Page 44 of Merciless

My grip on the steering wheel tightens, and I shift my focus to the empty road ahead of us. I turn a sharp corner, and Eden braces herself on my thigh.

Usually, it’s the speed and the thrill of racing that gets me hard, but now I’m hard for an entirely different reason.

Why the hell is she doing this to me?

She’s forbidden. Eden Astar is my stepsister, which means she’s off-limits.

It didn’t stop you the last time you made her come on your tongue, a tiny voice whispers in the back of my mind.

The forbidden fruit is always bitter on the tongue at first, but the more you consume it, the sweeter it gets. And I want to consume Eden, whichever way I can get her.

I suck hard on the candy and follow the bend of the road that pushes Eden into me. Elijah races beside me, swerving into my space to intimidate me every so often. I know his secrets. I know how he plays. He can’t use these tactics against me and win.

I drift into another corner and press the gas pedal. We’re thrust forward as we fly past the arcade. I hit the brakes and spin the wheel to drift around, right as Elijah pulls up and stops beside me.

Elijah rolls the window down as I inch past him, the same speculative look on his face.

It wasn’t just in my head earlier. This practice run with Eden was a test.

A test for me.

CHAPTER 17

ELIJAH

NIGHT 3 OF THE BET

I drum my fingers on the armrest of the leather sofa in the dorm I share with Asher. He’s been in the shower for well over twenty minutes, doing God knows what.

The events from earlier play on repeat in my head.

Asher’s slight hesitation when Eden showed up raised an alarm. Then how his eyes tracked her the whole time. He never gives a shit about my friends, and I don’t mind that, but his sudden interest in our stepsister is another alarming behavior. It wasn’t as if he was gathering information, after all.

He watched her, his gaze dark and curious.

What about her is causing him to lose sight of the plan?

His reaction to me making a bet with Derrick is starting to make sense. It’s all becoming clear. I didn’t realize his feelings for Eden.

It all clicked into place tonight.

Asher is attracted to our dear stepsister, and he refuses to admit it. Now I’m torn between strangling him for wanting to stick his dick in her and using this new information to win the bet.

Why her, of all people?

Is it the forbidden aspect—which also intrigues me?

Is it rebellion against me or our father?

I’m not above admitting that sleeping with Eden is an act of subversion. Our father loves and cherishes his stepdaughter, and I love the thought of destroying her until not even he can love her anymore. He’ll have to live with the image of his perfect little girl’s face covered in my cum.

Just the mental image makes my dick twitch.

The shower shuts off in the bathroom. I blink and drop my head backward onto the plush cushion to look into the hallway.

The door opens, and Asher steps out with a towel wrapped low around his waist. The knot in the front barely holds it together. He stalks across the hall to his room, then stops, his shoulders tense and back straightening.

My lips curve into a smile.