“He hurt you?” My body thrums with anger, pulsating through me like an electric bass. “Alis, did he?”
“Wonderland.”
I smile despite my fury. “Did he, Wonderland?”
“Nothing terrible,” he admits. “Mom always earned a smack by provoking him. He said some stuff that scared the shit out of me plenty of times and shoved me at times.”
“Why are you afraid of him then? You shut down…” And had a fucking panic attack. “I wanted to kill him.”
He sits up, straddling my waist, and strokes his fingers over my abs. My stomach clenches at the soft tickling sensation.
“Tell me,” I urge, squeezing his thighs.
“I’m afraid he’s going to take me away for good. My biggest fear…” He trails off and dips down to my mouth, capturing my lips in a hungry kiss. My palms slide to his perfect ass, and I squeeze each cheek over his briefs.
Fuck, I love his ass.
“Your biggest fear?” I murmur against his lips, trying like hell not to get distracted by his hot mouth and hard body.
“My biggest fear is that Dad will kick me out or disown me or encourage me to leave the nest. I…” His voice cracks, and a tremble quivers through his body. “I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want to have to go live with Colin.”
“Never,” I growl as I grab his throat, running my thumb over his pulse that’s throbbing wildly. “You’re staying here.”
“But if Dad ever—”
“With me,” I reiterate. “You’re staying with me.”
“And if they find out about this?” His hot breath against my lips makes me achingly hard. “What will we do then?”
“Whatever it is, we do it together.”
“Come on, Canyon. Be real.”
A grunt of frustration rumbles through me. “I’m being serious.”
“You don’t even know what I want to do with my life. Now, suddenly, you’re ready to make plans?”
Despite the challenge in his voice, I hear the crack of vulnerability. He wants me to choose him. To make promises. Lay out a plan that includes him. Alister Sommers needs to be tethered to this world, or else he feels like he’ll float away, somehow ending up in the black void that is his biological father.
“I bet I could guess.” I roll us until he’s beneath me. Grabbing his wrists, I pin them to the bed beside his head. “Just like I guessed you wanted me to overpower you.”
His hips lift, eagerly seeking out the friction my body offers. I grind my dick against his, making us both gasp with pleasure before stilling.
“You,” I murmur, nipping at his bottom lip, “want to make your art. Maybe even sell it one day. I can see you wanting to study it more, maybe traveling someplace where you can learn on your own versus some boring classroom.”
He sighs as though he likes that idea. “Sculpting makes me happy.”
“Happier than running track or playing violin.”
“I like transforming something pliable and soft, making it into something better than it was before. Changing it into something permanent and beautiful.”
Permanent.
I’d teased him about looking as though he was ready to move out at any second. But it’s exactly the truth. Alis is afraid to plant roots in case he gets plucked up. Planting roots and then being ripped away would hurt too much. I can understand that.
“So, we’ll go do that.” I shrug. “Go let you do your art shit.”
The bed rumbles with his laughter. “You have it all figured out, huh? You’re going to run away with your barely boyfriend, who’ll soon be your stepbrother?”
“Not run away,” I explain, kissing his supple lips. “Travel and learn.”
“What about college?” he demands. “Our dads would kill us if we didn’t go.”
“In your imagined scenario, we’re already dead. Stepbrother fucking and all got us kicked out. Disowned. Whatever. It earns us freedom.” I kiss a path along his jaw and to his throat. “In my scenario, we’ll do what we want because we can.”
He moans at the touch of my tongue dancing over his skin near his ear. I love the fuck out of teasing him. After a few small love bites that I hope will bruise because seeing my handiwork the next day is intoxicating, I smile against his flesh.
“We’re not your dumb anime porn duo,” he sasses, bucking his hips up.
“Mubona Ikari isn’t porn, fucker.” I let go of his wrists to kiss along his chest to his navel. My tongue dips into the hole, earning a gasp from him. “It’s art.”
“I beg to differ.”
“I’ll have you begging to come instead.”
His fingers fly to my hair, and he tugs at the strands. “Canyon, I’m scared.”
“Of coming?”
“No, asshole,” he grumbles. “The future. Not knowing. Because if Colin—”
“The future is certain,” I interrupt, hooking my fingers into the waistband of his briefs. “It’s certain. I’ll make sure you have one. Here. With me. And if we get run off by our dads, then it’ll be out there.” I rid him of his underwear and point toward the big window. “Still with me, Wonderland. Got any other arguments? I can go all night.”