July 10, 2020

Standing in the kitchen, sipping his third cup of coffee, Aaron heard stirrings from the east wing of the house.  The moment he had been waiting for all morning had finally arrived.  A bleary-eyed Jenny stumbled into the dining room, only to be confronted by firmly crossed arms and a glowering face.

“Just what do you think you’re doing, young lady?  What would your father think if he could see you now?  Is that any way for a proper lady to behave?  Carrying on like that when we’ve got guests in the house?  Shame on you, you hussy.”

Bewildered, Jenny just stood there staring at him, hair in disarray, mouth opening and closing without making a sound.  “Wha?”  She wondered how her mother had gotten into their kitchen.

Aaron couldn’t maintain his composure any longer, letting out a snort of laughter before passing her a fresh cup of coffee.  “Take this.  Made it just the way you like it: milk, two sugars.  Maybe then your brain will switch on.”

Jenny accepted the mug with a mumbled thanks and sipped at the life-giving brew.  After draining the first cup, sense returned to her face and she glowered at Aaron.  “Asshole.  That was mean.”

“Hey, you wanted me to act more like a proper brother.  This is classic brotherly behavior.  You’ve just been spoiled by only having sisters.”

Jenny’s foggy brain failed to supply a rebuttal so she poured herself another cup of coffee and leaned back against the island.  “You’re still an asshole.”

Aaron nodded and the pair fell once more into silence which started peaceful but swiftly crept towards awkward.  “Lovely weather we’re having, isn’t it?” Aaron blurted out, unable to tolerate the quiet any longer.

“It has been pretty nice…”

“What the fuck was that all about?  Last night?  You practically mounted Mike in the living room and then when I finally came inside you two were howling at the moon.”  Aaron shuddered, unwilling to keep his mind focused on his brother’s sex life any longer.

Jenny blushed, mumbling something unintelligible under her breath. 

“What?  I can’t understand anything you’re saying.”  Aaron leaned forward, trying to hear whatever was embarrassing her this time.

“I said it was a side effect of the vaccine.  It ramps up both partners’ libido to ensure that we’re continuously transmitting immunity.  And now I’m done talking about this with my brother-in-law.  You’re just going to have to wait until your first partner comes.”

“One last question.  When I was shutting your door–and thanks for forgetting to do that and leaving me with these mental scars, by the way–I thought I heard you saying something over and over.  Interpreting? Something like that.”

Jenny, impressively, started blushing even harder.  “Imprinting.  It was imprinting.  It’s another side effect of the bonding.  After the man…orgasms…it causes the woman to pass out for 8-12 hours.  For the first several minutes, she repeats the word imprinting over and over.”

After a pause to absorb this, Aaron responded.  “Two things.  One, that’s sketchy as fuck.  B, please don’t ever say the word orgasm to me again in relation to my brother.”  He shuddered theatrically as Jenny snort-giggled, startled by the abrupt change in direction.

“Deal.”

* * * * *

July 13, 2020

Multiple times a day for the past three Jenny had jumped Mike and dragged him back to their bedroom. Or out to the barn.  Or behind a tractor.  At this rate, Aaron was pretty sure that Mike was going to have a heart attack, sooner or later.  At least he wasn’t complaining about it.  Aaron didn’t think he could tolerate a single complaint from his clearly well-sated sibling.  As the days passed without change, Aaron started to get a little anxious about his own partner.  Partners.  Was this just a classic governmental hurry up and wait situation?  Was it totally impossible to find matches for him?  What was going on?

Having already finished his weekly conference with Henry, Aaron decided to spend the rest of the morning tinkering with his latest project out in the workshop.  He desperately needed to clear his head, and nothing worked better than getting his hands dirty.  Donning ear protection and safety glasses, Aaron lost himself in the work.  Several hours later, he finished tightening the torsion bundles.  Wiping his sweat-soaked brow, he dropped his protective equipment on the workbench.  He discovered that the rumbling he had been feeling in his chest for the past several minutes hadn’t been coming from one of his tools.  Instead, another Humvee was idling loudly in his driveway.  He stepped out into the glaring sun, shading his eyes while frantically trying to brush the sawdust off his hair, neck, shoulders, pants.  Realizing that it was a lost cause, he wiped his sweaty hands against his jeans and went to meet his fate.

The same cute blonde driver that had delivered Jenny was unloading an enormous suitcase from the back of the idling vehicle.  She gave Aaron a friendly wave before opening the door and gesturing to someone inside.

The first thing he saw was the pair of sleek black high heels peeking out beneath the Humvee’s door.  This strange image was reinforced when the woman stepped out from behind the door, unconsciously smoothing her charcoal pencil skirt and straightening her matching jacket.

The mystery woman followed the bouncy corporal who again proffered the electronic tablet for his signature. Glancing over the Form DA 6969-R, he did a double take.  “Nigh-um?” he asked.

The woman nervously giggled and fiddled with the end of her strawberry-blonde ponytail.  “Niamh.  It’s pronounced like Eve.  It’s Irish.”

“Niamh Gutierrez?  I’m sure there’s a story there, but why don’t we go inside first.  You can meet Mike and Jenny.  If they’re…available that is.”  Aaron handed the tablet back to the corporal who gave another jaunty wave before climbing into the Humvee and backing down the driveway.  Grabbing the handle of Niamh’s rolling suitcase, he turned to lead her into the house, but she stopped him with a soft hand on his arm.

“You don’t want to do that; I’m all dirty and gross right now.  I didn’t know you would be coming today.  Otherwise, I would have showered or something.”  He chuckled self-consciously, but Niamh didn’t remove her hand, a conflicted expression clouding her face.  “Are you OK?”

“It’s just…been a really long time since I’ve been able to touch someone.”  Small tears trickled down her cheeks as Aaron pulled her into a tight embrace.  Ignoring the sweat and sawdust she clutched him close and bawled into his shoulder for several minutes.  As her breathing settled, he slowly eased her away from his chest and wiped her cheeks.

“This is probably a new record for me.  Fastest time from meeting a girl to making her cry.”

“Happy tears.  Relieved tears, really.  It’s only just starting to feel real.  I’m not alone anymore.”

“From what Jenny said, it sounds like you won’t have to be alone again for a long, long time,” Aaron said, comfort and concern warring in his tone.  Deciding to leave his reservations for another time, Aaron picked up Niamh’s bag again, slid his arm around her shoulder, and guided her into the house.

Before he could call out for his brother, he spotted a couple of half-eaten sandwiches abandoned on the dining room table. “Looks like Mike and Jenny are indisposed at the moment.  Do you want to sit on the couch and talk for a bit?  Would you prefer to change into something less formal?  Do you want a drink or something to eat?”

Niamh chuckled at his nervous ramblings, gently silencing him with a finger to his lips.  “Easy now.  One question at a time, alright?”  He wordlessly nodded, enjoying the feeling of her hand on his face.  “Why don’t you show me where I’ll be staying and then you can take a shower and I can get changed.”

Aaron gladly agreed to the plan and led her towards the bedroom adjacent to his own before stepping into the jack-and-jill bathroom, shutting the door behind him.  He stared into the mirror, trying to collect his scattered thoughts.

“Pull your shit together, man,” he said to his reflection.  “You’re acting like a jumpy teenage virgin.  Come on.”

“I can still hear you,” Niamh called out, giggling slightly.  “Just take a shower and then come out and find me.  I’m as much of a mess as you are, so don’t worry about it.”

Aaron emerged from his room, short hair still dripping, and blushed deeply when he spotted Niamh relaxing in the great room.  She had swapped out her business attire for a clearly-expensive pair of yoga pants and a stylish tank top.

“Feeling better?” she asked, patting the couch cushion next to her.

“Much better, actually.  Didn’t want your first impression of me to be so dirty.  Sorry about that.”

She snuggled up to him, reveling in the feeling of another human’s touch. “It’s fine.  I’m just glad you’re clean now so I can do this.”  She rubbed her cheek against his still damp arm, sighing contentedly.

“I guess we should probably get to know each other a little bit.  Since you’re going to be here for a while and all.”

“I don’t need to know anything else about you right now.  I got your whole background when I was given my match choices.  Between moving to a new city, getting up to speed on my new job, and now this pandemic, I’ve been pretty much completely isolated since January.  I couldn’t take it any longer, and when the government offered everyone in my company a spot in this program, I jumped at it.  That Oracle system thing gave us a 98% compatibility rating, and that’s good enough for me at this point.”

“You’re fine with this whole thing, with everything that this vaccine entails, based on the numbers a computer spat out?” he asked incredulously.

“My whole job is algorithms and data crunching.  I trust numbers.  Also, you have kind eyes.  Also also, you seemed pretty sexy from your pictures.  Actually, you’re getting sexier by the minute, now that I think about it.”  No longer content with just cuddling, she climbed into his lap and pulled him in for a deep kiss, moaning into his mouth.  “Are we about done with this part?  I’m losing focus here.  You smell good.”  She ran her fingers through his short hair, unconsciously grinding her hips against him.  “Are you ready to get vaxxed?”

“I’ve been ready for this since the lockdowns started,” he said.  

“Well then I guess it’s time for your medicine,” she saucily bantered, continuing to grind her hips against him.  Seeing that she wasn’t going to stop, Aaron opted to move things to his bedroom, rather than run the risk of being caught by Mike and Jenny.  “It would serve them right,” he muttered under his breath, levering himself out of his seat, carrying Niamh with him.

“What was that?”  She wrapped her legs around his narrow waist and her arms around his neck.

“Nothing.”  He kissed her again, navigating the living room without looking.  “I’m definitely ready for my medicine, Nurse Niamh.”  He stumbled into the corner of his nightstand, accidentally tossing her onto the bed.  

“Come and get it, cutie,” she said, wriggling her way out of her figure-hugging leggings.  

He winced at the nickname.  “Not my favorite.  We can workshop it.”  Refusing to be distracted, he stripped off his sleeveless shirt and climbed into bed with her, letting out a deep growl.

Catching up to her in the middle of the bed, he stared down at her, captivated once more by her vibrant green eyes.  She held his eyes for a moment longer before launching a surprise attack, rolling him onto his back and mounting him.  Niamh seductively pulled her top off, her unrestrained breasts tantalizingly bouncing before him. Hypnotized, Aaron barely noticed her working his belt free until she tugged his jeans and boxers down to his knees. 

Taking advantage of his limited mobility, Niamh paused, admiring his lithe, muscular body for a moment, before taking him into her mouth.  Almost immediately, she moaned loudly, falling to her side as her body was rocked by intense spasms.  Aaron jolted upright, afraid that she was suffering some kind of seizure before he realized that she was somehow already cumming.

She finally sat up, arms and legs still quivering, and met his gaze, the fire in her eyes somehow blazing even hotter.  “They weren’t kidding about that first priming orgasm being intense.”  Seeing his confusion and concern, she said, “Don’t worry about it.  It’s part of the vaccine process.” 

“Right.  Don’t worry about my magic cum causing spontaneous orgasms.  Check.”  He nervously chuckled.

Silencing him with a finger to his lips, she climbed back on top of Aaron, guiding him inside.  “Is this OK for our first time?”  She didn’t wait for a response, rocking her hips back and forth and dragging hard nipples against his chest.

“You know this is crazy, right?” Aaron said as he started to match Niamh’s movements. She moaned in response, bending down to kiss him without breaking her rhythm.  He gently wrapped his hands around her waist and started matching her downstrokes with quick thrusts.  All too soon, he reached his breaking point, pulling her down for a ravenous kiss while unloading inside of her.  Niamh gasped into his mouth as her body was again wracked with orgasmic tremors.  As she finally stilled, Aaron was able to lower her to the bed.  Pulling the covers up over her still form, he quietly slipped out of the room, pursued by her ceaseless chant of “imprinting.”

* * * * *

Gazing down at her sleeping form, lit only by moonlight, Aaron couldn’t help but be reflective.  The repeated “imprinting” was creepy as hell, but he’d been prepared for that by Jenny’s warnings.  What he hadn’t been ready for was the overwhelming sense of connection that he’d instantly felt with this woman.  He barely knew her—if knowing her name could even be counted as knowing her—but he could already tell that he never wanted to let her go.

Seeing her stir, he leaned down and kissed Niamh gently on the lips.  “That’s a pretty damn good way to wake up,” she purred.  Stretching her arms out wide, she slowly opened her eyes and gazed warmly up at him.  “Still sexy.”

Aaron chuckled.  “Pretty sure that’s the vaccine talking.”

“I thought you were sexy before they jabbed me, and I still think so now.  I’ll have to add self-deprecating and great in bed to the list of your virtues.”

Aaron blushed, surprising himself with an attack of self-doubt.  “I wasn’t sure where you would want to sleep, so I put your suitcase in the guest room over there.”

“I’m not leaving this bed any time soon.  And you’d better get back into it PDQ, mister.”

Deciding to leave his doubts and concerns for Tomorrow Aaron to deal with, Tonight Aaron hurried to comply with her demands.

* * * * *

July 16, 2020

After several days of getting acclimated to life on the farm, Niamh was starting to settle in and relax.  She was still able to connect with her colleagues at Sentinel Secure Investments and handled the few issues that had cropped up while most were being vaccinated and partnered up.

Operation Breadbasket required the military to drum up sufficient partners to ensure the participants’ safety, and they had started by reaching out to major employers in several midwestern cities.  Assured that they wouldn’t lose their jobs after moving away from Kansas City, most of the surviving female Sentinel employees, including newly recruited and promoted Senior Vice President Niamh Gutierrez, elected to grab onto the unusual lifeboat offered by the vaccine.  She might have to travel into Kansas City from time to time for meetings, once travel restrictions eased, but it should be manageable.

Wrapping up her final task of the day, Niamh descended from the office in the loft to track down Aaron for a bit of afternoon delight.  Following her nose, she found him tending a large pot in the kitchen.  Giving him a kiss on the cheek, she peered over his shoulder before tearing up.  “Is that…?”

“If I haven’t screwed anything up, that should be your abuela’s world-famous Ropa Vieja.  I wanted to do something to help you feel at home here, and your dad suggested this.  It was pretty funny.  I texted him to ask for ideas and he immediately looped me into a three-way video chat with your grandma.”  He smiled, recalling the wizened Cuban woman patiently walking him through the recipe step by step, happy to do anything she could to bring her granddaughter a bit of joy.  “Was this a terrible idea?”

She turned him around and pulled him into another deep kiss.  “This was an amazing idea.  Thank you.  What are we having with it?”

“Well, I’m attempting your dad’s recipe for Moros, which he only told me about after your abuela had already hung up.  I usually struggle with rice on the stove, so that’s a bit of a crap shoot.  If I completely fuck it up, we can have plain rice from the Instant Pot in no time.”

“I believe in you.  It smells amazing.” With another kiss, she headed for their bedroom to change out of her work clothes.  On her way, she waved at a clearly frazzled Jenny, arriving home after a long day at the clinic. 

As Aaron fluffed the rice and black beans (which had turned out shockingly well), the now-familiar roar of an approaching Humvee rattled through the house.  Niamh emerged from the bedrooms while Mike from the laundry room on the opposite side of the house. Jenny, who had been keeping Aaron company in the kitchen, downed the rest of her large glass of white wine.  Grimacing momentarily, she grabbed Mike’s hand and led the way out of the house.

The two couples stood on either side of the front steps, watching the now-familiar corporal approach with her tablet outstretched.  “You just can’t seem to stay away,” joked Aaron.  “You might as well move here, at this rate.”

“I did, actually,” she answered cheerfully.  “I’m partnered up with Ernie down at the hardware store.”

“Big Ernie?” gasped Jenny.  “He’s in his fifties, at least.  You can’t be more than twenty.”

“Not Big Ernie, Little Ernie.  His son.”  The corporal laughed.  “He’s only nineteen, but he’s sweet.  And cute.”  She winked saucily at them.

Flustered, Jenny didn’t have a response and grabbed the tablet from the corporal’s hand, signing it without looking at the form.

Unnoticed in the hubbub generated by the corporal’s provocative statement, the Humvee’s other occupant had emerged from the vehicle.  It was a familiar face for three of the residents, though she had cut her hair and gained a bit of weight since Aaron had last seen her.

“Sam!,” yelled Jenny, dashing down the stairs and embracing the woman.  Samantha Birch, Jenny’s childhood best friend and long-time third musketeer to the couple, smiled widely through the crushing hug.

“It’s good to see you again, Sam,” Mike said warmly, pulling her into a hug once Jenny released her.

“Good to be seen.  Hey, Aaron,” she called, waving at the couple still standing on the porch.

“Long time no see, Sam.  You look great.”

Sam blushed, allowing Jenny to again hug her close.

“Thank God it’s you Sam.  I was so worried about who they would send us next.  I know that sharing Mike is better than losing him, but what if they sent someone horrible?  Someone who wouldn’t fit in around here?  Someone who might try to steal him away from me?”

“Actually…”

“I mean, I’m sure it’s going to be hard to see him…be with someone else.  But at least it’s you.  Someone I know.  Someone I trust.”

“Jenny…”

“We always joked about never letting a boy come between us.  Now this crazy, mixed-up world is letting us make that a reality.  My best friend.  My sister.  My sister from another mister.” The combination of alcohol and anxiety jumbled her relieved words into a semi-coherent babble.

“JJ…”

“This will be great.  Now, whenever they send us another person, I know that you’ll have my back.  We will be a team.  It’ll be great.”

“Jenny!”  Sam’s tone finally broke through Jenny’s haze of relief.  “I’m actually here for him.”  Though she hated disappointing Jenny, she pointed, not at Mike, but at Aaron.