Living With My Demon Stepsister

I should've known better than to think school would feel normal again.

After everything—after her cousin, after Marissa, after last night—I thought I'd just coast through the day pretending everything was fine.

Yeah. No.

She was waiting at the gate for me, leaning against the wall like something out of a dream. That stupid hoodie again, the one she definitely wasn't wearing anything under last night. A devilish smirk tugged at her lips the second she saw me.

"Miss me?" she purred.

I didn't answer. Mostly because I was still trying to recover from the fact that she'd wrung me dry and then fallen asleep on top of me like it was nothing.

"Aw," she said, brushing past me. "You're still shy? You weren't shy last night." She winked. "Well… not after round two."

I groaned. Loudly. "Lila."

She giggled, already skipping ahead, making her way toward the building like she hadn't just dropped an x-rated bomb in public.

Things were actually fine for most of the morning. I was starting to breathe again. Until lunchtime.

Some idiot. I don't even know his name. Tall, loud, football type. Thought Lila was just some transfer student with a great ass.

Which… okay, fair. But still.

He cornered her by the vending machine. I was two feet away, and I already knew he'd made a mistake. A huge one.

He leaned in, touched her wrist, said something I didn't catch—but her smile vanished. Completely.

When she turned to face him, her eyes had gone black. I mean pitch. Her entire expression darkened like a stormcloud.

I ran over.

He was stammering, hand still awkwardly half-extended, trying to apologize maybe, but she didn't care. Her fingernail touched his collarbone.

A pulse rippled through the air.

He stopped moving.

And not in a stunned way. In a—paralyzed and about to start screaming from inside his own skin—kind of way.

"Lila!" I grabbed her wrist. "Stop."

She didn't even look at me at first.

"He touched me," she said coldly.

"Yeah, but you're not going to melt his brain because of it." I stepped in front of her, heart pounding. "Seriously. Stop."

She narrowed her eyes at me.

"I said stop," I tried again. "If you don't let him go, then—then no more. No more anything. No more me. No more kissing, no more touching, and definitely no more sex."

Dead silence.

She blinked once.

Then pulled her hand away from the guy like he was nothing. Her face softened, unnervingly fast.

"You're so cute when you threaten me with your body," she said sweetly. "Makes me feel wanted."

"I'm serious."

> "I know you are. That's what makes it adorable."

The guy gasped, collapsing against the vending machine like someone had unplugged him. He looked around, dazed, like he'd just blinked through a nightmare.

I exhaled hard. Crisis averted.

But then I noticed her staring at me again with that look. That Mischievous and wicked look.

"You should've seen your face," she teased. "All worried. All possessive. You don't even know how hot that was."

"Lila…" I started, glancing toward the guy who was still trying to figure out if he'd had a stroke.

"Relax," she said. "He won't remember. Eventually."

"Eventually?"

"Mmmhm." She leaned close to my ear. "I'm savoring it. What you said. No more you touching me. Like I'm the one who can't get enough." She sighed dramatically. "You're so cruel sometimes."

"Lila, please," I muttered, embarrassed.

She grinned. That same grin that meant I'd already lost something.

Then she took a slow step toward me, her eyes gleaming like fire under water.

"You really said it," she purred. "No more touching. No more kissing. No more… me."

Her voice dropped to a whisper. "You actually threatened me, Eli. With sex withdrawal. That's so…" She let out a little moan, "deliciously human."

I swallowed hard. She was circling me now. Like prey. Like she'd already tasted me and wanted seconds.

"You said that like you think I care more about melting people than I care about you," she went on, tilting her head. "That I'd choose him over the way you make me feel when you twitch under my fingers."

She leaned in. So close I could feel her breath on my jaw.

"But you were serious, weren't you?" Her lips grazed my cheek, warm, maddening. "You said no more touching like it meant something. Like you thought it would work on me."

Then she froze.

And smirked.

"…And it did," she whispered, voice trembling with something between pride and obsession. "You stopped me. With that. Do you have any idea what that makes you to me now?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't. My throat had closed up somewhere between her breath and her words.

She giggled — slow, giddy and dangerous.

> "You're mine, Eli. And I'm yours. Apparently, dangerously so."

Then she finally looked over her shoulder toward the frozen guy. Her smile faded. "He gets to keep his bones intact. You're welcome."

She turned back to me, running her fingers along my chest.

"But the memory? That little threat of yours was too cute to erase just yet."

I flinched. "Lila—"

"Oh relax," she said sweetly, and snapped her fingers. "He thinks he fainted from standing too long."

And with that, she took my hand, laced her fingers into mine, and whispered, "You're gonna pay for that threat, by the way. Just… not here."

The guy blinked hard, shook his head, and wandered off, muttering something about forgetting his wallet.

I stared at her and she looked pleased. Too pleased.

"I hate how much power you have," I said quietly.

She beamed. "And yet you keep coming back to bed with me."

Touché.

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To be continued...