Chapter 1

"I've gotta get out of here before it gets cold again," Lilah said, almost to herself.

Jack glanced at his sister without breaking stride. He hated when she spoke that way, but he kept his mouth shut.

They were surrounded by decaying factory buildings, where the road's surface was scarred by frost heaves and cracks with weeds growing out of them. Although Lilah was three years older, they were both too young to remember when the industrial park had been active and booming.

Jack had a brief flash of the attention his sister would draw if the area were crowded with workers the way everyone described its heyday. In a pair of tight, cutoff denims, Lilah's thighs were strong and svelte. Her clear skin was tanned a shade like melted butter. White cowgirl boots gave her long strides an air of power, while her firm round breasts quivered with every footstep, mocking the thin tank top that barely held them.

Lilah's hair was much darker than his, and she wore it loose around her shoulders that day. It seemed whatever way she decided to wear it was Jack's favorite.

"You gotta promise you'll get outta here, too. First chance you get," she said seriously. "Promise you'll take one of those scholarships for September."

"Sure, I guess," Jack replied in a listless tone. It was the last thing he wanted to think about. It wasn't leaving town that bothered him. He knew she was right about getting away, but the thought of ever being separated from her threw him into a panic.

Lilah was staring straight ahead, as if she were looking at something miles away, and still talking as much to herself as him, but she stopped suddenly and gripped her brother by his wide shoulders. Even though he was so much broader and taller, he nearly dropped the plastic beach chairs in each hand.

Lilah looked up at him over the top of her oversized sunglasses. Her amber flecked eyes were dead serious.

"Promise me, Jack. I mean really promise. Don't give me that bullshit you always think I want to hear."

She was so close now Jack could feel his sister's breath on his face. His throat felt tight and his body shivered from inside.

"Okay, I promise," he finally said.

"Bullshitter," she muttered. She let him go and shrugged the strap of the overstuffed bag she was carrying onto her shoulder, and then turned to keep going.

"No, really, Lilah," he added. "Definitely. I mean, if you leave, I'll go nuts around here on my own."

"Yeah, sure. Besides, with your grades and IQ you'll be able to write your ticket. Between that and your music you could go anywhere."

"Well you're smart, too. You could..."

"Oh, don't even try," she cut him off. "I know I'm bright enough, Jack, but I'm nothing like you."

"Actually, Lilah, you are. You're just different..."

"Just forget it, okay?"

They turned down a chipped sidewalk leading to the tallest of the abandoned buildings. When they reached the door, Jack set the chairs against the bricks and waded through tall weeds to one of the first floor windows. He gave the bottom edge a hard shove with the heel of his hand, and it swiveled open. Then he lifted himself over the sill and tumbled inside.

A few seconds later, he yanked open the heavy, rusted door with a loud, creak. Lilah picked up the folding chairs and stepped inside while Jack shouldered the door closed and slid the rusty bolt back in place. He took the chairs back from his sister and followed her across the empty space to the stairs.

He watched the hypnotic movement of his sister's ass as she led the way up three flights. By the time they reached the top, he was beginning to break a sweat, but not from the exertion. At six-one, with a solid, defined body, Jack could've spent half the day running up and down those stairs without getting tired, but following his sister up those flights in those shorts made him breathless.

Most people found Jack's astonishing physique a contradiction to his renowned musical talent and high IQ. He had the kind of body that took hours to develop. Studying, on the other hand, was something he never had to work at. Everything just made sense to him. Complex theories that gave his teachers migraines fell into place easy as fairy tales for him, but when he was younger, he was a popular target for bullies. Only Lilah ever stepped in to defend him, until he grew capable of defending himself.

When they walked onto the roof, Lilah unrolled a pair of mats while Jack unfolded the beach chairs. He held his breath as he watched her bend over and pull a couple of insulated water bottles and a plastic bottle of tanning lotion from the canvas bag. Every muscle and sinew of her sleek legs stood out clearly while her cutoffs lifted above the taut crease of her ass cheeks.

He turned away before Lilah straightened up, but he knew she was aware of the way he looked at her. She never said anything about it, and she never did anything to make him feel good or bad about it. Jack assumed it was something a girl like his sister was simply used to, like it didn't mean anything anymore. People just look at a body like hers, even her younger brother.

Kicking off his sandals, Jack peeled his t shirt over his head and opened his baggy shorts, letting them drop to the surface of the roof. Standing tall and broad in tight blue boxer-briefs, he sensed his sister inspecting him from behind her sunglasses. He felt good, even proud of the ripe, substantial bulge in his crotch, but he also felt self conscious and lowered himself into one of the beach chairs.

He reached for one of the water bottles while his sister kicked off her boots and lifted the tank top over her head, revealing the barely adequate black bra underneath. Then she unzipped her cutoffs and pushed them down, revealing panties that matched the bra. Jack closed his eyes, bathing his face in the sun, before the sight of his sister caused his cock to balloon to full size and break free of his briefs.

He followed his sister by sound. A bottle of water for her. The other chair scraping on the roof and then creaking slightly as she lowered onto it.

After a couple minutes of silence, Lilah blew a loud sigh of frustration and Jack opened his eyes. She was looking at him with her head cocked slightly to the side.

"Jack? How come you never say much when I talk about getting out of here?"

"'Cuz I don't like it. I know it's coming, but I don't like it."

"You don't wanna see me get stuck here forever, do you? Besides, you'll be going away to college and then where will I be?"

"I know, Lilah, I know," Jack nodded, resigned.

Lilah picked up the lotion and squirted some into her palm. She started spreading it over her skin while Jack watched out of the corner of his eye.

"Besides," she went on as she continued smearing her body with lotion, "it'll probably be good for us to get away from each other for a while. Get some perspective on things."

Jack's jaw tightened and he gripped the flimsy plastic arms of his chair. He was trying to keep his reaction from looking too obvious, but he was pretty sure he wasn't doing as good a job as he wanted. Just watching her spread that sheen across her lithe curves was already playing games with his senses. He had plenty to say, but he knew she was right and kept silent.

"The amount of time we spend together is ... unusual," she said after a while.

Jack just waited while the tightness in his jaw spread to his throat.

"I mean, people talk, J," she went on. "A couple of my friends say things you wouldn't believe. Ever since you bulked up like you are."

"Who said what?" Jack sat up straight.

"You don't wanna know, J, believe me. And then there's Mom's boyfriend. He looks at us funny most of the time."

"He looks at you. Way too much, if you ask me. Me, he barely notices."

"Oh he notices you more than you think," Lilah pointed out. "He's scared shitless of you."

"He should be," Jack responded calmly.

Lilah let that sink in. She knew their mother's boyfriend looked at her in ways he shouldn't, but no one would ever hurt her as long as Jack was around. "Anyway," she finally said, "neither of us is ever gonna have a normal relationship the way we're going."

Jack told himself he didn't care about having a normal relationship. He was in love with his beautiful sister. He was sure she knew it, too. He knew she felt something more for him, and in the deep recesses of his heart, he held out hope she was love with him, too. Otherwise, why would she ever spend the kind of time with him she was talking about now?

Yet Jack also knew she'd probably want to get married and have her own family one of these days. That was just the way things went, and he was sure there was nothing he could do about it.

He wanted to say she could go with him when he left for college, but he wasn't sure he wanted to hear her answer. He fell into complete silence and his sister let it go.

After a while, Lilah started to grow restless. She couldn't seem to sit still, and finally sat up straight.

"Fuck it," she said out of the blue while she unhooked her bra and tossed it on top of her other clothes. Then she took a deep breath and hastily slid her panties down her long legs and off her feet, tossing them the same way as her bra.

"Jesus, Li," Jack barely breathed.

The pale triangles over her naked breasts begged attention. Her nipples looked puffy, with large, pink aureoles.

"Oh, c'mon, J, haven't you ever wanted to tan all over? Sure you have. It's just us, anyway. Afraid you're gonna get excited?"

"Well actually ... yes," he confessed.

Lilah stood up from her chair and stretched. It looked as if her body was moving twelve ways at once, and Jack could hardly catch a breath. She squirted more lotion on her palm and coated the sensitive white triangles in her skin. Except for a thin landing strip, her pussy was bare as a peach, and to Jack, it looked every bit as sweet and juicy.

"That's natural," she said. Her voice trembled slightly. "It'd be okay, J. It's not like those briefs are gonna hide what you've got, and I'm sure not about to say anything to anyone."

She was self consciously rubbing her lotion slick fingers over a round, naked breast. Jack felt her eyes on him as he finally stood up. His cock already felt too thick when he pushed off his briefs. He tried not to show how much he liked the way his sister looked up and down his body with a subtle smile.

"You're gonna need some of this." She handed him the lotion bottle and nodded toward his swaggering cock.

Even though he felt a tremor in his hand as he took the bottle, Jack wasn't sure when he'd ever felt so powerful. It was as if he could feel the blood pulse through every muscle in his body. He suddenly stopped worrying about getting hard in front of his sister. It would be a huge relief. Even if they could never do anything about it, he liked knowing she'd see the physical proof of his feelings for her.

It would be a moment they'd never forget.

Lilah sat down on one of the mats and watched her brother squirt lotion on his hand and spread it over the white parts on his hips and groin. He squeezed out another dollop of white cream and spread it thoroughly over his cock and nutsac. He felt anxious, but not a shred of shyness. His cock quickly grew thick and started to jut forward.

"Jeezus, Jacky. You could injure somebody with that," his sister giggled. Then she lay back and stretched out her legs, patting the mat beside her. "Now come keep me company before you scare the vultures."