It is aggravating, all the complex feelings she evokes in me. Our relationship wasn't the typical mother-daughter bond. Because she wasn't the typical mother by any means.

Kathryn Dimitri was a socialite through and through. She was glamorous and loud and enjoyed going to dinner parties, soirees, any excuse to have fun and drink champagne, flirting with the throng of men who were always sniffing around her.

It always stung when people noted how different we looked. They always looked at her elegant auburn bold beauty and my muted blonde prettiness and concluded I paled in comparison, just like my skin.

Mother always threw her head back with a delightful laugh when those men paid her compliments at my expense.

That was one of the reasons why I hated spending time at home. With her. She always made me feel like an unwanted attachment to her person. An attachment that never quite measured up.

Sometimes, I think to myself that my attraction to Linc was a rebellion. It was a cowardly one because I never acted on any of my fantasies, but it was a rebellion nonetheless, and it felt good.

When just three months into college, enjoying my freedom from her and that suffocating mansion where I had to hide my blushing face whenever Linc was in the room, I got the call that she had died in a car accident all the way in Paris on her way to another of her glamorous parties, I felt a wave of grief so huge, so encompassing and utterly confusing that my world paused.

I went through the funeral in a muted daze. I faintly remember Linc holding me as I finally broke down and cried on the third night when I wanted to return to college. Wanted to escape.

The reassuring way he held me. Tenderly. Like I was too fragile and could break apart against his huge body. I got on the plane and arrived back in college, and I could still smell his scent on me. I didn't wash the dress I wore for weeks.

"She wanted you to intern at my firm. She wanted me to keep an eye on you. To take care of you and safeguard your future. You like to act tough, but you really have no one else in this world, and that makes me feel empathetic towards you. You can view me as this big bad monster stepfather and I don't care, but I do care about you, and I wouldn't sit back and watch you struggle when I could do something about it. Amelia, please. It would be for just three months. Come to New York. Come home," Linc says, the genuine sincerity in his voice bites at me.

I blink back, furious tears, feeling the anger dissipating into that warm feeling I hate feeling towards him because it felt wrong.

"Ames..." He says gently when I don't reply. I am too busy pushing back the lump in my throat.

He knows he has touched a nerve because he is right. I am truly alone in this world. All of my mother's connections and circle of friends and even families, nobody gave a damn about me after the funeral.

My late dad has family in Portugal, but we were not really close before he died. With my mom gone too, I was left alone, and it didn't hit as hard because before she died, I always felt alone, shuffling from boarding school to college, we never bonded in any special way. I was always alone in my little world.

But in moments like this, when someone like Linc who knew me, knew my mother and I, reminds me how utterly alone I am, it breaks my heart.

"Okay. I will come back to New York." My heart flutters at my resignation because I know there is nothing I could possibly do about it. I accept it.

I guess I have to go back to fighting my forbidden attraction to my stepfather. For just three months. I can survive that long without doing anything I might regret. I hope.

♠︎♠︎♠︎♠︎

Linc Tanner's POV:

The golden blonde full-grown woman seated in front of me is not the soft-spoken, shy eighteen-year-old Amelia I remember. I am taken aback by how much she has grown, that eyes that could make a grown man weak, that full mouth that I eager to taste, but I manage to keep my face expressionless.

She is stunning. When she walked in a minute ago, I couldn't take my eyes off her, my greedy eyes taking in every detail of her womanly curves. It made me tingle for all the wrong reasons.

She is currently glaring at me from her position on the chair in front of my desk.

I tell myself I have kept an eye on her over the years because of a sort of loyalty to Kathryn, but in reality, I just couldn't bear not knowing how Amelia was doing, couldn't bear thinking about her being in the arms of another man, moaning and crying out his name instead of mine.

She is a brave, strong girl, but I couldn't just let her go. My body couldn't let her go. She made my heart ache, my cock ache. I'm most definitely proud of her just thinking of her out there, all on her own. She reminds me of myself at the same age, hustling against all odds to make a name for myself.

"Why did you come here directly?" I ask, breaking the ice between us. It has been three years, and we didn't even exchange a smile. She is on guard towards me, and I am walking on eggshells, trying not to upset her.

"I figured we should get to it immediately," Amelia says. The softness of her voice is gone, replaced by a sharp edge that is confident and so womanly. I shake my head to ward off any more misleading thoughts.

"Oh c'mon, Amelia. I asked that they chauffeur you to the house." I thought she would appreciate the rest. But here she is, glaring at me.

"Do you stay alone?" She asks, catching me off guard.

"Yes," I say, cautiously. Her boldness and the way she is holding my eyes are making me feel uneasy. I don't remember her being this confident.

I used to find her extreme shyness amusing then. Interesting.

Now I find her confidence highly attractive. Erotic. It makes my cock throb furiously.

Fuck! Linc. Goddammit! Control yourself.

We have some history between us from that one summer three years ago before she ran away to college. But I am proud of myself for keeping things in control when she was just an eighteen-year-old rebellious teen.

Now that she is all grown, I can't promise that I would be able to control myself much. This woman sitting across from me could bring any man to his knees, and I don't fucking care falling on my knees in front of her as her legs open up for me, taking in the scent of her arousal, tasting and licking her. Merely looking at her, I know she tastes like pure sugar.

I shifted in my seat, my throbbing cock pressed tightly against my short as I stare at her, all the wild things I want to do buzzing around my head like swarms of flies.

If only she's able to see how long I have wanted her in the house, how badly I want to taste her, eat her whole, tear her crafted world apart with my cock.

"Then I am not staying in that house. You have to get a place for me," she says, not adding the unspoken part. That she doesn't want to stay alone with me.

"It is a big house, Amelia." I tried to clear my voice, It is a mansion, but I understand if she doesn't want to stay with me. I guess that could be weird. Without Kathryn in the midst, what would we do with each other? I don't want to dwell on that train of thought.

"I don't care." She folds her arms over her chest, and my eyes get drawn to her full breasts. I want to peel my eyes away, but I am powerless against her quietly confident feminine aura.

She is wearing a pale blue sundress with a black sweater over it, but the pale blue of the dress makes her eyes stand out so clearly, she radiates like a beam of sunlight sitting across from me.

She used to be pale, but her complexion has matured with a golden tint that teases down her long graceful neck into her cleavage.

I yank my eyes up to meet hers; thankfully, she is looking out the window. I note the multiple piercings in her ears, and a chuckle escapes me as I imagine the fit that Kathryn would have thrown if she could see her.

"What is so funny?" she snaps, turning to fix me with her startling blue eyes.

"Nothing. I will have someone look for a place for you that is close to the firm. Fine?"

"Yes. Thank you."

I don't mention that she would stay in the house with me until we find a place. It is unnecessary; she knows.

"Come, let me show you around," I say, getting up, eager to move around before finding myself distracted, watching her like a aroused freak.

I walk to her side to take her hand; she ignores me and tries to get up on her own. She takes a step forward, and it all happens too fast. She trips on her feet in front of me, falling backward with her eyes wide in terror.

I shoot forward, grabbing her by her slim waist instead of her outstretched hand. I pull her forward until she is stable on her feet; our bodies collide, and I hear the soft gasp leave her full lips. A headiness clouds my thoughts.

Her soft full breasts are crushed against my chest, and I hope she can't feel the chaotic beating of my heart as I breathe her in this close.

Her body is intoxicatingly soft pressed against me like this. My primal reaction startles me as all the blood rushes southward. Our faces are inches from each other; her large doe-like eyes blink up at me, and her rosy lips are slightly open. It takes all of my self-control to not just crash my mouth to hers and taste them.

God knows how badly I have always wanted that. Wanted it wrapped around my furiously throbbinh cock the more.

"Why do you not want to stay at the house with me?" I ask, ripping my eyes away from her tempting lips to look into her eyes. They hold mine with a mixture of fear, anticipation, and defiance. The combination makes my blood rush faster.

"You know why," Amelia breathes, so close, so overwhelmingly stunning.

Soft and dangerous. Grown and lethal. She overshadows my common sense, even at just eighteen. I only managed to stay away because of Kathryn, her mother. But now, three hard years later, she is in my arms, and there are no hindrances.

I hold onto her waist tightly; she doesn't resist my touch, but she is not exactly leaning into me. She is frozen in place, and I get the feeling that if I let go, she would run. I can't lose her again.

Damning all consequences, I lean in; my vision narrows in on the most perfect pair of lips I have ever seen, the whole world quietens with a hush.

♠︎♠︎♠︎♠︎

Amelia's POV:

"Mr. Tanner, I have the reports..." A cheery voice interrupts the moment just as I feel the ghost of Linc's smooth lips descend on mine.

"Oh! I am sorry." The woman's surprised, high-pitched voice intrudes on the madness that is my lust-filled brain and snaps me out of my reverie.

His strong arm around my waist loosens its grip, and I take the opportunity to move away from the furnace of the man, my heart thundering at what almost happened. I didn't even hear the door open.

His firm lips only grazed mine before the interruption, but I feel like it was more with the way my heart is beating fast.

I have not been here longer than an hour, and I have already found myself in his arms. We almost kissed.

And I hoped to survive three whole months with him without doing anything I might regret?

That seems like such a practical joke now. Linc is forbidden, a no-go area, he's fire, if I get too close, he would burn me.

Seeing Linc's trim, muscled figure in his form-fitting grey suit, his devastatingly handsome, resistant-to-aging face with those dark, piercing onyx eyes has reminded me just how easily my body gives in to him.

His quiet, effective charm has reminded me why I ran. Why that summer really tough for me. Fighting this forbidden attraction to my middle-aged stepfather, who is forty-one while I am just twenty-one.

He is literally old enough to be my father. But yet he pulls me. And I am powerless once he pins me with those eyes. I am weak. My body surrenders without much resistance.

"Drop them on the desk," he says, his dark eyes still trained on me, his back to the woman frozen at the door glaring at me with such venom it scares me. I move further away.

I need to escape him. But I know it is futile. Linc would find me. This attraction between us feels inevitable now. There is a quiet countdown ringing like a third heartbeat between us.

Coming back was a mistake. Linc Tanner is not the kind of man one forgets. Or moves on from. I still feel the same way as I did three years ago, if not stronger. And now there is one less excuse as to why we shouldn't give in to this dark desire.

"Uhm, sir, it needs your signature so I can send it back to..."

"Charlotte, drop them on the damn desk!" Linc raised voice startles me and the woman, who quickly drops the files and hurries out. Linc doesn't turn away from me. He keeps his eyes on me, watching me like a hunter hunting his prey.

I try to swallow, but my mouth is dry. Naked hunger is present in the depth of those shimmery dark eyes, and I have to press my thighs together to gain some control over my senses. This is all shades of wrong. And yet so right. So necessary.

It is official, I have lost my damn mind.

How the hell are we going to sleep in the same house tonight without something forbidden happening between us? I can almost picture it, and it makes my pulse race faster.

I look at him, standing a few feet away from me. My eyes get drawn southwards to the visible bulge in his pants, and I look away quickly, but not before he catches me looking. Heat rises to my face, making me blush harder.

I feel my limbs tingling, and the sensation travels to a concentrated spot in my clit, making it throb and jump. I clench my thighs together tighter, biting on my lower lip as the morning sun splashes across his features, highlighting him like a greek god of vitality and eroticism.

"Um. I should go." I say when I reach the door. Where am I going? I have no idea but I know I have to get away from this office right now before I find myself climbing my stepfather like a tree right here in his office.

I know the naked hunger in his eyes reflects mine. I am just as aroused. Just as willing to be reckless. Caution was thrown to the wind as soon as I agreed to come back.

"Okay." His usually smooth baritone comes out cracked, he pauses and clears his throat, he starts walking towards me and my heart skips a beat, but then he turns to the left, towards his desk and I blink back my disappointment.

"Take a tour of the firm. Choose whatever department you want to intern at. Then we can go to dinner." His mouth is a set line as he settles at his desk like he wasn't just about to kiss me a moment ago.

"Dinner?" I croak, still visibly shaken up by what almost happened between us. I still feel the weight of his strong arm wound tightly around my waist. The possessiveness of his hold. The way his eyes narrowed in on my lips before he leaned in to me for the kiss. It all makes me feel heady.

"Yes. I made a reservation." He says looking up to meet my eyes, I hold his gaze.

"I don't feel up to that." I say, looking away first as his eyes bore into me. One day, I will win our spontaneous silent staring contests.

"What? Let me guess, you are not hungry?" He asks with a small chuckle. It brings flashbacks of that summer three years ago when I used to deny being hungry so I could stay away from him and my mother. Only to sneak back to the kitchen at midnight to raid the fridge for leftovers.

Linc caught me several times and the embarrassment still feels so heavy right now with the way he is watching me. Mischievous amusement shining in his eyes.

"Fuck off." I snap. I can't stand his teasing in moments like this. I hate that he knows me all too well.

"Now, now, Ames darling. I don't appreciate that tone." He says but his voice is still teasing and light. I can't believe we almost kissed just a moment ago and here he is, teasing. He confuses me. And somehow, that seems to be the allure. Other than the fact that he is my fucking stepfather.

"Whatever. I am not going out to dinner with you." I cross my arms over my chest, his eyes follow the motion and heat rises up my cheeks. A moment passes between us. An impasse.

"Okay, we will eat at home. I'll call my private chef." He says at last. I can't argue with that, so I just nod in passive agreement and push the door behind my back so I can escape the office. Escape his impossible charm.

♠︎♠︎♠︎

"So, which department are you going to intern at?" Linc says, wiping his mouth with a triangle shaped napkin. The table is being cleared by the chef's assistants, I nod my appreciation to them for a great home dining experience. Linc doesn't even acknowledge them.

"I don't know yet." I say because I truly don't. His firm is so large. So multifaceted. I have so many options but I have narrowed it down to either the creative designing or engineering departments since I have majored in both at college.

"Okay. Take your time." He says. I refuse to allow myself feel the impact of his smooth baritone as it washes over me across the dining table.

"Yeah." I should probably add my thanks but I don't. The staff finishes clearing out the table and they leave immediately, leaving us alone to our awkwardness. I swallow.

The soft light of the overhead chandelier is cast directly on my face and I feel like he is watching me closely. His eyes, those dreamy but predatory eyes watches my every move.

I could literally feel like he was looking at me to expose me, to expose my deepest secrets, secrets I would kill to have them concealed, but with Linc, just one move from him, his mouth on me and his hand in-between my legs, my entire being will open up to him on it's own accord, and when his fire burns me, my secrets will be revealed.