A Touch Of Silk -- Part 1 Of 2 free porn video

Brad was heading to his parent's house for Thanksgiving. Even though it was a seven-hour drive, he tried to make it back home several times a year to visit for a few days, to see his mom and stepfather, and catch up with friends. He worked as a park ranger and lived in a remote outpost in a national forest, and although he loved the woods and the solitude and the peacefulness of the wilderness, it was good to get back to civilization every now and then. He usually was craving human interaction whenever he did.

Brad’s mother was Kate, a high school art teacher, and long-divorced from Brad’s father. Her husband, Brad’s step-father, was named Ethan, a tall rangy, athletic fellow who owned a large store that sold anything for the outdoor sportsman: gear for hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, climbing, you name it. Brad was close to his mom, it had just been the two of them for years when he was young, and he got along well with Ethan.

In fact, Ethan had been instrumental in Brad becoming so drawn to the extremes of the outdoors, which led to his majoring in forestry and environmental science in college, which led to his post as a park ranger. Brad enjoyed his visits back home, and his conversations with Ethan. They would trade stories. Brad had plenty about crazy park visitors, and Ethan had plenty more about his crazy customers.

But one of the more attractive things about visiting home, something that had grown gradually over several years, was something that at one time he would have thought to be unlikely, if not impossible. Whenever he came back to visit he found himself anxiously anticipating when he would see his stepsister Maggie.

Her given name was Margarita, but she’d been called Maggie her whole life. Maggie was six years older than Brad, and was entering her senior year of high school when their parents married and Kate and Brad moved in with them. With the age difference and the newness of their living arrangement, they didn’t bond or get to know each other very well. Then Maggie went off to college and Brad was once again an only child.

Brad was intimidated by Maggie in those early days. She was older, seemed so sophisticated, and he thought she was so beautiful in a primal, earthy, sultry way, and a complete contrast to himself. He was a sturdy blond-haired, blue-eyed All-American-college-boy type; she was tall and lean, with long black hair and matching eyes, high cheekbones, aquiline nose, and rich, creamy skin the color of sugared cinnamon. She didn’t have much of an ass but the rest of her was fine, with wiry, toned muscles, slim waist, long, strong-looking legs and nice, smallish but firm titties sticking straight out.

Maggie’s mother Rosa was a full-blooded, dark-complected Raramuri from northern Mexico, which made Maggie half. Ethan was a big, strong white boy from New England on a long, solo road trip when he found his way into the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains and the Copper Canyon. Somehow they met, they clicked, and they fell in love. One thing led to another and Rosa became pregnant. Rosa and Ethan and Maggie lived in the mountains of northern Mexico for years before moving to the U.S. Rosa passed away when Maggie was twelve, and Ethan raised her the rest of the way on his own after that.

Brad didn’t see Maggie much after she went off to college. She’d come home for summer vacations and holidays, but there was little interaction. In her junior year, Maggie met and got involved with the wrong guy. She became pregnant and they quickly married. When she miscarried she found herself without her child but still stuck with the wrong guy. She was depressed. Their marriage started off rocky, stayed that way, and got worse. Brad had met her husband, a slacker named Giles, several times at family functions but didn’t much care for him. He seemed aloof and self-absorbed, and after the first couple of years, he and Maggie seemed to be separated more than they were together. But they hadn’t bothered to divorce.

Over the last couple of years, Maggie had come to the family holidays at their parents’ house alone, and Brad had had more opportunities to talk to her one-on-one. He had gotten to know her finally, and discovered that he really enjoyed their conversations, and just being with her seemed to elevate his life. Comfortable, relaxed. They shared interests, and could discuss books or movies and just about any topic, and they saw eye-to-eye on most of them. They both loved the outdoors. Maggie worked as a manager in her father’s store, and their combined knowledge often produced lively discussions and debates. Damn, could they talk. Brad was now twenty-four and Maggie was thirty, and it was almost scary how after so much time he now felt so much closer to her. With all of this in mind as he drove, he found himself looking forward more and more to this Thanksgiving.

----

Brad pulled into his parents’ driveway on late Wednesday afternoon. The family tradition for dinner the night before Thanksgiving was Oyster Stew, garlic bread, raw vegetables with dips and a big salad. Eat light before the big feast. And beer. Brad had drunk four St. Pauli Girls before dinner, and afterwards went right to bed, with a good buzz on and tired from his long drive.

In the morning Brad went for a run and when he returned he hopped in the shower. When he re-emerged, squeaky-clean and freshly-dressed, Maggie had arrived and Bloody Marys were being served, another family tradition. The drinks would be consumed as the women worked in the kitchen and did their best to keep the men out.

Maggie looked great. Blue jeans tight, white blouse tucked-in and open at the collar, hugging her breasts just right, brown boots. Her long black hair was pulled back, a scrunchied ponytail almost down to her ass, gold chain necklace, simple gold hoop earrings. She smiled when she saw him and gave him a hug, which he gave right back to her. He felt her nipples press softly against his chest, and breathed in a seductive scent as he briefly held her.

The ladies did their thing and it was perfect as always. Turkey with all the trimmings. They ate late afternoon, and the men cleaned up. They watched some football. Mom and Dad faded fast and said good night. Ethan had a big day tomorrow and needed his sleep. It would be Black Friday and the store would be a circus. But Maggie didn’t automatically run off, Brad noticed, and she would also have a long day at the store tomorrow.

They were seated in the den, across from each other, he in a rocker and she on the sofa. She smiled at him. He smiled at her. It was time.

“You want a drink, or something?” he asked.

“Sure. There’s some cognac in the pantry,” she said.

They went to the kitchen together, found the bottle and poured a couple drinks into coffee cups.

“Let’s go out back,” she said. “It’s not too cold.”

“Sure.” Alright, he thought. Good. Nature girl.

They put sweaters on and went through the french doors to the large rear deck. The yard backed up to the woods, peaceful and private. They sat together on a wicker sofa facing the pines. It was dark but the night was starlit and they could clearly see the treeline across the yard.

“This is so peaceful,” she said. She un-scrunchied her long hair and let it hang free.

“It is,” Brad said, and exhaled as his eyes took it in.

There was a comfortable silence for a short time as they sipped their nightcaps. Conversation came gradually, but easily, and after the initial small talk about family and jobs and friends, it soon moved on to more intimate territory, to places it hadn’t gone before.

“Do you have a girlfriend these days?” she asked.

“Naw,” he said. “Not much opportunity for that. There are some female rangers and park employees, but most are married, plus a couple lesbians and interns. And management frowns on that anyway.”

“Frowns on what?”

“Relationships between employees. And who else would I meet? Some unattached camper or ranger groupie? Plus, not many women would want to live where I do: in a cabin in the forest a half-mile from the trailhead. I have to hike it in from there. That’s no fun hauling in groceries or supplies.”

“Don’t you get lonely?”

“Sometimes. But mostly I like the peace and solitude and nobody is hovering over me. I’m trusted to do a job, and as long as I do it adequately, they leave me alone.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Maggie said.

“What? Really?”

“Oh yeah. I lived in a mud hut for the first twelve years of my life. A log cabin in the mountains with heat and indoor plumbing sounds good to me.”

“Are you happy? Doing what you’re doing?”

“It’s good,” she sighed. “I’m making decent money. But I’m working for Dad, you know?”

Brad hesitated, took a gulp. “You should come for a visit sometime,” he said.

“Why?”

“See if you like it.”

She looked at him, curious. “What happened to your old college girlfriend, what was her name, Lila?”

“Yeah, Lila. We broke up after I got my job. She was cool when we were in college, but we split after I graduated. She knew I’d never make much money as a park ranger. She hooked up with a law student named Lawrence.”

“Lawyer, huh? Asshole?”

“Big time,” he chuckled. “And the funny thing is, she couldn’t stand the guy when we were together. Money talks, I guess, or the prospect of it.”

“All for the best,” Maggie said.

“Yep, it never would have worked.” He turned his body slightly toward her. “How ‘bout you? Are you divorced yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know, just haven’t gotten around to it, I guess. And Giles is too lazy and too cheap to initiate things. I think he likes it the way it is. He can screw his bimbos and has an excuse not to make a commitment.”

“You should beat him to the punch,” Brad said. “Catch him off-guard.”

“Yeah, I know, and I will, maybe after the first of the year. Lawyers don’t work much over the holidays and I’ll be busy as hell at the store.”

Another pause as they each took a sip and placed their drinks on the table.

Brad cleared his throat. “Do you think about your baby?”

“Every single day,” she crackled. She hesitated, in thought. Tears formed in her eyes. “Everyday.”

Brad reached for her hand and held it. “I’m sorry, Maggie. It’s none of my business.”

“No, it’s okay,” she said. “It’s good to talk about it sometimes. It just makes me sad. Because I know in my heart that the reason I lost my baby is because of the stress I was under: My husband was a loser, he didn’t want a baby, he didn’t love me, I didn’t love him, and I knew I would be bringing the child into a bad marriage with an uncaring father.”

He squeezed her hand. She squeezed his back.

Brad had been a teenager at the time. He remembered their wedding. It was an informal rush job, with not much of a crowd, maybe forty people. He served as an usher, though ushers were hardly needed.

“Why did you marry him?”

She pivoted her butt on the cushion, turned her body to face him, and grabbed his other hand.

“Our parents,” she said, earnestly. “I thought you knew that. Dad laid down the law, told him he wasn’t going to ride off into the sunset. He was going to do the responsible thing, he was going to marry me. It was a shotgun wedding, Dad made sure of it. I shouldn’t have let it happen, but I did. I was scared. I went along.”

“That sounds like your father. He did what he thought was right and best for you.”

“I know.” She wiped tears from her cheeks.

“But parents aren’t perfect. They do their best, but they make mistakes.”

Maggie nodded. She sniffled.

After a long moment of silence with their four hands laced, Brad asked, “Do you want another baby?”

“Yes, someday. When the time is right. With the right man.”

Brad didn’t say anything. Maggie was looking down at their four clenched hands. He wanted badly to kiss her but he didn’t want to screw up.

Then she said, “It feels good to talk to you, Brad,” and looked up. “Thank you.”

“Yes,” he said. “That’s how I feel. I feel like I can tell you anything.”

They were facing each other in the dark, their silhouettes outlined in soft, second-hand light. Brad broke his grip with his right hand and stroked her hair with his fingers. He gently pulled her head toward his. She didn’t hesitate.

Their lips met and instantly parted. Their first kiss was like a time bomb going off. Their tongues were electric, touching, exploring, tasting. Their arms surrounded their bodies and their hands felt their ways along new terrain. Both were surprised at the spontaneity of it, but there was no holding back. Their first kiss would be one to remember. Brad had been thinking about Maggie for many months, about wanting her, but fearful of rejection, not sure if it could ever happen, not sure if it should. Now he had no doubts. She’d been thinking of him too.

When his tongue left her mouth, he peppered her with kisses on her neck, her ears, all over her face.

“I’ve fantasized about kissing you,” he said with bated breath.

“So have I,” she whispered.

Their hands roamed. His held her breast, firm and perked, through the soft fabric of her sweater, and he thumbed her erect nipple. Hers delved between his legs, rubbed his thigh, lightly brushed his cock. He was hard, she was wet.

“Stay here tonight,” he said softly into her ear.

“No, I can’t,” she said firmly. She squirmed back on the seat and straightened up. “Not here. It’s not right.”

“Can I see you tomorrow? I could come by the store. Take you to lunch.” He leaned back and sat up. His cock was swollen to the max, her hand long gone.

“No,” she said. “It’s Black Friday. We’ll be too busy.”

“Uh, okay,” he said, rejected.

Then she said: “How about dinner? That way I won’t be rushed and have to go back to work. We close at six. Would that be okay?”

Relieved, he said of course it was.

Brad walked Maggie out to her car and they kissed goodnight, a wing-dinger, right out in front of the house beneath the overhead street light. Maggie drove home with damp panties, thinking about their deep-dish kisses. It had been a long time since she’d given herself to a man and she was amazed and excited that the man might be her stepbrother. It had been a while for Brad too, and he had similar thoughts of hungry anticipation. He took his boner to bed and jerked off.

----

They met for dinner at a chain restaurant down the street from the store. It was the biggest shopping day of the year, so the place was jammed and the waitstaff were already in the weeds. They were about to get on the waiting list for a table when Maggie spoke up.

“Brad, why don’t we get some take-out and go back to my place? I’ve been dealing with crowds of people all day and I’m kind of tired and need some peace and quiet.”

Brad welcomed the opportunity to go home with Maggie but didn’t know if her telling him she was tired was some kind of message.

“Sounds good to me,” he said.

They took off their jackets and went into the crowded bar. They managed to find an open stool, which Maggie took, and Brad stood. After a couple minutes they ordered appetizers and salads to go, and a couple beers for while they waited.

Brad was dressed neatly in black jeans and a tan shirt, but Maggie was dressed in her uniform from work: a camo shirt with the store logo and her name on her left breast, and khaki pants. She looked like she was going on safari. He asked her about her day at the store and she said she was pretty sure they’d set a sales record. They’d been slammed from start to finish, much of it with hunters, since deer season would open the next day.

They got their food and Chad followed her home. Her house was a small two-bed, one-bath cottage in an older, dingy part of town. It was the same place she and her husband had rented way back when as newlyweds, and she was still living there. They ate salads at the kitchen table and put the appetizers in the fridge. Maggie put some coffee in the pot, and while it was brewing went to her bedroom to change clothes. She returned in a few minutes wearing a cream-colored housedress which clung nicely to her shoulders and breasts, her hair tied back. She laced their coffees with some Kahlua she had sitting around. They sat together on the couch in the small living room.

“Ah, this is nice,” Maggie said, sitting back and stretching. “Long day.”

“Yeah, that slave-driver boss of yours needs to give you a raise,” Brad said, with a laugh.

“Yeah, you’re right. Maybe I’ll go on strike.”

“Do it. We can make signs and picket outside the store. Unionize!”

Maggie laughed. “Nah, Dad’s okay. Besides, there’s a different kind of union I’ve been thinking about.”

“There is, huh?” He smiled. “And what would that be?”

“Well, today I had a hard time keeping my mind on my work. Because I couldn’t stop thinking about last night.”

He put his hand on hers. “I’ve thought of nothing else.”

“We crossed a line.”

“We did,” he said. “And I want to keep on crossing it.”

He kissed her. It was gentle and soft and deep, their tongues slow-danced as their hands slowly got into the act. He found her breast, bare beneath the thin fabric of her dress, and her fingers traced from his shoulder, downward over his arm to his inner thigh.

“I want to make love to you,” he breathed into her ear. She smelled glorious, like fresh tangerines.

She sat back and glared into his eyes. “We’ve come this far. But if I go to bed with you it is going to change our relationship forever. I want to be sure that it changes it for the better. I couldn’t forgive myself if it changed it for the worse.”

Brad thought about how long he had admired her and wanted her. He said: “It’s going to be better, I promise. It’s going to be the best.”

She sighed, and said, “I think so, too.” She stood up and took his hand. “Come with me. I want to show you something.” She led him out of the room and down a short hallway. The coffee got cold.

Maggie opened the door and they entered her bedroom. Brad was shocked at what he saw. The lights were off but there had to be twenty candles lighted all around the room, reflecting off of the brass bedposts and the mirror atop the dresser, and filling the air with minty, piney scents. The fluffy-white bedspread was turned down halfway and satin sheets emitted a soft glimmer in the glow. There was a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket on the nightstand.

Brad was impressed, flattered, and emboldened by her planning. He took her into his arms and locked his mouth onto hers. His arms surrounded her and he palmed her butt and upper back. His dick was already pumped up. He squeezed her tightly and felt her stiffening nipples against his chest.

“God, I want you,” she hissed, and began unbuttoning his shirt.

He wiggled out of his shirt and kicked off his shoes while she went to work on his belt buckle. She got his pants off and tossed them on a chair. Then she focused on his blue and white boxers.

“Ooh, silk underwear! I love silk,” she said, running her fingers over the slinky fabric covering his ass and cock and balls. “Nice touch.”

“The most comfortable underpants I’ve ever had. And they don’t bunch up.”

“They’re very nice. But they’re coming off.” She yanked them down quickly and his stiff penis bobbed up and down. She grabbed it. “This is nicer.”

She pushed him down onto the bed, then pulled her dress off her shoulders, let it drop, and stepped out of it. She was down to nothing but a skimpy red thong. She flicked it with her thumb and said, “You can take this off.” Then she fell into bed.

They embraced immediately, went back to kissing and their hands fondled their bodies. He held her tight and with his hand on her ass pulled her groin close to his so she could feel his hardness. She sucked his tongue into her mouth and her fingers walked around his body.

His lips moved to her neck and shoulders and gradually to her ready breasts. Her skin crackled like a lighted fuse when he kissed them, licked them, and sucked her stiff nipples into his mouth. He went slowly and her body writhed in time with the rhythm of his loving. Her fingers were entangled in his hair and dug into his scalp as he feasted on her toasty flesh.

Maggie moaned throughout. It had been a long time and she was savoring every touch of his lips, every flick of his tongue, as he worked his way down the front of her. Her stomach, her navel, and… She gasped when he kissed her crotch barely an inch left of her soaked twat.

Brad kissed her thong, and noticed it had been treated with the same sweet, tangy citrus aroma as her neck and shoulders. He pulled it aside briefly, and she gasped again, even louder when he slipped his tongue between her quivery lips. He pulled the thong down the length of her flailing legs to get it off, took a good whiff, and tossed it on the floor.

Her pubic hair was trimmed short in a neat V above her sweet, beckoning pussy. He admired it for a moment before diving in head-first.

She shrieked like a Screech Owl when he rammed his tongue into her. He licked her in and out, her luscious lips and deep within, while he massaged her swollen clit with is upper lip. He tongue-fucked her as forcefully and as deeply as he could without getting a cramp in his neck. She swayed her groin along with him while pulling his head flush against her.

Maggie never stopped moaning. She hadn’t said a word since she’d fallen into bed. But now, her words flowed. “Oh my God!” she said, over and over.

His mouth and cheeks and chin were covered by her wetness as he sucked on. She was feeling it, getting close, he could tell. He wanted her to come already, and to come big. Then he could relieve the pressure in his stretched erection.

She had an orgasm like none he’d ever been a part of. She semi-screamed, ‘I’m coming, I’m gonna come,’ and her cum poured out of her. Her body shook as she erupted and she shouted out ‘Oh My God’ a few more times as she released and while her throes gradually subsided. Brad had never seen anything like it.

“Oh My God, that was good,” she said. “God, I needed that. Thank you.”

Brad didn’t hesitate and he didn’t ask. His dick was hard as petrified wood and he needed to fuck her. He climbed up on top and his cock slipped easily into her slushy, open gash. They both grinned when her pussy walls clenched around his member. They were fucking full-speed in a well-synced heartbeat.

Brad knew it wouldn’t take long, his balls were about to implode. He looked at her face as he pounded her, this half-breed fox, his older stepsister, this woman he had wanted for months, no, years, had believed it was way off the radar, it could never happen, was too far out, too taboo. No more worries. They were smiling as they fucked. Soon enough he knew his package was about to be delivered and he groaned right before he put his mouth back onto hers. He concentrated on picking up the pace to help his cock along. Maggie’s body was slim and agile, like a dancer or gymnast, and her legs kicked like a hyena as she used her pussy muscles to squeeze it out of him.

He came with an overdue feral force. It felt like an electric surge going up the shaft of his cock. He quivered as he came, felt his cum burst through, and didn’t break their kiss until he’d emptied his starved tank. Maggie’s nerve endings were turned up to ten and she had a second thunderous climax right on the heels of his.

“Oh My God,” she said again.

They were drained. They held each other for a while, bodies aglow, no words needed.

Finally, after ten or fifteen minutes, Maggie raised her head and spoke.

“You want some champagne?”

---

They sipped champagne from chilled flutes, naked, with their backs against the headboard.

“Wow, I’ve never had orgasms like that in my life, Brad,” she said. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, it’s us. I should thank you. You’re amazing.” He kissed her.

“But fuck, I had no idea how much I needed it. I feel so loose, so free like a giant tumor has been removed from my body.”

Brad put his glass on the nightstand, then hers. They went back to kissing. His hand started heading back downtown.

“You can’t stay here tonight,” she said.

That stopped him. He felt deflated and asked why.

“I told Dad I was having dinner with you. Don’t know why, but I did. You have to go back to their house tonight or he’ll know what we’re up to. I’m not ready to deal with that yet.”

“I see what you mean,” Brad said. His dick was big and hard again and didn’t agree, but it would have to.

“When are you heading back to your job?”

“Sunday morning,” he said. “Unless… What if I told them I decided to go back tomorrow, but came here instead?” He gave Maggie his best shit-eating grin.

“Oh, you are good. My thoughts exactly. If you can kill some time tomorrow, I get off at five. Come over at five-thirty and we’ll go get some dinner and then we’ll come back here and I’ll seduce you.” She gave him her shy, pretty smile.

“I can’t wait to spend the night with you. And to wake up with you.”

“Me too. But I need to get my beauty sleep tonight so I’ll be ready for the onslaught. I’m sure we’ll be up half the night and then I’ll want it all again in the morning. I gotta get in shape.” She pulled back the sheet, saw his stiff pecker and grinned. “But before you go, let me say goodbye to your merry member.”

She scooted down and bent over it. She held it in her hand, pointed it upward like a crane towering over a construction site. She kissed it, licked the tip.

“Nice cock,” she said, and turned to face him. “And you are not leaving here young man until you come in my mouth.” She sucked on her finger.

He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

She wrapped her lips around it and he watched it fade into her mouth. She sucked vigorously and wiggled her head back and forth to take more in. Brad helped by pushing his groin against her face. He felt her hand slip under his butt and then into his crack. Her finger slid into his asshole and jiggled its way all the way in.

With his cock deep in her mouth, the new force in his rectum immediately heightened the arousal. He pumped, she sucked, her finger fucked. It wasn’t three minutes before he grunted like pig and his whole body shivered with convulsions and his ejaculations began.

Maggie felt his hot semen shoot against the back of her throat once, twice, and she backed off. His cock came out into open air, and his final spasms littered her face with cumlets. She’d swallowed a load already, but with her finger scooped a couple skinny ropes into her mouth from her cheeks and chin.

She rose up and sat beside him. She kissed him and said get dressed, goodnight.

He put his clothes on slowly.

“Now go,” she said. “And don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. I like your ass. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to it.”

He gave her a tired smile. He left but he didn’t really want to.

----

The next night they had dinner at a small Mexican place and drank Margaritas. They took their time, comfortable new lovers in no rush because they knew they would have all night.

When they got back to Maggie’s house they took their time in bed, too. They made love slowly, sex on the low burner, exploring every inch of each other. When his mouth found her pussy after covering every other part of her, she was about to explode, and it wasn’t long before she creamed his face. He fucked her slowly, and clutched her buttocks with each thrust, trying to help her come again. It worked, he felt her flood moments after his semen spewed into her.

They slept deeply and peacefully as a warm, curled unit. He was awakened by her mouth around his cock, which was happily erect as it usually was in the morning. She was still swallowing cum when she scooted up and sat on his face, anxious for her own release. She ground her mound onto his mouth and rubbed her clit against his stiff upper lip with grunting lunges until she came.

Maggie collapsed on the bed beside him and cheerfully said, “Good morning!”

“Good morning,” Brad said.

Then they fucked.

----

They didn’t want to get out of bed but they had to. Brad didn’t want to leave, but he had to. Maggie didn’t want to say goodbye, but she had to. They dragged their funky butts out of bed and into the shower. Maggie was in and out, clean enough, and went to whip up some breakfast while Brad finished bathing.

Maggie was busy in the kitchen. Fried eggs, ham, grits, toast, juice, coffee, and they ate in a subdued manner. They hadn’t talked about the future; they both loved what they had shared, but knew they wouldn’t have it again for a while.

“Here,” she said, handing him a brown bag when he was about to leave. “A couple sandwiches for the road.”

“Thanks, Maggie,” he said. Then added, “I’m going to miss you.”

“I miss you already,” she said, with her voice cracked and her eyes watered.

“I’ll be back for Christmas. I hope we can…”

“We can. We will.”

They kissed. They hugged. They squeezed. Their hands and tongues made a last ditch effort to capture the feel and sweet taste of each other to counterbalance the sour taste of goodbye.

----

Over the following weeks, Maggie and Brad thought about each other constantly. About what they’d done, about the barriers they’d crossed, about what it meant, and what it could be. Most days Maggie was busy at the store, so her mind was occupied. But her nights and days off were often clouded with thoughts of Brad. She knew their relationship was now on a whole new plane, maybe taboo, to be frowned-upon, and what would people think? Who cares, she thought. She missed him. Brad spent much time on his own in the woods, patrolling, policing, repairing trails, gathering wood, whatever, so his mind was never far from Maggie. She’d been an older, distant stepsister for years, but not anymore. They were related by their parent's marriage, that’s all, so what? He wanted her. He knew he was falling in love.

They talked on the phone when they could, discussing and anxiously anticipating when he would be back for Christmas. Brad drove into the town several miles outside of the park entrance to shop, to find the right Christmas card to send to her, but found none that worked for their unique situation. The cards were either too sisterly or too loverly. As a couple, they hadn’t yet officially committed to each other so he wanted to be careful and not overstep, and possibly create an awkward situation. He finally chose one that was fairly generic and then added his own words. Miss you, thinking of you, can’t wait to hold you again, kiss you, stuff like that. He mailed it early. He also bought her two gifts. One for when the family traded presents; and one that was more personal and would be given in private, away from Mom and Dad.

Brad would have limited time for his visit. The park was busy during the holiday season, especially the week after Christmas. He would arrive on the 24th and drive back two days later.

----

On Christmas Eve Brad arrived at his parents’ house in late afternoon. His mother gave him a big hug and kiss and he settled into his old bedroom to unpack. Ethan and Maggie were still at work, reaping in the last-minute holiday sales. They arrived at home together a couple hours later, tired from a busy day at the store. Maggie parked her car in the driveway as Ethan pulled his into the garage.

When Maggie came through the front door, Brad wanted to attack her, hold her and squeeze her and love her. And by the look in her eye, he knew she felt the same. But they couldn’t, it would have to wait. They settled for a quick hug, and Brad snuck in a little butt pinch.

Family tradition for Christmas Eve was eggnog, Bailey’s Irish Cream, and a big spiral-cut ham dinner. Then they’d clean up and exchange gifts in front of the tree and fireplace, listening to carols on the stereo. The gifts were mostly generic. They all would save their more intimate gifts for when they were alone. Maggie gave Brad a baseball cap and a t-shirt from his alma mater; He gave her a national park hoodie.

“I have something else for you that I’ll give you when we’re alone,” Maggie whispered to Brad, as she scooped wrapping paper into a plastic trash bag.

“Me too,” he said.

Outside, it was turning colder. Snow flurries had started during dinner, and soon the snow fell harder, wet and sticking to the ground. As they were winding things up, Maggie looked out the window at the backyard.

“Looks like we’re having a white Christmas,” Maggie said to their parents. “Do you mind if I stay here tonight?”

Naturally, Ethan and Kate said it would be fine, and soon retired to their bedroom. The master bedroom was on the first floor, and upstairs was a loft area and two bedrooms that shared a Jack-and-Jill bathroom.To continue reading this story you must be a member. Join for FREE here.