Growing Close Ch. 2

Another long, painful silent streak followed their rest stop as Calli sat with the thousand-mile stare she had perfected long ago pasted on her face. Mark knew full well that her expression could have meant one of a thousand things, very few of them actually being good. The embarrassment that was welling up inside of him threatened to choke the life out of him, and it became readily apparent that this entire trip was a bad idea.

For Mark, the worst part was that he had truly been hoping to salvage his relationship with his stepsister, not merely because his father and stepmother wanted him to, but because deep down, he had, over the years, learned to value Calli as a person, to love her as a part of his family. He'd never told her so, knowing she'd probably laugh at him, but he wanted her back in his life.

It was the pressure that had torn them apart, the pressure of being a family that had been forced to love each other. Mark vividly remembered the day his father had announced his engagement to Calli's mother. He'd sat down on ten-year-old Mark's bed and told him, "You're getting a new mommy and a big sister, and I promise you, you'll absolutely love them." The tone in his voice had been subtle, but Mark picked up on it, the tone that added the implied "or else" to the end of his sentence.

Mark grasped the wheel tighter, the memory of his overbearing father's announcement, his assumption that Mark wanted a new family, grating on Mark's mind as it had for nine years. Just as his knuckles began turning white on the vinyl steering wheel of his '89 Honda, a soft, slim hand gently slipped over his own. He looked over at Calli, and by the glow of the dashboard lights, he could see that her light eyes were locked into his.

"Don't be mad it him," she said quietly, "it's not his fault."

"How did you know-"

"I'm not mad at you, Mark, I was just surprised, that's all. I didn't think you looked at me like that."

"I......" His brain and his mouth suddenly didn't want to cooperate.

"So do we keep going?"

"What do you mean?"

"Our game," she said, "deep, dark secrets, want to keep going?"

He sighed, relieved that she didn't seem too pissed at him, but hesitant to keep pushing his luck any further. "I don't know, Cal, I don't think it's such a good idea. No matter how hard I try to pretend you're not my stepsister, I just can't deny the fact."

"That shouldn't change anything."

"It does."

"No, it doesn't," she said resolutely, "who says just because we're related doesn't mean we can't share everything? Shouldn't family be able to share more with each other than anyone else?"

"Not necessarily."

"Mark, please...I think you want to hear what I have to say."

Of course she was right. There were so many things she wanted to tell him, and so many things he wanted to hear.

"Okay," he said, his heart pounding violently in his chest.

"I lied. I already knew you used to watch me, Mark, I knew it the whole time."

"And you never said anything? Christ, you used to beat the crap out of me for a lot less than that."

Calli giggled slightly. "I know, but I didn't say anything because I liked it."

"What?" He heard her fine; he wanted to hear her say it again.

"I liked it. I wanted you to watch me."

The conversation was really beginning to strike home, and Mark had to strain to keep his concentration on the road now that it was dark. He glanced over at the clock on the dash, which read "10:13." They would have to stop soon because he was getting tired, and even at twenty-five, Calli hadn't bothered to get her license. That had bothered him when they started the trip, but now it didn't seem like such a big deal.

In the passenger seat, Calli waited for his reaction, not knowing that his mind was busy working through such dull, practical details. She wanted him to respond, but what she wanted to hear were things she wouldn't admit to herself she wanted to hear. Her state of denial had been strong and true ever since the day three years ago she realized Mark was turning into a man.

"Mark?"

"Yes."

"Talk to me."

He paused for a moment and glanced at the clock again. "I'm going to stop soon. We'll get started early tomorrow, probably reach Florida around two or so."

"You know that's not what I meant."

"I know."

He turned and looked at her, finally admitting to himself how lovely she was. This wasn't like his horny adolescent glances at her changing in her room, nor was it like the erotic strip shows he would imagine as she showered. This was, for the first time in his life, something true, something pure.

He didn't notice the tits and ass he had lusted after as a teenager; he noticed the raven-black hair cascading over her shoulders, the way her hands unconsciously brushed it away from the light, soft skin of her face. He noticed the way her striking gray eyes watched him thoughtfully, and entranced him when he looked into them. He noticed the subtle, refined femininity that let her be tough when she had to be and sexy when she wanted to be.

He noticed all the things he'd never let himself notice before.

And they rode in silence for another fifteen minutes, but this time was different. There was no more uncomfortable void, no more battling siblings. The uneasiness they had lived with for so long was now gone, replaced by an undeniably powerful yearn that neither Mark nor Calli were strong enough to admit to each other.

Before long, a small roadside motel came into view. The place was small, and the parking lot seemed crowded, but the sign indicated that there were vacant rooms. Mark stopped the car in front of the office and glanced over at Calli.

"So, uh...should I get separate rooms-I mean, do we have enough cash for separate rooms?"

"Yeah," Calli forced herself to answer, "it's probably a good idea. I know...you snore."

"I don't snore."

She smiled sweetly at him. "You lived in the room next door for two years, Mark, and I can't tell you how many times I was frightened out of my sleep by a herd of charging cattle."

"Ha, ha, ha, it's amazing how fucking funny you are. I'll be right back." He flashed her a coy smile and made his way to the office.

She watched him the entire way, wishing she would stop him, wishing she would tell him to get one room so she could stay up all night with him, talking to him, whispering her secrets to him. She wanted to touch him so badly, touch him in the way new lovers touched each other before their first time, she wanted to run her fingers through his hair, down the back of his next, softly, softly across his shoulders, up his neck to his face, over his lips following them with tender, moist kisses, feeling his breath on her lips, running her fingers down his chest, down, softly, slowly, lovingly, whispering close to his ear her every desire, her dreams, her fantasies, telling him how badly she wanted-

A rapid knock on her window startled her half to death. It was Mark. She rolled down her window.

"You scared the living shit out of me, Mark."

"Sorry. Problem."

"What?"

He held up a key, one key, one single key. "They've only got one room left."

Calli turned and look at the flickering neon sign just as the "No" in "No Vacancies" flashed on. She turned back to Mark and offered him a sheepish grin.

"Oh well, I guess I'll have to listen to you rattle the windows after all."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said as he handed her the key, "I'll get your stuff out of the back, smartass. Our room's on the second floor, just down the way."

When Calli's heart managed to stop its calisthenics, she made her way to their room, Mark's words "our room" repeating over and over in her head like she was a schoolgirl with a crush. She suddenly began to feel very silly about the whole situation, and tried to remind herself that she was twenty-five years old, not fifteen. Yes, she had feelings, yes, those feelings were entirely inappropriate, and yes, she had to accept the fact that she had to put her feelings aside, that writing her stepbrother's name in the cover of her math book in fifty different ways surrounded by little tiny hearts would have gotten her drummed out of private school when she was a girl.

She unlocked the door to their room..."their room." It was a simple little place that she noticed, thankfully, had two double beds. Having been in the car all day, she immediately collapsed onto one of them, and Mark soon entered the room carrying a couple of small bags, which he dropped on the floor, then dropped himself into the other bed.

He lay there for what seemed like a long time, wondering if she was thinking about him half as much as he was thinking about her. Could it even be possible that she wanted him as much as he wanted her, or was it just wishful thinking? Maybe he had completely misinterpreted what she'd told him, maybe it was all just a childhood whim, a fantasy.

Mark glanced over at Calli, who was stretched across the other bed, her eyes closed. Some of the old familiar feelings returned as he noticed the taut flesh of her belly beneath the tight black t-shirt that had been pulled up just a little. He watched her breathe, her perfect breasts rising up and down, her long legs shifting ever so slightly as she tried to get more comfortable.

"Mark?"

He turned his head away quickly. "Yeah, sweetie?"

"What time are we leaving tomorrow?"

"I don't know. I was thinking six or so."

"Does it have to be so early?"

"I guess not," he said, relishing the thought of spending more time alone in this room with her. "The wedding's not until the day after tomorrow. Rehearsal starts at 3 tomorrow, but we can miss that."

"Cool, I'm tired of being in the car."

"Me too." He forced himself up off the bed, grabbed his bag and headed to the bathroom. He splashed some cold water on his face, then grabbed his toothbrush, dabbed a little toothpaste on, and-a thought crept across his mind, the kind of thought that made his face turn completely flush in a matter of seconds.

Had he called her "sweetie?"

Toothbrush still stuck in his mouth, he took a moment to glance out into the room, where Calli still lay exactly where she was, thankfully without a look of shock or disgust or confusion on her face, without any kind of look that said, "Why the hell did my stepbrother just call me 'sweetie'?" Maybe she hadn't noticed; maybe he hadn't said it in the first place, or maybe it was just-

--Calli's heart throbbed deep in her chest, and even through her closed eyes she could feel her head spinning, the word "sweetie" racing through her mind. She didn't know why it affected her so deeply, why it made her insides melt, why it felt so intimate, so sweet, and so loving all at the same time. But still, she thought he hadn't even realized what he was saying; it was, more than likely, just his involuntary reaction to a female voice, any female voice, saying his name. He'd been driving all day; he was tired.

But she'd never heard it before. And it made her tingle.

Suddenly she was very aware of a sensation welling up from deep inside her, a feeling she recognized clearly, a feeling she would have been entirely capable of taking care of if not for the fact that Mark was right there in the bathroom. She realized that her hand had unconsciously slipped down to the growing heat between her legs, her fingers delicately rubbing across her wet lips through the thin cotton of her panties. If she didn't stop soon-

Mark emerged from the bathroom, and Calli sat up quickly, perhaps a little too quickly to look natural, and turned her back to him.

"You okay?" he asked her nonchalantly.

"Yeah, fine," trying to catch her breath, praying he hadn't caught her. She let out a loud sigh, her head dropping slightly as she wished she could control the feelings that seemed to be spinning wildly inside her.

"You sure you're okay, Calli?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm cool," she said, nodding her head casually, "just tired, that's all. It's been a long ride."

"Bathroom's all yours if you need it."

"Thanks." She got up quickly and headed to the bathroom just in time to have her knees practically go out from under her. Supporting herself on the sink, she took a moment to regain her composure, entirely unsure of whether she'd be able to take anymore. She had never felt this out of control, and she had never wanted a man as bad as this before.

She changed quickly into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, trying to establish the most comfortable, least sexy sleep outfit she could find, and after brushing her teeth, went back out to collapse on her bed. Mark had flipped on the television and seemed to be engrossed in some inane movie about creatures from another planet.

"What are we watching?" she asked as she stretched out on the bed again.

"I don't know, some stupid movie. We don't exactly have a plethora of choices here, it's either this or we order porno."

"Thank, but no thanks."

"Thought so." Mark flipped off the television, then hit the light, and the room was bathed in darkness.

"Goodnight, Cal."

"'night Mark."

As Calli's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she found herself staring restlessly at the ceiling, counting holes in the tile, trying to find anything that could keep her mind off the soft sound of Mark's breathing from the other bed. Once again, in the dark, she found her hand slipping down her stomach, down her pants, toying slightly with the waistband of her panties.

Trying to keep absolutely quiet, she slipped her fingertips along the smooth contour of her body beneath her cotton panties, almost immediately feeling the warmth of her juices beginning to soak through. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this hot, this eager to satisfy herself, and the thought of doing it right here in the very same room as her stepbrother just made it all the more exciting...but there was one missing element...

"Mark," her quiet voice through the dark, "will you talk to me?"

"What?"

"I just...it's hard for me to sleep in a strange place. I just want to hear your voice."

"Okay," Mark replied with a small tone of confusion, "what do you want me to talk about?"

She slipped two fingers around her inner thigh, ever so close, pushing her panties slightly to the side. "Anything, I don't care, I just need to hear your voice." The sensation began to shoot through her body as she ran a fingertip lightly along her moist lips.

"Anything," Mark said quietly through the darkness, "how about last summer, the vacation we took. It was the last time we spoke before this trip, wasn't it?"

Calli's breathing began to quicken as she stroked herself more firmly, and a breathy "Yeah" escaped her lips in response to Mark's question.

"I know I promised I wouldn't bring it up," he continued, "but the thing that bothered me most about that trip was that you brought Kevin. I hated having him there, I hated him...I hated the way you were when you were around him."

"I'm sorry..." she managed as she pressed a wet finger past her lips, and another surge as her finger brushed past her sensitive clit...

"It's not your fault, Cal, and it wasn't Kevin's fault either, I just-"

"You wanted time...with me..." escaped in a heavy breath past her lips as she slid her fingers deep into her pussy, every nerve in her body tingling with pleasure, her muscles pulsing against her fingers.

"Yeah...time...we had so little time..."

"But now..." tensing, tensing, her entire body, she bit her lip to keep from crying out into the dark, to keep from revealing herself to him, but his voice...

"Now...now we have all the time in the world, I guess."

"Yes," she said, only half in response to his comment. She felt the waves coming over her as she ran her fingertip in circles over her clit, barely able to control her body from jerking uncontrollably.

"Calli? I know you're tired, I know we're both tired, it's been...a long day, but I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" followed by a slight hiss of air through her teeth as she got closer, ever so closer to taking herself over the edge, barely able to hold back anymore, the sound of his voice through the dark reaching out and touching her almost as powerful as her own probing fingers.

Silence, for what seemed like forever...silence, until...

"Calli, I love you."

Then the orgasm hit like thunder shaking her entire body straight down to the core, and she had to keep from calling out his name into the darkness, her body tensing entirely, frozen in a wave of lust and passion, she came over and over, her juices spilling from her, her pussy tightening like a vice...

"I just wanted you to know," Mark's voice continued through her haze, "I've never gotten to tell you as often as I wanted...I don't know if I've ever gotten to tell you, but I love you, I really do."

"Oh..."

Silence again, as her trembling body finally relaxed. She gasped slightly as she slipped her fingers past her now ultra-sensitive clit. The exhaustion suddenly hit her hard, the inevitable weariness that came with such a strong orgasm. She closed her eyes, wishing she could curl up next to him, wishing she could feel his warm body next to her and his arm draped over her, his breath against her neck, his strong hand cupping her breast.

She wished for all that and more as she drifted off into the darkness, and the words she yearned to speak escaped her lips...

"I love you too, Mark."