Karina still can't believe she actually fucked Winter.
It's been several days and she's been actively avoiding her step sister. A title that makes bile rise to her throat. Fortunately, they don't exactly have an opportunity to discuss what happened. Her father and Ms Narae come back from a trip only to announce they're leaving in two weeks again. Something about securing an international deal in Japan. Neither Winter nor Karina are particularly surprised. They simply nod and shrug noncommittally when her father lets them know over dinner, trying his best to sound apologetic. "It's business season," he says, "Karina knows how it is. Right, Rina?"
Karina hates any variation of her name, and she knows 'business season' has lasted seventeen years and is still going strong. But she keeps those thoughts to herself and only nods, not meeting Winter's eyes. She's been doing that a lot. Or not doing that a lot.
How exactly does one look their step sibling in the eye after they fucked their brains out?
She's yet to find the answer so she keeps her eyes downcast, slowly chewing and swallowing. Winter, on the other hand, keeps the conversation going; mostly with snide remarks that their parents don't see through, either not understanding or not caring enough about the hidden malice behind faux politeness. In Karina's humble opinion, the dinner is a disaster but the adults appear unfazed by the silent tension. Maybe that tension is felt by her and no one else?
But Winter's gaze burns through her, dark and heavy, and she has her answer. She's not sure she likes it.
"Thank you, dear," her father says pleasantly. Karina's eyes automatically raise to his face but his are trained on His fiancée with something akin to fondness in them. "Dinner was delicious."
Karina has to admit it was. Ms Narae quickly adapted to their particular diet and learned to cook highly nutritional, boring food but with added personal touch. Her own cooking is still better, of course, but Ms Narae's a fast learner. She might miss her a tiny bit when she's gone. The woman doesn't crowd her and doesn't try to become the mother Karina's never had. She did have a mom. She doesn't remember her, but she did have a mom. And Ms Narae respects that.
She steals a glance at Winter. Her step sister is staring at her practically full plate with barely hidden contempt. Ms Narae tried to gently chide her for not eating, but Winter's cheeky response about stocking up on protein earlier sent Karina into a coughing fit as she tried not to gag. Then Ms Narae was too busy asking if there was something wrong with her meal to pay attention to a smirking Winter. Karina managed to wheeze out an 'it's fine, I'm fine', casting a discreet glare at her step sister. The blonde winked and she locked her jaw, looking away.
That was low-class even for Winter, honestly.
Before leaving the table, her father decides to make it even worse. "Oh," he says suddenly, as if remembering something, "You mentioned something about protein, Winter? Protein-based diet should be threaded carefully, but with the right knowledge it's very beneficial. I might have a recipe book somewhere. I can look for it if you want." When Ms Narae gives him a thankful smile, Karina gets the reasoning behind her dad's sudden interest in Winter's diet.
Karina's merely grateful she's not eating at the moment because she's sure she would've choked on her broccoli.
She glances at Winter again and the blonde is barely containing her laughter. "Oh, um," she stutters with a wide smile. "That's really nice of you to offer, Mr. Yu, but I'm thinking of switching to something else. To, um," she throws a look Karina's way, full of unspoken words, "honey."
Her father blinks. "A diet based on... honey?"
It's been a while since Karina had the urge this strong to ram a fork in her eye. Winter is biting her lips, trying to hide the grin threatening to break out.
"Yes," she says. "It's good for your memory."
"Huh," Karina's father says. "Interesting."
"I'll do the dishes," Karina mumbles, standing up.
Winter shoots to her feet. "I'll help."
"Aw," Ms Narae coos at that, grasping her fiancé's hand. "It's so nice you girls are getting along."
Mr. Yu nods. "I guess spending quality time together has done them some good," he chuckles.
Karina hopes against all hopes Winter keeps silent, but of course she doesn't. "Oh," she says in a sing-song voice, "you have no idea."
She's relieved and horrified at the same time when the adults stand up and leave with a customary kiss to their daughter's cheek. Now that they are gone, Winter doesn't have to cover up her suggestive remarks and Karina hates this tense anticipation.
Winter, however, seemingly chooses another strategy today because she silently gathers the dishes from the table and watches as Karina puts away the leftovers. When she cooks, there are no leftovers. She always measures the exact amount of ingredients needed. But tonight, with Ms Narae's generous cooking and with Winter's refusal to eat anything even closely resembling actual food, they got more than needed and Karina isn't about to throw it away. Maybe she can do something with them later.
When she's done with leftovers, they move to the sink and divide their efforts by an unspoken agreement: Karina washes and Winter dries. Her step sister is standing just a touch closer than needed, and their arms and shoulders brush against each other with their movements. She doesn't let herself look at Winter, choosing instead to glare at the dishes in the sink. Winter clearly doesn't have that problem. She feels her amused stare on her from time to time. She's nonchalant; indifferent even, and it irks Karina more than her putting the dishes away in the wrong cabinet.
She blows up just as Winter starts to speak.
"You know, it's weird that you guys don't-"
"Honey? Really?" That's not even what Karina wanted to say, but she's been feeling incredulous this whole time. "A diet based on honey?"
"You sound like your dad," Winter points out, grinning. Karina lifts her eyes to look at her, and she looks positively giddy. "What? You didn't like my clever metaphor that only the two of us are in on?"
"No," Karina says flatly. "That's the worst metaphor for vaginal fluids I've ever heard." It's too overused, honestly. Honey, nectar, anything to do with peach. Karina rolls her eyes every time she sees those words used to describe a vagina. It's a vagina. It's not supposed to taste and smell like a spring flower. It's tangy, heavy, and beautiful.
Like Winter's. Her scent was heady and musky, and it felt incredible and-
Karina snaps her eyes away from Winter as she tries to get rid of the memories invading her brain.
Thankfully, the blonde doesn't seem to notice. She carries on with the conversation as if nothing is happening. As if Karina isn't trying, and failing, not to imagine what she tastes like.
"Well excuse me if I'm no Sappho," Winter scoffs.
Karina shoots her a surprised look, prompting her to raise her eyebrows. "What? We live in the same house. I saw you read her work. And even if I didn't," she puts the dish down, smirking, "it's not that much of a stretch. You like to read and you're really gay. So you must've read Sappho at some point."
Karina doesn't know if that's intended to be a compliment or an insult or a mere observation, but Winter's smirk doesn't seem malicious, and she finds herself smiling incredulously. She catches herself just in time before she starts chuckling.
"Then you must've read her work as well?" she asks instead, curiously. Winter shakes her head.
"I'm missing one of the prerequisites," she says. When Karina gives her an incredulous look, she rolls her eyes. "Not that one. I don't like to read, Karina."
She searches the blonde's face but finds she can't get past the facade. Not really knowing what to say, she nods, rinses the last plate and gives it to Winter. They continue in silence.
"It's weird with them here," Winter states, finally. Karina nods.
"You get used to having the house to yourself," she says quietly. Winter's gaze is on her again; when she turns, she catches the fleeting something, but it's gone too soon for her to really understand what.
"Yeah."
"Did you get used to it?" Karina asks.
Winter gives her one of her lazy smirks. "Well," she says in a tone that suggests 'duh'. "Yes. For numerous reasons."
And now Karina's one of them, isn't she?
"Right." She clears her throat. "I imagine it must be hard." Winter gives her an inquiring look and she continues. "You know. Having sex so often and then having to just... stop." Her voice doesn't carry a mocking undertone. It must really suck for the blonde. She doubts Ms Narae will be okay with her daughter spending her school nights someplace other than her new home. Sure, Winter can always have quickies somewhere else, but she must have gotten used to it. Having full freedom to do as she pleases, in her own bed.
Winter, however, simply shrugs. "I can always go solo," she reassures her with a glint in her eyes, clearly waiting for a reaction, but Karina simply gives her a blank look. The girl sighs, dropping her smirk. "That's not the problem. It's just... I'll have to keep quiet now." She sounds actually mournful when she says that, staring at the clean plates in front of her sadly. Her lower lip jutted out in a pout is practically about to tremble. A child, a petulant child upset with not getting her way.
Karina can't help it; she lets out a short, amused laugh. She didn't even think of that. Poor Winter. That's definitely a problem. Not for Karina, of course. She'll be having the best sleep tonight without Winter's moans keeping her up.
The blonde looks up at her, surprise evident on her face at hearing Karina laugh, and she realizes she's never actually laughed around Winter. Scowled, snarled, scoffed; and moaned and grunted and whispered hotly against her skin, but never laughed. She's never done a lot of things around Winter, who's still looking at her, and it's starting to get uncomfortably warm. So she speaks, trying to break the tense silence. "Yeah. I know how much you like being loud," she mutters, trying to sound sour. What comes out instead is a wistful hint.
Winter's eyes widen just for a split second before narrowing in a smirk, and Karina groans inwardly. She walked right into that one. The gates are open, all bets are off.
Winter's grin grows wider.
"It's a pity I can't say the same," she says, and the twinkling in her eyes is enough to make Karina squirm. "You didn't give me a chance to find out."
She's waiting, again, subtly searching Karina's face for any sign of spluttering indignation. Karina still has no idea what the hell she has done to piss Winter off. She's not even sure Winter's doing this because she's pissed at her. Whatever the reason, she refuses to give her the satisfaction of gaining the upper hand.
She turns so that her whole body faces Winter and smirks inwardly when the blonde holds her breath. She watches as Winter's eyes roam over her face, falling to her lips.
"Would you like to find out?" Her voice is low and rumbling and she notes, with satisfaction, how the blonde swallows heavy and hard.
Winter cocks her head to the side then, her gaze unwavering.
"You felt for yourself how much I would like to." God, she did, and she can't shake it off. Can't forget the way Winter felt on her fingers, soft and drenched. Karina isn't a big fan of lying to herself, or so she'd like to believe at least. And it's pointless to deny she's fucked herself to silent, desperate orgasms every night since taking Winter against the wall. Just like it's pointless to deny she's been imagining doing it again every time her fingers slid inside herself.
Winter's still staring at her and she's not backing down. Abrasive as always, Karina thinks with a hint of annoyance.
Annoyance that carries just a hint of exasperated fondness.
"Girls?" Ms Narae calls out from the living room, making them jump from each other. Winter swears as she almost topples over, and it's only because she grabs onto the sink that she manages to stay upright. "Is everything okay?"
"We're fine, mom!" Winter shouts back, rolling her eyes. Karina winces. They are a rather loud family.
Winter's studying her. For the first time since Karina began catching her glances, this curiosity has nothing to do with dark, heavy desire clouding her eyes. "You don't like it when people yell, do you?"
Karina takes the plate from Winter's hand, putting it into the right cabinet and schooling her features into a neutral expression. "Don't psychoanalyze me," she states. "You won't like me when I'm psychoanalyzed."
They finish up in tense silence. Tense, but not uncomfortable.