FIERCED 2: A stepbrother Romance Read Online Free Page A

camera shutter and the kids that notice me reward me with their brilliant white smiles. How can children living in such dire conditions be so happy?
    He's towed away to the central area to greet the mothers and receive welcoming gifts of tea and snacks. There, he sits on an upturned oil drum and listens to each tale from the women. Genuinely hears all their anecdotes with interest. Then he retrieves a package from the bike panniers and heads to the medical tent. The doctor working there is, if it's possible, even more delighted than the kids to see him again.
    She reaches up to kiss his cheek in greeting but the way her fingers curl around the back of his neck, caressing the edges of his black bird tattoo, I know immediately that there's something between them. And I don't like the enormous twang of jealousy I get in the pit of my stomach for that cute doctor. I don't like it at all.
    She lets go of him reluctantly. She'd much prefer to hang on to him and drag him away somewhere private, that's perfectly clear. But he takes her hand in a gesture of restraint and leads her across to be introduced to me.
    “Tenley Reid, this is Lisa St James from the American Embassy.”
    Tenley stares at me wondering no doubt what role I could possibly have with the diplomatic corps, then she spots the cameras and relaxes. She greets me without malice, which makes the dislike I have for her more plagued with guilt. It isn't her fault that she's stunningly beautiful even without a stroke of make-up. Nor that she has the body of a Barbie doll. No bitchiness intended, she actually does have that tall slender frame with firm round boobs riding high on her chest.
    And she's a doctor, working not in Los Angeles but in the harshest conditions with almost zero supplies. What I can't understand is why she looks at Rocco with something bordering adoration even before he hands her the heavy packages of medical supplies the gang of motorbike renegades have transported across the desert.
    “My angel of mercy,” she breathes and a look passes between them.
    Again an unpleasant spark explodes inside my chest. I've never experienced a feeling like it but I still don’t like it. It isn't rage and it isn't loathing but something more twisted. Something that makes me believe that if there was a chance to see Tenley fail in some way, I'd be delighted to grab at it.
    “Any problems getting here?” she asks, her sinuous fingers resting on his massive forearm.
    “Surprisingly calm for once, Doc” Rocco says. “It makes me kinda nervous not to see a single commando.” I hate the endearment he uses on her. Which is filled with admiration rather than the insulting one he uses on me.
    “I thought you were the raider,” I say and they both look at me as though they'd forgotten my presence. I'm completely invisible.
    “Actually, the AQIM militia are a big problem here in Algeria, Lisa.” Tenley informs me. “They've taken to ambushing foreign bikers in the desert for ransom money,”
    So much for my attempt at snark against my stepbro. I just opened the opportunity for Miss Saintly to give me a lecture.
    “Oh, I don't think a bit of kidnapping would bother Rocco much,” I tell her while gazing with loathing at his smiling smugness.
    “Actually it has been a serious setback for us. No supplies have been getting through other than what Rocco brings without a thought for the danger.”
    Yeah, what a hero.
    She has no idea of the hatred between the man she considers a savior and me.
    I follow them as Tenley makes rounds through the medical tent, taking hundreds of photos while Rocco helps her however she needs. They work smoothly as a team and of course, the kids all shine their beautiful big eyes on them with adulation.
    When I can stand no more of their syrupy sweet teamwork, I take off on my own to get candid photos of life around the camp. Soon I've got my own pied piper band of munchkins trailing along behind me and popping up in front of the lens with