Puck Me Harder: A Stepbrother Romance [BL]

Micah’s POV

The moment I stepped into the foyer, a heavy, eerie silence greeted me. The entire house was pitch black and dead silent.

A tiny flicker of hope sparked in my chest. Was he out? Was he still searching for me outside?

Hoping to keep it that way, I tiptoed up the small stairs to the bathroom, quickly shedding my clothes to take a freezing cold shower. I threw on a warm, thick sweater and sweatpants, using a small towel to furiously dry my damp hair.

I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed, pull the covers over my head, and pretend to be dead asleep before Noah returned. But the moment I stepped back into the hallway, my stomach let out a loud, agonizing grumble. I hadn’t eaten a single bite of food all day, and the sharp pangs of hunger were twisting my insides into painful knots.

Sighing quietly, I crept down the staircase and rushed straight into the kitchen to grab something quick. I pulled a box of cereal from the pantry, pouring a handful into a ceramic bowl.

I turned around, opened the refrigerator door, and reached inside to grab the glass jar of fresh milk.

Just as I turned, with my fingers around the cold glass, a tall, dark shadow suddenly materialized directly in front of me.

"AH!"

A violent flinch racked my entire body. My heart leaped straight into my throat, my hand reflexively opening in sheer panic. The heavy glass jar slipped instantly from my numb fingers, plunging toward the hard tile floor.

Before the jar could shatter into a million sharp pieces, a pale, long-fingered hand shot out, catching the glass jar smoothly mid-air without spilling a single drop.

My breath completely seized in my chest, freezing in my throat as my wide, terrified eyes traveled up the long arm to meet the dark, unreadable face looming over me.

Noah stood there, his hair messy, his towering frame completely blocking the light from the kitchen ceiling. His pitch-black eyes were locked onto my face with an intensity so terrifying it made my blood run cold.

"N-Noah..." I stuttered out, my voice cracking as I took an instinctual step backward until my spine hit the fridge close.

Noah calmly set the milk jar down on the counter beside my cereal bowl. He didn’t look angry. He didn’t look like he was about to explode into a violent rage, and that made him a thousand times scarier.

"Welcome home, Micah," he said softly, his voice smooth, low, and completely devoid of any raised anger. "I’ve been looking everywhere for you all evening."

Panic clawed viciously at my lungs. My mind scrambled through a dozen different excuses, trying to pick one that wouldn’t get me killed. "I... I..." I stammered helplessly, clutching my hands tightly against my chest. "I didn’t know..."

Noah stepped closer, invading my personal space until I was completely trapped between his massive body and the hard counter.

"Why are you running away from me, Micah?" he asked softly.

The sudden, quiet question felt like a physical blow to my chest. I flinched violently again, my heart pounding so fast and hard against my ribs that I thought I was going to pass out right then and there. I pressed my clenched fist tightly against the center of my sweater, trying to keep my body from shaking.

Noah tilted his head, his dark eyes narrowing into sharp, penetrating slits as he stared directly into my soul.

"Did you see the list?" he asked quietly.

My eyes widened in pure, unadulterated horror.

The list.

My mind instantly flashed back to the written sheet of paper containing a list of prominent names, cross-outs.. The names of the people he was actively planning to hunt down and kill.

A cold, suffocating wave of terror washed over me, freezing the air inside my lungs. If I said yes... if I admitted that I had seen his darkest secret... was he going to grab a knife right now? Was he going to add my name to the bottom of that list and erase me from existence so I couldn’t report him?

"N-no," I choked out, desperately darting my eyes away from his face to stare at the tiled floor. "I don’t... I don’t know what you’re talking about."

Before I could even take another breath, Noah’s long, calloused thumb pinned itself firmly under my chin, forcing my head up, forcing my wide, tear-filled eyes back to meet his terrifying gaze.

My breath hitched, trapped in my tight throat.

"You don’t have to lie to me, Micah," Noah murmured, his voice laced with a strange, dark gentleness that sent a sickening shiver straight down my spine.

"But I’m not..." I tried to lie again, my voice trembling as I attempted to pull my head back, frantically trying to break eye contact.

"Whenever you lie to me," Noah cut in quietly, his thumb pressing a fraction harder against my jaw, "you always avoid my gaze. You’ve done it ever since we were kids."

I squeezed my eyes shut, tears of terror finally spilling over my lashes and trailing down my pale cheeks. I braced myself. I clenched my hands into tight fists, locking my muscles, waiting for the heavy blow to land, waiting for his fist to smash into my face or his hands to clamp around my throat to choke the life out of me.

Suddenly, the suffocating pressure on my chin vanished.

Noah pulled his hand back.

I opened my eyes in confusion, expecting to see him reaching for a weapon or rearing his hand back to strike me. But he didn’t hit me neither did he even raise his voice.

Instead, my jaw dropped in complete shock as Noah’s knees buckled.

He dropped straight down onto the hard kitchen tiles, falling onto his knees directly in front of me.

"Noah?!" I gasped out, his name ripping out of my throat in disbelief as I stared down at the top of his head.

Before I could take a step back, Noah reached out, his long, powerful arms wrapping tightly around my waist, pulling my body flush against his chest. He buried his face deep into the fabric of my sweater, right against my stomach, clinging to me like a drowning man holding onto a lifeline.

I froze, completely paralyzed, my arms hovering uselessly in the air, my heart hammering against my ribs. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t process what was happening. This was Noah... the brilliant, terrifying, emotionless monster who controlled everything around him... kneeling at my feet, trembling slightly as he held onto me for dear life.

"What do I do, Micah?" Noah muttered, his voice muffled against my clothes, thick with a dark, suffocating emotion I had never heard from him before in my entire life. "What am I supposed to do? I don’t want to lock you in a cage. I don’t want to hurt you. What do I have to do so you never, ever leave my side again?"

I stood there in the dark, quiet kitchen, staring down at my brother, unable to speak, as a cold, terrifying realization dawned on me.