26 stories
The Arrangement
His father's new Malindi wife was supposed to be a marriage of convenience. She has other arrangements in mind.
The Patriarch's Wife
His father remarries a Zanzibari woman half his age but twice his appetite. When baba travels, she shows her stepson the old Stone Town ways.
Fireworks
At the lake house for the holiday, his stepmom shows him a different kind of fireworks after everyone else falls asleep. Some explosions happen in the dark.
Snowed In
A cabin, a blizzard, and three women who've stopped pretending. Stepmom. Stepsister. Stepsister's best friend. By day three, the only warmth is body heat.
Browser History
Stepmom finds his search history. Older women. Thick bodies. Taboo fantasies. Instead of telling his father, she offers to make every search come true.
The Estate
His father's death left everything to his stepmother. Her mother—his step-grandmother—controls the will. The condition for his share: satisfy them both. Regularly. Documented.
Wine Night
She opens a bottle to take the edge off. Then another. By the third, she's telling him things she swore she'd never say. By the fourth, she's showing him.
The Fitting
She needs help with her dress. The zipper's stuck, and the gala is in two hours. What starts with his hands on her back doesn't end there.
Search History
She borrowed his laptop to check her email. She found his browser history instead. Now she knows exactly what her stepson has been thinking about.
The Massage
Her back has been killing her for weeks. Her stepson worked as a massage therapist one summer. She just needs relief. That's all this is.
Both of Them
Stepmom and stepsister have been competing for his attention since the wedding. When Dad leaves for a month, they stop competing—and start sharing.
Stepmom's Solution
Stepmom catches him with his laptop open. Instead of telling his father, she offers an alternative—she'll take care of his needs. All of them. Whenever he wants.
The Inheritance
Dad's been dead three months. His stepmom and stepsister have been competing for his attention since the funeral. Tonight, they both show up in his room. No more games. Winner takes all—unless he wants them both to win.
The Inheritance
His grandfather passed, leaving him the estate. His step-grandmother and stepmom both live there. They've been lonely together for years. They have a proposition.
Young Trophy
Dad's new wife is twenty-eight. He's twenty-three. She married for money. He hates her for it. But hate and desire have always been close neighbors.
Family Tradition
His stepmom and her mother have shared everything for decades. Men, secrets, pleasure. Now it's his turn to learn the family tradition.
The Favor
She needs him to pretend to be her boyfriend at her high school reunion. He agrees—but he has conditions. By the end of the night, neither of them is pretending anymore.
Family Reunion
Dad gets called away from the annual reunion. His stepmom and stepsister have been waiting for this. They've discussed it. Tonight they stop pretending.
Moving Day
He comes home from college to find his father remarried. His new stepmom is everything his mother wasn't—warm, thick, and watching him with eyes that promise trouble.
Night Owl
He can't sleep. Neither can she. Every night at 2 AM, they meet in the kitchen. Every night, the conversation goes a little further. Every night, they get a little closer to something they can't take back.
The Pool Boy
Summer job cleaning his father's pool. His new stepmother sunbathes every afternoon in bikinis that shouldn't be legal. The heat wave breaks something in both of them.
Back Home
He left for college a boy. He's back five years later—broke, jobless, sleeping in his old room. His stepmother hasn't forgotten what she saw the night before he left.
Morning Routine
Dad's new wife was his personal trainer. Now she's decided her stepson needs discipline too. The 5 AM workouts were supposed to be punishment. They became something else.
The Convert
She converted to marry his father. Now a widow in a foreign land, she turns to her stepson to learn what her husband never taught her. Some lessons require hands-on instruction.
While He's Away
Dad leaves for a month. His new wife and her daughter have been waiting. By the time he returns, they've claimed what's theirs—and they're never giving it back.
Iddah
Islamic law says a widow must wait four months and ten days before remarrying. She's been waiting three weeks. Her stepson has been waiting longer. Some rules are meant to be broken.