Unknown - An Animal Heat

Janet too, decided that she wanted to dress up for him. After all, she, like her sister, had not seen him in years, and she wanted to look her best. Living in the woods, the nicest thing she had was a pretty cotton skirt with matching blouse, something she only wore on special occasions. Until her brother had told her he was coming, she had never had a reason to wear it.

Kitty made her appearance from her bedroom wearing a short print dress of Indian silk, light blue and yellow in color. Her small halter did not permit her to wear a bra, which was fine with her, since she rarely wore them any more. She had wondered if perhaps the outfit was a little garish and revealing for her brother, but her fears were laid aside when she saw Janet's reaction.

"Sayyyyyy, Sis," the older woman said, "you look like you're dressed to kill."

Kitty blushed, surprisingly for her. Then Janet made the comment that her younger sister was not wearing any pantyhose either, causing Kitty's blush to deepen in color. As she lowered her head, her chin rested lightly on the loosely hanging thin metal chain she was wearing around her neck. She hadn't thought about it until Janet called it to her attention, but she had indeed dressed as though she was meeting a boy who was about to take her out on her first date.

However, even Janet could not hide her excitement as she waited for Mike to arrive, and both women sat by the window, making small talk and almost staring out, looking for his car. They were both acting like school children waiting for their father to come home from a long trip, and this thought made them giddy.

And then, after what seemed like an eternity, they saw a car pull up next to the house. Janet jumped from her seat, but she was a little slower than her younger sister, who not only jumped from her chair, but ran outside, throwing herself in her brother's arms as he stepped from the car.

"Oh, Mike, Mike, Mike, you're here! You're finally here!" she said as she pressed her head to his shoulder.

Mike was a little taken aback by his younger sister's enthusiasm, and the force of her running into his muscular body nearly threw him against the car. Soon, though, he regained his bearings, and he placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away from his slightly, his face split with an ear to ear grin.

"Yeah, Sis, I'm here. Now let me take a good look at you. My God, you've grown up. You look beautiful, Kitty. You really do. I had no idea how much I missed you until right now," said her brother.

Kitty could not suppress her child-like laughter as she and her brother walked with their arms around each other back into Janet's cabin. Mike hadn't changed a bit, as far as Kitty was concerned. He was a little taller, a little more muscular, more evenly tanned, but aside from that, he was the same person she had remembered. His faded jeans and patched workshirt added to his rugged appearance, and everything about him exhibited the fact that he was a very striking man, a man who knew what he wanted for himself, and would be satisfied with nothing else.

As brother and sister entered the cabin, Mike stopped while he looked over Janet. Her happy tension was obvious as she stood in the middle of the living room, unaware of what to do as she allowed her eyes to focus on the tall, athletic frame. Sitting next to her was Duke, watching with interest as the strange man entered his mistress's home. Even though he had never seen this man before, he could sense that he was welcome by both of the women in his life, and that was good enough for him. He waited for Janet to say something that would let him know what he should do, though, as he sniffed intently, hoping that he might be able to pick up some clue as to who this stranger was.

"Hello, Mike," said Janet. Her voice was low, and she was a little surprised to feel that she was shaking all over. She too, felt as though she was meeting a blind date, and she wished she could have released her tension as her sister had. It was one of the few times in her life when she did not know what to do. She hadn't seen her brother in so long…and she wanted everything to be the way it had been when they were children. Would her older brother feel the same way.

Mike stopped dead in his tracks and Kitty moved away from him. She had never known her sister to be so tense before, but she could see that it was a happy tension. "Hello, Janet," her brother said, and he walked over to her and gave her a big hug. Instantly, all of Janet's tension washed away, and she allowed herself to break down into tears of joy.

"Oh, Mike, you've come home. I've missed you so much…I was afraid that you had changed somehow, that you might have forgotten what we all meant to each other when we were children," she cried.

Mike could not help but smile. "I have changed, Jan," he informed her.

"I've become more loving, more concerned for the feelings of people.

And I've missed you, too…you and Kitty."

The three of them sat down on the couch, and there was a moment of silence.

"So tell me what you've been doing," both Janet and Mike began at exactly the same time. They laughed at the happy coincidence. Kitty had to fight back another rush of sentiment when that happened. There was so much to talk about, so much to catch up on that none of them knew where to begin.

"Oh, I have to run into the kitchen for a minute, Mike, and make sure everything is ready," Janet said, getting up off the couch. "You know, your coming had put me in a wild spin all day. I hope dinner will turn out all right. It's been quite a while since I've cooked for…well, for a man."

The older woman left the living room, and Kitty and Mike sat and looked at each other. "Janet bought some wine," the younger sister said.

"Would you like some before dinner?"

"Yes, please," her brother answered. "The drive was really something. I could use a drink to calm down."

Kitty entered the kitchen, and she and her sister exchanged knowing smiles while the younger woman poured three glasses of wine. In a few moments, the two sisters returned to Mike for some conversation before dinner. Mike couldn't help noticing how beautiful his sisters had become, especially Kitty. The older brother and younger sister had always had a special relationship with each other, and Mike was glad to know that it had not changed.

"You know," he said, looking down at his drink while his sisters watched him, "it never ceases to amaze me how beautiful the two of you are. Especially you, Sis," he added, raising his head and looking at Kitty, who was sitting next to Janet on the older woman's couch opposite him. The younger girl flushed with embarrassment at his compliment. "Oh, Mike," she replied softly, "you were always able to say just the right thing. You could always make me feel good."

"I hope it does make you feel good, Sis, because you know that I mean every word of it," her brother replied.

The three of them took a few more sips of their drinks, and finally broke into an easy, friendly conversation. Mike told them of his life with the farmers, of the girl he had found and his feelings for her.

All the while, he looked again and again at his younger sister. He had never seen her look so lovely before, and he was getting thoughts that bothered him. She was beautiful. Her young girlish body, the one he remembered, had matured into the round, soft fullness of a full fledged woman, and the closeness he felt for her was becoming something different than anything he had ever felt before. He had always loved her when they were growing up…loved her perhaps more than a brother usually loves a sister.

Kitty, too, was feeling a little different than she had expected. She noticed that her brother was staring at her, and even though she felt a little uneasy with his glances, she also found that she enjoyed his stares, and she shifted her body in such a way that her short dress rose slightly along her thighs, exposing a great deal of her shapely legs to her brother's obviously interested glance. Yet she was not teasing her brother. After what had happened between her and her sister the night before, she wanted to let her brother know that she could express love for him in a way she had never been able to before. She was not certain, however, how he felt about it. He might read everything wrong.