He chuckled. “What about Jace? He’s a big man… not someone I’d like to have call me outside to protect his wife’s virtue.”
Susan grinned. “Well, how’s it feel to be an old married man?”
“Better than I ever expected,” he answered. “I must admit your sister-in-law is one hell of a woman.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Susan said with a shake of her head. “I never get to see her anymore.”
“Yeah, I know,” Phil replied. “That’s why I asked you to meet me here today. What’s it with Melinda and Jace?”
“Phil, I don’t know.” Susan looked at her brother, concern in her eyes. “I wish I did. They used to be so close. Now they act like they’re embarrassed to be around each other. It’s like there’s a ten-foot thick wall between them.”
“Yeah, I know. I don’t like it,” Phil said. “I like both you and Jace and I like being around you, but whenever you invite us over for dinner, Melinda finds some excuse to get out of it.”
“The same with Jace,” Susan said. “The way he acts, he couldn’t care less whether he ever saw Melinda again.”
“Are you sure it’s not me?” Phil said.
“Yes, Jace has said several times that he couldn’t ask for a better brother-in-law. I think he’d really like to be friends with you,” Susan continued. “But Melinda is in the way.”
“I don’t understand it. They are both terrific people,” he said. “I think we should do something to get them back together.”
“Got any bright ideas?”
“I don’t know how bright it is, but I do have an idea that might work,” he said.
“Let’s hear it.”
“Okay. I’ve got this friend whose parents own a cabin up in the mountains. It’s near a ski run and there’s a heavy coat of new snow on the slopes,” Phil explained. “I’ve got the use of that cabin this weekend.”
Susan smiled. The setting sounded perfect. Jace loved to ski and he needed a weekend’s vacation. “Brother, you sound like a genius.”
“I know,” Phil answered with a grin. “If we are going to pull this off, we are going to have to be very careful. Now this is the way I think we should…”
Susan listened, nodding her agreement with every sneaky step of his plan.
CHAPTER NINE
Cabin did not describe the luxurious split-level home that Phil’s friends had provided for their weekend holiday. Four bedrooms, an, immense kitchen, three baths and a large den complete with fireplace provided enough space to get lost in. It was more than either Susan or Phil expected.
However, the chill filling the cabin was something they hadn’t expected. It was the type of chill that a roaring fire couldn’t dispel.
“I think we blew it, brother,” Susan whispered to Phil while they checked out the kitchen facilities together.
Phil glanced at Jace and Melinda in the den. The brother and sister sat on opposite sides of the room, not even bothering to make small talk. “I thought it was a good idea. I guess I thought wrong. Those two act as though they’re complete strangers.”
“Jace is steaming,” Susan said. “I shudder to think about the way he’s going to explode when we get alone. He realizes that you and I brewed this up.”
“Perhaps we should have told them before coming up here?” Phil mused.
Susan shook her head. “If Jace had known you two were going to be here, I’d never have gotten him out of the house.”
“Any suggestions?” Phil asked. “If those two don’t melt the wall of ice between them, this weekend will be a total disaster. And dammit, the slopes are too good to waste them.”
“Agreed,” Susan replied, walking to the refrigerator and opening it. “Mmmmmm, looks like someone is going to have to make a trip down to the village store. We haven’t got any breakfast food.”
“I’ll go,” Phil said. “Better get to it before the roads freeze over tonight.”
“Nope,” Susan answered, a smile on her lips. “You and I will go. Maybe if we leave Jace and Melinda alone for a while they might be able to get things worked out between them.”
Phil nodded and winked his agreement.
Melinda cast a glance at her brother from the corner of her eye. He held the chill of a marble statue. An expression so distant. It was hard to imagine they had once been lovers, a brother and sister who shared the same bed.
A hollowness still filled part of her. Jace still left a vacancy within her. He was still her brother and she still loved him. A trembly sensation coursed through her body. She still found him desirable.
But she was willing to live without having him in her bed, if they could be friends again, regain the closeness they had lost. But she had no idea how to chisel away the wall he had thrown up between them. In the past, she had tried, only to have him move even further away.
Jace rose. He looked at Melinda. “I think I’ll change and try to make the intermediate slope before it gets dark.”
Before she could answer, he walked from the room.
Damn you, Jace Tuning, Melinda cursed. I’m not some cardboard figure! I’m your sister. It’s about time to start acting like it!
The dark-haired woman sucked in a deep breath and gathered her courage. She had to confront him, tell him how she felt. They couldn’t go on acting as though they never had been close. Maybe they could work things out. Maybe…
It didn’t help pondering the matter. She had thought it all out before at least a thousand times. Now was the time for action, not thoughts.
Rising, Melinda breathed deeply once again in determination and walked toward the bedrooms. She stopped before the door to Jace’s and Susan’s room. Inside, Jace stood, stripped except for his jockey briefs. The raven-haired beauty felt another trembling shiver race up and down her spine. The bulge nestled there in the white cotton brought back vivid memories of lusty days and nights in each other’s arms.
“Jace,” she said, forcing words over the dryness in her mouth. “Jace, we have to talk. We have to work things out between us. I can’t…”
She mumbled, tears misting her eyes. She cursed herself for the watery display. She didn’t want to cry. She had hoped to handle this very businesslike and rational. But now, she felt quivery and uncertain.
“Jace… I am your sister… you can’t,” she stuttered, attempting to get the words out. She couldn’t. She broke down and started sobbing, hiding her face in her hands.
“Melinda,” Jace said softly and moved to her. His arms encircled her and held her close. “Melinda, shhhhh. Please, I can’t take it when you cry.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head. “I didn’t mean to cry. I just wanted to talk this out. I just thought…”
Jace tenderly kissed her. “Just thought I was acting like a son of a bitch.”
Melinda melted against him. He felt so good, so warm. The feel of his skin so familiar, like the security one gets when coming home after being away for a long time.
“No,” she answered. “Jace, I love you. You’re my brother and I need you. You can’t shut me off the way you’ve done these past months.”
“I know,” he whispered. “Believe me, I know. Each time I see you, it tears me up. I can’t trust myself. I still love you, Melinda. I still want you as much as I ever did.”
The hardness growing in his crotch verified that for her. She shivered, hot sensations racing through her core, stirred by the lusty feel of his growing manhood. “I know, Jace, I still want you. But we can’t…”
He pressed a finger to her red lips. “We can.”
He kissed her again, this time his lips pressed firmly against hers. For a moment the thought flickered in her mind that she should pull away from him, that what they would do would be cheating on Phil. But she didn’t want to. She yearned to once more have her brother’s rigid cock deeply rooted in the hot pocket of her pussy — to feel his piston of flesh moving in and out of her.
“Yes,” she answered when they parted. “Yes, yes, yessss.”
Pulling her tightly to him, Jace thrust his tongue into the warm sweetness of her mouth. Eagerly his oral digit twisted and dueled around her own tongue. At the same time, he shot a hand between her thighs, clamping over the knoll of her cunt. He squeezed and kneaded the womanly mound. She moaned as his fingers pressed through the fabric of her slacks. Juices welled within her quim and oozed out, dampening the silk of her panties.