Kinsley: The Best Christmas I'd Ever Had

I have the best news.  My semester is ovvveerrr!  It's so exciting.  To thank you for your patience with my goofy schedule and lack of engagement around here, I've got all sorts of great stuff coming your way!  A bunch of bonuses, including a Christmas mini-bonus Brody post.  You guys are the best!
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"You're going skiing without me?" I asked, pouting.  I stabbed at a piece of lettuce on my salad plate and glared at him.

Damien laughed.  "I am, but that doesn't mean I can't go again with you," he pointed out.  Which was true, but if he thought that was going to keep me from pouting and giving him a hard time about it, he had another thing coming.

"You're so terrible to me," I whined.

"Jason and Elize have a place in Crested Butte that we can stay at.  Pick a weekend.  I'll even take some time off work, if you want."

The offer was enough to shut me up quickly.  "Well, in that case, I'll have to look at my schedule at work and figure out when I want to go," I replied.  Damien rolled his eyes and shook his head at my quick attitude change.

"How was seeing your brother?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Good, I think."

"Good, you think?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow.

I shrugged.  "Yeah, I mean, it was good.  But it was weird.  And I had a lot of feelings."

"Oh, that makes sense.  I know how hard feelings are for you," he teased me.

I laughed.  "One feeling at a time is perfectly alright with me," I retorted.  "I just don't like when a bunch of them attack at once.  And I definitely don't like discussing them in public."  I looked around the crowded restaurant for emphasis before making a face at him like the mature adult I am.

"Well, it's not like you'll tell me about it at home either," he joked.

I tried to give him another dirty look, but ended up laughing.  "Just for that, I'm going to tell you all about it in excruciating fucking detail when we're done with dinner."

"That actually sounds pretty great," he replied, smiling.  I rolled my eyes at him over the edge of my wine glass.  That just made him smile wider.  At one point, when I'd first met Damien, I'd thought he was quiet and meek.  Maybe even a little boring.  I thought I'd steamroll him.  He'd proven me wrong for sure.  He didn't need to be loud and obvious about it, but he had a killer sense of humor and was possibly almost as stubborn and persistent as I was.  He also put up with my bullshit incredibly well, which I appreciated greatly.

"Have you decided what you want to do for Christmas?" he asked.  We'd talked about it briefly a couple times, but I'd blown the conversation off each time.  Honestly, after the way Thanksgiving turned out, I kind of wanted to pretend that Christmas wasn't even a thing that was happening.

"We can just do whatever your family does," I replied, shrugging.  I didn't care.  I didn't want to think it about.  "Whatever you want is fine.  I definitely don't want to see my family."

"Not even your brother?" he asked, prodding gently.

I snorted.  "It's way too soon in this whole relationship with my brother thing for me to want to spend a holiday with him."  And anyway, he was probably spending Christmas with my father.  Or...the artist formally known as my father, since he'd washed his hands of his disgraceful loose cannon of a daughter.

"Okay," Damien replied slowly.  "Well, I'll check with my mom on the plans, then.  We usually do Christmas Eve dinner and then stuff on Christmas day, but maybe you and I can just spend Christmas Eve together."

"Sure," I said.  "That sounds nice."  And I meant it, even if the words fell a little flat.  I hated that even now, nearly a month after Thanksgiving, just bringing up my family put me in this shitty mood.

"Alright, I'll let you know what she says."  After that, he launched into a funny story about something that happened at work, and I was glad for it.  There was nothing I hated more than sympathy, and I certainly didn't want it right now.

As promised, when we got back to my house after dinner I told Damien all about seeing my brother.  I drank an entire glass of wine while I was telling the story, then poured myself another.  I pretended not to see Damien's slightly raised eyebrow.  He didn't say anything, and I continued on talking, telling him about my day at work.

By the time I finished my glass of wine, I was solidly buzzed.  I set my glass aside and climbed onto Damien's lap, straddling his legs.  "Well, hello," he said, sliding his hands up my legs to my hips.

"Hi," I replied, smirking at him.

"Something I can do for you?" he teased as his hands continued over my hips and slipped beneath the hem of my shirt.  I shivered when his fingertips brushed across my bare skin.  

"I sure hope so," I said, shifting so my hips pressed against him.  One of his hands left my back and snaked up to grab my hair, tilting my head down so he could kiss me.  I grinned against his lips, and he tightened his grip.  He let go of my hair long enough to tug my shirt over my head, then wrapped his fingers in it again and tipped my head back.  He kissed down my throat, stopping to suck and lightly graze his teeth across my collarbone.

I wriggled away from him and started on the buttons on his shirt.  He swatted gently at my hand and said, "I'll take care of this, you get those pants out of the way."  I loved when he was bossy.  I stood and shimmied quickly out of my pants, then unhooked my bra.  I tossed it at him and giggled when it bounced off his shoulder.  He laughed and lunged forward, wrapping his arms around my waist.  "Get over here," he growled playfully, swinging me onto the couch.

Damien nudged my legs apart with his knees and lowered himself on top of me, kissing along my collarbone again as the hand that wasn't supporting him slipped over my breast and began toying with it.  I groaned and wrapped my legs around his hips, pulling him against me.  "Why do you still have pants on?" I asked impatiently.

"I didn't know you wanted them off," he answered with mock innocence.

"I want them off," I informed him.  I sucked in a sharp breath and shut my eyes as he lowered his head to my breast and tugged on a nipple with his teeth.  "Pants off," I demanded, reaching for his belt.  He grabbed my right wrist and pinned it to my side, leaving me to try to undo his pants with my left hand.  I got his belt undone but couldn't get the button.  I growled in frustration and Damien freed my hand so I could finish what I started.  When I had his pants unbuttoned and unzipped, he stood and let them fall then kicked them away.

Before Damien laid back down, he flipped me over onto my stomach and tugged my underwear off.  He kissed down my spine and along my shoulder blades as he pushed his fingers between my legs, making me moan.  Finally he laid down and pressed into me, still moving his lips against my spine.  Pinned under his weight, I was at his mercy as he rocked his hips against mine.

We didn't move for several minutes after we finished.  Finally, we shifted to lay side by side.  I was sleepy now and I yawned as Damien wrapped his arm around my waist.  "Tired, baby?" Damien asked, kissing my shoulder lightly.  I nodded, closing my eyes and relaxing back against him.  He convinced me that we should get up and go to bed, and I grumbled as I sat up and stretched.

Once we were in bed, I snuggled back up to him for a few minutes before I rolled away and fell asleep.  I woke up to Damien's alarm in the morning feeling like I had just closed my eyes.  I groaned and rolled over as he silenced it.  He rolled onto his side and stroked my back.  I groaned again and pulled the pillow over my head.  I was normally a bit more of a morning person but I probably made a mistake with that last glass of wine the night before.

"I'll wake you up when I'm out of the shower," Damien offered.  I nodded and his hand left my back, then I felt the mattress move as he sat up, then stood.  I dozed until he came back and woke me up, then I dragged myself into the shower.

I was still in the shower almost 15 minutes later, and Damien surprised me when he tugged back the shower curtain a little.  "I have to go," he said.  "I love you.  I'll see you tonight?"

"Yeah, okay.  I love you too," I replied, leaning out of the spray of the water to kiss him.  His eyes drifted down my body after our lips parted, and he shook his head.

"I shouldn't have come in here," he said.  "Now I want to stay."

"Go to work," I said, grinning.  "You can look and touch as much as you want later."

He leaned in to kiss me again, then said, "I'm going to hold you to that."  

My day passed surprisingly quickly.  I was thankful it was Friday.  I stayed a little late, finishing up some things so I wouldn't have to come in early on Monday, then I headed to Damien's house.  Damien and I had created a Friday night routine of cooking together and spending the evening in.  I know, I know, we're disgusting.

I knocked and then let myself in.  "In the kitchen!" Damien called.

"Where you belong!" I yelled back as I slipped off my shoes.  "Make me a sandwich!"

I heard him laughing.  "I'll do better than a sandwich," he replied when I came into the kitchen.  "How about salmon?"

"Ooh, I'll take it," I answered.  I grinned at him and looped my arms around his neck, and he leaned down to kiss me.  I started to disentangle myself after an appropriate hello kiss, but he tightened his arms around me and gently parted my lips with his tongue.  We stood in the middle of his kitchen making out like teenagers for close to a minute before he finally pulled away.  "Well," I said, a little breathless.  "Hello to you too."

He chuckled and turned back to the counter.  "Want to chop some vegetables?"

"From making out to vegetables," I muttered to myself.  "My boyfriend is fucking weird."  He turned and cocked an eyebrow and I smiled innocently.  "I'd love to!"

We made dinner and then sat down to enjoy it.  When we were finished, Damien stood and cleared the dishes, waving off my offer to help.  "I even got dessert," he said, grabbing a white waxed paper bag off the counter.  He pulled out a giant turtle brownie from my favorite bakery and I grinned.  As we shared the brownie, he said, "I have a proposition for you."

"You don't have to pay me for sex, Damien," I joked.  "I'll do it out of the goodness of my heart."

He snorted and rolled his eyes.  "I'm afraid my proposition isn't quite that good.  Though I'm sure there will be some sex involved, because there always is when it comes to you."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" I asked, pretending to be offended.

"That I appreciate your high sex drive," he answered smoothly.  "Anyway, I had an idea.  We talked about Christmas last night, and I was thinking that we've been spending an awful lot of time with my family lately."  I stayed quiet, curious where this was going.  "You mentioned wanting to go skiing...what if we went over Christmas?  Jason and Elize won't be using their place then.  We could leave on the 23rd or 24th and stay all weekend."

I was confused.  "But...don't you want to spend Christmas with your family?"

"I've spent 34 Christmases with my family," he replied with a shrug.  "And we can see them any time.  I want to spend Christmas with you.  Just the two of us, no family for once."

"You'll just have gone skiing the weekend before," I pointed out, baffled by his willingness to give up his holiday with his family.  I bit my lip and studied his face.

"Kinsley, it doesn't matter," he said gently.  "But if there's something else you'd like to do for Christmas, I'm game for whatever.  It was just an idea I had."  Impulsively, I stood and threw my arms around him.  He slid his chair away from the table and I sat down in his lap.  "What's wrong?" he asked, sounding concerned.  He rubbed my back gently, and I realized I was sniffling.

"Nothing," I replied.  "I just...I don't know.  Yes, I love that idea.  And I love you."  I struggled to get the words out to express that I was so happy that he seemed to understand that I needed a family-free holiday.  I was shocked that he was willing to do that for me.  He'd come a long way from the person who had been pushing me to spend altogether too much time with his family.  I pulled back finally and brought my eyes to his.  "Are you sure?"

"Positive," he responded immediately.  He brought one hand to my face and brushed away the one tear that had managed to escape.  "You're making me nervous with that," he teased gently.  "If you don't want to--"

"I do," I interrupted.  "I really, really do.  I'm just surprised.  In a good way, though."

He smiled and kissed me softly.  "I'll let Jason and Elize know that we want to use their place then."

I nodded and hugged him again, tucking my head against his shoulder.  Then I smiled to myself, because this would probably be the best Christmas I'd ever had.