I adjust my tie in the mirror, trying to split my attention between getting ready for tonight’s party and the Zoom staff meeting taking place on my laptop. “Carolyn, reach out to Senator Wichowski. Make sure we can count on his social media support on election day. The numbers in his district could swing either way. Let’s swing them ours.” I add my grandfather’s gold tie clasp, which I only wear on special occasions. “And Joe? I wasn’t thrilled with the attack ad angle on the latest commercial. Let’s dial it back and let the guy bury himself. We don’t need to do it for him. The debate last month spoke for itself.”
“On it, Governor. Totally agree.”
“I’ll be away from my phone tonight. Let’s meet tomorrow in the afternoon. Take Saturday morning for yourselves.”
An electronic cheer goes up and I smile absently, clicking my laptop shut. Normally my staff would have weekends off, but the election is only weeks away, so it’s all hands on deck.
I throw on my jacket, bracing my hands on my dresser.
A deep breath…and then thoughts of Cate rush in.
This is how it goes. I can concentrate for only minutes at a time before I have to surrender to the obsession. The constant whirlwind of her beauty dominating my head. Her voice, her touch, her scent, her name alone can rock me. It’s a wonder I was able to part ways with her at dawn when I dropped her back at the building. Letting her go, even for a matter of hours, turns me into an anxious madman. I want, I ache, I hunger constantly.
For the thousandth time today, I hit the code on my phone and pull up the pictures of her naked. My cock hurries to stiffen, straining against the zipper of my pants. How many times did I take her last night in my bed? Four? Five? And yet it’s like I haven’t fucked her in months. My fingers curl into the edges of the dresser, my hips grinding and bucking against the sturdy wood, head falling back, pretending it’s her pretty little ass bent over in front of me.
The sound of a car pulling up in the driveway steals my attention, forcing me to quit molesting the furniture, and I look outside to find Rebecca stepping out of the limousine in her evening wear. My father climbs out after…
And then Cate.
My chest grows crowded at the sight of her.
She’s been dressed in a deep red. So deep it’s almost black. The silk dress rises to her neck in the front, nearly to her chin. Which apparently is an excuse to leave her sexy legs on full display, the hem far too high for my comfort, the black heels elongating them to an indecent level. Her mouth is painted the color of fresh cherries, hair twisted in a sophisticated knot on top of her head.
She’s a fucking vision.
And after tonight, she’ll be in the public eye. For everyone to want.
To covet.
By God, I’ll be the only man who she ever loves, though. I won’t allow anyone to take that honor from me. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her affection. It goes without saying that I will love her endlessly. The real her. The unbridled girl underneath the new, fancy wrapping.
My Cate.
I’m striding from my bedroom before I know I’m moving. Toward her.
God, what I wouldn’t give to have her to myself tonight. To strip her slowly out of that dress and make love to her in every room of my house.
There is something that remains unsettled inside of me. A worry that I’ve allowed these changes to her to happen when none were necessary. She’s perfect now and she was perfect to begin with. But I can’t stand that I helped…correct her in any way. This angel. This unique original. Does she understand that my love wasn’t contingent on that change? Surely she must. I’ve been infatuated since we met in the glen.
I reach the foyer of my home just as she walks in the door. Both of us stop to stare at each other across the room. Our parents walk inside behind her—and I severely underestimated how difficult it would be not touching Cate now that I’ve had her.
This is going to be a long night.
Rebecca clips forward with an open smile, kissing me on the cheek. “The house looks incredible, Tristan.”
“Yes,” I murmur, absently scanning the candlelit space. “I had nothing to do with it, of course. The party planners have been busy.”
“Of course,” my father echoes, shaking my hand. “Evening, son.”
I nod, my gaze zeroing in on my stepsister. “Hello, Cate.”
“Hello, Tristan.”
“How long until the guests arrive?” asks my father.
I get the sense he’s trying to distract me, since I’m openly staring at Cate and there’s no way to help it. Especially when she’s staring back, the pulse at the base of her neck fluttering like a hummingbird’s wings. “Twenty minutes, give or take,” I respond finally, my voice a scrape of sound. Fuck it, I need to have her or I’ll never make it through tonight. I’m hard. Throbbing. My hands are bereft without the softness of her skin. “Rebecca, would you mind checking in with the caterers?” I ask. “They need a few questions answered about the schedule and I’m useless with these kinds of things.”
My stepmother is already heading toward the kitchen. “Of course!”
I transfer my attention to my father. “Feel free to relax with a drink. I need to speak with Cate in my office.”
His jaw hardens. “About what?”
Honestly, this whole pretense is unnecessary. He knows how badly I want her. He’s known since the beginning. He might even be aware that it has progressed further, since—as my campaign manager—he makes it his business to know everything I do. This pretense is more for Cate’s benefit than anything. “I want to make sure she’s ready for tonight.”
Cate is watching the exchange nervously, but I see the way she wets her lips.
The sudden weighted quality of her eyelids.
She’s as anxious to be alone with me as I am with her.
“I’ll speak to her about whatever I choose,” I finally respond to my father, before indicating the staircase to Cate. “If you’ll join me in my office, please? Second door on the left at the top of the stairs.”
Not hauling her up against me as she passes is a herculean feat. But after one more tense look between me and my father, I follow her, not bothering to hide my rapt perusal of her thighs, her heart-shaped backside…or the dark intention in every line of my body.
As soon as we’re inside the office with the door closed, I have my hands all over her. I’m tugging the hem of her dress up to her waist and molding her tight butt in my grip, my mouth raking over her tits through the thin material of her dress. Backing her toward my desk and lifting her up onto the edge, shoving open her legs.
“If you mess up my hair and makeup,” Cate breathes. “Mama will freak out.”
I slide a hand between her cunt and the hard surface of the desk, flexing my fingers and making her whimper. “I promise I’m only going to mess up this pussy.”
Her eyes are blue fire. “Yes. Please, Tristan.”
The way she speaks my name with such reverence makes my heart sprint—and suddenly there is more than one reason I need her in this office. I need promises, I need an understanding before she’s paraded around in front of other people. I need to remind her that we belong to each other and no one else. “Cate…” I frame her jaw in my hand, making sure she’s focused, giving me eye contact. “You’ve worked so hard. You are more than ready for tonight. And I’ll be there to guide you, okay?”
A hint of anxiety dances across her features and I realize she’s been hiding it well. “Okay.” She nods bravely. “I know you will.”
“Good.” I tilt her head sideways so I can trace the line of her neck with my tongue. “Starting tonight, men are going to want you, Cate. And they won’t know you’re mine.” My grip intensifies, along with the urgency in my blood. “But you will remember. Won’t you, sweetheart? When they strut like peacocks in front of you and ask you on dates, you will decline. You’ll decline knowing damn well you’re going to get on your back for your stepbrother later and spread your thighs.” My pulse is pounding in my ears. “I’m the only one who you’ll ever love. The only one who fucks you, kisses you, spoils you. Is that clear, little girl?”
“Yes. Yes. I’m yours,” she says shakily. “You didn’t have to remind me.”
“Oh, you’re going to be reminded.” I tuck my fingers into the sides of her panties and she lifts her hips, so I can drag them down her legs, stuffing the black, lacy things into my pocket. “You’re going to be reminded good and hard and often.”
“Now, Daddy?” She fumbles with my zipper. “Now?”
Lust rakes through me almost painfully, the need to release inside her, claim her, blistering. “In a minute.” I reach into my jacket pocket and produce a velvet box, flipping open the lid without looking, so I can witness her reaction. “This is to help you remember.”
I never would have believed myself the kind of man who buys a collar.
Not in a million years.
Then again, I’ve never been so determined to keep someone. Possess them. Nor will I ever be again. There is only Cate. And I want her pretty little neck wrapped in a reminder of who she belongs to. At all times. It’s only fair, considering there has been an invisible hand circling my throat since I met her, compressing my windpipe, making me short of breath. “If I can’t make it clear you’re mine in public, I want something beneath your clothes. Something we both know is there.” I take the thin, black strip of leather out of the box, fingering the gold ring connecting the two sides. “It means you’re off limits to anyone but me. Will you wear it for me, Cate?”
Her answer is to reach back and untie the knot at the nape of her neck, letting the top of her silk dress flutter down to her waist, baring her pert tits. “I want to wear it.”
I didn’t expect the rise of power inside of me. But when I circle her delicate throat with the leather and secure the clasp, something heady locks into place. By no means am I relaxed. How can I be when she’s half naked in front of me and I’m turned on beyond recognition? But there is a calming of a certain raging storm in my chest.
The claim has been made.
She’s mine.
And the symbolic granting of ownership sends us both into a frenzy, my hands yanking Cate to the very edge of the desk, her whimper of “Daddy” taking on a whole new meaning. Somehow my intuition must have known all along it was coming, it was what we needed. Her security. My dominance. Dominance that runs wild now, given free rein.
“Mine.”
“Yes,” she whispers. “Yours.”
I test her wetness with two fingers and find her dripping. Refusing to let a drop go to waste, I suck that sugary nectar off my fingers, then wrap a fist around my cock, guiding it between her legs. Pumping deep with a growl, I don’t pause to get used to her extreme tightness. There’s no time. And she doesn’t want to wait, either. As usual, my stepsister is a fucking wildcat, her nails digging into my ass, her hips scooting sharply to meet every single one of my thrusts, lust sparking in her eyes.
The sounds that come out of us belong in a jungle.
Two animals in heat, mating for their lives.
Grunting, straining, fucking.
I bite down on her collar, practically climbing her petite body, trying to get my cock deeper and she yanks me by the flesh of my ass, whining for harder, faster, more. The desk rocks beneath us, the feet elevating off the floor and slamming back down. Vaguely, I realize the thumping can be heard downstairs, but there is no rational thought involved when I’m inside this girl, this sweet, dirty girl who begs for my dick like it’s her last breath.
I shove my mouth up against her ear. “Who’s Daddy’s little come slut?”
An exultant sob wrenches from her mouth. “I am.”
“Who needs to be fucked constantly because she’s a horny little girl?”
Her tits bounce exquisitely in time with my reckless thrusts. “Me!”
I pound into her harder, pressure burning up and down my spine, telling me the end is close. Of course it is. She’s like a manacle around my cock, squeezing, her beauty choking me, eating me alive. I’m so fucking close and so is she, her clit swelling more and more every time I stroke against it—
The door to my office opens.
My father stands there, his face impassive as he watches me fuck my stepsister. Brutally. And I don’t stop. I can’t. I’m too close and she needs the release. The hot, desperate little noises she’s making, the quickening of her cunt, tell me the storm is about to break.
“Guests are arriving,” my father bites out.
“Get the fuck out!” I roar, bending her back over the desk and tossing her legs up over my shoulders, baring down with my hips, pinching her nipples to push her over the edge.
My father remains there for a few seconds too long, watching, but he finally leaves, the door clicking shut to mark his exit. I drag my fingers across her spiked nipples one more time, then down to the juncture of her thighs, rubbing her clit, teasing in circles until her back arches and her eyes go blind. She quakes around me, babbling my name, hips still lifting and grinding back down on my cock, insatiable, perfect. Mine.
“I fucking love you,” I rasp, letting my come erupt with a shout, watching from above as it fills her, the delicate pink flesh of her cunt milking me, accepting it into her body greedily.
Desperate to have her close as possible, I draw her up off the desk into my arms, rocking her against my chest. “I love you, too,” she whispers.
And in that moment, we’re too bonded to break.
But a fear voices itself in the back of my head, warning me of the tests ahead…
