Chapter 1

They have a system of welfare in Great Britain that in many ways is the envy of the world, but in many other ways it falls down and fails to help the very people it was intended to help, I think my sister and I are two of those people!

Our parents were killed when I was seven and Cassie was six and with only distant relatives who didn't want to take us in, the welfare state swung into action.

I was taken into an orphanage in the midlands and my sister into a different one in a different town about thirty miles away, at first they used to take us to see each other at least once a week and on our birthdays, but as time went on and the workload on the carers increased, the visits became less and less frequent and in time they stopped altogether.

That in itself isn't intended as a criticism, it's just a fact of life, but by the time I reached sixteen I hadn't seen Cassie for over six years. Sixteen is the age in Britain when most of us leave school and find a job, unless we go onto higher education but I wasn't considered clever enough so they found me a job, a small flat and said goodbye, that's where their responsibility ended, but I considered mine to be just starting!

Money was tight, very tight because of the rent I had to find for the flat and no-one under eighteen is allowed to work overtime, my boss was a kindly feller though and used to let me work a Saturday morning for which he'd pay me cash in hand.

With my first bit of extra money, I bought a second hand bicycle and cycled over to see my sister, we were like strangers at first but I went over every Saturday afternoon with a little treat or a little bit of money and gradually we became friends again. As her sixteenth birthday approached, we talked to the people who ran the home about her coming to live with me in Derby, they were a bit sceptical at first because they have certain guidelines that must be adhered to in the care of minors, but eventually they brought her over to see the flat, they looked round, checked it had two bedrooms, checked the facilities such as they were and said that the flat was fine but they had intended fixing her up with a job nearer to where she was!

Cassie was crying when they left but I hadn't finished yet!

On Monday morning I requested an appointment to see Mr Clarke, my boss and at about three in the afternoon he sent for me.

"What's up Chris?" so I told him and asked if he could use anyone in the office.

"I can always find a place for a good worker Chris, but I need to meet the young lady first"

It was incredibly difficult to get them to bring her across for an interview, as far as they were concerned the decision had been made, but finally they tired of Cassie pleading and me phoning and gave in.

It was a Friday afternoon, the day before her sixteenth birthday and I sat in the back of the car with her carer and fretted, after about thirty minutes she appeared with the biggest grin on her pretty face that I'd ever seen, I dashed across to meet her and she said grandly,

"Put this trainee wages clerk down immediately or I'll have you flogged"

We were so happy it was infectious and her carer made our day by announcing that she'd been told to tell us if Cassie was successful we could go back to the home, collect all her things and sign her out!

We were on our own and as far as I was concerned it felt wonderful!

That night was brilliant, she put all her clothes away in her bedroom, her own bedroom which she'd never had before and even nicked some of my body lotion and after shave to put on her dressing table.

"Can I have a bath Chris?"

"Cassie, you live here darling, you don't have to ask any more"

She thought that was great and practically galloped into the bathroom to draw it,

"Hey" I shouted after her, "I'm cooking us a special meal to celebrate, so don't be all night"

The special meal was chicken and mushrooms in a paprika sauce, I'd done it before for myself and enjoyed it and it seemed suitably exotic enough for the occasion and I'd even got us a cheap bottle of wine to go with it.

She appeared after about an hour and I thought she looked lovely wrapped up in a huge big bathrobe that looked about two sizes too big for her,

"I got it from a car boot sale last year" she giggled, "You should have seen me in it then"

"You'd have been just as nice then as you are now" I told her and she smiled with pleasure,

"You always say nice things to me Chris"

"Yeah well I happen to think you're a nice girl"

I'd laid the table properly and even used two old place mats I'd found, she was suitably impressed and rewarded me with a great big hug.

"Thanks Chris"

"For what?"

"For not giving up"

"I'd never have done that Cassie, never"

"It'll be great won't it, they seem really nice at the office, I can't wait until Monday"

"Oh God" I exclaimed, "I nearly forgot!"

She looked mystified as I fetched an envelope out of the top drawer and gave it to her,

"Happy birthday Cassie"

I watched her face as she opened the card and saw the fifty pound note.

For several seconds she didn't move, she just stood there staring at it, then her bottom lip began to quiver and her eyes filled with tears,

"Fifty pounds" was all she said and threw herself into my arms, all I could do was hold her until she cried herself out, mind you it was no hardship, she smelled of shampoo and soap and her hair was damp.

"I can't take this Chris" she said finally looking up at me,

"Yes you can and you will, I've been saving a few quid every week especially to give it to you on your birthday, don't spoil it for me Cassie"

She nodded, "Ok, but I'm a woman, I'm entitled to cry, thank you Chris, thank you"

She reached up onto her toes and kissed me, her lips lingered on mine for a moment, then they were gone and I felt myself blushing at the intimacy of her touch,

"If I get a kiss like that every time you cry" I laughed to cover my embarrassment, "You can cry as often as you like"

She giggled at me and disappeared into her room to get dressed, reappearing about ten minutes later in a white tee shirt and a very short denim mini skirt just as I was dishing out the meal,

"Wow" I grinned and wolf whistled which made her blush prettily,

"I haven't got many clothes" she said, "But I'll be earning next week and then West End here I come!"

"You can start with that Fifty there" I grinned and she smiled,

"Oh God yes, can we go tomorrow?"

"It's your money Cassie"

She loved the meal I'd cooked and from the way she demolished it, she'd been ready for it, the wine went the same way too and then without meaning to, I made her cry,

"Right Cassie" I said mysteriously, "Close your eyes"

"Why?"

"Just close them and no cheating"

She did as I asked and I hurriedly got the cake out from a little cupboard where I'd hidden it, the sixteen candles took a second or two to lightbut her face was a picture of delight when I told her to open her eyes.

"Aaagh!" the scream frightened me to death, "A birthday cake Chris, you got me a birthday cake"

"Er yes" I cleared my throat and looked at her as her eyes filled up with tears,

"There's sixteen candles on it too"

"Yes" I laughed, "You have to blow them out in one go and make a wish"

She took a deep breath, grinned at me and blew, all the candles went out and I felt very silly as I sang Happy Birthday to her whilst she sat there with a hankie to her eyes,

"You're lovely Chris" she said huskily, "Really lovely"

"Rubbish" I snorted, "I'm just trying to make the day special for you"

"You already have Chris, believe me you have"

We had a piece of the cake each and then I got up to clear away the dishes, but she told me to go and sit down,

"You did the meal, it's only fair that I wash the pots Chris"

"Fancy another bottle?" I said and she nodded eagerly, "Oh yeah, that one was lovely"

I put a coat on and went down to the off licence below the flat, the owner knew how old I was but since there was no-one else in the shop, he sold me two bottles and made sure I put them in my pockets,

"She looks a right little cracker Chris"

"Who?"

"The girl I saw you with earlier, she was nice"

"Oh right, yeah she is, thanks"

On the way back up to the flat. I wondered why I didn't tell him she was my sister, oh well it wasn't really important.

"You've put make up on!" I exclaimed when I saw her, not much, just a bit of eye liner, a little bit of blusher and some lipstick, but it made her look even prettier and somehow a little bit older,

"Well I'll take it off if you like" she looked crestfallen so I shook my head,

"No, no don't do that Princess, you look really great"

"Princess?"

"It's what you are" I laughed, "My little princess"

"Calling me that makes me feel like I'm on a date" she giggled, "It's nice"

"Yes it is" I agreed and uncorked the first bottle of the two I'd bought, our second of the night,

Pouring out two glasses, I gave her one and held it up in a toast,

"To my sweet and sexy sister"

"To my handsome big brother" then she stopped and looked at me,

"You called me sexy"

"Yes" I nodded, "That's because I think you are sexy, you look absolutely gorgeous"

"Nobody's ever called me that before" and for the second time that day she kissed me full on the lips and it lasted even longer than the first one!

Her breath was warm and sweet in my mouth and in spite of myself, I felt the reaction in my jeans to the softness of her breasts squashed against me, again we pulled apart both somewhat embarrassed.

We sat together then on the sofa and watched television for a couple of hours whilst catching up with each other's past life, both of us had found a certain measure of friendship in our respective homes, but we both knew there'd been something else, something missing and now we'd found it in each other.

"What about boyfriends?" I asked and she'd cheerfully admitted that there had been one or two, "Nothing serious though, a grope and a fumble here and there, what about you?"

A grope and a fumble! For some unaccountable reason, I felt myself thinking about her with some boy, his hand up her skirt or inside her sweater and with a start I realised I was jealous!

"Oh a bit like you" I answered, "Just a quickie now and again, you know like a one night stand"

"I see"

I looked at her and couldn't figure out what it was I saw in her eyes, ignoring my gaze, she sat back and sipped at her wine,

"So, do you prefer one night stands then?"

Suddenly I realised, that like I'd been a few seconds ago, she was jealous and I could have bitten my tongue off!

"No princess" I said softly, "At the moment I think I'm too young to really know what I prefer, but I'll tell you this much, whoever it is who's out there for me would have to be every bit as nice and sweet as you are"

"And as sexy" she added for me,

"Oh yes" I said softly, "But even if she was half as sexy as my little princess, she'd do!"

"Can we go for a walk Chris?"

"Sure, anywhere in particular?"

"No" she giggled, "I just fancy a walk with my date"

"Ok"

She stood up and kissed me again, but very briefly,

"You're a great kisser you know Chris" she laughed, "I wish you really were my date"

As she turned away, I caught her by the wrist and pulled her back to me,

"So do I Cassie" I said softly and then her mouth stopped me from speaking, her tongue snaked between my teeth as we clung together, I ran my hands down over her back and squeezed her tightly, she ground herself against me, little whimpering sounds coming from her throat.

Her buttocks were soft and yielding under my hands, I felt her nails digging into my back until almost as one, we stopped ourselves and pulled apart,

"I think that walk of yours might be a good idea" I said and she nodded her assent,

"Yes, we should get some fresh air"

"Won't you be cold like that?" I said and gestured to her skirt,

"No, I like wearing short skirts, all my friends tell me I've got nice legs"

"They're lying" I smiled, "They're fabulous"

We walked for about an hour hand in hand, I showed her all the local shops while she promised to visit every one the next day,

"We're going to come home skint tomorrow you know" she laughed, "I'm going to spend every penny"

"That's why I gave it to you"

"I'll never forget that Chris" she said, "Never"

We stopped in a shop door way and kissed again, we both knew we shouldn't have been doing it, we were brother and sister for Christ's sake, but somehow it didn't feel wrong, in fact it felt right, very, very right!

Retracing our steps we passed a pub just as the doors burst open and two youths came staggering out bumping into us,

"Look where you're fucking going, twat" one of them spat at me and glared at me aggressively,

"Sorry mate" I said politely, "I didn't see you there"

"Yeah well you should watch out then shouldn't you?"

"Yes you're right" I agreed, "I'll be more careful in future"

I felt Cassie's hand squeezing mine and I tried to walk on past the two drunks but the other one barred my way,

"Going home for a bit of nooky are we?"

"Excuse me" I tried to walk past him but he moved, barring my way,

"You going to slip her a length are you?" he grabbed his groin suggestively and winked at Cassie, "If you want fucking darling, I'm your man, you want to see what I can do with this fucker"

"I've asked you twice to let us go" I said in my most placatory manner, "So please just get out of the way"

The two idiots roared with laughter,

"Or fucking what?"

Two fingers jabbed straight into his solar plexus showed him, "or fucking what" he gurgled and sank to his knees being helped onwards with a right foot into his face from Cassie, Turning to his mate, I grabbed his hair and smashed his face into the wall of the pub, he yelped and yelped again as I did it for the second time,

"You'll let me know when you've had enough won't you?" but Cassie pulled me away, her eyes were wide, her face as white as chalk,

"Leave him Chris, for God's sake leave him, he's had enough"

"Bloody hell!" she laughed as we took our coats off back in the warmth of our flat, "You don't mess about do you, where did you learn to fight like that?"

I'd calmed down by then and grinned at her as I poured out two more glasses of wine, we sat together again on the sofa and I told her about the big youth in the home I'd been in, he'd told me that he was going to have my arse one day, I'd been terrified and had spent hours studying self defence manuals.

"Did he ever get it?" she asked softly and laid her head on my shoulder,

"He got a broken nose, a split lip, a cauliflower ear and several broken ribs" I laughed, "And every day I made him clean my shoes"

As I was speaking I became aware that she was toying with the top button of my shirt, her eyes fixed firmly on mine,

"Anyway" I chuckled, "I bet his mate had a good look up your skirt as you kicked him"

"You can do that any time you like" she said softly and kissed my neck.

I turned to her just as she lifted her face up and our lips met, her hands were still on my shirt scrabbling to open the buttons as our tongues explored, "Shall we do this properly?"

Her bedroom was in darkness, lit only by the landing light, but it was enough, I watched as she watched me, her tee shirt came off as did my shirt, my jeans were thrown carelessly onto the floor followed by her bra and skirt, as I slipped into bed she took off her panties and followed me in,