KAIA
My whole body locked.
Heat rushed between my legs so fast it almost hurt. My nipples tightened under my shirt. I stood there like an idiot, staring at the man who had married my mother two years ago, the same man I had spent those two years pretending I didn’t notice.
Kane was cocky. He was too sure of himself. He looked at me sometimes like he already knew every thought in my head.
I didn’t like him. I had told myself that so many times it should have been true.
He had walked into our lives two years ago with that same quiet confidence, and I had spent every day since trying not to notice how easily he filled the space my real father left empty.
But my body had never listened.
It was no longer a joke that I wanted my Stepfather. God, I want him so much and seeing him with my mother…seeing him inside her ignited something feral within me.
That could've been me beneath him…
I forced myself to step back before the floor creaked. I walked to my room on silent feet, closed the door without a sound, and leaned against it.
My heart was slamming so hard I could feel it in my throat and between my legs at the same time.
My panties were already soaked. The thin fabric clung to me, so sticky and hot. I pressed my thighs together and a sharp pulse shot through my clit so strong my knees almost buckled.
Shame burned in my chest, but under it was something greedier. I had just watched my Stepfather fuck my mother while moaning my name like he couldn’t help himself, and my body was still throbbing from it.
Was it really just a mistake…?
Could it really be nothing more than a mistake?
I didn’t even make it to the bed.
I slid down the door until I was sitting on the floor, knees bent, and shoved my hand straight into my shorts. My fingers found my clit already swollen and slick. The second I touched it, a broken little gasp left my mouth.
I rubbed myself in quick, messy circles, but it wasn’t my mother’s body I was seeing anymore.
It was mine.
In my head he had me pinned against that same tiled wall, one of my legs hooked around his waist, water pouring over both of us while he fucked me the exact same way… deep and hard.
“Take it, Kaia,” I imagined him growling against my ear. “This is what you do to me.”
I pushed two fingers inside myself and clenched around them, pretending it was his cock. The stretch burned in the best way. My other hand clamped over my mouth as I fucked myself harder, faster, thighs shaking.
In the fantasy he kept saying my name like he had in the shower, low and rough, while he buried himself to the hilt.
When I came, it ripped through me so violently my back arched off the door and a silent cry tore out of my throat. I kept rubbing through it, chasing every last pulse, until I was trembling and empty and still aching for more.
~ ~ ~
By late afternoon the house smelled like sunscreen and laundry detergent. Suitcases sat open on the living room floor. Mom moved around packing with her usual cheerful energy that always made me want to disappear.
Kane was outside loading the car. Every time the front door opened I felt the air change.
I folded the same shirt three times before mom noticed.
“You’re quiet,” she said, tossing a pair of sandals into her bag. “Excited for the trip?”
“Thrilled,” I muttered.
I couldn’t look at her properly. Each time I did, I saw her the way she had been an hour ago…leg wrapped around Kane’s waist, head thrown back, taking every hard thrust while he said my name. Didn't she find that odd?
Mom gave me a look. “Don’t start, Kaia. This is going to be good for us. A real family vacation. Beach, sun, no work. And you’re finally going to learn how to swim properly.”
I stopped folding. “What?”
“You heard me. We’re doing a surf lesson the day after tomorrow. You can’t go out there if you still panic in anything deeper than a bathtub. Kane’s going to teach you while we’re at the resort. He already agreed.”
I stared at her. “I don’t need him to teach me anything.”
Swimming in the pool with him, shirtless? I couldn’t put my already-fragile self-control through another test.
“You do, actually.” She zipped her suitcase and stood up. “And before you try to get out of this again, the hotel called an hour ago. They only have one room left with two beds. Some big event in town. So we’re…sharing.”
“What…”
“Yes baby, I know how much you love your space,” She interrupted, “But it’s just three nights. Let's make do with what we have.”
I opened my mouth to argue again, but the front door opened and Kane walked in.
“Is she trying to bail already?”
My stomach clenched so hard I almost flinched. Heat flooded my face. I kept my eyes on the shirt in my hands, but I could feel the blush climbing up my neck.
All I could hear was the way he had said my name under the water… so low, like it had been pulled out of him.
My insides tightened again. I wanted to look up and ask him why. More than that, I wanted him to say it again, while he was looking at me.
“Working on it,” Mom answered, smiling.
Kane looked straight at me. “Scared of the water, or scared of sharing a room?”
His voice was soft, almost playful.
I forced myself to meet his eyes and refused to look away, even though my face still felt hot. “I’m not scared of either.”
Why the fuck should I even be scared?? After what I just heard, he’s the one who should be worried.
“Good.” He leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, the muscles in his forearms shifting. “Because I’m not going easy on you in that pool. If we’re doing this, you’re learning properly. No half-floating and calling it swimming.”
My stomach tightened all over again. The memory of his large hands…gripping my mother’s thighs flashed behind my eyes, as I wondered what it would feel like if he handled me in that manner.
My pussy clenched and I shook my head rapidly, pushing the thought down hard.
His mouth curved, not quite a smile. “And for once you’re going to listen. Pack the swimsuit that actually covers something, yeah? Or don’t. Your choice.”
My brows furrowed.
Mom laughed and swatted his arm as she walked past him toward the kitchen. “Be nice.”
He didn’t look at her. For some reason, he kept looking at me.
The heavy weight of his stare felt like a physical touch, pinning me in place. I broke eye contact first, turning back to my open suitcase so he wouldn’t see the flush of heat climbing up my neck.
My hands were shaking. Lying right on top of my clothes was the sensible, sun-proof swimsuit I had carefully selected just ten minutes ago. Safe. Appropriate. Boring.
Then, I snatched it out of the suitcase and tossed it aside. My unsteady fingers dug into the discard pile on my bed, closing around a tiny scrap of black fabric I had bought last summer and never dared to wear.
The black bikini.
The one with the dangerously thin strings and a top that would barely hold anything in.
I shoved it deep into the bag, my heart hammering fiercely against my ribs, already anticipating the moment I could put it on… for him.