ACHING FOR MY STEPBROTHER
Racheal Angelo never wanted a new life, a new house, or a new family. She just wanted the life she was used to, but when her mother marries the cold, manipulative, powerful attorney Simon Adams to escape financial ruin, Racheal is forced into a mansion she wants no part of.
What she didn't expect was the nightmare waiting at the top of the stairs- Thane Adams, her new stepbrother. The same sinfully irresistible stranger she had a reckless, heartbreak-fueled hookup with the night she caught her boyfriend, Raymond cheating.
What begins as tension and denial soon becomes a desire neither of them can control. But in a house full of secrets, lies, hidden agendas, and a father who will ruin anyone who threatens his legacy and reputation... falling for each other isn't just forbidden. It's dangerous. A love born in the dark may cost them everything, even their family, their future, and each other.
Chapters
Share
Chapter 8
RACHEL
I hate Thane. I really do. Every inch of me hates him right now, especially that stupid handsome face that makes me question if any of those stupid advances he ever made were even real.
I don't even care. And don't get me started on that Wendy girl. Just hearing her name had made him glare at me like I'd committed a crime.
"So is this Wendy girl coming or not?" I snapped. "Because we can't be stuck here forever." I said, then I mumbled this part, "...especially not with Thane."
Thane scoffed. "Wendy's not coming. And I'm not reacting to that attitude of yours either. So if you're done, get back in the damn car."
I blinked. Seriously?
Does he really think he gets to talk to me like that just because our parents are engaged?
Okay, technically he is my stepbrother now. But standing here, staring at his smug face, I already knew one thing for sure, I wasn't built to survive under the same roof as a man who sleeps and wakes up wrapped in arrogance.
"Well, you don't tell me what to do, big bro," I shot back. "I'm calling my mum."
I spun toward the car, reaching for my bag, and suddenly he was there so fast.
His hand caught me mid-move. His eyes flashed like someone had just told him his house was on fire. He yanked the bag from me, slammed the car door shut, and before I could process anything, he dragged me to the hood and pinned me there.
My breath hitched the second he leaned close enough to see the tiny birthmark on his upper brow.
His scent was damn wild, plus warm, and definitely dangerous. It filled my lungs before I could stop myself from noticing it.
Our eyes stayed locked. And instead of being smart, my traitor brain slid straight to his lips.
And then I was already imagining how soft they'd probably feel on mine.
God, you've gone crazy, Rachel. Just strip him instead. *in sarcasm*
"Do you understand?" he said firmly.
Wait-what?
"Answer me, Rachel. Do you understand me?"
I swallowed.
There was no way I was about to admit I hadn't heard a word he said because I'd been too busy thinking about his mouth. So I just nodded in a way that looked like my neck was controlling itself.
He stepped back just enough to give me space. "Now get in. And be quiet."
Did I agree to that too? Strangely... I didn't fight him. I just turned and walked toward the car.
Then he grabbed my arm again.
He suddenly pulled off his suit jacket and shoved it against my chest. "You should've said it if you were cold," he muttered, like saying nothing would've been so easy for him.
"I'm not cold," I said flatly.
He grabbed me again. "Don't make me force you."
I rolled my eyes before practically snatching the jacket from him, and climbed into the car without another word.
Thane and Noah stayed outside, arguing about something, then somehow becoming best friends again two minutes later. I swear, men's brains run on chaos.
I haven't called Tiara yet. I didn't want this whole thing to get crazier than it already was.
Thirty minutes later, a red Porsche pulled in front of us.
And wow.
The engine roared like it had something to prove. The door swung open and smoke poured out like it was intentional which I believed was. The second the driver stepped down, the air filled with more smoke.
I started choking so I had to rush out of the car.
"Dammit, Wendy!" Noah yelled, waving the smoke away. "Did you come here to murder us?!"
Wendy? She's Wendy?
I didn't want to care... but somehow I found myself moving closer just to get a better look at her.
She wasn't anything special. Except for the killer dress.
Honestly? A man could lose his mind over those long straight legs and those big boobs she carried with way too much confidence.
"I told you not to bother coming. Why are you here?" Thane said calmly, but for the first time since I'd met him, he actually looked like he meant it. Like he really hated his so-called wild pet.
Wendy stiffened, adjusting the flare of her dress. "Noah explained..."
"Just answer the damn question, Wendy. You know I hate repeating myself."
She scoffed. "Alright. So I guess this means you didn't want me here."
"Yes. I didn't want you here," Thane snapped. "And you still came. So don't make this about me."
"Relax, man," Noah cut in.
"Shut the hell up, Noah," Thane shot back. "You told me a second ago she wasn't coming anymore. Now she's here?" He shook his head, then faced Wendy again. "We're fine. Leave. Now."
Noah sighed. "Okay, okay, I didn't tell her not to come and I lied about calling someone else. I'm sorry... But we've got to get out of here. It's not safe. Think about Rachel. She's already freezing out here."
Thane's eyes flicked to me for half a second... then back to Noah.
"She's our only option. Unless you want your dad wondering why you're not at work yet."
Everyone fell silent for a full minute.
Then Thane finally nodded. "Fine. Let's go."
He opened the back door and slid in. I followed him. Wendy and Noah took the front.
I don't know why, but I'd imagined someone louder and maybe wilder with red hair, chaos, and attitude. Someone who looked like trouble.
Instead, Wendy drove calmly, right up until we hit the last corner that led to Thane's office.
"You're not forgetting I'm still in uniform, right?" I finally said.
Thane glanced at me, then sighed. "We already agreed you're staying with me at the office for today."
"When did I agree to that?" I blurted.
He didn't answer. He just stared. And then it hit me.
Shit.
That was what I nodded to earlier, when my brain had completely checked out.
I groaned and grabbed my head.
"Pops won't be coming in today," he added. "He's got plans with your mum."
"Wait. Let me get this straight," I said slowly. "You're telling me I'm spending a full day in the same office with you?"
Wendy pulled into the driveway and glanced at us in the rearview mirror.
"So... that's your stepsister?"
Thane didn't answer. He stepped out and grabbed my wrist. Before he could move me, Wendy spoke.
"She can stay with me. If that's fine."
My head snapped toward her. What?
"Thanks, but that's not happening," Thane said flatly.
"That's not your call," Wendy replied, turning to me. "She can speak for herself, right, Rachel?"
I stared at her. And for one very dumb reason, because I wanted to prove I could-I nodded.
"I think I can survive one day with your wild pet instead of you."
Thane's jaw tightened. "I'm not letting you go with her. You know that."
What was he gonna do? Carry me?
"You know what time to pick me up," I said, already stepping away. "Don't be late."
I walked toward Wendy's car.
"You know what," Thane snapped behind me. "Do whatever the hell you want. I don't give a damn about a stepsister."
Woah. That wasn't how this was supposed to end. Why did it sound like he was even angrier now?
He stormed toward the building.
"Thane!" Noah called after him.
But, he didn't stop.
Great. Do your thing, Thane and I'll do mine.
You may also like
8.3
Imogen Montgomery was the perfect billionaire heiress, deeply in love and ready to marry her fiancé, Clark Ellis.
That all ended the night her cousin Kathleen ripped the sapphire pendant from her neck and pushed her into a pool of toxic chemicals to die.
Two years later, Imogen's eyes snapped open. But she didn't wake up in a hospital. She woke up tied to a stained mattress, trapped in the battered body of Briana, a teenage girl from the slums who had just been sold to a local trafficker.
After violently fighting her way out of a cheap motel, she discovered the horrifying truth. Kathleen had taken over the Montgomery Group. She had locked Imogen's grieving parents away in a psychiatric facility as prisoners.
And worst of all, Kathleen was now flaunting her stolen wealth online, preparing to marry Clark.
A wave of pure, white-hot rage boiled in her blood. Kathleen had murdered her, stolen her family, and was playing the perfect grieving cousin. How was she supposed to fight back? She was just a runaway nobody now. If she tried to expose the truth, Kathleen's security would shoot her dead in the street.
She needed a weapon. She needed a shield. She needed the one man Kathleen feared.
Covered in mud and blood, Briana intercepted Clark's car in the freezing rain. She was going to infiltrate his home as his vulgar, unhinged fake mistress, and she would drag Kathleen straight down to hell.
8.0
For six years, I played the perfect, submissive wife to Wall Street titan Francis Castro. I suffocated my own ambitions to fit into his conservative world.
But while I waited alone at a Michelin restaurant, a news alert popped up. My husband had just dropped millions on an aquamarine diamond necklace for his "muse," Chanelle.
The real nightmare began when I rushed home to find our five-year-old son in severe anaphylactic shock. I frantically called Francis from the ambulance, but he manually rejected my calls. He couldn't leave the bidding war for Chanelle's PR launch.
When he finally arrived at the ER, Chanelle was right beside him, wearing that blinding multi-million-dollar necklace. He didn't ask about our dying son.
"Why weren't you watching him?" he demanded, his voice hard and accusing.
And when my son woke up, hazy from the drugs, he rejected my touch and reached for Chanelle instead. Francis just stood there, praising Chanelle for knowing exactly how to calm him down.
I stared at the three of them looking like a perfect, happy family. Six years of swallowing my pride, only to realize my husband would let our son choke to death just to buy another woman's smile.
The last thread of my heart snapped. I handed him the divorce papers, demanding zero alimony. Then, I drove to a hidden Brooklyn loft, cut off my hair, and unlocked my safe.
It was time to resurrect my true identity—the legendary fashion designer, Ember.J. I am going to burn her empire to the ground.
7.2
"I made you cum three times in one night and how did you repay me? You dumped our newborn on my doorstep and fled for four years.
Now that I've found you, Diana, there's no escaping me."
~~~DIANA~~~
My wedding happened just a few hours ago when I caught my husband in bed, smashing his boss to raise money for our honeymoon.
I got drunk, broke, and angry-then I got kidnapped.
I woke up in a stranger's house in Vegas.
Cairo Arsher's mansion.
He is rich, too handsome for my sanity and dangerously tempting.
But before I could call the cops on him, he took my hand, kissed it softly, and claimed I'm the woman he fell in love with four years ago-
the one who ran away and left him a newborn.
And now he's vowed to never let me go.
But the truth is... I'VE NEVER REALLY MET THIS MAN BEFORE.
7.7
Reborn: Lord of the Undead Dominion
Tagline: When a legendary necromancer returns to his childhood, the world that betrayed him will kneel.
Once a peerless human powerhouse on the cusp of ascending to the 12th Rank, Royan met a brutal end at the hands of treachery during his final transcendence. But fate granted him a second chance-he awakens in his five-year-old body, with a century of arcane wisdom, mastery of necromancy and alchemy, and the burning fire of vengeance in his veins.
In the magical world of Amelia, where races rise and fall by a millennium-old cycle, humans defied destiny to claim dominance. Now reborn, Royan hides his ancient soul behind a child's facade, wielding unmatched spiritual power and forbidden knowledge to rewrite his fate. He'll protect his family from the shadows, gather loyal warriors and fearsome undead companions, and unearth the conspiracy that cut his first life short.
From summoning skeletal legions to forging legendary artifacts, from outwitting scheming nobles to challenging the gods of old-Royan's path is paved with blood, bone, and unyielding ambition. The world thought him fallen, but the Necromancer Lord has returned. This time, he won't just survive-he'll conquer the dominion that was stolen from him, and reign over Amelia as its undead sovereign.
If you crave fast-paced action, epic world-building, and a protagonist who turns weakness into strength with wit and overwhelming power, this dark fantasy saga is for you. Dive in and witness the rise of a rebirthed legend-where death is just the beginning of conquest.
9.2
Swapped at birth, Eileen was returned to her real family on her eighteenth birthday-only to be betrayed by them that very night.
To protect their precious fake sister, her three brothers forced Eileen and sent her to prison.
For four brutal years, she was beaten, humiliated, and abandoned, while not one relative came to see her.
When she finally walked free, her family and fiancé still treated her like a stain. So Eileen cut them off for good.
Then a limited-edition limo stopped at their door, and the man beside her made the whole family tremble.
It turned out Eileen had long since made a name for herself around the world.
"Mess with my woman, and I'll make you fucking regret it."
7.6
"Men will stain your white," a friend once told me during a business trip to Africa. I laughed it off as a joke. I wish I hadn't.
I'm Amelia, a powerful real estate mogul feared across the industry. In my late thirties, I had everything; wealth, beauty, and control. Marriage? Not on my list... until I met him; a struggling fashion designer who turned one night of fun into a lifetime commitment.
They say never trust the loyalty of a broke man. I learned it the hard way. I married him, loved him, even aborted my second child to save our marriage. But love is blind, and mine cost me everything; my womb, my child, my freedom.
He betrayed me with another woman, and in my rage, I killed him. That night destroyed my life; my parents' company collapsed, my best friend died, and I was sentenced to rot in prison.
Until I woke up; three years in the past.
On my best friend's wedding day... to the same man who murdered her.
This time, I stopped the wedding. This time, I'll make them all pay.
But fate plays cruel games.
One night of revenge led me into the arms of a powerful ex-biker; a Trillionaire with a dangerous past.
I ran away with our 5 little secrets.
And now, he won't stop until he has me.