The McCall Oregon Trail

The fact was that he had found her irresistible from the first time his cock hardened, captivated by her long soft black hair and deep brown eyes that contrasted with his dirty blonde hair and amber eyes. The physical commonality they shared was their bronze skin and well-defined cheekbones, but otherwise, she looked like their mother, and he, their father, save Camden's pale complexion. Yet, he, too was reluctant to broach the subject for the same reason and found it easier to just put physical distance between them regardless of how much energy it took and how painful it felt deep inside.

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River placed the order for the lumber and building materials necessary and suggested that they get to work cleaning out the junk from the interior as much as safely possible. The July heat was bearing down upon them, and he suggested that they change into clothes more suitable for the weather. He went inside the truck and changed into some work shorts and decided to forego the T-shirt completely. Her eyes caught on his attractive well-defined muscles as she traded places and put on a pair of short shorts and a sports bra, vowing to one-up his game.

As they both met back together, a charged moment passed between them as they took in the sight of each other's bodies. They were both aroused, but hastily started in on the hard work to distract themselves. After a while, they worked their way into what was left of the kitchen and came upon a photograph of their parents together that they had never seen before. They looked so happy, so fully in love, that both their hearts expanded, wishing they could have something like that together.

They set down the picture and looked up at one another, frozen in the moment as they were lost in each other's eyes. Neither of them was sure who started it, but they pulled each other tightly together in an embrace that lasted minutes, her sweaty chest glued to his. She let up her grip on his back and leaned back a bit. Tentatively looking at his red lips, she unconsciously licked her own, feeling her senses sharpen, aware of how they were intimately joined together. River saw her swipe her lips with the tip of her tongue and hesitantly moved his right hand up to cup the back of her neck. She felt his cock for the second time hardening against her, this time indenting her belly and making her acutely aware of how incredibly slick her pussy was, throbbing to be pleasured and filled. As soon as that thought struck her mind, she stiffened, unsure of whether he truly wanted what she wanted so badly, or whether she was pushing him to make a hasty decision.

River misinterpreted the intention behind her halting and jolted back, immediately releasing her. She was heartbroken, thinking he didn't want her, and hung her head in shame, anxious of the uncomfortable silence that now stretched between them.

He mentally kicked himself in the shin and broke the awkward silence. "Basement next?" he weakly suggested. She meekly nodded, accepting his segue out of the tense moment. They moved down and continued mechanically for the rest of the day, an unspoken distance forming between them. River was frustrated at himself for having let himself take liberties with his sister when she was so clearly repulsed by him. Meanwhile, Tara was in despair of how much she felt for him, heart torn by how he had rejected her.

In the evening, River walked into the woods under the guise of exploring the property alone, and instead walked only a few minutes away from the house before stopping, pulling out his frustrated shaft, and stroking its agonizing length while thinking of how Tara had pressed herself against him earlier. He quickly climaxed and splashed against a tree. Instead of satiating his appetite, it only emptied his heart.

Tara took no such opportunity to relieve herself, which she later regretted as they went to bed, both on their sides facing away from each other. River finally fell into a restless sleep, but she was unable to do so. Her pussy ached with irritation at having been aroused for so long without any attention. She slowly slipped her hand into her panties and spread her lips with her fingers. Teasing herself in sorrow, she barely gave herself enough pleasure with each swipe to keep herself going, but not enough to come quickly. She went on like this for a half hour before finally letting out a gasp as a silent orgasm stretched her body taut, tears forming in her eyes as she fell asleep.

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River woke up early in the morning and was startled to smell Tara's arousal pungent in the air while she slept. He yearned to reach over, wake her up and take her right there, but shut down that thought as he remembered what he had done yesterday, and how she responded. In a fit of frustration, he hastily decided that he would end his vacation early and go back to his Montana job, at least for a bit, to cool off his overwhelming feelings before deciding whether to come back. He wrote a quick note to Tara explaining that he needed some time to think about things and was only a call or text away if she needed him. He pinned it on the dashboard along with a couple hundred dollars in cash before packing up his things and taking a long look at her beautiful sleeping face. Finally, he got into his pickup and drove away.

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Tara woke up a few hours later and thought that River must have gone out into the woods. It wasn't until she saw his note on the steering wheel that she realized that he had truly left. Her spirits shattered. How could he abandon her, she thought. She cursed herself for getting carried away with him the previous day and vowed that she would never make that mistake again if he ever forgave her. She recalled his words on the piece of paper: "I'm only a call or text away if you need me." If she truly messaged him as River said she should, he would have a thousand calls and texts in his inbox already. She crumpled the note along with the cash and slouched back onto the seat, despondent until late afternoon when her stomach angrily protested.

She biked into town and ate, not even able to taste anything that touched her tongue. As she walked around town, she saw a rental vacancy for a studio and paused. In a split-second decision, she walked in and asked the building manager to show her around. Finding it sufficient, she signed the rental agreement as the truck wasn't that comfortable for long-term stay anyway. She paid the advance with some of the now crumpled cash in her hand and asked if there were any job openings around. It turned out that the local library needed a staffer to assist the librarian. In the small town that Astoria is, not many people were available for a temporary position, so after a quick discussion with the librarian, she was taken on. The pay was decent, good enough to pay her rent and groceries, so she was satisfied. She went back one last time to the house to collect her clothes from Camden's truck. Upon seeing the lumber delivery that had appeared next to the house, she wondered what would happen to it. Maybe, she thought, all she needed to do was to get over her love for River and move on with her life. Maybe, it was better if she just cut him off.

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River drove back to the dingy place he shared with some of his co-workers, head hopelessly jumbled with thoughts. Over the three years he had been at work, he had quickly become the crew's most valuable carpenter with his attention to detail. Days passed, but his mood didn't improve. Where he had been meticulous at his job, now he was distracted, robotically nailing and screwing lumber in at the jobsite.

He should have been paying more attention, but such was his mental state. The following day, In the lapse of the few seconds he was nailing up a joist on the second floor of their project, he slipped off his stance, arms flailing to grab something as he fell. Then his vision abruptly went blank.

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He woke up groggily in an unfamiliar surrounding with bright fluorescent lights. He didn't quite remember what had happened, but he started to put it together as his body ached all over. He tried to get up but was restricted by the cast on his legs and his left arm, virtually immobilizing him. Soon, a nurse came over with the doctor, who asked him a couple questions. Fortunately, they said, he would make a full recovery, though it would take at least two months to get back on his feet. And thankfully, his worker's compensation would cover the medical bills. They asked if he would like to call anybody, and he immediately thought of his sister. He nodded, and they handed him his phone. He dialed her number, but it kept ringing, Tara failing to pick up. He hung up, and sent her a quick "hey" message, not wanting to break the news to her over text.

Over the next few days, River kept calling and texting her once a day, hoping she would pick up, but the reality was that she was too closed off to take a chance, even though her resolve to shut him out would likely have crumbled if she knew what had happened and what he was going through. Eventually, he stopped calling and texting her.

She, in turn, absorbed herself in her new job while also taking up a side project, drawing up designs for a renovated and improved version of their house. She didn't expect it to be brought to reality now that River and she were apart, but it gave her something to do in her spare time. She also started up a blog to build up her professional portfolio and posted her ideas and sketches. In recent years, there had been a renewed interest in parts of the internet about old, abandoned houses and restoring them, and her posts quickly gained traction among those communities.

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River slowly recovered his physical health as he took time off work. Yet, the fact that Tara had completely cut him off hurt him more deeply than any of his fractured bones or wounded limbs could. Was she even still in Astoria? He didn't know. Because he spent most of his time inside during those months of resting up, he used his computer a lot more. A few times, much to his mind's chagrin of his lack of self-control, he looked up his sister to see if she had truly moved on. He couldn't tell.

Then one day, as he was browsing the carpentry forums on the web, he came across a link that someone had shared of an architect's restoration designs in Astoria. He clicked on the link, and immediately stared wide-eyed in shock at the name at the top: Tara McCall. He scrolled down, slowly taking in the drawings and renderings. They were so exquisitely beautiful, tastefully orchestrated, and not overdone. The blend of colors, finish details, and the modern additions including converting the old barn into a shop flowed so well with the landscape. It was that moment that he knew he had to find her again and make things work, even if she didn't want him like he wanted her. He could at least live with that.

Over the next few weeks, he was almost fully recovered, though he had a slight limp that his physical therapist said would likely fade away with time. He had been advised that he could still do the carpentry work he was used to but would have to take it a little slower and pay more attention to respecting his body's needs. As soon as he was back up on his feet, he notified his boss that he would be leaving his job in Montana and moving back to Oregon. He quickly packed up all the things he needed into his truck and started the drive over to Astoria.

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As he drove up to the house, his heart sank. Everything lay just as it had when he had last left a half-year ago. It seemed that the place had been abandoned once again. He walked around, and confirmed that, indeed, his Tara was no longer there.

"What if she never wants to be near me again? What if--god--she's married and has moved on completely?" he whispered to himself, sinking to the ground. No, that wouldn't do, he thought. He had come all the way and had quit his job just to be with her again. He would not let this crush his resolve.

He began to form a plan. He would pick himself up and renovate the house exactly like how his sister had dreamed it. Then, maybe he would be able to post pictures of it online and surprise her that way. He didn't know where she was now, but at least he could stay close to her in this manner, even if it was only through her work.

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Months passed once again as River started in on the renovation project, taking painstaking care to get the details exactly how Tara had designed it. He had to take breaks now and then because his body wasn't as robust as it used to be before the accident, but slowly, things came together. Even though both were technically in Astoria, unbeknownst to each other, they never managed to cross paths in town.

River often had dreams of Tara, her beautiful and often erotic presence filling his unconscious mind. He dreamed about how they would feel pressed together intimately, filling each other completely. Those dreams kept him going, pushing him to finish the project he had started, regardless of whether he would find her again or whether she would allow him back in her life.

Tara, on the other hand, had stayed working at the library until more qualified staff were hired. By that time, through the publicity her blog had gotten, she had begun getting commissions to design renovations for projects around the state, which paid more than her previous job did. Just below her surface, however, there was a constant dissatisfaction with the way her life was going. There wasn't a day where she didn't have a stray thought about River, little snippets of moments they had shared together that would invade her memory. Thoughts of him engulfed her mind even during her sleep. Though she hated to admit it, her favorite dream of him was a scene of his eyes locked with hers, his cock that stuffed her mouth still in perspective while he took a pause from burying his face upside down in her pussy. Every time she woke up from those dreams, she took a deep breath, and tried desperately to let it go.

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Then, one mid-summer Friday, as she was visiting Sarah, the librarian she had made friends with a few months prior, Sarah excitedly brought up that there had been something exciting on Tara's blog that had popped up. She was being mysterious about what it was, so Tara demanded that she show her right away, her interest piqued. Her heart beat faster and faster as her friend opened her first post and scrolled down to the comments. Her mouth dropped open when she saw the picture. It couldn't be, but there it was! A picture of her family's house, its exterior finished exactly as she had rendered it. Right up above was the username Mr. Carpenter. She smiled for the first time in months as she recalled the memory of the last time they were together. She was speechless, a potpourri of emotions tumbling through her. And then, as if her day couldn't get more exciting, she saw him.

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It was as if a spell had finally broken. River had thought to grab a beer to cool his nerves after he posted the picture to Tara's blog. The local bar was coincidentally right across the library, and as he walked in an easy pace up the sidewalk. He suddenly froze. Had he heard right? He thought he had heard his name in a familiar soft voice. He turned around slowly and blinked, checking if he was hallucinating. But there she was, right across the street.

They stood there staring into each other's eyes, cars and pedestrians crossing in between. It wasn't until he was bumped by someone exiting the bar that he woke up from his daze, nearly avoiding colliding with the traffic as he strode swiftly over the crosswalk. Tara was still in a statuesque state as he closed in, standing just a foot away from her, unsure and shifting on his feet. She finally raised her hand, tentatively, grazing the stubble on his face.

"River?" she sighed again.

"Tara..." he choked out, unable to say more in the moment.

"Are you hurt?" she asked suddenly, having noticed his slight limp.

He was puzzled, then realized what she meant. He relayed what had happened and sheepishly told her how he had tried to call and text her, but she didn't reply, still a little sour that she had left him alone when he'd needed her most. That irritation with her melted away when he saw her expression.

"Fuck, River," she started crying. I read every text you sent me and listened to every voicemail you left me. But-but you didn't ever tell me what you were going through! I would have come to you right away, she bawled, drawing looks from the passers-by. Neither of them cared about what the others thought of them. She mentally thrashed herself over and over, thinking how selfish she had been in her effort to control her emotions, not even considering how he had been, and that he had had to go through something so horrible alone.

"I'm so sorry, River. So, so sorry..." she trailed off into an incoherent sob.

River wrapped his arms around her back.

"It's okay love. It's okay. You called me finally, didn't you?" he said, referencing how she'd uttered his name across the street. He lifted her face up and made her meet his eyes. She was so goddamn beautiful in her summer dress, he thought, looking into the depths of her dark brown eyes as they contracted in the evening sun. He brushed her hair behind her ear in the blowing breeze and stroked her back. She finally took her arms and wrapped them around his lower back too, squeezing them together.

Both suddenly had a déjà vu back to the last time they had held each other like this, the whole reason they had broken apart from each other. This time, though, Tara didn't stiffen, and River didn't pull back. His cock stirred again, pressing into her belly, daring to broach the feelings he felt for her and the words he had rehearsed, but didn't have the courage to say. She felt a warmth in her belly and her nipples hardened even more than they had when she had first caught sight of him. Her pussy started to get wetter than it had ever gotten before, soaking through her panties and the thin summer dress. As their clothes were pressed together as much as they were, the moisture wicked over and through his shorts onto his thigh. Feeling her response, he looked into her eyes questioningly. She stared back, not needing to voice what she asked of him. As soon as he nodded, she rose on her toes and crushed her lips to his, vacuuming them together and tangling their tongues until neither of them had any breath left. They both finally released, gasping, only for River to pull her even closer to him with one hand on her waist, and the other grasping the back of her head. They spent what felt like ten minutes, slowing down, and exploring each other's mouths more carefully and thoroughly.

They broke the kiss, grabbed each other's hands silently, and ran to his truck, driving quickly to the house. As she stepped out, she took the sight in, it being her first time seeing all the work he had done in person. She broke into a grin, giddy with happiness at how he had truly brought her dream to life. They joined hands together again and crossed the threshold together, not needing words to convey how they intended to carry out their housewarming ceremony.

Tara turned around and slammed the door shut as soon as they were in, only for River to push her up against the door, sandwiching her between his hard wood that stamped her behind and the smooth and dark oak door that cooled her overheated cheeks, breasts, and center. She shamelessly tried to find friction against the finely routed designs in the door, motions which only served to rub her ass against his hard cock, now painfully engorged. He groaned, dropping his head, lips finding her shoulders and trailing up all the way behind her ears. Deviously, she sucked in his thumb splayed right next to her head into her mouth, pouting her lips and milking his aroused sweat. River could finally take no more and broke the ministrations of his mouth and snaked his right arm between his chest and her back and grasped her right breast, spinning her around and causing her to eject his finger with an audible pop. They looked into each other's eyes with raw passion and emotion.