Elysium

I clambered selfconsciously to my feet and slipped inside to retrieve the bottle from the fridge. Anna sat up and tucked her legs in; I tried not to stare at her breasts as I refilled her glass, but it was an uphill struggle, and I knew that she knew. Then I topped myself up, and sat down cross-legged on my towel. I stared out to sea, blushing furiously.

"Joey?"

"Yes?"

"You can look if you want to, you know. There's no need to torture yourself over it. I won't bite."

"Sorry, it's just... damn, Anna, your breasts are spectacular." I shook my head, helplessly frustrated. "They're really distracting. And I'm really struggling not to stare at them. Sorry."

She laughed deep in her throat. "I'm glad someone appreciates them."

"I can't believe you're single with a rack like that," I muttered. "I'd have thought men would be stacked up in a holding pattern outside your door."

"So... are they nicer than Julie's?" she asked, eyebrow raised in amusement.

"Much," I answered, meeting her eyes. "Hers were nice. Yours are a work of art. A da Vinci. Your breasts," I continued into absurdity, "are the Mona Lisa of cleavage."

"Mm," she answered. "While I'm not hundred percent on the comparison of my boobs to a five hundred year old woman, I appreciate the amusing comparison." She took a sip of her wine, and then leaned back into her deck chair. "So... tell me, Joey, why are you still single?" She frowned. "You're a sweet boy, and good looking... I'm surprised at you. I thought you'd be swimming in girls once you were eligible again. What's going on?"

"Honestly... I just didn't have the energy," I sighed. "I liked Julie, Anna. I didn't feel like going through all that again."

"I can sympathise." She sipped her wine, thoughtful.

"So why are you alone?" I asked, curious. "To be fair... I don't think I've seen you with anyone for years, Anna."

"Can't stand the complications," she murmured. "I want intimacy, Joey, not possession. Men in my line of work seem to be unable to get that simple idea through their thick skulls. I made a bad mistake and burned my fingers, and now to be honest I'm better off by myself. It hurts less that way," she added, staring at her wine.

"Speaking as a guy, the men you work with are idiots."

"Hah. That's just because you're my brother. I'm a handful, Joey, and sometimes I think it's best if I don't inflict myself on anyone else."

"Crap, Anna," I countered. "You're not a handful. You're a pretty normal, hardworking, levelheaded girl who's just hung out with the wrong bunch."

"Thanks," she sighed. "At least I know you think I'm normal." She glanced up at me. "Joey - be honest with me. Does this make you uncomfortable?"

"Does what?" I hedged.

"This. Me being topless like this?"

"Should it?"

"Some might say so."

"I'm not going to lie, Anna - it's a little weird, but not bad weird if you understand? Anyway," I continued, "we're at Elysium. There's nobody else here. I don't feel any pressing need to tell anyone else what either you or I do on our down time. Walk around naked if you want to, just warn me beforehand so I give you the privacy you need. Deal?"

"Deal," she murmured, sealing the bargain with a smile. "Tell me if that changes."

"I doubt it will," I replied. "After all, I'm the one getting the free floor show."

She laughed. "Joey Mackay, you are an inveterate pervert."

"Anna Mackay, it takes one to know one."

We sat in silence for a while, and I watched the grasses swaying slightly in the breeze.

Anna shifted. "So tell me about Julie?" she asked.

"Why?"

"Because I'm nosey. I was always curious about her."

"What about her do you want to know?"

"Was she good in bed?"

I lay back down with a sigh.

"She was ok, I guess."

"She looked like she was a firecracker." Anna frowned. "Looks can be deceiving I guess."

"She was a firecracker in temperament, maybe. She was pretty traditional with the lights out."

Anna snorted. "That's a shame. What a waste of a body like that." She lowered herself onto her side and pillowed her head on her arm. I guiltily looked away. "So... what did she allow you to do to her?"

"This is a strange topic of conversation, Anna," I murmured.

"I'm bored, and you owe me entertainment in exchange for these," she retorted, touching her left breast with a finger. "Besides... I love hearing kinky shit. God knows I don't get to do much of it myself. So let me live vicariously through your conquests," she grinned.

"I didn't have you pegged as a voyeur," I muttered.

Anna smirked. "There's lots about me you don't know, Joey. Now fess up. You get boobies, I get stories. Tell me all about that foxy little tart of yours. And make it entertaining."

"What do you want to know?"

"What was your favourite thing to do to her?"

A brief memory of Julie, squirming under me. "Eating her out," I murmured, softly. "She was always shaven, and scrupulously clean... I loved the taste of her, the feel of her."

"Mm. What about it did you like so much?"

"The feeling of her clit on my tongue," I answered after a brief silence. "Or... her clit between my lips. She loved that. It was the kinkiest thing she'd let me do to her."

Anna exhaled. "That lucky bint. God, there's nothing better than good oral..." She grinned at me, "That is, apart from great oral followed by a good hard fucking."

"No debating where your mind is today," I teased.

"I've gotta get my kicks where I can," she answered, seemingly sad. "It's been a while, you know." She reached out and picked up her wineglass, then levered herself upright so that she could take a long sip. "Wine's warm," she complained. "Ugh." She knocked the rest of the glass back, and then stood. "Want some more?"

"Not right now," I answered, shooting her a glance. "Honestly... thinking about her's got me a bit worked up, and I'd like to go swim again and don't want to do that with too much booze in me. Nobody around if we get into trouble, you know."

"Spoilsport," she replied, sticking her tongue out at me. "But you're right, of course. Just give me two seconds; gotta go powder my nose quick then we can head down."

She ducked in through the sliding door, and I groaned to myself. Talking had worked me up all right, but it hadn't been Julie's naked body I'd been imagining.

I sighed, reached down and adjusted myself, praying that my erection would subside before she returned.

.:.

Anna emerged, slightly flushed, and quietly pulled her costume top back on. "Tie it up for me?" she asked as she turned away, so of course I obliged her. I somehow managed to resist the urge to touch her more than necessary, but I'd be lying if I said it was easy. "Done," I murmured, and she turned and hugged me hard. "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable," she murmured.

"Nah, never," I replied.

"Do you mind talking to me? About this stuff?"

"Of course not, Anna. You're my big sister, we're tight."

"I'm very tight," she said, softly. "I meant as in drunk, you filth," she retorted, seeing me draw breath to tease her.

"I wasn't going to say anything," I protested, grinning.

"Yeah, sure you weren't," she laughed at me. "Come on."

She held my hand as we walked down, and smiled at me as I helped steady her. "Joey, I'm way too drunk for the sea," she declared, giggling. "Jesus, that wine packs a punch."

"Hot day in the sun and not much in the way of food," I countered. "We were silly."

"Balls to silly. It's fun to be irresponsible with you."

"Right, so I'll be the adult then. Lagoon it is," I replied, and we staggered our way down to the waterline. Anna dropped her towel carelessly onto the sand, and ran out into the water. She leaped, arched, and pierced the surface like a spear, gliding out into deeper water before she broke for air. "God, Joey, it's bliss," she called out. "Move your arse and get in, slowpoke."

"Yeah, yeah," I called out. I put my towel down, and walked out through the lukewarm lagoon water to her. She reached out to me, and I pulled her in and lifted her, supporting her by the back and knees. "Happy?" I asked.

"Blissfully," she replied, hooking her arm behind my neck and drawing herself in closer. "Hold me here like this and I'll forgive you your pervy sister-watching earlier."

"Deal," I said, enjoying the feeling of her hip against my belly and the cool weight of her arm behind my neck. Anna closed her eyes and let her head float freely in the water; her hair forming a golden net around it.

"Joey?" she asked after a while.

"Yeah?"

"You're not pulling my leg, right?"

"About?"

"My breasts."

"Jesus, Anna, not a chance. I may not be the world's leading expert, but yours are incredible. You're incredible. "

She smiled and relaxed again. "I'm glad you approve of them."

"Feel free to let me approve of them some more, later, maybe," I murmured.

She laughed. "You're gonna burn in hell, Joey."

"Can't blame a man for appreciating the assets of a smoking hot woman."

She squinted up at me. "Mm. You're drunk."

"Yes, I am."

"Hah. Thought so. But I'll accept the compliment anyway."

"Good," I murmured.

I held her like that for some time, before she pulled free so that she could swim once more.

.:.

We reveled in the warm water and the slanting sunlight from the afternoon sun. It was lovely and uncomplicated; just her and me and nobody there to intrude on us. So we drunkenly built a sandcastle on a small dry area in the lagoon channel, a small one with hand-formed battlements and a sizable water-filled pond behind it in which we lay, listening to the waves and watching the sky darken as we had over so many holidays in our youth.

Anna dozed with her head against my shoulder, and despite my ongoing arousal from her proximity I felt strangely at peace with her there.

"Anna?" I murmured, eventually.

"Mm?"

"We should head back up. Gotta get supper on the go, after all."

"I guess," she replied. "Joey?"

"Yeah, Anna?"

"Elysium isn't right without you."

"It's not right without you either. Come on."

I stood, and helped her up. She wrapped her left arm around my waist and wormed in under my right as we made our slow, staggering way back up to the house. The evening felt cooler than normal, and I could see the goosebumps on Anna's arms.

"Cold?" I asked.

"Smuggling smarties," she answered, grinning. "Can't you see?"

I laughed. "I could, but I wanted to be polite and ignore them. Go shower, I'll get the fire going."

"Thanks," she murmured as she touched my shoulder, and then disappeared indoors.

I set the fire, and let it catch and build a decent bed of coals before I too climbed upstairs to my room, hunting a long-sleeved shirt to keep out the evening chill. I dragged on some long cotton tracksuit pants to replace the salty shorts that I'd swum in.

I could hear Anna in the shower, and I knocked on the bathroom door as I went past.

"Anna?"

"Yeah?" her voice came back, muffled by the door.

"Fire's going, I'll be outside."

"Righto, be right there," she replied. "Grab me a blanket, please."

"Will do."

I left a faded polartech blanket down on one of the deck chairs for her, and built up the fire with charcoal briquettes. The sun had dropped below the horizon and a cool land breeze had set in, wafting the smoke out to sea. I sat back on my deckchair, and watched the stars appear above me.

I heard a sound behind me, and turned around as Anna stuck her head out through the sliding door. "Is tonight a port night, Joey?" she asked.

"It is, indeed."

"Excellent," she purred. She emerged with bottle and glasses, and poured me a generous glassful. I, meanwhile, shook my head and laughed helplessly over the nearly sheer fabric of the skintight long-sleeved top that she'd elected to wear. It was pretty obvious to me that she was not wearing anything under it; her nipples were clearly visible under the fabric.

She grinned at me. "I thought you'd enjoy this."

"Be still my beating heart," I murmured, and she snorted.

"I could get used to the adulation, you know," she replied.

"Dressed like that, there's not a man on earth you wouldn't get it from."

"There's only one man on earth who's opinion I rely on, and he's drooling in front of me."

"Well, that man reckons that that top is bordering on scandalous. In fact, it's well past scandalous and out into the realms of pure pornography. The only way it could be more raunchy is if it was body paint."

"It's meant to. Boobs for words, Joey, and I mean to collect on your deviance. But it's too cold for me to go au naturel. So this gives you inspiration while preventing me from freezing to death."

"I'll take what I can get," I replied. "Believe me, I'm not complaining. Just observing."

"Observe away," she answered, grinning. "But I might start demanding forfeits if you don't deliver something raunchy in return."

"Anna?" I poked restlessly at the coals.

"Yeah?"

"Will you tell me if I make you uncomfortable? At any point?"

Anna shot me a strange look. "Given my outfit, I'm the one who should be asking that."

"I just don't want to step over any lines."

She put her head to one side, then smiled. "I'll tell you if you do." Anna sat down on her deck chair, and reached up behind her to pull her unruly hair into a straggly tail. She drew the blanket over her legs.

"How long till the fire is ready?"

"Just waiting for the coals to burn down. Cheers, Anna," I toasted her with my port.

"Cheers, poolboy," she chuckled. "To a glorious day of doing fuck-all in the prettiest place on earth."

"Amen."

The port was delicious, rich and tawny. Anna sighed out a long breath and settled back, her fingers curled loosely around the stem of her glass. "So," she breathed.

"So?"

"Thinking of what secrets I can blackmail out of you."

"Hah," I laughed. "I thought it was bribery, not blackmail."

"That too," she murmured. Her eyes twinkled in the firelight. "I'm just... worried, I guess. I don't want to spook you or push you too far."

"I'm a big boy, Anna. This is safe ground, you know that. Ask away, I won't take offense."

"Promise?"

"Promise," I murmured, meeting her gaze.

She drew nervous arcs in the air with her foot. "Tell me a secret."

"What kind of a secret?"

"Something dirty. Kinky."

"Mm. Here's one. I used to spy on your friends when they were sleeping over."

"I know," she grinned. "Kirsty Williams, right?"

"Yeah. She was hot," I replied. "I saw her in her knickers once."

"Bet that kept you going for a while," Anna murmured.

"Guilty as charged."

"I used to dare her to walk past your room. See whether we could get a reaction out of you. You used to blush and stutter at table when she was there."

"Guilty conscience."

"You also had your door closed fairly often." Anna's eyes glittered, amused.

"Why do you think I had a guilty conscience?"

Anna laughed. "She wanted to see you nude, you know. Kept begging me to make it happen." She shifted, and pulled the blanket further up over her. "Chilly," she muttered. "It's summer, it's not supposed to get cold here."

"Shift in the weather, maybe," I murmured. "Hope it's just for tonight. So why didn't you?"

"Didn't feel like being a pimp; I told her if she wanted to see you naked she'd have to do it herself."

"Nineteen-year-old Joey is cursing you right now, you know."

"Nah," she replied, "I saved you from her. She's a man eater, best she didn't get her hooks into you." She glanced up and me, then aside again. "So when did you first get laid, then?"

"First year university. Not much to write home about; I was too drunk to remember most of it, but I do remember avoiding her for the rest of the year, she was very clingy and wouldn't leave me alone."

Anna laughed. "Oh god, clingy first years." She smiled, remembering. "I was one, once."

"You? Clingy? Impossible."

"It's different for a girl, Joey. You make yourself very vulnerable, letting someone be inside you. It fucks with your emotions, you know?"

"I guess it's different for guys," I murmured. "Was your first time... bad?"

"It wasn't great. I was dry and freaking out with nerves, and he didn't bother to get me warmed up; all he could think about was getting it in me. Ended up having to use some lube. It was over pretty quickly, thank god." She looked aside. "Thirty seconds, tops, and then he kicked me out and left me to do the walk of shame back to my residence." She snorted. "I felt pretty... not upset, but disillusioned about the whole thing."

"Ugh."

"And things have never improved all that much," she continued. "I seem to always manage to find the hair-trigger guys or the ones who want a piece on the side." She shook her head. "Truth be told, that's kind of why I steer clear. Unless I'm climb-the-walls horny, I prefer my toys. Less chance of disappointment."

"Toys, huh?"

"I see that got your attention." Anna smiled, languidly.

I snorted. "I'm a visual guy, sis. Lets just say my attention's been focused for a while now and leave it at that, shall we?"

"So you're hot and bothered? Good. Glad to know that freaky talk with me amuses you."

I glanced at her. "Anna, you and I know both know you're a bombshell. I'm a guy, and take it from me, you've always been able to stop traffic. When you start talking about sex... well, you're my sister, but you'd corrupt an angel without even trying."

Anna threw back her head and laughed, deep and throaty. "Sorry, Joey," she wheezed. "Sorry. I'm not trying to wind you up, you know... well, maybe I am a little." She calmed down, and took a shaky breath. "It's been ages for me. Over a year since I was last with a man. I forget what it's like to flirt and tease. Sometimes it's just nice to be reminded that I'm a girl, and that I can be wanted."

I poked at the coals, not trusting myself to speak.

"Joey? Hey, you ok?"

I smiled, shaking my head. "Yeah, just woolgathering, Anna."

"I've upset you."

"Nope, honestly Anna. I'm good, we're good."

"Promise?"

"There are no secrets between us here."

"I don't want to have secrets from you."

"Ditto."

"Ask me something," she whispered.

"Sorry?"

"I asked you something personal. Probably too personal. We have to bring it back into balance. So you need to ask me something."

"First things first," I said. "Come here."

She shot me a confused look, but complied. I let her put her port glass aside, and then pulled her up into a fierce hug. I felt more than heard the shaky sigh she let out.

"Stop worrying about offending me," I whispered. "You're my sister, you could do anything and I'd still love you."

"Promises, promises."

I could think of no safe answer, so I held her a brief moment longer. She gave me a small smile as I wrapped the blanket around her again. "Sit, drink and be merry," I commanded.

"Joey?"

"Yeah, sis?"

"You're going to make some girl very happy some day."

"There's only one girl I've ever remotely worried about pleasing, Anna." I stood.

"Who's that?"

"You, silly."

I stirred the coals, then glanced at her. "Fire is ready. You're awful quiet."

"Just thinking."

"About?"

"Sex and stuff," she murmured, shifting.

"Good topics."

"Uh huh," she echoed. "We're sad, horny loners, you and I."

"Horny maybe, but not sad, and not so alone," I disagreed. "Loners have nobody to talk to. I've got you."

"True, I guess. Pity we get to do it so seldom is all."

"Work got in the way this year. I'd have been here every weekend this summer had I had the time."

"Ditto, I guess," she sighed, shifting.

"So... you thinking about sex in general, or something specific?" I eyed her, she was tapping a foot and frowning again.

"Specific," she breathed. "Very, very specific."

"So spill it."