Raging Hard: A Stepbrother SEAL Romance (With bonus novel Based!) (19 page)

“Well, what did he say?”

“Came to the same conclusion I did, actually.”

“Which is?”

“I’m pretty sure your family is in danger.” I listened carefully as he told me about the Broken Hearts and how he found it all out. It shocked me that he had gone through all that without saying anything about it, and my heart began to beat fast in my chest.

Who was this man, and how far was he willing to go for me? Just when I was ready to give up on him, he decided to go and do something like that.

“So what does this mean?” I asked him once he finished.

“It means some local outfit likely wants to get at your father.”

“And that means I’m in danger?”

“Damn right it does. I’m betting the whole goal of that little pirate bullshit was to kidnap you.”

I blinked, letting that sink in. I had a hard time actually believing that anyone would want to kidnap me, let alone over some stupid business deal. Then again, if I knew my father, there was probably a lot of money riding on the deal. “Okay, fine. I believe you. What do we do?”

His face lit up. “That’s exactly what I wanted to tell you about. Your father gave me a job.”

“Another one?”

“This one is special. I need to be very gentle on this job. The cargo is precious and beautiful.”

I had a bad feeling in my stomach. His face looked much, much too happy for this to be anything other than awful for me.

“What’s the job, Nate?”

“I’m your new bodyguard, little sis.”

I looked at him for a second and then burst out laughing. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No joke. I’ll be watching you twenty-four seven.”

I shook my head. “Come on. I’m sure my dad would hire someone else. And I’m sure you have better things to do than sit around watching me text all day.”

“He offered me a lot of money, and I love watching you all day.”

I moved away from him, shaking my head. He had to be joking. There was no way my dad would stick me with a bodyguard like Nate. There was just no way I’d have to go  the rest of the summer with him following me around, my asshole stepbrother, the guy that took my virginity and didn’t seem to give a shit about it. It was an absolute nightmare.

I got out of bed and walked toward the door.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

I ignored him and left, heading downstairs. “Dad?” I called out.

“In here.” I went into the kitchen and found him sitting at the island with Lucille, eating dinner.

“Dad, what’s this about Nate being my bodyguard?”

Lucille’s eyebrows shot up, clearly surprised, and he gave me an annoyed look.

“It’s exactly what you just said. Nate had some difficult news, and, well, I thought it best if he watched over you.”

“I’m not a child, father. I don’t need him to babysit me.”

I could sense Nate appear behind me. I could almost feel his enormous grin, clearly enjoying the show.

Lucille, meanwhile, looked confused as anything. “Jonathan, what’s she talking about?”

Dad made a noise, part grunt and part curse. “It’s nothing, honey. Just family business.”

Bad move on his part.

“Am I not family now?” she said, matching his level of annoyance. “What’s going on?”

He paused for a second, clearly at a crossroads. I felt a bit bad because he definitely hadn’t told her yet, but that wasn’t my problem.

“We have a little security issue,” he said finally.

“Yeah, like crazy local gangs trying to kidnap me,” I snapped at him. “Hire someone else. I am not having my stepbrother follow me around all summer.”

“Crazy local gangs? Kidnapping?” Lucille looked even more confused.

“Claire, honey, please calm down.”

“Absolutely not. I will not stand for this, for this, for this utter bullshit!”

My dad’s face was total surprise. I could hear Nate behind me laughing, but I didn’t care. I’d never cursed in front of my father before, but I was just too angry to hold back. The room was silent except for Nate cracking up.

Finally, Lucille spoke. “Jonathan, you better tell me what’s happening.”

He looked away from me and stared at her. “Like I said, a security threat. I will give you all the details as soon as we’re done here.”

“Am I in danger?”

“Typical Lucille, only worried about herself,” I heard Nate call out from behind me.

Everyone ignored him.

“You’re fine, dear. I promise you.”

“Dad, I’m not done. I’m not having him as a bodyguard.”

He turned on me, clearly angry. “Listen to me, young lady, do not ever speak to me that way again.”

“I’m an adult now, unless you forgot, and I’ll call things bullshit when they’re actually bullshit.”

“You’re behaving like . . . like . . . like an uneducated simpleton!” he said, clearly at a loss for words.

Nate laughed even harder at that.

“No, Dad, you’re being a controlling ass.”

I had no clue where all of this was coming from, but I was too angry to care. I’d been living with him controlling everything I did for far too long, and it was suddenly spilling out of me.

He looked enraged. “You listen to me,” he said softly. “Nathan is your bodyguard whether you like it or not. And furthermore,” he said, cutting my protests off, “you will not talk to me in that manner again unless you want to finish paying for your schooling yourself.”

I stared at him for a long minute, the kitchen completely silent.

“You’re threatening me?” I said finally.

“Only because you’re acting like a child, Claire. Now, please, don’t embarrass me or yourself further.”

I gaped at him. He’d been serious and controlling in the past, but never like this. He’d never threatened me before.

“Yes, father,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Now that your daughter is finished with her tantrum,” Lucille said acidly, “what’s going on?”

I stared at Lucille for a second, venom dripping from my gaze, before turning around and storming out. I pushed past Nate, who just grunted at me, and headed out the front door.

I couldn’t believe my father would stoop to threatening me. In the past, he’d been stern with me but always fair. He would give me his reasons for what he wanted me to do and I would almost always listen. Sometimes I’d argue, but he’d never imposed his will completely on me if I really didn’t want to do something. True, that was pretty rare, but still.

Ever since Lucille showed up, Dad had been incredibly stressed out. I’d never seen him so stressed. And suddenly he’s threatening me to get me to bend to his will, and doing it right in front of Nate and Lucille.

It was embarrassing and demeaning. I was so angry I could barely control myself. I wanted to lash out, but I knew that was childish and useless.

And besides, I knew my dad was only trying to keep me safe. I was sure he had his reasons for not contacting the police or hiring a different bodyguard for me, but he should have at least been more willing to take my feelings into account before simply telling me that I was either going to listen or I was going to be punished.

Before I knew where I was going, I felt the sand beneath my feet. The sun was dipping down below the horizon, throwing colors across the few scattered clouds. I took a deep breath of the salty ocean air, loving the smell of brine and sand and more as it rushed into my lungs.

For as long as I could remember, I’d loved coming to the beach. My dad had been successful for a long time, and so we’d always had a beach house. Our current house was actually number three, as Dad kept upgrading every time he landed a big deal. But the ocean was a constant in my life, and it almost seemed to make everything feel okay.

Except as soon as I looked back, I saw him walking toward me. His usual smirk was gone, replaced with a slight frown. He walked up next to me and just stood there, looking out over the ocean next to me. For a second, I forgot about all the crap we’d just left behind, about the pirates and the bullshit with our parents, and enjoyed his company as just a person.

“Good job back there,” he said, ruining the illusion.

I turned on him. “What was I supposed to do, roll over and take it like a good girl?”

He cocked his head and grinned at me. “No. I’d rather you roll over and take it like a bad girl. From me, at least.”

“Seriously, I’m sick of doing everything my dad tells me to do.”

“That probably wasn’t the battle to pick.”

I bit my tongue, looking back over the water. He was probably right, after all, especially considering what I had seen just a day ago, the pirates and the way Nate had so easily taken care of them. But it was all so overwhelming. I was barely keeping myself afloat when one new obstacle was thrown at me after the last.

First, I found out my mystery man from the club was my stepbrother, and if that was not bad enough, he was living with us. Now, he was the man I’d lost my virginity to, a cocky asshole who didn’t care about anything, and suddenly he was my bodyguard. Plus the violence and the fear. I was doing the best I could.

One wave after the next, threatening to put me under. Meanwhile, the only solid thing so far had been Nate, even though he was also the source of most of my anxiety.

“Your dad really didn’t want Lucille to know,” Nate said after a minute of silence.

“I’m not surprised.”

“I don’t know how he wanted to hide it from her, considering he just hired a shitload of new security.”

“She’s too drunk most of the time to see stuff like that.”

“True. Still, my mother is a drunk and a psycho, but she’s not an idiot.” He paused. “I bet Jonathan thinks Lucille will tell people about all this and threaten his deal.”

“Is that why he’s not calling the cops?”

Nate nodded, smirking. “He thinks the press would be bad for business.”

“Unbelievable.”

“Is it? At least he hired the best bodyguard possible for you.”

“If only he knew what that actually meant.”

“I’m sure daddy would have a fit if he knew you were fucking a guy like me.”

I rolled my eyes. “He’d have a fit if he knew I was fucking, period. And anyway,” I added quickly, “we’re not fucking.”

“You’re right. That was a one-time deal.”

“We’re stepsiblings now. Related. No more sex.”

“Strictly business between us.”

“Sure. Strictly business.”

He moved closer to me, grinning that delicious, maddening grin. I wanted to slap it off his face, but it always meant he was about to say something to really set me off.

As much as I pretended to hate every dirty comment, I was dripping wet even before it came out of his mouth. Truthfully, I loved it, and I loved the thrill that ran up my spine every time he told me what he wanted from me.

Which was why I was on my toes as soon as he started speaking, that familiar thrill between my legs already tingling, my soaking moisture more than obvious.

“Unless you want that business to be me fucking your sweet, tight pussy until you can barely limp the next day,” he said softly.

“No, thanks,” I lied. “I think I’d rather you just stayed quiet and invisible.”

“Impossible. You’re constantly staring at me like you want to rip off my shirt. Hard to be invisible like that.”

“You seem to be good at confusing lust with disgust.”

“And you seem to be in heavy denial.”

I sighed and shook my head. “I really should just leave, go back to school or something.”

“Probably not a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because whoever is after you could easily follow. Plus, I’m here.”

“Exactly. You’re here.”

He laughed and bent over, picking up a shell. “Don’t pretend you hate me, princess. I had you moaning my name the other night.” He threw the shell out into the water. I watched as it skipped once and then disappeared into a wave.

“How long before those two self-destruct, do you think?” I asked him.

He was quiet for a second, his smirk disappearing. “Who knows. A few months, probably.”

“We’ll be picking up the pieces. Again.”

“You might be. I’ll be out on some mission again, risking my life. Lucille will find someone else to take care of her, I’m sure.”

I looked out at the ocean again, took another deep breath, and then turned back toward the house. “Come on, bodyguard.”

“Going back in?”

“Might as well. Can’t hide out here forever.”

“We can do whatever you want, princess.”

I walked back up to the house, my heart thumping, without answering. I knew he was following me, silently and swiftly, a strong shadow in my wake. It was dawning on me that Nate was going to be around for the rest of the summer, everywhere I went.

My delicious, asshole stepbrother. I was going to have my work cut out for me.

O
nly two days into acting as Claire’s bodyguard and I was already bored as fucking hell.

At first, it was fun. I had plenty of opportunity to tease her, rile her up, say all the dirty shit I wanted just to get a rise out of her. But it quickly soured as I realized that every word I spoke was the absolute truth.

I wanted that pussy and I wanted it bad. I needed to plunge my cock deep between her legs, let her feel my heat, pump myself deep into her little tight cunt until she screamed out my name.