Free Forbidden Steps: A Stepbrother Romance by Bianca Sommerland

Later. The important thing was making sure she was okay.
    This conversation was not one to be had in front of the assholes that had tried to take advantage of her. That in mind, Colin led Ashley out to the jeep, fetched a blanket from the back, and unfolded it before speaking again.
    “What exactly did they do?” He took in the sorry state of her clothes, from her rumpled skirt to the absent shirt. Shaking his head he covered her in the serviceable grey blanket, tucking it around her shoulders before doing up her seatbelt. “Besides the obvious that is.”
    Ashley freed her arms and reached over to grab a half full bottle of water from the cup holder. Her hands shook as she opened the bottle and poured a little bit into her palm so that she could clean the blood off her face. Scrubbing her palm over her mouth and chin, she glanced in the mirror to see if she’d gotten it all, then used the edge of the blanket to dry off.
    Blanket held to her chin, knees drawn to her chest, Ashley turned sideways so she could watch Colin walk around the car and get in the driver’s side. “Not much. I snapped out of my drunken stupor when it all started and managed to get away from them.”
    Colin started the car and let it ease out onto the street. “So the blood’s not yours?”
    A crease formed in Ashley’s brow as she touched her mouth. Hiding a wince, she nodded. “I bit Danny when he tried to stop me from screaming.”
    “You should get tested. Who knows what that bastard’s got.” Colin drew in a slow breath, fighting for control. “I could bring you to the hospital now. If there’s any evidence…”
    Ashley stiffened in her seat. “Evidence of what? I told you nothing happened.”
    “But they tried.”
    Head bowed Ashley gave a little nod. “Yeah. They tried.”
    Much too soon they reached the street that led up to the hotel. Still determined to get her to go to the hospital, to do everything necessary to file charges—since Ashley didn’t want him to commit murder—Colin just kept driving. No destination in mind. Nothing but the endless road and Ashley stuck at his side. They were alone and he could get her to talk.
    Not something he was looking forward to, Steph was much better at the whole inner emotional crap, but it was something he had to do. That Ashley had to do. There was no way around it. Not unless he trusted someone else to take care of her.
    “Why did you go there?” Keeping his eyes on the road, Colin fought to sound neutral. Concerned, but not accusing.
    Shifting in her seat, Ashley stared at her knees and shrugged. “Something to do.”
    Swerving the car to the side of the road, Colin slammed his fist on the steering wheel, jammed his foot on the brake and stared at her. “Something to do? Damn it, Ashley, why? What in the world possessed you to do something so reckless? There were five guys there. Do you know how much worse that could have gone?”
    So much for keeping his cool to get her talking.
    Being put on the defensive seemed to loosen Ashley’s tongue. “How the hell would I know someone I considered family would pull something like that?” Eyes flashing she leaned closer to him. “I woke up to a lot of changes. I need time to get used to it.”
    “Is this about me and Steph?” There, he’d said it. There was no point in pretending she didn’t know. He could be way off track but he doubted it. If Ashley’s reaction to finding out about his relationship with their stepsister was going to have her acting out like this he needed to address the issue now.
    The quick swallow and shake of her head didn’t fool him. Colin caught the rim of tears in her eyes just before she lowered her head to her knees, hiding from him.
    Colin undid his seatbelt, then leaned over to undo hers. His jeans scuffed against the rough material of his seat as he shifted over, placing his hand on Ashley’s shoulder. When she refused to look at him, still huddled down in her seat in a very childlike pose,