Chapter 28

As I mused about Vicky and her girlfriend, Isla spotted me, ran across the terminal with an ear-piercing shriek, and threw herself into my arms. Being careful to keep my hands on her hips, I let her cover my face with kisses as she wrapped her arms and legs around me and squeezed tight.

Then, wriggling so I’d let her down, Isla took my hand then glared after the retreating women, “So, who were your friends, Daddy Liam?”

I laughed because I realised I’d been had. The girls had seen me earlier but gave me space to say goodbye to my friend. So I tickled Isla’s ribs and said, “A lovely lady I met on the plane, little Miss Isla. Now, what gives? You’re not jealous, are you?”

“As if I’d be jealous of a whale,” Isla sniffed, even though she obviously was.

Picking Tanya up, I crushed her to my chest and gave her a loving kiss on her full lips and said, “It’s good to see you again, my love.”

Smiling as I let her down, she replied, “You, too, Daddy Liam.”

I turned to Ellen, still wary of how she’d be, but figuring I’d tease her anyway, and took her hands in mine before chastely kissing her cheek, “No tongue kiss for you, Mrs Monie. But I will if the girls promise not to tell your husband!”

“Maybe I’d like them to tell him, Liam,” she held out her low-cut top revealing several bruises on her breasts. “After all, he punishes me so deliciously when I misbehave.”

Worried, I dragged her aside and quietly hissed, “Tell me you’re not fucking around on Jim so he punishes you, Ellen! Tell me you’re not that stupid!”

Ellen pulled her hand out of mine and slapped me as hard as she could. “You do not get to manhandle me like that, Mister Shephard!” She quietly snarled as if the slap hadn’t drawn every eye. “Nor do you get to speak to me like that! Not that it is any of your darned business, but other than that one minor trip with you, I have been faithful to my new vows to my husband and always will be! So, apologise, or take the next plane back to Brissy!”

Holding my aching jaw, I grinned and replied, “There’s the Ellen Monie that I love so not so much! But you’re right. Not only is it no business of mine, I have no right to even touch you without your and Jim’s permission. So, I apologise unreservedly!” Then lowering my voice, I added, “But if I find out from Jim, or someone else, that you are fucking around, I will paddle you myself, and there won’t be any delicious orgasms afterwards.”

To my surprise, Ellen kissed my jaw and said, “If you continue talking to me like this, Liam, I will orgasm standing right here. So, can we please get in the car and go home? I need to cool down so that Jim doesn’t smell my arousal when we return.”

Seating in the car differed from the last time I travelled with the Monie women. I was still in the back but sat with Isla instead of Tanya.

When Tanya got in the driver’s seat, I pretended to pray, “Oh, dear Lord, please protect the occupants of this vehicle and bring us home safe from the erratic driving of my eighteen-year-old friend!”

Ellen laughed with me and said, “Oh, she’s pretty good! Tanya got her licence about six months ago but has only just begun driving regularly. I’m not sure if you know, but she’s been accepted into Griffith University at Nathan and begins her Bachelor of Business in March of next year.”

Glaring at me in the rearview mirror, Tanya growled, “You’re so funny, Daddy Liam! In fact, the only way you could be any funnier is if you were, you know? Funny!”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Isla joined in. “I thought it was pretty funny.”

Tanya theatrically sighed before declaring, “You know, Daddy Liam? You used to be my favourite ‘other Daddy’, but now, huuuh, sigh!”

I sat directly behind Tanya, so I reached through the gap in the headrest and tickled the back of Tanya’s neck, “That’s okay, Tan-Tan baby,” I told her. “I’m still Isla’s favourite, so I’ll survive!”

Tanya turned to mock glare at her sister, “Traitor!” She declared.

We arrived at the Monie’s safely, despite my teased misgivings about Tanya’s driving and walked inside. Larry had moved in with his girlfriend earlier in the year, so I could use his room for my stay. Putting my bag in the room, I walked back to the lounge and accepted the beer Jim offered me. Unsure about how things stood between us, I popped the can open and sat quietly, waiting to see where things led.

Of course, as soon as I sat, Isla crawled into my lap and leant back against me, sighing happily. Tanya, surprisingly, sat with her mother in one of the oversized sofa chairs, but when Isla looked away, she winked, and I understood that she was giving her sister space to have me to herself. I smiled and nodded to acknowledge what she’d done.

“You’re beautiful, my darling Isla,” I whispered, causing Isla to smile and sigh happily again. “In a little less than a year, I’ll take you on a journey to womanhood. But in the meantime, we must remain appropriate, okay? I don’t want to get myself, you or your parents in trouble, okay?”

“I understand, Daddy Liam,” Isla breathed. “But we can cuddle, hold hands, and exchange chaste kisses, can’t we?”

“I think so, Isla. But let’s keep it to sitting like this when your dad’s around, okay? I know he won’t stop us from being together, but he doesn’t have to like it, and I don’t want to rub his nose in what we’re doing, yeah?”

Isla smiled and kissed my cheek, “Good plan, Daddy Liam,” She answered.

I began asking Jim about his trip to PNG, and the tension disappeared, and we remembered why we were such good friends. By 11.00 pm, when I was ready for bed, we were back to laughing, joking, and trying to cure the world’s problems with our words. In the end, even Isla rolled her eyes and said she was going to bed. Ellen and Tanya had long gone, and Jason had only stuck his head in briefly to say “Hi” and hadn’t returned since.

When I woke, I found Isla fully clothed and on top of my quilt, sleeping peacefully on my chest. I’d been vaguely aware of someone climbing onto me the previous night, but Ness does so regularly, so I guessed my sleeping brain had assumed it was my wife and ignored it.

Putting my arms around her lower back and kissing the top of her head, I said, “Good morning, my girl. And just what do you think you’re doing?”

Propping herself on my chest with her elbows and putting her chin in her hands, Isla smiled before saying, “I wanted to sleep in your arms, Daddy. But when I climbed into your bed, I heard your heart beating so slowly that it was almost hypnotic. The slow rhythmical thump-thump made me instantly sleepy, and I drifted off. It feels so good that I want to stay here forever.”

“Ness might object,” I pointed out with a grin.

Looking at me inscrutably, Isla responded, “You might be surprised.”

“What does that mean? I swiftly asked.

“Nothing,” Isla replied and refused to discuss it any more.

Giving it up as a bad deal, I asked, “Do you have anything you want to do today, Isla? Somewhere you’d like to visit?”

“Great Keppel Island,” She instantly replied. “We’ve lived here for five years and have never gone. We’ll take our pup tent and sleeping bags and sleep under the stars on Svendsens Beach.”

I wasn’t sure, but Isla was keen, so we did that. It was very romantic, and we spent a lot of time exploring as we held hands. The walk from Svendsens Beach to the local bar and bistro wasn’t strenuous, so on Saturday, we purchased takeaway lunches, ate them as we explored, and then returned for dinner.

It was warm enough to swim, so Isla changed into a string bikini at least as tiny as the one her sister wore the last time I was up. Not to be outdone, I carefully checked that we were alone, stripped to my briefs and dived in with her. After gambolling in the water until we tired, Isla swam across to me and wrapped her arms and legs around me.

“You may kiss my lips lightly, then tell me you love me, Daddy Liam,” She instructed.

Grinning, I wrapped my arms around her mid-back and kissed her salty lips before whispering, “I love you, Miss Isla. I’m so very glad you’ve chosen me to be your first.”

“I love you, too, Daddy Liam. I’m glad you’ve agreed to be my first.”

After sleeping under the stars Saturday night, we returned to the bistro for breakfast, and another pair of lunches, then returned to exploring, not coming back until it was time to catch the last ferry back to Yeppoon.

Sunday evening was spent pleasantly catching up with the rest of Isla’s family. In deference to Jim, Isla and I kept separate from each other. The only intimacy we shared was from after dinner to bedtime when we sat in the lounge. But seeing their sister or daughter cuddle onto my lap wasn’t unusual, so it went unremarked.

I woke to my alarm Monday morning with Isla sleeping on my chest again, so I gently slid out from underneath her and got ready to get to the airport. I thought I’d need to catch a cab because it was pretty early and a work and school day, but entering the kitchen, I discovered Jim waiting for me.

“Good timing,” he said. “I’ve got plenty of time to drop you at the airport and make it to my first class, so let’s go.”

“Let me say goodbye to Isla, mate. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

Jim’s eyes winced, but he remained quiet, so I jogged down to my room and shook Isla’s shoulder lightly.

“Wha?” She mumbled. “What time is it?”

“5.30 am,” I informed her.

“You’re going?”

“Yeah. I’ll call you tonight, okay?”

“I want to come to the airport,” she muttered, trying to get out of bed.

“I think your dad wants to talk to me, so you’d better wait here, okay?”

“Yeah, that’s probably best,” Isla conceded. “Don’t go without saying goodbye to Tanya, or you’re going to be in deep doggy do-do.”

‘Shit!’ I thought, but agreed I would.

Because Isla and I had gone to Great Keppel, I virtually hadn’t seen Tanya since she picked me up at the airport, so I knew I’d need to apologise and make it up to her somehow before I saw Isla again.

Closing the door, I stepped across the hall and knocked on Tanya’s door. “Come in, Daddy Liam,” Tanya called.

Smiling, I slipped through the door, put my hands on my hips and asked, “And just how did you know it was me, young lady?”

“Who else would be knocking on my door at this time of morning?” She asked, pulling the sheet back and exposing her gorgeously naked body to me as I crossed to her. Then she sighed, “Oh, Daddy Liam.” running her hands through my salt ‘n’ pepper hair as I sucked her nipple into my mouth.

After a brief moment, I moved up and kissed her softly before saying, “I love you, Tanya. I promise I’ll come up and spend a night with you again sometime soon.”

“I’ve still got so much to learn, Daddy,” Tanya admitted. “But, I will explore with only you until I’m ready to marry Gary. Then Gary and I will be one forever.”

Returning to the kitchen, I shook my head and shrugged at Jim’s raised eyebrow and said, “You don’t want to know.”

Yeah,” he agreed. “I probably don’t.”

At the start of our car trip, there was a stilted silence between us, but Jim eventually said, “Liam, you have to know that I’m unhappy about you being with my daughters because, well, what father wouldn’t be? A man’s married best mate, having already fucked one of his daughters, is now preparing to fuck the other. Who wouldn’t be pissed at that? But, mate, Ellen insists that it’s all them, and they both insist that they made a pact years ago they’d share their virginities with you, so what am I to do? I don’t like it...”

He stumbled to a stop, uncertain how to continue. I had no idea what to say, so I stayed quiet.

Eventually, Jim continued, “I don’t like it, but Liam...” He hesitated again. Then gathering his strength, he added, “Tanya has been on cloud nine since she spent those nights with you. Never, in my memories, has she been this happy.” Jim sighed, “What I’m trying to say is this —if Isla has the same permanent smile as Tanya has after you’ve spent time with her, and on the evidence of the last two days, she will, then I give you and her my blessing, okay?”

I nodded, and he added, “So stop tip-toeing around me as if you think I’m about to try and rip your nuts off!” Grinning, I agreed to stop, but then Jim shocked me by asking, “What are Isla and your wife cooking up? Ellen seems to know, but she won’t tell me. All she says is that my daughter will tell me when she’s ready.”

“I’m as dumb about what’s going on as you are, brother,” I confessed. “They’re conspiring together, that I know. But about what, I have no clue.”