Loving Siblings: Aidan & Dionne (22 page)

Then he bent his dark head to rest against
her shoulder as his arms tightened and pulled her tighter against
him. Her arms curled around his body, and she was sure he could
feel how she trembled, but that was okay. He was trembling,
too.

“
Tell me now you don’t feel the same
things I feel, Dionne. Tell me now, you don’t want me,” he
whispered before he pulled back and looked deep into her eyes.
“Because you know, deep down inside, you’ll only be lying to
yourself.”

She made a concerted effort to do just that.
Lie. If that was what it would take for her to get him to
understand this wasn’t good for either of them, she would do it.
But as she opened her mouth to do just that . . . she couldn’t
utter a sound.

The words that had carefully lined up in her
mind, disassembled and scattered the moment she saw the power of
his love in his handsome face. Then she saw his expression flood
with relief as the tension he felt inside dissipated when he saw
she couldn’t deny it.

“
I don’t want you to go out with him,”
he repeated, but this time with a gentle, aching tone. “I want you
to stay here. With me.”

Then she saw something in his beautiful blue
eyes she thought she would never see there because she was sure he
was incapable of housing less than macho confidence. He was
actually looking . . . vulnerable. Vulnerable and insecure.

Aidan? Vulnerable?
Insecure
?

“
Aidan,” she began, “please understand
. . . I just can’t tell him to go when he was so looking forward to
cruising Pacific Coast Highway tonight—”

“—
Then tell him you’re sick,” he said
curt with an impatient frown. And back was that machismo. But then
he lowered his lashes in his hard face and took a deep breath
before he lifted his sad eyes. “Please Dionne?” he now murmured his
plea as his arms moved lazily over her back. “Stay in with me
tonight.”

She looked up with big, glowing eyes and she
could feel her lips trembling with anticipation; longing, wanting,
and begging even if she didn’t know she was experiencing all these
things on a conscious level.

But he saw it, and he answered when he
leaned his head down and kissed her.

By then, reason was rapidly returning,
seeping through the hot haze of her lust. It helped her gather what
little willpower she had left, and by the time Aidan’s lips
traveled down her throat, she found the willpower to quietly turn
her face away.

His reaction was instantaneous. He
immediately stiffened. He was surprised and hurt. And then, he was
infuriated.

“
Don’t,” he whispered, curt. His tone
was authoritative, instantly snapping her out of her sexual
delirium. “Don’t ever turn your face away from me again,
Dionne.”

With those words he unknowingly gave
her exactly
that
what she
needed to tear herself free of his spell. Indignant, her own temper
ignited, giving her renewed strength to fuel the last embers of her
waning will before it returned, bursting into full, indignant
flame.

The negativity she felt by his commanding,
even cocky tone—one he’d never used with her before—washed over her
like a giant wave. In the next instant, she shoved his arms down
and off her as she stepped back. A battle of wills ensued with both
siblings refusing to give another inch.

“
Then don’t do anything to make me,”
she ground out, losing her cool too easily, but even in that state,
she knew she’d already invested too much of herself because she
felt it in every fiber of her being.

“
I wasn’t the one who started it,” he
pointed out.

“
I’m sorry—” she paused. “I’m sorry
for what happened this afternoon. It was a mistake. I should’ve
never let it get this far.” She wouldn’t be intimidated by his
stony face or glare. “I’m much older than you, Aidan, and I
should’ve known better than to do what I did. I can’t explain
why—“

“—
You know why.”

“—
But it was a bad choice and a bad
mistake.” Then she gave him a firm and determined look. “It ends
now, Aidan. We can’t do this. I’m still your older sister and
you’re my younger brother, and that’s how it’s gonna stay, because
that’s just how it is.”

Then she turned to march out of the hall
with what little dignity she had left.

“
The hell it will!” he snapped, and
with a single step, caught her by her arm, but she snatched it
free.

She snapped around now blasting him with
furiously glowing eyes. She saw it took him by surprise, and it
even made him flinch!

He was, finally, rendered speechless.

“
I mean it, Aidan,” she ground out
through clenched teeth. “Get it through your thick skull that not
every girl you set your eyes on wants you, okay? Get it through
your thick skull I’m not one of those “new and exciting” girls you
can play around with and—”

She stopped short. She spilled the beans,
but she was unwilling to give him a peek into more of the turmoil
raging inside her. She didn’t want him to see the doubts she had
whether or not he was sincere about her even though it looked
pretty sincere. But it was all an act, she reasoned, and she needed
to remind herself this is how he acted around ALL his former
girlfriends, too. To him, she was no different than they were.

But she wasn’t just another girl off
the streets. She was his sister. His
older
sister. As in,
five years
older, and she was not the type of
girl for a brief fling.

“
Look,” she resumed with more
confidence, “I know it’s hard for you to grasp, since it’s a novel
thing to you, but the world
doesn’t
revolve around you
.
I
love you as my brother. Don’t jeopardize that. If you think our
relationship as siblings isn’t good enough for you anymore, then by
all means, keep this up and I’ll make sure I don’t burden you with
it anymore.”

“
That’s the thing, Dionne,” he said
cool. “It isn’t enough. It hasn’t been for some time. And I damn
well know it hasn’t been enough for you, either. Who do you think
you’re fooling? Because you’re not fooling me.”

She narrowed eyes on him. “You really need
to get over yourself. I know what you’re doing—”

“—
It’s not like I’ve been trying to
hide it.”

“—
but it isn’t going to work!” she
finished, undisturbed. “I’m not like the other girls you’ve been
running around town with—“

“—
I never saw you that way,” he said
quietly, but Dionne was too far gone to hear the gentle sincerity
in his tone.

“
Just leave me alone!”

And with that, she marched out of the
hallway, leaving him behind. The only reason why he didn’t stop her
this time was because Helmut reappeared in the hall, drawn by the
quibbling, and he looked concerned at her, seeing how upset she
was.

She didn’t look at him, but she could feel
Helmut’s curious gazes probing her face. She ignored him as she
snatched her white knit sweater off the coat rack, and gruffly
said, “Let’s go.”

But Dionne couldn’t felt more horrible than
she did then. She couldn’t enjoy Helmut’s company, or the beautiful
drive along the coastline in Helmut’s convertible. She was sure her
quiet boyfriend wasn’t enjoying those moments, either, but she
wasn’t in any mood to entertain him—or answer his inquisitive and
worried looks.

She was in turmoil. She should be feeling
elated. Exhilarated, even. But in all truth, she felt too broken
inside to feel anything but pain as the dream brought it all back
to physically torture, making her softly moan in her sleep . .
.

**~~**

Chapter Twelve:
Game. Set. Match.

Dionne had no idea how long she’d slept. She
only knew it was long enough to be able to dream, although it
didn’t feel she’d gotten any rest at all. She still felt so
drained. Physically and emotionally DRAINED.

Her groggy brain was having trouble
clearing, yet she knew she’d have trouble falling back to sleep for
a quick nap in the hopes of getting some real rest. But she knew
falling asleep again was not in the cards for her, and she opened
her eyes with a soft but audible sigh of surrender.

It was then when she discovered her arms
were no longer crossed over her eyes.

She’d obviously moved them during her short
nap. She discovered she’d moved them down over her stomach, because
that’s where they were now.

Then she froze. She felt something was out
of place.

Dionne slowly became aware of body warmth
glowing against her left side. She slowly frowned before she turned
her still sleepy head on the covers to suddenly find herself
looking straight into a pair of quiet but sad blue eyes.

Still not really awake, Dionne frowned as
confusion seeped into her brain. Then her lashes lowered again as
if she needed to slip off to sleep again, missing a strange gleam
in those watching quiet, blue eyes.

Had she in the right state of mind—or
at the very least,
awake
—she
would’ve gotten a clue what that gleam stood for. She would’ve
decided the best course of action would be to send him
straight
out of her room. Posthaste!
But unfortunately for her, she
wasn’t
in the right state of mind, and she
was
far
from being
anywhere
near
awake.

A gentle, warm hand touched her cheek
before strong knuckles began lightly caressing her skin, touching
her as if she were the most precious thing in the world. She
frowned a little annoyed. She was still so tired, so sleepy,
and
so
not in any mood to be
reprimanding him, although her hand made a half-assed attempt to
push his away.

“
Aidan . . . please. Not now. I’m too
tired,” she whispered sleepily.

He didn’t utter a sound. He only removed his
hand when she slowly turned onto her side, facing him. With eyes
closed, she slipped lightly clasped hands under her cheek, not
seeing how her younger brother quietly stared at her.

But for a brief moment, she had come awake
when she felt her bed move. She looked annoyed as she made another
futile attempt to ward off her drowsiness by forcing herself to
blink her eyes. When she finally opened them, she found herself
staring straight into Aidan’s face as he looked back with a strange
gleam. He had a pained expression now.

“
Why are you here, Aidan? What’s
wrong?” she asked, back to being the concerned sister; a role that
came naturally to her.

“
I’m sorry, Dionne,” he said softly,
heartfelt. There was a shimmering in his eyes. “You won’t leave,
will you? You won’t leave me, will you?” he asked
softly.

She sighed before she slowly shook her
sleepy head and scooted closer to him. She felt his strong, young
arm slip under her warm body before he pulled her closer to him.
She didn’t fight him. She just didn’t have the physical or mental
strength to.

He had no problem moving her to him. She was
well aware she wasn’t a light-weight, yet Aidan had no trouble
moving her.

At 135 pounds, and five feet five, she
wasn’t a frail flower by any stretch of the imagination, but he was
pulling her to him with a single arm as if she didn’t weigh an
ounce. She decided she liked that feeling, and she allowed herself
to indulge in it as she lay sleepily against his chest.

“
It-It’s all right,” she whispered
sleepily. Her hand slipped from under her cheek briefly to caress
his bare, hard arm as she’d done so many times before, before
returning it under her cheek again.

Aidan knew she had NO CLUE what he was sorry
about. He understood she was just too sleepy to think straight, and
he knew this because, had she been awake, she would’ve sent him out
of her room in a heartbeat as she’s never failed to do throughout
their lives.

Instead, she began comforting him. He knew
he sounded sincerely sad when he begged her not to leave, because
he was sincere. Her last angry words tossed at him in the living
room rang over and over again in his head, and each time they did,
he felt something tear at the very core of his young, lost heart.
The very real possibility that he’d lose his beloved sister, and
object of his desire, hit him like a ton of bricks, and it was that
pain that eventually made him come to her even if it would ignite
another explosive fight. But he would weather it all if only to
hear her tell him she would never leave him.

Something inside him broke, and he
immediately nestled against her as she was already fading away. He
pulled up his legs a little, and since he was so tall, his knee
gently pushed at her knees that immediately opened so he could slip
his leg in-between. He laid his head on the bed, on her soft
comforter perfumed with her scent, just above her crown. He cuddled
closer just like he did when he was a boy, and he immediately felt
the raging emotions inside him, calm again, being replaced by
different emotions.

Aidan was not a little boy anymore. He
was an experienced lover and virile young man in love and lust with
his sister. The seemingly innocent moves he made, knowing full well
she was still groggy with sleep and pretty much defenseless, were
anything
but
innocent, and
had Dionne not been so worn out, she would’ve never placed herself
in such a vulnerable position with a six foot four tall,
18-year-old guy who never hid his sexual interest in
her.