Stepbrother Studs Kevin: A Stepbrother Romance Read online

  “What about you?” She bolted upright again, disappointment crashing through her.

  “The couch is good.”

  “You leaving me again?”

  “I came out to help you tonight!” The tenderness in his face drained right out, replaced with the blaze of anger she’d seen in the parking lot. “Where d’you get off accusing me of leaving you ‘again’?”

  “No, I didn’t mean—” Tears burned her eyes.

  “I drop everything to help you every damn time!”

  And he really let her know about it—every damn time.

  She snapped upright. “The only time I ever see you is when I have to ask you for something! You never want to be around me!”

  “Well, are you surprised? You act like five-foot-three of pure snark, you don’t seem to give a crap about what happens to you anymore, and you sure don’t give a crap about what’s going on in anyone else’s life!”

  “I do!”

  “Really? When did you last asked how my job was going? If I’d met anyone?”

  He had a point, there. Evie crumpled a little.

  “And you’re so fuckin’ unpredictable—we seem to get along fine for a while, then you say something about me having to leave home! I can’t deal with you throwing that in my face all the time. I had to go. It wasn’t for shits or giggles or to abandon you—it was so I could fucking breathe! Don’t you get that?”

  “Of course I fucking do!” She felt like hurling something through the window. “You of all people know what Ned’s like! I couldn’t breathe there without you, so why are you always riding me about moving out and earning my own way?”

  “I don’t give you a hard time about that.”

  “You really do. Like your comment earlier about how I look after work? You couldn’t have made me feel smaller or sluttier if you’d tried.”

  “I get the moving out part.” Kevin sighed and sat heavily on the side of the bed next to her. “I’m just struggling with the choice-of-job part. But whenever I try talking to you about the clientele there, you act like I’m giving you the third degree. You know how worry can grind you down? Well… I’ve been doing a lot of it, and I don’t know how much longer I can handle it. You’ve got to let me in, Evie.”

  He put his hand over hers. “Why check out of life the way you have? You’ve been acting like some stupid kid these last six months and you’re anything but. You’re super-smart. You were acing school!”

  “It’s hard not to act like…” Evie felt the sobs rising faster than she could push them back. “Some stupid kid… when that’s the only way I’m treat—”

  “Hey! Oh hell, I didn’t mean…”

  As Kevin wrapped his arms round her, the need to cry took over completely.

  She wanted to tell him that she wasn’t mad at him for having to leave—she was mad at him for leaving her behind so completely once he’d moved out. She let it all go, looping her arms round his neck and holding on like she’d wanted to for months. It seemed an eternity until she was able to sit up and wipe her face dry.

  “It’s your fault I quit school.” She sniffed.

  “Huh?”

  “I mean… I was acing it because you were so… so proud of me. You asked so many questions, you were so interested, I had to keep up. Then…” She met his eyes. “When you left home, that stopped. Ned put such pressure on me to keep up the grades, but...”

  “Sounds like him. You should’ve heard him the time I pointed out that life was a wilderness and that there really were no rules. He nearly went apeshit. Only time I’ve ever been scared of my old man.” Kevin gave a nervous chuckle and squeezed her hand. “It’s true, though. If vet work isn’t for you, we need to figure out what is. And it has to be something that doesn’t involve another four years of asphyxiating pressure.”

  She nodded tearfully, looking over at the Kevin she’d missed, the guy who looked out for her and understood exactly what was going on in her head. At nearly thirty, he was only six years older but could get through to her gently and directly in a way that guys her own age just couldn’t master. The Kevin she missed made her feel special and capable. Lovable. Evie took a deep breath.

  “You’re the only one that gets me, you know? I got mad because I missed you so much.”

  “Missed you, too.” Kevin walked round the bed, got his legs under the covers and stretched out next to her, pulling her back to his front, and laying her down till her face was on his bicep. “This is going to get a little cramped, right?”

  Evie felt his heat press through the borrowed tank top and luxuriated in it, soaking in the feeling of safety. She held onto the arms wrapping round her, grateful for how heavy her eyelids felt. “I’m not cramped.”

  “Good. Looks like we need to get to know each other all over again. We’ll start tomorrow. Now get some sleep.”

  She drifted off slowly between snatches of half-dreams, ranging from a total re-write of his furious rescue in the parking lot, to one where she turned to face him in bed and got to know him so intimately that she was just aware of sticky heat between her legs as sleep finally claimed her.

  * * * *

  She stirred, feeling that safe heat behind her gone. A light squeeze on her shoulder tugged her towards the land of the living and an awareness of the dryness in her mouth from the Patron last night. Crap. She should’ve drunk more water.

  “Evie?” Kevin’s voice was low and quiet in her ear. “Time to get up.”

  She squinted through the gap between the curtains. Either there was no gap or it was still dark, which meant it was awful o’clock. “Lemme ’lone.”

  “Up.”

  “Wha—hey!” She struggled pointlessly as he scooped her out of bed and onto her feet. She wiped her hands down her face, knowing she must look like hell. “Kevin, it’s Sunday!”

  “Yep. I’ve got stuff to do, and you’re coming with me.” He pushed a soft towel into her hands. “Hit the shower, then pull on the clothes I put on the bed. You can sleep in the jeep. Joel’s dealing with your car, so don’t worry about that.”

  Evie showered, pulled on the shorts and tank top on the bed, and climbed reluctantly into the truck.

  She didn’t wake up again until they were driving past Dawsonville. She moaned quietly into her palms until the pick-up slowed and then looked out the window. They’d arrived at a trail head. She clambered out with minimum grace and grabbed the backpack Kevin handed her.

  He raised a brow at her and pulled on a pack about three times the size of hers. “Smile.”

  “No.” Her snappy little response embarrassed her, but it was good to feel she still had some spirit after last night’s emotional free-for-all. “Where are we?”

  He grinned and flicked his forefinger up at a sign by the trail head.

  She felt a long, deep whine rise up from her heart as she saw the AT sign by the side of the path, pointing into the forest. “You’re making me do the Appalachian Trail? Really?”

  “‘Do’ it?” Kevin burst out laughing. “Do you have any idea how long the AT is?”

  “How far are you making me walk?”

  “Not saying. I don’t want to hear any advance-bitching.”

  She scowled. “Kevin, if I knew what you were planning, I’d have started the bitching in the shower. Why the evil hike?”

  “I want to show you something. Now, move.”

  * * * *

  She didn’t know how far they’d gone before her body started to unwind—her cell phone said it was nearly midday, but she didn’t think she could’ve been walking that long. Kevin kept pace with her, not talking but occasionally helping her up an incline made treacherous by sliding grit, or stopping her gently before she put her foot down on an ankle-snapping gap in the path. It was the longest comfortable silence she’d ever enjoyed. Even their silent lunch in a shadowed glade was nice.

  Soon after two, Kevin stopped by one of the AT huts and pulled hammer and a little plastic baggie of nails from his backpack. “I’ll be just
a minute.”

  He had the loose plank secured in what seemed like ten seconds.

  She held his bag open for him while he put the tools back. “You know, Mom’s secretly proud about the whole outdoor-champion, smoke-jumping thing.”

  “Really?” He blinked. “I thought she hated it as much as Dad!”

  “No, she just worries about mom-things.”

  “Like me parachuting right into a fire?”

  “No, like you spraining your ankle and being unable to hop home after putting the fire out.”

  The deep, rich amusement in Kevin’s laugh bolstered her. She turned to look at him, seeing the smile go all the way to his eyes. His teeth weren’t model-white but looked super-clean and beautiful against his tan skin. He had blunted-off eye teeth that showed when he grinned broadly. She hadn’t seen him do that for a while. Well, not because of anything she’d said, anyway.

  “How are your legs doing?” He reached for her hand. “Got another couple of miles in the tank?”

  She felt like her legs might fall off, but to see pride in his eyes again, she’d walk another ten miles, even if she was running on fumes at the end. “I’m good.”

  “Atta girl. See? This is the sweet, charming, beautiful girl I remember.”

  She blushed and squeezed his hand, hoping he’d keep hold of it.

  He squeezed back. “All right, let’s walk through the leg-ache. It’s the first rule of the wilderness, you know. It feels better inside if you make things just a little difficult for yourself, but win anyway.”

  She glowed inside as he kept hold of her, walking them both up the trail. Actually she felt like she was quite an expert at making things hard for herself, but this kind of physical stretch-out was doing wonders at letting light back in. She might come out here with him more often.

  * * * *

  He finally declared it was time to stop and camp about ten seconds before she was about to drop to his feet and beg for mercy. She half-collapsed on a rock, stretching her legs out and toeing off her shoes. He rolled his eyes with a grin and started gathering small stones and brush for a fire.

  “Evie, you still smoking?”

  She whistled innocently up to the sky, making him laugh.

  “I’m not gonna ride your ass about it, I just want to know if you have a lighter.”

  She dug one out of her pocket and handed it over.

  “Thanks. It’s easier than using my flint.”

  She stretched her legs out in front, enjoying the gentle, late afternoon sun on her shins. It would be even nicer if the sun gave her a little color.

  There was plenty of color on Kevin. His muscles flowed smoothly under tan, velvet skin as he lit a stick and stuck it into the middle of the brush pile. He was hunkered almost double but there was barely a wrinkle across his waist. He was solid and taut. Between his two jobs, he must’ve trimmed his body fat down to something like twenty percent. His bronze beard glowed in the setting sun, looking almost blond. She watched as long, strong—and apparently fireproof—fingers poked and pulled strands of smouldering brush on top of the blaze until the flames were being pulled up through the fuel pile. She imagined those fingers trailing up her inner thigh and had to look away. She didn’t have long to compose herself before feeling a nudge at her arm. She turned to see him handing the lighter back.

  “Wasn’t that cheating?”

  “Second rule of the wilderness—don’t make things unnecessarily hard for yourself.”

  She giggled and threw a twig at him.

  Dinner was basic and came out of his backpack. As she sipped the soup and tore off mouthfuls of bread, she confessed she’d worried at one point that their evening meal would involve her stalking and killing some of the wildlife.

  It took Kevin about twenty minutes to stop laughing at her, and she was ready to stalk and kill him by the time he was done with his spontaneous snorts. But then he looped his arm around her neck as the sun set. She snuggled up to him, unable to remember how long it’d been since she felt this peaceful.

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  She rested her face in the crook of his shoulder. He smelled of clean sweat and the last tinges of some delicious cologne. She could’ve spent hours with her cheek against him, just inhaling his closeness.

  “Thanks for bringing me out here. Letting me see where you go to escape. Being there for me. You know, you’re the only guy who’s ever really seen me? Cared about me… even when I’m at my worst?”

  “Your worst isn’t so bad.”

  They stared down the gully they’d hiked up. The sunset had given way to stars by the time Kevin spoke again.

  “Amazing out here, isn’t it? This is the only place I can feel completely normal.” He quirked a smile. “See, I was lucky. I found what I wanted to do—the paramedic work, the smoke-jumping—mostly by accident, but now that I’ve found it, I’m not letting it go because I’m not cut out for much else. You… you could’ve done anything you wanted. Still could.”

  His belief in her made her bloom. Anything seemed possible. “You know what you said about making things difficult for myself? I’ve been thinking. I might try to figure out a way to get back to vet school and finish my finals.”

  “I think you should.” Kevin stroked her shoulder. “I won’t always be there to cheer you on, though. You think you can handle it, this time?”

  Away from Ned, and with the old Kevin back, she thought she definitely could. She nodded. Financial aid, a new apartment… yeah, she’d have to deal with all that. But she knew she wanted to go back. She reached up and went to kiss him on the cheek, but caught the corner of his mouth. A little static jolt passed through her that she knew he felt, too. They locked gazes, but no kiss followed. Kevin tucked her hair behind her ear and rested his forehead against hers, giving a sigh that seemed to come all the way down from his bootstraps.

  “It’s great to have you back, Evie. Still… better get to bed, huh? We’ve got to do that walk again tomorrow.”

  As he got up to unpack his bag, she was still too tingly with happiness at their closeness to be disappointed that he’d brought two tents.

  * * * *

  After eons of lying on her back with his spare t-shirt pulled over her face, breathing the trace of his scent in, she slapped her hands down on the ground in frustration. Weird how she’d been arguing with Kevin for so long because of her shameless display of her body at the club, and now—after he’d almost kissed her before bedtime—she was lying alone, afraid to be bold with him. She is playing a maddening, petal-picking game of ‘does he love me, does he not?’ in her head. He’d spent the whole day being tactile in a way he’d never done before.

  Probably because there was no one around to see him do it.

  If she was going to show how she felt, she had to do it now, while they were totally alone.

  She threw aside the t-shirt and opened up her tent, wincing as the whine of the zip echoed across the trail. She hopped past dried-out trees and rocks, pushing her way beneath the flap of Kevin’s tent rather than risk waking him already with the damn zipper. Her pulse beat a drumroll in her neck and behind her eyes, the adrenaline making her hands shake as she clocked Kevin’s bare-ass naked silhouette, even in the near-darkness. He was face down, his right knee pulled up a little in front, arms hooked to either side of him as he moved his hips slowly but forcefully against the sleeping bag beneath.

  Evie thought she heard him groan her name, then he reached his hands out to the top corners of the bag, fisting around them.

  “Kevin?” Her voice came out so quiet she wasn’t even sure she’d even vocalized, but her knees carried her forward until she was alongside him. She put a light hand on his shoulderblade, making him stir. His flip onto his back was so abrupt, it made her jump, but then his face dropped away from her, facing the tent. There was movement behind his eyelids but the dark crescents of his eyelashes stayed tilting south. He was a gorgeous fireman and paramedic, but he’d make a ho
rrible soldier—he slept too deeply.

  She smiled, but couldn’t help biting her lip at the way the moonlight dispersed through the white fabric, creating dappled light and deep shadows beneath the ridge of his pecs and in the sockets of his shoulders. The V of his hips stood out starkly above the jut of his cock as it strained towards his left hip, the head glistening a little in the half-light.

  Was he as sensitive as he was smooth and firm? The crotch on her borrowed boxers tented inwards, adhering softly against her pussy. Kevin was gorgeous. Beyond gorgeous.

  Her hand shaking, Evie reached out and traced her fingertips from the middle of his chest slowly down over his belly and rested them in the thick bush at his groin. He gave a sharp double gasp and bunched his thighs, one sleepy hand travelling down to squeeze his cock before releasing and letting the hand drop to one side.

  Slowly, not quite believing her own daring, Evie wrapped her hand around his cock, marvelling at the sensation of hard wood wrapped in gossamer skin. He was thick and long, the moist crown of his cock almost reaching his hip. She stroked from root to head, feeling her pussy keening with need as Kevin tipped his head further back, thrusting his chest up and rocking his hips into her gentle hold on him. His soft moan spurred her on and she stroked him again, over and over until his precum slicked a little lake on his belly—but he still had his eyes closed.

  She shuffled back on her knees and took him in her mouth, almost painfully turned on by the soft cry he gave as she grazed the upper side of his cock against her palate. He tasted clean and warm, salt and a twinge of sweetness, and she stroked the root of his cock with her hand while lapping her tongue around his whole head, her heart rising with his every writhe, groan and hip-thrust. His fingers threaded through her hair, cupping the back of her head and stroking her neck as she sucked him.

  Kevin gently stilled her head and sat, getting his arms around her and pulling her over to straddle his thighs. He kissed her hard, breathing fast as he claimed her mouth first, then ran his jaw across hers and then down to her neck. He unhooked her bra at the back, smoothed the straps down off her arms and then tossed it. The hunger and urgency of his exploration took her by surprise and it was a struggle to stay balanced on her knees, her arms looped around his neck, as he moved his hands all over her. His palms and fingertips ran down her shoulders and sides, across her back, down the back of her legs. He braced her with an arm around the small of her back and traced his fingertips in slow, light circles up on the insides of her thighs, moving from one to the other, higher and higher.