Every year I went with my wife. Mona, and her sister, Shelly, up to Lake Stoellen. Mona and I would take along our two kids. Shelly, divorced, would bring her three – two of whom were the same ages as our two. Shelly's third, Ashley, a girl two years younger, was born a beautiful chestnut brown – not Mom's color, and definitely not Dad's. Shelly had taken one too many liberties, and Ashley never knew her dad, but knew it wasn't the father of her brother and sister.
Combining our kids with Shelly's kids always meant chaos, and in recent years, as the children got older, they played more amongst themselves. We enjoyed our own independence as much as they enjoyed their own. On several occasions we suspected there might be something going on between the older cousins. So, for the last few years, there was often giggling and secret looks, often at the youngest, Ashley's expense.
This year was going to be different, because suddenly all four older kids decided they were grown up and made plans of their own for the summer. That left Mona and me by ourselves and Shelly with 19-year-old Ashley, who was back from her first year in college.
For the first couple days at the lake, we all did things together. We'd go swimming, take walks, cook, eat, then every evening, play cards. Four was a good number. And Ashley seemed to enjoy being the one getting all the attention. Several times, I got the distinct impression she was flirting with me – going out of her way to tell me what a great job I did, how good I looked, how funny I was. I didn't pay much attention until I noticed she did this only when nobody else was around.
I was flattered. She was becoming a beautiful woman. When she was a child, I had always liked touching that chocolate skin and telling her how beautiful she was. As she got older, I became a bit more cautious. But now, back from a year of college, she didn't seem to mind me looking at her, watching her giggle, jiggle, and wiggle.
It was the third night there that I began to understand. Ashley and I were on cleanup duty after dinner. The moms decided to go for a walk. In their absence, we enjoyed bumping into one another at the sink, laughing, and having a towel snapping contest. I won with a sharp snap to her thigh, just below those short cut-offs.
"Ow! That hurt," she said, looking at me, her eyes filling with tears.
"Sorry," I said as our eyes met for longer than usual. "Let me see."
Ashley turned to face the counter, bent over, arching her back down, and poked her butt towards me. She looked over her shoulder down her back. My heart quicken as I realized how she was presenting herself to me, like a mare in heat.
"Where did I..." I asked, putting a hand on the taught material holding each of her buttocks.
I bent over and tried to look at her thighs, but she wagged her tail as she looked over one shoulder, then the other, trying to see where I was. Her butt swung right under my nose causing a slight breeze. I took a short sniff. I could smell her.
"Right here," she said, putting her finger on the dark, smooth skin that was her upper left thigh.
"I'm sorry," I said, then leaned forward.
I put my hand on the back of her leg, then slid it to her inside thigh and pressed gently. I closed my eyes and kissed where I'd hit her leg. I lingered, letting her feel my breath, letting me smell her. She was sweet and fresh. And judging by the growing pressure in my pants, she was horny. I slid my hand slowly up until I felt the fringe of her cut-offs brush the back of my hand. I pressed my fingers into her leg. Ashley shifted her weight moved her foot to the side, making more room for my hand.
"THAT was BEAUTIFUL!"
I jumped when I heard Mona's voice. The front door closed. They were back. I stood up and looked at Ashley. I was terrified. She just smiled, gave me a quick kiss on the lips, and hopped out of the kitchen to greet her mom and aunt.
That night, during our ritual Hearts game, I couldn't bring myself to look at Ashley. I was afraid I would start blushing. But I knew she wanted something more than a feel up the leg.
"A boat," Sherry said. "What do YOU think, John."
I was caught off guard. I hadn't been listening to the woman's prattle. I had been thinking of something else.
"I'm renting a boat tomorrow and that's that!"
"Sure," I said. "Here's that queen you were looking for!"
The next morning, I went with Mona and Shelly to rent a boat. I didn't like boats, or boating, or even being on the water, floating, no way, no how. Mona didn't want to go, either, but when she finally understood I wasn't going, Shelly insisted Mona come along. In the end, Mona didn't want her sister going out alone.
"Where's Ashley?"
"I think she had something else she wanted to do, today."
"She needs some time away."
I shoved them off as the moms went out for a girl's day on the lake. I waved them goodbye, then headed back to my cabin. I hadn't seen Ashley since breakfast, and was disappointed she had left when she knew we would have some time alone for a change. "You're kidding, right?" I thought. "An old man like you! Get over it! She probably ran for the hills after that stunt you pulled last night."
When I got to my room, I froze. Ashley was standing in front of the full length mirror in my bedroom. Not standing, more like taking a stance. She was naked. No, almost naked, wearing only bright red lingerie. "God! Red looks good on her," I thought. Without making a sound I let my eyes drift down her back to the strap of her thong above the blossoms that were her hips. "She's gonna have one big butt after having kids!" I thought. Although her hips were out of proportion for her small torso, they were perfect tops to her long, muscular legs. At five foot eleven, Ashley was a tall girl, and most of that height was in her gams. It was her legs that held my attention.
I remembered when those scrawny spindles used to wrap themselves around my waist, followed by a big hug and kiss every time I saw her. "What I wouldn't do to have that chocolate skin wrapped around my waist now!" I thought. I admired the thick, muscular thighs, knees, and perfect calves. I followed the inside curve, that inverted "V", that ended with her crotch.
I could just make out the red line of her thong climbing out her butt crack. It was like the center line of a runway. I took a step and I wasn't sure if it was me or the floor that sighed. I looked into the mirror at the reflection of her face and saw her looking back.
Neither of us moved. I heard my heart pounding in my ears, and my shallow breathing. I was scared and excited; that magic adrenaline-produced state of awareness. She didn't move, then turned to look at herself in the mirror, as if I wasn't there.
"What ya doin'?" I asked, emboldened to take another step.
"Just trying on some new lingerie I bought for the trip," she answered, without looking my way.
"You got a date?"
"I hope so," she said, her eyes flickering up at me, then back at herself.
Though I couldn't see her hands, I could tell from her elbows that they were climbing her belly. I saw her biceps flex and heard her inhale deeply. She took a step back from the mirror, spreading her feet a little further apart. I could see she was looking at her breasts, deciding if they looked good. Then she leaned forward, arching her back and tilting her hips up, revealing the shiny red patch her thong. "Fuckin' bitch in heat!" I thought to myself. I closed my mouth and carefully sniffed the air for her scent.
"Are you... have you... are you a virgin?" I asked.
She was startled, then turned to look at me in the mirror.
"Not since I was twelve," she said.
"Twelve?" I was surprised.
"Yeah," she said, letting her hands come to rest on her thighs, lightly moving from inside thigh to back of the leg, then back again. "When I was 11 I was masturbating a lot..."
Ashley paused and looked up to see my reaction. When I didn't have a reaction, she looked back at herself and went on. "And Shanille... You know Shanille?"
She stopped talking, but didn't look up, just kept moving her fingers, dipping a little deeper between her legs with each pass.
"Shanille and I watched this movie and she said it felt a lot better than doing it yourself. She said it was easy, said all I had to do was ask a boy to walk me home. Shanille had done it and she said it was better than masturbating."
I knew Shanille. She was an even richer brown than Ashley. They formed an impenetrable wall against all parents. Together, they got into more trouble than all our other kids combined. Shanille was the leader, always ahead of Ashley. Ashley was competitive, never wanted to be second, and got egged on to do almost everything Shanille told her to do.
Ashley's fingers were hidden now, but judging by the look on her face, they had found what they were looking for.
"When I was twelve, I asked a high-school boy to walk me home. Shanille was right."
"Did you like it?" I asked. I slipped off my river shoes and walked over to Ashley. She didn't move. I stood right behind her.
"Not really. I was young and thought he knew what to do, but he just thought of himself and then left in a hurry. Shanille said the same thing happened to her, that I should keep trying."
Ashley closed her eyes as she enjoyed what her fingers were doing, then went on. "After a few more fumbled failures, I decided I'd wait."
I turned Ashely to face me. My eyes went to her swollen breasts pushing over sheer lace, the nipples only half covered.
"Looks like it's a little small," I said, and lifted my hand to brush her breast, which was exploding out the top of her bra. She turned back to the mirror.
"That's what SHE said!" she giggled.
