Christmas Cookies

"You know what else we used to do when we were kids?"

Jason squinted at his sister's mischievous expression.

"Scratch my back," she commanded as she lay on her stomach.

Jason clicked his tongue but proceeded to graze the exposed part of Ro's upper back with his fingertips. Goosebumps emerged over her body. She missed this dearly.

Throughout childhood, the siblings had been attached at the hip. Even through most of their teens, they remained impossibly close. Rowan thought back to the moment Jason had told her and their mother he was joining the Marines. Her heart had never been so broken, before or since. Rowan had finished her last two years of high school without the safety of her big brother. But it was the anxiety she'd harbored about his safety once he'd been deployed that nearly kept her from graduating. Over the next four years, the pair kept in touch when they could, but it was a far cry from the late-night conversations they used to share. Jason's sporadic visits home became less and less frequent, and eventually, Rowan felt their bond weakening. But lying here beside him, she realized she'd been mistaken—their bond hadn't weakened—it had merely stretched across the distance between them, ready to snap back in place whenever they met again.

"Come on sleepyhead," Jason arose from the comfort of the bed, taking the coziness with him. "I'm hungry. What's for breakfast?"

Rowan turned and watched her brother but didn't get up, instead letting her eyes follow him as he pulled yesterday's shirt off the floor to redress. She couldn't believe how much his body had changed since the last time she'd seen him like this. Jason had always had a brawny physique, but now he was ripped. Hard lines cut in between his abs, tapering down in a v toward his pelvis. His triceps rippled with his movements. His pecs pulsed as he flipped the t-shirt right side out. Rowan's eyes flicked up to meet Jason's. Blood flushed her face with embarrassment at having been caught staring, but Jason just grinned, looking as if he was suppressing a chuckle.

"Hmm?"

"Breakfast?" he repeated.

"Oh! Your favorite."

"No," Jason's smile widened, "Huevos rancheros?"

She nodded.

"Oh, man, I haven't had that in forever. Can't get that in Japan," Jason said as Ro got up from the bed to close the distance between the two. She stood on her tiptoes to plant a soft kiss on his jawline, now rough with five o'clock shadow.

"You mean since last year?"

=-=-=

In the kitchen, the smell of coffee permeated the air as Rowan set out the cutting board. Jason had offered to help but had been exiled from the confined space. He sat on a barstool on the opposite side of the kitchen counter, facing Ro as she prepped ingredients.

"Why don't you put some music on?" she suggested.

"Okay." Soon, a song burst through the Bluetooth speaker that sat on the counter.

Rowan stilled for a moment.

"No way!" she said, "I can't tell you the last time I heard this song!"

"I know. I don't know what made me think of it. We used to listen to it over and over, remember?"

"Oh my god, yes! On that ratty little MP3 player that Mom made us share." Ro cackled at the memory.

Jason's eyes were glued to his phone as he compiled a playlist of nostalgic favorites. When he looked up, his little sister was dancing around while she flipped tortillas. Her dark wavy hair topped her head in a loose bun, bouncing around as she bopped her head to the music. She hadn't changed out of the clothes she'd slept in. The thin white fabric of her tank top didn't do much to camouflage her supple breasts. He noticed her nipples harden as the music swelled. She spun around to retrieve something from the fridge, her cute butt wiggling in her little red shorts. Jason was ashamed for noticing such things—he'd worked so hard on his issues in therapy and he thought he was in a good enough place to spend time with Ro. But she was magnetic. All those confusing feelings were still there, more intense than ever. His eyes clung to her as if they had any right.

Hadn't she done the same earlier? He'd caught her staring but she was probably just gawking at his scars again.

He watched as she touched her fingertip to her pillowy lips, seemingly trying to remember something. There's no question this woman was sexy as hell, sister or not. It was plain to anyone.

In high school, all of Jason's friends used to give him a hard time about his hot little sister. He'd constantly have to remind them of her age—two years younger than himself—but eventually, the hormonal boys stopped caring about that when they deemed her "old enough" at around fifteen. At that age, Jason's friends stopped teasing him and started hitting on Rowan. It didn't bother him much at first, but when she began flirting back it really pissed him off. He knew she didn't intend to date them or anything; she just liked the attention. But she didn't understand why it was wrong to lead them on. When his friend, Brandon, made the mistake of telling Jason all the things he was going to do to her, Jason broke his nose. It wasn't the last time he'd resort to violence to keep his friends (and anyone else) in check. By the time he graduated he'd earned himself a reputation for an explosive temper and had been threatened by school officials with expulsion on more than one occasion. Ro never did go out with any of his friends, but it was something he worried about often after he'd enlisted at eighteen. He knew he was a bit overprotective of her, but with a girl that looked like that, she needed the protection. He'd made sure to teach her some self-defense maneuvers before he left.

"What's up?" Jason asked as Ro paused to search the counter.

"Have you seen—"

Jason came around to Ro's side of the counter, sliding a lime from behind the carton of eggs.

"That's it," she smiled.

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help?"

"No, Jason, you'll just be behind me at every turn in this sad excuse for a kitchen."

"Like this?"

Jason advanced, wrapping his arms around the petite young woman, squeezing her body against his as his hands crisscrossed her waist. He nestled his face into the curve of her slender neck, inhaling her scent, a sweet scent, like summer rain on a Texas-hot day. Rowan's body tensed slightly before she leaned into him. A quiet exhale escaped her parted lips. Jason had to back away from her quickly for fear that she'd feel his arousal.

He was not being careful. He thought being sober would be easier, but maybe the alcohol dulled his senses enough to minimize the want. He'd have to experiment with that later.

He needed to reel it in. Keep it in check.

It was just so easy with Ro. Every time they came together, they settled back into their old ways. Like nothing had changed. But at least for him, everything had changed.

After Mac died in the fall of last year, Jason had been a train wreck. The loss had induced a deep depression. His commanding officer had recommended a therapist. With the doctor's help, Jason waded through the garbage heap of his emotional baggage—things that he'd suffered from before he'd even met Mac. Things that had nothing to do with his death. Things he'd never realized and feelings he'd suppressed. Many issues needed fixing, but it always came back to Rowan: he wanted to protect her, he wanted to make her happy, he wanted to hurt anyone that hurt her. He was scared of losing her. The doctor had come to a startling conclusion, one that Jason denied at first.

There was no denying it now.

~***~

Sometime in the late afternoon, Rowan heard the water shut off. Jason exited the bathroom. She scrambled to hide the gift she'd been wrapping on the living room floor.

"Whatcha doin'?" Jason asked, his gravelly voice booming.

His lower half was clad in a pair of dark denim jeans but his upper half was bare, still glimmering with water. He rubbed his short black hair with a towel.

"Nothing! Don't look!"

She attempted to block his view with her narrow body. She heard Jason's footsteps behind her and threw the now crinkled red and white striped paper over the small box. Jason's hand snuck in underneath her arm and grabbed the present.

"No!" Ro shouted as she grabbed her brother's arm with both hands.

"It's not Christmas yet!" she yelled through gritted teeth.

Rowan struggled against Jason's strength. She scooted herself in front of him and leaned back on her hands to place her feet on his chest. Jason sank to his knees to steady himself against her. With one hand still on the partially wrapped box, he used his free hand to grip one of her ankles, pulling her leg aside. Ro squealed as she thrust a hand up to her brother's face, smushing his nose and pushing his head back. Jason laughed through her fingers. When he yanked her hand down, Ro saw her opportunity and slid the gift, still obscured by the wrapping paper, just out of Jason's reach. She flattened against the floor under Jason's weight as he stretched over her to reach for the box. His fingertips undershot the target by a centimeter. Rowan giggled as her brother gave up on the gift and turned his focus to her. He pinned her arms to the floor. Her legs flailed, one on each side of the massive Marine. There seemed to be no way to escape his power.

Then she remembered her training. She had the maneuvers in her repertoire but not in her strength. Not against this beast of a man, the very man that coached her. But Jason had taught her something even more useful. To employ the element of surprise.

Her eyes turned to slits as she hatched an idea.

Ro gave a wicked smile and turned her chin up to plant a tiny kiss on her brother's lips. Jason froze, momentarily stunned with confusion. Rowan mustered all her strength, hooked a leg under his, and pushed him onto his back, rolling both of them over so she had him pinned.

"Ha! Victory!" she shouted as she sat on his stomach. "See? You're not so tough. I can still beat you."

Rowan knew damn well that Jason had always let her win their wrestling matches.

"Yeah," Jason laughed, "I guess I've been slacking on my workouts."

"Oh, yeah. Clearly."

Ro grew flush with the sudden realization that only the thin fabric of her panties separated her from her brother. The dark green dress she wore was pushed up around her upper thighs.

She'd picked the dress for Jason. Not only was it his favorite color, but the short length showed off the majority of her legs, which Jason had complimented her on more than once.

Butterflies swirling inside, her cheeks warmed as she dismounted her brother and sank to the floor beside him.

=-=-=

Jason was thankful to be saved from the heat of the moment. The tension he'd relieved himself of in the shower was a blazing fire in his belly now, much worse than before. He wasn't sure what his body or his hands would do if Ro had maintained her position. (He'd imagined his hands sliding up her smooth thighs.) But he was sure she wouldn't react well to it. For a mere second there, when she'd kissed him... well, he was an idiot to get his hopes up.

It wasn't the only thing that was up.

Jason reached for the towel he'd earlier discarded and pretended to dry himself off further before casually draping the towel over his crotch. He couldn't expose his baby sister to the full, rock-hard virility of his excitement.

"You can open it if you want to," Ro broke the short silence with her melodic voice.

"I'll wait."

"Did you get me anything?"

"Of course I did," Jason's brows furrowed at the ridiculous question.

"What is it?"

"You'll find out tomorrow."

"What'd you get your girlfriend?"

"What girlfriend?"

"Or is it girlfriends?"

Jason rolled his eyes. "There's no girlfriend. Don't you think I would've told you that?"

"No, not really. We don't talk about that stuff very often. It's been a while since you and Ashley broke up. You haven't started seeing someone new? I figured you just forgot to tell me."

Jason's guilt eased the tension in his loins.

"No. Are you seeing someone?"

"No."

"I'm sure you have guys lining around the block."

"Well, I'm in between at the moment."

"I know we don't talk as often as you'd like," Jason said quietly. "I'm sorry. I've just been busy."

"It's okay. You're still my best friend." Ro grinned and nudged him with her hip.

"Have you talked to Grandma today?" Jason attempted to steer the conversation in another direction. He was softening now, remembering the sweet old woman's face.

"Yeah, she called when you were in the shower. I told her you'd talk to her tomorrow. Do you think we should've gone to see her this year? Since Mom's in Mexico, I mean?"

Rowan and Jason's grandmother lived in Maine. They had not seen her in a few years. She was their only living relative other than their mother. Growing up, it had been just the two siblings and their mother, their father having died around the time Rowan was born. They'd learned to lean on each other at a young age.

"Probably," Jason admitted, "but it's nice just the two of us. We haven't spent this kind of time together in a long time."

"Yeah. I missed hanging out with you."

"I did too."

"So are there a lot of female Marines?"

"Why? You thinking about joining?" Jason joked.

"Oh, yeah, I've been hulking out lately."

"Not many. Why do you want to know?"

"I'm just curious if you get laid a lot."

"What?" Jason scoffed. "I mean... I do okay, I guess."

Jason felt awkward talking about such subject matter with his little sister. He'd told her when he'd lost his virginity while he was away at basic training, after her careful but determined prying. A few months later she'd informed him of the same, which was not something he'd wanted to hear. That was the extent of their knowledge of each other's sexual history. They discussed their significant others, but not the details of their sex lives.

"I thought when soldiers came home they were, like, horny."

Jason cackled. "I'm allowed to leave the base."

"Oh, okay. I just wondered if you were going to try to meet up with an old girlfriend or something."

"Nah. You know you're the only girl I come back to Texas for."

"What about Mom?"

"Yeah, okay."

"There's been a lot of girls, then?"

Jason shrugged. "A few. What about you?"

"Just one."

"Just one guy?" Jason asked incredulously.

Ro laughed. "One girl!"

"Oh, Jesus," he exhaled. Why did the thought of her with another woman hit so different?

He held the towel in place.

"A handful of guys."

A year ago, the mention of his sister's past (male) lovers would've sent him into a quiet, lurking rage. Now, he wasn't raging, just a little uneasy. It seemed his work with the therapist was getting somewhere. The doctor had said that once he accepted his feelings, he could let go of some of that negativity. Maybe there was still hope for him.

"Did they treat you okay?"

"Most of them."

"Somebody get rough with you?" Concern raised his eyebrow. (Well, Rome wasn't built in a day.)

"Ha! No, nothing like that. Guys are just assholes sometimes. I had that one guy cheat on me, I told you about that, right? I don't know, it wasn't so bad. It gave me a good excuse to break up with him. I guess I didn't love him. Have you ever been in love?"

Jason shook his head, watching for his sister's reaction. He wanted to tell her the truth, but it was dangerous territory.

"Yeah, me neither," she admitted. "Sometimes I think I'm hung up on an old crush."

"Who?" He knew what she would say: Brandon.

Good old Brandon. Rowan used to flirt and hang around him when he'd come over to the house, all those years ago. Brandon was all too happy for the attention. Jason didn't regret the way that friendship ended; he'd given him enough warnings. He just kept on and on and then the precipice broke when he decided to run his mouth about his dirty daydreams. Rowan was still just a kid then. Jason was still bitter about it. He didn't know how to let go of that negativity.

"It doesn't matter. Here, turn over. Let me tickle your back."

Jason obeyed, glad for an excuse to press his unpredictable cock against the floor, keeping him safe from discovery. Thinking about Rowan's sexual history was a roller coaster but even just breaching the subject was enough to make him painfully hard.

Rowan's fingernails tread delicately over Jason's shoulders, barely touching. His nerves sparked under his skin. Every tiny hair stood up, goosebumps speckling the expanse of his body. He stayed silent as he let her graze his entire back with slow, sweeping movements. After several minutes Ro stopped suddenly to announce it was her turn, yanking Jason out of his divine stupor.

She turned onto her stomach and waited for him. Jason flipped to his side, positioning himself carefully so she could not feel the stiffness between them. He brushed her long brown waves off her shoulder and arranged his fingers on the soft, olive skin of her upper back.

"Unzip me," Ro requested.

Jason tensed at her words, his hand laying flat on her back.

"Unzip me," she repeated, opening her eyes to meet his gaze.

Jason worked Rowan's zipper down and hesitated to expose more of her back. She seemed to have something against bras. He marveled at the sleek curve of her spine and the sight of her flawless skin as he ran his hand tenderly up and down her back. He was unable to use as much restraint as he should've. Instead of tickling her with the very tips of his fingers to give her that feathery feeling, he caressed her, wanting to feel her velvety, creamy skin against his palm. He let his hand travel up the back of her neck, then back down to her waist at the bottom of her zipper. Forgetting himself, his hand slipped under the material of her dress, roaming over the back of her rib cage.

Rowan inhaled sharply.

"That feels nice," she said dreamily.

~***~

It was an understatement. Her skin was on fire with his touch. It felt so different than it had the night before. It felt good every time her brother touched her. Always had. But now it sent jolts of electricity through her body. It felt more real. Deeper. The heat from his massive hand completely enveloped her. It was all she could do to stop herself from moaning sensually. Jason started to use more pressure, seeming to know what her body craved. He squeezed her neck, then her shoulders. Ro's eyes fluttered open when Jason's touch left her body with an abrupt halt and she glimpsed him moving to his knees in her periphery. She was getting ready to object until he pressed both hands to her shoulders, working her muscles with his strong hands. She relaxed into the floor, pressing her cheek into the carpet.

"Mmm..." Rowan could not suppress the sounds of pleasure.

Her breath quickened. Jason's hands slipped under the sides of her dress, squeezing the flesh at her waist and sliding up towards her ribs, just under the sides of her breasts. Ro moaned and fidgeted under his calloused grip. He continued moving along her back, massaging her tense muscles.

"Oh, fuck," she whispered. "That feels good."

Tension built between her legs and in her belly. A familiar surge of electricity sent pinpricks down her legs, an unstoppable storm brewing in her depths.

Those hands—her brother's hands—felt like magic on her naked skin.

"Oh, god," she panted.

She tremored under Jason's hands. Her breath became unsteady. Her mouth opened wide as a loud moan rippled through her. She didn't recognize the sounds that emerged from her. Her legs went rigid. Her hands clutched the sides of her dress, her fingers curling into the material. The dress slipped down as her arms strained against it. Her abdominals contracted. Her toes curled. A current shot from her core to her legs. Her body braced and convulsed against the floor as she cried with euphoria.