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K R I S T E N' S C O L L E C T I O N
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Nikki
by Oyster50 (oyster1950@gmail.com)
***
In the aftermath of a hurricane, Dan hears a knock on
the door. He opens it to find Nikki, who needs shelter.
Dan could do that. Then they find out what they both
need. (M/f-teen, reluc, underage, 1st, oral, rom)
***
-= Chapter One =-
"Ill blows the wind that profits nobody" – William
Shakespeare
The land had been home to members of my family for
generations, the best part of the property being a high
ridge running parallel to the not too distant Gulf of
Mexico. After great great grand-dad bought a couple of
thousand acres, over the years of heirs and sub-
dividing, I was fortunate to end up with the choices of
tracts, including the hillock on which I built my house.
Now about the house. I'm an engineer, electrical,
actually, and several years ago I was in the middle of a
bunch of other engineers, drinking beer and eating
barbecue in somebody's back yard and I mentioned the
tract of land. Beautiful place, but it was the stripe
down the middle of hurricane alley. Flooding wasn't
likely, but winds? Nothing for miles in any direction
except a few live oak trees bent in interesting poses by
decades of wind.
We had representation of the engineering staff there, my
co-workers, contemporaries, and when I said something
about building, they ran through a litany of jokes about
houses blowing away. But the civil guy said, "Nah! Piece
of cake. I can draw up some specs and some plans and
details and I can guarantee that a Category Five won't
touch it. And that's how the house was built. Where a
standard foundation rode on the surface of the soil with
a thick chainwall around the edge, MY foundation was
tied with steel to a set of poured reinforced concrete
borings. And the frame was bolted and strapped to the
foundation. And the roof was strapped to the walls. And
the roofing was sheet steel, screwed down with five
times the standard fastenings. The windows were double
strength and there were REAL shutters, decorative when
folded back, to be sure, but when closed, the wind and
blown debris wouldn't touch the windows. Anything
outside was built to stand a hundred and seventy-five
mile per hour winds. Everything. That was the house.
And I'm the electrical guy, so behind the house was a
generator. And a BIG tank of fuel. Enough for three or
four weeks. Propane. It doesn't go bad. And I took care
of it, running it, maintaining it, just like the ones
that my clients depended on for emergency backup power.
And when the parish (county if you're not in Louisiana)
came by with a community water system, I said NO! and
kept my deep well with a pump that I supplied power for.
That's what I had. And it was wonderful solitude. The
nearest neighbor was a half mile away for the first two
years after I built and moved in. And then a distant
cousin decided to make some money off the government and
built a set of apartments on an adjacent tract. Our
rural area had NO "low income" housing, and a set of
apartments was guaranteed to be filled with occupants
who paid with government checks. Plus, he got a
"special" deal on financing. And his "do-good" project
leapt right over my objections to the zoning. So my
dream house now was neighbor to a set of four apartments
in a two story frame building. Ten miles from the coast.
And I can tell you that it wasn't built like MY house.
And it was August in Louisiana and every day I spent a
few minutes checking weather reports for hurricanes. It
was that time of the year. And one morning I looked, and
there one was. I and everybody else on the coast
followed the track and two days out, I knew I was in for
a ride.
I called the agency that employed me as a troubleshooter
and go-to guy for industrial power, and told them to
take my name off the board for a few days. It was time
to prepare. I bought groceries. I checked the battery
stock, just in case. Wasn't anything left to do but
close and bar the shutters and I was ready. Twenty-four
hours before the storm, I was sitting in the living
room, watching TV and petting the big yellow cat that
was my companion.
I watched the local news stations breathlessly calling
for evacuations of the parish wherein I resided. I sat
on my own porch and watched cars leaving the apartments
as well as places further back up the road. The winds
picked up under strange-colored skies, clouds moving
purposefully in busy patterns toward the storm out in
the Gulf. I walked into my garage to check the big
diesel pickup truck that was enclosed. Its tank was
full, and there was a fresh drum of diesel inside the
garage. In an adjacent building was my travel trailer.
In hurricane winds, that trailer would be like a ping-
pong ball in a blender, except that it was fully
ensconced in a shelter built just as well as the house.
The truck was a tool of the trade. So was the trailer,
home away from home when I had an out of state project.
Prepped? That was me. Before cell towers went down, I
called my family, sister and brother, safely housed
further inland, and they were joining thousands moving
north and east and west out of the oncoming storm. Both
of them tried talking me out of staying, but I knew what
roads looked like, jammed bumper to bumper, moving start
and stop for a hundred miles in every direction.
So I made a pot of red beans and a pot of rice to go
with them, and sat back to surf the news until the lines
went down. The winds continued to pick up. I watched my
home's weather station. The winds started gusting above
forty at dark. Sunset? No sun visible. I kicked back the
recliner. The display was showing over sixty by eight
PM. And rising. The lights flickered. Came back on.
Flickered again. And stayed off. That was the
electricity. THEIR electricity. I went to my utility
room, flashlight in hand, pushed a button, pulled a
handle, and the lights were back on. Generator. The
cable was gone, too. Same pole somewhere up the road,
most likely. We were ninety and gusting higher, the howl
of the wind audible even through well built and
insulated walls.
Tommi, the neutered tomcat, decided that he needed
companionship and he wedged himself into the recliner
beside me. I put a DVD in the player and went to sleep.
I woke up and the winds were from the opposite
direction, but down to forty in gusts. I looked out my
portholes, the little windows that I didn't have
shutters on, and it was daybreak. I'd weathered the
storm. I fixed breakfast for myself and put a treat down
for the old yellow cat. We enjoyed breakfast. Well, I
enjoyed my own. He looked at his, and turned his picky
old butt to it and walked off. By eight, the winds were
down to thirty mile per hour gusts. I decided it was
time to survey my kingdom.
I walked outside. Windy. Splatters of rain. Low clouds
scudding purposeful northward towards the eye somewhere
inland. But the storm was over. I walked around the
building. Not a thing was out of place. It had survived
unscathed, result of a little engineering and a little
extra time and money. The RV shelter was similarly
unscathed. I busied myself opening shutters, putting my
house back in normal condition. That took an hour.
I flipped open the cell phone. No signal. And I looked
around, past my own fence. My neighboring apartment
building was down in a shambles. Roof of part of it
lifted off and flew to who knows where. The rest pushed
over. I didn't see a sign of life, but as far as I knew,
everybody had evacuated The next thing I did was turn on
the radio for local news. The storm had come ashore as a
Category Three, the eye passing fifteen miles east of
me. I'd come through the worst of it.
The radio detailed post-storm situations. Like the fact
that I was inside an area that was off limits to travel.
The people who had evacuated wouldn't be allowed back.
Walking down to the road and looking toward town, I
could understand. Storm surge waters covered it a
quarter mile from me. I could see debris as far as I
could see. I put myself in wait mode and went back in
the house.
I was in my home office working over some drawings and
reports from a recent project, Tommi loafing on the desk
just out of arm's reach. And I heard a knock at the
door. What? Yep! There it is again. A knock. I hadn't
heard a helicopter, and the roads were flooded. A few
similar thoughts were going through my head when I
opened the front door.
There was a teenage girl. Wet. Hair a matted mess.
Debris, grass and insulation and mud covered her
clothes. Her jeans were a nasty mess and her shirt's
neck was split on one side to the shoulder seam. She was
wearing a sopping, muddy pair of sneakers. And her face
as desperate.
"Mister! I need help. The building fell on me!"
I practically pulled her inside. "Come in. For heaven's
sake, girl, are you okay?"
"I... I don't know! I got hit on the head. I scraped my
leg getting out of the building."
"Come in. Let's get you cleaned up."
Okay. How? How do you still have electricity?"
"Generator," I said. "Look, we need to get you cleaned
up and you need to check yourself out. I have a shower.
Can you clean yourself?"
"I... I think so."
"We have a problem, though. I don't have any clothes
that'll fit you. You can give me those and I can wash
'em. You'll have to make do with a T-shirt and maybe a
pair of pajama bottoms. They'll be big, though."
I herded her to the bathroom. She was shivering. I
turned the water on. "Shower? Or bath?"
"S-shower, please..."
"Okay. I'll leave the shirt and pajamas outside the door
when you finish. Call me. Okay?" I thought. "Are you
sure you can do this?"
"i... I think so."
I left her and went into my bedroom. The ONLY bedroom. I
was a single guy and I'd turned the other room that
MIGHT be a bedroom into an office, complete with desk,
CAD station, bookshelves, drafting table (sometimes you
just NEED to do things on real paper) and file cabinets.
I scrabbled through my drawers and found a pair of
pajama bottoms that I never wore, and a t-shirt, and I
placed them folded neatly by the door of the bathroom. I
could hear the sound of the shower. And then I went back
to the living room, watching the cat patrolling his
kingdom.
I heard the shower stop and the door open and
immediately close. Moments later she walked out her head
wrapped in a towel. My t-shirt hung loosely, VERY
loosely, on her frame. And she was holding the pajamas
up with one hand.
"Okay," I said. "You made it through the shower. Now,
what hurts?"
"My head."
"Where?"
"Right here," she said, lifting the edge of the towel to
reveal a reddened market her hairline just above her
right eye. It was read, but not bleeding nor was it
swollen.
"That's not too bad. Any headache? Ears ringing? Blurry
vision?"
"No sir."
"Okay, good," I said. "Let's get some names. "I'm Dan
Granger. And you're..."
"Dominique Domingue. People call me Nikki. N-I-K-K-I."
That last name was pronounced "doe-main" in Cajun
country.
"Hi, Nikki. I would have rather met you on a better
note. Are you hurting anywhere else? "I have a bruise or
something on my leg. I scraped it crawling out of the
building. But it's not bleeding either. It's gonna be
blue, though."
"Okay," I said. "Let me get your stuff in the washer."
"You have a washer working?"
"I have EVERYTHING working except stuff that came in on
a pole. No cable. No phone. But we have our own
electricity." And that was the subconscious "we".
She sat down on the sofa while I collected her clothes.
I rinsed most of the debris off before I loaded up the
washer with her stuff, along with a few of my own
things. I threw her sneakers in with the cloths. When I
made it back to the living room, she was asleep on the
sofa. I surveyed. Five feet five inches, more or less.
Maybe a hundred twenty or a hundred thirty pounds.
Definitely brunette, the color of polished walnut, cut
at the jawline, bangs straight across at her eyebrows.
Blue eyes. Pleasant face. Bare feet showed no polish,
nor did her nails. And she was sound asleep. I picked up
a light blanket and covered her. Tommi walked up,
looked, and he climbed up and made a comfy loaf shape
beside her. And purred.
I went back to my work. Presently I heard the washer
cycle end, and I moved the wet load to the dryer. An
hour later the dryer beeped and I took the clothes out.
I neatly folded her jeans, paired her socks, folded an
A-cup sports bra and a pair of blue hip-hugger panties.
Her shirt was another matter, but Mom taught me well. I
retrieved a sewing kit and dutifully stitched up the
torn seam. It was good enough to wear, maybe not to the
prom, but good enough. I folded my own stuff, too, and
put it up, then went back to my drawings. I was putting
a red pen to some field changes when I heard a light
knock. "Mister Dan?"
I swiveled the chair around. "Hey, Nikki! You got a
nap?"
"Yessir. I just passed out. It feels good to be clean
and dry. I thought I was gonna die in there."
I noted that she was holding her bundle of clothes.
"Thank you for washing these, okay?"
"Oh, don't mention it. You can change in the bathroom."
"Okay." And she disappeared. I heard the door close. A
couple of minutes later, it opened. "Mister Dan, you
wouldn't have hair dryer, would you? My hair's still
wet."
"Hang on," I said. I got up and went into the bathroom
and rifled through the back of a cabinet. I handed her a
hair dryer. I opened a drawer and pulled out a brush.
"If you don't mind a used brush. But it's clean. The
cat's got his own." "I don't mind at all," she said
quietly. She plugged in the dryer and went to work on
her hair. I went back to my office.
Ten minutes later she was back knocking at the door.
"Nikki," I said, "if you knock every time you want to
come in a room here, you're gonna wear your knuckles
out."
"Uh... but..."
"Look, sweetie," I said, "The only time you need to
knock is when the door's closed, okay? And I'll do that
for you, okay? You need privacy, just close the door.
I'll knock then."
"Okay."
"Now, are you thirsty? There are cold drinks in the
fridge, and water, and if you want, I can make iced
tea."
"Oh, do you have a coke?"
"Yes ma'am. And I have red beans and rice for dinner.
Leftovers, but I can reheat 'em."
"That's wonderful."
"Come on, then. Let's go get something to eat." She
followed me to the kitchen. Tommi was winding himself
between her ankles as I moved pots on the stove and
stuck leftover rice into the microwave.
I looked at the cat. "That's Tommi, with an "i". I never
saw him take to somebody like he seems to do with you.
He's usually pretty suspicious."
"With an "I"?"
"Yeah, since I had him fixed."
Nikki giggled. For the first time. It was like the
tinkle of tiny bells. And it was a long time since that
sound had graced these walls.
"You're funny."
I smiled at her. She sipped her coke and looked around.
"I can't believe you have all this stuff running. And
why's YOUR house okay when my apartment is a wreck?"
"Because this is what happened when engineers get to do
things the way they want to. I probably paid an extra
twenty percent to build this house like this."
"Wow!"
"So how come you didn't evacuate? Was there anyone else
in that building?" I kicked myself now. I should have
been over there looking for them myself instead of doing
paperwork.
"I was the only one there. I watched everyone else
leave."
"Why didn't you leave with your folks?"
"My mom was already up north. I was supposed to catch a
ride with my neighbor, but they wouldn't let her back
into the parish after they started the evacuation. I
couldn't get a ride. And I really didn't want to go off
with her. She's a huge slut. And a druggie." "Why didn't
you call 911?"
"I tried. The phone lines were busy."
"Oh," I said. "does anyone know you're here?"
"I dunno," she said. "Mom thinks I'm with my cousins.
She's probably thinkin' that we'll catch up in a few
days."
"In a few DAYS!?!?!?" I was incredulous.
"You gotta know my mom. She's not exactly a candidate
for parent of the year. I've been home by myself for
four days now."
"Huh? Even with a hurricane?"
"Yessir. Sometimes she goes off with one of her guys for
a few days. I'm okay."
"She leaves you? How old are you, Nikki?"
"Fifteen. Since last month."
"That's hard to believe."
"At least we got the, uh, we HAD the apartment. Section
8. Welfare. An' Mom works as a waitress at that bar up
in town. They pay her cash so she doesn't have to report
it."
"Oh." This wasn't a happy story. I heard the pot
bubbling. "Beans are ready. Come fix you a bowl." I
showed her where dinnerware and silverware was located
and we each sat down at the table with a bowl of beans
and rice before us. She wasn't bashful about digging in.
"I haven't had anything to eat since yesterday."
"I'm sorry. I should have offered you something sooner.
I didn't think..."
"Oh, Mister Dan, that's okay! You've done enough
already."
"Yeah, but if you wait on me, I'm liable to forget. I'm
not used to having guests."
"I'm not a guest."
"Yes you are."
She looked at me with those blue eyes. "No wife?"
"Nope. Not for seven years. She moved to California with
a new husband."
"Kids?"
"Nope. Wife and I tried. She had complications that
almost killed her. So no, no kids."
"Oh. Girlfriends?"
"Nuh-uh. And while you're here, you don't have to ask if
you're hungry or thirsty. Just grab it and eat. But go
light on the milk.
There's only a gallon before we have to do powdered."
"I don't want to be a burden."
"You're not a burden. Make yourself at home. Really."
We finished our meal and SHE got up and collected the
dishes and put them in the sink and started washing.
"Baby, I usually save up until I have a load for the
dishwasher."
She smiled. She had a quite pleasant smile, I noted.
"Oh, this is okay. I'm not used to a dishwasher. I AM
the dishwasher at our house."
It was my turn to smile. "I appreciate it, babe. Let's
go sit in the living room."
I noticed a slight limp as she got up and walked. "Are
you sure your leg's okay? You're limping."
"It's bruised. And scraped, sort of."
"Uh... I don't know how I could look at it, but I
should."
She regarded me for a few seconds. "I'll be back," she
said. She went into the bathroom and in a few moments
came out without her jeans, but with a bath towel
wrapped around her hips, sarong-style. She walked up to
me and turned. I could see the lower end of the bruised
area, red and blue. "Nope, not bleeding. It's gonna be
interesting colors, though. Where's it hurt?"
Securing the towel with one hand, she raised the bottom
edge above her right leg, just under the cheek of her
ass. Higher. Higher. Light blue panties showed. I could
see the bruise. "Right there's the worst part. Feels
lumpy." "Do you mind if I touch it?"
"Just don't get ambitious," she laughed.
I carefully felt the periphery of the raised area.
"Yeah, I can feel where it's kind of raised. But it
oughtta go away. We could put some ice on it" "Nah," she
said, heading to the bathroom, returning with her jeans.
"It's just sore. I'm okay, huh?" "Yes, you're okay. Best
looking girl that I've ever seen crawl out of a
building."
She grinned. "Thanks." She sat on the sofa and then
turned and put her legs on it, lounging. Tommi jumped up
beside her, purring. She petted him.
I sat in my recliner. "Cable's out, but I have a lot of
movies. You can look through them. And there's music
CD's too., but it's probably not stuff you like. You're
free to look, though. They're in the cabinet next to the
TV." She got up and looked. Took a CD, turned to me.
"You listen to classical? This is Mozart!"
"Yeah. Actually, I'm pretty eclectic in my tastes, but
that's stuff I want to hear over and over."
"Really!?!? I would've expected rock or country and
western."
"Sorry. I'm a little different in that area."
"No, Mister Dan," she said. "I'm sitting in YOUR house
in the middle of a hurricane disaster zone, sipping a
cold coke, the lights are on, the air conditioning's on,
and you have classical music. You're different in a lot
of areas." "Oh, thanks, I guess."
"I mean it good, Mister Dan. I like classical music,
too. Don't know why. I go to a different place when I
hear it. A place where things are just put together
RIGHT! Not the way my life usually is!"
"Nikki, you can stop with the "Mister Dan" thing and
just call me Dan. Okay?"
But you're, like, OLDER! Uh..How old are you?"
"Forty-one. Ancient, in other words."
"I don't think so. But definitely older than me. What
kind of work do you do?"
"I'm an electrical engineer. I work for whoever's got
problems."
"Do you make a lot of money?"
"I'm not Bill Gates. But I've got plenty in savings and
this house and that truck and that trailer are all paid
for."
"Wow!"
"Nikki, it's not that big a deal."
She searched through the stack of DVD's and pulled one
out. "Do you mind if we watch this?" It was a movie I
could called a 'chick flick' although I like the actress
in it and it was funny. "Pop it in. I'll turn the TV
on." I clicked the remote. She sat back down on the
sofa, her legs stretched out in front of her, watching
the TV, and if I caught it correctly out of the corner
of my eye, she was looking at me, too. We laughed at the
same spots.
She kept a running commentary about the relationships
and how they developed. "I keep wishing things like that
would happen to my mom, but they just don't. We've been
in that apartment for two years now and I bet she's had
at least a dozen and a half different boyfriends." 'I
don't know what to say, Nikki."
"Me neither. I just don't understand how people can be
like that. And some of those guys! She left one at home
while she went to get beer an' cigarettes, an' he tried
to put the moves on ME!"
"He did?"
"Yeah," she said. "An' when I told Mom, she accused ME
of flirting with 'im." She looked me in the eye. "If
somebody's doin' my mom, I don't WANT him. I don't want
the kind of guy who'd go with somebody like her."
The movie was showing a bedroom scene. "And that."
"What?"
"Sex. When I do it, it's gonna be something special with
somebody I love, not somebody I met at a bar on Saturday
night." Her eyes were moist. "You know how much it hurts
to figure out your mom's a slut?"
"Baby, we can turn this movie off."
"Oh, Mister Dan... uh, Dan, it's not this movie. I'm
sorry. I don't know what made me tell you all this." She
took a deep breath. "I'm okay. Sorry I unloaded on you.
You're just bein' nice to me. Sorry."
"That's okay, baby."
"I don't have many people to talk to, you know. The
neighbors over there aren't exactly the kind of people I
want to tell my problems to."
"I guess. I never met anybody from over there."
"I could tell you stories, babe!" She smiled. "But I'm
not there now, am I?"
We finished watching the movie. "I don't know what to do
about you, Nikki," I said.
"What'd'ya mean?"
"I mean, nobody knows you're here, and you're probably
wanting to find out where your mom's at, and she's
probably looking for you."
"Dan," she said, "I don't have any close family besides
Mom. She never talks to her Dad., He practically
disowned her. Her mom's dead.
She's got one brother, and nobody's seen him in five
years. And Mom's not exactly dying to go back to
worryin' about me an' her both."
"I'm sorry, babe. I just want to take care of you, is
all."
"You've took better care of me than anybody else has as
long as I can remember."
"But I don't want to stop you from being where you need
to go."
"Uh, Dan, I don't know where to go. I mean, they have
shelters an' stuff. But I'd be fifteen an' in a shelter
with nobody to take care of me." She stared at me. "I
really don't have a place I want to be. This is better
than I could ever hope for." "You're welcome to stay
here as long as you want, babe, it's alright with me." I
breathed a sigh. "But when the roads open up, I will
probably be working every day for a few weeks. You'll be
by yourself here."
Her eyes brightened. "You'd trust me to be here by
myself?"
"I shouldn't?"
"No, you CAN. I promise." She smiled. "Really! I can
take care of the house while you work."
"Then that's what we'll do. Until we have to do
something different."
"Thank you." She smiled again. "You have games in that
cabinet. Wanna play one? Like "Trivial Pursuit"?"
"I haven't played that in years. My sister and her
husband and my brother and his wife come over every now
and then and we play games. I'll get it." I spread the
game stuff on the sofa between us. And didn't tell her
that nobody wanted to play with me because I beat them
ALL so badly..." I almost DIDN'T beat Nikki. "You play a
tough game, little girl," I said.
She smiled. "I haven't ever been beat before. You beat
me. I thought I was going to impress you."
"Believe me, you did."
I looked at the clock. "It's getting late. Sleeping
arrangements. One of us gets this room. One of us gets
the bed."
"I'll take the sofa," she said. "It's your house."
"It makes out into a bed, if you want."
"Nope, it's fine like this. D'ya have a pillow an'
stuff?"
"Yes," I said. "Lemme get it." I got up to put the game
up and get her some sleeping gear. I was retrieving it
from the upper shelf of a hall closet and when I turned
around, I bumped into her. "Oops," I said. "I didn't
know you were behind me." "Sorry, Dan," she said. "I was
trying to help."
"Here ya go, then." I gave her a sheet and a blanket and
a pillow and pillowcase. "In the morning, just ball this
up and put it in the corner. We'll do it that way."
"Okay," she said as she started turning the sofa into a
nest.
I went to my own bedroom and stripped, hitting the
shower and shaving afterward. And just because, I threw
on a little cologne. After I got out of the shower, I
pulled my jeans back on and walked back into the living
room. In the dim light, I saw her there, stretched out
on the sofa. She wasn't asleep yet.
"G'nite, Dan," she said. "Thanks for rescuing me."
"G'nite, Nikki," I said. And I turned and went to my own
room, noting that when she had the covers pulled up to
her chin, her shirt and jeans were folded neatly beside
the sofa on the floor.
I woke up the next day to the smell of bacon. BACON! And
I wasn't cooking it. I walked into the kitchen, bleary-
eyed. Nikki was at the stove.
"You're cooking breakfast?"
"I didn't think you'd mind. I saw you had bacon and
grits and since you live here by yourself, that means
YOU like them. So that's what I cooked. How do you like
your eggs?"
"You're fixing me EGGS? Can you do "over easy"?"
"Sure, silly," she laughed. "They go with bacon and
grits." About that time, the kettle started whistling.
"I saw you had a coffee pot. I hope I make your coffee
right." Five minutes later I was sitting in front of a
full breakfast. And she was sitting at the table with
me, staring at me over a mug of coffee. The coffee
wasn't perfect, but it was close enough. "How's the
coffee?"
"Great. Just about the way I do it."
"And everything else?"
"I'm astounded. And I have NEVER eaten breakfast here
that I didn't cook myself."
Giggle. "Really?"
"Really."
"I'm just trying to earn my keep, Dan."
"You don't have to earn your keep here, Nikki. You're
here. That's good enough. But god, I appreciate eating
somebody else's cooking."
"I like doing it. I made you smile. That makes me
happy!" Her eyes twinkled.
I looked at those twinkly eyes gazing at me over her
coffee mug. Made me smile some more. Together we cleared
the table. "That was perfect," I said.
"What are we gonna do today?" she asked.
"I dunno. Lemme try something." I turned on my
cellphone. No signal. "Well, so much for that," I said.
"Wanna walk next door? You can show me where you crawled
from."
"Yeah, we can do that."
We sat at opposite ends of the sofa putting socks and
shoes on. She kept looking at me, and I couldn't parse
what her expression was saying. We walked out of the
house. First thing I saw was a snake slithering across
the yard. "Come back inside," I said. "I wanna get a
gun."
"Why?"
"Just in case. We have a lot of wildlife that's very
confused and in unusual places. You never know what
we'll run into." I retrieved a short-barreled shotgun.
"Aren't you gonna load it" she asked.
"It IS loaded, " I said. "It stays that way."
"You keep a loaded gun in the house?"
"Of course," I said. "If somebody was to break in, I
wouldn't want to waste time loading it then. And there
are four of them in the house, loaded."
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"No, baby," I said. "No little kids around to get to
them. And I would hope adults would know how to handle
them safely."
"But loaded?"
"I got stuff to protect. I got ME to protect. And now I
got YOU to protect. So I have guns. Like this one." And
I cycled the slide, chambering a round. I got another
look, not fearful. And there was a little hint of a
smile. Aside from the single snake and a raccoon that
scurried away when he spotted us, nothing else was of
concern. Approaching the collapsed building, Nikki
showed me the opening she crawled out of.
"I was in the hall sitting on the floor when the place
fell in," she said.
"That's the best place to be. There or the bathtub." We
walked around. "I was hoping we could get you some
clothes out of there, but I don't want to try and get in
there."
"Me neither, she said.
We walked back to the house. I opened the garage door
and backed my truck out. We climbed in and drove a
little distance down the road before turning back. Where
the storm surge had covered the road, the debris was
heavy and I didn't want to risk a tire in the debris, or
risk running off into the marsh because the road was
washed away where we couldn't see it. As we pulled back
into the garage, I heard the unmistakable sound of a
low-flying helicopter. A serious one. Close.
We walked out of the garage and waved as a national
guard Blackhawk circled. It flared to land on the road
in front of the house and we walked down to meet the
occupants. A national guard lieutenant and the parish
sheriff met us in the drive. I shook hands with both of
them, introducing myself. "Dan Granger," I said. "This
is my house. And this is Nikki Domingue. She survived
that building collapse over there."
"Damn!", the sheriff said. "You know me. I'm your
sheriff, Ernie Richard." He pronounced it "ree-shard."
Cajun. "This" indicating the soldier, "is Lieutenant
Gregus. We're doin' a survey. You're the only people on
this side of the parish that we've found." "Really?" I
said.
Lt. Gregus said, "Yessir. We had a good evacuation.
What're you doing here?"
This could be dicey. A mandatory evacuation was called,
but in Louisiana, there was no law to force it. "I built
this house myself to face a Category Five. And I stayed.
Miss Nikki here missed her ride out."
The sheriff popped in, "D'ya wanna fly outta here? Where
there's electricity and food and water?"
By this time one the pilots of the helicopter were
joining us.
"Why don't you guys come on up to the house and let me
show you something," I said. "And see if YOU'D leave
this for a shelter."
We all walked up to the house and inside. The cool dry
air conditioned air was a stark contrast to the post-
storm humidity.
The lieutenant said, "Hey, this feels good!"
"Yep," I said. "Generator back there, and enough fuel
for weeks." Several weeks' worth of food. And I suffered
NO damage. Had bacon eggs and grits for breakfast this
morning. I'd offer you all a cold beer, but..."
Sheriff said, "But we're flyin'..."
"We have cold Cokes," interrupted Nikki. "Want one?"
"That would be nice," said the pilot.
Nikki bopped back to the kitchen and returned with the
cokes.
The sheriff sipped on his. "So nobody needs rescuin'?"
"Nope, but thanks! Any idea when they'll get a road open
so I can go back to work?"
The sheriff mused, "Oh, three or four days. Where you
work at?"
"Any of those plants up there on the channel. Electrical
engineer."
"Oh," said the lieutenant.
"What about cell service," I asked.
The sheriff said, "Maybe a day or so. The carriers are
setting up temporary towers and fixing the ones that are
still up. We need cellphones, too, yah know."
"Can you give these people a call and tell them that I'm
stuck down here?" I asked, scribbling a number and name
on a pad of paper.
"Sure," the sheriff said. "And Miss Nikki, is it? Are
you okay here?"
Nikki smiled, "Yessir. Best place I can be for the time
being."
"Okay, then," said the sheriff. "We'll check on you
again in a couple of days when they get the road open."
"I appreciate that," I said. Turning to the lieutenant
and the other pilot, "If you see orange flares, come and
get me. Green smoke is the barbecue's ready!" They
laughed.
A few minutes later the helicopter lifted off. I turned
to Nikki who was standing rather close by my side.
"There went your chance to get out of here, Neek."
"Neek?"
"Yeah. Short for Dominique, don't ya think?"
She looked directly into my eyes and smiled. "Looks like
we're stuck with each other, then, huh?"
-= Chapter Two =-
Watching the chopper disappear into the distance, I
mentally kicked myself. I could've asked for a couple of
changes of clothes for Nikki.
Five-five and one-forty and six-two and two hundred, she
could swim in anything I wore, and all she had was the
clothes on her back.
We walked back to the house. I mentioned the problem to
her. "We can wash these like you did yesterday, an' I
can wear your pj's." "I suppose. We'll see what we can
do." We went inside and ate sandwiches for lunch, then
she helped me put together a spaghetti sauce for supper
and left it simmering while we walked up the road. I
carried the shotgun. Nikki was amazed by the mounds of
debris and vegetation piled on the road. I wasn't. I'd
seen it before.
We walked back to the collapsed apartments. She pointed
out her room in the mess, and I came away with the same
conclusion, there was no way either of us would risk
going into the place. The place was fodder for a
bulldozer. Tiring of the humidity, we returned to the
air conditioned haven of the house and made sure all the
electronics were off. Nikki watched as I shut the
generator down to check it out, then restarted it.
We went inside and she chose a CD of Mozart. We sat in
the floor and played a game of cards until suppertime,
then boiled up a pot of spaghetti to go with the
simmering sauce. I grated fresh cheese to top it and
Nikki declared it to be the best ever. "I can make
this," she announced. After dinner we cleared the dishes
together and returned to the living room. She chose
another movie for us to watch. I was getting ready to
start it when she announced, "I wanna take a shower
first. Then you can take yours, and we'll have that out
of the way."
"Okay," I said. "Good idea. Let me get you something to
wear."
"Those pj bottoms and your t-shirt?"
"If that works for you. I'll start a load of wash when
we finish."
"'Kay," she said. I handed her the fresh clothes and she
bounced into the bathroom. And heaven help me, I noted
that she had an attractive form.
Fifteen minutes later she was sitting on my bed drying
her hair and I was in the shower. I got out, shaved, and
dabbed a bit of cologne on.
She was still running the dryer when I walked out,
kneeling in the middle of my bed, the t-shirt having
slid down on one shoulder. "Dan," she said, "I need a
safety pin for these pj's. When I stand up they fall
down. See?" And she stood up and caught them sliding
down, stopping the waistband before it reached her pubic
mound. I caught my breath. "Oops! Didn't mean to... you
know..." "That's okay, babe. Lemme see if I have a
safety pin." I found one and helped her pin the
waistband tighter. And that put me in close proximity to
what I determined to be a nicely shaped teen ass. And
when she stood in front of me, I made a similar
assessment of t-shirt clad tits.
My best move was to gather up the clothes and head to
the laundry room. And on top of the stack was a pair of
light blue panties. I should have just tossed the pile
into the washer, but that's not what I did. I lifted
those panties to my nose and sniffed deeply. And closed
my eyes. Enough! Into the washer.
I walked back into the living room. She was lounging on
the sofa, eyes twinkling, her arm languorously tossed on
the back of the sofa and that t-shirt did little to hide
the shape of those titties. My own pj's tented out. I
hunched over to hide it and retreated to my recliner.
And Nikki was watching me closely. And a wry smile
spread on her red lips.
She started the movie, the original Indiana Jones flick.
We'd both seen it before, and laughed at both
appropriate and inappropriate times. She started talking
about archaeology and I'm no expert, but it sound to me
like she knew a bit I commented on that idea.
"Lots of Discovery Channel an' History Channel. And the
library when I can get a ride there." Her brow knit for
a second. "I had books checked out. D'ya think they're
gonna charge me for them?
"Not likely. That's giving me a thought, though. In the
morning we need to take my camera and go get pictures of
your apartment. And if anybody says anything, that's
your evidence."
"That's a good idea. What kind of camera do you have?"
"A pretty good one. Hang on, I'll show you!" I got up
and retrieved the camera bag from the closet. I pulled
it out of the case and pointed it at her. "Smile", I
said. She smiled and the flash went off.
"That's a fancy one," she said.
I sat down next to her on the sofa. "Yeah, I use it in
my work sometimes." I punched the controls and handed it
to her. "Here's you!"
"I don't look good in pictures," she said.
"Oh, bullshit!" I said. "That's what most women say.
Come into my office. You can't see the picture very good
on this little screen." We went into the office and I
fired up my desktop computer. While it was booting, I
pulled out the cable to connect the camera to a USB
port.
"She looked around the office. "What's all these
papers?"
"That's from my last project. I need to go through each
drawing and make sure it's correct and all the changes
are logged. It's all billable hours."
"You mean you get paid for working at home?"
"Yep. I worked four hours yesterday while you were
sleeping. Two hundred and eighty dollars."
She caught her breath. "That's seventy bucks an hour!"
"That was quick. You're good at math."
"I made B's and C's last year. I don't like to do
homework."
The computer finished booting. I pulled her photo up on
the big monitor. "There!" I said. "That's not a bad-
looking picture at all."
"It's just me."
"And that makes it unique. And forgive me for saying so,
but you're actually kinda cute! And this is a good
picture. Look. You can see every strand of hair on your
bangs. And you have a little bit of a smile."
"You think I'm cute? In the picture, I mean?"
"Yep! Very pleasant to look at."
She looked bit flustered and changed the subject.
"That's a BIG monitor."
"Yeah," I said. "Those drawings are eleven by seventeen
inches and I work on 'em on screen, full size. Makes
life better for me."
"Show me."
I pulled up some recent files and showed her the red
additions and green deletions.
"You READ these things? All I see is a bunch of lines."
"D'you read Chinese?"
"Nooo."
"Same thing. This is a language. People who are familiar
with the language can read it." I patted an inch-thick
stack on the corner of the desk. "This is what it took
to do the electrical power for ONE small production unit
at the plant I was working for." "Wow! That's what
engineers do?" She folded her arms and leaned over my
shoulder.
"That's a painful part of it. It's not nearly as fun as
getting called when things don't work right and I get to
go in and fix them."
"Can I take YOUR picture?"
"Sure," I said, handing her the camera. "Just point it
and click."
"Turn around. I want to get you with your computer and
that desk behind you."
I turned and she shot. "Do a couple. Film's cheap for
that thing."
"Uh, right..."
Then she wanted to look at the pictures she took. "I did
pretty good, huh?"
"You could be the official photographer of old goats
everywhere."
"You're not that old, Dan." She looked at the camera.
"This thing has a timer. If you had a tripod, we could
BOTH be in the picture."
"I've got a tripod in the closet. Why do you want a
picture of both of us?"
"So I have a record of who rescued me." She smiled.
I set the tripod up and showed her how to set up the
timer. We took several shots and reviewed them on the
big monitor. "I like this one best." It had me standing
behind her, with her offset just a little to the right.
Her head was tilted slightly and she was smiling. "I'm
downloading these to the hard drive," I said.
"Okay," came the response. "I'll go put the laundry in
the dryer." In two minutes, she was back hovering over
my shoulder. "D'ya have any work pictures?"
"Work pictures?"
"Yeah, you know, where you work?"
"I have a bunch, but I don't think you're interested in
that stuff. Most of it's kinda technical. Obscure.
Interesting to me because it's what I work on, but..."
"Try me. I LIKE that stuff. Besides, what else do we
have to do?"
"Well, pull that chair over here." And she sat close.
Very close. I showed pictures, explaining what each was,
and she asked questions.
Like she was interested.
Finally I said, "Babe, it's getting late. Let's shut it
down for the night."
She laughed. "Okay, Dan. I'll go make my bed."
While she was arranging her nest on the sofa, I came in
with the clothes folded and gave her a stack.
"Thanks, Dan!" she smiled. "G'nite!"
"G'nite, Nikki," I said, walking out of the room. I
closed my bedroom door and did my pre-bed routine, then
stretched out. I thought about the contents of the other
room as I drifted off to sleep.
And for the second morning I awoke to the smell of
bacon. I dressed and walked into the kitchen to find
Nikki at the stove again. She smiled over her shoulder.
"I found potatoes. I hope you like hash browns."
"You amaze me. Where'd you learn to cook?"
"Before she died, I used to spend a lot of time with my
grandma, Mom's mom. And she knew how to cook. And I
learned a few things. That was the happiest time of my
life, so far." She smiled. "Although yesterday was
pretty cool, too." "Yesterday?"
"Yeah. I mean, other than the whole "my home is a debris
pile in south Louisiana" thing, we met people, we took a
walk, we played games, we watched a movie, listened to
really good music, and I got to learn a little bit about
engineering stuff. I think that was a pretty good day."
"I'm glad you liked it, Nikki. I could see you taking
this a lot worse..."
"Nope. Makin' the best of the situation." She lifted the
hash browns off the cast iron griddle and built us each
a plate, poured two cups of coffee, and sat down with me
to share breakfast.
"Two mornings in a row... I could get used to this."
Nikki grinned. "Me too. Isn't it funny? I mean, here we
have a stinkin' hurricane, an' in the middle of it life
is this good."
"Yes, little girl, it is indeed good." Plates cleaned,
we sat savoring the coffee, then got up together and
cleared the table." She said, "I looked in the freezer.
You have some packages that say round steak. I can do
steak and gravy if you want... for supper? And
sandwiches for lunch again?"
"That makes sense," I said. "But don't think you have to
keep house to pay your way."
"Oh, I don't," she countered. "It's nice to be
appreciated. When I did stuff like this for Mom, she
never acknowledged it, but if I didn't, she raised hell
about me layin' around while she did all the work. And
unless I cleaned up, the house was a mess." "I
appreciate it, Nikki. It's wonderful." Finishing our
coffee, we got up and tidied the kitchen. She went to
the freezer and took out a package of round steak and
put it on the counter to thaw. She looked at Tommi's
food bowl. "Where do you keep the cat food?" She asked.
I retrieved it from the laundry room and filled his
bowl.
"On the shelves next to the dryer," I said. "Once a week
he gets a can of the wet stuff. Or if there's a special
occasion. I gave him one the morning after the
hurricane. It's his reward for saving me."
She giggled. "Yep! He's a big hero," petting his back as
he walked by us to his food bowl. I turned on my
cellphone again. Still no signal. Isolation was nice,
but I knew that only a few dozen miles away, the
industrial facilities were recovering, and I should be
there. But with roads closed and no contact.
"Let's go walk around," I said. We put shoes on and
walked out the door, me carrying the shotgun, her with
the camera. She took pictures. Lots of pictures. A skunk
nosing along the edge of the marsh, a several snakes, an
alligator, three raccoons. We made a circuit of the
destroyed apartment building and she shot dozens of
shots. We walked up the road in each direction until we
reached the debris fields, and we photographed that,
too. In short, we made a circuit of the high ground that
protected our house from the storm surge.
Walking back to the house, she commented, "I never
imagined this place would look like this." "Yeah, but in
a year you'll have to know where to look for signs. The
marsh out there will heal itself. They'll clear the
road. And they'll clear off the apartment debris. And
you'll not even know there was a hurricane if you didn't
know where to look." "Do you think they'll rebuild the
apartments?"
"I don't know, " I said. "Depends on how much insurance
money and government money is in it. Maybe. I just can't
tell."
"I don't know if we could get back in there anyway.
There's a waitin' list down here. Mom talked about
movin' to the city where they have more housing
available for government programs. Now I guess we will."
She paused. "If she even comes back." "But she's your
mom. Surely she'll come back, huh?"
Nikki's face was serious as she turned to look at me. We
stopped in the middle of the road. "Maybe not."
"But then you'd be, like, abandoned?"
"Last year she tried to get me taken away to a home,
Dan. She called the sheriff department and told them I
was out of control and she couldn't handle me. I'd be
gone now, but I don't get in trouble in school and I
passed a drug test and the only bad report on file was
hers. They put us in family counseling, for what that's
worth."
"Counseling?"
"Yeah. Every two weeks we go sit in an office with a
social worker and Mom says what they want to hear an' I
say what they want to hear, and they collect the
government money for it. But no, Mom wouldn't be sad if
I didn't show back up in her life." "That's sad, baby,"
I said.
"So you can see why a hurricane is a big plus in my
life, right now, huh Dan?"
We walked back to the house together, silent. She
started the conversation back. "I'm okay, Dan. Really.
For now, anyway."
"But after this?"
"That part I don't know. So I just enjoy today. And
tomorrow. Okay?"
"Okay," I said.
She led me into the office. "Let's look at these
pictures."
I turned on the computer again and while it was booting,
we had sandwiches and soft drinks. I looked at her
across the table, not saying a thing. Finally I flipped
open my cellphone. And I had two bars of signal
strength. I punched speed dial. The phone was answered
with "Well, hello, stranger!"
"Why, hi, Steve! What's up?"
"You're up! Three plants have been after us for the
Great Dan Granger to come rescue them. And we can't even
find you. Where you been?"
I saw Nikki watching me. "Let me tell, you, Steve. I
weathered the storm out down here at the house."
"You did WHAT?"
"I stayed home. Didn't evacuate."
"I saw video they shot from a helicopter, Dan.
Everything down there is devastated. Almost." "Yeah, I'm
part of the "almost." I talked to the sheriff myself
yesterday. He says roads MIGHT be open in a couple of
days or three. So I'm stuck here."
"Dammit, Dan... I need your ass up here. We have
facilities down."
I can't help you there, Steve. No way out. Hey, I have a
3G card for my computer, so I can do a lot from right
here."
"Or I can have a chopper pick you up."
"That'll work. But only if I'm back here every night. I
got a kid to take care of."
"I was jerkin' you about the chopper. We'll start
sending you pictures. When you can get out, we'll see
you."
"Okay, Steve. Sorry."
Nikki looked at me with cool regard. "You just told them
you had a kid to take care of. Is that me?"
"Yep. Even though you're hardly a kid. Come on. Let's go
play with those pictures. I need to see if I can get a
3G signal in here now." I let her sit in front of the
computer and directed her through tying in the 3G and
just like that, we were back in the greater world. I
can't say that I was particularly excited by that. I was
beginning to like the isolation. My thoughts were
punctuated by the chime of incoming email.
Nikki turned to me. "D'you need to get here?"
"Nope," I said. "After we look at your pictures." We
flipped through, laughing, talking, doing an occasional
edit. And she came across the timer shot of her and me.
"This one is the best," she said. And she got up. "You
do what you need to do. I'm gonna be in the kitchen
makin' supper." Three days' backlog of email fell down
on my head. I clicked through. A lot of them got
ignored, some got a boilerplate reply concerning my
present status. And at the very end of the queue I
started working on the storm projects as pictures and
reports started coming in from technicians in the field.
Nikki reappeared over my shoulder. "How's it goin, babe,
" she asked.
"Look," I said, and I showed her some of the pictures.
"That's wet and needs to be dried out. This is gonna
have to be replaced. This one needs a new roof before we
can do anything." I sighed and shook my head. "I'm
typing up an email right now trying to see who's got
used equipment and who's got extras we can borrow. It's
a mess."
"I haven't seen you tensed up like this," she said.
"I know. I... we were living free and easy for a couple
of days. It was nice. Now it's gonna be hell for a few
weeks until we get things going again. I reached up with
my right hand and pressed against the junction between
my left shoulder and my neck. "Nuh-uh," she said,
pushing my hand away. I felt warm, soft, feminine hands
massaging my neck and shoulders.
"Mmmmmm, Nikki, you don't have to do that."
"I know. Does it help?"
"Yes, it helps. Very much. Thank you."
She massaged for five minutes then went back to the
kitchen. I heard pots rattling, then a lid set in place,
and she was back.
"So if you did like they said, and a helicopter picked
you up..."
"Email says the city's shut down. A few hotels are on
emergency generator but they're sold out to recovery
workers. I have no idea where I'd stay, but sleeping on
the floor of an office is likely. And there's certainly
no place for you. And I may see myself leaving you here
during the day by yourself, but not overnight. No way!"
"But if I wasn't here..."
"Don't even go there, Nikki. You ARE here and I want to
take care of you. Besides, I'm not going to go live like
that if I don't have to.
"I don't need the stress, the aggravation OR the money."
And that got me a kiss on the cheek. As I sat there,
stunned, she left and I heard the vacuum cleaner start
up. Tommi came running into the office to hide.
In addition to the email, my cellphone was now ringing
every ten minutes.
If Dan couldn't go to the world, the world could come to
Dan.
At five, Nikki was sitting on the chair next to me in
the office watching me review pictures and emails. Since
she seems to take an interest, I verbalized the email
answers, embellishing the instructions and findings so
she could follow along. And half the time I had the
cellphone headset on, talking.
At five I turned it off. She took me by the hand to the
kitchen where I was greeted with my supper on the table.
"I hope you like it," she said. "It's been a long time
since I cooked it. But you have the same stuff in your
cabinets that my grandma did." "Two centuries of Cajun
grandmas did it for us, babe." It was delicious.
Perfect. She'd even poured my soft drink over ice. After
supper I went back to work, logging my time on each of
three projects I was covering. If I was gonna work, I
was darned sure going to get paid. I told Steve so over
the phone. He laughed.
-= Chapter Three =-
I was still in the office when Nikki came in after her
shower. She did the massage thing on my neck and
shoulders again. "You need to get up and walk around
every now and then," she admonished.
I hadn't even turned around when she touched me. I was
deep in the zone.
"Look!" she said. "Turn around!"
I turned, expecting to see t-shirt and pajamas. I
didn't.
"I hope you don't mind. I didn't want to bother you, but
I found these on the shelf in your closet. They give me
another suit of clothes." "They" were a pair of hospital
scrub pants and one of my old work shirts. The cotton
shirt hung on her loosely, reaching down below her
crotch in front, below the cheeks of her butt in back.
And she'd rolled cuffs up on the legs of the scrubs and
pulled the drawstring waist tight. Made her look like
something I wanted to wrap in my arms and carry off. But
I couldn't. Instead, "Cute," I said. "You look like an
orphan."
"Not a hurricane refugee?" She giggled
"That, too. Nikki, thanks for dinner. It was wonderful.
I haven't enjoyed food like that in a long time. Eating
my own cooking gets old, you know."
"I enjoyed doing it. You have a nice kitchen. Everything
is so clean. And it works."
"And you work. I am so surprised. Shocked. I never
thought of you being like this, babe." "I don't mind,
Dan. I really don't." She looked at the screen. "You
need to pick a stopping place and shut down for the
evening. A hot shower will relax you." She smiled and
left me in the office.
I answered one last email and shut the computer down.
Nikki was right. The hot shower washed away stresses. I
shaved afterward and dabbed a bit of cologne on. Eight-
thirty. I joined Nikki in the living room.
"Do you want to start this movie over so you can watch
it from the beginning?" She asked. "No, I've seen it
enough times. I can watch it from this part." And I
looked at Nikki, dark brown hair, brushed to a sheen,
her blue eyes intent on the TV, lips in a satisfied hint
of a smile. And that darned shirt, loose on her, was
showing just a glimpse of the cleavage between two young
A-cup titties. And I looked long.
When she turned to look at me, I was watching the movie.
"Hard day, huh, babe?" she said.
"Yeah. Nuts. But it'll get better."
"What about when the roads open up?"
"I figured that out already. I'll drive to the job in
the morning, and back at night. Might be late, but I am
NOT going to spend the night on an air mattress in an
office. Or sleeping in my truck. Besides, I'm the
freakin' engineer. Most of the time, I just tell 'em
what they need to do, then come back to see if it's done
right."
"So you'll be home every night?
"Yes. Absolutely. And this will be over in a couple of
weeks. We'll get the major stuff back on, and over the
next few months, there'll be stuff that takes a little
longer, but it won't be one of those 'bop 'til you drop'
things." Neither of us were really watching the movie.
"You just do what you have to do. And I'll make sure the
house is okay and you have dinner when you come in."
"Nikki, you don't have to do all that."
"Suppose I want to? I mean, I'm staying here. It's the
least I can do."
"But you don't have to, babe.'
"Yes I do," she said quietly. And she got up and started
fixing her nest on the sofa.
I got up and headed to bed. I heard a quiet voice.
"Dan," she said. "Lay on your stomach and let me rub
your back."
"Uh, Nikki, you don't have to do that."
"I know," she said. "But you're tense and you worked
hard and this'll relax you."
I rolled over and she knelt beside me in bed and kneaded
my back and shoulders.
"I saw this on TV," she said. "I hope I did it right."
"You haven't done anything wrong yet, babe.
She got up to leave. "Then this isn't wrong either." She
kissed my cheek. "Good night, Dan." Regrettably I set
the alarm for six. I knew that despite my computer being
off, the emails would pile up. Its insistent beeping
woke me and I pulled on a set of jeans and walked into
the living room, headed for the kitchen. In the dim
morning light I saw Nikki still asleep, the covers
tossed off her, looking like an angel in repose. She
stirred when I turned on the kitchen light. "Mornin,
babe," she said. "I should have got up earlier and fixed
breakfast."
"Oh, don't worry about it."
"No," she said. "Let's get you some coffee and you can
go check email or whatever, and I'll get you when
breakfast is ready, okay."
"Okay," I said. I started to walk back through the
living room to my office. She stopped me and hugged me.
I hugged back.
"Why'd you do that, Nikki?"
"Because I wanted to, Dan. Just wanted to. Now go to
work. I'll bring you coffee."
The smell of fresh-brewed coffee and bacon cooking
filled the house. She came in, handing me a steaming
mug. "Two sugars. A little half and half. I watched."
She smiled, the corners of her eyes wrinkling and cheeks
dimpled. "Right?" "My Nikki is never wrong."
There were four late emails, three of them with attached
pictures and field reports. I turned the phone on and
started listening to messages, most of the "Dan, check
your email and call me" variety. At ten minutes to seven
the first incoming call came. And we were off to the
races.
Nikki called me to breakfast. I silenced the phone while
we ate together. Afterward, she shoved me towards the
office. "You work. Let ME clean the kitchen. Okay?'
"Okay."
And back to work I went. In the back of my head I
recognized the noises of a busy kitchen. Then they
stopped. Nikki handed me another mug of coffee. "Dan,"
she said, "You have a needle and thread somewhere around
here. You used it to fix my shirt. Where's it at?" "In
the left side drawer of the desk in the living room.
Why?'
"I'm gonna alter some clothes. Like these scrubs. And
this old shirt. So they fit better."
"By hand? You can do that?"
"Grandma again."
"Can you use a sewing machine?"
"Yes. I think so."
I got up, went to a closet and pulled a portable sewing
machine out. And a box containing a variety of things,
thread, needles, buttons.
Squeal!
"You're not the only one who knows how to do things."
"Okay," she giggled. "I can do this. Now go back to
work."
And the sound of a sewing machine added to the sounds of
our little island of sanity.
Eleven o'clock brought the sounds of a helicopter again.
Landing. We walked out and down the drive together.
Sheriff again.
"Hello there, Dan Granger," he said. And he tilted his
hat. "Miss Nikki."
"Out surveying your kingdom again?"
He laughed. "I'm like king of a shitpile right now. You
folks doin' alright?"
"Yes we are," I said. "I got cell coverage and 3G
internet back yesterday. I've been working ever since.
When are they going to have the road cleared?"
"That's what I was gonna tell you," he said. "There are
dozers and graders working up from the highway on this
road right now. You might be able to drive out late
tomorrow if they don't have to fix any big washouts.
We've had a couple of doozies." "That'll be good. My
office offered to fly me out on a chopper. But I told
them I had Nikki here and I would have to come back at
night, so I'm working from home."
He laughed. "Ya'll're like Robinson freakin' Crusoe.
Miss Nikki, did you do that sewin', or did he?"
Nikki raised her hand. "Grandma taught me."
He laughed. "It works. Shows that it's done by hand, but
it works." He looked at me. "How's fuel holding up?"
"Haven't even used a quarter of the tank."
"you gonna need some any time soon?"
"I hope not. It's propane. Not like you can haul it in
here in a bucket."
"No," he said, grinning, "but we use propane at the
emergency command center, and they're gonna have to get
us a truck by the end of the week. I can make sure they
stop by here."
"Man, that'd be great. I might even vote for you next
election."
"You might not have to. Another hit like this and there
won't be anybody living here to run against me." He
looked over his shoulder at the Blackhawk sitting on the
road, rotor blades still spinning. "Say, you got a
couple of those cold Cokes?" "You got it, Sheriff," I
said.
"Call me Ernie," he said. Nikki showed up with four
cokes already sweating in the humidity. She handed them
to him. "And you folks be careful. You got cell phone
now, wait. Hold this, Miss Nikki."
She grabbed the cans as he reached in a pocket. "Here's
my card. Office, private office line, and my cell. Call
me if you need somethin'." He retrieved his drinks and
walked back to the helicopter. I watched him pass them
to the crew. We waved as they took off, curving out
across the marshes.
Walking back in, I told Nikki, "I'm glad I stocked up on
cokes."
She laughed. "But he says he can get us fuel. And maybe
you can get out tomorrow."
"Yeah, but I don't know if that's good news or not.
Let's eat lunch and try to make a list of stuff we
need."
After lunch, we took a generator outage. I checked
fluids and belts and a dozen other things making sure
that the lights stayed on. Satisfied, I started it back
up and put the electricity back to the house. I
restarted the computer and started wading through the
email again. And the cell calls. And I told Steve of the
possibility that I just might be able to get out the day
after tomorrow. "Just come on," he said. "Everybody's
satisfied so far. They're reading the email strings. And
nobody's kicking about paying you to lounge around down
there. But they'd like to see you."
"I'll be there as soon as I can. But understand one
thing, Steve."
"What's that?"
"I AM. Repeat. I AM going to be back here every night.
And not that "two in the morning" stuff, either. I have
somebody who needs to be taken care of here. A kid."
"I didn't know you had a kid, Dan."
"It's a long story. I do. So we'll do it my way or I'll
have me one of them cushy offices in a building in
Houston. And neither one of us wants that. Right?"
Steve sounded hurt. "Dan, Dan... I said we'd do it."
"I know, Steve, but that's while I'm sitting here. If
I'm in there, SOME people decide they want to throw
their weight around. They're gonna be throwing at my
bumper goin' out the gate."
Nikki was monitoring this conversation. "Dan, you're
kinda harsh on 'im."
"He's the one I was talkin' about, babe, throwin' his
weight around. He needs me more than I need him. It'll
be okay." I pointed out the picture on the screen.
"What'd'ya think?" I wanted to see if she was paying
attention. "Old. Wet?"
"Yeah, here's a test report." I pulled it up on the
screen and she looked at the numbers.
She pointed to a column. "aren't these supposed to be,
like, two digits or less?"
"Right."
Her finger pointed to the heading. "Uh, this is a
breaker?"
"That's what it says."
"And it, like, goes with a bus?"
"Yep." She WAS paying attention.
She smiled. "I heard you do this one. You said, "dry the
breakers in an oven and remediate the bus with portable
heaters."
I laughed. "I oughtta be cookin' supper and YOU should
be doin' this!"
"Nuh-uh," she said. "I'm like a parrot. I just repeat
what I heard. And navy bean soup for supper, okay?"
"Yes, dear." She slapped the back of my head playfully
as she left.
I was on the second page of a tablet where I was logging
my time on each job, talking into my headset and typing
when I saw a hand reach around and hand me a glass of
coke over ice. "Take a break," she said. "Come sit in
your chair." I kicked back in my recliner and she knelt
at my feet, took one and rubbed it. I groaned. After a
couple of minutes, she switched feet.
"Where'd you learn that? And don't tell me your
grandma..."
"Then I won't say anything." She smiled.
I closed my eyes for fifteen minutes. When I opened my
eyes, she was sitting on the sofa, her knees drawn up
under her, watching me. "You okay?" I asked.
"I'm fine, why?" she answered.
"Because you're looking at me."
"Sorry," she said. "I just never saw anybody work like
you've been working, You just DO it."
"I suppose, babe," I said. "It's what I do."
"I'm impressed." She smiled.
I went back to work. After another hour, I got up to
stretch. I found bean soup simmering on the stove and
Nikki in the living room with headphones. Beethoven. She
took the phones off when I walked in.
"This is what you chose?" I questioned.
"Yes," she answered. "I love this music."
I smiled, walking back into my office. Back into the
fray. Five o'clock and things were dwindling when she
came in and her hands grasped and kneaded my shoulders.
When she stopped, she wrapped me in her arms from behind
and whispered in my ear, "Dinner, babe!" And kissed me
lightly on the top of my head.
The soup was good. After supper, I fielded a couple more
phone calls and emails and then shut the office down. I
walked into the living room. She smiled when I entered.
"I'm done for the night," I declared.
"Good," she said. She patted the sofa beside her. "Lay
here. Put your head on my lap."
"What?" I looked at her.
She looked at me. "It's simple. Lay here. And put your
head on my lap. I'm trying to help you relax. Okay?"
"Okay," I said. And I did. She looked down at me and
massaged my temples and caressed my face. "Mmmmmm, baby,
that feels soooo good!" "I used to do this for the
little girl next door when I babysat. It calmed her down
and put her to sleep." She smiled. "Don't go to sleep,
though." And it could have been perfectly innocent and
so very caring.
Finally I sad, "Nikki, If I don't get up and shower, I'm
gonna go to sleep right here in your lap."
Her smile was sublime. "That wouldn't be THAT bad. But
you'll sleep better if you shower."
I got up. She usually showered first, but tonight I went
ahead. Twenty minutes later, I was out and she went in.
"Don't worry," she said. "I sewed my own pajamas today."
And she did. My oversized pajama bottoms were altered to
fit her much slimmer and shorter frame. She sat on the
sofa and I was safely in my chair.
I looked at her. Her eyes were softer, a subtle change
in the way she looked at me. I wrote it off as fatigue
on my part. I was mentally fatigued.
"Babe," she said, "When you go out, are you going to be
able to get to someplace where stores are open?"
"I dunno. Why?"
She said, "I'm gonna need some things."
"What kind of things?"
"I need another bra and some panties. And anything I can
get for clothes. I can write down my sizes."
"I can do better than that. I can take you?"
"Take me?"
"Yeah. When the roads are open, we BOTH go to the
office. You stay there for a few hours while I visit
some clients, then I come get you and we go to Houston
and get what you need."
"Can you do that? I mean, they want you there bad."
"And I'll be there. But I have to take care of you,
too."
"Dan, I don't have money."
"I got an empty platinum card and a full bank account. I
think I can get you fitted out." Squeal. And she
launched at me and kissed me on the lips. Perhaps a
little bit too long. But she backed up like it was the
most natural and innocent thing she'd ever done.
"Now get off my bed," she said.
And we both went to sleep. The next morning my alarm
went off and I woke to the smell of coffee and bacon. I
walked into the kitchen rubbing my eyes. "Beat you!" she
giggled.
Mid-morning I was busy answering email and she came in.
"Dan! There's a bulldozer comin' up the road!"
"Come on!" I said. "Let's go see." We drove my truck
down to meet the dozer.
"Uh, yeah," said the operator, pointing at my big four
wheel drive pickup. "That'll make it out just fine."
"I'll be coming back later."
"You got an emergency pass?"
"As a matter of fact, I do." The company had sent out an
email with letters to grant access to me as "emergency
personnel" and I had copies in the truck. "We need to
make another pass through the house and then we'll be
back here. The grizzled operator snorted. "They'll get
out of your way. There's a big washout a mile up the
road, but you can get by on the good part."
Great! Thanks! Hey, you wanna cold coke?"
"Nah, thanks," he said. "I got an ice chest full." He
pointed to the box beside him. "But thanks! Really!"
Nikki was excited as we went back to the house. I shut
the computer down. And I called Steve and told him that
I was going to be offline for the rest of the day. We
checked Tommi's food and water, then shut the generator
down and locked up the house. I had an overnight bag
packed, and my camera and my laptop computer. And Nikki
was in the middle of the cab, buckled in next to me.
Like it was the way things should be. I didn't question
it.
The drive out on our little secondary road was slow
going. We dodged a couple of washed out sections, easing
by crews at work repairing them. They stopped and stared
at this big silver truck coming out of an area they
thought was empty of humanity. Nikki waved. Once we hit
the main road, things picked up a bit, but there were
still sections that needed care. And finally we hit the
interstate highway and headed west. Eighty miles up the
road, you wouldn't know there even WAS a storm. And
Houston was, well, Houston.
It took me several tries before I found a hotel room,
and it was a bit pricey, but we were glad to get it. And
I took Nikki to a mall. She needed EVERYTHING. And she
got it. I had to push a few times, making her choose
slightly more expensive GOOD stuff instead of the
cheapest available, "And for heaven's sake, Nikki, get
enough of 'em." I was carrying armloads of bags, the
second trip, having already deposited a load in the
truck. As we started to leave the last store, she looked
wistfully at the cosmetic and perfume counter. I caught
the look.
"Is there something you'd like, there, babe?" I asked.
"No, Dan. You've spent too much on me already."
"I bought you stuff you need, babe," I said. "Now, is
there something that I can just GIVE you? Like makeup?"
I didn't think she needed makeup. It would be gilding a
lily."
"Perfume?" She named a name. "But no. It's like, eighty
dollars!"
I turned toward the perfume display and an attentive
salesgirl came forward.
"Can I help you find something?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am. Whatever this young lady needs, give it to
her."
She smiled at Nikki. Nikki told her the name, and a blue
foil box was presented in exchange for a swipe of a
credit card. We made our way back to the truck.
"Dinner!" she said. "What about dinner?"
"Pick a restaurant."
She did. We ate a very nice meal. I noted her manners
were certainly a lot better than I'd expect for a girl
out of Section 8 housing. I asked her about it and found
that it was yet another of the lessons from grandma.
That put us checking into the hotel room. We brought in
the bags and entered the room, replete with a pair of
queen-sized beds. I watched a happy teen trying on one
outfit after another, then carefully packing them all
away in their bags. We showered. When she came out, she
was wearing one of our purchases, a very neat pair of
pajamas that chastely covered her and in my mind made
her even more desirable. I showered second, came out to
find she'd turned down both beds and was propped up on a
pile of pillows watching real TV for the first time in
several days. I sat on the edge of the other bed. "No,"
she said. "You can sleep there. But come over here and
sit by me for a while. While we watch TV."
I did. She snuggled up against me. "Dan, thank you. You
didn't have to do any of this, you know."
"I know," I said. "But you lost everything. You needed
stuff." I sniffed. "Even that perfume."
"Did I put on too much?"
"No."
"Mom puts on too much. I guess it has to cut through the
cigarette smoke. Grandma said it should be a hint, not a
hammer." "It's a hint. Smells very good." And you look
very nice in your new clothes, baby." Snuggled against
me, I could lay my cheek on top of her head and breathe
the scent of a fresh, clean girl into my nostrils. I
felt a familiar stirring. I raised my knee, drawing my
leg back to hide the bulge."
"Is something wrong, Dan?" she asked.
"No," said, "Just a cramp in my leg."
She raised up and looked directly at me. "You don't have
to fib to me, Dan. I KNOW what an erection is."
"Uh... Nikki."
"And I know that sometimes you can't control when you
get one. It's okay, Dan. Really."
"Nikki..."
"Dan... I just wanted to be close to you for a little
while. You take good care of me, okay? You can go to
your bed if you need to."
"Oh, dammit, Nikki, I don't want to. I liked you there.
But..."
"I understand, Dan. You're a good guy. We... I wasn't
tryin' to ... I was tryin' NOT to. Okay?"
"Okay." And I got up to get into the other bed. And as I
left, I kissed her on the nose.
"No," she said. And she pulled my face down and kissed
me on the lips, just a tiny bit past a little girl happy
kiss. The alarm went off at six AM and we were out the
door a half-hour later, stopping at a dinner for
breakfast that wasn't nearly as good as the ones I'd
been enjoying, even though I did get to gaze at those
blue eyes over a hot cup of coffee. Three hours later we
were back at the house, unloading her purchases and
restarting the generator.
I left her under the watchful eye of a yellow cat and I
went to work. On the way in, I phoned Steve and told him
to meet me on one of the jobsites so I wouldn't have to
waste time at the office. By the time I'd visited all
three sites, it was six PM. It took me an hour to get
home. I walked in the door to a smiling Nikki. She was
dressed in new shorts and a simple cotton blouse and
darn it! My heart fluttered when I saw her.
"Hey, sweetie," I said. "Everything okay?"
"Great," she said with a smile.
I sniffed. "Smells like a roast."
"Yeah," she said. "I hope it works. It was frozen. I
left in the fridge to thaw yesterday. But I stuffed it
with garlic and it's been on the stove since noon. I
need to do some vegetables and a pot of rice. You can go
take your shower and it'll be ready." I smiled.
"Thanks."
She looked at me. "If you could've called me, I would've
had it ALL ready when you got here."
"But I didn't have a way to call you."
"No you didn't."
"I'll fix that." I turned to Nikki. "Okay. If you can
get through tomorrow, you'll have a phone" "I just need
one until the phones come back on, Dan."
"That might be a while, baby," I said.
"But my own phone?"
"You'll need one."
"Dan, answer me something. Truth, okay?"
I looked. There was a serious look in the face of this
young doll. "Always the truth, Nikki. Why would we lie
to each other?"
"We shouldn't. Ever."
"So what's the question?"
"How long am I going to stay here?"
"As long as you want. As long as you need to. As long as
you can."
"Bu... but what if my mom doesn't come get me?"
"That would be sad for her. But you can stay here. Might
be some strange hoops we have to go through, because if
you're here, I need to be able to be responsible for
you. Like for doctors and school and things. Is that the
answer you were looking for?" "I guess so," she said.
"What else can I say? Did I miss something?"
She fixed me with a gaze. "Just one thing. How long do
YOU WANT me to stay?"
And heaven help me, because the word that came out of my
mouth was "Forever."
And the response was a fifteen year old girl leaping
into my arms and wrapping her own around my neck. And a
decidedly un-little girlish kiss.
"I missed you today, Dan. I really did."
"I missed you too, Nikki. I thought my day would never
end. But we got ourselves a mess here."
"What do you mean, Dan?"
"Very confusing for me."
"How?"
"Nikki, you're fifteen. I'm forty one. That's twenty-six
years."
"Grandma told me that the reason Grandpa wasn't around
was that he married her when she was sixteen and he was
forty-five. That's almost thirty years. And she loved
him until the day she died."
"I could go to jail for just touching you."
"I know that. But I won't tell. Nobody'll know."
"You've known me for what, a week?"
"Yes. How much time do I need?" She turned and plopped
backward onto the sofa, arms crossed. Her bottom lip was
pouting. "You know," she said, "I'm NOT ignorant about
people."
"I didn't say you were, Nikki."
"I know about sex and stuff. I mean, I have a Mom who's
been showin' me the wrong way to do that since I was old
enough to remember."
"b-but..."
"No "buts". I know you're aroused by me. You tried to
hide it but you didn't do a very good job. Don't you
imagine you just might have the same effect on me?"
"I don't know."
"I'm fifteen. I've known boys. I've known men. But I
never let one TOUCH me. Dan, I'm a virgin. At fifteen. I
don't know if there are any others in my class. I
suppose there are, but I know I am, for sure. And I
wanted to kiss you and hug you and maybe other stuff.
And I know all about the laws. So what do you think I'm
gonna do? Kiss you and run tell somebody? I'm not." "But
Nikki, five days ago you didn't even know me. I brought
you in from the storm. I didn't do that to take
advantage of you. I'd have done the same thing if you
were a boy."
"Even the cologne?"
"Well maybe not the cologne."
"So YOU put the cologne on, and then you walk by me and
I smell it and I think "hmmm, that smells really good"
and I want to get close enough to smell it some more,
and you start getting all paranoid?"
"Nikki... baby..."
"And that's another thing. I've been "babe" an' "baby"
and now you're gonna treat me like I got a disease.
Don't you just suppose I might want to just cuddle and
be hugged and kissed."
Okay, baby," I said, "but kisses and hugs... it's hard
to draw the line there sometimes..." "Dan. Would you
ever hurt me?"
"No..."
"I believe you. Implicitly." And Nikki used words like
"Implicitly". "D'ya want me to say?"
"Say what?"
"That I think I love you?"
"Nikki, that's just what I'm scared of. That's why I
don't have a girlfriend. I don't ever want to be told "I
love you" again and give that back and have them change
their minds. Every time that happens, it hurts worse
than the time before. And the last one..." "I'm sorry,
Dan. It's never happened to me. But I've had a screwed
up life. My mom would just as soon be rid of me. I don't
know who my dad is at all. And there's nobody in my
life, ever been in my life, that made me smile like you
did. Already. And I don't want to be told "I love you"
just because you want to get in my pants. They're MY
pants, and I control who gets in 'em."
"I didn't do anything, Nikki... Just..."
"Don't you understand, Dan... You didn't, but you did."
"I don't want to take advantage of you, Nikki."
She smiled, but a tear was tracking down a perfect
cheek. "Good! Then don't. Hold me and kiss me and tell
me that you will love me forever and mean it. Would THAT
be taking advantage of me? If you mean it?"
"No. It wouldn't."
"Am I too unlovable to say that, then?"
"No, you're certainly not."
Then in a quiet small voice she said, "Then exactly why
don't you say it. If you mean it."
"You win. Nikki, heaven help us, I feel like I've been
hit by lightning, but I love you." "And I love you too,
Dan." And this time I kissed back. And again. This time
I felt her lips part and a tongue brush mine lightly. I
opened my own lips and our tongues met for the first
time. "Mmmmmmm," she purred. "I know you're scared,
Dan," she said. "But I will never leave you. I promise."
"I want to believe you," I said." I do. But baby, you're
fifteen."
She kissed me again. "Babe," she said, "fifteen is old
enough to do "forever'. People didn't used to get
married in their twenties and thirties like today. I can
do 'forever'. I'll be yours forever. Okay?" Kiss.
I sighed. "Then I'm yours. Forever."
And she pushed me backward onto the sofa and was
astraddle me, kneeling. She relaxed and settled into my
lap and her crotch landed on top of my erection. And she
wiggled down against it. "You tried to hide this from
me." She grabbed my shirt and pulled it upward, tugging
so I'd raise my arms and she could get it off me.
Finishing, she reached down to unbutton her own shirt
and paused. "Dan, I don't have big titties."
"Little darling Nikki, I know what size titties you
have. Do you think I'm made of steel? I looked, babe.
Besides, I washed your bra."
"Then you're not disappointed?"
"Certainly not."
She stripped the shirt off, tossing it over her shoulder
and lowering her arms. At first she crossed them over
her chest, covering that precious beauty, but I kissed
her and she lowered them and sat back. "Beautiful.
Absolutely perfect." And I caressed them, reveling in
the firm flesh, her areoles a little smaller than a
quarter, her nipples like pencil erasers, just as pink,
and now, just as hard. I twisted downward to kiss one.
She purred, and when I sucked it, her hands pushed the
back of my head, pushing my face into her. I sat back up
straight and looked at her face, then kissed her bangs
on her forehead. Her eyes were bright. "Dan," she
whispered.
"Wouldn't the bedroom be better?"
I cupped the cheeks of her ass in my hands, holding her
against me and stood up. She buried her face into my
neck as I walked us to the bedroom and gently sat her
down on the bed. Her hands went to the waistband of my
pants and pulled downward. I took the hint and stood up
and shed the remainder of my clothes. Her eyes widened
at the sight of my dick, as hard as it could possibly
get, all six inches of it. "So that's it," she said.
"That's it."
She moved to a kneeling position and pulled her shorts
down below her butt, then rolled backward and peeled
them off her long legs. When she lowered her legs, I was
treated to the sight of wisps of dark, fine hair on her
pubic mound. She wasn't hairy. The mound was rounded and
gave home to the start of her slit, glistening with
moisture. I crawled into the bed beside her and kissed
her. Her arms pulled me on top of her. "Nikki, darling,
I love you, but we can still stop.
You're still a virgin. You can keep that."
"Dan," she said. " I love you, and... my virginity? I'm
finished with it. I want you to have it."
"It could hurt the first time, baby..."
"I know. But I talked to the doctor when I first started
having periods and he said my, uh, hymen was vestigial.
Like in almost not there.
And if it hurts the first time, it won't hurt all the
rest of the times."
"Maybe it would be better if you were on top, baby,
where you can control how fast things go." "Okay,
honey," she said. I rolled her over on top of me. We
kissed more, my hands wandering, exploring her lithe
body. She sat up, astraddle me.
"Wow," she commented, "I can't believe how much stuff is
coming out of me." Her hand reached down and touched the
head of my dick as it was trapped between us. She raised
up and it flipped upward. She guided it towards her
waiting hole, the head lining up, slickened with juices
I'd love to taste. She worked her hips forward and back,
pushing downward as the head buried into its home.
"We're doin' it, Dan." She rose up, then pushed down. A
half inch disappeared. The next stroke got more. And
finally I felt he pussy lips against the base of my dick
and her smile told the story. "Dan, you're IN me."
"Did it hurt, baby?"
"Not even a little bit." She was smiling with her whole
face, looking down at me. Then a cloud came over her
face. "Dan, I don't want to get pregnant."
"Uh, babe, that's not happening. Remember when I told
you that my ex and I couldn't have kids? It could have
killed her or the baby. So I got fixed."
"Like a vasectomy?"
"Exactly."
Giggle. And wiggles involving two people with parts that
were made to fit together. "Then shoot. Come."
"What do you know about coming and shooting?"
"Mom's a slut. And not a very quiet one." She slid back
and forth on me. And laid down on top of me, and we
entwined our arms and kissed.
Mated. "Dan," she whispered. "It ain't sex to me. It's
love. Just a part of love, but it's love." I marveled at
the flurry of thoughts and emotions that were running
through my Nikki. "You're so beautiful in so many ways,
Nikki." I kissed her and she writhed in my arms, then
pushed up, her hands on my chest. And her hips moved.
There was a smile and her eyes were gleaming as she
began to experiment with the feeling she could generate
by moving the moistness over the shaft that she'd
welcomed inside her.
"Mmmmmm. Dan! Feels soooo good!" She rocked back and
forth, finding an angle and a motion that made her very
happy. "There! Like that. I can feel you IN me and I can
feel ME rubbin' on you. In just the right place." And
she started a rhythm. And I couldn't help myself, but my
own hips started pushing in concert with her rhythm.
I could feel her juices starting to cover the front of
my balls and my pubic mound. My dick was immersed. And
Nikki was getting more insistent in her motions. The
smile on her face morphed to concentration and her eyes
alternated between bright and open to squinched closed.
And then she bit her bottom lip. "Oh! Dan. It's.
Happening! Aaauuughhhhh!" and her hands grabbed my
chest, my breasts, and her fingers dug in. And she came.
As I splurted uncontrollably into her center.
"Niiiiiiiikki, baby! I'm coming..... Aaahhhh!!!!" And
Nikki fell forward into my arms.
It took a minute for us to return to lucidity. "Dan,"
she said. "Mom told me that it wouldn't be good for me
the first time." She sighed.
"She was wrong about that, too."
"Mmmmmm, baby! I'm glad." I kissed her gently.
"Was it good for you?" She looked at me from three
inches away.
"I think I entered a parallel universe, baby." She
giggled softly.
"It was good for US, then." She kissed me lightly,
perfectly, in post-coital bliss, her face framed by dark
brown hair, her blue eyes happy. From our nether regions
came a soft plop as my softening dick fell out of its
new home.
Nikki gave a tentative wiggle in response. "It fell out,
Dan..."
"It's dead. It died happy, though." And I smiled at her
tinkling giggle, caressing her back and butt with my
hands. "You feel so good, baby."
She purred at my touch. "Mmmmmm, so do you, baby." She
slid sideways off of me and molded herself along my left
side. "Dan, you take such good care of me..."
"You're worth caring for, baby. You were before you
showed up at my door. And even more now." Her eyes were
bright, a smile on her lips. "you've given me more in
five days than I've had since Grandma died, Dan."
"That's a two-way, street, little one. You don't know
what it meant to me to wake up and find you in the
kitchen, smiling. And leaning over my shoulder in the
office, smiling. And sitting on the sofa, smiling. It's
like you brought a rainbow into my life."
-= Chapter Four =-
We stayed in an embrace for some more time when Nikki
remembered the kitchen. She got up and disappeared into
the bathroom and returned.
"We made a mess of Nikki, babe! I'm going to finish
dinner." She pulled on the clothes she'd strewn around
the house. I joined her, walking up behind her as she
stood at the stove. I put my hands on her shoulders and
kissed the back of her head. She turned, her hair
bouncing, spoon in hand. She smiled. "You know, it'll be
even better around here since we won' t have to tiptoe
around each other."
"Huh?"
"You know," she smiled, "Makin' sure you're properly
clothed around me an' me around you. Stayin' a
respectable distance apart. And I don't have to make a
bed on the sofa."
"No you don't," I said.
"You don't know, Dan. I wanted to get in bed with you
the first night I was here. And not for sex, babe. Just
to feel safe."
"Babe, I'm glad you didn't try. I couldn't have handled
it. I was battling in my head over you."
"Why, Dan?"
"Because you're an impossibility. You're smart and cute
and sweet. But you're impossibly young. I was killing
myself every time I had a thought about you that strayed
just a bit off the line."
"I know, Dan," she said. "I was havin' the same ones."
She lifted a pot lid and stirred the contents. Get a
plate. This is ready."
We sat down at the table and ate our meal. She was
glowing.
"You look so much happier, Dan," she said. "Is that from
ME?"
"Yes, my love, it is."
We cleared the table in record time.
"Shower," she said, giggling. "Both of us."
I stared.
"Don't be bashful. I want that whole naked thing. You're
the first guy I ever saw naked, and I wanna play, okay?
So we can start in the shower." She was shedding clothes
on the way up the hall, laughing, "Don't worry about the
clothes on the floor. I know that lady that takes care
of the place and she'll pick 'em up."
I followed like a lovesick puppy.
"Come on, Dan... you can't take a shower with your
clothes on." Her eyes twinkled. "Here! Let me help." She
peeled my t-shirt over my head and then started
unbuttoning my jeans. I heard the sound of my own zipper
and then she tugged the waistband downward. She stood
up, naked. A vision. Her face was wreathed by that
walnut collared hair, a sassy little flip at her
jawline. She shook her head and her bangs settled in
place.
She kissed me. I kissed her back, then started to bend
over to get out of my pants.
"Nuh-uh," she said. "I started it. I'll finish it." And
she knelt down in front of me. Her fingers hooked into
the waistband of my briefs. And pulled them downward.
The elastic waist caught on my dick, pointing upward,
hard. Blue eyes looked up at me. "Uh, Dan, I've never
undressed a guy before." She pulled the waistband out
and past my dick, dropping my briefs on top of the jeans
piled around me feet. I stepped out of them.
"Don't go anywhere," she said. "I didn't get a chance to
look while ago." She could look now. It was pointed at
her face. Her fingers gently wrapped the shaft. "This is
so neat," she said. As I stood there trying to keep my
knees from buckling, her fingers explored the head,
tracing the coronal ridge, touching and squeezing. A big
drop of pre-cum formed on the tip. Her eyes looked at me
and turned naughty. She picked up the drop on her
fingertip and popped the finger in her mouth.
"Hey, that's actually pretty tasty." And then she
wrapped the head of my dick in her mouth and sucked.
"Oh, gosh, Nikki," I moaned.
She pulled off it. "Did I hurt you?" she asked.
"Oh, no, babe. You surprised me."
She stood up and pulled my face down to hers. And kissed
me. "Another first for Nikki, lover," she said. "Let's
get that shower." I was glad I'd designed the shower. I
knew when I designed the house that days would come when
I might need the room. Nikki in the shower with me was
that need. And a naked, wet and lathered Nikki was a
thing of joy. I washed her. I shampooed her hair. She
washed me. Scrubbed my back. Finally we stepped out and
I wrapped her in the biggest, fluffiest towel in my
inventory. And made a mental note to get new towels.
She dried off and was drying her hair while I shaved.
She giggled. "I never saw a guy shave before. You make
funny faces."
I put a dab of lather on her nose.
After I finished shaving and brushed my teeth, the said,
"Dan. A little of your cologne would be appropriate."
"I didn't think you noticed."
"I told you that I noticed. You need to listen to me
better."
"Yes, ma'am." I put cologne on. And she put dabs of
perfume here and there for me to find. We went back to
the bedroom. The covers were still a mess from our
earlier activity. "Grab a corner," she said, and we
straightened the covers. She saw the spot where we'd
leaked together earlier. And there was a slight tinge of
red. "I'll wash these tomorrow, baby," she said. And she
crawled into the middle of the bed and stretched out on
her back.
The cat strolled into the bedroom, looked at the two of
us, and strolled back out.
"Poor thing! I'm probably taking his spot."
"He'll probably be back when things quiet down."
"But they're quiet right now," she cooed.
I crawled beside her and kissed her, cupping a breast in
my hand, my fingers teasing a nipple to hardness. And
then I moved my face away from hers, downward, kissing
my way to her nipple.
"Oh yeah, Dan! I like that!"
I tongued and sucked first one perky breast, then the
other. Then I looked up into her eyes. "Nikki," I said,
"different people like different things. If I ever start
to do something that you don't like, you need to tell
me. It's your body. You get to say what we do." "Oh,
Dan, I want to do everything."
"Everything? What do you consider everything?"
She pulled herself down to cuddle up with me. We
entwined arms and legs. And she explained. "You know I
WAS a virgin until a couple or three hours ago, right?"
"Right," I said. "I felt that. And saw the evidence."
"I was. And I'm not experienced. At all. I never even
made out with a guy. Or kissed one. Not like we did.
When I felt your tongue touch mine, that was the first
time that happened."
"But you... you started it."
"Yeah. That's the point. I know about stuff. I heard Mom
and whatever guy goin' at it, an' like I said, they
weren't quiet. The tongue thing, well I read about it
somewhere. And that stuff about shooting an' coming,
well I heard that through the wall a bunch of times. And
when I did you with my mouth, I heard about that. And
about her getting' him to do that to her." "Wow!"
"But, baby, I never did anything. With anybody. So,
like, maybe I don't know HOW to do things, but I know
that things are done."
"Okay..."
"And the same thing goes with you. If you don't want to
do something with me, just tell me. I remember one of
Mom's guys didn't like to, as he said, "Eat pussy." But
most of them did." She looked into my eyes. "Do you?"
"I think that eating you would be one of the happiest
events of my life, babe."
Squeal! "Good! "Cuz I want to see if that feels as good
as I think it will." She kissed me. "And while ago? When
I put your thing in my mouth? I REALLY liked that. I
hope you do. I want to do that. Lots."
Her hand was exploring my balls. "Lay back an' let me
play."
I did. She had questions about what and how hard and
where, and I answered as she explored. She finally eased
up into my arms again and my hand explored the sweet,
moist folds of her womanhood. Oh, right, she was
fifteen. Make that her late girl-hood. We kissed and
teased, lips to lips, face, neck, chest, and I kept my
fingers busy in her pussy, finally succeeding in
breaking her train of thought. Her pelvis was hunching
insistently against my fingers as a teased an orgasm out
of her. Finally she tossed her head back and said, "Dan!
Lick me. There!"
And I did, reveling in the juices flowing from her, the
smell of lust, the velvet feel of her folds, and the
little pea-like head of her clitty. I covered her clit
with my mouth, sucking it in between my lips and working
it with my tongue in light, feathery flicks. And she
came, pulling my face hard into her wetness. Her muscles
tensed then relaxed. I gave her a few seconds, then
resumed. "Dan!" Her hands went back to my head. "I don't
know! It's too soon! Aughhhh! Wait! Don't stop! Please.
There! HARD!" and I abandoned the light flicks and laved
her clit vigorously with my tongue. "Nnnnnnngghhhhhhh!
Ohgodohgodohgod!! Yesssss!" She went rigid, back arched,
her pussy pressed against my face. And then fell back.
"Ahhhhhhh! Please! Come up here!" I cuddled her into my
arms and kissed her face lightly. "Dan, baby," she
whispered, her lips near my ear. "I used to do myself
with my fingers sometimes, and I made myself come. But
what you just did, wow! Just wow!"
I brushed her sleek hair away from her face and kissed
her. "You make me feel good, babe! You're a doll. A
fantasy. No, I take that back. My fantasies were never
this good."
She pushed me onto my back and rested her chin in her
hands on my chest. "Did you have fantasies about me,
Dan?"
"Oh, Nikki, I tried soooo hard not to. I felt bad about
thinking of you like that. I wasn't supposed to."
A smile formed on her lips and her eyes twinkled. A
smile to Nikki was something that involved her whole
face. "But you did anyway, huh?"
"I couldn't help it." I kissed her. "I felt bad about
it."
"You don't have to feel bad about it any more. I want
you to think about me like this too!" She eased down my
chest, playing on my nipples with her tongue. "Do guys
like this too?" she asked.
"I don't know about other guys, but I love it. And it's
like there's wire from my left nipple to my dick." "Your
left nipple? Is it the most sensitive? You showed me my
RIGHT nipple is more sensitive." And she was holding my
dick when she latched onto my left nipple, sucking it
with her lips and teasing it with her tongue. She
giggled. "That's so COOL! Every time my tongue moves,
your thing moves. And gets harder." She smiled. "I'm
gonna love learning how to please you." "You already
please me, blue-eyed girl."
"Yeah, but I want to fix you so where every time you
stop to relax, you think of me."
"Too late, Nikki!"
"Too late?"
"Yeah. All day today every time I closed my eyes, I saw
you."
"Before we even talked about us?"
"Yes. Before we even talked about us."
"It's us now, Dan." She left my nipple, headed further
down. She regarded my dick at close range. It was rock-
hard. She turned her head back toward me. "This thing is
MADE for me to suck on, Dan!" Her head dipped and I felt
lips close over me, sucking. She pulled off me with an
audible pop. "I think I could do this better if I was
between your legs, baby!" "Okay," I said. I scooted up
toward the head of the bed, arranging pillows to support
my back. The fact that it gave me a clear view of the
brown-haired cutie crawling between my thighs was a
definite plus.
She started kissing my balls, giggling. "They're all
wrinkly! It feels funny on my lips. I like it!" She
kissed again. "You said not to suck too hard, huh?"
"Yeah."
Her head bobbed down. "Mmmmmm," she purred. "Was that
too hard?"
"Nope. Perfect!"
"Okay, then." She worked me over for a minute. Then she
licked up the shaft of my dick. "I'm just kinda wingin'
it here, babe," she said, grinning. Her pink tongue made
another pass. "Oooooh, look! You made me some juice!"
She dispensed with the finger this time and her pink
tongue licked it off me like a lollipop. And then she
sucked. Her hand was wrapped around the shaft and her
lips met her fingers as her head bobbed.
"Dan," she asked, "can I bite it? A little? I mean, I
WANT to."
"Bite, baby."
"How hard?"
"As hard as you want. I trust you." It is a truly
sensual thing to see your lover smile when she's got
your dick in her mouth. I felt teeth.
"Too hard?"
"Nope. You could bite a little harder. Just not on the
head. Real light on the head, okay?"
And she gave me a series of sucks, licks and nibbles.
Purrs and giggles accompanied her experimentation. "Am I
doin' this right?"
"If you do it much longer, you're gonna see how right
you are..."
Squeal! "Like, I'm gonna make you COME? With my mouth."
"Yes, you are. So you better stop or you are going to
get a mouthful."
Her lips slid down over the head and her teeth fastened
behind the ridge, tugging.
"Nnnnnnnghhhh!" I breathed. "Baby! I'm serious. I'm
gonna come."
"I want you to."
"B-but..."
"You're my lover, Dan, and I want this thing to come in
my mouth. I mean, if Mom could do a guy she just met, I
can do THE guy who I'm gonna spend my life with..." And
she went back down on me. As she worked me over with
lips, teeth and tongue, her free hand cradled and
caressed my balls. She looked up at me, giggling. "This
is FUN! I can feel it throbbing!" She returned to
sucking and swirling me. "I'm close, baby," I said,
touching her pretty hair. She doubled her effort and
"Nnnnnnghhhhh! Baby! Hereitcomes! Gahhhhh! Ohbaby!
Nnnnnghhhh!" the first surge spurted into her mouth. I
felt her tongue and cheeks as she swallowed. Then the
second. And third. And the rest was just a long flow
like fire.
She kept the suction as I softened, then she climbed up
to rest on my chest. "Would it be gross to kiss you
right now?"
"No. You kissed me with your juice all over my face.
Kiss me."
She did. I could taste the vestiges of my semen in her
mouth. "We taste pretty good, huh?" she giggled. We
kissed more. Then she asked, "Uh... When they say sixty-
nine, that's where we do each other at the same time?"
"Yes it is. Wanna try?" And in a trice I was treated to
the prettiest little pussy I'd ever seen. We attended to
each other for some minutes.
"I LIKE this," she said. "But I wanna kiss you." She
turned back around and we embraced. "You're hard again,
Dan." And she impaled herself on me. We went one more
round, and I was astonished to find out that I could do
a third orgasm in just a mere few hours. Nikki was under
no such limitation and came twice as my stamina met the
hurdle of building my third orgasm. This time when she
sat up, recognizing the wetness between us, she grinned.
"I know what to do about this mess," she announced. "If
you don't think it's gross."
"What's gross?"
"You clean ME up and I'll clean YOU up. And that way, we
won't make a big mess like with did earlier." I grinned
at her. "I like the way you think, darlin'!" She
squealed and simultaneously attacked my dick and balls
as I licked our combined juice from her pussy. She was
right. We WERE delicious.
Finally we lay side by side, holding hands.
"Wow! What a day, Dan!"
"Yes it has been. I left here this morning troubled and
lonely, and now I have YOU."
"Forever, Dan. I will never leave you or forsake you.
And I will cherish you and you alone, for the rest of my
life. I love you Nikki. Forever."
"I love you, Dan," she whispered. She gave me one more
kiss and turned toward me, her hand holding my dick as
we drifted off to sleep. The alarm was all too soon.
Nikki hit the kitchen dressed in my t-shirt (But I'd
rather YOUR t-shirt than pajamas) and panties and
whipped up a breakfast for us both. As we sat at the
table eating, she said simply, "Dan, we're married, you
know." "Married?"
"Yep! Maybe not the way the state sees it, but that's
the way it always was. When a man took a woman to be his
wife, then they vowed to each other and sealed it with
making love. We've done all that."
"You actually WANT to be married? To me?"
Fifteen year old eyes regarded me coolly. "Yes I do. I
said so yesterday."
"Then we're married. First day I get free, we're going
to buy us some rings."
She smiled sublimely.
"Now I have to go to work, babe. I'd rather stay with
you, but I need to make us some money for a honeymoon."
And I kissed her and turned to leave.
She tugged at my belt. "One more, husband," she smiled.
I kissed her. "They're all yours from now on, wife."
And I went off to work. I zipped through a couple of
hours of site visits and pointing out things that might
be obvious but that the clients felt better about after
I validated their suppositions. Mid-morning I parlayed
my day to drive out of the hurricane footprint to a
nearby city where a facility was drying out some wet
equipment.
After my visit, I stopped by a cell phone store and
picked one out. I grabbed a burger on the road and
headed back into the mess and a couple more site visits.
At the five o'clock hour I saw no reason to hang around
longer so I headed back south to my Nikki. She was in
the living room at the front door when she heard my key
in the lock. Greeted with a kiss at the end of a day.
What a wonderful thing. Even more wonderful with Nikki,
soft, eager, smiling, those blue eyes laughing for me.
"I hope you're hungry for spaghetti again," she said. "I
had a hunger." She paused. "Actually TWO hungers.
Spaghetti is one of them." She smiled wickedly. "Let me
go start the water boiling for the pasta. Go sit in your
chair." It felt good to recline. Nikki showed up at my
feet and untied my work shoes. This was almost too much.
"Baby, you don't have to do that," I said.
"I know, babe," she smiled. "But you went off to work
today and I stayed home." She pulled off my shoes and
kneaded my feet. I moaned.
"The sheriff stopped by today to check on us. In an army
hummer."
"Did he say anything?"
"Just checking on us is what he said."
"Okay," I said. "I wonder if he's asking himself
questions about you being here."
"He didn't say anything about it. Why?"
"Oh, just something to worry about. You're fifteen,
living with a guy who's old enough to be your daddy."
"Or my uncle." She smiled. "Or my husband."
"Except you're too young to get married in this state."
"Oh. That's stupid."
I sighed. "That's the law."
"But what about girls who have sex an' get pregnant and
they're younger than me? Huh?"
"I didn't say it made sense, baby, just that it's the
law."
She left and came back. "Pasta's gonna be ready in ten
minutes." And she crawled into my lap. "Baby, but I WANT
to be married to you. It's just stupid! I could be the
biggest skank around, and nobody would care, but if I
want to commit my life to the man I love, it's against
the law?"
"It would be against the law for me to be with you if
you were the world's biggest fifteen year old skank. To
skank legally you've have to do younger guys."
"It's not funny, Dan."
I kissed her. "I know, baby, but what is, is. We can't
do much about it." I stroked her sleek walnut tresses.
Pushed them back from her ear and nibbled at it,
eliciting giggles. And whispered, "I love you." And that
got me another, full mouth, passionate kiss. Our tongues
wrestled together.
"Mmmmmm," she purred. "It's a mess. But you know, this
is the best I've had it since Grandma died."
"I'm sorry, baby. You're cute and smart and funny and a
delight to behold and things should be better for you."
"Thank you, Dan. You make me feel so good."
Our little reverie was interrupted by the bell of the
kitchen timer. We ate our meal, talking about what we
each did during the day.
"I pulled a book off your shelf and read it, and I
listened to some of your CD's."
"What CD's?"
"Oh, some Beethoven symphonies. I love his "Pastorale"."
"That's one of my favorites, too. What book?"
"That one you had of collected Mark Twain works. You
have to sort of get your mind into him, but when you do,
he's FUNNY!"
"No TV?"
"I didn't feel like TV. I vacuumed and swept and did the
laundry. Those sheets with the big spot on them." She
giggled. "I should have cut a square out and framed it."
She smiled. "You know. Proof of me giving myself to
you." "It means something to me, Nikki. It does."
"I know it does, Dan."
And there was a knock on the door. I had the shotgun in
my right hand as I opened the door with my left, my foot
anchored firmly to stop it from opening more than a few
inches. "Yes?"
"Uh, Dan? It's me, Sheriff Richard."
"Oh, come in, then."
I stepped back, leaning the shotgun against the wall
behind the door. He walked in and saw the shotgun.
"Prepared, huh?" he laughed. "I would be, too. I had to
arrest four guys in a pickup truck today. Looters."
"No shit?"
"Yeah. Kinda what I said. But you know how some people
are. That's why I came by today. Wanted to check on you
folks."
"Where's your Hummer?" asked Nikki.
"I gave it back to the national guard. I like my SUV."
He smiled. "Miss Nikki, I put your name in a database.
We're trying to find your momma, but nothing's turned up
yet. But if she goes to Red Cross or one of the other
organizations and asks, you'll show up." Next he turned
to me. "Dan, you got everything you need? Food? Water?"
"I have my own well, sheriff," I answered. "And we have
plenty of food. How about you? You're welcome to a home-
cooked meal. We have spaghetti. Nikki learned to cook
from her grandma. She's GOOD!"
He patted his belly. "Not today. I've been eating at the
national guard field kitchen. They got a good cook
there, too." He looked at Nikki, then me. "So are ya'll
related?"
"Nope," I answered. I told him the story of opening the
door. And finding Nikki standing there.
"I thought that's what I heard you say the day we flew
in. But I didn't think to ask. Little girl," he said,
"that's a heck of a story. How'd you get left behind?"
Nikki explained to him as she had to me.
He looked at the two of us again. "I can get you out of
here, Nikki, if you want."
"Thanks, Sheriff Richard," she said, but if you take me
from here, I'm gonna be a teenager in a shelter by
herself, and I don't want to do that. Mr. Dan's got me a
cell phone and if you find out anything you can call me.
I'll be right here. Just like today. Okay?" "That's okay
with me," he told her. "Dan, she told me you're driving
out to work?"
I told him about what I was doing and where, and about
taking her to Houston to buy clothes and supplies. He
looked at me with an odd expression. "Sounds like you're
taking better care of her than she would've gotten at a
shelter. So you're okay with her staying here?"
"Just call it the only shelter in the parish."
He laughed. "Well, then, I'll make sure that the
deputies know she's here during the day and they'll make
patrols."
"Any word on when electricity will be back?"
"The electric company says we'll probably get this road
back in another five or six days. My office is on
generator too, though, and the propane truck's gonna
come in on Friday. I'm gonna send 'em over here under
escort to make sure you're filled up, too." He looked
thoughtful. "Hang on! I'll be back."
He walked out the door and came back in a minute with a
walkie-talkie radio. "Here," he said. "This one's on our
frequencies. Here's the charger. If you need us, make
sure it's on channel one. That's our priority channel.
And just holler for help. Miss Nikki, that's especially
for you. It's faster'n 9-1-1 on your cell phone."
"Thanks, Sheriff Richard!" she said. Turning to me, he
said, "Dan, can you walk outside with me for a second?"
Now I was worried. But I walked outside. "Whatcha got,
sheriff?"
"Dan," he said, "You know that a person with a dirty
mind would be all kind of suspicious about a fifteen
year old girl stayin' the house with you."
"Yeah." I rubbed the back of my neck. "I can see where a
person might read something into that."
"Well, here's what I see..." he leaned back against the
hood of the SUV. "I've asked her THREE times now if she
wanted to leave and three times she says no and then she
looks at you. I know what "no" means. And I'm an ol'
country boy and I'm pretty sure what that look is, too."
"What?"
"Don't get upset, man," he said. "She's not hiding it
very well. The kid is in love."
"And with a bit of knowledge like that, where does that
leave me in the eyes of the law, sheriff?"
He crossed his arms. "In the eyes of the law, you're
looking at five to twenty, and a life as a registered
sex offender."
My shoulders fell. "That'd kill Nikki. Me too. But
Nikki... Sheriff, she's had a rough time..."
"That's what I'm sayin', Dan. IF... and that's a big
"IF", I was to make a case of it. But you see, she might
have told you about her momma, but I already KNEW about
her momma. And what's goin' on with her momma right
now." "What?"
"The woman's been in this parish for two years now and
I've had her picked up three times for prostitution.
Drugs twice."
"Nikki said there were problems, but she didn't mention
arrests." I rubbed my neck again. "And just so you know,
her momma's NOT going to try and find her, I don't
think. She and the latest boyfriend got arrested with
another guy at a meth lab in Arkansas today. I sent 'em
a file."
"Oh, shit!" I said. "I don't know how to tell Nikki..."
"Don't tell her. It's a piece of knowledge that won't
help anything. Kinda like me knowin' that she's stayin'
here with you."
"Damn!"
"Look, buddy," he said. "This is the country. I'm the
sheriff. I get a pretty free rein on how to enforce laws
here. On you an' her, I'm keepin' my mouth shut. Now I'm
gonna tell you something. An' if you say anything to
anybody, your ass is mine, but I ran a background check
on you."
"That should have been interesting."
"It was. Army engineer lieutenant. Good credit. No
criminal record. Divorced once. Blah-blah-blah. Talked
to a guy I fish with that works at one of those plants
where you work. He says you're some sort of electrical
god. You have a lot to lose, you know." "I know."
"You know Nikki's grandma?"
"Dead grandma? To hear Nikki tell it, the woman was a
saint."
He laughed. "You choose words wisely. She was. Was my
wife's aunt, too. And this bein' a little country parish
in Louisiana, I know that sometimes young girls and old
guys, well, her grandma was a case. And so was a certain
law enforcement official who fell in love with a
teenaged girl thirteen years his junior."
"No joke?"
"Nope. I'm sixty-two and she's forty-nine. And her
brother's the district attorney."
"That's awfully convenient," I laughed.
"So here's the deal," he said. "You and Nikki... okay.
Unless SHE says it's a problem. If you're a couple,
you're a couple. And not one of those couples where I
get reports of domestic disturbances. You appear to be
an honorable man." He paused. "Now let's see what Miss
Nikki says about some of this."
We walked back into the house. Nikki was pacing.
"Nervous?" Sheriff Richard asked her.
"Ya'll been out there talkin' for a long time. Dan
looked serious. Like he was worried."
"He had reason to be," said the sheriff. "Miss Nikki, do
you know what the law says about under-aged girls?"
"Yessir. Mr. Dan explained it to me."
"He did? Good! So let me get a final answer from you.
Are you SURE you want to stay here. With him?" This time
I was watching. And he was right. She tried to hide it,
so the smile didn't show on her lips, but her eyes
twinkled and she stood just a little straighter.
"Yessir," she said. "I do."
"Go sit on the sofa by 'im, then," he said.
Nikki obeyed. She sat next to me, hands folded on her
lap, a little fidgety. She glanced at me. "Now," he
said, "tell me that you livin' here with Mr. Dan is what
you want, and don't try to tell me that it's "I'll clean
the house and cook and that's it!", okay? Am I right?'
Nikki glanced up at me and then burst into tears. "B-but
Sheriff Richard, he didn't force me to do nothin'. I
love 'im. An' he loves me. Don't take me away..." She
wailed, tears rolling down her cheeks. I put my arms
around her. She looked up at me. "I'm sorry, Dan," she
sobbed. "I love you."
I kissed her then turned to Sheriff Richard. "Is that an
answer?"
"Dammit, I'm sorry, Dan. I'm sorry Miss Nikki," he said.
"I know what I need to know. You two are okay. Just like
you are." He paused.
"Dan. Outside for another minute?"
Out the door we went. He turned to me. "I just broke my
OWN damned heart, Dan. I'm sorry."
"I am too, sheriff."
"Stop the "sheriff" bit. Call me Ernie."
"Okay, Ernie."
"Dan, are you... would you, if you could, you and her
get married?"
"Married? How? She's fifteen."
"Listen," he said. "Her mom's in jail, headed for
prison. She's in a bad spot."
"I know. But..."
"But nothin'. I've been huntin' in these marshes since I
was a kid. I'm good at it, and I end up with a bunch of
lawyers and a judge or two who just love to come down
and shoot a few ducks and drink some liquor an' play
cards every fall. And I just might have me ... us a
plan."
"What are you thinking?"
"Emancipation. Court order takes her out of her mom's
custody. And a judge can sign a court order to allow her
to marry. At fifteen. Used to happen all the time, just
to make sure that a baby wasn't sittin' in the front pew
clappin' when his parents got married. When I was young,
people cared about that stuff. They don't now, but I
think I could talk a judge into..." "Wait. Nikki's not
pregnant."
"So? Nobody said she had to be. I had an uncle who
married his fifteen year old girlfriend before he went
to Viet Nam. They have four grown up kids now. She
wasn't pregnant. Just wanted to get married."
"You think you can pull that off?"
"I'd pretty much bet on it. Cost you a cold coke,
though."
I laughed. "Come on it." We walked into the house.
"Nikki! Get Mr. Ernie a coke!"
She came back in with the can in her hand. "Ya'll sure
seem happier this time."
"You gonna tell 'er, Ernie?"
He smiled. "Miss Nikki, I am so sorry I made you cry. I
really am."
"I'm okay, Sheriff.. uh, Mister Ernie."
"It appears to me that you love this here old guy. Am I
right?"
She nodded warily. "Yessir."
"Enough to marry 'im?"
A smile, briefly, then, "Yessir."
He laughed. "Then smile, baby. We're gonna make that
happen."
Squeal. And Nikki threw her arms around my neck and
kissed me, the chastely kissed Ernie on the cheek.
"Really? How?" Ernie explained. "Now I gotta go, folks.
But here's the deal. After the wedding, we get together
for a crawfish boil or a gumbo or somethin'. And
Dan...?"
"Yeah?"
"You vote for me?"
"Hell, man, I'll put your sign in my yard!"
I shook his hand and Nikki hugged him before he left. We
plugged in the radio charger and she was almost giddy.
-= Chapter Five =-
"It's gonna happen? I can't believe! It's REALLY gonna
happen! Dan!"
"Nikki, you need to be sure. I'm not the guy that thinks
marriage is just a way to get a tax deduction. If you
think it's forever..." She wrapped me in her arms and
kissed me. "Dan, you're mine! I will never leave you or
forsake you. Forever!" "Forever's a long time, babe," I
said. "I can see it from forty-one. Can you see if from
fifteen?"
She looked into my eyes. "I'm walkin' into it with you,
no matter what, Dan!" she exclaimed. "You'd better get
used to it."
"I love you, babe," I said, holding her.
"I love you too..." she giggled. "Let's get the kitchen
straight an' get us a shower, 'kay?"
"You betcha, brown-haired girl."
We had the kitchen squared away in half an hour. And
into the shower. She was not the least bit ashamed of
her own nudity this time. And as I stripped, she
watched.
"Danny," she said, "D'you think I'm pretty?"
"I do, Nikki. You're very pretty. And it's not the
clothes you wear or make-up or anything you have to put
on or add. You're just a naturally pretty girl."
"But I'm not blonde."
I laughed, "Sweetie, blondes don't have a monopoly on
pretty. You have beautiful hair. It's clean and shiny
and has that little curl, and I adore your bangs."
"Really?"
"Really," I said. "And besides, a guy in love gets to
say that his girl is pretty. But you were pretty that
first night you were here, before I found out I loved
you."
She pressed her nakedness against me. "I just want to be
what makes you happy, babe!" and she kissed me.
"You make me way past happy, babe," I answered.
The next two weeks were surreal. I'd never been like
this when I was married before, juggling a career for me
and a career for my wife, waking up and going in
separate directions, coming home, it wasn't the same. Of
major importance, though, was that first wife, Shelley,
was NO Nikki.
Nikki and I just clicked. She had the most amazingly
placid demeanor, and the more I talked with her, the
more I came to realize that there was a world-class
brain behind that wry smile and those blue eyes. I mean,
first, she just took over the household like she'd been
doing it for years. I kept a clean house, but she made
it shine. Meals? Breakfast every morning, a snack in a
bag for me to take off to work, and when I came in there
was always something ready for me.
There was another thing. I'd come in and find the books
she was reading. Yes, she did Mark Twain. And downloaded
a few to my e-book reader, and I tracked titles and
progress, and she was a reader. A pretty fast one.
But one of the big surprises was, "Dan, when school
starts back up, you're gonna fix me up!"
"Fix you up? Are you broken?"
Nope. Just I'm thinkin' about my grades. Uh, do YOU
think I'm smart?"
"Hah! Not since you were helping me with storm damage
stuff. You learn amazingly fast. That's "smart" as far
as I'm concerned. So what are you asking, little doll?"
"I'm asking you to HELP me. I never worked in school. I
just sit through the class. I think I can do better. I
want you to help me."
"I'll help you, baby."
"Okay, then. I need to write down some stuff about math
an' see if we can get from there. I'll do that tomorrow,
'kay?" Her eyes twinkled. "And when school starts
back... Your Nikki is gonna turn over a new leaf."
Nights were our time. Nikki put a whole physical
dimension to my life that even my wildest fantasies
never imagined. She was a temptress in teen body. Most
evenings we showered together, but sometimes we didn't,
and I'd get out of the shower and find her in the bed
lying seductively, reading, and she'd look at me and
giggle and wink, and off we'd go.
I'm trying to say that life was good.
So I was at one of the client sites mid-morning when my
cellphone rang. I didn't recognize the number.
"Hello. Dan Granger. Can I help you?"
Laughter. A voice I recognized. "Dan, this is Ernie. I
got some news for you."
"Oh, hi, Ernie! Figured you'd been busy. How're things
going?"
"Hell, Dan! We got our butts kicked by a hurricane. But
we're getting things back together. Lemme ask you up
front. Are you still serious about Miss Nikki?"
"Yes I am, Ernie. Why?"
"Then you're gonna like what I have for you."
"Whatcha got?" I was excited. My heart was pounding.
"I got a judge who let me explain the situation. Now he
wants to talk to Miss Nikki. And you. Separately."
"When?"
"You know, Dan, I can move this along pretty fast. Can
you call Miss Nikki? I'm about twenty minutes away from
ya'll's house. I can bring her into town to talk with
the judge this afternoon."
"Ernie, straight up... this isn't some way to get Nikki
out of my house for good, is it?"
"Oh, no way, Dan. If I thought that, I'd tell you. This
judge is straight up. He's not gonna be stupid. Just
wants to hear it from her.
And if you can see 'im tomorrow morning, then that's
what we need."
"Okay, Ernie. I'll call her and tell her." I thought for
a second. "Say! I could talk to 'im this morning myself,
before or after Nikki."
"Okay. You call Nikki, and I'll call Judge Lanford, and
we'll talk afterward."
As soon as I hung up on the sheriff, I was on the phone
to Nikki. "Hey, sweetie," she answered.
I told her what was going on.
"Dan, I'm worried."
"Sheriff Ernie says not to worry. Just tell the judge
what you told him the other night."
Small voice. "Okay. And Dan?"
"Yes, babe?"
"I love you!"
"I love you too, sweetie! " I hung up with Nikki and
shoved the phone into its holster. It rang almost
immediately.
"Yeah, Ernie?"
"You're set up for eleven this morning." He told me the
address of the judge's office.
My next call was to the office. "Steve," I said, "I'm
tying up loose ends right now. I have a domestic
emergency. I may be in and out for the rest of today and
tomorrow. Ledbetter has a handle on this project and he
can call me if he needs me. I'll be on my phone if you
need me."
"Dammit! Okay, Dan. Do what you have to do, I suppose!"
Steve knew better than to think I was going to screw my
clients.
"That's a good little boss," I laughed.
"Dammit, Dan! Don't rub it in!"
I worked up until a quarter to eleven and headed across
town. Walked into a tastefully appointed law office,
gave my name to the receptionist, and she walked back to
report my arrival. A sixtyish man appeared in the door
wearing shirt and tie. "So you're Dan Granger!" Shaking
my hand he said, "I'm James Lanford. Sheriff Richard
told me about you. Can you join me?"
"Yessir," I said.
Laughing, he said, "Oh, don't do 'sir' with me. Ernie
and I gut ducks together. I'm just James, okay? You
coming in from work?" He asked.
"Ernie told me you were at one of the plants."
"Yes, James. I feel under-dressed."
"Don't," he said. "Sit!" He motioned me to a chair
equally as luxurious as the one behind his desk. I sat.
"So Ernie explained to me a, well, a situation."
"Yes, James. I situation I wasn't out looking for. It
just happened."
"So he said." He folded his hands together. "And I had
an interesting talk with a Miss Dominique Domingue."
"She's an intelligent young lady who's had a rotten life
right up to the point where an apartment building fell
in on her." He looked at me. "That's what she said. And
the sheriff updated me on the status of her mother, now
in the custody of the State of Arkansas."
"So I've heard."
"And her mom's stepfather is out of the picture. I
looked into him. Not the sort of character I'd want to
turn over the custody of a fifteen year old girl to, I'm
told."
"I didn't know that."
He looked at a legal pad on his desk. "Says here that he
divorced Nikki's grandmother a couple of years when
Nikki's mom was sixteen. In and out of jail since then."
"I didn't know that, either."
"And you, according to our sheriff, are, in his words,
"an honorable man". He skirted the law to get some of
that information, apparently."
"It's amazing the kind of help you can get with a cold
coke after a hurricane," I said.
The judge chuckled. "If you'd've given 'im a cold beer,
he'd have rented a chapel for you. Uh...chapel. So let
me get this straight.
You've known Miss Nikki for three, three and a half
weeks, and you're willing to take care of her?"
"Yes, I am, James."
"More than take care of her?"
"Uh.. yes..."
"Marry her, except that according to state law, she
can't get married without parental permission until
she's eighteen. Sixteen WITH parental permission."
I looked at him straight on. "Yes, James, I would like
to marry her. She and I have talked about this. As I am
sure you've discovered."
"Dan," he said, "She had tears in her eyes. Swears her
un-dying love for you. And for some reason, I am
inclined to believe her."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Most unusual young lady. I asked her how she
spent her days while you were working and she gave me
the names of Mozart concertos and Beethoven symphonies
and Handel and Telemann and Boccherini and Twain and
Heinlein. Sounds like she's quite the sponge for
culture." "Then she didn't mention being an engineering
assistant?"
"No."
"The first couple of days after the storm, when I got
phone and internet back, I worked from my home office.
She sat there and watched, then started catching on, and
talking about it, and dammit! She picks up things fast!"
"Sounds like she's picked up an electrical engineer
along the way."
"Yeah. She did."
"You love her? I mean, bullshit aside, you LOVE her? Not
for a housekeeper or a sex toy? Love her?"
"James, I know that some people could do that. But I
couldn't. I would kill myself before I let myself add
one tear to Nikki's life.
She's had it hard enough already."
"Dan, she said the same thing about you. Except she said
your hard life was from women. I can understand that, as
many cases as come across my desk."
"Nothing else I can say then."
"Well," he smiled, I took the liberty of having Miss
Dominique Domingue affix her signature to this legal
document. I will have you affix your own. And I will
sign it. And Mizz Helen," He punched the intercom, "Mizz
Helen will come in here with her handy dandy court seal
and seal it, making it binding and legal. And I think
that if you take this to the courthouse, those people
will issue you and Miss Nikki a marriage license. I
think you'll find that Sheriff Richard is having a
hamburger with her at the diner up the street." He
laughed. Mizz Helen appeared just as he signed under my
somewhat shaking signature. She stamped the papers and
gave me several copies. "Mizz Helen," he said, "Give the
sheriff a call and have him bring Miss Nikki back here."
He looked at me. "Oh, and call your sister at the
courthouse and see if she's too busy to bring us over a
marriage license. I'm finding that I feel particularly
judgish today. I like helping people from time to time."
"W-what???"
"Well, Dan," he said. "If you want, and she wants..."
I stammered, "Y-you ask her..."
I sat back in my chair. "Wow!"
"So," he said, "how's work?"
We chatted for five or ten minutes when Nikki walked in
wearing a blouse and skirt and pumps, an outfit she'd
bought with me on our trip to Houston. Her eyes twinkled
when she saw me. She stood at my side.
"Hi, Miss Nikki," said the judge.
"Hello, Mister James," she said. She looked at me,
smiled, and took my hand in hers. "Since you're
smiling..." "Dan told me to ask you something," James
said.
"Yessir," she said softly.
"You told me you wanted to marry him. He wants to know
if today's too soon."
Squeal! I got a kiss. Ernie got a hug and a kiss on the
cheek. And so did the judge. And Nikki was back at my
side. "Really?"
"Yes, really."
The front door opened and close. Helen and her sister
showed up with a marriage license form. In the presence
of a judge it was filled out and signed by me, by Nikki,
by the judge as the official performing the marriage,
and by Sheriff Ernie Richard and Miss Helen as
witnesses. And holding hands in a judge's office, we
exchanged vows and promised our lives to each other
forever.
And in our topsy turvy day, THEN we went and bought two
simple gold bands.
Leaving the jeweler with my brand new fifteen year old
bride sitting in my truck beside me, I said, "Missus
Granger, I need to make a phone call."
She glowed. "Wow! I get it! I'm really married to you!"
She giggled. "Make your call, husband!"
I flipped the phone open and called Steve.
"Where ARE you?" he asked.
"Leaving a judge's office," I said.
"W-whaaa???"
"Long story, Steve. I'm gonna be out the rest of the
day."
"Somethin' wrong? Need bail?"
"Nope! Need a day off tomorrow. Got something to take
care of."
"A day off? We're goin' balls to the wall!"
"And I know exactly what's going on for my projects, and
they'll do quite well until Thursday."
Steve was a little irate. "Dammit, Dan! What do you have
that's more important than your job?" "Oh, Steve, my
dear old friend, I just stood in a judge's office and
got married. My wife is more important that this job, if
it should come to that." I paused for a second. "But you
don't want it to come to that, do you? Do WE?" He was
off balance now. "Dammit, Dan! You coulda told me...
congratulations, I guess."
"Why thank you, Steve! Here. You can congratulate my new
bride, too." I handed the phone to Nikki. "Say hi to
Steve, baby," I told her.
"Hi, Steve," she giggled.
"You married my engineer?"
"Yes I did. Can I keep him to myself for a day?"
"Uh..."
She giggled some more. "I'll leave enough of 'im to go
to work Thursday, I promise," she said sweetly, and he
handed me back the phone.
"Okay, Steve?" I asked.
Steve coughed. "Dan, she sounds YOUNG!"
"She is young. And cute. And smart. And I'm takin' 'er
home right now. I will talk to you later."
"Uh, okay. See you Thursday, then."
She was laughing. "Oh, you're gonna get such a
reputation..."
And hour later we were walking through our door into the
house. Cellphone rang again. Sheriff Richard.
"Hey, Ernie!"
"Hi," he said, "how do you think I did?"
"I can't say thank you enough. You're on my permanent
list of good people!"
"Well good," he said. Just wanna let you know that ya'll
should have real electricity in the next day or two."
"Great!" I said. "Nikki said "thank you, " too."
"I'm sure she did. You two have fun. I'll talk to you
later. Ya'll need to come over and visit soon, okay?"
"I'll.. We'll sure do that, Ernie. Thanks again!"
"No problem," she said. "Just tryin to keep my crime
numbers down, ya know!"
I laughed.
"See ya later," and he hung up.
I looked at Nikki. "That was our benefactor."
She smiled. "Dan, I don't know what we did to deserve
this, but a buncha people just helped us."
"Yeah. I don't know what we did. But In three weeks this
hurricane thing got me a perfect wife." She hooked a
hand around the back of my neck and swung herself to
face me. "And I have a perfect husband," she said. "You
need to know that's how I feel." Her kiss punctuated the
statement.
We walked out the back door and checked the generator
together, then came back in.
"You know," she said, "we're not expecting company, and
even if somebody DID show up and catch us, we're
married. I'm thinking that just maybe I don't want to
wear clothes right now."
I watched her unbuttoning that neat blouse. "I like the
way you think."
She'd just pushed me backward onto the sofa and climbed
on top of me when the cellphone rang. I ignored it. The
people I'd been working with KNEW that if I didn't
answer, they should leave a message. I thought that
would happen. But it rang again. I waited. It rang
again. "Pick it up, babe!" Nikki said. "It's got be
important."
"More important than a naked girl in my lap?"
She giggled. "Answer your phone!" She fished it out of
my pants and glanced at the display. "See! It's your
sister!"
I hit the callback button. "Hey, Sis."
"Hey yourself. You still workin' all those hours?"
"Kinda," I said. "But I'm off tomorrow for a family
emergency."
She drew a breath sharply. "Uh, what KIND of family
emergency?"
I laughed. "The best kind. As in I wanna spend it with
your new sister in law."
Squeal! "You got married?"
"Yep!"
"Who? Do I know her?"
Nikki was watching me. "Yeah, you know ABOUT her."
Another deep breath, audible in the phone. "Dan! Not
that kid that was stayin' there?!?! She's fifteen!"
"Yep! Nikki's your new sister in law. Went to a judge
and did it all legal and correct. Just this afternoon,
as a matter of fact."
"You're serious!" Incredulity colored her voice.
I looked at Nikki and announced loud enough for my
sister to hear, "Your sister in law is beside herself
with joy."
Nikki smiled.
Back to my sister. "I am serious. I love her and she
loves me and we are husband and wife now."
Tersely. "Okay. I suppose. You're a big boy."
"Yes, I am. Now, are you calm enough to say hi to
Nikki?"
"Yes. Let me talk to her."
"Be nice, now!" I said, handing the phone to Nikki.
"Hi, Sis!" chirped Nikki. "Your brother's wonderful!
He's the love of my life!"
"We love him too," said Dana. "You're a bit of a
surprise, but welcome to the family. When are we
getting' together. Us women have to make that happen,
you know. The guys will never get around to it."
Nikki beamed, "Let him get through all these jobs and
we'll get ya'll down here or we can go there."
Dana sighed, "Yeah, babe! Now you keep 'im straight!"
And as related later, Nikki floored her. "I sure will!
That's why I married 'im."
Dana was still trying to breathe when I got the phone
back. "What'd'ya think?"
"Dan, she's a horrible person!" snickering. "You deserve
each other. I can't wait to tell your brother. Or do you
wanna tell 'im?"
"Nah, you know that I hate to deprive you of your few
joys in life."
She was still laughing when we said goodbye.
Nikki's naked butt wiggled in my lap. "See! They're
happy to know me, huh!"
"Yeah, especially that part about you keeping me
straight."
She batted her luxurious lashes. "But I do, Dan. Every
chance I get!" She was kissing on my neck when the phone
rang again.
"That'll be the brother," I said.
"After this one we turn the phone off," she said.
"Hey, bro!" I said.
"You did WHAT!?"
Calmly I answered, "I married Nikki. She is the love of
my life."
"Lemme get this straight. You opened your door one day
and she walked in, and that was three weeks ago. And
you're MARRIED?!?!?!"
I laughed, trying to defuse the situation. "Yeah! Ain't
it wonderful?!?!?!"
He drew a deep breath. "AND she's FIFTEEN!"
"Yeah. She's fifteen. And smart. And cute. And YOUR
sister in law. And as far as we're concerned, this is
forever, so get used to it." Nikki was listening. She
looked at me, eyebrow arched, questioning. I smiled and
shook my head, smiling. Back to the phone. "So
congratulate me."
"Yeah... I suppose. Okay"
"If you're nice, I'll let you congratulate your new
sister in law, too."
"I'll be nice. It'll be like talkin' to one of my
daughter's friends. Lemme talk to her."
I handed her the phone again.
"Hi, Bill," she said sweetly. "You've got a wonderful
brother!"
"Hi, Nikki. He's a barrel of laughs, ain't he?"
Nikki purred. "Yes he is." And she did it to Bill.
"Sometimes we stay up all night.(big, pregnant pause)
Laughing." She giggled. And grinned at me. I could hear
Bill's discomfiture over the phone as she handed it back
to me. "Well," I said. "there she is."
"Well I suppose. You're a big boy..."
"That's what SHE said!" I said.
He sputtered. "DAMMIT! Okay. We all need to get
together. When you can."
"I know. Nikki an' Dana are already talking about it."
"Good," he said. "I'm gonna let you go, bro. I'm sure
you can find something to entertain yourself."
"Yeah. Unless you're completely warped, you can't BEGIN
to imagine." I kissed Nikki loudly.
"Bye!" click!
"You're so baaad!" she giggled, kissing me. "I love
you!" She sighed. "Are they gonna accept me?" "Yep! No
doubt. Dana'll do it because she knew how bad things've
been with divorce and girlfriends. Bill will buy it just
because he's gonna see me an' you and know how offbeat
it is that we're so happy. But you might want to know
that he has two daughters older than you." "Oh!" she
said. "I'll just wave this!" She looked at the gold band
on her ring finger. "Mrs. Granger! Hmmphh! How about
that!" She slid off my lap onto the floor.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
She shoved my knees apart, smiling. "My first wifely
duty, sir,"she giggled, smiling with her whole face. Her
hand tilted my hard dick toward her lips and I drew a
breath as she sucked me into her mouth. She went
"Mmmmmmm" as she sucked me. "I know how this relaxes
you, baby!" She spent a couple of minutes bouncing my
balls in one hand as she gently sucked me in and out of
her mouth. The she stood and took my hand.
"Husband," she said, "come to our bedroom."
I followed her. She crawled onto the bed on her hands
and knees and looked back over her shoulder. I knew the
signal: doggie style. I couldn't resist working over her
wet pussy with my lips and tongue. "Baby," I said, You
KNOW I don't have much control like this. I can't last
long."
"She purred, "Give me your best shot, babe. You just
married me today. I won't take long." I knelt behind
her, erect, her pussy pink, wet and inviting. I pushed
my dick downward, the head parting her lips and smearing
her moisture over the head. I was preparing to push
forward but she beat me to it, pushing backward onto the
head and first inch of my shaft. "Oh, Nikki," I moaned.
"You are heaven!"
"Fill me, Dan," she said simply. "Push me hard and fill
me!"
I gripped her hips and pushed inward as I pulled her
backward onto me, bottoming out, my pubic bone hard
against her ass. I could feel muscles rippling inside
her. Her mobile hips moved back and forth on me in in
short, insistent strokes. "I feel your balls bumping me.
Mmmmm!"
And I matched her rhythm, stroking in and out of heaven.
She was whimpering, little happy, "Mmm,mmm,mmm" sounds
coming from her. I marveled at her beauty.
Suddenly she pulled forward off me, rolling onto her
back, legs spread. She held her arms out. "Come here,"
she said. I crawled in between her waiting thighs,
entering her with one fluid motion. Her pelvis rocked
upward to meet me and we began to mate. I felt her mons
against me and I stroked in and out and her own motions
met mine. Her fingers dug into my shoulders.
"NNnnnnnnggghhhh! Dannnnn! I'm coming, babyyyyyyy!" and
she smashed upward against me. I felt myself in her all
the way to her cervix, its hard little roundness against
the head of my buried dick. And I washed that cervix
with jet after jet of my semen. "Ahhh! I feel it! I feel
you coming!!! Babyyyyyy!" And one of her hands hooked
behind my head and pulled me down to kiss her. Her legs
were wrapped around me, trapping me as we finished our
orgasm. With our mouths joined at one end and our sex
joined at the other, I rolled us over so that she rested
on top of me. When our kiss finally ended, she pulled
away. I saw tears running
down her cheeks. "Baby," I said, "I love you."
She looked at me with tear-filled eyes. "Oh, DANNNNNNN,"
she sobbed, "I love you SOOOO much! Tell me I'm not
dreaming." I took her left hand and put it in front of
her face, showing her the ring on her finger. "Baby. My
Nikki. It's NOT a dream. It's you and me. Us!"
Twenty minutes later we finally realized that we hadn't
eaten dinner.
We had a one-day honeymoon in our own house.
"Nikki," I said, "I promise you a honeymoon of your
choice, babe, when this is over. Maybe another week.
She smiled. "Can we do a cruise?"
"Uh, sure, babe. Where?"
"Alaska!"
"You betcha, babe! You amaze me."
"I do? Why?"
"I've never been on a cruise, and I wanted to do Alaska,
but never did. We'll discover together." Conveniently,
this conversation took place while we were naked and in
bed, because smiles turned to kisses and kisses led to
caresses and explorations and that led to another
coupling. At ten in the morning.
In the afterglow, we lay side by side, our hands
together, fingers entwined. I turned my head to look at
her face, her hair in sassy disarray. She turned
slightly toward me and purred. "Mmmmmm, Dan, can you do
this so much you die from it?" I smiled at her blue
eyes. "I dunno, cutie, but we're trying."
"We're married, Dan! Consummated. VERY consummated, I
might add. There's probably never been a more
consummated couple on the planet."
She giggled at her own joke. "And we don't have to hide.
From ANYBODY!"
"Yeah, I know, babe. But it's gonna be different when
you go back to school."
"Yeah, I think they said schools might open next week.
Tuesday or Wednesday."
"Where'd you hear that?"
"Radio," she said. And as she said that, I heard a
beeping.
"What's that sound?" she asked.
"That, my dear, is us returning to civilization. That's
telling me that the utility power's been restored and
I'm... we're still on generator. I need to go flip the
switch and shut the generator down." I stood up, naked.
She smiled. "Come here," she said. "You're dripping."
I stepped back and faced the bed, letting her soft, warm
mouth clean my dick and balls. I dove into her wet pussy
with my mouth and returned the favor, then we both got
out of bed and went to the utility room to perform the
needed operations. Standing in the utility room, she
looked at the back door, then looked at me and smiled.
Her head tilted in what I knew was the lead-up to an
adventuresome question. She smiled at me, then broke
into a grin. "Outside? In the sun?" "Why not?" I
answered. "Just a little while. Don't wanna get caught."
We walked hand in hand, naked, in our back yard. "I
could get used to this," she laughed.
"Maybe I need to get us a privacy fence so my baby can
run around naked."
"So WE can run around naked," she countered. "And do
this!" And she knelt and sucked me.
"Stand up! Let's go get a blanket."
She was giggly, following me to retrieve a blanket and
then we were out in our yard and I was amazed at the
effect that this fifteen year old's physical
attractiveness and enthusiasm had on my forty one year
old libido. I was already hard when we got the blanket
spread and she lay down and I mounted her and took her,
wildly, vigorously, her unmuted cries ranging over the
open fields and marshes surrounding us. We came down
together and then gathered up the blanket and retired
into the house.
I was breathless and my baby was glowing. "Wow! Baby!
That was wild! Did it excite you as much as it did me?
Really?" "Gosh, yes, little girl. That was our fourth in
twenty-four hours and the second in an hour. Guys my age
can't do that. It's gotta be YOU!"
"Mmmmm, thank you," Nikki said, kissing me just inside
the back door. "I think it's US!" "Yes, that's it, baby.
It's us. Together. All I ever wanted was you. Even
before you existed. Before I knew you. I've been looking
all my life and now I have you. We have each other."
Thursday. Friday. Saturday. Sunday. Work. Work. Work.
Work.
Yes, school was supposed to start on Wednesday for the
handful of the students in the parish. I made a phone
call to give them an address and yes, they'd dispatch a
bus to pick Nikki up at the house. I had to wonder about
the number of students who'd be on that bus. On my
drives back and forth to work I'd not seen a lot of
activity at any of the few homes that had survived the
storm. I called Sheriff Richard. I was pleasantly
surprised to be called by my name when he answered.
Apparently I was on his phone list. "Dan!
Why, hello, newlywed," He said.
"Hello, Ernie. How're things goin' in the sheriffin'
business?"
"Well," he said. "We're getting out of the mad scramble.
Some people are comin' back, what with the utilities
getting done. And some of them have homes to live in.
We'll start seein' FEMA trailers for others any time
now."
"That's what I was callin' about. I just set Nikki up to
go back to school and they're tellin' me they'll send us
a bus to get her. How's that gonna work?"
He said, "Best information I got is that she's gonna go
north out of the parish to school, and from your end of
the thing, there's probably a dozen kids, kindergarten
to high school. And it'll pick up. I don't know when
they plan on openin' our schools back up. One' of 'em's
gone. The middle school and high school, they'll need
some work. Maybe they'll open by January." "Okay."
He asked, "So how's YOUR business?"
"Oh," I answered, "Kinda like yours. We've finished
panicking. Most of my clients are up and running, or
darned close. I'm about to go back to regular hours."
"That's good!" he exclaimed. "Remember! We get together
soon, okay?"
"I haven't forgotten. Neither has Nikki. We'll call
you."
"'Kay, Dan. Talk to you later."
I went by the office and checked on a few things. Saw
Steve. I stuck my head in his door. "Hey, Steve."
"Hey yourself," he said. "You dropped a couple of techs
off the Salzburg project. It's winding down?" "Yeah," I
said. "Two guys can finish up working a regular
schedule. We'll have to go back in in a week or two when
the new stuff comes in and we can put the load back on
the damaged equipment. But it's pretty much done there."
We continued talking about the other projects I was
working on.
"And in the middle of all this, you stopped to get
married?"
I grinned sheepishly. My social life wasn't a normal
topic of discussion with outsiders. "Yeah. I did."
He asked, "Was this something that's been going on for a
while?"
"Nope!" I said. "Hurricane. Call it a whirlwind
romance."
Steve laughed. "That's BAD! Well, when the town gets
back to normal, maybe we'll get all the guys and their
wives together for a dinner.
You know, for appreciation."
"That'd be nice," I said. "Anyway, I gotta go. See you
tomorrow." I called Nikki as soon as I got on the road.
"Babe, I'm on the way.
Be there in an hour."
"I missed you, honey," she cooed. "I'm putting the fish
on the stove right now. Courtbouillon. I hope you like
it!" "I can't imagine not liking it, sweetie," I said,
privately thanking generations of caring Cajun
grandmothers "AN' we got cable and phone an' stuff. The
guy came by today to check on us."
"That's good," I said. "Life is getting back to normal."
She laughed, "The new normal. 'Cuz I got a husband and
you got a wife, and things'll never be the same."
"You're right, cutie," I said. "They just get better and
better."
"Yes they do," she said. "Now you hurry. I missed you."
I pulled into our driveway a half hour later. Clear
roads meant faster commute. As I shut the door on the
truck behind me, the front door opened revealing my
Nikki standing there in shorts and a logoed t-shirt. She
rushed out to kiss me in our front yard. "I don't care
who sees us now. You're my husband!" Her arms were
around my neck as an SUV with a magnetic sign pulled
into our drive.
We walked down together. The SUV was assigned to a
federal agency, and the occupants were surveying the
hurricane's aftermath. We all shook hands and exchanged
business cards and I pretty much burst their bubble when
they found out that not only had I weathered the storm
right here, but that I had no damage.
"So," the senior guy asked, "what you're telling me is
that you have zero storm losses?"
"Yep! That's it."
"But how? Houses are torn up all over the county...
uh... parish!"
I smiled. "That's not my observation, man," I said. "Get
away from the storm surge, and you'll see the seventy
year old houses did pretty well. The twenty year old and
newer houses got torn up. That's the way they USED to
build 'em." They regarded me coolly. "But your house.
What'd you say, six or seven years old?"
"Yes it was. And designed and built by a freelance
consortium of eminently qualified engineers."
"Who would that be?"
"Me an' the guys I used to drink coffee with at the
plant."
"That's interesting. What about utilities?"
I showed them the generator, the propane tank and my
well.
"Wow!" the junior guy said. "That's the way people
should do it."
"They won't, though. I paid a fifteen percent premium to
build this way. And $10K for the generator. And I
haven't had to pay for anything yet, but I put the well
in out here before they came up the road with the
community water system, and it's gonna cost me to keep
it working. But it's worth it." I gave Nikki a squeeze.
"We didn't miss a beat after the storm. Lights. AC.
Water. And peace and quiet." I motioned toward the
rubble pile next door. "What about that?"
The senior guy said, "According to what I've been told,
there's a contractor lined up to finish the demolition
and cart the debris off next week."
Nikki piped in, "Uh, can you, like, call us when they're
supposed to start. I used to live in one of those
apartments and maybe I can get some of my stuff out."
"We can try to do that. But I can't promise you much.
It's a private contractor and you can imagine how
independent they are right now."
I laughed. This got me a look from the pair of agents.
Nikki giggled. "I can imagine. My husband's an
independent contractor, and he's been a complete asshole
for three weeks!"
"Oh yeah?" the senior guy asked, "What'd'ya do?"
"Electrical engineer. Industrial power systems!" I ran
quickly down the list of my projects since the storm.
"If you need work..." the junior guy started.
"I got more work than I know what to do with. I NEED
time off!" I laughed.
They laughed with me. "So," said the senior. "How much
propane did you use?"
I told him.
"Sign this form and we'll get you a reimbursement for
it. Storm loss."
"Hey! I appreciate that. Heaven knows that you guys are
getting' a deal for your money!"
"How's that?"
"You should see the hit that federal income tax gets out
of my check."
The senior guy laughed. "Well, this is a way to get a
little back." And they got in the SUV and left.
Nikki and I went inside into the kitchen and enjoyed
dinner together.
Conversation at the table wandered around and came to
the beginning of school. "I'm torn," she said.
"Torn?"
"Yeah, baby," she said, "Last year, livin' with Mom,
school was kind of a refuge for me. I could go an' hang
out and stay out of trouble
and there wasn't much stress. I mean, except for some of
the kids..."
"There's always that. Even when I was in school..."
"Yeah, but I mostly ignored that. But this year..." she
smiled wistfully, "When I go to school, I leave OUR
house. An' you know, I have enjoyed bein' here takin'
care of our home and making breakfast and dinner for us.
It's been really nice." I know. And I have really
appreciated it, too, baby. But school's something you
have to do."
"Don't get me wrong," she said, "I like learnin' stuff.
But I am going to miss bein' here when you come in, with
dinner on the stove." I finished the last bites off my
plate and pushed back from the table. "Believe me, babe,
I am going to miss that too!" I patted my full belly.
"You're a better cook than most women four times your
age."
"Awwww, thank you, baby!"
"But we gotta get you through school."
"Oh, I'll GET through high school," she said. "And
YOU'RE gonna help me. Remember?"
"Yes, I remember."
Her brow knit. "Dan, do I come off as intelligent? I
mean, you work with engineers and they're supposed to be
smart. How do I stack up?" "Smart. You do things on your
own that show me that you want knowledge. And you catch
onto things quick. And you're an excellent
conversationalist. I'd think you're above average. Way
above average."
"Really?" Her eyes twinkled.
"Really. And that's why you're going to get your act
together in school. What I see in you, I want others to
see in you, at least your intellect. I've seen a lot of
you that I want to keep to myself." I chuckled.
She smiled wickedly. "I'll show you mine if you'll show
me yours, little boy..."
"Such a little minx," I laughed.
"That's rather archaic, don't you think?" she giggled.
She picked up her plate. "Let's get this table cleared
and we can play nasty!"
In record time the dishes were in the washer.
Forty five minutes later we were in each other's arms,
sticky and satiated and I was running my fingers through
her walnut hair, savoring the wisps of perfume teasing
my nostrils.
"Mmmm, baaaaby," she purred. "You make me visit another
dimension."
"We get there at the same time, sweet one," I said. We
stayed in each other's arms for a few more minutes. I
breathed Nikki... When she stirred it was to kiss my
nose. "Go take your shower. I got a few things to take
care of." We didn't shower together every night, just
most of them. So I was finishing with my shaving when
she appeared, a vision in nudity. Wiping the remaining
lather off my face, I turned to meet her. Her touch had
me headed towards hardness again. She gave that thing a
squeeze. She hit the shower alone. I puttered around the
bedroom, putting away clothes and such. I heard the
shower stop, then shortly after, the sound of a hair
dryer. When it turned off, I counted the seconds before
her nude form came through the door. She joined me on
the bed and gave me a brief kiss.
"So tell me, babe," she said, "when are we meeting your
family?"
"This weekend?" I looked at her. "That is, if school
doesn't kill you..."
"Hah!" she laughed, "School's not going to be a problem.
Tell 'em to come down here. I'll cook."
"Are you sure?"
She grinned. "Yeah, I'm sure. I want 'em to think that
you married me for my kitchen skills, not the fact that
we screw each other's brains out."
It was my turn to laugh. Of course they'd think that.
Even if they weren't going to see her as she came to me,
nubile, naked, desiring.
"You could be a cordon bleu chef and they'd think I did
it for your body, babe!"
"I don't know why they'd think that," she giggled
pushing me onto my back and straddling me. The impact of
her pussy on my dick changed it from semi-soft to hard
and gave her something interesting to slide between the
lips of her pussy. She did just that, sliding forward
and backward, my dick firmly enwrapped between the firm
outer lips of her pussy, each move increasing the slick
wet lubrication of her juices. She was still smiling,
giggling, looking down at me.
"Do you know how much I LOVE doing this, Dan?" She
grinned, but each stroke took at little of the grin away
as her feelings started to climb toward orgasm. Finally
she desired me inside her. She rose off me, my dick
jumped upward and her pussy's opening was waiting. She
slid down over the length of my shaft as we both moaned.
I reached up, sliding my hands from her hips upward to
cup those firm tits, each one just a bare handful, each
one a little mound of heaven. I tweaked her nipples
between my fingers, eliciting another moan from her
lips. She eased forward into my arms her body pressing
against mine, our pelvises moving in concert with each
other. Our mouths merged and we kissed, breathing each
other, tongues meshing as seriously as the parts at our
other ends were doing, completing a circle of mating.
Her lips broke with mine as her clitty worked her into
coming and her second spasm, her pubic bone grinding
into me, triggered liquid fire from my balls.
Sometimes it was just too intense to move. This was one
of those times. I lay there with my eyes closed, arms
around Nikki, tuned to the fall and rise of her chest as
she breathed. Finally she sighed. "Life is good, babe.
You make my life good." I kissed the top of her head
gently. "I know, sweetie. You bring the color back to my
life. I love you."
"Forever, Dan!"
"Yes, forever, Nikki."
END
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This story was written as an adult fantasy. The author
does not condone the described behavior in real life.
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Kristen's collection - Directory 70