Mouse Bk. 03 Ch. 01

"But it has a twist," she said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Which is?"

"You get to marry your sex-pot baby sister. Rehearsal dinner, vows, gown, reception, honeymoon, especially the honeymoon... everything but the church. And if I was really wicked, I'd even work that out, but this will be good enough."

"What about wedding guests? Best man and maid of honor?"

"Check, check and check."

"No," he said, becoming uncomfortable. It was going to involve other people. This was starting to sound elaborate. And dangerous.

"Yes," was her smiling response.

"Who?" he asked. He narrowed his brow at her. Who in the world could she get to play along with this? Who had she told about them? Michael was suddenly a bit nervous. This was wildly unexpected, and appeared to be spiraling out of control all ready, before it had even started.

"That's a secret," Mouse answered, grinning.

He studied her face, waiting for her to break down and explain. She didn't, but she didn't seem anxious either, or to want to surrender at all to his hesitation. He decided to trust her.

"Please tell me there's no flower girl."

"I hadn't thought of that, either," she said, as if considering it.

He raised his hand to slap her, and she flinched. Instead he reached behind her head to pull her into a full, passionate kiss. Her mouth parted easily and readily to let his tongue, very gently, find hers and poke and push and twist as their lips did the same.

"I get to marry my sister?" he asked, after reluctantly breaking the kiss.

"If I say yes," she teased.

He looked at her in mock dismay.

"I love you," he said.

"Now you're playing the game right," she said, smiling, and kissed him again. This one lasted longer, but was every bit as tender and warm. Then she stood up and walked to her bedroom, leaving him there on his knees.

"Come on, it's almost 4 o'clock," she said, "Let's get ready. It's not going to be easy getting engaged, married and thoroughly fucked nearly into oblivion by your husband-brother, all in four days and nights. We have to get moving. We have to get all dressed up. You have to propose to me in two hours."

8> Wednesday: First Proposal

Mouse looked around one more time, to be sure there was no one in the restaurant that knew her but wasn't in on the game. The snow storm had almost ruined things. The original plan had been to head out of the city, to a fancy place in the suburbs where they were guaranteed anonymity. The storm had made them improvise. It forced them to find something in the neighborhood. They settled on a small italian place, one with dark lighting and few tables. There the storm worked to their advantage, keeping most people away and warm at home instead.

Three of the tables had friends who were in on the game, and came for the show.

Tania was at one with her boyfriend Jeff, a lawyer. They made an odd couple, much like Michael and Mouse. She was a very tiny blue eyed blonde. He was very tall and very black, and when he wasn't in a sharp suit for work, he incongruously dressed like a gangsta, wearing one large earring and other bling, amidst baggy jeans and overlarge sweatshirts. Mouse always thought it an absurd affectation, but she had enough of her own, she knew.

Alicia, her latest best friend, was there at another table with her current toy, Paul. Alicia went through men like Mouse went through clothes, quickly getting bored and looking for something new excite her. At a third table, three of her more independent friends sat giggling, and enjoyed being dateless.

Mouse took a sip of her wine, looking over the rim of the glass at Michael. As always, he looked handsome in a suit. He was an odd cross between a big brother, a little brother and a father figure to Mouse. He was old and mundane enough to feel like a father at times, and young and protective and strong enough to feel like her big brother.

Other times, like now, he was nervous and insecure, and she thought of him as her cute baby brother. There were times that she felt she needed to look out for him, to help him along. There were things, things with people, or art, or adventure, that he just didn't get like she did. This was one of those times, when he needed her, especially since she had put him in this predicament in the first place.

He was supposed to propose to before the end of the meal. Tania, was sitting at a table behind Michael. She constantly looked their way in anticipation, and had begun giving impatient "what's going on?" signals to Mouse.

Alicia should have already given Michael the ring. It was Alicia's sister's real engagement ring, one she had borrowed under threat of life long torture should anything happen to it. It fit Mouse perfectly. In fact, it fit her so perfectly that it was going to be agony returning it. It was a beautiful piece of jewelry with a huge rock. But it wasn't real, Mouse told herself, even after Michael gave it to her, it was only part of a game, and would mean little.

Michael seemed to be having a tough time getting up his nerve. It was cute. She could actually imagine him behaving the exact same way if he were really proposing to a woman. He'd be unsure of himself, worried that he'd goof it all up. Mouse kept trying to help him along.

She made sure his wine glass stayed full, and that he kept drinking from it. She made a lot of small talk to ease the tension. She pointed out how empty the restaurant was due to the storm. She looked at him with the most beautiful expressions of longing and admiration that she could muster. When that didn't work, she licked her lips seductively and began to rub the inside of his leg with her foot under the table. If he couldn't find the courage, then perhaps sheer lust would goad him into action.

She could almost see him steel himself before he did it. It was as if his muscles had knotted up and turned to stone. Michael took a deep breath, locking eyes with her, obviously trying hard to shut out his awareness everything else, of anyone else. He slid off of his chair to fall to one knee at Mouse's side.

Mouse fought back a grin, trying instead to look shocked and confused. Michael reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring. He gripped it tightly in his fingers, then quickly pressed it into her palm before folding both of his hands around hers. She felt the diamond poking her flesh, and her brother's warm, thick hands completely covering her own.

Mouse stole a quick glance each way. Everyone was watching. Suddenly she was nervous, too. Things seemed to be happening quickly now, out of her control. Tania's eyes were wide with delight, and there were small smiles on all of her friend's faces.

"Mona. I know I'm not everything a woman could want," Michael began. He had a whole speech, Mouse realized. When did he come up with that? He might actually be good at this, she thought, far better than she'd expected.

"And I know that you are everything that any man could want," he continued. His eyes were locked only on hers, and while she knew it was out of fear and nerves, she still lost herself in the deep warmth of those eyes. They were so wide and honest and loving. She sensed that he really felt that she was the only other person in the whole world right then and there. Part of her was melting.

"...and you would make me the happiest man in the world if you would marry me," he finished. His thumb was moving back and forth, caressing her hand. His grip had tightened on her possessively as he said the last words.

Mouse hesitated. Tania would think it was part of the show, a good acting job, but it wasn't. Mouse didn't expect to feel this moved, to feel this much emotion. She knew this wasn't real, but the thrill was unbelievable. Her brother, her big brother, her lover, the best lover she had ever had, the only man she had truly wanted for a decade, had asked her to marry her.

After years of longing and fighting and secret, stunted lust, he wanted to marry her. Suddenly the restaurant was gone for Mouse as well, the world for her had shrunk to her brother's beautiful brown eyes, and his hands encompassing hers, and a small, magical ring pressing into her palm.

"Yes, yes, yes," she said, too enthusiastically. It wasn't how she had wanted it to come out, how she'd rehearsed her answer. She'd wanted to tease him, to play with him, to make a fun game of it, at his expense. That was what she'd planned. But when the time came, she rushed to say yes.

As quickly as she said it, a camera flash went off, as one of her friends captured the moment for her, another picture for her collection.

Mouse felt him take the ring with his fingers. She resisted letting it go at first. In a nervous panic she remembered that he had to put it on her finger. She kept her eyes locked on his as he did it, and he did the same, feeling his way through the motion. She saw love and longing, with a twinkle of pride in his eyes. She felt the ring slip smoothly onto her hand, just as it had when she'd tried it on the day before. She looked down at the ring on her finger.

Her heart jumped at the sight of it. Her heart would have jumped anyway, just to see the ring as proof of the romance she was feeling.

But it wasn't Alicia's sister's ring.

It was something else, something even more beautiful, with a stone at least as large, maybe larger, and with intricate engraving in the gold.

"Do you like it?" Michael asked uncertainly.

A blazing smile took over Mouse's face. Her eyes sparkled, but were wrapped in confusion and shock.

"Oh, Michael, it's beautiful, it's fantastic. Can I keep it?" she asked, completely forgetting the game. She heard light laughter float in from the tables around them, not all from her friends, reminding her that they weren't alone.

"Of course you can, you said yes," he answered, glancing around at the other patrons nervously, as if they could now guess that a charade was being played.

"I mean, really, can I keep it?" she asked again, not caring what other people thought. It was too beautiful. She wanted it too dearly.

"Yes," Michael said firmly, smiling, and returned to his seat. "It's yours. Forever."

Mouse looked, with a quizzical tip of her head, at Tania. Tania shrugged and raised her eyebrows, signaling her own confusion.

"I ran to the jeweler down the street while you were showering," Michael whispered. "I just picked the prettiest thing I could afford from the case. I used that other ring for sizing. There was no way I was giving you a ring you had to give back," he explained, his eyes twinkling.

Mouse was in shock. She studied the ring. The stone was definitely larger than the other. The ring was beautiful. She didn't know what to say, but she knew what she wanted to do. In a moment she was in Michael's lap. She took his face in her hands, and looked deeply into his eyes.

She wanted to kiss him deeply, passionately, but they'd never done that, they'd never demonstrated that much affection in front of other people. She still couldn't bring herself to do it now, not even as part of the game, not even though she felt like it wasn't a game, like it was so real that she was losing control.

Not even though she felt that she'd never loved a man this much in her entire life.

She settled for a quick peck on the lips, then buried her head in his shoulder. Around them, the waitresses and patrons in the restaurant were applauding politely. She nuzzled his ear to whisper confidentially to him.

"You are going to have the best night of your life tonight, lover," she promised.

* * *

As they left the restaurant people at various tables, complete strangers, congratulated them. One elderly couple went on at length about how wonderful marriage was, how long they'd been married and how many children and grandchildren they now had. This last was a bit unsettling, given their shameless masquerade. Michael and Mouse both felt guilty as they listened, trying to extract themselves politely, as if they were somehow abusing this friendly couple with their childish game. After they were alone on the street, however, they giggled and laughed mischievously about it.

Mouse slipped violently on the slick walk. She almost crashed to the ground, but Michael was there and quick enough to catch her. She muttered to him about how silly she was to wear high heels after a snow storm, that she'd lived there long enough to know better. She hadn't wanted to ruin her outfit with clunky boots. Michael took her under his arm. He walked close to her from then on, almost holding her up, intent on keeping the wind and snow and all danger well away from her.

As he walked with her small figure under his arm, Michael felt strangely light. It had been such a burden, entering the restaurant, sitting down, eating a meal, all the time knowing that he had an embarrassing, daunting task awaiting him. Yet once he'd started it came easily. It was something, he realized only then, that he really wanted to do. It felt good. It felt right. He looked down at Mouse, and wished somehow that it could have been real. Yet even knowing it wasn't, that it was all a lie, he didn't feel discomfited by it at all. He felt young.

It was a very different experience from his first marriage proposal. He'd entered into that just as nervous, maybe more so. But even after she had said yes, he didn't feel this way. He'd felt elated at first, more because it was over than because she'd said yes. But after that, he'd quickly felt burdened again.

He'd had kept asking himself questions. Had he made the right decision? Was he going to regret it? If he'd known the answers that time would bring, that it would end in years of torment and divorce, he would have run away. He would never have gone through with it.

Maybe that was the difference this time, he thought. There was nothing to go through with. There was no real risk.

It was all just a game.

But it was turning out to be a fun game.

They hustled up to her apartment to get dry and warm. As soon as they were both inside, Mouse closed the apartment door behind her and loudly set the bolt. She immediately let her long winter coat slide off her shoulders to the floor.

Michael had already admired the dress she was wearing, both before they'd left and over dinner. It looked even sexier now, in the dim light of the room, after the evening's entertaining theater. It was a simple, tight, hip hugging black dress that ended just below her knees, but exposed the bare flesh of her delicious shoulders and the tops of her breasts. He'd been studying those breasts since she was seventeen, and never tired of them, or of any of her.

Mouse threw her purse to the ground with her coat. She stepped over them toward Michael, backing him toward the coach. He took his cue and sat down, while she hiked the skirt up just enough to straddle him there. Once positioned on his lap she rested her arms on his shoulders, leaned her forehead against his, and stared into his eyes.

"Are you ready for me, lover?" she breathed to him, kissing him quickly, gently on the bridge of his nose.

Michael answered with a quick kiss on her half parted lips. She responded with all of the force and soft, warm, wet passion he expected. In moments her tongue was in his mouth, searching, probing, finding his tongue to draw it out and into her. Michael moved his hands to her waist, enjoying the sense that his hands themselves could almost encircle her if he tried. She was so tiny next to him. She was his little mouse. He let his hands slide away toward the small of her back, then trace the exquisite curve of her ass out then back again, under her thighs.

Mouse hummed in satisfaction at his touch, and then tipped her head back, offering her neck to him. He readily accepted. He covered the exposed flesh with wet, full-mouth kisses mixed with small nibbles with his teeth. His hands stopped stroking her ass to change direction, moving to the tops of her thighs, up her hips, up her waist, to find the delicate breasts he adored. He caressed and squeezed them gently, slowly, as if exploring them for the first time. He pulled his mouth from her neck so he could lean back to admire her body as his hands wandered where they wished.

Mouse watched him intently as he watched her, clearly enjoying the fact that he reveled in her body. She moved her hands up to her hair, lifting it up onto her head, lifting her breasts up and out at the same time. She preened and stretched, exaggerating her curves for him by bending this way and that. Mouse added a chorus of soft sighs and coos. Michael was sure they were there for his pleasure, not hers. She was all about him, tonight.

He was getting the best end of this deal, he thought to himself as he relaxed and enjoyed his sister's body. Not just tonight, but their whole relationship. She was young, agile, athletic. She was beautiful, sexy and vibrant. He was now just past forty, bald, hairy, and heading towards dumpy.

He wasn't horribly out of shape yet. Actually, he had been worse off when they'd started, but his affair with Mouse had motivated him. He'd since joined two basketball leagues, playing again for the first time in ten years. He'd already lost five pounds. The excess fat was coming off slowly, to be replaced with muscle. He felt strong, now, and somewhat agile himself, if a man over six feet tall could ever be considered agile.

But he was still not in Mouse's league. She was young and beautiful and vibrant, an exquisite dancer, an artist and a flirt. She deserved a young, handsome man, not one with too large a nose, no hair on his head, too much hair everywhere else, and too little personality to make up the difference.

He was boring, he knew. Unadventurous. Not the wittiest. Quiet in a group. Reluctant to dance, or to join in anything too frivolous.

He was frumpy.

Michael looked into Mouse's eyes, and she looked concerned, as if she could read his thoughts and see his self doubts. He smiled at her to hide them, and kissed her deeply again. But while he did, he was thinking to himself, this couldn't last. It was fun now, but she had to find someone better, she deserved someone better, someone younger. This was great for Michael, but not for her.

And he needed her to be happy. He wished dearly that he could really marry her, that he could selfishly keep her for himself forever. Only he couldn't keep her happy, so it could never work.

Still, this wedding to Mouse was just a game, a marvelously fun game while it lasted.

As if she could sense that his mind was wandering, Mouse abruptly slid off of his lap to stand before him. She took a step back. She reached behind her to slowly, deliberately unzip her dress. When it was partially free she didn't let it fall to the ground. Instead she simply let the fabric at the bust loosen and drop a bit, exposing her erect nipples to him. Then she took up her position on his lap again, where she guided one nipple into his waiting mouth.

Mouse purred as he felt the hot, hard flesh of her nipple meet first his own wet, hot tongue, then his lips and teeth. Her nipples were so marvelous. The heat and firmness radiated a youth and energy all by themselves. Her breasts, though small, were soft and firm and supple. Michael had always thought them magnificent, even when she was a teenager, when he first began to feel his lust for her.

"There's another rule I have to tell you about, lover," she whispered huskily.

"mm hmm," Michael replied, his mouth now opening wide to suck as much of her tit as he could. While he did so, he tickled the tip of her nipple quickly with his tongue, drawing a satisfied, deep throated giggle from Mouse.

"You can't come inside me until we're married," Mouse said, taking his head in her hands and pulling him harder into her breast.