Desired By My Alpha Stepfather

I want you

  Vince's POV
  
  She was gone.
  
  Just like that.
  
  One second she was there, her eyes wide and stormy, and the next she was disappearing into the forest floors like a startled deer.
  
  Frustration was a familiar feeling I had to deal with whenever it came to Nina. It was one thing to fight the pull of the mate bond, the urge that screamed at me to claim her as mine. It was another entirely to do so when she lived under the same roof, her scent a constantly reminding me of what I couldn't have.
  
  Hell, I'd been trying my best to ignore the way my heart hammered in my chest whenever she was near, the way my gaze lingered on the curve of her hips, the fire in her eyes. But the girl was a walking inferno, a wildfire waiting to be ignited. And the worst part? I was the damn match.
  
  Watching her run, a strange image flashed in my mind: me, pinning her to the soft earth beneath the trees, the trees our only witness. My wolf howled, desperate for the release I knew wouldn't come. Not yet. Not when she was so clearly conflicted. Not when I was married to her biological mother!
  
  But oh, how I wanted to. To hold her close, to feel her warmth against mine, to take her right there and then.
  
  The twigs squelched under my feet as I crept through the woods. My breath hitched, the image of Nina flashing in my mind.
  
  "Take her," the voice snarled within me. "She's young, ripe for the taking. Claim her. Now."
  
  I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the voice to go away. My wolf, that restless beast forever caged within my ribs, was straining against its bonds, its eyes burning with a predatory hunger.
  
  "Easy there, you savage," I hissed, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. "Nina is my wife's daughter. Taking her would be..." I swallowed the rest, the sheer wrongness of the thought making my skin crawl.
  
  The wolf scoffed, a sound like wind whistling through a hollow log. "Wife? Alpha? Mere titles! You are the strongest, the most powerful. No one can question your desires."
  
  "Except maybe basic human decency and a healthy dose of self-preservation," I retorted. "Think about  the emotional fallout... it wouldn't be pretty. Not to mention the fact that I..." I swallowed. "I love her mother."
  
  The wolf paused, its urges clouded by a flicker of something... almost hesitant. "Fine," it finally conceded, reason grudgingly entering its voice. "But if this civilized approach fails, we unleash the beast."
  
  "Deal," I muttered, the tension slowly draining from my muscles. "But for now, shut the hell up before we give Nina nightmares before we even get to the 'good part.'"
  
  This wasn't just about mere desires; I had to tame the beast within me. And for now, at least, the man had managed to maintain control. But the wolf, I knew, wouldn't be easily silenced. This wasn't over, not by a long shot.
  
  But damn, this Nina thing... it was getting hard to beat. It was already straining the seams of my marriage, pushing Sarah further and further away.
  
  Only last night, I'd been unable to... unable to.... perform. The images pieced into motion in my mind.
  
  The bed. Creaking. Sarah. Me.
  
  Her skin was warm under my touch, her scent of lavender seeping through my nostrils. We were moving in a similar rhythm. But with every thrust, every gasp of her breath, the image of Nina, her face serene in sleep, flashed behind my eyelids.
  
  My body froze, hovering above her.
  
  What the hell was I doing? This woman, Nina's mother, was beneath me, her eyes fluttering closed in expectation. This woman, was my wife. I had to remind myself.
  
  I wasn't having problems with my... goddess no!
  
  This wasn't physical, and it most certainly had nothing to do with my member. This was something much more... deeper.
  
  But the wolf wouldn't be silenced. It chipped at the edges of my control, reminding me of the truth – Nina was my mate.
  
  True, I had a mate. But that shouldn't affect my ability to lay with other women. I actually had to put in much more effort towards desiring Sarah. My arousal wasn't as strong, and when it was, I willed her to be Nina. Nina, her daughter. This was the height of absurdity.
  
  As Sarah's touch roamed my naked back, I tried to lose myself in the moment, to feel that connection, but I couldn't possibly bring myself to feel something, not if it wasn't for...her.
  
  Her hands moved over me, urging me on, but I just couldn't feel a thing.
  
  My hand hovered over her mounds, kneading her breasts, hoping to ignite something within me, something that would keep me going, but all I got was a response from her, and none from my own self, saying,
  
  "Oh, Vince," Sarah whispered breathlessly. "Don't hold back, let go."
  
  I tried to reciprocate the passion she displayed, burying the nagging feeling that something was missing. "You feel amazing, Sarah," I murmured.
  
  Her lips trailed down my neck, igniting sparks of pleasure, but my mind was elsewhere, consumed by thoughts of another. "Vince..." Sarah's voice trailed off into a moan, and she tightened her grip on me.
  
  I forced myself to focus, to push aside the guilt that threatened to consume me. "Sarah," I whispered, my voice strained. "I want you."
  
  Her response was immediate, her hands guiding mine, urging me to caress her.
  
  "Nina," the name threatened to escape my lips.
  
  A growl ripped through me, not mine, but the wolf within. It wasn't a growl of pleasure, but a yearning, a desperate call that sent shivers down my spine. "Nina," it echoed in my mind, a name I almost choked on.
  
  With a strangled breath, I pulled back as if repelled by a magnet. Her eyes snapped open. From the look in her eyes, I could tell she was confused, disappointed. I couldn't bear to see that look. It made my gut twist with guilt.
  
  Sarah froze for a moment, her eyes searching mine for any sign of hesitation. "Vince," she breathed, her voice wavering slightly. "Are you okay?"
  
  I forced a smile, masking the turmoil raging within me. "I'm fine, Sarah," I reassured her, my voice strained. "Just caught up in the moment."
  
  "I... I need some air," I stammered, the words scraping against my raw throat.
  
  This couldn't go on. The lie was growing wider by the day, threatening to swallow me whole.
  
  The guilt ate at my soul like a hungry beast. I couldn't stay there a second longer.
  
  I stumbled out onto the balcony, the cool night air a slap against my burning skin.
  
  Sarah wasn't having it. Her footsteps followed mine. Her confusion was accompanied with a fair dose of anger as she rushed out, her bare breasts covered by her hands.
  
  "What just happened? What's wrong?" she demanded.
  
  "I have to... work," I choked out, the lie heavy on my tongue.
  
  "Work? At this hour? Right now? In the middle of sex?" she scoffed.
  
  "Get some clothes on," I mumbled, the words barely audible.
  
  "Why does it matter?" she snapped, her eyes narrowed.
  
  "It's distracting," I gritted out, the wolf within clawing at the edges of my control. "I need to think."
  
  "Vince," she said, her voice dangerously calm, "whatever work you have, Tom can do it. Surely it can wait."
  
  Her words were a punch to the gut. "Seconds ago you were telling me how badly you wanted me," she continued, her voice trembling with hurt, "and now you pull out claiming you have something to do? On what planet does this make any sense?"
  
  "I do have work to do," I insisted, the lie burning my throat.
  
  "Oh, yeah?" she said. "If you have a problem with your... thing," she said, gesturing vaguely downwards, "I could help get it up again. It's nothing to be ashamed of."
  
  I stumbled backwards, my eyes widening.
  
  "What? No! " I spat. My denial was a desperate attempt to salvage the last shreds of my dignity. "I do not have a problem with it. I'm perfectly capable of fucking a woman."
  
  Her eyes narrowed further, the hurt morphing into icy anger. "Then what's the problem, Vince?" she challenged, her voice a low growl. "Because right now, you're the one who seems to have a malfunction."
  
  "It's not that," I mumbled, defeated.
  
  "Then what is it?" she pressed, her voice tight.
  
  My throat felt constricted.
  
  "Sarah," I finally started, searching for words that wouldn't sound like hollow apologies.
  
  "Don't," she cut me off, her voice surprisingly strong. "Don't try to explain. It's okay if you're not in the mood. Maybe another time."
  
  She turned to leave. The image was branded into my memory.
  
  "Wait," I blurted out, the words tumbling over each other. "It's not... it's not you."
  
  She paused. "Then what is it, Vince?"
  
  "It's... complicated," I stammered.
  
  "Try me," she said, her voice softer now.
  
  But the words wouldn't come.
  
  How could I explain the pull, the way Nina's name echoed in my mind even while making love to Sarah? How could I confess the guilt that was slowly consuming me?
  
  "I- I-" The cry of my phone shattered the silence.
  
  Trust Tom to come through whenever I mind-linked him.
  
  "I have to take this." I said, brushing past her shoulder, exiting the room.
  
  
  ****
  
  My feet pounded the ground. Each inhale was a desperate attempt to suck in enough air to quiet the storm inside me. Last night. Sarah. The way she had looked at me, the disappointment in her eyes when... nothing happened.
  
  Goddess, what was I supposed to say? Was I supposed to concede to a lie that wasn't true, that yes, I couldn't get it up? That would be me shredding my dignity on the bathroom floor. What else was I supposed to say? Or the truth, that I ached to moan your daughter's name while I was on top of you? It was absurd.
  
  The absurdity of it all threatened to send me into a fit of laughter. How could I even think of her in that way?
  
  The thought of Sarah's reaction was a punch to the gut. We hadn't been the most romantic couple lately, life with Kai always throwing a tantrum had a way of sucking the passion out of everything. But that wasn't an excuse.
  
  Maybe it was stress. Work had been a nightmare lately. Or maybe it was the lack of sleep, the constant nighttime wakings thanks to my Wolf's active imagination about Nina.
  
  But none of those excuses felt quite right. There was something else, something insidious. The memory of Sarah's touch. It wasn't desire that I felt, but a strange rejection.
  
  The path ahead forked, and I took the right one without thinking. It led deeper into the woods, away from the prying eyes of the neighborhood. Under the canopy of trees, I could finally breathe.
  
  Or at least, try to. My breaths came in ragged gasps.
  
  I needed to get rid of these sick thoughts about Nina. Or rid myself of Nina. More like rid Nina of myself, but both worked.
  
  Boarding school. The thought, ridiculous as it was, held a certain allure. Shipping Nina off like unwanted baggage just because I couldn't control the urge to pin her against the nearest wall and ravish her senseless? Talk about an overreaction.
  
  Except it wasn't. Not entirely. The image, the mere thought of Nina, with her coltish legs and that mop of hair on my bed, was a persistent, unwelcome guest in my mind. It was a time bomb strapped to my loins, ticking away with each passing second she spent within my vicinity.
  
  Boarding school. A drastic measure, yes, but a strangely appealing one. I could use a Nina-free zone. A world where I could walk around without the constant, desire to... well, things best left unsaid. A world where I wouldn't have to picture her sprawled across the bed.
  
  The absurdity of it all was almost comical. To think of it, I was a grown man, fantasizing about exiling my stepdaughter because I can't seem to control my own hormones. It was enough to make me want to laugh, if the humor wasn't so deeply accompanied with shame.
  
  But the truth was, the thought of being apart from Nina was unbearable. The way she'd skip into the room, with a frown on her face, mostly. It was a delicious, soul-crushing torture that left me both yearning and repulsed.
  
  So, boarding school was out. Clearly. But the alternative – acting on these unthinkable urges – was even more unthinkable. Guess I was stuck in this purgatory of inappropriate desire, forced to endure the options between sanity and... well, the urge to fuck my stepdaughter senselessly.
  
  Here's hoping that time bomb in my loins defused itself before I did something truly, irrevocably stupid. Because the thought of being that far from Nina, even for a moment, was a far worse fate than facing the consequences of my own sick desires.
  
  The problem was, the closer Nina got, the more the consequences loomed. The way her sundress clung to her growing curves. It was a constant physical ache, a throb in my groin that intensified with every casual brush of her hand against mine.
  
  Sometimes, the only way to quell the fire was to be harsh. To snap at her over seemingly trivial things, to send her scurrying away with hurt in her eyes. The guilt that followed was bitter, but it was a necessary one. It was the only way to maintain the fragile barrier between a father and a... whatever this sick desire was turning me into.
  
  
  ****
  
  My lungs burned. The run had done little to quell the fire raging in my loins. It was official, the image of Nina was seared into my mind.
  
  As I entered the house, the familiar scent of Nina's Rose shampoo hit my sense. My feet moved on autopilot, drawn towards her room like a moth to a flame.
  
  I closed my eyes, my hand hovering over the doorknob.
  
  The urge to barge in, to finally give in to the need clawing at me, was almost overwhelming. But a sliver of sanity held me back. I couldn't, wouldn't violate whatever boundary we had.
  
  With a silent prayer to the goddess, I pushed the door open a crack.
  
  The prayer seemed to have watered down, because the sight that greeted me was a punch to the gut.
  
  Nina was graced with the soft glow of the bedside lamp, sprawled across the bed, her legs slightly apart, her hands right between her legs, her lips slightly apart, completely naked. It was a no-brainer. Her form was literally outlined against the white sheets.
  
  My breath hitched. Blood rushed to my groin, tightening it, a throbbing pulsed iny loins. My mind was no longer a bastion of logic. It was now a chaotic with devilish desires.
  
  Who could have thought? Nina, mostly sweetness and innocence, was touching herself. Her hand moved slowly, tracing the curve of her hip, the other buried between her legs, sending shivers down my spine. Was she thinking of me? Did she imagine my touch on her skin, the heat of my breath against her neck?
  
  The image was both captivating and horrifying. The urge to rush over there, to pin her against the wall and drive myself inside her, to make her moan my name until she came undone, threatening to engulf me.
  
  My body screamed for release, but my soul recoiled at the thought of sullying her innocence. Except she wasn't being the exact replica of innocence, at the moment.
  
  I took in this branded sight, once more; Her legs were spread apart, her breathing shallow and rapid.
  
  But it was the sound that truly shattered me. A soft moan escaped her lips, her voice barely audible at first, then growing louder, more...needy. And then, the words that exploded within me: "Vince."
  
  Her hand moved slowly, sensually, caressing the soft mounds of her chest.
  
  "Vince," she whispered again. I could hear the desperation in her voice. "Take me." Her breathing was shallow. "I want you."
  
  Those words were a wildfire.
  
  Every fiber of my being screamed to rush to her, to claim her, to lose myself inside her.
  
  My self-control had never failed me this much.