Calming Nightmares

She shrugged. "So?"

I paused, startled by her nonchalant answer. "...so? He's your dad. I could never-"

"And why not? I know you're still a virgin." I flushed and started to interrupt her, but she just continued, talking over me. "And who better to introduce you to sex than an older, more experienced man? Especially one who cares about you. He could totally make your first time actually enjoyable, unlike mine." She made a face and we both laughed, remembering the guy who'd apparently cum within thirty seconds of shoving inside of her.

I sobered up after a moment. "But he's your dad. It wouldn't be right."

"You keep saying that like it means something." She leaned forward, putting her hands on my shoulders to keep me from escaping. "I can objectively say that I have a handsome dad. And you're fucking gorgeous even if you won't admit it. Shut up, I'm not done," she snapped when I opened my mouth to argue. "I know you like him. And I know he finds you attractive. I've seen him watching you when he doesn't think anyone is looking."

My mouth fell open. "B-but don't you at all care?"

She shrugged. "Not really. I mean, he's kinda hot. If he wasn't my dad, I'd fuck him."

"Alicia!"

Her head fell back and she roared with laughter at my expense. My head fell to the desk and I groaned. After a moment she began to calm down and delicately patted my head.

"You're so cute and easy to fluster." She grinned. "If I was into women I'd fuck you too."

I'm pretty sure I had a crazy person for a best friend.

--

On our walk home I turned down an invitation to come have dinner with her and her dad that evening, citing a desire to have a quiet night at home. She gave me a look that said she didn't believe my reasoning, but she didn't press the subject more. We parted ways in front of my house with a wave and I hurried inside, dropping my bag by the front door.

I immediately made my way to the living room and turned music on, covering the silence that permeated my house. After that it was off to the kitchen to have a snack and plan dinner, taking comfort in my daily ritual, using it to fend off the thoughts that had plagued me all day. A bowl of popcorn in hand, I stepped outside and dropped onto the back step, saying hello to the stray cat who'd adopted me when I moved in.

"What am I supposed to do Popcorn?" I asked, scratching the mangy creature behind his ears. His meow was decidedly unhelpful, though he did crawl up into my lap to cuddle. After a moment it occurred to me that he was only after my snack, so I scattered a few pieces on the ground for him.

My mind idly wandered back to last night, to how his gaze made me feel desirable, how his touch ignited a fire within me that I'd never experienced before. I wanted to feel that again so badly, it was almost a need. An ache, that resonated through my whole being. Just as I started to seriously consider allowing him to seduce me, a loud meow startled me from my thoughts. I looked down to see Popcorn staring at me, all of his snack gone. I scattered a few more kernels on the ground before retreating back into the house, shaking my head.

The rest of my evening was spent trying to distract myself. I drowned my thoughts with music and busied myself with chores, before finally curling up with a book to while away the last few hours before bed.

All of my efforts to distract myself went down the drain the moment my head hit my pillow. As my eyes closed I saw his face again. Not from last night, but from this morning, as he told me with utter seriousness that he was planning on seducing me. My heart leaped in my chest at the memory and I rolled to my stomach, pressed my face into my pillow, and screamed into it for a moment.

There were so many things wrong with this situation. He was twice my age. He was Alicia's dad. He was... I couldn't think of a third reason. I'm sure there were some, but my brain never seemed to work quite right when it came to him.

Without realizing it, my fingers had slipped across my chest to toy with one of my nipples through my shirt. I snatched it away like I'd been burned and very firmly put my hands above my head. This however brought on fantasies of Daniel pinning my hands to bed, so that he could tease my body in any way he wanted.

With a groan I gave up trying to be good and whisked my shirt off, hands immediately cupping my breasts. My fingers pinched and teased my nipples and I imagined it was Daniel. I saw him as he was last night, the awe in his face when he saw my small chest, as if it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. I pinched my nipples harder, remembering how his calloused fingers had felt there.

Slowly, one of my hands drifted down to the edge of my panties and paused there. I could see Daniel between my legs, watching hungrily, demanding that I touch myself for him. My hand did so without conscious thought, rubbing down over the outside of my panties and finding that they were already soaked. I rocked my hips, grinding against my hand, until I needed more, my body crying out for attention.

No longer feeling shy, I moved my hand and slid it back down inside my panties, gasping as I grazed across bare flesh. My hand rubbed softly across the outside of my lips for a long moment, before one of my fingers delicately parted them and slid inside of me. I was so wet that it went in with ease and I quickly added a second. In my mind I could hear him telling me to fuck myself for him, to make myself cum while moaning his name. Unable to resist his orders in my fantasy, I started to thrust my fingers, hips rocking instinctively against them.

My other hand was nearly abusing my nipples at this point, moving from one to the next, squeezing just hard enough for pain and pleasure to begin to blend. When flames began to build in my stomach, the fingers inside of me moving faster, breath coming quicker, that hand trailed down to rub furiously at my clit.

There he was, demanding I cum for him. I did so in an explosion, moaning his name as my body bowed off the bed, fireworks bursting behind my eyes. Exhausted, I slumped down against the bed, after a much longer time than I'd expected. I'd never cum quite that hard before. My body was flushed with pleasure, breathing heavy and quick, and I could in that moment admit that it was because I knew what his hands felt like on me.

Too tired to contemplate my emotions anymore, I wrapped myself around my pillow and promptly passed out.

--

It was so dark. Always so dark. And then the pain came. A burning ache that spread over everything, that overwhelmed and tore the world apart. Oh, fuck, the pain. It shredded the mind. Tore chunks from the flesh.

And then red. Pooling and slithering across the skin. Blinding as it trickled from above. Dripping and splattering, specks landing on lips. Oh, god, what was this? Why did it taste like blood?

Limbs flailing, nails scratching at the walls, tearing up fingertips, burning as the red turned to flames. And the screaming, rattling the brain, echoing around until everything was consumed by it, breaking the throat, shredding vocal chords.

And then... pounding?

"Leah!!"

The screaming cut off the moment my eyes opened. My throat was raw, my body lead against the bed, unable to move. There was that pounding again, my name being yelled. I forced my body to roll from the bed, collapsing to the floor as my shaky legs refused to hold me up. My blanket came with me, wrapped around as if it could shield me from myself.

Slowly, oh so slowly, I made it to my door and dragged myself to my feet. Thank god my house was one story. Stairs would have been an insurmountable challenge. The pounding came again and I realized finally that it was someone at the door, demanding entrance. With shaky hands I managed to unlock it and pull it open mid knock.

It was Alicia standing there, a wild look in her eyes. The second the door was open she shot forward, wrapping her arms tight around me.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" I asked, my voice sounding rough, broken to my ears.

"You never showed up to walk to school. I came over to get you and I heard you screaming," she said, her cheek pressed to my hair, sounding as if she was holding back tears. "Was it the nightmares?"

I nodded, body shaking and nearly collapsing to the floor as they flashed through my head again. She caught me, barely, and slowly lowered us down until I was cradled in her lap.

"Dad, dad I need you to come over here," she said shakily, into what I assumed was her phone. It was dropped to the floor a moment later and I felt her arm wrap back around me. "Leah, god, Leah why are you home alone?"

"Parents out of town," I murmured tiredly, tucking my face into her chest. "Business meeting." She murmured comforting words into my ear, too low to make out, for a long moment. Finally I heard footsteps, and then a soft curse, and a new body was dropping beside us.

"What happened?" He asked, taking me carefully from Alicia's arms.

"I came to get her and she was screaming in her sleep," she said, her voice shaking.

He nodded and told her to go on to school, that he'd take care of me. Reluctantly, she left, leaving me curled comfortably in Daniel's arms. He hefted me up and stood, closing the door behind him as he carried me back to his house. The walk was a blur, my mind focused on him, trying to ease the ache in my head.

The next thing I was aware of was us curled up on his couch, my body pressed tight to his, one of his hands stroking my hip through the blanket while the other was sliding through my hair. As I shifted, slowly opening my eyes, he looked down at me, face tight with worry.

"Leah, love, what happened?" He asked, hand squeezing my hip lightly. "And why the hell weren't your parents there?"

My voice was dry as I tried to get out the words I needed. "Nightmare. Business trip." He frowned but nodded, shifting me so that I was sitting up in his lap, head tucked into his chest.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I shook my head hard, a soft whimper escaping as red flashed through my mind, and he made soft comforting noises, hands stroking lightly.

"It's okay, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Distract me?" I asked softly, pulling back just enough to look at him through teary eyes. "Music, tv, anything."

He nodded, running his fingers through my hair. "I'll have to set you down to put on a movie. Is that okay?" I nodded slightly, clutching my blanket tighter around myself. He shifted me carefully off his lap and stood, my eyes following him across the room as he set up a movie. Within moments I was scooped back up and trembling in his arms. He started to shift the blanket to a more comfortable position and then suddenly cleared his throat.

"Leah, darling, would you like more clothing?" He asked softly, making me look back up at him in confusion. It took a moment to realize that I'd fallen asleep in just my panties last night, and hadn't put anything else back on this morning. I thought about it for a moment, weighing my desire for a t-shirt with the fact that he'd have to leave me for a couple minutes to get clothes.

Finally I shook my head, though my face flushed, and said, "No, I'm okay with the blanket. I-I don't want you to leave me." He smiled softly, but neither of us said anything else, turning to watch the movie he'd put on. It was cute and funny, and helped a little bit, but red kept flashing through my head, making me shake.

It wasn't until I felt his hand on my bare hip that I realized he'd been slowly shifting the blanket around so that he was under it with me. I didn't say anything, allowing myself to enjoy the feel of his hand on my skin, his other arm wrapped around my shoulders, holding me up and against his chest.

His hand slowly drifted across my stomach, fingers tracing along the edge of my panties. My stomach tensed and his fingers stilled for a moment before sliding back to my hip. I was almost sad, until he started tracing patterns up my side, up over my rib cage, lightly brushing across the side of my breast. I shifted then, at the edge of what I could reasonably allow, only to feel his grip tightening.

"I know what you're thinking Leah. I know what's going through your mind. But I want you to be quiet and let me distract you," he murmured into my ear, fingers trailing up and down my rib cage.

"But I-" Before I could get anything more out he shushed me, the hand on my shoulder sliding around to cover my mouth.

"No. No arguments," he ordered, voice firm but not forceful. "If you're going to argue, I'm going to keep my hand here. Do you understand?" I shook my head forcefully, both trying to argue and to shake his hand off. It tightened down and he sighed, lightly pulling so I was facing the tv again. "Watch the movie Leah."

I don't know how he expected me to watch the movie with his fingers drawing maddening designs across my side. When they kept to a, slightly, more appropriate area, I slowly got back into the movie, despite his hand still firmly over my mouth. It was only when I relaxed against him again that his fingers began to move, knuckles brushing against the underside of my breast.

My breath came quicker and my nipples started to harden, but his hand never moved higher, stroking the sides and undersides of my breasts for a couple minutes until I was starting to tremble. His fingertips finally began to draw circles around and around, inching closer to my nipples until they were aching. And then his thumb brushed across one and I inhaled quickly, body arching against my will to thrust into his hand.

He chuckled, warm hand cupping my breast and squeezing gently while his rough thumb slid back and forth across my nipple. It was impossible now to watch the movie, especially since my eyes had drifted shut, mind and body focused solely on the heat of his touch. My breathing was a little rougher through my nose, but I no longer minded his hand over my mouth. It allowed me to more easily accept what was happening, knowing that I couldn't fight it, couldn't even protest. If I was being honest with myself, and honesty was required in his house, I also liked how vulnerable it made me, in an entirely unrelated way.

Another sharp inhale as his fingers started to roll my nipple between them, tugging lightly. I squirmed and whimpered, my thighs rubbing together. He chuckled again, squeezing and tugging slightly harder.

"Put your hand on my wrist," he murmured in my ear. When I didn't move he repeated it, more command in his voice. My hand shook as I curled it around his wrist, feeling it tense at my tentative touch. "Good girl." My heart thrilled at the praise. "Now I want you to tap two times when it becomes too much, okay?" I nodded a bit, briefly considering tapping now. I didn't think that was what he meant though.

"Good girl," he murmured again, his fingers endlessly teasing my nipple, making me squirm in his lap. It took a moment, but I realized that his grip was slowly getting tighter, the squeezing and tugging getting rougher until it began to hurt. My hand tightened on his wrist and he paused briefly, but I didn't tap. Instead I arched my back, pushing my breast up more firmly into his hand, begging for more.

His growl rumbled in my ear and his hand squeezed my breast almost painfully, fingers abusing my nipple. The pain grew and shot down through my body, centering on the heat between my legs and making my already wet pussy drip. The harder he squeezed and pulled the wetter I grew, my thighs rubbing together restlessly, breathing so hard and quick through my nose that I thought I might faint.

Slowly his fingers eased up, drawing a needy whimper from my throat, until they were simply brushing across my breast with soft strokes.

"Well that was unexpected," he said, voice tinged with amusement. When I glanced up at him there was a grin on his face. "I wanted to see what your pain limit was, and I'll be honest, I really expected you to tap out fairly quickly. But you are just full of surprises, angel."

The pet name set butterflies flitting around in my stomach, my face flushing redder than it already was. I liked the sound of it too much, my mind at war with itself, torn between continuing to fight and surrendering everything to him.

"I'm going to move my hand now, okay?" He said, interrupting my train of thought. "You're going to be a good girl, and not start arguing again, right?" When I didn't answer, his eyes and voice hardened slightly. "Right?"

With a soft whimper I nodded. He stared at me for a moment, as if to decide whether or not I'd actually keep to that, before slowly removing his hand from my mouth. I sucked in a deep breath of air, my eyes slipping shut as I started to breathe normally again. They flickered open again at the feel of his thumb down my nose and across my cheek, his warm smile making my heart thrill.

"Why?" I asked after a moment, my voice a whisper.

"You said to distract you." His grin was brilliant and made my cheeks flush.

"N-no, I mean, all of it. Why? Why me? W-why are you so... insistent that this is right?" I covered my face with my hands as I asked, not entirely sure I wanted to know the answer.

He gently tugged my hands away and held them against his chest. "I think that's probably a conversation for another time angel," he said, making me frown. His fingers caught my chin, tilting my head back, our faces so close together now that I could feel his breath hitting my face. His eyes flicked down to my lips and I knew that he was going to kiss me. Rather than fighting it, I leaned up, meeting his lips halfway. His mouth was so gentle on mine, his kiss light and comforting, taking and demanding nothing. It was over sooner than I liked, and I just barely resisted following as he pulled back.

"I think we should probably get some food into you now," he murmured, wrapping me back in my blanket and setting me carefully onto the couch next to him. "Is oatmeal alright?" I nodded and watched him make his way off to the kitchen. My mind was muddled, fingers coming up to touch my lips, missing the feel of his on them.

My mind must have drifted off, because a warm bowl was being pressed into my hands sooner than I expected. His hand ran through my hair as I pulled it against my chest, simply enjoying the warmth for a moment.

"I'm going to head back to your house to grab you some clothes and lock up. Is that alright? Will you be okay here?" He asked, tilting my face up again. I nodded, smiling shyly at him. "Good girl. Are your keys in your backpack?" I nodded again and returned to my food, listening to his footsteps as he left the house.

The moment I was sure he was gone I sighed and let my head drop back against the couch. What was I doing? I may have resisted there at the beginning, but by the time he released me I probably wouldn't have protested had he stripped off my panties and-

"No." I pressed my hands to my eyes, verbally stopping that train of thought. Determined to resist harder, both against myself and against him, I dug into my food.

As I finished, wondering idly why it was taking Daniel so long over at my house, the red flashed through my head again, making me cry out and surge forward, bowl flung across the room. I trembled there on the floor for a long moment, arms wrapped around myself, tears flowing down my face.

I felt myself sinking, sinking, the red overtaking my mind, filling my ears, covering my sight, smothering my breath. I flailed, drowning in it, losing myself again, skin beginning to burn everywhere it touched. A sob burst from my chest and I thought the pain would tear me apart, until a voice broke through the haze.

It murmured, one word, indecipherable through the red. I caught hold of it, pulled it closer. The closer it came, the more the red receded, until I could hear his voice whispering 'angel' in my ear. I clung to it, clung to the meaning behind it. There were so many reasons things couldn't work between us, but I brushed past them for the moment. He saw something in me, something that made him pursue me, want to capture me.