TABOO TALES(erotica)

I decided to take a chance. I closed the distance between us and gave her a playful shove. “So, whatcha been up to?”

She scoffed. “Like you care.”

“What do you mean? Of course, I care! I missed you, L.” I kept my hands in my pockets, sneaking a glance to the side.

“Yeah? Well, that’s kind of hard to believe at the moment. I mean, two whole years and not a single call, or even a text? I’m surprised you even remember who I am!”

“Come on, Laura. That’s unfair. We both know why I didn’t call.”

Still, she refused to acknowledge me.

“For what it’s worth, it hurt like hell not talking to you all that time. I thought of you a lot.” I was being honest, though I didn’t dare to specify what those thoughts were.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the faintest hint of a smile. I bumped her again. “Come on. I’m here now. Are you telling me you’re not happy to see me at all?”

“Pfft. Not as happy as those two.” Laura nodded towards her parents. “Look at them, skipping around like little children.”

“That’s not what I asked. And at least somebody’s glad to see my face,” I retorted.

She shrugged. “Well, you’ve got a dumb face. That’s not my problem.”

I chuckled. “Your face is dumb.” I covered her face with my palm and shoved her away.

Laura giggled and retaliated by pushing me back. We chased each other around for a while, annoying some of the passengers at the terminal. Then, our play-fighting subsided and transitioned into a hug, which was much warmer and more genuine than the first. We walked towards the parking lot arm-in-arm.

“Listen,” I began. “About the… before I left-”

“Not here.” I could sense the agitation in her voice, and having just won her back, I decided to drop the topic.

During the car ride to our cabin, I kept sneaking glances at her. I noticed that she bit her lip constantly and was unable to sit still. I knew she could sense me staring and would have given anything to read her mind at that moment. I inched my hand closer to hers until our pinkies brushed against each other. To my surprise, she responded by hooking her finger over mine, like we were children making a promise. Except this time, it meant something very different. This time, our pinkies intertwined because we desired contact, to feel each other’s skin. I slid closer and closer to her along the backseat, until our knees touched. Slowly and carefully, with our eyes dead ahead to make sure my aunt and uncle didn’t notice, we slid our shoes off and rubbed our sock-covered feet together.

Neither of us were naive enough to interpret that as innocent playfulness between cousins. There was definitely a sexual tension between us, and Laura’s subtle teasing gave me an undeniable rush of arousal, not to mention a raging erection. My heart pounded furiously as I wondered how I would confront these feelings during the short time that we had.

—

We were the first ones to arrive at the cabin, the others likely hindered by holiday traffic. It was every bit as large as my aunt had described, with two stories, massive windows, and a palatial front entrance. It was mostly wood, with some stone adding a modern flair.

“Christ.” Laura was stunned. “I thought it was just us and the Carters.” She was referring to the family of Aunt Beth, who was bringing her husband and two sons.

“Well, and your sister,” Carrie reminded. “Anyway, I figured we’d go all out this year.”

“Yeah, all out of money,” Uncle Rob snarked.

Upon the mention of her sister, the color drained from Laura’s face, replaced by an expression of disdain. “Oh.” Her tone was colder than the ice coating our cabin.

Laura’s relationship with Amber was tumultuous at best and outright adversarial at worst. Laura didn’t appreciate what she viewed as Amber’s exploitation of their parents, demanding the world and giving nothing in return. On top of that, she never acted like an older sister to Laura, which was part of the reason Laura and I were so close to begin with.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“It-it’ll be nice, y’know, for all of us to see each other again.” Carrie smiled nervously.

“Yeah, I’m fuckin’ elated,” Laura whispered under her breath before shoving past us.

Carrie let out a melancholy sigh and stared disappointedly at the ground. I gave her a pat on the shoulder and a reassuring smile.

“She’ll come around. She always does,” I lied. I knew it would take more than a holiday retreat to chill the tension between Laura and Amber. “I’ll go talk to her.”

Carrie gave me a thankful peck on the cheek before I followed Laura into the cabin. I found her in the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge. She took out a beer, and, unable to locate a bottle opener, banged it angrily against the counter.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I ran over and swiped the bottle from her hands. “Let’s relax a little. Are you even old enough to be drinking this?” I took out my keychain and used the attached bottle opener to crack open the beer.

“Are half the girls you bang old enough to drink?”

I feigned an incredulous expression. “Pfft. What are you-what are you talking about? I-I-I don’t bang-who’s banging-who said anything about drinking?” I stuttered around nervously, wondering how much she knew of my sexual exploits.

She scoffed. “You can’t lie to me. I have my sources.” She was probably referring to her friend, Katie, who went to the same college. I wondered if she knew that I helped Katie move into her dorm and was paid in fellatio.

“Anyway, I’m only a few months off. Call the cops if you want.” Laura snatched the beer back.

“Actually, the FBI is about to repel through that window,” I pointed.

She snickered. “They’re here to arrest you, not me.”

“Ok, that’s not fair. I went to jail one time-”

“Yeah, for dealing drugs! So, who’s the real criminal here?” Laura punched me in the chest.

I looked around cautiously. “Shhh, don’t say that so loudly!” Besides Katie, who bailed me out, Laura and I were the only ones who knew of my criminal past.

“MOM-” Laura began to yell.

I covered her mouth with my hand and shoved her down onto the couch. She responded by splashing beer in my face. I swatted the bottle away as we wrestled and smothered each other with the cushions, giggling profusely and calling each other profane names.

Eventually, I lost my balance and fell on top of her, our faces coming within inches of each other. We immediately froze in silence, stunned by the sudden intimacy. I couldn’t bring myself to move, completely entranced by her lips, which I hadn’t felt in two years. Laura didn’t bother to shove me away, either, which said a lot. Then, I looked up, and our gazes met. This time, neither of us looked away. I was mesmerized by her beauty, intoxicated by her flowery scent. Desire tugged at my heartstrings.

Slowly, I moved my face closer to hers. I could feel Laura’s warm, shaky breath against my lips. Still, she did nothing, made no attempt to push me away. And I couldn’t stop myself, either. Our eyes were half-closed when the front door burst open.

“Why do I have to carry the heavy one? You’re the man.” Carrie entered the cabin with her back turned, scolding her husband, who was busy struggling to drag multiple bags through the doorway.

Laura and I flew from the couch and backed away from each other, creating as much distance as possible.

“There you two are! What happened here?” Carrie noticed the disheveled couch and spilled beer on the floor.

“It was like that when we got-”

“It slipped-”

Our lies overlapped each other.

Carrie was utterly confused, but raised her hands and gave up. “Whatever. I don’t want to know. Will someone just help me with these damn bags?”

I ran over while Laura turned around and disappeared up the stairs.

—

I left her alone for a good hour, instead helping Uncle Rob shovel snow from the front porch. When we finished, I tilted my head back and wiped the sweat from my forehead. That’s when I spotted Laura standing on the upstairs balcony. Our gazes met for a brief moment before she stared off into the distance.

“We good here?” I gave Uncle Rob a thumbs up.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. Go.” He waved me off.

I tossed my gloves aside and rushed through the front door. Inside, I found the stairs and hopped up two at a time. I came to a dead stop upon finding the room that Laura was in. She was still standing outside on the balcony. I took a moment to catch my breath and then walked up to her casually.

“Where’s the bathroom around here?” I couldn’t come up with another excuse to talk to her.

“It’s downstairs. You would’ve seen it if you weren’t sprinting up the stairs.” Laura kept her gaze on the horizon.

I felt my cheeks burning up. She always saw right through me.

“Laura, I-”

“We can’t do this.”

“Do what?”

“Whatever this is.”

“But-”

“Ben. Don’t.”

I stayed silent. Laura was right, after all. Did I really think that I’d make out with my own cousin? Did I think we’d do more than that? I was insane to even fathom it. But Laura started it by kissing me two years ago. How could she succumb to her own desires and then fault me for doing the same? Maybe we were both wrong. Maybe this was all a mistake. But right or wrong, whether it could or should happen, there was one constant, undeniable truth: I wanted it to happen.