Pulse: A Stepbrother Romance

PULSE

A STEPBROTHER ROMANCE

D.G. WHISKEY

COPYRIGHT © 2015 D.G. WHISKEY

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Cover Design—Mayhem Cover Creations

Editing—Wyrmwood Editing

DESCRIPTION

Leah Allen

The last thing I needed was another bad boy.

Hard muscles. Handsome. Hot tattoos. He had a dangerous, I don't give a fuck attitude that made him irresistible.

It was supposed to be a one-night stand, but when Dad introduced Chris as my new stepbrother, I knew I was in trouble. His world of gangs and violence would destroy me. I needed to stay away.

Why do I find that impossible?

Chris Belzer

Drugs, fights, death. A typical Wednesday. Meeting Leah changed everything—music coursed through my veins when we fucked. I knew she would be the key to escaping the quicksand I'd been mired in for ten years.

I shouldn't want her. I couldn't resist her. Breaking out of the crime and blood and into a new life would be impossible without her.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ONE
– LEAH

TWO
– CHRIS

THREE
– LEAH

FOUR
– CHRIS

FIVE
– LEAH

SIX
– CHRIS

SEVEN
– LEAH

EIGHT
– CHRIS

NINE
– LEAH

TEN
– CHRIS

ELEVEN
– LEAH

TWELVE
– CHRIS

THIRTEEN
– LEAH

FOURTEEN
– CHRIS

FIFTEEN
– LEAH

SIXTEEN
– CHRIS

SEVENTEEN
– LEAH

EIGHTEEN
– CHRIS

NINETEEN
– LEAH

TWENTY
– CHRIS

TWENTY-ONE
– LEAH

TWENTY-TWO
– CHRIS

TWENTY-THREE
– LEAH

TWENTY-FOUR
– CHRIS

TWENTY-FIVE
– LEAH

TWENTY-SIX
– CHRIS

TWENTY-SEVEN
– LEAH

TWENTY-EIGHT
– CHRIS

TWENTY-NINE
– LEAH

THIRTY
– CHRIS

THIRTY-ONE
– LEAH

THIRTY-TWO
– CHRIS

THIRTY-THREE
– LEAH

THIRTY-FOUR
– CHRIS

THIRTY-FIVE
– LEAH

THIRTY-SIX
– CHRIS

THIRTY-SEVEN
– LEAH

THIRTY-EIGHT
– CHRIS

THIRTY-NINE
– LEAH

FORTY
– CHRIS

FORTY-ONE
– LEAH

FORTY-TWO
– CHRIS

FORTY-THREE
– LEAH

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First two gunshots, then screams split the night.

Two men came running, sprinting away from the source as if the Devil himself chased them. I backed against the building when I noticed the handguns they carried. My heart beat against my chest in a frenzied tattoo. They passed me without a second look.

I hesitated, breathless. The men were already around a corner and out of sight. The screams had quieted down a little.

As a rule, it was never a good idea to involve yourself in the aftermath of a shooting.

I was never good at following rules.

Besides, the men came from the direction I was already heading.

It didn’t take long to get to the scene—it was only a block away and around a corner, outside a bar called O’Malley’s. A knot of people gathered around dark forms on the ground, and I joined the periphery of the group.

The victim lay in a spreading pool of blood. It was clear he was already dead.

Another man knelt beside him, the knees of his jeans stained the color of rust. Tattoos crept out from his t-shirt like they could not be contained. His eyes, dark and stormy, held an intensity impossible to break.

He looked up and his eyes caught mine.

It was as though I’d been seized and couldn’t move. The character and passion in his face swept all other thoughts from my mind. My heart thudded in my chest, my pulse quickening.

Someone talked to the man and he looked away, breaking the spell. I didn’t even hear what they said.

I need to get out of here.

My boyfriend’s apartment was a few blocks away. The image of those dark eyes and the way they held me captive occupied me the entire walk.

Careful, Leah.

I had a habit of developing a fixation on the wrong men. The hard jaw and tattoos suggested this one was no different. I made a mental note to avoid him if I ever saw him again—no sense courting danger.

Besides, you have a boyfriend.

It was late—later than I would have liked to be walking through the streets alone. New York wasn’t as dangerous as it used to be, but as a young woman, it still wasn’t the most comfortable to be out by myself.

I let my anticipation wash away the sadness I’d just seen. Jeff didn’t know that I had planned on practicing lines at the studio tonight, and he definitely didn’t know that I planned on swinging by afterward. He’d complained that I spent too much time on my school work to have enough time together, and I was looking forward to waking him up with my mouth and blowing his mind.

That will get his attention.

The brownstone was quiet as I walked up—not a surprise this late on a Wednesday. Jeff lived in the top apartment, and I unlocked the door and snuck up the stairs as quietly as I could. He was a light sleeper, and it would ruin the surprise if he woke up before I got to bed.

Especially if he thinks I’m an intruder and takes me out. That would be bad.

I paused as a rhythmic sound came to my ears. It was a steady beat, and there were two parts to it—a thump and a squeak.

Oh my God! Are the neighbors having sex?

Once recognized, the source of the sound became obvious. The squeaks and thumps lined up perfectly with an imagined thrusting pattern, and…

Yes, right there!

A woman’s moans carried above the other two sounds.

Damn, that’s hot.

I took to the steps again, hurrying even faster. If I got to Jeff before the neighbors finished, then maybe we could play dueling bedsprings.

And there’s my exhibitionist side coming to play.

Eager now, I rushed up to the apartment door and entered.
I frowned. The sounds were a lot louder now. The moans came from the next room. In
this
apartment. And I could hear the man’s grunts, too. They sounded familiar.

“Oh, hell no!”

The bottom dropped out of my stomach and I charged forward before it could faze me.

His bedroom door wasn’t fully closed. I kicked it and it slammed against the wall.

The two figures moving in the bed didn’t even notice at first.

Jeff lay back, his hands gripping the slim waist of the girl on top of him. She had both hands on his chest and her eyes closed as she focused on moving her hips.

He looked over first, the puzzlement in his face turning to shock and surprise when his eyes met mine.

“Leah!”

The girl on top of him snapped her head around to look.

“Kat?” My best friend was the last person I expected to see riding my boyfriend.

“Leah? Oh, God, Leah. I’m so sorry!” She rolled off Jeff and covered her breasts with her arm. “You weren’t supposed to be here tonight!”

I stared at her. Rage should have been boiling my blood, but shock kept everything distant. Did I even know her at all? “That’s your excuse? Sneaking around my back is fine, so long as I don’t walk in on it?”

“Leah,” Jeff said, sitting up in bed a little, “why don’t you sit down and we can talk about it? You know how we’ve been talking about being more adventurous in the bedroom. Maybe this situation is a good start.” He looked between me and Kat.

What a fucking asshole.

I knew going in that Jeff wasn’t going to be The One, but I thought he had more respect for me than that. His chauvinism was the catalyst for my onrushing temper.

“I don’t even care about you,” I said, pointing to Jeff. “We’re done. Period.” I turned to Kat. “But you, Kat, how could you do this? We’ve been best friends since first year of school!”

“I know, Leah. I know.” Tears came to her eyes. “It wasn’t anything at first, but it sort of happened one night, and then I couldn’t resist keeping it going even though I know it’s the worst thing.”

My eyes were dry; I was beyond tears. A ball of anger blazed in my core. “I don’t want to see either of you again.”

I turned on my heel and walked away.

“Wait, Leah!” Kat ran to the hallway behind me. “Leah, we can talk through this!”

I kept walking until I got to the front door of the apartment. I slammed it as hard as I could, satisfied at the reverberations that echoed in the still night.