Black Lotus

Danny caught Tia glowering and gave her a brief hug in return, before pulling away. "Good. Out of the Army now and back home. I'm working as an electrician now. How about you?"

"Finished my undergrad and working on my masters. Electrical engineering." Kristen smiled. "Want to go get a drink and catch up?"

"No," Tia said. She grabbed Danny's hand and glared at the other woman. "He's busy."

"Oh, sorry." Danny gestured. "Remember Raul Navarro? This is Tia, his sister."

Kristen shifted her gaze from Danny to Tia and flinched at the latter's scowl. "Uh, nice to meet you, Tia. Good to see you, Danny. I still live at home. Give me a call sometime and we'll catch up." She hurried past them.

Tia stared at the retreating woman's back with the intensity of someone wishing their target would burst into flames. "Old friend?"

"Kristen Tarver. She was in a few classes with me and Raul. A geek, like all of us. She was always into Dungeons and Dragons."

Her lip curled. "She wants you."

Danny chuckled. He and Kristen had been fellow nerds and loved talking about stuff but there had been zero attraction between them. "I doubt it. She and I were just friends."

Tia side-eyed him. "Sometimes I think it's good that you're so dumb around women." Before Danny could figure out what she meant, Tia's face relaxed. She patted his forearm. "Never mind her. You're here with me and that's all there is to it, okay?"

"Sure, Tia."

They resumed their banter, though Danny's thoughts lingered on the previous encounter. Tia's reaction had been territorial as hell, as if she was staking a claim. Was she? he thought. Danny considered it and realized he didn't mind that much her doing so—and if they had met one of her male friends who hugged her and ignored him, he admitted to himself he wouldn't have been all that friendly to the guy. A sense of attachment crept into his mind. He squeezed her hand and was rewarded with a quick glance from her, filled with love and devotion.

They strolled around for another half-hour before Danny said, "You want to get out of here?"

Concern crossed her face. "You didn't find your book, Danny."

"That's okay." He patted his pack. "I got a few other things. Besides, I think I'm enjoying the company more."

Tia's eyes widened slightly. Her lower lip caught between her teeth before a dazzling smile spread over her face. Danny returned it, wondering if she knew just how beautiful she was.

They picked up a few items for lunch, then drove into the Catalina Foothills to a spot Tia knew, where they could overlook the whole valley. She parked and he exited the vehicle. The spot was on a deserted trail, some distance away from the homes and construction in the Foothills. The only sounds were the crunch of the sand and gravel beneath his feet and the moan of the wind tickling his hair. The sun shone down on them and the mild temperature made the scene tolerable. He shaded his hand and looked out over Tucson. "How'd you find this place?"

She appeared at his elbow. "In high school, I used to come up here with friends and party. Nobody seemed to care unless we left a mess. Nice view, eh?"

"Sure is, hermana."

Tia stepped in front of him. "Is that what you think, Danny? Do you think of me as your hermana—your little sister?" Her voice was quiet and her gaze serious.

He grinned. "You know I always have."

"But I'm not your sister, not really." She rested her arms on his shoulders. "And not so little anymore."

"No, not really," he said, echoing her words. His hands found their way to her lithe hips. Tia tilted her head, closed her eyes, and gave him a soft kiss. Her lips were warm and gentle, and his hard-on was near-instant. They gently kissed each other for a few seconds before she pulled her head back.

He whispered, "Is this weird?"

"Only if we let it be. Raul said he told you how I feel."

"He did."

"Since we were kids, Danny. That's how long I've loved you. I know you love me too. I don't know yet if you love me like a sibling or a lover but I hope you'll give us the chance to find out."

"I'd hate to ruin what we have now."

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained." She touched his cheek with tender fingers. "I promise you won't regret it."

His throat went dry. "Right up until I run afoul of that temper of yours."

She smiled again. "Well, none of us are perfect. Besides, even if I yell at you, I'll never stop loving you. Even if we can't be together, I won't stop. I promise."

Her lips found his again, hungrier this time, and more eager. He kissed her back. Their tongues dueled for supremacy. Danny's arms encircled her back, drawing her to him.

Tia broke away, grinning. She took his hand and led him to the passenger door, flopped forward the front seat, and unfolded a long beach towel across the bench back seat. She hopped in and said, "Get back here."

"In Raul's car?" Danny grimaced. "He'd murder me."

"No, he won't. Why do you think I brought the Regal in the first place, instead of my nice, clean little Jetta? I know about all you guys' adventures in this rust bucket. He's the one that told me to bring a towel."

Danny felt heat in his cheeks. Somehow he thought it was wrong to think about the other girls he'd screwed on the same back seat while he was with Tia. She was different. She wasn't a score, she was special.

Miss Special leaned against the far back corner. Her right knee was bent with her shoe resting on the seat, her left leg extended to the floor. Tia slowly drew her left hand down her neck, between her breasts, and to her pants. She rubbed her groin through her shorts as she stared at Danny with lust-filled eyes.

His dick pulsed at the sight and he quickly climbed in. She'd left the keys in the ignition, so he started up the engine, set the air conditioning, and climbed in the back.

They kissed again. Tia's hands fell to his waist and found the hem of his shirt. He raised his arms as she pulled it up and over his head. He reached for hers and they repeated the maneuver. She wore a plain bra, which she unsnapped and shrugged free. Her breasts were average-sized but pert, topped with erect nipples and chocolate-brown areolas. Danny lowered his head and kissed them. He ran his tongue across each nubbin, flicking it and nibbling with his teeth. Tia moaned. Her fingers stroked his hair as he worked. After a few moments, he kissed his way down her taut belly. Her skin was smooth and soft. She unsnapped her shorts and kicked her sandals onto the floor.

Danny pulled her pants down and even in the tight space, was able to drag them free, leaving her in nothing but a pair of lacy white panties. The aroma of her arousal filled the car. Danny's dick throbbed. He said, "Your legs are incredible."

Her voice was a mere breath. "Show me how incredible they are."

It was difficult in the tight confines but Danny kissed his way down the outside of her right leg. He had a momentary concern that her feet would be unclean in some way (which had—thankfully—only happened to him once) but they were neat, with trimmed nails and just as smooth as the rest of her. He sucked her toes until she was panting, then moved to the other foot, repeated that, and worked his way up the left leg. He moved back down the inside, raining soft kisses on her thighs, and then the inside of her knee, which garnered a slight giggle from her. He ran his tongue down her calf to the ankle and switched to the other side, kissing his way up the inside of her right leg.

Tia squirmed and gasped at his touch. Her hands never left his head.

Danny rubbed his nose and chin on her panty-clad crotch. Her heady scent flooded his nostrils, driving his lust to new heights. His fingers found the waistband on her hips and slowly pulled the intruding garment away. She lifted her pelvis to allow him to do so. A second later, her pussy came into view. She wore a trimmed patch above shaved swollen lips that were slick with her desire. He worked her panties down her legs until they were off, leaving her naked and at his mercy.

He would not have called himself an expert pussy-eater, but what Danny lacked in skill, he made up in youthful exuberance and desire to please. He licked up and down her labia, even plunging his tongue in her entry. Her taste was tart and sweet at the same time. Her accelerated moans and quivering hips told Danny he was doing something right, so he continued lapping at her. His tongue found her clit, massaged it, rolled it around between his lips. Tia convulsed. Danny brought his fingers to her sopping entrance and gently worked one inside her, back and forth. He continued until she reached her peak, gasping and crying out. Her abdomen vibrated as she shook. He caressed her legs with gentle strokes as she came down.

Tia sat up and wiped sweat from her brow. "Get those pants off, ese."

Danny sat back and unbuckled his belt. He kicked his shoes off and dragged his pants and boxers off with one swift push. His cock stood upright and proud.

Tia eyed his package like a lion looking at a gazelle. She slid her hands across his torso. "I thought you'd have a nice one and I was glad to see I was right."

She brushed her hair aside and lowered her head. Danny's breath caught as she inhaled the head of his cock and devoured his length. Warmth engulfed him as Tia slowly bobbed her head up and down. She gripped the base of the shaft and swirled her tongue around his head. Danny groaned and stroked her hair. She repeated the maneuver over and over. Danny panted. His cock throbbed under her lips. He forced himself to relax and savor the pleasure. He'd had good blow jobs before but never one with as much care and concentration as Tia exhibited.

Tia popped his cock free from her lips and grinned up at him. Her hand lightly glided up and down the shaft. "We'll finish that later. Oh, and Danny?" She grinned. "I swallow."

He stared at her, mesmerized.

"But I want you in me." She lay back on the towel. Seeing his hesitation, she said, "I'm on the pill. Come to me, lover."

Danny leaned across Tia and kissed her. She held his face and kissed him back. It did not occur to him until later that they each tasted like the other; even so, Tia did not hesitate to shove her tongue in his mouth. He snaked one hand to his cock and placed it at her entrance. Ever so slowly, he sank into her. Danny breathed hard. If her mouth had been warm, her pussy was a furnace. He withdrew slightly and pushed again. Tia moaned in his ear. "Yes, mi amor, yes!"

They rocked together gently for several moments. Danny shivered. Each plunge into her was heavenly and accentuated by Tia's quiet cries of passion. Her pussy clamped down on him like a slick velvet glove. She pushed her hips against his, meeting each of his thrusts with exquisite timing. It did not take long before he felt the inexorable rise. His breathing and pace accelerated.

For her part, Tia sped up along with him. "Yes, baby. Give it all to me!"

Danny groaned and closed his eyes. His cock spurted over and over. Each pulse caused his body to jerk. The warm pleasurable sensation spread through him as he emptied himself into Tia.

He opened his eyes to find her staring up at him in adoration. In between breaths, he said, "What?"

She touched his cheek. A single tear fell from her eye. "Do you know how long I've waited for this, Danny? Do you know how long I've hoped and prayed?" Another tear fell.

He gently brushed her cheeks. "Hey, don't cry. You have me now. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

She smiled and nodded through her tears.

He inhaled. The aromatic scent of their combined passion filled the car. Danny sighed.

Raul's going to kill me.

#

Raul didn't kill him, though he guessed the truth the moment they returned to Raul and Tia's apartment. He took one look at their abashed appearance, smiled, and shook his head before he returned to watching The Empire Strikes Back. "You two smell like you just walked out of a Tijuana whorehouse. Did you at least air my car out?"

"Oh, shut up," Tia said. She flounced past her brother to her bedroom and emerged a moment later with some clothes, went in the bathroom, and slammed the door.

Danny stood there for a moment, not knowing what to do. On the screen, a TIE fighter careened into an asteroid and exploded in a gout of flame. He wondered if his face was about to play the TIE to Raul's fist.

Raul eyed him. "Just sit down, hermano. I said I wasn't gonna kill you."

"Okay." He went to sit.

"Hey, whoa!"

Danny froze.

Raul glared at him. "If you're going to fuck my baby sister, the least you could do is bring us each a beer before you sit, you ungrateful asshole."

Danny started to stammer an apology but caught the gleam in Raul's eye, which slowly spread into a wide grin. Danny relaxed, went to the kitchen, and returned with two beers. He handed one to Raul, who nodded and took it. As Danny sat, Raul said, "Like I said before, she's a big girl who can make her own decisions. She loves you and I think you like her well enough not to just screw her and ditch her."

"No," Danny said, a little surprised at his own vehemence. "I'm not doing that at all."

"I know. You know her last real boyfriend cheated on her, right?"

"No, I didn't know that."

"That was about a year ago. They got along great and she was pretty serious about him. Keith might have been the only one she really cared about since you left. She decided to surprise him with dinner and walked in on him screwing some puta. It broke her heart. She's been paranoid about it since and it's been hard for her to trust. If you cheated on her, you'd kill her. You know that, right?"

Danny shivered. He could only imagine what Tia had been through at the time, what it must have taken for her to risk her heart again. Her sudden animosity toward Kristen at the comic show made a little more sense. "Raul, I think you know I'd never do that, right? I mean, I tagged a lot of girls, but when I was with one, I was with her and no one else. I don't cheat."

"I know you don't." Raul took a drink. "So just treat her good, okay? That's all I ask."

"Gonna do my best, hermano."

"You're a pretty good man, for a gringo."

Danny laughed and they clinked their bottlenecks together.

Tia emerged from the shower a few minutes later. She'd put on a pair of running shorts and a light sweatshirt. She flopped on the couch next to Danny and continued to rub her hair with a towel. Her long smooth legs swung over his lap and lay there, as if it were the most natural thing in the world and she'd done it a thousand times.

Danny glanced at Raul but his friend appeared engrossed in the movie and not paying attention to him or Tia at all.

"Hey," she said with a poke in his shoulder, "I'm over here, amor."

"Uh, yeah, you are." He smiled at her.

Tia stopped rubbing her head. "I said it wouldn't be weird unless we make it weird, Danny. I still want to hang with my two favorite guys. Only now, I get to be an awesome girlfriend as well as an awesome sister."

Raul snickered.

"Ignore that payaso, Danny. He's a dick sometimes." She glared at her brother. "Speaking of which, Raul, how'd you get that tape? I had all three Star Wars movies in my room."

"You, uh, you must have left it lying around."

Her eyes narrowed. "Uh-huh."

"Hey, Mama gave them to both of us. I'm allowed to watch them when I want."

Tia muttered something in Spanish that Danny couldn't quite catch. "Raul, you sound like you want to hear everything Danny and I did today, especially after we left the comic show. We went up to that party spot and—"

"Hey!" He held up his hand. "I don't want details. That's creepy."

"Then stay out of my room." She gave him one last glare before her gaze settled on Danny. She leaned forward and gave him a slow kiss. They held contact for a few seconds before she flopped back to her seat. Her bare feet wiggled in Danny's lap. He rested her hand on her legs, which caused her to smile at him. Tia said, "Raul, can you fast forward? This part's boring. Get to the Cloud City."

Raul sighed and reached for the remote.

#

"Mother-fucking goddamn it!" The man slammed his hand to the table, spraying his cards everywhere. Danny tried to keep the smile on his face but in reality, he wanted to punch the guy in the throat.

He'd known Simon since high school, where he'd been in the class behind Danny and Raul. Simon had been—and still was—a skinny guy with short black hair and glasses. Because he was another geek, he'd hung with Danny and Raul a while but his childish outbursts when things didn't go his way had led them to distance themselves from him. Simon was the kind of kid who would not only rip his Nintendo from the television if he got mad at a game, but throw it outside, run out with a bat, and completely demolish it. Six years after high school, as he sat across from the guy, Danny wasn't sure anything had changed. Simon had a job as an engineer with a Morton-Thiokol subsidiary, specializing in rocket engine research—a literal rocket scientist. Yet, he still acted like he was ten years old.

Still, Danny tried to take the high ground. He stuck out his hand. "Thanks, Simon. Good match."

Simon halted in the middle of a string of expletives. He glared at Danny with suspicion but shook his hand. "Yeah. Thanks." He gathered up his cards and stomped to the exit.

Danny watched him go. Simon's deck wasn't awful. It had a few tricks used to get some large creatures on the table fairly quickly. But like with any deck, sometimes the cards you needed just didn't come up. The game always held an element of random chance and for Danny, that was part of the challenge: building a deck that minimized that risk as much as possible and gave you a fighting chance to overcome it. Players like Simon seemed to think the right combination of cards should come up every game and got pissed if it didn't happen.

"Luck of the draw" is part of the game, he thought. Simon needs to get over it.

With Simon's loss and abrupt departure, Danny was in the finals again. He glanced around the game room of the Wizard's Tower. He locked eyes with Tia, who blew him a kiss. She and Raul sat offering card advice to another girl named Katie and the teenager Liam. Tia had declined to play that week, instead opting to spend the time tinkering with her deck and making some trades. Raul had been knocked out in the first round by Joel. Again.

At the thought, Danny's mood darkened. He glanced to where Joel played Mike. Joel smirked as he played a card and made some snide comment. Danny wasn't close enough to hear the words but he caught the disapproving frown from Phil, the shop proprietor. For his part, Mike showed no sign of being bothered by Joel's vitriol and continued to play. Danny didn't bother getting up to go look. He knew Joel's deck. He'd seen it often enough.

It had not taken long for the Sunday tournament crew to figure out that Danny and Joel were the power players. Despite the tournament usually filling thirty-two seats instead of sixteen, more often than not, the two of them often ended up facing one another. Raul had told Danny a lot of players were coming as much to watch Danny and Joel verbally abuse each other as they were to play themselves. Several months of re-acquaintance had not thawed feelings between Danny and Joel and their matches were punctuated with a lot of venom. Danny won his share but lost more than he cared to. And every time, he had to put up with Joel's mouth.

He caught Tia's eyes on him again. He smiled at her; her answering grin warmed his skin. He wondered again at how lucky he was. They'd been together for about eight weeks and it had been the best relationship Danny had ever been in. Tia was strong-willed, impatient, and often, quite loud. She was also affectionate, considerate, and utterly loyal. He'd met some of her college friends, most of whom looked at Danny with a sense of awe. When he asked one girl what the deal was, she'd only said, "It's just nice to finally meet the guy Tia's been ranting about for years."