Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 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..."