Part Three: Their Secret
Chapter Fourteen: Breathe in the air
Kari looked up at the white ceiling, not quite sure of what exactly had just happened. However, what she did know is that it had been incredible. The sheer raw passion that she had just shared with her brother could not be compared to anything she had ever before experienced. All her limbs felt floppy and her cheeks felt as though someone had set them ablaze. Consciously she took in a much needed long breath of air. That had been… intense. Eventually, she managed to get a signal through to her right hand and got it to move. She had to rub at her leg to confirm that she had not lost her jeans at some point during the fray. Would it have mattered if she had? She could certainly remember yelling to Tai just to take her there and then. Maybe it was for the best that her brother had managed to salvage some measure of restraint, for she had certainly lost hers.
Eventually, Kari managed to roll over, her arm flopping over her brother's bare chest. That part she did not regret. How could she after it had felt so good to finally have her brother play with her breasts? Beneath her hand, she could feel Tai's chest slowly rise and fall as his breathing regulated. He turned his head to look at her, smiled, then reached out with his lips and planted a soft kiss on her own.
"That was unbelievable," he said, summing up exactly how she felt with just a single word.
"Tell me about it," Kari replied as she returned his smile. "I don't think my hearts quite finished racing yet."
Tai chuckled as he grinned at her, "mine too."
"What the hell just happened to us?" she asked as she nestled her head against his chest.
Her brother responded by wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "I think nine day's cold turkey took its toll and we snapped." There was a brief moment of silence before he then queried, "are you ok with what we just did. I mean we didn't so much as just hit second base, rather blew through it like a bullet train."
Kari nodded her head, "I'm good."
"Are you sure? We didn't even talk about doing half of what we just did…" his voice suddenly became concerned, "Kari I'm so sorry if I just took advantage of you."
She heard his words and had to restrain herself from bursting out laughing. Typical Tai, always honourable and trying to protect her… The devilish grin spread across her face and it was just a pity that her brother could not see her face. "Tai," she said sternly, "what did I tell you about doing the whole overprotective big brother thing."
She physically felt him gulp before he blurted out, "Kari, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."
"Hmph," she pouted, "I recall saying that you would be sorry if you did it again, so you're going to have to be punished."
Before he could protest, she found his right nipple with her mouth.
"Wait... KARI!" he yelled when she bit down on it with her teeth. "Oww, that hurt!"
She let go and started to laugh. "I did warn you not to do it again. And no, you did not just take advantage of your poor, helpless little sister." She sat up slightly to look him in the eyes. "In fact, you were the one who actually managed some restraint as I recall yelling for you to take me."
The sour look on his face disappeared as she spoke and he seemed genuinely relieved. "And no, I do not regret taking off my bra and letting you have your wicked way with my boobs." She took one of his hands in her own and placed it on her right breast as though to emphasise the point.
He opened his mouth and said, "are…" but another stern look from her quickly stopped him finishing the sentence.
She flashed him an evil grin, "don't make me punish you again."
"That was just mean," he pouted, rubbing his own nipple with his free hand. "I still think we should talk about this."
"Agreed. We completely lost control this evening and were hurtling down the track to a home run if you hadn't had the sense to keep your pants on."
A grimace spread across Tai's face as he pulled himself into a sitting position. "Yeah… about my pants…" he rubbed a hand behind his head and shuddered, "…I think I need to change."
Kari burst out laughing at how embarrassed he looked and decided to throw him a bone, given that his had probably buried itself by now. "News flash, Bro. Men are not the only ones who make a mess of their underwear when they get too frisky." She gave him a quick kiss before adding, "let's clean ourselves up and then meet back on the sofa."
"Deal," Tai replied and climbed off of her bed. "I'm calling first dibs on the bathroom."
Kari smiled at him and followed suit. "It's all yours," she said and watched him pick up his upper body attire before he left her bedroom.
She looked at herself, topless as she was, in the mirror and could see that her cheeks still held an after orgasm glow and that a thin smile continued to play on her lips. Her hair stuck up at odd angles with her bangs now plastered to her forehead. Her entire body felt sticky with sweat and she was starting to cool. When Tai left the bathroom, she intended to take a well-earned shower before hitting the sofa. However, in the silence of her bedroom, she could hear the sound of running water and deduced that her brother had made the exact same decision. She had to wait a further ten minutes for him to vacate the premises.
After enjoying a thoroughly relaxing shower, Kari changed into a pair of green Japanese silk pyjama trousers and collarless jacket with toggle fasteners. They had been a gift from her grandmother and were ridiculously comfortable. Exiting her bedroom, she crossed the main living area and joined her brother on the sofa.
"I don't know about you, but I'm starving," Tai said when she sat down. He'd pulled on a pair of black pyjama shorts and a grey t-shirt.
"You're always starving," Kari replied as she snuggled up beside him. "Hi," she then said cutely, "remember me?"
Her brother paused in mock contemplation, "aren't you that girl from four nights ago?"
She playfully pursed her lips, "what girl from four nights ago?"
"Wait you're not Mimi!" he declared in feigned horror as he allowed his mouth to hang open.
"You're darn right I'm not Mimi, Tai Kamiya," she said indignantly as she gave him an evil grin. "And you'd better not even think about falling her feminine wiles when she gets back from the US or you really won't like your next punishment." She reached out and nibbled on his earlobe in much the same way as she had the first night they had made out. "You belong to me!"
"Let me guess," he said after letting out a slight wince, "marking your territory?"
She smiled at him, "clever boy."
"Are you going to do that after every base we pass?"
Kari thought for a moment, "unless you'd be willing to get a tattoo that says, 'property of Kari Kamiya'."
Tai scowled at her. "Why don't we tattoo your skin."
"I would, but mom won't let me. And I think if I did and she found out, she'd probably think I'd joined the Yakuza and haul me to have it lasered off."
His mouth hung agape as though she had just suggested something sacrilegious.
"Geeze, Bro, don't you blow a fuse too," she said, slightly surprised by his reaction. "I thought you were fully supportive of the new me?"
"I am," Tai answered quickly. "It's just…" he paused and she could tell he was searching for some way to either not offend her or avoid sounding like the overprotective big brother, "…you have such beautiful skin. Why would you possibly want to spoil something so perfect?"
Ok, so maybe she had not quite read his response correctly. She didn't quite know how to reply to that sort of comment. He thought her skin was beautiful and perfect, who knew? Eventually, realising that she would have to say something, said, "ok, how about I don't run off and get a tattoo without consulting with you first?"
Her brother let out a sigh of relief, "I still reserve the right to try and talk you out of it in a non-overprotective big brother manner."
She gave him a smile and started to laugh. "It looks like I can train you after all. Now be a good boy and go fetch me a soda once you've ordered that pizza that you're thinking about. And make sure half of it is something that I'll eat."
"How on earth did you know I was thinking about pizza?"
"Because I know you, Tai Kamiya. After every soccer game you've ever played, you and your teammates have always gone for pizza. And I know fine well I just gave you every bit as hard a workout," Kari replied with a grin.
She could see the gears in his head turn as he worked through her logic. "Hmm," he said as his head moved from side to side in a makes sense sort of way. Removing herself from his chest, she watched as her brother stood up and made his way over to the house phone. Her eyes glanced up at the living room clock; 9:05 pm. They probably had about three hours that they could safely bare their emotions before they would have to be shut away again. It sucked, royally, but they had no other choice. However, as they had just found out, having to wait nine days before they could let them out had caused them to lose control. What if the next wait was even longer? Their parents were not exactly 'life of the party' people.
"Here, your Majesty," Tai then said with a chuckle as he handed her a can of soda.
She looked at the can then up at him with a disapproving expression. "Where's the glass and ice?" she said with an air of mock displeasure.
"In the kitchen," he replied with a grin. "Get off your lazy butt and get it yourself if you want it."
They both burst out laughing as he sat down and Kari quickly lay back and put her head in his lap. She gazed up into those beautiful chocolate eyes. Her brother was so adorable it almost made her burst. They sat in silence for a few moments before he asked, "so what are we going to do to prevent another night like tonight? I know we both really enjoyed it, but if we lose control like that again, I'm worried about where it might lead."
"It'll lead to us having sex before either of us are ready and possibly worse if we don't bother to find protection," Kari replied flatly. There was little point beating about the bush, she thought. They were both thinking it.
"So you agree that we're not ready for that yet," Tai said as he looked down at her.
They'd already discussed this he previous week, but like her brother, she felt reassured by the fact that they were both talking about things so openly and were still on the same page. After all, communication was a cornerstone of any relationship that hoped to last. "Yes," she answered definitively. "If we end up having sex before we're ready, we'll both regret it and I think it will ruin something special."
"Like a hot air balloon, we need to find a way of letting some of the air escape before we explode again," Tai then said.
Kari pondered for a moment. She had an idea but was worried it would make her brother feel too uncomfortable. However, with nothing else coming to mind she decided to broach it, "there is something we could do, but it would all depend on how you feel…"
"…we spend time as a couple out with the house," he said, clearly having had the same idea.
She nodded, "how do you feel about that? I know you wanted to keep things within the apartment, to begin with."
"I know," Tai admitted, "but that was before we realised just how difficult it would be to stuff the genie back in the bottle once it had been let loose. And mom and dad don't exactly have the busiest of social calendars… I don't think we have any other choice."
Kari took hold of one of his hands and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "It'll be ok. So long as we're careful and make plans in advance, everything will be fine."
He smiled and nodded at her. "Yeah. There's no reason that we can't make this work."
"Exactly," she said with a grin. "So with that in mind… I want a date."
Her brother shook his head and started to laugh. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you just manipulated this entire situation."
"No," she replied with a hint of mischief, "but I'm more than happy to take advantage of it."
"Ok," Tai sighed in a resigned manner, "what do you want to do and when?"
The second question was easy to answer, "we'd probably be best to plan it for next weekend. Otherwise, we might end up having to go fourteen days cold turkey." As for the what… "how about going to see a movie? It's fairly innocuous and should allow us to acclimatise to being outside as a couple without becoming paranoid that everyone is watching us."
"That sounds perfect," her brother said in agreement, "however, one condition…"
"Which is?"
"…no chick film."
They both laughed and Kari could not help but recall that it had been her own insistence on the same condition that had helped to set this entire thing in motion six weeks prior. It had been a gruelling nine days but they had come through it and, somehow, managed to avoid getting burnt in the process. Now they were sitting together and planning their first date. She could not remember a time in her life when she had felt happier, than when she had been spending time alone with her brother since that fateful Friday night where she'd tried to shut herself away in her bedroom. And more than anything she had ever wished for in her entire life, Kari wished that it would never end.