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That was all it took.

I shot my wad, filling her up. I pumped with fast, shallow thrusts, keeping every drop of my cum shoved deep inside her. Pure ecstasy rolled from the top of my head and out my dick. I was hooked on Juliet but knew I shouldn’t be. Right now, I just didn’t care.

For a long moment, we stayed locked together, breathing hard, her pussy still fluttering around me. I held her tight, face buried in her neck, letting myself feel the warmth of her body and the way she clung to me like I was hers.

I wasn’t ready to let go, but the guilt was already rising like bile in my throat. I had just come deep inside my step-niece… again. Filled her up like I had the right to. Like I wasn’t the worst thing that could ever happen to her.

I pulled out slowly and exhaled, scrubbing a hand over my face while I caught my breath. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was poisoning something beautiful.

I was falling in love with her.

And that terrified me more than anything else ever had.

9

JULIET

Everything was starting to crack open.

It was the small things that gave us away. The way Bastian’s eyes would find me across the yard and linger a second too long, like he couldn’t force himself to look away.

The way he’d shift closer whenever someone else got too friendly with me, his whole body language turning protective in a way that felt way too intimate for ‘just family’.

The way we kept slipping off at odd hours and coming back separately, both of us trying to act normal.

People were starting to notice, especially my father.

He’d always been protective, but lately, his questions had a sharper edge to them, and I was starting to think he was noticing our behavior more than anyone else.

Yesterday, he pulled me aside near the dock and asked, point-blank, why I was spending so much time “next door with Bastian”. I lied and told him it was just about helping me with my car again, but the words tasted awful coming out. I hated lying to him. I hated hiding something that felt this real and important.

But I was done sneaking around.

That night after the house had gone quiet and everyone else was asleep, I slipped out and walked over to Bastian’s place. The second I stepped inside, he pulled me into his arms like he’d been waiting all evening. His kiss was deep and possessive, his hands sliding under my shirt right away, gripping my waist like he needed to remind himself I was really there.

“You’re mine,” he murmured against my neck, his voice low and rough. “No matter what anyone else thinks. You’re mine, Juliet.”

I believed him without a doubt. I could feel how much he meant it in every touch, in the way he held me like the rest of the world could disappear. But I also knew the guilt was still there quietly eating away at him underneath it all.

We ended up in his bed, lost in each other for a while, and afterward, as I lay curled against his chest listening to the steady beat of his heart, I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“I don’t want to hide this anymore, Bastian.”

He went completely still beside me, his fingers stopping their lazy tracing on my back. “Juliet?—”

“No, listen.” I sat up so I could look him in the eyes. “I’m tired of sneaking around like what we’re doing is dirty or wrong. I love you. And I know you love me, too, even if it’s hard for you to say it. I’m twenty-two years old. This isn’t some fling for me.”

He sat up, too, leaning back against the headboard, and rubbed a hand over his face. The uncertainty was written all over his expression, heavy and familiar.

“It’s not that simple,” he said quietly. “Your dad is my step-brother. If this ever comes out, it would tear the whole family apart. And let’s be honest… I’m not exactly the guy parents dream about for their daughter. I’ve got too much baggage. Too much shit hanging over me.”

The words landed like a punch to the chest.

“So what?” I shot back, my anger rising. The frustration I’d been carrying for weeks finally spilled over. “You get to fuck me, hold me, tell me I’m yours when we’re alone in the dark… but the second there’s any chance someone might find out, I’m suddenly something you want to keep hidden? I’m not a mistake, Bastian. I’m a choice. And I need you to choose me. Out loud. Not just when it’s private and easy.”

I knew us being together could tear the family apart. I didn’t want that, but I also wanted to be happy.

And I was… with Bastian.