Chapter 7

Melinda used to enjoy Thanksgiving Day. When she was living in her older sister's shadow, this was the one day she got most of the attention. She could tolerate being considered the baby of the family just so she could be with people who wanted to talk with her rather than Heather.

Instead, she found the crowd of relatives crammed into the living room to be more annoying than anything else. Despite being fully clothed, she still felt naked, especially after more than one had commented on how much she had "grown up" since last year, often right after a clandestine glance at her bosom. She sensed she was attracting more than her fair share of attention.

She had scrutinized everyone for the presence of an Aura and found nothing. She glared at the one around her mother whenever it appeared to be sending tendrils towards any of her relatives. More than once, the relative would suddenly look away, misinterpreting her target.

"You're not exactly endearing yourself to everyone, runt," Heather said as she witnessed one such incident involving a cousin.

"So what?" Melinda snapped. "He was staring at my boobs."

Melinda braced herself for her big sister's typical retort. Instead, Heather glanced around the room and sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Melinda blinked. "I am? I mean, of course I am!"

"I've been getting some of the same looks, too. You sure you're not seeing any Auras?"

"Not a damn wisp."

"This is weird."

"Weird? Try sick."

"I don't mean that. We have relatives over every Sunday morning and they've never done it, at least nothing you've whined about."

"It's Mom, it has to be!" Melinda cried.

"Shh!" Heather hissed, looking up in time to see their mother glance at them from across the room with an admonishing gaze before excusing herself and heading back into the kitchen.

"Well, bubblehead, who else could be doing it?" Melinda whisper-shouted. "Shit, for once I'm glad I don't have Cassie's thing where she can read emotions. I don't want to know what half of them are thinking."

"It may not be that bad, it's just..." Heather trailed off as she directed her gaze past her sister.

"Don't tell me it's not bad. I know what a look like that means."

"Melinda, hush, " Heather muttered through clenched teeth.

"Maybe I don't care anymore who hears me. We can't even tell--"

"What can't you tell?" came a boy's voice behind her.

Melinda whirled around, her hair nearly whipping across the boy's can of soda. She started to frown but let out a noisy sigh instead. "Nothing, Ken, I was just talking to Heather."

Her cousin Ken grinned, and Melinda stared at his eyes as if daring them to flick down to her boobs again. He was about two years her senior, with sandy hair topping a tall, skinny frame. "You sure about that?"

"My lips were moving and sound was coming out, and it was aimed at Heather, so, yeah, I'm pretty sure I was talking to her."

Ken raised an eyebrow, though his face betrayed amusement. "Sorry. Hope I didn't upset you somehow."

Melinda came close to bringing him to task for his wandering eyes, but she shook her head instead and forced her voice to a less hostile tone. "No, you're fine. Sorry, I'm just distracted. Look, Heather probably wants to keep talking to me, right? Heather?" She turned around and gasped when she saw no one behind her. She caught sight of her sister across the room, talking with one of their Aunts.

"Guess she's not moving her lips at you in return anymore," Ken said with a smirk.

"Oh, shut up," Melinda grumbled and folded her arms, which shoved her breasts up her chest. He just did it again! she thought, narrowing her eyes.

"Hey, you're really tense. Sure something isn't up?"

"No, nothing. Forget it. And why would you care anyway, other than to stare at my boobs?"

Ken drew back, his eyes widening as if in shock, though his next words came out as a half-laugh. "You think I was staring at your rack this whole time?"

Melinda's expression softened until his gaze flickered. "There, you just did it again!"

Ken paused, then gave her a small smile. "Well ... you have, um, filled out a bit since last year." He glanced at them again just as they swelled from an intake of breath. "Okay, a lot. Sure those are real?"

"What the hell kind of question is that?" Melinda snapped.

Ken shrugged. "Gotta admit, they grew kinda fast."

"Yeah, and you just happen to be keeping tabs on them, right? That what you've been doing every time you're here? Measuring my boobs?"

Despite the indignation in her voice, her skin flushed hot, and two points appeared on the stretched fabric of her blouse. As if in response to her unwanted feelings, his gaze dropped to her bosom and stayed there. "Y'know, you're almost as big as your sister now," Ken said with a lascivious grin. "So, again, are they real?"

"Yes, they're real," Melinda said in a low voice.

"Yeah? I'm not so sure. Maybe you need to prove it."

"What?!"

Ken glanced around, then drew closer and lowered his voice. "No way they're real, not in that short a time. I saw you over the summer. They still didn't make even a handful."

"Like you'd know the difference," Melinda retorted, though the conviction was weak.

"No girl's tits grow that fast. No way, no how."

Melinda cut off a protest. Now she wished she did have Cassie's ability. Had he really noticed something odd going on in Haven? Ken did not live in town, but he frequented it on occasion as he had friends at Haven High. Had they told him any of the odd rumors which were circulating like wildfire ever since Halloween?

Had she found an ally?

No sooner did she picture herself revealing the truth than she craved the wonderful taste of her sister's wet pussy. She shivered, her nipples growing stiff and tenting the fabric of the blouse. It drew Ken's attention like a magnet, and one corner of his mouth twitched upward.

Melinda forced herself to take a slow, deep breath, ignoring the tingle in her nipples as they rubbed against the cups of her confining bra. No, he was interested only in her body, just a ridiculous ruse to get a free look at her boobs. She dwelled on that idea until her lust eased.

As if sensing a loss, Ken snorted and said, "Shoulda figured the baby of the family would stuff her bra so she'd look more like her sister."

"Don't call me a baby," Melinda hissed. "And if you think I want to look anything like my sister--"

"Then prove it. I say you stuff. You don't grow 'em naturally that way. You just don't."

Melinda clenched her teeth. He sounded almost serious. What if he had noticed something? NOT THAT I'M GOING TO TELL HIM ANYTHING, she thought. Faint images of her tryst with Heather still flitted through her head, and her pussy felt warm and damp.

"Fine, " Melinda finally declared. "I'll show you. That's what you wanted all along, wasn't it?"

Ken grinned and shrugged again. Melinda was starting to hate that gesture. "Hey, you're the one makin' the impossible claim," he said.

"Just don't talk any more, okay?" Melinda looked around. She was surprised no one had taken note of their conversation. Neither had been speaking in a low voice, yet everyone carried on as if they were not there. Her eyes briefly bored into Ken, but she saw not even the faintest hint of an Aura. "We have to find someplace private. And before you decide to be a wiseass, no, not my bedroom, everyone would see us going up the stairs."

"The basement, then?" Ken said, the excitement evident in his voice.

"It's fucking freezing down there!" She turned her head towards a far corner of the room, where a hallway headed towards the back of the house. "My father's office. Follow me."

She emerged from the crowd of relatives and stopped, glancing back in time to see Ken almost run into her. She frowned and looked around before ducking into the hallway. She paused again and looked back after Ken joined her. "What are you doing?" Ken asked.

"I want to see if anyone noticed us gone, you idiot," Melinda hissed back.

He grasped her hand. "C'mon, no one saw us. Really, you're too paranoid."

"And you're not? Thinking I'm lying to you about my boobs?"

"That's not paranoia, that's just how much I'm willing to believe you. Now let's--"

She yanked her hand from his grip, glared at him, then proceeded towards the office at her own pace. Nevertheless, her nipples still tingled, her pussy buzzing with anticipation. Anticipation of what? She wasn't planning on doing anything more than giving him a short peep show.

She stepped into the room. At one end was her father's desk and PC, standing just to the side of a window, the blinds drawn. A filing cabinet flanked the window on the side nearest the desk, while on the other was a sofa. The rest of the room was taken up with cabinets and shelves, the latter of which were filled with books on computer programming and server administration.

She heard the door close behind her and whirled around, watching his gaze settle on her bouncing breasts. "Okay, prove it," Ken said, grinning. "Show me they're real."

Melinda took a step back and started to unbutton her blouse. She paused just as she reached the last one. "You really think it's odd for them to have grown this much?"

"Oh yeah, really odd. Then again, this town's always been a little off."

She could not tell if he had meant that in jest, as she was convinced that the smirk on his face was a permanent feature. The thought he could be serious also reminded her how delicious her sister's pussy tasted. She shivered again, her hips squirming at the heat trapped behind panties and jeans. She uttered a tiny, husky sigh as she shed her blouse and draped it over the back of the office chair. She snapped the straps of her bra, making her breasts bounce once. "There, see?"

He shook his head. "Naw, I gotta see it all. You could've stuck something in there or be wearing one of those under-wire support things."

Melinda frowned. "You don't even know what the fuck an 'under-wire support thing' is, you loser."

"You're gonna be the loser if everyone starts thinking you're stuffing."

Melinda fumed. She truly did not care what others thought of her bosom (save, perhaps, for Jason), but he had irritated her enough that it was a matter of principle now. She reached behind her and undid the hooks, bending one in her haste. She yanked the straps from her shoulders and tore the cups off, her breasts bouncing and flesh rippling. She tossed the bra onto the chair. "There, satisfied?"

Ken remained silent as he stared at Melinda's bare breasts, his lips parted slightly. Melinda's eyes widened, wondering if this had been a good idea after all. She was not sure what had possessed her to do this.

Melinda lifted her arms and turned her torso one way and the other before letting them drop. "See? Perfectly natural. So what do you say to that?"

Melinda knew what she wanted him to say, just as she knew how much she loved burying her face in Heather's hot, wet mound. She squeezed her legs together, her nipples two hard and throbbing points.

"Let me feel them," Ken said in a husky voice. "Just to be sure."

"Wait, what? I never said you could--"

"Just not natural, you know?" Ken said, still staring.

Melinda paused. "W-wait. Do you mean ... you think something... ?"

Her thoughts drowned in a tide of sodden desire, and she could almost feel Heather's body pressed against hers. Slowly she became aware that the sensation was real but not in the way she had wished.

"Ken, stop, what... uhngg!" Melinda moaned.

Ken's hands squeezed the plump flesh of her boobs, catching a nipple between two fingers. When he saw her reaction, he grabbed both and tugged, rolling them between his fingertips. Melinda grasped his shoulder with one hand and panted, her other hand clutching his arm in a weak attempt to pull it away.

"Wow, you're fucking hot, Melinda," Ken breathed, his voice quavering with his own intense desire.

"K-Ken, no ... I didn't want ... not with..."

"C'mon, you were horny the minute you entered the room."

Melinda tried to speak again but could not get the words to come together in her head. Despite the fact that he was not the object of her lust, her body was too saturated with arousal to let her refuse.

He nudged her across the room, tugging the waist of her jeans until the button popped open. He yanked down the zipper as her hands closed on her crotch in a feeble attempt to protect it. She gasped and trembled when his hand slid under her damp panties and fingers squished in her slit.

"Damn, you're so wet," Ken croaked, as if not daring to believe his luck.

Melinda's words were again lost, this time to throes of pleasure when he rubbed her clit hard. She staggered when the back of her foot hit the sofa behind her. He pressed his free hand to her shoulder and pushed her down onto the seat cushion.

The jolt of the impact lifted some of the fog of sexual euphoria, and she struggled to express her thoughts before they could be swallowed up again. "K-ken, we can't do this ... it's not normal ... oh!..."

Her jeans and panties were yanked down her legs. She made little attempt to stop it, as if her body had drifted out of her control. He frantically pulled his own clothes off, fumbling with the belt almost long enough for her to form another cohesive protest.

He dropped his pants and briefs, his long and erect cock bobbing, tinged purple and pulsing. "W-wow," he murmured in awe as he glanced down. "I've never been this hard."

Melinda stared at it and let out a helpless, husky sigh. She offered no protest when he plunged into her tight and slick pussy. Her hands gripped the edge of the cushion in one last measure of resistance before she wrapped her legs around him and rocked her hips in time to his thrusts.

Soon Melinda was panting hard, her hips aching from their desperate attempt to keep time to his intensifying pace. She tried to stop herself, telling herself they had coupled under false pretenses, that her desires had been focused on her sister. No matter how hard she tried to conjure those thoughts in hopes it would dampen her lust, all she could think about was the nice, hard cock pleasing her pussy.

Melinda whimpered and arched her back, and Ken's panting became a gasping moan as they strained at the edge. His hands suddenly leapt from her shoulders and grabbed her breasts, kneading them hard and flicking the nipples with his thumbs. Melinda first gasped in surprise, then cried out in ecstasy as her pussy throbbed. She trembled with the force of her orgasm, her nipples pulsing to the same beat.

She expected the worst. In moments she would feel the icy Dark tendrils penetrating her mind and smothering her will. Instead, the Darkness remained distant yet very pleased.

Ken groaned and gasped for breath. Shaking, he plunged his still pulsing cock deep inside her until he was finally spent. He let out a shuddering breath as he eased back, and with one last moan he fell to a half-seated position on the floor. "Oh man," he croaked, still catching his breath. "Fuck, that was intense."

Melinda struggled to think through the sexual euphoria which filled her head like gelatinous goo. She fought the impulse to thank him for such a great fuck, leaving her unable to do little more than give him a weak smile.

Ken smirked. "Yeah, you liked it, too. I knew you would."

Melinda closed her legs and drew in a sharp breath when her pussy gave a few more weak throbs, followed by a pleasant post-coital ache. "Ken, you're not worried about anything, are you?" she finally asked, the words slow to come.

Ken gave her a puzzled look. "Huh?"

"You didn't use any protection."

Ken glanced down at himself, then back up to her and shrugged.

Melinda's annoyance helped burn through the remaining haze in her mind. "Boys," she muttered, shaking her head. "I mean you're not worried at all about knocking me up?"

Ken snorted. "Oh, that. Nah, it's cool."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll be fine. You won't get preggers."

Melinda knew he was right. Her periods had still not returned since they had stopped for all the girls in the Harbingers a month and a half ago. Constant unprotected sex had yielded nothing more than the inherent pleasure and the energy it generated.

"You don't know that," Melinda said in a weak voice.

"Yeah, I do." Ken stood up, his still partially erect cock swaying.

"How?"

Ken picked up his clothes and chuckled. "You ask weird questions, Melinda. Wanna ask me why it's dark at night? It just is."

Melinda stood up. "And you don't think that's strange?" Despite their ardent tryst, renewed lust for her sister flooded her mind unabated, her sex tingling as if priming itself for more sex.

Ken paused, his eyes darting over her body as if he had somehow sensed her renewed arousal. He yanked on his briefs and jeans. "We better get back before someone realizes we're gone."

Melinda quelled her thoughts on that, lest they be interpreted as wanting to discuss it further. Her pussy soon steamed anyway, her tingling nipples making her shudder as she slipped her bra over them. Ken again gave her a lingering look and nearly stopped putting on his shirt. "Yes, you're right," Melinda declared in a loud voice, yanking on her jeans with a vengeance. "Let's get out of here."

Ken nodded and finished dressing. His lips slowly curled into a sly smile. "Hey, maybe we can, you know, sneak down here again later and--"

"No," Melinda snapped, though she had to force the syllable out. She jogged for the door while she was still buttoning her blouse. She pulled the door open and sailed outside before he could say another word.

She ran down the hall and burst into the living room, but found it almost empty save for Heather and two relatives. Conversation and the smell of turkey drifted in from the dining room, where the others were taking their seats.

Melinda smoothed out her blouse and took one last deep breath as the other relatives passed her. She was about to follow them when Heather seized her arm and spun her around. "Where the fuck were you?" she whisper-shouted.

Melinda frowned and yanked her arm from her sister's grip. "You're not my keeper, bubblehead," she snapped, though the conviction in her voice was weak. She stopped her eyes from roaming too much over the swell of Heather's breasts and hips.

"Don't get that way with--" Heather cut herself off when she caught Ken wandering out of the hallway. He flashed her a goofy smile and winked at Melinda before he headed into the dining room. Heather's eyes widened. "You tried to tell him what was going on, didn't you?"

Melinda's cheeks colored. "Sort of, yeah," she said in a low voice. "I couldn't."

"Well, thanks a whole lot, midget. I got so fucking horny I almost lost it in front of Aunt Jo. Shit, she looked like she wanted to come on to me or something. You're supposed to be the one attracted to ... um..."

"Oh, yeah, real fair reminding me of that," Melinda muttered.

"I'm sorry, but you couldn't have spent all that time just talking, so what did..." She trailed off when her sister's blush deepened. "Oh shit, you didn't!"

"I don't know what happened!" Melinda piped. "I really don't! It was like he couldn't control himself. No, not like with the Darkness, he had no Aura. But he wouldn't stop and I couldn't get myself to stop him. I can't even get mad at him now, it was just too good."

"Melinda, Heather," Penny's voice rang out from the dining room. "Come to the table, please."

Heather leaned closer. "Melinda, I think I may have an idea what happened."

Melinda stared. "You do?"

"Yeah, just from some of the other stuff I saw, I think--"

"Come to the table now, " Penny called out in a louder voice.

"We'll talk about it later," Heather whispered as she ushered her little sister into the dining room.

Ned had imagined that sitting down to dinner with the Kendalls would look much like it did in the movies: the couple seated at opposite ends of a ridiculously long table, every clink of cutlery echoing from the far corners of a cavernous room.

Reality was not quite as bad. While dinner did occupy one rather long table, four places had been set all at one end. The room itself had a relatively low ceiling compared to the ballroom. The acoustics were such that echoes were dampened to the point where one needed to shout to trigger them.

The hierarchy, however, had been made abundantly clear. Dorothy Kendall sat at the end, lifting a glass of deep red wine to her lips just as Ned and Cassie were ushered in. To her left was a second setting, a full glass of wine beside it. Further down were the two remaining places, arranged on opposite sides of the width of the table. Ned noted with chagrin that their wine glasses were filled with water.

Dorothy remained silent as Ned and Cassie were shown their seats by the serving staff. Cassie was seated next to what Ned assumed was her father's place, though the man himself was absent. Ned was seated opposite her, and he noticed the sizable gap between him and Cassie's mother, as well as the latter's narrow-eyed suspicious gaze.

Ned felt the need to say something, but Cassie broke the awkward silence for him. "Mother, where is Father?"

"He will be here shortly," Dorothy said in a crisp voice, finally flicking her gaze away from Ned. "He needed more time to conclude his business. He knows we are waiting until he arrives before serving dinner."

Ned sniffed the air and finally realized what was absent. This was the first time he had ever been at a Thanksgiving gathering and could not smell the food as it was being cooked. He wondered why this felt so awkward beyond the scrutinizing gaze of Cassie's mother.

Ned heard an animated conversation approaching from just outside the hall. He looked towards the door to the main corridor, where two figures had stopped just outside of view, only their shadows visible. Ned strained to hear what was being said while trying not to appear as such. By Dorothy's glare it was clear his attempt at stealth had failed. It was a moot point, as Ned realized the conversation was in Italian.

Ned turned to Cassie. "Your father is Italian?"

"No, but he--" Cassie began.

"He speaks Italian," Dorothy declared. "As well as Spanish, French, German, and Russian. It gives him a clear advantage over others. I fully intend for Cassandra to learn at least two languages, and I will eventually send her abroad so she can immerse herself in them properly." Her eyes narrowed on Ned. "Perhaps sooner rather than later," she added in a lower voice.

Ned glanced at Cassie, who uttered a tiny sigh and gave him a single shake of her head. He tried to give her a small, encouraging smile, but she turned her head when footsteps approached the table.