A Broken Family Ch. 07

I woke up to the feel of kisses being pressed along my rib cage and stomach and wiggled a little. "Morning, Sleepyhead." Arms crossed and rested on my stomach.

"What time is it," I mumbled and peeked an eye open to see Alex's head propped up on his arms and looking at me.

"Eleven." It was then that I noticed he was dressed, his face was lacking stubble, and his hair was wet from a shower. "I was about to go make lunch."

I closed my eyes and smiled. "I could get used to waking up like this."

"I could get used to waking you up like this." A gentle poke to the side made me jump. "Get up and come help me. I have to decide on what to do with Eli when he gets home, too."

I sighed and leaned up on my elbows, considering telling him about Eli. He waited, seeing the conflict in my eyes, but I finally decided I couldn't betray Eli like that. I'd never told anyone of our private conversations before and I wasn't about to start now. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just worried about him is all. Did you get a hold of JT?"

"No. He left his phone in his room." He didn't look happy with his younger brother and I raised a hand to his cheek to get him to relax. "I'm fine. It's just odd to have the one I was always punishing following rules and the other two avoiding me or disobeying me."

I smiled. "But I'm the most important, so it's okay."

He pressed a last kiss to my abdomen and rolled off the bed. "I'm obligated to say you are all equal." The absence of his warmth had me tugging my shirt back down before crawling out of bed. I was happy I'd taken off my bandage and that my boy shorts covered the small heart. That or Alex wasn't paying attention. "You taking a shower first?"

I rubbed my cheek sleepily and looked up at him. "Nah. I'm hungry. I'll shower after."

He wrapped me in his arms and pressed a kiss to my forehead. "You're adorable when you first wake up."

"Shut up," I mumbled and pulled away. I felt his presence behind me as I walked out of his room and paused as I hit the stairs. Just as I expected, his arms came up to my waist at the sudden stop.

"Go."

"I'm too tired for stairs." I dropped down a step and stopped again. Arms went under my knees and back and I smiled, lolling my head back before looking at him as he descended the stairs carrying me.

"You're spoiled." He had a smile on his face as he said it right before he sat me down on the ground floor.

"You're the one who made me this way." I pulled my shirt down as I straightened and he looked down at the movement. "Oh, I suppose I should have put shorts on."

His gaze lingered a moment before he turned toward the kitchen. "Drew is busy today anyway."

"Is he really or are you just using that as an excuse to let your eyes prey on me?"

"Both actually." He headed straight for the fridge and I leaned against a counter. "How do you feel about chicken and mashed potatoes?"

"Sounds great." He shut the fridge after taking out chicken and butter, and raised an eyebrow at my scrutiny. "I still think I should buy that apron and make you only wear that."

He smiled and pulled out the pot and pan he needed followed by two knives. He handed me one and headed to the pantry to grab the sack of potatoes. "I don't think the other two inhabitants of this house would appreciate that."

"Maybe if you had raised us as nudists they would be more accepting. I blame you."

"Because you walking around here naked would have produced so many pure thoughts in your brothers." He gave me a joking condescending look.

"Maybe you would have gotten used to the sight and stopped being affected by it." I grabbed a potato and started peeling it. "Or maybe I wouldn't be a virgin." I paused as I said it, not completely sure if I could claim that anymore. Technically, I was still vaginally a virgin.

"I think I like how things turned out."

I scrunched up my nose. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But the point is you'll hear no complaints from me if you start walking around without clothes." I smiled as he glanced at me and started on another potato. "I like it when it's just us."

I must have jinxed it because the door slammed and leisurely steps headed towards the kitchen. I tugged on my shirt even though it covered everything, and fidgeted as the steps ended at the kitchen doorway. "What're you cooking?"

Alex turned to look at JT, but I stayed facing away. "Chicken. Would you mind staying until Eli gets home?"

"Why what happened?" He walked into the room more and entered my peripheral vision. I concentrated on finishing peeling the potatoes.

"He decided to sneak out to a party. He mentioned something to Holly about following your example. I figured it might help if you sit down and talk with him. I still haven't decided what to do with him."

"What did he say, Holly?" He moved closer again and I glanced at him.

"Just that he didn't see why it was okay for you to act that way when he couldn't. I made it clear I wasn't going to let him fall into that, but maybe if you said something it would sink in more." I finished peeling potatoes and started washing them off, handing them to Alex to set on the counter next to the pot so we could cut them into squares.

"I'll talk to him. I'll let you know what he says. Maybe we can do this without grounding him very long since his senior year starts soon." He paused and the only sound was the water running before I shut it off. "Why aren't you wearing pants, Holly?"

"I just woke up and Alex said Drew wasn't coming over today." I glanced at him and tugged at the end of my shirt again where it hit just past my panties. "I'll go put some on. I'll be back in a minute, Alex."

JT followed me up the stairs and into my room where he closed the door. I went to my dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts, quickly pulling them on. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." I adjusted things on top of my dresser to keep from looking at him.

"Why won't you look at me?" I turned and looked him in the face with a blank look. His forehead crinkled and his tongue peeked out to wet his lips in between the two rings he had in. "I told you we shouldn't have." I started to walk past him and he caught me around the waist. "Wait a minute."

"No. It wasn't a mistake. You going back to normal is. You going back to staying out and fucking girls all hours of the day is."

"I haven't been with another girl since I was with you." I looked at him with a look that said I didn't believe a single word. "I've been going to the park and walking the paths. I haven't been with another girl."

"Sure. Whatever. You can let me go now." He pulled me closer instead and bent his head down until I felt his breath on my neck.

"What do you want, Holly?" He kissed my neck and rested his head on my shoulder as he held me. I slowly brought my hands up and pulled them through his soft dark hair. I didn't have an answer so I stayed silent until he pulled away a minute later. "Go back down and help Alex." I leaned up and pecked his lips before walking towards the door. "I'll be in my room tonight." I glanced back at him and smiled.

-

"What did Eli say," I asked as I slipped into JT's room that night. Upon Alex's request, I'd gone to Amy's so that he and JT could talk to Eli and deal with him without my intervention. I quickly pulled the covers back and slipped in; I'd just gotten out of the shower and the cold air conditioning made me shiver.

His arms made me jump as they pulled me to him before I'd finished lying down. "Did you say anything to him?"

"About what?" I shut my eyes and sighed as I felt his lips rest against the back of my neck.

"I love the smell of your hair." I smiled in the darkness until he continued on, "About you and I."

"No... Did he say something? He has this idea in his head that I'm screwing everyone but him because I haven't been as close to him lately."

"But you are screwing me." He said it so bluntly as his fingers rubbed circles on my abdomen.

"So?"

"So are you screwing anyone else?" His fingers paused after a minute of no reply. "Holly?"

"So are you done screwing multiple girls?"

"This has to do with me being your brother and you better not be having sex with multiple partners, especially without telling all of them." His voice was sharp and I pulled his hand up to cradle in mine next to my chest.

"No. I've only been with you. Now tell me what Eli said."

"He just alluded to thinking you and I had something going on. Alex kept glancing at me when he said those things, but Eli made sure to nail him, too. Is there something going on with him lately?"

"What makes you think he'd tell me if he was stressed over something?"

"Holly. Really. You're his best friend."

I sighed. "All I know is he liked a girl at school and she rejected him because he plays football. Something about the sport always taking her father away. He's just... fragile right now. Not thinking."

"Hmm." His lips were back on my neck again and the hand by my chest pulled my back against his chest. "And how are you feeling?"

My eyes scanned through the darkness as my mind whirred at my inexperience. "I'm not fragile if that's what you're asking."

"There's something I've been wondering about." I waited as his hand traveled down and pushed under my shirt he'd already pushed around my ribs. "What all rough stuff are you in to?"

"Name something and I'll tell you if I am." I held still as his fingers traced around my breasts without going near my nipples.

"Spanking is a given. Bondage?"

"Yes." I earned a nibble to the side of my neck.

"Pain?"

"To an extent."

His fingers did go to my nipples then and I inhaled sharply at the hard pinch he gave them without working up to it. "You'll tell me if you want anything to stop."

"Of course."

His hands left me and his arms returned to holding me close. "Alright. Go to sleep."

"What?" I tried turning around, but he squeezed me. "What the hell? No."

"I'm tired. I'll pound your brains out in the morning." He nuzzled my neck and I groaned. He'd better not put me on the taking-it-slow thing. I couldn't do that with him and Alex both.

"Fine."

"Don't be upset. Am I not in charge?"

A smile spread across my face. "Until I get fed up and dominate you. You've got muscle on your side, but I'm not afraid to play dirty."

"Obviously I've experienced that." I blushed in the darkness. "Don't worry. I'll take care of you. Just right now we're going to sleep."

-

"Does Alex know about this, little girl?" were the rough words spoken into my ear in the morning. I groaned and tried turning over, but my hips and wrists were being held down. I slowly opened my eyes to see JT's serious face with eyebrows raised.

"What?" He let go of my wrists and I propped myself up on my elbows as he straddled my hips. His hands slid down over my naked side, thumbs snaking down under the waist of my panties, and pushed them down. I looked where his eyes went and flopped back on my back. "You want to explain to him how you came to see it? Actually, care to explain that anyways?"

He raised his eyebrows at me and I shut my eyes. "I don't think you'd have complained with how I came to find this." His thumbs rubbed where the bones of my pelvis were. "When'd you get it?"

"When I got my piercing the other day. I make my own style, see. I don't just follow your example; you don't have any tattoos."

I felt his weight shift and opened my eyes to see the curve of his neck to his shoulder. "You shouldn't mark your skin like that," he spoke into my ear before trailing kisses along my neck.

"It's not like people will ever see it." I shivered as he found a sensitive place.

"I will and I like your skin being unblemished by ink." He met my lips and I smiled as he pulled my hips up so he could take my panties off. "You think you're so cute because you get to me, huh?" He asked, pulling back to kiss down my neck again.

"Just a little bit." I laughed as he tickled my side and sat up. "What're you doing?" I watched him get off the bed and go to his dresser.

"Helping you save something special until marriage." He came back with a condom and a bottle of lube. To my confused look he said, "Anal only."

"Oh." I swallowed and glanced away. "I don't want to get married." Not anymore at least. Not whenever I could find everything I needed at home with Alex and him.

"You might change your mind." He lifted a hand to my cheek and turned my head to look at him. "Hey, we don't have to."

I looked between his eyes and then slid my eyes down his body before closing them. "I want to. I just wish you'd consider us being able to do everything."

"If you think about it, this is like doing everything to other people. I was almost sure I'd discourage you with it." He sat the two things on the bedside table and then took me into his arms. "I love you, you know that right?" He kissed my cheek and I smiled. "I'm not sleeping with anyone else."

"How long does that last?" I mumbled, burying my face into his neck and splaying my hands over his chest. He hands tightened on my back at my comment.

"I'm not going to put you at risk of anything." His voice was rough and tinted with anger.

"You're always angry with me."

"That doesn't mean I want you catching an STD from me."

I pressed my lips to the skin under my cheek and trailed them over the parts of his neck in reach. His arms relaxed a little bit and he start rubbing circles on my lower back. "So until you get tired of me."

"That won't happen," he said quietly after a few minutes. I acted like he hadn't said anything, knowing he wasn't one to discuss how he felt.

-

"You threw me to the sharks." I jumped and quickly shut the curtain back.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" I reached out of the shower and grabbed my towel, wrapping it around me before sliding the curtain back again.

"Was it really necessary to tell him what I said? It's bad enough you called Alex." Eli's blue eyes looked more betrayed than angry as he leaned against the counter right in front of the shower.

"I was just looking out for you. I can't have you acting like that anymore and you don't listen to me." I stood with my hands holding my towel at the top to ensure it didn't fall. "Can we talk about this once I'm dressed?"

His eyes glanced down to my hands. "I just don't get it. What does JT have that makes you like him so much, but you don't want me to replicate?"

"Eli, come on. I told you that you're my favorite. For Christ's sake, you're my best friend right next to Amy. I don't want you acting like JT because his choices are going to have him ending up with an STD or alcohol poisoning someday."

He didn't look up to my face and I shifted uncomfortably. "Something is going on between you two. You're going to slip up and I'm going to tell Alex."

I picked up my clothes from beside him and turned to the door. "There's nothing going on. I wish you'd go back to normal. If you want me to be around you, you can't be making silly threats."

I reached for the doorknob and felt a hand snake around my waist, sliding right between the edge in the front and pulling me back. "I just want a chance. If you really believed everything you said to Sarah, you would give me one."

"Come on, Eli. Stop, please. You're my little brother and I would be taking advantage of that if I tried anything." I tried pulling his hand away, but he pulled me closer and trailed kisses down my dewy shoulder, his hand caressing my hip inside my towel.

"Then let me try something. Just a chance, that's all I'm asking for."

"No. You need to find a nice girl you can marry and take care of."

"I can take care of you." He turned me around and took my face into his hands. "I can. I have always been there for you and nothing would have to change really."

"Except for you touching me in ways you shouldn't."

I closed my eyes as he leaned his face closer to mine so I could feel his lips brush mine as he talked. "Think real hard; do you really think it would bother you?" His pushed his lips to mine on the last word and I did my best to stand there and just take it. "I'll leave you alone to change." He pulled back and slipped around me and out the door.

I just stood there blinking my eyes trying to figure out what the hell was going on in my house.

-

"We can pack tonight and leave tomorrow. It will give us an extra day," Alex told me as I walked into his office. He was staring at the computer this time and for that I was a little let down. Drew was sitting in a chair in front of his desk and I took the other, sinking back into it, crossing my legs, and leaning my head on the back.

"We could. Start making a checklist and I'll get to it sometime tonight." I yawned and Drew stood up beside me.

"I'll see you when you get back, man. Make sure he stays out of trouble, Holly." Drew patted my shoulder as he went by and I looked up at Alex and winked.

"I thought Alex was the one who was supposed to keep me out of trouble?"

"He'd like you to think that, wouldn't he? See ya later." We sat and looked at each other until we heard the front door shut.

"Your shorts are too short," was the first thing he said to me as his eyes flicked down to my legs. I got up and closed and locked his office door.

"I guess it's a good thing Drew was leaving then, huh?" I walked around his desk this time and he pushed away so that there was room for me to slide onto his lap.

His hands slid up my thighs and held me firmly so I wouldn't fall off. "JT's home right now."

My eyes flicked upward as if I could see him through the ceiling to the second floor. "So?" I tried my best not to think of him and half-failed. I reasoned with myself that he was used to sharing girls and he'd get over it. Alex had just as much claim as JT did.

"So be good," he said firmly and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm always good. You're the one who's corrupted me." I glanced to the computer. "Actually, I wouldn't mind being corrupted more."

"You're unbelievable. Go upstairs and pack." He let go of me, but all I did was shift to face him with my knees on either side of him. "We're not doing this, Holly."

"You're so beautiful." I ignored him and brushed my thumb along his cheekbone before leaning in and kissing him softly. He relaxed the slightest bit and rested his hands on my lower back. I started kissing down his neck and received a sigh.

"Holly." It was a warning and I pulled back to look him in the face. "Not right now."

I dropped my eyes between us as I wilted a little—I was getting tired of being rejected and considering going to bother JT instead—but a smile fluttered across my face as I took in the lump in his pants. "You have way too much control, you know that?"

"Someone has to because it's not like you do."

I lifted an eyebrow as I reached behind me and took hold of his wrists. "I'm completely capable of gaining control over this situation." I held his hands on the armrests and leaned into him, my mouth hovering over his. "You really don't think I'll let you always have the upper hand, do you?"

"You're not ready," he murmured against my lips before leaning the inch to connect ours. I pulled away as one of his arms broke away to wrap around me.

"I didn't say we had to have sex." I reached my free hand down and ran my fingers along the front of his shorts. "I still never got to get you back."

"Don't," he told me as I moved off his chair and crouched down in front of him.

I leaned my head against his thigh as his hand came to push my head away and sighed. "Just this once. Nothing more."

"You don't have to do that. I'm fine. You can go upstairs and start packing." I reached my hands up and managed to get his button undone before he took my hands away and held them to the side. "Come on, Holly. Go upstairs."