Sibling Rivalry

She wasn't disappointed. Penny had long since been convinced that his hands, big and strong as they were, would be amazingly gentle where that mattered - and they were. In no time he had her squealing and wiggling in joy. His lips felt wonderful on her plump nipples as well. She was so focused on that pleasure that she didn't notice at first as his hands made their way down to her panties. He had them most of the way over her hips before she realized what he was up to. As they slid to the floor, she hugged him tightly and then drew back. "Like what you see?" she cooed.

He nodded and grinned, and prodded her gently back onto the bed. She lay on her side with one leg propped up, so he'd be free to touch her anywhere.

"So sorry I missed this before," he whispered as he lay down beside her. Still wearing everything but his shoes, he kissed her gently, and she closed her eyes and gave in to the joy of the moment. Silent at first, she let out a delighted moan as she felt his fingers in her bush. Some guys had claimed to like her wild, natural undergrowth, others had practically begged her to shave, but no one had ever taken the time to explore it the way Joe did now. His light teasing all through her well-hidden feminine charms soon had her so pent up she had to pull back from his lips and moan out loud. "Don't stop!" she ordered.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he whispered. On that note he bent down to kiss her breasts one by one, while working his hand a bit harder and lower than before. He had her vulva itching to be rubbed in no time, and when at last he did, she yelped and grabbed at a tuft of his hair. She was all set to beg him to slip a finger inside her, but he beat her to the punch and did it without a word.

"Ooooh! Ohmygod!"

He rubbed slowly and lightly at first within her, almost tickling, and she wiggled around until his touch grew firmer. Still slow, it now felt utterly indulgent and Penny let out a joyful sigh. She was only just aware that he'd stopped kissing her breasts before she realized what he intended to kiss next.

There was a fleeting tickle of anticipation before she felt his warm breath and, an instant later, his tongue on her clit. Penny let out her throatiest moan yet, and gripped at the sheets with both hands as he set in to licking on and around it, and still rubbing gently inside her. Other guys had done both at once, but they hadn't been half as gentle or attentive. And they hadn't been fully clothed at the time. Penny never would have guessed that would have added to the thrill and the pleasure, but it did in every way.

She did, though, long to help him out of his clothes and welcome him inside her. But as he kissed and licked her to her first orgasm, she was more than happy to wait a bit longer. Naturally, it did not take long before she was screeching and grinding her hips up into his face and thanking her lucky stars her father wasn't in the house. The thought did cross her mind that Cornelia might hear her, but she welcomed that.

"Thank youuuu," she exhaled as Joe sat up and withdrew his finger. She sat up as well and nearly dove for his belt buckle. "Now let's let you out, shall we?"

"Yes please!" Joe unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it over his head while Penny busied herself with unzipping his pants. He had just enough time to pull his shirt off and toss it on the floor before she freed his hard cock from its confinement and welcomed it with an affectionate kiss. Now it was Joe's turn to lose control and sigh passionately as she flicked her tongue about.

She didn't keep up the teasing for very long, as she was dying to have him inside her. She considered telling him as much, but that proved unnecessary - she could tell from the look in his eyes as she lay back on her pillow and spread her legs wide.

The opportunity hung in the air for one or the other of them to say something witty. But silence reigned as he settled himself gently on top of her. "Here," Penny said, taking him in one hand to guide him inside. That bit of concentration didn't stop her eyes from opening wide with delight as she clutched him within for the first time. His own face mirrored her pleasant vulnerability perfectly as they savored that first moment.

From there, the world fell away as he pushed into her slowly at first, building up wonderful tension that she let out with one passionate sigh and grunt after another. Could it only be that morning they'd met? Penny wasn't one to move this quickly - but as Joe welcomed and encouraged her throaty responses, she soon decided that was a good thing. Some of her exes who had known her for ages before she went to bed with them had been surprised at just what quiet, demure Penny turned into when things got intimate. It was just as well that Joe hadn't had time to get any misconceptions about her.

As Joe picked up the pace and Penny's responses grew louder and more intense, she gave no thought at all to her sister. But Cornelia got an earful of what they were up to at that moment when she got up to use the bathroom. Lingering in the bathroom doorway and listening to her sister's passionate moans, Cornelia was as surprised at what she heard as Penny's exes had been. She was also surprised at what it must mean Joe was feeling - if he was doing that good a job, he must really find something attractive about Penny. Probably her tits, Cornelia mused - even she couldn't deny Penny's rack was something else. Or was Joe one of those weirdos who actually liked an overgrown beaver like Penny's?

Either way, Cornelia told herself as she shut the bathroom door, the better to twist the knife tomorrow. She hoped Joe wouldn't be too hurt, but then, he did have Carlotta, didn't he?

Penny threw herself at Joe and pulled him down onto her as she came. Still pushing her hips up again and again as best she could, she brought him along with her, and it was his turn to let out a joyous yelp. "Oh, Joe, that's beautiful!" Penny said, stroking his hair as he lay his head on her breast.

"Well, why should you ladies have all the fun, huh?" Joe quipped, and they laughed.

Penny expected him to fall asleep any second, but instead they talked for hours - at least it felt like hours, but neither of them ever looked at the clock. Joe told her a little more about his lost fiancee, Carlotta, but couldn't bring himself to explain everything in the heat of such a beautiful moment.

Penny didn't mind and suspected nothing. Who needed to worry about the past now anyway?

The answer came in the morning, but not before Penny and Joe enjoyed a long, hot shower together. Penny had slight reservations about that with her father in the house, but hadn't he been having some fun on his own this weekend? So she was over her concerns even before Joe's first gentle, soapy caress on her breasts.

As Cornelia and Eric made their way to the stairs, they exchanged knowing looks at the sound of Penny and Joe chatting amicably in the bathroom. "Well, that part of the plan sure took off, didn't it?" Eric said.

He tried to take a detour behind the chimney, but Cornelia was having none of that. "Oh no you don't!" she hissed.

"What's the harm?" Eric asked.

"You want another look at a bush like that, go find a garden somewhere!" Cornelia said, steering him to the stairway.

When they got to the kitchen, they could hear Larry and Jan talking upstairs. "So no harm done!" Cornelia squealed with an evil grin. Then, in an ordinary tone of voice, she asked Eric, "What do you feel like for breakfast?"

Before Eric could answer, Cornelia heard her father calling from the living room. "Girls, are you up?"

"I am, Daddy," Cornelia called. "Penny's in the shower. With Joe, by the way." She burst into peals of laughter and looked at Eric, who smiled but didn't join in on the laughing.

"Hold off on breakfast, then, until she gets upstairs," Larry ordered. "I need to talk to you both."

"Oh, this ought to be fun!" Cornelia sat down at the table and folded her hands to wait for her sister. From the look on her face, Eric could only assume she really meant it.

It wasn't five minutes before Penny and Joe appeared in the basement stairwell. When they arrived, Cornelia showed no reaction to seeing them hand in hand. "Penny, Daddy wants to talk to you," she declared.

"And you too, Cornelia," Larry said in his not-to-be-trifled-with voice. "Both of you, come in here, now."

"Try to make it fast, will you?" Cornelia said to Penny as she stood up. "I'm starving and we can't have breakfast until this is over with."

Their father was standing in the living room doorway. Jan was sitting cross-legged on the couch, looking tired and drawn, but Penny thought she looked pretty good all things considered.

"Girls," Larry said. "Last night, one or the other of you did something thoughtless and cruel to Jan while she was a guest in our home. She spent most of the night in the hospital as a result. One of you, and you know who you are, owes her a lavish apology."

"Dad, I told you -" Penny began.

"Enough!" Larry interrupted. "You both said you didn't do it, but one of you is obviously lying. Since I can't tell which of you it is, no one is leaving this room until you both apologize to Jan."

"I'm not apologizing for what she did!" They both said it in unison, as if it were rehearsed.

"I said enough!" He looked angrier than Penny could ever recall seeing him. "For all I know, you were both mixed up in it. If one of you is innocent, maybe you ought to ask yourself why I don't trust you?"

"Been doing that all my life!" Penny seethed.

"Excuse me?" her father snapped.

"Penny, just apologize already," Cornelia said in the sweetest tone of voice she could muster.

"For what you did?"

"What I did?" Cornelia looked at her in mock surprise. "Didn't you tell me you wanted..."

Halfway through her sister's question, Penny knew just what was coming. She immediately looked at her father and said, "No! No, I didn't say that, she did, honest!"

It was all for naught as usual, for Larry listened to Cornelia finish her question - "to make sure she didn't feel welcome here?" - and then looked at Penny in disgust. "Oh, Penny!" he said.

"Dad! I didn't do it, I didn't do it, I didn't do it! What part of that don't you understand, you asshole?!" Penny's eyes were wet with tears of rage.

"Don't you talk to me like that!" Larry thundered. "You knew what she was going to say, didn't you?"

"Because she said that, Dad! Not me!"

"Did not," Cornelia said.

"Look, both of you, could you just apologize to Jan already and let's forget about this?"

"Oh, stop!" Jan spoke up for the first time, getting to her feet. "Larry, I've had it! Penny's been nothing but wonderful to me and Cornelia's been horrible, and you just won't stop pretending it's both of them! It's not my place to tell you how to treat your kids, but I just can't stand this kind of favoritism! I had to live with it constantly when I was a kid and I won't have any part of it now!"

"Jan, look..." Larry said; Penny saw a familiar fear in his eyes.

Jan fulfilled that fear with what she said next. "I just can't take any more of this, Larry." She snatched up her purse from the cocktail table and stormed off towards the door. "Goodbye!"

"Wait, honey, please..." But she didn't, and the door slammed behind her. Larry turned around and kicked the wall. "Oh goddammit, oh goddammit, oh goddammit!" He threw himself down on the couch and buried his head in his hands.

Penny hadn't seen him cry even when her mother had died. She did see him cry now.

"Nice work, Penny," Cornelia said.

"Oh, shut up, you!" Larry roared from the couch. "Both of you, get lost!"

In the kitchen, Joe and Eric both did their best to pretend they hadn't heard anything. But that was hopeless. For Cornelia, of course, it was one down, one to go. She intended to spill the beans about Joe's fiancee over breakfast. "Well," she said, doing her best to drown out her father's sobs in the other room, "We might as well have breakfast. Penny, what do you feel like making?"

"Nothing, for you!" Penny snapped. "I can't even stand to be in the same room as you right now! Joe, let's get out of here." Without a look at any of them, even Joe, she stepped outside. Joe gave Cornelia a dirty look and followed Penny outside.

"I guess you heard everything?" Penny said, gesturing down the road to a popular breakfast spot. There would be a wait for a table, but right now she welcomed that.

"I did my best not to," Joe said. "You think she'll come back?"

"I hope so," Penny said. "And yeah, I think probably. She really seems to love him."

"Is that why you don't look so upset?" Joe asked.

"Partly that," Penny said. Then she turned to him with a smile. "And partly because she finally told him what I've been trying to tell him for years, the way he favors Cornelia. He never listened to me, but I bet he'll listen to her!"

She was right. After breakfast and a long walk together on the beach, Penny and Joe returned to the house to find Larry drinking coffee at the kitchen table. He still looked devastated, confirming Penny's suspicion that Jan hadn't returned yet, but he managed a smile at them. "Penny, listen," he said.

"Shall I go downstairs?" Joe asked.

"You might as well stay," Larry said. "I'm sure you heard everything."

Joe nodded but said nothing. Neither did Penny; she just looked at her father and waited.

"I've been thinking about what Jan said. And I'm sorry, Penny. Your brother used to say the same thing and I never listened to him either. I'm sorry."

"Thanks," Penny said.

"This is why Curtis has stayed away, isn't it?"

"He told me he wanted to be sad when Mom died, but she was always such a nightmare for him. And yes, Cornelia had a lot to do with that."

"Your mother loved you all."

"I know, but that's really not the point, Dad. Now, could you please listen to something?"

"Sure."

Penny took her phone out of her purse. "When I first got here the other day, Cornelia seemed a little too happy to see me. So I figured she was up to something. Listen to what she said when I was trying my swimsuit on." She pressed 'play' on her audio recording app, and set the phone on the table.

"I'm here for Dad, not for her. He's the one who always calmed the waters when everyone else was at each other's throats, you know that. And he loved Mom, no matter what the rest of us thought of her. But you know, losing her made me realize, maybe we ought to try harder to forgive one another. That includes you and me, all right?"

"Thanks, Penny. Oh, speaking of Dad, he's already seeing someone new if you can believe that! A professor named Doctor Blop or something. I intend to make sure she never feels welcome here, and I'd appreciate your help, or at least staying out of the way if you can't."

Larry was aghast. "Then she was just accusing you of what she really said!"

"And she knew you'd fall for it." Penny wanted to forgive her father, but for the moment she couldn't. "Now which one of us do you think put that junk in Jan's water?"

Unbeknownst to Penny and Joe, Cornelia and Eric were in the living room and had heard everything. As soon as Cornelia realized what Penny was playing on her phone, they both got up and tried to escape outside undetected. But Joe saw them at the door, and he brushed Larry's shoulder and pointed at them. "Jailbreak!" he whispered.

"Cornelia!" Larry roared, jumping up.

"Daddy, it was just an April fool's joke that got a little out of hand!" Cornelia managed the cute smile that had always charmed him into submission before.

"You little bitch," Larry growled. "Just what do you have against me being happy again?"

"I...I..." Cornelia glared at Penny, who only gave her a triumphant look in response. "It was supposed to be family only!"

"And that's why you invited your boyfriend and his friend? And I let you! And then you lied about your sister saying exactly what you said?!"

"Well, what was she doing recording me? How paranoid are you, Penny?!"

"I'd say she had good reason to be paranoid!" Larry said. "As for you..." He looked back and forth at Eric and Cornelia. "I want you and Eric out of here. I'm going to take a walk and look for Jan, and you'd better be gone when I get back!" He all but tore the door off its hinges, and slammed it behind him.

After a moment of awkward silence, Penny said, "Can I help you pack?"

"Fuck you, you bitch!" Cornelia growled. "How could you do that to me? Weren't you the one who said 'we're sisters'?"

"Sisters who've known each other all our lives," Penny said. "So I knew you were probably going to pull something like this." She put an arm around Joe. "I'm only surprised I wasn't the victim this time."

Cornelia's smile returned. "Oh, but you are, Penny." She looked at Joe. "Are you going to tell her, or shall I?"

"Tell me what?" Penny's sense of triumph vanished, and she pulled back from Joe, who she saw also looked rather uncomfortable.

"I'll tell," Eric said. "And Penny, don't worry, it's good news for you."

"What?!" Both sisters said it, in very different tones of voice.

"Eric, man, I don't think you even know the whole story," Joe said.

"Oh yes I do," Eric declared. "I'm the only one who does. Penny, your sister wanted me to pull an April fool's trick on you, even before we found out Jan was coming here. She wanted me to introduce you to Joe and have you fall in love with him, and then reveal that he's engaged to this Italian chick."

"Carlotta?" Penny asked. "He told me about her."

"Yeah," Eric said. "What Neeli didn't know is, they broke up a few months ago because Carlotta cheated on him."

"You're making that up!" Cornelia screeched.

"No he isn't," Joe said. "That is what happened, but Eric, how did you know she cheated on me?"

Eric's face twisted into a sad smile, and he hung his head and stared at the floor.

"Oh my God." Joe clenched his fists and turned away from the others.

"I knew there were others!" Cornelia shoved Eric into the wall, and slapped him and kneed him in the balls. "You asshole!"

"Hey, not in the house!" Penny said, and presently Joe was at her side pulling them apart. When they'd each pinned Cornelia against the doorjamb, she continued. "Now, you heard Dad. Why don't you take turns packing?"

"Great idea," said Joe. "Eric, you are one lucky little bastard that I happened to fall for Penny, you know that?" Letting go of Cornelia, he put an arm around Penny and kissed her cheek.

"I was hoping you would," Eric said. "Then maybe, you know..."

"Forget it, man," Joe said. "Get your ass downstairs and pack."

Penny had never been one to enjoy other people's misfortune. But this time she didn't even try to resist that temptation as she escorted Eric downstairs. Joe didn't trust himself to be anywhere near Eric, so he stayed in the kitchen with Cornelia.

"Tell me," he said. "Did you spy on me in the shower?"

At long last Cornelia's indifferent facade vanished. "You know about that? Oh, wait, Eric told you, didn't he?"

"Yes, but so did Penny, and I didn't peek at her but she did peek at me. And liked what she saw," he added.

"How the hell did she know about that?" Cornelia demanded.

"She's not as naive as you think, that's how."

"Bitch," Cornelia said. "And if you must know," she lied, "Yes, I did. Don't expect me to believe you didn't sneak a peek at me too."

"Why would I want to do that if I didn't want to with Penny?"

"If you need to ask, that explains why you're crazy enough to fall for her."

Joe laughed and said nothing else.

Downstairs, Penny had the same thought. "Don't expect me to believe Cornelia didn't tell you about the crack in the bathroom wall. Did you get a look at me?"

Eric, unlike Cornelia, was feeling a bit contrite. "Joe's a lucky guy," he said without looking up as he tossed his clothes into his rucksack.