His new stepsister His biggest threat (Claire and Elijah) novel Chapter 181

Chapter 181

Claire’s POV

I slipped out of my room like a thief, barefoot so the floorboards wouldn’t betray me. The hallway was dark except for the thin strip of light leaking from under Elijah’s door. My pulse hammered so loudly I was sure it would wake the whole house.

I didn’t knock. I just turned the handle, slow and careful, and stepped inside.

He was waiting.

Elijah stood in the middle of the room, wearing nothing but low-slung sweatpants, the dim lamp behind him carving shadows across his chest and shoulders.

His eyes locked on me the second I closed the door, and the of a second the air between us felt too small for both of us to breathe.

“You came,” he said, voice rough, like he hadn’t been sure I actually would.

“You asked,” I answered, and it sounded stupidly simple, but it was the truth.

He took one step toward me. Then another. Slow, deliberate, like he was giving me every chance to change my mind. I didn’t.

When he was close enough that I could feel the heat coming off his skin, he stopped. His hands hovered at my sides, not quite touching.

“Tell me to back off,” he murmured. “Say the word and I will.”

I should have. We both knew it.

Instead, I tilted my chin up. “I’m not saying it.”

Something broke open in his expression…relief, hunger, both. His hands settled on my hips, fingers curling into the fabric of my sleep shorts, and then he pulled me in until there was no space left at all.

His mouth found mine like he’d been starving for it all day.

The kiss wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t careful. It was every stolen glance from breakfast, every accidental brush in the hallway, every second we’d spent pretending we weren’t burning up. I kissed him back just as hard, my hands sliding up his bare chest, nails scraping lightly over his skin because I couldn’t help it.

He groaned softly against my lips, and the sound shot straight through me.

“Claire,” he breathed, breaking just long enough to rest his forehead against mine. “We have to be quiet.”

“Then stop making noises like that,” I whispered, and kissed him again before he could argue.

His hands moved up my sides, under my tank top, palms hot against my bare back. I arched into him without

thinking, and he took the invitation, walking me backward until my knees hit the edge of his bed.

We went down together, a tangle of limbs and breathless laughter when I almost slid off the mattress.

“Shh,” he laughed against my neck, teeth grazing the spot just below my car that made my toes curl.

“You shh,” I shot back, but it came out shaky because his hand had slipped lower, fingers tracing the waistband of my shorts, teasing the skin just above.

I tugged at his hair, pulling his mouth back to mine. The kisses turned slower now, deeper, like we were trying to memorize every second before it got taken away.

His thigh slid between mine, pressing up just enough to make me gasp into his mouth.

“Elijah,” I whispered, not even sure what I was asking for.

“I know,” he said, voice strained. “God, I know.”

His hand slipped under my shorts, fingers brushing over me through the thin fabric of my underwear, and my hips lifted on instinct.

He swallowed my moan with another kiss, moving against me in a rhythm that had my head spinning. I could feel how hard he was, pressed against my thigh, and the knowledge that he wanted this-wanted me-just as badly made everything sharper, hotter.

I reached down, fingers fumbling with the drawstring of his sweatpants, and he pulled back just enough to look at me.

“Claire,” he said, warning and question all at once.

“I want to,” I breathed. “I want-”

He kissed me again, hard, and rolled us so I was on top, my knees bracketing his hips.

The new angle made us both groan. His hands gripped my thighs, guiding me as I rocked against him, the friction perfect and maddening and not nearly enough.

“Off,” I muttered against his mouth, tugging at my tank top. He didn’t need to be told twice.

The fabric disappeared over my head, and then his mouth was on my collarbone, my chest, everywhere he could reach without breaking the rhythm we’d found.

I was reaching for his waistband again, heart racing, skin on fire, when-

THUMP.

We both froze.

Another THUMP, louder this time, followed by the unmistakable sound of a door down the hall creaking

open.

“Elijah?” Mom’s voice, sleepy and confused. “Honey, are you okay? I heard a noise.”

We stared at each other in pure horror.

Elijah’s room was directly across from theirs. The walls were not thick. And we had definitely not been quiet.

He mouthed a panicked fuck.

I scrambled off him so fast I nearly fell off the bed. He caught my arm, steadying me, then pointed frantically at his closet like it was the only hiding spot in existence.

I dove for it, yanking the door almost shut behind me just as Mom knocked lightly on his door.

“Elijah?”

“Yeah-yeah, I’m fine!” he called, voice only slightly strangled. I could hear him yanking his comforter up, probably trying to look innocent and asleep. “Dropped my phone on the floor. Sorry. Went back to bed.”

Silence. Then: “Okay, sweetheart. Night.”

Her footsteps retreated. The door down the hall closed.

I stayed in the closet, heart hammering against my ribs, surrounded by Elijah’s hoodies and the faint scent of his cologne, trying not to laugh or cry or both.

After what felt like forever, the closet door cracked open. Elijah peered in, hair a mess, cheeks flushed, looking equal parts wrecked and amused.

“You okay?” he whispered.

I stepped out, still topless, clutching my tank top to my chest like a shield. “We are the dumbest people alive.”

He bit his lip, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. “I mean… we were doing great until the phone thing.”

“You dropped your phone?” I hissed. “That’s the best you could come

up

with?”

“It worked, didn’t it?” He grinned, then sobered as his gaze dropped. “Claire.”

I looked down-tank top barely covering anything—and felt my face burn. “Stop looking at me like that. We’re stopping.”

He exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah. We’re stopping. For tonight.”

I pulled my top back on, suddenly shy in a way I hadn’t been thirty seconds ago. He watched me, eyes soft now, all the heat banked into something gentler.

“Come here,” he said quietly.

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