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I shaketo hesitate another second, I step into the clearing and…

There she is

My knees have never weakened ainvoluntarily now Dropping down to rass Aren’t el, anyway?

I have to be drea

The beauty in front of me is simply not real

A barefoot girl in a white nightgown sits on a tire swing, flying back and forth over the grass, her long blonde hair rippling behind her in the wind She’s surrounded by a parade of fireflies They see around her in praise Thethe most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen—and I’h to determine their color Every part of her is beautiful And that innocent, tinkling laugh It’s sweeping the glade and piercing ht in the throat

This girl…is my stepsister?

Cate

I must say her na eyes turning to saucers She clings tighter to the rope attached to the tire swing, her thighs wrapping around it—and that slight movement ining those lithe thighs around own bunched in my hands

Not good This is not good at all

I don’t even recall asking Rebecca her daughter’s age

Not that the specific nue

My body doesn’t see toward her before I can stop et closer andabout her Devour information about her Eat it whole

“Who’re you,tighter to the swing “You come here in that fancy suit to be takin’ my house? For the bank?”

“No” When I’led There is dirt caked to her feet, her calves But it’s not enough to detract froh to irl has been out here all alone? Vulnerable to men and animals and inclelected like this Never again “I’m Tristan,” I rasp “Your stepbrother”

Her nose wrinkles “Don’t got a stepbrother”