Nina

Chapter 8


Two weeks of routine, anyway. I'd go to work, just like I had for years, except there was this lithe female form catching me at the door for a kiss before I left, and she'd hand me a little paper bag with a couple of apples or a banana or grapes or something, and unless the gang at the office shoved me out the gate for lunch, I had Nina's snack.

Nina was at the library three days a week, reading stories and helping corral a bunch of rambunctious pre-schoolers.

And when I'd get home, if she'd had a library day, we ate out. If she hadn't done the library, I'd walk in to the smells of food cooking on the stove, and a smiling, jeans-clad wife. After dinner we walked or used a new membership at the gym. I was serious about not wanting to gain weight and that required a bit of effort.

Happily I had Nina. And TWO bicycles. And TWO kayaks.

Yeah, the kayak thing. I wasn't a nut-case "take a kayak over Niagara Falls" kayaker, but I was plenty competent for the slow-moving rivers and lakes around the area, and I brought Nina along with me. The first time. After that, it was "Let's go take the kayaks to the lake." And two kayakers can find some really secluded places to play.

And we were approaching the last weekend of June. Time for Sandy to show up for her month with Daddy. And Nina.

Nina, I'm happy to say, started prepping for the vacation at the beach two weeks in advance, making lists, showing them to me, refining, organizing. We went shopping and bumped up both our summer wardrobes. Included in hers, in addition to her normal, very conservative one-piece bathing suit, I watched her choose a couple of bikinis. Not tiny bikinis, but bikinis nonetheless.

I threatened to buy a speedo. It was an empty threat. I bought baggy trunks.

At work I tried to get as many loose ends tied up as I could. Jannie noticed. "I never saw you that excited about your vacation, Dan. She's really got you, huh?"

I smiled at Jannie. You don't work in the same office with somebody for years and not form a friendship. "Yes, I guess she does, Jan," I said.

Jannie turned away from her computer. "You know, all those times I tried fixin' you up, Dan? And you didn't..."

I laughed. "And you DID try, Jan. And so did some of them."

"Oh, I know," she laughed. "Women talk. I know all about it. But then Nina comes along..."

"Yes, she did," I said. "I wasn't looking, Jan. Really. I was more surprised than anything else."

"Well, I ain't the only one who says you look happier since you're married." She smiled. "So, you know, good for you. And Nina. She's a doll."

"Thank you, lady. So are you and Robert comin' over Saturday?" Yes, the barbecue I'd promised was scheduled for Saturday.

"Uh-huh. We farmed out the kids to grandparents for the weekend. Robert figures that if we survive your barbecue we can have Sunday to recuperate. Want me to bring something?" she smiled.

"Your 'tater salad?" Jannie's cooking was a frequent feature of our impromptu office 'feeds'.

"Done. How many people?" she asked.

"Uh ... four couples from the office here, Nina's grandma and her husband to be, my brother and his wife, me and Nina. Fourteen?" I said.

"Okay. Big batch," she said.

"Good! I've got the meat covered. Big brisket starts in the smoker, ribs, sausage..."

"No chicken?" Jannie questioned.

"Nope. Texas style barbecue. Texans say barbecue has FOUR legs..."

Jannie laughed. "Yeah, you and that bunch of knuckleheads you work with, and their barbecue..." An annual barbecue contest was a staple of our company's social season. I was a participant with the other guys from our division.

"The barbecue will be memorable, lady," I laughed. "And if you want, I'll toss a dead chicken on it for you..."

"Yeah, that's nice," she laughed. "And there'll be beer. You know how that works..."

We both laughed. I walked down the hall to my office, sat at my desk and fired up the computer. While it was booting, I looked at the smiling picture, now framed on my desk. I closed my eyes and replayed the kiss I'd gotten before walking out the door this morning, then went about my day's work, a mess of email, a couple of reports to review, the obligatory staff meeting, almost on autopilot.

That wasn't indicative of my lack of care, though. Things were going pretty good right now. My big projects were in the hands of an engineering company, and we were doing a good job on maintenance, staying ahead of problems by a careful regiment of inspection and testing. I didn't feel bad about my mind wandering for a change.

Home! And Nina! "Come on, sweetie," I said. "We need to go to the meat store." The 'meat store' was pretty close to an old-fashioned meat market, with a couple of real butchers who took pride in their craft. I knew that if I needed something special, they'd be the ones to set me up. The barbecue was coming in a couple of days and I needed something special. A phone call at the beginning of the week made sure that they had it waiting for me, and Nina and I walked out of the place with a couple of properly trimmed beef briskets.

Nina was giggling. "I can't believe you're making this much of a production out of this, Dan."

"You need to understand, sweetie," I stated, "We've been goin' at one another over barbecue since I hired on. You've seen my smoker." The smoker, safely stowed in a corner of the garage, was hand-fabricated, microprocessor-controlled, electrically heated, and I could stick meat in there and guarantee that the temperature in the box would track within two degrees of the temperature I chose. It was the subject of much mirth, but I could turn out perfectly cooked, perfectly smoked meat.

"Yeah, I know what you say, but still..." She laughed.

"Laugh if you want, but wait'll Saturday. See if it ain't the best barbecue you've ever had..." I told her how we'd have to start the brisket the evening before, low heat, smokey, all night.

"You're gonna wake up every two hours to check on that?" she asked.

"Oh,, no," I said. "It's fully instrumented. It's got a wireless transmitter that'll hit a receiver by the bed if it needs tending."

"Oh, come on ... You're nuts." She smiled. "And I just LOVE nuts..." I got a kiss out of that.

"Just remember, cutie, if it's worth doin', it's worth overdoin'...

Girlish giggle. "Just remember that after we get out of the shower, baby!"

"Oh, I'll remember, doll!" We pulled into the driveway. "All we need to do is put this meat in the fridge. Where do you want to go for dinner?"

"Italian?" she asked.

"Excellent choice." I ran inside with the meat and returned to the car. "Let's go!" Back on the road, as soon as my right hand was freed from driving tasks, it was being held by her left hand.

"And one week until summer with Sandy," I said.

"You know, Dan, I know you're nervous about that, but don't be. We'll do just fine. I mean, Sandy and I are talking twice a week now. She calls you and talks to you, and then she talks to me. Honestly, I think I'm looking forward to that whole 'big sister' thing. You know I like kids that age."

"Uh-huh," I admitted. "You get what, a dozen, dozen and a half every day at the library?"

Giggle. "And some of them are, uh... 'unrestrained' is a kind choice of words.'

"Yes, sweetness, but you've got Sandy's daddy. That's..."

She interrupted. "That's something that she and I have talked about at length. And she understands that adults have mates. Her mom..."

"Yeah, her mom walked right out of my house into her new hubby's," I said. Nina knew the story. She'd asked me and pried out some manner of detail.

"Oh, don't think about that. You're with somebody who loves you more than anything else in the world, and we've got each other."

"Okay, princess," I said. I glanced away from the road to that pretty face, framed by dark hair, blue eyes smiling. For me. I felt much better. This was helped along by a great presentation of pasta alla putanesca for me and a veal scallopini for Nina, and we split the customary tiramisu for dessert.

Walking out into the humid gulf Coast summer evening, she stopped in front of me and I wrapped her in my arms from behind. She tossed her head back against my shoulder and I nuzzled her ear, eliciting a giggle. "What?!?!?" I asked.

"Well, hon, if we're going to have the First Annual Dan 'n' Nina Barbecue Blast Saturday, and we had Italian tonight, we better do a salad something tomorrow. And Sunday we'll take the kayaks to the river."

"You're wise beyond your age, my dear," I said as I pushed her to the car. She had her door open as I opened mine, and we both entered at the same time from opposite sides. And met in the middle for a kiss.

"Let's get home, love," she said. "If it's worth doin', it's worth overdoin'"

We hurried home, straight in the door, and as soon as it locked behind us, clothing started fluttering to the floor. And we hit the shower in a tangle of naked arms and legs and our arms tugging us together under wonderfully hot water, enjoying the tactile symphonies of soapy skin and excited partners. Our ardor toned down a little as we shifted back to the pre-bed routine, me shaving, her drying and brushing her hair to sassy brown exuberance.

THEN to bed. I was pushed backward onto the mattress, my arms spreading to receive an eager, laughing vision. Her hands clasped the sides of my face, her blue eyes inches from mine.

"Darn you and your blue eyes, Dan," she sighed.

"Darn me? I thought I was being all adorable and things..."

"Yeah, that too. Sometimes I just NEED you..." Her lips brushed mine, finding the angle she wanted and then she pressed mine with ardor. Our tongues met, dancing. I slid my hands down from her shoulders, caressing her waist, then feeling her hips, finally resting at the juncture between her legs and her butt, tugging her against me.

Giggle. "I feel that," she said. "You make me lust, Dan. For YOU."

"I love you, Nina. You're still a dream to me." I kissed her, then kissed her neck, causing her to wiggle delightfully. She moved sideways off me and her hand slid down my stomach to grasp my erection, giving it a squeeze, then her fingers curled under my balls in a perfect motion. She slid her torso away from me as her head moved downward. I let her suck me for a moment then gently tugged, indicating that I wanted to taste her delights.

"Oh, yeah," she said. "I love this..." she lost the capability for coherent speech when my tongue slid between the moist lips of her youthful pussy, savoring musky, juices. We worked each other joyously for some minutes until her hip motions took a rhythmic motion that I knew signaled an approaching orgasm. She gave my erection one more langorous suck then pulled it out of her mouth and held it against her cheek as her breath came in gasps and little mewing sounds, and then "Ohgogohgodogod ... Dannnn ... Nnnnnggghhhh! Ahhhhh!" and then a collapse.

I slowed my play, my tongue gently lapping her pinkened lips, gathering juices for my own pleasure.

Then she raised a leg to roll off me. I reluctantly let her go. She turned in the bed, her face near mine again, then kisses. And she was back atop me, this time her hot, wet pussy searching for the head of my dick. It wasn't a long search at all, ending in me sliding into nirvana. I raised up to a sitting position, holding her in my lap, those long legs of hers wrapping around me, us coupling with playful kisses.

The smile on her face was angelic. "I love you, Dan," she said, then her hips moved.

My turn to moan. "Mmmmmmmmbaby..."

She silenced me with her lips covering mine, her body moving against mine, driving me towards orgasm. When she pulled her lips from mine, her eyes had changed from giggling to serious, and she was biting her bottom lip, the corners of her mouth turning up ever so slightly, her 'I'm getting ready to come' face.

I could only add slight movements to hers as we mated, her hips pushing down on my hardness insistently as I spurted deep inside her. I held her as her own orgasm surged and ebbed, her eyes squinched shut. When her eyelids fluttered, I kissed her on the nose.

"You are so absolutely perfect, little one," I said.

She took her arms from around me and gently pushed me back onto the bed, then slid down between my legs, her mouth receiving my soppy, soft dick.

"Oh, no, little girl. I get to do you..."

"Okay, lover," she said, turning around so we could enjoy a post-coital sixty-nine. Finishing for me was matter of her cleaning me. Finishing, for her, was recovering from a third orgasm. And we were in each other's arms, as it should be.

She sighed. "And all that and it's not even eight-thirty," she giggled. "Living room?"

"Sure!" I replied. We got up and walked into the living room after donning our sleeping clothes.

"Your recliner," she said. "And some music."

I sat in my recliner, knowing that this was going to gain me an armful of Nina. "What's your pleasure tonight, little angel?" I asked.

"How about that album with the trumpets. What's that one we both like? Haydn?" She shook her bangs sideways off her forehead. "I need a trim, sweetie," she said.

"I don't mind them the way they are. Your bangs drive me nutty." I picked up the remote and started shuffling through the music selection. Found Haydn. We listened together, her head resting on my shoulder as I held her against me.

I'd like to say that the rest of the evening was more cuddling and loving, but part of it was unwrapping a couple of beef briskets and coating them with my secret dry rub recipe, preparatory to the barbecue. Then I sealed them in vacuum bags and put them back in the fridge. Now, when you use your hands to apply something containing lots of pepper, you want to be careful. I knew I couldn't wash it off my hands completely, so I wore rubber gloves.

The cat watched me carefully through this whole procedure. I rewarded him with a bit of lean beef, sans red pepper, for his help. That took care of the cat. Nina was amused by the whole thing. I peeled off the gloves, carefully washed my hands anyway, and kissed her nose.

"Now it's bedtime, baby..." she smiled. I followed her into the bedroom and we crawled into the bed together falling asleep to soft music and gentle fondling.

And Friday morning. We sat at the table for breakfast and coffee together and I left for work. Leaving her instructions to put the beef on the counter before she left, and "Oh, by the way, close the kitchen door so Sam doesn't help himself to tomorrow's menu." And out the door I went.

Part of the day was verifying the expected participation from my co-workers. The rest of day was nothing earthshattering. I was kicked back in my office, drinking a soda and eating a sandwich with one of the other engineers when the phone rang.

"Hey, baby," I said.

"Hi, guy," Nina chirped. "You having lunch?"

"Yep! Just me an' Harvey," I answered.

"Tell Harvey I said 'hi'," she said. The head librarian and I are having salads at The Treehouse."

I knew 'The Treehouse', one of those almost too cute little bistro restaurant things that actually had good food, but if you went there at lunch, you'd look out of place wearing steel-toe shoes and khaki pants. Place was downtown, crawling with lawyers and government workers, most days.

"Harvey, Nina says 'hi'. They're eating at The Treehouse," I said.

Harvey laughed. "Tell'er to avoid the tofu..."

"I heard that," Nina giggled. "Just wanted to see how your day's going. Love you, babe!"

"Love you too, doll, bye!"

Harvey grinned. "Ain't that sweeeeet!"

"I think so, bud," I said. "And I like it! She's a whole lot better company than Sam the yellow cat."

"I won't touch the obvious comment, Dan," he said.

I grinned. "That's admirable self-restraint," I said.

Friday afternoons are noted for avoiding any activity that might run over into the weekend, and this one was no different. The four o'clock whistle blew and I and my co-workers gathered in the lunchroom for our daily post-whistle chat.

"Okay, I'm doing two trimmed briskets," I said. "Harv, you're bringing ribs, and uh ... Dave, you're bringing sausage. And Steve is bringing baked beans and garlic bread and Jannie's got tater salad covered."

"Beer," Harv said.

I got a heavy stock of Shiner and Sam Adams. If one of you pervs wants that 'lie' crap, bring your own..." that comment got general chuckles.

Dave patted his ample gut. "what about my diet?" he laughed.

"I don't wanna hear it, Bub," I retorted. "All diets are suspended on arrival." We dissolved into small talk and filed out the door.

The short ride home was occupied by mentally running down the list of things to do. I pulled into the driveway alongside Nina's little car and walked inside. She was on the sofa, her Kindle in her hand.

"Hey, baby," she said, standing. She laid the Kindle down and met me with open arms to greet me with kisses.

"How were your kiddies today?" I asked.

"Oh, pretty much the same. There are a couple that really need some intervention. I mean, there's this one little girl, if you look up 'brat' in the dictionary, her picture's there."

I laughed.

"Don't laugh," she said. "Working with some of those kids makes a good case for celibacy."

"You know, you don't HAVE to do it," I said.

"Yeah, but I volunteered, and the librarians really appreciate me, and there's this one little blonde girl that's sooooo cute and sweet and she smiles for me."

"Then you've found your reward, cutie. So, you had salad today for lunch. I thought we were supposed to do salad for dinner."

She giggled. "Yeah, I thought about that when Dana mentioned The Treehouse for lunch. But they're GOOD salads, and I kinda think we ought to go there for dinner. I can recommend something for you..."

"If you're up to it. Lemme change shoes." I was wearing my safety shoes, and while they didn't LOOK like safety shoes, I thought my feet needed a break. I changed shoes.

"One more thing, dearest," I said. "I need to put the smoker on the patio and plug it in so it can come up to temperature."

"Okay," she said.

That task took five minutes and then we were headed to an early dinner consisting in a couple of delightful interpretations of salad, mine topped with spicy lump crab meat, hers with grilled shrimp, and then we headed home, stopping on the way to pick up some necessities at the grocery store.

Back at the house we busied ourselves prepping for the Saturday event. Nina put finishing touches on a house we kept inordinately neat, supervised by Sam the cat from his perch on the back of the sofa. I unloaded another couple of six-packs of bottled beer into the recreational cooler on the patio, arranged my estimated requirement of hickory wood (chips in a bucket) for the smoker, pulled out my supply of folding chairs ("Bring your own chairs, guys," I'd told everybody.) and arranged them.

I looked at the readout for the smoker, the digits showing exactly the temperature I had set. I opened the door and left it open, listening for the digital control to sense the temperature drop and to turn on the electric heating element. I heard the click, punched a couple of buttons and was rewarded with a readout of the amount of electric current being consumed. That was the box temperature. A couple more keystrokes and I watched the reading for the smoke pot temperature climb to my optimum range. Guys laughed at my smoker, but I turned out some good 'cue.

I walked back into the house just in time to hear the vacuum cleaner shut down.

Nina brushed a strand of hair away from her cheek. "There!" she announced. "Ready for our guests." She smiled. "So you put the meat in that ... that THING at eight, right?"

"Uh-huh. And the first load of wood. Then I need to check on it in an hour to make sure it's tracking right, and that's it until tomorrow morning. If something goes wonky, it'll give me an alarm on this little thingie."

"That's neat," she allowed, "now, you wanna shower now, or after you put the meat on?"

"Let's wait'll we get the meat in there," I said. "We can watch TV, play cards, whatever..."

"Okay," Nina said. The card playing went okay. We didn't find anything worth the time on TV, so we hit the stereo instead, watching the clock as she beat me a successive hands of rummy, giggling and laughing as we played and talked.

Mercifully eight o'clock saved me from a complete rout. I retrieved the two briskets from their vacuum packages and put them on a tray, carried them out to the smoker and slid them inside, depositing a couple of cups of hickory chips into the smoke unit, then closed the door and checked the indications.

Back inside, Nina took me by the hand. "Shower now?"

"Shower, I guess. With a friend. Saves water. Ecologically responsible and all that." Her eyes twinkled.

"And you're telling this to a guy who just started a couple chunks of dead cow over a smoky fire? But 'shower with a friend'? I guess that's a good place to start..."

Long, playful shower. Wet, nubile female form, tittering with glee as we washed each other, kissing, fondling, enjoying the hot spray on our bodies. Once out, she was drying her hair while I shaved. I finished shaving in time to brush her to dark brown, shining perfection.

"Go check the smoker, hon," she said. "and then we can play around..."

The smoker was doing fine.

I took off the pants that I'd donned for the quick trip outside, and in doing so, my nakedness was then equal to hers. The fact that she was on her hands and knees in the middle of the bed, grinning led me to think that my ardor was equal to hers, too.

We playfully attacked each other. She knew what made me happy and I knew her as well, and that's what our couplings were about: mutual happiness. After a couple of minutes of playful biting and nipping, she had me on my back, pressed up beside me, her leg thrown over mine. Those sky-blue eyes, dimples punctuating that grin, I couldn't resist placing hands on the sides of her face and tugging her down to kiss me.

"You're some kind of beautiful, Nina love," I said. "I get lost in those eyes."

"You're not the only one, baby," she cooed as our lips parted. "I think your eyes were the first thing I noticed about you..."

I stroked her hair and kissed her again. I felt the wiggle of her pubic mound against my thigh. Her fingers wrapped around my hardness.

"Beauty," I said, "You drive me crazy."

"Why? Because I discovered that YOU make ME complete. Like this?" and she pulled herself astraddle me. Smiling down at me. "I keep finding my happiness and YOU'RE the key."

I looked over twin, rounded mounds of her breasts, nipples erect, goals for my hands. "You're just perfect, little one," I said.

"Nuh-uh. Almost perfect." She rose up slightly, my dick popped up and was captured in a tight opening, then enveloped in hot wet ecstasy. "Now it's perfect!"

It was. I curled up to sitting with her in my arms. She arranged herself, wrapping her legs around me, mating us completely together when our mouths met and fastened. One of her arms clasped me against her, aiding my own wrapping around her. Her free hand stroked my head and face.

"I love you, Dan. Completely!"

"I love you, Nina ... you make me whole." I was totally taken. Who could've told me that in a mere matter of weeks I would be so head over heels in love, and that it would be returned so wonderfully.

I struggled to hold back my orgasm despite the surges I kept feeling, letting Nina work herself against me until she sucked her bottom lip into her mouth.

"Oh, Dan ... push me. Hard!"

I knew that she was close. That was a good thing, because I knew that one or two hard pushes would be all I could manage before I exploded.

"Push!" she demanded. I did. Once. Twice. "Gaahhhh! Yessssss!"

I couldn't talk. Too much of my brain was employed in handling the sensations brought upon me by mating with Nina. Her face buried into my neck. She took a deep breath.

"Lay back, baby," she said.

I kept her in my arms as I fell back onto the bed. We uncoupled with a soft plop.

"Don't move, sweetie," she said. "Just hold me..."