Filthy (A Stepbrother Romance) #1

“Save it, Matt. You fucked up. When your buddy Donovan wakes up, let him know I have another baseball bat with his name on it. Nobody fucks with what is mine,” I growled, pushing past him. I didn’t have the desire to be here any longer. These people had served a purpose before Mia came along, but now they were nothing but a fucking headache and Donovan… he was fucking dead to me. He was nothing but the gum beneath my shoes.

Walking out to my car, I refused to take my eyes off of her. The movement of her chest with each breath she took, the softness, suppleness of her skin. Hers eyes moved beneath her eyelids making me wonder what it was that she was dreaming about? I prayed it wasn’t what she had just endured.

“I promise I won’t let anything else happen to you. You’re mine, baby. Mine to protect. Mine to keep.” I placed a feather light kiss against her forehead right before we made it to my car. For being as worked up as I was, I was surprised at how gentle I was being toward Mia. I wanted to smash skulls back there.

“Talon…” she moaned in her sleep. I knew it shouldn’t make my dick hard, not after what had just taken place, but I couldn’t shut off the need or the way her voice sounded. She was pure heaven, and I wanted to taint the fuck out of her.

“Shhh,” I whispered against her lips, opening the door and placing her gently against the leather seat. I shut the door soon after and stood outside of the car. I combed my hand through my hair a couple times contemplating if it was worth it to go back there and teach Donovan the real lesson he deserved.

“I didn’t mean for anything to happen to her, Talon. She was just watching you and everything kind of…” I cut Matt off, him following me out here was not a good idea when I was this unstable and pissed off about something that he could’ve helped from happening.

“You helped do this, so you’re just as much at fault as Donovan is,” I growled pushing into his chest. He pushed back, anger in his eyes. He had no fucking clue what I was capable of. I would end his life for hurting Mia.

“She felt bad for you, that’s why she ran the fuck away. Don’t assume that you know anything about what happened, and don’t blame me and act like I would hurt her because I never would.” Matt was just as irritated as I was. His fists were clenched, and I think he actually thought he had a chance at kicking me ass.

“I don’t think you understand the whole thing going on here, so I’m just going to tell you to head back to the party and go on like you never met her.” I stared him straight in the eyes begging him to challenge me.

“It’s your fault, Talon,” he said, his voice sounding deflated. He took a step back, putting space between us as if he knew it was needed.

“Nothing is my fault.” My teeth ground together so hard I thought my jaw would crack.

“You keep thinking that, Talon. You keep acting like nothing you do is wrong, and shit will catch up to you.” Matt seemed to understand or maybe he just felt the anger coursing through me because he turned away from me after speaking and ran toward the bonfire.

I lifted my fist without warning, slamming it into the hood of my car. The impact of the hit vibrated up my arm causing a shooting pain to form. Blood pounded in my ears, and the anger I was feeling was on the verge of flowing over and out of me. Something bad would happen if I didn’t leave right this second. Walking over to the driver’s side of the car I got in, my eyes roaming over Mia’s sleepy form.

She was more than I ever expected, and more than I deserved. All I knew now was that I had to do whatever I could to save her from myself. Maybe Matt was right. This was my fault, and I just failed to take responsibility for it. Maybe, just maybe this was my punishment for being the asshole I had been for years.

Hell was God giving me something that I couldn’t have because I just wasn’t good enough. I would never be good enough.





I Hate Myself for Hating You


I could feel his body clad with my own, sheets beneath me, and a blanket pulled up over us. I should’ve been running from his bed, running from him in general, but there was no way I could. My body felt heavy, feeling coming back to my legs and hands slowly. I blinked my eyes open, even though they felt as if they had the weight of the world lying on them.

“You’re beautiful when you’re sleeping. A lot less mouthy as well,” Talon spoke into my hair breathing in my scent. Memories of what had happened came back to me at a snail’s pace. Donovan should be dead, and if he wasn’t yet then I was going to kill him. I turned into Talon’s body. His eyes were wide open and shined down on me brightly. They were little orb like stars.

“I’m sorry,” was all I could say, my voice sounding like someone had ran my throat through a grater?

Talon’s large hand cupped my cheek. His skin was rough where mine was soft, and I couldn’t help but lean into his warm touch. It was so wrong of us to be doing this, but after everything that had happened comfort was the only thing that I needed right now.