Home For The Holidays, Falling For Her Stepbrother

A Moment

Dana POV

It’s like a dream come true. Every girl imagines that she’ll find her father one day, or that she has a family hiding out there when she grows up in foster homes. You know that it’s probably not true, but you pretend that it is anyway, if only to make the nights a little less lonely and your life a little less bleak. It’s like a fairytale, only you’re living it, and you never get to meet Prince Charming or be adopted by those who instantly fall in love with you. So, when I’m given the proof that my family, my father, has been there all along, it hurts. It’s like a fresh wound in my heart has been opened all over again. It’s more painful than you can ever imagine, to know that you missed growing up and being raised by somebody who did want you. So many missed opportunities, and missed memories that could have been created. I spend the night lying listlessly in bed, staring up at the ceiling, feeling awash with heavy emotions.

My father seems like a nice man. A kind man. He made a mistake, a grave one, and he paid a painful price for it. We both did. I could hate him for that, but I feel like he’s already paid enough in this lifetime. As for my stepbrother, I shake my head, my cheeks flaming. The feelings I had for him were not sisterly at all. In fact, they were the exact opposite. It was hard to get my mind off of him. I could see his muscles beneath his shirt and those eyes of his… I inwardly groaned. It was almost torture being in the same room as him, and now that he had managed to convince me to stay in this huge mansion-like house, with him and my father for the holidays. How was I supposed to act normally around a man that I almost slept with before I knew who he was? Who, if I was honest, I still wanted to sleep with? I snuggled even further under the covers, certain my entire face was beetroot red by now. I was going to have to work hard to keep my attraction to Hunter under control so that he didn't suspect anything when I was around him. I felt like an adolescent schoolgirl with a crush on some boy in high school. It was embarrassing.

He's not interested in you that way. At least not now that he knows you are family, Dana. I scolded myself. Now all he wants is to spend some time with you like a real family does at Christmastime. Does that scream lust to you? Nope. He even insisted that we wear cute pajamas like a family on Christmas Eve for heaven's sake! Unbidden, the image of Hunter wearing pajama pants and no shirt on, made my body tense and my mouth began to water. Gods above, my stepbrother was like one of those damn Greek gods that you read about in books. There was no way I was going to be able to keep these kinds of feelings to myself without him knowing. I dreaded to know what he would say if he ever found out that I had a crush or was lusting after him. He would probably find it amusing. That night at the bar…was just a coincidence. I probably misread his intentions, I thought, with a scowl, feeling like an i***t.

The sound of soft footsteps padding outside the hall, had me straightening up in bed, smoothing the covers down, and attempting to look, at least, remotely put together as I quickly tidied my hair. A knock sounded at the door, and I was grateful I had the foresight to wear pajamas, my father having organized enough clothes and lingerie in a short period, to outfit my entire wardrobe three times over, despite my protests. It was a miracle that he got my size right. I blushed again, thinking of the multiple bras and panties that were among the clothes and hoping that my father hadn’t personally seen them.

“Come in,” I said softly, wondering if it was Lionel, my father, or Hunter.

I couldn’t quite bring myself to call Lionel my father yet. It didn't seem appropriate, and I had only just met him. He didn’t seem to mind though, happy just to have me here. The door opened, and I breathed a sigh of relief as Lionel filled the doorway, a gentle smile on his face. He looked slightly awkward as he took me sitting in bed and cleared his throat.

“I just wanted to check that the room was comfortable enough for you,” he said stiffly.

Comfortable enough for me? Was he kidding? The room alone was bigger than half the house I’d been sharing with Jackson. I fought to contain my amusement, smiling at him.

“The room is very comfortable,” I told him, glancing around at the furniture and the clothes strewn everywhere, still to be put away “I will get those put away tomorrow….” I hastily began, wondering what he must think of me.

He probably thinks I'm a total slob.

“Don’t stress, child” he interrupted, chuckling, “the state of the room doesn’t bother me. I’m simply grateful you agreed to stay. I want you to be comfortable here. I know that it can’t be easy discovering you have a family at the age that you are.”

Was he subtly hinting that I was old? Or that he found it surprising that I didn’t have children at my age? I tried not to take offense. I was probably misreading things. “Thank you, Lionel,” I said instead, as he nodded at me. “I appreciate your hospitality.”

This felt so uncomfortable. What did I know about how a father acted or how to respond to him? I couldn’t see myself flinging my arms around him or calling him ‘daddy’ anytime soon. I winced just thinking about it, but I knew that he wanted this relationship with me, and I didn’t have the heart to deny that I wanted one as well. You just couldn’t force it, I thought, sighing. We had to let it develop naturally.

“Anyway, I just wanted to check in and see if there’s anything you need before I retire for the night” he continued pleasantly.

“Oh,” I was surprised. “No, thank you, Lionel. I’m all set. But you have a good night” I added lamely as the old man smiled and nodded back.

He stepped back and then proceeded to continue down the hallway, leaving the door open. I sighed and got up, heading over to close it, and was met with Hunter’s keen eyes looking over me, raking his gaze over me as I flushed. I was wearing short pajamas with a singlet top that did little to cover the size of my arms or my chunky legs, but Hunter seemed to be eyeing them appreciatively and licking his lips.

“Nice pajamas,” he said silkily as I stood there, trying hard not to cover myself up with my arms, suddenly very aware that my n*****s were starting to harden and trying not to give myself away “They suit you,” he said, tilting his head and continuing to eye me as I trembled on the spot.

Damn the man. With one sentence, he had completely managed to make me lose my composure. My mouth was dry as I stared at him. He looked at me mischievously.

“Good thing you don’t sleep in the nude” he added wryly as I made a choking sound “If Lionel’s going to make a habit of checking in on you every night, the image of that might just be enough to give the poor old man a heart attack while the rest of us….” He trailed off, not completing the sentence and leaving me hanging.

“The rest of us what?” I asked tersely.

He blinked, before giving me another crooked grin. “Never mind,” he said nonchalantly, as I exhaled in disappointment. “Do you need anything before I head on upstairs to sleep?”

Yes, I wanted to shout. You pressed up against me, your lips on mine! But I stopped before I made a fool of myself. Instead, I slowly shook my head, Hunter’s gaze going to my hair as it softly billowed around me. He reached out and touched it. “So long” he murmured "and so soft", as I sucked in a breath and then promptly released it.

“Goodnight Dana,” he said gruffly, quickly turning on his heel as I stared at the back of him, bewildered by his sudden change of mood “I’ll see you in the morning. If you don’t want to be woken up, I would suggest you lock your door” his voice sounded distant now.

He was gone before I could say anything in reply. I sighed and shut the door, firmly locking it, and climbed back into bed, burrowing deep into my blanket. For a moment, there had been something between us, I thought wistfully, but I was probably just imagining it. I closed my eyes and went to sleep, dreaming of things that could never be, images of my stepbrother and myself causing me to become heated throughout the night. It was going to be a long holiday at this rate, and I wasn't sure just how I was going to survive it, without making a complete and utter fool of myself.