Chapter 85: Sussy Stepbrother

When I took steps backward, I heard the clattering sound of a paint bottle falling over and onto my floor as my ass bumped into the table. My eyes closed tightly when his face got close to mine and I felt his fingertips gently caress my blushing cheeks.

“I came to see you, but you weren’t in your room.” His answer was simple enough that he sounded like he was talking to somebody stupid but with no sarcasm.

“Well no shit, Sherlock. WHY did you come to see me?” Unlike Julian, my sass was never-ending.

“Your nightmares.” His voice quieted as he leaned in closer and I felt his forehead press down on mine. “I wanted to be with you when you sleep. I was going to watch over you for the night… but when you weren’t in your room, I figured you were walking around again. I had a feeling that this would be the first place you’d go.”

My chest twisted in pain again as I felt guilt consume me. Julian had a stupidly amazing knack for throwing me off guard, making me wary of him, making me feel guilty for being wary of him, and then wanting his body all over me all over again. Repeat. Repeat. And repeat…

“I’m that predictable, huh?” I mumbled, my sass gone.

He leaned his forehead away from mine and replaced it with a kiss. “I know the love of my life better than anyone else.”

Those handfuls of words made my chest thump like a cage for butterflies had just been unlocked and set free. “Damn you…” I grouchily grumbled while hanging my head, trying my best to hide my reddening face.

*Fucking hell. I have never been this embarrassed in my entire fucking life! Fuck. Fuck! Fuck. Ugh… I need a cigarette.*

“Do you want a cigarette?” I looked up at him wide-eyed, finally looking up at him since he came close to me. Julian smiled as if he were pleased with himself by my big reaction. “This room belongs to you. Dad wouldn’t mind.”

“How do you fucking do that??” I couldn’t keep my thoughts off of my tongue this time. It was almost scary how well he did that.

*One answer: witchcraft. That has to be his secret. He has some freaky ass shrine somewhere and a pentagram under his fucking bed. Yeah. That’s it. He’s a wizard.*

“Like I said,” His lips went from my forehead to my cheek. “I know the love of my life better than anyone else.” Julian’s voice grew quieter as he began to leave his trail of kisses on me, going across my hot cheek and eventually pressed against my lush lips. I felt my body stiffen and thighs clutch, just instantly turned on, as if he had pushed a button that only he knew.

While I still had the willpower, I took a step backward before he could kiss me any lower beneath my jawline. Uh, s–sure, yeah, uh… a cigarette would be cool right now.” My stuttering voice had never made me feel so pathetic before.

Julian’s sweet smile shifted into something darker, something that I’ve only seen once; the first time I went into his room and we had our first fuck session.

“Sure, Suki. Anything for you.” He picked up a loose lock of my curly, brunette hair and gave it a long sniff before kissing the sleeky lock. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere…”

My lips pursed with caution. I didn’t like the tone he used for his last few words. With that, he left, but not without peeking over his shoulder back at me. I let out a heavy sigh and flopped down into the old wooden chair that matched my desk. “Fuuuuck…” I rubbed my eyes as I felt exhaustion beginning to make my eyelids heavy. If anything, I had to hand it to Julian that he made my time trying to stay awake a lot easier.

I looked back over at my painting. *No colors? What’s wrong with that? I like black and white… colors are boring.*

My attention turned to the window when I saw a shadow move by.

*What the fuck?*

I stood up and headed to the window to investigate what had caught my interest. In the rose garden, I saw a hooded figure coming back toward the mansion.

*Holy shit! Is that a robber!?*

My crazy ass cursed myself for leaving my knife in my room, but it was definitely a part of my plan to snatch it up and hunt the guy down. *Screw the police. I am the police. Kinda. I gotta protect my mom.* But before I could make a move, I barely saw the face in the shadows beneath the hood.

*Wait… is that fucking Julian? The fuckery is he doing?*

I had half the mind of going outside to see what the hell he was doing out there, but the fact he was heading back to the mansion meant that he was coming about to the art room for me.

*Fucking weird… why would he be out there?*

I decided to sit back down in the chair and wait as patiently as I possibly could. My leg bounced the whole time as I tried to keep myself from pacing and making up my mind to step out. Right before I reached my limit, thankfully, Julian returned with my favorite pack of cigarettes. He smiled at me with affection glowing on his face.

*When did I tell him what my favorite brand of cigarettes was?*

“Here, Suki.”

“Thanks…” I was still iffy about being in the same room with him again. Why was he walking across the yard? I wanted to come out and demand an explanation right then and there, but something was holding me back.

Maybe my need to puff toxic smoke in and out of my lungs as if my life depended on it? Ironically.

I squeezed the cigarette between my full lips and Julian reached over to me with a lighter, lighting up the addiction that was the worst for my health. The orange glow on his face from the fire revealed a blush that was beginning the darken his cheeks and the look of desperate restraint was growing in the depths of his gaze.

Pretending to ignore his inner turmoil, I blew out the thick, white smoke while holding my cigarette between two fingers. “So what were you doing walking across the backyard like a creeper? I almost came after you, ya know. Thought your ass was a burglar.”

Julian was able to regain control over his expression as he made a flawless response that held no audible suspicion. “The lighter. I didn’t have one in my room.”

“Ahhh… right. Gotcha.” You’re full of shit. I huffed out another cloud with a flick of the cigarette, the glowing bulb sprinkling gray ashes as I did so. “Anyway. As you can see, I’m perfectly fine on my own. I was just about to chill and make another drawing. So if you don’t mind, I’d like some space so I can focus on my arty skills.”

The look of adoration in his eyes dimmed a little bit when I more or less told him to get lost and that he was distracting me. But instead of leaving –as if I knew he wouldn’t– he gave a curious tilt of his head while looking me up and down. The look in his eyes turned darker too as if he were up to something. “Do you have any… inspiration?”

“Inspiration?” I coughed on the smoke. “What do you mean, fucking inspiration? I’ll look out the fucking window like I did earlier. I’ll draw a rose or something.”

“You mean the roses that you burned?”

I flinched and looked away from him. “You know you can be a real asshole sometimes. Fucker.”

“Will this makeup for it?” his words were followed by the sound of cloth shifting and when I looked back at him, I gawked when I saw he was taking off his shirt.

“W–what the hell do you think you’re doing!? Put your shirt back on!” my voice raised from getting flustered, but I tried to still keep quiet so that nobody would hear us, or worse, come check on us.

I glanced away from him again as I felt the harsh burn return to my caramel cheeks, but that didn’t stop him from walking up to me. The way his six-pack gleamed under the moonlight was just as beautiful as the full moon.

*Oh, fuck, no, please, nooooo!!!*

My thoughts screamed at the top of their lungs as Julian’s warm hands gently grabbed my upper arms and slowly slid them down to my hands.

“Draw me.”