Chapter 2 Pinned By The Pool

Aurelia

Chase leaned down, his six-foot-five frame eclipsing everything behind him. His shoulders blocked the light, turning the air between us heavy and close.

My mouth went dry. When I licked my lips, his gaze followed the movement with unsettling precision.

I tried to step back., but I was too slow.

His hand closed around my throat, not tight enough to crush, but firm enough to warn. He drove me backward until my spine met the wall, the impact knocking the breath from my lungs.

"What are you doing on my property, Little Lamb?" he growled.

I met his stare instead of answering. My pulse thundered in my ears, but I refused to look away.

His fingers tightened around my throat, a calculated pressure meant to intimidate me.

I forced air into my lungs. "Let. Go."

His thigh shifted forward, caging me in, cutting off any easy escape.

The heat radiating from him was oppressive, a reminder of how easily he could overpower me, but my traitorous body leaned into his warmth, craving more.

"Careful," he said quietly, his voice rough. "Defiance is a dangerous habit."

Fear clawed at my chest, but I held my ground. If I gave him panic, he'd feed on it. If I gave him silence, he'd have to decide what to do next.

"We moved in, now let me go." I said, ignoring the way my heart was pounding wildly in my chest.

For a split second, shock cracked through his expression. His fingers loosened, just slightly.

"What the fuck?" he muttered, his grey eyes darkening as they narrowed. "Your mother tricked my father into proposing to her, didn't she?" He asked in a deep, feral baritone that sent shivers dancing on my skin.

I couldn't answer, his body was so close to mine that even breathing felt reckless. The slightest movement would cause my chest to brush his arm.

And I wasn't wearing a bra. My breasts were bare beneath the thin fabric of my dress, and I was acutely, humiliatingly aware of it.

"What's going on there, Chase?" a female voice cut in from behind him.

He released me immediately, stepping back as if I'd burned him. Space rushed in between us.

A girl about my age approached, water glistening on her skin, her long legs slick from the pool. So they'd been swimming together. Of course they had.

"Oh, nothing," Chase said easily, his mouth twisting into a sneer. "I was just helping my new stepsister find the garden house."

His eyes flicked to mine, sharp and knowing, a warning wrapped in mockery.

The girl lifted a brow but didn't comment.

"Alright then," she said lightly. "You promised you'd take me out on your new bike. I'm ready now, babe."

Before Chase turned away, he caught my arm, his fingers biting just enough to remind me he could do worse. He leaned down, his mouth close to my ear.

"Stay out of my way, Little Lamb," he murmured. "Or I'll be the big bad wolf who eats you."

His lips brushed the shell of my ear.

And to my horror, my fear fractured and twisted into something dangerously close to anticipation.

He let me go and walked away with her.

She didn't follow immediately. Instead, she lingered, studying me with open suspicion.

"He doesn't like you," she said bluntly. "So get that into your head and avoid him."

Her mouth twisted as she continued, each word edged with contempt.

"You might be his stepsister now, but to him? You're just the daughter of a money-hungry whore." She clicked her tongue before walking away to join Chase.

With unsteady legs, I made my way back to my mother. She was standing beside the man who would soon be my stepfather, Darlington Hunter.

He was an older, softened version of Chase. Same bone structure, same presence, but dulled by age and excess, his stomach straining slightly against his tailored shirt.

I wondered, not for the first time, what my mother saw in him. He had looks, yes. Money, definitely. But whatever else there was felt hollow.

"Aurelia," she said brightly when she noticed me, her hand sliding possessively over his chest, "say hello to your daddy."

The word made my stomach churn.

"He's not my daddy," I hissed.

Darlington chuckled, unbothered, as if I hadn't just stripped the word of any warmth it pretended to carry. He extended his hand toward me.

I ignored it.

My mother's stare drilled into my forehead, sharp and furious, but I didn't look away. Darlington simply let his hand fall.

"Nice to meet you, Aurelia," he said pleasantly. "Your mother has told me beautiful things about you."

When he smiled, two gold teeth flashed under the light.

I folded my arms. "Oh? I wish I could say the same."

My mother's eyes narrowed.

"She's just having one of her nonsense mood swings," she said quickly, laughing it off. "You know how girls are."

Darlington's phone rang before I could respond. He kissed my mother on the lips, then excused himself.

He hadn't taken more than five steps when my mother's arm swung.

I saw it coming. I didn't flinch when her palm connected with my cheek.

"I warned you, Aurelia," she snapped. "But you never listen. Stubborn. Just like your father."

"He'd be heartbroken," I said quietly, my face burning. "Watching you sell yourself to rich men."

Her hand clamped around my arm, twisting hard enough to make pain bloom.

"Don't forget," she said through clenched teeth, "I have all your papers. Misbehave, and I'll throw you out."

She released me and walked away as if nothing had happened.

I held the tears until she disappeared into the Hunters' gigantic mansion.

The roar of an engine shattered the moment.

I turned just in time to see Chase astride his bike, revving the engine. The machine gleamed beneath him, expensive, powerful, untouchable. Just like him.

Before he pulled the helmet on, our eyes locked.

His grey gaze hardened instantly, turning cold and unyielding. He lifted two fingers and dragged them slowly across his throat in a silent, mocking warning.

Beside him, his girlfriend hopped on the bike, her mouth set in a permanent scowl.

I watched as Chase sped off, his leather jacket snapping in the wind as he disappeared down the road.

I was in his world now.

And whether I wanted it or not, I would have to survive it.

I busied myself with unpacking until late into the night. I was halfway through my shower when the water abruptly died.

Then the lights went out.

A crack of thunder split the air, followed by lightning so close it rattled the walls. I flinched, pressing a hand to my chest as my heartbeat skidded out of rhythm.

There was a storm?

I stood there for several minutes, shivering beneath the dead spray, waiting for the lights to flicker back on. They didn't.

The cold crept in slowly, insistently, until my teeth began to chatter.

Blinded by darkness, I reached for my towel and wrapped it tightly around myself.

Careful not to slip, I stepped out of the shower and into my new bedroom.

The tiles were slick beneath my feet, unfamiliar and unwelcoming.

Maybe my mother would know what had happened, whether this was just another inconvenience or something worse.

The hallway beyond my door was swallowed in black.

I stretched my hands out in front of me, my fingers brushing along the wall as I edged forward.

I couldn't even see my own hands. Every sound felt amplified, the distant rumble of thunder, the soft pad of my footsteps, the uneven rhythm of my breathing.

The sound of boots pounding the floor caused me to stop abruptly. Someone was coming, but I didn't know if the person was approaching behind me or ahead.

Shit. I was naked underneath this towel, and it was too dark to see who it was. I had to turn around.

The footsteps grew louder, closer. I couldn't just stand there like a scared little chicken, so I walked faster, heading back to my room.

Thunder cracked so hard and loud that it rattled the windows, a violent boom that seemed to shake the entire mansion.

I flinched, my heart slamming against my ribs, and in that split second of distraction, my bare foot slipped on the slick marble floor.

I stumbled forward, my arms flailing for balance that wasn't there.

Strong hands caught me, too late to stop the fall, but enough to twist us mid-air.

We crashed together onto the cold hallway floor, my back hitting the marble with a jolt that knocked the breath from my lungs.

My stupid towel unraveled in the chaos, slipping from my wet skin like a traitor.

For one endless heartbeat, everything was pure darkness.

Then the lights snapped back on, harsh and unforgiving, flooding the corridor in blinding white.

Chase Hunter was sprawled over me, his heavy body pinning mine to the floor, one muscular thigh wedged firmly between my legs.