Stepbrother Secrets by Lauren Branford

Forbidden Fruit
     
                  Sebastian’s body was perfectly golden as he laid by the pool on a hot August afternoon. Six feet tall with auburn hair and the greenest eyes this girl had ever seen, Sebastian was more than a hunk; he was a dream. I hadn’t seen him lifting weights or even exercising since the day I arrived at the estate in June, days after my eighteenth birthday. However, he had one of the finest forms that I had seen on a man. Chiseled abdominals lined in a perfect set underneath his full, smooth pectorals. Sebastian was nearly ten years older than me and I found him all of the man that I ever wanted.
                  “Audrey, is it?” Sebastian asked when we were first introduced. “What a classic and beautiful name.”
                  I blushed and twisted my leg in the same way an impish girl might do at the sight of a beautiful man. That is, however, how he made me feel: small and curious.
    I sat near the top of the hill, between the trees and watched him sunbathe each afternoon. Sebastian always made sure to lay in such a way that none of his limbs were touching. I assumed that that was for one of two reasons: either he wanted sun to flow evenly between the gaps of his arms and torso or he knew how delicious he looked in that position. Whichever the reason, he had my attention.
    No matter how delectable I found Sebastian, he was forbidden fruit. My father and his mother married just over a week ago in a vapid ceremony. The party was on my father’s country estate and littered the elderly who’s-who of the city. They bored me with their endless drivel over how badly they needed to acquire property in the “lovely countryside”.
    The silent theme of the night appeared to be about who had the most diamonds. They sparkled off of every beautiful hand and neck that graced the soirée. However, my eyes were looking at something that I found even shinier.
    Forever near the bar in a black tuxedo with his hair perfectly parted, was my new stepbrother. Girls flocked from every corner to pay him with their attention. I, on the other hand, knew to keep my distance. It didn’t matter that Sebastian’s pearly white teeth seemed to gleam at me every time our eyes met from across the room; the wedding had sealed our fate that night. We were siblings now and no matter how fond of him I was of him, my Eve had to stay far away from his apple.
                  The wedding took place the summer after I graduated from boarding school. My father rewarded my certificate with one hundred thousand dollars to use to travel the world over the next year. The only stipulation was that I had to stay with him for three months and attend his wedding.
    My father’s ultimate goal was to get me to be close to my new stepmother, Lydia. By the time of the wedding, my opinion of her hadn’t fully developed. Upon our first meeting, when the two of them picked me up from the airport, Lydia seemed to keep her distance. Then again, so did I. It is my belief that both of us were afraid that the other could hold more power over my father.
    However, after seeing that Lydia was merely a peppy three hundred dollar dye-job brunette with a curvy body, I wasn’t afraid. She also seemed to enjoy that I was a classic, average built brunette. Something about my appearance must have eased her wariness because before we sat in the car, she gave me a full bosom hug.
    Though we hadn’t spent any one-on-one time together since my visit began two months ago, I did find a reason to be suddenly glad that Lydia was in my life. As soon as we arrived back from the long trip to the airport, I met Sebastian. He was walking in the mansion from a night swim with only a towel wrapped around his waist. My eyes fixated upon the twin lines that curved at the top of his hipbone, leading down to wonders that I could only let myself imagine. After discovering that Sebastian would soon by my father’s son, I was