Secluded

Jack and Jill Torrance were half-siblings; their parents divorcees going on ten years. When Jack was barely a year old, his dad, Bob, and his mother divorced and soon after Bob met a beautiful divorcee named Janet whom he married a year later. Janet became pregnant not long after and gave birth to a girl that she and Bob named Jill. The joke was not received well by the siblings once they got into grade school and the famous tale was introduced to them, along with the childish giggles of their elementary school chums.

Jack was a college junior now and Jill a college sophomore and both were coasting through school with straight As. The siblings were always model students and stayed out of trouble; When they were in high school, Jack was on the varsity baseball team and Jill a member of the drama club. Their friends were the harmless types they were never afraid to bring home to meet their parents. Neither one of them had a dark streak and had similar interests in music; soft rock, classical, even jazz and techno. And, aside from their above-average intelligence, the siblings were typical in every other respect; Jack was of average height, weight, build and Jill was the same. Both siblings were blonde haired (Although Jill's hair was considerably darker than her brother's) and blue-eyed with Germanic/Swedish descent, from their mothers and father, respectively.

The economic downturn made it a very attractive proposition for Jack and Jill to continue living with their parents while they worked and saved for the future. Not that their parents minded; in fact, they'd have preferred for the siblings live with them forever!

The family lived in a claustrophobic suburban town that was growing by leaps and bounds with every passing year. The real estate in the area had blossomed thanks to the booming local job market and every empty lot was sprouting with new homes, condos or apartment buildings. The traffic was becoming horrendous but the denizens gladly accepted the inconvenience for the fat paychecks their jobs were providing them. Every other car was a brightly colored Humvee or a foreign sports car. It was, by all accounts, a very affluent area. Bob and Janet, though, weren't charmed by the proximity of all their new neighbors. The sleepy little town they'd set up shop in when the siblings were little was becoming a overpopulated urban sprawl, one they no longer enjoyed living in, regardless of how affluent it had become.

Bob and Janet were hippies at heart and, after selling their souls to corporate America, both promised someday to leave all that behind once they'd reaped the benefits of living in the fast lane. Now that they'd saved a bundle, they were planning on moving to a place where the pulse was closer to catatonic narcoleptic than caffeine-addled crack fiend. They were eyeing real estate out in the country, a place where they knew the siblings were less likely to encounter the evils of the city.

Jack and Jill weren't thrilled to be moving away from the only place they knew as home. They'd established a safe haven there. All their friends were there, the stores they were familiar with, the streets, the houses, it was everything they knew. But, after several less than heated conversations with the parents, (Jack and Jill were horrible at being typical angry young adults) the siblings were convinced that the change of scenery would benefit all of them.

They had an uncle that lived hundreds of miles away in the country, and was going to help Bob and Janet pick out some real estate to build a home on. Jack and Jill would have to tag along to stay at their uncle's place while the adults dealt with the droll objective of dealing numbers, acreage, building costs, etc. with the local real estate agencies. Once they got to Uncle Harold's house, though, Jack and Jill were disappointed to discover that, despite Harold having a large house; it only had two-bedrooms; one for him and one for their parents. What he did have to accommodate them, though, was a small guest room in the back of the house.

When they pushed open the door to the guest room, their eyes widened; it was barely big enough to fit the queen-sized bed that was shoved up against the far wall, which wasn't very far at all. There was maybe a foot and a half from the foot of the bed to the entertainment center where the 19" color TV was, and the TV itself looked like it was a decade old. Thank goodness for them it had its own cable box. They looked around at the meager accommodations.

"Well..." Jack said. "...it is a guest room."

Jill wasn't so optimistic, but spoke under her breath, trying to remain calm. "The room's barely bigger than a prison cell, Jack. How are we supposed to do anything in here?"

"We're not." he said, hopping on the bed. "We're just tagging along with mom and dad. This trip isn't for us so we're just gonna have to deal. It's not the Hilton, but who cares?"

"But we won't have any privacy!" she declared, still forcing the words calmly through her tensed lips.

"What do you mean? Of course we will. Mom, dad and Uncle Harold are on the other side of the house." he noted.

"I mean, from each other." she finally whined. "And I am not sharing the bed with you."

"Hey, it should be me complaining. You're the one whose feet stink all the time."

"Shut up. It's just that stupid fungus. That stuff the podiatrist gave me will get rid of it."

"So, then, where am I supposed to sleep?" he asked. "In the eight inches between the bed and the wall?"

She sulked. "Fine. Just don't rub up against me during the night."

"It'd be the first time a guy ever did..." he muttered under his breath. She heard him though and gasped, punching him in the arm.

"Ass." she said.

He rubbed his arm. "Oww."

She rubbed his arm woefully. "Sorry."

He didn't mean what he said and she didn't mean to hit him so hard. They were always on friendly terms with each other, even though they did argue and fight quite often. The fighting never crossed that breaking point, though, to where they hated each other's guts. They loved each other and never let arguments go too far. Either Jeff would apologize first, or Jill would, or they'd just slowly work things back to normalcy without acknowledging the previous spat.

As he channel-surfed the TV with the remote control, Jack scooted over, giving Jill room to sit, which she did. She seemed listless, apathetic. "So, what did you bring with you?"

"Not much..." he said, eyes fixed on the TV. "my phone, Switch, a few other things. You?"

"Not much. My phone, some girl stuff."

"Eww, stop right there. But it's good you brought your stuff. I don't want you bleeding all over this place."

"You are so gross..." she said, disgusted.

"No wonder you've been so bitch-tastic lately. You're ovumolating."

"It's ovulating, Einstein. And I'm starting to see why Sylvia left you."

"Sylvia left me because she had a bad case of whore-itis. That and big boobs."

"I knew the only reason you were with her was because she had a huge chest. You are so predictable. All guys are."

"That's not true at all. You have a huge chest and I wouldn't touch you with someone else's hand."

She stared daggers into him. "But you'll sleep next to me."

"While wearing thick, protective clothing? Yes."

She sighed and looked away, defeated. Jack was joking and snickered, seeing she wasn't playing anymore. "Hey, I was just messing around. Don't get your boobs all twisted." he said, lightly pinching her thigh.

She didn't respond or look at him. She merely watched the TV indifferently. "I know."

"I hungry. Gun go eat now." Jack said, playing stupid and climbed over Jill, leaving the room.

Jack went into the dining room to find the adults there. After asking permission from his Uncle Harold, Jack dug through the fridge looking for lunch meat and condiments and made himself a sandwich. While he ate lunch, Jack chatted with the family, not paying attention to the time. After hanging out in the living room for several hours, watching a football game with his dad and uncle while his mom and aunt gabbed away in the kitchen, he realized he hadn't heard a peep from Jill.

By this time, the sun was going down and the air outside grew still. The crickets sang their song and it was pleasantly quiet, unlike what Jack was used to from his home in the suburbs. He went to the back of the house and lightly pushed the guest room door open to find Jill asleep, still fully dressed. He shut the door, smiling as he watched her briefly before climbing over her to the other side of the bed, picking up the remote control and flipping the channels.

After laying there in the dark, the room lit only by the luminescence from the television screen, Jack looked over at Jill who was facing him, still asleep.

She looked like a little angel; her silky smooth skin was flawless and creamy, her bangs hung over her face, covering her eyebrows and dancing along her eyelids which fluttered as she dreamed. He admired her as one might a work of art.

She was so beautiful, he thought, proud that he had such a desirable sister. Her bright blue eyes were engrossing when gazed into, mesmerizing and hard to look away from.

She had a very soft smile, always strained and modest, never bold or dauntless. As if she was shielding herself from any potential insult.

Jack didn't know why she had such a defensive nature. She wasn't the type of girl who got ridiculed in school or anywhere else. By all accounts she should have been the bouncy, bubbly type but wasn't. She had the body for it; gifted with the endowments of a girl years older. Despite her healthy, attractive young body, she was always reserved, soft-spoken and timid.

As Jack watched her, she slowly opened her eyes. She spoke with a sleepy slur. "Hi."

"Welcome back." he said with a smile.

"I'm sorry for being a bitch earlier. I hope I didn't hurt you."

"No, you didn't."

"What were you doing?"

"Watching you, cutie."

She smiled. "Lies."

"I'm serious. I was." he chuckled.

"You were so not watching me." she whispered, still very sleepy but amused, blushing in her exhaustion.

"Go back to sleep so I can feel you up some more." he joked.

She chuckled. "Noooo..."

He nudged her. "Yeah, come on, go back to sleep."

"You've never felt me up in my sleep, liar." she purred, using her grogginess to play both bashful and flirty.

They'd played this game before. Jack and Jill were very open with each other and weren't averse to making rascally sexual comments about each other in the vein of light-hearted fun. Nine times out of ten, though, it was Jack making the comment and Jill blushing and punching him softly, denying his boastful claims.

"Okay, let's stopping talking like this. It's gross." she said, unable to shield the obvious grin.

"Fine." he said. "Hey, why don't you go eat? You haven't eaten anything all day."

"I'll eat later."

He looked on her disappointedly. "You're not doing that 'starve yourself to lose weight' crap again, are you?"

"Well, I need to lose weight. I'm so fat."

He looked at her, confused. "Fat? What the hell are you talking about?" he chuckled.

"This." she said, pulling up her shirt to reveal her smooth belly. She had a little baby-fat to speak of but certainly wasn't terribly overweight. Her bountiful, overflowing chest made her mid-section look even smaller but she wasn't convinced.

"You've been reading way too many of those stupid girl magazines. You know they Photoshop all the girls in those pictures, right?"

"Even then, I need to lose, like, twenty pounds."

"You're crazy. You look just fine the way you are."

"You can say that because you're my brother. If you didn't know me and saw me on the street you'd be thinking to yourself 'what a cow she is'."

"That's not true at all. You know, not all guys like girls who are skin wrapped around bone. You have curves, yeah, but there's nothing wrong with that. You're, like, really cute in the face and you've got, like, big boobs and everything. I think a lot of girls would love to trade places with you." he said, a bit embarrassed to be so direct and honest.

She was surprised at his blunt admission, not knowing how to respond. "But you're one of the guys who's into skinny girls, right?"

"Actually, no, I'm more into curvy girls." he stated, correcting her.

She didn't have much recourse but to sit there uncomfortably.

The next day, Jack and Jill were painfully bored. Their parents and uncle had gone out to look at properties and left the siblings home alone. Jill was in the living room lacing up her sneakers.

Jack walked into the room, seeing this. "What are you doing?"

"I'm so bored so I was going to go for a walk."

"Alone?"

"You can come with me if you want." she said.

He thought about it for a second. "Okay. Hold on, let me put my shoes on."

After Jack put his shoes on, they headed out. Harold lived on several acres surrounded by nothing but bushes and trees and a lonely dirt road. If a single car passed up the road once every hour, then that was considered heavy traffic. Instead of the cacophony of mobs of interspersed voices, armies of cars bumper to bumper as they spew noxious gases into the air, street-side shops and the noisy chaos spilling forth from their stitched urban tapestry, Uncle Harold's surroundings were populated with chirping birds, the gentle sway of the wind, toads floating in nearby creeks and dogs barking in the distance.

After pushing through the creaky gate leading out of Uncle Harold's property, they made their way for the patch of trees peppered apart from each other in the distance. The siblings made pleasant conversation as they walked towards the sleepy field of trees. Jack noticed how high up on her smooth thighs her shorts went but didn't dare speak a word of it. As they walked and chitchatted, both smiling as they did, Jill awkwardly stepped on a rock, twisted her ankle and toppled to the ground, scraping her knees on the dirt and pebbles.

Jack rushed to her aid, helping her sit back and lean against a tree. He examined her knees which were mildly scraped, traces of blood showed but it was nothing serious. Jill looked at her knees, worried.

"It's okay." Jeff said. "We'll get your knees cleaned up when we get home. How do you feel?"

"It burns a little bit."

"Well, yeah. Your knees are all scraped up." he chuckled. "You know, if we were in school right now, so many people would say you got this from giving lots of head."

"Ewwww..." she scoffed, chuckled. "That's so nasty. Why do you always say that kind of stuff to me? I'm your sister, perv."

"I don't know..." he chortled back.

Jack leaned forward, letting her wrap her arms around his neck, using him to keep her balance as she stood on wobbly legs. He put his hands around her mid-section, gently helping her stand. As she rose and straightened her sore legs, she lost her balance and slipped backwards, bumping into the tree and inadvertently pulling Jack towards her. He stopped himself by placing his hands on the tree behind Jill, grinning playfully at the awkward jumble of missteps. They both did.

Standing there, inches apart, Jill pinned against the tree and Jack unintentionally leaning towards her, she smiled and chuckled uneasily. The siblings couldn't make eye contact; Jill tucked her hair behind her ear and Jack stood there, inept, uncomfortable.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah." she said, nervous at Jack's proximity.

He pulled himself together for a moment of clarity. "Hey, I wanted to apologize for some of the things I've been saying lately. You know what I mean?"

She was so preciously uncomfortable."The sexual stuff? It's okay. It's not like a lot of guys talk about that stuff with me. Sometimes I'm there when guys hit on my friends, when we go to the mall, or whatever, but it's usually creepy older guys. I don't get hit on that often at all, and when I do it's never by anyone I'm remotely interested in."

Then, tense silence, a silence that stretched for seconds, but felt to the siblings like hours. Without warning, Jill leaned towards Jack, resting her hands on his chest and planted her lips on his. Jack's eyes bulged as his sister slid her tongue assertively into his mouth, but he didn't pull away. They stood there in the calmness of the trees, kissing softly.

After a few seconds, they parted lips. Jack was gob smacked; eyes wide, jaw hanging in exasperation "Wha--what was that for?"

Jill was so painfully embarrassed, her face red from blushing, that she could only shrug her shoulders and smile nervously. "I don't know. I just felt like doing it."

Jack was terribly conflicted; aroused, confused, excited, rejected. He could only stand there as Jill limped back towards the house. He quickly caught up with her. "At least let me help you walk home."

He moved up next to her, putting his arm around her waist and she slung her arm over his shoulder, leaning on him as she limped.

When they got home, Jack walked her through the house to the guest bedroom. As they approached the bed, he bent forward, laying her on her back. He noticed peripherally that she was glaring up at him lovingly. Afraid to look her in the eyes, lest he be mesmerized by her deep pools of blue, he spoke without looking at her.

"How's that?" he asked, careful not to make eye contact.

"Perfect. Thanks." she said before becoming curious about his evasiveness. "Why aren't you looking at me?"

He chuckled, shrugging. "Noth--nothing."

The problem was that he was still leaning over her, their faces inches apart. All he had to do was turn his head and their lips would practically brush.

Jill smiled. "It's okay... No one's home." she said, taking his right hand in hers, spreading her thighs and guiding his hand between her legs. On instinct, he curled his fingers, running his middle digit raptly along her nubile cleft hidden by the thin fabric of her sweat shorts.

Jill closed her eyes and purred into his ear as he gently rubbed her young cunt. Jack didn't know what he was doing; his heart was pounding, a cold sweat was washing over him and his lips were trembling. Then, he felt it: that indescribable pleasure growing in between his legs.

Jill spread her thighs apart even more, pulling her knees up. She groaned lustfully, letting her right hand navigate under Jack's body, blindly reaching for her prize, until she found his erection proudly pushing against his khakis. She awkwardly massaged the head, causing Jack to shudder.

Then, suddenly, they heard the grinding of rocks against metal as the gate was opened outside. The yard gate was old and rusty; Uncle Harold had built it himself years ago and now served as an alarm to anyone within several hundred feet that the gate was being opened.

Jack and Jill looked at each other, remarking simultaneously. "They're back." They broke their tangled embrace; Jill shut her legs and straightened out her clothes. Jack stood up, focused on softening his obvious erections, and patted down his clothes.

When their parents and Uncle Harold came in, the siblings were there to greet them.

"Hey, guys!" Jack exclaimed. "You find anything?"

"Not really...", Bob said. "We're heading back out tomorrow. There's some people we're going to meet up in Vinedale. It's about an hour away. They've got a bunch of properties out there. You siblings want to tag along? We'll be out there most of the day."

Not needing to voice their joy, the siblings hesitated, looking at each other and, as if reading each other's minds, responded almost simultaneously. "No, I think we'll hang out here, if it's okay." Jill said.

"Yeah, we'd just be in the way. Probably better we just hang out here.", Jack added.

The adults shrugged, agreeing. "That's fine. You two would probably be bored out of your minds, anyway." Janet said, chuckling.