by Amanda Wals
* *
One night out at the bar, drinking a beer with John, I saw Megan walk in, Man-bun in tow, and go meet some people at a table across the room. A short while later, she spotted me and broke away from her friends to come over to our table. Her hair was blonde, on this particular occasion. A color I hadn't seen her have before, and I thought it looked out of place on her, but I wouldn't dream of telling her so.
"Hey Meg, what's up?" John asked.
"Not a lot. Just saw that you managed to get the recluse out of his cave for once and I thought I'd come say hello." She grinned at me.
"How's things going with Man-bun?" He prodded. Her eyes cut at him in annoyance.
"Great, really great actually." She replied, attempting to avoid the bait. "But, seriously, Adam..."
I was midway through polishing off the last of my beer and raised my eyebrows expectantly.
"You know that band Gorath?" She asked.
"Yeah?" Gorath was a local death metal band that played a lot of the local festivals and did the occasional club show. I thought they sucked, but I seemed to be in the minority.
"I'm doing the band photo for their new album, and they asked me to reach out to you about using one of your paintings for their album cover."
"Oh yeah? For free, I'm sure." I rolled my eyes.
"Nope. They got signed to some indie label and have a budget for the album. Not much, but it's something. Interested? They asked for you specifically."
"Maybe. I guess I could talk to them about it." I replied. I wasn't sure I had time to be bothering with it, but I'd give it a look. Not to mention that, despite my opinion of the band, they had a lot of fans around here and the exposure couldn't hurt.
"Cool. I'll let them know." She started to turn back to her friends, and paused. Her hand fell to my forearm for a moment, and she smiled. "It's good to see you."
"Take care." I replied, as she walked away.
"Tell Man-bun we said hello," John called after her. She extended her middle finger over her shoulder at us and looked back with a grin when she heard us snickering.
John flagged a waitress and motioned for them to bring another beer. Looking back over at me and leaned forward.
"What happened with you two, anyway? You never have told me."
"Nothing. There never really was anything serious there. It just ended is all." I replied.
"If you say so." He shrugged. "I just see how she looks at you once in a while."
"She seems pretty happy with Man-bun." I nodded my head toward them, where Megan was currently folded up in Man-bun's lap.
"They do look good together." John acknowledged, "aside from that fuzzy ass cinnamon roll strapped to the back of his head."
We both started cracking up.
A few days later, I met with a couple of the guys from Gorath. They looked over some of my sketchbooks, pointing out things that they liked and giving me some ideas of what they were looking for. We hammered out the details of how much I would be paid, which wasn't much. And they gave me a small deposit and thanked me. I walked away from the meeting with the impression that they were definitely fans of my stuff, and I felt a tiny bit guilty that I was not able to say the same of theirs.
The work went faster than expected, and I met with the band again a few weeks later to show them four possible covers I had created. This time the entire band was there. They argued among themselves for the better part of an hour, looking over the options. After a spirited process of elimination, they settled on the design that I had liked the least. I chuckled as I collected the art back together. We made arrangements for me to deliver the finished piece the following week and for me to sign the release forms to allow it to be reproduced as an album cover. All in all, it was a pretty painless process. I made a mental note to look into the possibility of marketing myself to local bands as an artist for hire.
It was beginning to feel like I was making a bit of a name for myself around town as an artist. While I still had no illusions about trying to make a career out of art, the world was full of starving artists after all, I couldn't help taking a bit of pleasure out of the minuscule amount of income my paintings were generating.
* *
The night before all hell broke loose, I was sitting on the sofa watching a nature documentary while Amy showered upstairs. She had just gotten home from a long day at work and I had picked up dinner for us while she was out. I was feeling pretty lazy, slouched on the sofa with my feet propped up on the coffee table. Our parents were away for a few days at some conference for our dad's work and wouldn't be back until the day after tomorrow. It was so much more relaxing when they were away and we didn't have to hide ourselves away in one of our bedrooms.
I took a swig from my can of coke and noticed the water shut off upstairs. My beautiful little sister would be down soon for dinner and I was really looking forward to spending time with her, as always. I had considered joining her in the shower, but she looked so tired when she came home from work that I wanted to give her a chance to relax. I went to the kitchen and pulled the cartons of food from the oven, where I'd left them to warm. Taking plates down from the cabinet, I saw her padding into the kitchen in her bathrobe, her hair pulled up in a ponytail.
"Hey, beautiful. Feel better?" I asked, as I leaned over to kiss her forehead.
She wrapped her arms around me in a lazy hug, resting her head on my shoulder while I held the dinner plates off to one side awkwardly. I wasn't complaining, of course, it was just that the physics of the situation made it hard to look entirely graceful.
"I had such a long day." She sighed. Then she sniffed the air, as she let go of me. "What smells so good?"
"I picked up dinner for us earlier, just before you got home. Hope you wanted Italian."
She flashed me one of her brightest smiles, and my heart skipped a beat.
"I am totally in the mood for Italian."
"Perfect, then. Go park your gorgeous ass in the living room and relax. I'll bring you a plate in just a few." I smiled.
"You are so good to me," She sighed happily, as she wrapped me in another hug. She padded back down to the living room while I finished getting the plates ready.
We watched a movie while we ate and Amy cuddled up next to me on the sofa when we finished. At some point during the film, she fell asleep with her head on my shoulder. I knew she was exhausted from her day and decided to let her nap a while. I had the remote within reach, mercifully, and flipped channels until I found something worth watching.
Some time later, she stirred and nuzzled her face up against my neck. I smiled and kissed the top of her head, smelling the strawberry scented shampoo she used on her hair. Her lips touched my neck in a soft kiss, then parted as she gave my neck a small lick.
"Someone's awake." I grinned slightly.
"Mmmm" Was her only reply, as her hand came up to cradle my head as she kissed my neck again, planting her lips on it and sucking against my throat. I could feel her lips curl into a grin against my neck and experience told me that she was pleased with the bruise that she'd just left there. She shifted herself around on the sofa, turning to fully face me on all fours like a cat, and gave a very feline looking full body stretch.
She moved up to straddle me, her knees drawn up on either side of me as she took my head in her hands and began kissing her way up my neck to my ear. My cock got the message that its favorite person was on the move and began to be uncomfortable in my shorts. Her robe had partially fallen open by now, partially exposing her full breasts. She nibbled my earlobe gently, before moving up to put her lips to my ear and whisper how much she loved me.
My hands slid inside her robe, pulling the knot loose the rest of the way and fully exposing her creamy breasts to me. She shrugged out of the robe, letting it drop the floor behind her and wrapped her arms back around my neck to kiss me. My hands stroked her back, roaming over her body down to her hips and back. She moaned through our kiss when one of my hands found her left breast and knea
ded it softly. Our mouths separated, both of us gasping to catch our breath, and she raised herself up allowing my lips access to her nipples.
"I know how to take a hint," I mumbled, just before my lips latched to her nipple. Her giggle at my statement disappeared into a moan as her chin rested on top of my head. She used one hand to support herself on the back of the sofa and the other was wrapped around my head holding me to her breast as I suckled on it.
"Jesus," she gasped, "I love what you do to me."
I brought a hand down to stroke one of her fabulous ass cheeks, causing her to purr appreciatively. She dropped her hips down to grind herself against my erection. She grunted in disapproval and disengaged from me for a moment to pull her panties off. I set some kind of speed record in removing my shorts and boxers. No sooner did my ass touch the sofa cushion again than she was back on me, grinding herself directly on my stiff cock. We both groaned at the sensation. I lost myself in the moment, wanting nothing more than to bury myself in her beautiful body as far as I could right that second.
"I need you," I breathed, thrusting my hips up to match her grinding. She whimpered at my words and I could feel the heat radiating from her crotch against my hard cock. She raised herself up positioning my dick at her entrance.
"Then take me." She whimpered. "I'm all yours."
I thrust up into her, our bodies joining, and a long groan escaped me as her white hot pussy enveloped my dick to the hilt. We started fucking in earnest, me sitting back on the sofa, her sitting up straddling me. My cock gliding in and out of her in a blur as she began breathing rapidly at the force of my thrusts.
"Oh god, yes! Take me, Adam! Take me!" She nearly screamed, her body writhing above me. I watched her breasts bouncing wildly as I brought myself up into her repeatedly. I had one hand on the small of her back, and the other pawing at her breasts.
Suddenly, she arched herself backward, propping one hand on the coffee table. If I moved my hand from her back, she would have fallen. Her breasts were thrust up at me and I seized one in my free hand, pinching the nipple between my fingers. She was an erotic vision, slamming her pelvis down to meet my thrusts. I felt the tingling in my balls and knew I was not far from coming.
"You've so amazing." I gasped. "I'm gonna come soon."
"Do it!" She cried. "I want to feel you come!"
I seized her hips with my hands, pulling her forward to me and slammed myself into her as the first jet of my semen launched deep into her. It must have triggered her own orgasm because she cried out and started shaking as her pussy pulsed over my twitching erection. I felt my body launch several more volleys of semen into her before it subsided and I relaxed my grip on her hips. She settled back against me, gasping for breath, and wrapped her arms around my neck.
"I love you so much." I breathed. She was still coming down from her orgasm, breathing heavily in my ear, and just kissed the side of my head in reply.
A few minutes later, she went to the bathroom to clean up a bit, and came back wearing her panties again. She had a damp rag that she used to clean me up, and I pulled my boxers back on after. Amy wrapped herself up around me in a lover's embrace and we collapsed back down on the sofa. Within moments, my sweet baby sister was asleep in my arms. I fell asleep myself a few minutes later.
* *
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!" My father's voice boomed through the house.
I snapped awake and shot to my feet just as Amy did the same. She covered her naked breasts with her arms and stared, wide eyed and pale, at our parents. They had come back early. In the past year, this was the first time that they had come back early. We'd slept right through them unlocking the door and walking in. To make matters worse, we'd fallen asleep on the couch downstairs, where we had sex the night before We were both still dressed in only our underwear. There was never a chance to react.
"Dad, calm do-" I began, slowly positioning myself between my rapidly approaching father and Amy.
The look on his face and his body language genuinely frightened me. I didn't think it was likely that he would hurt Amy, but I wanted her as far from harm's way as I could get her, just in case.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He roared. He stopped just a couple of feet from me.
"Why the FUCK is she NAKED?" His eyes burned with rage, as the screaming continued. "What the FUCK did you do to her?"
I stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. I saw the hate in his eyes and knew there was no way this could possibly go well. There was no lie that would resolve this, so I just went for the truth.
"I love her."
My face exploded in pain as his fist collided with my nose. I stumbled back a few steps, trying to get my thoughts straightened out around the searing pain in my face. Before I could say a word, I registered just a flash of movement and felt a fist collide with my stomach. I went to my knees, fighting hard not to vomit from the pain in my gut.
"DADDY, NO!" I heard Amy shriek behind me. I saw Amy from corner of my eye as she rushed forward. I tried to catch her with my arm, but wasn't quite fast enough. She slipped between us, holding an open hand up toward him. "You don't underst-"
"She's your GODDAMNED sister, you disgusting shit!" He yelled over her, shoving her aside as if she were weightless.
His foot struck me in the ribs and I thought I felt two of them snap. Bolts of pain shot through my chest like daggers, weirdly seeming to originate deep inside my body. Fucking hell, it hurt. I couldn't think for a moment, everything focused on the pain resonating in my chest. I rolled to my side, hoping he was done, struggling to breathe. Amy's arms wrapped around me just at that moment, trying to shield me.
"DADDY, I love him! STOP!" She pleaded as he jerked her away from me like a rag doll. Her fingernails dug into my arm, accidentally scratching me as she tried to hold on. I saw her stumble back onto the sofa, and noticed her grab one of mom's vases from the coffee table. Oh shit, I thought.
I coughed and noticed flecks of blood hit the tile floor just before I realized a kick was coming. I moved to block it, but too slow, flinching in pain and felt the connect. He missed my ribs thanks to me trying to roll and hit the soft tissue beneath. I felt a weird pain and a shift of my organs that definitely did not feel natural. This time I puked bile. Thankfully not a lot, but enough to make my throat burn.
I was too blinded by pain to remember the vase for a moment, but as soon as I did, I shot a look toward the sofa. Mom, streaming tears, had Amy in her arms, struggling to keep her there and whispering to her. Amy still clutched the vase in one hand, gulping air from her adrenaline, her eyes pleading with mine for some affirmation that I was okay.
He didn't kick me again. He just glared down at me with his nostrils flaring, but didn't move from where he was. Very painfully, I pulled myself up to my knees, straining against the pain in my chest. I sucked air between my teeth as I struggled to my feet, using the recliner for support.
"Daddy, it's not his fault." Amy cried. I looked over at my beautiful baby sister, my princess, as tears poured down her face, her eyes fixed on me in horror. She had snatched her bathrobe from the floor and was holding it over her breasts. It was most certainly my fault, I thought, but air didn't seem to want to fill my lungs enough to let me say so. I gave her a nod, trying to be reassuring, which probably didn't work since I had blood dripping all down my chin from my nose. I looked back at my father, waiting for the rest of what was coming. More hits? A call to the police? I wasn't sure where this was heading. I was gulping like a fish out of water, trying to get enough oxygen in my body while every breath felt like I had napalm searing through my lungs.
"You have thirty minutes." He spoke in an even tone.
"What?" I choked out. I heard the words, but they didn't connect to anything in my head. I kept seeing white at the corners of my vision and fought to focus, afraid I was going to pass out. I was familiar with this, having seen the white in my vision field before, when I was struck in the head by a skateboard at the park years before. What a
time to have a memory flashback.
"You have thirty minutes. Get your shit and get the fuck out of my house. You don't live here anymore." He repeated. I recognized a glint of satisfaction in his eye. I had finally proven myself to be the disappointment he always wanted me to be. My black sheep status had been fully earned and achieved. I would have seethed if I didn't hurt so badly. "You are not welcome here."
"Dad." I began as Amy started sobbing again, wordlessly. She was gasping so hard, I thought she'd hyperventilate.
"You don't get to call me that anymore. I don't have a son." He glared. My mother burst into a fresh round of tears.
"Thomas..." My mother began, but stopped when she saw the look that he shot her. I had never gotten the impression that he was ever violent toward her, but she backed down rapidly. The rage I saw in him must have frightened her as well.
"I love him, Daddy!" Amy cried, "Don't do this!"
"Thirty minutes. You'd better start packing." He said, as though she weren't even there. It was easy to see how this was going to play out.
I very painfully went to the stairs, pausing to look back at Amy who was still being held in place by my mother. I was grateful for mom, worried that Amy would make herself a target of our father's wrath. I was certain I'd end up in prison if that happened. There would be no stopping me.
"It'll be alright, Amy." I said, trying to be reassuring, although I wasn't very sure of that. I just needed her to be safe. She had to calm down.
My father's eyes burned with a fresh rage hearing me speak to his daughter. I stared back at him with determination. I'd taken all the beating I was going to, I thought. One more step and I'd fight back. I'd lose, given how badly I hurt. But I'd fight back.
I struggled up the staircase, trying not to look in as much physical pain as I felt, for her sake, and leaned on the wall of the hallway for support. I was sweating from the exertion and adrenaline. In my room, I struggled to grab the most important things from my room. I grabbed my laptop and sketchbooks, shoving them in my schoolbag. I grabbed a gym bag from the closet and shoved clothes in it. I could hear yelling downstairs as I packed. I strained to listen for any sign of violence. I would play along for now and find a more peaceful way to resolve this. I didn't think he would hurt her. I had no doubt he would love the chance to work on me some more, but I was fairly sure that she was safe.
