One Step After Another

***Author's Note: Just in case you didn't notice, this story is in the INCEST/TABOO category. As I noted on my profile, I'm currently exploring categories that I don't typically write in. This story has HEAVY sexual themes of an incestuous/taboo nature, so if this isn't your cup of tea, PLEASE move on to one of my other stories or wait for my next one.

Last chance...

You were warned.

*ALL characters are at least 18 years old.

Every footfall across the polished hardwood floor was like the steady march of a horse's hooves. My stepdad James' staccato footsteps mirrored the ticking of the grandfather clock standing tall in the corner like a sentinel. James paused and glanced at it and then at his watch. He was nothing if not punctual and demanded the same in everyone around him.

He poked and prodded at the knot of his necktie, loosening it and then tightening it before checking his appearance in the mirror on the far side of the living room. Then he resumed his back and forth march.

Clip. Clop. Clip. Clop. Clip. Clop.

If his career with the police department ever fizzled out or this dinner to boost his prospects for deputy chief failed, he surely had a future as a guard at Buckingham Palace or the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

He paused and pivoted around on his heels to face me where I sat on the centermost couch cushion, caddy corner from my mom who sat on the front 1/8 of the seat of a high-back leather recliner--the pride of the living room furniture. He held his head high as he looked his nose down on me. "Remember," he said, his voice almost echoing through the room, "I expect you on your best behavior tonight."

I shut my eyes quickly as I felt them rolling in my skull. I bit my tongue to cut off the sarcasm that threatened to spill out: "Of course, Sir. Best behavior, Sir. Shall I kiss one ass cheek or both, Sir?" When I opened my eyes, his ice-blue eyes, as cold as the darkest winter's morning, pierced into me.

"Understood?" James asked.

I successfully resisted the urge to tell him to go fuck himself and nodded slightly and said, "Sure, thing." The contempt in my voice was so thick you could almost reach out and touch it in the air. His eyes narrowed slightly, but he refused to be drawn in and resumed his roving guard post.

A series of thundering booms rumbled from the direction of the stairs. My nose bristled at the stench of Calvin Klein cologne as my stepbrother Levi strutted into the room like he owned the place--technically, his dad owned it. His long legs carried him across the room in quick strides with his shoulders back and chest out. His eyes briefly fell upon the recliner where my mom was sitting.

"Not a chance, buddy," I started to say, just to needle him. Levi and I respected the recliner as James' chair, but whenever he wasn't sitting in it, it was up for grabs. My mom had beaten me to it this time.

Levi continued past the recliner and my location on the couch, our eyes meeting briefly. "Evening, Sophia."

"Levi," I said coolly. His name tasted like curdled milk on my tongue.

He flicked his eyes over me and then curled his lips in contempt. James had insisted on me wearing a dress for the evening. I rarely wore them, and the one I'd pulled out fit me about as well as if I'd draped my skinny body in a blanket.

Levi continued past the far end of the couch to the chair there. Why James hadn't bought two recliners instead of one didn't make much sense to me.

James marched to that side of the room and came to a stop in front of Levi. "I was just telling Sophia, I need you all on your A-game tonight. I know I can count on you to give me 110%."

"You got it, dad. I'm all in," Levi said.

James leaned forward and clapped him on the shoulder. "Good man. That's what I like to hear."

This time, I was unable to shut my eyes before I rolled them.

The doorbell rang a few minutes later. James' body seemed to stand even straighter. When he turned to us, Levi and my mom got to their feet. When I didn't budge, James' eyes settled on me, darkening with each passing moment. With a heavy sigh, I pushed my body forward and stood. It was stupid. They were just a couple of city council members, not the British Royal Family.

James swung the door open and greeted them, a man in a suit with neatly combed white hair and a woman in a dress far too elegant for a house dinner. Her long, dangling earrings looked like they should be hanging from a chandelier instead of her ears.

"Welcome, thank you for coming," James said with a tone that matched his posture. He greeted both guests with handshakes.

"Thank you, Major Davidson," said the man as he stepped inside.

The woman followed him in, her eyes sweeping the room. "Such a charming and lovely home."

"Indeed," James replied, "we take pride in our home."

I caught my rolling eyes just in time as the woman's gaze settled on me. "And a charming and lovely family," she said, although her tone didn't carry the same lightness as when she'd remarked on the house.

James introduced my mom and then Levi. He introduced me almost as an afterthought. The woman's face lit up as Levi stepped forward to shake her hand. Good grief. She was at least twice his age but was turning into mush. You'd think she'd never seen muscles, high cheekbones, and a well-defined jawline before. Personally, I'd never been a fan. He looked less like an 18-year-old boy and more like a killer cyborg sent through time to murder women and children. It also didn't help that he had the personality of a box of cereal.

My mom went into the kitchen to put the final touches on dinner while the rest of us waited in the living room. James regaled the councilmembers with tales of Levi's football exploits from the past season while I tried to think of a way to fake a medical emergency.

Over dinner, James turned to boasting about his recent exploits at the police department. "Did I mention the recent accolades our division received?" The councilmembers nodded attentively as they carved their roast. "Armed robberies are down 57% year-to-date. Why? I'll tell you why. The name of the game is 'order.' It means every officer doing their part, functioning like a cog in a machine."

"That's very impressive," the white-haired man said.

I slumped in my chair, weary with boredom. As I poked at my mashed potatoes, my gaze lifted and happened to drift across the table to where it met Levi's steel-gray eyes. I widened my eyes and raised my eyebrows as if to ask, "What in the fuck are you staring at?"

He snapped out of his haze and looked around before returning his eyes to me. He lifted his hand to his face and scratched his brow with his middle finger. If we hadn't had guests, I would've told him the feeling was mutual.

"It sounds like you run a pretty tight ship in your division," the woman said.

James nodded. "It all comes down to discipline. With disciplined officers, you can accomplish anything. It's no different than the way I run this home. Discipline. Without it, what do you have? Chaos."

Levi flipped me off again as he scratched his chin.

"Well, chaos is the natural state of the universe," I said, speaking for the first time. "Sometimes, the appearance of order and discipline hides lawlessness."

James whipped his head around to me. He pursed his lips but remained silent. I was sure he'd get me for that later.

When dinner ended, Levi and I pushed our chairs back, and said, "May I be excused?" almost in unison. James responded with a nod, but I was already inching down the side of the table, matching Levi's movements. I knew where he was headed--or at least, where he thought he was headed. But I'd thought ahead. Brains over brawn. By sitting on the side of the table nearest to the living room, I had a head start.

As I reached the doorway from the dining room, my eyes fixed on the recliner. It almost seemed to glow in the light of the living room. I broke into a run, my heels clicking and clacking on the hardwood floor. I rarely wore them, and it felt like I was about to fall out of them. But I wouldn't be denied. I could feel Levi hot on my trail, his longer strides quickly closing the distance.

I reached the recliner a step before him and threw myself into it, but his larger, stronger body collided with mine, rattling every bone in my body as he crashed into the seat next to me. The force of our collective bodies almost tipped the chair over backwards. I grabbed the right arm of the chair as Levi's body nearly sent me up and over it.

"Move, Levi," I growled, "I was here first."

"Make me," he shot back as he jostled against me.

I was quickly losing ground in the war for the chair. I shifted my body and sank my arm deep down within the cushion. I grabbed a metal bar somewhere near the bottom. Levi wasn't getting this chair unless it was over my dead body. He'd have to take my arm off to make me move.

"Seriously, Sophia? This isn't your throne, princess. Move." He threw his shoulder against me, rocking me and the chair.

"Stop acting like a wild animal. Go sit somewhere else."

But like a wild bull, he reared back and then threw himself into my body again. I cried out in pain from the impact in my shoulder and torso as well as my arm which was still wedged down into the chair. He leaned back and threw himself into me again, sending a jolt a pain that radiated from one arm to the other. I let loose with a howl that shook the window panes.

James appeared in the doorway from the dining room, my mom at his hip and the councilmembers behind them. The alarm on their faces quickly faded as they regarded us in the chair with Levi pressing me into one side of it. The councilmembers looked on with curiosity while my mom's face displayed a look of concern. James' cheeks burned bright red, revealing the burning rage within him.

The councilmembers exchanged uncomfortable glances. "Maybe we should...," the white-haired man trailed off as Levi nudged me with his hip, pressing me harder into the arm of the chair.

"What are you doing?" James hissed. His words were directed at us both, but his eyes were trained on me. "Stop that!" His voice demanded compliance as only Major Davidson could. He stood with his arms locked at his sides and his shoulders squared like police barricades.

I felt Levi's body budge slightly as though he were about to get up and surrender the chair. He, like I, knew better than to defy his dad. But then his body sank back into the chair. Despite James' withering scowl, I made no effort to move either, but I was rapidly losing my nerve. The recliner, once a coveted throne from which I could rule over Levi, now felt more like an electric chair.

James took a threatening step toward us. "Get out of the chair!" he barked, now no longer concerned with keeping up appearances. His authority was being challenged and he wouldn't have it.

"More wine?" my mom offered to the councilmembers, trying to distract and pull them away from gawking at the car wreck in the living room.

"Thank you, Linda," the man said, "but it's getting awfully late."

James spun around on his heels. "I apologize for that. They're generally well-behaved." He turned and glared at us over his shoulder.

The woman fanned her hand at him dismissively. "That's nothing. I have three boys. My house is a constant warzone."

"Haha, I bet," James said, forcing an uncomfortable chuckle. He led them to the door where they exchanged pleasantries before the councilmembers departed. I watched their forms disappear through the frosted glass on either side of the door as James closed it. He turned slowly to face us. I braced for the impending firestorm as he stared at us, his face solid stone. Once again, I felt Levi's muscles flex as he started to get up but then remained seated. There was no use getting up now. The damage was already done.

For my own part, I was prepared to face whatever came next. This had been more than a battle for a chair. This had been a battle for respect. For the right to occupy space in a house that seemed determined to push me into its corners.

James raised a hand and pointed at me. "You two hooligans... you two may have cost me the Deputy Chief position." He stood and stared as if waiting for a response. But what was there to say? "Sorry you don't get to become Lord of the Dickhead Brigade?

When I didn't say anything after several seconds, James wagged his finger at me and clenched his jaw. He looked like he was literally trying to prevent his body from exploding. After several more seconds when his body didn't burst into pieces, he turned and stomped out of the living room toward the hallway. I turned to my mom who was still standing in the doorway to the dining room and wringing her hands. She opened her mouth to speak, but her husband's thunderous footsteps returning to the room cut her off. She put her hand on her neck as if squeezing off the sound.

When I turned, James was stomping toward us, his face twisted with menace. I caught a flash of something metallic in his hands as he approached. He lifted a pair of handcuffs into the air above us and my mind flooded with confusion as he reached between us and grabbed my arm. He brought the handcuffs down with a quickness that almost defied physics. I yelped in pain as he slapped a ring around my wrist, the cold metal stinging my wrist. Before I had a chance to speak, he released my hand and grabbed Levi's arm before slapping the other handcuff ring onto his wrist, linking us together.

Levi was the first to speak. "Dad, what--"

"Silence!" James' voice boomed through the room and I felt Levi shrink back into the chair. He stood, glaring down at us, daring either of us to speak. When neither of us did, he spoke again. "Since you two want to sit in this chair together, then sit in the chair together." He turned and began walking away.

My mom stepped further into the living room. "James... I don't know..."

"Damnit, Linda, they need to learn."

My mom cast a sympathetic eye in our direction but remained silent. If there was one thing I'd learned in the time they'd been married, when James insisted on something, my mom could be counted on to fall in line behind him like a cowering servant. This time was no different.

With my mom's compliance gained, James turned back to us. "Goodnight," he said and stalked off. My mom lingered, wringing her hands again and looking at us with concern. "Let's go, Linda." My mom hesitated only a moment longer before following James up the stairs.

As their footsteps receded, my bewilderment became a mix of fear and anger as the reality of our situation finally started to crystalize. I had thought this was a cruel practical joke and he would return to take the handcuffs off, but he was gone.

Levi shifted in the seat next to me. I pushed back as much as my 100 pounds could muster, trying to reclaim some personal space, but the chair was made for half the number of people currently occupying it. Our legs knocked into each other, our elbows dug into each other's sides. Every bump and jab added to our combined irritation.

"Damn it, Sophia, could you sit still? You're like a restless toddler."

"You're no better," I responded. His body against mine made my skin crawl.

In our battle for space, I somehow forgot about the handcuffs and went to yank my arm away from him. The bite of the steel on my wrist was a painful reminder. I tried shifting again, but there was no position that didn't leave us pressed together. I let out a deep sigh and lay my head back against the chair. Levi fished his phone out of his pocket. I'd left mine on my bed earlier in the evening in my haste to get downstairs to claim the recliner.

Was this for real? How much longer was James intending to have this go on? There was no way he was going to leave us like this all night. But as the night crept forward, every horrible possibility seemed realistic. I was a prisoner in my own home. My limbs grew sore from our confined position. My wrist cried out in agony, the handcuffs feeling tighter as the night wore on. They seemed to be shrinking... along with my patience. Every attempt to relieve the pressure only resulted in a new ache.

I tried to distract myself. "The entropy of a closed system always increases," I whispered, reciting the second law of thermodynamics.

"What?" Levi said, looking up from his phone.

His presence was claustrophobic. Suffocating. Every breath of his seemed to steal air from my lungs. I let out a loud huff and glared at him.

"Are these accommodations not up to your standard, Highness?"

I boiled over. "Oh, fuck you."

"Not in your wildest dreams," he retorted. "Not even with someone else's dick."

Ouch.

His response ripped a hole through my chest that immediately began to fill with the self-doubt, self-criticism, and poor self-esteem that ran my psyche. Not that it was unwarranted. I was bottom of the barrel. That's why he'd said what he did. But I wasn't about to let him know he'd struck a nerve.

"Probably for the best," I shot back. "I wouldn't want to catch syphilis from one of your whores."

He responded by shoving me into the chair arm and claiming additional space. I didn't bother trying to fight back. I was exhausted. My feelings were hurt. I just wanted to go to sleep and end this nightmare.

We settled back into silence, the only sounds coming from the tick of the grandfather clock and our breathing. I closed my eyes and focused on the rhythm of my breathing, trying to pull my mind away from my physical torment. But every time I felt like I was touching the edge of sleep, I felt him shift or felt his muscles tense, and I was reminded of my body's predicament.

"Comfortable?" he asked, further reminding me of our ordeal.

"Just peachy," I said. Remembering his earlier sexual dig, I went a step further. "Your cologne game could use work. If I'd known I'd be subjected to it all night, I would've begged your dad to leave a face mask."

"I don't wear it to impress science nerds."

"I'm surprised it impresses anyone."

Once again at a loss for words, he responded by changing our seating dynamic. He shifted his body and tried to reposition our linked arms which caused us both to wince in pain. He settled back in and we resumed our silence.

The night stretched on, each tick of the clock pounding against my skull like a hammer. Every tick sent a wave of helplessness over me, and my body ached more fiercely with each passing minute. Even Levi, once smug and dismissive of our circumstances, was wearing down. His breath, previously steady and defiant, had become labored.

"Thinking about your next big chemistry project?" Levi's voice was an unpleasant buzzing like a housefly that disappeared when you swatted at it, only to return as soon as you forgot about it.

"Yes, actually. Just going over an equation in my head," I lied. After a pause, I added, "Unlike some people, my future isn't being handed to me on a silver platter."

"Blow me," he responded.

"No thanks. I don't want to catch herpes either."

His muscles tensed, and I braced for him to make another attempt to seize another inch of the chair's real estate, but exhaustion had apparently claimed him. He remained in place.

I shared in his fatigue, but neither of us slept. Not much. Our discomfort wouldn't allow it. And so we lay there, against each other, drifting in and out of consciousness until the first whispers of dawn crept into the room. At some point, I'd slipped far enough beneath the edge of sleep that I'd rested my head on Levi's shoulder. His head was resting against the top of mine.

He stirred as I shifted. "Guess we made it," he said. His voice was gravelly with sleeplessness.

"Yes, seems like it." I glanced at the floor as the rays of the morning sun filtered through the blinds.

We both sat in stilled silence wondering what came next. That question was answered when we heard the sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs. James strode into the living room and stepped up to our chair, a cruel smirk painted on his face. "Rise and shine. School day today," he said. He lifted his hand and held his fingers upright. My heart danced at the object between them--a key. Thinking as one mind, Levi and I lifted our linked arms and watched with gratefulness as James unlocked the handcuffs. I immediately rubbed my sore wrist. My arm cried out as it began moving with full freedom for the first time in hours.

James put the cuffs and key into his pocket and then extended his arm out to his side in a gesture that suggested we were free to go. We both groaned and leaned into each other for support as we simultaneously climbed out of the chair. As I stood, the sudden urge to use the bathroom almost overwhelmed me and I took the stairs as quickly as I could, even as my muscles protested.

After using the bathroom and showering, I lay in my bed and tried to get a few minutes of sleep before it was time to go to school. It felt like I'd only shut my eyes for about two seconds when a thumping on my bedroom door jolted me awake.

"Time to go. You'll miss the bus," James said through the door.

I dragged myself out of bed and rummaged around until I found a baggy pair of olive-green pants. I grabbed the gray hoodie hanging on the back of my desk chair, checked to make sure it was clean, and pulled it over my still-sore body, taking care to sweep my ponytail out of the way of the hood.

Levi was already downstairs. His eyes were half-closed and his body was swaying with the same exhaustion I felt.

James was at the front door preparing to go to work. "Straight home after school," he said.

Levi and I looked at each other in confusion. I was the one who spoke up. "What do you mean 'straight home'? I have Science Club after school."

"And I have... I was going with Rick to check out his new ride," Levi said, speaking up.

"Not today you don't," James said. "Your extracurricular activities can wait. No Science Club." He turned to Levi. "No hanging out with your teammates or your girlfriend. You're both to come straight home. Is that understood?"

"Why?" I said, raising my voice. I could feel Levi's eyes on me. If there was one thing no one in the house dared to do, it was raise their voice to James. But I wasn't in the right frame of mind. I hadn't had a good night's sleep, I'd been handcuffed to James' asshole son all night, and now James was telling me I couldn't go to the one place that might bring me peace today? I needed it. It was more than just an extracurricular activity. It was where I thrived. It was a place where it was ok for me to be an ugly, skinny, nerdy girl in oversized hoodies. Science Club was my haven within the chaos of high school.

"Why?" James said, repeating my question. "Because this," he retrieved the handcuffs from his pocket and held them up, "isn't over. You two are going to be spending a lot of time together, so standby."

He couldn't be serious. There was no way in hell I was spending another night in the recliner handcuffed to Levi.

"What am I supposed to tell Ashley and my friends?" Levi said.

"Tell them the truth, for all I care," James said. "You acted like a spoiled brat and now you're grounded."

Before either of us could voice any further protest, James was out the door and off to work, leaving Levi and I to ponder the implications of what he had just told us.

The day passed in a blur. I couldn't be sure whether I'd fallen asleep in every class. It was sometimes difficult to tell when I was awake and when I was dreaming that I was awake. When Levi and I returned home, I walked in the door filled with equal parts dread and anger. Our Science Club faculty advisor, Mr. Keating, was running an experiment with liquid nitrogen after school. But instead of participating in it, I was at the whim of my maniac stepdad. He was sitting in the golden recliner watching TV and clicked it off when we entered.

"Let's get one thing straight," he said as he got to his feet, "you two were out of line last night. A complete lack of discipline the likes of which I've never seen." He focused his gaze on me. "Like it or not, we are a family. You two will act like it. I don't care how long it takes. Days. Weeks. Months." He reached into his pocket and produced the dreaded handcuffs.

My body shrank back, and the thought crossed my mind to run for it. Run away and join a cult. A science cult.

James turned and tossed them onto the recliner. "Perhaps I treated you too harshly."

What a relief. I'd figure out a way to tolerate spending the next couple of evenings cooped up in the house with Levi. But my relief gave way to confusion when James reached into his back waistband and produced a bright yellow child's wrist leash. "This," he said, snapping the leash to punctuate his words, "is your new reality. You two behaved like children; you'll be treated as such."

Levi erupted, his face flushed with indignation. "This is insane! You can't seriously think we're going to wear that!"

James snapped the leash with force. The loud crack it produced was enough to take some of the wind out of Levi's angry sails. "Your social calendar is suspended."

"How long is this supposed to go on?" Levi asked. "I have a date with Ashley this weekend."

James' face turned sympathetic. "Oh, you can still go. You two are only restricted to the house during weekdays after school. You're free to go where you want on the weekend. But the leash stays on whenever you aren't in school. You'll have two minutes in the morning to change for your shower, two minutes to dress for school, and two minutes at night to change before bed."

My jaw felt unhinged and no words came out of my mouth. My brain, as brilliant as it was, couldn't process what James had just laid out.

Once again, it was Levi who spoke up. "That's bullshit!"

James took a lunging step toward him, and for a moment, I thought he was going to hit him. "Excuse me?"

Levi tried staring down his dad but only lasted about five seconds before withering like an underwatered plant.

"What about the bathroom?" I said as my brain finally got itself into gear. "And the shower? And sleeping? We can't sleep in the recliner every night."

James fully unfurled the leash. "It's eight feet long," he said as if that solved everything. "It's long enough that when one of you is using the bathroom, the other one can wait outside the door. When one of you is showering, the other one can wait outside the shower. As for sleep, I leave that for you two to decide."

My brain reeled as I tried to make sense of what my ears were hearing. It was ludicrous. Part of me kept waiting for him to say it was all one big prank to scare us into improving our behavior. But when he stepped forward with the leash, it became clear that this was for real. He opened the clasp at one end of the leash and held it toward me expectantly. I looked at Levi, silently prodding him to re-engage his dad. Anything to delay the degradation of wearing something I hadn't even worn when I was actually a child. My mom never would've done such a thing.

Speaking of which, where was she? Not that it mattered. I was sure James had already laid out his ridiculous plan to her and she went right along with it, no questions asked.

Levi wouldn't look at me and folded his arms and continued staring at his dad. With no support from him or my mom, I finally raised and extended my arm to James. The soft material of the clasp did little to soothe me as James closed it around my wrist. Once it was secure, he locked it with a key and then turned to Levi.

"Let's go, buddy," James said, holding the other clasp in the air in front of him.

Levi stared at it but didn't budge.

James shook the clasp at him. "I'm not asking. I'm telling."

I silently willed Levi to defy him. It was the last hope we had.

The seconds went by, the grandfather clock ticking them off.

"I will not ask again." James' voice dropped an octave. It was a tone I'd only rarely heard in the time I'd known him, but it always spelled trouble. Levi, who had known him his whole life, apparently knew it all too well and extended his arm. My shoulders sagged as my last hope caved with his resolve. James secured the other clasp around Levi's wrist and locked it. I would've thought a device like this would only lock on one end. After all, what was the point of both the child's and adult's end of the leash locking? But knowing James, he had probably gotten a special one specifically so that we couldn't take it off when we were out of sight.

My body swelled with resentment and fury. I thought about finally giving James a true piece of my mind. What more could he do to me at this point?

On the other hand, what he'd already done was extreme. There was probably no limit to the horrors he could create for us. So rather than challenge him, I stood still, doing my best to keep my face even and my body neutral, trying to give the impression to him that this was no big deal. Without another word, he turned and strolled away, leaving Levi and I standing in the middle of the living room linked together like we were on a prison chain gang.

"So, now what?" he said at last.

What indeed. "I guess we need to start figuring this thing out." I turned and walked, pulling him along, not sure what to do or where I was headed. I continued walking until my journey carried me into my bedroom. I sank onto the chair at my desk and I flipped open my laptop.

"Nice place you got here," Levi said, taking a swing at the row of stuffed animals at the head of my bed.

"Could you please not touch anything?"

He looked me in the eye and jabbed his finger into the eye of a stuffed bear. "Touch."

I rolled my eyes and turned back to my laptop. I pulled up the digital version of my physics textbook. The words blurred before my eyes, almost seeming to float off the screen as I struggled to focus on a quantum mechanics problem set.

"Seriously, Sophia? You're going to study? Right now?" Levi's words quickly shattered my attempt to occupy myself with something familiar to distract itself from our present situation.

"Unlike some people, I have a GPA to worry about," I shot back. I didn't want him to know how much his dad's ridiculous punishment was fracturing my mind. "Why don't you just... do whatever it is you do?"

"Whatever," he huffed. The leash suddenly extended to its full length and snatched my left arm off the side of my desk as Levi moved across my room.

"Levi! What the hell?"

"I'm doing what I do," he said, shrugging nonchalantly. "I'm going to play Playstation." He moved again, whipping my arm around.

"Eww, I'm not going into your room."

"Well, I'm not going to sit here all evening watching you read about dissecting atoms or whatever."

"Fine, let's just bring it back in here and hook it up to my TV." I let out a grumbling sigh to let him know how irritated I was.

He was such a self-centered jerk. And now I was tethered to him. My life couldn't get any worse.

Levi continued grating my nerves just as much during dinner with his unnecessary movements of the leash. He was right-handed, sure, but it was like he was going out of his way to avoid using his left hand just so that the leash would jostle every time he moved.

After dinner, James released the leash and gave us our two minutes to change clothes. I slipped into a cotton pajama set, pulled my hair out of its ponytail, and waited for James to return.

"Time's up!" James hollered from the hallway.

I left my room and was shocked to see Levi clad in basketball shorts and nothing else. I'd seen him without a shirt before, but knowing I was about to be chained to him like that made me apprehensive for some reason. "Could you put on a shirt or something?"

"Why? This is how I sleep?" Levi responded as he offered James his arm.

I let out an exaggerated sigh and surrendered my arm as well.

After being linked back together, we went to my room where I resumed my physics review while Levi played loudly on his Playstation. I read until my eyes started to strain and then went to my bed. I peeled back the pink covers and smoothed down the fitted sheet before getting in. I eyed Levi warily as he continued to play. Earlier, I had considered making him bring the covers from his room so he wouldn't stink up mine with his boy funk but decided against it. It was bad enough having him laying on my covers, I didn't need his covers touching mine too.

I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling while replaying the day's events in my mind. It still didn't seem altogether real, but as I glanced at my wrist, the yellow ring around it was a reminder that it was. With a heavy sigh, I closed my eyes, surrendering to the slumber that had eluded me the night before. Somewhere on the edge of my consciousness, Levi continued to play.

The next thing I knew, I felt the rays of the morning sun filtering through my blinds bathing my face in warmth. I smiled and basked in it--momentarily forgetting the intruder in my bed. Levi snored quietly next to me, his chest rising and falling with his breaths. My eyes drifted over his pecs and rippled abs. Each muscle looked as though it had been crafted by a master sculptor.

"What the hell are you looking at, Sophia?" I shouted to myself.

The heavy sound of James' footsteps in the hallway was followed by his heavy hand thumping the door. "Up and at 'em! Rise and shine, you two!" He swung the door open and tossed me a towel. "Yours is in your room," James said to Levi as he crossed the room to unlock the leash. "You two have two minutes.

Right on schedule, James returned to my room with Levi in tow and relinked us before sending us off to the bathroom. Using the toilet separately was awkward but paled in comparison to the moment when we stood together in the middle of the bathroom. Levi finally broke the standoff by stepping into the tub and pulling the curtain closed behind himself. He tossed his towel over the curtain rod and turned on the shower, leaving me to stand idly in my towel.

The shower curtain wasn't see-through, not that I had any interest in looking at him through it. I just wanted it to be over as soon as possible. But try as I might, I couldn't push away the thought that he was naked just a few feet from me. I tried to focus on anything else. The tile on the bathroom floor. The sound of the splashing water. The dark circles under my eyes from another night of not enough sleep.

The shower curtain rippled. What the hell was he doing?

"Could you hurry up?" I called out as the irritation built within me. It wasn't just the intrusion of privacy that was upsetting me, it was the way our forced proximity made me aware of him in ways I'd never wanted.

"Relax, princess. I'll be done in a minute."

I folded my arms and tapped my foot on the cool floor.

The cascading water stopped, and Levi snatched his towel down from the curtain rod. After a few moments, the curtain whipped back. I froze in place momentarily as my eyes took in his damp skin, the droplets looking like diamonds on his solid chest.

I averted my eyes and shook my head, taking as wide a path as possible as I stepped around him to take my turn. The leash, a thin but unyielding tether, limited our distance, but I managed to get into the shower without any contact between us.

My shower was the worst one of my life. The entire time, all I could think about was the fact that I was naked with Levi just beyond the paper-thin curtain.

We emerged from the bathroom and called for our prison warden to give us our two minutes to change into our clothes. After dressing and fixing my hair into my trademark ponytail, we went to the kitchen where we ate our breakfast in silence. Only when we were finally ready to leave the house to catch the bus did James take the leash off again granting us a temporary, but blissful, release. Free from the leash, I felt as light as a feather and floated out the door to make the trek to the bus. The air outside felt fresher than the day before. The sun seemed brighter and the chirps of the birds sounded crisper. Even my steps felt lighter.

At school, the environment, usually suffocating, was welcoming in its normalcy. I relished the opportunity to chat with my friends about anime, science, and the day's latest gossip. I darted from class to class, the voices in the hallways carrying me between the rooms.

At lunch, conversations buzzed the air around me. I happened to glance across the cafeteria to where Levi held court with his football teammates and brainless fans. Our eyes didn't meet; we existed in totally different worlds despite the closeness we'd been forced to share at home. As I continued to look on, he threw his head back and laughed with a richness that had been lacking at home the last couple of days. Having been tethered to me for most of the last 24 hours, he was enjoying his freedom as much as me.

The bell announcing the end of the school day was like a death bell. On the bus ride home, I felt increasingly sick to my stomach at the thought of once again being tied to Levi. My feet grew heavier with every step from the bus stop as the two of us walked in silence, both of us dreading what awaited. James' unmarked police car in the driveway was the final hammer to my chest.

"Stand still," he barked as I fidgeted while he attempted to attach my end of the leash to my arm. After having enjoyed the day of freedom, the cuff felt like it was made of steel and weighed 100 pounds.

We sat at the dining room table as we completed our school assignments. Several times, my mom tried to engage me in conversation, but I still resented her for not doing anything to prevent this unfair punishment. For marrying James in the first place. Admittedly, my dad had been dead for years, but it was like one day she just decided to throw herself into the arms of the first man willing to catch her. My horrible luck is that the man who caught her was a psychopath.

After dinner, Levi and I once again retreated to my room. The rapid tapping of buttons on Levi's Playstation controller competed with the soft clicks of my laptop keys. James granted us our two minutes to change, and I retired to bed not long after.

Despite my weary body, sleep eluded me. Even after Levi turned off his Playstation and climbed into the bed next to me, I lay awake staring into the darkness. The longer I lay there, the more aware I became of his presence in ways I hadn't been the night before. His even breathing. The heat radiating from his body. The occasional brush of his arm against mine. Part of me was reconsidering the decision for us to share my bed, a queen-size bed, instead of his king-size bed. But that would mean sleeping in his disgusting bed. It was bad enough sleeping next to him in my own bed.

Eventually, I drifted off to sleep.

The first light of dawn crept through the room and tapped against my eyelids, jarring me awake. Or maybe it was something else. Yes. There was something. An unfamiliar pressure against me, against my back. It took a moment for my half-awake mind to process it--Levi curled against my back with his erection pressed insistently against my ass.

A gasp caught in my throat as I froze in place. My body was riddled with disgust. And yet... I didn't move away. I lay there perfectly still, taking shallow breaths. I willed the morning sun to intensify enough to burn through my blinds and set me on fire so I wouldn't have to face the reality of what was happening.

Was he awake? Was he doing it on purpose?

Minutes stretched on until, eventually, Levi stirred and rolled away without a word. Relief flooded my body, but the questions lingered.

The morning and the school day raced by. My mind kept drifting back to the feel of Levi pressed against me. And the feel of his... his... penis. It had felt like a steel rod. Why had he been so erect? And why was it pressed against me?

My thoughts from the morning continued to chase me through my mind throughout the day and evening and were the last thoughts I had as I fell asleep.

I was awoken during the night by a subtle movement jostling the bed and stirring me from my first restful sleep in days. Levi's voice, barely a whisper, came from the other side of the bed. "Sophia... are you awake?"

Anger bubbled within me, a knee-jerk reaction to his mere presence. Rather than respond, I pretended to be asleep and let out a calculated snore, hoping to silence him from asking whatever he needed or wanted.

Moments later, the jostling of the bed that had awoken me resumed. It was gentle at first but then became a deliberate rhythm. My brain raced to make sense of it. Was he simply restless? Was he bouncing his leg in an effort to stave off the need to wake me for a bathroom break? Was he trying to rock himself back to sleep? Whatever it was, I did my best to ignore it and went back to sleep.

The morning light brought with it a new day and a new, horrifying sensation. Like the day before, Levi's chest was pressed against my back. And once again, his... penis was wedged against my ass. But this time, his arm was draped across my torso like a heavy band. And his hand was resting on top of my shirt--on my breast.

My heart thundered in my chest. I wanted to squirm away and shout at him for the indecent, even if unconscious, liberty he had taken. But I lay there frozen in revulsion... and something else.

Time seemed to stop as I waited for him to stir. But he remained in place until James' heavy footfalls and hammering at the door woke him up and he rolled away.

Once again, I spent the day wrestling with the thoughts of my morning wake-up. He had... touched me. I had read about guys having "morning wood," but that didn't explain what had occurred in my bed with Levi.

My thoughts plagued me throughout the day and into the night. This time, I was unable to fall asleep and lay awake long after Levi had gone to sleep. Or so I thought.

He suddenly started shaking the bed subtly, similar to the night before. He must've needed to go to the bathroom. It was the only logical explanation. I took in a sharp breath of air as I debated whether to let him go this time, but the sound of his voice in the darkness instantly annoyed me.

"Sophia... are you up?"

Like I'd done the night before, I pretended to be asleep and fabricated a steady stream of snores.

After several moments, the shaking resumed. And like the night before, it became more insistent and purposeful. His leg brushed against mine, twitching with erratic motion as if he was dancing in the bed.

I was close to finally granting him mercy and 'waking up' so he could use the bathroom when his breathing grew louder and more labored. I remained still, forgetting my feigned snoring as I listened. With each ragged breath and the continued shaking of the bed and bump of his leg, the reality of what he was doing pushed its way to the front of my mind like an out-of-control train barreling down the track.

He was pleasuring himself! Here. Beside me. Beneath my Hello Kitty bed covers.

Disgust twisted into every sense of my being. Was he so weak-willed that sexual frustration had driven him to this point? Now that his evenings were devoid of spending time with his girlfriend, was he this desperate? But why do it now? Had he no sense of decency? Couldn't he wait till morning and do it in the bathroom before our shower?

My mind found no answers as I remained perfectly still even as a low moan filled the air and his body trembled. The shaking stopped, and his snoring followed soon after. But sleep was the furthest thing from my mind.

The morning light ripped into the room with an unforgiving brightness. As I squinted against it, I immediately became aware of the absence of Levi's body against me. And though it was a relief, my body also felt oddly cold without his warmth. The sound of his quiet snoring ripped me back to the night before. His breathing. His movements. His moaning. His cock... no... penis... his hard... no... his erect penis...

"That's enough, Sophia."

I continued to grapple with my secret knowledge of his nighttime activities while I stood leaning against the bathroom sink as he showered. It lingered in my mind like a bad aftertaste. The questions crashed against the inside of my skull over and over. I tried to understand him, to mentally quantify his actions like the variables of a physics equation, and mulled over it until it gave me a headache.

Why would he do something so private without any privacy? Couldn't he wait? He could've done it in the shower. Wouldn't that have been easier? Less conspicuous?

As if on cue, my brain fixated on the motions of the leash linking us. Why was it shaking so much? Every twitch and tremble of it sent spikes of unease through me. It felt different than the normal motions that had accompanied his previous morning shower.

Was he...? No.

But every persistent quiver of the leash brought more confirmation of what I'd already suspected. Even the water's splash against the curtain sounded different.

But maybe he wasn't. Maybe I was so hyper-vigilant after having caught him in the act the night before, that my mind was playing tricks on me. Or was it?

As the moments passed, the mystery of the unknown called out to me like a siren's song. I had to know. He'd spent the last two nights... masturbating in bed right next to me. Was he now doing it in the shower right next to me?

Before my mind could answer the question, I found myself inching closer to the opposite end of the tub and curtain from where the showerhead was.

Just a glimpse. Just to settle the issue.

But I had no idea what I'd do with the knowledge. Did it really make a difference whether he was... masturbating once or twice a day? Yes. I couldn't explain why, but it made a difference. And I needed to know.

With my hand trembling, I reached out, my fingers brushing the edge of the curtain. I pushed it back, a millimeter at a time. I could almost hear my heartbeat above the spray of the water.

A little more. A little more. A little more. And then his naked form came into view.

He wasn't masturbating. And he thankfully wasn't facing in my direction, a possibility I had somehow previously overlooked. Water ran down the muscles of his back which clenched and relaxed as he lathered himself. His skin, slick with soap, gleamed in the bright overhead bathroom lights like dew on leaves in the morning sunlight. My gaze was drawn downward, following the 'V' of his muscles to the curve of his firm ass that looked like it had been cut from marble.

I realized with a start that this was the first fully naked guy I had ever seen in person. Memories of my one and only sexual encounter flashed through my mind--an awkward, fumbling exchange in a hotel room during a Science Club field trip to a physics conference. I'd snuck away with my lab partner from our chaperones, my heart pounding more from the thrill of the unknown rather than desire or passion. It was a chance to experience something I'd read about countless times and gossiped about with my friends. The big 'It' that everyone talked about. It was over before it started, leaving me with a feeling of emptiness rather than fulfillment. I was left disillusioned, wondering why everyone was so obsessed with something so uneventful. I'd wished I'd spent the time downstairs at the conference looking at displays of liquid density towers.

But despite that encounter, here I was, unable to tear my eyes away from Levi's nude body.

"Damnit, get a grip, Sophia."

It was just a human body. An epidermis over a dermis and more flesh. Tissue. Nerve endings. Muscle. Bones. It was just a vehicle to transport our brains. Nothing remarkable. Certainly not this one that belonged to my jackass of a stepbrother. A person so full of himself it was hard to believe his skin didn't burst at the seams with overconfidence and narcissism.

My heart leapt into my throat as Levi leaned forward to turn off the water. I jerked my body away from the shower curtain as though it was on fire. The moment he stepped out of the shower, I stepped far to the side and desperately tried to keep my eyes off him even as images of his wet body remained etched in my mind. As I stepped into the shower and flung my towel over the curtain rod, I felt exposed. Naked in a way I hadn't felt before when showering under our tethered condition. As the shower water sprayed down over me, I couldn't shake Levi's body from my mind. At the same time, another image flashed through my mind--him peeling back the edge of the shower curtain to look upon me as I showered.

But no sooner did the thought enter my mind before I chased it away. He had no reason to spy on me. I hadn't been doing anything in the bed the night before. I hadn't even considered self-pleasure since we'd been shackled together. I didn't do it often, but as I stood there in the shower with images of Levi dancing in my mind, I found myself missing it.

Images of Levi's rippling muscles flashed through my mind all day. Every time I happened to look at his clothed back, I mentally replaced it with the nude one I'd seen. I repeatedly told myself that it had been strictly practical. I had to know what he was up to.

That night, the familiar bed tremors stirred me from sleep. I let out a silent sigh, annoyance and disgust rippling over my skin as I felt Levi's rhythmic movements beside me. He couldn't keep doing this every night. I had to put a stop to it. But if he knew that I knew, I'd die from the secondhand embarrassment.

Once again building up a round of my fake snoring, I rolled toward him in feigned unconsciousness. My hand dropped onto his arm and my leg draped over his. He stilled as my phony snores filled the silence of my bedroom. Success.

But it was fleeting.

Minutes later, just as I was drifting back toward sleep, his movements resumed. The bed creaked softly as he... masturbated.

"Really, Sophia? Do you have to be so clinical about it? There's absolutely nothing clinical about what he's doing. He's jerking off."

Then, unexpectedly, his other hand found my leg, squeezing gently. My breath caught in my throat and I forgot that I was supposed to be fake-snoring. I lay there, my eyes straining in the darkness at his actions but only catching the slightest flutter of the sheet as he... jerked off. Jerked off while touching me.

The repulsion and disgust tore through my body anew. But I remained still. His movements grew more pronounced and his breathing deepened. And all the while, he maintained his grip on my leg until he let out a muffled groan and his body shuddered.

I was in disbelief. He had touched me, even if relatively innocently, while he jerked off. What was wrong with him? I was his stepsister. Was the taboo of it a thrill to him?

And what was wrong with me? I could've stopped him. I should've stopped him. But I let him keep going.

My thoughts whirled in my mind as he began to quietly snore. In time, I drifted into a restless sleep, haunted by the touch of his fingers on my leg through my pajama pants. What horrified me more than the memory of it was the curiosity in my mind of what his fingers would've felt like on my bare skin.

I awoke to the sensation of Levi's warm body against my back again. His steady breath against my neck made my spine tingle. And there was something else--a faint, rhythmic pressure against my ass that suggested movement. And then it stopped. I blinked the sleep away from my eyes, convinced that it was just a trick of my waking mind.

As I lay there, I realized that his body against me didn't feel the same as it had before. It didn't stir the same feelings of disgust. It felt almost... pleasant. With his arm wrapped securely around my waist, I found myself savoring the closeness. He was my stepbrother, and yet, in the quiet, morning haze, the disgusting truth of the matter was that I enjoyed this closeness. The solidity of his body against mine. The comforting circle of his embrace. It just felt... right, even as wrong as it was.

I strolled through the hallway with the sea of sounds--voices and locker slams--whirling around me. But my mind was still at the house. Still in my bedroom. Still wrestling with the meaning of my silent mornings with Levi. And the dark nights that were punctuated with my shaking bed and his quiet moans. I just--

"Earth to Sophia," my friend Marissa said as she waved her hand in front of my face.

"Huh? Yes, ok." I'd been staring right through her, my mind miles away.

"I said, you have quite a glow this morning."

Her words shocked me to my core and my eyes darted left and right to see if anyone else had heard. But we were alone. Well... as alone as two people could be in a crowded high school hallway.

Did she know? Could she somehow see into my mind and witness the shameful truth? That I'd been laying against him while he jerked his... cock? That I'd let him touch me? That I'd spied on him in the shower? No. It was impossible. Wasn't it?

I forced a laugh that came out sounding like a gobbling turkey. "Oh... just late-night studying." She nodded but didn't look convinced. "I have to get to class." I scurried away before she could continue her interrogation.

I walked the halls and attended my classes feeling as naked as I did in the shower that morning. Every glance and every whisper was about me. It was like people somehow knew. At lunch, another friend, Jenna, leaned across the table with her brows creased in concern. "Are you ok? You look a little off."

"I'm fine!" I snapped.

She fell away, her face falling as if I'd physically pushed her back.

"I'm sorry. It's... been a strange week."

Her face lightened and she spoke words that my ears heard but my brain didn't process. My brain was focused on its battle against the memories of the night before and the morning that followed. Loathing. Revulsion. Disgust. Confusion. Curiosity. Desire.

Desire? Desire.

As much as I didn't want to admit it, and as disgusting as it was, it was true. I wanted to feel his arm around me again. His body pressed close against me.

What was wrong with me? Not only was he my stepbrother, but under any normal circumstance, he'd barely acknowledge my existence much less hold me. I wasn't the kind of girl that drew even a second glance from guys. The only reason Levi had been doing it was because he'd been cut off from evenings with his girlfriend.

So why was I so desperate to feel his touch again?

It was a question that I continued to have no answer for even as darkness fell and moonlight spilled through my window blinds, painting the room in silvery hues. My heart raced as my fingernails gently scratched at my thighs--my bare thighs. Against my better judgement, I'd elected to wear a long nightshirt to bed that barely touched the tops of my thighs instead of my usual full-body pajamas. I couldn't explain why. Or... maybe I just didn't want to admit the truth to myself.

Levi was asleep next to me. His deep, steady breathing sharply contrasted with my own shallow, shaky breaths. He was so close yet so far away. But I could feel the heat radiating from his body toward me beneath the sheet as if beckoning me closer. But did I dare? Why not? What would be the harm in inching just a bit closer? Would it wake him up? What would he think?

At some point, I fell asleep still debating it and jerked awake as the mattress shifted beneath me. He was at it again. And once again, the questions called out loudly in my mind. Just a bit closer? An inch? It's not like there was anything untoward in doing that. After all, he was the one jerking off in a shared bed.

As I debated my options, my body made the decision for me, and I rolled toward him. My breasts pressed against his arm, my action deliberate, their soft, gentle weight seeking the comfort of his strong body. As I draped my leg over his, the sensation of his bare skin beneath mine drew a breathy sigh from my lips that I prayed he didn't hear. He'd frozen his strokes, waiting to see if I was still awake. And once again, I commenced my false snoring. But this time, I silently willed him to resume what he'd been doing. I hated myself for it and couldn't explain why, but I wanted him to share his pleasure with me again.

As I settled into the crook of his arm, my leg stretched further, reveling in the warmth of his skin. But I wandered too far and bumped against his hand. I froze, breath held tight.

The moment seemed to stretch into an hour, but eventually, he became convinced that I was still asleep and he resumed his actions. To my secret delight, his hand grazed my leg with each stroke.

This really was too much. I knew I'd beat myself up all morning and all day for what I was doing. But I continued to lie against him, enjoying him as he enjoyed himself.

I was momentarily confused when he paused and shifted his body. Disappointment surged through me as his hand fell away and he moved his leg. The disappointment was abruptly replaced with horror as his other hand slid over my stomach and came to rest cupping my breast through my shirt. I stopped breathing altogether as his hand tentatively squeezed it and his fingers pressed into the small mound. His touch was bold as if there was nothing wrong with touching his stepsister in the dead of night while the house slumbered.

My mind screamed at me to roll away and turn over, but I lay there letting him explore me. Every squeeze sent a ripple of pleasure through my body and I cursed myself for it. The bed began to gently bounce as he resumed stroking himself while fondling me.

I tried to rationalize my inaction by the fact that I was too deep into it now. If I were to roll away, he'd assume I was awake, and we'd both be embarrassed beyond recovery. But in truth, his touch was setting me on fire. I'd never been touched like this in my life. So I let him continue, alternating from one breast to the other until he let out a shuddering moan. His hand clenched my breast with a force that was almost painful as he finished himself off. When he was done, he lay back while I remained nestled against him.

In the darkness of the room and our shared breaths, I finally acknowledged the twisted comfort of lying against his body.

His warm body against my back greeted me as consciousness seeped back into my mind. My eyelids fluttered open, reluctantly welcoming the dim light of dawn. I lay there, breathing in sync with him, my skin charged with the memory of his touch the night before. I could still feel it on my breasts. With his arm now draped around my waist, I longed for it to go higher--or lower.

The shower did little to put out the fire within me. As I washed, my hand drifted lower, seeking the self-pleasure I now desperately needed. My fingers wandered between my legs and I let out a small scream and quickly covered my mouth with my other hand. If Levi heard me, he didn't say anything. My fingers pressed and caressed my soft flesh, gentle at first and then with more insistence. My breaths turned to shallow gasps behind my hand. Yet, as the pleasure built, so did the weight of what I was doing--fingering myself within arms-reach of my own stepbrother. What kind of sick girl did this?

And just like that, the waves of reality crashed over me and washed my impending orgasm away with the shower water.

That night, the familiar trembling of the mattress pulled me awake. As Levi's rhythm grew steadier, I smiled and rolled toward him, seeking our now-nightly connection. I refused to succumb to the voices in my mind screaming that this was borderline incest. Instead, I lay against him, again throwing my bare leg over his until it bumped against his hand. This time, he didn't stop stroking and apparently assumed I was still asleep.

My satisfaction turned to puzzlement as I felt him abruptly shift and take hold of the hem of my nightshirt. My puzzled mind burst into an array of emotions as he slid the fabric up my thighs: disgust at the audacity of his actions, horror at the invasion of my body, and shame at the enjoyment and anticipation of what might come next.

His fingers brushed my inner thigh, and I bit down hard on my tongue to keep silent. I drew every muscle in my body tight as his hand ventured higher, sliding over my bare tummy and coming to rest against the bottom edge of my breast. He only hesitated a moment before moving higher and cupping it. I tried not to physically react to the reality that my stepbrother was groping my bare breasts, but I was practically biting through my tongue at this point.

And then, out of nowhere, he pinched my nipple. Hard.

I couldn't hold back my cry--part pain, part pleasure. He froze, both his hand on my breast and his hand on his cock. I was horrified. Now he knew I was awake.

The silence of the bedroom was deafening. His breathing. My breathing. Nothing else.

The moment dragged on as the embarrassment settled into the pit in my stomach.

And then, impossibly, I felt Levi's hand move against my breast. Uncertain and cautious at first and then more eager. His fingers pressed and prodded the swell of my chest as he resumed stroking himself. His moans filled the tiny space between us, louder than before as though acknowledging there was no longer a need to try to restrain his noise. For my own part, I continued to lie motionless, still refusing to admit my wakefulness. Levi didn't last much longer and locked his hand onto my breast as he let out a loud groan. Once his body stilled, he kept his hand beneath my shirt on my chest and I continued to lie against him. The silence between us spoke volumes as we wordlessly tried to comprehend what had just happened.

The warmth of Levi's body enveloped me as I stirred in the morning light, his arm draped over me in an embrace that felt more intimate than any we'd shared before. The connection ignited a sense of longing within me that terrified me but was undeniable. Reason and restraint were no longer the moderators of my behavior. I wished we could stay like this, far from the judgement of prying eyes, far from the certain disapproval of our parents.

As we remained pressed together, I found it strange that James hadn't arrived with his usual early morning wakeup. But then I remembered it was Saturday. I continued to lie there with Levi holding me and grappled with the knowledge that there was no school to escape to today. What would the day bring with us forced to spend the entirety of it tethered together?

He eventually stirred and murmured something I couldn't make out as he woke. He must've also realized it was Saturday and continued to hold me against himself knowing that his dad wouldn't be interrupting us. But eventually, the need for the bathroom called out to us both and we broke the magic of our morning time together.

In the shower, my desire continued to burn. And like the day before, my hand soon wandered down between my legs. A grin formed at the corner of my lips even as my mind screamed "No!" I shifted my body and brought my left hand down, the one linked to Levi, and moved it between my legs as I moved my right hand away. The movement sent tiny vibrations along the leash and I relished in the thought that he might notice it and sense what I was doing. I made less of an effort to mask my whimpers as I leaned against the shower wall. The cool tile did nothing to soothe the heat engulfing me.

My mind replayed the touch of his hand on me, so intimate and affectionate. His desire for me in that moment, however misguided and forbidden, had set off a wildfire.

I let out a slightly louder moan and quickened the pace of my fingers as they strummed my clit. God... it felt so good. The leash vibrated as I drove myself to the cliff. No amount of guilt or self-disgust was stopping me this time.

My mouth fell open in a silent scream, my body collapsing over on itself at the waist as the orgasm ripped through me. I was cumming with him, whether he knew it or not, just as he had done with me.

"Ohhhhh... yeah...," I sighed as my body shuddered.

"Did you say something?" Levi asked.

"No! I'm ok!" I squeaked out as my legs trembled beneath me. The lights of the bathroom burned as bright as the sun behind my closed eyelids as I fingered myself through while trying to keep my voice down. As the waves gradually subsided, I leaned back against the wall and lifted my face into the shower's spray, grinning.

We were now joined by more than just a strip of plastic.

The day was an incredibly strange dance as we tried to maintain some semblance of a weekend despite our limitation. James had already told us that the leash only came off for school, so there was no way we were leaving the house. Instead, we spent most of the day either watching TV in the living room or in my bedroom with me on my laptop and him on his Playstation. We barely spoke to each other, but it was different from the prior weekend. It wasn't mutual hatred that silenced us now, it was the reflection upon what had been taking place at night and in the early morning hours. The awkwardness grew to the point that I almost regretted everything that had happened in the last week. But night eventually came, and with it, familiar territory.

The night wrapped around us like a cloak, hiding us and our illicit... relationship? No, that wasn't the right word for it. Was there even a word for it? We weren't a couple, but we'd become more than stepsiblings. Lying in the bed next to him, I was drawn to him, not just physically or emotionally, but from somewhere deeper. It was as if his very soul called out to me. And I answered it.

Not even waiting for him to begin his nighttime routine, I rolled toward him and pressed my body against his side, savoring his warmth. His hand brushed against my thigh. He was awake!

He caressed it and stroked my skin with his fingertips. I rolled away from him onto my back, still not yet ready to admit to what was taking place. I lay still and breathed deeply as if asleep. There was a momentary pause before he reached for the hem of my shirt and began lifting it. I smiled in the darkness and curled my toes as I awaited his touch. He continued lifting my shirt until it was at my neck, exposing my breasts in the darkness. In the dim light, I saw him lean down... and then his lips met my skin. I dug the fingers of my right hand into the sheets as I fought to maintain the façade of slumber.

Levi's tongue lapped over my breast, flicking and swirling across it as if painting a beautiful work of art across my chest. I felt the familiar shake of the bed as he took my nipple between his lips, and I clenched my teeth together to keep from crying out. The desire to join him in self-pleasure was almost overwhelming as he softly sucked my nipples in turn. If it had gone on for too long, I might've given in to it. But his low moans grew louder. His warm breath spread across my skin as his body tensed and his climax overtook him.

When he was finished, I expected him to return to his side of the bed, but he didn't. He laid his head on my chest, the light stubble on his cheek tickling my sensitive skin. I wanted to reach up and cradle his head to me, but this would have to do.

I woke up the next morning with Levi's body against me in a position that had become so comforting and familiar. It was almost unfathomable to consider that the very thought of such a thing just a week ago would've made me nauseous.

We lay in bed together again, slow to rise, before going through our shower routine. Our activities for the day essentially mirrored the previous day and so did the awkwardness. At one point, my mom remarked that our leash punishment seemed to be working because we weren't barking at each other. Levi and I made nervous eye contact. All we could do was silently nod at her.

Night brought the mercy of no longer having to awkwardly confront the scandalous behavior we'd been involved in. We could simply surrender to it. As I lay in the bed, my body yearned for his touch. The sheets rustled softly as I shifted around, unable to keep still while waiting for him to resume his nightly activities. Taking the initiative again tonight, I rolled into his body and waited. And waited. But his breathing remained even. Was he even awake?

As awful as it was, I was desperate for his touch again. I wanted--no, I needed to feel him sucking my tender nipples into his warm mouth. I quivered in anticipation of it. But he just kept lying there, as if unconsciously taunting and teasing me.

"Damn you, Levi."

My hand slowly, silently, made its way over the edge of my hip and I slid it over my stomach. After a moment of hesitation, I slipped it beneath my nightshirt and into the waistband of my panties. I let out a low gasp as my fingers found my center and grazed across my wetness. I pressed against my lips, the delicate flesh, surrendering to my touch. And then finally, Levi stirred.

I froze in place with my fingers still against my skin. Levi shifted his body and the rhythmic vibrations began as he stroked himself. I remained motionless as his other hand sought out my thigh and worked its way up. And then it happened--his hand brushed against my hand through my panties.

Time stopped. The entire world seemed to pause on its axis. Our breaths caught in each of our chests. There was no faking sleep now. Whether he'd truly believed I'd been asleep the past few nights or not, there was no denying my consciousness now. And I couldn't hide what he'd caught me doing.

As the two of us remained still, the contact of our hands through the thin layer of cotton between my legs became a silent understanding. Levi and I lived in separate worlds during the day, but at night, we lived together in a world that was separate from everyone else. One just for us. One of raw desire.

Levi's hand nudged the back of my hand gently. The gesture spoke without words. It was silent encouragement for me to continue. It was wrong. So very wrong. But why should I deny myself this pleasure? It was just us. And now, all of our secrets had been laid bare before each other.

And so, I did.

My fingers resumed their gentle exploration, spurred on by Levi's silent support. Our phony pretense of the past several nights fell away as we sought our pleasure together. Levi flipped the sheet away, and the sound of his hand against his skin became clearer. I looked down, desperately squinting, trying to get at least a faint glimpse of him. But the darkness kept him shrouded in mystery.

I added to the symphony of sounds with the rustle of my hand inside my panties and my faint sighs and moans. No longer constrained as I was in the shower, my body could fully release every sound of pleasure I drove from it. My fingers danced across my flesh, my fingertips framing my clit before pressing a probing finger between my lips.

Levi's free hand once again wandered along my thigh and slipped beneath my nightshirt before going higher until it was cupping my breast. I pressed my face against his shoulder and moaned into it as his fingertips gently grazed and pinched my nipples. I arched my back against his touch and bucked against him as I urgently drove myself to climax. When it came, it was like an earthquake.

"Oh fuck!" The sound escaped my lips before I could catch it. My body trembled in ecstasy and I rocked my tiny frame against him, crying out again and using the side of his body to muffle the noise. My pussy clenched at my fingers as I drew out the orgasm.

My display must've set Levi off because, moments later, his muscles tensed and then he shuddered against me as I continued to ride waves of pleasure. He let out a long groan that vibrated from his chest through my body. He tipped his head against the top of my head and let out a warm breath that spread down over my neck and made my spine tingle.

We lay together in the afterglow of our orgasms, our panting breaths punctuating what we had just shared. His arm draped over me and I curled into his body. Somewhere in the distance, my mind hurled insults at me, but I refused to listen. For the moment, I was going to enjoy this. The feel of his heartbeat anchored me to the moment. Nothing else in the world existed beyond my bedroom and my bed. Just us.

The light of Monday morning teased the edges of my eyelids. Levi was in his usual place pressed against me, but his arm had an unusual tension that immediately told me he was awake. He gave my body a gentle squeeze upon sensing that I'd woken. And in that squeeze was a silent acknowledgement of what we'd experienced the night before. It also contained a silent question: how did I feel about it?

I brought my own hand up and caressed his forearm, hoping to convey my own message that I was ok with what had happened. I'd eventually have to address the guilt of it, but for now, I had no regrets. And for a moment, I imagined what it would be like to wake up like this every day--without the leash.

But then, the distant sound of a closing door reached my ears. The steady march of James coming down the hallway was an unwelcome intruder upon our peace. It was like gravity, always there, ready to pull us back into the roles we were expected to play. We were stepsiblings. Enemies. Rivals. Sharing orgasms at night or holding each other in the morning were the last thing we should have been doing.

Levi and I pulled away from each other and sat up on opposite sides of the bed, putting on our masks, ready to perform our daily charade of feigned indifference. It was a deceptive choreography that we'd practiced and perfected over the past few days. There was no lingering touch, no backward glance. There was just the methodical separation of two bodies that, for a brief time, had clung to each other like... something other than stepsiblings.

I drifted through the halls at school with restless energy. My mind was awash with so many thoughts that it made my head hurt. At lunch, I could barely eat and didn't hear any of the conversation around me. And then I saw them--Levi and... her. His girlfriend Ashley. It wasn't the first time I'd seen them together since the leash ordeal had begun. I saw them together at least once every day. But this felt different. They looked so engrossed in each other with his arm draped around her perfect shoulders with her golden blonde hair falling over his arm. Her perfect dress. Her perfect body. Laughter, like nails on a chalkboard, spilled from her perfect, ruby-painted lips and somehow carried across the cafeteria to my ears. She threw her head back and leaned into him. What could be so funny? What did he see in her anyway? She was just an airhead with fake tits that mommy and daddy had bought her. No one's breasts could fill out that much over summer vacation.

The hell with her.

I'd been sharing something with Levi that she couldn't. Those quiet nighttime moments where his body was consumed with pleasure. The morning minutes when he held me close. It was me he was spending that time with, not her.

But even still, I had to admit the cold truth that maybe he was only using me as a temporary substitute. After all, I was just the skinny, nerd-girl president of the Science Club. I'd never won Homecoming Queen. I'd never been a cheerleader. I didn't have curves. I wasn't enticing. The one boy in the world that had ever previously shown any romantic interest in me dropped out of Science Club after taking my virginity and treated me like a leper from that day forward.

In the eyes of the world, Ashley was a perfect 10, and I was a negative 50.

But it didn't matter. I was tied to Levi in an illicit union that transcended whatever she and he had. Even as short as those nighttime and morning moments might be, during them, he was mine. I knew it was a hollow victory. It's not like I could ever tell her about it and throw it in her face. But I couldn't deny the sense of satisfaction it brought me knowing that I was experiencing something with him that she assumed he'd never share with anyone else.

I curled into Levi in the darkness of my bedroom. Our charade of innocence had crumbled away; no more pretense, no more pretending to sleep. As he lay next to me stroking himself, my hand once again slid down my body and beneath the edge of my panties until it found the soft heat of my pussy. Levi shifted toward me and grasped the hem of my nightshirt and began lifting it up my body. I offered no resistance as he raised it until the fabric bunched above my breasts. And then his mouth was on me, his lips wrapping around my nipple with a hunger that made me shriek. I grabbed the back of his head with my free hand and pulled him tight against me.

As he suckled me with an intensity that bordered on desperation, my guilt-laden mind came roaring at me, trying to distract me from the pleasure of the moment. It drifted to thoughts of school. Of equations and the upcoming Physics Bowl. The faces of random students danced across the backs of my eyelids. My friends. Athletes. Chess club. And then... her. Ashley.

My mind traveled back to the sight of her earlier in the day in the cafeteria with her head thrown back in brainless laughter. And once again, my brain mocked me and began comparing me to her. But as Levi's tongue alternated to lick my other nipple, I couldn't help but wonder... was this how he touched her? During normal evenings and weekends, back before he was tied to me, was this what he did with her? Did he suck on her fake tits like this? Did he crave her the way he was craving my body in this moment as his lips tugged on the sensitive peaks of my breasts? Did it matter?

I summoned every ounce of willpower and pushed it all out of my mind.

Because for all my shortcomings, it was me beneath his warm, wandering tongue. It was my chest he was moaning against while he stroked himself. She was the furthest thing from his mind right now. I was all that mattered to him.

I arched against his face as his tongue flicked the hard nub. His teeth grazed me ever so lightly, and I cried out again in painful pleasure. He responded with a low, throaty moan that vibrated through my soft flesh and traveled down to my core where my fingers were desperately circling my clit. The only thing in the world that mattered was his hot, wet mouth and my hot, wet pussy.

My body bucked up off the bed as the orgasm slammed into me. "Oh shit!" I cried out as I grabbed a handful of Levi's hair in case he dared stopped sucking and licking. My bed squeaked as I shook and thrashed on it.

I'd barely begun coming down from my orgasm when Levi pulled his head free from my loosening grip and laid it down on his pillow. He grasped my hand and pulled it toward him. I was confused until his intentions became clear as he guided my hand down toward where his other hand was still stroking himself. He pulled that hand away and replaced it with my hand. I froze as he folded my fingers around the pulsing warmth of his cock and began to move my hand on him.

His texture, smooth yet impossibly hard beneath the skin, was alien to my touch. I'd never given a handjob before. My one sexual experience had been hurried and singularly focused on penetration. There'd been no time for novelties like foreplay. And outside of that, I'd had no other opportunity to try.

But as I lay there now with my stepbrother's cock in my hand, my curiosity urged my body to respond to the novelty, and I began to explore him. His hand fell away as I traced the pronounced veins of the shaft and the softness of the tip. He throbbed in my palm and seemed to grow even harder. He let out a long groan as I began to slide my hand up and down his length, the smooth skin working back and forth against mine. I wished I could see exactly what I was doing, but his feel and sounds would have to suffice.

I increased my speed as he groaned again, almost sounding like he was in pain. I continued my motion, grinning in the dark. I was thrilled with the sense of power that came from drawing this reaction from him.

I was still caught up in the sensation of this new experience when he let out a deep moan and bucked his hips into my hand and warm, thick liquid splattered over my hand and fingers. Even in my inexperience, I knew exactly what it was. I should've been disgusted and disturbed by the feel of my stepbrother's cum, but I wasn't. I was fascinated. I kept working my hand up and down as he continued to spill himself onto my hand, his sticky warmth coating my fingers.

He eventually whimpered and pushed my hand away. I flexed my fingers, feeling the tackiness of the strange liquid between them. I brought my hand up to my eyes and was able to catch a glimpse of it as it glistened in the moonlight. It was completely foreign, yet it felt precious--the evidence of his lust for me and the pleasure I'd drawn from him. I brought my other hand over and wiped away the drops that had run along my wrist and were threatening to fall onto the bed. Absent-mindedly, I began to trace my fingers through the mess on my hand and wrist as the sounds of Levi's deep breathing indicated he'd fallen asleep. Eventually, I fell asleep as well, still reveling in the strange liquid painted on my skin.

Night gave way to morning, and I found Levi's body once again molded to mine. I leaned back into his embrace, my chest still warm with the thoughts of what we'd shared the night before. I wanted to give voice to it, to let him know how it'd made me feel. But I couldn't. It seemed that the only way we'd managed to continue whatever it was that this was, was by not talking about it. By not vocally acknowledging it, we could keep convincing ourselves that what we were doing wasn't wrong. But even if what we'd done wasn't entirely wrong, we'd done... something. And what we'd done could not be undone. We had irrevocably altered something fundamental between us. Talking about it at this stage would only make things worse. We had no choice but to let this play itself out.

So instead of speaking, I stretched out my arm and stared at the dried streaks of white on my hand and wrist.

The rush of hot water raining over my body did nothing but continue to stoke the morning flames that were becoming a regular presence following the previous night's intimacy with Levi. As I lathered soap across my skin, I paused to graze my hard nipples. Leaning back against the tiled wall, my tethered hand drifted between my legs as my mind replayed the explosive feeling of cumming with Levi's mouth latched to my breast.

The pleasure built in waves as I rubbed myself, each wave carrying me higher than the last and I couldn't resist pressing harder and faster, my slickness aiding my movements in spite of the constant stream of water from the showerhead. A moan tumbled from my lips, louder than intended, and echoed off the tiles. I clapped my other hand over my mouth to stifle the next series of moans. But then it struck me--the absurdity of trying to keep silent. Why bother after what I'd done next to him the past two nights?

I let my hand fall away from my mouth and let the moans build. I was drunk on my building ecstasy. I was so drunk that part of me was considering throwing back the shower curtain and letting him see me. But that was madness. As much as I wished to be seen by him, I had nothing worth showing. My skinny body was more fit to be perched on a stool next to lab equipment than to be wrapped in someone's arms. It wasn't a body that drew wistful stares or elicited desire.

Yet, Levi had desired me, hadn't he?

My self-consciousness won out, and in the end, my fingers remained the only witness to the orgasm that shattered my body and pressed me hard against the tiled wall. There was no way Levi didn't hear me, but he gave no indication that he did.

That night, we settled into what had become our new routine: as the hour grew late, I turned off my laptop and crawled into bed while Levi got a few more minutes of Playstation. He soon followed me into bed where we lay awake, separate and innocent while we listened: my mom going downstairs for a last glass of water; James doing a last walkthrough of the house to make sure every door and window was secure. Even after silence had finally settled over the house, we continued to lie awake. Waiting to be certain. 30 minutes. An hour. Only when we were sure did we dare come together under the covers.

I rolled against him and held him while he began to stroke himself. After only the briefest consideration of the morality of what we were doing, I slipped my hand into my panties and joined him. His free hand found the hem of my nightshirt and began lifting it. I lay back, my fingers still delving into my wet flesh, and moaned as his mouth descended upon my breasts. His tongue flicked and swirled, making me almost delirious.

His hand reached out and grabbed my free one and guided it over to his hardened length. I smiled as I marveled at its texture and began stroking it without prompting. As I settled into my rhythm, he reached across my leg and nudged against my hand through my panties. I slowed but didn't stop. I wasn't sure what he wanted me to do. I was already touching myself.

When his hand became more insistent, I realized he wanted me to move it. I hesitated, unsure if this new line was one that I was ready to cross. It was one thing to touch him, but letting him touch me seemed like an open leap into perversion. But as he twitched and throbbed in my hand, I decided I wanted to at least sample the feel of another person's hand down there. It couldn't be any worse than the unremarkable penis-prodding I'd gotten at the science conference.

I slowly withdrew my hand from my panties, and Levi's hand raced to replace it, bumping against mine as it went down. I jumped at his touch. The foreign feel of another person's fingers probing my soaking lips was otherworldly. His initial touches were tentative exploration as if he was unable to believe he was touching his stepsister's pussy. But that soon gave way to more assertive contact.

I didn't know if he was skilled at what he was doing or if it was merely my inexperience, but his fingers played along my lips like he was playing a piano. Each melodic note came out of my mouth in a breathy sigh or moan. Before long, I was bucking against his hand in a silent plea for more. I tried to reciprocate the pleasure, his engorged flesh pulsing within my grip despite my erratic rhythm. I let out a cry and lifted my hips to meet his hand as he made me cum. My body shook and trembled as he continued to drive his fingers against me. Within seconds, he was bucking against my fumbling hand and spilling himself over it. I was barely aware of it as my thighs clenched around his hand while he continued to tease my sensitive clit. When the contact became too much, I grasped his wrist and gently pulled his hand out of my panties. I interlaced my fingers with his, enjoying the shared warmth of each other along our fingers.

In the darkness, our breathing eventually steadied. We drew ourselves closer together, hands still joined, as we found ourselves on the other side of another crossed line. Each night we seemed to cross a new one. I was filled with equal parts worry and wonder about whether there were any more to cross.

The warmth of the morning sun failed to warm me from the chill that crept up my spine as I woke to Levi's arm draped over me and his fingers lazily stroking my breasts through my nightshirt. Each touch sent a spike of awareness through my mind that violently clashed with the shield of darkness that emboldened our nighttime explorations. Embracing each other in the morning had gradually begun to feel like something that was almost natural. Although intimate, it felt comforting. Neutral. But there was no mistaking the sexual nature of his fingers gently grazing my hardening nipples. I squirmed as much from the pleasure it elicited as from the awkwardness that was growing heavier in my stomach. It was one thing to lose ourselves in the anonymity of the night; it was another thing to face the reality of it under the unforgiving gaze of the sun. The things we did with each other in the darkness could almost be thought of as nothing more than a dream by the time morning came. But this fondling, this was real. Too real.

I forced a yawn and stretched before I reluctantly pulled away from him and sat on the edge of the bed. James would arrive soon. We might as well get a headstart on the day.

That night, the darkness returned and granted us license to explore our forbidden desires once again. I fell asleep to Levi playing Playstation and was jolted awake by a strange sensation on my legs. A soft, warm pressure. My breath caught in my throat as I realized that Levi's head was between my thighs, his lips gently kissing the skin. Panic flooded my body as we approached yet another line, and I put my hand against his forehead. But I didn't shove it away.

Was I actually considering letting him do it? No, I couldn't. How would I taste to him? How would I smell?

He pressed against my hand with his head, continuing to kiss the soft skin of my inner thighs, moving higher. By the time his nose reached the edge of my panties, I still hadn't made any effort to push him away. I had to stop this.

"Levi...," I whispered. My voice sounded more like a question than a protest and sounded stranger still in the darkness where we'd, until now, refused to speak acknowledgement to what we were doing.

"Shhh... just relax," he responded.

But how could I relax with his mouth so close?

Despite my reservations, I could feel my willpower crumbling in the face of my growing excitement. A guy wanted to lick my pussy and was seconds away from doing it. The fact that the guy was my stepbrother was just a minor detail. What if I never got another chance at this? Surely, I could allow a lick or two? Just so I could sample the feeling of what a mouth felt like down there. And at the same time, he'd get a quick taste to satisfy his apparent curiosity. After all, he wasn't driven by lust. Not for his plain, skinny, nerdy stepsister.

In my hesitation and indecision, his mouth rose higher and his tongue slid across the fabric of my panties. Even through the cotton material, I could feel the warmth of his mouth. I moaned loudly and spread my legs wider. He gave my panties another lick and paused as if giving me one last chance to take an exit off this highway to oblivion. But instead of pushing his head away, I removed my hand from his face and lifted it up above my own head, fully surrendering myself to him.

He nudged my panties aside and stroked his tongue along the cleft of my lips. I let out a shriek and grasped the metal bars of my headboard. The metal inlay flowers that made up its design dug into my palms, but I barely noticed.

Levi pressed his tongue against my folds again and then a third time, racing past the two-lick limit I'd mentally set. The last of my reservations disappeared as he licked me with an increasing hunger. Every flick of his tongue drew another moan from my lips. He'd barely begun but I was almost crying with pleasure. I never could've imagined something could feel so good. His mouth was warm and determined, completely focused on devouring me.

"Please... Levi...," I gasped. But I didn't even know what I was pleading for. To stop? To never stop?

"Shhh...," he scolded again as if he too believed that our verbal recognition of what we were doing would break the spell that allowed us to keep doing it.

He pushed my thighs wider apart and pushed my knees back so that my legs were folded out and up. His movements became even more assured, his tongue slipping over and through me with a pace that matched my racing pulse. I lifted my hips, trying to kiss his mouth with my pussy. He responded by spreading me open with his fingertips and tapping my clit with the tip of his tongue.

I came like I had never before in my life. My cries and shouts filled the room, completely uninhibited. My body was wracked with sensations I'd never known. Every nerve ending felt like it was firing. I swore I could feel my orgasm through the hair on my head. I lifted my hips up to meet his mouth as he drove my orgasm forward in loud, continuous, unabashed waves.

His hands eventually steadied my convulsing frame, his lips gently pressing against me until the contact became oversensitive and I finally pushed his head away. Push his head away was something I should've done several minutes ago.

Lying in the quiet aftermath, my chest heaved with sharp, shallow gasps as it struggled to return my breathing to normal. As my conscience screamed at me, I wallowed in my afterglow. Yes, maybe I should've felt gross, but I didn't. All I felt was a deep connection to the guy whose head was between my legs.

But as the fog of satisfaction began to lift, fear and worry raced in to fill the void. Had I been too loud? We didn't live in a castle with stone walls. My mind conjured images of James and my mom being roused from their sleep by my screams of pleasure. Had they heard? Did they know? The thought chilled the sweat that still lingered on my forehead, matting my hair to my face.

I paused, listening for the telltale sound of James' heavy feet. But it didn't come.

As I continued to lie there wrestling with the worry of discovery, I felt a shift in the bed and the mattress dipped beneath me. Disorientation pushed aside my worry as I felt Levi's knees press into the mattress on either side of me in the darkness. He slid up my body until he was straddling my torso.

What was he doing?

As my eyes adjusted in the minimal light, I was faintly able to make out the silhouette of his cock poised in front of my face. The realization of what he wanted finally dawned on me. But I couldn't do this. I'd never even taken a guy into my mouth. I couldn't start with him.

But something deep within me was intrigued by the silent request. He wanted me to do it for him... because he desired me. We'd already crossed the line of oral sex. It would be selfish of me not to return the favor, wouldn't it? Surely, I could do it just this once. A small voice deep in the corner of my mind told me that I was just trying to rationalize it.

I ignored it.

My mouth went dry, but I parted my lips ever so slightly. Levi, apparently sensing my reservation, took the lead and inched forward and pressed the tip of his cock to my mouth. Before I could fully process the enormity of my actions, my virgin mouth closed around him. His taste was musky but not unpleasant. His flesh was hot and velvety against my tongue. I pulled back my head and stuck out my tongue, caressing his length and feeling every ridge and vein. His skin was like silk wrapped around steel. His hands found the sides of my head and he laced his fingers through my hair. My hands, unsure of where to rest, found their place on his thighs, feeling the muscles tense and relax with every caress of my tongue.

His hips moved forward, and he inserted himself back between my lips. This time, he was less patient. He moved his hips forward, inserting more of himself into my mouth, and then he pulled back until only the head remained between my lips. He moved forward again and then back and gradually built up a gentle rhythm. I tried to relax my jaw as he fucked my mouth with slow, shallow thrusts.

It was happening. I was really sucking off my stepbrother.

His hardness slid along my tongue and I did my best to try to control my breathing through my nose. His moans grew louder, and instinct took over as I bobbed my head back and forth trying to match his motions.

This was all so wrong, but it felt so right. And even if it was wrong, that was a problem to deal with in the morning. In the current moment, all that mattered was the weight of his fleshy member in my mouth, the sounds of pleasure rumbling from deep within his chest, and the knowledge that I was the one pulling them from him.

His rhythm accelerated and saliva dribbled down my chin as I tried to keep up. The apparent intensity of his pleasure grew as he tightened his grip on my hair. The bed creaked softly with his back-and-forth motion, and then, one last long, loud moan escaped his lips. If I'd been more experienced, I would've known what was coming next and been better prepared.

Hot, thick ropes of Levi's cum exploded into my mouth, splashing across my tongue and against my tonsils. My eyes flew open and I tried to pull away and beat my hands against his thighs, but he held my head in place as he continued to thrust and unload into my mouth. My body's natural reflex was to gag and then try to swallow, but it was too much. I coughed, choked, and gagged as my mouth overfilled and cum spilled down my chin and dripped onto my neck. It was salty and bitter, though not completely gross, but undeniably weird. I had absolutely nothing to compare it to.

With a satisfied sigh, he eventually withdrew and I grabbed the collar of my nightshirt and used it to wipe my mouth. Lying back against my pillow, I stared at the ceiling in the darkness as Levi settled in next to me. But the darkness of the room couldn't hide the vivid details of what we'd just done as they played in my mind in rapid succession. How could we be so reckless, immoral, and selfish? There was no excuse for what we'd done this time. Nothing we could ever do would rationalize it. Girlfriend or not, a stepbrother shouldn't be licking his stepsister's pussy, and a stepsister shouldn't know what her stepbrother's cum tastes like.

And yet... I couldn't deny the incredible closeness I felt to him. Girlfriend or not, we were intertwined in a way that could never be undone. Though we might've been prisoners to this silly leash, we were willing participants in something special.

I rolled into Levi's body and draped my arm and leg over him as he wrapped his arm around me. Whatever mental turmoil awaited, it would have to be addressed in the light of day. But whatever might come, one thought rang true: Levi actually wanted me, the girl who was always overlooked by every guy, especially guys like him. And despite everything, that thought brought a warm comfort that allowed me to drift into a restful slumber.

I woke to the sensation of Levi's breath against my neck, his chest rising and falling rhythmically against my back. His arm was draped over me, holding me tight against him, but his fingers were still, unlike the day before. In the light of day, the weight of our nighttime secrets felt different, heavier. Riskier. But I pushed them away, and for a moment, I allowed myself to pretend that this was just a normal morning waking up next to someone who cared deeply for me.

And as I lay there in the quiet morning, I couldn't help but marvel at this new, tender side of Levi. It differed so distinctly from the arrogance and bravado that accompanied his daytime swagger. He actually wasn't such a bad guy when he wasn't calling me a 'bitch' behind our parents' backs or thumbing his nose at me and my mom as if we should be grateful his dad married her. He was... someone I enjoyed being close with.

The next night, the house settled into its nocturnal hush, and the world outside retreated as if granting us a private stage once again. We found our bodies again speaking in whispered touches and breathy moans. As I lay on my back with my legs spread wide, Levi's mouth spread a trail of kisses along my inner thighs. There was no mental hesitation on my part when his mouth moved closer to my panty-covered center. And when he licked across the cotton fabric, I reached back over my head, clutching the headboard and lifting my hips to meet his mouth.

Like the night before, his warm tongue against my soaking flesh was almost more than I could handle. This time, I pulled my pillow from beneath my head and gnawed on the end of it to muffle my cries of pleasure as he made me cum.

As my breathing slowed and I replaced the pillow beneath my head, I felt more prepared for what came next. When Levi positioned himself above me, there was no hesitation as I opened my mouth and welcomed him into it. I was able to quickly settle into a rhythm where the bobbing of my head matched his gentle thrusts. It even felt like I was able to take him deeper into my mouth. And when his pace increased and his moans got louder, I was ready. His cum spilled into my willing mouth and I did my best to swallow it down as he continued to use my mouth for his orgasm. Only a little escaped my lips and dripped onto my chin which I wiped away after he withdrew.

We lay together in our mutual afterglow, our breathing syncing in the darkness. As I turned my head toward him, I felt a sticky trace of him on my chin that I'd missed. I swiped it away with my finger and then rubbed it between my finger and thumb, amusing myself with its tacky texture.

I was playing with my stepbrother's cum. Again.

Part of me wanted to recoil at the reality of what we'd repeated. But another part, a part I was barely beginning to understand, wanted to hold ontos this complicated intimacy we'd created. It was in these moments after our act that I felt the deepest connection. He was more than just my stepbrother. He was the mirror that reflected a part of me I hadn't known existed. Each night, I discovered new layers of myself, ones that weren't defined by academic accolades or the expectations of a world that saw me only as the sexually worthless smart girl. In our nightly trysts, we were changing each other and for the better.

I knew that something so seemingly perfect couldn't come without cost, but for now, I was at peace with it.

The next few days blurred together with us repeating our newest nighttime dance that started with his head between my legs and ended with him filling my mouth with his cum. His tongue and fingers were relentless and drove me into submission every night. He'd grown to know my body almost better than I knew it. He knew every sensitive spot and secret pressure point and chased my pleasure with reckless abandon. I found myself eager to return the favor, doing everything I could to make each shuddering release for him more powerful than the last.

My bedroom became a sanctuary, a safe haven, where our inhibitions were left behind. Each nighttime joining was a depraved sort of refuge from the chaos of our daytime lives: him, charging toward a hopeful college football career while balancing the burden of an overbearing dad; me, grappling with the pressures of perfection while longing for a high school social life that had eluded me. In the privacy of our oral tango, none of that mattered. There, in my bedroom under the cover of darkness, we were just two people seeking comfort and finding it in the most unlikely of places.

The darkness of the room was absolute, a perfect shroud to yet another night where the two of us were caught up in terrible acts that would torment me in the light of day. I lay there, arching my hips, my shallow breaths breaking through the silence of the room as Levi's mouth drove me over the cliff of my nightly orgasm. The repetition of our ritual had done nothing to diminish the passion with which he ate me or the strength of the waves that crashed into me.

"Ohhhhhh... ungh-- ungh-- ungh--" I cried out as Levi's merciless tongue drove me out of my mind. I moved my hands down from the headboard to his head to move it away as the pressure of his tongue became unbearable on my sensitive clit. He gave each of my thighs a gentle kiss and then began moving his body up my legs for his half of our oral pleasure. Confusion gripped me when the mattress shifted unusually and his weight settled between my legs. He braced his body above me with arms on both sides of my body. His cock slapped against me through my panties and I almost jumped five feet into the air. As he began grinding against the fabric of my panties, panic flooded through me with the fear that he wanted more than what we'd already been doing. He wanted to cross the only line left, a line I knew we couldn't cross.

"Levi...," I said as I grabbed two handfuls of the bed covers.

He didn't respond in his usual way by shushing me and instead continued with the motion of his hips and continued to slide his length back and forth across my panty-covered mound. My body was rapidly responding to this strange, new sensation despite the alarm bells ringing in my head. Despite cumming just moments before, I was already heading up another peak. With each roll of his hips, the pressure built, and I found myself grinding back against him.

My mind barely registered when Levi rolled his body slightly to his left, leaning onto one hand, and reached for my panties. I strained my eyes through the darkness and looked on with wide eyes as he pulled them aside and then laid his cock across my bare flesh. It was like he'd touched me with a red-hot, steel rod. The contact sucked the air out of my lungs, and I clamped my eyes shut tight. I was momentarily paralyzed by the thought that this was it, he was going to cross that final, most taboo of lines. But as his shaft skimmed across my lips, he grazed my clit and made my entire body shudder. I clutched for the sides of his torso, desperate for something to hold onto as I teetered on the brink of falling into an orgasmic chasm. He drew back and then slid forward again, his motion aided by the flood of my juice, his smooth cock melting against my soft pussy. My body tensed as he slid back and then forward again and my head rolled to the side. In that moment of vulnerability, he lay his body down on mine and pressed his lips to my exposed neck.

There was something more in that kiss just below my jawline than in the many kisses he'd delivered over the past several nights to my breasts and inner thighs. It was a different level of want and desire. Something that poured forth from deep within him. A want and desire I'd never imagined another person could ever feel for me. And it tipped me over the edge.

"Oh, Levi! I--unghhh!"

I erupted into my second orgasm of the night, screaming out and clawing at Levi's back and digging into his sweaty skin. If it was hurting him, he didn't say so. Instead, he just continued to grind himself against me as I shook and trembled like a leaf beneath him. I was almost in a state of disbelief at how good it felt given that I'd just cum.

Levi gave me another handful of strokes and then his body went rigid. I was more than familiar with that feeling in his muscles and wasn't surprised when he lifted away. There was a brief sound of him stroking himself before I felt him painting hot streaks of cum across my stomach. He groaned loudly and I felt him shuddering between my legs as he let loose.

When he finished stroking and groaning, he collapsed onto the bed beside me. In that instant, I felt a pang of disconnection. I had grown used to us falling asleep holding hands or holding each other. Had we finally gone too far?

By morning, sleep and the molding of his body to the back of mine pushed my worries to the side. I leaned back into him, enjoying the hard press of his chest against my back. It was still strange how intimate these moments of holding each other were. What we did at night could almost be explained by the passionate hormonal overdrive of two sex-crazed teenagers. But in the moments before James came to briefly release us from the leash, Levi and I shared something that was no less taboo than putting our mouths on each other's genitals. But what it meant, I couldn't grasp.

That night, I again awoke to the sensation of Levi's mouth on me, the gentle suction on my lips sending ripples of pleasure through my body. I quickly climbed the walls to bliss and was thrashing on the bed and pulling his head tighter against me in a matter of a minute.

As I began to come back down, Levi repeated his actions from the previous night and shifted up until his hips were between my legs. He immediately went to pulling my panties to the side and laying his hardness over my soaking lips. He began to thrust and lifted my nightshirt the rest of the way up my torso until it was above my breasts. I reached for his shoulders, pulling at his body and urging him to lay it down on me again. He didn't disappoint. The feel of his hard chest against my soft tits was a new and incredible sensation. Every movement scraped my hard nipples and made me pull him even tighter against me. He buried his mouth in my neck and began sucking the sensitive skin and breathing hot breath across it. I responded by raising my legs and wrapping them around him, urging him on in his thrusting.

And then it happened--a slip, intentional or not. His tip nudged between the slick folds of my pussy.

We both froze.

A million thoughts ripped through my mind, but before I could process them, Levi lifted his hips away. I thought he was stopping, but he returned, gliding his cock against my slickness, albeit with more pressure than before.

The one rational thought in my head was that the two of us were losing control and I should stop this before we went too far. But that momentary, tiny bit of penetration--if you could call it that--had me begging him not to stop.

And then it happened again. The first one may have been an accident, but this one was no mistake. He slipped just the head inside, parting me slightly and ripping a gasp from my lungs, before pulling back. The angle was perfectly aligned with my clit, and between him sucking and licking my neck and the feel of his warm chest against mine, I was powerless to do anything to stop him. All I wanted to do was cum.

He slipped the head in again and kept it inside this time, shallowly thrusting. The pleasure burst forth from deep within me and I cried out as my pussy clenched around the head. The feeling must've been too much for him because he pushed his body up and withdrew the head and almost immediately splattered my stomach in warm cum, some of it reaching my breasts.

When he was done, he rolled away from between my legs. Before he dozed off, I reached for his hand and interlaced my fingers with his. When he did fall asleep, I was left to grapple with the reality of what we'd done. Did we just have sex? No, not really. Maybe. But it was just the head. It wasn't much different from the grinding we'd already been doing.

As I too drifted off to sleep, I settled on the conclusion that it was just a more intense form of grinding. Something deep within my mind wouldn't accept the idea that I'd just had sex with my stepbrother. As long as that one last act remained unfulfilled, I could convince myself that, on some level, what we'd been doing wasn't really that bad.

The next night started with a repetition of the previous two nights with Levi waking me by eating my pussy until I was humping against his mouth. He followed by pulling my panties to the side and climbing between my legs to grind nakedly against my body. It only took about ten thrusts before his head 'accidentally' slipped between my lips. At this point, it was silly for him to pretend he wasn't doing it on purpose. He held himself in place while I rubbed my hands across his back, urging him to continue. After a few seconds of hesitation, he withdrew but slipped it in again, using just the tip to build into a rhythm.

The feeling was maddening. He was already driving me crazy, but I wanted more. I needed more.

I wrapped my legs around him, and against my better judgement, tightened them and pulled him against me. He groaned into my neck as he sank a bit deeper. Once again, we both froze as the horrible realization blanketed us--he was in me. Really and truly inside me. We had finally crossed the last line into wanton, selfish, incestuous debauchery. There was no way back for us. Even if he pulled out at that moment and we rolled to our separate sides of the bed and never touched each other again, we'd never be able to erase this moment. My stomach twisted in revulsion at the rapid pace with which we'd reached this point. What was wrong with us?

But as I lay there beneath him breathing hard while he breathed deep into my neck, I knew this was right. The leash was merely a precursor to something our bodies always knew, even if our minds could never accept it--we were made for each other.

I slid one of my hands up Levi's back to cup the back of his neck and gently scraped it with my fingernails while my other hand moved down to his solid ass. I gently raked my nails over each cheek, silently begging him to continue. The gravity of the situation seemed to weigh less heavily on him because my silent urging was all he needed to resume. It was as if he was only waiting for me to give him permission to continue.

He gave my neck a kiss and withdrew before sinking back in. Even though it felt like he was only going about halfway in with every push, I felt the stretch and the pain, a sensation not unlike my previous experience. Thankfully, even though it must've been excruciating to deny himself the pleasure, he continued to go slow and shallow.

Pain mingled with my pleasure until I couldn't think of anything beyond the two of us. I was nearly breathless as moans, yelps, and cries spilled from my mouth into the darkness of my bedroom. I clutched at him and tried to lift my hips to him, begging him to use all of me. To enjoy my body. I wanted him to know it was alright. I wanted him to know how perfect he felt. I wanted him to know that I never wanted him to stop fucking me.

But I didn't dare speak. Instead, I shifted my hands to his head and lifted it away so that we were staring into the darkness at each other. His warm breath washed over my face as he drove himself into me, and it was more than I could take. Nerdy, skinny, undesirable Sophia was getting fucked by a guy who wanted her. Really wanted her.

I tipped my chin to the ceiling and let out a silent scream as I spasmed on him. Every nerve ending fired, making every muscle in my body convulse. My bedroom was nearly pitch black, but I could see everything around me: my computer desk and laptop, my slightly ajar closet door, my stuffed animals relocated from my bed to my dresser.

And Levi above me looking down at me, his face twisted in pleasure.

It was all perfect.

At some point, I drifted away into a sea of bliss and was only brought back by the changing of Levi's rhythm. His strokes quickened, seemingly propelled by fear that I might now see our coupling for the horrific act that it was and call a halt to it. He plunged deeper, filling me, stretching me further, no longer able to deny himself the pleasures of my body. My bed squeaked beneath us louder and louder until he lifted himself up onto his hands while getting a few last strokes before he withdrew and rained his hot essence down over my body while letting out a fierce roar that shook the bed. It splashed over my stomach and between and onto my breasts and dripped onto the delicate petals of my pussy. Spurt after spurt. It felt like he'd never stop cumming.

When he finally did, he lowered his head toward mine and kissed me on the forehead. He lay down next to me and held my hand tight in his. I had never felt more cherished in my life.

But even as full as my heart felt, other emotions tugged at the edge of my mind: shame, guilt, embarrassment. Levi was my stepbrother, but I had surrendered myself to him and let him take me like a common slut. Just like the ones who wore too much makeup and paraded around the school in tight clothes with their tits out. The ones who had nothing to offer to anyone except what was between their legs. The ones who always had a guy on their arm, no matter how despicable he was.

That's who I was now--minus the clownish makeup, big tits, and lack of brains.

But why should I have denied myself? I'd spent my life never being wanted by boys. No one asked me to dances. No one gave me sidelong glances from across the cafeteria. No one sent me secret admirer Valentines.

I was completely unremarkable and invisible. Until I wasn't. As wrong as it might be, Levi saw me. And it felt so right.

Dawn's soft light was creeping into my room when I woke up. Levi was behind me in our usual morning position. His arm around me and the press of his morning wood against my ass was a comforting confirmation that he didn't regret last night. I pushed back against him, inviting him closer. He stirred and his hand found the hem of my nightshirt and slipped beneath it. His hand traveled up my body until his fingers were brushing along the slight curve of my breasts. Silently, we confirmed with the other that we were ok with what we'd done... at least for the time being. Though the harsh light of the day was like an intruder upon what we shared at night, we had no regrets about it.

The hallways at school were a blur as I floated through them, each step lighter than the last as if I was gliding through the crowd on fluffy white clouds. Every time I caught my reflection in the glass of a trophy case or the gloss of a bank of lockers, there was an unfamiliar brightness to my eyes. The periodic motivational banners that lined the walls had always seemed so corny and forced, but now seemed to cheer me on. "Teamwork is the Ability to Work Together Toward a Common Vision."

I gave it a grin and saluted it as I walked by.

"Hey, Sophia!" my friend Jenna said, startling me out of my daydream. "You're looking... different today." She tilted her head in curiosity as she looked me up and down.

"Am I?" I responded, trying to suppress my smile and keep my face even.

"Yeah, you seem really bright and cheery. What's gotten into you?" Her eyes searched mine, and for a moment, the weight of what Levi and I had done, and been doing, pressed down on me. Could she see it in my eyes? Could she see that it was Levi's cock that had gotten into me?

I managed to choke out a response. "Nothing much, just excited about the new quantum mechanics module."

"Uh-huh..." She looked me up and down again, narrowing her eyes. "I'll see you at lunch."

I ate lunch in the Science Club room and tried to keep a low profile the rest of the day. Levi and I had gone too far. Truly. We'd crossed a tightrope without a net beneath. But not only did I want to cross it again, I wanted to dance on it.

That night, darkness found Levi and I locked in our nightly dance. After eating me to a toe-curling orgasm, he climbed between my legs and steered himself in. Groaning, he laid his body down on mine and quickly found his rhythm, starting with shallow thrusts but then increasing his depth until he was full-on fucking me. None of the discomfort of our first time was present. It was pure pleasure this time as if my body had adjusted to him overnight. Every push and pull drew a gasp from deep within my chest and drove me wild with passion until I exploded beneath him. He followed soon after, once again covering me in his warmth before laying down next to me and holding my hand until sleep claimed us both.

Levi's warm breath tickled the back of my neck as I woke the next morning. He squeezed me and pulled me into him as he ground his erection against the crack of my ass. I ground back against him, our bodies finding warmth in each other beneath the covers. But it was over too soon when James' abrupt knock at the door shattered the moment. "Rise and shine!" he shouted as he pushed the door open while Levi and I sprang apart.

In the shower, the steam rose around me like a veil, shielding me from Levi and the rest of the world outside. The night was long gone, but the feel of his body on my skin was still there. My hand drifted down between my legs, gently pressing against me as I recounted his contact.

I shouted in surprise and almost slipped and fell in the tub when I felt Levi's hand on the small of my back. I turned and looked over my shoulder. He was still standing outside the shower on the other side of the curtain, but his arm had reached around the end of it. My heart slammed against my chest, threatening to break through as his hand slid around my waist and along my hip. I chewed on the inside of my cheek as he reached further and slid his hand around my other cheek. He leaned further and his face appeared at the end of the curtain and I moved to cover myself with my hands.

I was awash in water, soap, and embarrassment. But the look on Levi's face made my heart race. He reached forward and grabbed my left wrist, tugging at it gently until I lowered my arm and revealed my bare chest to him. His mouth fell open and it looked like his tongue flicked at his lower lip for a moment. He leaned further into the shower, the water now splashing onto his towel, and grabbed my other arm. I provided minimal resistance and allowed him to pull it away, revealing my fully naked body to his gaze. Even though there was nothing worthwhile to see, his eyes drank me in until it looked like he became drunk with the sight of me. It was as though he saw something that I could not. The intensity in his eyes filled me with an unexpected surge of self-esteem. To him, I wasn't just an awkward, skinny, nerd-girl, I was something worth admiration--I was desirable.

I trembled as his hands slid off my wrists and journeyed across my wet skin, gliding along my forearms to my shoulders and then along my torso to my waist. With every caress, I let out a low moan, unable to deny the sense of longing within me. He slid a hand over my hip, giving it a squeeze, and continued down until it was just inches from my aching core. He looked up at me as if silently asking whether he could continue. We'd never done anything like this in the light of day. But I couldn't stop him, and he wouldn't stop himself.

I bit my lip and gave him the slightest nod. I wanted more. I needed more. Daytime be damned.

"Five minutes!" James barked from the other side of the door.

Levi snatched his hand away as if I was a hot stove and leaned back out of the shower. I yanked the curtain closed as if James could see through the door. I stepped under the shower spray one last time, but the water did nothing to cool the heat within me. I shut off the water and pulled down my towel to dry myself off. I wrapped it around my body and stepped out, momentarily amused at the absurdity of bothering to do it when Levi had just seen me naked. He slid past me, looking me over with eyes that were still filled with lust. I couldn't maintain eye contact and shyly turned my head away as I took up my waiting spot in front of the vanity.

My mind whirled with the emotional turmoil of realizing that we'd discovered a new line to cross. We'd finally brought our nighttime lives into the day. Even though we'd had sex twice now, there was still something about the darkness of my bedroom that made it all feel somehow imaginative. But I hadn't imagined that look in Levi's eyes as he looked over my wet body from head to toe without so much as a nightshirt bunched around my neck.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the shower curtain sweeping open. I turned my head and saw Levi standing in the middle of the shower, the water running down over a body that looked like the polished stone of a museum statue. I'd seen his bare chest before and had stolen a glimpse of him in the shower before but only saw his back and ass. To see him as it was now was enough to set my heart racing. My eyes lingered on his sculpted chest then swept over the ripple of his abs and traveled lower, following the trail of water, to his cock. It stood out proud and erect, a perfect representation of its owner.

I was only barely aware of him stepping to the edge of the tub and reaching for my hand. I allowed him to pull it forward and guide it down below his waist. I looked on with wide eyes as if I couldn't believe what I was doing. He released my hand as I wrapped my fingers around his length without hesitation. I began slowly stroking him, encouraged by the sharp intake of his breath as I caressed him. I was fascinated by the way the skin slid back and forth. I'd never seen him so clearly before and the sight of it made my mouth water.

The bathroom walls began rising into the air around me. It took several moments for me to realize that it wasn't the walls moving, it was me. After sinking to my knees next to the tub, Levi made no effort to stop me as I leaned forward and licked his tip. His cock bobbed in the air as if begging for more. The shower sprayed over my head as I opened my mouth and took him between my lips. I savored the taste of him through the lingering flavor of his body wash. He wove his fingers through my wet hair and guided my head with gentle pressure. I allowed him to make full use of my mouth as though he were fucking my mouth in my bed in the dark. But we weren't in the dark. We were under the bright bathroom lights. We couldn't pretend we weren't doing what we were doing. The taboo of it melted me and seemed to drive his passion as well.

I lifted my eyes and found his eyes fixed on me. They were clouded over with raw ecstasy. A knot of embarrassment tugged at my stomach as I watched him watch me blow him, but the closeness I felt for him in that moment was enough to keep it at bay. I'd sucked him before, but this was something else entirely. The shared eye contact and silent longing had given shape to a new level of passion. A passion I tried to illustrate with the warmth of my mouth.

It wasn't long before he held my head still and let out a loud groan as he thrusted himself into my mouth and flooded it. He shuddered while I did my best to swallow and let the rest drop from my mouth into the tub to be washed down the drain.

"Hey! You two better hurry up if you want to make it to the bus stop on time!"

I jerked my head back and pulled my mouth off of Levi and whipped my head around but was relieved when I saw that James was still on the other side of the closed bathroom door. I turned back to Levi, and our eyes met in a silent moment of understanding. We were partners in crime, breaking all the rules, playing with fire.

That night, we were back at it, enjoying each other's bodies under the silver glow of the moonlight. Levi's warm breath washed over my neck as he peppered it with kisses. He was steady as he moved within me, each thrust radiating ripples of pleasure throughout my body. It was only our third time together, but it felt so familiar and tender. I came with my nails digging into his back and my feet hooked around his waist. He was barely able to break free of my grip and pull out before his essence burst forth over my body.

There seemed to be no decline in our passion in the morning. We once again found ourselves grinding against one another with Levi's hand under my shirt on my breasts while we waited for James to release us from the leash so we could change into our towels and shower. Even though it was Saturday, we knew he'd be along eventually.

When I stepped into the shower, I took a moment to let the water splash down over me before reaching for the soap. As I began to lather myself, my mind raced with the same thought that had filled it since we got out of bed: would Levi touch me in the shower again? The thought of his fingers skipping over my wet skin made me shiver with anticipation, but as the moments passed and he remained on the other side of the curtain, I assumed it had been a one-time indulgence. It was one thing for us to do what we did at night, but maybe blowjobs in the shower were a risky line we needed to step back from.

As I rinsed shampoo out of my hair, the air in the shower shifted cooler for a moment and then warmer as if the curtain had been opened and then closed. I grinned with the knowledge that he'd stolen a glimpse of me. But my heartrate spiked when I felt his hands on my waist--he was in the shower with me.

I swept the water out of my eyes and spun around to face him. He was grinning and looking my body over from top to bottom. I resisted the urge to cover myself and let him look. He reached out and cupped both of my breasts and then drew a quiet shriek from me when he thumbed my nipples. He leaned forward and his mouth clamped onto the side of my neck and I took a staggering step backwards under the shower spray so that I could lean against the wall for support. The cool tile stood in massive opposition to the heat beneath my skin.

Without warning, he dropped to his knees. I only had a moment to react before he buried his mouth between my legs, making me cry out again. I steadied myself with one hand on his head and one hand on the wall. He lifted my left leg to rest over his shoulder while he lapped at my lips. I tipped my head back, moaning into the falling water while he devoured me.

I was building toward a body-quaking orgasm when he suddenly stopped and let my foot drop back down to the tub. I was disappointed and confused all at once. It was Saturday, so James wouldn't be coming along to rush us off to school.

I didn't have long to dwell on my disappointment and confusion as Levi put his hands on my hips and turned me around. I felt him at my entrance and then, with a firm thrust, he pushed himself into me. I cried out and threw my head back while leaning forward and bracing my hands against the wall. He withdrew and then drove himself home, rocking me forward into the shower spray.

We had done it. We had crossed every single possible line. What we had previously left only to the shadows of the night we had now brought into the reality of daylight. And why not? Why shouldn't we? It was silly to try to pretend that we were different people during the day than we were at night. All we'd been doing is refusing to fully confront who we truly were. But now there was no more pretending.

Levi dug his fingertips into my hips and pulled me back to meet his strokes. There was a power to them that hadn't existed during our previous times in bed. He was intoxicated with my body and was taking it. Owning it. Making me his. And I was loving every second of it.

The slapping sound of wet skin against wet skin echoed in the confined space and competed with the noise of the falling water. I whined in pleasure as he rocked me back and forth, and it wasn't long before I was nearly climbing the walls. The intensity of the moment was too much for me and I let out a piercing scream as I was overcome. Levi quickly shifted one of his hands from my hip to my mouth to muffle the noise. He continued to fuck me through it while I threw my body back against him, trying to get every sensation out of every thrust.

He managed to continue pummeling into me until my screams diminished to quiet moans. He groaned and gave me a last series of quick thrusts, clapping his hips against my ass, and then pulled out. Even through the heat of the shower's water, I could feel his warmth spray across my ass and back. When he was finished, I stood upright and took a step back, feeling his still-hard cock pressed between us. He put his hands around my waist and pulled me tighter against him. My legs felt like jelly, but his solid muscles flexed against my skin as he kept me upright. He felt so good. I never wanted him to let me go.

I laid my head back against his chest, letting the water spray down over my face. I turned my head to the side and tipped my head back to look at him. He returned my gaze, his eyes half-open and glassy. My eyes traveled down his face to his lips which were as well-defined and sculpted as the rest of him.

I lifted my head closer. He leaned his toward mine.

And then our eyes met... and we hesitated.

It was a little strange: in all we'd done, we'd never kissed. Not even once. He'd pressed those same lips against my lower lips. His cum had dribbled out of my mouth over mine. We'd just finished having sex in the shower. But somehow, a kiss felt a little too... intimate.

"Hurry up you two! Don't use up all the hot water!" James bellowed from beyond the door.

Levi and I flew apart from each other as if separated by the gale of a hurricane. I almost fell as I scrambled to step out of the tub and nearly pulled down the shower curtain as I clutched it to stay on my feet. Still flustered, I turned back around and reached for my towel with trembling hands. Levi shut off the water and stepped out behind me. We avoided eye contact as we dried ourselves and then tied the towels around our bodies, but the electricity in the air between us would've been enough to power the bathroom lights above us. We had stumbled into a new world with this latest coupling. I had no idea where it would take us, but I knew I would enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

I gently rocked on Levi's lap, raising and lowering my hips as I took him within me. His hands gripped and squeezed my breasts and caressed my sensitive nipples. The bed squeaked quietly beneath us, almost sounding like accompanying music to our grunts and gasps. After another minute of squirming in pleasure beneath me, he gripped my hips and rolled me over so that he was on top. I raised my hands above my head and grinned as he restarted our joining.

It was the same each night. Sometimes with me riding him. Other times with him on top of me thrusting between my spread legs. Sometimes I knelt in my bed with my fingers intertwined with my headboard as I held on for dear life while he took me from behind. Or I sat on my computer desk while he stood between my legs and slammed it against the wall. My entire bedroom became our playground.

We'd change positions. Other nights, we'd stay in the same one all the way through. He'd finish on my back. My chest. Across my tender pussy lips. In my mouth. On my face with an occasional spurt arcing into my hair.

Our mornings in the bathroom were a race against the inevitable knock on the door. Using the cascading water to mask what we were doing, we moved with haste to cum before time was up. We became adept at cumming quickly, but the rush never diminished the intensity.

In the shower. Just outside the shower. On the vanity. On top of the toilet tank. Kneeling in the middle of the floor. Levi holding me in the air against the bathroom door.

We still refused to speak of what we were doing, as if giving voice to it would shatter the illusion of the forbidden reality we had constructed and force us to confront the cold truth that we were committing incest. There were no commands or requests to go "faster" or "slower," or to go "harder" or "softer." There was just the language of touch, of skin on skin. Our vocabulary was limited to gasps, moans, whimpers, and sharp intakes of breath. At most, I occasionally cried out his name, a name that had always been like vinegar on my tongue but now tasted like honey.

Water washed down from the showerhead over my head which was drooped low. It bobbed and swung with the motions of my body as Levi hammered into it from behind. The wall's tiles were cool and soothing against my palms but did nothing to combat the heat we were making. The steam floating around us might've been as much from the shower's water as from our bodies.

We needed to finish up soon so we'd still have time for breakfast. We'd missed it the day before, and I had to settle for a cereal bar on the walk to the bus stop. I needed my energy today. I was giving a plasma ball presentation during 5th period. But for the moment, the only balls I was concerned with were the ones bumping against my clit.

I moaned and leaned further forward, arching my back and presenting more of myself to Levi. I was momentarily distracted by a distant sound. A voice? The drumming showerhead and our smacking bodies muffled the sound as my ears perked up and strained to make it out. Then, reality ripped through the steam like a gust of icy winter air as James yanked the shower curtain back, taking my breath with it.

"Wh--" James' voice caught in his throat.

Levi and I sprang apart as if burnt by fire. James' eyes shifted back and forth between us and then settled on me. Only when they swept down over my body did my brain re-engage and my hands flew to cover myself, trembling as they tried to shield my nakedness from James' wide, shocked eyes. He opened and closed his mouth, words failing him as he struggled to gain his composure--or remember why he had come into the room in the first place.

He finally averted his eyes from me and cast them down at the floor, looking embarrassed and meek, two emotions I didn't even know he possessed. With his head low, and his body almost bent as if bowing for forgiveness, he backed out of the doorway and pulled the door shut behind him. The silence he left in his wake was louder than the showerhead that was still spraying water.

Throughout the day at school, I carried the weight of that moment like an anchor tied around my neck. I felt exposed, laid bare, under the eyes of my teachers and the stares of my classmates. The shame clung to me, heavier than any wet towel. Every time someone looked my way, I knew they could somehow read it on my face and in my body language: Levi and Sophia, the disgusting stepsiblings who fucked and sucked each other every day. Each whisper in the hallways seemed louder, and every laugh and point seemed directed at me. "Despite her outward appearance, Sophia the skinny science nerd was just a desperate whore after all, just like the ones she thumbed her nose at.

My friends asked me about my unusual quietness and I deflected their questions with half-hearted, fumbling excuses while my mind spun in an endless loop that replayed the morning over and over. No matter what, I couldn't shake the image of James' gaze dissecting me like a lab animal.

I ate lunch in the Science Club room to avoid having to talk to any of my friends. My plasma ball presentation was a total disaster. I couldn't remember anything and looked and sounded like a total idiot. It was so bad that Mr. Chalmers, assuming some major crisis had intruded upon my life, offered me a chance to re-do it the next week. It was a small consolation in the face of what awaited at home.

The front door clicked shut behind us, the familiar sound of our return from school. On unsteady legs, I followed Levi to the couch where we waited each weekday for his dad to come in and attach the leash. But today carried the awful gravity of what had happened that morning. It hung in the air like a poisonous cloud. My mom called out a greeting from the kitchen where she was preparing dinner. Her tone was light which meant that she didn't know yet. She didn't know that her daughter was an incestuous whore.

My ears perked up at the sound of James' feet on the second floor and then slowly descending the stairs. They seemed to lack their usual thunder as if the sight of me and Levi had taken the weight out of his steps. My heart raced as he drew closer and my mind filled with all manner of fantastical punishments that awaited.

He walked into the living room with his usual upright and erect posture, but there was definitely something missing. He briefly made eye contact with me but then quickly looked away. He rubbed the back of his neck slowly and put his other hand into his pocket. His hands were empty.

"Your punishment is over," he declared, his voice firm as if he'd spent the entire day building up the strength to say those four words.

My mom appeared in the doorway from the kitchen. "Wait, did I just hear that right? Their punishment is over?"

James nodded slowly, not looking at us. "Yes, it's finished."

My mom flashed a look of surprise and happiness and turned to us. "Well, congratulations you two!" She gave us two thumbs up then turned back to James. "But why now?"

James looked back at us and our eyes briefly met again before we quickly broke eye contact. "They've... learned their lesson. I think they've grown... close enough." He spoke simply, each word measured and deliberate.

I returned my eyes to him, and this time, we held each other's gaze. A silent acknowledgement passed between us. Despite our history, he was prepared to keep our secret from my mom. From his wife.

I nodded slightly and rose from the couch while trying not to faceplant. My head was dizzy with everything that had transpired over the last 12 hours. I needed to lie down.

"Thank you, Dad," Levi said, his voice betraying none of what had brought about our freedom.

My mom said something about school, but I didn't break stride.

In the solitude of my bedroom, I lay motionless as I stared at the ceiling. I should've felt relief at my freedom and return to normal routines, but I didn't. Nothing would ever be normal again. The walls seemed to press in, whispering echoes of moans and gasps that had filled the space night after night. But now it was just me in my bed by myself as if floating across the sea in a life raft after escaping a sinking ship. The ache of isolation ripped at my heart. Up until a few weeks ago, I craved my solitude. But now it felt like needles in my skin. The loneliness tugged at me until the tears began to fall.

I rolled onto my side and pulled the covers from the other side of the bed and held them to my face. They still smelled like him. I wrapped them over my pillow, seeking comfort in the softness, but found none. The emptiness of the room and coldness of my bed made me shiver. My mind was awash with the emotions of what had gone on within these four walls and beyond them. I'd never felt so alive. And desired. And connected to someone else in a way that defied every bit of logic and reason in my analytical brain. I couldn't even begin to think of how I'd face the days to come. But eventually, my mind collapsed under the weight of the stress from the day, and I drifted into an uneasy sleep.

The warmth of Levi's body was like a soft but solid blanket against me when I woke up the next morning. I'd slept through dinner, and my empty stomach called out for nourishment. In my groggy state of half-sleep, I pressed myself back against Levi and sank into his body as his arm held me tight against him. We probably had at least a few more minutes before James came to get us up and move us on our way to the shower.

The shower.

My eyes snapped open as reality forced its way into my hazy mind. There was no leash anymore. There was no reason for Levi to be here in my bed, yet he was. The realization jolted through me. I hesitated, then slowly turned to look over my shoulder, a movement I hadn't done in all the mornings we'd woken together in this bed.

His eyes met mine and I lost myself in them. A thousand words passed between us without sound. We'd been careless, and the cost of our recklessness loomed large in the silence between us. It was nearly unfathomable how close we'd come to having our entire lives unravel.

And yet... here we were.

A foolish hope flickered within me just as it must've within Levi. Why else would he be here?

Yes, what we'd done was beyond awful. I was his stepsister, he was my stepbrother. The world beyond the walls of this bedroom would wholeheartedly disapprove if they knew. But they didn't know--aside from James. And he'd decided to pretend he never saw what he saw. But beyond him, no one knew. Not my mom. Not my friends. Not the football recruiters desperate to lure Levi to their schools. Not the admissions boards of the schools that had already happily accepted me. No one else knew, and it was no one's business but ours. And even though we'd played with fire and gotten burned, maybe we could keep the flame going without burning down our lives in the process.

I swallowed hard, my heart racing as I opened my mouth to break our unspoken rule against... speaking.

"Good morning," Levi said, beating me to the punch.

"Good morning," I responded. Awkward silence filled the air. "I'm... glad you're here."

He smiled. "I'm glad I'm here too. I missed you last night. Oh--and not just because of the... uhh... you know..."

I knew, and it warmed my heart to hear him say it. I leaned toward him, bringing my mouth near his and kissed him at the corner of his lips. He grinned and lifted his hand to stroke my hair.

"I'd better get back to my room," Levi said. "I don't know what my dad would do if he caught us again." He gently squeezed me and kissed my cheek before getting out of my bed.

I reached for his hand as he got up. I kissed the back of it and ran the palm across my face, savoring the warmth of his skin. "Will you come see me... tonight? And not just because of the... you know..."

Levi chuckled quietly. "Yeah... I know. I'll be back tonight." I released his hand and he walked to the door but then turned around. "And... uhh... I was thinking... maybe we could find a place to hang out after school."

The implication behind his words sent my heart racing again. "But what about Ashley?"

He waved his hand dismissively. "I'm not sure she's right for me."

"Got someone else in mind?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Maybe. I've had my eye on a girl, but she's a bit of a brat and hogs the covers."

I threw my pillow across the room at him and made a face of mock anger. He crossed back to my bed and dropped the pillow onto it. He leaned down onto the bed and pushed me back on it. He lowered his face to mine and brought his lips in close enough to mine that I could feel the heat of his skin.

We were in for a wild and dangerous ride.