By FireBloom and FrostByte
We would like to thank everybody for your kind words of support and encouragement. In particular, we're grateful to our friends Susan and Katie, who also suggested a lot of the ideas that went into our next story here, "Heart of Gold." We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it!
Jay, 17
Irene, 16 (Jay's sister)
Melanie, 16 (Irene's best friend)
Candice, 15 (Jay and Irene's cousin)
Shauna, 16 (Irene's friend)
Kieran, 18 (Shauna's cousin)
Tyler, 17 (Shauna's boyfriend)
Ben and Oliver, 10 (Melanie's younger brothers)
"There, now, I trust we've learned our lesson?" said Jay softly.
"Yes, sir," murmured Irene.
"Good girl."
The 17-year-old boy placed his arm affectionately around his younger sister's shoulders as they walked out of her bedroom.
"I hope you won't forget again to have breakfast ready and on the table on time," said Jay.
"Look, I'm sorry I overslept." Irene grimaced. "I still don't understand why you needed to spank me for it, though."
The 16-year-old girl pouted as she rubbed her still sore behind.
Jay smiled.
"You remember what Grandpa used to say?" he asked. "'The most effective discipline is one that makes an impression on a child's mind.'"
"Yeah, so?" Irene shifted uncomfortably as she felt her brother's hand sliding down her back.
"Well, I think the most FUN discipline is one that makes an impression on a girl's bottom."
As he said it, Jay's hand slid down over Irene's backside.
"Jay!" protested Irene, trying with little success to squirm out of her brother's firm grip on her rear.
"Hush."
Jay began running his hand around his sister's behind in what he seemed to think would be a soothing massage. To Irene, it felt more like he was just fondling her butt.
"Jay," whined Irene.
"Nice," breathed Jay, giving Irene's bottom a squeeze. "You've developed really well, Irene."
His eyes fixed on Irene's slightly heaving chest, before sliding down the rest of her body.
"In more places than one," he added.
"Jay, I'm your sister," said Irene, in an increasingly high-pitched tone.
"A hot girl is a hot girl, Irene," replied Jay, looking into her agitated eyes. "Whether she's related or not."
"Oh, God, Jay." Irene shook her head.
Jay's smile widened as he gazed deeply into his sister's eyes. With one hand still on Irene's rear end, he began to gently caress the back of her head with the fingers of his other hand. Instantly, Irene's face took on a bright shade of red to match her ass. A whimper emerged from her throat.
"Not again," moaned Irene.
Jay leaned in toward Irene's face, only to be stopped when she placed her hand firmly against his chest.
"Jay, no," said Irene, shaking her head.
"Irene, you wouldn't want me to show anybody those pictures I have of you, would you?" asked Jay coolly.
"Jay ... "
Jay sighed and began to turn away.
"Wait," said Irene suddenly, making Jay immediately turn back toward her.
Irene hesitated, and then her shoulders slumped.
"Okay, fine," she said.
"Look, Sis - "
"No, it's okay." Taking a deep breath, Irene leaned in and gently touched her lips to Jay's.
As she expected, that was more encouragement than her brother needed. In seconds, Jay had pulled Irene into his arms, ignoring the wince in her face and the whimper in her voice as he pressed his mouth deeply into hers in a passionate kiss.
"Jay, Irene, there you are."
Neither Jay nor Irene opened their eyes to see their cousin, Candice, who had just appeared at the top of the nearby stairway. The only greeting the girl received was Jay giving her a vague wave of his hand as he pressed his lips even deeper into Irene's, while still fondling her backside.
Candice folded her arms, and soon began tapping her foot impatiently.
"Jay," she finally said, "When you're done molesting your sister, we need to talk."
A groan emerged from Jay's still-occupied lips, but he did, at last, let go of Irene, who immediately began gasping for breath.
"You okay, Irene?" asked Candice.
"That can't be anybody's idea of a kiss," growled Irene, glaring at her brother. "It felt more like mouth to mouth suffocation."
Jay simply shrugged.
"What's going on?" he asked, turning to his cousin.
"Melanie's downstairs," reported Candice.
"Oh, good."
"Not so good." Candice shook her head. "She brought some company."
Candice gave her cousins a meaningful look.
"Oh, no." Irene's eyes widened. "I thought we agreed ... "
* * * * *
"Now, you boys behave yourselves," said Melanie sternly. "Don't make me regret bringing you here."
"Yes, ma'am," said Ben and Oliver, both speaking and lowering their heads in unison.
"Honestly," said Melanie with a slight shake of her head. "I have half a mind to - "
"Melanie?"
Melanie looked up to see Candice coming back down the stairs, this time with Irene and Jay following her.
Candice and Irene were both rubbing their bottoms, a fact that Melanie noticed immediately. It also did not escape her attention that Candice was pointedly wiping her mouth, while shooting an occasional glare at Jay. Irene, too, was brushing her lips with her fingers, although she seemed to be trying to be more subtle about it, and keeping her head down.
Melanie felt a lump in her throat, knowing full well the reason for all of what she was seeing.
Jay was dressed normally for an early autumn day, a gray long-sleeved shirt and jeans. Both of the girls, on the other hand, were wearing long, silk robes. Melanie could guess, easily enough, the reason for that as well.
"Hello, Jay-Jay," said Melanie, trying to keep her voice from shaking.
Jay's only response was to smile and pull Melanie into his arms. Within seconds, he was kissing her deeply on the mouth, as she let out an occasional meep through her muffled lips.
"Don't forget to let her up for air, Jay," said Candice loudly after a minute.
Finally, Jay let go of Melanie. The girl's face was now bright red, and she seemed to be struggling to draw in a breath.
For a moment, Jay simply gazed into Melanie's eyes, and then leaned in close to her and whispered something in her ear, making Melanie's face instantly turn ten shades redder.
After shaking her head for a moment, Melanie looked up and said, "Hi, Irene," as if noticing her friend's presence for the first time.
"Hi, Melanie," returned Irene quietly. Ordinarily, she would have been happy to see her closest friend, but at the moment ...
"My parents insisted that I look after my little brothers today," said Melanie apologetically.
Ben and Oliver smiled and waved their little hands at Irene. She managed to force a smile to her lips and nodded to them in return.
"Melanie," said Irene lightly. "Do you really think it's a good - "
"Are you girls really gonna take your clothes off?" burst out Oliver excitedly.
A moment later, the boy let out a yelp as his brother smacked him hard in the arm. Ben covered his face with his hand and groaned.
"Be nice," said Melanie warningly, glaring at both of the boys.
"I see you told them," said Irene dryly.
"There was no way to avoid it," said Melanie in an even more apologetic tone. "I figured that it was better for - "
Melanie didn't get to finish her sentence. She was interrupted by the front doorbell ringing.
"I'll get that," said Jay, trying with little success to hide his eagerness as he headed for the door.
"That must be Shauna," noted Candice.
"Yup," confirmed Jay a moment later as he opened the door. "Hi, Shauna."
"Hello, Jay," said the nervous-looking 16-year-old girl who Jay quickly ushered inside.
Shauna was accompanied by two slightly older boys. One was her boyfriend, Tyler. The other boy, Kieran, was Shauna's cousin ... and as anyone could easily tell from the way he smiled at the suddenly severely blushing Irene, her boyfriend.
"Looks like the gang's all here," said Candice in a slightly sour voice.
"Hi, guys." Melanie greeted the new arrivals, noticing - as she was sure everyone else did - that Shauna was wearing a raincoat, even though there wasn't a cloud in the sky outside.
Shauna and Tyler returned Melanie's greeting. Kieran, on the other hand, didn't seem to have eyes for anybody but Irene.
"Hi, sweetheart." Kieran took the still-blushing Irene into his arms and kissed her.
It wasn't like when Jay kissed her ... Irene didn't feel thrilled by the idea that she was comparing her boyfriend's kisses to her brother's, but she couldn't help it ... Kieran was very soft and gentle. Irene felt like she was melting into his embrace.
After a long moment, Kieran and Irene finally broke their kiss at the sound of both of Jay and Candice clearing their throats loudly.
Irene was blushing even harder than before as she looked at the other teenagers - Jay and Candice looking impatient, Melanie gazing at her shoes, Shauna and Tyler seeming more amused than anything else.
"Like Candice said, we're all here now," said Jay. "I think we all know by now what - "
"Are you girls really gonna take your clothes - OW!"
This time, it was Ben who was scowling as he rubbed his arm, where his brother had just hit him. Oliver was now the one groaning with his face in the palm of his hand.
"Boys," started Melanie severely.
"It's okay, Melanie," sighed Irene, waving off her friend. "We all know what's coming."
"I do," said Shauna quietly.
Before anybody could say or do anything more, Shauna unzipped her raincoat and let it fall to the floor. In seconds, everybody was staring at her. Ben and Oliver's eyes seemed about to pop out of their heads.
Shauna was completely naked.
Jay gazed admiringly at Shauna's perfect curves, noting - and he was sure he wasn't the only one - that there wasn't a single tan line on her body.
"Go on, boys, take it all in," said Shauna, sounding a little glum as she held out her arms.
"Okay, that's one," said Jay after a moment. "What about the rest of you girls?"
Irene and Candice exchanged looks, and nodded. Irene pulled open her robe first, letting it drop to the floor. Like Shauna, Irene was completely nude. All of the boys, especially Ben and Oliver, were entranced by the sight.
But when Candice dropped her robe, there was an audible groan of disappointment. She was wearing a pink bra and panties. Although there was still plenty of fine skin to look at, Candice was revealing no more than she would at the beach during the summer.
"This is as far as I go," said Candice firmly. She threw a glare at Jay as she added, "Pictures or no pictures."
"We can be reasonable," said Jay coolly. "Right, boys?"
Tyler and Kieran simply shrugged, neither boy wanting his girlfriend to see how much he would have liked Candice to be naked.
"That just leaves you, Melanie," said Jay, locking eyes with the only girl in the room still dressed.
When Melanie hesitated, Jay pointedly said, "I'm sure none of you girls would want anybody to see those pictures that us boys have of you girls ... Would you?"
Melanie gazed at Jay for a moment, and then sighed as she began to unbutton her blouse. She silently reflected that, no matter how many times Melanie and the other girls did this, they always seemed to feel it as keenly as the first time.
As Jay watched Melanie dropping her blouse and skirt to the floor, he felt his heart pounding, and he was sure the other boys felt the same, especially the two young ones.
Jay could hardly believe it ... That day that he had gotten caught peeping at his sister's sleepover had to be the absolute best moment of his life.
* * * * *
ONE MONTH EARLIER ...
"But, Mom - "
"I don't want to hear another word from you, Jay!"
Jay could hardly believe it ... That day that he had gotten caught peeping at his sister's sleepover had to be the absolute worst moment of his life.
"I told you, Jay, you are grounded for the next two weeks, and your sister is in charge of this household whenever your father and I are gone. You will obey all of her orders."
Jay's mother picked up her bag and started heading for the door.
"Now, go downstairs and finish fixing the garage door like I told you," she added, over her shoulder.
"Yeah," said Irene, folding her arms. "And after that, you can make lunch for me and Melanie."
Jay threw an icy glare at his sister, and Melanie standing next to her.
"Mom, you can't let these two boss me around all day!" he protested desperately. "I'm older than they are! And besides, they're ... "
"They're what, Jay?"
"They're ... so ... small."
Jay's mother was fully aware that by "small," Jay meant "girls." Irene and Melanie knew it as well. It was obvious how much it was tearing the boy up inside, to have to take orders from his sister, his younger sister.
"I've made my decision, Jay, and I will not listen to any more of your complaining. This is your punishment for peeping at your sister and her friends at their sleepover. For goodness sake, Jay ... Frankly, I think it will do you some good to suffer some embarrassment for a while."
"Mom - "
Jay's mother never heard whatever it was Jay was about to say next. She slammed the front door shut behind her as she stormed out of the house.
For a long moment, Jay simply stood there, staring at the closed door, until he heard his sister clearing her throat.
"Well?" said Irene coolly. "You heard Mom. Go downstairs and fix the garage door, and then make lunch for me and Melanie."
"Candice and Shauna will probably be here by then," said Melanie thoughtfully.
"Right." Irene nodded. "Jay, you'd better make enough lunch for all four of us."
"You invited them over, too?" asked Jay sourly.
"All of us girls are looking forward to spending the day bossing you around," said Irene with a smirk.
Jay opened his mouth to protest yet again, only to have Irene cut him off with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"Just be grateful we're not going to make you serve us lunch NAKED," said Irene. "That was my first idea, but Mom wouldn't let me do it."
Jay scowled. For a second, he could think of nothing to do but grind his teeth in frustration, but then the wheels of his mind began to turn ...
"NAKED" ... Irene shouldn't have said that, Jay realized, because it gave him an idea ...
Jay locked eyes with his sister for a moment, and then he slowly, deliberately ran his gaze down her body, pausing with as little subtlety as he could at Irene's boobs. A smug satisfaction took hold of Jay's heart when he detected the girl beginning to tremble. He could tell without looking that Irene's poise was quickly crumbling, from knowing that Jay was remembering and picturing what she looked like naked.
By the time Jay's eyes returned to Irene's face, she looked very much like she was struggling not to cry. But Jay wasn't finished yet. He looked over at Melanie, who already had a very uneasy expression on her face.
Jay gave Melanie a bit of a cruel smirk, and then, even more slowly and deliberately than he had with Irene, slid his eyes up and down, and then up and down again, her body, making sure Melanie knew he was recalling and imagining every detail of her naked body.
Melanie's body began to tremble even faster than Irene's had. When he finally looked at Melanie's face again, it was bright red, and there were tears forming in her eyes.
Jay started feeling a twinge of guilt, but he purposely forced that out of his mind. He could plainly see that, even though they were fully clothed, both girls were now feeling completely naked in front of him, and he wanted to enjoy their discomfort as thoroughly as he could.
"Jay, go downstairs," said Irene at last, trying with little success to keep her voice from shaking.
"What's the matter?" asked Jay in as innocent a tone as he could conjure up. He fixed his eyes on Melanie's breasts, and then her long legs.
"You're supposed to be fixing the garage door!" said Irene, her voice becoming heated.
Melanie could see how Jay was obviously enjoying her distress, which made her blush even harder.
"That's a nice skirt, Melanie," remarked Jay. "Nice and short, shows off those long, bare legs really well."
"Jay, stop it!" said Irene.
Jay took a step toward Melanie, who practically shrank back from him.
"What's the big deal about me seeing you naked, Melanie?" pressed Jay. "You know, with your legs bare, you're more than halfway to being naked anyway."
"Jay, knock it off!" Irene stepped between Jay and Melanie, her normally placid face now twisted with fury. Unable to think of any words to express her anger, Irene resorted to shoving Jay at least a foot away from Melanie.
"Wha - " Startled, Jay took another two steps back on his own. He looked at Melanie, who was now giving up any attempt to hold back her tears.
That twinge of guilt Jay had forced out of his thoughts earlier was now coming back, only it was no longer just a twinge ...
"I - I'm sorry, Melanie," stammered Jay. "I was just messing with you. I, um, I didn't really mean to upset you."
"Just go fix that door," said Irene angrily.
"Okay, okay, I'm going."
While Jay headed for the stairs down to the basement, he glanced over his shoulder, to see Irene wrapping her arms around Melanie, who was now sobbing. Jay felt his stomach twisting as he watched Irene leading her friend to the living room sofa.
"Get out of here, Jay," said Irene without looking up.
How did she know, wondered Jay as he quickly slipped inside the stairwell.
Once he was out of sight of the girls, though, he paused, trying to hear whatever he could of Irene and Melanie's hushed conversation.
"He is such a jerk," said Irene bitterly.
"It's no big deal," said Melanie softly. "I'm used to boys being jerks."
Jay could feel his stomach twisting even more, and his body was beginning to tremble. It was definitely a lot more than a twinge of guilt that was taking hold of his heart now.
"Melanie, are you still having trouble with that Chad Whitfield guy?" asked Irene worriedly. "I thought he finally backed off after he got suspended from school last term."
"So did I," said Melanie. "But a few weeks ago, he started coming by my house again. Every time he catches me alone, he tries to flip up my skirt, or cop a feel or something ... "
Jay's hands were clenching with rage. How dare this Whitfield creep treat poor, sweet Melanie like ... treat her like ... like ... All of a sudden, Jay was staring at his feet.
"What really gets me about this," Melanie was saying, "is that a lot of girls around here are actually jealous of me. They think I'm lucky, somehow, to have the hottest guy in town after me ... "
Jay blinked. Something about what Melanie just said triggered something in his mind ... He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he barely registered what he heard Irene say next.
"I'm going to get you some water, Melanie."
The sound of his sister's rapidly approaching footsteps finally broke Jay's preoccupation and sent him racing, as quietly as he could, down the steps to the basement. The last thing he wanted was for Irene to catch him eavesdropping on the girls' talk.
Jay didn't stop running until he reached the garage. He paused for a long moment, trying to catch his breath, ignore the pounding of his heart, and listen for any sign of an enraged Irene coming after him ... but he saw and heard nothing.
For once, luck was with him. Irene apparently hadn't noticed Jay anywhere close by.
Unable to think of anything else to do, Jay absently began to work on the chore he was given, fixing the garage door. As he worked, Jay's mind quickly latched on to Melanie's complaint about the local girls being jealous of her, for something she had wanted no part of in the first place.
Jay grimaced. He had been well aware, for a long time, that many local boys were envious of him, because he so often had four of the most beautiful girls in town hanging out in his house.
His own sister, Irene, sometimes couldn't walk down the street without guys asking for her phone number. Jay wasn't unmindful that she was his sister, but even he couldn't help admiring Irene's long, dark hair, large eyes, fair skin, and delicate features, not to mention her seemingly perfect figure ...
Jay shook his head vigorously for a few seconds.
Then there was Irene's best friend. At the age of 16, Melanie already had the body of a 20-year-old, with traffic-stopping long legs ... but Jay always felt that what caught his attention most was her beautiful face, long light brown hair, captivating gray eyes ...
Completing the quartet was Jay and Irene's gorgeous cousin, Candice, a fiery, green-eyed redhead, and Irene's other closest friend, Shauna, a platinum blond who had been drawing even more attention than usual lately with a summer's worth of beautiful suntan.
Jay knew that there was a long-running debate among the boys in his school, and elsewhere in town, as to which of those four girls was the hottest ... Sometimes, he participated in the debate himself.
But while many boys looked at Jay with envy, because he had the four girls in his house all the time, Jay himself saw it differently.
One of the girls was his sister, another was his cousin, and the last two were his sister's closest friends ... which meant they were all off-limits to him.
... But that didn't mean he couldn't look ... In fact, looking was just about the only thing Jay could do ...
Unfortunately, Jay's desire to look far exceeded the luck he had in doing so.
A few months earlier, Jay had managed to climb up a trellis attached to the back wall of his house, leading to his sister's bedroom window. Since then, he had tried several times to peep into Irene's bedroom, hoping to catch a glimpse of her - or her friends when they were visiting - undressing.
Jay had never been able to get the timing quite right, however. The most he had ever managed to see was Irene in her nightie - certainly not an unpleasant sight, but not much more revealing than a light summer dress.
A number of times, it seemed that Jay reached Irene's window just a few seconds after she had finished changing clothes ... Then came the night of the sleepover.
Irene had Melanie, Candice, and Shauna spending the night. In the middle of summer, with sunset occurring as late as it did, Jay knew what a huge risk there was of being seen if he tried to climb up that trellis. But, in the end, the hope of seeing those four sexy girls in any state of undress overcame every objection his mind could offer.
That evening, Jay waited, and waited, until he finally felt some sense of confidence that he wouldn't be seen, or at least he thought he did, and then, hardly able to breathe, he quickly climbed up the trellis to Irene's bedroom window.
It was at that moment that Jay struck the two worst pieces of luck he had ever had in his entire lifetime.
First, Jay reached Irene's bedroom window just in time to see ... the four girls settling down after they had finished changing into their nighties and pajamas. If he had been just one minute earlier - just a single minute earlier - he would have seen all four girls naked.
While Jay was hanging onto the trellis, contemplating the abyss of his poor luck, came the second piece of ill fortune, even worse than the first. From somewhere just below him, Jay heard what sounded horribly like his mother's voice, yelling ...
Grounded for two weeks, lectured for hours by both of his parents, forced to apologize to the girls, and today, suffering the indignity of having to obey his younger sister's every command ... and the worst part of it was, he hadn't even seen anything.
Not that the girls knew that. When he was caught, Jay didn't bother to tell his mother, or anybody else, that he hadn't reached the window in time to see anything. He knew it would only sound like he was making excuses.
As Jay idly turned a screwdriver on the garage door, his mind filled with the image of Irene and Melanie's anguished faces earlier ... and Melanie's tears.
Irene and Melanie had no way of knowing that when Jay was running his eyes up and down their bodies, he actually had no idea at all what either girl looked like naked. Jay just wanted to get his own back after his sister's taunting, by making the girls uncomfortable. Now, however, as he thought about Melanie crying, he felt nothing but regret at what he'd done.
Jay let out a heavy sigh. It hadn't always been like this. When Jay, Irene, and Melanie were much younger, they had played together all the time. In fact, it seemed like they had been the best of friends. But as they had grown older, they had also grown apart. At least, Jay had.
Melanie used to affectionately call him "Jay-Jay," kind of a pet name between friends. She hadn't called him that in a long time. Jay had never told anyone, but a part of him wished they could go back to the way things used to be.
There! thought Jay as he got up and dropped his wrench into the toolbox on the table. That was the last of the nuts and bolts in place. Fixing the garage door had gone faster than he'd expected.
Jay was now deep in thought as he walked out of the garage and headed up the stairs. He still had an hour or so before lunchtime. He decided to fix a big lunch for all of the girls, especially Melanie, as an apology for everything he had done, peeping at the sleepover, tormenting Irene and Melanie earlier, and most of all for making sweet Melanie cry.
As he reached the kitchen, he paused, but found that he couldn't hear anything from the living room. Taking a chance, Jay peeked through the kitchen doorway, to see Irene and Melanie still on the couch. Melanie wasn't crying anymore, but she seemed subdued, her fingers intertwined in her lap, and Irene's arm around her shoulders.
Jay took another step, straining to hear what they were saying.
"Melanie, I really think you should put him out of your mind. He's just a creep, that's all he is."
Still talking about that Chad Whitfield guy, thought Jay. Just what had he done to Melanie now?
"I think you're wrong," Melanie was saying softly. "He isn't a bad person."
Wait, what?
"Melanie, after everything that jerk has - "
"Irene, I am not going to defend what he's done. Sometimes he does awful things. I don't deny that. But I'm telling you, underneath it all, he has a heart of gold. I just know it."
"You always say that." Irene's voice was thick with disgust. "Look, Melanie, I know that you've had a crush on him for a long time, but I really - "
Irene was interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing.
"One second," sighed Irene as she moved to answer the call. Melanie leaned back on the couch, a bit frustrated by the interruption to their conversation.
Jay, however, had heard enough. He turned and headed up the stairs, his feet stomping hard, as if each step underneath him had done him a great personal wrong. He reached his bedroom and slammed the door shut behind him.
All of a sudden, Jay no longer felt any desire to fix a big apology lunch, or do anything else for that matter, for any of the girls. Not even Melanie. Especially not Melanie.
Melanie has a crush on that creep who's been harassing her? thought Jay in bewilderment. That is sick ...
Jay plopped himself down on his bed, feeling like there was a whirlwind inside his head, and inside his stomach as well. He replayed Melanie's talk with Irene in his head over and over, and every time he did, it filled him with even more rage and revulsion.
How could she ... How could she?
Jay suddenly became aware that there were tears forming in his eyes, which made his stomach twist even more. Melanie obviously wasn't the girl Jay had thought she was.
For several minutes, Jay sat there, thinking, thinking, thinking and brooding. Finally, he reached a decision.
* * * * *
"Okay, Candice, I'll see you later."
Irene hung up her phone.
"Well?" asked Melanie.
"There's been a change of plans," said Irene. "Candice and Shauna won't be here until late this afternoon, and ... "
"And what?"
Irene looked down, suddenly blushing intensely. Melanie smiled.
"Shauna's bringing her cousin with her, isn't she?" asked Melanie coyly.
Irene's blush grew even stronger.
Shauna's cousin, Kieran, had just moved to town the previous month. He would be attending a university in a nearby city in the fall, and to save money, he was staying with Shauna and her parents rather than rent a place of his own.
When Shauna first introduced her cousin to her friends, it escaped no one's notice that Kieran's eyes seemed fixed on Irene, or how Irene was blushing at the handsome boy's attention.
"I saw you and Kieran having lunch together the other day," pressed Melanie, her eyes twinkling.
"We, um, we've been getting along pretty well," said Irene, looking intently at her hands. "But I don't know if he's really ... "
"What do your parents think of you dating a college man?" wondered Melanie.
"We're not dating," insisted Irene. "We're just ... hanging out, that's all."
"For now," said Melanie teasingly.
"I, uh, I'd better tell Jay that our plans have changed," said Irene, getting up from the couch. "It'll just be the three of us for lunch. Candice and Shauna will be here later, with ... uh ... "
"Kieran," said Melanie helpfully.
"And Shauna's bringing Tyler, too," said Irene quickly. "I'll tell Jay."
Melanie leaned back on the couch and sighed happily as her friend hurried out of the living room. Less than a minute later, Irene returned with a frown on her face.
"What's wrong?" asked Melanie uneasily.
"Jay's not downstairs," reported Irene.
"He didn't fix your garage door?"
"No, it looks like he did. The door looks finished."
"Oh." Melanie paused thoughtfully. "Well, there's no reason for him to still be down there if the work is done, Irene. He's probably in the kitchen making lunch, then."
"No, I looked. He's not there, either."
Irene turned to look at the stairs to the second floor, and suddenly stiffened.
"He's probably in his room, goofing off instead of doing what I told him to," she growled.
"Irene," said Melanie, getting up. "Maybe we should just give him some space - "
"Oh, no!" said Irene, her fury rising again. "My mom left me in charge, and I'm going to be in charge. I'm not going to let Jay worm his way out of his punishment, not after what he did to all of us, and especially not after the way he treated you before!"
"Irene," Melanie began, but it did no good. Her friend was already storming up the stairs.
* * * * *
Jay was still fuming as he shoved his wallet and keys into his backpack.
It did nothing to improve his mood when his bedroom door suddenly swung open and his sister stormed in, looking ready for a fight.
"Do you know how to knock?" barked Jay.
"I'm in charge of the house," retorted Irene. "I can do whatever I want."
"Guys, come on, let's not fight." Melanie could see right away it was no use. Her plea was falling on two pairs of deaf ears.
"Where do you think you're going?" demanded Irene, looking at her brother's backpack.
"I've had enough of this," said Jay. "I fixed the stupid garage door, and now I'm going to see a movie."
"Oh, no, you're not," said Irene, returning Jay's glare. "Mom said you can't leave the house."
"I don't care what Mom said, and I don't care what you say."
Jay pointedly turned his back to the girls and finished zipping up his backpack.
"Jay, what's gotten into you?" said Melanie in disbelief. "Don't you think you're in enough trouble already?"
Jay suddenly stiffened. He turned and fixed an icy glare on Melanie that actually made her recoil a step.
"I especially don't care what you think," said Jay, his voice filled with steel. "Do us both a favor and beat it, Melanie."
Melanie was stunned. Not once in their lives had Jay ever spoken to her with such hostility before.
Even Irene was taken aback. Her eyebrows knitted in confusion. Jay had seemed to be on the verge of apologizing to both of the girls just a short while ago, but now it seemed like something had really set him off.
But what? What could possibly have happened? The girls hadn't even spoken to Jay since -
Irene's thoughts were interrupted by her brother grabbing her arm.
"Jay, what are you doing?" cried Irene, more shocked than angry as her brother shoved both her and Melanie out his door.
"I'm leaving," growled Jay. "If you two know what's good for you, you'll stay out of my way."
Irene froze for a second, and then quickly drew herself up.
"You're not going anywhere," she told Jay resolutely. "We won't let you."
"Oh, yeah?" snorted Jay. "What are you girls going to do, tie me up?"
With that, Jay slammed his door shut in the girls' faces.
For a full minute, Irene and Melanie stood motionless in the hallway, staring at Jay's closed door. Finally, Melanie broke the silence.
"I - think - we - should - give - him - some - space." Melanie repeated her earlier suggestion, this time enunciating each word carefully.
"You know," said Irene thoughtfully, as if Melanie hadn't spoken at all, "he just gave me an idea."
"Irene," said Melanie urgently, "I really don't think we should - "
"Come on," said Irene, taking her friend by the arm. "We have to hurry."
"Where are we going?" asked Melanie, reluctantly following Irene down the stairs.
"To the basement."
"What - "
"Come on, we don't have much time."
* * * * *
Jay was glad that he slammed the door shut when he did. Just a few seconds later, and the girls might have seen him losing his struggle not to cry.
He was moving almost mechanically now, pulling his backpack onto his shoulder, wiping the tears from his eyes. Jay couldn't quite believe what he had just said, what he had just done, to his own sister, and to Melanie ... Melanie, of all people. Something had broken between them, something he wasn't sure could be fixed.
She was the one who broke it, Jay insisted to himself.
Jay put his hand on the knob of his bedroom door, and then paused for a long moment. When he felt sure he could walk out of the house without the girls seeing him cry again, he opened the door.
* * * * *
"Can we really do this?" asked Melanie nervously.
"It'd be a lot easier if we had Candice and Shauna here with us," said Irene. "But we can't wait for them."
"Here he comes," whispered Melanie.
Jay came down the stairs and into the living room, to find the girls waiting for him, holding several lengths of clothesline taken from the basement.
"What the hell is this?" Jay's face contorted as he glared at Irene and Melanie.
"Thanks for giving us the idea of tying you up, Jay," said Irene coolly. "Not only are we going to stop you from leaving, but I think we should punish you ourselves for peeping at our sleepover."
"You've gotta be kidding," said Jay disdainfully.
"You know, Jay," said Irene, her lips curling into a wicked smirk, "I'm going to enjoy seeing you naked."
"Okay, listen," said Melanie, holding up her hand. "I really don't think we want to do this."
She turned to Jay with pleading eyes.
"Jay, please." Melanie's voice matched her eyes. "Please don't make this go any farther. Let's all just - "
"Go to hell," snarled Jay, his voice filled with venom.
Melanie stared at him.
"Both of you," added Jay, although his eyes were fixed on Melanie.
Melanie blinked. She pressed her lips tightly together.
"All right," she said.
Nobody who had ever known Melanie could recall ever seeing her temper flare ... until now.
"All right," repeated Melanie, her voice rising, her eyes narrowing, her fists tightening around the rope in her hands, "if that's what you want, Jay ... if that's the way you want it ... "
Melanie turned to Irene.
"Let's do it," said Melanie, her eyes and voice filled with even more resolve than Irene's.
"Don't even - " Jay began.
He didn't get to finish his sentence, because in the very next second, as if acting with one mind, both girls jumped toward him.
"Oof!" Jay tried to gasp for breath as he hit the floor, with the two girls on top of him. He felt more astonished than anything else, unable to believe that the girls were really doing this.
"Get his arms!" shouted Irene.
It didn't take long for Jay to realize that he was in trouble.
They were only girls, he would have thought, they couldn't possibly overpower him. They were younger than him, they were smaller than him ... The problem, though, was that there were two of them.
Within seconds, Jay felt like he was struggling for his life, as Irene and Melanie each got a firm grip on one of his arms and practically twisted it behind his back.
"I've got the cord," said Melanie, holding up a length of clothesline. Irene nodded, and the two girls began pulling Jay's hands together.
"Just give in, Jay, we don't want to hurt you."
Surprisingly, that was Irene, not Melanie ... or maybe not so surprising now.
It was no use, Jay realized. He could overpower either girl alone easily enough, but not both at once. As he felt his hands inexorably being pulled together, he knew that his struggles were only delaying the inevitable. In his growing desperation, he did the only thing he could think of.
"All right, fine, I give," said Jay, ceasing his struggles a moment later. He knew he was taking a big risk, but he didn't see any other options.
"Good." Irene sounded surprised, but grateful.
Jay let Irene and Melanie tie his wrists together behind his back. He held his breath, hoping that the girls wouldn't notice that he was straining to hold his wrists slightly apart.
"There," said Melanie in satisfaction.
As the girls got off of his back, Jay lightly tested the cords around his wrists. Because he wasn't struggling with his full strength anymore, neither Irene nor Melanie seemed to realize that they hadn't tied his wrists completely together. Jay let the girls tie his ankles together completely.
"We did it!" said Irene gleefully, high-fiving Melanie.
"Okay, you've had your fun," said Jay, rolling over slightly. He kept his eyes on the girls, hoping they wouldn't notice that he was quietly pulling the cords around his wrists a bit looser. "Now, untie me, and I'll go make your lunch."
"In your dreams." Irene folded her arms. "You had your chance, Jay. Now, we're going to get some payback for everything you did. Starting with ... "
Irene smirked, her eyes gleaming as she ran her gaze up and down Jay's body.
"It's our turn to see YOU naked." Irene turned to Melanie. "Keep an eye on him, I'll be right back."
Irene ran to the kitchen. Jay looked at Melanie with an imploring expression much like the one she had given him a little earlier.
"Melanie, please," said Jay as he twisted one of his wrists behind his back a little more. "Please don't do this to me."
Melanie hesitated, and then folded her arms resolutely.
"Irene's right," she said calmly. "You had your chance, Jay."
Irene soon returned with a pair of scissors in hand.
"Don't move, Jay," warned Irene as she knelt down next to him. "I don't want to cut you."
"C'mon, don't do this."
Irene ignored Jay's protests as she cut his shirt, pulling it off of his body. Jay felt himself slightly reddening as both Irene and Melanie gazed appreciatively at the sight of his bare chest.
Jay quickly gave up pleading, seeing that it was doing no good, and besides ... In all fairness, Jay had to admit, at least to himself, that he kind of had this coming.
He continued twisting his wrists against the very slowly loosening cords, hoping that he could wiggle free without the girls noticing. Fortunately, Irene seemed focused on slicing his pants off without accidentally cutting him with the scissors, while Melanie just seemed ever more entranced the more of Jay's body was revealed to her sight.
Within minutes, Irene was pulling Jay's now shredded pants off his legs, leaving him in only his boxer briefs.
"Y-You're not really going to do this, are you?" asked Jay, making both of the girls laugh.
"I advise you to hold very still, Jay," warned Irene, holding up the scissors. "You REALLY don't want my hand to slip while I'm doing this."
Irene quickly cut through Jay's underwear. She pushed him onto his stomach as she yanked the torn undergarment off his body. Jay's face turned a dozen shades of red as he heard Irene and Melanie whistling loudly.
"Nice," said Irene admiringly, giving Jay's butt a firm squeeze.
"Hey!" protested Jay. "I didn't do this to you!"
A moment later, Jay let out a loud yelp as he felt a hard smack on his rump.
"Settle down," Melanie told him, before giving him several more hard whacks on his bottom.
Jay buried his face in the carpet. All of a sudden, he flashed back to a moment, years earlier, when he had been holding Melanie's hand ... She had been frightened by something. Jay didn't even remember what. He remembered holding her hand and comforting her ...
He remembered how soft Melanie's hand had felt. Somehow, it didn't feel so soft now.
"Hey, that's a great idea," said Irene with a grin. "It was very naughty of Jay here to peep at our sleepover, and what do naughty little boys get?"
"I'll bet Candice and Shauna would love a chance to give Jay a spanking, too," said Melanie.
"No, please," said Jay. "It's bad enough with just you two girls - "
"You should have thought of that before," retorted Irene. She fixed a cold stare on her brother. "You should have quit while you were ahead, Jay. Now, you're going to be naked all day long."
"How about I take you girls to the movies with me?" suggested Jay desperately. "My treat, okay?"
"Why bother seeing a movie?" asked Melanie with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "We've got a much better show right here."
Irene picked up the torn fragments of Jay's clothing and tossed them in the garbage. Melanie seemed too entranced by Jay's naked body to even move away from his side.
"Candice and Shauna were looking forward to helping us boss Jay around all day long," Irene was saying as she returned. "I'm sure they'll enjoy having him wait on us, naked, even more."
Jay groaned.
For the next half hour or so, he could only lie helplessly as Irene and Melanie slowly ran their hands around his body, most often lingering over his butt, fondling and squeezing it. He could feel the girls' eyes roaming over his body almost as intently as he could feel their hands. Jay cringed every time he heard one of the girls whistling.
When Irene and Melanie grew bored with ogling and groping the naked boy, they took turns spanking him, delighting in his yelps, moans, and gasps.
"How does this make you feel, Jay?" asked Irene as she fondled his behind for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Do you feel exposed? Vulnerable? Humiliated? Objectified? ... Feel like a piece of meat, Jay? Does any of that sound familiar?"
Jay sighed. He had briefly considered telling Irene and Melanie the truth, but quickly decided that there was no point in wasting his breath. The girls would never believe that he didn't actually see anything while he was peeping through Irene's bedroom window.
Even if they did believe him, Jay knew that just the fact that he tried to see them undressed was reason enough for them to be angry at him. As much as he hated what the girls were doing to him, he couldn't deny that he deserved it.
BUT ... That didn't mean Jay had to just lie there and take it, if he had a choice about it. It had taken him a long while, but he had managed to loosen the cord around his wrists enough that he felt sure he could snap it apart in seconds if he pulled them hard enough.
It would do him no good to break free while both of the girls were still there, though. They would just tie him up again. Jay knew that he couldn't overpower both girls at once. His only chance was if one of them left the room long enough for him to ...
"OW!" Jay moaned, yet again, at one of the girls' hands - he didn't even know which one - slapping his buttocks hard.
A second later, Jay was moaning again as Melanie pushed him over onto his back and began gently stroking his chest.
"I'll be back in a minute," said Irene, getting up. "You keep an eye on him, Melanie."
Jay tensed up. When he heard his sister going up the stairs, he knew that this might be his only chance, especially now that his hands were hidden from Melanie's sight.
He began to pull hard on the cords binding his wrists. Fortunately, Melanie seemed too distracted to notice Jay's muscles suddenly straining ... A moment later, Jay found out what was occupying Melanie's attention.
Melanie gently ran her fingers from Jay's chest down his stomach to ... Melanie smiled at how Jay gasped when she wrapped her fingers around his cock. Jay was soon moaning as Melanie's fingers lightly stroked his dick, while her other hand caressed his pubic hair.
Jay couldn't believe this was happening. He would never have expected this of the soft-spoken, perpetually shy Melanie.
"You're so cute," whispered Melanie. She leaned over Jay and kissed him, gently at first, and then pressed her lips deeply into his mouth.
Jay felt like he was going to blow ... For a moment, he was completely absorbed in the pleasure that Melanie was giving him, but then feelings of confusion began to creep in.
What was going on? Not an hour ago, Irene and Melanie had been talking about the crush Melanie had on this Chad Whitfield jerk, and now ... Was Melanie a fence-sitter? Was that it? That didn't sound like Melanie, but then, Jay seemed to be learning a lot of new things today about the girl he had thought he knew so well.
The feelings swirling inside of Jay were so overwhelming that he actually forgot all about breaking free of the bindings on his wrists. When he heard Irene's bedroom door creaking upstairs, however, it snapped him back into action.
"Melanie," whispered Jay, "I'm ... I'm sorry ... "