I woke up early the next morning, eager to get ready for the day out with Ella and Eric. For some reason, I was looking forward to spending time with Ella more than I had expected. There was something about the way she looked at me, with a heat in her eyes that was as surprising as it was disconcertingly sexy. The way she’d bitten her lip, the pink of her mouth, had filled me with a desire I didn’t want or need. But still, I wanted to be around her. I had been more than pleased when Eric told me that Ella had agreed to go to the party.

I found her cooking breakfast in the kitchen, humming softly to herself as she worked. I walked in and she stopped humming, looking away from me shyly.

“Good morning, Ella,” I said, noticing how flushed she got when I looked at her. It could have been embarrassment for being caught humming, but I had a feeling it was more than that. She had looked just as flushed the day before when I’d found myself almost flirting with her outside in the garden.

“Good morning,” she said, turning around to the stove.

“Are you ready for today?” I asked her. She nodded, looking over her shoulder at me.

“Where are we going?”

“I guess we’re going to the mall,” I said. I didn’t shop much, and though I was familiar with the town before, things had probably changed over the last ten years.

“Okay,” she said, turning back to the stove. I had the urge to go up behind her, to wrap my arms around her and pull her body against mine. I ignored it but did approach the counter, careful to stay a few feet away from her.

“Do you need help? I hate that you do all of the cooking.”

“I’m fine,” she said and glanced over at me with the hint of a smile on her face. “Thank you. It’ll be done soon.”

“I’m going to help you with dinner,” I said, making sure my tone relayed that I wasn’t going to let her argue with me.

“Fine,” she said, but her tone was playful. I left the kitchen then and went out into the dining room where Eric was sitting and reading the newspaper. Ella joined us shortly after and we all had breakfast together, then went upstairs and got ready to go. An hour later we met in the foyer and then got into the car I had rented for the trip.

“Do you have any idea what you want?” Eric asked her. She shook her head.

“I don’t know when the last time I went shopping was. I don’t even know where to begin.”

“We can help,” I said, glancing over at her in the passenger seat. She snorted.

“I’m sure you both have excellent taste, but I’m not sure I trust it.”

“I’m shocked you don’t trust us,” I said. She gave a soft laugh, one that came out of her like music. It was a sound that I loved to hear, one that I wanted to hear over and over again.

“I guess I can give you guys a chance,” she said.

“I’ve never been shopping with a woman,” Eric said. “I’m sure it’s fascinating.”

“You won’t be saying that once we start searching for clothes that look good on her,” I said, winking at Ella.

“Anything would look good on her. A paper bag would look good on her.”

I saw her blush out of the corner of my eye and look out of the window. We pulled up to the parking garage for the mall and parked, then went inside. The place was massive and busy, filled with people going in and out of stores.

“Where do we start?” I asked her. She shrugged.

“I guess we walk around.”

We went into the first store we found that sold women’s dresses, and the three of us started going through the racks to find a dress that would suit her for the party. I pulled a couple off the rack and she raised her eyebrows when she saw them.

“Those won’t even cover my ass,” she said. I grinned at her, biting my lip, then put them back without a word. She shook her head at me although she looked amused. I found some more suitable dresses and handed them to her, then she took the ones we had chosen and went into the dressing room.

“You have to come out and show us,” I said to her after a few minutes.

“No way,” she said. “No.”

“Come on, Ella,” I said in my most coaxing tone. I heard her sigh.

“Fine.”

The door opened and she came out wearing a sapphire blue dress that brought out her eyes. It was tight, hugging her curves in a way that was mouthwatering to behold. I tried my best not to stare at her, not to drink in her body, every lush line of it.

“Turn around,” Eric said, and his voice was a little tight, sounding like he was feeling the same way I was. Ella gave us a shy look but then did a spin, giving us a view of her cute, round ass, emphasized by the tightness of the dress. I felt myself exhale when she turned around, as if I had been holding my breath.

“More,” I said to her. “I want to see all of them.”

She gave me a look before going back into the dressing room, emerging several times with a different dress on each time. Eric had been right—everything looked good on her, whether it was looser than the first one or just as tight. I knew the right dress when I saw it though, when Ella came out of the dressing room in a little black dress that flattered her body perfectly. It went down to her mid-thigh, showing off just a teasing hint of her long legs. There was a deep v in the front that was somehow tasteful, though it was daring in that it dipped below her breasts and showed the inside curves of them.

“That one,” I said, and Eric said the same thing at almost the same time.

“Really?” she asked, spinning around and looking at herself in the mirror. “I still have two more to try on.”

“You don’t need to,” Eric said.

“No, that’s perfect.”

She smiled then. “Thank you.”

I nodded. She went back into the dressing room and came out in her regular clothes, then we paid for the dress and left. We spent the rest of the day finishing our shopping, walking into the party store as our very last stop.

“What are we doing here?” Ella asked.

“We need masks,” Eric said.

“It’s a masquerade party?”

“Yes,” he said. We went over to the masquerade masks and began trying them on. Ella found a feathered one that was black and ended at her nose so that her lips were still visible. I nodded at her and she helped Eric and me pick out masks, which we got to match each other so that nobody could tell us apart.

When we got back to the house, we all went upstairs to get ready for dinner. I was waiting for Ella in the kitchen by the time she came down.

“You were serious?” she asked. I nodded.

“You’re not doing this alone every night. Not while I’m here.”

“Okay,” she said, surprise in her voice. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now what do I do?”

She laughed. “I’ll tell you.”

We set to work, moving around the kitchen together in silence. She brushed against me once, her body trembling, and I found myself frozen and unable to pull away. She stood there close to me, looking up into my face. The tension was so palpable then I could feel it all throughout my body, could feel it affecting me in a way that made my cock rise. I almost kissed her, almost took her mouth with mine before she pulled away, going back to work as if she were trying to pretend it hadn’t happened. I could see her hands shaking slightly as she chopped what was in front of her and imagined that she was as affected as I was; I wondered for a moment if that meant her pussy was wet, if her nipples were hard and aching to be touched. I would have loved to put my hands on her then but I didn’t dare, instead helping her finish up cooking before we brought the food to the table.

I sat across from Ella, catching her eye often. I couldn’t stop looking at her, making sure to sneak my glances when my mother wasn’t looking. She was astute, I knew, and she disliked both Ella and me anyway. Ella would always hold my gaze for a moment before looking away. She was quiet as she always was and I wondered what she was thinking, if she was as distracted as I was just being in the room with her.

Dinner seemed to drag as mostly my mother and Eric talked about his work and about the party. Afterward, Ella went upstairs to help put her grandmother to bed. I was waiting for her when she came out of the room and she ran into me as she turned the corner, bumping against my chest. I felt something flare up inside me when her body pressed to mine and I took her arms in my hands, holding her close for a moment. She didn’t try to pull away, but looked at my face with an expression that could only be described as desire. There was no way for her to hide it from me and I didn’t want her to.

I found myself tilting my face to hers, going to take her mouth in a kiss, but my lips made contact with her cheek instead when she turned her face away. I kissed it softly, then pulled back and away from her. The look on her face was intense but confused, and she shook her head as if waking up from a reverie.

“Did you want something?” she asked.

“Yes,” I told her, my voice deep and almost hoarse.

“What is it?”

“I just—I wanted to say goodnight. And thank you for going out with us today.”

“I should be thanking you,” she pointed out. “For the dress.”

“You already did. We’re happy to do it. That dress is incredible.”

“I’m glad you like it,” she said. “Goodnight, Julian.”

“Goodnight, Ella,” I said to her, and she gave me one last warm look before disappearing into her room. I ran my hand through my hair and sighed, going into my bedroom and closing the door behind me. I seemed to lose my mind every time I was around Ella. In the moment, I didn’t think about her as my stepsister, but as a woman I wanted to touch so badly it almost hurt. I thought about Eric and how I could tell by looking at his face that he felt the same way. I hadn’t expected this when we came home for our trip, but now it seemed like I was hopelessly attracted to Ella in a way that I couldn’t help.

I tried to shut her out of my mind when I went to sleep but I ended up dreaming about her. In my dream she was naked, spread out on my bed, her hair fanning around her face in a halo. I kissed between her breasts, down her belly and to the soft patch of curls between her legs. Her moans were vivid in my mind as I licked her pussy, which I imagined to be pretty and responsive to my every touch. I regretted it when I woke up before I made her come, wishing that at least it was something that I could experience in my dreams. It would never happen in real life, but I could relish it in my fantasies.