Because We Both Want To

In terms of style and substance the little cafe had all the hallmarks of a romantic destination, with little nooks and tables in out of the way corners around the main dining area. At this time of the early afternoon the place was nearly unoccupied, and the couple lingering over coffee in the center of the softly lit room made no attempt to hide their conversation.

Any ordinary glance would note the obvious family resemblance between the man and woman, and nobody would dispute the accusation that they were brother and sister. The fact that she was three years his senior was lost in the fact that they were both orbiting 30. Either could have passed for twenty-something. Joanne's fine hair was a glossy black and fell in ringlets around her shoulders, while Thom's similarly toned locks were straighter and close cropped for easy maintenance. They both sported grey-green eyes that looked out as if over vast distances. Even in build they were alike, and could have cast the same slender shadow.

"How could I be so stupid, Thom?" Joanne asked with obvious frustration. "Jeez, he slept with more different women than the total number of times we had sex the final year we were together."

Her brother had hold of her hand across the table, and he gave it a firm reassuring squeeze. "He had us all fooled, Jo. If I had any inkling earlier I would have tried to do something." He shrugged his shoulders, "I admit I really liked him. He seemed like a great guy."

"Don't beat up on yourself. I know he seemed like the right person or I wouldn't have stuck it out as long as I did." Joanne released his hand and leaned back in her chair closing her eyes. "The truth is usually only honest when you look at it backwards, from the future. What a jerk."

Looking thoughtfully at his sister as she leaned back in her chair, Thom considered her with a concerned air. He had never been blind to his sister as an attractive woman. Even in this normal situation it was tough not to notice how the tight fabric of her blouse accentuated the natural gentle curve of her breast. Small and firm, devoid of any modern cosmetic magic, they were ideal for her height. A silent snort of laughter escaped his mouth as he though 'How could any man risk losing those by fooling around?'

Joanne leaned back forward and began filing her coffee with too much sugar. "I know I should be moving on after the divorce, but I just can't get past certain thoughts. I try not to obsess about them, but sometimes they whirl around like a wind that just won't go away."

"What kind of thoughts?" Thom asked distantly, as he watched her eyes follow the swirling of the coffee. Those eyes were so like his own that it was like looking in a mirror.

"Oh, normal thoughts for a girl that just got dumped. 'What did I do wrong?' 'Is there something wrong with me?' 'Is it just that I'm no good in bed?' The usual stuff."

Thom smiled at this, and tallied off on his fingers: "Well, in order here are your answers: No, no, and no. 'You did nothing wrong.' 'There's nothing whatsoever wrong with you.' and 'I'm sure you're as good in bed as any of them.'"

"You're sure, are you?" Joanne asked with a raised eyebrow. "Just how many 'of them' have you taken to bed? And how could you compare them to me? We haven't been in the same bed in twenty years. Maybe twenty five."

A touch of color highlighted Thom's cheeks as he replied indignantly, "Knock of the teasing, Jo. You know what I mean." Almost he had to look away, but her eyes had lost some of their far away look and became a magnet for his attention.

"Maybe you better explain it to me," she replied with her chin low and a sly look out of those eyes. "You know, about me being good."

Rolling his own eyes in an maladroit attempt to break the visual link, Thom managed to give the impression of disinterest even though a barely acknowledged part of him agreed with the statement. "If you don't see it, you're not as smart as I thought you were. Simply put, you're dead-sexy with a body that most 20 year olds would kill for. You teach dance classes, and your normal walk has moves like a cat. Fresh out of the pool you look slippery as a seal and twice as much fun." He stopped, and gave as close to a serious look across the table that he could come up with. "If he doesn't want you it just shows a total lack of character on his part. Most everybody else appreciates you for what you are. You can have almost anyone you want just by asking, and if they turn you down I doubt very much if they would be worth your time."

Joanne giggled, "You're full of it, but you're sweet. I'm glad you're my brother." For her part, Joanne was flattered by his comments. Although he hid it well, it was obvious that there was some sincerity behind them. She wasn't self dilusionary enough to deny anything he had said, but it was nice to hear it expressed. Her smile in return was genuine.

"Yeah, I'm sweet. So why am I wasting it on you?"

Joanne happened to have a crumpled up napkin in her hand, which she predictably threw at him. "Just when I thought there was some dignity in you. For that, you get to pick up the check." The anger in her voice was pitched in just the range that a careful ear could pick up a pleased contradiction.

"Lucky you," Thom said while standing and reaching for the bill. "I still have some money left after paying this months exorbitant counseling bills. My therapist is pretty sure all my problems are your fault anyway."

"Harumph. I should think so," his sister retorted. "I'll meet you at the car."

While paying the bill, Thom fought his eyes following his sisters pert rear out the door. Tight and classically apple shaped, it had just the right amount of sway as she walked. His mind shied away from the idea, but there was no denying that it was about as great an ass as anyone could boast of. Why was it that today he was noticing things like that? He had to tear his eyes away to receive his change before hurrying out after her.

In the parking lot he found Joanne with her abundant key chain in hand, staring distastefully at her car. "I really don't feel like driving back to Seattle right now."

"If you don't leave soon you'll hit the worst of the traffic. You know better than that."

"Yeah." She made no attempt to open her car door, just stared at it. "Tommie, if I stayed for a while and did some shopping, could I crash at your place until tomorrow? I'm just not in the mood to head home."

Something about her tone precluded much sibling ribbing Thom would normally have engaged in. Instead he wrapped his arms around her lovingly and said quietly "It's okay by me." Something about the moment made it impossible for him to maintain it tenderly. "but since I bought lunch you've got to pony up for dinner," he had to add, whispering in her ear.

Joanne chuckled quietly with her cheek against his shoulder. "Okay. Fair enough. I hope I'm not putting you out or keeping you from any girlfriends?"

"Lets just say that it had better be a very good dinner," Thom replied releasing her and turning towards his car.

"Pizza it is."

****

Upon reaching his apartment after work Thom found a total of three messages on his antiquated machine. The first was from a girl calling off their date for that evening. This suited Thom just fine, because that relationship wasn't going anywhere and it let him off the hook as far as canceling it himself. The second was from Joanne informing him that she was planning on being in about six and that she would bring dinner. The third was also from Joanne, who sounded quite tired, yet cheerful. "I got tied up at Powells with a couple of books. I may be late, but I'll still bring dinner."

This suited Thom because his one bedroom apartment was very bachelor like; It desperately needed a power cleaning. An extra hour or two gave him the chance to clear the table for their dinner and put fresh linen on the bed, in addition to taking care of the general clutter. When Joanne finally came in he was just laying out a couple of blankets and extra pillows on his couch.

"Oh, that's thoughtful," Joanne remarked as she saw the condition of the room. "Give me a hand with these packages, will you?"

Thom took the heaviest package appearing to be mostly books, which left her with a couple of bags that looked tantalizingly familiar. "Dim Sum?" he asked.

"Take out Dim Sum?" she replied, shocked. "You've got to be kidding. It's Thai."

"Okay. You're forgiven this time." Setting the books down in a chair, Thom took the bags and began setting the containers out on the table. When their eyes caught each other he once again noticed how tired she seemed. It was possible she had been crying.

As they were eating Joanne made every effort to appear cheerful, even managing to engage in normal banter with her brother. The fact that she had been crying was something she didn't want Thom to worry about. The food was good, and her brother really was on his best behavior. For a few moments at least she forgot about her problems and enjoyed company with a nice person. 'Good family is a gift,' she thought. 'A gift that I must appreciate.'

After toying with the remnants of their meal for far too long and worming out all the information she could about Thom's love life, Joanne announced the need for a shower. "I'm afraid I stink, and I don't want to foul your couch," she said.

"Help yourself. Towels are on the rack. But even if you could foul THAT couch you won't be sleeping there. I made it up for me."

"We'll argue it when I get out of the shower. And you know you can't win an argument with me."

Thom stiffened in mock indignation. "That's what you think. I cheat."

On closing the door Joanne noticed that he had also made some effort to clean the bathroom before she arrived. There were towels laid out and ready, and folded up waiting for her was a typical over large and faded football jersey that all guys seem to have around the house. It would make an acceptable nighty.

Removing her skirt and blouse she searched in vain for somewhere to hang them. Obviously Thom wasn't in the habit of changing clothes in the bathroom. After a few moments she opened the door and called out, "Thom, do you have a couple of clothes hangers?"

"Sure thing," he called from the bedroom where he was changing into sweats and a t-shirt. Scrounging a couple from his chaotic closet, he brought them out for her. As he rounded the corner he came face to face with Joanne standing in the bathroom doorway, dressed rather conspicuously in only bra, panties, stockings, and a smile. "Here you go," he said as he handed them to her and tried to act as if this were normal.

"Thanks," was her only reply, although she did notice his slight blush. 'What the hell?' she thought. 'Let him have a little thrill. He said I look good and this just proves it.' After waiting with the door open a few seconds longer than necessary she closed it, still smiling and without further comment.

Thom went back into the bedroom and looked down at the evidence of his reaction. Other than the occasional admiration of his sister's well formed body he had never been turned on by her. 'Why is this time different?' he thought. 'I've seen plenty nearly naked and naked women before.' Reaching down he stroked the rising erection through the fabric of his clothing enjoying the sensations and picturing her tight flesh and smooth skin.

"What am I doing?" he finally said out loud, then went back into the living room and turned on the TV. 'That's just nasty," he thought to himself. 'She's my sister, no matter how hot she is.'

Inside the bathroom Joanne removed her bra and stockings and hung them on the hangers with her skirt and blouse. After turning on the shower and sitting to pee she slid her panties down and off her legs. Bringing them gingerly up to her face she gave a tentative little sniff. 'Yup. A bit ripe,' she thought. 'Time for an ersatz washing. Before stepping into the shower she filled the lavatory with a little hot water, just a touch of soap, and left the cotton briefs to soak.

By the time she was through the bathroom was a cloud of steam and falling water. Pulling the curtain back she stepped under the stream and enjoyed the needle like burn of a temperature almost too hot to handle. Letting out a long sigh she spent several minutes just feeling the slide of water on skin and enjoying the heat. Hugging herself and turning under the water gave her skin a rosy glow that made the cool of the air flowing over the curtain a pleasant distraction. Before she could be lulled too far into a sleepy state she began rinsing her hair in preparation to washing it. 'Just like a guy. Only one bottle of shampoo and nothing for real hair care.'

Something about the airflow in the bathroom was causing a contradiction in temperature, and those alternating movements were effecting her body. As she soaped up her hair and then rinsed it in the disobedient water an almost chemical reaction was occurring to her flesh. The cool air on her hot skin caused her nipples to grow and even to tingle a little bit. Noticing those feelings immediately Joanne looked down.

"Now now girls," she muttered. "Behave yourselves." With a slight smile she glanced over the soapy globes and the smooth legs below them. 'Slippery as a seal he said, and twice as much fun.' Did he really think so? It wasn't the first time she'd received such comments. Sliding her hands down her wet and slippery torso and up over her breasts and nipples she felt more of that tingle she hadn't felt in a long time.

Her skin was sensitive, and reactionary. What had begun as a slightly erect nipple caused by cool air and a fleeting naughty though, became a rosy glow topped by two tingling coals. Her breasts ached and her hands rose reflexively to give them the pressure and the touch that would alleviate the longing.

"Aw hell," she said quietly. "There's nothing really wrong with getting stirred up when a guy tells you how sexy you are, even if that guy is your brother."

Having recognized the feelings tingling in her stomach, Joanne resigned herself to them and sat down on the small seat in the corner of the shower. Still in the line of fire of the hot spray of water, her hands slowly started to wander up and down her skin, mapping out the little high points and low sensitive areas that she knew well. Those slow certain touches became her world as the soap and suds slowly melted from the various parts of her body.

She allowed her touch to linger here and there, on a thigh, a breast, a cheek. Each touch at each place built on the overall ripple that was growing throughout her body. With a knowing smile and closed eyes her hands drew up to softly cup yet gradually squeeze her eager tits. Although this relieved some of the longing tingle in that sensitive area, even more was pushed downward into her center.

The falling water made her wet from head to toe, but there was a hot spreading sweetness that she could feel developing down between her thighs. Drawing one knee up to her breast she wrapped her arm around her thigh and treated her opposite nipple to gentle caress's and the occasional light pinch. The other hand was engaged in stroking those heated thighs and gently combing her pubic hair, trimmed mostly to suit her swim-wear. 'I'd better not make too much noise,' she thought dimly.

Under the gently coaxing of her hand she could feel her breasts growing taut and firm. The tingle continued to grow down from her breasts and between her thighs like the spread of warm water through a luke warm bath. Even then she continued to stroke her thighs and avoided touching her pussy. Under the water her wet skin was baby soft and the hot spray maintained a warm glow that brought a flush to her cheeks.

Her mind became a vivid place where she imagined masculine hands roving over her body, touching her legs, her back, her neck, her torso. She closed her eyes and waited to feel his lips kiss gently on the small of her back, her thighs, sliding ever closer. Those lips would roam up over her belly and bring unexpected warmth under her breasts and down her sides. Then fingers parting her lips and exposing the moist and sensitive inner folds. In pleasant agony she waited for lips kissing her pussy; pulling gently on her clit and a tongue flicking just inside. She opened her eyes to see that, without her directing them to, her fingers had pulled open her pussy lips and were gently stroking up and down, pausing over the clit in a gentle massage. 'Oh god yes. I've needed this for a long time.'

It was true that with the stress of the break up and the divorce she had stopped masturbating completely. 'Why did I ever do that? This feels so good!'

Once again she closed her eyes and imagined lips pressed against her pussy and a mans arm around her waist. Her fingers were busy on her clit, but a longing came over her to feel a cock rubbing her lips, parting the inner folds, making it's way inside of her. Twining two fingers together and making sure they were slippery and wet she inserted them up her cunt, filling it and rubbing herself. Keeping a hand on her breast and rolling a nipple gently around, she continued the gentle finger fuck while rubbing her clit with a convenient thumb.

In her mind it was a man filling her, gently fucking her with slow rhythm and gentle motion. She pictured soft kisses on her neck and a strong hand on her hip. She saw him raise up and begin to work faster. The face cleared from an amorphous fantasy into that of a known entity.

All she could see was the face of her ex, Mark.

'NO!' she thought, losing all concentration. 'Damn! Damn! Damn! I don't want him here for this.'

She tried fingering harder, but it was no use. All the tingle was gone and even with the moisture of the shower spray her pussy and clit felt too sensitive and uncooperative. The whole thing was over before it had really got started. Joanne stood back up and hugged herself under the falling embrace of the water. There were tears unseen on her wet face and somewhere deep inside her gut a voice was screaming 'It's just not fair!'

"No, it isn't," Joanne told the voice inside herself. "And it never will be. But it will get easier."

It was time to be done and she turned off the water standing there, waiting while some of the sheen of moisture dripped off her body and rolled down the drain. The last few sniffles and tears ran down with it leaving only the barest trace on her face. Sliding open the curtain and stepping out on the mat she found the towel within reach. Fluffy and soft, it warmed her new formed goose flesh until her skin resumed it's state of casual smoothness.

Considering her panties she determined that they were as clean as they were going to get. She rinsed them, wrung them out, and hung them on the towel rack next to the recently discarded bath towel. 'Now that's as clean as I'm going to be tonight.'

Pulling the football jersey over her head she found that, though it was large it barley covered her ass. 'Damn. My panties aren't going to be dry until tomorrow. What am I going to do?' She glanced at herself in the foggy mirror. 'If I'm careful maybe he won't notice I'm not wearing any. Double damn. It would be my brothers place.'

Taking a deep breath and hoping her eyes weren't red from crying, Joanne opened the bathroom door and strolled out into the living room trying to keep her short top from flapping up.

Using the Television to numb his mind as much as possible, Thom was sitting there in a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt changing channels at roughly five second intervals. It was cable, and naturally there wasn't anything on. The noise of bathroom door opening was just enough to bring him out of the television induced trance and catch his attention.

Joanne strode out in bare feet and the jersey he had left for her. Being a bit too short for her it made her legs look longer than they were. Thom was surprised he noticed this but wasn't disturbed. What did disturb him was a rock hard pair of nipples plain to see through the soft fabric of the jersey. Of course, being on her way to bed she hadn't strapped on her bra. 'Oh man I didn't need that!' he thought as she came over and sat down on the couch next to him.