Cruel Desires: My Bully Turned Stepbrother

Let Them Talk

Gabriel's POV

The shower stopped. I stayed on the edge of the bed, my skin still buzzing with a sick, electric heat that I couldn’t scrub off. The door opened and Derek walked out, damp and smelling like he had just won the damn lottery.

He didn't say a word. He didn't have to. The way he moved, nonchalant, stretching those wide sexy shoulders said enough.

He climbed into the bed, the mattress dipping under his weight, and looked at me. I was still sitting there, fully dressed in my wrinkled pants, staring at the blurry wall.

"Get in," he said.

"I am fine here," I whispered. My voice sounded thin, like paper.

Derek leaned back, his eyes tracking the line of my spine. "You know, Gabe... I was looking through that sketchbook of yours. Some of those drawings... man. If the world saw what you keep in there, they would think you were some kind of sick pervert. What would the school board think?"

A cold spike hit my gut. That book was everything. My drawings of Derek and the things I never said, the messy, dark parts of my head I wasn't ready to face. If he showed that to anyone, if he showed it to my mom or the school.....it was over.

"You wouldn't," I breathed.

"Try me. Or you can lie down and act like my brother. Which is it?"

I didn't have a choice. I never had a choice. I crawled under the covers, staying as close to the edge as possible. I stayed awake for hours, feeling the ache in my lower back and the weight of him breathing just inches away. I felt like a ghost in my own body.

The sun was way too bright when I woke up. My phone buzzed on the nightstand, a text from school. First period starting in twenty minutes.

Panic flared. I scrambled out of bed, every muscle in my body protesting. The ache from last night hit me with every step, a sharp reminder of the wall and the way he had gripped me. I freshened up and fumbled for the few clothes I had left in my suitcase a wrinkled button down and jeans and yanked them on.

Derek was nowhere in the room. Thank God.

I grabbed my bag and practically ran for the door. I just needed to get to campus. I needed to see people who didn't bully me as much as Derek does. I reached the top of the stairs, my heart racing, when a maid stepped into the hall with a tray.

"Oh, Master Gabriel," she said, giving me a polite, empty smile. "Your breakfast is ready downstairs. You should eat before you head out."

"Ohh thank you ma," I said, trying to keep my voice steady while I shifted from foot to foot. "But I will be skipping breakfast, I am late. Really... late."

She just nodded, probably thinking I was just a studious kid. To her, I was the lucky new stepson in the big mansion. She didn't see what went on in the dark between me and Derek.

I took another step toward the stairs, my hand hitting the railing, when I heard it.

A long, low whistle. Like someone calling a dog.

"Stop right there."

Derek’s voice came from the dining area below. I froze. My hand gripped the railing so hard my knuckles went white. I looked down and saw him sitting at the long mahogany table. He looked perfect. Messy hair falling over his brow, blue eyes fixed on me, looking like a goddamn model while I felt like I was falling apart.

"I have class, Derek," I said, my voice cracking. "Well if you have forgotten you are a student I haven't. I am late."

I tried to start down the stairs again, desperate to just reach the front door.

"It seems someone forgot his sketchbook," he said. It wasn't loud. It was quiet, casual, but it stopped me like a bullet to the chest.

He didn't even look up from his plate. He just sat there, smirking, waiting for the leash to snap tight. I felt that cold panic again, the kind that makes your throat close up. I turned around and walked down the stairs, my legs feeling like lead. I didn't go to the door. I went to the dining table. I sat down forcefully across from him, my chair screeching against the floor.

I grabbed a piece of toast and shoved it in my mouth, but it tasted like bitter. Derek just watched me, his icy blue eyes tracking every movement of my jaw. He was enjoying this. He was loving the fact that he could break my will with just three words.

We sat in silence for twenty minutes. By the time he wiped his mouth with a silk napkin, I knew my first class was long gone.

"Damn," Derek said sluggishly, leaning back. "We missed first period. Let's go for our second lectures now."

He got up and walked around the table. Before I could even stand, he reached down and grabbed me by the back of the neck, his fingers digging into the sensitive skin there. It wasn't a hug. It was a grip.

"Ouchhh can you stop?" I hissed, trying to pull away.

Derek leaned down, his face inches from mine. "I see you don't want to be choked."

He let go of my neck, but before I could breathe, he wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me hard against his side. He held me there, his hand splayed flat against my hip, marking me.

"Please stop this" I whispered, looking around frantically. The maid was still nearby, and I could see the guards through the window. "We are siblings. What if your guards suspect something and tell your dad about it!"

Derek didn't let go. He just pulled me closer as we walked toward the door, his grip like a vice. "Let them talk, Gabe. Let them all watch."

I looked at the floor, my vision blurring again, not from my eyes but from the sheer weight of it. School wasn't even safe, Derek was my f*****g course mate. I am so cooked...