All I Need Pt. 05 free porn video

Part Five.

I sat on the bench outside of the hospital for a long while. I don't know if I was feeling shock, exhaustion, or just complete emotional devastation. Maybe I hurt so badly inside that my body shut down all feeling in response. I'm not sure. All I know is that I simply felt hollow. Hollow and numb.

It could have been all the goddamned painkillers they had given me for all I knew.

Finally, I made myself get up and start walking, although I wasn't sure where I was going yet. I walked about twenty yards, into the park that was next door to the hospital, and fell to my knees at the base of a large tree. I suddenly broke out in a silent sob, ignoring the searing pain coming from the center of my face. There were no tears. I felt like my chest was caving in on nothing at all and I had trouble breathing. I briefly wondered if this was what a heart attack felt like, but felt no numbness in my arm. I had only heard about the numbness thing, and had no idea if it was accurate for diagnosing heart attacks. I later suspected that this might have been a panic attack.

I must have been a sight as I walked through the park. Some guy with his face all bruised up from the broken nose, meandering aimlessly across a public park in a blood stained shirt. I noticed more than one person staring at me, not that I cared. I let out a dry, humorless chuckle when I reflected on the coincidence that I had left Amy's last boyfriend looking very much like I did now. Amy. I wanted to find Amy so badly. But they hadn't thrown her out. She still had somewhere to live. Maybe I should stay away for a while and give our father time to cool down. I didn't want to make it worse for her.

By the time dusk had arrived, I returned to my car and drove a while, finding myself standing in front of Dr. Miller's studio. I didn't know where else to go. If I went to one of my friends, I'd have to explain what had taken place. That was not something I could handle right now, and I had at least enough clarity to know that much. John may have let it go for a little while, but eventually he'd make it his life's work to get the story out of me. Meg? Hell, no. That would cause more trouble than it would solve. I let myself in the studio and sat gingerly onto the sofa in the back of the room. The doctor had told me my cracked ribs would hurt for weeks. Slouching on the sofa was out. Instead, I leaned back against an armrest carefully avoiding putting pressure on my k**ney. I was under strict instruction to return to the hospital if I saw blood in my urine and to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on my left k**ney where I had been kicked. Out of sheer exhaustion, I slipped into the fitful sleep of those who know, without question, that they will never be the same again.

When I woke up, I saw Dr. Miller sitting at one of the tables with a cup of coffee. He heard me stirring, and turned his head toward me.

"What the hell happened to you, Adam?"

I hadn't thought this far ahead, and didn't know what to say. I looked down at the hospital bracelet still on my wrist.

"I was in an accident. I didn't know where else to go."

"You couldn't go home?" He poured a second cup of coffee and slid it over to me.

"I... can't go home." I felt the brace on my nose shift as my face struggled to stay composed. "I don't have one anymore, I guess."

"I see." He sighed, and looked at me sternly. "Are you in some kind of serious trouble? Legally, I mean."

"I don't think so." I shook my head. "Not d**gs or anything like that, if that's what you are asking."

"What kind of trouble are you in, then?" He looked down at the coffee in front of me and back at me.

"The kind that makes me it were something as simple as a d**g problem by comparison." I mumbled as I picked up the cup and took a sip. The brace kept shifting on my nose and was just too irritating. I pulled it off and dropped it on the table.

He smirked a little at that. "Good. You still have a bit of wise ass in you, at least."

"Dr. Miller, I don't know what to do. I feel like everything in my life has been ripped away from me." I surprised myself at how it felt to say that out loud. I sounded like a whining asshole. "And now I sound melodramatic. Crap."

"Call me Jeff, Adam. This isn't about school right now, and we're friends, wouldn't you agree? When we aren't on campus, you don't need to call me Dr. Miller."

"Okay."

"So tell me what's going on, then. Be honest."

"I'm not sure I should tell you. I suppose there are some legal sides to it, but that's really really minor in the grand scheme. It's heavy stuff. You will probably want to throw me out of here if I tell you and I really don't want that."

"Try me. You may be surprised." Dr. Miller took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Fuck it. I needed to tell someone, I guess. "I fell in love with someone I shouldn't have. She's completely amazing. But the consequences of being with her have caught up with me."

I motioned to my face and lifted my shirt so that he could see the large discolored bruises along my rib cage. You could actually make out a shoe print in one of them.

"My father did this to me. I haven't seen him since then. I probably deserved it. I've been disowned and I don't know where my sister is. I love her. We've been sleeping together for quite some time. We overslept night before last and were caught. Fucking stupid mistake to make."

Silence.

"Yeah, I know. I'm fucked up in the head."

"I didn't say that." Dr. Miller replied. "How long was this going on before your father found out?"

"Almost a year, I guess. Maybe longer."

"Hmm... Okay." He slapped his hand on the table. "Becky, my wife, is on her way up here with some food. I called her when I found you asleep in here. We need to get you fed and cleaned up. But here is what I am thinking."

He paused to drink "I'll get her to stop by the house this afternoon and grab some blankets and a couple of pillows for you. You can stay here in the studio for a while. Until you get your feet under you, at least. There's a fridge, a stove, the bathroom. It's not really meant to be lived in, but it will do for now."

"Thanks, Jeff. This means a lot." I replied with genuine gratitude. I looked around the place a moment. I could make do.

"Do you think your family will allow me to go to your house and get some more of your things?"

"I have no idea. I don't know what will happen with them anymore. But, I have to talk to Amy."

"I highly doubt that will be a possibility right now." Dr. Miller gave me a look. "Besides, you are in no condition to talk to her anyway. You need to get your head together first. And, to be honest, you'd probably scare her to death if she saw what you look like right now."

I hung my head in resignation. He was probably right.

Dr. Miller refilled his coffee and leaned against the counter, looking me over.

"You aren't the first person to find themselves in this predicament, and you won't be the last. You'll get through it, and you'll find yourself a stronger person. I don't expect you'll believe that, though."

I definitely didn't feel very strong at the moment, and I wasn't very sure about getting through it, either. I nodded at him anyway, wishing it didn't hurt to breathe.

* * *

"This key is for a storage locker on Oak Avenue. The remainder of your possessions are stored there. Your father was going to throw it all out, but I persuaded him otherwise.

It would be foolish of me to think that your father and I could keep you two from contacting each other in some way. We both know that just isn't possible. But I beg you to take some time and consider just how much damage your reckless, irresponsible behavior has caused. We are both devastated by the selfish, vile choices you two have made. But we are the only ones who have knowledge of it. This could easily ruin both of your lives if people found out, and has already changed the two of you irreparably. Your relationship with each other and with us will never be the same again. Had your father chosen to go to the police, you would be in jail right now. I don't even want to think of the years of psychiatric counseling that you are both desperately in need of.

Deep down in your heart, you surely can see this. You are too smart of a person to not be able to see it.

I am begging you to be the stronger, responsible older brother that I know you can be, Adam. If you truly love her as much as you say that you do, please stay away from her. Give her a chance to heal and move on with her life. I know that you are both hurting right now. But you still have a chance to lead fulfilling lives, have careers, meet other people, eventually raise families of your own. Maybe, somewhere down the line, things will work out where you will be able to mend some of the fences with your father.

I sincerely hope that you heal and find happiness. I hope and pray that you take my words to heart. Do the right thing, Adam."

I read the words on the page several times before dropping the letter on the desk. Dr. Miller looked me over as he set down another box of art supplies.

"I assume that wasn't a letter filled with forgiveness and begging you to come home?" He asked dryly.

"Nope. That was pretty much the exact opposite of what it was." I sighed bitterly, before getting to my feet and going to help him unload the rest of the supplies from his car.

He had contacted my mother and she'd asked him to deliver the letter and key to me. She told him that my father had taken a vacation from work and was currently taking Amy to visit some of his relatives in New York. I knew, in an vague way, that our father had a brother in New York and some other relatives, but I had never met any of them. Clearly, they were determined to put as much space between us as possible.

As much as I wanted to see Amy, I didn't have the slightest idea how to find them in New York. Maybe once they got back, I could sneak over while our parents were at work. But my mother's words nagged at my mind as I gingerly stacked canvases in the corner of the room. I wasn't sure what to do.

* * *

In my dream, I fought back. When the first hit connected with my nose, I took the blow. When the second hit me in the stomach, I did nothing. When he kicked for my ribs, I rolled. I yelled for Amy to get out of the house. Somehow, she was dressed now. She tries to argue with me. She's screaming at my father to stop. He grabs her elbow and flings her away from us, intent on getting to me. I tackle him. In that dream logic way, the fight is just over. I grab Amy and we leave. We sleep in my car near the park. I tell here that we'll be okay. I tell her that everything is fine. I wake up in the dark art studio alone.

It's only three in the morning. Fuck. I never slept anymore. And with dreams like that, who the hell would want to?

It had now been three weeks since we'd been discovered. I hadn't left the art studio at all except for food, even then only late at night when there were fewer people around. The idea of even engaging in small talk with people filled me with complete dread. Dr. Miller's wife, Becky, was a registered nurse. She checked up on me several times, monitoring the healing progress on my ribs. More than once, I caught her eyeing my supply of prescription painkillers, doing a mental count of how many she thought I should approximately have left. As devastated as I was, it had never occurred to me to purposely overdose myself on the pills.

I didn't want to be around people at all if I could avoid it. I flinched every time Becky would try to put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. Being touched by someone suddenly became a totally unwelcome sensation. I didn't know how to deal with it. Grief and stress do fucked up things to your mind, I guess. I certainly couldn't bring myself to go back to class. Anytime I got around any place that reminded me of Amy, I would be wracked with grief again. I wasn't sleeping, barely eating, and felt like someone had carved out a large chunk from the center of my chest. I went by my parents house a few times, always after dark, and the upstairs bedrooms were always dark. I never knocked, simply stood out at the street and watched the house for a few minutes. I saw no sign of Amy there on any of these visits.

My phone had been disconnected the day after I took up residence in the art studio. It had been a relatively simple affair sign up for a new cell phone plan under my own name, but I immediately discovered that Amy's phone had been disconnected as well. My facebook page and email accounts had several messages from friends asking where I was, why I hadn't been to class, and so on. I didn't want to reply. The idea of talking to anyone who knew me made me cringe. Checking Amy's facebook page revealed that she hadn't posted anything to it since before we'd been caught.

Facebook's message window popped up on my laptop screen as a message from a friend appeared and I remembered that I had my settings set to show people when I was online. Instead of replying, I went to settings and deactivated the account. Then I went to my email accounts and did the same. I felt a strange sense of relief at being cut off from the world. I shut down the laptop and paced the room a bit.

I still had pain in my chest, but it had started to ease up a bit. My face only showed minor discoloration from the bruises now, but was still really tender when I touched it.

I began thinking about ways to get away from here. Some kind of fresh start. Somewhere no one knew me and I could try to put myself back together. It didn't feel like that was possible here. I had too many memories here and all of them filled me with ache. I didn't have enough money to really move and have any sort of security. I considered the military for the first time in my life, and quickly realized that wasn't going to be the answer. After doing some research on the peace corps, which I was only vaguely familiar with, I decided that was not my answer either. By sheer coincidence, Dr. Miller offered me a solution that I had not seen coming just a few days later.

"I heard about a job opportunity that I think could be really good for you, if you wanted it." He began.

I was disinterestedly picking away at a bowl of pasta and glanced up at him.

"An artist friend of mine in Milos is looking for an assistant. Room and board is included. It would be a serious change of pace for you, and you could learn a lot of technique from him."

"Milos? Where is that?" I asked, trying to place the name but coming up empty. As long as it wasn't here, I was probably going to take it.

"It's an island off of the coast of Greece. Quite a beautiful place, I must say. I took my wife there to visit him a couple of years ago."

For the first time in a month, I felt a tinge of interest in something. This could certainly be the change I was looking for. Greece? Damn. That was farther than I'd ever traveled in my life. I didn't know a damned thing about Greece, either. In my head, I pictured that they ate a lot of lamb, for some reason. Other than some vague memories of Greek mythology stories from my c***dhood, I couldn't have told anyone more than five sentences about the place. Statues, of course. They had ancient statues.

"Room and board is included?"

"Yes. It isn't much of a salary, I should point out. But when you factor in room and board, it's more than sufficient."

"Is he an artist I'm familiar with?" I asked.

"Have you heard of Theron Cain?"

"He works in oils, doesn't he? Surrealist landscape artist? You have a book of his work in your office."

"That's the guy. Are you interested?"

I really had nothing to lose at this point. It could certainly help clear my head to get away from here for a while. I didn't know how to find Amy at the moment, although it was only a matter of time. What was worse is that I wasn't completely sure that I should. For her sake, not my own. I kept thinking about letter my mother had written. Would Amy have a better life if I wasn't in it? I know she wouldn't think so. At least not now. I didn't really care much what happened to myself at this point.

The following day, I rented another storage building in the same complex as the one my possessions were already stored in and transferred everything to the new space. I did not know how long the current one was rented for and it was the last bit of control that my parents had over me. Severing that tie, put me completely on my own. I also stored most of what I had brought with me when I moved into the art studio. The rest of my possessions fit into two bags. I spent the remainder of the week getting my passport photos taken, booking my flight, and selling my car. I didn't get that much for it because I was needing to sell it in a hurry, but the hell with it.

On Sunday morning, a few hours before my flight, I took a cab to my parents street and made a very bored cab driver park a couple of doors down while I gave the place one final look. I watched my father exit the house and drive away. Summoning every bit of courage that I possessed, I got out of the cab and walked to the front door.

I looked down at the porch cement as I knocked, almost afraid of who would answer the door. But no one did. I knocked again, and got no answer. I heard no signs of movement in the house at all. It was empty. I took a few steps out onto the lawn and looked up at Amy's window. I couldn't see anything except the ceiling of her room. I looked at the door handle and saw that the locks were shiny and new. Of course he had changed the locks. My keys would be worthless. Feeling defeated, I returned to the cab and headed for the airport.

* * *

Nineteen hours and three planes later, I stepped off out of a tiny single engine plane near some town called Zefiria on the island of Milos. I walked to baggage claim and waited for my luggage. The airport was not very large and it took only a few minutes. As soon as I picked up my bags, I turned to see a fairly attractive. short brunette woman, who looked to be in her late thirties to early forties smiling up at me.

"Adam Matheson?" She said in a thick British accent.

"Yes, ma'am." I replied, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm Margaret Cain. Theron asked me to pick you up."

"Ah! Nice to meet you." I extended my hand. She shook it firmly with a surprisingly tight grip.

"Welcome to Greece. Was it a nice flight?"

"It was long. Especially the Newark to Athens flight. But I'm glad for a change of scenery." I took on my recently adopted fake persona of a person who felt like they still had a reason to breathe.

"I imagine it was. But hopefully you will like it here. We'll meet up with Theron in Klima for lunch and get you settled in." She led me out to her car.

I had read up a little bit on Milos before leaving the States and was surprised that the entire population of the island was less than five thousand people. Then again, the whole island was only about 14 miles across. The photographs I had seen did not even begin to do the place justice. It was breathtaking. For the first time in a long while, I felt something almost like optimism. This was a far cry from home. The rock formations that lined some of the beaches were astonishingly beautiful. White and gray monoliths, carved away by the waves, jutting up proudly from the earth like bones of giant, long extinct creatures of old. Amy would love this place.
Theron was already at the small cafe near the beach when we arrived. He was a thin man who looked to be in his mid-forties, dressed in a simple t-shirt, shorts, and sandals. He stood up to greet me in an accent every bit as thick as Margaret's.

"Adam? Pleasure to meet you, sir. I am excited to work with you. Please, sit." He gestured to the table.

"Thanks." I sat down and found myself slightly taken aback by his pleasantness. A waiter brought a cup of coffee and took my order.

"I saw you once before at an art show at the university, but didn't get a chance to speak with you. I didn't know then that our paths would cross like this, or I would have been sure to introduce myself." He continued.

"Oh really? I'm sorry, but I don't remember seeing you there. No offense." I was surprised.

"It's quite all right, I was there early for only a few minutes and left soon after. But your work was a big part of why I was there."

"Mine?" I replied in genuine surprise. I had been looking around at the architecture of the buildings that surrounded us, but now he had my full attention.

"Jeff has spoken highly of you, Adam. He insisted that I should see your work and I happened to be in town for business at the time of the show. I came by and saw the ones you had displayed. I was quite impressed. I even bought one of your pieces, you'll see back at my studio."

"Wow. Thank you so much." I didn't know what else to say. A famous, successful artist had actually liked one of my paintings enough to buy it. I was blown away.

"Which painting, may I ask?" I was really curious now.

"I believe it was titled 'Judgment'. A haunting black and white piece. It resonated with me on a deep level, although I only recently came to figure out why that might be." He gave me a careful look.

My initial excitement had faded visibly and he had seen it happen.

"You aren't a fan of the piece, I take it?"

"I almost didn't put it in the show. I don't like that one at all."

"Because you had a lot of emotion tied up in it, no doubt." He wasn't asking.

"Yeah, I was in a dark frame of mind when I painted that one. Bad memories." I fought to stay composed. The guilt and uncertainty of that night didn't hold a candle to the shit I felt now.

"Guilt. Shame. Fear. You can see it all in the design. It's a powerful piece, once you have most of the puzzle pieces in place to know what you are seeing."

"You took all that from that painting?" I felt really raw and exposed.

"I didn't at first. I just knew it resonated. Once Jeff told me about your relationship with your sister, it all made sense. It made me even more glad that I bought the piece. It will remain in my collection forever." He said as he watched me pale in shock. Margaret gave us both a small smile and stared thoughtfully at her salad.

"Dr. Miller told you about that?"

"You can relax, Adam. Your secret is safe."

I looked up at him, still in shock. Margaret reached over and took his hand on top of the table.

"Theron here is my brother." Margaret spoke up, smiling as she kissed the back of his hand. "And I've loved him since I was a small c***d."

"We have been together since we were in college ourselves. We fought it for a long time, but resisting our feelings for each other became too much to bear. Before finally accepting the love we felt for each other, Margaret was nearly suicidal, and I was on a self destructive path of a different variety. So we know very well how you feel."

"Holy shit." I leaned back in my chair.

"Sorry!" I added hastily, realizing I had cursed in front of my new employer.

"Don't be." He laughed. Margaret started snickering as well. "But you can see why Jeff thought you would benefit from working with me. Both for your art and your life. And hopefully you can understand why I might be able to recognize the pain you felt when you painted 'Judgment'."

I nodded.

"Jeff told us what happened with you. I'm sorry you experienced such harsh rejection by your family. Our own situation was much different. We were orphaned when our parents died in a plane crash many years ago. They never knew about us. Our extended families were another matter entirely." Margaret spoke up, giving my arm a sympathetic squeeze.

I fought to keep my tears in check. I had known these people less than an hour and already found myself with all of my cards on the table. I was a raw, broken, shell of a person with nothing more to hide.

"Hopefully, you can find some comfort and happiness here with us. We want to help you however we can. And I meant it when I said I was a fan of your work. I really am looking forward to working with you." Theron sounded sincere.

"I can't believe this. This whole situation." I looked out at the beach, taking in the beautiful blue water. It seemed impossibly blue.

"It's a lot to take in." Theron agreed. "When Jeff called me, I knew I had to try to help. It's not often that you meet someone who's gone through a situation as unusual as ours."

"I imagine not." I chuckled for the first time in weeks. "I can't believe you are fan of my stuff."

"Why not? You have talent, Adam. You aren't well known to the art world yet, but that will change with time." He sounded certain when he said it, as if it were a fact and not a pipe dream.

* * *

Theron led me through a large work space. The walls and ceiling were stone, making me ponder how old this place was. Large windows allowed natural light to flow through the room. Huge canvases, some as much as fifteen feet long, leaned against the walls. I had never painted on a surface that large and couldn't imagine how long it must take to paint something at that scale. He motioned to a short corridor the was set in one back wall. He hit a light switch and set one of my bags on by the doorway. I walked into the room and looked around. For a room made out of stone, the place looked rather comfortable. The walls were stone, painted white, and the only wood in the place was the furniture and door frames. There was a bed in a back corner, with an end table next to it. A work bench, book case, and closet made up the back wall. A small round table with two chairs was set in the center of the room. A simple and beautiful hand made vase was centered on the table.

"It's not much, but I think you'll find it comfortable." Theron said. "Feel free to repaint the place if you don't care for the color. This was the color that the house came with."

"I don't need a lot, really." I replied.

"There is a small kitchen over through this doorway here. And a bathroom through that door over by the corner. I'm afraid there's not a television out here, but we can take care of that soon." He continued.

"I can watch plenty of stuff on my laptop, there's really not a need for a TV. I don't really plan on watching much television anyway."

"Whatever you prefer is fine. If you decide you'd like a television out here eventually, we will be happy to help you with that. We would have set you up in the main house, but thought you might prefer the privacy that being out by the studio can provide."

"This is great, Theron. This is much better than I was anticipating. The way Jeff talked,, I expected that it would just be a bed in a corner and maybe a closet." I responded.

Theron nodded in response, but seemed pleased.

"I'll leave you to get settled in for a while then. I'm sure you are worn out from the flight and all." He turned and headed for the door, then paused. "Listen, I know you have been through a lot lately. If you ever want to talk about it, I'll be glad to listen. I imagine given the peculiar circumstances you have dealt with, there haven't been many people you can talk to about it."

"Thanks."

"Alright then. There's not much in your fridge out here right now, but Margaret will take you into town tomorrow to get you stocked up. When you are ready for dinner, come up to the main house and we'll go get something. I'm afraid neither of us are very good cooks. Especially when compared to the local cuisine."

With that, Theron left me in my new home. I sat at the small round table, pulled out my laptop and connected to the internet using the WiFi password Theron had given me. I checked Amy's facebook page and saw, as before, that nothing had been updated on it in weeks. I closed the laptop and sighed. There really wasn't much more I could do right now. Was it a mistake to come here? I couldn't stay back in Austin, I was going crazy there. I folded my arms, and put my head down. Too late now, either way.

* * *

The rocks felt insanely hot against the backs of my legs. I couldn't tell for sure, but it seemed like I was at least eighty or a hundred feet up. I had spent the last half hour climbing up the side of the rock formation overlooking the bay. The crystal clear, blue water below looked warm and inviting. The base of the rock outcropping to my right looked was what had originally commanded my attention, however.

I stood up, taking in the smell of the breeze blowing in across the water, and looked to the right. I felt hollow as I stared down at the rocks below that were so white that they looked like they were glowing. I felt a strange sense of relief at the thought of taking the jump. I chuckled bitterly at the idea that I'd leave behind one final painting of deep red on the white rocks below if I did it. Man, I have a fucked up sense of humor sometimes. I sighed heavily.

Is this really the kind of person I am? I kept asking myself this question. Ever since I had discovered this particular rock formation a couple of weeks before, it had continued to draw me back to it. The idea of feeling nothing felt so much better than feeling the hollowness that continued to plague me. Coming here hadn't solved that hollow feeling as I had hoped. I had always considered the idea of doing something like this to be cowardly, to be letting whatever you were facing win. But here I was, debating with myself whether or not I was the kind of person who would take the selfish route to relief. I was out of tears by now, and just felt drained and empty.

Here I was, sitting in one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen, feeling just about as lost as I ever had in my life. Not today, I finally thought to myself, I'm being irrational about this again. I turned back to the left over the water. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. I glanced over and saw Margaret's small shape sitting on a boulder far below, about twenty yards away. She was watching me with what looked like a worried expression. It was hard to tell from this distance. Her small hand came up to wave at me. I waved back.

I stepped back a couple of yards then ran toward the cliff edge, launching myself out over the water as I'd done at least a dozen times since my arrival. There was that brief moment of panic, worrying that I hadn't kicked off the cliff side hard enough. Then came the all too brief half second feeling of weightlessness, followed by the rush of wind, just before the splash. I felt the warm water wash over me, air bubbles churned noisily all around me. I gathered my bearings, and propelled myself through the water in long strokes toward the surface. I broke through the water and felt the hot sun on my face, as I took a deep breath. I made my way to the shore a few moments later to find Margaret standing there with a towel in her hand.

"I know you don't believe it now, but it gets better Adam." She said sadly, handing me the towel.

"If you say so." I replied, wiping my face with the towel.

"I didn't believe it when people tried to tell me that, either. I don't blame you for doubting me. But I'm glad you decided to stick around a while longer. We love having you here." She commented, trying to hide the concern in her voice. She put a hand up to my shoulder and gripped it just a little. An attempt to be reassuring, I guess.

"Thanks. It just overwhelms me sometimes." I sighed. "I start thinking stupid thoughts. I know it's not rational, at least. It's easier to ignore when I realize that."

"I know. Recognizing it is the real turning point." Margaret nodded.

"I can't do it if you're watching me, anyway. I'd feel too guilty for making someone watch that happen." I stared back at the pile of rock.

"That's the idea." She gave me a soft smile.

"That's playing dirty, lady." I gave her a tiny smirk.

"Yep. I can tell you have a kind heart. Under the circumstances, I'm willing to exploit it. And I'm not sorry, either. Do you want to eat something? We can go get some dinner if you like?" She asked.

"I'll pass. But thank you. I'm just not really hungry right now." I replied as I looked back up at the cliff. I didn't know then that it was the last time I'd climb that particular group of rocks.

Margaret was right, it did eventually get better.

* * *

The next few months went by quickly. I found that I quickly became good friends with Theron and Margaret, despite them being almost twice my age. Theron worked on with very large canvases, often more than twelve feet across and had me help him stretch the canvas material over the frames to set them. He also kept me busy with sawing and sanding wood to use for the canvas frames. None of this seemed to be anything he couldn't handle himself, and I suspected that he had me doing it more to keep my mind occupied than because he actually needed the help. The busyness helped ease my depression.

I learned that Margaret was heavily involved in pottery, which explained her deceptively strong hands. She taught me to throw clay and use the pottery wheels. I found the process tiring and tedious, but was still fascinated with the end results. My attempts to make relatively simple things like bowls and cups were generally agreed upon by both of the Cains as dismal failures. Out of sheer stubbornness, I used one of my lopsided bowls for paint mixing, until I accidentally dropped it one afternoon, effectively ending my fledgling career as a potter.

Theron enjoyed fishing and paddling his small boat out around the island. Eventually, he got me to go fishing with him. I found it surprisingly enjoyable. He laughed when I asked about sharks and explained that there weren't many to be found around the island and that he'd never even heard of an attack in the area. I quickly discovered the caves along the water's edge and spent a lot of time swimming in the tide pools inside them. I loved the quiet solitude of the place, and often walked the beaches at night.

Theron and Margaret were both very interested in how my relationship with Amy had started and asked lots of questions about her. I showed them the drawing that I had done of her the night she fell asleep on the sofa and agreed that it was the most realistic drawing that they had ever seen me produce. I missed her constantly.

By the end of the fourth month, I found myself standing in front of a large, blank canvas for the first time in what felt like ages. I was positioned by an open window with the fresh salt air blowing in from the bay. Theron was across the room working on a canvas of his own. I put on my headphones, after several weeks of not listening to any music at all, and called up the first song that came to mind. One that reminded me of Amy. It was a song that I had loaded on her phone the day before she left for Rome, and it was a favorite of mine. Radiohead's "All I Need" started playing on repeat as I picked up a tube of paint and set to work.

For a few minutes, I stood with the brush full of paint just sitting in my hand next to the canvas. Finally, I just dropped the brush in the rinse water and squirted crimson paint into my palm. I began smearing it on the canvas, creating vine-like curves across the length of it. I added more crimson and yellow to my palm and kept working the image. It was like trying to finger paint as an adult. There wasn't as much control. But the raw image felt more visceral to me for some reason. As it began coming together, I worked faster. I became enthralled in the work and lost myself in it.

When I finished coating the entire canvas in paint, I grabbed a rag, wet it, and began wiping away sections of the acrylic paint in a circular pattern, being sure to leave some of the image intact, creating an effect of round objects that were lighter in color than the rest. I grabbed my bottle of water and splashed some on the canvas. Then I cupped my hand and put a small amount of white paint in it, adding water and creating a milky thin wash. I splashed that across the canvas as well. The resulting look of the image was somewhat like it was cloudy and melting. Finally, I grabbed a brush and began working on details in crimson. The raw, hand painted background adding a new dimension to the design in a way I hadn't done before. Hours later, I leaned back against a bar stool and looked over the finished design.

"Damn." Theron spoke up, startling me. I looked over to see he and Margaret sitting on the stone steps behind me that lead up to the dining area of the studio, watching me.

"That was fun to watch," Margaret said, smiling. "Are you finished with it?"

"I think so." I said, somewhat embarrassed to be observed like that. Amy was the only person who had ever really watched me paint outside of a classroom before.

"I think you are, too." Theron said. "Most impressive. I love it."

I washed up my brushes and cleaned the paint off of my hands. I felt a sense of accomplishment for the first time in a long while. Another of the clouds over my spirits seemed to fade away a little.

It was late afternoon and I was famished. We all went out to eat at the cafe in Klima again, and I went to the beach while they returned home. I sat atop a large rock formation and looked out at the beautiful clear blue water as the sun disappeared for the night. I didn't feel at peace, but I felt as close I thought I probably ever would. I missed Amy with everything that was in me, but I felt like maybe I was giving her the chance that my mother so desperately wanted for her to have a normal life. I wondered what she was doing now. I wished she were here with me. This view would have blown her away. I wished to take her down to one of the tide pools inside the caves and make love to her there with the only light shining up from where the outside sun would shine through the pool. The familiar knot tightened in my stomach and I wept silently in the dark.

Early the next morning, I went down to the studio and looked over the painting I had done the day before. I was pleased with the results and placed it against the wall. I grabbed a fresh canvas, picked a song, and went to work on it. By evening, I'd completed another. I became prolific. My color choices became brighter than I normally used, not because I was in a better mood, but because I didn't want to use the typical earth tones that tended to be my routine color choices. I also began to work on a larger scale, the largest of them being one that measured six feet across. That one had overdone it and I settled into a more comfortable two feet by four feet format for most of them.

A few more months passed and I participated in a couple of small local shows around Greece. I even had a couple of paintings on display in one of the larger galleries in Athens. I began to make a small amount of money, nothing even close to enough to live on, but at least I was generating some income from my paintings. Still, I couldn't help admitting that I was achieving a tiny amount of success as an artist, which was something I could never have fathomed happening. Much like the rest of my pay since arriving here, I simply put the money in savings and more or less forgot about it.

* * *

One afternoon, after delivering a new painting of Theron's for display at a large gallery in Athens, I walked a couple of blocks down the street to grab some lunch at a small cafe. Not knowing my way around Greek cuisine very well, I blindly ordered the youvetsi from the menu. It arrived shortly after and was edible, but not something I would typically order for myself. I sat at a curbside table under a large umbrella, picking at it disinterestedly and watching traffic pass by.I was lost in my thoughts for a while, thinking how much Amy would love to check out the architecture around here, when I heard a feminine voice speaking to me. Her Greek accent was thick, but her English was flawless.

"It's not their best dish, is it?"

I looked up to see a very attractive, tall, slender woman with olive skin and green eyes smiling down at me. She had long, dark hair pulled back in a light ponytail and was dressed in an elegant black dress with a small black purse in her hand.

"It's fine, really. I'm just not that hungry." I replied.

"Do you mind if I join you?" She asked, politely. I couldn't think of a polite way to decline her on a moment's notice, so I gave her a small smile and motioned her to a chair.

"Thank you. I get tired of eating alone at lunch every day." She smiled again. "You don't recognize me, do you?"

"I'm sorry, I don't." I was now puzzled. Did I know her from somewhere?

"I'm Natali. I work at the gallery."

"Oh, right! I'm sorry, I should have remembered." I pondered if I had ever seen her there. I never paid much attention to the people there. I think I vaguely recalled seeing a tall, dark haired woman around.

"How do you like working for Mr. Cain?"

A waiter came up and she ordered moussaka without so much as a glance at the menu.

"It's a good job. Keeps me busy, but still allows me time to work on my own paintings. He and his wife are good people."

"They seem to be." She agreed.

After a few moments of silence, Natali asked, "So what brought you here from America?"

"I don't know. A fresh start somewhere new. I wanted something different." I shrugged.

"Somewhere new? You are in one of the oldest cities in the world!" She laughed brightly. It took me a moment to realize she was making a joke.

"Yeah, well. It's not Austin, so it's good enough for my purpose."

"Austin? Texas?" She asked, her green eyes seemed to stare through me. It made me uncomfortable, even though she was polite and friendly.

"Yeah." I replied as I picked at my pasta. It was the sauce, I decided, that made the dish unappetizing.

"You don't look like what I picture an American from Texas to look like." Smiling at me again.

"I left my chaps and spurs in the States." I quipped.

She looked me over for a moment, a couple of wrinkles appearing between her eyebrows. Then one of her eyebrows cocked to a high point.

"You are joking with me." She decided aloud. I couldn't help chuckling.

"Ah, you are!" She exclaimed, delighted. "You should smile more. You have a nice smile."

She put a hand gently on my forearm, and it finally dawned on me that she was flirting.

"Thanks." I picked at my food some more, scr****g the offending sauce away.

"You really don't like that very much, do you?"

"Not really," I admitted. "I'm not used to the food here, yet. Still trying different dishes."

"Would would you eat if you could have anything?"

"That's easy. Egg rolls. Hot and sour soup. Some good lo mien." I replied.

"I know a place. If you'd like to meet me for dinner?" Her eyes met mine expectantly.

I looked back down at my plate, trying to think of how I could turn her down without hurting her feelings. The obvious answer occurred to me a half second later.

"I'm sorry, I've got to head back in a couple of hours."

"Oh. That's too bad. Maybe another time." She briefly looked down, her smile faltered a little. But it returned almost immediately.

"Maybe so. When I don't have to get back to the island so soon." I lied, aiming for politeness.

"Sounds good to me." She replied, brightly.

We finished our meal, or more accurately, she finished her meal as I picked at mine in disdain and paid for our bills separately. I turned to wave goodbye to her and instead was met with a brief hug. She gave me her business card with a home number written on the back and walked back toward the gallery.

She seemed like a nice girl and was certainly beautiful, I thought. But the idea of getting involved with anyone just made my stomach churn. There was only one person I wanted to be with. I flipped the card over in my hand and read over it.

"Natali Panagakos," Her name was followed by some Greek lettering that I assumed meant sales representative or something similar. The only other thing I could read on the card were the words "fine arts." Fair enough, I shrugged. I slipped the card in my back pocket and walked back to the ferry.

Back on Milos, I told the Cains about the encounter over dinner. They both listened with great interest. Margaret was, of course, completely amused at my obliviousness to having been hit on by a girl until she had touched me.

"I know her family," Theron observed. "They are nice people. You could certainly do worse if you decided to pursue her."

"I'm not going to pursue her. That wouldn't do anyone any good, I don't think." I replied, thoughtfully.

"I understand." He replied as he exchanged a slight glance with Margaret, who shrugged. I didn't know what that meant and I didn't ask.

I was pretty sure that I was better off alone at this point. The relationship I'd had with Amy was irreplaceable. There wasn't any reason to bother with anyone else as far as I was concerned.

* * *

Eventually, November rolled around and I realized for the first time that I had a pretty decent idea of where I could find Amy. She would likely be in Colorado for the week, as called for by family tradition. I pulled out my laptop and priced flights to the US. I chose a flight and sat with my credit card in my hand, about to put in the information to buy the ticket when I froze up. I must have lingered there for ten minutes, indecisive. What would I even say at this point? How could I approach the entire family that way? It's not like I could just knock on their door, walk in, hug everyone except my parents, and sweep Amy up in my arms. What if she didn't want me anymore? The very idea sounded absurd. I closed the laptop and went for a walk.

The afternoon of Thanksgiving Day, which meant nothing other than Thursday in Greece, I sat at my kitchen counter staring at my phone for a few long minutes. I finally picked it up and called Aunt Linda's place. On the fourth ring, someone picked up. I could hear the jovial atmosphere in the background. I swallowed hard at the sound of Aunt Linda's voice.

"Hello?"

"Happy Thanksgiving, Aunt Linda."

"Oh my god, is this Adam?!" She exclaimed.

"Yes, it is. I'm sorry I couldn't be there this year. I miss you guys." I tried to sound better than I felt.

"I'm so glad you called. We miss you, too! Holly! Holly, it's Adam." I heard Aunt Linda call to my mother. Shit, I thought to myself.

"Aunt Linda!" I tried not to shout, trying to get her attention back.

"Yes?" She sounded puzzled by my desperation.

"Is Amy there?"

"No, she's not, Adam. She stayed in California for the break. You didn't know that?" Now she definitely sounded confused. My heart sank. California? How the hell was I supposed to find her there?

"Okay, thanks. Send everyone my love." I replied.

"Don't you want to say hello to your mother? She's right he-" I hung up before I had to face that conversation.

I slumped at the counter and stared at the wall for a long while.

* * *

When I left the United States, I had originally expected to be gone for just a few months at most. I had now been in Greece for three years. I had come to really enjoy living there and the idea of returning to the States filled me with a sense of dread. At one point I looked into renting a house near Theron and Margaret's home, but they were adamant that I continue living in the small apartment built off of Theron's studio. I felt that I was about as comfortable as I could ever expect to be, and although the gaping hole in my life that Amy had once occupied was still there, it had diminished somewhat. I can't say that she was ever far from my thoughts.

Over time, Natali's gentle persistence eventually wore me down and we went out on a date during one of my visits to the mainland. Before the date even started, I knew that it was a mistake. I carefully explained to her that I was just not in a place emotionally where I could handle being in a relationship with someone. I made sure that she understood it wasn't about her and that I thought she was a great person. She claimed to understand and, after a slightly awkward couple of weeks, we settled into a comfortable friendship. I had worried that she was holding out hope for me to eventually want to be with her, but she began dating another guy soon after and I relaxed.

She was a fan of my work and showed some of my pieces to a friend who worked at a gallery in Rome. Before long, I had pieces showing in a gallery there, as well. When I traveled to Rome to deliver the pieces, I stayed at the Palazzo, the same hotel Amy had stayed at when she was in Rome several years before. I pulled out my phone in the hotel room and looked through the pictures she had sent me from that very hotel. As silly as it seemed, even to me, I wondered if I was staying the the same room that she had. I sat on the balcony that night, listening to Swans' "Love of Life" album, and wished she were with me.

A few months later, I was in my biggest gallery show yet. This time in London. Theron had a big show there and had pulled strings with the gallery owner to be sure that I was included in the show. Theron gave me a thirty foot section of wall space near the entrance to his gallery and ensured that my name and art was included on the promotional materials for the gallery opening. As I selected pieces for the show, I joked that I felt like the opening act for a concert. He commented that it was a good comparison.

Theron and Margaret both found my thought process surrounding the pricing of my work for the show to be hysterically funny. Every time I would jot down a price on the list, Theron would come behind me and scratch through it, writing in absurdly ridiculous amounts instead.

"Oh, fuck off Theron! No one is ever going to pay 18,000 quid for that. I painted it in three hours.. I practically pissed on the canvas!" I exclaimed, trying to write the price back in at two thousand. Honestly, I still felt I was ripping people off asking two thousand for it.

"This isn't those piss ant little college shows you used to do. This is a real show at a serious gallery. They don't know you did that in three hours. And so what if you did? Eighteen thousand is a bargain for that painting. I think you should price it at twenty five thousand quid, myself!" Theron barked back at me.

"You have got to be k**ding me. I don't know if you've been drinking the salt water out there or what, but you are out of your goddamned mind." I shook my head at him in frustration. Margaret just cackled at our bickering.

"I should be taping this." She remarked at one point, earning looks of exasperation from both of us.

They finally bullied me into agreeing to their pricing plan, arguing that they had years of experience in the art world and that I didn't understand the value of my work. By the time it was all said and done, I had set a total value of my paintings to be featured in the show at a little over 340,000 Euro. I found that number staggering to contemplate.

The three of us flew to London together the week of the show and they were both further amused by my excitement about seeing England for the first time. They had both grown up there, and found the place to be rather dull.

The night of the opening, I was dressed in a suit and tie. It was not my idea, but Margaret had insisted. The gallery was packed with people and I was slightly thrilled to see the degree of interest in my work. Theron introduced me to a couple of other very well known artists that were friends of his and I felt I did a fairly good job of hiding my sense of awe at meeting some of them. I was surprised to find that a couple of them shared my generally cynical view of the art world. But what really unnerved me was the realization that some of the art critics that attended the opening were looking over my work and taking notes.

I don't think it had hit me until that moment that my work would be viewed by serious, world renowned art critics this evening. Theron was off working the crowd, greeting some fans, and so on. Margaret noticed the look on my face and brought me a glass of wine. She assured me that it was going well so far and that I didn't need to be concerned about the critics. I drained the wine in about thirty seconds and a server handed me a replacement.

An older British woman approached us and claimed to be a fan of my work. I tried to be gracious about it, but was again very uncomfortable with the idea that I actually had fans. It turned out that this woman had purchased one of my paintings at a previous show in Athens and had actually come to this show to see my work, not Theron's. Margaret flashed me a huge smile when she overheard that and nodded at me as if to say she had told me so. The woman gave me an email address and asked that I send her photos of any new pieces I would consider selling that were not currently on display. I assured her that I would and she went on her way. I didn't find out until later that it was considered extremely rude by most serious artists and galleries for a buyer to request to see work that was not currently on display. I didn't see a problem with it, myself.

About an hour after the show started, I was able to ignore the critics milling about and began to get bored. Truthfully, I was surprised I lasted that long. I normally lost patience with these things in the first twenty minutes. I sipped a glass of wine, wishing it was a beer, and was chatting with Margaret when I heard a soft voice behind me that made my heart seize up.

"Your new work is beautiful, Adam."

I turned and saw Amy standing before me, a shy and hesitant smile on her face. Her eyes were tired but warm and beautiful. She was dressed in a tight, dark blue dress that ended a few inches above her knees with matching heels. The sapphire necklace that I had given her for Christmas years before dangled from her gorgeous neck. Her hair, now longer, was hanging loosely over one shoulder, exposing her neck fully on one side. She didn't look a day older than when I'd last saw her, over three years before. She took my goddamned breath away.

I opened my mouth to speak, and words wouldn't form. I just stared at her for a long moment, just as she stared at me. My mind started racing through thoughts so quickly that I could hardly form them into words. Part of my mind was screaming at myself at the top of it's lungs to speak, while another was racing through questions. Did she resent me? She would have every right to. I left her behind. I fucking left her behind. Why the fuck did I do that? Did she still want me? Need me like I needed her? Speak, goddamn you! She's right here. Fucking speak! Has she moved on? Is she over me? She's here. She can't hate me. Right? Make your mouth work. Hug her. Hold her. Don't. You. Fucking. Cry.

"I wasn't sure I should come." She finally spoke, her lower lip trembling with uncertainty.

"I'm so glad you did." I replied, taking my first breath of air in what I thought may have been nearly a minute. In my mind, my words sounded distant, like I was on autopilot for a moment. I wasn't prepared for to see her. I had so much to say. I tried desperately to get my thoughts in order. Fuck! She was really here! I ached to hold her in my arms.

"So it's okay that I'm here?" Her voice cracked a little, still hesitant. A storm of emotions was clearly visible in her beautiful blue eyes. I could only imagine the same could be seen in mine, assuming I didn't look as afraid as I felt. Afraid of her. Afraid of myself. Afraid she'd leave. Afraid of... everything.

"It's more than okay. I just can't believe that I'm seeing you." I stepped forward and hugged her, no longer able to control my impulse. The hell with my fears, I had to hold her. At least once.

Her arms wrapped around me in a tight embrace and she started shaking. Her wonderful, familiar scent filled my lungs. My body had missed her on a cellular level, as I felt rocked to my very core by the warm softness of her small frame encased in mine. Every fiber of my being was focused on holding her in my arms again. I felt a tightness deep in my chest, a feeling I had possessed for so long that I no longer remembered it was not a part of me, slowly begin to uncoil.

We didn't speak for a few long moments, neither of us willing to release our grip on the other. We both seemed to physically vibrate with the power of the moment we were sharing.

"You were so fucking hard to find." She nearly whispered, her voice choking the words out. I could feel her tears dampening my shoulder.

"I've missed you so much." I breathed in her ear, my voice cracking around the knot in my throat. I tightened my arms around her in a squeeze for a moment but couldn't will myself to let go of her yet. A tear of my own slid down my face, despite my efforts to contain it.

Finally, she pulled away from me a few inches, her hands sliding down my arms to take both of my hands in hers. She smiled at me as warmly as ever, relief and elation written all over her face despite the tears that caused her mascara to bleed tiny black lines. Many of my questions fell away from my mind in that moment, no longer relevant as I looked in her eyes. They still shone with her love for me. As blue as the water back home.

I heard someone clear their throat suggestively nearby and glanced up to see Theron standing a few feet away with his arm around Margaret. They both had huge expectant grins painted on their faces. Hell, Margaret looked like she may start bouncing at any moment. Margaret wordlessly held a tissue out to Amy, who took accepted it and held it to each of her eyes.

Theron mouthed the word "Amy?" to me, although he looked certain that he already knew the answer. I nodded slightly, suddenly remembering where I was and that we were in a room full of people.

"You must be Amy." Theron said. Amy glanced at me with a puzzled expression, but nodded to him.

"This is Theron Cain and his wife, Margaret. This is Theron's show." I explained.

Theron extended his hand and Amy shook it politely, her other hand still holding mine.

Margaret leaned over and planted a kiss on Amy's cheek, motioning to me. "I can't tell you how important you are to this man. I'm so very glad to get the chance to meet you."

Amy didn't seem to mind Margaret's well meaning affection, despite her being a stranger and hugged herself to my arm, which was still trapped fiercely in her grip.

"He's everythi-" She started to speak and buried her face in my shoulder instead, shaking against me. I pulled my free arm up around her and held her close.

People were moving through the gallery, blissfully unaware of us and the tremendous importance of our reunion. We weren't being stared at, but I wanted to be alone with Amy all the same. I didn't care about the show at all anymore. My little sister was back in my arms and that was the only thing that mattered to me right now. I looked up at Theron, who nodded at me as if reading my mind.

"Get out of here, man. I'll call you in the morning and tell you how the rest of the show went. You've got more important things to take care of." He smiled at me, and put his arm around Margaret again.

Margaret's eyes were shimmering like she was going to start crying at any moment as she smiled more widely than I would have guessed she was capable of.

"Thanks." I acknowledged, and led Amy out of the gallery to the street. Her arm was still wrapped around me as we walked. I wasn't going to complain.

I started to hail a cab, but decided to walk for a while instead.
"Do you need to sit somewhere?" I asked her. She shook her head, letting out a little gasp as she tried to recompose herself.

We walked alongside the gallery building in silence for a few moments, without a destination in mind. I tried to organize my thoughts, not wanting to terrify her with a mountain of questions and declarations. She seemed to be calming down and I thought she was probably trying to do the same. We passed a well tended pavilion that was positioned next to the gallery and came across a Starbuck's.

I walked toward the entrance and Amy, seeing the building, broke her silence.

"You always hated Starbuck's. You said they were a cult and were going to slip potassium in the coffee at any moment and take out half the world's population."

"I still do. And I stand by my theory." I replied, grinning a little at the memory. "But you used to love the stuff."

"Let's find somewhere else." She said, sliding her hand down my arm to interlace our fingers. I suspected her arm was tiring from the grip she'd had on mine for so long now. I know my arm was grateful for a little respite, but I would have died before I voiced a complaint.

We kept wandering down the block and I suddenly had a silly urge to state the obvious.

"We're walking the streets of London together. Who would have thought that would happen?" I asked.

She stopped walking and gripped my hand a little tighter signaling to do the same. I turned to face her as she moved in closer to me. Smiling up at me, she said "I'd always hoped to."

I got lost in her smile for a moment and, impulsively, I kissed her. Her lips met mine and parted immediately. Our tongues gently explored each others' mouths, remembering their favorite places. It wasn't a hungry, driven kiss. It was a passionate, loving kiss. I felt years of tension and longing falling away from me. If anything had ever felt more right to me in my life than this moment, I didn't know what it would be. My free hand came up and wrapped around the side of her neck, my thumb resting just beneath her ear. She purred contentedly against me, letting out a relieved sounding sigh.

"Was that okay?" I asked, hesitantly, when our lips parted. I didn't know where we stood, really. I didn't know if she had someone else in her life, now. It had been years, after all, and I'd acted on impulse, kissing her almost instinctively. She hadn't acted like it was a bad move, but... Christ, I was thinking too much again.

"Oh god, yes. Do it again." She exclaimed and moved her lips back to mine. We kissed again, deeper this time, a little hungrier. She whimpered into my mouth, a satisfied sound that told me that she felt this was as right as I did.

We were interrupted when my arm was struck by a woman with an armload of shopping bags as she passed us and I suddenly remembered we were standing on a relatively busy sidewalk.

"Sorry, excuse me." The woman said over her shoulder.

"We're gonna get run over if we keep standing like this," I muttered and we resumed our walk.

Amy took the lead now, and it took me a moment to realize where she was leading us. There was a diner up ahead that had booths lining the walls and didn't look extremely packed at the moment. I held open the door for her and followed her inside.

Once we were settled into a booth and I finally had both hands free for a moment, I reached up and loosened my tie. As I slid it into the pocket of my suit jacket, Amy shot me a look.

"Why'd you do that?" She asked.

"It was uncomfortable," I replied as I unbuttoned the top button of my dress shirt and felt a great sense of relief.

"You look good in a suit." Amy observed.

A waitress came and took our order. I didn't ask, but I think we both ordered more out of politeness and nervousness than anything. I certainly wasn't hungry. By the time our waitress headed for the kitchen, I felt I had put off the inevitable long enough. It was time to ask questions. I wasn't quite sure where to start.

"Are you vacationing here or..?" I ventured.

"Kind of. I guess. I came here looking for you." She smiled at the last bit, reaching across the table to take my hand.

"Wow. You heard about the show in Austin?" I didn't think it had been advertised that widely. I mean, I understood that it could be found online, but I hadn't thought it would so prominent as to be heard about in the States.

"Well, Portland, actually. I found an announcement for it online and saw your name."

"Jesus. And you came all the way here in case it was me, just from seeing my name?" I was a little surprised, even though I shouldn't have been. I would have gone farther, if I knew for sure she'd be there.

"I'm glad you did, don't get me wrong." I added defensively, as a tiny grin crept over her face. I wasn't exactly oozing confidence at the moment. In a perfect world, she might end up mocking me for this one day. How weird is it that I missed her making fun of me? Hell, I missed everything about her.

"This is incredible. You're really here. I really found you. We're together." The words nearly exploded from her as she broke into on of her most excited smiles that spread from ear to ear. "I almost can't believe it."

"Yeah" I chuckled, feeling slightly giddy as her words sunk in. "We're together. You really found me."

"I love you." I told her, feeling nearly as nervous as I had the first time I had said those words to her in a non-familial context.

Her long delicate fingers moved to intertwine with my own again. She looked up at me, her stunning blue eyes locked with mine. "I love you, too."

"So there's no one waiting for you back at the hotel? Or in Portland?" I asked, regretting my insecurity immediately.

"No, baby. There's no one but you. There could never be anyone else." She squeezed my hand, rubbing her thumb over mine.

"That's a relief," I sighed. "I mean, you let me kiss you and all, so I thought... I just... Fuck." I brought my other arm up on the table and buried my face in the crook of my elbow. This is my little sister, the love of my life. Why can't I just talk to her? Fuck. I sighed in exasperation.

She reached across and ruffled my hair. I looked up into her soft smile.

"I'm nervous too, baby. It's okay." She reassured me.

"I'm sorry. I just have so many things going around in my mind."

"Me, too." Amy replied. "So let me ask, you don't have a girl waiting for you back... wherever?"

I raised my head from the table and looked at her again.

"No one could ever replace you. Why even bother trying?" She adopted the relieved expression I'd had a few moments earlier.

"So, do you live in London now?" She asked as our waitress arrived with our coffee.

"No, but I do live in Europe." I tried to give her a mysterious smile.

"Really? That's exciting."

"It wasn't at first. But I've gotten used to it." I sipped my coffee.

"Can I ask what happened after I went upstairs that morning? When I came back down, you were gone and he wouldn't tell me where you went."

She had been taking a sip of her coffee, but she set it down and stared at it for a long moment. She reached over and picked up her spoon, dumped a sugar packet in her coffee and started stirring. Her small tongue slid across her lower lip, moistening it, as she prepared to speak.

"I was screaming at him. I couldn't believe he was blaming you for everything. And what he fucking did to you. My god..." Her eyes welled up a little, but she seemed to contain it. "It got to where I was just incoherent. I don't even remember what I was yelling anymore. I was so scared, you seemed so badly hurt."

She paused. "How bad was it? I never could get an answer. I found out you went to the hospital, but all they would say was that you were discharged the same day."

"It could have been worse." I shrugged. I didn't want to get her worked up over it now, I'd long since healed from that whole debacle.

"Anyway, mom took me out to the car and drove to grandma's for a while. She just wanted to get me away from him for a while. And away from you, I guess. Later, dad took me to see our uncle in New York for a couple of weeks. That was a horrible trip. I didn't want to go, of course. He threatened to have you arrested if I didn't. He refused to listen to anything I had to say about us. He was convinced that you had taken advantage of me somehow, and wouldn't let me tell him otherwise. I don't know how I never realized what an asshole he was to you before. I know you made black sheep jokes, but I didn't see how serious it was." She dropped her spoon on her napkin and took another sip of her coffee before looking back at me. The sadness in her eyes gnawed at me. I reached up and put my hand to the side of her face, hoping to reassure her. She nuzzled her face in my palm for a moment and kissed my palm before she continued speaking.

"Anyway, you know he canceled the cellphones. He shut off the internet connection at the house, as well. He was trying to do anything he could think of to eliminate ways for you to contact me for a while."

"Yeah, I figured that was what happened."

"By the time we got back home from New York, I was a complete wreck. I dropped out for the semester. Mom had put the rest of your stuff in storage, so your bedroom was mostly empty. I used to go in your room and just sit against the wall on the floor for hours. It was as close to you as I could get. It used to piss him off something awful. Dad even took the painting that you had given me out of my room and put it in storage with the other stuff. He never knew about this, at least." She placed her hand on the necklace I had given her.

It made me ache to think of how much it must have pained her to be there. At least I had been able to go somewhere new, without constant reminders of her everywhere.

"After a couple of weeks, mom sent me to Colorado to stay with Aunt Linda and Courtney for a while. She told them that you had some huge fight with dad, had left home, and that I was have a really hard time dealing with it. So I stayed there for a couple of months with them. I missed you so badly that I broke down one night and told Courtney the truth about us. She was shocked, but eventually she accepted it. She's never told anyone. She tried to help me find you, but by then you seemed to have disappeared off of the planet."

"That was two or three months after?" I asked, remembering that I had left for Greece by then.

"Yeah, not quite three months. We had no luck at all. When you called Aunt Linda's that first Thanksgiving, Courtney was really upset that she couldn't get to the phone in time. Mom was pretty upset, too. She just wanted to know you were okay. We weren't the only ones looking for you, either. John contacted me a few times, so did Megan. No one knew where you went. When you decided to disappear, you did a damned good job of it. Oh! Megan married Man-bun, by the way. Turns out his name is Eric." She gave me a weak smile, that grew when I started laughing.

"Oh wow." I laughed. I couldn't imagine Megan being married. "Does he still have a man bun?"

"I don't know. I haven't been back there in a while. I got a job with a finance company in Portland after graduation. I've only been there a couple of months, though. I took a few days off to come here."

"So you got your degree? That's awesome!" I exclaimed, genuinely proud of her.

"Thanks," She smiled, amused at how excited I was for her. The waitress returned with our food and made sure we didn't need refills on our coffee.

"So what happened after Colorado?" I asked, picking up a piece of bacon and eyeing it with intent.

"I didn't want to go back home. I just couldn't take it there any more. I applied to transfer my credits to UCLA and was accepted. I qualified for a couple of grants and moved into the dorms there. I hit the books hard to keep myself busy. I wasn't really trying to graduate early, but that was a pleasant side effect. I was just trying to keep moving. Most of my free time was spent online trying to find any mention of you."

"I imagine there wasn't much to find."

"Not a damned thing." She agreed.

"Until last month when I found the announcement online for the art opening, I was worried you might have died or something. But, surely we would have gotten word of that. It was really lucky that I even heard about the show. I wasn't looking for you to be in Europe. I thought you might be in Houston or Dallas or somewhere close by. Maybe San Antonio. Surely, at least in the same country. I thought one of my best chances to find you might be if you did a show somewhere. I'm subscribed to mailing lists for art galleries all over the place. It must be more than a hundred of them. Some of the listings are for multiple galleries that do these cross promotions for each other. That's the only reason I saw anything for the show at all. When I saw your name and saw the show was in London, I couldn't believe it I feel like I haven't slept in weeks, waiting for tonight to get here. I even called the gallery from the States trying to find a home address for you. They wouldn't tell me anything."

"Probably thought you might be a stalker." I chuckled.

"My turn to ask a few things." She said, as she watched me swallow the last of the piece of bacon.

"Go for it."

"Where have you been all this time? Where did you go?"

" At first I stayed at Jeff... er... Dr. Miller's art studio. Once I was able to, I tried to find you and couldn't figure out how to reach you. I used to sneak by our parent's house and watch for you, but you were never there. After a while, I just kind of fell apart. Everywhere I went reminded me of you. And it hurt to be around. I was so fucked up by it all. I just couldn't stay anymore. After about a month or so, I got offered a job as Theron's personal assistant in Greece. I took it as a chance to try to get myself together. I've been living on an island in Greece ever since."

"Holy shit. Greece? Really?" She looked at me wide eyed, forgetting she had a fork full of shredded potatoes in her hand.

"Yeah. Milos, Greece."

"Wow. That explains your tan. What's it like?"

"It's fucking beautiful. The water is an amazing shade of blue and crystal clear. There's these incredible rock formations along the beach and all kinds of natural caves. It's really something." I told her as I glanced down at my hands. Tan? I hadn't realized.

She smiled wistfully at my description. "It sounds amazing."

"You like Portland?"

"It's okay. Rains a lot. Humid."

"I didn't exactly plan on Greece." I explained. "Well, I guess I kind of did, only because it was somewhere besides Austin and it was the first opportunity to come up. I would have gone anywhere. I could have been offered to go to Nigeria and I would have gone. As long as no one knew me. Somewhere without memories."

Amy nodded and looked out the diner window at the cars driving by out on the street, taking in the sights of London. I watched her, still trying to wrap my head around the idea that she was here. It blew me away that she had come all this way just to find me. I would have done the same if I knew that she wanted me as badly as I wanted her. But Amy had done flown here blindly after not seeing me for three years. It suddenly occurred to me that she was a braver, stronger person than I. But I had always kind of thought so.

"When do you head back to Greece?" She asked.

"Our flight leaves Monday afternoon. Yours?" It was Friday. I hadn't thought about it until this moment. There was no way in hell I was going to lose track of her again.

"I'm supposed to fly back day after tomorrow, but I don't think I'm going. I don't really care if I ever go back to Portland. I don't want to be away from you again." She looked at me with a hopeful expression in her eyes, as if she needed to hear that I wanted her to stay.

"Fuck Portland. I need you with me, Amy." I replied taking her hand again for emphasis.

Amy's whole face lit up in a beaming smile and she looked like she was about to launch herself over the table at me. Instead, she darted around the table and wrapped me in a huge hug, squealing in delight like she was a little k** again. I couldn't help chuckling at her. For a moment, she was my adorable little sister. And the woman of my dreams. Even now, years later, my brain sometimes hiccuped over those strangely stitched together bits of data.

"Oh god, Adam. I'm so fucking excited!" She gasped, as she tried her best to crack a few of my ribs in her embrace. I was hugging her back, of course. But I wasn't trying to inflict bodily harm. I happened to glance over the top of her head and noticed our waitress standing next to a couple of other staff grinning at us. I didn't care. I never wanted to let her go.

"I love you so much, Adam." She cried, tears of happiness sliding down her cheeks.

I held her to me, stroking her hair softly. "I love you too, beautiful. I love you with all my heart."

Finally, her arms gave out on her, and she settled in on my side of the booth with me. I pulled her plate across from her side for her and passed over her coffee. She finished her meal half sitting in my lap. I didn't mind. Although, I did have to chuckle when a bit of shredded potato went rogue and slipped down the cleavage of her dress, sending her on a flustered trip to the bathroom.

We spent hours sitting in the booth catching up about what had happened over the past couple of years. Amy brought me up to date on family matters, in as much as I cared to know. Brad had finally proposed to Brenda and they were married. Amy had attended the wedding as a bridesmaid, and endured a number of questions about my absence. She told me about attending UCLA and we compared our experiences in Rome. Between the time change and the long, emotional evening, Amy's adrenaline and excitement about our reunion finally lost the battle to fatigue and she suddenly seemed about to fall asleep next to me in the booth.

I flagged down our new waitress, as there had been a shift change in the interim, and got our bill. I made sure to tip our new waitress well, and gave her a second tip, requesting that she pass it to our former waitress. I had long had a soft spot for what I considered to be an unjust pay system for wait staff.

Amy climbed out of the booth and took my hand as soon as I stood up. I couldn't help noticing that one of my ass cheeks had fallen asleep. I freed my hand from hers to stretch a second, only to have it snatched back the moment I lowered my arms. As we walked out of the diner, I noticed that it looked like the sun might be coming up and checked my watch.

"Holy shit. It's almost five." I commented.

"No wonder I'm exhausted," Amy yawned. "Where's your hotel?"

"Whoa now... I'm not sure that's proper." I attempted my best poker face.

"Oh? Um.. Okay, I can-" She began, looking a little crestfallen.

I pointed to the tall hotel, almost directly across the street from the gallery. "It's that one."

"Don't do that to me. I'm tired, damn it." She whined, with a hint of amusement in her voice.

We walked back to the hotel, the movement causing her to wake up a little along the way.

"You shouldn't have listened to mom." She said as the elevator doors closed in the hotel a few minutes later.

"I know. I'm sorry." We both knew she was talking about the letter.

"That's why you didn't keep trying to find me, right? After the first year, I mean."

I nodded, feeling guilty. I could have tried harder, and I knew it.

"It's okay. I get it. I saw the letter. It would have screwed me up, too." Her hand reached over to take mine. "But she's not us. And she doesn't know how strongly we feel about each other. She was wrong. Hell, she probably even realizes that by now. Not that the she isn't too stubborn to admit it. It doesn't matter anymore. You're here now."
The elevator doors opened a moment later and we walked down the hall to my room. I fought with the lock a moment, listening to her snicker softly as I did so. Mercifully, the damned lock finally disengaged and I let her in the room.

"Wow, that gallery must love you." She exclaimed as she looked around the room. While not lavish, it was a rather nice hotel room with a large living area in addition to the tiny kitchen and bathroom.

"This was Theron's doing. I never spoke to them." I replied.

She looked down at herself as if something had suddenly occurred to her.

"Do you have a shirt I can borrow? I can't sleep in this dress." She asked. I briefly considered suggesting she sleep nude, but found myself too shy to suggest it.

I walked to my luggage and pulled one of my shirts out for her. She took it from me and kissed me on the cheek.

"Thanks, baby." She smiled as she entered the bathroom and closed the door.

Feeling only the tiniest bit of disappointment at her lack of exhibitionism, I flopped on the sofa in the living area of the hotel suite. So she didn't want to get naked in front of me. Big deal, I told myself. She's back in my life, that's what matters. I didn't get much further in my thoughts than that before I was fast asleep.

I woke on the sofa, still in my dress shirt and slacks from the night before, with a hell of a sore neck from the angle I'd fallen asleep in. The sun, coming in through the windows was bright and I checked my phone to see what time it was. Holy crap, I thought to myself, when I realized it was already past noon. Suddenly, I remembered the night before and scanned the room. I spotted the lump bundled up on the bed and walked over to it.

Amy lay fast asleep, curled up in a fetal position under the blanket. Only her face, a bit of shoulder, and one hand could be seen under the wad of blankets she'd piled on herself. I guess it had been chilly when we came in the room, I couldn't remember. I noticed her dress carefully d****d over a chair at the desk in the corner. Oh yeah, she'd borrowed a shirt. I leaned against the wall and folded my arms, just watching her sleep for a few minutes. Just being in the same room with her made me feel better than I had felt about the world in a long time. I marveled, not for the first time, at her angelic beauty and how peaceful she always looked when she slept. I thought about going to take a shower, but that might wake her up and I didn't want to do that. She looked too beautiful and peaceful to disturb.

"What?" she asked, snapping me back into focus. She stretched a long, full body stretch with both arms far above her head. The blankets shifted down her body a bit, revealing the way my old Cure shirt hugged to her body. I could make out the swell of her breasts beneath the shirt.

"Just watching you sleep." I replied.

"Mm... I did a bit of that last night myself." She yawned and scratched at her rib cage. "When I got out of the shower, you were dead to the world."

"Never even heard the shower turn on. Damn." I had been exhausted from nerves before the show, combined with the adrenaline of our reunion and the long night, I hadn't stood a chance of staying awake. "Speaking of showers... Back in a bit."

After I showered and changed clothes, she got up and took her dress into the bathroom with her to change. I couldn't help but be appreciative of her long, sexy legs sticking out from under my shirt as she vanished into the bathroom.

While she was changing, her phone began chiming from the nightstand. I glanced at it, reflexively and saw it was Courtney. For a moment, I considered answering it, just to mess with Courtney's head, unsure if she would recognize my voice, but thought better of it. It went to voicemail.

"Can you zip this for me?" Amy asked as she emerged from the bathroom holding her dress up. "Was that my phone?"

I couldn't help and admiring the curve of Amy's spine as I zipped it up in the dress, taking the liberty to wrap my arms around her from behind and plant a kiss on the side of her neck when I was done. She purred softly, and melted back into me, framing my arms around her with her own. She rocked back and forth for a few moments with her eyes closed, until she started trembling slightly. I moved to release her and ask what was wrong, but she snatched me back to her fiercely as soon as I shifted away.

"Don't." She said, softly.

"Okay," I replied, a little uncertain.

"I've missed you holding me so much. Just.. hold me, okay?"

"As long as you like." I replied, more than content to oblige. "Are you okay?"

"I'm perfect. I missed you is all. This feel so right." Her eyes were still closed as she leaned back against me, still rocking lightly. "Don't let me go."

"I won't. I promise. Never again." I tightened my grip around her a little, and meant every word.

A short while later, apparently satisfied for the moment, she collected her phone from the night stand. As she was putting on her heels, she asked "So what's the plan today?"

"Lunch, for certain. I don't need to be back at the gallery until this evening. Probably should check in with Theron at some point. What do you have in mind?"

"I'd like to go to my hotel and change before lunch, if that's okay. After we eat, maybe go see some of London? We may never be here again." She gave me a hopeful smile, one she knew was hard to resist from a lifetime of practice. I flashed on a memory of using that smile on our father when we were k**s in order to score a dollhouse she'd had her eyes on for months. It had worked then, just like it working now. Hopelessly wrapped around her finger as always. Damn it.

We caught a cab to her hotel, where Amy changed into a simple black dress that extended almost to her ankles but had a fascinating habit of clinging to the curves of her body when she walked. For something that left so little flesh exposed, it was looked very sexy on her. After lunch, we went to see the royal palace and took a walk through St. James's Park along the lake. As we walked, she told me about her job and the friends she had made since living in Portland. I told her more about Milos and the nearby islands. Over the last couple of years, I had become acquainted with a few locals on Milos, mostly shopkeepers that I frequented and neighbors. Ever the introvert, my only true friends on the island were limited to the Cains.

Amy insisted we pester a female passerby to take a photo of us on the blue bridge that crossed the lake in the park, and I obliged her in the name of not spoiling the mood. She was well aware of my disdain for having my photograph taken and took advantage of my generous mood by asking the kind woman to take a few more pictures than seemed necessary. When we resumed our walk, she took my arm in hers and planted a kiss on my cheek. We had just enough time to check out the Churchill museum before going back to collect her things from her hotel and transporting them to mine.

I had to meet Theron at the gallery shortly after to take care of a couple of minor press interview type things that Theron's agent had set up. They went pretty much as I expected, only asking me a couple of minor questions and then focusing on Theron. I was basically a tag along for this show and I was perfectly comfortable with that. Honestly, even if they didn't ask me a single question, I was still pleased. Never, in my wildest dreams, would I have expected to have my paintings hanging in an art gallery in London. Throughout the interviews, Amy continually smiled at me from the bench that she shared with Margaret. They seemed to chat quite a bit among themselves and have a decent time of it.

Over dinner at a nearby restaurant, Theron informed me that the show had been very successful the night before. But both he and Margaret were much more interested in hearing about how Amy had come to be in London at the same time as us. He seemed pleased with himself when he learned that Amy had found out about the show from an announcement that she had found online.

"I guess I have more than one reason to be grateful to him for letting me piggyback onto his show, now." I commented to Amy, knowing that it would annoy Theron who found my self deprecation to be an irritant.

"He didn't piggyback onto my show. I invited him to share the gallery with me. The humble prick won't give himself any credit." Theron smirked to Amy, barely taking my bait.

"Adam never really has when it comes to his art." Amy replied, causing me to roll my eyes. I caught an elbow to my ribs in retaliation. That hadn't happened in a long time and my reflexes weren't up to par.

"You should hear how he used to go on about his skateboarding prowess when he was in high school, though. You'd think he was trying out for the Olympics." She added, causing Theron and Margaret to chuckle.

"Really, Amy? How many dinners did I have to sit through hearing about human pyramid this and team cheer number 437 that when you were cheer leading?" I looked at Theron, "You want to know what's truly tedious? Listening to someone spend hours practicing a cheer loudly across the hall from your bedroom."

We all had a great time at dinner carrying on, us telling stories of growing up back in Texas, the Cains telling us about growing up around Manchester. I quizzed him thoroughly about several of the bands that I loved from that area and was disappointed that he knew little to nothing in the way of interesting tidbits about them. I had hoped that he had seen them at early club shows or something before they made it big. Turns out Theron was too much of a bookworm for his own good and missed out on a lot of great concerts, for which I thoroughly berated him, much to his sister's amusement. Amy rolled her eyes at me, not for the first time, for going off into one of my long winded music nerd rants.

Throughout the meal, Amy kept her hand on my thigh, occasionally giving it a slight squeeze. She leaned on my shoulder a lot, seeming to want to keep herself in contact with me as much as possible. I wasn't complaining in the least, as I wanted the same thing.

The night air was crisp on the walk back to the hotel, and I found myself wishing I'd thought to bring a jacket. Amy must have felt the same way because she stayed cuddled up against me for the entire walk. We parted ways with Theron and Margaret at the hotel and retired to my room.

I sat on the couch in the hotel room, flipping through channels without interest while Amy showered. I thought over the logistics of getting her to Greece. We'd probably have to ship her stuff separately, I thought. I didn't know how much stuff she had, but it wasn't going to be cheap, I suspected. Maybe I'd finally go back to Austin and get the last of my stuff out of storage while I was at it. It'd be good to sever that last tie with the place. And I'm sure Dr. Miller was sick of me sending him money every six months to renew my lease on the storage space. I was trying to remember how much stuff I had left in that storage building when I heard the water shut off in the bathroom.

Amy walked out of the bathroom wearing the shirt she had borrowed from me the night before. Her long, slender legs were bare under the shirt once again, which extended almost halfway to her knees. Effortlessly sexy, I thought, as my eyes worshiped her lovely form.

"You probably shouldn't be looking at your sister like that." She said shyly, biting her lower lip.

"I shouldn't?" I replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Not if you want her to keep her clothes on." She grinned as she sashayed toward me. I found myself temporarily without a response as she neared. Her skin was flushed a slight pink from the hot water of the shower, and I could feel the heat radiating from her body although she hadn't yet touched me.

She stood next to me, looking down at where I was sitting on the couch with a tentative expression. I reached out and placed a hand on one of her warm, soft thighs just above her knee. Her eyes closed a moment and she let out a small sigh. Hooking my hand behind her knee, I drew her closer to me.

"Come here," I breathed. She sat happily across my lap, hooking an arm around my neck. Her skin was so warm and soft against me. She gave me a delighted smile, her lower lip caught between her teeth. My little sister could be so goddamned adorable.

Without thinking, acting on a reawakened instinct that had been dormant for years, my hand slid under her shirt over her ribs and cupped her breast. My cock, already erect, strained against my the fabric of my boxers like a wild b**st shoving angrily against the bars of its cage. She whimpered, closing her eyes and clutching herself against me tightly.

"Oh god, Amy." I breathed as her nipple hardened against my palm. "I've missed you so fucking much."

Her lips found mine and our tongues met in a sensuous battle. She gripped my head in both of her hands, arching herself toward me. The fresh, mint smell of her toothpaste filled my lungs. My hand massaged her breast, as the other moved beneath her shirt, resting on the bare skin at the small of her back. Amy groaned her pleasure into my mouth, pausing to let out a ragged breath.

I rolled her nipple gently between my thumb and forefinger before giving it a light tug, causing her to gasp sharply. I could feel her entire body tremble in response. She rubbed her thighs together in my lap and looked up at me through half closed eyelids.

"Do that again." She sighed. A small smile crept across my lips as I complied. Again, I was rewarded with a sharp gasp, and I became aware that I could smell her arousal. Her thighs were locked together tightly in my lap, her eyes squeezed shut tight. The sound that escaped her lips made both my heart and my cock lurch like a bad driver downshifting on the highway.

I pulled her close to me, nuzzling my face against the side of her neck before planting my lips on it. She purred against me, petting the back of my head with one hand as I held her. My lips moved up the curve of her throat, pausing to feel her pulse racing through the vein in her neck. Impulsively, I licked it, using my tongue to feel the throb of her heartbeat. I kept going to her jawline, then nibbled her earlobe gently, causing her to shiver.

"I love you so much, beautiful." I whispered directly into her ear canal. I punctuated the statement with a kiss right where her ear and her jaw met, a spot I remembered she loved to be kissed. "I still can't believe I'm holding you again."

She pulled away from me slightly, looking directly in my eyes. Her eyes shimmered before me, filled with a deep and consuming love that was plainly visible within them. Her mouth opened the tiniest bit, and I thought I heard an intake of breath before she dove on me. Her mouth and tongue working their way the length of my neck as I had done to hers. She bathed the area between my clavicle and neck with her tongue before fastening her mouth to the tendon just above it and sucking as hard as she could. I couldn't resist a tiny chuckle, despite the erotic moment, as I knew exactly what she was up to. She liked to leave her mark on me, but was often unable to do so as much as she wished due to the secrecy of our relationship. But that need for secrecy was no longer present, and she claimed her territory with abandon.

I continued to massage her breast with my hand, while she kissed all around my neck, unwilling to release my hold on her wonderfully soft flesh. It had been so long since I'd held her in my arms and felt her body against mine. I had long wondered what it would be like to be with my little sister again like this, imagining in my head that the hunger for her would overtake me and I'd all but tackle her to the ground and take her right wherever I happened to find her.

Instead, I found myself worshiping every moment I spent with her, taking my time to enjoy every sensation that was revisited on my body and making sure that I gave her more than she gave me. I knew that part of that was a bid to prolong the moment I actually entered her, which I still felt anxious about. It had been more than three years, after all. I knew my chances of lasting long once she invited me to enter her were all but non-existent. So I felt like it was my mission to be sure that everything else was totally memorable for her. She was the most precious thing in the world to me, and I wanted her to know it.

Amy, apparently satisfied with her efforts on my neck, let go of me to put a hand on either side of the sofa behind me and lifted herself up from me. She swung a leg around, pivoting so that she was straddling me and settled back down against me. I felt my erection pressing against her crotch, and even through the clothes we had on, I could feel the heat emitting from her.

"There," she sighed contentedly as she ground her panties-clad mound against my crotch, "that's more like it."

Suddenly finding myself with better access to her body without risk of letting her fall to the floor, I moved my other hand under her shirt to take her second breast in my hand as well. She moaned her approval, followed by her breathing becoming more rapid. My thumbs grazed her nipples, toying with them while I palmed her breasts, pushing them together and kneading them like a kitten with a rag.

She mumbled something I couldn't make out between her raspy breaths.

"What was that?" I asked softly, nuzzling her throat gently before I placed a kiss on her esophagus.

"I said I've missed you touching me. Your hands on me." She repeated. "Fuck, I feel like I'm about to come already."

"I wouldn't mind," I grinned into her throat, as I found and gently tugged both of her hardened nipples at once. A loud groan shuddered from her body, her thighs quivering so much that I could see them vibrating from the corner of my eye. She ground her crotch against mine.

"That was playing dirty." She groaned in my ear, tilting her head the other way causing her long black hair to fan out and away from the side of her neck I had not yet kissed. I didn't feel the least bit guilty.

Instead, I dropped my hands from her breasts and hooked my fingers around the hem of her shirt, lifting it up. She raised her arms as I pulled it off of her, exposing her beautiful, round, creamy breasts to me. I took a moment, with my hands resting on her hips, to appreciate the vision before me.

"You're staring at me." She blushed.

"I can't help it. You're so beautiful." I replied, cupping a breast lovingly in my hand as I gazed at her.

"I'm glad you think so. You're not bad either, you know." She smiled as she tugged on my shirt as well.

I leaned forward from the back of the couch so she could pull my shirt off and drop it beside us on top of her own. She moved back against me and I felt her nipples graze against my chest, the contact sending delicious chills through me. I hugged her bare torso against mine, feeling the warmth from her body. My hands glided down her back to cup the globes of her ass, pulling her against me as she planted kisses across my shoulder.

"Take me to bed, baby. I need you." She breathed. I was in no position to deny my beautiful sister anything, and tightened my grip on her ass to ensure I was supporting her. I stood as she wrapped her legs around my waist and carried her to the bed, gently setting her down on the edge of it.

She rolled away from me and I was left staring at the graceful curve of her bare back and her gorgeous ass, now only partially hidden from my view by a very small pair of black panties. She climbed up on to the bed and laid down across it. She looked over her bare shoulder at me with a glance that made me swallow hard. I pulled off my shorts and boxers, then crawled into the bed, planting a kiss on her spine as I lay down.

Amy rolled to face me, smiling wickedly, and slid down the bed. I felt her hot breath on my penis and held my breath in anticipation. Her tongue bathed the head of my cock for a moment, then her mouth closed over it and began moving me in and out of her mouth. I gathered her hair in my hands, keeping it out of her face as she alternated between licking and sucking my shaft. Her delicate fingers raked their nails lightly over my balls, making me suck in a sharp breath.
"Oh god, baby. You're amazing." I sighed, as she purred happily in response. Her eyes were watching mine as I gazed down at her. I brought a hand down to graze her cheek, affectionately, and her eyes close softly. She let out a contented hum that vibrated down my cock and made it lurch against her. I felt my balls tightening up and ran my fingers through her hair, trying not to buck my hips into her face.

"Jesus, Amy. I'm gonna come." I groaned. She just purred around my cock and began bobbing her head faster. Within moments I began erupting in my sweet baby sister's mouth. She moaned excitedly, swallowing my load as fast as she could. For a brief moment, I felt like I would never stop ejaculating. But, it finally subsided, and I rolled onto my back, out of breath. Amy crawled up to join me, laying her head on my shoulder. I put an arm around her as she cuddled up to me.

"Did your baby sister do good?" She softly asked, with a hint of playfulness in her voice.

"So good," I replied, before my hand crept over to play with her exposed breast. She smiled against me as I kneaded her soft flesh, feeling her nipple against my palm. She was clearly enjoying the attention and playfully gave my neck a series of small kisses, licks, and nips as I felt her up. Eventually, I let my hand slide down her side, tracing the outline of her wonderful flesh. It glided down over her ribs, along the side of her stomach which now fluttered under my gentle touch, up along the swell of her hip and finally settled to clutch her ass. She moaned deliciously under my touch and seemed to hold her breath the lower my hand moved.

"I'll never get tired of your touch, baby." She breathed.

I smiled and gave her ass a good squeeze as a reply, then rolled her onto her back and began kissing her breasts. One of her hands was on my head, holding me to her breast as my tongue worshiped her nipple with great reverence. Her other hand was clutching the pillow above her in a fist, as she arched her back, trying to force more of her breast in my mouth. Amy let out a loud moan that filled the room. I continued to suckle on her nipple for a few more moments before moving to give her other nipple a similar treatment.

Amy's stomach fluttered every time my lips touched her skin as I moved progressively lower on her body. Her gasps became more and more audible as she was lost to the sensation of my touch. My fingers hooked into the material of her panties at her hips and she raised her ass to allow me to remove them from her. The smell of her arousal made my erection ache with need. I'd had my eyes closed, taking in her scent, and I suddenly realized that she was no longer shaved. Instead, she had a neatly trimmed patch of black fur above her lips. I didn't comment on it, instead choosing to nuzzle it lightly with my cheek in a fluid motion as I moved the last half inch to slide my tongue over her slit.

Her body trembled in response and I heard a sharp gasp above me. I parted her welcoming folds with my tongue and began lapping at the glistening secretions that her body released. She writhed above me, both of her hands clutching at her breasts as she released a series of ragged moans. Sliding a finger into her, I brought my tongue up to gently make a pass over her clit. No sooner did my tongue make contact than she bucked her hips, letting out a cry of release loud enough that there was no way the people in neighboring hotel rooms did not hear. She doubled over away from me, thighs clamped tightly together, eyes clinched. Her entire body was shaking from the force of her orgasm.

I moved up next to her, feeling a little pleased with myself, and gently stroked her hair. She rolled over to smile at me, and wrapped her arms around me. Her lips moved up to meet mine in a long, passionate kiss. She pulled me against her and rolled onto her back, I rolled with her until I was positioned above her. Her legs parted and she snaked a hand down to grab my shaft.

"I'm dying to feel you inside me." She sighed, giving me one of her most seductive smiles.

She positioned me over her entrance and I gently slid forward, easily gliding into her wet folds. We both moaned as her pussy swallowed my entire length, her body welcoming me into her like the long, lost love that I was. I began to move in and out of her, thrusting gently as her body began thrusting back at me. Her feet came up to hook behind my thighs, pulling me against her harder with each downward stroke. Her body felt like it was on fire beneath me. She whimpered and moaned with every stroke, jagged breaths escaping her as she shoved herself against me for all she was worth.

"Oh, Adam," she moaned my name, "Oh fuck."

I increased my thrusts, knowing that there was no greater feeling in the world than being inside her. My need for her seemed to transcend the physical. I didn't believe in souls, but if I did, I might have argued that my soul yearned for her as I continued my thrusts. She began holding her breaths, then releasing them in small whimpers as her orgasm drew closer. I rolled my hips a little as I thrust, trying to increase the sensation for her of my dick sliding into her tight canal. One of my hands moved up to massage her breast, and she let out a loud moan.

"So close, baby. I'm so close." She whispered, as both of her hands clutched the bed sheets above her head.

I could feel my own orgasm beginning to build as I took in the erotic vision below me. She was the loveliest and most exquisite creature I'd ever seen, and seeing her losing herself in ecstasy was something that had always rattled me to my core. It felt magnified ten fold by this moment, our bodies joined after so long.

"Come for me, princess." I whispered against her ear. "I want to hear you come."

Her hands wrapped around the back of my head, holding me against her face as she placed her mouth against my ear.

"Soon, my love," she managed to gasp into my ear between moans. "Oh god... All for you... uhhhn... baby."

Her hands kept my head gripped tight, as her groans raised in pitch and intensity. She seemed incapable of speaking as our bodies rocked together.

"That's it, beautiful. Come for me." I repeated, feeling the walls of her pussy clenching hard against me. She let out a loud cry, her quivering thighs gripping my hips as tightly as she could. Amy's small frame bucked hard against me, her chest heaving and forcing out a series of loud cries as wave after wave of her orgasm slammed through her body. My own body propelled toward orgasm in response to her cries and I groaned out her name as my cock released a jet of semen into her body, triggering a second orgasm from deep within her. She shook violently beneath me, vibrating like a tuning fork as my dick continued to erupt, bathing her walls with my come.

When I became aware of my surroundings again, erection fading rapidly inside her, I realized that she was crying.

"What's wrong?" I asked, concerned, brushing her hair from her lovely face.

"Nothing at all." She sniffled, smiling as she rolled over to cuddle tightly against me.

She opened her eyes, another tear sliding down her face toward the pillow, to lock them on my own. "I was starting to think I may never see you again. But here you are. And it's everything I want it to be. I love you, Adam. I love you so fucking much."

"I love you, too. I'll love you til I'm dead and gone." I replied, pulling her more tightly against me.

* * *

By morning, we'd had sex four times, I'd lost count of her orgasms, and we were both feeling rather raw and sore. When we finally fell asleep, wrapped in each others arms, the sun was beginning to come up. I know I would have happily slept until afternoon if the hotel room hadn't rung at ten in the morning and woke me up. I strained to reach it from my current position half under Amy's sleeping form.

"Yeah?" I answered groggily.

"Long night?" I could hear the humor in Theron's voice.

"What's going on?" I asked, not being awake enough yet for verbal warfare.

"Well, we were going to see if you two wanted to meet for breakfast in an hour, but why don't we try to meet up for lunch instead? Say around one? Clearly you need more sleep."

"Sounds good. Lobby at one?" I asked.

"Perfect. See you then."

I think I was asleep again before the phone finished settling on the cradle.

A couple of hours later, freshly showered, I sat in the lobby with Amy. Theron and Margaret walked up to us, smiling. They both looked tired.

"Didn't sleep much either, I guess?" I asked.

"Well, we would have, but the couple in the room next to us kept us up half the night." He smirked. I'd forgotten their room was next door to mine.

"Oh god!" Amy blushed deeper than I had ever seen her, and buried her face in her hands. I started cracking up, finding her embarrassment far too amusing to be very bothered by my own role in the matter. Theron and Margaret were both laughing as well.

Finally, Margaret put a hand on Amy's shoulder.

"Relax, dear. A little lost sleep is a tiny price to pay for seeing your brother so happy this morning. I've never seen him this way."

Amy looked up at her and went from blushing to pale.

"Oh, I guess he was too busy to catch you up on things." Margaret smiled, reassuringly. Then she sat up in a formal pose and motioned to Theron. "Amy, I'd like you to meet my brother, Theron."

Theron nodded his head, smiling, and said. "Nice to meet you, Amy."

"Wow." Amy looked at me wide eyed and back at them.

"That's how I wound up in Greece." I explained. "I told Dr. Miller the truth about what happened when he wanted to know why I couldn't go home when I left the hospital that day. He was friends with Theron and thought that it may help for me to be around people who understood what we'd been dealing with."

Amy nodded and began to relax. She took my hand in hers.

"Now then, have you bothered to check reviews of the show yet? I imagine not." Theron asked me.

"No, I haven't."

"I thought not." He replied with a smirk, passing his tablet computer to me. "You sounded a bit preoccupied last night."

Amy blushed again, but not as red as she had been. I looked down at the tablet. The screen was on a website of a world famous art critic. The article talked about how successful Theron Cain's new exhibit was and talked, at length, glowingly, about the work of a new artist named Adam Matheson. My jaw fell open and I looked up at Theron who was now grinning ear to ear.

"What?" Asked Amy. I passed her the tablet.

"That's not the only one, either." Theron said. "I've read nothing but positive reviews all morning."

"Holy shit." I replied.

"...Matheson's work exposes the unspoken visceral truths of the human condition." Amy read aloud from the article, grinning at me like a madwoman.

I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"What the hell paintings was he looking at?" I asked as Theron burst out laughing.

"Let's get some food, we can look over reviews later." Margaret spoke up, amused, but clearly hungry.

"Definitely," I agreed, having not eaten since before the show last night.

"What time is your flight?" I asked Amy, suddenly remembering that she was supposed to return to the States today.

"In about... six hours," She said, looking down at her phone to check the time.

"Are you trying to get rid of me already?" She teased.

"Hell, no. I'm just thinking about how long we have to decide how we're handle everything, logistically speaking.." I replied.

Over lunch, we worked out that Amy would go back to Portland that night after all, in order to get things ready to be able to join me in Greece. When I got back to the island, I'd work on getting things ready for a second person to share the apartment for a while, until we could find something a little bit larger. Then I'd likely fly to Portland to help her get things sorted out and packed.

At one point during the meal, Amy got a phone call. I watched in mild amusement as she excitedly told Courtney that she had, indeed, found me in London. There were a lot of half finished sentences machine gunning back and forth across the phone line, and Theron began snickering. I wasn't far behind him, earning both of us stern looks from Margaret. Amy was nearly bouncing in the booth when she told Courtney that she was moving to Europe to live with me.

After lunch, I made arrangements to meet back up with the Cains after seeing Amy off at the airport and we parted company so that Amy I spend time together before she had to leave.

"When did you get to London?" I asked, taking in the amount of clothes she had spread across the bed in the hotel room. Most of them had been packed already, and for reasons unfathomable to me, she had unpacked just to return them to her bags a few minutes later. If Theron was right and there were a lot more shows on the horizon, I suspected I'd see a scene like this play out many times in the future.

"Friday afternoon. Why?" She asked as she started stacking the clothes in her suitcase.

"Just noticing that you still pack three times as many clothes as you need."

"Oh shut up."

I picked up a heavily creased piece of paper, that had fallen from her luggage. It had been folded and refolded so many times that it practically fell open in my hand. It was a printed page from the gallery's website promoting our exhibit. It mentioned Theron most prominently, but stated that the exhibit would also feature "new works by American abstract artist Adam Matheson." My name had been circled on the page with a pen multiple times and had several question marks drawn next to it. Little feminine looking hearts were doodled along the edge of the page as well as what I thought looked like a couple of flight numbers.

"Snoop." Amy said, looking up from her packing.

"Stalker."

"Gonna get a restraining order?" She asked playfully. Her hair sliding forward across her face as she packed.

"I don't think I have to worry too much. You're not very good at it." I smirked.

"Well, I didn't have much to work with, jackass."

"I haven't been called that in a long time." I chuckled. She laughed too, and we fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes while she finished packing up the last of her stuff. It was so great hearing her laugh. Being called a jackass gave me a warm familiar feeling in my heart. Most of my life, that had been a term meant to annoy me. In some ways, it still was. But it's funny the meaning had changed over the years. And how badly I now realized I had missed the moniker.

"Do you still talk to our parents?" I asked.

"I keep in touch with mom. It's tense sometimes. She knows I was still looking for you. She keeps holding out hope that I'll drop it. Dad, not so much. It's never been the same. I tried to not be angry with him. I mean, I know we shocked the hell out of them both, but he reacted so badly. What he did to you." She shuddered at the memory. I was never that horrified by his actions against me. I had worried more about her than myself throughout that whole event. I realized now just how hard it had to have been for her to witness. And it seemed to have burned in her memory. "We just don't have much to say to each other, anymore. At least not much that won't lead to a screaming match. He knows I resent him. And I don't think he's in too big of a hurry to try to change my mind about it."

"I'm sorry. I don't know that it would ever have gone any differently. I always knew that our relationship would cost us. No matter how many ways I thought of to try to tell them about us, I always felt like the end result was the same. They just couldn't accept it. And I can't even really fault them for that. It's got to be a hard thing to come to terms with. And it's not like we exactly eased them into it, either."

Amy came over and sat in my lap, wrapping her arms around me in a big hug. She smelled wonderful.

"It was worth it though, right?" She asked.

"Absolutely worth it." I replied, returning her hug.

"Are you going to tell them you found me?" I asked. My fingers ran through her hair affectionately. Her eyes closed and she tilted her head into my hand.

"I'll need to tell mom sooner or later." She said with a sigh.

"I can't just leave the country without a word. Unlike some people." Amy emphasized the word 'some' while giving me a look of fake irritation.

"That should be an interesting conversation. I don't envy you." I tactfully elected to ignore the second part of her comment.

"You're not going to disappear again while I'm in Portland, right?" She smiled while she asked, but I could see the glint of worry in her eyes. "I know it's a silly thing to worry about. I just.. want to hear you say it, I guess."

"I'll never disappear on you again, sweetheart. I promise."

"You'd better not. I'll stalk you again just to kick your ass." She reached for her phone and checked the time.

"How much longer before we need to get you to the airport?"

"I really need to head over there in about two hours."

My heart sank a bit at the thought of her going away again, even if it was only for a couple of weeks. Hopefully, I'd be able to visit her in Portland sooner than that.

"That sucks."

"I was just thinking the same thing. You think two hours is long enough for sex, a shower, and a cab ride to Heathrow?" She grinned at me and ground herself in my lap suggestively.

"We can certainly give it a good try."

* * *

It was hard to let her get on the plane. I got the feeling that it was just as hard for her to leave me behind. We exchanged our phone numbers and she made sure that she got Theron and Margaret's as well. I held her in my arms at the boarding gate until the flight attendant finally told her to get on the plane or miss the flight.

I stayed at the airport until I saw the plane take off, pondering the turn of events that had occurred in the last 48 hours. We had been reunited for less than two days. And then she was gone again, even if it wasn't for very long. I resisted an urge to walk to the ticket counter right that moment and book the next flight back to the States. I felt a familiar tightness in my chest that I hadn't experienced in a couple of years. I sat on a bench with my hands on my knees, staring resolutely at the ground. Taking a few deep breaths, I managed to calm myself down. Finally, I caught a cab back to my hotel and took a long nap.

That night, I met up with Theron and Margaret for dinner. They could barely stop smiling at me the entire time and made me self conscious. Margaret, in particular, was beside herself with excitement.

"It's going to be a long couple of weeks." I mused.

"I have a feeling it's going to go by faster than you think." Theron replied between bites of steak.

"I hope so. I just need to get a new bed and clean up the apartment a bit. There isn't a lot of prep work to be done, really." I thought out loud as I stabbed a piece of potato with my fork and stared at it absently.

"Thanks for being okay with her moving into the apartment with me. It really means a lot." I added, looking up at Theron.

"Absolutely. We wouldn't have it any other way." Margaret spoke up as Theron nodded.

"Did you get a chance to look over any other reviews yet?" Theron asked, knowing full well that I hadn't.

When I shook my head, he wiped his hands off on his napkin and pulled his tablet computer out again. He opened a website and passed it over to me.

"Matheson is an essential and uniquely American voice responding to the current postmodern condition." I read aloud, making a sour face at the screen.

"Seriously, where do they get this stuff? What the hell does that even mean? Do these guys just keep a thesaurus on the back of their toilet and make up statements about the stuff they look at? Look at this bullshit." I motioned to one of the paintings photographed in the article and read from the caption beneath it. "...a raw, visceral look into a fractured mind.' Seriously? It's an aborted attempt to paint a goddamned nautilus shell that I added a bunch of godforsaken sponge textures over!"
Theron was laughing so hard that his face was nearly purple. Margaret was cackling as well, trying to keep her tears of laughter from streaking her makeup.

"You are hilarious when you start ranting, you know that?" Theron gasped.

"So I've been told." I replied, still looking at the article and wondering what the hell these critics saw that I didn't when I painted. I suspected that they were making things up in order to justify their jobs.

"The point is, things are gonna start happening. You don't see this many positive reviews without calls starting to come in from other galleries. You'll see." He gave me a knowing grin.

"Yeah, right." I replied, sarcastically. There was less conviction in my voice, and they both picked up on it. The reviews were very positive, and I was beginning to seriously wonder if I was might have a real shot at making a living at an artist. I was still far from convinced, of course.

That night I tossed and turned in the hotel bed, unable to get comfortable. I stared at the ceiling waiting impatiently to hear that she had landed safely in the US. Frustrated, I raided the room's minibar and was pouring myself a rum and coke when my cellphone chirped at me with a text from Amy.

"Just landed. Missing the hell out of you already. Love you."

Breathing a sigh of relief, I sent back my reply. "We'll be together again soon. Just not soon enough. Love you, too. This is going to take forever."

"Did you find my present?" Present? I glanced around the room. Was I missing something?

"Present?" I sent back.

"I left a memento in your suitcase. ;)"

I walked over to my suitcase and dug around in it for a moment. I didn't see anything that shouldn't have been there. After a little reflection, I did notice something missing though.

"Did you steal my dress shirt?" I sent.

"...maybe." I started chuckling when I saw her reply.

"Brat."

"I left something in return. You didn't see it?"

I went back to the suitcase and dug some more. I found the black pair of panties she'd worn the night before shoved in the pocket of my dress slacks.

"Found 'em."

"Just something to remind you of me until we can be together again. ;)"

"Tease."

"Yep. Guilty. Not sorry, either. I'm going to sleep in this shirt every night. I won't ask you to do the same with my underwear. Unless you want to, that is."

"Not happening." I smirked as I sent my reply.

"Damn. A girl can dream."

"New fetish?"

"Nope. I've got plenty of those already. Funny thing is, they all involve my big brother."

"You're going to make this last bit of time apart as hard as you can, aren't you?"

"I like making it hard."

"Still a damned tease." I smirked as I sent the reply.

A few moments later, an image arrived. Chuckling to myself, as I remembered her photos that she had sent me from Rome, years before, I clicked the image file to open it. It was a photo taken in what appeared to be a bathroom. Her torso was in the photo, covered only by my dress shirt which was left unbuttoned. The curve of her breasts and the space between them was clearly visible in the photo, but her nipples remained covered by the shirt. It was sexy as hell.

The phone vibrated again with another text.

"Feeling teased yet?"

"Definitely."

"Good. I'm at my car now, gotta drive home. Goodnight, love."

"Goodnight, beautiful."

I plugged my phone into the charger on the nightstand and double checked the alarm. Swallowing the last of my rum and coke, I kicked back on the bed to try to sleep. It took a while, but I eventually drifted off.

* * *

By the time we got back home in Milos, the London gallery had sold several of my pieces, even at the insanely inflated prices. Theron gave me a smug grin at the news and I had to admit defeat on the pricing argument. The gallery also had multiple requests from other galleries trying to reach out to me for possible shows, just as Theron had predicted.

Theron pointed out that I was now in the kind of position as an artist that I needed to get representation. He offered to set me up for a meeting with his agent, and I gratefully accepted the help. I had no idea how to even begin to navigate the intricacies of arranging showings and contracts with galleries, much less when dealing with them in multiple countries. Offers were coming in from Germany, Italy, and France already. It had not even been a full week yet. How the hell was this happening? My mind boggled.

Theron and Margaret just beamed at me like proud parents while I stared at them incredulously.

"I told you that it was only a matter of time, Adam." Theron grinned over dinner that evening.

"You did. But it's just crazy. I mean, damn. Surely, they'll figure out it's a fluke and pull the offers, right? I mean, there's no way my stuff's going to be hanging all over Europe like that." I was still mystified by the whole thing.

"It doesn't really work like that. The real trick is, you can't let it go to your head when things get rolling. Don't go spending all kinds of money on stupid shit. Save it. Invest it. Don't be that guy that starts making money and spending it just as fast, you know?" He advised.

"If it came to that, Amy could probably help. She's got a degree in finance. I'm sure she would have some investment ideas. I don't know anything about that kind of stuff. If, by some chance, I wind up making decent money at this, I don't see myself blowing it all anyway. But I do hear what you're saying. I appreciate the advice."

"You've already made more from the London show than the last three years combined and it's only the first week. Things are going to start happening faster now. You need to be ready for it."

"Jesus." I needed a beer.

Theron and I met with his agent, Damian, in Athens a few days later. After going over the details of what help he could offer me, we argued a bit over his percentage. I signed some paperwork and we shook hands. I walked out of the meeting with an agent. I was now an artist with representation. Damn.

I messaged Amy that the meeting had been successful, hoping that I didn't wake her up. The ten hour time difference meant it was still in the middle of the night in Portland.

I spent the next couple of days cleaning up the apartment and repainting over a failed mural attempt that I had been tinkering with on one wall of the living area. Margaret was a little upset with me for painting over it, knowing how many hours I had sunk into the project. She was amused at how much work I put into trying to make the small apartment look less like a bachelor pad.

"You think Amy is going to care one bit about what the place looks like after so long apart?" She asked me.

"Probably not, but I'd like her to at least be comfortable here. I checked out the rent house at the end of the block again yesterday. I think it may be a real possibility if all goes well."

"Talking about moving out again? We've told you that you are more than welcome here as long as you like." She sounded exasperated.

"My stuff fits here just fine right now, but once I get the rest of my stuff shipped from Texas as well as Amy's stuff, it's going to be more than cramped. Trust me. You've never seen her closets. We'll need the space." I was being serious, but couldn't help grinning at Margaret's smirk.

"You may have a point there." She conceded as she glanced at the lone closet in the apartment. "It really isn't a very big space."

* * *

I finally returned to my home town a few days later. It was a short, overnight trip to pack and ship my remaining possessions from the storage building that I had been sending Dr. Miller money to maintain for me while I was away. I did not expect to see Austin again after this, having no further reason to be there in my estimation. It felt really strange to be back, but it didn't feel like the horror show of an existence that it had been when I left. Unlike before, I didn't feel a cloud of doom over me with every step. Amy and I discussed going to Austin together to talk to our mother about her leaving the country to be with me, but had decided against it.

I originally planned to rent a car, but realized that my driver's license had expired while I was abroad. Resigned to my fate, I took a cab to a favorite diner to grab some lunch before I got busy with the things I needed to take care of. I was midway through what I thought might be the best cheeseburger I'd ever had in my life, while answering an email from my new agent about a possible show in Berlin when I saw my mother walk into the diner with two of her friends. I had been in the country for all of three hours and I had already managed to step in shit. God damn it. I stared down at my phone, hoping she wouldn't see me.

"Adam!" My mother exhaled, excusing herself from her friends to walk over to my table. Screw every possible moment of my life, I thought to myself. I had no idea what I was going to say to her.

I looked up at her, genuinely unsure of what to say.

"Hi." I said, with a little apprehension. To be fair, she looked as apprehensive as I felt.

"How have you been?" I asked, feeling about as awkward as one could.

"Um.. Okay, I suppose. And you?" She asked.

"I am... Probably the best I've been in a long time," I paused. "This is really weird, mom. Do you want to sit?"

I pointed at the red chair across from me.

She sat in the chair and looked me over. She looked like a sea of emotions were boiling behind her eyes. I was suddenly glad that we were in a public place.

"You have gotten really tan. Are you working construction or something? What do you do?"

"I mostly paint." I looked at my arms. Had I really gotten that tan? Amy had told me the same thing. Weird.

"Houses?"

"I'm am an art assistant. I paint canvases in my free time. Same thing I did here." I fought back an urge to sneer.

"Do you live here in Austin?" She asked.

"No, I'm just in town for the day."

"Oh." She blinked. "We haven't heard from you at all."

"Dad told me not to. He was pretty damned clear about his feelings on the matter, if you recall." I had a little gravel in my voice when I said it and hadn't exactly planned to.

"Yes, but I thought once things calmed down..."

"Oh? Does he ask about me? Does he say he wishes I'd come for Christmas dinner? I imagine he doesn't." I snapped.

"Well, no." She was taken aback.

"Mom, look. I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be snippy with you." I sighed, dialing in my irritation. I hadn't meant to snap at her. "And I'm really sorry about the way things went that day. It wasn't the way we wanted you guys to find out about us. I'm sure Amy told you we were planning to sit you guy down and talk about it eventually. I honestly don't think that it would have changed anything. It's not like I ever expected him to take it calmly. I'm not even sure I blame him for reacting the way he did. But we never meant to throw it in your face or hurt anyone."

"Probably not. You couldn't have been foolish enough to think we would be okay with... that." She made a face.

"No, I didn't. I don't expect you to accept it, and I don't think that she does either. But I love her, mom. I love her like I've never loved anything in this world." I paused and stared intently at her for a moment as my brain clicked some thoughts into place.

"Have you talked to her?" She asked.

"About a week and a half ago. She found me in Europe. First time I've seen her since that morning at your house." I didn't even think of it as "home" anymore.

"Europe?" Now she really looked surprised. I ignored the question. It didn't matter.

"I did what you asked in your letter. I stayed away from her for years. I loved her so much that I tried to let her move on with her life like you asked. Three years of no contact, and she never stopped looking for me. Hell, she flew all the way to London to find me. What does that tell you? And we have found that we love each other as much as we ever did. Probably even more. We didn't ask for this to happen. We never meant to fall in love. But it did happen. And it's real. And it's clearly not going away."

She started to cry softly. I passed her a napkin before continuing.

"Look, I've made a lot of mistakes in my life and I'm sure I'm going to make a lot more of them. But loving Amy isn't one of them. I ran like a coward for a long time, trying to honor your wishes to let her move on with her life. I'm done with that. All it did was hurt. Do you understand? You don't have to accept it. But do you at least understand that it is real?"

She slowly nodded her head at me.

"She's coming to live with me."

"I can't say I'm surprised." She said, sadly. "What do I tell your father?"

"I don't care. Tell him whatever you want." I shrugged. "He disowned me. No reason for his opinion to matter to me at all."

"Where are you going to be?"

"I don't really factor into your lives anymore, so I'll leave it to Amy to decide if she wants to tell you or not. I don't feel like it's my place to say." I replied. "But I'm sorry we hurt you, mom. I really am."

I took a bite of my burger and watched her as she looked at me for a long time not saying anything. Part of me wondered what had gotten in to me. I was surprised by how much I found that I really did not care what they thought anymore. I finished chewing the bite, suddenly realizing that I was no longer hungry, and swallowed. The loss of appetite was disappointing, considering how awesome it was to have a legitimate cheeseburger again. I tossed the rest of the burger on the plate.

Dropping my napkin in the middle of the plate, I grabbed my bag and stood up to leave.

"Take care of yourself," I told her, not really knowing what else to say.

"You too, Adam." she said. As I turned to walk away, she added. "You take care of her, too."

"I'll do my best, mom. I promise." I looked back at her with a small smile.

"I believe you." She smiled sadly. "I'm not okay with this. Don't misunderstand."

"I understand. I wasn't okay with it for a long time, either. We don't choose who we love. But she is the greatest thing in the world. I wouldn't trade her for anything." I put a hand on her shoulder. "Bye, mom."

I walked out the restaurant feeling like there might be some small hope for reconciliation with our mother. I knew better than to even think that about dad, but I was prepared to live with that. I called Amy and told her about the encounter. She was more than relieved that she would not have to be the one to tell mother about the upcoming move.

I met up with Jeff Miller later that afternoon and used his truck to bring the stuff from the storage unit to his art studio. We packed my paintings from the unit into padded shipping crates, along with the rest of my stuff. A shipping company would be picking them up to deliver to Greece in the coming days. Although he tried not to let me, I made sure to give him at least some compensation for his trouble.

Over dinner that night, I caught him up on some of the successes I had experienced with my art in Europe. I showed him pictures of some of my recent work and he approved of my progress. He was very pleased to hear about my success at the London show and was impressed that things were moving along for me at the pace that they were. Jeff and his wife, Becky, both expressed how glad they were to see that I was doing so much better than when they had last seen me. I thanked him again for his help during the hardest time of my life. When he dropped me off in front of my hotel for the evening, he passed me a couple of books that he asked me to bring to Theron for him. I promised that I would and headed inside.

Once I got checked in, I took a quick shower, then slouched on the bed and sent Amy a text.

"Can't wait to see you tomorrow."

"Me either, baby! I'm so excited!"

"Did mom call you?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure she will."

I flipped channels on the TV disinterestedly. I'd overestimated the time that I would need to pack the storage room. The pile of stuff had grown in my memory over the years, forgetting that I had once kept everything I owned in a single room. Now I was left with nothing but time to kill until I would join Amy in Portland tomorrow. A few snags in shipping arrangements and her wrapping up some accounts in a responsible manner at the job that she was leaving had delayed things a bit. It had been just over two weeks since we had seen each other.

"Wish you were here." I texted, as I debated going down to the hotel bar. I elected not to, as I didn't want to risk bumping into someone I knew and getting trapped in a long conversation.

"Oh yeah? It wasn't that many years ago that you wouldn't have been caught dead typing those words."

"You were an obnoxious little brat then."

"I was your little brat, though."

"Not at the time."

"You know what I mean."

An image file arrived a moment later. I opened the file and a photo of her back, wearing my dress shirt, taken in a mirror. About two thirds of her majestic ass was visible below the shirt with only the line of a thong obscuring the view. I stared at it for a good ten seconds or so before responding.

"You're trying to make me go sit at the airport all night trying to switch to an earlier flight, aren't you?"

"Is it working? Do you like seeing your little brat's ass?"

"You've got me thinking pretty hard about it."

"The flight or my ass?"

"Fuck it. I'm going." I got up and started tossing the very few items I had unpacked back in my bag.

"What? Seriously?" Came the reply.

"Seriously. I'm sitting on my ass doing nothing. If I'm doing the same thing at the airport, then I can maybe get there that much sooner."

"I'll be waiting!"

I grinned when I saw her text and dropped the phone on the bed, while I packed my laptop away. Once everything was packed, I went back down to the front desk and turned my key in to a very perplexed looking hotel employee.

"Was there a problem with the room, Mr. Matheson?" They asked nervously.

"Not at all. I just realized I have somewhere else I need to be." I smiled, as I dialed the number for the cab company.

As I climbed into the cab a few minutes later, my phone vibrated with another message from Amy.

"Hell, if I had known that I only needed to sent a picture of my ass to get you out here, I would have sent it a week ago."

* * *

There wasn't an earlier flight. I sat in the damned airport like an asshole all night, doodling in a sketchbook while stuck in an uncomfortable chair. Patience is a virtue. Or something like that. My impatience to be with my sister caused me a very long night of no sleep. But that wasn't the first time that had happened, by any means. The positive side of being up all night in a airport cursing my impulsiveness was that it was daytime in Athens and I was able to answer Damian's emails pretty rapidly.

The four hour flight to Portland was uneventful and felt abnormally short when compared to the fifteen hours I had spent flying in from Athens. Admittedly, I had slept most of it. We had flights booked for Athens from Portland that left in three days, meaning I'd be spending somewhere in the neighborhood of nearly forty hours on planes in less than a week's time. I was not overly enthused about this, and had already depleted the stack of books I had brought with me to read in flight. A trip to a bookstore would be in order sometime in the next few days. When I walked out of the loading ramp into the terminal, I scanned the room for Amy. She was nowhere in sight.

I made it about ten yards into the terminal when I was suddenly attacked in the hundred and ten pound equivalent of a football tackle. Well, I imagine a football game featuring such a tackle would raise more than a few eyebrows, as my attacker wrapped her arms and legs around me and began kissing me with great ferocity. I did my best to return the kisses in kind, while fighting off my laughter. The laughter and smiles of a couple of onlookers seemed to have a slight calming effect on us and I was finally able to get some oxygen back in my lungs.
"Miss me?" She asked, out of breath, grinning like a fool when she finally settled down.

"Like you wouldn't believe." I smiled back at her. Amy looked stunning, as always. She was wearing a red shirt and jeans, but she could make even such a simple outfit look sexy as hell.

We collected my luggage and caught a cab to her apartment. Most of the trip was spent with her practically climbing me in the backseat of the cab, kissing my neck, and making me feel a bit like a cat tree. A very horny cat tree.

The shyness that had loomed over both of us when we first reunited in London was long gone now. As soon as we entered the apartment, she locked the door and dropped to her knees in front of me. She grabbed my belt buckle in one hand and found my zipper with her other. She fished my prick out of my pants and gazed at it as she licked her lips. I watched her as she stroked my length in her small hands. Her eyes came up to lock with mine and she gave me a wicked, lust filled smile, just as she tilted her head a little to the side and took me into her mouth. She bobbed up and down rapidly, tilting her head first one direction, then the other as she went adding to the sensations she was giving my length. I moaned as I pulled her hair back from her face, holding it out of her way.

She slowed for two long sensuous strokes, running her tongue along the underside of my shaft as she went, before she moved forward, Adjusting the angle of her throat just a little. I gasped audibly as I felt my cock move past her mouth into her throat. Her lips met with the base of my shaft and she moaned, the vibration in her throat creating a sensation along my cock that made me groan again. She withdrew, clearly pleased with herself, and attempted to smile around my prick in her mouth. I felt her suck in a breath around the side of my dick before she moved back and took me all the way down again. She faltered this time, pulling back to cough a moment and snicker.

"Out of practice," she mumbled as she flashed me a grin, and dove back to her task.

Her mouth swallowed me whole again, without choking. Each time my cock slid into her throat, the sensation nearly overwhelmed me. I fought hard not to grab her head and ram myself into her. A groan escaped my lips periodically, the only sound in the room aside from the wet sounds of her lips on my prick and the light moans she was making herself.

"Oh god, Amy." I gasped. "Keep going."

She didn't reply, but she kept up her ministrations. I could feel my balls tensing up. I'd had my eyes closed without realizing it, and opened them taking in the sight of my beautiful baby sister kneeling before bobbing her head up and down my length. My free hand reached out to the wall for support as I felt the rush building in my groin. She sped up her bobbing, breathing hard through her nose. My hips bucked a little, involuntarily as the first shot of come released in her mouth. She instantly went deep, taking me all the way in and stayed there as long as she could as my cock sent volleys of come deep into her throat. Finally, she pulled back, licking me clean as she went, careful to avoid putting too much pressure on my crown, now sensitive from having just climaxed. She swallowed hard when she released my prick and made sure she had licked it clean.

Amy caught her breath a moment, then smiled warmly up at me. She raised her arms above her head, cocking her head to the side adorably, motioning for me to help her up. I couldn't help grinning widely as I did so. Her arms snaked around my neck, pulling me into a huge hug, which I gladly obliged. Her lips moved up to my ear.

"I had been dying to taste my big brother's come for weeks." She whispered seductively and nibbled my ear. My cock twitched a bit at her words, despite being temporarily out of commission.

I swept her up in my arms, cradling her like a small c***d and asked.

"Bed?"

She laughed aloud and pointed over her shoulder, "That way."

I paused a moment to kiss her deeply, tasting a little of myself in her mouth. I carried her down the hall, toward where she motioned the bedroom to be. She was kissing and sucking on my neck as I walked, no doubt leaving marks, knowing her. I pushed a door open with my foot and was faced with a bathroom. Part of my brain registered that most of the bathroom was packed into boxes that sat on the floor by the sink, but I really was unconcerned with that detail at the time.

"Oops." I mumbled, and she started chuckling against my throat. I could feel the smile spread across her face.

"Next one."

I carried her to the next room down the hall and saw a bed in it.

"That's more like it." I said aloud and lightly tossed her onto it. She bounced harmlessly on the mattress.

"Hey! Damn it!" She laughed, not even coming close to achieving the annoyed tone I could tell she was trying for.

She sat up on the bed, pulling her shirt over her head and tossing it to the floor. I pulled off my own shirt, as she began unbuttoning her jeans. I stripped to my boxers and saw her still struggling with the jeans that she now had halfway down her hips.

"Little help?" She grinned at me. I chuckled as I grabbed the sides of her pants and tried to pull them off of her, unintentionally lifting her ass from the bed in the process.

"How the fuck do you move in these things?" I asked as I they finally slid down her long slender legs.

"Oh shut it." She smirked and reached behind her back to unhook her bra.

I climbed into the bed just as she dropped the bra. She flung her arms open, beckoning me to her as if I needed an invitation. We wrapped ourselves around each other, her beautiful breasts smashed against my chest, and kissed. I held her to me for a long time, just enjoying that she was back in my arms, before I allowed my hands to wander her body. She had her arms hooked under mine, gripping my shoulders for all she was worth as she ground her pelvis against me. My lips traveled from her mouth to her jaw line, planting kisses up toward her ear. Just as my lips brushed against her ear, she managed to maneuver her pelvis so that my shaft was lined up with her labia and she rocked her hips so that my cock slide, rather unexpectedly along her slit. The incredible sensation cause me to release a sharp gasp right next to her ear and it seemed to drive her wild. She bucked against me, moaning loudly.

"Oh fuck, Adam. I need you!" She cried, as she rolled us until she was on top of me. She jerked her panties down her legs, bringing up one leg to remove them and nearly tumbling herself in the process. I would have laughed at her, if it hadn't made her breasts bounce so deliciously that it filled me with hunger and overwrote the humor or the situation. I raised my hips enough to slide my boxers down and she quickly returned to straddling me, grinding her bare pussy against my semi erect cock. Somewhere in the back of my mind, it registered that she had shaved it again. Unable to resist, I took her breasts in my hands, kneading them, feeling her rock hard nipples against my palms. She moaned her approval, holding one hand over mine against her breast, while the other was flat against my chest.

"I love your hands on me." She breathed.

My uncovered hand toyed with her nipple a moment, before cupping her breast as I leaned forward to kiss it. I kissed her breast in a circle around the nipple before I gave it a swift lick and fastened my lips to it. I sucked her nipple into my mouth, tonguing the hardened nub while my hand snaked around her back and slid down her body.

My erection was rapidly returning and that bit of information was not lost on her. She raised herself up and grabbed my shaft, lining it up with her entrance. Amy lowered herself slowly and I watched as my dick slowly disappeared into the tight folds of my baby sister's flesh. I reflexively held my breath as I had entered her, trying to focus everything I had on enjoying the sensation of her enveloping me. When she was lowered completely, I let out a long breath.

I slid my hands down to cup her ass, and began pulling her against me as we met each others thrusts. She arched her back away from me, her beautiful breasts bouncing as we rocked against each other rhythmically. One of my hands moved around to drag my palm across her stomach, up between her breasts, pausing to rub one of them, before curling around behind her neck and pulling her down meet my lips. We kissed hard, our tongues thrusting into each others mouths, tasting each other as best we were able.

"God I love you," I breathed when we came up for air. She ground herself against me, too busy moaning at the moment to respond. Her breath was coming in hard, ragged gasps. Amy sat back up, and began slamming herself into me harder. I watched in rapt attention as her breasts heaved above me.

Amy's urgent moans increased in tempo and volume as she rocked against me. I slid a hand across her thigh and down to run my thumb across her clit as she arched her back again. The combination of my cock inside her and my thumb on her clitoris was too much and sent her over the edge. Her legs seized around me, vibrating as her stomach rippled with the force of her orgasm. She cried out loudly enough that I was sure half the apartment complex had to have heard her. She collapsed into me, as though she were made of rubber and I cradled her to me, my hard shaft still inside her, while she rode out the aftershocks of her climax.

"You didn't come?" She asked when she regained her senses. Her blue eyes cracked open to lock on to mine.

"Not yet." I replied as I softly stroked her hair.

"Well, I guess your little sister has some work to do, doesn't she?" She grinned wickedly at me.

* * *

We woke up late the next morning, neither of us feeling particularly energetic after the night before. Luckily, she was now unemployed and had nowhere she really needed to be that morning. We went to a local cafe for a late breakfast and then returned to her apartment to finish packing things up for the move. I made arrangements with the shipping company and filled out the bill of lading as we went. Shipping things to another country was a pain the ass, I had learned from my experience shipping my own possessions back in Austin. I could not have asked for better company, of course, and did not mind the work in the least.

If I were being totally honest, we probably could have finished up for the day much sooner, if one of us hadn't been distracted by the others ass when she bent to pick up a box and given it an appreciative rub. I refuse to accept responsibility for my actions in that particular situation. There was a magnificent ass in desperate need of a grope and I felt it was my duty to accommodate that need. That rub resulted in a delay that took a couple of hours, although neither of us complained about it. We finally finished packing everything and stacking it in the front room by late afternoon.

A former work colleague of hers came and picked up the bed and some of the living room furniture just before dusk. Neither Amy nor myself felt much need to point out to him just how thoroughly used that bed had been the night before. The apartment had come partially furnished and we made good use of the washer and dryer before packing the sheets away. We'd be staying in a hotel by the airport that night, returning in the morning to meet the shipping company and catching our flight to Athens that afternoon.

Amy balked at me for insisting that she pack a couple of weeks worth of clothes in her luggage for the flight. When I reminded her that it would take at least two weeks for the things we were shipping to arrive, she took my advice and loaded some more things from a box to her luggage. Surveying what she had prepared, I probably shouldn't have said anything. I'd momentarily forgotten the unwritten rule that women felt the need to pack at least four outfits per day for any given outing.

We were both exhausted that night when we got to our hotel room for the night. Our last night in the States for the foreseeable future was spent cuddling in the hotel bed, watching television and occasionally making out.

The following afternoon, still somewhat in shock from seeing the bill for the shipping, I settled in beside Amy on the plane for our fifteen hour flight. She had both of her arms wrapped around one of mine and her head leaning on my shoulder. She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek, excitedly.

"Do you remember the night you first took me to that Italian place?" She asked.

I smiled at the memory. It was the first time we had gone on a real date, the first night we had sex, and the first night we had spent the entire night together as lovers. There had been one of the best nights of my life.

"Of course I remember."

"You told me that night that you wanted to take me somewhere where no one knew us. Someplace we could start over and have our life together, remember?" She smiled.

"Yeah, beautiful. I remember." I brought my hand up and lightly stroked her cheek. She turned her face to nuzzle my palm and sighed happily.

The airline began delivering the safety speech before take off. I watched the rather condescending looking stewardess cut her eyes at each person as she made her way down the aisle of the plane, checking everyone's seat belts. I remembered watching movies in my younger days that always seemed to feature these incredibly attractive stewardesses and reflected momentarily on the fact that most of the ones I'd encountered in the last few months ranged from looking like angry school teachers to my old high school lunch lady. Not a smoking hot one in the bunch. The recording of the safety message wrapped up and the stewardess wandered into the front cabin for a bit.

"The point is, we're doing it." Amy grinned, returning to her conversation. "We're really doing it. There's nothing to keep us apart anymore."

"It was always the plan, baby." I joked, wondering how easily she could elbow me from her current position.

"Well, you certainly took your sweet time about it." She chuckled. I couldn't help chuckling myself.

"I love you." I said, giving her a squeeze.

"I love you, too."

* * *

"That wasn't a real plane." Amy commented as we stepped out of the tiny airport in Zefiria. We were both stiff as hell from sitting for most of the day on a flight across the Atlantic.

"You get used to it." I replied as I scanned the parking lot for Margaret.

"Seriously, that was a glorified hang glider. They put us in a slingshot and launched us from Athens."

I started laughing.

"Jesus, brat. We can take the ferry next time if it bothers you that bad. And here I thought you were always the adventurous one."

"I am adventurous. But I at least want a parachute if I'm just gonna be flung in the general direction of my destination instead of being on a plane with two wings and an engine." She was grouchy from the flight and, man, it was showing.

"It had two wings and an engine, Amy." I sighed.

"Okay, an engine not powered by two hamsters and a rubber band."

I pinched the bridge of my nose and hung my head.

"I'm gonna spank you in a minute, I swear."

"Is that a promise?" She wrapped her arms around my waist and grinned up at me. She made it really hard to be annoyed when she pulled her adorable little sister act. She'd had more then twenty years to work on it and she played it to perfection. Especially when she added sexy connotations to the mix.

I brushed the loose strands of her hair from her face as I looked down at her.

"Amy?"

"Yeah?" She was giving me one of her most adorable grins, waiting for the kiss she was expecting.

"Shut the hell up, already." I smirked. Then I kissed her.

We walked a few yards and I spotted Margaret getting out of her car, waving to us. She gave Amy a huge hug and then did the same to me.

"Was it a good flight?" She asked.

"Long flight. As always." I replied, then cut my eyes at Amy. "But the longest part was from Athens to here."

"Shut it, jackass." Amy retorted.

"You're brother and sister alright." Margaret snickered. "Come on, let's get to the house so this lovely girl of yours can get a shower and settle in before dinner."

"Where's Theron?" I asked.

"He had to fly back to London with Damian to meet with some big art buyer. He'll be back in a couple of days." Margaret replied as we loaded the luggage in the trunk.

We drove a few minutes and I spotted the coast. I nudged Amy and pointed to the bay.

"Wow. You weren't k**ding. It's beautiful!" She exclaimed.

"Just wait, this is the view from the cheap seats." I replied, grinning.

We got to the house and I showed her the apartment. She walked through the rather small place and grinned widely at me.

"You like it?" I said, mildly surprised.

"I get to spend every night with you from now on. We have our own place and there's nothing to keep us apart. You really think I care about anything else?" She asked, still grinning.

"Well, when you're thinking more practically about it, you might. But I like the direction you're taking it." I chuckled as she came over to give me a huge hug.

"I think we'll be just fine." She smiled. "Now about that shower?"

"Right through there." I pointed. "Unlike your old apartment, you can't mistake this one for the bedroom."

"You could have fucked me in the bathroom all you wanted. I wouldn't care." She shot me a sultry look as she grabbed her toiletries bag and walked into the bathroom.

I sat on the edge of the bed and looked over the three room apartment. It really was going to be too small for us. She may think she didn't care, but the entire apartment was only about the size of our two c***dhood bedrooms smashed together. I wasn't entirely sure at this moment how much money had I had because pieces had been selling fairly steadily in London for the past three weeks. I knew it was enough to be able to afford to rent the house down the block, which was much larger than this tiny apartment. There should be more than enough left over to give Amy to invest for us. I'd take her by there tomorrow and let her look over the place, I thought.

I didn't try to join her in the shower, because there was no possible way we would both fit in the tiny stall. When she came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, she had on a pair of bikini cut panties and a towel d****d over her shoulders, covering her breasts. I let out a low breath, and she picked up on it.

"You approve?" She chuckled.

"Oh, I most certainly approve." I nodded. "You look sexy as hell like that, baby."

She blushed a little and gave me one of her arsenal of heart stopping smiles.

"You should take your shower, so we can meet Margaret for dinner."

"I know." I said, without moving or taking my eyes off of her. She walked over to me and put her hand under my chin, tilting my head up to look at her. Her smile was radiant.

"Hold me a moment?" She asked.

I obliged, wrapping my arms around her, my face pressed against her stomach. She hugged me back for a long moment, before she finally released me.

"I'm not going anywhere, baby." She cooed. "Go take a shower. We have all the time in the world now."

She was right, and for whatever reason, it clicked into place in my brain more than saying it over the past couple of days had before. I felt another layer of weight lift of my shoulders that I hadn't even realized was still there.

"Don't get me wrong. I adore it when you look at me like that. So don't ever stop, okay?"

"Not a chance, beautiful." I grinned as I stood to go to the shower. I made it about three steps before I spun around and pulled her back to me, my erection pressing against her ass. She yelped playfully, until my hand cupped one of her breasts under her towel and gave it a gentle squeeze. Her breathing became a little heavier. I released it and headed for the shower.
"That's not fair, damn it. You know what you do to me." She growled without malice.

I chuckled as I turned the shower on and started stripping, curious to see if she was going to try to wedge herself in the tiny stall with me after all. She didn't.

Later, over dinner, I asked Margaret if she thought Theron would mind if I borrowed his boat in the morning.

"Of course not. You know better by now." She admonished me.

"I still prefer to ask." I replied, grinning.

"We're going boating?" Amy asked.

"Yep. You pack a suit?"

"Yeah, I have a couple actually. You said there were a lot of beaches here. I figured if they were nice enough to get you out of your hermit cave mindset and into the sun, then they must be pretty awesome." She smirked.

"They're better." I replied.

"I must say, it's going to be nice not being the only woman around here." Margaret smiled.

"Oh? My brother's been a pain in the ass? Can't say I'm surprised." Amy stuck her tongue out at me.

"Certainly not. Adam has been nothing but a perfect guest."

"Jesus, it's getting deep in here." I picked up my empty plate, took it to the kitchen and started loading the dishwasher.

"See? Perfect guest." Margaret chuckled motioning toward me to Amy.

"I don't think I've ever seen him willingly load a dishwasher in his life." Amy commented. I gave her the finger over my shoulder.

"You already owe me a spanking, are you just making a to-do list now?"

I rolled my eyes and kept loading the dishwasher.

Amy walked into the kitchen and started doing the larger dishes in the sink. She bumped me with a hip and smiled at me as I rinsed the pots she'd just scrubbed. I gave her a grin of my own.

Later that night, I crawled into bed. Amy stripped to her panties and one of my shirts she'd grabbed from the closet, then joined me. As she cuddled up next to me, she smiled warmly.

"Every night." She sighed, sleepily but elated. I couldn't disagree.

* * *

The next day, I took a blanket, a couple of towels, and a couple of zip ties. I slipped them all into a heavy garbage bag, pressed them down enough to minimize the air a bit, and used another zip tie to seal it. I loaded a wooden wine box with a bottle of wine that I'd purchased before I went to the States in anticipation, a couple of glasses, and some fresh fruit. I made a couple of sandwiches in the kitchen, wrapped them up and added them to the box as well.

Amy came into the kitchen wearing blue bikini with a pair of shorts over the bottoms. She had her long, black hair pulled up in a ponytail, and I took the opportunity to kiss her exposed neck for a moment.

"Mm..." She moaned lightly in approval. I wrapped my arms around her bare waist and gave her a squeeze just as my phone's alarm chirped.

"We gotta get moving." I mumbled.

"What's the rush? I thought we could relax until London on Friday?" She asked, puzzled. I needed to go back to London for an interview with a German art magazine that Damian had set up.

"There's a boat from Adamas that passes around the island soon. I want to avoid it." I said, cryptically.

"Avoid it?" She raised an eyebrow at me.

"You'll see." I grinned as I grabbed the wooden wine crate and trash bag.

"The hell are you up to?" She followed me down toward the beach.

"You'll see."

"Whoa." She whispered suddenly.

"What?"

"This is amazing." She motioned to the large white volcanic rock formations we were approaching as we got closer to the water.

"Oh yeah. They're beautiful, aren't they?" I smiled, enjoying watching her sense of wonder. "There's a few I'll show you that I enjoy diving from. And, the beaches on the other side of the island have these boulders that look almost like earth toned rainbows or something. I've been told it's because of the mineral deposits, but they are pretty awesome to check out, too."

A few minutes later, as I loaded the boat, she said. "You weren't k**ding. The water is so blue."

The Aegean Sea was calm, as usual. The beautiful blue water lapping at the mostly stone beach. I motioned her into the boat and once she was settled, I shoved off, climbing in behind her. I smiled to myself watching as she put her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun and peered at the coastline. Ever the artist, I found myself studying the sensual curve of her back as I paddled. I watched the way her ponytail moved across her back when she would turn her head to look at the different rocks and beaches that I paddled us by. I was fascinated by the way her muscles moved on her back and sides when she would turn to continue watching things that caught her eye as we passed them. I certainly noticed the curve of her breasts that would come into view periodically when she turned far enough to expose the sides of her bikini. Goddamn, she's beautiful, I thought to myself.

After a few minutes of me paddling in silence, I glanced up from her back and noticed her looking over her shoulder at me.

"What is it?" She asked, smiling sweetly at me. Busted. Not that I thought she'd mind.

"Just looking at you." I grinned, a little self conscious.

"Well, just don't paddle us into a rock or anything, okay?" A smirk crept across my sister's lips.

"If you only knew," I chuckled, knowing what was coming.

"If I only knew what?"

"You'll see. It's a surprise." I kept paddling, purposely being cryptic. She squinted back at me for a moment, debating if she wanted to push the issue. She let her eyes gaze down at the sapphire blue water. Even though I knew from experience that the water where we currently were was at least thirty or forty feet deep, you could see the bottom clearly.

"Do they have many shark attacks here?" She asked, suddenly. I started laughing, remembering when I'd asked Theron the same thing.

"Not at all. In fact, from everything I've been told, there aren't any sharks here."

"You don't have to make fun of me over it, asshole." Amy replied, sounding a little embarrassed.

"It's not that. I was laughing because I asked Theron the same question the first time he took me out here fishing."

"Oh!" She brightened again.

We paddled along huge cliffs made of the same white volcanic rock back by the house. The island really was a stunning place.

"You see those caves along the cliff?" I asked.

She nodded.

"There's dozens of them along the beaches. One guy in Plaka told me there's more than a hundred."

"Wow. That's pretty crazy."

I paddled us over to the section of cliff I had been looking for, near a cave entrance that was almost at water level. There was no way that a person could paddle through it in a boat, although the boat itself would fit. I pulled the paddle out of the water and set it in the boat.

"Here we are." I announced, and grinned at her puzzled expression.

"Why here?" Amy asked.

Instead of replying, I stood and dove in the cool water. I swam underwater to the front of the boat where she was perched and came up for air next to her. She was looking down at me like I was an amusing idiot.

"Lay back," I told her.

"Excuse me?" She cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Lay down, so you're level with the boat. Unless you wanna crack your head open." I repeated, thumbing over my shoulder at the rocks. I swam to the front of the boat and grabbed the tow line.

Amy looked up at the cave entrance and back at me, suddenly figuring out what I was planning.

"We're going in there?"

"Yep." I grinned, wiping away the sea water that had pooled in my eyebrows.

"Why do you have to pick the hardest one to get into?" She asked as she laid back on the trash bag.

"Believe me, there are some much harder." I replied as I pulled the boat into the crevice.

It slide through the entrance, just barely scr****g on one side because I had the angle just a little off. The roof of the entrance glided over Amy's head and I saw her raise a hand to brush against it like a little k** would do. It made me smile. About ten feet into the cave, the passage widened into a pool. The only illumination seemed to come from the water itself as the sun spilled in from the cave entrance, giving the water a glowing blue green look. Shadows from the water rippled across the cave walls.

Amy sat up and looked around with a sense of wonder that I hadn't seen on her face since our parents took us to Disney World as k**s. I smiled at the memory. I couldn't help feeling pleased with myself for having blown her mind by showing her this place.

"Holy shit, Adam!" She exclaimed as I pulled the boat up to the bank.

"I know. Pretty bad ass, isn't it?" I pulled myself out of the water onto the rocks and extended a hand to her. She took my hand and stepped out of the boat, nodding her head as she did so.

"A couple of months after I first moved here I got curious about the caves. Mostly just to kill time." She didn't look like she was listening to me, but I continued. "Anyway, this was maybe the sixth or seventh one I went into."

"It's so beautiful!" She continued gazing around. I wasn't entirely sure she had blinked yet.

I stepped over to her and settled my hands on the swell of her hips. Her eyes moved over to meet mine.

"You're more beautiful, though." I said quietly, hoping the over saturated, clearly calculated line would crack her up.

"Laying it on a little thick there, aren't you big brother?" She chuckled up at me. Her eyes were shimmering, though. Regardless of the silly level of over reaching I'd gone for with the compliment in a weak attempt at humor, some of the truth behind it had hit home for her.

"Hey, I spent the last three years wanting to bring you here and show you this place. Cut me a little slack if I overplay my hand, eh?" I grinned.

"Three years, huh? That's a long time to wait to make your move."

"I knew this girl once that took something like nineteen years to make her move."

"Well, at least she made one. Just think where they would be otherwise." She brought hand up and ran it through my wet hair.

"I'd rather not." I leaned in and kissed her. Her hands reached down and unbuttoned her shorts, letting them fall to the ground, leaving her in just her bikini.

She pressed herself up against me as she returned my kiss. After a few moments, she glanced at the stone cave floor and back up at me.

"Didn't I see you pack a blanket?" She asked.

I went to the boat and pulled out the stuff we'd brought. Amy walked around the perimeter of the room, exploring a little while I retrieved Theron's fishing knife from the boat and cut the zip ties from the trash bag. By the time she got done wandering, I had the blanket laid out and poured her a glass of wine.

"I thought you didn't like wine?" She smiled down where I was crouched.

"I don't particularly, but you do." I offered up the glass to her.

She nodded as she sat down next to me and put her free hand on my leg while she took a drink. Setting the glass down, she wrapped her arms around me in a big hug and pushed me back on the blanket.

"You taste salty." She licked her lips.

"I just climbed out of sea water, I can't imagine why." I found myself distracted by her cleavage.

"Damn it." She breathed.

"What?" I glanced back up into her eyes.

"I feel like I'm going to melt when you look at me like that." She said, bashfully.

"Sorry?" I offered.

"Don't even think of being sorry. Just come here and do whatever it was you were thinking of doing to me just now." Her lips curled upward in a sultry smile.

"Right this second, or what I've been thinking of doing to you here since I found this place?"

"Why not both?"

"I had years to think about it, it might take a while if I went with the second option. But we aren't in a rush, I guess." I replied, sliding a hand over one of the cups of her bikini top. She arched her back up against my palm.

"Start with 'just this second' then, we'll work on the rest later." She whispered. I leaned down and licked the flesh between her breasts, causing her to suck a breath of air in anticipation. Placing a palm just above her stomach, I slid it upward between her breasts, under the bikini top, raising my thumb to catch the string and pull her top up. Her breasts slid free of the material with a satisfying jiggle. I smiled appreciatively, admiring the view. Her nipples were hardening and I slid a thumb over the nearest one watching as it responded to my touch.

I cupped both of both of my hands around the breast nearest to me, and planted kisses in a circle around her nipple slowly. She arched toward me again, one of her hands coming up to wrap around her other breast. I sucked her nipple into my mouth, pulling it with my lips, and slid my far hand over to take over for her on the other breast. She purred and cradled my upper body to her breast with her arms.

"Do you like my breasts, baby?" She asked sweetly, already knowing the answer.

"I love them," I breathed.

"Do you love sucking your baby sister's nipples, dear brother?" She asked in a lower, more seductive voice.

"You know I do, dear sister." I replied, playing her relation game, something I rarely gave voice to.

"They're yours forever, my brother. Always and forever. Like every other part of me that I can give you. Yours forever, my love." She breathed out in almost a whisper. Whimpering in reaction to my touch.

I moved up even with her face, moved to my core by her words, and kissed her as deeply and passionately as I was able. Trying to express my love for her that I always felt was beyond my ability to say or show to her. This was no exception. There were no words, no act, that could do the job to my satisfaction. Our lips parted after a time and I looked deeply into her piercing, beautiful blue eyes.

"You are everything to me, Amy. Everything. I am so lucky to have you in my life, beautiful. I love you more than anything." My voice wavered a little with emotion.

I saw her eyes start to well up, but she moved up to place her mouth over mine before any tears fell. We shared another long, meaningful kiss. When we broke for air, she smiled up at me as she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye with the back of a hand.

"So, you're going to keep me forever?" She asked. Surely, she knew the answer, but I'd play along.

"Even longer, if I could."

"That sounds perfect to me." Amy smiled, as I kissed the corner of her mouth and made my way down to her neck. My lips moved over her body lightly grazing over her skin and stopping to plant kisses strategically along the way. I worked my way down to her nipples again, spending plenty of time with each nipple, then down between her breasts and under each of them. The appreciative moans above me, assured me that my efforts were having the desired effect. My hands slid down and untied the strings on either side of her bikini bottoms.

"Damn, these things are convenient." I mumbled.

Amy broke out in a giggle. "I'll remember to wear them more often."

I flipped the bikini bottoms down and gave her a long light lick. She gasped above me. Her hand shot down and snatched one of mine, pulling it up and over her breast. I paused, raising my head to look at her. Her eyes shown down at me, the reflection from the water rippled shadows across her beautiful, nude form. I was, without question in my mind, the luckiest guy on the planet. My free hand slid over her mound, grazing over her entrance. Her eyes closed and she let out a slight whimper. I dropped my head back down and began to lap at her slowly. Her body responded, her stomach fluttering, as her breath quickened.

Her legs widened, trying to allow me more access. I slipped my tongue between the folds of her flesh, lapping up her secretions, enjoying how I would lick her clean only to be rewarded with a fresh wash of her nectar as soon as I probed deeper. She was moaning heavily above me now, her hips rocking back and forth in small motions.

"Oh god, baby, don't stop." She breathed, a whimper sliding out of her at the end of her sentence like a punctuation.

I had no intention of stopping. I continued to lick her, sliding my free hand up to tease at the hood of her clitoris. My other hand, extended somewhat uncomfortably above me, continued to massage her breast while she kept both of her hands clasped tightly over it. Her hips seemed to be almost vibrating, as she struggled not to buck them into me. Amy's cries above me were becoming more shrill and increasingly urgent. I raised my head slightly and planted a kiss on her clit, lapping at it gently with my tongue. I began using my tongue as a pen to spell out my love for her, tracing the letters individually across her clit. She drew her knees up suddenly, locking them on each side of my face, as her hands flew to the side and each balled up into a fist grabbing a handful of blanket. Her back arched high as her stomach and thighs quivered violently. Even with my ears covered tightly by her thighs, I could hear her orgasmic scream of release echoing off the walls of the cave. I almost cracked a grin as my tongue plunged as deep into my little sister as I could, but not moving for fear of overstimulating her. I hadn't thought of the echoes, not once in all the times I'd fantasized of bringing her here.

Gradually, she lowered back to the blanket and relaxed her thighs, releasing my head from the death grip she'd had on it. I scooted up beside her and laid down as she gasped for air, still shuddering from the aftershocks of her huge orgasm. After a moment, she cuddled up against me, dr****g a naked thigh across me as she laid her head on my chest. Her hand came up to rest on my chest beneath her chin.

"You are so amazing, baby." She murmured against my chest as she started kissing my chest all over. Her hand slid down and unzipped my shorts. I raised my ass a little, allowing her to slide them down my legs.

She climbed on top of me, straddling my erection, and rocked her hips sliding her pussy over my hard cock. I moaned slightly at the sensation. She withdrew and repeated the move a second time before raising herself to position my cock head at her warm entrance.

Amy let out a loud groan as she lowered, impaling herself on my throbbing erection. I lost myself in the feeling of my dick disappearing into her glistening folds. Seeing her sitting upright, riding me, was something I found endlessly erotic. The blue and green light coming from the water cast shadows that rhythmically rolled across her body like spiderwebs. I loved watching the way I slid in and out of her. She moaned appreciatively as my hands slid up to massage her creamy breasts that were bouncing deliciously above me.

"I love your hands on me," she groaned, putting a hand over one of mine, pressing it to her breast harder. Her free hand moved up to her scalp, gliding through her hair as she tossed her head back guiding her hair out of her face. My cock, finding her impossible to resist, lurched in response to the sexy vision above me. I slid a hand down to her hip, resting there a moment, before gliding it over to rub her clit lightly with my thumb. She let out a loud moan, loud enough to echo off of the walls of the cave again in response.

"God, I love you," I breathed. A smile cracked through the gasps she was releasing above me, as her half closed lids gazed downward at me. She rolled forward, her soft breasts smashing into my chest, as she began planting kisses on my jaw as she put her mouth up to my ear whispering my words back to me.

I cupped her ass in one of my hands while my other was across her back, holding her against me. My mouth worshiped her neck and shoulders with kisses, causing her to gasp when I touched on her favorites spots. I thrust my hips up into her, listening to her rhythmic panting above me. I don't think there was a more erotic sound in the world.

"So good..." I heard my sister moan, as I tightened my grip on her incredible ass and thrust deeper into her. Gripping her against me, I rolled her onto her back and she immediately wrapped her legs around my waist, digging her heels into my thighs. My shaft moved in and out of her like a piston as her fingers dug into my shoulders.
She cried aloud, her voice booming through the cavern yet again, as her body rushed toward a second orgasm. Amy began writhing uncontrollably beneath me, mewling unintelligible cries of ecstasy. Her vagina pulsed around my cock as her orgasm hit her. She bucked her quivering thighs into me as hard as she could, vibrating throughout her body. It was so fucking hot to see the effect I had on her that my balls emptied themselves, sending rocket streams of semen out of my dick into her body. The force of my orgasm caused triggered another in her and we both cried out, locked tightly together in rapturous release.

We collapsed into each other, sweating and gasping for breath. Once I was able to breathe normally, I kissed her tenderly, cradling my beautiful, little sister in my arms.

"Wow." She said softly. "That was incredible."

I nodded my agreement, kissing her forehead and leaving my lips there for a while. I glanced up at the shadows playing across the cavern walls and reflected a moment on the realization that my wish to make love to her here had been fulfilled. My eyes traveled back down to the beautiful creature in my arms.

"Have I ever bothered to mention that you are the most amazing, beautiful thing I have ever seen?" I asked, knowing damned well that I had.

"You may have mentioned it once or twice, but you can tell me again. I don't mind." She flushed a little as she grinned up at me.

"Well, it's true, sweetheart. I can never find the words to tell you how much I love you. It pisses me off. You make me feel more..." I paused, trying to find the words, annoyed because I felt my eyes clouding a little at the emotions I was trying to express. "at peace, I guess... comfortable with myself maybe... than I've ever felt in my life. You are all I need, Amy. You are the only thing that truly matters to me. I don't fucking deserve you."

"You, my dear brother, are the love of my life." She whispered, smiling softly at me as her hand stroked my cheek. "And you totally deserve me. I'm yours forever."

"That makes me happier than you can ever imagine." My lips met hers in a long, loving kiss.

"Even if you took me to your secret hideaway and fucked me there like you are some sort of creepy cave troll." Her eyes twinkled at me.

"You brat. This place is fucking beautiful and you know it. I could have brought any girl here and her panties would hit the floor like an anvil." I deadpanned. "The only thing I could have done to make this more romantic is candles and rose petals."

"You cheated me out of rose petals, you bastard? How dare you..." She smirked, before latching onto me with a huge kiss.

"Alright, alright. I'll bring rose petals next time." I chuckled.

We lay together in each others arms for a while longer, dozing contentedly, until we decided it was time to clean up. I lead her into the water and we washed each others bodies in the water, pausing often to cuddle into each other in a hug. Eventually we got dressed again and she lay back in the boat as I pulled it back out of the cave entrance into the bay. I climbed back aboard and paddled us around the island while she lay back getting some sun and purposely allowing me to look over her wonderful body to my heart's content. We talked and laughed and relished in the knowledge that this was our new reality. Finally, as the sun was beginning to retreat for the day, we headed back to the apartment. Amy marveled at watching the sunset over the Aegean Sea.

* * * * * * *

One early afternoon a few weeks later, I walked over to Theron's studio from our rent house to continue working on my newest painting. I had just gotten word from Damian that it was confirmed that I would be having a show in Tokyo this coming December. Amy would be ecstatic to get to see Japan. Hell, I was excited to see Japan.

Theron was out fishing this afternoon, so I had the studio to myself and decided to make full use of the sound system that was in the corner. Most of the time, I was back to using headphones so that I wouldn't disturb anyone. Amy and Margaret had gone out for a walk on the beach. I picked an album that felt appropriate, smiling contentedly as the sound filled the room, and got to work on the painting.

A few songs later, the girls came wandering into the studio. Amy was wearing a white bikini that accentuated her beautiful body and had a floral sash tied around her waist like a skirt. She came up to me, giving me a big hug and a quick kiss. She listened to the song that was playing for a moment and smiled.

"What is this? This is really catchy." She asked.

"The song's called 'No Crimes.' It's pretty great."

"Yeah, it really is." She agreed, and started to dance around the room, grinning widely. She looked so beautiful and happy.

"Come on, dance with me." She called to Margaret, knowing full well that I was not a dancer by any stretch of the imagination. I chuckled to myself as the two of them playfully danced around the studio.

I went back to looking at the painting in front of me. Some of the lyrics stuck in my head on a loop, as the song kept going.

"All you ever wanted

All you ever need

Your brand new history"

This happened sometimes when I was painting, and focusing on snippets of lines that resonated with me just added to the mood I hoped to convey. The song repeated the lyrics over and over as it came to a close. Amy danced with Margaret, both of them smiling and laughing as I watched, smiling from behind my canvas. The sun shown through the window casting a long shadow from my baby sister's beautiful bikini clad body as I watched her move gracefully to and fro around the room. Sometimes the perfect song at the perfect time can say more than you ever can on your own, I thought to myself. Amy looked over at me as she danced, her eyes as blue as the sea, and smiled warmly. I smiled reflexively in return, and silently mouthed the words "I love you."

The End.