Mated To My Obsessive Stepbrother

Something flickered across his face... The softness he rarely showed The part of him he usually kept buried so deep no one could touch it. No one except me.

"There's no line anymore, Kasmine," he said, stepping closer. His voice dipped, becoming low and rough. Whatever line there was... I crossed it a long time ago. He took another step, but I didn't move And now, I'm dragging you across it with me."

His hand lifted slowly, almost like he was giving me time to pull away, before he brushed my cheek.

It was such a gentle touch it almost hurt.

The kind of touch that was supposed to feel safe but didn't.

"Kester. You need help. You..." I swallowed hard, bile rising in my throat. "You killed your therapist. The one person who could have helped you. You killed her."

The words broke something loose inside me, and I had to bite down on a sob, but it still trembled in my throat.

"You scare me," I whispered, barely able to say it. "You".

"No, baby," Kester cut in. His hands hovered over my cheek, "I just... just lost it. I killed her because..." His jaw flexed, and for a 'moment, he looked almost childishly lost. "Because she asked me to stay away from you."

He let out a broken, bitter laugh, and I flinched.

"She had no right to tell me that, baby. No right, he said, his voice turning into a whisper. "Because I can't stay away from you. I won't stay away from you."

My heart stuttered in fear.

I truly understood now the lengths he would go to just to keep me.

There were no lines. No limits. No mercy.

I didn't feel any safer. If anything, I felt even more terrified of him. I felt trapped. Like a moth trembling in a glass jar, too dizzy to

even try flying anymore.

"God... Kester..." I breathed, my voice breaking around the taste of his name, but he didn't let me finish.

"I can't lose you," he said so softly it made my stomach twist. He stepped closer, and before I could recoil, he pressed his forehead lightly against mine, his skin fever-warm. "I won't. You can hate me, you can run from me, you can scream at me.......” The brush of his fingers on my arm was feather-light, reverent, and deadly. "I'll still be here. You're it for me, Kasmine. You're the only thing that ever made any sense since after my mother."

His words trembled with something heavier than I could bear.

The mention of his mother - the black hole at the center of his ruined soul made everything shudder into place inside me... If Kester sees me as his mother's replacement, then I have a bigger problem to handle than I thought.

I squeezed my eyes shut, a tear slipping down my cheek.

Kester pulled back just enough to look at me, his thumb brushing the tear away almost before it could fall,

"After my mother," he said, so quietly it barely made it past his lips, everything went cold and empty. I tried to pretend it didn't

matter, that I didn't need anyone. That I was better off alone. But then you came along..."

He gave a broken sort of laugh

the

the kind that wasn't happy at all and shook his head like he still couldn't believe it.

"You loved me when you shouldn't have. You took care of me when didn't even know how to take care of myself. You stayed by my side and defended me... when everyone else thought I was too much too angry, too messed up to save."

He closed his eyes for a second, breathing hard, fighting whatever storm was ripping through him.

"This

he gestured around us, at the walls plastered with my face,

this is your fault."

My heart cracked deeper.

"You gave me warmth again, Kasmine," he whispered. "You made me feel like maybe I wasn't broken beyond repair. You loved me back to life. And now... this-"

he pressed his hand to his chest, right over his heart, "-this madness, this obsession, this love... it's just the result of what you gave me. Of what you are to me."

Chapter Comments

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POST COMMENTnoveldrama

just when I cannot stand gim anymore you turn around and do that. it is a good start but not enough. il hope we see more of this side of him being gentle and vulnerablea...

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