Romance: TOXIC (Forbidden, Pregnancy, Taboo Romance, Stepbrother Romance, New Adult Short Stories) by Celia Styles

new show- Tales of the Unexpected.”
    He was momentarily drowned out by a spontaneous round of applause. I was surprised by how passionate people seemed to be, but then, this was a packed-out show for two of the most instantly recognisable magicians in the world. Just because it wasn’t the first thing I’d have chosen to do didn’t mean that some people weren’t crazy about it. I pulled my brain back into focus as Eric continued to talk.
    “Over the course of this evening, Oliver and I will be weaving many a tale- from tales of loves lost and found again, to tales of wanton debauchery the likes of which most of you will never even be able to imagine.”
    Try me, I thought.
    “So, settle in, and be prepared for a show which will have your mind doing somersaults and your eyes playing tricks on you. Are you ready for a night of magical entertainment?”
    There was a deafening cheer from the audience around me.
    “Very good. Oliver, shall we begin?”
    Eric turned to his partner, and they exchanged a tiny smile, the kind you could only see if you were sitting as closely and watching as intently as I was. I wondered what kind of relationship they had; friends? Lovers? I shivered a little at the thought; the image of these two perfect men, naked, enjoying each other’s bodies, struck me in a way that I didn’t expect it to. I shifted my weight in my seat, hoping that my sudden shock of arousal wasn’t showing.
    The show was a truly magnificent one, the kind that drew you in and didn’t let go. It was clear the two of them had spent months practicing the old-style vaudeville act, with each smoothly taking over from the other as they wove tales about saucy housemaids who wound up sawn in half by jealous wives, rich husbands who lost their money to secret lovers, and other tales that seemed plucked from an eighteenth-century penny dreadful. The way they bounced off each other, sliding into roles and taking on personas with ease, kept me enraptured; their chemistry together was really something else. And, of course, it didn’t hurt that they looked as damn good as they did. I pressed my knees together as my mind drifted without permission to the thought of being with one of them; the feel of their strong hands on my ass, their teeth on my breast…

 
    Shut Up! And… Kiss Me
    By Celia Styles
     
    One
    Matthew Ahearn was stretched out on the living room couch, thumbing through his copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray . He had read it more times than he cared to remember, but he always made it a point to review it before every semester’s teaching began.
    “Matthew!” he heard his father call out from the kitchen. “Amanda and her son are supposed to arrive in an hour. Get off the couch and make yourself useful.”
    He rolled his eyes, and slipped in a bookmark before shutting the book. Amanda was his stepmother, whom his father had married in Glasgow last weekend. Matthew had refused to go point-blank, since the prospect of some random woman invading his mother’s house along with her teenaged son hadn’t exactly endeared the marriage to him.
    But Matthew was nothing if not a dutiful son, at least for the most part. So he got up, and padded towards the kitchen.
     
    “Amanda’s son will occupy Melina’s old room. I’d like you to go and set it up,” his father said, while chopping onions.
    “Set it up with what? And does this son have a name?”
    “Oh, James. I’m not sure, though. Could be Charlie. Or Alfred.” It horrified Matthew to see that his father hadn’t even bothered to learn his would-be stepson’s name.
    “Jesus Christ,” he said, and went upstairs to his mother’s old room.
     
    The room hadn’t been used in five years, ever since his mother had died. So it was clean for the most part, and the maid did dust it every other day. Matthew couldn’t figure out exactly what his father had meant by ‘setting it up’, but perhaps the subtext had been to remove anything that might remind anyone