Outback Affairs

Outback Affairs

Copyright Nikki Dark 2021

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Edited by Tex Beethoven

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All sexually active characters depicted in this work of fiction are 18 years or older.

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Sunday, January 13 ^th 1985

Brisbane, Australia

Madonna and Wham ruled the radio waves, shoulder pads were in, bikinis were high-cut, jeans high-waisted, and parachute pants were acceptable daywear. Goldie Hawn graced the cover of Playboy.

There was no internet back then (believe it or not, and any mention of it would only have earned you a puzzled look), and for siblings Jen and Andy, their summer appeared to be doomed to a landlocked equivalent of the doldrums when they were told they'd be visiting their Uncle Jack on his farm in the Australian Outback for several weeks so their mother could help him get the sheep station's finances back in order.

Leaving their home in Brisbane behind to endure the endless boredom of more than a month in the middle of what Andy called 'Bum-Fuck Nowhere' was not what they considered an acceptable version of their hoped-for summer entertainment. Their Aunt Alisha had tragically passed away a year ago from cancer, and Uncle Jack had experienced a hard time adjusting. Running his sheep station while bringing up his two nearly-adult children had been a struggle for him. Things had gotten away from him financially, and the bank holding his second mortgage was sharpening its knives.

May, their mother, was an accountant and something of a financial wizard, so she was going there to see if she could help save the station, and she'd offered up Andy and Jen as free labour for the summer. Their father had some major business project he was working on, so even though the two kids at barely eighteen (Andy) and nineteen going on twenty (Jen) could have looked after themselves perfectly well (and had said so numerous times), their mother had insisted they go along to help out their uncle.

"You realise that they're so far from civilisation it's like more than two hours just to the nearest town with a pub in it, right?" Andy complained. Having only recently turned eighteen, he couldn't believe he was being denied his summer of finally being allowed to saunter into pubs and nightclubs with his mates, not to mention all those same missed opportunities to pick up girls!

"Tell me about it," Jen agreed. "I mean, we're not exactly going to be near any sort of fashion mecca, let alone anywhere near a beach!"

May let their arguments wash over her. She'd heard them all before, and while they were generally good kids, she believed it would do them good to see what real labour was like, and to roll up their sleeves and contribute to their family's welfare.

"You reckon Kylie has even heard of Wham?" Jen asked her brother during the interminable journey into the back of beyond.

"I doubt it. They probably still listen to all that country shit we had to put up with last time we were there four years ago!"

"Hey, ease off, you two. It's not easy growing up out in the sticks. So instead of whining about what Kylie and Gary might not have heard of, why don't you use this chance to introduce your cousins to what's cool in the big smoke? I'm sure they'd appreciate getting ahead of the curve with their friends."

"What friends? They live so far from anywhere else, I'll bet they hardly ever see anyone at all," Jen moaned.

"Oh come on, it's not as bad as all that," May said with a sigh, even while she remembered how isolated her own childhood had been on the station.

They drove in silence until the next country town, where May pulled the Landcruiser into a petrol station, announcing it was time for fuel, lunch, toilets and snacks. While she filled the cruiser, Jen and Andy went inside the airconditioned restaurant attached to the petrol station, and wandered over to the magazines. Jen picked up the latest Cosmopolitan to add to her collection of magazines she'd brought along to share with her cousin Kylie. Despite her recent disparagement of any social life, she'd always quite liked the perky girl.

Andy waited until she'd moved on, then he grabbed a copy each of Penthouse and Playboy from the rack. Surely Gary, their other cousin, would appreciate the finer aspects of the naked female form as much as Andy did. Buying them was one small way he could celebrate his now being of age!

"Here, put this one on please, Mum," Jen said to her mother, passing forward from the back seat a mixed tape she'd put together. Andy was taking a turn in the front after their stop.

Like a Virgin blasted from the radio, and Jen sang along, while May tried to ignore the sexual overtones. She knew any discussion on that topic would only make the journey seem even longer than it already was.

Hours later, they pulled up to the station's large farmhouse, bedecked with large return verandas to keep the stifling heat at bay. May honked the horn to announce their arrival, killed the engine, and all but fell out of the car. She stretched and groaned out loud as her two kids joined her in relieving the kinks from their long hours in the confined quarters.

Jen watched their relatives emerge from the house. She expected all three of the family to appear, but only two of them came out: her cousins Gary and Kylie.

She was astonished by how tall Gary had grown. She hadn't seen their cousins for around four years, and at twenty one he'd definitely grown into his body compared to the gangly and awkward teenager he'd been the last time they'd visited. The work on the farm had definitely been good for his physique, and she couldn't help but think if the other farm boys in the area looked this good, there might be hope for this trip after all.

Kylie on the other hand, didn't seem to have similarly benefited from the passage of time. Growing up on the farm, she'd always tended toward being a tomboy, and now there was still nothing in her appearance to suggest that had changed. At nineteen, she was only six months younger than the shapely Jen, butpolar opposite in appearance. With a boyish figure that her plain t-shirt and shorts did nothing to emphasise, no breasts to speak of, and a generous smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks, Jen doubted she'd ever seen the end of a stub of lipstick, let alone the finer points of a decent makeover. She wondered whether they'd find anything to bond over; she hoped there'd be something.

"Hey Gary, hey Kylie," May called out. "It's great to see you again!"

"Hey Auntie May," Kylie called back happily, rushing forward to greet her aunt with a boisterous hug. Gary held back at first, but soon followed her lead, once his sister had disengaged.

"G'day Andy," Gary greeted his cousin, holding out a hand for a shake. Jen tried not to laugh when her brother visibly flinched when Gary took his hand and squeezed a little. She didn't call him out on it, not even when afterward he gave his hand a quiet shake when he thought no-one was looking. Before she could process much else, she found herself entangled in a wholehearted hug from her cousin Kylie.

"It's so good to have you here!" Kylie declared excitedly, before moving on to give Andy an equally enthusiastic hug.

"Where's your Dad?" May enquired when the greetings were over, and they were all walking into the house.

"Down in the back paddock fixing a fence," Gary answered.

"Typical; he couldn't let it wait until after we'd arrived!" May laughed.

"That's our Dad. If it has to be done, it gets done right away," Gary agreed. "At least he didn't drag me down there with him for once. He honestly thought he'd be done by the time you got here. He shouldn't be too much longer."

"It's not a problem," May assured her niece and nephew.

"So, I hope you don't mind Jen, but you're sleeping with me in my room, Andy is with Gary, and of course Aunt May gets the guest room to herself."

"We wouldn't have expected anything else," Jen said with a smile. "God forbid I'd have to share with this dork!" gesturing toward Andy.

"You should be so lucky," Andy laughed.

"Ugh, lots of boy stink!" Kylie ribbed the boys.

"That's man stink to you," her brother teased back.

"Just like a rose, stink by any name is still stink!" Kylie quipped, to end the exchange.

They spent the next twenty minutes dragging bags in and getting organised, until Jack finally returned from fixing the fence.

"You lot finally get here then?" he called out by way of greeting as he came inside, the ancient screen door banging closed behind him.

"We'd have been here sooner, but you live in the middle of fucking nowhere!" his sister teased before seizing him in a hug. She added, "How are you, ya big lug?" after she stepped back from the hug to size him up.

"Yeah, I'm not bad May. Better for you being here, though," he replied.

Jen and Andy emerged from the bedrooms with their cousins in tow to greet their uncle.

"Right, well given you're all here, I reckon I might actually knock off work a bit early," Jack declared.

"Good Lord, Dad, you feeling okay?" Gary asked his Dad in mock shock.

"We can head back out if you like," Jack replied. "Seem to recall you already slacking off most of the day."

"No, no, that's fine," Gary laughed. "How about instead I get us all some beers?"

"Now you're talking!" May said. Gary went in search of drinks while everyone else went outside to the generous veranda, where they sat chatting and catching up.

--- +++ ---

Monday January 14 ^th

"Tell you what, when I'm done here, I'm definitely taking a dip," Gary said late in the day to Andy, as they worked a fence line together.

"You still swim in that old water tank?" Andy asked.

"Yep. Other than taking a bath, it's about the only way to have a soak," his cousin replied. "At least we have water piped out here these days, not like when Dad was little and they only had the bore!

"I still remember how paranoid Mum was about us climbing up there when we were younger," Andy laughed.

"Oh hell, yeah. She was worried her soft little city kids would fall down and die! Hard to imagine that she actually grew up out here swimming in that thing herself."

"No kidding!" Andy agreed.

They finished ramming the last star-droppers in for the day, jumped into the old Land Rover and headed back to the house.

"Hey, you two, Andy and I are going for a swim, you interested?" Gary called to the two girls, who were on the veranda talking when they pulled up at the house.

"Sounds great!" Kylie called back.

"Gotta be better than melting out here," Jen agreed. The two girls headed inside to change into swimming attire. Ensconced in Kylie's room, Jen pulled out the bikini she'd brought with her. She'd bought it to wear to the beach, and had thrown it into her luggage, even though she despaired of the zero chance she had of getting to show herself off in it to any cute boys.

"Wow, check you out," Kylie said, as Jen settled the top in place. The bottoms were black and cut high over her hips in the latest fashion of the day, while the top was scoop necked, and a combination of fluorescent pink and orange. Kylie had simply pulled on a pair of denim shorts and a plain white t-shirt.

"Don't you wear a swimsuit?" Kylie asked her.

"Nah, no point. Like why bother? I mean, look at you, you're like Elle Macpherson! You've got something worth showing off. Gary won't know where to look. Me, I'm a surfboard. So yeah, shorts and a t-shirt are fine for me."

Jen wanted to protest and to tell her cousin she looked sexy, but she hesitated, and so the moment was lost. And in truth, she simply didn't see sexy when she looked at the girl, although she guessed some people might. She followed Kylie out to the old water tank, an ancient (1920's maybe) galvanised steel construct perched on a weathered but sturdy stand about four metres off the ground.

"Geez, I'd forgotten how high it is," Jen observed, as Kylie preceded her up the ladder.

"I'm pretty sure that's why your Mum used to have kittens about you climbing up here," Kylie laughed. Jen followed her up the rusty steel ladder, and over the top of the tank. The two guys had beaten them up, and were already lazing in the water, both wearing old shorts. A platform had been installed next to the ladder just above the current water height. On the occasions when the tank was full, it gave them somewhere to sit even if it was a few inches below the waterline, and when the water level was lower like it was at this time, it gave them somewhere dry to put their bums without having to climb all the way back down again.

As Kylie had predicted, the sight of Jen climbing over the edge of the tank in her bikini had Gary lost for words.

"Don't gawk Gary, it's rude," Kylie teased him. "Anyone would think you'd never seen a girl before."

"She does have that effect on guys," Andy laughed.

"I can imagine," Kylie replied, drawing his gaze. The water in the tank was only about waist deep on Gary, and it came to just below Kylie's breast-line. Andy realised this because after initially sinking into the water to get wet, she stood up again. Her plain white t-shirt clung transparently to her body, and for the first time he had reason to think of her a little differently.

While Kylie was flat-chested, her nipples stood out from her small breasts as delightfully puffy, conical caps, and they were obvious through the wet fabric. The wet t-shirt clinging to her lithe frame also highlighted the fact that while her figure at first appeared boyish, it had subtle curves he'd not previously noticed. He tore his gaze away, aware that he was staring at Kylie almost as obviously as Gary was ogling Jen.

"Um, Kylie, you know that, like, your t-shirt is basically see-through right now, right?" Jen said quietly to her cousin once she'd noticed, not wanting to draw any more of her brother's attention to the view.

"Oh, um yeah, but like, nothing to see, remember?" Kylie replied self-deprecatingly.

"I wouldn't call it nothing," Jen responded quietly. "Like um, your nipples?"

"Well to be honest, usually when I'm up here, I don't even bother with the t-shirt, just a pair of knickers," Kylie laughed.

"When you're alone though, right?"

"No, even with Gary here. I mean, they're just nipples, so who really cares?"

"I think Andy might," Jen laughed. "He's really struggling not to stare at you outright."

"Really?" Kylie asked delightedly, surprising her cousin with how exciting she found the prospect.

"Um, yeah."

Kylie finally looked down at her t-shirt to learn exactly what Jen meant.

"Seems like the t-shirt is a bit pointless really, doesn't it?" she said with a laugh.

"It doesn't leave much to the imagination," Jen agreed.

"No point having it on, then," Kylie declared, and peeled it away from wetly sticking to her body before pulling it off over her head.

"Whoah, what are you doing?" Jen exclaimed.

"Well, given everyone can see me right through the t-shirt, it really doesn't matter if I'm wearing it or not," Kylie said, though she did slip her nipples underwater after draping her t-shirt over the side of the tank to dry.

"Don't worry about her, she swims topless all the time. You get used to it," Gary reassured his cousins.

But Andy didn't know where to look! He desperately tried to avoid staring at his cousin's little tits, but he failed constantly. And worse, he kept getting erect underwater at the sight of her. He hadn't had much experience with girls, and the models featured in the magazines he bought tended to look more like his buxom sister. He found Kylie's toplessness both incredibly erotic and utterly fascinating.

"You alright Andy, you look like you're about to have a stroke," his sister teased him, drawing laughs from the others.

They hung around in the tank for a good half hour longer, before they heard the clanging of the old bell that hung on the porch calling them back.

"Time to help get dinner ready apparently," Jen sighed, knowing her mother would be expecting her.

They climbed out of the tank and back down the ladder, Jen insisting on everyone following Kylie (who'd put her top back on before climbing out) so the guys wouldn't be perving up at her from below. She'd also never been quite so conscious of just how high-cut her bikini was as when she went to climb down.

The two guys went and grabbed some beers and settled down to drip-dry themselves on the veranda, while the girls went inside to change.

"I can't believe you swim topless in front of your brother! Mine nearly had a fit," Jen chuckled as she stripped out of her wet bikini.

"Well I reckon if Gary saw you topless, he'd definitely have a fit," Kylie laughed. "He's never even shown the slightest interest in looking at my tiny boobs."

"Well Andy sure did," Jen replied.

"I'm sure he'll get over it," Kylie laughed. "Wow, look at you!" she added, as Jen peeled down her bikini bottoms.

"What do you mean?"

"You're so... well... neat," Kylie said, pulling her wet shorts and panties down.

"Neat?"

"Yeah, your pubes."

"Oh!" Jen startled, glancing across at her cousin, to catch sight of a totally untamed bush of red hair. "Well yeah, like if I didn't like maintain them, my pubes'd be hanging out of my bikini."

"Huh, that's something I never really thought of," Kylie stated matter-of-factly, before towelling herself dry.

"You should; in my limited experience, guys much prefer it when everything down there is neat and tidy."

"Then if it ever looks like some guy might be getting interested, I'll have to keep that in mind," Kylie responded with a laugh.

--- +++ ---

Tuesday January 15 ^th

Long before dawn the next morning, May slipped quietly from her bed and padded across the old wooden floorboards to her brother's bedroom. She eased the door open, snuck inside, and then closed it silently behind her. Moments later, she was easing herself into Jack's bed.

"Wha's going on?" Jack mumbled blearily, as she wormed her way under the quilt and snuggled close to him.

"Just getting back where I belong," she whispered, slipping an arm around him and pulling herself close, her breasts crushed against his back.

"No, this isn't right," Jack protested in a mumble.

"Shh," Just go back to sleep," May told him.

So he did exactly that.

May's heart fluttered joyfully as she lay holding her brother, smelling his scent and listening to the sound of his breathing. Eventually she had to release him, but she didn't leave his bed. She curled up on her side and slept contentedly.

Jack was the first to wake, accustomed to getting up at dawn and starting work early in the day, especially during the heat of summer, when it could become unbearable later on. As Jack came to grips with consciousness, he realised he wasn't alone in his bed, which hadn't been the case since his wife had passed. A vague memory he'd thought had been part of some dream slowly penetrated his sleep-addled brain, and he looked over to confirm it was his sister.

"May?" he said, poking her gently to nudge her awake.

"Mmm?" she murmured, rolling over and slowly opening her eyes. She smiled broadly when she realised who'd woken her. "Hey," she added, smiling lazily.

"Why are you here?" Jack asked her.

"Because I belong here."

"No, I'm certain we agreed long ago that you can't be here."