Her Protector (closed)

[Maka]

Josh's hand hit the far side of the swimming pool and he pushed his head above the water, gratefully taking in lungfuls of air.

It was nothing new to him. Every day, he undertook his fifty laps of the swimming pool. Coupled with running and weight-lifting, it was what had given him his lean, taut body, the corded muscles along his arms and legs and the hard, flat planes of his chest. Smooth dark hair fell around a high cheekboned, imperturbable face and watchful, intense blue eyes that gave little of their owner's thoughts away. From his body and his face, he could have been a professional athlete, a soldier, a model or an assassin.

Today was different, though. Today was the day he claimed his stepsister, Allie. He kicked himself off the wall and started out again, bronzed arms cutting effortlessly through the water.

In fact, it took an effort of will to make himself go through his usual routine of exercise. The thought of being able to take her away made him restless, made him want to rush through it all to be able to get to her faster.

Their parents, his father and her mother, weren't, considered dispassionately, actively abusive. His father had tried beating him a couple of times, while drunk, but even as a kid, Josh had never let anyone hit him without hitting them back harder. His father had woken from those couple of drunken stupors with a head more painful than usual, and a strong feeling that he should steer well clear of his strange, silent goddamn kid. And his father had once, just once, tried to slap Allie. Josh had broken his hand.

Josh reached the opposite end, touched off and was slicing through the water.

Josh had always been a loner. Respectable parents urged their children away from the son of the notorious, alcoholic bully. Josh had learned early on that nobody would take care of you, that nobody could be relied on but yourself. He had grown up into a strong, self-reliant and quiet boy who never smiled and never spoke about his feelings at all.

One more lap.

Then his father had come home one morning, after disappearing for three days without a word, with a woman and her daughter, whom Josh was introduced to as Alison, 'his new sister'. Hardly the first time that his father had taken up with some woman and it couldn't have been expected to last. But Josh had resolved there and then that this disoriented, confused little girl would not be the latest victim of his father's carelessness and ineptitude, of his father's lazy spite and his father's addictions.

Josh pulled himself out of the water in one smooth movement, droplets of water cascading from his smooth, tanned skin. He lay on the platform for a moment.

Josh and Allie had been inseparable. Josh had made sure that Allie lacked for nothing. On nights when the two alleged adults of the household got drunk and threw words and objects at each other, he let her curl up in his bed. He went over her homework with her, and worked an after-school job to buy her the schoolbooks she needed. He didn't make very much money, but it was enough to make sure that she got something, every birthday and Christmas. Until she got wise to the trick, he pretended the presents were from her mother. Allie had always talked about them getting married some day and he'd gone along with it, calling her his little sweetheart. It was harmless, and a way of getting through it all. Josh didn't think he'd saved Allie. Allie had saved him.

He dried himself and pulled on his clothes, then headed out to the parking lot.

He hadn't wanted to move out. He was fairly sure that his father wouldn't try anything again (and made doubly sure with a quiet conversation with the old man one night) but the neglect Allie would suffer, in her all-important last year of school, was almost as bad. But he'd needed to move away, to start earning money for both of them. He had a job at the garage and a flat now. It was Allie's last summer before college (she'd done wonderfully at school, of course). He'd promised she could move in with him while she went to college. Their parents were completely indifferent to the arrangement -Josh couldn't have said for sure they even realised he'd left. And today was the day he'd finally completed the arrangements for her to move in.

Josh drove down the familiar street. He parked outside the family home -a dilapidated semi-detached. Its collapse had been held in check while Josh was there and available for repairs but since he'd moved out, nothing further had ever been done. Josh wondered if, when Allie left, the whole place would just collapse around their parents' ears. He didn't care one way or the other.

His heart sang with excitement although his face was an inscrutable blank. He made his way to the door and rang the bell.

"Allie? I'm here to pick you up."

 

[heartofcourage]

Allie bustled around her room with excitement, her bags packed and waiting by her bedroom door for Josh to arrive. It was sad that her entire life fit into three small bags, but she supposed that she had it better than some other people in the world. Josh had offered her a room in his apartment for her time in college and she had jumped at the chance.

Her life had been anything but normal. She’d been born into a relatively happy home. Barely three years old when her father was killed in a work accident, she remembered the day that her mother had absolutely shattered. She had turned to alcohol to dull the pain of her husband’s death, Allie had been brought up in the seedy bars of the town, playing on the floor at her mother’s feet while she picked up the newest conquest.

She hadn’t been shocked at all when her mother announced that she’d remarried when she was eight. Her stepfather was an ugly drunk who was given to violent outbursts. She was absolutely terrified those first few days in her new home. The only saving grace had been Josh who saw it as his duty to make sure that she wanted for nothing.

When she was younger she had imagined a perfect little life with Josh as man and wife. Of course, it probably would never happen, she told herself. What would he want with a girl like her? Surely he had met half a dozen women prettier than her since he had moved out of the house a year earlier.

Gathering her last box of books, she placed them next to her suitcases and sat on her bed, sighing as she brushed her long brown hair out of her face. This had most definitely been tough since Josh had moved out. Her stepfather had grown a little more aggressive, her mother a little more negligent, and the house a little more dilapidated. She had survived though, graduating in the top of her class and earning a full ride to college.

Only Josh knew her plans. She wanted to be a chef. She loved food and exploring the culinary world. She had thought that he would think her foolish for wanting to study the culinary arts, but she had found nothing but total and complete acceptance with him. It was refreshing and she knew that moving in with him was the right choice.

She heard the doorbell ring and she jumped, a smile crossing her lips as she heard Josh’s voice. She wondered why he hadn’t called to tell her that he was coming so soon, but then she remembered that her cell had been smashed to pieces by her stepfather during a drunken incident last week. He had also smashed her laptop and she had been lucky that the electronics had born the brunt of the attack.

“In here!” She called to Josh as she started to gather her bags to help him load his car.

She had wanted a car of her own, but had been unable to save up her money just yet. Josh had refused to let her get a job, saying that her brain was better put towards school and not work. She worried about him, working so many long hours to support her, but he carried the load without complaint.

Meeting him in the hallway, she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek in greet. “I’ve only got the last bag and a few boxes. Mom and Dad are gone for the afternoon. Did you want to wait around to see them?”

 

[Maka]

"The only person I want to see is right here," said Josh softly, still holding on to Allie. He tucked a lock of silky brown hair away from the luminous, wistful beauty of her face, smiling down at her. Her scent, clean and fresh as pine, was something he felt he could breath in all of his life. And her warm body felt almost too good in his arm. Allie had been doing some growing.

"In fact, let's get going before they show up," he said. He had no desire to see either of those people ever again. He grabbed the remaining boxes, effortlessly lifting them up and putting them, with care, in the trunk of his car.

"I think you're going to like the apartment, Allie," he said. For once, a slight smile crossed his normally impassive features as he looked down at his beautiful, waifish little stepsister.


The apartment was a place not far from college. Josh would not normally have been able to afford it but the landlord, his boss at the garage, had a liking for him and had given him a good rate -after assuring Josh that it was hardly charity to make sure a hardworking model employee was kept happy. Proud and tough, Josh loathed the idea of accepting charity.

"Your room," Josh announced.

He had set the larger of the apartment's two bedrooms aside for Allie. It was a gloriously airy, sunlit space that looked out on a wall of green, spiralling trellises. Besides the queen-sized bed, desk and swivel chair he had left Allie to decorate it and make it her own in the dozens of little ways that she'd had, ways that had made even the hard and shabby home of their childhood seem warmer and more welcoming.

"Why don't you take a shower and make yourself at home? I'll bring your stuff up."

 

[heartofcourage]

Josh always had the ability to make her feel like she was the only woman in the world that mattered. She smiled up at him as he held her tightly and brushed her hair from her face. She truly was happy to see him and she was excited that they would be starting a new adventure together.

She silently helped him to load up her things, sinking into the passenger’s seat as he made mention that he didn’t want to see their parents. She flashed him a smile as he started the car and told her that she would like their apartment.

“Well, I trust your judgment.” She said, reaching over to squeeze his hand as he drove them to the new place.

The apartment wasn’t large, but it was definitely homey. And it was close to campus which meant that she could walk to class if she wanted. It would be refreshing to have the freedom that went along with college. No parents to yell at her, no violence…just peace.

She looked into the room that Josh had given her and her eyes went wide. “Oh, Josh, I can’t possibly take this room. I mean, it’s your apartment and you deserve the master bedroom.”

She looked around at the queen sized bed that he had placed in the room for her and the antique desk and swivel chair. She nibbled on her bottom lip as he mention that she should just make herself at home. It wouldn’t be long before he asked what had happened to her computer and cell phone, but she wouldn’t allow him to pay for replacements. She was going to earn her way, just as much as he was.

“Alright. Then maybe I’ll cook us dinner? Something to celebrate?” She smiled back at him before she kissed his cheek one more time and moved into the bathroom to have a look around.

 

[Maka]

Josh grinned.

"Wouldn't say no to a meal from a soon-to-be professional chef!"

The touch of Ellie's lips on his cheek was soft, warm and sweet. He only wanted to savour being around her, enjoy the feel of her petite body wrapped up safe and protected in his arms.

While Ellie explored the bathroom, he made his way down to the car and picked up her remaining possessions. She had little enough. He frowned. None of these bags would fit a laptop. What had happened to her computer?

He could hear the shower running as he came back upstairs.

 

[heartofcourage]

Allie had never seen a shower so inviting as the one in her new apartment. It was a thing of beauty, she thought to herself as she reached into the glass door and turned on the hot water. She sighed as it came out, instantly hot and steamy. Never would she have to wonder if someone had paid the electric or water bill.

Stripping from her shorts and shirt, she kicked them into a pile in the corner and slid under the spray with a loud, pleased sigh. Tilting her head back under the spray, she let the water sooth away her tension. She was so happy to be there and she wouldn’t let anything ruin her good mood.

Reaching into the shower caddy, she pulled out some of Josh’s body wash. She took in a deep breath and sighed softly as the heady scent that she related to him washed over her senses. Of course, she would have to unpack her own but for now it would do. She lathered up her body, moaning softly as the suds slid over her slick skin and washed away the filth of her former home.

A quick wash of her hair and she was done, stepping from the shower and wrapping in a fluffy black towel that was waiting on the rack. It wrapped around her body and she felt world’s better as she stepped into the apartment and bumped into Josh coming up the stairs.

“Did you put my things in my room?” She asked, looking at him with a smile. “I can’t tell you how thankful I am that I’m here with you now. It’s been so long since I had a nice hot shower.”

 

[Maka]

Allie emerged from the shower in a cloud of steam, a towel wrapped around her wet, nude body. It was tied around her straight, slender back just under the tops of her creamy, perky breasts. Her damp, silky brown hair hung down like a curtain, draping her cleavage. Her smooth, nude body was gorgeous and visibly ripe for pleasure. She looked good enough to eat.

Josh's eyes had widened. It had never even occured to him to look at his stepsister that way, the way he just had -as a lovely young woman in her own right. The sight made him uncomfortable, and uncomfortably aroused. It took him a moment to recall her question.

"Oh... yes. It's all there waiting for you. You're looking lovely, by the way, Ellie. Dare I ask if you've got a boyfriend yet?"

He didn't want to know the answer. Even if it was a 'No' now, it would be a 'Yes' some day -a some day he didn't want to face.

 

[heartofcourage]

Allie blushed at the way josh stared at her and then she was slapping his shoulder playfully as he ask about her personal relationships. Of course there wasn't a boyfriend. Her step father had scared all of her prospects away.

"Why? Are you jealous, josh?" Allie asked with a sly smile. "No boyfriend. I told you that I was waiting for you to marry me." She teased as she slid past him to pull on a fresh pair of clothing.

"How about some lasagna for dinner? Can you pull out the ingredients and I'll be there in a few to start cooking?" She asked over her shoulder as she moved into her new room and shut the door.

Dropping the towel to the floor, she slipped into her favorite pair of lace panties and a matching bra. A pair of jean shorts and an oversized tee completed her loungewear and she ran the brush through her hair before he left the room to cook her brother dinner.

 

[Maka]

Allie slipped aside and into her room, a teasing glimpse of her toned, heartshaped ass as she divested herself of the towel and the door clicked shut behind her. She left Josh in a state of turmoil. His blood seemed to buzz. He had wanted to see more, much more.

In something of a haze, he made his way into the kitchen, where he began laying out ingredients and utensils with characteristic, unhurried efficency. The familiar actions -weighing pots, pans and knives in his hands calmed him down a little. She had just been joking, after all. He had to start remembering Allie was not just a little girl any more. Not by a long way, judging from what he'd seen of her body.

 

[heartofcourage]

“Out, out, out!” Allie insisted as she stepped into the kitchen and saw Josh with a pot in his hand. “I can’t have you cooking. Everything you manage to make tastes like char.”

She grinned at her handsome brother, a far away look on his face as he stared at her and she wondered what he was thinking about. She had to admit that his time away had been good for him. His face had grown a little more defined, his muscular body a little more muscled, his hair a little more stylish. She felt her mouth water at the very thought of Josh…

Shaking her head of the very inappropriate thoughts, she took the pot from his hand and filled it with water, setting it on the store to boil for the noodles. The veggies in front of her were soon chopped and waiting to be added to the lasagna. Josh had always been her biggest fan and cooking for him just seemed so right.

“So, you know I’m not seeing anyone right now. What about you? Am I going to come home and find a sock on the door because you have a girl in your room?” She asked, flashing him a smile.

 

[Maka]

Allie's radiant, mischevious smile transformed her cute face. His stepsister looked so delicious standing there busying herself with the cooking, her snug denim shorts outlining her gently rounded, irresistible ass. Josh shook himself. It wasn't right to think such things. But his gaze still dwelt on her rear.

"I should be so lucky," he said in response to her question. As a matter of fact, there had been a girl at work whom he'd gone on a couple of dates with. She'd seemed interested in more, but he'd ended up avoiding her. Why? He thought he knew now -he'd constantly been comparing her to Allie in his head.

"Besides," he said, stealing up behind Allie to tickle the back of her neck, "I'm not sure my little fiancee would approve of such behaviour."

 

[heartofcourage]

Allie squirmed as Josh tickled the back of her neck and she turned to look at him with a smile. She laughed softly and swatted at his hand playfully. Turning back towards the food, she finished the last of it before she popped it into the oven.

“Now, I don’t believe that for a moment, Josh.” She said, turning back towards him and leaning against the counter. “You could have any woman in this town and you want me to believe that you abstained for me? I mean, I’m sure that you’d make a very good boyfriend, but why would you want to be with a girl like me?”

She crossed her arms over her chest, watching him closely while he considered what she’d just said. Josh had always been a constant figure in her life, one that provided for her when there was no one else that cared. She loved him…probably more than a sister should love her brother.

 

[Maka]

Her over-sized T-shirt made Allie look all the more adorable and fetching, and its folds enticingly hugged the pert, perfectly formed breasts that Josh had been admiring earlier. They were standing very close together now but he couldn't bring himself to move away.

"No girl in this town could hold a candle to you, kid."

He had meant it lightly, with an affectionate smile, but it came out far more serious than he had intended. There was a fire blazing in his eyes when he looked at Allie.

 

[heartofcourage]

Allie paused at that statement, looking at Josh as he smiled at her warmly. She shivered slightly at the light in his eyes and she felt her mouth go dry. Oh…she knew that look. He wanted her in the way that a man could want a woman. She felt a slow smile grow on her own face.

“Josh, are you telling me that you…have feelings for me?” She asked softly, watching his face closely. “I mean, it’s alright if you do. I just…I just want to know.”

What would happen between them if he did? Would they become closer? Would their relationship be tarnished forever? Allie seriously hoped that nothing would change between them.

 

[Maka]

Allie could not possibly have known of the effect her gaze had on Josh, looking shyly up at him under her lashes. Almost unconsciously, his hands moved to the counter on either side of her slender body, so that she was held within the protective circle of his arms, as so often during their childhood. He should move away. He should really move away.

"Feelings?" he said. "Of course I have feelings for you, Allie. I love you."

As a brother? But he wasn't feeling very brotherly emotions looking down at her now.

 

[heartofcourage]

Allie smiled as Josh trapped her against the counter. She glanced down at the muscled arms that held her captive in her position, her eyes finding his as he stared down at her with some unnamed emotion. Reaching up, she pressed her palm against his cheek and gently stroked his face.

“I love you too, Josh.” She said softly, watching the reaction cross his features. “You’re the best big brother I could have ever asked for.”

A kiss pressed against his other cheek and she pulled away, still seeing that unusual look cross his features. It was true, she did love him. She loved him more than any other person in the world. She had always dreamed of having a nice little life with him as man and wife. Still, so much time had passed between them during their year apart.

 

[Maka]

Allie's soft, delicate fingers brushed against his hand and her full lips pressed for an aching, heavenly moment against his cheek. Josh smiled down at her beautiful face. For such a petite girl, it wasn't right for her to be able to bowl him over like this.

"And you're the best little sister in the world," he replied gravely. He bent down to return her peck on the cheek but she turned her head at exactly the wrong (or the right) moment and he was kissing her on the mouth -exploring those wonderfully soft red lips for himself. He struggled with himself, trying to make himself break off the unintentional kiss.

 

[heartofcourage]

Allie gasped as she turned her face into Josh’s kiss and soon found her lips pressed firmly against his. She sighed softly as she realized just how right the whole situation seemed. She was kissing the only man that she ever loved. He loved her too. Didn’t that all add up to something?

Her hands rose to curl against the fabric of his t-shirt as she wondered just how long he would keep kissing her until he broke it off. She hoped it would be forever.

Buzz!

It was then that the oven decided to go off and she jumped, pulling her lips from his and glancing towards the oven that had broken their perfect little moment.

“I think it’s done.” She said in a whisper, her heart pounding heavily.

 

[Maka]

Time seemed to stand still. The only thing that Josh was aware of was Allie's warm, soft lips pressed against his own, Allie's taut body tightly encircled in his arm, Allie's delicate fingers seized the fabric of his T-shirt, Allie's heart pounding below her firm breasts. His hands went to her hips and pulled her to him.

Then the oven sounded. Allie broke the kiss with a startled little squeak and turned around to look.

Josh could run a mile without becoming winded, but he was breathing heavily now.

"I'm... sorry," he said, backing away as she brought the food out of the oven.

 

[heartofcourage]

Allie was quick out of the protective circle of his arms, grabbing the oven mitts and pulling out the bubbling meal. Glancing over her shoulder as Josh murmured an apology. She frowned slightly, her lips forming a pout as she took off the mitts and looked at him with her hands on her hips.

“Sorry? For what?” She asked, looking at her step-brother with a new found light. “Josh, that’s probably the most wonderful kiss that I’ve ever had and I’m happy that you did it.” She said with a smile as she turned to get down the plates and glasses, serving him a large helping.

 

[Maka]

There was a wonderful light in Allie's lovely, clear eyes -a kind of happiness that Josh had seen all too rarely. And her lips were pouted like a girl who had just been well-kissed and wanted to be kissed again. Even the delicious smell wafting from the pan was not as enticing as the adorable sight before him.

Josh accepted the plate with thanks, but kept on looking at his stepsister. As though not quite trusting to his luck:

"Really? Would you like another kiss like it?"

But longer, this time.

 

[heartofcourage]

Allie paused in serving herself and she turned to look at Josh as he stared at her so intently. She gave him a smile as he asked if she would like another kiss and she gave him a shy nod of her head.

“I would love another kiss like it.” She said in a soft voice, her heart pounding in her chest as he looked at her with such love and appreciation. Could it be that the man she had looked up to could really love her so much?

She turned towards him, her hands reaching back to brace against the counter as she tilted her chin upwards and readied herself for another scorching kiss from her step-brother. It seemed that all the little dreams she’d had as a child, loving Josh like a man, was coming true.

 

[Maka]

Allie nodded shyly, casting her eyes modestly down at the floor, belying the eager tremble in her voice. Her hands braced themselves against the counter. Her face was luminous in its delicate, wistful beauty. She was without a doubt the most gorgeous woman Josh had ever seen -and she was his. His Allie.

He approached her and cupped her small chin in one hand, seeking one last affirmation in her lovely eyes. Then his lips descended on hers in a kiss of ravishing, toe-curling heat and intensity. His hard body was pressed insistently against her, sandwiching her between him and the counter. He kissed her hungrily, passionately, trying to draw quivering moans from deep in her throat.

 

[heartofcourage]

The moment his hand cupped her chin, Allie knew that Josh was hers completely. He looked deep into her eyes before he captured her lips beneath his in a perfectly consuming kiss. She whimpered as his kiss made her toes curl and her fingers clench against the edge of the counter, her ass pressing against his was he pushed into her personal space.

She moaned as he kissed her with a hunger, her eyes closing as she lost herself in the rising passion that was passing between them. Parting her lips, she was surprised to feel his tongue pressing between them, tangling with her tongue as they kissed one another in a very inappropriate way for step siblings.

 

[Maka]

Allie gave a low, muffled whimper as Josh pressed her body against the counter. He was lost in the sweet taste of her lips and mouth. His hands went from her hips to her toned ass. His palm flattened against the firm flesh and he effortlessly hoisted her up, moulding her body against his.

He broke the kiss for a moment, letting her bury her face on his shoulder.

"I love you," he said.