Home for the Holidays Ch. 11-16

"It's where Kenna and I work, Mom. It's not like I'm going to prison or anything. It's Michigan."

"Still, you could be working with your father, carrying on the family name. You know how important that is to your father."

"I think it's more important to you, Mom."

"How can you say that, Nicky? I've never wanted anything but what's best for you."

"I know, Mom."

I sat there feeling like I was watching a tennis match, my eyes moving from one to the other. So I was a bit startled when Nick took my hand, the one wearing his diamond and held it in his.

"I was going to wait a while and tell Dad and you this together, but I think this is a good time. Kenna and I are engaged, Mom."

I sat there and waited for the room to explode and fire to shoot out of the old bag's eyes. Instead, she set down her cup and pasted a fake smile on her face.

"That's absolutely wonderful Nick. Welcome to the family, Kenna. If you excuse me, I must talk to Lucy about the dinner menu." She rose and left. A few minutes later I heard the sound of a door slamming shut and then a hoarse scream split the air, muffled by the closed door.

"Is she okay?" I asked Nick.

"Yeah, she just needs to get used to the idea."

"Are you sure?"

Nick started to pull on my hand and I got out of my chair, sitting on his lap. "There's only one certainty about my mother, baby, and that's if she doesn't get her way, she throws a huge fit." Then he dipped his head and kissed me.

When Nicky kisses me, I lose all track of where I am or what time it is. I think sometimes he does it for his own advantage. Now my hands went to his chest, wanting to feel his skin. I unfastened the buttons on his shirt and stroked my hands inside, moaning softly.

"Do you even know how long I've wanted to do this to you?" I asked him when he lifted his head.

"What? Kiss me?"

"Yes, and touch you and be with you and know that we aren't just friends." I kissed his jaw and down the long line of his neck. My nibbles on his collarbone made him moan, his hands coming up along my back to hold me closer.

"I've wanted that, too, since before your botched wedding with Steven. I thought my heart would break until Bekka came running into the church holding up that stupid wand. I could have kissed her."

My lips brushed across his nipple and he gasped. "Kenna, we shouldn't do this here," he said softly, though he still cradled my head as I flicked my tongue across his small nipple.

"Do what?" I asked.

"This," he said. "You've got me wanting to push all the dishes off the table and take you right here." He gasped as I bit him gently.

"What's stopping you?" I asked, knowing full well he wouldn't do what he wanted to do.

"Maybe the fact that Lucy could be here any minute to clean up or my mother could decide to come back."

"Oh, where's your sense of adventure?"

I let go of his nipple and kissed him, putting as much heat into it as I could.

His hands roamed over my back and then clamped down on my hips. He picked me up and stood me up. "Not here," he said, grinning.

I glanced down at the bulge in his pants, one he'd never be able to hide from his mother or Lucy. "Oh, did someone get a bit excited?" I teased.

"You are an evil woman, Kenna McEwen, and I can't wait to get you married to me." He stood, adjusting his pants slightly and making me laugh.

"I'd say to hell with it and forget about a big wedding, but I don't think my mom would ever forgive me if we just went to a Justice of the Peace or the courthouse."

"Mine, either," he said. He was buttoning up his shirt when his mother came back into the room. She saw what he was doing and gave him a funny look but didn't ask questions to which she'd rather not know the answers.

"So, have you two set a date?" she asked, sitting down in her chair and lifting her cup to her lips. She set it down with a shiver of disgust and picked up the little silver bell that sat by her place setting. Ringing it, she waited until Lucy came into the room.

"My coffee is cold, Lucy, would you make fresh please?"

"Yes, Missus. I shall have it to you soon."

"Thank you, Lucy," she said, dismissing the woman as soon as she took her cup.

I don't know if it was the little bell or her attitude, but it bothered me. No one should have to come to a bell. It was demeaning if nothing else.

"Oh, so now, where were we?" she asked as if nothing had happened.

"Wedding dates," I said, though I didn't want to discuss this with her.

"Well, I know the churches around here will all be booked for June, it's such a lovely month to get married. What religion are you, Kimmy?"

"It's Kenna," I said, though I tried to keep the anger out of my voice. I felt Nicky take my hand under the table and give it a little squeeze. "I'm Catholic."

"Oh dear. Well, that complicates things," she said. "Monica's daughter, Terry, you remember her, don't you, Nick? She married a Catholic and they had to go through months of counseling before they could even get the license. It was dreadfully antiquated."

"Antiquated?" I couldn't believe I was hearing her right. "That counseling is supposed to help keep the marriage together."

Nick interrupted me before I could say anything else. "Mom, we haven't even set the date yet. But I don't think either of us want to wait until June to be married."

"You know that old wives' tale," she said, her voice sounding dire. "Marry in haste, repent at your leisure."

I decided right there and then that I was going to get a bucket of water and throw it on her to see if she'd melt. The woman was a witch. How Nick grew up to be the way he was, well it was beyond me.

"We were thinking of having the wedding New Year's Eve," I said, needing to put in my own two cents.

"This New Year's? Oh, that would be simply impossible. There is no way I can get all of Nicky's cousins lined up to be bridesmaids. And then there's the food and the music, and of course, we'd have to get a hall. There's just no way we could get all that done in so short a time."

Nick squeezed my hand and I managed to hold my tongue, somewhat. "I don't want a big wedding," I said. "And I just want my sisters to stand with me. If we get married on New Year's Eve, it would have to be a very simple wedding."

"Nick doesn't want simple though, do you, baby?" she crooned, and to my absolute amazement, she wet a napkin with water and reached across to slick down a cowlick on his head. I turned my head and gazed at him. Seeing his red face, I decided not to say anything.

"Mom, I'll be happy with whatever Kenna comes up with as long as she's there next to me when the minister recites the vows. I love her more than life itself. I would be devastated if somehow she thought she wasn't wanted here with us."

I could have kissed him, especially when his mother turned her scary gaze on me. It made me realize I was the enemy. Mrs. Grenfield would not take this sitting down.

I would have to watch my back. It was going to be a long week.

* * * *

We finally left to see some of the sights of New York. It was bitterly cold, so a lot of our sightseeing was done by cab. I did get to the top of the Empire State Building. The view down through those big windows was actually very scary. My fear of heights kicked in and suddenly I was very glad of Nick's strong arms around me.

From there we took a ferry out to the Statue of Liberty. I got souvenirs for the family and for Mirna, my best friend after Nick.

When we got back on the ferry, it was growing late. We were going to have to hurry to make it home for the dinner that Nick's mom wanted to have. I was not looking forward to it. By the time we got back, Nick's mother was waiting in the hall, tapping her foot on the expensive marble floor.

"It's about time," she said, glaring at me.

"I'm sorry, Mom, I just wanted to show Kenna the sights of New York City. I guess we lost track of the time."

"Well, hurry up and change, Lucy's been keeping the food warm for an hour now." She clapped her hands and made shooing motions, like we were birds or something she wanted out of her way.

"Change?" I asked Nick as we walked up the stairs.

"I didn't tell you? Oh shit, Kenna. We're expected to dress for dinner in this house."

"Oh, okay." I sighed and went to my suitcase. I'd brought a couple of nice dresses along with me, though nothing like the black number Mrs. Grenfield was wearing. It looked expensive and the pearls she wore with it had to be expensive, too. She didn't look like the type to be caught wearing costume jewelry.

Taking the dress to the bathroom, I hung it up to let the wrinkles from packing smooth out. I reached into the shower, turning on the faucets. A quick shower would do me wonders and get me out of the mood Nick's Mom put me in.

I shucked my clothes and stepped inside, sighing as the water rushed over my neck and back. Then I shrieked as the door opened. The glass had fogged over with the heat of the water and I hadn't known anyone was in the bathroom.

"Nicky, what are you doing?" I asked.

"Saving water, you know there is a drought."

"It's the middle of winter, Nicky."

"Okay, well I'm just getting a head start on next year's drought." He took the shampoo bottle out of my hands and gathered my hair up, piling it on top of my head as he washed my scalp. His fingers felt like little massaging angels against my skin. When his hands dropped to the back of my neck, I could have melted into a puddle that would slide down the drain at his feet.

Then he turned me around so that my back was to his front, slowly massaging his way down my spine, finding every knot of tension and kneading it away. On his way back up, his hands slid under my arms to cup over my breasts. "I should have known," I said as I tried not to moan at the things he was doing to me.

"What should you have known?" Nicky asked with a grin. He pulled me back against him, letting the spray from the shower wash the suds off of my hair and body.

"That you had illicit and lewd ideas when you came in here."

"I don't think you mind," he said, twisting my hardened nipples with two fingers. I gasped as he teased my flesh, letting the warm water rush over me. I could feel his cock against my back, pushing against me, as hard as steel but covered with the softness of his skin, that amazing contradiction of hard and soft.

"We're going to be late for your mom's dinner," I warned him as he pushed me forward.

"She'll get over it," he said and I felt the tip of his cock press into me. I leaned my hands on the tiled wall of the shower and pushed back against him, wanting more even if I was worried about what kind of reaction Mrs. Grenfield would have if she could have seen us right now.

"You sure?" I asked even as the sensations of his cock filling me made my head spin. "I mean, she doesn't even like me. This will give her one more reason to think I'm not good enough or smart enough or even pretty enough to be with her son."

I felt his hand on the small of my back and knew he was watching himself as he filled me. A shiver ran over me and I groaned. His hands came around me, pulling me up so that he could reach my lips, arching my back. I kissed him, I couldn't help it. I mean, any girl would want Nick, naked and wet. He was irresistible.

I started to move, undulating. He groaned, his hand sliding down the front of my body and dipping between my thighs to find my clit. I gasped and moaned, closing my eyes to savor what he was doing to me. "Baby," I said.

"The things you do to me..."

"Then I guess we're even," he growled. Then he chewed his way down my throat, stopping at my shoulder to bite me more gently and suckle my flesh, leaving a deep hickey on my shoulder.

"What are you doing?" I asked, surprised. "Are you marking me?"

"Yes," he said shamelessly. I want the world to know you're taken. I don't want any man to make a try for you."

"You know that if any man did, I would turn them down," I said, turning my head to look up into his eyes. "I'm all yours and you/re stuck with me."

"I can live with that."

His hand rested on my breast, pulling and playing with my nipple. The other hand stayed between my thighs, playing with my clit so that I begged, pleading with him to make me come. The hand on my breast moved to my back and he pushed me back down against the tile wall. His hands went to my hips and he began to pound himself into me. I reached one peak than another, each shifting the tension inside of me until I thought I'd go crazy with the pressure.

"God, yes," I cried. "Fuck me, Nicky."

His thrusts grew more intense, one hand slipping around my hip and finding my clit again. He played with it until it grew, the little knot coming out from its hood. "Yeah," he said softly. "That's a girl."

It was too much stimulation. I cried out, unable to stop myself as the pressure inside burst in a huge wave of heated prickles. They ran over my body, making me shudder, the muscles of my core massaging his cock as my juices ran over him.

He stroked three more times, the last thrust jerky as he shouted out his pleasure, his fingers on my hips, digging in to hold me to him. As if I'd had the energy to go anywhere right then. He'd drained it out of me.

I felt him grow soft and his cock slipped out of me. He spun me around, kissing me with a tenderness I'd never felt with anyone other than Nick. He held me close, his hands gently rubbing up and down my back.

There was a knock on his bedroom door, and I stiffened.

"Nicky?" His mother's voice came through the door.

"Yeah, Mom, what is it?"

"It's dinner time," she said. I stood there, waiting for her to push that door open and get the show of her life. Probably mine as well, since she'd of kick me out of her home for seducing her son.

"We'll be down in a bit, Mom. We're taking a shower." He glared at me as I smacked him on the arm for saying that.

"Both of you?" she asked cautiously.

"Yeah, Mom, both of us."

I could hear the disapproval in her voice and knew she'd be glaring at me all during dinner. I never guessed how bad it would be.

"You and Kasey hurry up. Dinner is getting cold.

"It's Kenna," I growled, but kept my voice down.

"It's Kenna, Mom, not Kasey," he called.

"Yeah, isn't that what I said?"

"You know you didn't, Mom."

She moved away from the door and I could almost sense the hatred in her eyes. Eyes so like Nicky's, though his glowed with love and with tenderness for me.

"Give her time to get used to the idea that we are together and that I plan to marry you, whether it's in a church or outside in a hurricane. I don't much care about the setting, just that it's you and me. I love you, Kenna."

I felt the tear that ran down my cheek and ignored it. He was so, so romantic.

"I love you, Nick. As far as I'm concerned we could hop a flight to Las Vegas and spend the rest of our vacation time shooting craps and playing the slots as Mr. and Mrs. Evans."

"That's a tempting thought. Very tempting," he said with a grin as he ran his hands over my body, washing me quickly and then giving me a gentle shove to the door.

I got out and grabbed one of the huge bath sheets, wrapping it around myself while I used his blow dryer to do something with my hair. I finally left it half wet and pulled it back into a French braid. Grabbing the green dress, I also gathered my underwear and was about to leave the steamy bathroom.

"Oh, I don't get to watch?" Nicky asked, stepping out of the shower and grabbing a towel to dry himself off. He was unashamed of his nakedness, as only a guy can be.

"Fine," I said. I draped the dress over the door and set my lingerie on the counter. Dropping my towel, I reached for the pale green silk panties, stepping into them and pulling them on. They clung to me in the steaminess of the bathroom and Nicky couldn't stop himself from reaching out and touching the softness of the silk and my skin before I slapped his hand.

"You touch and we'll be even later, and you know it," I growled at him, reaching for my bra. It was the same pale green silk, but the top two-thirds were lace. My hardened nipples were very apparent through the lace and he groaned again. The towel he was wearing around his waist was beginning to tent up.

"I told you, this isn't a very good idea."

"I think it's a marvelous idea," Nicky said, coming closer so that my breasts were pressed into his chest. "Have I ever told you how completely gorgeous you are?"

"No, I think you've been very lax in your duties," I said, wagging my finger under his noise. He moved his head quickly and bit down on my finger, taking it gently into his mouth and playing with it using his teeth and tongue.

"This is not the way to get us dressed to go down to dinner," I told him, but there was a quiver to my voice beyond my control.

"I'm not all that hungry," he said. "Well, for food anyway." He whispered in my ear what he was hungry for and a blush rose to my face. "What do you say?"

"I say that your mother would hate me even more if I didn't drag your protesting carcass down to sit in a chair for her." I managed to get out of his arms and I pulled off his towel, my eyes dropping to his groin. "You really meant it, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did," but he sighed. "But you're right, if we don't go down, she'll skin us both. But we can always retire early," he said as he zipped up the back of my dress for me.

"Yes, we can," I said, smiling up at him. "Now hurry and get dressed so we can go face the beast."

Chapter Thirteen

He finally got dressed and we proceeded down the wide, curved staircase with its shiny oak banisters. Nicky led me through the house, stopping at the small salon. "We have a social drink here before dinner," he whispered in my ear, guiding me into the room with a hand at my waist. I smiled, hoping that I could pull off confidence and poise when I felt like the new girlfriend at a family reunion.

"Ah, there you are, dear," Mrs. Grenfield said, rising to kiss Nicky on the cheek. "We were beginning to wonder if Kayla was going to monopolize you this entire trip."

I kept my mouth shut. How I don't know, but I did. I would garner this woman's respect in some way, I just didn't know how.

"It's Kenna, Mom, not Kayla," Nicky said, his hand going from the small of my back to my shoulder and pulling me closer.

I went, giving Mrs. Grenfield a small smile that let her know she wasn't getting to me. She wasn't getting to me. Okay, she was but I'd be damned if I was going to let her know that.

"Oh, isn't that what I said?" she sniffed a little and then gave me a look like something smelled bad and it was me. The old bitch was going down. But I wouldn't lose Nick in the process, he meant too much to me.

"Well, I read somewhere that the memory is the first thing to go when you've reached such an advanced, shall we say, age," I said just loud enough for only her to hear. She bristled. I'd heard of people doing that but I'd never seen it before, not until then. I thought she would go for my throat and I looked forward to the confrontation. But she took a deep breath and got control of herself.

"Can I get you something to drink, Kenna?" she asked, stressing my name meaningfully. Well, at least I got her to call me by my name.

"A glass of juice would be wonderful," I said.

Mrs. Grenfield looked at me as if I'd asked for the impossible. "Juice? Nicky dear, is she too young to drink?" She stared down at me as if I was still in the cradle.

"No, Mrs. Grenfield," I said succinctly, "I am a few years past the allowable age. I just think I'll need my senses about me this evening." I took the glass of juice that her husband brought me and thanked him with a smile.

"Your usual, Nicky?" she asked her son, heading to the small bar in the corner of the room. It was the only thing even remotely male about the room, beautiful oak with a bright copper railing around the bottom. Everything else looked as if someone had come in with a bunch of flowers and thrown them everywhere. Even the rug had a floral pattern.