I screw my eyes tight, suppressing a scream, and when I open them I take a deep, calming breath.Don’t panic, I tell myself. They’re just dirty thoughts. You haven’t gone too far.Yet.What I did was bad, and wrong. There’s no justifying it. But it could’ve been worse. At least it didn’t go any further.Picking Hazel up from school is agony. We barely speak in the car. I’m all business—professional Dad. And I know it’s breaking her heart but I don’t know what to do about it. I can barely control my lust around her. It takes everything in my power to push the beast down.When we get home, Hazel heads up to her bedroom and I take chicken out of the fridge and marinate it before heading up to mine. She usually does her homework at the dining room table; I usually work in the den. But I guess we both need privacy from each other as we try to sort out what the fuck is happening.I open up my laptop and catch up on a few emails before undressing and running a hot shower. There are signs of
Chapter 1 [Kendall] “Thanks for inviting me,” I say, smiling at Elora as I nudge her with my shoulder. She laughs, lifting her champagne glass. “You needed a break, Kendall. It’s about time.” I wiggle my toes in the clear, saltwater pool and glance at her perfectly manicured feet. “Yeah, I don’t get out much.” Elora tilts her head knowingly. “Because you’re always at home taking care of your dad.” I nod, the usual heaviness settling in. “He’s not been the same since the heart attack. I’ve taken over most of the household stuff. Lucky he made enough money as a low-level guy before getting sick to take care of us. I owe him everything.” “You’re a good daughter,” she says sincerely before grinning again. “But today’s about mimosas and sunshine, so drink up.” I smile, taking another sip of my drink. Elora’s been my best friend since we were twelve, always dragging me into fun I didn’t know I needed. Sometimes I think she tries to live enough for both of us. When Marco Barone’s voi
[Camden] I can think of about five things I’d rather be doing (three of them women) that isn’t standing around at Bruno Esposito’s stupid party. It isn’t even really a wiseguy party, just something that Bruno has thrown together for his birthday. I ended up driving Elora here early because she couldn’t wait, which left Kendall to finish getting ready on her own.Elora bolted the second we arrived, no doubt hunting down Bruno or stirring up trouble somewhere else. The mansion is huge, probably bigger even than Dante’s-my capo. The Espositos are an old family, and Bruno is the next in line. I guess that’s part of the reason that Elora likes him so much. She’s attracted to power, that’s for sure. I’m the guy that works for the men in power, and I like it that way. There’s too much responsibility in being a made man to be honest. Too many people trying to take what you have. I’m glad I’m under the radar and don’t have to worry about looking over my shoulder at every turn. I jus
[Kendall] I’ve never been particularly popular, but there must be something to this dress, because men keep coming up to me, introducing themselves. Alessandro Barone, Marco’s younger brother, walks up to me, looking me up and down. “What’s your name, pretty girl?” he asks in a low tone, and I snort out a laugh. “You’ve known me since high school, Alessandro. I was the year ahead of you? We were in choir together?” He just looks at me blankly. “Kendall Risi,” I say, sighing, and his eyes widen. “No fucking way,” he says in a mumble, and for the first time I notice his eyes are a bit glassy. I don’t smell booze, though, so I suspect drugs. “You’ve been hanging out with Bruno too much,” I accuse, and Alessandro shrugs, smirking. “Maybe. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you,” he says, stepping closer. I back away, not wanting to get cornered by him. “I guess that’s a compliment?” I say dryly. “Of course it is. Look at you,” he says, licking his lips. “I never noticed you be
[Camden]I’m still outside smoking, not paying much attention to the rest of the party, when a blood-curdling scream cuts through the night. It takes me only a second to realize that it’s Elora , and my heart begins to pound as I run down the hallway. I have to push people out of my way, most of the party had started to move upstairs and everyone was in the way. Now that Elora had screamed, people were all going that way and I all but elbowed everyone out of my way as I approached Bruno’s office.Elora is standing in the doorway, shivering all over and I put my hands on her shoulders, turning her away from Bruno’s dead body.“Shit,” I curse.Elora clutches on to me, making me look at her. “It was Marco,” she whispers. “You have to get to Kendall. She saw everything.”Fuck.Apparently, there’s a witness to this murder, and it’s my little sister’s best friend. I’m going to have a long night ahead of me, clearly. I take Elora ’s shoulders in my hands and look at her fiercely.“Find Dant
[Kendall]I wake up with Camden's arms wrapped around me, and it takes me a long moment to figure out where I am and what’s going on.Then I remember last night—a flash across my memory of Bruno’s face—and I gasp.Camden murmurs something in his sleep and rocks against me, his morning erection pressing against my ass.I swallow hard.My teenage self would be over the moon right now, lying in bed with Camden, feeling his arms around me, his body pressed against mine—but I have no idea how to handle it.My mind is spinning between the confusion of this intimate closeness and the aching emptiness inside me. Part of me wants to cling to him and let myself forget, even if just for a little while.I just don’t want to think anymore. I don’t want to see Bruno’s dead body, think about the fact that he’s just...gone.I don’t want to think about Marco’s heavy breaths as he chased me through the woods.Or how I was only able to get rid of him by climbing over a rose bush that cut along my legs,
[Kendall]My pulse races, anticipation thrumming through me like a live wire, and he watches me with a smirk that’s both reassuring and maddeningly confident. His eyes are dark with desire, but there’s something else beneath the surface, something I can’t quite place.“You’re so beautiful, Kendall,” he murmurs, his voice thick with need. He slides a hand down my thigh, the roughness of his fingertips sending shivers along my skin, as if he’s marking me, leaving traces of his touch everywhere. My body trembles under the weight of it, a hunger igniting deep inside.His words send a strange, warm ache through my chest, and I reach up, pulling him back down to me, desperate to feel his weight, his warmth, against me. The heat of his body presses into mine, each inch of him a reminder of how badly I’ve wanted this, how long I’ve been fighting this pull between us. His breath, hot and ragged, dances across my neck as he moves, making me dizzy.He cups his hand against my pussy, and the he
[Kendall] “You said you didn’t want to think. Did it help?” His words carry a weight, a quiet sincerity that makes my heart ache in a way I wasn’t prepared for. “I’m not thinking anything,” I whisper, my voice raw, as I look away, my fingers brushing over the marks he left on my skin. Camden laughs softly, rubbing a hand over his face. “Then it did work,” he chuckles, his laughter warm and somehow comforting, like a balm on my scattered nerves. I have no idea what to do with myself now. My body feels heavy and weightless at the same time, like I’m floating in some strange, blissful limbo. I stand up on shaky legs, unsure of what happens next, and mumble, “I think I’ll take a shower.” Camden nods, throwing a forearm over his eyes as if he, too, is processing what just happened, giving me space. I leave the room, the cool air of the hallway hitting me like a shock, and head to the bathroom. I stare at myself in the mirror for a long time, at the marks Camden left on my throat
I screw my eyes tight, suppressing a scream, and when I open them I take a deep, calming breath.Don’t panic, I tell myself. They’re just dirty thoughts. You haven’t gone too far.Yet.What I did was bad, and wrong. There’s no justifying it. But it could’ve been worse. At least it didn’t go any further.Picking Hazel up from school is agony. We barely speak in the car. I’m all business—professional Dad. And I know it’s breaking her heart but I don’t know what to do about it. I can barely control my lust around her. It takes everything in my power to push the beast down.When we get home, Hazel heads up to her bedroom and I take chicken out of the fridge and marinate it before heading up to mine. She usually does her homework at the dining room table; I usually work in the den. But I guess we both need privacy from each other as we try to sort out what the fuck is happening.I open up my laptop and catch up on a few emails before undressing and running a hot shower. There are signs of
Xavier “hey, man.” comes Bob’s voice from the doorway to my office.I look up from my desk in surprise to see my partner Bob leaning in the doorway. I was so deep in thought I didn’t even notice him open the door.“Hey…” he says again, more gently this time. His expression changes to one of concern. “You all right, man? You have a late night or something?”Christ. I must look like shit.“Yeah,” I say half-heartedly. “Couldn’t sleep last night.”He nods, only partially concealing his concern. “That’s rough, man. You’ll have a good sleep tonight if you power through today.”“Yup,” I run my fingers through my hair, wondering how tired I really look. I don’t think I even looked in a mirror this morning.“Hey, uh, apparently Sarah needs the name of your plus-one?”“Huh?” For a moment I really have no idea what he’s talking about. All I can think about is how much I want him to leave.“For the wedding,” he prompts. “It’s next month, remember?”“Oh, right, of course.” I shake my head quickl
He doesn’t move, doesn’t pull back, and I part my lips slightly to take in a breath. That’s when I feel his hand come around my back, and the unthinkable happens.He kisses me back.Long, slow, and languorous, his mouth moves over mine until our lips part and I feel his tongue stroke into my mouth.It’s crazy. It’s unthinkable. And it’s so sweet, I couldn’t pull away if I wanted to. He moves slowly, kissing me tenderly, but there’s an urgency in the firmness of his hand against my back and the rise and fall of his chest as he breathes. My body roars to life, heat spreading over my skin and rushing down between my legs.With his other hand, he cups the back of my neck, threading fingers into my pinned up hair, and when I tilt my hips, intending to straddle his lap, he helps lift me. Melanie’s sheath dress rolls up my thighs as I place one on either side of Xavier, so that I can feel his crotch through the thin layer of my panties and my legs are fully exposed. I’m wearing the last pair
HazelWe wait in silence for the valet to pull the car up, and when he does, Xavier tips him and walks over to the driver’s side. He doesn’t open the door for me, or give me a smile, or even so much as flash a glare at the valet when he clearly runs his eyes over my body, checking me out.I’m still reeling from the moment in the restaurant.Xavier is jealous? Of Kye?But now it’s as if nothing’s happened, and the functioning part of my brain kicks in to remind me that there’s no way my stepfather was going to say something inappropriate to me, and I’m fucked up for even thinking and hoping so.Isn’t it more likely, I torment myself, that he meant ‘jealous’ about something else, and you misunderstood it and now he’s angry?We drive in uncomfortable silence for a while until Xavier finally speaks. His tone is casual, fatherly, like no weird moment has passed between us.“I hope you had a nice birthday, sweetheart,” he says.“The nicest, thank you.” My fingers reach up and clasp the diam
She rolls her eyes up to the crystal chandelier above us. “Ugh, he’s a jerk,” she groans. The idea that he’s been a jerk to her makes me equally angry and relieved. That fucking kid. But at least he’ll be out of her life now.“Hmm,” I say nonchalantly. It’s not my place to get involved. I take a sip of my drink and look out across the room. The restaurant is filling up and there’s a hub of noise and activity in the centre, but the padded booth seems to muffle the sound somewhat. Our table is at a peaceful remove.I make a few suggestions to Hazel and when the waiter comes back I order for us. Oysters and champagne to start, then the braised beef cheek for me and the pan-roasted chicken for Hazel. I soften my stance on alcohol and let her share my champagne when the oysters arrive.She’s never had oysters before, but approaches them gamely, cringing slightly the first time the cool, slippery flesh slides down her throat but then smiling and widening her eyes with pleasure at the salty
Xavier The sight of Hazel coming down the stairs is like a punch to the gut. For a moment, the breath is knocked out of me.She’s unbelievable. She’s perfect.She’s…Melanie?She looks like a grown-ass woman. Like her mother, actually. In a tight white dress, with her curls loosely pinned up, and high heel shoes that emphasize the shapely, grown-up musculature of her legs, she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Strikingly similar to Melanie, but so much……better, I can’t help but think. She’s my Hazel. Silly, brilliant, and loving. She grins at me, her smile bright and wide, and I melt.“How do I look?” she asks, holding her arms out to give me the full view.Like your mother, I almost answer. I’ve seen this dress before, and suddenly I have a vivid memory of Melanie in it—at a party for my partner, Bob, just before Mel and I broke up. It’s the last dress I ever saw her in.“You look incredible,” I say sincerely.Following her out to the car, I can’t take my eyes off of her. S
Taking a deep breath, I blew the candle out and then turned my head to smile at Xavier. He smiled back, and before I even knew what I was doing, I lifted my chin and kissed him, quickly and chastely, on the lips.For one moment, I was flooded with the warm smell of him, with the soft pressure of his mouth on mine, and the next he was moving away, the warmth of his body gone, his back to me as he walked up to the coffee machine and filled it with water.It’s a completely normal thing for a parent and child to do, to kiss on the mouth, but it left me breathless and heated.No matter how hard I try to fight this growing feeling of attraction, it just won’t go away. If anything, boundaries seem to be slipping and blurring between us, making it worse. In the past few days since I’ve been grounded, we’ve spent more and more time together—laughing, touching, hugging… Every night this week Xavier has shut his computer early, and we’ve watched television together while snuggling on the couch.
HazelThis is the face of an eighteen year old, I think as I look in the mirror.It doesn’t feel any different, today versus yesterday, but while I may look and feel the same, I’m not. Something changed overnight. At the stroke of midnight I transformed from a child to a woman. Age of majority. It’s just a number, but it carries a lot of weight.Tonight, for my birthday, Xavier is taking me out to one of the best restaurants in Vancouver. My friend Christine can’t believe I’m grounded for my eighteenth birthday, and I feel like I should be more upset than I am, but truthfully, I’d much rather have a fancy dinner with Xavier than spend a drunken night at the beach with kids. The prospect of dressing up and and being seen on Xavier’s arm doesn’t make me feel like I am missing anything at all.People will think we’re a couple, I think.I wonder what it’s like to be on a real date with a man like Xavier—to have him pick you up in his Jaguar, impeccably dressed in a suit, perfectly trimmed
I lean my cheek against his chest, breathing in the smell of him, and don’t let go. My breasts are pressed against him, it’s a tight, intimate hug, and once I’m in it I can’t pull away. It feels so good to be close to him, to smell him and be hugged by him, I can’t bring myself to break the embrace.I don’t feel like he wants me to, either. He leans back against the counter, pulling me against him, and lifts a hand to cup my head, and kisses the top of my hair.“I love you, Hazel-girl,” he murmurs.“I love you too, Dad,” I whisper. I can feel his chest rising and falling against me as he breathes.“And you’ll always be my little girl.”“Yes, Daddy.”It’s a weird thing to say when all I’m thinking about is how fucking good his body feels against mine, how I’d do anything to be in this embrace in a different context, but my feelings for Xavier are complex. I’m grappling with this growing, inappropriate attraction to him, but I still so love being his little girl.I drag a hand slowly up