He chuckled and lifted a hand and slid the chopstick out of my bun. I welcomed the warmth my hair provided as it cascaded over my naked skin. He palmed my face and stroked my cheek with his thumb. “Just like you, babygirl, absolute perfection.”
It turned out that my Santa Daddy was actually the perfect one. After lifting me off his lap, he gently lay me on the bed and instructed me not to move. I smiled and nodded. That was the easiest of all his orders to obey.
Once he returned with a warm washcloth and gently cleaned me, he removed the ribbons still around my wrists and ankles and tossed them onto my nightstand. When I emitted a slight whimper, he grinned. “Don’t fret, they’ll be used in our play again. But I don’t want you to get tangled up in them while you sleep.” He pulled the quilt and sheet back. “Now, can you crawl beneath the covers for me?”
“I can’t, Daddy, I think you fucked and tapped me into total paralysis.”
“Poor little elf,” he said, sliding his arms beneath me and easily transferring me from the top of the covers to under them.
“Thank you, Santa Daddy,” I managed despite yawning. “Want to know a secret?”
“Sure, little one, if you want to share.”
“I had no clue you were a very talented poet. Even Lord Pigsley thinks so.”
“Why thank you both,” he said with a chuckle. “But no amount of buttering me up is going to keep that next piece from appearing.”?
“Hmmm,” I muttered, but a moment before I stepped into the Sandman’s arms, something had my eyes opening. “What did you say?”
My Daddy’s laughter actually shook the bed a bit as he slid between the sheets. Once he was on his side, he reached out and pulled me back to spoon against him. “Shhh, close your eyes and sleep, babygirl.”
“Butter?” I mumbled and then tumbled into dreamland.
Chapter Six
Austin
“Your table is ready, please follow me.”
As I gestured for Marcie to proceed me, my hand on her lower back to guide her through the maze of tables, I remembered a night from six years ago.
We were on Christmas break from college. What should have been an evening of fun had become the opposite. Hence the headache that was beginning to pound behind my eyes. I had to admit, I wasn’t feeling much of anything but the loss of time I’d never get back.
Leo, Tilda, and I were standing in a corner of a converted warehouse trying to hold a conversation. Another strident squeal of a half-assed stereo system cranked up as high as it could go stabbed into my brain like a laser and made conversing all but impossible. I saw Tilda’s lips moving but couldn’t make out a word she said.
“What?” The fact Leo’s shouted word didn’t so much as slow the movement of her lips as she attempted to conveyher thoughts was the last straw. I set my beer can on the bar, shaking my head at the sight of darkened rings of god-only-knew what that had been slopped by customers or spilled by the bartender behind the makeshift bar. The guy was well on his way to be half-sloshed himself. Hands free, I used both to form the letter “T” at chest level to ensure my friends didn’t miss it. Seemed sign language was a far better medium in the club and both she and Leo nodded. Their drinks joined mine, Tilda’s glass was still three-quarters full which told me the liquor served was about as far from top shelf as the sound system was.
We wove through the crowd and out the front door without pause.
“And another one bites the dust,” Leo said loudly, causing both Tilda and I to flinch a bit. “Sorry,” he was quick to add after dropping his volume by several decibels.
“What is wrong with these people?” Tilda asked.
“Let’s just say by the time we list everything, we’ll need those little blue pills to even perform,” Leo said.
“Speak for yourself,” I chuffed and punched his shoulder.
“If you’re having problems getting it up, then maybe Austin and I need to widen our search for a third.”
While Leo rubbed at the spot I’d punched, he was totally unaffected by Tilda’s jab. “Since when do you care about anything having to do with dicks?”
Tilda shook her head. “Man, you really don’t have a clue about what makes a lesbian tick do you?”
Leo pressed his hand to his chest as if wounded. "How can you say that? Women are the most interesting, incredible species ever to walk this earth. Hell, if I wasn’t fascinated by them, I wouldn’t be spending every spare moment trying to discover the best place to continuemy education about the most precious creatures to ever exist.”
Tilda rolled her eyes and punched his other arm. “You’re so full of shit.”
Though this debate could definitely be entertaining, I wasn’t sure it was helpful at this moment. “Let’s get back on topic,” I suggested. “After this club, I think I, for one, have come to the only logical conclusion about our endeavor.”