CHAPTER 1

Aurelia

The heat of his calloused hands trails across my bare arms. His touch is feather light, yet the simple action kicks off as a cascade of fireworks, each individual explosion erupting underneath my skin. My breath hitches, and I fist the soft bedding underneath me, my back arching as a rough thumb grazes my hardened nipple.

A moan slips out of me, so soft, barely audible.

His breath is hot, so close to the surface of my skin, his teeth digging just the slightest inch into the soft flesh. It makes me quiver.

"Do you want more of me?"

Yes!

"Do you want me to keep touching you, Aurelia? Do you like the feel of my hands on your body?"

I do! I wish he would never stop.

"Spread your legs for me."

I obey the command without a lick of hesitation, parting my thighs for him.

His palm moves over my stomach, inching closer to the place I crave him the most, the seconds ticking by too slowly with every second he doesn't touch me there. I want to scream and shout. I want to cry out his name.

"Shhh," The other voice whispers, his deep rasp right by my ear, "Don't be so impatient, Cinderella. You'll take what we give you."

But I need more!

"Look at you; you're a damn mess." He says.

"Tell us what you want." His brother grates, dark hazel eyes trailing over

every inch of my frame. "You!" I cry.

"Me?" His brother asks. His hands cupped my center roughly, pressing hard against my dripping folds. "You want just me?"

"I want you both!" I'm gasping and shivering.

"You're drenched." His brother growls, "You're a filthy little thing, aren't you? All this excites you, doesn't it? Nothing does you in like being our little plaything, surrendering your body to us to use as we see fit."

I can't speak, and I can't do anything but rock my hips into his waiting hand. I want more, more, more!

His hands slide from my abdomen through the valley of my naked breasts, and he grabs my throat, squeezing, "My brother asked you a question."

"Ah, we know she loves it." I can almost hear his brothers smiling. "Just look at her; she's begging for it; she needs it. Don't you, Cinderella?"

I nod frantically. His fingers tighten around my neck, stealing my breath away.

"Do you want me to fuck you with my fingers, Cinderella? Do you want me to shove them into you over and over again until you come? Till you beg me to stop?"

He palms my breast roughly, his head leaning forward. And then I feel the wet pull and the delicious friction as he takes the sensitive bud into his warm mouth, just in time with his brother's fingers grazing deliciously over my clitoral area.

My eyes focus on the words written on the pages of the book in my hand. I slip the other underneath the covers, touching myself as I let my imagination run wild.

God, it's intense. The feel of their hands seems so tangible, so hot, and real against my heated skin. I drag circles over my clitoral area, chasing a desperate orgasm.

I'm already so close, so

"Aurelia!"

I darted upright, shoving the book closed and pressing it against my chest.

mere seconds before my bedroom door flies open.

I barely have time to collect myself. My stepmother's eyes narrow into

thin slits, she shuts the door behind her with a hard slam, making my body stiffen.

"What are you doing?" She asks, "Have you gone deaf?" "N-no, I-"

"So you simply chose not to answer my calls, then?"

"No, ma'am, I-"

She interrupts me once again, gesturing towards the book pressed against my chest. "What is that?"

My heart clenches, and fear spikes up in my veins.

"Let me have it."

No.

Oh, no. She's already moving towards the bed; I'm stammering out a refute, but she snatches the book from my grasp before I can get a decent word out. I stop breathing, my face pulling into a grimace as I watch her flip open to the first page. Her eyes are focused, darting over the words. I feel my stomach plummet as a slow grin slides over her features. It's the most unkind smile I've ever seen.

"All this," she says, her eyes glued to the words on the first page: "It's nothing but a pipe dream." She says, eyes lifting to mine, "You'll never be anything more than what you are today. You'll never be better than nothing."

I know the words she's referring to.

They're the same words I recite to myself every morning, each syllable etched into my heart along with the promise of something better. Something other than this.

life without her.

Away from this town.

Away from this family that I no longer feel like I have a place in. This

Home has now become my prison.

"A life full of happiness and joy," she mimics harshly, her face nothing but

a bitter sneer, "Is that what you crave? Nobody likes you. A waste of space? A pathetic little rat unworthy of anything of value? Don't get it wrong, my dear, for you. This is paradise."

My mouth twists.

But she's not done; Emaine never is.

"I give you everything I deem you're worth, and if I'm letting you in on a

little secret, I give you more than that."

"You sit around in bed, pen in hand, writing down your miseries like some

kind of victim," she continued, "We are the only victims here! Us! For being cursed with an abomination like you."

The words aren't anything new. Hardly a day went by where she didn't curse my existence. Its familiarity did nothing to dull the pain or the heartache.

It was a never-ending cycle.

Her verbal attacks always left me thinking, wondering how the hell things ended up the way they did. Emaine used to be my mother's best friend; hell, they were practically sisters. Back then, she was a woman who always spoiled me, letting me get away with too many things. Scolding her best friend whenever she tried to put her foot down regarding her own daughter.

I loved her like she was my mother; she loved me just the same. At least I thought she did.

But when my mother died, everything changed.

Gone were her mischievous smiles, the woman who let me have an extra piece of candy when she thought no one else was looking. She married my father, welcoming her twin boys into our lives and starting a new family of their own. Gone was my old life. Now all I have is this, and all I want is to be rid of it all.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, girl." She coos, her voice dropping an octave. "There's only one way you'll ever be rid of me, only one way you'll ever escape this house, this town. Want to know what that is?"

I swallow, hating the venom I see in her eyes.

She crouches beside me, next to the bed, resting her hands on her knees as she looks me dead in the eye. "It'll be in a body bag." She holds the book out in front of her, gripping the covers in both hands.

I rise up to my knees and say, "Don't do that!"

She rips it, tearing a part of me straight down the middle, picking off pages, and shredding them even more.

"Stop!'"I cry.

"Has it sunk in yet?" She mocks, "Words on a page will not save you. Nothing will ever save you from me. This is your life, your reality. Be less of a fool and come to terms with the girl you will never become."

"Stop it!" I cry, getting to my feet and reaching for what I can salvage. She shoves me back down onto the mattress, tossing the remnants of the tattered pages at my face. I swipe it away, looking at what's left through blurry vision.

"Get up," she says. "A lot needs to be done, and I don't remember giving you permission to laze the day away. Kane will be home any minute."

Kane?

Kane?

My body locks up like a tight coil. I feel the heat spread up my neck, singing my cheeks so fast that I feel like I have to duck away from her gaze, hoping she doesn't notice my reaction to what she just said.

Kane is coming back.

How come I wasn't informed before now?

My thoughts drifted to earlier, before she barged in. The memories of me

touching myself to the scenarios I'd created, the images I cooked up in my head. The dirty fantasies.

Of him.

Of... both of them.

"I expect you downstairs before the minute is over." She leaves the room.

without a backward glance, not bothering to shut the door behind her.

My relief is palpable at the fact that she's no longer in my vicinity. But

Most of all, my hands move over the remains of the book that held most of my secrets. I'm relieved she didn't read anything past what was written on the first page.