For me, college had to be at least a thousand miles from home. I wanted to be far enough from my family to truly be on my own, not tempted to go home every weekend to do laundry. I wanted to start fresh, different than who I was in high school. I wanted to be less of a geeky high-school guy and more of a suave college guy. And yeah, I wanted to improve my chances to hook up with college women.
After two years in college, I can say: It worked, sort of. I got a different haircut, wore something nicer than T-shirts, and got rid of the beat up boat shoes I wore every day in high school. But I also learned that I’m not cut out for the hookup scene. I envisioned picking up a different woman every weekend, but it didn’t turn out that way at all.
I met a girl, Emma, on my very first day of college. We hit it off, and we went out until the next April. History repeated itself the next year. Skye and I met in September, and we decided to call it quits just a week ago. The stress of final exams and the upcoming summer break didn’t help this relationship, which by then was obviously not working. I’ll spare you the gory details of these breakups, but I can admit there was blame on both sides.
Only once, between Emma and Skye, did I experience what you might call a hookup. After losing Emma, I didn’t feel like going anywhere or being with anyone. But my roommate convinced me to go to a party with two other buddies. I expected to accomplish nothing but drowning my sorrows. Instead, I struck up a conversation with a woman on the couch next to me, and after three beers and some serious flirting, we found our way to an empty bedroom. That night remains the only time in my life that I had sex with a woman I’d just met and never saw again.
That bedroom imprinted a vivid memory on me. The sex, sure. After, even more so. I remember lying in bed with her, our naked bodies tangled in sheets dotted with our combined fluids. I had a feeling of satisfaction, knowing that I had enough appeal and charisma, or whatever, to pick up a woman just like that. But besides the woman, I also picked up my own dragging self-confidence. Life was too short to spend so much time being depressed about Emma.
Another thought intruded that night, and it’s the reason I remember it so well. My hand rested idly on her breast, feeling the warmth of her body and the steady rise and fall of her chest. I took in the look and feel of that breast, recalled her reaction to my tongue, so different than I’d experienced before. The novelty and excitement were unquestionably arousing, but I couldn’t help thinking, I don’t know this woman.
It’s how I figured out I’m not a hookup kind of guy. I enjoyed every second of the sex, but it’s so much better when it goes along with intimacy, devotion, commitment. Love.
It doesn’t sound like the right attitude for a freewheeling college dude, especially one who’s newly single again. But I am who I am, take me or leave me.
This year-old hookup was on my mind because I was dejected about breaking up with Skye. Idly I thought about whether to try for another, but even if I wanted to, I didn’t have time. After finals I had one day to move out of the dorm, and the next day I hopped on a plane back to Vermont. It was a decent time to go home, a natural break in both classes and my relationship.
In some ways I looked forward to spending the summer at home with my family, but in other ways, not. My parents still lived in the same house where I grew up, and whenever I was home from college they treated me like I was still in high school. They didn’t know the guy with the new suave college persona, so they still treated me like the same geeky kid.
My flight was the cheapest I could find, and consequently it arrived at 2:30 in the morning, an hour when not much is going on at the airport. Right before the escalator to go down to baggage claim, I spied my little sister, waiting patiently to give me a ride home. I smiled in spite of myself. She had on a sideways grin, and I knew she’d be happy to see me.
“Hey, Allie,” I said.
“Hey, Jase.”
Allison, the first living, breathing sign of home. I dropped my backpack at her feet and squeezed her in my arms. It was my first hug since Skye, and I relished the closeness to someone so familiar. I held Allie two breaths longer than usual, long enough to get a whiff of her hair. The scent immediately transported me to the bathroom we once shared, always outfitted with the same strawberry shampoo.
“Thanks for coming to get me in the middle of the night,” I said, as I picked up my bag again. We started for the escalator.
“It’s not like I’d be asleep anyway.”
“Allie the night owl. Nice to know some things never change.”
“Yeah, so, about that,” she said. She paused for a half a beat, tantalizing me with what was to come, but frustrating me that all I could hear was the gentle hum of the stairs descending. “I moved out to the guest house.”
“Sweet. A rite of passage now that you’re 18, right?”
The guest house in our parents’ backyard used to be a garage or something, but some former owner closed it in and now it had a bedroom, bathroom, and a little kitchenette with a mini-fridge and a microwave. It was pretty small, but I knew from experience it was liberating to be out there. I’d lived in the guest house myself when I was a senior in high school. Now the baton had been passed to Allie.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Allie said.
We reached the bottom of the escalator and headed toward the baggage carousel. “It’s nice, though, right? Better than being in your old room, right next to mom and dad?”
“Yeah, way better,” she said. “It sucked in the winter because I had to get all bundled up to walk 12 steps to the house for breakfast and stuff. But this time of year it’s fine.”
“So, I guess I’ll be staying, maybe in your old room?” After I’d moved to the guest house, mom and dad had quickly converted my former bedroom into an office.
“Yep, it’s all ready for you.”
“Still right next to mom and dad’s room?”
“It sure is, big brother. Be nice and quiet while you’re in there.”
“If I’m too loud, maybe they’ll kick you out of the guest house so I can stay out there.”
She turned and punched me in the shoulder. Not hard enough to leave a bruise, but pretty hard. It made me smile, even though it was a little painful. “I don’t think that will be happening, now, will it, Jason?”
I couldn’t help egging her on. “You never know, do you, Allie?”
She pulled back her arm to punch me again, but I bobbed out of the way, and then we both laughed. She said, “If they kick you out, you can just get back on a plane to Texas, because I’m sure not giving you my room.”
I could hear the mirth in her voice, and I smiled too as I said, “Aw, you’d do that to me? What about spending time together this summer?”
Allie said, “Yeah, but I want you to know my priorities: First, my room. Second, my brother.”
“Nice to know where I rank.” We watched as bags started to schlouff onto the carousel and circle around.
“But you’re used to tight quarters, right? Living in the dorm with a roommate? And staying over with Skye all the time?”
Ugh. I was so tired, and I didn’t want to be reminded of Skye. But Allie had to be told, and it might as well be now. I sighed and turned my head to make eye contact with her. The joy dropped from her face before I said a word.
“So, yeah,” I said. “Me and Skye broke up.”
Her mouth opened in shock and her eyebrows rose to match. “What? When did this happen?”
“Five days ago.”
“My god, Jason, what happened?”
“It wasn’t working out.”
“But I thought you really liked her! You talk about her all the time. How great she is and all. What happened?”
I looked into her eyes and said, “Allie, I don’t really want to talk about it. It’s a little raw right now.”
Without a word, she turned away from me and looked down.
We stood in silence for a minute. I wish I knew what was going on in her head, but there was no way to ask after that. Soon I saw my bag on the carousel, and I said, “Hey, that’s my suitcase. Time to get my dirty clothes and get out of here.”
That brought some of her smile back. But not all.
—
When we got home, Allie parked on the street and invited me to check out her room before going in the main house. We went around back, me toting along my backpack and suitcase. She rattled through her keys briefly before opening her door and flipping on the lights.
I said, “Hey, I like what you’ve done with the place.” The room had been repainted pale grey, and she had new towels in the bathroom, enough sprucing to make the old floor and fixtures not so noticeable. When I lived here I never bothered with new paint, and I’ll admit it was ugly.
Allie beamed at the compliment. “It took a lot of work to get your smell out of this place,” she joked. At least I think it was a joke, because when I laughed she did too.
I was still chuckling when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out and shot a glance at the screen, but it was an unrecognized number, so I let it go to voicemail. I suppose there are college students who get a lot of calls at 3:00 in the morning, but I wasn’t one of them.
Within seconds, the phone buzzed again, the same number as before, and I said, “Allie, I don’t know who this is, but maybe I should take it.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
I punched the green button and said, “Hello?” and my life changed forever.
A female voice over the phone said, “Is this Jason Peters?”
“Yes, speaking.”
The voice continued, “Did you disembark from a plane in Burlington, Vermont? Departed from Philadelphia?”
“Um, yeah, I guess I did. I started in Dallas but changed planes in Philadelphia.”
“Where are you now?”
“Hang on, who is this?”
“Jason, my name is Samantha Talmadge. I’m calling from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. There has been a possible pathogen on your flight, and it’s critical that we get information from you to help contain it.”
“A pathogen? What do you mean? What kind of pathogen?”
Allie was looking at me with her eyes partially squinted and her lips pursed. Hearing just my end of the conversation, she was understandably confused.
“We’ll talk about that in a minute, but first I need to know where you are.”
“I’m at home. My parents’ house, I mean.”
“Who have you encountered since getting off the plane?”
“Encountered? What do you mean by ‘encountered’?”
“In general, someone you’ve touched or been in the same room or vehicle with.”
“In that case, just my sister. She gave me a ride home from the airport.”
Samantha said, “And where is your sister now?”
“She’s standing right here next to me.”
“Is there anyone else in the house?”
These questions seemed unusually detailed and personal, and I could feel my heart rate start to rise with anxiety.
“So right now we’re in the guest house. My parents are in the main house, and I’m going in there in a few minutes.”
“Jason, I need to ask you to stay where you are for now.”
Allie was visibly frustrated, especially after I mentioned her. She said, “Put it on speaker.”
Into the phone I said, “Just a sec, Samantha. I’m going to put you on speaker so my sister can hear.” I pulled my phone away from my ear and hit the speaker icon, then asked, “So why can’t I go in my house?”
“Jason, what is your sister’s name?”
Allie responded for herself. “Hi, I’m Allison Peters.”
“Allison, since you picked up Jason at the airport, have you encountered any other people?”
“No, I don’t think so. Some people at baggage claim I guess, but that’s about it.”
“Okay, thank you. There was only the one flight that arrived in Burlington at that time, so those people in baggage claim were either on the flight or meeting someone from the flight, and we’ll track them down just as we’ve contacted you.”
“What’s going on?” I asked. “What is this pathogen you talked about?”
“Jason, Allison, one of the people on your flight may have been carrying a highly contagious virus called Zara. Are you familiar with this virus?”
Allie and I looked at each other. She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, so I said, “No, neither of us has ever heard of it.”
“Zara is a virus we think originated in central Africa. Its first known occurrence in humans was about 3 years ago. So far it’s only been found in remote African villages. But one of the passengers on your flight was potentially exposed to the Zara virus in Africa. He should have stayed in country on a medical quarantine, but somehow he was able to board an aircraft and changed planes in Philadelphia to the same flight you took.”
“I’m sure people get viruses on airplanes all the time,” I said. “I don’t think this can be prevented.”
Samantha continued, “Zara is not a common virus, like the flu or a cold. Zara has two characteristics that make it extremely dangerous. First, it is highly contagious. It is possible to contract Zara even if you’re breathing the same air as an infected person. One passenger on a long flight could infect the entire population of the airplane.”
Allie said, “How many people were on the plane?”
I said, “It didn’t seem that fu-”
Samantha interrupted, “39 passengers and 4 crew. We’re now working to contact all 43 of you, along with everyone all of you have encountered since leaving the plane.”
“Jesus,” I said.
“In addition, Zara can be transmitted by bodily fluids, such as saliva, blood, and semen. It has also been detected in the oils of infected patients’ skin.”
Allie said, “What happens to people who get Zara?”
Samantha sighed before answering. “This is the second of the two characteristics I mentioned before. So far, with the cases we’ve seen in Africa, Zara is fatal 96 percent of the time when people are infected.”
My eyes met Allie’s again, and this time I could see fear. My heart picked up speed and I could feel adrenaline engaging.
Samantha continued, “Victims start with a mild cough about a day after exposure. This usually lasts about another day before progressing to sharp abdominal pain and internal bleeding. I won’t go into further details, but you may want to do some research on Zara, as long as you can do so without encountering any people.”
“We will,” I said. “And what is the treatment?”
“Scientists are working on understanding the virus to create an antiviral therapy. But right now, there is no known cure or treatment.”
“Oh my god,” said Allie. “Are you saying that Jason is going to die?”
“We don’t know right now. We’ve isolated the passenger from Africa and we are monitoring his condition. We’ll know for sure whether he’s contracted the virus in about two days.” She waited a moment and then added, “But Allison, if Jason has the virus, it’s almost certainly infected you by now as well.”
Allison inhaled sharply as this news registered. I could hear her breathing rapidly and I saw a tear fall down her cheek. “No,” she said. “No, no, no. This can’t be happening.”
I said, “So what are we supposed to do?”
“This is critically important. I cannot stress enough the importance of your actions. What you do for the next two days could literally have life-and-death consequences. It is imperative that you not encounter any people until we know whether you have the virus. Is this clear?”
“Yes, I understand.”
Allie said, “But I have to go to work tomorrow.”
Samantha was patient but firm. “It will not be possible for you to go anywhere for the next two days. Not work, not anywhere. You need to remain contained inside the building until we know what’s happening. Allison, is this clear?”
“Yeah.” Her voice quavered.
Samantha asked, “Do you have enough to eat for the next two days without leaving the building?”
I looked at her, but she hadn’t been paying close attention to the question. “Allie, do you have stuff to eat in here?”
“For two days? It’ll be a stretch.”
“If you need additional food, there is a strict protocol you must observe. Someone can bring food to you, but they must place it outside the door of your building, and you must not open the door until they have retreated to the inside of another building or a vehicle. You should not be near another person, even outside. Is this clear?”
I said, “Yes, we can probably have our parents bring us some more food if we need it.”
“We need to make sure that your parents do not inadvertently enter the building where you and Allison are located. Can you call them and give them these instructions, or would you like us to call them?”
“No we’ll let them know, but we’ll probably wait until later in the morning.”
“Jason, it is critical to notify them as soon as possible. We need to take every step possible to prevent any additional encounters.”
“OK,” I said, “I understand. I’ll call them now.”
“We will call you periodically to monitor your progress. Can you make sure your phone is charged and able to receive calls from us?”
“Yes, I have my charger.”
“Thank you, Jason and Allison. Please contact CDC if you have any questions or need information. We have a special hotline set up for this event, but I’ll ask you to keep this number for your personal use only and not share it with others so we can keep the lines free.” She proceeded to give an 800 number, and we disconnected.
I’d been kind of sleepy after the long day and the long flight, but the call had jolted me awake. Allie had her head in her hands and I couldn’t see her face.
“Jesus, I’m sorry, Allie.” I had no idea what to say.
She looked up at me with red eyes. Tears were pulling mascara toward her cheeks. I don’t like making people cry. This time it wasn’t something I did deliberately, of course, but I still felt rotten. Especially I don’t like making my baby sister cry. We’d had our differences growing up, but if I’d made her cry when we’d been roughhousing or something, I’d always felt a dreadful pit in my stomach. I had the same dreadful pit just then.
I opened my arms and reached to give her a hug, but she twisted away from me and took a few steps toward the other side of the room. With her back turned, she said, “Dammit. Kendra’s birthday party is on Friday. I’ve been planning it for a month.”
“I’m sorry,” I said again, though it was no help at all.
Allie turned back to face me. There was anger in her face now, pushing aside the sadness. “Kendra’s going to think I ditched her. She’s never ditched me. Not one time, Jason.”
“She’ll understand,” I said.
“And you know I don’t get paid if I don’t go to work, right? I have a hard enough time getting hours, and now I have to tell my boss that I can’t go in with, like, 6 hours notice?”
It was killing me that she was so upset, but there was nothing I could do. “I guess I need to call Mom and Dad. Do you want to be on the call with me?”
She folded her arms across her chest, looked aside, and huffed. Allie always had the same mannerisms when she was pissed, and seeing her carrying them out gave me another twinge of nostalgia even in the dire circumstances. She said, “Yeah.”
I tapped my phone awake and dialed my parents’ land line. I knew a phone was on the nightstand on Mom’s side of their bed, and the ring would certainly be enough to wake them up. But it had to be done.
Mom’s voice was groggy. “Hello?”
I put the call on speaker. “Hi Mom, it’s Jason. And Allie.”
“Jason? What it is it? Where are you, dear?”
“We’re in the guest house.”
She said, “Oh, thank god. When the phone rings in the middle of the night, I’m always afraid it’s the worst.”
“There’s something you need to know.” I told her the whole story. Allie jumped in periodically when I left something out. Mom was aghast, but she held herself together better than I expected after hearing such news about her only two kids. Allie cried again during the call, and I admit I could feel the emotion welling in my chest too, but I managed to retain my composure. If Mom was crying, she was stealthy about it. She said she and Dad would keep out of the guest house until we knew more.
We hung up, and I had a feeling that she wouldn’t be falling back to sleep.
The phone quiet, it was just Allie and me, alone again. Neither of us said anything for a minute after talking to Mom. I felt tears trying to form when I realized we might never see Mom and Dad again, even though they were right next door. I took a halting deep breath and tried to focus on what to do.
I said, “Allie, do you have an extra pillow or something?”
She grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes before answering. “Yeah. There’s one on the top shelf of my closet. I guess there’s room for you on the floor next to the bed.”
I got up and found the pillow, along with a light blanket. “OK. I guess I’ll get changed and lie down.”
She said, “Fine, but let me have the bathroom first.”
“Sure.”
While Allie was in the bathroom, I brushed my teeth at the little sink in the kitchenette. The rote action mercifully helped distract me, but it was too short for a lasting effect.
I took off my shoes and socks and laid down fully clothed on the floor next to Allie’s bed. I tried to relax on the carpet, but it wasn’t remotely comfortable. Part of me felt I deserved it.
A few minutes later Allie came out of the bathroom wearing what I always remember as her nighttime attire: a white tanktop and baggy grey shorts. Without a word she climbed in bed and hit the switch by her head to turn out the lights. It was pitch dark and deathly quiet. I’d gotten used to the constant noise in the dorm, someone always closing a distant door, the HVAC running, traffic audible even through the window. Here, there was not a sound.
The dark and quiet left my brain nothing to do but worry. I couldn’t imagine falling asleep anytime soon. I second-guessed myself: Why did I have to take that particular flight? There were literally dozens to choose from. Why not any other? And why hadn’t I taken an Uber home? To save a few bucks, that’s why. And now saving a few bucks could mean Allie has to die. I couldn’t hold back the tears this time. I tried to be quiet, but of course Allie could hear.
She said, “Jase, are you OK?”
I sniffled. “No.”
“Yeah, me too.”
I felt like telling her everything would be all right, like Mom used to say when one of us had skinned a knee. But I couldn’t say it, because I didn’t know.
—
At some point I must have fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes, the sun was poking in Allie’s windows. My phone said 6:52. I was a little sore from lying on the carpet, but this didn’t concern me. I sat up, stretched, and looked over at the bed, where Allie was looking back at me. “Hi,” I said.
“Hey.”
“Did you get any sleep?”
“Not really.”
“Yeah. I stared at the ceiling a long time. Maybe slept an hour.”
We turned on the news, where Zara was the top story. Once-peaceful Vermont, overtaken by a deadly African virus. There were no specifics about who was infected, but the story made me wonder if our names would be released to the media. We sat at the foot of Allie’s unmade bed, glued to the screen.
The news showed a lot of general information about Zara symptoms. You feel fine the first day after exposure. Never better, actually. Then on the second day a cough starts, light at first, doesn’t seem unusual at all. But it gets progressively worse, and after about 12 more hours the coughing becomes uncontrollable and bloody. On the third day your internal organs progressively shut down and you die. It’s remarkably fast.
Allie and I watched all this in silence. My heart was pounding, but there was still a sense of detachment, like all this couldn’t be happening to us. The news went to a commercial and Allie muted the sound.
“Jase, do you know who the guy was? On the plane, the guy from Africa?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” I said. “I don’t really know. No one really seemed out of place or anything.”
“Was anyone coughing?”
“No. I mean, once in a while someone would clear their throat or something, but no one had a coughing fit.”
Allie beamed with a revelation. “So that means the guy on the plane was on his first day after exposure. Any more than that and he’d have been coughing.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“So that means today is probably the guy’s second day. At some point today he’s either going to start coughing or he isn’t, and then we’ll know. I think we’re going to find out today if we’ll live or die.”
“Jesus.”
“And since it’s our first day, we’re going to feel fine all day. If that Samantha lady calls with bad news, at least we’ll feel healthy.”
The news came back on, but they went on to a different story and Allie turned the TV off. I stood up and said, “Well, if it’s my last day to feel good, I need to take a shower.”
Allie took my cue and stood up too, then smoothed the sheets and blanket. “Sure, go ahead.”
“The thing is, I wasn’t exactly joking earlier about my suitcase. All my clothes are dirty.”
She glanced my way. “Oh.”
“Do you have something I could wear today? I promise, I won’t even go outside.”
“For god’s sake.” She went over to her dresser and extracted a pair of blue sweatpants, followed by a T-shirt too big for her but smaller than I would normally wear. “These will probably fit you. I was thinking about getting rid of ’em anyway, so now they’re yours.”
“Thanks, sis. I’ll cherish them for the rest of my life.”
“Very funny. Anyway, sorry, but you can’t have any of my panties.”
I laughed as I went in the bathroom to get cleaned up.
—
After we both had showers and something to eat-peanut butter and triscuits-I was feeling a little better. I was grateful to have a better sense of the timing, because at least we knew there would be an end, not just vague uncertainty.
After the crackers were put away, we sat on the bed, leaning back against the wall. The room only had one chair-a metal folding contraption with no padding. It was fine to sit in for a few minutes, but no more than that.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, but the silence was making things worse. I was imagining myself infected, and it was making me nervous again.
I broke the silence. “What do you think you’ll miss most about the future, Allie?”
She thought a while before answering. “I was really hoping to have kids. A family, you know?”
“Yeah. Who would you want to have kids with? Any idea?”
This time she gave one little chuckle and half-smiled. “Probably someone I haven’t met yet. None of the guys I know now. Definitely not Max.”
I’d never heard her talk about anyone named by that name, so I said, “Who’s Max?”
“Oh, he was my boyfriend for a while this year.”
“A guy from school?”
“No, but his younger brother went to my school. We met at a football game and went out for about three months.”
“So it didn’t work out?”
“That’s an understatement.”
“What happened?”
She shifted her legs on the bed and crossed them in front of her. “I suppose I can tell you. It’s not like you’re going to blab.”
“Dead men tell no tales.”
“Stop it. I don’t like it when you say stuff like that.”
“Sorry.”
“Anyway, Max was really nice at first. He doted over me, Jase, literally doted. He took me places, made me feel like I was a princess. One time to surprise me he picked me up at work with a picnic, and we drove out by the lake and watched the sun set while we ate. It was so romantic. He made it seem like he really cared about me. I truly thought he had future potential.”
“Sounds like a real jerk.”
“Yeah, well, all that changed one night. We were at his place, watching a movie on the couch, making out, everything was fine. We’d made out before, and I always liked it.”
“It’s weird to hear about my sister’s love life. But go on.”
“So you have to promise not to tell anyone about this. Even if we live.”
“I promise. Your secret’s safe with me.”
“Twice before I’d told him I wasn’t ready to, you know, go all the way. And I said it again that night. But he wasn’t listening, or he wasn’t paying attention, or-” Allie’s voice trailed off.
I waited, but she wasn’t continuing, so I said, “Are you saying he forced himself on you? He raped you?”
She tucked her knees up to her chin and hugged them with her arms. “No, nothing like that, not exactly.”
“Then what did he do to you?”
“We were kissing like usual, and then he started pulling off my clothes, which I liked at first, but then I didn’t. Pretty soon all my clothes were off, and he unzipped his fly and took out his, you know.”
“Yeah.”
A tear rolled down her cheek as she spoke. “And one minute we’re kissing and I’m enjoying it, and the next minute he’s squeezing that thing inside me and it wasn’t feeling good at all. I was yelling and I tried to shove him off me, but I couldn’t.”
“Let me get this straight,” I said. “He had sex with you and you didn’t want to. How is that not rape?”
“It wasn’t rape, I’m telling you. I never felt threatened.”
“Have you told anyone else about this?”
“No.”
“God, Allie, I’m so sorry that happened to you. What that guy did is inexcusable. It’s a crime, actually. If you’d called the cops they’d have put him in jail. Don’t you know about the Me Too thing? It’s been all over.”
“Yeah, well, instead I broke up with him.”
I said, “Oo, that’s even worse than jail, right?”
She smiled, then sniffled and wiped away a tear. “And you want to know the worst part? That was my first time. I broke up with him, but not before he took my virginity.”
I put my hand on her knee. “Allie, that’s awful. What a terrible first time. After what that guy did to you, I feel like going over there to deliberately breathe on him.”
This got a little laugh out of her.
I continued, “You know it’s not supposed to be that way, right?”
She looked down and didn’t respond at first, and I thought she might not have heard the question. After a long pause, still looking down, she said, “No.”
“Are you saying that was your only time having sex?”
She nodded.
“Dammit, I’m so sorry, Allie. I wish that wasn’t your only time, because it’s supposed to be way better than that.” I leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. A brotherly gesture. As if our situation wasn’t bad enough, I was dredging up more painful memories.
We sat quietly for a little while before she said, “Jase? Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“It’s OK if you don’t want to answer.”
“OK,” I said, wondering what kind of question could prompt such a warning.
“Would you tell me what it’s supposed to be like?”
I looked at her in shock. “What?”
“You know, what it’s supposed to be like when you have, you know.”
“Allie, I think you know the basic mechanics. Plus, it’s not like you can’t find plenty of examples online.”
“Yeah, but I want to know what it’s like for real people. I want to know from someone I can trust to tell me the truth. Maybe pick a time with Skye when it was really perfect, and tell me what happened. I told you about Max, after all.”
“Are you sure you want me to do this?”
“If I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t have asked.”
I coughed and said, “OK, well, if you want me to stop, just say so.”
Allie sucked in a breath and her eyes widened like I’d never seen before. “Jase, oh my god, you coughed.”
“Jesus, you’re right.” I took stock of myself and said, “But it was nothing. I’m feeling fine. Plus, it’s too early to cough anyway. I’m not supposed to cough until tomorrow. I’m sure it was just a normal cough.”
“Yeah. You’re probably right,” she said. “Go on with the story.”
“Right. Story now, coughing later.”
“Very funny.”
“So. The time I’ll tell you about is once when we went to Skye’s parents’ house for the weekend. They lived about an hour from campus, but they were gone on vacation and we had the house to ourselves the whole time.”
Allie interjected, “How long had you been going out by then?”
“Let’s see, this was over Veterans’ Day, and our first date was September 20, so almost two months.”
“And, was this your first time with her?”
“No, we were having sex already by this time.”
“You stud you.”
“Why thanks, Allie, I’m glad you noticed.”
“Are you? Anyway, please keep going.”
I thought about what kinds of things to tell Allie about that weekend, but I decided to start with a bigger picture. “At this point Skye and I were really in love with each other. We were at the stage of our relationship where we couldn’t keep our hands to ourselves. When it’s your first time with a new person, it’s exciting because of the newness and you’re not sure what the other person will be like. But by this time I started to know what she liked.
“So in the car on the way we were kind of playing around with each other. Laughing and joking, some double entendres. She put her hand in my lap and felt my-” I paused and turned to Allie. It was time to describe a certain body part and I wanted to give her another chance to shut me up. She was nodding, clearly wanting me to keep going.
It felt so unusual to talk about this with little Allie. I turned away from her and looked straight ahead, hoping that keeping her out of my line of sight would make it easier. “She put her hand in my lap and felt my cock,” I said, my voice sounding smoother than I felt. “She ran her fingers up and down my shaft with a light touch. I was already partly hard from our conversation and from anticipating the weekend, but her fingers brought me to full strength.”
“In the car? Does that happen a lot?”
“Sometimes. When the stimulation is right.”
“Huh.”
“So anyway, I said all that just so you know we were both pretty horny when we got there, and we were all over each other as soon as we went in the door. But actually, instead of that night, I want to tell you about the next morning. That night the sex was good, but it was, let’s see, I’ll describe it as frantic. It’s what happened the next morning that I thought of immediately when you asked about a time with Skye that was perfect.”
“Mm, nice,” Allie said.
“I woke up that day in her bed, both of us naked. In fact, we were naked the whole day. Neither of us ever put on a single stitch of clothes.”
Allie said, “Wow. I’ve never known anyone well enough for that.”
I almost said, Someday you will, but I caught myself. I didn’t know.
“Skye went to the pantry and brought back two packs of pop tarts. Real gourmet, I know. We sat in bed and ate, trying to keep the crumbs out of the sheets. I broke a pop tart in half the long way, put one end in my mouth, and looked at her. We tried one of those Lady-and-the-Tramp things, but the pop tart kept falling when one of us would bite through it, and we were laughing hysterically. It doesn’t even sound that funny right now, but believe me, it was.
“When the pop tarts were gone I kissed the sugar away from her lips, and pretty soon it was a real kiss, and our arms were around each other. Her breasts were pressed against my body, and I had this urge to get as much of my skin in contact with her skin as I could. It was never enough.
“OK, so now I need to tell you some stuff about Skye that you have to promise to never tell. If we live.”
Allie said, “I promise.”
“Skye liked it, when I had a day or two of stubble on my face, for me to scratch my chin and cheeks on her butt. I know it sounds weird, but she absolutely loved it. Is this too much information?”
“No. It doesn’t sound all that weird, actually.”
“So she would lie on her front and I would lick one side of her ass or the other and then move my chin around in circles. She would be in heaven, cooing and making such beautiful little noises. I loved the sounds she made, because I knew she was loving what I was doing. Giving her that butt treatment always made me hard, just from hearing her reaction.”
Sitting there with Allie, describing the events of that morning was also enough to make me stiffen. I was wearing her sweatpants commando because of my lack of clean underwear, and as my cock thickened and shifted involuntarily I rearranged my legs to try to make it less obvious.
“For a while I would take a break from her butt, kissing her back, her neck, her shoulders, her earlobes, her whole body really, but I would always come back to her butt, switching sides every so often. She would never, ever stop me when I was doing this, she loved it so much. Usually we went on to something else after a while, but that day I kept going, just to see what would happen.
“After 20 or 30 minutes of this, when my nose was in the right spot between her legs, I got a strong whiff of her arousal. You know what I’m talking about, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I had no idea she would get so turned on from this, but that one little sniff gave me a jolt of excitement. I pulled one of her legs to the side, bent at the knee, to give myself better access. I ran a finger along her lips, and she was soaking wet. I raised that finger to my nose and mouth, first smelling and then tasting her arousal.
“I put my finger back along her lips, gave it a different angle, and it slid right inside her. I’d never fingered her upside down like this before, and I kept wondering if she would stop me, or want to do something different, but she didn’t. She was obviously a very happy lady right then.
“While my finger was inside her I kept working on her butt, and her little noises built up. Then something even better happened when I felt her body rocking back and forth on my finger. I loved it when she did something like that so I knew she was enjoying herself.”
In the real world, I was now rock hard. The sweatpants Allie gave me were a little tight, and I knew the outline of my penis was unmistakable through the fabric.
“I arranged my hand a little differently so I could get two fingers inside her and a third finger would graze her clit on every stroke. She liked this so much, Allie, I can’t even begin to tell you. She separated her legs as far as she could and put her hands on the wall, pushing herself against my hand even more firmly.
“And I didn’t even mention the sound. She was getting so wet that my hand was making squishy noises on every stroke. She was really turned on, and still I kept thinking she would turn over or want to go in another position, but she didn’t. She stayed right there, and she loved every second.
“I felt and saw her body tense when her orgasm started. The muscles in her back and legs tightened and she gave me a stunning series of moans. All the while her body kept moving as it had, and I made sure my hand kept doing exactly what it had. The orgasm went on and on, Allie, like I didn’t know was even possible. I slowed down only when she slowed down. When I extracted my hand the whole thing was pretty damp, but two fingers were completely drenched and sticky.”
“My god,” Allie said. “Incredible. I never felt anything like that. I never would have imagined anything like that.”
“Yeah, well, sex can be a lot of fun if you do it right.”
“What happened next?”
“So as you might imagine, I was wild with lust by this point. My cock was like steel. So here’s something else you don’t know about me that you can keep to yourself. When I get really turned on I ooze out a lot of precum. There was a wet spot on the sheets everywhere my cock had been. These wet spots happen a lot.”
She said, “Like now?”
I looked down at my lap and blushed when I saw the telltale dark patch right at the tip of my bulge. I squirmed on the bed and shifted my butt and legs, but this didn’t help.
“Yeah, I guess so. Sorry about that. The story brings back memories.”
“It’s OK, Jase. I don’t mind. Keep going. Please.”
“Skye rolled me on my back and squeezed her body up next to me. She put her finger on the tip of my cock, felt the precum, and swirled it all around the head. It felt amazing after not having any contact for so long. There was enough precum to get the head and part of the shaft sopping wet, but not the whole thing.
“She used one hand to hold my cock so it stuck straight up, and she ran her other hand along her slit, then moved it back and transferred her liquid to my cock. She did this three or four times, which was enough to make me completely slick and slippery, before she slowly moved her hand up and down my shaft. Not like she was trying make me cum right away, not frantic, just a slow, peaceful motion. I moaned over and over because it felt so freakishly good.
“She kept stroking me, and when the lube started to dry up she licked her palm and went right back to it. Can you imagine the taste of that palm right then? Our two tastes swirled together?”
Allie said, “I can’t even imagine either of those flavors separately, let alone swirled.” This answer made me imagine Allie tasting my precum on its own, and I had to forcibly push that thought aside.
It was unusual to be talking about this with anyone-let alone my sister-but I was getting more comfortable with it as I went along. Partly this might be because I was getting more turned on as I went along. Still, it didn’t seem to be too much for Allie. I had no idea what was going through her mind, but she was listening intently. I glanced in her direction and for a split second I thought she was looking at my crotch, but then her eyes were back on mine, so I continued.
“For a while Skye used two hands, rolling my shaft between them, but still slowly and gently, building me up bit by bit. Then she did that tunnel thing, where she alternates stroking with each hand and makes it feel like I’m continuously going in a long tunnel. All the while she kept me well lubed, and it was like nothing I’d felt before.
“Twice while she was doing this I felt like I’d passed the point of no return, but both times she must have known, either from the way my body reacted or something I grunted out. Both times she stopped what she was doing and just held my cock jutting out away from my body. No motion at all. After a minute or two when I cooled off a little she started again, still very slowly, taking her time.
“The third time she definitely knew I was close, and this time she sped up a little, giving me long, full strokes completely up and down the shaft. I had an amazing eruption, covering her hands and my midsection in cum. My body was in absolute nirvana, Allie. She coaxed every last drop out of me before letting me go. Her eyes were still glued to my cock as it deflated, but after a while the two of us got cleaned up and snuggled back together in bed. To this day I’ve never had a hand job like that.”
Allie said, “Well, that sounds, um, fulfilling.”
I smiled at her choice of words and said, “Yeah, pretty much.”
“How incredible, Jase. Really.”
“And that’s just from us using our hands. I didn’t even tell you about anything harder core, but a lot of that happened too. It’s so nice to spend a whole day on nothing but sex.” I looked over to gauge her reaction. “I’ll save the rest of the day to tell you about later, K?”
“OK,” she said. She wasn’t looking at me, but anyway she said, “Jase? Can I ask you something else?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“How did you- How were you-” She was struggling to find the right words, unusually flustered. “How did she know what would feel good to you?”
“Oh,” I said. “Well, I mean, I’m sure most guys like it when you stroke their dicks.”
“But how did she know exactly the way you like it?”
I don’t know why, but this question made my cock literally throb. The wet spot on my pants was growing, against my wishes. “I mean, after a while you kind of learn what your partner likes. You try different things and they tell you what they like. Or they moan. Or they show other signs.”
We sat in silence again for a full minute before she spoke again. “I don’t think anyone will ever know what I like.”
She said it with a melancholy tone, and I realized that the only guy she’d had a sexual experience with didn’t care what she liked. My first reaction was to sympathize, but I’m embarrassed to say that arousal overruled this. Instead I said, “What do you like, Allie?”
Her eyes found mine, and with raised eyebrows she said, “Jase, I don’t think you need to know this.”
“Come on, Allie, you just said you want someone to know. It might as well be me, considering.”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t planning on confessing.”
“It’s not a confession. It’s just a part of who you are. And if you want to share that part with me, I’d be honored,” I said. “Plus, I just told you this story about me and Skye, so it’s your turn anyway.”
“I guess so. This feels really weird, though, Jason. You have to promise not to tell. I swear, I will never speak to you again if you tell anyone about this.”
The anticipation and her reluctance were combining to keep my shaft at full mast. “I promise.”
She took a breath for courage and started in. “So the thing is, I like touching my nipples.”
I said, “Well, that doesn’t sound so unusual.” At the same time I drew a mental picture of my little sister touching her own nipples, and I have to admit that I liked what I saw. “So, walk me through: How do you like it most, and what does it feel like?”
“Jase, this is so embarrassing.”
“I won’t tell. I promise.”
“I like to move my middle fingers around my nipples in circles. After a minute or so I can feel the nipple get stiff, and then it feels so nice to run the pads of my fingers across, and squeeze the tips between my fingers.”
I said, “I love playing with a woman’s nipples,” but after I said it I realized it might have sent a message I hadn’t intended. If Allie found it inappropriate, she didn’t say anything.
“After a few minutes I like firm pressure, my fingertips pressing into me. Sometimes I use my other hand to cup my breast, holding it as I squeeze and probe myself.”
She was idly moving her hands in a demonstration of her words. Over her clothes, one hand was surrounding her left breast while fingers of the other hand circled around the center. There wasn’t much to see since she was wearing a tanktop and bra, but the idea that she was touching herself with me the way she pleasures herself in private was enticing.
“Over there on the table by my bed I keep some hand lotion. I really like putting lotion on my nipples, Jase. With lotion I can press more firmly but my skin feels so soft and smooth. I can go through a lot of lotion in one night.”
“It sounds like it feels great, Allie.” Between the live demonstration and my mental picture she was making me want to feel those nipples for myself.
“After using lotion for a few minutes, my nipples get super sensitive, like there’s a wire between them and every nerve in my body. When they get like this, I like to just barely scrape the tips with my fingernails, back and forth, both at the same time. Even though it’s just the tips of my fingernails making contact, if I close my eyes I can feel this surge in my whole body.”
Allie’s demonstration got more realistic, because as I watched, she closed her eyes and actually scraped her fingernails across her breasts. I could hear the light scratching of her nails on the fabric of her tanktop. She sat wordlessly for a full minute, just this barely perceptible sound audible. Her eyes were still closed and her hands were in constant motion.
Soon enough she spoke again. “I don’t know if this is normal, but if I play with my nipples for long enough, and if I keep them coated with lotion, I can have- I can get myself off.”
“Really? Just from your nips? I’ve never heard of that before. Is it a regular orgasm, like you get from, um, other ways?”
“It’s different, but it’s definitely an orgasm. Touching my nipples makes my whole body aroused. Sometimes toward the end I can stop using lotion and start using, you know, my own liquid.”
Now I had a mental image of Allie running her finger along an aroused wet slit before returning to her breasts. My cock throbbed. I had a strong urge to touch it, but I restrained myself. Instead I said, “Anyone ever lick your breasts?”
“No.”
“Jesus, Allie, if you like to touch your nips, you would absolutely love to have them licked.”
“Yeah, I think I would like that a lot.”
I sat quietly for a beat, thinking about what to say. I was powerfully aroused and I suspected she was too. I said, “I love licking nipples, sucking, letting my lips and tongue run wild.”
We lay on our backs on the bed in the sudden quiet. I rolled on my side to face her and said, “No matter what happens, I love you, Allie.”
“I love you too, Jase, no matter what,” she said without hesitating.
I leaned in and kissed her on the cheek again, just a peck, nothing more. I whispered, “You didn’t deserve this. You deserve so much more in your life.”
She rolled onto her side, and we lay face to face on the bed, noses practically touching. She whispered back, “What do I deserve?”
Her eyes bored into mine with a genuine inquisitiveness atop her sadness. Even without any contact between us, her eyes entranced me. “You deserve a chance to accomplish whatever you want in life. You deserve someone who loves you as much as I do. More than I do, I mean.”
She leaned toward me, and I did the same, and before I knew what was happening our lips met. Her lips felt so soft and warm and alive. I reached up to stroke her cheek with the back of my hand, her skin smooth and perfect against my fingers. But my attention was focused on the kiss. I loved her so much that the kiss seemed like the most normal thing in the world at that moment, even though our world was in chaos. My lips parted and I gently pulled her upper lip between my own. I felt and tasted the tip of her tongue before she pulled away.
She turned her head to face the ceiling, deliberately looking away, and sighed. Everything was so screwed up, but when she pulled her lips away, I wanted more. I wanted to keep stroking her cheek, run my fingers through her hair, keep tasting her. She’s my sister, and I shouldn’t have wanted these things, but I did. I couldn’t help it. Still, I kept my hands to myself.
I watched her on the bed in profile. Her eyes darted as if searching for a focal point. The thought that I might be responsible for snuffing out such a perfect person was almost unbearable, except that I had her to help me through it.
She sighed again and said, “You know, today might be the last time in our lives that we could…”
Her words stopped, but she didn’t look finished, and I didn’t say anything. I was aching to know: Could what?
After a pause she continued, “Could, um, see what it feels like to, you know. See if it’s better than with Max.”
She’d been looking at the ceiling while she spoke, but then she turned to face me and looked right in my eyes. The gravity of her suggestion hit me at the same time as her eyes bored into me. It was a rare moment in life when I suddenly realized that something she wanted was the same thing as something I wanted. I was so shocked that my breath caught in my chest and I stuttered out some air.
The corners of her lips rose ever so slightly as she watched my reaction, and I considered myself invited. I leaned forward and kissed her again, more intensely than before, our tongues intertwining for the first time. Her hand found its way to the back of my neck and pulled me toward her, pressing our lips together even tighter.
My emotions were terribly unpredictable. I’d been entrenched with unspeakable despair and guilt, and it was redeeming to feel love and attraction and lust so strong that the despair was pushed aside. As incredible as it sounds considering our circumstances, I forgot about Zara.
But a different emotion surfaced. It took a while for my roiling feelings to make room for it, but very soon I felt conflicted about kissing Allie like this. This was not a sisterly kiss. As much as I cherished this moment with her, I broke away to express this new emotion.
As I thought about what to say, Allie reached her hands under my shirt and caressed me with her fingers. I felt her fingers on my stomach, my side, my chest. The sensation of her hand on my bare skin gave me goosebumps.
At last I said, “Allie, are you OK with this? I mean, I know we might be infected, but I’m still your brother.”
She didn’t respond at first, but instead lifted her hands up inside my shirt, enough that I raised my arms almost instinctively. She pulled my shirt over my head and deposited it on the floor before answering. “Jase, I’m not going to miss out on this. I have always loved you, and I need this right now.” She wasn’t looking me in the eye as she spoke. She was letting her hands explore my upper body, and her eyes were following her hands. But then she stared in my eyes before saying, “I need you.”
“We need each other,” I said.
She rolled me onto my back and climbed on top of me, letting her nose and mouth follow her hands across my chest and shoulders. I could feel her weight pressing against me, and the pressure drew attention to the titanium rod between my legs that hadn’t subsided for any part of this conversation.
She passed a hand across my chest and then lightly kissed the nipple left in its wake. Then I felt her tongue against the same nipple, lapping it gently at first, then more firmly. The feeling was divine. She closed her lips around it and sucked while I watched the top of her head as it pivoted around her lips. She positioned the pink nub between her teeth and gave it just a little squeeze, but not enough to be painful. Considering her revelation earlier, I wondered if she was demonstrating what she wanted from me..
While she repeated on my other nipple, I pulled the bottom of her tank top up and revealed her midriff. As I hoped, she separated her body from mine for just long enough that I could peel off her top. I let my hands explore her body, tracing a finger under her bra strap here and there, feeling her perfect skin.
Her bra wasn’t fancy, an ordinary off-white satin without any enhancements like scallops or lace or embroidery. The lack of a clasp in the front told me that it fastened in back. I pressed my hand against the satin covering her left breast and let it stay still. Just feeling the curve of her body was erotic. As she moved around, my hand shifted a bit and I could feel her nipple, electric through the fabric.
I wanted her bra to be gone, but I didn’t want to move too fast. There wasn’t any guidance on how quickly to take off a woman’s bra when the woman was your sister and she might be dying.
She took care of that problem for me. She took one hand away from my body for about 3 seconds, but it was long enough for her to reach behind her back and unfasten her bra. I dropped my hand away from her breast, and while the cup no longer clung to her body, it still concealed her breasts from my view because it hung delicately by her shoulders.
I coaxed myself into a seated position and she carefully rearranged herself so she sat on my lap, her legs wrapped around my waist. Seductively, she pulled her shoulders inward and I watched, transfixed, as her bra at last slid away from her body and revealed her chest to me. I said, “Oh, Allie, I had no idea how gorgeous your body is.”
She’d always been lean growing up, but I’d never thought of her this way before. Now, seeing her topless, I couldn’t understand how I’d ever avoided it. I reached my right hand out to her breast and supported it with my fingers akimbo and the nipple in the crux between my index and middle fingers. Her breasts were even more exquisite contrasted against the tanned back of my hand. The skin was pale and soft and smooth, and her nipple was beet red, as if designed expressly to capture my attention. If so, it was working.
I brought my fingers together and let them slide across her nipple, and I could feel its firmness poking at my hand as I caressed the arc of her breast. She closed her eyes and took a sharp intake of breath, both of which were very encouraging.
I watched this display with her chest only inches from my face, but I couldn’t keep it to myself. I let my hand fall and brought my face to her chest, at first just feeling her nipple against my nose and lips as I let them circle. Soon I parted my lips and licked her little red nub from bottom to tip, then around and around. At this I heard her whimper ever so slightly, and she reached her hands around my neck. Hearing this sound of pleasure emboldened and aroused me even more.
Just as she had done with me, I grabbed her nipple between my lips and applied some suction, and suddenly I was jealous of every baby she’d have, knowing how they’d be sucking just this way for their very sustenance while simultaneously pleasuring their mother.
I pushed her on her back on the bed, our heads by the foot of the bed now. As she dropped to the mattress I watched her breasts change shape a bit as gravity pulled at them in a different way. I switched my attention to her previously neglected breast but noted that the first nipple, now wet and shiny, seemed even darker red than before.
As my tongue swirled around a fresh nipple, I couldn’t deny the thoughts swirling around my brain. I was getting more and more turned on, all because of my sister. Allie! The one I’d grown up with, blamed, argued with. The one I’d infected. This last recollection crept into my head uninvited, and to push it away I opened my mouth wide and tried to take Allie’s whole breast in my mouth. I heard a low hum escape her, and at the same time I felt the vibration in her chest through my lips.
I shifted on the bed and reached for another kiss. This time she devoured me hungrily, her mouth and tongue giving themselves to me completely. Her hands roamed across my back and I felt the bare skin of our chests touch. The sensations were nearly overpowering, so intensely erotic that I was completely hard, my cock straining at my sweatpants. Without thinking, I slid my crotch against her, relishing the sensations even through the fabric.
While our lips were still locked, she let her hands dive down my back, down under the elastic of the sweatpants. I felt her fingers on my butt, at times just drifting but occasionally squeezing. When I felt her pulling the waistband down, I lifted off the bed, parting our kiss, and looked in her eyes. She returned my gaze unblinking, the hint of a grin forming, and continued to tug at my waistband. I raised my crotch away from her and she slid the sweatpants down to my thighs, freeing my stiff cock.
She squirmed out from under me and took my pants off the rest of the way, leaving me bare naked with her for the first time I could remember. I sat at the head of the bed and leaned my back against the wall, and she lay on her side facing me, studying my newly-exposed midsection.
At first she just looked. I’ve never had the experience of a topless woman ogling my nude form, but the lack of physical contact didn’t diminish my arousal at all; if anything, I was getting more turned on. I tried to watch her eyes to see where she was directing her gaze, but I admit that her breasts distracted me.
Once as I watched her watching me, her expression changed with a jolt, and I looked at my own body to see what caught her glance. My cock was throbbing with excitement, the tip resting on my stomach but bobbing upward with every heartbeat. It wasn’t perfectly centered on my stomach; for some reason it always favors the right side of my body by about an inch. She was apparently intrigued by a droplet of precum that had emerged from my cock and pooled on my stomach. I wanted her to touch it, but instead she moved her head to get a look at me from a different angle.
She reached out her hand as though to touch me, and as I watched it get closer to my body my cock literally jumped with anticipation. At this, she stopped her hand, and this made me groan, because I needed her touch so much.
At that moment I heard my ringtone, piercing and loud, and reality intervened on our escapade. I badly wanted to ignore the call, to keep playing with Allie, but I knew I had to get it. It could have been the news we’d been waiting for.
I got off the bed and took a few naked steps to get my phone from the counter, my cock hard and bouncing with each step. “Hello?” I said.
“Jason, this is Samantha Talmadge at CDC. Do you have a moment?”
I walked back and got on the bed next to Allie, right where I’d been before the phone rang. “Um, yeah. What’s up?”
“Is Allison nearby? Can you put the call on speaker?”
“Yeah, she’s right here. Just a sec.” I put the phone on speaker but continued to hold it in my hand as I said, “OK, we’re both on.”
“Thank you. Are either of you having any Zara symptoms?”
Allison said, “No,” without the slightest pause.
I said, “Not really,” which must not have been a good answer, because it prompted Samantha to be very concerned.
“Can you elaborate, Jason? Did you experience some kind of a symptom?”
“Well, I coughed once. I haven’t felt bad otherwise, and I don’t even think one cough is all that unusu-”
I was stopped mid-word in perfect silence by my sister, who had engulfed the tip of my cock in her mouth. She was letting her tongue bathe the ridge, and she had to be tasting the precum she’d coaxed out of me before.
“Jason, is everything OK?”
“Um, yeah, everything’s fine. Just fine.” I struggled to get the words out, trying but assuredly failing to sound normal.
“So, you think one cough is normal for you right now, considering your overall health?”
Allie, hearing that it was my turn to speak, reached a hand between my legs and laid the flat of her hand against the stem of my cock, sliding it up and down at the same pace as her mouth. My legs splayed instinctively.
“Yeah,” I croaked out, “I think so.”
“Jason, your voice sounds odd. Are you sure everything is OK?”
I felt a change in the sensations on my cock, and when I looked down I could see a smile on Allie’s lips even as her mouth kept up its assault. She was clearly amused with herself.
I cleared my throat and focused on my words. “Yes, I’m OK. Everything is great here.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line, and I could tell that Samantha wasn’t convinced. Allison took her mouth away but continued to run a hand along my cock, letting her own saliva join forces with my precum to lube the shaft.
Samantha said, “Let’s do a short triage on your coughing.” I could hear a keyboard-tapping sound from the phone. “I need to ask you about five questions.”
I briefly closed my eyes at the annoyance of this conversation, occurring at a time when my attention was elsewhere. “OK.”
“So, would you say the coughs are becoming more frequent, less frequent, or staying about the same frequency?”
“Well, there was only one, so it’s not much of a trend. But I guess about the same.”
As I spoke, Allie took her hand away from my body and positioned herself on her knees at my feet. She looked seductively in my eyes and put her hands at her waist. As I watched in stunned silence, she wriggled her pants down, and to my shock, there were no panties underneath.
“Would you consider the coughs violent?”
She was grinning now as she did a gymnastics routine to peel her pants off all the way, leaving her joining me in total nakedness.
“Jason? Were they violent?”
“Oh, sorry, no. Not at all.”
Allie kneeled in front of me again and ran a hand down her body, letting it cup her breast before moving to her belly button and then down further, disappearing between her legs.
“Were the coughs producing any fluids?”
Allie parted her legs and sat on the bed with her legs in front of her, showing her bare pussy to me in what was unquestionably the most erotic display that I’ve ever experienced. She ran her index finger between her labia and held it up between us, letting me see the glistening liquid oozing down her finger that signaled her arousal.
“Yeah, there were fluids,” I said, before correcting myself. “No, sorry, I mean, no, I didn’t cough up any fluids.”
After holding her finger up for my inspection, Allie reached it to my body and slid it along my cock, from tip to base, carefully twisting and turning her finger to transfer as much liquid to me as she could. The pressure and the warm wetness kept my shaft at the peak of hardness.
“Were the coughs associated with any other symptoms, like shivering or fever?”
Allie repeated the motion, but this time with her first two fingers, pulling them along her slit to soak them with her wetness, then using the same fingers to lubricate my cock.
“No, no shivering. No fever,” I spat out impatiently.
The third time Allie used three fingers, and she was wet enough that she could load them with a lot of liquid all at once. This time as she reached her soggy hand toward my body, I grabbed her wrist and pulled it to my nose, deeply inhaling her aroma before taking one finger in my mouth. Even her taste was erotic, especially knowing that I was the reason she was so wet.
“Were you able to contain your ejecta?”
I freaked out for a second. “Wait, my what?”
“Ejecta. The particulates that came out of your mouth during the cough.”
“So, basically you’re asking if I covered my mouth. Yes. I did.”
Once I released her wrist from my grasp, Allie encircled her fingers around my now-moist cock. She stroked it with almost no pressure at a slow speed, a combination that was perfect for her to feel every ridge and vein. I wondered if she was taking her cue from the story I’d told her about that morning with Skye. Her juices had combined with more of my own, and the motion of her hand made a squishy sound that I hoped was inaudible.
“Well, it looks like your cough is not strongly associated with Zara,” Samantha said.
“Mm, that feels good,” I said, belatedly realizing that this was a more appropriate response to Allie than to Samantha. “Good to know, I mean.”
“Right now we have no additional information about the possibly-infectious passenger, but we will keep you informed as we learn more. We should have some news for you before too much longer. Are you restricting your encounters to just Allison?”
As much as I tried to pay attention to Samantha’s words, it was nearly impossible to keep my focus away from Allie’s fingers on my shaft. My entire body was responding to her touch as I could feel my heart rate and breathing quicken. Her lithe fingers passed back and forth repeatedly from my shaft to the reddening mushroom head, still with just the lightest of touches.
“Yeah, Allie. Just Allie. There’s no one else.”
“Jason, I’m still concerned about the change in your speech patterns, but we’ll check on this again next time,” Samantha said. Then she added, “Allison, are you restricting your encounters to just Jason?”
In a strong voice, Allie said, “Yep, he’s my one and only.”
“OK then, good, thanks to you both. Bye for now.”
Allie said, “Bye,” and the call finally, mercifully, ended. I threw my phone on the carpet, glad to be rid of it.
“Jesus, what the hell was that?” I said, and in response she smiled gleefully and cranked up the speed of her fingers. She now fluttered them across the underside of my cock, just below the ridge, as if she knew just the way to turn up my arousal.
“Just some payback,” she said. “Now we’re even. No matter what happens.”
“Jesus,” I said again. Her fingers felt so good that I was afraid she would take me too far too fast. As much as I didn’t want the stimulation to ever end, there was something else I wanted more. I rolled her on her back and lifted up her legs as she bent her knees. I held them steady with one hand on the back of each thigh.
The parting of her legs slightly spread apart her labia, and I could see the creamy nectar oozing from between her lips. While my cock was unattended, squished between my body and the mattress, I dove in, running my tongue through her liquid, tasting her arousal and spreading her lips even further.
I hungrily lapped her slit, devouring every drop I found, and then took turns letting my mouth and nose explore the delicate folds that made up this precious flower. As I approached her clit I heard a low, primal hum. My anxious tongue had already made it glisten, but now I pulled the firm little dot between my lips and let my tongue flit across it with abandon. This turned the hum into a low moan.
“Jase, turn around,” she said.
I literally stopped in my tracks, completely unexpecting this stage direction. I had to stop and think for a second about what she meant before I got the idea. “Oh. OK,” I said.
I turned my body so I faced her feet, straddling her with my knees astride her chest. I knew my balls would dangle lasciviously toward her face, an un-brotherly pose for sure. I adjusted myself just enough so I could still reach my tongue to her pussy. As I pulled my mouth into position I felt her fingers caressing my balls, then with her other hand she pulled my cock back and plunged the tip in her mouth. “Oh my god,” I said, my lips buzzing against her labia even as I formed the words.
It occurred to me at that moment that it was my sister whose mouth was trapping my cock; it was my sister’s clit that was trapped in my own mouth. The thought at first seemed unusual, but as we kept feeding our sexual fluids to each other, soon it didn’t feel unusual at all. It felt like we had always meant to be with each other. Like our love for each other was too strong to keep us apart. It felt, in a word: perfect.
I started a rhythm, licking her slit from top to bottom, and before I knew it she was using the same rhythm on me, letting her tongue snake around my cock one revolution for every lick of her slit. I moaned against her pussy and she must have felt the vibration because her butt lifted off the bed for a split second, interrupting our tempo only momentarily before picking it back up.
When she hummed her approval in response, I felt a shiver of excitement radiate outward from my penis all across my body, enough even to make my fingers and toes tingle.
Her whole body moved with me now, her legs tensing and relaxing on each stroke and her pelvis shifting beneath my mouth to enhance the pleasure I was giving her. I reached a hand up between her legs and used my fingers on her pussy in addition to my lips, instantly feeling her wet heat. She was vocalizing almost continuously, but my cock in her mouth kept any words from forming.
The intensity was building. The pressure of her mouth, combined with the knowledge that she was melting under me, led me to feel an orgasm beginning to brew within me. But I wasn’t ready yet. Reluctantly, I pulled away from this dual oral stimulation and reoriented myself so our mouths lined up with each other, and our sexy bits lined up with each other.
With the intent to let my overheated arousal cool, I went in for a kiss, this time tasting my lube fresh from her tongue while she must have tasted her own too. With our lips engaged, Allie wrapped her legs around my waist and squeezed, pulling our bodies together until our flesh was in maximum contact. My achingly hard cock was pressed up against her slit, our entire bodies slick. Without breaking the kiss, she started to grind against me, and my intent to cool my arousal was suddenly not so effective.
The feeling of my cock sliding along her pussy was pure ecstasy. I broke our kiss and watched her face. Her eyes were closed and they squeezed tight with every stroke of our bodies against each other. Her skin was flushed red, and her lips were parted just enough to show the corners of her front teeth. She was the same adorable little sister as ever, sexier than I could have ever imagined.
After a downstroke longer than usual, the tip of my cock was poised at her entrance, and on the next stroke I was inside her. She said, “Oh my god, yes, yes,” while at the same time holding still with about half of my length inside her. She opened her eyes and we locked on each other’s gaze in stillness.
I’m having sex with my sister, I thought, and I wondered if she was changing her mind about this. I studied her eyes, looking for an answer, but her expression was sultry and deep like I’d never seen before. At last I said, “Allie, is this-”
She didn’t even let me finish the question. Almost imperceptibly, she started to move beneath me, and I took the cue. My shaft began to penetrate her more and more deeply until it was fully embedded and we stopped again. I continued to watch her eyes, and right before they snapped shut I saw the faintest trace of lust.
Allie moaned deeply as we started to move together. I kept myself inside her all the way but moved my body up, down, around, relishing the sounds of excitement from her that were building in intensity.
I stopped and withdrew from her entirely, my cock coated with her cream and throbbing. I plunged back inside her and my instinct took over as I fucked her in earnest. Her moans turned to wails as she squeezed her legs around me harder than ever, our bodies slamming against each other with abandon.
She said, “I’m… I’m…” but she didn’t finish her sentence. Instead, her eyes clamped shut, her wails escalated in pitch, and she bucked under me. She was having an orgasm, my little sister, and all because of me. At that moment I moved my tongue back to her nipple, to try to put an exclamation point on her experience. I flicked it a few times and I was rewarded by her body literally shuddering, a stunning addition to her beautiful sounds.
Her reaction pushed me over the edge, and I felt my balls tighten and my cock tense as semen burst inside Allie’s womb, even as my mouth stuck to her nipple. The physical pleasure and the emotional catharsis were overwhelming, and I felt tears welling in my eyes as my seed slowed to a drizzle. Allie rode the wave of her orgasm for a full minute, maybe more, before we both slowed to a stop, the sounds of sex replaced with just heavy breathing.
I withdrew my softening cock and lay on the bed next to Allie, both of us coated with sweat. I gave Allie a quick kiss as I imagined the sight we’d present to someone who’d come in right at that moment. A brother and sister, bare naked, lying together, covered with a sheen of sweat, not even attempting to conceal our nakedness. Neither of us moved to get cleaned up.
“Wow,” she said.
“God, that was intense.”
She reached her hand between her legs and when she brought it up there was a white liquid coating her first two fingers. She sniffed it and then put these two fingers in her mouth, one at a time, to lick them clean. “Did you shoot inside me?”
“Oh,” I said, “um, yeah, I did. I should have asked, but we were in the moment…”
“We were.”
After a pause I asked, “So, what time of the month is it?”
“It’s OK,” she said. “I mean, I’m not exactly thinking nine months ahead right now.”
“Yeah.”
We lay quietly in the afterglow, side by side, our heartbeats slowing back to a normal pace. For some reason this pose made me think back to that hookup of mine the year before, the hookup that made me long for sex that comes with intimacy and love. Never did I expect to find it with Allie, but right then I couldn’t imagine anything more perfect.
I wondered what Allie was thinking. I could tell the sex was meaningful for her, but was she worried about the virus again? Or was she angry about where my cum ended up? I know Allie so well, unlike a random hookup woman. Still, our circumstances were so bizarre that I had no idea what was going through her mind. But I knew I could ask her anything, and I was about to, when she beat me to it.
She rolled over on her side facing me, resting her arm across my chest. Her lips broadened into a wide smile, and she said, “Thanks, Jase.”
“Anytime, sis.”
“You know I love you, right?”
“I know. I totally know. And I love you too, Allie.”
A smile made its way to my face too as I realized that the forefront of Allie’s thoughts was expressing her love for me.
We drifted off to sleep with fresh memories of each other’s bodies to sustain us. It was the best sleep I’d had since I’d been home, by a long shot.
—
My phone rang, and it about stopped my heart. The light was still on across the room, so at least I could see where I was. I had been either half asleep or half awake, snuggling up against Allie, both of us naked as the day we were born. The phone roused her as well and she sat up, her sweet bare breasts trying to distract me from the ringtone. I grabbed my phone from the floor. It was 1:27 a.m., and CDC was calling.
I said, “Hello?”
“Jason, it’s Samantha Talmadge. I’m sorry to call you again so late, but it’s time. I have news for you.”
“Just a second, Samantha.” I tapped the speaker icon so Allie could hear. I knew that what we learned in the next few seconds would mean either life or death for both of us.
I looked in Allie’s eyes and mouthed the words I love you in total silence, not even a whisper. I half expected her to do the same in return, but instead she brought her mouth to mine. She closed her eyes as we kissed in silence, her lips soft and warm and alive.
It was that moment when I realized what really mattered.
Added by amyss
