Twins

"You will get all the hand-jobs you need, and I will work on my blow-job skills too, I promise."

Mom went bright red, dad suddenly found a reason to return to his man cave, and I simply bit my lip. Yep, this was Karen at her finest, and I couldn't help but love her. A yin needs a yang; she had that in Stacey and, unless I stepped up to the plate, the way Karen talked to and spoke around people could well get her into trouble.

Karen then kissed me and bolted off the couch, grabbing the house phone on the way up the stairs. Mom had recovered by the time all this happened, and looked at me with a smile on her face, replacing the worry I had seen in her since I had arrived.

With her eyes still on the top of the stairs she said. "You've found your match with that one."

"It was never going to be any different, mom. When the twins decided, they had a hard time convincing me." Looking down at myself, my hands followed my eyes' direction. "I mean: look at me. I'm hardly a poster boy for hunk of the year, that's for sure."

Mom and I grabbed a coffee from the kitchen before returning to the living room and, for the first time since I got back, I opened up to my mom. I'm sure Karen paved the way to some extent, but now she was getting my perspective. The tutoring was the start, of course, and then came my attraction to Stacey and my ability to recognize her over Karen. Mom laughed at the antics both got up to and the retaliations that followed.

When they realized they couldn't fool me they came to me with the one thing I truly valued: honesty. Yes, they chose me, and the emphasis was on a package deal. They were twins, and neither was willing to let go of the other. The one thing they would never be was a trophy wife. Life was difficult enough for them being identical twins; they refused to be some egotistical man's plaything.

"They had enough of being called Barbie one and two all through school, mom. They craved the one thing no man had yet given them, and that was to be allowed their own separate identity. They chose me because I wouldn't put up with their games, and knew I wasn't fooled when they played them."

The noise of the phone being placed back into the cradle made us turn to look toward Karen. She walked and talked all the way over to me, and assumed her position glued to my side.

"Our opinion of men started with disdain and went down, not up. We chose to use them, just as they used us. We learned of the kudos points system the boys at high school had. It seemed maximum points went to the guy who could get one of us on each arm. The girls hated us because we took away the choices of boyfriends amongst the guys."

Karen's hand went to my jaw line, and held me there so she could plant a kiss before she continued.

"The opinion between us didn't change when we got to college. It was just that the guys were older. One of the frat houses had a score chart going. The winner would be the guy who got a picture of himself sticking it in our asses. The prize for that competition was supposedly a week's worth of free beer."

When Professor Marshall learned of this, via his wife, he paid a visit to the frat house and asked to see the chart. He tore it off the wall and left. Two of the frat brothers took Professor Marshall's class, and he told them straight up that, from now on, he and the campus police were going to take a personal interest in the activities of the frat house, unless he got assurances that this type of behavior was never to be repeated.

Word spread like wildfire. The twins were untouchable unless you wanted the Dean or Professor Marshall on your case. That's when the nickname of the "poison twins" came into use.

"And that's when YOU turned up. The one guy we both wanted to hang with, and he just kept running."

Mom thought that was funny. It wasn't funny. Trust me - I was there.

*******

We were at my place for a week, Karen enjoying the role of new daughter. Mom even got the family photo album out. Oh joy! Try learning to live that down. The evening phone calls to her folks got us updates on when the apartment would be ready and, on day ten, a beaming Karen came into the living room to announce that this was our last weekend at home, and we would be heading back to school on the Monday since the apartment was now ready. Her dad sure was a fast worker.

Being with Karen at my place gave me some insight into living with her full time. She slept naked and, after the first night, I admitted to her that I always had too. She was furious at me for all of two minutes while she ranted about "this is us living together; this is us knowing each other on EVERY level. You're messing with the program, Andy; why on earth would you not tell me about sleeping naked?"

While I agreed with her, I had to try to defend myself. "Because getting close to so much naked you makes me sport a boner that could drill through steel. I'm hiding that, as best I can, by keeping my underwear on."

Karen's eyes went wide a second before her hands came to her mouth. "Fuck! I'm sorry, Andy! I promised you blow-jobs, didn't I?"

The first day we moved into the apartment felt like hitting the ground running. I still had my old room to clean out and Karen, with the help of the whole sorority, cleaned out hers and Stacey's. The boxed stuff to return home was sent down to the basement to collect later. Karen gave me my first blow-job that evening and, between that, a hand job and another blow-job over the next couple of hours, it managed to keep me flaccid enough so we could get to sleep. Somehow, though, I always seemed to wake in the morning with my cock stuck between her legs and a hand on one of her tits.

For the first few days I felt guilty about it, until I woke early one morning to being pulled into that position by Karen. She liked to shower alone but bath with me. When I first asked who got the tap end she said neither of us. I got in first, and then Karen twisted her hair into a loose bun and used some type of clip to keep it all high on her head before she stepped in, sat down, and moved back to rest against me. She asked me to wash her back, and I enjoyed every moment of it. She could feel the boner pressed against her, but she never mentioned it.

"Do you want me to turn around, Andy, or are you going to do the front from there?"

The huskiness in her voice was a clear sign that she was enjoying this as much as I was. Her fingers were traveling back and forth along my legs and, when I told her to stay as she was, all I got was a nod of her head. When one of my soap-filled hands went around her and worked on her breast, I noticed that one of her own hands was no longer running along my leg. When her body stiffened slightly I knew those fingers had found their intended target. It was the first time ever I hated water for going cold.

I think we managed a week before Karen sat me down on the bed after our evening bath. It was interesting to have one of those "clear the room" moments with her.

"Andy, I'm staying a virgin until we marry, but I'm human, dammit! I'm giving you a choice here: allow me my vibrator once a week, or eat me once in a while to take the edge off. I'm even fighting the urge to go back into the bathroom right now and take care of myself."

The pervert in me sure rose to the occasion on that one. "Go on, then."

I'm sure the smile gave me away, though. Her eyes went to slits as she thought about it, shrugged her shoulders, and slid towards the middle of the bed. I watched in awe as this woman lay down, opened her legs, and drove both hands into her pussy. Her moans started seconds after that, and my hard-on simply played catch up at the sight and smells in front on me. My hand instinctively went to my erection but got slapped away by Karen.

"Watch! After what I've had to do to keep you happy, you get to watch. Touch that again and all bets are off."

And so I watched. I mentally filed away all the things she was doing to herself, and yet it was her toes that gave her away. When she was oh so close to orgasm her toes would curl in; when she eased back to build on her impending orgasm her toes relaxed again. That was well worth keeping in my mind for later.

A hand came away from her pussy and stopped inches from my mouth. "Lick it! Taste it, honey."

Like I was going to say no? I managed two licks before something in my head snapped, and I pulled the other hand away from the source, got between her legs and connected to this beautiful woman's pussy: and I wouldn't let go. Her first orgasm came seconds later, and her legs moved to rest on my back. In retaliation I scooped my arms under her legs and held her hips to the bed with my hands.

Both of us lost all notion of time after that. When she orgasmed I drank from the well and vowed to myself never to leave it. She bucked; she cried; and she even tried to push me away so she could rest. I pulled one more orgasm out of her before I took pity on her and let her relax in a shuddering heap. By then she was nothing but a washed-out, sweat-soaked doll, with the biggest smile on her face since Stacey's death.

I lifted her into my arms and carried her to the shower, where I sat her in it so I could set the shower running. Karen took hold of my hard on. She may have had rubbery legs but she still managed to get on her knees, and I felt the warmth of her mouth while still trying to bring the water to Karen temperature. It was the first time I had shared a shower with her, and part of me understood why she didn't want to; these things are built for individuals, not couples. But we sure washed each other to within an inch of cleanliness that evening.

*******

With Karen no topic was off the books, and indeed most were talked about. I still set mini exams just to monitor her progress, and continued to work on some of the math that still eluded her. Her friends from her old sorority house came by on occasions, but mostly she went to them. If she was still there when it got dark, I would walk her home when she called.

The only time we got close to an argument was when she said she was giving up running. The first words out of my mouth were "over my dead body." That stopped us both in our tracks; it was perhaps the only time in our lives that I truly believed Karen wanted to physically attack me for my thoughtlessness, and perhaps the only time I would have allowed her to. We were standing no more than three feet from each other, and yet those words at that one moment could well have torn us apart.

Karen slowly walked up to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. The tears were clear to see in her eyes: just poised, waiting for her to lose control so they could use that momentum to cascade down her cheeks. For such a long time all she did was stare into my eyes. I'm not even sure I blinked while she did.

Her face remained impassive throughout; for such agonizing moments like these my youth betrayed me, and I just didn't know what to do. My own hands must have acted on instinct because they were now holding Karen's hips, gripping the material of her jeans as I did.

Her head inched towards mine and her forehead rested against me, our noses almost touching. She let out the breath she seemed to have been holding, before kissing the tip of my nose and then clinging tightly to me. What she said next was in a whisper but, with her lips so close to my ear, and the anger obvious within her voice, her words carried through my brain and straight to my heart. They will sit there until the day I die.

"You hurt me, Andy. I understand what you were trying to say, but you hurt me! She was my sister and our love. Don't hurt me like that again, Andy; that's not fair. I know you can't take that back as much as you may want to, but please think before saying stuff like that."

Karen relaxed her vice-like grip on me, and her kiss tasted salty as her tears finally flowed. The pain in my chest could never feel as bad as hers right now, but I figured it was a close call. On her insistence we spent the rest of the evening naked and wrapped in a blanket on the couch, while I spent the whole time apologizing to her for my lack of thought.

*******

She also made a new friend in Charlie. It seems Karen learned how to make cookies from mom, and Charlie was now her greatest fan.

When Karen found out that Charlie was the one that pointed me towards tutoring, she filed that information for later. A week went by before Charlie came crashing into our apartment uninvited to announce that he had a date with Bethany Strickland. I looked at Karen, but she was feigning innocence. Charlie had a weakness for redheads and, if the eyebrows and pale skin on Bethany were anything to go by, I would say she was a natural. It seemed Karen could confirm that, since she had shared showers with her after track practice and events.

Charlie was struck dumb when she said that; no mean feat for Charlie, I assure you! We both looked at Karen, me out of curiosity as to where this line of conversation was going, given Karen's ability to say whatever came into her head. However, judging by the look of pure lust on Charlie's face, it was plain to see that his mind had dropped into the gutter and was happily sharing those images with himself.

Karen quickly caught on, her eyes rolling as she let out an exasperated sigh. "Will you two quit it? The only thing we shared in the shower was the shampoo."

While my thoughts once again edged back towards decency, Charlie's on the other hand just got more pornographic if the smirk on his face was anything to go by. Karen being Karen, of course, playfully punched him in the chest and called him a pervert before heading into the kitchen to make us all coffees.

He left an hour later to get ready for his date, but not without taking six of Karen's cookies as a treat.

"So Charlie moves up from disdain since he's male?"

Karen nodded before replying, "I would say one step short of hero worship since he sent you to us. Bethany will be good for him."

We held each other while we watched Charlie from our apartment window as he walked towards the campus.

"It's not going to be the one date; I wouldn't do that to him. Bethany doesn't do blind dates, and I couldn't figure out any other way of getting them together. She was interested because I told her to stay away from him. That piqued her interest in him straight away and, once she gets to know him, she'll figure it out."

This time I smiled and held her a little tighter.

"You women are strange creatures."

With her head on my shoulder she decided to have that "final say" moment.

"Not really, since you had us figured out all along."

I let her have her moment. I still wondered how she even figured that much.

Bethany didn't take long to realize that Karen had tricked her into dating Charlie. She told us later that she was in too deep to bail on him now, but I think that was simply girl talk as it was obvious she liked him. Charlie seemed to think so too, judging by the smile he had after every date. The only downside to their relationship was that Bethany restricted the amount of cookies he consumed. It was either that or them both going to the college gym to burn off Karen's calorie-filled offerings.

*******

The campus seemed to have gone back to its original size since during the day. I would only see Karen from time to time now, always with sorority friends or other track teammates, and always with a smile on her face. I still got held back by Professor Marshall once in awhile to ask about Karen. I'm not sure if it was he or Trisha that wanted to know, but I answered honestly, and he still came up with tips on my tutoring Karen towards that A pass mark as well.

I couldn't claim to be able to read Karen; hell, what man could say that about women and keep a straight face? But she had started to become distant, and tried to hide it when she knew I was watching her. It was also another occasion when I had to thank Professor Marshall again, as he held me back after class that day and in general conversation asked me how Karen was holding up.

"She's fine. Why do you ask?"

"It's Karen and Stacey's birthday in a week's time, Andy. It will be the first time they wont be able to share it. She's going to have other occasions like that that she can no longer share, Andy, so you need to look out for them as they come along."

At least now I knew why she had been off these last few days. We talked some more, and I asked for a favor from him and his wife. He readily agreed, and said he would talk to the Dean about it, but was sure something could be arranged. I got a phone call from him two days later saying that everything had been taken care of. The next morning Karen watched as I packed a small suitcase.

"Going someplace?"

"Yes. I'm taking you home for a few days."

Piquing her curiosity was one thing; acting on it was another. I was waiting for her reply and, when none came, I went looking for one. When I turned to look at her she was wringing her hands. The shuffling of her feet and the way she moved from side to side was another indicator. It was time for me to stop packing and watch her.

"I can't, Andy; this is finals year! We can't afford the time off."

Dropping the suitcase was easy; taking her in my arms was borne from plenty of practice. Her head fit snugly against my neck as her arms clung tightly to me. The dam that had held her emotions at bay suddenly gave way: her sister, best friend and confidante was dead, and the rawness of it all still tore at every emotion. It wasn't just the grief of losing her sister: it was her twin, the one person in her life that could lay claim to sharing everything with her, even her mother's womb.

My hands only moved a fraction as her knees gave way and left me supporting her weight. It was my duty to look after her now, just as she had with me all those months ago. We couldn't save Stacey that day at the cove, but we had been saving each other ever since and, on days like this when it all felt too much, neither of us was afraid to show our vulnerabilities to the other.

"I know I have to get used to this, but it's harder than I thought. I miss her, Andy; I miss her SO much."

My heart felt her pain and, as those feelings bashed against her still raw emotions, she always knew she had an ally.

"I'm taking you home for your birthday."

The pause was only momentary before I felt her head nod in agreement on my shoulder. I got no argument from her from then on.

*******

Mr. & Mrs. Carmichael met us at the airport and, to an outsider, it was interesting to watch. Like a wrangler cutting a cow from the herd, Mrs. Carmichael separated Karen from me within seconds of us joining the many hundreds in the arrival hall. Mr. Carmichael and I exchanged pleasantries, but it was easy to see that he had put himself between them and me. His chatter made sure that, as the distance between us and mother and daughter increased, the chances of hearing their conversation evaporated. I was sure glad that the car was waiting at the pick-up point, since I had also been stuck with both bags.

Forewarned by what I had seen at the airport, I wasn't even surprised when I was shown to my room while mother and daughter continued on towards what I could only assume to be her father's private office. Karen came crashing in through the door five minutes later, her mother in hot pursuit.

"Grab your case! We're heading for a hotel just as soon as the cab arrives."

Karen then turned her attention to her mother. "We sleep together, mom: NAKED. He's seen, touched and licked and, when he's in the mood, bitten just about every inch of skin attached to this body. He owns this body, mother, and if Stacey was still alive he would own every inch of her. It was OUR choice, mother."