Stepping Out Ch. 02

"Is that really necessary?" Mark asked.

"No, it's not," Jackie answered. "We just thought it might be a good idea. Are you hesitant about something, Mark?"

Jackie's question and the daggers Kendall was staring at him made Mark force the nervousness he felt out of the way. "I'm sorry. No. It's just as Kendall said, this is all new to us."

Jackie unleashed a very warm and engaging smile that further rattled Mark. "Neither have we," she said in her most comforting voice. "We'll all have to get through this together. Personally, I find it comforting that we'll have each other to lean on—all of us."

They finally agreed on separate dates and that Friday night would be their first. Despite an offer to hang around, Mark said he had homework to do, so he and Kendall left. They said she could stay if her stepbrother didn't want to, but Kendall erred on the side of caution and went with Mark. Their walk home was quiet, though there was much they could have discussed, because each was lost in thought about this latest encounter with their new friends.

For Mark, he wanted to leave because he was a mass of confused thoughts and emotions. He found himself uncannily mesmerized by Jackie and that was unsettling because he believed he should have no feelings for anyone other than Kendall. He wondered if he and his stepsister were beginning to take each other for granted, and that was discomforting. He could only wonder why the interest in Jackie, and as he stared at his textbook back in the apartment, he saw nothing on the pages as his mind continued to muse this dilemma.

Kendall didn't notice Mark's elusiveness because her mind was preoccupied with Joseph. Though she couldn't imagine anyone being better for her than her stepbrother, there was something about Joseph that made her heart beat a little faster. She wasn't sure what it was. Maybe just that he was someone different. She likened it to the fact that her favorite soft drink was Pepsi, but every now and then, she liked root beer or a lemon-lime soda. Also, something made her believe Jackie's assertion that Joseph was kind and gentlemanly. And aside from her stepbrother, she hadn't had anyone like that take an interest in her.

All of this had another effect on her that she felt between her legs. Tiptoeing out of her bedroom to see what Mark was doing, she found his head was buried in a textbook in deep concentration. That was good. She returned to her bedroom and closed the door most of the way. She'd already stripped down to her panties when they returned home, and had removed her bra though she had put her shirt back on without buttoning it.

Propping up pillows to lean against, Kendall made herself comfortable, spread her legs slightly, closed her eyes and slid two fingers and her thumb under the right leg opening of her panties. Gently, she rubbed her pussy and clit.

Not more than a minute or so into it, she opened her eyes and thought she saw movement outside the bedroom door. Mark wasn't trying to hide the fact that he was looking, so she asked, "What are you doing?" She also removed her hand and closed her legs.

He entered the room and sat on the edge of the bed. "What are you doing?"

"When I checked on you a few minutes ago, you seemed to be concentrating deeply on your textbook, so I didn't want to disturb you for my selfish needs."

"Oh, well, I was actually coming to bed, but when I saw what you were doing, I didn't want to disturb you."

"So considerate of both of us."

"Don't let me stop you. I don't think I've ever watched you do this. It's actually kind of erotic."

With a grin, she went back to fingering herself, but this time on the outside of her panties.

Mark slid closer, and Kendall looked into his eyes as she used her hand.

"Feel free to join in," she offered. "I don't know that we've ever just masturbated together.

"So, what brought this on?" Mark asked afterward.

She figured the less said, the better. With a shrug, she answered, "Just my usual horny self."

"Nothing to do with tonight?"

"No more than you."

"I didn't—"

She sat up. "Mark, the way she was dressed almost got me excited." She grabbed his leg and tugged on his pants to bring his legs up on the bed. He stop her from undoing his pants, and in fact, laid down as she pulled out his cock and started stroking it. And of course, she couldn't resist taking it into her mouth. She jerked it vigorously to get him good and hard, and then sucked it some more. Leaning over, she whispered teasingly in his ear, "Who's jerking you off? Huh? Who do you see in your mind?"

"Who are you jerking off?" he spoke back softly.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Sitting back up, she removed her top.

He sat up also and did the same, and then reached out to stroke her pussy. She threw her legs over the side of the bed, quickly stood and removed her panties, and then sat on the edge of the bed as he again did the same, having to take off both pants and underwear. He sat beside her.

Both completely naked now, they turned toward one another and their lips came together as though rehearsed. As his hand went between her legs, hers latched on to his cock. Engaged in the heated kiss, with his fingers massaging her pussy, was divine and she could do no more than hold onto his penis. When she could get a thought in, she would move her hand up and down the shaft a couple of times.

Kendall leaned back on her other arm as Mark kissed her neck and shoulders. This allowed her to stroke him more. Now, his hand went all around her back to play with her breast.

After a few moments of this, Kendall squirmed back to lean against the pillows. Mark followed suit. Angling her body, she threw a leg over his mostly upright abdomen and spread the other, then fingered herself. Mark reached over her knee, raised one knee and extended his other leg, grabbed his cock and stroked himself.

Kendall was right, Mark couldn't remember them ever doing something like this and it was actually fun watching each other masturbate. They looked at each other, and again, their lips came together for a brief kiss, but they were more interested in focusing on each other's hands on genitals. Telepathically, they kissed again, but this time, they switched with his hand going to her pussy and hers wrapped around his cock. He had the advantage of being able to insert two fingers into her.

They kept this up for a few minutes, but as stimulation would have it, Kendall wanted more. With the dick she knew and the one she didn't on her mind, she bent over to suck the one before her. She restricted her tongue to the head and circumcision area, sucking, jabbing her tongue at his peehole and swirling it around under the crown. The movement of his hips told her he was more than aroused so she concentrated the tip of her tongue on that tender area on the underside of the shaft just below the crease in the head of his penis. The slow and firm up and down motion had him emitting little whimpering sounds from his throat, and when she could hear his breathing heighten, she was rewarded with pearly cream spurting out. She opened her mouth to catch it all. And she did.

Without skipping a beat, Mark pushed her onto her back and dove between her legs, his tongue zeroing in on her moistened slit. Kendall threw her head back to enjoy his talented tongue and wondered . . . but not for long. She had already been aroused when they started, and their kissing, jerking and oral action quickly brought her to the edge. She experienced a gentle orgasm that made her body shudder as it took hold and slowly brought her to the top and then tenderly let her down.

"Wow, that was good!" she said.

"Yes. And different."

They both relaxed to bask in the afterglow, and then fell asleep just as they were.

* * *

The big night arrived. Both Kendall and Mark were nervous all of Friday afternoon, and both questioned the wisdom of what they were doing in their minds. However, neither spoke their thoughts aloud, so each assumed the other was not having the same doubts. In fact, neither stepbrother nor stepsister said much of anything. As he was about to depart, Mark noticed that Kendall was dressed rather conservatively not revealing much of her stellar body. He wondered if that was more for his benefit than any other reason, and he was further curious whether she would change after he left.

"Good luck," he said as he exited the apartment.

"You, too," Kendall tossed back as she ran back into the bedroom. Little did she know that her stepbrother was right about her wardrobe change as she slipped out of her jeans and shirt and donned a mid-thigh short skirt and a pullover low-cut shirt.

Ironically, Mark and Joseph passed each other en route to collecting their dates. The two teens stopped and regarded one another.

"Treat my stepsister well," Mark said casually, but his warning was clear.

"Ditto," Joseph responded and walked on.

Jackie was all smiles over the stunned expression on Mark's face when she admitted him to her apartment. She hoped it was because of her attire. She wore a short red dress that complimented her blonde hair. It was sleeveless and the wide shoulder straps covered her breasts and came together at her waist, though there were hidden catches so the wearer could decide how much cleavage to display. Jackie had taken a middle of the road approach and had clasped hers even with the farthest point out that her breasts stood.

"You look very nice," Mark understated. He didn't want to say what he really thought, which was that she looked incredibly gorgeous, because he wasn't sure why she was pulling out all the stops.

"Thank you. I was hoping you would like it," Jackie said, pleased. "I wasn't sure where we were going. I didn't want to overdress or underdress."

"We can go anywhere you like. I guess I should have planned something, but this isn't a typical date. I also don't know what there is to do in town. Any suggestions?"

"It's a typical college town," Jackie reported, having been here a year. "There are all of the usual chain fast food places and restaurants. There are also a couple of higher end places, but those are on the pricey side."

Not wanting to sound cheap, Mark said, "I'm open for anything. What's your preference?"

They ended up at a chain Italian restaurant. Mark felt it was safe because Kendall wasn't a big fan of Italian food, and if given the choice, she'd probably go for Mexican. Oddly enough, as much as he and his stepsister had in common, they had some food differences. He really didn't care for Mexican.

* * *

Joseph, on the other hand, did not attempt to hide or play down his enthusiasm. "You look marvelous," he complimented upon seeing Kendall.

She didn't know what she was expecting from him, but was quite taken by his exuberant greeting. "Thanks. You look handsome too."

"I didn't really plan much because I didn't know what you liked to do, so I thought we'd just wing it. But I would like to take you to dinner first."

"That would be great," Kendall agreed. "Should we try to go somewhere that Mark and Jackie wouldn't go?"

"That's probably not a bad idea. Any thoughts about that?"

"Mark doesn't like Mexican food, so I doubt seriously he'd go there."

"I don't have much opportunity to eat Mexican, so I'm game."

* * *

The dates were fairly unremarkable. Kendall and Joseph had Mexican while Mark and Jackie enjoyed a leisurely Italian meal. Both couples exchanged stories about their families and home life. Kendall and Mark were independently wise enough not to go into any detail about just how close their family was. Kendall and Joseph went to a movie, while Jackie wanted to talk more following their lengthy dinner, so she and Mark went to a coffee shop.

Jackie's alluring attire aside, she came across as a fairly proper girl. Throughout their conversation, she uttered not a single curse word. Her demeanor belied a refined upbringing, all of which made a romantic relationship with her stepbrother a stretch to believe. All in all, except for her beauty, he deemed her to be the exact opposite of Kendall. She was the antithesis to his stepsister's aggressiveness. And what was even more questionable was why Mark was so enraptured by her.

What was even more compelling was when she revealed that she had lost a grandmother to cancer also. That gave her and Mark a unique bond. She further imparted that after her parents divorced, she lived with her mother, who eventually remarried. Her father also remarried and she was forced to live with him and her stepmother last summer while her mother and stepfather moved. Joseph lived with his mother and Jackie's father. Before last summer, they only saw each other on holidays and a few weeks during summers. They got along fairly well, mostly because they had kept their distance, but had never really been close—until this past summer.

It was a similar experience for Kendall with Joseph. His mother and father had divorced when he was young, and he had little to do with his father. It was also the reason he preferred to be called by his proper name, Joseph, and not some derivative. His dad was Joe, and he wanted no link to the man. Mother and son lived alone for many years until Jackie's dad came along. When they got married, Joseph was part of the equation. He had liked Jackie from the beginning, but they'd had little in common and didn't interact much except as required by family needs. When they were forced to spend the summer together with little else to do, they became attracted to one another.

Though Kendall had some inexplicable attraction to Joseph, his behavior suggested that he was not sleeping with his stepsister, and she further believed it was possible he might even still be a virgin, not that there was anything wrong with that. She quickly reminded herself that it didn't matter because that's not what this relationship was about. Still, she was pleased that if they were going to pretend to be dating, he was at least someone she could be comfortable being with.

Not surprisingly, there was no kiss goodnight when he brought her home, and since she hadn't really expected one, she was not disappointed.

It was the same with Mark. He couldn't tell if Jackie expected it, but he made no attempt and she showed no letdown.

With double the irony, Mark and Joseph again met returning to their respective apartments. Again, the two stopped and regarded one another.

"Your stepsister is a great girl," Joseph offered. "I couldn't imagine anyone better to do this with."

"So, is yours," Mark agreed.

They both grinned and then shook hands before heading on.

* * *

Kendall was glad that she had arrived home before Mark. She felt guilty that she had enjoyed her "date" and wanted to go to bed and be asleep when he came in. She knew that they would have to discuss their evenings, but tonight, she was not in the mood. She quickly got ready for bed and managed to be under the covers, though having to feign sleep, when she heard the door open.

She needn't have worried. Her stepbrother was feeling the same guiltiness as was she and he didn't want to have to deal with it either. It took him half the time it had her to prepare for bed, and he eased in as quietly and gently as possible so as not to awaken her.

Each lost track of the amount of time they stared at opposite walls before slumber claimed them.

* * *

They awoke staring at each other, and both were amazed though made no comment about the fact that the other was in some sort of sleeping attire instead of the naked manner in which they normally slept. Quite often on Saturday mornings with nothing to do one or the other would initiate sexual contact, but not this morning. It occurred to Kendall that if she was having guilt feelings, Mark might be as well, and he came to the same realization.

So, when they blurted out simultaneously, "So, how did it go?" it acted as an icebreaker and they both laughed about it.

"Italian dinner, the coffee house afterward and a lot of conversation," Mark started briefly.

"Mexican and a movie," was Kendall's short description.

Each exchanged the information they had learned, which except for a few insignificant details, was the same.

"And to answer your first question," Mark said.

"I haven't asked any question," Kendall interrupted.

"The one about whether they were having sex," he reminded. "I would find that highly doubtful."

"Yeah, that was my sense also," she agreed. "We discussed nothing even remotely sexual."

"Us, too."

They both silently breathed their relief as though it was a concern each had about the other. Still, neither made any attempt to engage the other in any sexual activity.

* * *

Later that morning, nearly close to noon, as Mark and Kendall were nearly finished their Saturday routine of tidying up the apartment, there was a knock at the door. Mark had dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, but Kendall was still in her usual around-the-house attire: next to nothing. This morning, she had managed to put on her bra and skimpy panties. A nod of her head sent Mark to see who the caller was. When she heard the voices of Jackie and Joseph, she darted into the bedroom.

"Sorry to drop by unannounced," Jackie offered when Mark opened the door.

"No problem, come in. Kendall is cleaning . . . her bedroom." Mark caught himself. He almost said the bedroom, which might have suggested that they slept together.

"You guys divide the cleaning?" Jackie asked.

"We each do our own bedroom," Mark explained, stretching the truth. "We take turns on the bathroom. She does the living room and I do the kitchen since I do most of the cooking."

"You do the cooking?" The surprise in her voice could be heard. "With all the talking we did last night, how could we not have mentioned that? I do most of our cooking also. We should cook something together," she suggested.

Kendall now appeared dressed in shorts and a T-shirt similar to Mark. She greeted everyone. "The two of you could cook on our first double date," she suggested.

"That would be fun," Jackie agreed.

"Except that we kinda feel we need another separate date," Joseph said.

"Oh?" Mark and Kendall said in unison, glancing at each other. Without knowing it, both concurred with their counterparts, but they were hesitant to agree not having discussed it. Kendall raised questioning eyebrows at her stepbrother and he returned a shrug.

Meanwhile, Jackie and Joseph waited in rapt anticipation.

Finally, Kendall took a chance and spoke up. "I guess I don't have a problem with that. Mark?"

Glad that she had taken the initiative, but not sure what it meant that she was willing, he agreed. "Okay. When did you have in mind?"

"Is tonight too soon?" Jackie asked hesitantly. "Doesn't have to be as fancy as last night."

"Sounds like a plan," Mark commented.

* * *

As if planned, Mark and Joseph passed each other on the way to pick up each other's stepsister.

"Any idea what you guys are doing?" Mark asked.

"I'm in the mood for a burger. A real burger. Not a fast food burger. There's a place called the All American College Shoppe that serves a good one," Joseph reported. "After that, I don't know what."

"Okay. What other kinds of food does Jackie like?"

"Greek."

"Oh," Mark replied, clearly not expecting that. "Haven't had much of that, but I'm willing to try."

"There's a little chain Greek place that she likes. Can't think of the name of it. It's not expensive either."

"Great. Thanks."

The guys high-fived and went on their way.

* * *

Kendall again changed after her stepbrother left; tonight into a short jean skirt and pullover top. But just as quickly, she took the skirt off because of more guilt feelings. She'd worn a short jean skirt her first night with Mark, and he loved her in it. She just couldn't do it, so she slipped into another short skirt—not denim—and a silk-like top that left one shoulder bare.