Skipping Church

After

Mary moaned beneath me on her bed. I watched her breasts swaying back and forth as I thrust into her. The covers were shoved to the floor of her room, save for one corner of the sheet that was caught on my heel. I was keenly aware of our surroundings - all the collection of items she'd brought together to make this her personal, intimate space. Cross-country trophies. Her laptop and study materials. A picture of her robotics team and another of her and her friends at the pool. And still, lingering like something left from her younger days, a couple of small stuffed bears. One regarded me from a shelf nearby. The other had become trapped face-down between the bed and the wall. Every thrust of our bodies caused it to slide an inch further down toward the floor.

The room of an eighteen-year-old girl. The same one currently hunching back into my every stroke as the morning light streamed in her bedroom windows. The kind of intimidating beauty I could never have approached ten years ago when I was eighteen. This smart, funny, and sexy young woman who was currently making me feel better than I ever thought I could. My cousin - Mary.

"This is the best visit ever," she said. Her arms were wrapped around the back of my neck and her legs were spread out in a welcoming arc. I watched from the side of my vision as her heels slid back and forth on the bottom sheet with every thrust. I wanted to commit every part of this to memory - to have it burned there forever. The sheet was light blue, like the walls of the room. Wall Bear was white. He was stuck now.

I dropped my mouth to hers. Her tongue slid in and darted excitedly around mine as we kissed. Her hard nipples were moving against my chest now - tickling and teasing me. I kissed back harder and she moaned a word into my mouth that I couldn't make out but the meaning was clear as day: "More."

Kicking my foot free of the last of the sheets, I drew my knees up under me and lined up to slide my cock back into her slick folds. Then I was inside again and deeper this time. I braced my hands on either side of her shoulders and leaned in. I started going faster, fucking her with a determined focus. It wouldn't be long now.

She squealed encouragement to me and grabbed the bars of the headboard for support. Those cross-country legs lifted up higher and higher - dragging her heels over my calves, then my thighs, then over my ass until they met in the small of my back and crossed each other. She gripped me this way, tilting her hips for maximum penetration on each thrust.

"Damn, cousin - that feels fantastic," she purred. "Keep fucking me just like that." The headboard started to knock on the wall as we pounded out a rhythm together. I felt my balls start to clench and I tried to hold off my climax as long as possible. I didn't want this to ever end. The bed shook, the wet slapping sounds of my thrusts echoed, Wall Bear lost his struggle and disappeared, and the headboard kept knocking and knocking ...

Before

The knocking continued for several seconds as my aunt Carol called out her daughter's name. "Mary, wake up. I'm not going to stand out here knocking on your door all morning."

"Really?" came Mary's sleepy voice from the other side of the door. "Because it seems like that's exactly what you're doing, mom."

"Get up, it's time for church."

"I'm not going to church, mom."

"Everyone else is going. Your aunt and uncle don't visit that often, you know. We should spend time together."

"The hardest of passes."

Carol looked at me for help. She was a tiny spitfire of a woman who was used to getting her way, but apparently teenage daughters were immune to her power. I shrugged and made to head back downstairs with the back pillow my mom had asked me to get from her bag. Trying one last tack, Carol said to the door, "You could stand to spend more time with Jesus, too."

"Jesus and I are fine, mom. He's cool with it."

Carol seemed to regard this as a minor victory. "Yes, he is cool - that's right." She waved her hand dismissively. "Fine, you're eighteen and you can make your own decisions. I don't care what you do."

"Seems like you do," said Mary, as she opened the door. Her hair was tangled and clinging to her face. She was wearing a long sleeping shirt. At first glance, she didn't appear to have anything else on, but as she lifted her arm to wipe the hair from her eyes I caught a glimpse of some kind of smooth-looking shorts under it. It looked like they'd barely cover her butt cheeks from the back.

Then she noticed me and her eyes went wide. She stared at me a moment over her mom's head - then she blushed and shut the door behind her as she turned away into her room. I had one brief glimpse of her backside. Yup - barely covered.

As I made my way down the stairs and back to the kitchen, I felt both excited and guilty at the same time. I was still getting used to seeing my cousin Mary as a beautiful young woman. It had been six years since my last visit to my relatives here in Wichita. Back then Mary had been a slightly awkward kid with a fun sense of humor and an interest in the same nerdy things as me. We got along great, and seeing her again was something I'd been looking forward to. But now that kid was wrapped in a body that was affecting me far differently.

When we'd arrived the night before, she'd met me in the doorway and launched into me with an enthusiastic hug. She obviously hadn't had a bra on at the time, and I turned into a stammering mess. Before dinner, we'd sat together on the couch in the basement talking about her last year of high school, my job in Chicago, and shows and movies we'd enjoyed that year. But the tension kept growing. There was no way she could have missed my furtive glances at her chest or legs or the way the curves of her body were highlighted by her shorts and t-shirt. Our usual banter just ran down until we awkwardly watched some TV together in silence and waited for dinner. After dinner, we'd exchanged barely a dozen words before she went up to her room for the night.

And now I'd seen her in her half-undressed. I resolved that I was going to find a way to get back to our friendship today. She was no doubt disgusted with my behavior - and why wouldn't she be? I was twenty-eight years old, for crying out loud. I needed to act like a responsible adult. Plus, I missed my funny, nerdy, creative cousin Mary.

My parents were seated at the kitchen table having breakfast with my uncle. I gave mom the little back pillow and she thanked me and positioned it behind her in the chair. Mom was in her mid-fifties and a long career as an RN was starting to give her a host of aches and pains. Some people don't think of nursing as a physically demanding job, but when you spend all day lifting and moving people around you put a hell of a strain on your back.

I dropped back into my chair and forked the last pancake off the platter. I'd had two already, but I was stressed. Plus, aunt Carol made the best pancakes.

"Well, she's not coming," said Carol as she joined us. "I tried my best, but that girl will not be moved. Do we need more pancakes? I've got four more on but there's plenty more batter. Rudy, how about it?"

"Well if you've got everything set up I suppose I could handle a couple more," answered my dad. He filled the bay window side of the kitchen table. At 6'3" with broad shoulders and a full beard, he made most tables look like kid tables. He was already working his way through a small stack of those pancakes and a pile of bacon. Uncle Ryan sat next to him, eating just a bowl of granola and some fruit. He was half a head shorter than dad and thin like a rope. They looked like a bear and a fox having breakfast together.

Mom took a sip of her coffee and said, "When does the service start, Carol?"

Carol started taking the cakes off the griddle and said, "Ten o'clock, so we've got a bit of time. But we really should leave by nine-thirty if we want to get good seats."

Dad looked dubious at this. I don't think there was a pew in a church anywhere in the world that dad would consider a "good seat". He'd never been much for organized religion. Truthfully, mom wasn't either. We never went to church at home when I grew up. But mom knew it was important to Carol that they go, and dad had long since made his peace with it. He took his compensation in breakfast foods.

"Is Paul coming too?" mom wanted to know.

"He's at Kelly's," said uncle Ryan.

Carol shook her head at this mention of her son. "Stays the night with his girlfriend every weekend, can you believe it? He'd be there every night if I didn't insist he be here during the week. I'd never get to see him all summer!" She dropped the new quartet of fluffy carbohydrates on the platter and went to start some more.

"Well, he's twenty-four now," said mom. "You can't expect him to stay in his room. And it's summer break - I imagine he and Kelly want to spend time together before he goes back to school in the fall."

"I know, I know. That's why I don't say anything about it."

"When you say that, it usually means you just said something about it," observed Mary as she entered the room. She'd put on pajama pants to match the sleeping shirt and cover up her lower half. Her shoulder-length, dark blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail with a pink scrunchie. She circled the table, placing a hand on her dad's shoulder in greeting, who acknowledged her touch with a nod. Then she held her arms open to my dad. "Good morning, uncle Rudy. Give me a hug."

"With pleasure, little lady," he said, turning to give her a fierce embrace. He looked even more bear-like doing that. Mary used this opportunity to reach behind his back and swipe a slice of bacon from his plate. As he released her, she took a triumphant bite of out of it. Dad's eyes widened in mock outrage. "Betrayal! I have been deceived by a bacon-thieving wench!"

Mary laughed and continued around to my mom. "Morning, Aunt Diane." Mom smiled and gave her an arms-out polite hug. Then Mary went over and pulled a carton of orange juice out of the fridge. She ignored me completely. My heart sank. This was bad.

I thought about the situation for a moment. If Paul was gone and everyone but Mary was going to church, then if I could stay behind I'd have a chance to talk with her alone. The only way I saw to get out of this situation was to address my creepy behavior, apologize for it, and promise that it would stop. I was mortified at the thought of doing that in front of our parents or her brother, so this would be my chance. It was going to be humiliating but I owed Mary this.

I took this moment to break the bad news to Carol. "I'm going to take a pass on church this morning, Carol." I saw Mary stop for a moment, staring down at the juice carton. She still didn't look up.

Carol said, "Oh no! Are you sure, Mike? Our pastor is really fantastic - when he gets going, it's like the bible has come alive!" My dad considered this and then reached for another pancake.

"I'm sure. After the drive yesterday I could use a quiet morning just decompressing."

Aunt Carol turned from the sink to look at me. "Are you sure you won't get bored?"

After

Mary braced her hands on either side of the kitchen sink and leaned down further. That was helpful - I was able to slide my cock even deeper into her from this angle. I resumed fucking her, always paying attention to my footing on the linoleum. It would be hard to explain an injury from this. I could still smell maple syrup from breakfast a few hours before.

Her hair dangled over the sink as she hung her head. My overstimulated brain tried to figure out where the scrunchie had gone, till I wrangled it back into focus. I'd been fondling her tits from behind when we started, but now my hands were braced on her hips. She still had that long sleep shirt on, though nothing else. It was bunched up on top of her lower back. The pants were flung over the chair my mom had been sitting in at breakfast. I was still wearing my t-shirt as well, though my shorts and briefs were crumpled on the floor behind us.

I stared for a moment at her bare ass, and with careful cupping of my hand, I gave it a good slap. She yelped in surprise.

I stopped my thrusting motion to take stock. "No good?" I asked.

"No - good," she said. She let out a little grunt. "Sent a shiver right through my ass into my pussy." She looked back at me over her shoulder and smiled a wicked grin. "Please sir, may I have another?"

"As you wish." *slap*

She grunted again in approval and lifted her head to look out the window. "Uh-oh."

"What?" I asked, debating whether a third smack would be welcome.

"Mrs. Garcia is out watering her plants. I think we should take this show somewhere more discrete."

"Oh, whoops." I slid my cock out of her as she turned around. I could see her nipples poking through her shirt, and the lustful look she directed down at my body made my heart skip a beat. Then she drew close and kissed me deeply, pressing my erection between us. I slid my hands up under the back of her shirt to cup her delightful ass.

She broke the kiss, took me by the hand and led me from the kitchen. "Come this way, cousin."

I would have followed her anywhere.

Before

"I don't think I'll get bored," I answered Carol. "I brought a book."

"Well, we will miss you. And if your book is boring, maybe you and Mary can find something to do." With that, Carol returned to doing the dishes. Mary took a seat at the table and popped a strawberry into her mouth. She wouldn't meet my eyes, and she was blushing furiously.

I could see this was not going well. She was obviously still upset, but at least now I had a plan. After the others left I'd make my apologies. Then I'd keep my mind out of the gutter and we'd be able to get back to where we were before. I decided I'd have to stop fantasizing about her, which was something I'd been doing most of the night before. I'd been sleeping on the basement sofa where we'd been sitting in that awkward session before dinner. I kept thinking about her being right there, cross-legged and facing me. Every time she'd looked awkwardly away from me I could see the outline of her breasts. They were almost exactly the size of my palms, and that image by itself was enough to keep me uncomfortably aroused.

So I'd lain awake half the night imagining holding her bare breasts in my hands, remembering the tension in the air that had made it so hard for me to talk to her, the way her bare legs looked inches from mine and imagining what it would be like if I had just grabbed her and kissed her right there. I knew no good could come of thinking like that. At the breakfast table - seeing how uncomfortable she was in my presence - I felt ashamed for my thoughts. I reminded myself that no one wants to be the fantasy fuel for their creepy old cousin.

My mom got up and took her plate to the sink. "How about Hannah? Would she like to come to church with us?"

"No, she likes to sleep in on Sundays."

"Hang-overs will do that," said Mary in a quiet voice.

"Don't assume your sister is hung-over," said Carol, without looking back at Mary. She scrubbed the plate a bit more, then added, "It's 8 o'clock. She may still be drunk."

Mary laughed out loud at this, and my dad chuckled. Carol came back to get Ryan and dad's plates, looking a bit abashed. "I shouldn't say such things. I love Hannah. And she has a good heart, god bless it." Mary was still laughing and smiling at her mom, and it made my heart swell. Her laugh had always been infectious. Even Carol smiled.

My dad stood up and stretched, then adopted an innocent guise. "You know," he said, "I was thinking maybe I would take a pass on-"

"I already laid your clothes out on the bed," said my mom, shutting down that escape route before it had even opened all the way. Dad grinned at her like a child caught trying to play sick, and mom just rolled her eyes.

Resigned to his fate, dad made his way around the table. He stopped to lay his hand on my shoulder and say in a formal voice, "Save yourself, son. And carry on my legacy to a new generation."

I covered his hand with mine and replied in the same tone, "I will always honor your sacrifice."

"No one is getting sacrificed, you two." Mom made shooing motions with her hands. "Now go get ready, you big oaf." She followed him as he ambled out of the room and they headed upstairs. They were staying in Hannah's old room, which was the only free bed since Paul was home for the summer.

Carol finished drying her hands and I started to get up to wash up my plate, but she stepped over and gently pushed me back down. "No no, Mike," she said. "You're not finished yet. You two just take your time." With that, she and Ryan headed toward their bedroom on the main floor.

It was true, I still had most of that last pancake on my plate. Ever since Mary had joined us my appetite had vanished. We were alone at the table now, and she still wouldn't meet my eyes for more than a second before looking down again. I gathered myself to stand up and leave her in peace when she said words that made my blood run cold:

"You should go with them ... it's uncomfortable being alone with you."

I looked at her, dread filling my heart. She was mindlessly tracing her fork in circles around her plate. I felt such shame that I'd put her in this state. I wanted to say something but my mind was blank. She looked up and held my gaze for several moments. Her face grew beet red and she glanced off to the side.

"Stop looking at me like that. This is already hard enough."

"Mary ... that's why I want to stay. So we can talk about this."

"I don't want to talk about it."

I wondered if it was too late. If I'd already ruined our chance to be friends again. "It's not easy for me to talk about, either. But I want us to be able to get along again. We're family, after all."

"Ha! Yeah, that's the problem. This is a totally inappropriate feeling to have for your cousin."

"I agree," I said quickly. For some reason, that seemed to hit her like a slap. She abruptly stood up, dropped her plate into the sink, and started to walk out the door - only to stop right behind me. I could hear her taking a deep and trembling breath. Then she said, almost too quiet for me to hear, "I'm just not ready yet ... to talk about these feelings I'm having for you."

She strode off then, leaving me speechless. I barely had time to begin to parse what she'd said when she called out, "Mom! I changed my mind - I'm going to church!"

"Wonderful!" responded Carol. Mary pounded up the stairs at a run. I sat there for a stunned moment, then got up and followed her. I climbed the stairs with my heart pounding in my chest. When I rounded the corner at the top, I expected to see her door closed and locked. But it was still open. I walked up to it, hearing voices from inside. My mom was in the room, already dressed for church and looking at the pictures on Mary's bulletin board.

"Is this your robotics team?" she asked. Mary murmured assent while glancing at me standing in the doorway. She was a bit wide-eyed but mostly putting on a calm face for my mom. I looked away and took in the room without really seeing it as my mind continued to race. I wondered if I had heard her wrong.

"And this is the cross-country team, right? I remember your mom saying you competed at the sectionals," mom said, pointing out a picture of a dozen girls posed at a trailhead leading into some woods. Unable to help myself, I walked a few steps closer until I could make out which one was Mary. She was on the end, standing in the back row and smiling with a healthy glow. She looked older than the others, but I was again struck by our age difference. High school seemed a long time ago to me.