Knight Shift

by Paulette Miller

  As he watched her moving around in her sleep restlessly, he reached out his senses and caught her elevated body heat and racing pulse—both higher than her normal sleeping pattern. If he had to guess, he initially would have said that she was having a nightmare but, when he caught the expression on her face, he knew that whatever she was dreaming about she was enjoying it. When she mumbled something he took a step closer, trying to make out the words. Just before her internal alarm went off, he swore he heard the word, ‘ice’, but his thoughts were interrupted when she shot up in bed with a start.

  As a bead of sweat made a lazy trail down the side of her face, her chest moved in a heavy pant. The first word she said as she wiped the sweat from her face was “Damn.” She then turned to Ice’s position and said with a hint of anger in her voice, “It’s about time you showed up, Casper.” Realizing how she sounded, her face suddenly softened and said with pure relief in her voice, “I’m sorry. I’ve missed you terribly and have desperately needed to talk to you all week.”

  A pang of guilt suddenly filled Ice’s mind. He wasn’t the only one that looked forward to his nightly visits.

  After she stood, she said, “Wait here and I’ll be right back.” She got up and grabbed a wrapped package from on top of the dresser and headed into the bathroom. Seeing that it was the item that he had delivered to her the day before, his curiosity was piqued.

  The mystery gift was quickly revealed when Penny walked back into the bedroom. His mouth dropped open as she passed by him wearing one of his t-shirts. Although the item hung on her like an oversized dress, seeing her in something of his made an unexpected warmth grow in his chest.

  She said, “I’m going to need a distraction tonight. Let’s go watch a movie.” She grabbed the Casper pillow that she now slept with each night and headed into the living room.

  Since Penny confided in Casper about everything, he knew he would learn shortly what was weighing on her mind and why she was wearing his clothes. He didn’t have to wait long. Before she entered the kitchen, she was already giving Casper the play by play on the scene in Susi’s moon room. He found it fascinating to hear the story from her point of view.

  When her tale was done, she said, “It was so embarrassing. I swooned over Ice like some silly school girl, but I couldn’t stop myself. His touch was unlike any other and I’ve relived that same scene in my dreams every night since then… although my dream ending wasn’t interrupted by Susi.” Her cheeks flushed as the images filled her mind. “He left town the next day so I couldn’t confront him.” She tugged on the material of her shirt and said, “I had it so bad that I even contacted Susi and asked if she could send over one of his shirts. I made the excuse that I needed it for a craft project, but I think she read between the lines and saw through my feeble attempt at a deception. Of all people, he showed up at the store today to drop off the package. Thank heavens Susi wrapped it up tightly so that he has no idea what he was delivering. I tried not to open it, but I had the same dream again and I wanted something of his touching me.”

  While stirring a spoon in a cup of hot water with unnecessary force, she exclaimed, “Do you know this was the first time I’ve seen him since that night and he acted as if nothing had ever happened between us? Ugh! I should have known. It really was nothing but a tease on his part.” She sniffed the material of her shirt. After cursing she said, “He’s worn this; I can catch his scent. Good thing I didn’t wear it to bed or my dreams would have been even livelier than they already were.” As a wicked smile lit her face, she added “…although I’m not sure how much more lively they could get.”

  Ice wasn’t sure how to react to her words. While out of town, he had tried to convince himself that their encounter was just a tease, but he knew that was a lie. It impacted him deeply and, now that he knew that he had been in her dreams every night, a smile crept up on his face.

  While his mind swirled, she topped off a cup of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows and said, “Enough pining over what I can never have. Let’s see what we can find for a distraction.” Even after she had her cup heaped like a snow mound, before leaving the kitchen, she grabbed the marshmallow bag. After putting her snack on the coffee table, she said, “Let’s pick a movie.”

  Although she had several movies on a shelf, she bypassed those and went to a dusty moving box and dug through a stack of DVDs. At the very bottom she pulled out an unopened movie that made her smile and said, “This might not be a good idea, but let’s watch this one. It was a going away present from a friend back home and I completely forgot about it.”

  Ice tried to see what she had picked and smirked when the cover informed him it was a romance. As she bent over to turn on all of the electronics and slid the movie into the player, he cursed. His shirt was so long on her that it prevented her movements from flashing any of the body parts that he desperately wanted to see.

  She settled in on the couch with a blanket thrown over her and her cup in her hand. She was flanked on one side by her Casper pillow and the bag of marshmallows on the other. As she watched the story, initially she seemed uninterested and distracted but, when the story turned more romantic, her eyes locked on the screen. When the scenes became more explicit, she put down her empty cup, picked up the DVD container, and asked out loud, “What are we watching?” Although she could have turned off the movie, she looked around the room to confirm she was alone and then settled back onto the couch with the Casper pillow clutched against her chest.

  At that point, Ice lost all interest in what was on the screen. Instead he was completely focused on watching Penny. She once again became his prey and he called on his hunting instincts, allowing him to feel her pulse rise with the growing heat radiating from her body.

  When the movie ended, she clicked off the television and sat silently staring at a blank screen for several minutes. She finally broke the silence when she looked down at the pillow she had a death grip on and said, “Oh Casper, that movie was so not a good idea.”

  When she stood, she took a moment to position Casper back on the couch, and said, “Sorry, my dear friend, but you’ll need to spend the rest of the night out here. I think I need a few minutes alone.” She laid the blanket over the pillow as if to block him from seeing what she was about to do.

  Ice’s instincts screamed at him to leave the cabin immediately but, when she pulled the T-shirt off as she entered her bedroom, his feet followed the flash of skin.

  From his shadowed corner, he watched her naked body as she tucked her bed pillow into his shirt. She nuzzled her face into the new pillow case, breathing in his scent, and crawled into bed. He was initially grateful when she grabbed a sheet and covered herself. Although he was desperate to stare at her beautiful figure, given the state his lower regions were already in, he wasn’t sure how he would handle it if her naked body was on display.

  Once she was settled in, both she and Ice sighed together like a chorus. His moment of contentment ended when he saw her hand snake down her body. He cursed profusely as Penny began to address her current ache.

  Although he was no stranger to intimacy, he never went looking for it. It happened only as a necessary act and only when the situation presented itself. Even then, he had only been with a few, very select women that understood it was the act that he cared about and nothing more. Once his need was sated, he was done and had no need for additional physical contact and insisted on being left alone. Although the women seemed to leave with a smile on their face, he really didn’t care if they enjoyed it or not.

  All of his old carefully controlled rules fell apart as the scene continued in front of him. The sounds Penny made were driving his body insane and, when Penny kicked off her covers, time came to a crashing halt. With her entire body now on display, he listened to her moans and watched her body squirm with need. When his hand instinctively reached out to feel the heat radiating off her body like an inferno, he noticed that he had become visible. Realizing that he had completely lost his stealth shiel
d, he quickly refocused his attention. Once he was invisible to the outside world again, he held his breath, waiting to see if Penny had caught his blunder. Given her constant sounds of pleasure, he knew she was still completely lost in her very active daydream and was oblivious to the fact that she had an audience.

  When her movements became more aggressive and her breaths came out as pants, he had to clench his fists tight. His fingers ached to take over so that he could be the one to finish the scene. As her body tensed and she took in a deep breath, he found himself frozen in place…waiting. When her body arched and she cried out, he closed his eyes and shared in the pleasure that pulsated off her body. His mind moaned as each wave of energy washed over him like a tide on a beach.

  When the room quieted, he opened his eyes again to find Penny hugging her body pillow, allowing her pulse and breathing to slow. Seeing the satisfied expression on her face, he wondered whom she was holding onto so tightly within her mind. When the face of the actor from the movie came into Ice’s mind, he slammed a mental door in his face, declaring him an intruder in his space. If not the actor, was it possible that the passion he witnessed and physically felt was directed at himself? The idea was absurd. Women had nightmares where his face was the one they were running from. No one would include him as the man they were running to, but Penny defied all of his well-defined rules.

  Now that his mind had shifted momentarily away from the object of his visual obsession, he quickly realized how much his body was impacted by the night. Although his lower regions throbbed in physical pain, he refused to leave Penny’s side—just in case she had to address any additional needs and might possibly cry out the name of the one in her mind. But shortly after she drifted off to sleep, Ice couldn’t hold out any longer. In a flash he ran off into the night and, once safely in the shadows of the woods, he addressed his own aches that were demanding his immediate attention. With a certain strawberry blonde haired Human in mind, the mountain side echoed with a thunderous howl.

  Chapter 19 - Visit Home

  Penny slept in the next morning and crawled out of bed oddly refreshed. She was shocked at the wildly erotic scene she and her dream lover had played out in her mind the night before. Even though she had ordered Casper to stay out of her bedroom, she had sensed his presence next to her. At the time she was too lost in her own needs to care, but now that she was back in her own mind, she blushed as last night’s events were added to the very long list of reasons why she was grateful that her ghost didn’t have a mouth to blab her secrets.

  The next night when Penny rose, she walked to the bathroom, avoiding looking into the shadow. After putting on a robe, she passed Casper’s position and, while still looking away, she paused and said, “About last night…I may have gotten a bit carried away and I promise that I’ll be more discrete about any urges in the future.”

  As Penny left the bedroom, Ice stayed behind and stared at the bed. His mind hadn’t stopped replaying the previous night’s events and he had been pacing outside the cabin anxiously waiting for Penny’s internal alarm clock to go off in hopes for an encore performance.

  By the time his body finally calmed, realizing there wasn’t going to be a show tonight, he following Penny’s scent trail to the living room. He found her sitting in front of her computer waiting for someone to respond to a chat session.

  Seconds later, he heard a chorus of male voices on the screen yell, “Happy birthday, Peanut!”

  Ice’s face shot over to Penny’s and he asked himself, “It’s her birthday? “

  Max asked, “So what did you do today to celebrate?”

  “Nothing. I didn’t tell anyone.”

  Morgan replied, “Why are we not shocked by that revelation?” The twins knew their sister well enough to know that the real problem was that this was her first birthday away from home.

  “Well I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. It’s just a birthday. I have one each year. Mom did call me earlier and she cried.”

  Morgan replied, “She cried because you told her not to bake you a cake, so we baked one for you instead.” He held up a lopsided cake decorated in twenty-six bright orange circus peanuts.

  Penny was truly grateful and it took her a minute to be able to reply. Unlike Ice, she completely lacked the ability to hide her emotions. When she was able, she said, “Thanks. Can you take a bite for me?”

  Morgan replied, “Only after we sing you happy birthday, but please don’t sing along. I don’t want you scaring away your ghost again.”

  “Ha, ha.” Penny replied sarcastically but, after looking over at the shadow in the corner and feeling Casper’s presence, she decided to keep her singing to herself.

  After the serenade was over, Ice continued to watch Penny’s conversation with her brothers. After they disconnected and she walked by Casper’s position, she admitted, “God I miss them.”

  Casper stayed at her side until she finally crawled back in bed.

  Just as she tucked herself in, she said, “Good night Casper.” She closed her eyes before telling him who she was going to dream about. Ice wanted to wake her up and force her to tell him her fantasy man, but that would require him to reveal his secret, so he remained quiet, trying to determine what to do.

  As she hugged her Casper pillow, she whispered, “Now time to get a little more frostbite.” With a wicked grin on her face, she snuggled into her body pillow, which was still wrapped in Ice’s t-shirt, and let her mind drift off to sleep.

  A matching smirk quickly grew on Ice’s face, confirming that he was the main player in her nighttime dream world. The thought alone made his pulse race. He wanted to crawl under the covers with her to play out her fantasy in the waking world, but he forced himself to back away. Although he couldn’t take her into his arms, he wanted to do something special for her. As a plan formed in his mind, he raced out of the house.

  As soon as Ice arrived back at Sam’s, he asked the family while acting as if it was an afterthought, “Did you know that today was Penny’s birthday?”

  Susi replied, “No. How do you know?”

  Stretching the truth a little, he said, “Her brother Max. He knew that she wouldn’t share the news.”

  The twins replied, “We should do something for our little Peanut. Any ideas?”

  To their surprise, Ice answered by saying, “We could give her a ticket to fly home and see her family out east. We all know that she misses them.”

  Susi was surprised to hear Ice offer such a thoughtful gift and said, “That’s perfect and I know that she would love it.”

  Ice replied, “I’ll take care of ordering the ticket.”

  Although everyone was surprised Ice volunteered, they never fought with him over anything he said he was going to do. Instead, Sam looked to the twins and asked, “Can you make arrangements to have Penny come over tomorrow night so that we can give her our gift?”

  Taylor replied, “Consider it done. We’ll kidnap her after work and make it a surprise.”

  True to their word, after work the next day the twins hid outside of Penny’s cabin. Once she arrived home they began to howl, making her step outside. Once exposed they jumped out of the bushes, grabbed her, and put a blindfolded on her.

  While half-heartedly trying to fight them, she asked, “What the hell are you two fur balls doing?”

  Taylor announced conspiratorially, “We’re kidnapping you.”

  While the twins led her to the car they had hidden nearby, she asked, “May I ask why?”

  Tadd replied playfully, “You may ask, but it doesn’t mean we have to answer.”

  After a long ride where Penny’s prodding got her no closer to an answer, they reached their destination. As Taylor helped Penny out of the car, he said more seriously, “Come on Human. You’ve been a very bad girl and have to face your punishment.”

  “What did I do?” she asked with some concern in her voice.

  “Silence Human,” Tadd replied. Hearing the teasing in his voice, Penny knew t
hat they weren’t really angry with her and her body relaxed.

  After they guided their captive into the house, Taylor whispered in her ear, “Penny, did you neglect to tell your family something?”

  Penny replied, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Tadd leaned toward her other ear and asked, “What was yesterday?”

  Penny replied, “Tuesday.”

  Ben moved so that he stood in front of Penny and asked, “And what happened on that day twenty-six years ago?”

  Penny knew exactly what they were referring to and said warningly, “You guys had better not have…”

  Taylor interrupted her response by pulling off her blindfold and everyone yelled, “Happy Birthday!”

  As she looked out at party decorations, Penny asked, “How did you find out?” Assuming her brothers were the guilty parties, she added, “I’m going to kill those brothers of mine.”

  To keep his newfound friends out east out of trouble, Taylor said, “Actually, Ice is the one that told us.” At a whisper he added, “I told you that he knows everything.”

  Susi said, pointing to a cake that was sitting in the middle of the table, “We couldn’t let your birthday go by without a little celebration.”

  While Susi cut the cake, Penny caught Ice staring at her and, for a few seconds, she caught a look that would have fit well in her dreams. Just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared and, with his face once again neutral, he stepped forward and handed her an envelope, saying “This is from all of us.”