Tuesday morning found Rayne kissing Nathan goodbye on their doorstep. Once settled in his Mercedes, she waved until the car exited from their driveway.   Closing the front door. The day's chores ran through her mind.

First, clean the house.

Nathan had offered to hire a housekeeper. But Rayne would not hear of such a thing. She loved nothing more than scrubbing, cleaning, ensuring order and perfection. And like a demon possessed. She was on a mission. First on her list... The bathroom, eighteen minutes, three sets of six to make it sparkle. Almost a little too excited, she light-footed towards the stairs.

~ ~

Jaxon watched his brother's car pull out of the driveway. Parking further away than probably necessary, he waited until the car disappeared from view and slowly drove his vehicle closer. This was the first time he'd seen the house in person. Nathan had purchased it right before the Nicole incident, in the hope they could all live here... together, a place to get away from the city. Hopefully settle down and perhaps raise a family. 

Sighing, he sat back in his seat and surveyed its beauty.   Giant blossoming cherry trees parted, giving way to the magnificent structure. Made from brick and colonial in style with a grand entrance. Windows like shy eyes, but large enough to welcome any ray of sunshine. It was exactly like he'd pictured, almost cut out from Suburban Living Design magazine. For being a city boy at heart it was strange that Nathan had always loved space, and this did not disappoint, secluded offering a place for kids to run wild with the surrounding woods and lake out to the rear.

Without further hesitation, he turned into the driveway. Coming to a stop, he was flooded by doubts. Would it piss off Nate, to find out he'd come without an invitation. Or more bluntly spy on his brother's life, a life he wasn't part of?

Well—now what?

Good question!

Getting out of the car, he left the door open as he internally debated whether he should get back in and drive home.  Curiosity building he deliberated what she looked like—the woman who'd stolen his brother's affections. Did she look like Nicole? Tall, blonde, beautiful but demanding and stubborn?   Nathan's type... their usual type.

Was he truly happy living out here in the sticks, just the two of them? He hadn't offered an invite. In fact, he had hardly mentioned her at all—Was Nate truly in love with this woman?

A sick stinging feeling funnelled into his stomach. Running his hand through his hair. You're here now, just knock and introduce yourself. He slammed the car door shut, walking towards the door before another thought could change his mind.

Pressing the doorbell, he waited.

Nothing, no one answered.

He rang the bell again but pressed it two more times for good measure. What—was she deaf?

Exhaling heavily through his nose, he was about to walk around to the rear when the door opened, and his mind emptied.

Was this her? No, surely not.

He watched her take a small step back as his eyes wandered over the tiny woman stood before him.

How old was she?  She looked young, surprisingly young.   Stood in a pair of frayed, faded denim shorts and a tiny fitted pale-yellow vest top, he swallowed thickly, double blinking. 

Je-sus Christ.

Should I answer? Rayne had stood on the opposite side of the door.  Her warring mind conflicted. Whoever was outside was impatient. They had rung the doorbell four times in total. One... two... three... four... five... six. 

She wasn't expecting anyone. And they were secluded enough that she had never seen or met the neighbours. 

The drumming through her veins was tangible. Tapping a finger on her thigh whilst her teeth bared down on a fingernail from her left hand. She was not ready to greet visitors. Looking down, she regarded her clothing. Shorts and a vest, barefooted, with her hair piled high on top of her head. An outfit decent for chores... not welcoming visitors.

Biting her nail, a little too hard, a chip was inevitable.   One... two... three... four... five... six.

Damn, no, no, no.  This simply would not do—a chip in her fingernail.  Forcing her hand to her side, she drummed the chipped nail against the fabric of her shorts, counting successively. 

Braving the unknown Rayne reached out, flipping the lock. Opening the door tentatively, the man standing on the other side of the door stunned her. A man so familiar, she too double blinked.   He could have been Nathan if not for being enormous—both taller and more muscular than Nathan.  "Can I help you?"

A pause was evident as his eyes continued to wander, almost evaluating her. Why was he staring at her like that? But wasn't she doing that to him? Suddenly she felt inadequate, as if she didn't measure up to his expectations. She took a step back.

One... two... three... four... five... six.

Rayne snapped from her counting as the stranger cleared his throat.

"Hey, I'm Jaxon, Nate's brother. Sorry to just turn up out of the blue. Is Nate home?" He knew damn well his brother wasn't home. But he sought to rid the look of uncertainty splashed across her beautiful face.  What beautiful?

Rayne internally sighed; her shoulders relaxed. It should have been quite obvious, no one could have looked so similar to Nathan and not be related. Although as she drank in more of his facial expressions, there were subtle differences.  Nathan was a beautiful man, of that there was little doubt. But Nathan was polished, handsome, his face serious and always cleanly shaved. The face in front of her now held a different character—it was one that would undeniably inspire fantasies. His whisky brown eyes were striking, warm... inviting.  Hair messy, and at least a day-old stubble sat on his prominent jaw. 

She shook herself from her stupor.   Nathan—he had enquired about Nathan. But wouldn't he know that Nathan would head to the office at this time of day?  "I'm sorry you just missed Nate—Nathan."

Unsure if she should invite him in.  Her eyes charted his huge, well-toned arms, bare as he only wore a white t-shirt.  It drew her attention to the edges of what must have been a tattoo. Nathan and his brother may be similar in looks but would appear nothing alike in taste and style. Nathan would never decorate his body with tattoos.

The silence once again settled between them. Each waiting for the other person to speak, both stood silently, each weighing the other. 

A scorching flash of lust rocketed through his system, still frozen where he now stood. He did his utmost to keep his cool, but his eyes remained glued on her.  So sure she was around nineteen, maybe twenty years old. Her outfit alone had him visualizing sliding those cute shorts down her well-toned pale creamy thighs. 

Never having been a breast man, he took longer than appropriate to absorb her glorious breasts thrust high, barely being contained by the small vest top... thankful she appeared to have a bra of some sort on.  If he were honest, he felt like a dirty old man, being thirty-two, and if in fact she was only nineteen, that would make him thirteen years older. He swallowed with difficulty.

Pushing that to one side, stood—barely five foot three inches, she entranced him.  He had never been attracted to small women, mainly because he was over six feet tall, and probably a good two inches taller than his brother. He couldn't picture her and Nate together either.

He thought her eyes were stunning, gunmetal grey. Unable to recall ever seeing anything like it.  Her auburn hair was bunched on top of her head and he imagined it flowing freely and his hands wrapping themselves in her soft curls.  He noted she wore no make-up—not that she needed anything to enhance or distract from her natural beauty.

She must have recognized the lust in his gaze as she stepped back, stiffening, standing straighter, which only drew his attention to her breasts again as they were inadvertently pushed out further. Shit, he was expecting drool any second.

Rayne felt something unexpected in the pit of her stomach, unsure of what it was. She needed to end the silence.  "Do you want me to call Nathan? Let him know you're here? He might not be at the helipad yet." She knew Nathan would want her to be polite and welcome his brother.

Jaxon listened to her speak; she had the sweetest voice he ever heard.  Mentally slapping himself, he needed to snap the hell out of this funk. But his brain wasn't functioning or playing ball, perhaps because all the blood was rushing to a different part of his body. He shifted on his feet.   Shit!   How would he explain to Nate that he'd thought he would drop by and say hello? He ran his large hand through his hair.  Here goes nothing.  "It's Rayne, isn't it?" He held out his hand.

"Yes," she smiled, cautiously stretching out her hand, closing the gap between them.

As his hand engulfed hers. It hit swiftly, a bolt out the blue. An electrical charge ran right through Rayne's hand, up her arm.  Only once before had she experienced such potent sensations—Nathan.  

The feeling—warmth, safety, attraction... desire.

Oh god. She gulped, snatching her hand back as if burned, counting to six. Rubbing her dirty hand continuously against the hem of her denim shorts.  "E-excuse me a moment." She almost pirouetted, before running from the door, belting up the stairs, hurrying to the bedroom. Heading straight towards the on-suite. Safely inside, she slammed the door closed and released her breath.

How could she look at Nathan's brother and feel attraction—desire?

You're nothing but a dirty, dirty whore, Rayne. Never satisfied. Always wanting more.  Always wanting what you shouldn't. You will be the ruin of any good man. Mark my words, any man that wastes his time on you worthless girl, will live to regret it.

Without thinking, she reached for the fleshy part of her inside thigh and pinched hard. Drawing a sharp breath through her teeth, the bite of her pinch refocused her thoughts. Releasing her flesh, she moved just below the blossoming red mark and pinched again, harder this time, continued this pattern until she had pinched six times... six... 

Whores like you will get what's coming to them, you'll see you dirty girl. God hates sinners and whores.

She moved to her other thigh... just six more.

No. No!  

Rayne wouldn't let her mother's cruel words taunt her. Dr De-Luca had told her, words can't hurt you. Cruel people say hateful things. And Rayne knew from the moment she'd taken her first breath in this world, that her mother hated her.

She slid down the door, landing on her ass. Wrapping her arms around herself, she counted to six, resisting the urge to run her hand on the inside of her thigh and start the pattern again. 

Continuing to count silently, she chewed the inside of her cheek, the relief of iron tainted her tastebuds. A lonely tear dripped from her cheek onto the swell of her breast.  She knew what she must do.

~ ~

Jaxon had watched her eyes widen and yank her hand from his before running quicker than a cat on a hot tin roof. Shit.

Was it something he'd said? Or had she noticed the lustful look he'd hardly refrained?  Fuck!

Pulling out his phone, he would now have no choice but to call Nate. Turning from the open door, he swiped and waited.

The minutes passed slowly, sure he had eroded the outside path as he paced back and forth waiting for Nate to arrive. Relief and anxiety churned his insides as his brother's car pulled into the drive. He appeared to be talking to someone.   Prepared for an ass-chewing, and rightly so. He shouldn't have come here knowing that Nate wouldn't be home. But he couldn't fathom what he'd done to upset Rayne. She hadn't returned since he'd heard the slamming of a door on the first floor.

Nathan pulled his car alongside Jaxon's.   "Yes, Suzanne, please rearrange my appointments and send my apologies. I will call you later."

Jaxon watched the car door swing open. A face of thunder. If looks could burn, he would be nothing but ash. Holding up his hands in surrender.  "Listen, Nate—"

Nathan was out of his car, bulldozing towards his brother. "You can't be here. You had no right to turn up here unannounced. Fuck, what the hell were you thinking, Jax?" Nathan was beyond fuming. Torn between wanting to throttle Jax or dart inside and see if Rayne was okay.

Jaxon inhaled a steadying breath, his hands still in the surrender position. "Look, I'm sorry. I know—I know. But honestly, Nate, I only said hello."

Nathan sighed, shaking his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.  "Rayne wouldn't have expected you. She has routines. Everything—" he wasn't sure how to explain it, still navigating this road himself. 

Jaxon couldn't comprehend Nate's explanation.  "Yes, you're right. It was stupid to turn up. But like I said—I only said Hello. What's wrong with her?"

Nathan straightened pushing back his shoulders; eyes narrowing.  "What the fuck, Jax! Nothing is wrong with her. Like I said. She wasn't expecting you.  It would have thrown her routine."

Jax obviously wasn't getting it.  "Listen it's best I go. You're here now. Sorry. I'll leave you to it."

Nathan breathed heavily, his anger subsiding. He closed his eyes for a second.  "No, stay Jax. I'd really like for you to meet her. But I need to go see she's okay. Come inside, sit and wait."

Jaxon paused. "Are you sure? I don't want to get in the way, upset her any more than I already have." Inexplicably for Jaxon, his protective instincts surged from within, it threw him through a loop, unsure why he would feel this way—when he had barely spoken to the girl.

"Yeah, I'm sure, please come in." It was time.