Daddy's Hands

Uncle Brian grinned. Dad just laughed. "Yep," he said, but he wasn't eyeing the fake blondes dressed ten years too young for their real age.

He was eying this chick a couple of tables over. Table of women. Some kind of hen party from what I could overhear and they weren't quiet, they were already half hammered and half of them were Asian, mid to late twenties at a guess. Older than me by a few years except I couldn't figure out Chinese, Japanese or Korean. Maybe a mix and I did know Dad had a thing for Asian women.

How'd I know that?

Hello? My Mom. Pretty obvious huh. He'd dated a couple of Asian girls before my Mom. I knew that coz when she laid into him back before they divorced that always came up. Every time. Uncle Brian? No idea but the direction he was looking, he and my Dad were thinking along the same lines and okay, not a problem for me. Not a party girl, I'd just head out and watch a movie and then get a good night's sleep.

So I did and I guess Dad and Uncle Brian scored coz at breakfast the next morning neither of them could stop smiling and a couple of those Asian girls two tables over gave them little waves as we walked in.

"Good night huh, guys?" I said, very innocently.

"Ah, yeah," my Dad said. "Hey, Tiffany."

"Hi, Phil," one of them looked up, smiling and she was really quite good looking and I knew I shouldn't be jealous coz he was my Dad but still. "Going to the Halloween Horror Ball tonight?"

"For sure," my Dad said. "You planning to be there, Tiffany?"

"You bet," she said, and from the smile she gave him, guess Dad would score tonight as well and from the way that other chick was smiling at Uncle Brian, he was in as well.

"You guys look great," I said, adjusting Dad's cummerbund. They did both look really good in those tuxedos. "You're gonna slay them."

"Sure you don't want to come?" Dad said.

"No, I don't want to spoil your fun," I said. Coz if I went he'd want to keep an eye on me and I wanted him to get out there and party and just relax and hey, if he scored again tonight, good for him and Uncle Brian. Don't know about Uncle Brian, but my Mom'd been a real bitch to my Dad for a good few years before the divorce and he really did deserve a good time. "You guys go and have fun, see you at breakfast tomorrow morning, okay."

"Okay, Phoebe," Dad said, smiling. "See you at breakfast," and then Dad and Uncle Brian were gone, off to find that hen party, I was more than sure of that.

The movies didn't grab me. Not even "Crazy Rich Asians," and I'd enjoyed that the last couple of times I'd watched it. An hour later, I had to admit, okay, yeah, I was getting kind of curious. That, and, well, guys, and my heart was pretty much jittery, and okay, why shouldn't I go. I was eighteen. Grown up. I didn't have to stay in my room and I was supposed to be having fun on this cruise and Dad, he'd pretty much told me to go out there and get myself a boyfriend, even if it was just for the cruise, so why not. I hadn't packed a little black dress but there was that shop I'd seen. I could go take a look at least. Couldn't I?

I had to say, this cruise ship had everything and just because I bought a dress didn't mean I had to go that masked ball, did it? Fifteen minutes later I'd found the shop again and that shop wasn't busy. The salesgirl and me. She was either totally bored or real keen to make a sale. Peachey keen and she was going through those dresses with me like she was my best friend. She wasn't that worried about tidying up behind us either.

"I can put them back in the morning," she shrugged. "You're the last customer I'm going to get tonight. How about this one. Totally hot. You'll just slay them in this." She gave me a conspiratorial grin. "Honest to god, Phoebe."

Coz we knew each other's names by them and she was only a couple of years older than me.

"I get these thirty and forty year old women coming in and they want to wear these dresses and it just kills me coz they look exactly like what they are. Thirty and forty year old women trying to dress up as eighteen to twenty year olds and it's more than my jobs worth to try and persuade them to wear something that looks a bit more their age and they wear them and they look like what they are. Middle-aged women trying to dress up as teenagers."

She grinned. "And you come in and you're eighteen and totally hot and guys' kill for you in one of these and you want to wear something that'd suit one of those forty year olds and it's not even like you have your Mom looking over your shoulder." She looked at me pleadingly. "Just once, Phoebe, just once I want to sell one of these totally hot dresses to someone who's totally going to slay the guys in it. Please, Phoebe, try this one on. For me."

So I did.

"This is just going to slay the guys," Michelle said. Yeah, of course I knew her name. She had a name tag. Salesgirl. Duh! We were just about best friends already.

"You think?" I said, coz if I wore it, I was kind of sure she was going to win on that one. Slaying the guys, that's what I meant.

Little black dress. As in, yeah, it was black, it was a dress and it was little. Very, very little. It was a clubbing dress and that tells you a lot to start with. High hemline and when I say high, we're talking flash my panties if I stretched high. V-front and that v-front plunged to below my navel. In fact, it high-lighted my navel and if I didn't have a totally flat and toned stomach, I'd never have worn it coz that V ended about an inch above my panties and there were some criss-cross black laces that kept everything in place.

Backless. Literally, no back, just a little string halter neck. The V's covered my boobs but we're talking side-boob on display. A lot of side boob coz I guess I got my boobs from my Dad's European DNA, not my Mom's little Chinese boob DNA and apart from that V front, there wasn't anything else above the waist. There was a back to the skirt but it was scooped low and we're talking butt cleavage here as well. As for the sides, totally slit and there were strips of stretch material that held the front to the back and you could totally see the sides of my bikini briefs.

"You need some different panties with that dress," Michelle said.

"Shame," I said, pirouetting a little and oh boy, did I look hot. As in, wow!

"You totally slay in it, Phoebe," Michelle said. Was she reading my mind? "Here, gosh, look, it's on sale and wow, fifty percent off? Oh no, there must've been a mistake. Seventy five percent off and I'll throw in the panties. They're always on sale anyhow." She held up a pair. G-string panties. The G was black lace. We're talking tiny little triangle here. Enough to cover what needed to be covered. Just. The rest was transparent plastic threads. Invisible.

"Go on," Michelle said. "Take it, wear it to the Halloween Ball, everyone's masked, nobody'll have any idea who you are. Here, take this Venetian Masquerade mask. I'll throw this in as well."

Okay, plain, black, seventy five percent off so it wasn't expensive at all and she'd thrown in the panties and everything? Anonymous? With that mask? Oh yeah, I could wander in, maybe see what my Dad and Uncle Brian were up to if I could spot them. There might be a guy I liked, even, and that'd be fun. I could dance as well and I did like dancing and I could leave when I wanted to.

"Please, Phoebe?"

Why not?

"I'll take it," I said, and I did.

"Get those legs. Going my way, honey?"

"Get a life, dude. As if." Jeez, I could be that guy's granddaughter but I liked the look. Admiring. Interested. That was the sort of look I'd wanted, wasn't it?

Twenty minutes later, wearing a little black dress that left me feeling totally exposed and on display, black G-string panties that covered almost nothing, that black masquerade mask hiding my face and my feet in my one and only pair of black heels, I found myself walking through the ballroom door, a glass of champagne in my hand and the bubbles were tickling my nose but I sipped it anyway, nervously, coz I was getting looks right away and okay, I was doing some looking myself.

Not like I was a club virgin or anything. I did go out with my friends, clubbing, dancing, but always with my friends. Safety in number and sure, guys hit on me. Just, never been that interested. Now? Well, let's say it was crossing my mind and it wasn't exactly a singles cruise but there were a few prowling guys. More than a few and they weren't the only ones looking at me and okay, I was the one that'd chosen to buy this dress and wear it so it wasn't like I had any grounds for complaining about the looks I was getting. More and more looks, really.

There weren't any young guys. Not that I could spot, anyhow but that didn't matter coz I didn't want some boy my own age. I wanted a man. Somebody who knew what he was doing and my heart did pound coz I knew what I was thinking and it wasn't like I was sixteen or anything and those looks I was getting didn't do anything to destroy that anticipation. In fact it was almost like I was getting immersed in those hungry looks and normally, that would've put me off. Tonight?

Tonight I was too elated to feel unsettled coz I knew in this dress I really did look hot.

I did kind of keep walking though, moving like I was going somewhere.

"Get you another drink?" The smile was kind of nice but the guy was short and sort of chubby and I smiled, doing my best to look like I wasn't sizing him up and he wasn't what I was looking for.

"No thanks, I'm meeting my friend," and that just rolled off my tongue coz I'd said that a hundred times when I really was out with my friends and I gave him that smile and move on without looking back and wove between a couple of groups of couples and stopped. A hand brushed my arm and when I glanced around, the guy was old enough to be my granddad and his white hair was way too long and straggly.

"Hi," he said, and it was that 'hi' that said he was putting the make on me. "You look like you need another drink."

I smiled, held up my three quarters full glass of champagne. "No thanks."

"Let's go somewhere, get out of here and maybe talk."

Jesus. As if. The guy must be sixty if he was a day and when I said I liked older guys, I was talking late twenties maybe and I couldn't help it. "Free advice," I said. "Try hitting on someone within a couple of decades of your age. And don't be such a sleaze about it."

"Fuck you," he said, walking off.

"Hey, way to go," a girl's voice said, and even with that mask on I could kind of guess late twenties, early thirties and she was with a friend. "We should get you a drink for getting rid of him," and the way they both looked at me, well, I wasn't interested that way either.

I smiled, moved on, brushing off guys, just wandering through the ballroom enjoying the looks I was getting and looking myself but I just didn't seen anything that really interested me and I didn't have anything specific in mind. If I saw a guy that interested me, I'd kind of see but so far, no dice and it wasn't like I was desperate.

I saw him and my heart just jumped and he was watching me.

Tall. Dark hair. Gold mask covering most of his face but muscular and fit looking even in that tuxedo and our eyes met and he was. He was watching me and I froze as he moved towards me and my insides fluttered and danced.

"Just who I've been looking for?"

I liked the voice right away. Low, not quite husky, it vibrated right through me, sending little shivers of excitement through me. This was the voice of a guy who knew what he was doing and, well, a one week cruise and we were half way through it. That was the kind of voice I was looking for, wasn't it? I hadn't made my mind up, but I was open to influencing and a voice like that?

"I don't think we've met," I said, smiling, coz the only guys I knew on this cruise were my Dad and Uncle Brian and I knew what they were after. Or should I say who.

"We have now," Mr. Tuxedo-guy in a gold-phantom mask said, taking my hand. "Let's dance."

He was good.

Really really good and I almost forgot what I was wearing and I would've totally except for all the looks I was getting and when we paused for a drink he smiled at me and I smiled right back.

"Can I keep you?" Gold-mask's voice was low, almost hungry and very definitely flirtatious.

"No, you can let her dance with me, buddy." I glanced at the voice, an almost identical guy. Big, tuxedo, but a silver-devil mask and for a moment I was, okay, worried, coz guys do get competitive.

"Hey, where you been?" Gold-mask said, and they were grinning at each other as I fished another glass of champagne from a passing waiter and drank, which I knew was probably silly coz I never drank much and this was my fourth glass now and I was more than a little bit giggly. He smiled down at me. "We can both dance with you, can't we?"

"Sure," I said recklessly, finishing the glass and then we were. Dancing. I was dancing with both of them and the music was great, louder, to loud to talk and that was good coz I was enjoying myself and enjoying dancing with them and I didn't really want to talk and the way they looked at me, yeah, this dress slayed all right.

"Break?" Gold-mask's lips moved but the gesture told me and I nodded. The three of us eased off the dance floor, back closer to the bar and we all found drinks and I knew I was drinking way too much. Intoxicated. Intoxicated with the night, the dress, them, the freedom. Miss Anonymous, on this boat, no restrictions, no concerns, no classes tomorrow, there was nothing except whatever I wanted to do.

"I need some air," I said, and I did, I wanted to get out onto the deck, the night air and they walked with me, each of them holding a hand and out on deck, by the railings, I was smiling, alive and tingling, knowing both of them were interested and so was I.

"Want to go back in and dance some more?" Silver-mask asked.

I shook my head. "It's too noisy in there, this is much nicer out here." Under the stars, the ship whispering through the water in the starlit darkness of the Caribbean night. Besides, I wanted one of them to kiss me. One? My heart beat a little faster coz I knew really, I'd like to kiss both of them and that was bad but really, it was only kissing and why not? I'd kissed guys before.

"It's much nicer out here with you," Gold-mask said and that voice. I reverberated through me, just doing things to me. Things that made my insides tighten.

"Is it?" I asked, and I'm sure I sounded breathless coz I knew I was.

"It is," Gold-mask said, and he brushed my chin with one finger. Smiling. He was smiling down at me.

I smiled back. "I'm not a toy to play with." But my smile said, play.

"Playing with you?" Gold-mask grinned, and his eyes dropped to my boobs for a second and yeah, deep v, lots of side-boob and I did blush a little coz I had an idea of what he was thinking. "Okay, no playing but maybe one kiss?" He smiled, one finger stroking my cheek, under my chin, tilting my face up.

"One kiss?" It was hard to breathe. Who was he? I had no idea. There were five thousand passengers on this ship and he could be any one of them. Well, any one of half of them, anyhow, coz he was definitely a guy. I'd kissed guys, a few. Never a guy I didn't know at all. Never a guy I'd literally bumped into. Never a guy with his face masked. Concealed. In disguise. Never a far older guy and these two guys were definitely older. They could be anyone. Anyone at all and my heart pounded, my lips parted. I knew what I wanted.

"Two," the other guy with him, the one with the silver mask, not quite whispered coz I could hear him over the background music. "One kiss for him, one kiss for me."

"Just kisses," I murmured, because I knew I was going to. With both of them. More than once. "On the lips."

Gold-mask chuckled, a low throaty chuckle that was almost wicked in its sensuality. "A smart girl, she'll steal our hearts if we're not careful."

His eyes sparkled behind his mask. "Perhaps she's already stolen mine," he whispered, just before his lips met mine and my first thought was that kisses like this should be illegal coz this was the perfect kiss. This was every kiss I'd ever dreamed of wrapped in one as his lips brushed mine, teasing mine apart; his tongue slipping into my mouth to taste mine.

Little licks, tempting teasing thrusts of his tongue past my lips, into my mouth, gentle, commanding, possessive, magical and arms around his neck, pressed against him, I lost myself in the moment, excitement building, washing through me in slow thick waves that held me like warm molasses, flooding through me in a slow thick surge, filling me, spiraling through my senses, leaving me weak, unresisting, willing, one kiss after another.

Behind me, Silver-mask had moved closer, his lips brushing my bare shoulder, my neck, his tongue tasting my skin, his lips brushing, touching, flickering over me, across the back of my neck to my other shoulder and heat filled me, flooded me. Every sense heightened, every inch of my skin was alive, tingling, sensitive and there was that sudden consciousness of how exposed I was in this dress, how much skin I revealed, how much of me they could see and touch.

They touched. Their hands touched me.

Hands, holding me now. Gold-mask's kisses possessed my mouth, one of his hands on my shoulder, the other sliding down to my hip, his hand hot on the exposed skin of my waist, on my hip, holding me and where I pressed against him, where my boobs crushed against his chest there was that sudden awareness of the aching full swollen sensitivity of my nipples pressing against him. A sudden awareness that all that was between him and my boobs was that one thin layer of black dress and his white cotton shirt. A sudden awareness of his hard male arousal.

"Ohhhhhhhh." That moan into his mouth, it came without thought, unbidden, uncontrollable, laden with excitement as every cell of my body demanded more.

His lips lifted, brushed my nose, their hands, they turned me and now Silver-mask's mouth closed on mine, so gently, his mouth possessing mine, his tongue deep in my mouth, my body pressed against his, my arms around his neck and he too was aroused, hard, pressing against me. Gold-mask's kisses trailed across my neck, my shoulders, his body pressed against mine, aroused, hard. Big. Both of them aroused and hard, both of them kissing me.

"Ohhhhhhh." I moaned as their hands turned me, as Gold-mask's lips found mine again. More than his lips, his hand and he didn't hesitate, there was no uncertainty or lack of assurance and that short dress gave him the easy access that his hand took advantage of, cupping my sex.

"Mmmmm." My eyes opened wide, flew wide as he touched me through my panties and this was a lot more than a kiss. There was that moment of fear, of uncertainty and then acceptance as the excitement of his touch rushed through me in a sudden hot wave.

"I thought you said kisses, only on the lips," I almost moaned, my hands on his shoulders, looking up at him as his finger brushed my panties, very very lightly but there was that wetness and he seemed to know exactly where to touch me and his touch turned my knees weak.

"You said kisses, only on the lips," Gold-mask smiled, his finger brushing me so that I bit my bottom lip and just stood there between them and shuddered. "I'm not kissing you anywhere else. And I didn't say what would come after that kiss, did I?"

He smiled, his lips brushed mine, his finger brushed me again and my panties were soaked through and he pressed a little and his fingertip pushed my panties inwards, right where I was wettest and I knew his finger knew how wet I was.

"Uhhhhh." I gasped into his mouth, his lips sealed to mine, his tongue dancing with mine. "No... no you didn'tuhhhhh." Coz his finger was just driving me insane and I was thinking well, why not tonight. It wasn't like I was hung up on staying a virgin and I was on this cruise to have some fun and if everything else was as good as this?