I consider myself to be a normal and well-adjusted woman. Although I grew up in a small, rural town, I am not what would slangily be referred to as "white trash". My father was a prominent attorney with statewide political ambitions. My mother held a Ph.D. in classical literature. Education and attention to the arts had always been important aspects of my rearing.
My education and intelligence are why now I so keenly feel responsible for my past actions. I have a dark secret. I committed an act about which I cannot speak. I committed incest.
I had returned home for summer break from law school. I was ninth of thirteen siblings, a large family that was likely the product of our Irish-catholic heritage. My appearance, or so I have been told, is also related to this heritage. My skin has always been very fair. My eyes are bluish-grey atop high cheek bones. I wore my black hair long, and it curled naturally about my face and cascaded in large waves past my neck. Despite a rural upbringing, I was never a "tom-boy" and much preferred being very feminine. I almost always wore a dress or skirt. My breasts developed early; much too full for my frame, I thought, and I fell into a habit of holding my body to minimize their prominence.
My brother Aiden was staying at home that summer. Because he was seven years older than me and had left home just as I was entering my teen years, I did not know him very well. He was not overly macho like some of my brothers tended. He was more bookish and quiet. I always found him to be gentle and kind. Although he stood nearly a foot taller than me and was handsome, he carried himself with modesty and shyness. It always pleased me when he would take the time to speak quietly and with interest to me amidst the din and distractions of our family gatherings. I greatly enjoyed and sought his company.
Aiden held an associate professorship in history at the local liberal arts college. He returned home that summer to help our folks with some projects around the house and farm. Although he was known to have had girlfriends, he was not married or deeply involved with anyone at that time. He had always avoided being the subject of the gossip that swirled about from our family of characters.
It was my first week back when Aiden asked if I would like to join him in town at a local tavern. I was excited about the opportunity to spend time with him and get to know him better. I had no conscious thoughts of sexual attraction to Aiden. He was my brother and important to me.
Our evening out was wonderful. We talked about old times, laughed and caught-up with each other's lives. We liberally drank several beers. While I do not in any way blame the beer for what would happen, it certainly contributed to our enjoyment. I watched as Aiden's quiet facade faded to reveal his warmth, humor and intelligence.
I was eventually able to pull him on to the dance floor. It may be hard for some to comprehend, but being from such a small town with such a large family, dancing with my brothers and sisters was very common. There was never anything sexual about it, just good clean fun.
Aiden and I primarily danced to fast songs and line dances. On a couple of occasions, one of my favorite slower songs came on, and I absolutely had to dance. Dragging Aiden by the hand, we would take to the dance floor. He held me as we swayed to these wonderful songs. It felt very comfortable and reassuring.
We eventually thought it best to return home while our ability to drive was in some proximity to the applicable legal standards. Once we returned, neither of us wanted our fun to end. So as not to wake our folks, we decided to go to the barn and continue our evening.
At no time in my life had the barn housed animals or served any agricultural functions. For me, it had served as a fortress, a clubhouse, a dance hall, a meeting place for high school friends and a private retreat. A pair of gas lanterns dimly – and with only flickering success – pushed back on the darkness of the night. Several blankets carpeted the floor. An old single-speaker radio crackled before emitting pleasant music in its unique trebelous way. It was early enough in the summer that the warmth of the day gently yielded to a touch of cool that carried with it the faint smell of clover and fresh earth. We had traded the clamor and excitement of the tavern for a secluded and intimate world.
At first, we occupied this new world with our former selves; loud, boisterous and easy to laugh. Imperceptibly, we acclimated to our new environs, our voices lowering, leaning into one another, the subjects of our conversation becoming less superficial and more personal.
It was Patsy Cline singing "Crazy" on the radio that was the catalyst for ending our conversation. Putting down my beer, and kicking off my shoes, I stood on the blankets in middle of the barn floor and implored Aiden to join me for a dance to my favorite song. He reluctantly removed his shoes and stood before me. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he placed his hands on my hips. We swayed, silently listening to the music. I could feel the warmth of his body shielding the encroaching coolness. I felt incredibly comfortable, safe and pleased to be spending this time with Aiden. I still had no conscious inkling of sexual desire, just wonderful contentment.
As the song came to an end, I released my hands from around his neck and stepped back. My foot slid into a depression in the earth that was hidden by a blanket. The unexpected drop combined with the beers I had consumed caused me to loose my balance and fall backwards. As I fell, I reached out and grabbed Aiden's arm. The support of his body prevented me from landing hard, but I had caught him off guard and in a poor position. As I landed flat on my back, I pulled Aiden down on top of me.
We both laughed uncontrollably at my clumsiness. He was pressed flat against me, his waist situated between my legs, my skirt pushed high up my thighs from bracing for his fall on top of me.
It was the innocent and unexpected press of his body against my womanhood that awoke a desire in me. If I had been honest and more reflective, I would have recognized this desire long before that moment. But that sudden sensation against my most intimate spot washed over me like a flood, and I was unavoidably confronted with a forbidden desire.
Intensity can stretch a single instant of time and allow for a far greater volume of reflection than an ordinary measure of time would permit. Such a stretched instant occurred the moment the electrons transmitting the sensation between my legs registered in my mind. In that single instant, I became aware of a deep and forbidden desire to be pleasured sexually by my brother. Also within that same micro-moment was the realization of the wrongness of that desire and an understanding that to even contemplate acting on that desire would be so primal as to be an insult to my heretofore enlightened. I understood that this sudden desire jeopardized my place in society, in my family and in my own mind.
The contact of his body that sent me into this spin was totally innocent. Nothing that had taken place up to that point that could be characterized as sexual. If I stopped right there, life as it had been would continue unchanged.
These thoughts were fully realized in that single instant of time and I fully recognized the correct, proper and only course of action I should take was to banish that sudden spark of desire back to the hidden reaches from which it came. I knew this. I knew this as my laughter stopped . . . as I held my lower lip between my teeth . . . I wantonly thrust my pelvis forward to maximize the touch and friction of his body against my pussy.