Calming Nightmares

Hi guys! For those of you who are reading To Tame a Slave, I promise, I'm working on chapter 9. I've literally been stuck on the end of it for months. To make up for it, it'll be like twice the length of any chapter before it. If any of you are interested, I'm looking for one person to help me with it. I need someone to bounce ideas off of and brainstorm with. You would of course be privy to all of my secrets.

So this story is like 3/4 of the way done right now. There will probably be about 3 chapters. Hope ya'll enjoy.

*****

With a strangled cry, I shot straight up, knocking my blanket onto the floor and causing my friend to grumble in her sleep. My body trembled, hunching into a ball as I fought off the nightmare that had woken me. It was a couple minutes before I finally calmed down enough to stretch my legs out, forcing myself to take slow deep breaths. My hands rubbed at my eyes, trying to ease the slight burn of tears unshed. I threw my legs over the side of the bed and stood up shakily, propelled towards the door in search of water for my dry throat.

"Everything is okay," I muttered to myself as my still sleepy eyes searched the dark hallway for monsters. Smothering a yawn, I slipped quietly down the stairs, feeling the last vestiges of my nightmare shake off now that I was up and moving. Curiosity drew me towards the sound of the tv in the living room, wondering why Alicia's dad would be up so late. I poked my head in, spying him sprawled across the couch, holding a beer in one hand, the other hand on his-

"Oh!" A startled cry escaped me as my brain finally registered what was happening, and my body quickly propelled itself backwards and down the hall towards the kitchen. Once safely away, I leaned on the counter, taking shaky breaths as the scene rolled over and over in my head. I'd had a crush on Alicia's dad for a long time. He was in good shape for an older man, or for a younger man honestly, with laugh lines around his mouth and the bluest eyes I'd ever seen. His head was covered in thick black hair, only just starting to grey, showing mostly in the nearly silver wings above his ears.

Being the best friend of his daughter, I'd never even entertained the idea of anything actually happening between us, as he seemed to think of me as a second child. He had, however, ruined me for guys my age. They lacked the maturity, the caring nature, even the authority that I've come to desire because of him.

"Leah? What the hell are you doing up?"

The sound of his voice knocked me from my musings and my eyes found him blocking the doorway. Unable to help myself, I glanced quickly down at his crotch, but his jeans were back where they should be.

"I-I, um, I was getting some water?" The statement came out sounding like a question, as my eyes glued themselves to the floor tiles to avoid looking at him. There was a long silence before he spoke again.

"How much did you see?" He asked with a sigh.

"Nothing!" The word came out too forcefully to sound believable.

"Leah." His voice was hard, that tone that made me tremble, made my heart race, and my eyes found themselves unwillingly meeting his. "We do not lie in this house, do we?"

"No, sir," I whispered, eyes dipping back to the ground. He sighed again, before moving towards me until his legs appeared in my line of sight. A rough finger hooked under my chin and tugged it up, forcing me to meet his gaze. This close to him, I remembered finally that I was standing there in only a pair of panties and a t-shirt that barely covered my ass. A blush spread across my pale cheeks, bright enough that I'm sure it could be seen even with the lights off.

"Leah, how many times have I told you to call me Daniel?" His hand cupped my jaw, thumb brushing across my red cheek. I only barely resisted the urge to nuzzle into his touch.

"I-I'm sorry, but it's hard. My parents drilled 'Ma'am' and 'Sir' into my head," I murmured, shifting from foot to foot, hoping to escape this uncomfortable situation soon.

The hand on my jaw slid down slowly, fingers trailing across my throat, tracing my collarbone and rubbing across the shoulder exposed by the looseness of my shirt. A small step brought him closer, until I was practically pinned to the counter, having to crane my head back to meet his eyes.

"I love how respectful you are," he says, voice dropping to a tone I'd never heard before. It was low, raspy, growly, making little shivers run up and down my spine. "But every time I hear the word 'Sir' come from those pretty little lips, it does things to me." His hand tightened on my shoulder, startling a whimper from me. The sound seemed to shake him and he quickly cleared his throat and stepped back. I exhaled, only just realizing that I'd been holding my breath since his voice had dropped.

"Get your water and go back upstairs Leah," he ordered as he turned and strode quickly from the room. The moment he was out of sight I collapsed to the floor, legs trembling too much to hold me up. What the fuck was that?

--

The rest of my night was uneventful, and I managed to leave in the morning without running into Daniel again. My whole next week was spent agonizing over it, until I finally decided to put it from my mind. It had to have been a fluke, or even a dream. There was no way it had actually happened. Either way, I spent the next couple of weeks avidly avoiding him.

Nearly a month later, only a week before our last day of senior year, I found myself staying the night with Alicia again. I'd worried that things would be awkward between her dad and I, but he seemed not to remember our encounter in the kitchen, relieving my mind and allowing me to relax and enjoy the evening. We ate dinner together, reminiscing about the all the mischief Alicia had gotten into, and subsequently dragged me into, throughout high school. More than once, her dad bemoaned the fact that I hadn't been his daughter instead, since I was the good girl, until Alicia pointed out that she would have corrupted me either way.

I'd moved into the house next to hers almost 2 years ago exactly. She must have seen me move in, because she was over the next day, demanding that I come swimming with her. We'd basically been inseparable ever since.

Our night ended with a cheesy romantic comedy that had us both giggling endlessly while her dad escaped to his office, saying that he needed to keep his masculinity intact. Somewhere towards the end of the movie, I started to drift off, body melting into the couch, and within moments I was passed out.

I woke up with a cry a couple hours later, body covered in a sheen of sweat, blankets tangled around my legs. The palms of my hands were pressed to my eyes, both to keep tears from flowing and to rub away the images from my nightmares. I trembled, knees coming up towards my chest, struggling to calm down, when a sudden noise made me cry out again.

"Shh shh shh, Leah, what's wrong?" The voice was familiar, calming me enough that I could lower my hands, though tears still threatened to fall. "I heard you yell, what's wrong sweetie?" Strong hands gathered me up gently, shifting me around until I was settled on his lap, head tucked into his chest.

"I-I had a n-nightmare," I whimpered, hands clutching desperately at his shirt. Long fingers stroked through my hair, slowly calming me down until I was no longer trembling.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, to which I simply shook my head. He didn't press the issue, instead continuing to stroke my hair soothingly, his other hand wrapped around my hip. After a while, the horror of my nightmare passed enough that I could relax, and I started to grow aware of something hard pressing into me from below. It took me a moment, but when I finally realized what it was my face flushed, and my body shifted awkwardly.

"Th-thank you for calming me down. I should probably head off to bed." I started to shift around to get up, but his arms tightened, holding me in place.

"Shhh, sweetie, no need to thank me, that's what I do. But if you go back to sleep now, the nightmare could come back." His big hand squeezed my hip, making me aware of how tiny I was compared to him. "I wanna make sure you're aaaalllll better first." His fingers threaded through my short hair before tightening, not enough to hurt but enough to limit my ability to move. My head was slowly pulled backwards, forcing my eyes to meet his, and as his breath hit my face for the first time, I had a realization.

"You're drunk," I accused, eyes narrowing slightly.

He grinned, a big dopey grin. "A little bit. And you're beautiful." A flush spread across my cheeks at the compliment. I didn't get many of them. I mean, I suppose I'm an attractive girl, in a waifish sort of way. I'm about five foot two and very slender, with chin length blonde hair and big green eyes and skin that refuses to hold a tan. However, as attractive as I may or may not be, Alicia was my best friend. She was bright and vivacious, curvy and stunning and flirty, while I was her pale, shy shadow. This didn't lead to much in the way of male attention.

"S-sir, you should really let me go. This isn't appro-"

"Mmm, say that again," he murmured, pressing his lips to my ear.

"Wh-what?" My voice was weak, his touch making butterflies flit in my stomach.

"Sir. I love the way it sounds coming from your lips." He shifted me around so that I was straddling him, my hands pressed to his chest, trying to push away. His grip was too firm though, hands tight on my hips.

"Please, this isn't appropriate, you need to let go," I said desperately, pushing harder on his chest as one of his hands slid up to wrap around the back of my neck.

"Who cares? I know you want this." Those blue eyes that I so loved were hooded, and I barely recognized the look on his face. "I've seen the way you look at me." He drew me closer until our noses touched. "Like there's nothing you want more than for me to pick you up and ravish you."

His words lit a fire in my stomach and my body trembled. I couldn't deny what he said. I'd fantasized about him taking me, many times, even gotten off to it. There was a difference between fantasy and reality though, and some things were better left to fantasy.

"I can see the gears turning in your head Leah," he murmured, lips brushing against my ear again. "Stop thinking so much and just enjoy. I know you want to."

I shook my head back and forth fiercely in denial. The hand on the back of my neck slid into my hair and tightened until a pained noise escaped my lips.

"We don't lie in this house Leah." His voice was stern, eyes hard as he forced me to look at him.

"I-I'm sorry Sir," I whispered, tears gathering in my eyes. His face softened, the grip of my hair loosening, and he slowly kissed the tears away.

"Good girl. You've fantasized about me fucking you, haven't you?" The coarse term made my face flush, bright enough that it could be seen even in the low light.

"Y-yes sir." The words just barely dragged themselves out, my eyes squeezing shut.

"Mmm, that's a good girl. Now, I don't think we need this anymore."

My eyes opened as he released me, but before I could scramble out of his lap my shirt had been stripped, leaving me topless in front of a man for the first time in my life. A squeak escaped me and I quickly covered my breasts with my arms.

He frowned, wrapping his hands around my wrists and jerking my arms away. "Now now, none of that." His eyes widened as he took in the sight of my pale chest, my breasts barely a B cup, though perky, with small pink nipples. They tightened into little peaks under his gaze. "Fuck, you're so fucking sexy."

Blush spreading down my chest, I struggled to free my wrists, but he very easily maneuvered me so that they were pinned with one hand behind my back. This left his other hand to cup my breast, the touch making me gasp. That dopey grin split his face again, hand gently squeezing my breast, almost massaging it. The sensation made me squirm on his lap, which only served to push my hips closer to his, and once again I felt the evidence of his arousal, thankfully separated by multiple layers of clothing.

"Please, please, stop," I pleaded, shaking my head back and forth. "Please, I can't- I haven't- I've never-"

His hand stilled, confusion in his eyes as they met mine. "Have you ever been topless in front of a man before?"

I shook my head, fighting back tears. His eyes widened and he sputtered for a moment in apparent shock, before finally grinning. "I'm assuming that means you're untouched everywhere." I nodded, body slumping, hoping now he'd finally get the idea that it was wrong for him to be touching me like this.

Calloused fingers tweaked my nipples, drawing a startled moan from my lips. "That means I'll be your first. Fuck that's hot."

My eyes widened and I began to struggle again as I realized what he intended. "No!" I yelled, arching and twisting my body helplessly, knowing that I was nowhere near strong enough to escape until he let me. Which he didn't seem inclined to do. I opened my mouth to yell again but the sound was swallowed by his lips, pressing hard to mine as his free hand curled into my hair, preventing me from pulling away.

And then we heard a noise from upstairs, the sound of feet hitting the floor. We stared at each other, wide eyed, listening to the soft thumping, the sound of a door being opened, and then all of a sudden we were a flurry of movement. My shirt was pulled quickly back over my head, tangling me as I attempted to get my arms in. By the time we heard the stairs creak he had me re situated so that I was curled up in his arms again.

"Is everything okay down here?" Alicia asked as she stumbled into the room, rubbing her eyes. "I heard a yell." Seeing us, she frowned. "Another nightmare?"

I glanced nervously up at Daniel before pushing out of his lap. "Y-Yeah. Sorry I woke you up."

She wrapped her arms around me for a moment before tugging me towards the stairs. "No problem. Let's go back to bed."

My eyes found Daniel again, catching the frustrated look on his face, before we were out of sight again. Moments later I found myself curled in a pile of blankets and pillows with my friend, sleep blurring the edges of my vision. My last thoughts were of him, of that awed look on his face when he'd stripped my shirt off. I'd never felt so desirable before in my life, and despite my reservations, a big part of me wanted to feel it again.

--

The next morning I woke up early, scrambling to get myself ready and off to school before I could run into Daniel. His darling wonderful daughter however complained repeatedly about me waking her up so early and fell promptly back to sleep, leaving me to anxiously pace across her room. My stomach had started to rumble, but I didn't want to chance going to get food without Alicia by my side.

Finally, the hunger chewing at my stomach overwhelmed my anxiety, and I crept down the stairs as quietly as possible. I'd almost made it when a sound in the hallway made me spin.

"Leah, we need to talk."

I swallowed nervously, trying to creep backwards towards the kitchen, but he was in front of me before I could take more than a step, hands curling around my shoulders to hold me in place.

"We need to talk about last night," he said quietly, probably so his voice wouldn't carry up the stairs.

"No, we don't. I-I think we should just forget it happened," I said as I trembled in his grip. He growled softly and spun me so that my back was to the wall.

"We can't just forget that it happened," he snapped, frustration clear in his face. I flinched away and his eyes softened. "I'm sorry Leah, I didn't mean to scare you." One of his hands released my shoulder to brush gently across my cheek. "But it happened, and it needs to be addressed. I'm sorry I tried to force myself on you while I was drunk."

My eyes shot up to meet his, startled. That certainly hadn't been the response I was expecting. I was relieved of course. What had happened was inappropriate. For so many reasons. An apology meant that it wasn't going to happen again, right?

For some reason that thought actually kind of hurt. Did he only desire me when he was drunk? Was he just horny, and I was the closest available person? Just some mishap to be discussed and then filed away, never to be mentioned again?

I told myself very firmly that that was for the best. Any fantasies I may have about him should stay exactly that. Fantasies.

Why didn't I believe that?

"I forgive you," I murmured after a long moment of silence. "You were drunk and I was there and things got out of hand."

"It won't happen again, I promise." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my forehead as I closed my eyes and held back tears. "Next time I try and seduce you, I'll make sure I'm sober."

My eyes shot open, head snapping up to look at him. "Wh-what?"

"I got out of hand. I'd planned on finally seducing you after you graduated, but I lost my head last night. Now that it's happened though, I can't wait until then. I don't want you running off." His eyes were serious and determined, and I trembled under his stare like a deer in headlights.

"B-but, y-you, we can't, it's n-not ri-" His hand moved across my mouth, stemming the flow of my stuttering.

"We can, and it is right. You want this and I want this, and that's all that's important."

"But Alicia-" I started around his hand, only to have it press down harder.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he said, and I realized how completely serious he was about this. For a moment, my heart thrilled, and a fire was lit in my stomach, but I quickly and ruthlessly stomped both into the ground.

We both started to say something, but were once again interrupted by the sound of Alicia coming down the stairs. While he was distracted I ducked away from him and darted into the kitchen. She appeared a moment later, without him, and gave me an odd look.

"You gonna eat that apple or just stare at it?" She asked, making me realize that I'd snagged an apple from the counter without noticing.

"Um, eat it. Come on, we're going to be late for school." She rolled her eyes and grabbed an orange before following me to the front door.

--

"So what's going on between you and my dad?"

Alicia's voice startled me from my thoughts and I turned wide eyes to look at her. "Wh-what do you mean? Th-there's nothing going on."

She rolled her eyes, turning in her chair so that she was facing me. "Oh come on, don't pull that crap with me. I know how big of a crush you have on him."

My eyes darted around the room, to see if anybody had overheard, but being so close to the end of the year, our classes were basically everyone playing on their phones and talking. Including the teachers.

"I do not have a crush on your dad," I whispered harshly and nervously.

She laughed, the sound briefly drawing the attention of a couple people. "Oh, shut the fuck up Leah. You've had a crush on him for like forever. You're not exactly subtle about it."

My face flushed and I didn't bother to respond, knowing my blush had given me away.

"I'm also not dumb. The two of you ran from the hallway real quick this morning." Her eyebrow arched as I tried to deny it, my stuttering making my argument much less convincing. "Uh huh? And what about last night? I know sex when I see it."

I sputtered. "We were not having sex!"

A grin split her face. "But something happened." I automatically flushed, making her grin larger. "Ha! I knew it."

"It was nothing," I muttered, trying to turn away from her and focus on my book again. It was promptly snatched from my hands and smacked against my head.

"Don't give me that shit Leah."

"Alicia, he's your dad," I said, stressing the last word, rubbing my head.