Forever and Ever

"Pancakes are done," I said softly into her ear.

Anna leaned limply against the counter, barely holding herself on her feet in the aftermath of her orgasm. She turned her head to look over her shoulder at me. I couldn't help myself and used the opportunity to put my hand on her chin and gently hold her in place while I kissed her.

It was a slightly firmer kiss than last time, though still nothing too passionate. Baby steps and all that. I could have sworn she kissed back this time.

"Let me take care of that," I said. "Go sit."

I pulled back and let Anna walk unsteadily to the table. I removed the second batch of pancakes from the grill and turned it off, then carried the two plates of them over to the table as well. My mood was sufficiently benevolent that I gave my sister the fresher batch.

I had to quickly grab silverware and syrup, the latter which I belatedly worried I might not have. It turned out I did have half a bottle in the back of my fridge. Anna looked kind of stunned at first, but as she ate she began to look more like normal again.

"I told you these'd be good," she said.

"Yeah, you were right. I don't know what I was thinking to ever doubt you."

"My thoughts exactly."

****

I found myself missing Anna after she left on Sunday. It was kind of weird missing her, because until recently it had never really been much of an option. She was around so often even after I'd left home that it had taken a significant change in our relationship to make me crave her presence in a way I could never have understood even a couple weeks ago.

On the positive side, I no longer had any worries about her not wanting to be around me. Even though we hadn't really talked about what was going on between us, I felt confident that she didn't want it to stop any more than I did. She'd be back. All I had to do was try not to obsess over her too much in the meantime.

Unfortunately, it wasn't all that easy to stop thinking about my sister. I had so many thoughts about her competing for attention in my head. Many of them were sexual -- which consequently led to me masturbating more often than usual -- but not all of them. Some of my thoughts were relatively innocent. Not many, but some.

It was actually kind of pathetic how excited I got when I received a text from Anna on Wednesday. I'd really been hoping she would have come by since she hadn't shown up the past two days. A glance at her message explained why I hadn't seen her.

"You got grounded?" I texted back. "Why would you do that?"

"I didn't mean to, dumbass."

"How long?"

"Probably another day or two. Hard to say."

I sighed and nodded to myself. In all likelihood she'd been officially grounded for a couple weeks, maybe more. Something with a concrete end date at least. However, the way these things went was that she'd suffer the punishment and be the sweetest little angel for a few days, then simply go back to business as usual when mom and dad forgot to keep an eye on her. It was actually kind of sad how they never caught on.

"Hey, why don't you come over for supper?" Anna texted.

"Did mom or dad invite me?"

"No, but you know they won't mind. I'll just let mom know. It's not like they can complain about you being over, even if I'm grounded."

I thought about it, but I'd known that I'd go as soon as she asked. It looked like my only chance to see her in the next couple days.

"Okay, I'll be over in a bit."

****

As expected, there were no objections to my presence. Mom tended to want me around more often anyway, and I was pretty sure dad appreciated temporarily not being the lone male of the house when I was over. Plus Anna most likely wouldn't have let on that it was her idea for me to come over. That was about the only thing that might have raised some suspicion.

I arrived at my parents' house while mom was still in the process of cooking supper. Dad was either still at work or on his way home and supposed to be back before too long. My sister was up in her room. I tried not to look like I was in too much of a hurry to see her.

"So I heard Anna was grounded," I said to mom.

Partly I just needed to say something, and partly I was legitimately curious about the situation.

"Yes, she is," mom said, her expression hardening for a second. "I honestly don't know what came over her. She'd usually so well behaved. I mean, I'm not blind. I know she gets into mischief more than she should, but...."

Mom waved her hands helplessly, and I nodded in what I hoped was an understanding way. I had to bite my tongue and resist telling her that she didn't know half of the things her daughter got up to.

"What did she do?"

"You don't know? What am I saying, of course you don't. You wouldn't have been talking to Anna since then, would you?"

Again I held back my initial response. I wasn't sure if Anna was meant to be texting while on punishment detail or not. The fact that mom hadn't made the connection between me coming over and my sister talking to me didn't much surprise me. Granted, I could just be being unfair. Perhaps she hadn't been banned from her phone. Given Anna's ability to manipulate, there were a few viable possibilities.

"No," I said.

"She got caught shoplifting! Can you believe that? I honestly don't know what possessed her. For some silly little trinket no less."

"Really? That doesn't sound like her."

Actually, while it was kind of unusual, it didn't particularly shock me.

"I know. I can't help feeling like one of her friends is being a bad influence on her or something. Maybe someone new I haven't met. I can only hope it doesn't become a recurring thing she does."

I nodded and made sounds of agreement for a another minute or two. Once I sensed a break in mom's rant, I took the opportunity to excuse myself. I made a bee-line for my sister's room and found her door open.

"Hey, little sister," I said, stepping through her doorway.

"Ryan! I knew you'd come save me." Anna was sitting at the small desk she had in her room. She gestured wildly at the books and papers that covered it. "I've been reduced to doing homework. I'm so bored. There's nothing else to do."

"You poor thing," I said with something approaching actual sympathy.

Things truly were desperate if my sister had, in fact, voluntarily sat down to do homework so early in the evening.

"Seriously. I need to be distracted. They even turned off the internet, and I didn't think they knew how to do that."

I winced. "So what'd you try to steal that was worth all this?"

Anna glanced furtively toward the door. There was no one there, but just to be sure I looked out and down the hallway. Then I sat down on her bed.

"Okay, well... they caught me with some stupid necklace," she said.

Something about the way she worded it triggered my suspicion.

"And is that actually what you took?"

"No. You know me too well. I had to grab a decoy 'cause they were on to me."

I shook my head in mock despair. "Do I want to know how often you do this sort of thing?"

"Um... no, probably not. I really don't do it that much though. Usually I can con money out of someone for things I want."

"Yes, I'm aware. So what did you take?"

Anna got up and shut the door before walking to her dresser. She rifled through her underwear drawer, apparently searching for something buried at the bottom. It occurred to me that she might have taken a pair of sexy panties, or something along those lines. If that was the case she must not have thought her plan all the way through. Mom still did her laundry and would almost certainly notice something like that turning up.

"I took this," she said, holding up a watch.

"You stole a watch?"

"It was stupid, I realize that. But that's why I took the necklace when I knew I was gonna get caught. It was way cheaper and I could pass it off as me not knowing what I was doing. The watch would have been trickier. It was going for almost two hundred, I think."

"Anna, not that I know much about these things, but isn't that a men's watch? Why would you take a two hundred dollar men's watch?"

"Maybe 'cause it wasn't for me," she mumbled.

She looked so defeated, so unlike her usual self. All of her confidence seemed to have deserted her. I took her wrist and gently pulled her closer, then made her sit down next to me.

"Was it for me?" I asked softly.

She nodded. "Stupid, right? You don't even wear a watch. I just saw it and... I don't know. I thought you might like it is all."

I placed my fingers on her chin and turned her face toward me. I looked directly into her eyes as I spoke.

"It wasn't stupid."

I kissed her, conveying things that my words couldn't possibly match. I'd always heard things like "it's the thought that counts" when it came to presents and I'd never paid much attention. Anna might have finally allowed me to understand that sentiment. She'd paid for the watch in a more real way than she'd probably paid for anything else in her life. She'd ended up trapped and bored in her room. That meant more to her than easily scammed money ever would. And she'd done it for me.

"You like it?" she asked.

"I do. I really do."

Anna couldn't help letting a grin start to peek through on her face. Not a deliberate one, but one that fought any attempt to resist it and showed itself anyway. It was a brief glimpse of the girl under the carefully constructed exterior she liked to project.

She leaned toward me and we kissed again, for longer this time. Our hands went to each other's bodies, though in relatively tame locations. I was all set for making out with my sister a little, and as far as I could tell she felt the same way.

Suddenly she pulled away. I started to speak, but she put her finger to my lips and looked toward her door. A second later, I heard the same thing she had. Someone was coming.

Anna leapt from the bed back to her seat at her desk. She didn't really have time to make it look like she was in the middle of something, but that was okay. If she looked like she was working it probably would have been more suspicious than if we'd just been talking.

The door opened followed closely by our mother. She peered around the room briefly as though expecting to find something she wouldn't like.

"Why was the door closed?" mom asked.

She sounded curious, but I didn't think she actually suspected anything in particular. Unless she had somehow guessed the truth, of course. It seemed unlikely, but it could certainly cause problems. I should have been more careful. I'd had to sneakily masturbate in the house enough times before I moved out that I should have known better than to risk getting caught with my tongue down Anna's throat, so to speak. Luckily my sister had been paying a little more attention to our surroundings.

"We were just talking about stuff," I said, deciding it was better to take mom's attention away from Anna. "Privately."

Mom arched an eyebrow, but didn't press the issue any further.

"Okay," she said. "Well, your father's home and supper's in about five minutes."

"Alright. Thanks."

Mom left the door open when she left. Both Anna and I waited until we couldn't hear her footsteps anymore before turning to each other and exchanging relieved smiles. We both knew what we could have been caught doing. I kind of liked these little cracks in my sister's defenses that showed she wasn't as indifferent toward certain events as she tried to seem.

****

Supper was fairly normal. No one brought up Anna's 'situation,' which may or may not have been a good sign. I knew she'd have a better idea how to manipulate the situation to regain her freedom as soon as possible, so I didn't make any attempt at it.

I let myself be talked into watching a movie with the family afterward. It wouldn't allow for any privacy with my sister, but it was better than nothing.

The living room held an L-shaped couch which was big enough for all four of us, but not by a lot. It therefore drew no attention when Anna sat down with her legs across my lap. Since our parents were in the room, I almost said something about it out of habit. Me picking on Anna, or vice versa, then being chastised by whichever parent was in a less patient mood was practically traditional. I managed to keep my mouth shut in this instance.

I spent most of the movie touching Anna in very subtle ways. I'd let my hand rest on her leg and run my fingers slowly over her skin, or sometimes I'd move down to her feet depending on how she had her legs positioned. It really wasn't enough to do much more than tease both of us and make us crave more.

Eventually the movie ended. Neither Anna or I moved at first, and we both waited until our parents left the room to say anything.

"Did that seem like a long time to you too?" I whispered.

"Kind of, yeah," Anna replied at the same volume. "Maybe that's just 'cause you wouldn't keep your hands to yourself."

"You could have said something," I said, even though we both knew she couldn't have. "And besides, you were the one nearly climbing into my lap."

"Didn't have room to do anything else." She sat up and swung her legs onto the floor. I resisted saying anything about how there was enough room for sitting normally, as she currently was. That wasn't really the point.

"Anyway, thanks for coming over," she said, not looking directly at me. "Tonight would have been boring."

"What are brothers for, right?"

The look Anna gave me suggested she had one or two ideas of what brothers were for. I doubted public opinion would have agreed with any of them.

We sat there for a few moments, neither of us saying anything. I knew it was probably time to go, but I didn't really want to. Finally Anna leaned over and kissed me softly.

"I'll come over to your place when I can," she said. "It might be a couple days."

"Okay," I said.

She looked like she was about to say something else, but the sound of one of our parents coming back startled her into action. She stood and, with a final look back at me, walked away. I stayed put for a moment, then sighed and made my way to the front door. It was for the best that I was leaving alone, but I wished I could have taken her with me.

****

I got home from work on Friday to find my door unlocked. That seemed a bit strange because I always made sure to lock up before I left. I was slightly concerned that I might have forgotten to do so this morning, but at the same time it meant there was a chance Anna had come over and she was the one who had unlocked it. As soon as I saw my sister's shoes inside the doorway, I knew it was the better of the two options.

"Anna?" I called as I removed my sneakers.

There was no answer, but I heard movement and a couple seconds later Anna popped into view. I couldn't help smiling when I saw her, silly as that may have been.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey. You decided it was safe to come over, huh?"

She bit her lip. "Um, not exactly. I mean, maybe it'll be fine. Mostly I'm just thinking that I can hide out with you 'til Monday. You know, if mom and dad are pissed that I didn't go straight home."

"If you stay that long they'll just get more upset."

"I know." Anna shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. For all I knew it might very well turn out not to be. Before she could say anything else, her attention was drawn to my wrist. "Are you actually wearing your watch?"

I held my arm up so she could see better. "Of course I am."

"Well I didn't know if you were just humouring me when you said you liked it."

"Only humouring you a little. Mostly I meant it."

"As long as you mostly meant it, that's okay I guess."

We stood facing each other kind of awkwardly. I wanted to make some kind of move, and probably Anna did too, but for some reason I wasn't sure how to proceed. Eventually I decided to stick with something simple. I walked up to her and kissed her, pressing my lips to hers for a few seconds before pulling back.

Anna looked like she would have been okay if I had held it for longer, but then her personality reasserted itself. She twirled away from me and back toward my couch where she'd presumably been before I arrived.

"I was just in the middle of a show," she said. "You wanna watch with me?"

"What show is it?"

"Does it matter?"

Of course it didn't matter. I wasn't interested in the show regardless of what it was. But if Anna was going to play silly games, then I could too.

"Well I don't want to watch some insipid girly show," I said. "You know you have terrible taste sometimes."

"I have excellent taste," she retorted, turning her head long enough to stick her tongue out at me. "Although I did choose to spend time with you, so maybe you have a point."

She sat down and started her show up again from where she'd paused it. She looked vaguely smug about her comment.

"Don't be petulant," I said, taking a seat next to her. "I know for a fact I'm your favourite person."

"What gave you that idea?"

"A couple of things. One of them being your generous gift."

I held up my wrist again, as though she might have already forgotten about the watch.

"And that means you're my favourite?"

"Mm-hm. It means you looove me."

"You wish."

"It's true. There's no point fighting it."

"Shut up!"

"Or what?"

Anna glared at me, narrowing her eyes as though it would help her detect a weakness she could exploit. A moment later she took a swing at me. I let it hit me in the shoulder, then grabbed her arm and tugged her toward me.

"Let go," she said.

"Nah, I don't think so."

I pulled Anna even closer, and despite her act she didn't fight me. I couldn't quite manage to get her into my lap, but it was a close thing. I needed active help rather than just a lack of resistance to move her around too much.

"It's kind of adorable how you get when you're embarrassed, you know that?" I said.

"Shut up," she said, quieter this time than the last.

"Okay."

I was fine with not talking for the moment. There were other things I'd rather be doing with my mouth. Once again Anna didn't fight back as I put my hand on the back of her head and guided her in so I could kiss her.

It was amazing to feel my sister surrender to me. It could just have been that she didn't realize how much she was giving away when I wasn't actually looking at her. There was more to it than the purely visual.

We broke for air a couple times, but our mouths didn't go very far as we each caught our breath. I noticed that she kept her eyes closed the whole time, letting me direct her as I saw fit without being too obvious about it. Eventually she gave in and climbed fully into my lap facing me, making it easier for us to reach each other. To me, it was a clear acknowledgement that she wanted this. But I'd already known that.

My hands roamed over my sister's body, from her legs and ass up to her breasts and shoulder, and most anywhere else I felt like. From her reactions, I was pretty sure it was getting to her. She was getting turned on just like I was. The way she was sitting in my lap meant that she had to be able to feel my cock as it hardened.

Anna was wearing a skirt, which made it easy to get to her panties. I was feeling a little over-confident at that point and tried to slip my fingers inside the waistband. That was when she finally stopped me.

"What did I say about that?" she asked as she pulled my hand away from her underwear.

She leaned back away from me, which at least allowed me to get a good look at her. She appeared just as aroused visually as what I'd guessed from the way she felt. However, it didn't seem like that was going to be enough to get me off the hook.

"You said I'm not allowed in your panties," I said.

"Right. But you tried to get in them anyway."

"Thought you might have changed your mind."