Stroke of Midnight Read online

  “Sadie,” I murmur, my gaze moving over the woman at the table. She’s young, but surely not too young. “And who are you, Sadie?” I ask, imagining her being my new toy. If Mother can have one, why can’t I? It seems only fair.

  “This is Simon’s daughter, Jase. Sadie here is your new sister.”

  Sister? Well, fuck me…

  3

  Sadie

  My heart is beating out of my chest. The minute the man showed up the atmosphere in the house changed.

  Jase.

  Apparently this is my new stepbrother. Kristen’s words fly through my brain. He’s good looking, he’s probably the handsomest man I’ve ever met in my life. He’s also older.

  Much older.

  When my dad mentioned having an older brother to watch over me, for some reason I just assumed he would be my age. That is not the case, but then, Gwen is older than my dad, so that would stand to reason. It would appear my new brother is close to the same age as my dad. The night had somehow shifted from weird to weirder.

  Plus, he just keeps staring at me. His heated gaze is almost burning my skin. I was already miserable and nervous about tonight, now with Gwen’s son here, I’m completely on edge.

  That feeling only increases when Jase comes and sits down right beside me. I glance at him briefly, but his dark eyes are staring down at me so intently that I immediately look down at the table. My body trembles slightly and I curl my hands into fists under the table to try and get a grip on my emotions.

  “Do you think you’re going to be my sister, little one?”

  “I don’t want a brother,” I tell him honestly, proud that my voice doesn’t tremble—at least not much.

  “That’s good.”

  “Well, it’s too bad,” Dad says. “We’re going to all be a family and we need to start learning to get along together.”

  My gaze shifts to look at my father. He’s angry. I know he is, but I don’t really care. I’m not exactly filled with joy over this situation.

  “I’m not your brother, Sadie,” Jase says.

  I turn to look at him, frowning.

  “I know,” I mutter, not liking the way he sounds disgusted at the thought. I don’t care what he thinks of me. From where I’m sitting, he’s just a big fat jerk anyway.

  “Good, make sure you don’t forget,” he warns.

  “I won’t, Jase. See? There’s no way I’m ever calling you brother,” I snap, my anger getting the better of me and making me forget to be cautious.

  “Jason.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “My name is Jason. You’re never to call me Jase. I only allow a handful of people to call me that.”

  My body physically jerks in my chair. He couldn’t have made that any clearer. So much for Dad’s hopes of all being one big happy family.

  It’s so not happening.

  Somehow I made it through dinner, even managing to take a couple of bites. I’m sure the food was good, although it could have been sawdust for all I know. The entire time, I could feel Jase—Jason’s—heated stare on me. He talked a little to his mother, barely acknowledged my dad and just looked at me. I suppose I wasn’t worth the effort to speak.

  “Dad, we need to go,” I murmured after the kitchen staff came and cleared away our plates.

  Seriously, I’m not kidding. There were kitchen staff to clean up after us when we ate. It’s just weird. It’s not like we were at a restaurant, although the place had as much personality as a public restaurant. There’s no warmth, no feeling of it being a home at all. Dad called our small apartment of a dump, but right at this moment I wish with all my heart that I was there. How I’m supposed to survive moving into this place that felt as cold and barren as a mausoleum, is beyond me.

  “Why will you turn into a pumpkin if you’re not home by midnight, Sadie?”

  “I have school tomorrow.”

  “Christ. You’re in school?” Jason snaps, his voice thick with distaste.

  “I’m a senior in high school.”

  “How old are you?” he growls, and I refuse to be scared at the hateful tone he uses.

  “Sadie is nineteen,” my dad supplies, and I might be extremely mad at my father, but for once I’m glad he stepped in.

  “You’re in high school at nineteen?” he asks, and there’s no disguising the disgust he asks that question with. “Too much partying or were you too stupid to pass your classes?” he presses and my entire body flushes with embarrassment. My muscles tighten as I go stiff from his attack. I slowly push away from the table. If Dad won’t take me home, I’ll walk there.

  “How dare you!?!” Dad barks, standing up with me.

  “I was held back for sports,” I tell him, bitingly through clenched teeth. “Dad, I’ll be in the car, waiting,” I tell him, tears stinging at my eyes. I refuse to cry—at least in front of Jason.

  “Wait, Sadie,” Dad says, but I don’t wait, and I don’t listen to them as they begin arguing. I walk quickly outside. If Dad is nowhere to be found by the time, I’m at the car, I’ll just take off walking. I don’t care if it takes me all night to get back home.

  I just want out of here.

  4

  Jason

  “How dare you attack my little girl like that. I ought to punch you in the mouth,” Mom’s boytoy shouts.

  “I’d like to see you try it,” I tell him with a dark grin, and I’m not lying. I want him to try and hit me. He’ll find out quickly that he’s not man enough to take on what he’s inviting.

  “Damn it, Jase, couldn’t you have at least tried?” Mother snaps.

  “Damn it, Gwen, don’t act innocent. You knew how this would go. You should have never invited me. You only did it for one reason and we both know what it is.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she mumbles, avoiding my stare.

  “Right, you go with that, maybe you can make Alvin here believe that shit you’re selling.”

  “My name is Simon!” he growls, and he almost sounds like he has some testosterone there. He should be careful, if my mother thinks she can’t control him, she will lose interest quickly. “Gwen, I’m going to go check on my daughter. We can talk tomorrow.” He starts to walk around me, but I reach out and grab him, my fingers biting into his arm.

  “I’ll do it,” I tell him, my voice dark. I don’t want him around her, even if he is her dad. It doesn’t make sense, but it’s true.

  “I think you’ve done enough,” he snarls, and I almost think about changing my opinion of him. Almost.

  “I’ve upset her, I should be the one to apologize. I’ll take her home and make sure she gets there safe while you and Gwen deal with your issues,” I respond, not planning on apologizing, but he doesn’t need to know that.

  As if on cue, my mother comes over and wraps her arm into the poor sap’s. I lose the urge to give him the benefit of the doubt when he agrees to let me go after his daughter. I’m clearly an asshole and he doesn’t know me, but he trusts me to go after his only daughter?

  He’s a fucking imbecile.

  I walk off without another word, following the direction that Sadie went. I catch up to her outside, standing beside an old beaten up looking Dodge car that probably is at least forty years old.

  “What are you doing here?” she snaps. It’s dark, and I can’t see her clearly, even with the light of the moon and the outdoor floodlights. She’s standing too much in the shadows, and I figure that’s on purpose. Is she crying? I’m not sure how I feel about that.

  “I came to take you home.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she huffs and there’s no doubting the anger in her voice. I like it, which makes no sense. I like women who are more docile to say the least.

  “Afraid so,” I tell her, trying not to let her hear how much I’m enjoying her anger. “I’m parked over there. Let’s go.” I motion over at my Bentley.

  “I’ll walk,” she mumbles, trying to go off in the opposite direction of my car.

  “You’ll ride in my car,” I tell her, wrapping my hand around her wrist and stopping her.

  “Let go of me,” she hisses and now that she’s closer I can see the anger etched on her face, her eyes are bright, but there are no tears, just deep pools of hazel. She smells of warm caramel. I notice that immediately. I’m not a man prone to have a sweet tooth but if I have a dessert of preference it would definitely be caramel. The fact that Sadie reminds me of that flavor is practically intoxicating.

  “We can do this the easy way, Sadie, or we can do it the hard way. The choice is completely yours.”

  “How about we do nothing, Jase.”

  “Be careful, Kitten. You are too young to realize what challenging a man like me will get you.”

  “I want nothing to do with you,” she replies, totally ignoring my warning.

  “Get in the damn car, Sadie. It’s late and I have shit to do, the last thing I want is to be out here arguing with you.”

  “Then go back in!”

  “And that’s it,” I mutter. I wrap my arms around Sadie’s body and lift her up over my shoulder. She’s got curves for her age, but she’s light as a damn feather. Her father should be feeding her some cheeseburgers instead of getting in over his head with my parental unit.

  “Put me down!” she demands, and I swat her ass for trying to order me to do anything. “Ow,” she gasps, her body quaking against me.

  “Calm down or the next one will turn your ass red,” I warn her. I open my car door and then help her to the ground, quickly getting her into the vehicle. She must be in shock, because she doesn’t argue once. I slam the door shut with a feeling of accomplishment. I walk to my side of the car and slide in. Sadie hasn’t moved. She’s staring straight ahead, shock so clear on her face
that I can see it even in the faint light that’s filtering inside my car. I start the vehicle, but I don’t make a move. Finally, Sadie’s gaze comes to me. She’s knows I’ve been waiting. I was beginning to think she wouldn’t be brave enough to look at me. I’m glad she proved me wrong.

  I watch as her tongue darts out to wet her lip, and the dashboard lights show the glisten wetness against those plump cherry beauties. I’m fucking thirty-five. I shouldn’t be growing a cock stand over a nineteen year old. Yet, I can feel my dick straightening, lengthening the longer I stare at her. The urge to grab her by the back of the neck and kiss her is so strong that it threatens to overtake me. I fight it off and win—barely.

  “Buckle up, Sadie. We’re not leaving until that seatbelt is in place.”

  She stares at me, her eyes so expressive, giving away everything and nothing at the same time. I have a feeling that I could stare into her eyes for a lifetime and still not be able to uncover everything she’s thinking.

  Shit.

  Once the seatbelt is in place, I shove the gear down into drive and pull out of the driveway with squealing tires. The quicker I get Sadie home, the better for both of us.

  5

  Sadie

  He spanked me.

  I still can’t believe it. I’ve never been manhandled like that in my life. And he spanked me.

  I’m not a child and I haven’t been spanked in so long that I can’t remember. I still don’t know how to react. I decide my best course of action is to say nothing. I don’t interact with Jason at all. That’s my plan and I think it might be a brilliant one—until he speaks.

  “I get you’re trying to give me the silent treatment,” he says, sounding as if the idea intrigues him. It’s clear that he finds me amusing—the jerk. “But, I literally have no idea where you live, so you’re going to have to give me directions, Sadie, or else we’re going to be driving around all night.”

  Well, crap.

  “You can let me out here, and I’ll get home on my own,” I mutter.

  “Not a chance. You have a death wish, that’s on you, but you aren’t going to hitchhike and get killed when you’re under my supervision.”

  “Under your supervision? You make me sound like I’m either a child or out on parole and I’m neither. I’m a stranger to you.”

  “You’re in high school. That makes you a child.”

  “I’m nineteen, that’s hardly a child,” I argue, looking out the window. My words are at war with my brain because right now I do feel like a child and I feel lost. “Take a right off the freeway here,” I add, sounding as tired as I feel.

  “What sports are you in?” he pushes, and I want to ignore him, but mostly I just want this night over.

  “Swimming.”

  “That explains it,” he mutters.

  “Explains what?” He doesn’t answer. We drive in silence for a while longer, only broken when I mumble directions.

  “This place is a dump,” he says when we turn into the parking lot of my apartment. He shuts the car off and I immediately unbuckle, my hand going to the door.

  “I didn’t ask your opinion. I prefer it to your mother’s house.” Jason reaches over, grabs my shoulder and pulls me so that I’m forced to turn back around and look at him.

  “You don’t want to move to Spartan?” he asks, and he doesn’t bother hiding the surprise in his voice—or his disbelief.

  “No, I don’t. I’m happy here and I like the school I’m at. I should be enjoying my senior year and instead, tomorrow is my last day,” I tell him, tired of everything. I’m tired of the way my dad has treated me, tired of the fact that my entire life is changing and it’s all out of my control and I’m really tired of Jason Stone being an asshole to me. He doesn’t know me. He doesn’t get to judge me, and I know he is.

  “Fuck, you’re too young,” he mumbles under his breath. I don’t know what to say to that, so I ignore it.

  “Will you let me go? It’s late and I have school tomorrow.”

  “If you don’t quit talking about being a schoolgirl we’re both going to be in trouble.” I shake my head, because again, I have no idea what he’s talking about.

  “Do you take some kind of medication that you’ve forgotten?”

  “Smart ass,” he says, laughing and shaking his head. “Stay there, I will let you out and then we’ll go to your apartment together.”

  “Uh… Why would we do that?” I ask, panicking at the thought of him being in my small house, looking down his nose at it. It hurt to hear my father call the place a dump. The last thing I want to do is hear Jason Stone dis it with his superior attitude.

  “If you think I’m going to let you go into an empty apartment, this time of night, and in this neighborhood, without checking to make sure it’s secure, you’re the one who needs medication, Sadie.”

  “Gee, that’s so nice of you,” I mock, hating every minute of this.

  “I thought so,” he says and before I can comment any further, he gets out. My gaze lifts to the rearview mirror and I watch him walking around his expensive car. Once he opens my door, I get out, frowning when he puts his hand on my arm and helps me.

  “I’ll be fine on my own,” I mumble, feeling uncomfortable as we walk toward the entrance, his hand settled against the small of my back.

  “Quit arguing, Sadie,” he warns.

  I roll my eyes, but he’s walking beside me and it’s pretty dark, because the outside light doesn’t work, so I figure it’s safe. He doesn’t give me lip about there not being an elevator, but I fully expected it. Luckily, we’re only on the second floor.

  My hand trembles as I get my keys out. He caps his over mine, taking the keys. Once he lets us in, I expect him to say something about the place—wait for him to call it a dump like my father. I mean the place isn’t fancy, but I do keep it clean and I saved up money from babysitting our neighbor’s little boy to buy paint and things. She even gave me the couch and chair and it’s in pretty good condition. Dad works, but by the time we pay rent and utilities, there’s not much left over. I’ve never cared, but I guess Dad did. That thought depresses me, even if it shouldn’t. All this time, I thought Dad and I had lived a good life, depending on each other, I felt like we were a team.

  Apparently, I was really wrong about that.

  He closes the door behind us, and my body jolts with the noise. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t that.

  “Stay here,” he orders, and I frown. Jason Stone really likes giving orders. I wonder if he’s a drill sergeant. If not, he should be.

  He comes back out a few minutes later and he looks mad at me. I brace myself, wondering what I’ve done now.

  “Keep this door locked, and connect the chain,” he orders.

  “If I do that, Dad won’t be able to let himself in.”

  “So you’ll wake up and let him in—but only after you’re sure it’s him,” he demands, as if I’m a child.

  “Uh, no.”

  “Excuse me?” he asks, sounding as if he can’t believe that I’m challenging him. Honestly, I can’t either and it might not be the safest course of action. Still, he’s annoying me, and I feel braver in my own home.

  “I said no. Dad sometimes doesn’t get back to three or four in the morning. I sleep in the back room and I’d never hear him. Besides that, I’m not about wake up any earlier than I have to. So, in answer to your question, no.”

  “It wasn’t a question, Sadie. It was a command.”

  “The answer is still the same.”

  “You have entirely too much sass in you, Sadie.”

  “Don’t you need to go? You don’t want to leave your big fancy car out there too long, someone might steal the hubcaps,” I reply helpfully.

  “It’s a Bentley,” he says, shaking his head.

  “Huh?”

  “It’s a Bentley, Kitten. It doesn’t have hubcaps.”

  “Well whatever it does have might not be safe. You should go,” I suggest—strongly.

  “Are you trying to get rid of me?” he asks, sounding mildly amused.