Stepbrother Bestie (A Stepbrother Romance Novel) Read online

  She pulled me quickly over to the couch and had me lay down before she almost reprimanded me, “You aren’t good, Shawn. You just passed out!”

  I could tell by the look on her face that she was extremely worried, but I had no idea what I was supposed to do to make her feel better. I nodded. “Okay…But I am feeling better,” I told her and I was fairly certain that I was being honest with her. I couldn’t actually be sure, but I was almost positive that not passing out again was an improvement.

  “What hurts?” She asked.

  I shrugged, feeling slightly woozy again before I answered her in a silly way, “Everything? Is that an answer?”

  This only made her appear more concerned, though, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I was just trying to focus on whatever it was that was going on with me and not have that black curtain come over my eyes again. To look at Valerie, you would have thought that I was dying. “It’s not a very good one!” she exclaimed. “Do you want me to call an ambulance?”

  I could tell that her breath was heightening and I knew that if we continued to have this conversation, she was going to start legitimately freaking out and I couldn’t have that. I needed all of the help I could get maintaining my own composure. I felt sore and I knew that I was still bleeding a little bit. My head heart and my chest and back still felt tight from where Zachary had leaned into it.

  I didn’t think that anything was broken, but I did feel as though there were many different ailments going on that I should probably be cautious of.

  I tried to breathe deeply, but realized that it was fairly painful. I wheezed slightly, but shook my throbbing head in response to her question, which I was afraid was not convincing. “No. I will be fine…”

  “Are you sure?” She stared at me with an inquisitive look and I nodded, even though I could tell that my eyes were scrunching, giving away the amount of pain it took to perform the motion.

  After a long moment of consideration from Valerie, she finally said, “Okay, well at least let me get you some ice.”

  “Thank you…” I said, feeling that my cheek was swollen and my limbs were sore, but by the time she returned, even without the aspirin that she gave me along with the ice, I was beginning to feel a lot better.

  Apparently all my body needed was rest, but the other helpful nuggets didn’t hurt that much either.

  Chapter 35

  Valerie

  I was really worried about Shawn. Plus, as I tended to him and realized exactly what he had done and what he had gone through for me, I began to feel a little guilty.

  There I was, trying to have a conversation with my mother and glaring at the little bit of noise he was making, all while he was trying to protect me from what he originally thought was a crazy ex-boyfriend.

  I personally still thought he was crazy, but Shawn did have a point. However, I still refused to believe that he took the word of a total stranger to him, without even attempting to know whether or not it was the truth.

  Despite that I was not a fan of violence and I was horrified by the brutality of their fight, I had seen a side to Shawn today that made me feel extremely safe with him. As much as I hated to admit it, while I loved everything about Shawn, I had never thought that he would be much use if we ever got into trouble.

  I was almost certain that this was the first fight he had gotten in since the second grade and even that didn’t end well. But this one, even though he came out of it with a few bruises and cuts, he had done really well, especially against Zachary, who by contrast was always looking for a way to show the world that he was all man.

  It wasn’t that I wanted Shawn to fight for me, but it was just the knowledge that he would if he needed to made me happy and caused me to feel a sense of attraction to him that was strange. I had always thought that Shawn was attractive, but now, that attraction coursed a little deeper. I didn’t know exactly how to put it into words, but there was definitely a change and I liked it a lot.

  I helped to tend to his wounds and within an hour, Shawn seemed like he was back to normal. The swelling had gone down and he was able to move without grimacing and so I was able to stop feeling so overwhelmingly worried about him.

  Instead, I focused on being near him, but not worrying so much about his health. Yet, there was still a part of me that watched every single thing he did. I didn’t want to miss any signs that he was worse off than either of us thought and despite what I would have thought before this whole terrible situation, Shawn had made it very clear that he would not tell me if he was in any more pain.

  So we watched a movie together and throughout it, I began to instinctively snuggle closer to him, careful of his injuries.

  By the time the movie was over though, I was feeling a strong sense of allure. I felt his arms holding me securely, while his touch gracefully rubbed up and down my back as my head lay on his chest, listening to the rhythm of his heart. I knew that it was only a matter of time before I began to feel the pull of his allure.

  When the movie was over, I was feeling extremely needy and just as I had predicted, I felt myself begin to be pulled into his essence, wrapped up by the spirit that had always enthralled me. I was ensnared by the charm that had always attracted me to him.

  Shawn didn’t even have to say anything. Just the feel of him, close to me, while the scent and sound of him being close enough to touch me was an amazing and enthralling feeling and at this moment especially, I couldn’t get enough.

  When the credits rolled on the movie and we began to arouse from the half-stupor that the movie had cast upon us, I looked up and caught a glimmer in his eyes.

  He smiled at me and I felt my lips part in a beam back toward him. As I did so, I felt a pressure coursing through my body, heating and making me feel a tingling sensation.

  Suddenly I wanted to kiss him.

  The familiarity and exploration of his face, along with the closeness of our warm and already excited bodies made it so that no matter what I did, I could not look away from him. I focused on his lips after a moment, realizing the delight that I had in kissing them once. I wanted to do it again.

  Yet, I also wanted to resist, hoping, naively that I could overcome the power that Shawn apparently always had and always would have on me. However, I knew soon enough that was a futile mission.

  As though reading my mind, Shawn eased his way up toward me in a sensual motion. Before I knew it, he was ducking his head toward me, his lips parted slightly, while his hand came to rest on my face.

  Moments later, the “come hither” look that was in his eye and the expression on his face caused me to turn my head to the side, readying myself to accept his presence on my lips.

  From the first brush of his lips against my own, as my mouth took in his sweet, familiar taste, all of my anger, all of my misunderstanding and all of my willpower dissipated. There was only the desire for his lips to reside on my own, drinking of my drugging nectar, with his curious tongue easing its way deeply into my mouth.

  As I grasped his face with my hand, bringing him closer as the enthralled excitement encased me, I felt myself shiver before I was willed forward into his embrace.

  The smile that crossed my occupied lips caused Shawn to allow his lips to linger, before he pulled his head back carefully to gaze into my eyes once again.

  “Oh my God, Valerie,” he exclaimed and then mindlessly captured my lips again before I had a chance to argue against him. Feeling his tongue push past my teeth and travel deeply into my mouth once again, while his hands repositioned so that he could feel my body beneath my clothes, I realized that there was nothing I was going to do now to stop him. I repositioned one of my hands on his shoulder, pulling him closer to me, while my other hand snaked around his neck, my fingers coiling in his shaggy hair.

  I felt his neck curve as his lips mindlessly chased after my own and I let out a shrill laugh as he thrust forward, landing on top of me on the couch in the opposite direction. Our hearts were already pounding so fast that I
could feel them thumping as they pounded as one.

  Once Shawn was on top of me, he began to pull my shirt up to expose my breasts and stomach.

  I helped him to ease the shirt off of my head, only breaking the unity of our mouths for a second, and once the shirt was thrown away, I felt his hands return to my now mostly naked body. They made their way up and down, caressing my curves and taking in my true entity.

  After a few playful strokes however, I began to feel him claw at my bra hungrily.

  I laughed behind his lips and helped him to remove it. Once again, the second he had thrown the apparatus across the room, his hands were on me once again, drinking in my satin nakedness. His mouth continued to massage my lips, which were now plump from the attention.

  However, when he slipped his hands easily onto my breasts, I felt my body convulse with excitement. I smiled and heard him chuckle as his fingers gathered easily around my breast, causing my nipple to automatically become taut.

  I giggled and grasped his hand, but he pulled my hand away, before pulling himself back and eagerly removing his shirt.

  Within an instant, his shirt and pants were gone, revealing the slim, sexy, rampant body that lie underneath.

  I also removed my pants, so that we could relish in the complete and total nakedness of one another.

  His broad chest was endearing and his hair-roughed skin was enticing. Immediately, my hand came up to play with it and as my fingers began to nestle into him, he smiled and made his way back down so that he could take part in my quintessence as well.

  While Shawn friskily teased my bosom and ran his hand down my thigh, we melded ourselves into one another and grew cozier by the minute.

  Every second that passed, Shawn seemed to get braver and more adventurous. My body allowed him to go so far, but every once and a while he would cause my body to lurch forward from pent up emotion being released at once, making me yell out and grasp his hand. But eventually, when he decided to stop teasing my inner-thigh and go right for my womanliness, even my surprised reaction did not stop him.

  He simply chuckled and eased his way deeper, until I knew that the wetness that I was feeling from his sexual taunts was now seeping onto his hand. I heard Shawn groan with a sense of excitement while his fingers wiggled a little as he held me close to him.

  I clenched my thighs together for a moment, but he was persistent and by this time just as immensely turned on as I was and so, he thrust my legs apart and eased his hand into me with a domineering force that caused me to scream. I groaned and grasped at his hand again, while he found my sweet spot.

  While he swatted my hand away, I arched my back, before I felt his other hand curve around my neck and pull my mouth towards his once again. The wetness of his mouth against my swollen lips caused me to moan with muted eagerness as he rubbed his hand up and down my womanliness. He laughed behind my lips and eventually curled his hand up into my hair, pulling my head back.

  When he pulled apart from my lips, his eyes had a wild look as he asked seductively, “Oh, do you like that?”

  I felt a harrowed breath escape my chest as I fought the inclination to surrender myself to him.

  I didn’t like to feel as though I wasn’t in control, especially being out in the open like this, but from the enchantment of his touch, I felt as though I could easily slip into oblivion.

  “Yeah…” I answered, just before he pulled his hand back, only to be quickly replaced by the feel of his shaft carefully rubbing itself against me.

  Excitedly, I ran my fingers up and down his chest before finally landing on his arms and squeezing tightly.

  He smiled at me carefully as I felt him ease his way between my legs before finally, in a glorifying burst of passion, he buried himself inside of me, which caused me to yell out with enthusiasm and an intense sense of anticipation.

  However, once he had entered me, I could tell that it wouldn’t be long for either of us. As he submerged his blatant arousal inside of me deeper, I felt his own exhilaration throbbing with need.

  I held onto Shawn tightly as he rocked back and forth, while my legs instinctively moved up and curled easily around him.

  It was then that my breath and heart rate began to speed up magnificently and I whined with arousal, helping him to keep a speedy rhythm.

  Together, the two of us thrust back and forth with fervor, faster and faster, breathing as one with our hastened cadence, until finally, I heard Shawn groan, just before an explosion of his passion blasted inside of me.

  His love filled every crevice and excited me enough to push through my own climatic threshold.

  In a moment, I too was overcome with a blinding, convulsing, thrilling sense of euphoria that caused me to yell out and squeeze Shawn closer to me. In that moment, all I wanted was to feel him: against me, in me and all around me.

  For that mind-altering, fantastic moment, Shawn was the end-all, be-all to my world. To me, in my mind, for the length of that experience, the sun rose and set around him.

  I could stay there forever, but eventually, felt the hold of his lovemaking releasing.

  However, even after I was able to let go of him and he sat back a little, I could still feel the caverns of my loins pulsing around him excitedly.

  I looked up at him and laughed slightly before he eased himself out of me and we connected in a sweet, loving, quiet, reflective embrace, where we remained for quite a while enjoying the feel of one another against our bare skin.

  While we laid next to each another, still tightly wrapped in one another’s arms, I began to contemplate how strangely, but also how perfectly this day had turned out to be; especially since it started out so strangely. I certainly hadn’t anticipated that things would end up like this.

  Not only had Shawn and I been able to rekindle our relationship, I had also started the healing process with my mother.

  There might be a lot of uncertainty… I began to think and then sat up suddenly as I had another thought leap into the forefront of my brain. “Oh God! What time is it?” I demanded before I looked around, trying to find a clock that I could use to answer my own question.

  First, I heard Shawn grown as though I had landed on a sore spot as I sat up with such haste, but then he answered carefully, “I think it’s only like, seven o’clock…Why? What’s wrong?”

  “I have to call my mother!” I exclaimed before I ran back into the room and closed the door.

  Chapter 36

  Shawn

  Valerie was in the room a long time. I wasn’t quite sure what they were talking about, but I did hear her laugh from time to time and so, I guessed that everything was going all right.

  When she walked out though, I made sure that I asked, “How did everything go?”

  Valerie smiled and I wondered if the glow that I saw radiating from her was because of how I felt about her, or if it was just a byproduct of us having sex. The afterglow as it were.

  She shrugged and crashed onto the couch next to me, now fully dressed. “I think it went well. She’s really upset over someone tampering with her phone, but she doesn’t seem too upset with me…”

  I stared at her, trying to figure out if that just extended to herself, or if it also pertained to me.

  I didn’t have to ask. Instead, she offered, “I don’t think that she is even really mad at you either. She said she was shocked, but not overly surprised. She just needed to get past the initial weirdness before she was actually able to talk to me again, but I was, ‘kicked-out’” She illustrated with air quotes, “before she could figure out how to approach the subject.”

  I made a face and sat up. “So, do you think she’s okay with it?”

  Valerie shrugged and for a moment, it was almost as though nothing had changed. I had the feeling now that we were just best friends again. After all, the feelings that I had for her had not changed. I have loved her almost from the moment I was able to love in that way and so, there was always that underlying attraction. I relished in the familiar
feel, despite the unfamiliar subject that we were actually speaking about.

  “Umm…” she answered thoughtfully before she squinted her eyes, which wrinkled the carefully placed freckles that were scattered over the fair skin of her nose. “I think it’s too soon to tell?” Valerie then raised her eyebrows and shrugged. “I hope so, but I also think that would be weird, you know?”

  “Yeah, then they’d want to double date and that would just be strange…” I replied in a dorky way.

  The awkwardness was proven completely when instead of laughing and just going with it, Valerie stopped and stared at me.

  “What?” I finally asked.

  She shook her head slowly. “Please, never...ever mention us double dating with our parents again. Or dating, even exclusively, in the same comment. That is just gross.”

  I smirked while I shrugged and teased an easy, “Give it a few years.” I watched her body twitch and quiver uncomfortably.

  “Too soon?” I chuckled.

  “Never, Shawn,” she replied with a shake of her head, “Never.”

  I moved toward her and placed my arm around her. She leaned into me and smiled with a sense of contentment and I realized that this was definitely something that I shouldn’t take for granted.

  Even though we seemed to be nicely settling into our own ways, this was definitely a new perk of being open about the way we felt and I was ready to enjoy every minute of it.

  We sat there quietly for a few moments before finally, I asked Valerie the question that I was just waiting for the right timing to inquire about. However, the longer I waited, the more I really wanted to know and the stranger the time seemed to ask it. “So, what is going on with your mother’s phone?”

  Valerie shrugged. “I’m not really sure. She thinks that someone tampered with her phone. When she compared the number I called her with, my cellphone number, the number for her contact information was one number off.”