Note from Author:
I'm sorry for the late update, everyone. I've been working on the next few chapters so editing this one took a backseat for a little while. Updates won't be as frequent as they were before due to chapters catching up to where I currently am. Work is continuing, I assure you! There's more to come and more that's happening - so I do hope you'll enjoy.
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I woke up the next morning to find Ellie laying in more or less the same position, head resting on her arm as a little trail of drool hung from the corner of her lips and splashed the side of her mattress. A smile came unbidden to my lips at the sight. She was so damn cute.
My head shot around as I heard a bang downstairs. The bedroom door was ajar. Mom and Dad must've come in last night to check up on Ellie as they promised. As I stood and straightened up my back felt like it burned up in pain. I had to slam a hand into the table to support myself. Damnit, I knew I should've put something down to cushion the floor.
"Aden?" I heard Ellie's sleepy voice croak.
My stomach dropped as I turned to see her sleepy, frowning face. "Sorry, El. I didn't mean to wake you up," I also croaked, swallowing against the harsh dryness in my throat.
She shook her head and wiped at her eyes. "It's okay. Are you alright?" Her gaze trained on my awkward pose and the hand on my back.
"I just slept badly. Don't worry about it."
Ellie nodded. "Maybe you should have..." she yawned, her arms cracking as she stretched, "slept in the bed after all."
"It's a bit late for that now," I said with a small smirk. After glancing at the door to check for movement, I turned to give Ellie a small kiss. "Morning," I whispered.
Her hand came up to cup my neck, holding me in place. The feel of her soft skin, warmed from sleep pressing against me was one of the finest things in the world. "Mmm... morning to you, too."
"I'm going to wash up. Give it ten minutes or so before you come down, okay? And remember, your head was really hurting last night."
She nodded, pecking my lips once more before dropping back into the pillows.
I gathered up my bedding and chucked into my room before having a quick wash and brushing my teeth. As I stepped into the living room I spotted Mom sitting at the kitchen island, she looked up at me with a smile as I walked over to give her the usual kiss on the cheek.
"Welcome back, Mom."
"Thank you sweetie. How are you?" She put down her tablet and picked up her coffee.
"Eh, not bad. I cricked my back sleeping on the floor but otherwise good."
"Yes, your father and I suspected you wouldn't be feeling too good when you woke up. Were you keeping an eye on your sister?"
"Pretty much," I said with a shrug as I headed to grab some OJ. "We just did the usual. How're you and Dad, and where is he?"
"Hey, Mom!" I heard Ellie pipe up from behind me. She was soon at Mom's side and planting her own kiss on her cheek.
"Good morning, darling." Mom reached up to brush Ellie's errant hair behind her ear, looking at her with a small concerned frown. "How are you feeling?"
She glanced over to me as I sipped my drink, then back at Mom. "I'm feeling just fine, thank you. A good night's sleep really fixed me up." She winked at me with a small smile. "And I had Aden there to take care of me."
"We noticed." Mom gave me a look, along with a bright smile.
I couldn't tell you why but it made my blood run cold for a brief moment.
"Well, I'm just glad that you're feeling better. Your father is still in bed, he was exhausted after the drive home."
Surely she didn't suspect anything or else she wouldn't have been smiling at me, and definitely not talking in such a calm tone to either of us. I knew that she was super-perceptive, so what the hell was that look about? Rationalizing and trying to calm my rapidly panicking mind, I figured that she just found it funny or cute that I'd felt the need to sleep next to Ellie to keep an eye on her, right? Yeah. That made the most sense.
Mom piped up quietly, "Aden?"
I kept my eyes on my glass. "Yeah?"
"Ellie and I would like to head into town to finish off our Christmas shopping. Would you mind driving us, or perhaps you have some shopping to do, too?"
Huh, it would be a good opportunity to use it as my own shopping day. I could head with Mom and Ellie to the department store and find some gifts for Mom and Dad. After that, I could focus on Ellie. I remembered all too clearly how she'd mentioned enjoying erotica and there was that specialist book store on the edge of town that might stock that sort of thing, also I could get to that jewellers to find her something special.
"Sure. There are a few things I wanna get in town, too. I'm not shopping with you two again, though," I stated, throwing them both a pointed look.
"Aww, c'mon bro. It won't be that bad. Look at how much fun you had last time." Ellie said with a laugh from behind Mom, giving her a small rub on the shoulders.
"I'm glad to see you're feeling better," I teased.
"Just perfect, thanks!" She winked at me and ran her tongue across her teeth.
"I'll go shower and get dressed, then. Want to leave in about thirty minutes?"
Mom glanced at her tablet. "That sounds good."
I nodded and knocked back the last of my drink before taking my glass to the sink. Just as I was about to head to the stairs, a mischievous thought came to mind.
"Oh, sis. You left all your studying stuff in my room last night," I called out over my shoulder, waving as I headed upstairs.
Ellie cottoned on straight away as I heard her say to Mom, "I'll go get them. That way I can do some extra reading on the drive into town, Mom."
I entered my room and hid behind the door. Not more than a minute later Ellie pushed it open and I watched her dart in, looking around in confusion. With a grin I slipped up behind her and slipped my arms around her waist, leaning to nuzzle her lithe neck.
"Oooh," Ellie cooed, tilting her head immediately to allow me better access. "Someone's happy to see me."
"We're not going to be seeing a lot of each other today. I'm just giving my wonderful sis a promise for later." I licked and nipped at her flesh, drinking in the hitches in her breathing as her fingertips stroked over mine.
"My lovely brother takes such good care of me," she answered with a giggle.
"Mmmhmm. Not to mention I'm going to be busy all day thinking about my beautiful girlfriend while I pick up her special gifts."
Ellie pulled away and spun around to look up at me with a mischievous smile. "Is that right?" Her fingers hooked the waistband of my shorts. "I wonder what my boyfriend has in store for me?"
I wished I knew.
"The types that are actually surprises," I chuckled and gave her a wink. "I'm gonna hop in the shower, see you in a bit."
