Daddy and Little One Ch. 22

Little One tried to figure how long she had been in the sun that morning. It seemed like a very short time. "From now on, when you are in the sun, you will have sunscreen on, and plenty of it." Little One softly rubbed the red line on her thigh. It was warm to the touch. "Yes, Daddy," she replied.

The mid-day sun turned the beach glassy white. Little One put her sunglasses on and settled down on the chaise lounge under the awning of the deck. Daddy sat in a chair at the table, scrolling through pages on his laptop. She could usually tell what he was doing, just by the look on his face. Daddy had one expression when he read business matters and another when he was browsing for fun. Little One was happy to see his "fun" face, because she hoped he would find some relaxation while they were here. Even though she never felt neglected when they were together, it was difficult not to feel jealous to the time he spent working.

A cool dry breeze blew from the Gulf and Little One fought to keep her eyes open. The redfish Daddy prepared for lunch may have been to blame, but the cold white wine was a more likely culprit. Little One rolled on her side and fluffed the cushion under her head. Daddy was still staring at the screen intently, but relaxed. She loved to watch him in moments like this, which were not often. He had a way of making a cigar look like hard work. There had been a change in Daddy. She was not certain what it meant, but he seemed less eager to leave every morning and came home earlier.

This trip to the beach house was a complete surprise. Daddy had never mentioned the place before the night he asked if she would like to spend a few weeks at the beach. Her first thought was she was being sent alone, because she could not imagine him taking more than a few days off from work. It was hard to imagine Daddy in a place where all he was supposed to do was relax.

When Little One opened her eyes, the shadows were on the other side of the deck. She had no idea how long she had been asleep, but Daddy was no longer on the deck with her. Her belt had come loose and the cover up was open. She raised her sunglasses and looked down over her pale white breasts and belly, wondering how she would look with a tan. The red line was still tender to the touch.

Little One had always envied the brown eyed girls whose skin darkened every summer. At the Home, there was a narrow staircase which led to the roof over the dining hall. In the early spring, some of the girls would sneak up the stairs, carrying a blanket and suntan oil. They would later appear in the showers, quite proud and pleased with their bronze bodies, unmarred by tan lines. Little One could not imagine anything more unappealing than lying naked in the sun on a hot day, but lying in the shade suddenly seemed like the most pleasant thing in the world.

The beach scene from the movie came back to her mind. She could barely remember any other part of the film, even the actor and actress's names. The girls were lying around the rec room, some on the couch, and others on the floor. The only light was the flicker of the black and white movie and there was more interest in the debate over whose turn it was to make more popcorn.

The chatter went silent when the surf rolled up to catch the lovers on the sand. Little One stared, unable to inhale as his huge arm rose from the foam and pulled her to him for a kiss. The actress obviously understood the sand problem because she quickly broke loose and ran for the blanket.

Little One felt the floor shake when the man dropped to his knees on the blanket for another hard tight kiss. Her mouth opened as she waited to feel the pressure of his lips on her, but instead a high pitched whimper escaped her throat. There was a giggle and someone said, "Little One wants a big one," which produced a chorus of giggles.

It was true. She did want a big one, though she was not exactly sure what it meant. A big man might have a big penis, but Edith had assured her this was not always true. Now, she had her big one and it was nothing like anything she had every imagined. Sometimes her life seemed more like an old movie than any old movie she had ever watched when she lived at the Home.

Little One almost drifted into sleep again, but she heard voices from somewhere below the deck. Two men talked for a bit and then a car door slammed. She heard an engine start and at the same time heavy feet pounded the steps. Little One coyly pulled the cover up across her breasts and pulled the sunglasses down over her eyes, thinking Daddy might have someone with him. He appeared at the top of the stairs, alone, but carrying a large cardboard box.

"Did you have a nice nap?" he asked as he set the box on the table.

"I'm not sure I ever fell asleep," Little One answered as she swung her feet to the deck, wanting to appear interested in whatever was in the box. It was certain to be another Daddy toy, some kind of gadget that did something better than the old way of doing it. She had seen this many times and each time gave it her full attention.

"What's in the box, Daddy?" she asked, trying her best to sound excited. He smirked and produced a wicked folding knife from his pocket. The blade swung open and locked with a sharp snap. Little One's eyes popped open at the sight. The beach house seemed to come with a new set of toys. Daddy quickly slit the packing tape across the top and tore down the side to pull the box open.

Little One fought the urge to roll her eyes at the sight of what appeared to be an airline carryon bag. The one thing they had no need of was more luggage. Daddy pulled the packing away to reveal backpack straps and a soft button control panel. It wasn't an ordinary carryon bag. Daddy reached into the torn shipping box and produced an electric cable. He inserted one end into the side of the strange thing and the other into a wall outlet. Two small red lights on the control panel started to blink and a soft purr came from inside. Daddy smiled and waited for Little One's reaction.

She looked at him over the top of her sun glasses. "I think an electric backpack should have a longer cord."

"It's not an electric backpack, it's a backpack refrigerator, and it's charging. It arrived just in time for our starlight picnic tonight."

"I like the sound of starlight picnic," she said. "On the beach?"

"Not on the beach," Daddy replied, "but close. I know a nice place."

Little One settled back onto the chaise and let Daddy continue his preparations. There was a vague feeling she should get up and do something, but the breeze and the surf seemed to suck energy from her body.

Little One packed her beach bag with a few things she thought might be needed and pulled her hair off her shoulders with a band. The sun was just above the horizon when Daddy slid his arms through the straps of his new toy and pulled it to his shoulders with a quick shrug. Little One reached up and pulled the sleeve of his t-shirt smooth under the strap. The little lights on the control panel were now a cheerful green.

The sand was still warm, but not as hot as earlier in the day. Little One discovered that her beach thongs did not make walking any easier, so she slipped them off and dropped them in her tote. When they reached the firmer sand by the water, they turned and headed down the empty beach.

"Why aren't there houses here?" Little One asked. "There once were lots of houses along this beach," Daddy replied. "The state government bought all the property and made a bird sanctuary." "What did they do with the houses?"

"Some were moved, some were torn down." Daddy turned to face the dunes and scanned the horizon. "Now it's a wildlife preserve."

"Wildlife?" Little One asked, looking for any movement in the grass stalks that dotted the dunes. "What kind of wild animals live here?"

Daddy smiled, certain Little One imagined bears watching them. "Just the usual creatures, rabbits, fox, raccoons, and all the birds. There were wolves and panthers, but the big predators have been gone a hundred years." Little One relaxed when she heard this. "The wild animal they were most worried about was the smallest one."

Little One's eyes brightened at this thought. "How small?" she asked.

Do you see the grass on the dunes? That is sea oats. The roots hold the dunes in place. Without sea oats, all of this sand would blow away and storms would drive salt water into the trees and kill them." Little One tried to look at the dunes with new interest. Daddy had slipped into lecture mode and there was nothing to do but listen intently. She knew there was a point to it all, but sometimes Daddy took a while to reach it.

"What about the little animal," she said, trying to speed the story.

"The little animal is the dune mouse." Little One smiled. Dune mouse sounded like a children's story. "The dune mouse eats the sea oats. He stuffs himself and then buries whatever is left over. The buried oats sprout where he hides them and keeps the sand in place."

"So, he is like a little farmer, sowing sea oats all over the dunes," Little One mused, smiling at the thought of Farmer Mouse. "Why did the refuge stop at your house, Daddy?"

"Some people think it's because I had enough money and influence to stop the government from taking it."

"Take it? I thought you said they bought the houses," Little One said.

"They did pay for them, but the owners didn't really have a choice. By the time most of the land was purchased, they ran out of money and the refuge is smaller than planned," Daddy said with a relieved sigh.

"Would you have sold your house?"

"I would hate to do that. My grandfather built this house to have a place to spend the hot summers before air conditioning. It's stood through more hurricanes than I can count. I spent a lot of time here when I was young. I was a lifeguard at the State Park when I was in school." Little One giggled, trying to imagine a young Daddy.

"Were you the guy who blew the whistle and yelled at the kids who were splashing in the pool?" she giggled. Daddy wrinkled his forehead, which immediately quieted Little One's laugh.

"I was a saltwater life guard at the State Park Beach," he said firmly. Little One turned and looked over the waves that looked dark and sinister in the dusk light.

"Did you ever save anyone's life?" she asked.

"I pulled a few people out of the water, but I wouldn't call it life saving. I never lost anyone on my watch, though."

Little One was lost for moment with the image of Daddy sprinting across the sand and diving into the surf to, as he called it, "pull someone out of the water." She looked around again. The lights of the houses had disappeared behind the curved shoreline and the Gulf was now a large dark mass. All that remained of the sunset was an orange band across the horizon and stars began to appear overhead.

She wished Daddy had not mentioned panthers and wolves. Despite his assurances, Little One could see panthers hiding in the shadows behind every dune and moved close to Daddy, catching his hand in hers.

"What's the matter?" he asked, sensing her apprehension. "It's going to be dark out here. Where is the moon?" Daddy squeezed her hand and laughed. "The moon will rise in a few hours and there is enough light to see where we are going." Daddy said, pointing to a tall dune which dwarfed all others facing the beach. Soon they were facing a white bluff of sand.

Little One craned her neck upward as they came near. It didn't seem possible for it stand so tall. A fringe of sea oats clung to the top edge, a few pointed down, hanging loose from the roots. Little One was relieved when Daddy turned again and walked toward a low spot between the dunes. The rear slope of the tall dune was much gentler and they were quickly standing on the flat top.

Daddy slipped the backpack off his shoulder, pulled a thin blanket from the side pocket and spread it on the sand. Little One was not paying attention to him. She stood facing the Gulf, hesitant to get to near the edge of the dune. The sun set had faded, replaced by a black sky, peppered with brilliant stars. A few orange tinted lights dotted the horizon. The front panel of the backpack folded down to form a small table and revealed the contents of the cooler. A soft blue light shown on a champagne bottle and several small plastic tubs. Little One knelt on the blanket as Daddy wrestled the cork from the bottle and poured two cups.

"Thank you," Little One said with a smile as she took a cup from Daddy's hand. One tub contained cut fruit, cantaloupe and watermelon. The other was filled with chunks of white cheese. The fruit was icy chilled and the cheese was warm and soft. Little One was not surprised.

Daddy set his cup back on the tray and waited until he had Little One's attention. "I have been thinking, lately." His voice trailed off, as if searching for words. Little One looked carefully at his face, hoping for some clue of what he was going to say. Daddy never wasted words and always sounded very sure. This was something new. "Would you like to live here, most of the year? On the Gulf, I mean." This was the last thing she expected to hear.

"Would you be here with me?" Little One asked. There was a small choke in her voice. She tried to not reveal her first thought, which was some kind of exile to the beach, while Daddy went back to the house. Little One could see a slight smile curl his lips as he read her mind.

"Of course I would be. What I am saying, is sell the store and retire to the Gulf. We could live here, travel whenever we wanted, do anything we liked." Little One's head spun from hearing Daddy use the word "we" so many times in one sentence.

"But," Little One said in confusion. "What about the store. What would you do?"

"Marcus White would buy the fashion division in a minute. I would just walk away from it." Little One could not imagine this happening.

"Could you really do that? Would you be happy?" she asked.

Daddy took a deep breath and clasped his hands in front of him. "Here is the thing, Little One. I am twenty years older than you. That is not a big deal now, but it will be, in twenty years, and an even bigger deal, twenty years after that." Little One stared at him, unable to speak. The starlight barely showed his face. Twenty years seemed like a very long time. She could not imagine that far into the future. In her mind, neither of them would ever grow old.

"I want to spend the next twenty years with you, not selling dresses and worrying what color is in this year. I finally have something to do besides work and I don't want to waste any more of my life." Little One felt her bottom jaw slowly drop till her mouth was wide open. She would have screamed, but her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth. She desperately wished for something wet besides the champagne, but she emptied her cup in on gulp and took a breath.

"I will live anywhere, go anywhere and do anything, if I am with you," she replied in a low steady voice. Daddy slid his hand over her cheek, slipped his fingers into her hair and pulled her face close to his.

"Do you have twenty years to spare?" he asked softly. Little One closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his for a soft kiss. Her mouth was still chilled from the champagne and his tongue was warm against hers.

"Twenty years and twenty after that, if you'll keep me that long." Daddy smiled and kissed her again.

"Let's wait and see what these tired bones look like in twenty years," he replied and poured the last of the champagne into each cup. Little One picked up her cup and was about to take a sip when Daddy held his out to her. "Here's to twenty years and beyond."

Little One waited a moment and touched her cup to his, hoping to hear just a little more.

"Yes," she whispered, hoping the darkness hid her wistful smile. Her boarding school days spoke to her as she looked at Daddy across her cup. Be happy for what you have and never be unhappy for what you don't have. I have a man who loves me. I have a home. I have everything I need. This short inventory lifted the wanting feeling and her smile brightened. "Twenty years at the beach with my Daddy sounds wonderful," she said and tilted her cup back.

Little One lay on her back and stared at the sky. The sky was blacker and the stars more brilliant than she had ever seen. She tried to pick out familiar constellations, but there so many more stars, she was not sure where they were. A hazy silver streak was straight above them.

"Daddy, is that smoke," she asked, pointing to the sky.

"That is the Milky Way," Daddy replied. Little One closed an eye and tracked it across the sky with her finger.

"I've never seen it before," Little One said quietly. "Hera woke up to find baby Hercules sucking on her nipple. She pushed him away and milk squirted across the sky to form the Milky Way," she recited from memory. Little One rolled onto her side and studied Daddy's silhouette. "Poor little Hercules."

Daddy smiled and chuckled. "I think I remember that story."

"I love those stories. We had to learn all of the myths. My favorite was Medusa."

"Medusa? Why Medusa?" Daddy asked as shifted to face her. "She was so ugly, she turned men to stone. Little One pushed her hand under his shirt and ran her fingers across the hair on his stomach.

"Maybe she wasn't ugly as all. Maybe she was so beautiful, men turned to stone because it was too intense." Little One hooked her hand in the waist band of his shorts and tugged down until her knuckles grazed Daddy's cock. It flexed and strained as she wrapped her hand around the shaft. "Look at this. You're turning to stone and you don't think I'm ugly, do you?"

"No," Daddy growled, "Not ugly at all." He ran his fingers through her hair as she bent down to kiss the head of his cock and run her cold tongue over it. His penis warmed her mouth as she slipped her lips down until it was pressed against her throat. The position was awkward and she fought to inhale, not wanting to rise for air. His hand tightened in her hair, pulling her up just enough to let her breath.

The beach scene replayed in her mind again and she craved to feel Daddy's lips pressed tight to hers. She pushed up on her arms, leaving a slurping kiss on his cock and craned her neck back to reach his mouth. Her toes dug into the blanket as they kissed, Daddy holding his back rigid to keep from rolling over backwards. He put his hands under her arms and lifted her up, holding her face inches from him. Little One strained to touch her mouth to his again.

"Take off your clothes," he said. Little One pinched her bottom lip between her teeth and rocked back on her heels to stand up. She turned her back to pull her shirt over her head and let her shorts drop to her ankles. She bent at the waist and slid her panties down her thighs, keeping her knees straight until they were at her ankles.

The star light reflected off the white sand painted her pale skin blue as she stood and gathered her hair, holding it off her neck. Little One stood motionless, waiting for his touch. The surf muffled all sound, but she knew Daddy was standing behind her. The cool breeze stiffened her nipples. She released her hair and ran her hands over her breasts, delighting in the shiver that went down her belly to her thighs.

Daddy cupped his hands over her shoulders and pulled her back against his bare chest. His cock pressed into the small of her back. Daddy's teeth nipped her shoulder, sliding under her ear, forcing her head back against him. There was a faint taste of sweat and scent of her shampoo. It made him hungry for more and he pushed his tongue against the corner of her mouth. Little One twisted in his arms to face him, pressing her lips hard to his. She broke the kiss, needing to inhale and rubbed her face in the fur on his chest. Daddy cupped her ass in his hands and lifted, bringing her mouth to his and let his cock spring between her spread thighs.