life, so surely his dick was too.
She masturbated as she imagined it was him taking her, his lips instead of her hand against her nipple as she plucked the bud with her fingers. She wanted her stepbrother now even more than she had when she was younger.
It had taken one look for her to fall hopelessly in love with her new stepbrother. At fifteen, she’d been bowled over by her sexy older stepbrother, and she had felt nothing remotely sibling-like for him. She was amazed he hadn’t realized she had a crush on him. Then again, it wasn’t that surprising, since Knox had gone out of his way to avoid her then just as he did now.
Her womb clenched, and her sheath convulsed around the vibrator as she groaned his name. “Knox.”
Why couldn’t it be him instead of the plastic and silicone toy? Right, because he didn’t seem to be aware she was a woman. She didn’t know how else to get his attention, since her subtle flirting didn’t seem to be working. Even baring her body as she had this morning hadn’t seemed to sway him other than he’d demanded she put on more clothes.
Perhaps she was misreading his signals, and he really wasn’t attracted to her at all. If that was the case, her continued attempts at seduction would do nothing besides piss him off and make him uncomfortable. After everything he’d been through the last year, she didn’t want to hurt him, annoy him, or make things awkward.
Still, she couldn’t give up without a fight. They were older now, and there was no legal reason they couldn’t be together. When she’d been fifteen, and he had been nineteen, it had made sense that there was a barrier between them, other than his own lack of interest. She had dreamed from afar, and her heart was broken when he’d announced he was entering the Marines.
Now, he was back home and apparently planning to stay in Stanley, since he had a job with the Sheriff’s Department. She had no plans to move anywhere else, since she was running the general store for their parents and would likely inherit it in a few years when they finally decided to retire completely.
She wanted more than just a quick fuck with Knox, though that certainly had its appeal. Mostly, she just wanted Knox to look at her and see a woman instead of his scrawny stepsister.
Did he even realize she had grown up during the last seven years, since his departure when she was sixteen? She was twenty-three now and ready for the next life stage, including a permanent relationship. Even if he wasn’t interested in anything long-term, just the idea of having him even for one night was enough to make her rev up her vibrator and go for round two.