Bring on the Wonder Ch. 01

To my regular readers, this is my 'secret' project that I've mentioned recently. As you can see, it's a brand new genre for me and if it's not your thing, then please don't continue. I can't say for sure that I'll ever revisit this genre in the future. In fact, the reader feedback and reaction to this first chapter will determine whether I even continue to post the entire thing.

Second, I wrote this story in answer to a challenge from someone very close to me, someone who is also a huge fan of my other work. They wanted a story from me that combined their two favourite genres. They also wanted to see if I could write something totally new for me, and to be honest, something that makes me uncomfortable, because this is just not the genre for me. That being said, as I worked on this story, I got more and more comfortable with it and the end result is something I'm happy enough with to share with everyone.

For those who know me, no, this story isn't some unspoken, deep-rooted, hidden fantasy of mine. As I mentioned above, this was a writing experiment. Any writer will tell you they are constantly trying new techniques or plots to keep their writing fresh.

Enough chit-chat. Here's the story, something new for me and you.

As always, take care and happy reading.

M. ;)

****

She knew her twisting and writhing body would overload his senses. He grasped her hips and tried to still her movements but she let out a cry of protest. Her body undulated beneath his and he clenched his jaw.

"Are you trying to kill me?" His words were interspersed with grunts as he continued to thrust.

She giggled, the sound dying on a gasp as he moved hard and fast for several strokes. She laid her hands over his, where he held her, and kept her gaze locked on his.

He loved looking down into her flushed face as he slid in and out of her tight sheath. He adored the way she bit her lip or the way her eyelashes fluttered when he struck just the right spot deep inside. He drank in the sounds she made, gritting his teeth to stave off orgasm a little bit longer.

She knew him as well as he knew her. She knew that when she clenched her muscles around him, it would take him to the brink in an instant. She knew it would make him stretch himself out above her, so their bodies would rub together for those last few, hard strokes. Her arms would go around his shoulders, her heels would dig into his ass and he would moan her name while rubbing his lips over the skin of her ears, neck and chest.

He recognized the mischievous look in her clear-blue eyes. "Don't do it."

"Don't do what?"

"You know what."

But it was too late. He felt the first flutter of her insides clenching around him. His movements faltered. She did it again. His arms began to shake and they both knew he was seconds from sprawling over her body, letting their naked and sweaty skin slide together as he fucked her to climax.

Then she squeezed again and he moaned her name, sliding down to wrap his arms around her. She kissed his face as her arms went around his shoulders. Her feet slid up his legs to wedge in tight against his ass and still she was tightening her pussy around his rigid cock.

"God, Lizzie, you feel so fucking good, so tight..."

She sighed into his ear and a shudder rippled up his spine. She traced it with her fingertips, rocking her pelvis up and against him as he kept moving in her.

"Does it feel good, Nate? Hmm? You like how wet and hot I am for you?"

He couldn't nod, couldn't speak, couldn't do anything but keep thrusting his cock in and out of her perfect body. She kissed his face and lips, stroked his back and all the while kept whispering naughty things in his ear. When she felt his breathing quicken, her voice faded and she let her head fall back against the pillow to watch him.

He looked into her face, her beautiful, rosy-cheeked face, the face he'd known and loved his whole life. He took in the sight of her tousled hair, strands sticking in sweaty clumps to her forehead, her sparkling eyes, filled with passion, and her lips, forming the words that always sent him over the edge.

Today was no exception.

"Lizzie!" he cried and arched as he started to come.

He shot his load into her, emptying more and more of himself with every pump of his hips. She held him close, her arms and legs tight around his body. He could feel her lips on his skin as she continued to press affectionate kisses to his cheek and chin.

When he caught his breath, he turned his face and kissed her on the mouth. "I love you, Lizzie."

She smiled. "I love you, Nate."

He buried his face against her neck and she squeezed him with all her limbs. Then he shifted and slipped free of her body. He kept his arms around her, drawing her with him as he rolled to his back. She draped herself over his chest with a contented sigh.

"I could stay here like this all day."

Lizzie's laughter stirred the hair on his chest.

He tickled her side. "Why are you laughing?"

"You say that every time we make love."

"I mean it every time."

She propped her chin on her hand and smiled into his eyes. He reached out and brushed the hair from her face.

"I know you mean it. I wish we could stay in bed all day too." She laid her cheek back on his chest. "But we have to go to Winnetka." Her eyes flicked to the clock on the bedside table. "Ugh. And we'll have to leave in less than an hour if we're going to be on time."

"Who cares if we're late?"

"Dad might."

Nate closed his eyes. She was right, of course. His father was all about punctuality and sticking to commitments. "Fine. We'll get ready." He opened his eyes to see Lizzie watching him. "But we'll save time if you shower with me."

She laughed as she moved to her knees and pushed his chest with one hand. "You've got it, my love. Now get that sexy ass in the bathroom before I change my mind."

Not one to pass up an opportunity, Nate scrambled from the bed, Lizzie's bright laughter chasing him.

Showering together probably didn't save time but it sure was a hell of a lot of fun.

****

Later, in the car, Lizzie fidgeted more and more the closer they got to the house. She gnawed on a thumbnail until Nate reached over and took her hand in his. She didn't look at him. Couldn't.

It was always the same. She could never shake the nerves that consumed her when they went to Winnetka. She was always afraid they would all look at her and Nate, and see it. They'd see right away what they'd been up to and judge them. Nate always tried to reassure her but it did little good.

"We won't stay late, Lizzie."

She nodded, still unable to look at him. If she looked at him, if she took in the way his dark, brown hair flopped onto his forehead – because he hadn't gone for a haircut in months – it would make her tell him to pull over so she could run her fingers through it. They both enjoyed that. Then his brown eyes would grow darker and she wouldn't be able to keep from kissing his perfect, full lips. After that, it would be mere minutes before he'd be inside her, moving, bringing them both pleasure. By the time they'd get going again, it would be even later and they'd arrive with kiss-swollen lips and the scent of sex all around them.

So instead, she kept her eyes on the road ahead and he held her hand. They drove the remaining twenty miles like that, silent, fingers tangled. Then he turned onto that old familiar block and she flicked her hand away from his. He let her go and she knew he wasn't hurt. He was too used to it after so many months.

They rounded the bend and he turned into the long, shaded driveway. They parked and eyed the old brick-faced house with matching expressions. Then Nate looked at her, and Lizzie looked back at him.

"Let's go."

She nodded and climbed out of the car. Nate walked up to the house, not waiting for her. She reached into the back seat to grab the pie she'd promised to bring, and followed Nate up the walk to the front door just in time to see Ingrid almost bowl Nate over.

"Whoa!" Nate laughed and caught the little girl around the waist. "Slow down."

Ingrid laughed and squirmed in his grasp as he moved a few more steps into the house. Lizzie followed and shut the door behind her.

"Hi, Lizzie!" Ingrid all but shrieked.

Cringing at the little girl's tone, Lizzie managed a wink for her. "Hi, Ingrid."

"Did you know it's my birthday?"

Nate laughed and tickled the little girl's sides. "Everyone knows it's your birthday, squirt. Why do you think we got all dressed up?"

"Auntie Clara says it's because Uncle Davis makes you."

Lizzie and Nate exchanged a look and nodded. "Auntie Clara is very smart."

"Auntie Clara is Mom to you, young man."

Nate grinned at the older woman who came down the hallway, dusting her hands off on her floral apron. "Hey, Mom."

"Ingrid, I think your father wants to show you something in the backyard."

Nate set the little girl down and she bolted down the hall. He turned to his mother to give her a hug. "You look lovely."

"You look thin. Are you eating?"

Nate pulled back to give her a wry smile without answering.

Clara turned to Lizzie then and grinned. "Sweetie, you remembered the pie!"

"Of course." Lizzie hugged the older woman as she scooped the pie from her hands.

"But you couldn't remember to make your brother get you both here on time?" Clara said, her eyes flicking towards Nate.

Lizzie felt the word like a whip cracking across her shoulders. Her spine snapped straight and she shot a wide-eyed look at Nate. Nate gave her a narrow, knowing smile in return and she knew he understood.

"Mom, we're only five minutes late."

"Five minutes late isn't on time, is it?" Their mother tossed them both another accusatory look before turning to walk away. "Why you don't find your own place to live now is beyond me, Elizabeth. You can't live with your brother forever, you know."

Her voice trailed off as she rounded the corner and headed for the kitchen. Lizzie looked up at Nate as he moved closer and managed a weak smile. He reached out and wrapped his fingers around hers, giving them a comforting squeeze. She wanted to throw herself into his arms and run away and never come back.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. She loved all of her family and she loved her brother, Nate, most of all.

"Lizzie, will you come help me in here?" Their mother's voice carried down the hall and Lizzie jumped, jerking her hand out of his.

She hurried away from the foyer to help their mother in the kitchen.

****

In fact, they were half-brother and sister. Nate is the only son of Davis Allen Whittenberg III. Davis' first wife had been diagnosed with breast cancer when Nate was a baby. She'd lived until he was three before passing away. For another two years, it was just Nate and Davis. Then, while overseeing the grand opening of another Whittenberg hotel and spa resort, Davis had met Clara. She'd been impervious to his advances at first but when she'd first laid eyes on Nate, precocious and pensive Nate, she'd been a goner. She'd become a mother in that moment.

Davis had been reluctant to pursue a relationship with her after finding out how taken with his son she'd been. He'd thought it was some elaborate ploy to get him to propose. When they'd met, Davis had only wanted a dalliance. After seeing how Clara acted with Nate, he worried that she wanted something more. As they got to know each other, and he got to see how Nate opened up with Clara's nurturing, Davis realized Clara was the one for him.

They got married when Nate was six and when he was almost seven, Elizabeth Anne was born.

Nate had loved her from the very first time he'd laid eyes on her. She was so cute with her scrunched up face, wailing every ten minutes for milk or a diaper change. She smelled delightful and felt so soft and light in his arms whenever he'd held her. From the first moment, he'd wanted nothing more than to protect and love her.

She loved him back, he knew. She'd happily played his games and tagged along to the park or to play basketball in the driveway. She loved digging up worms to go fishing and she never grew tired of playing catch. When she'd started to become more interested in boys as something other than playmates, Nate had become her self-appointed bodyguard. He supposed it was around then that she started to dislike him.

They never stopped loving each other. Siblings always loved each other. It was a rule. But she started to avoid him, give him one-word answers about her day at school, and when he went away to college, she rarely called or sent him letters. He didn't mind so much. College was a new and exciting experience. He had more than enough to occupy his days – and nights – and what young college man wanted to think about his baby sister when he had so many other activities to look forward to?

When Lizzie turned sixteen, he came home for the party and brought his girlfriend to meet the family. Lizzie spent much of the party squealing and laughing with her friends, or making eyes at Thomas, the boy she liked from her math class. Nate spent much of the day receiving impromptu gropes from his girlfriend.

When Lizzie turned eighteen, Nate was abroad, traveling with a group of male friends and couldn't make it back for her party. He called her on her birthday, but the line was crappy and he was pretty sure she'd been drinking. He remembered thinking that their parents must have let her try champagne, just like they had for him on his eighteenth birthday.

The two of them stayed in touch over the ensuing years, as she chose a college and while he settled into his career. They saw each other at holidays and special occasions and grew to become friends as well as siblings. They didn't tell each other their deepest, darkest secrets but they were close enough that when Lizzie needed a place to stay after graduating from college, Nate didn't mind offering his place.

Now, in the house they'd grown up in, with their little cousin, Ingrid, clapping in excitement over her mound of presents, Nate didn't know how the entire family didn't see that they were in love.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that they hadn't spoken since arriving and barely even looked at each other. Maybe everyone was so distracted by Ingrid's enthusiasm over her eighth birthday that they didn't care about the electricity crackling in the air every time Lizzie slid past him to go into the kitchen.

Nate's fingers clenched around his bottle of beer and he slammed back the last half with a grimace.

"You all right, son?"

Nate glanced over to see his father standing beside him. He swallowed around the bitter taste in his mouth and nodded. "Why?"

Davis shrugged. "You seem tense. How's work?"

Nate smiled. His father thought being an accountant was boring but stressful, usually around tax season. Nate was a contracted accountant for a few large companies and several private clients and enjoyed his four day work week with all the benefits of a sixty-hour week. "It's great, Dad. Really."

"Are you sure you're not working too hard?"

"No. I work a forty hour week, I've told you that. Sometimes less."

"Are you making enough money?"

Nate laughed and clapped his father on the shoulder. "I don't make as much as you but that doesn't mean it's not enough."

Davis nodded and patted Nate's hand before glancing around the room at the rest of the family. "I'd forgotten what it's like to have little kids running around here."

He sounded almost wistful. Nate glanced at his father before looking at Ingrid and her two brothers, twin three-year olds, named Flotsam and Jetsam. Or at least, that's what Nate called them. His aunt, Clara's younger sister, Juliette, had named them John and Theo in reality.

"You're not going to start badgering me about grandkids, are you?"

"Good lord, no." Davis smiled at that. "I'm not ready to be called Grandpa just yet. And besides, you're not even seeing anyone right now."

That wasn't true but Nate nodded and let his eyes wander over the family. Lizzie sat on the other side of the room, speaking in low tones to their Uncle Phil, Juliette's husband. As he watched, Phil said something that made Lizzie toss her head back and laugh.

Nate had to look away or risk sprouting a boner right there beside his dad. He couldn't seem to control himself when it came to Lizzie. She'd smile, wink or toss that glorious head of mahogany brown hair over her shoulder, and he became a blithering idiot. He muttered something about getting another beer and beat a hasty retreat from the living room.

He stood alone in the kitchen for several minutes, a fresh bottle of beer in his hand. He stared out the window over the sink and sipped the drink but his mind was a million miles away. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't hear someone approach from behind and when the hand landed on his ass, he jumped about a mile.

Spinning, he scowled at his half-sister who gave him an impish wink in return. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Relax, everyone took the kids outside to play." She smiled and moved closer, the warmth of her body making his skin prickle. "We're alone, Nate."

He swallowed with some difficulty as she lowered her hand to stroke the front of his belt. "Lizzie, don't." He covered her hand with his and cleared his throat. "We can't, not here."

She gave him a pouty look through her dark lashes and he shook his head, trying to remain calm. She ignored his protest and cupped him through his pants.

"Lizzie!" Nate darted sideways out of her grasp and slammed the bottle on the counter. "What's gotten in to you? You were nervous as hell when we got here. Why the sudden change?"

Her cheeks turned pink and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth. Nate could see the nervousness and apprehension come back into her eyes as they stared at each other and he felt like an ass for snapping at her.

"I know." Her voice was low as she spoke and she twisted her hands together in front of her. "I just... I wanted to feel close to you, just for a minute." She spread her hands, palms up, and shrugged. "It's so hard being here around everyone and wanting to tell them how happy we are. But our happiness would just upset everyone."

That was the understatement of the year. Nate could see how torn up she was and he knew the same thing was reflected in his eyes.

"I wish we could be here like our parents, or even Phil and Juliette."

"They fight all the time."

Lizzie smiled and shrugged again. "But they also hold hands and give each other looks when they think no one else is looking." She looked down and away from him for a long moment. When her face turned back to his, her eyes shone with moisture. "I want that, Nate. I want to be in love with you, in front of everyone else."

Her words, the tremor in her tone, made Nate's insides twist. He'd never expected their lives to take this turn but it had and they were helpless without each other.

"I do love you, Lizzie." He stepped closer so he could put his arms around her. "I love you with all my heart and I wish we could do the same things."

She rested her cheek on his chest and wrapped his arms around his back. "Yeah? Like bicker and tease and then steal kisses whether or not someone is looking?"

"Yup. Just like that."

They fell silent, listening to each other breathing. Nate bent his head and kissed her hair as she rubbed her hands over his lower back. Then lower.

"Lizzie..."

She turned her face to his chest to silence her giggle but she didn't stop touching him. She squeezed his ass and he knew she could feel his erection pressing into her stomach.

He pulled back far enough to look down into her face. "We don't have time for anything."

As if to punctuate his words, the voices and noise rose outside as someone opened the back patio door. The two of them spent another second in each other's arms before moving apart with reluctance. When their mother came into the kitchen, Lizzie was looking in the fridge for a drink and Nate was staring out the window again, hiding the tent in his pants.