Home for the Holiday

by Wendy Stone

  I smiled at the sound, determined to get even with all his cracks about my snoring when we woke up. For now, he was warm and strong, his arms holding me tight and we were together. Life couldn't be more perfect. I smiled and happily drifted off beside him.

  * * * *

  "No, Lucy, he's been sleeping long enough. I want to see my son."

  The words were all the warning we got before the door was pushed in and our suitcases shoved aside. I heard a girlish giggle and suddenly wanted to bury my head under the sheets and pretend I didn't exist.

  "Nicky,” the voice said and I heard him stir next to me. “Wake up, baby."

  This was so not the way I'd expected to meet my mother-in-law to be. I could feel my skin flushing to the roots of my hair as she stood next to the bed, staring down at us. I felt Nick stretch, all six feet of him pressing against me, and his morning erection pressing into my back. The sheet began to move and I knew if I didn't quit playing possum, Nick's mom was going to get to see a side of me I didn't show to too many people.

  I grabbed for it, yanking it back up to my chin as Nick sat up, staring at the two women who had invaded his room. “Mom ... What are you doing in here?” he asked, lifting his knee to hide the evidence of his arousal.

  "I wanted to see my baby,” she said in a syrupy voice that made me want to yak. “Is that a crime?"

  "No, Mom,” he said and I was amazed at the sound of patience I could hear in his voice. “But maybe you could give us some privacy? Maybe wait outside so that Kenna and I can get dressed?"

  "Kenna?” I heard her ask though I knew damn well she'd spotted me before.

  "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Grenfield,” I said, sitting up next to her son and holding the sheet with one hand while I held out the other to her.

  She took it in one of the limpest handshakes I'd ever been given, quickly releasing it and nodding at me with a simpering little smile upon her face. Why I even thought this way about the woman, one I'd never met before today, I didn't know. But there was something about her...

  She was perfectly coiffed, her light blonde hair piled into a French twist at the nape of her neck. Maybe that was what it was; she was pale and perfect with not a hair out of place and here I was, roused from my sleep, my red hair untidy and tumbling around my naked shoulders in her son's bed, him naked with me.

  With a little moue of what almost looked like distaste upon her face, she dropped her hand to the side. I noticed her wiping it upon her skirt, as if I weren't good enough to touch her.

  "Well, I'll just give you and your ... friend time to make yourself presentable. I'll wait for you downstairs, Nicholas. We have so much to discuss.” She left the room the way she came in, like a whirlwind. A neat, tidy, uptight little whirlwind with a huge stick up her butt.

  When the door closed behind her, I dropped my head into my hands, running my fingers through my hair to try to get some of the snarls out. “She doesn't like me."

  "What do you mean, she doesn't like you?” Nicky asked as he rose from the bed in all his wonderful nakedness, making my mouth water.

  "Baby,” I said quietly, determined to make him see, “when your mother who knows that you're engaged calls your fiancée a friend, it's not a good thing."

  "Give her a chance, Kenna,” he said, pulling on his jeans and zipping them up. “She's just a little different then the people you've met before. She's got to get to know you. You'll let her do that, won't you?"

  "Yeah,” I grumbled, unhappy with the entire thought. I knew she would never accept me. I just had to wait for him to see it. “Yeah, I'll try."

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  Chapter Twelve

  Breakfast was horrible. Not the food, which was more than wonderful, but Nicky's mom. The woman was a harridan in disguise. She was sweet and wonderful with her son, but she either ignored me or threw barbs at me behind Nick's back.

  "I just can't believe you have to leave to go back to that horrible place so soon,” Mama Harridan said, sipping on her cup of coffee.

  "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.