***** Writer's Note: Enjoy!
NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW
The night is dark, and full of dreams! Another dark night of the soul.
Nikki asked Jack if she could stay up and play Skyrim; it was the Role Playing Game she loved. She could spend hours on it neglecting to eat and forgetting the time. He wasn't hard to convince; but, like a good dad, he made her promise not to play past midnight. Working under the theory that,
if I'm asleep then Nikki is safe from me
, Jack had gone to bed early, finally falling into a fitful sleep lulled by the hauntingly evocative music of the Skyrim soundtrack coming from Nikki's room.
Hours later he woke disoriented, heart pounding and covered in cold sweat. Shaking his head to clear it, he fought to control his breathing. Bits and pieces started drifting back to him.
You're okay! She's okay, too! It was a dream...only a dream. So dark...a room...and I'm standing there with my cock out looking at her... aw, shit!
A bleary-eyed Jack Grant squinted at the small clock beside his bed in the dark. The little red-lighted numbers told him it was two in the morning. He got out of bed naked, padding down the hall to get a glass of water. He never made it.
Standing in the doorway of her room in the dark once again, he remembered the line from a TV series that he and Nikki were following.
"The night is dark and full of terrors!"
His eyes were useless, so he simply shut them. With his eyes closed, he could focus on other senses. He stood there listening to her breathing. Soft, regular, gentle.
She's asleep. Oh, sweet lord, I shouldn't be doing this...
Cursing his own weakness, he gingerly crept across the threshold only to trip over one of her boots and nearly fall. Automatically, his brain switched gears.
Fuck, I can't see shit!
Reaching down, he blindly searched for the side of her bed to avoid waking her. Locating it, he touched the edge of Nikki's quilt, gently slipping his hand under it as he went to his knees. Scarcely breathing, he inched the hand further until he felt a small, soft furry arm.
So small and soft and...and so... FURRY??!
He nearly jumped out of his skin before he realized what he had to be touching.
That fucking stuffed teddy bear! When did you start sleeping with that thing again?
Jack had gotten the bear for Nikki four years earlier. It'd been a disastrous time in their lives; Jenn had just left and, like any fourteen-year-old, Nikki had been confused and heartbroken. Hell, they'd both been devastated. One night, right after the divorce, he'd been woken by the sound of crying coming down the hall from Nikki's bedroom, and he'd found her sobbing inconsolably.
Sitting down beside her on the bed, he asked, "Nikki? Sweetheart, what's wrong?"
Almost choking on her tears she fell into his arms, all the grief and fear gushing from her in bouts of heavy sighs. "Mom's gone and now she's never coming back." A sob wracked her. "And...and soon... it'll start...and the dark...."
Jack was clueless. "Nikki, what...what dark?"
"The storms, Daddy. The storms always come and bad things go bump, and there is thunder, and trees fall over, and windows shake, and the lights go out. Mom always came...because she knew I was scared."
"Sweetheart, I never knew. Damn it, your mom should have told me," he said bitterly.
Nikki back-pedaled in a panic, "No, no, no, Daddy! Don't blame her, never blame her; it was our secret. I asked her not to tell, 'cause I didn't want you to worry." She snuffled dejectedly. "No that's not true. I made her promise, because I didn't want you to think I was afraid of the dark. I was so ashamed." Tears welled in her eyes again. "And now, you're mad at Mom and it's my fault. All of it! Everything's my fault."
"Oh, Nikki, please don't think that. I said what I said, because I'm really pissed at myself--not your Mom."
"How can you be mad at yourself, Daddy? Mom's the one who left us." A question of pure innocence.
"Because, sometimes, your dad can be pretty dense," he answered honestly, "about a lot of things. But, one thing I know for sure: Nothing's your fault. In my book, Olivia Nicole Grant, you have no faults, you are practically perfect in every way."
"Am I?"
You're just saying that because you are my dad!
"We just need to find a way to keep you safe. Something that will help you sleep."
Ah, I know just the thing.
When Nikki got home from school the next day there was the grandest, biggest, most awesomely wonderful teddy bear in all of Oregon sitting on the couch of their living room. This bear didn't just set on the couch like some ordinary stuffed toy; this bear was enormous, definitely had a personality, and looked like he'd sat down lazily, crossed his legs, and draped one arm over the back of the couch. His huge eyes were the color of soft amber, his was soft and furry all over. Wearing nothing but a black velvet bow-tie, he sported a smile that DaVinci might have envied.
"Oh, my God!" Nikki had squealed as soon as she spotted him. "Oh, Daddy...Daddy! Where, when? Oh, my God! He's incredible!" Immediately demanded, "What's his name?"
Jack couldn't have been more pleased; it felt like he hadn't seen her happy in weeks. "Oh no, young lady. I may have found him; but, you gotta name him. He's yours."
Taking him at his word, she scrunched up her face concentrating. She approached the bear till they were almost nose to nose. Evidently, they were communing. Several seconds passed, then she smiled broadly and motioned towards the bear. "Daddy, allow me to introduce you to Sir Theodore Barrister."
Jack laughed out loud. "That's a hell of name, Nikki!"
"No, Daddy, it's a great name. Like you, he's a lawyer and he's gonna be my knight in shining armor to protect me from the dark." She'd run across the room and kissed Jack on the cheek. "Thank you, Daddy; you're my hero."
Nearly four long years. That was a long time ago. Sir Theodore Barrister, what a name! A damn teddy bear,
Jack stirred from his reverie. Under the covers she was lying spooned to the bear. He tugged gently only to have her mutter something and turn slightly away, relinquishing her grip with her legs wrapped around its torso. It still lay against her shoulder. Jack rolled the bear away from her gently. With it gone, she lay on her back under the quilt. It was ideal for the game he had in mind. He slowly pulled back the cover baring her arm, breasts, and small extended hand.
He touched her hand. She moved a little. His hand moved slowly up her arm, searching for then finding the curve of a small breast.
Jesus, no bra?
The backs of his fingers lay against the outside swell of a very young girl's breast. Immediately corrected himself,
young woman's breast
. He could feel the slight swelling of her nipple.
Christ, do they pout even when she sleeps?
Curious, he ran his fingers down her side gently tracing her ribs in the pitch blackness, He could feel the goosebumps forming on her skin; felt the small waist again. He slightly lifted his hand and slowly skimmed across a perfect little tummy. He found her bellybutton in the dark and explored its outline. In her sleep, she trembled and mumbled something he couldn't quite understand. Murmuring once more, she brushed his hand away, shifting slightly on her bed.
Obsessed with the memory of her white cotton panties, he let his finger tips trace lower.
