Yule Tied Up (Verona Falls University: Christmas Story)

4. Tino

CHAPTER 4

Tino

The way I nearly gave up all propriety and sank to my knees to taste her just now. Being away, just the four of us, reminds me of how it used to be.

I love the way we are now, and I adore Lucy with everything I have, but being away like this is like the early days, where it was all tension, and hot and heavy between us. The constant ache I had then, and the need for Mackenzie, is flooding back now. I think the others feel the same way.

Will she like it? Being that Mackenzie again? I hope so, because I brought my camera, and I’d love to get some depraved footage on film. She’s made for it. I still watch the very first video I took of her, when she didn’t even know I was filming her, and fuck my fist to it.

I turn to her now and kiss her cheek, grateful she came into our lives, even if it was fucked up at the time.

The wagon draws to a halt, and Kirill pays the driver.

He shoots us a strange glance, and I wonder if he figured out what was going on.

“Want to sit on Santa’s knee and see if he has a gift for you?” Dom asks Kenzie.

She calls our bluff. “Okay.”

And she does. Our duchess walks right up to that line, takes her place in it among all the kids, and when it’s her turn, laughing, she goes right up to Santa and sits on his knee.

“Ho-ho-ho.” Fake Santa does a belly jiggle. “And what can I get you for Christmas, young lady?”

She lightly touches his beard, but glances over at us. “Well, Santa, I think I already have everything I want this year.”

The crowd is laughing, and I take out my camera, wanting to capture this. She’s laughing too, her cheeks pink from the cold and her hair mussed by the wind and light snow. She’s never looked more beautiful.

“ Dirty whore .”

What the fuck? I whip around. Who said that? I look at the faces of the men around us, but they’re all smiling and holding hands of the women with them. I could swear I just heard those words, though. Low, deep, almost a growl. As if they were carried on the wind.

I turn to Dom. “Did you hear that?”

He narrows his eyes at me. “Hear what?”

“Nothing. I just thought … never mind.” I must be losing my shit.

Santa gives Mackenzie her gift. She kisses his cheek, and the crowd cheers and claps. She saunters back to us, a big grin across her face.

As we walk away from the crowds, Kirill asks, “Did he get hard for you, Kukla ?”

She turns to him and purses her lips. “Sometimes, Kirill, you’re disgusting. He was a sweet old man, and it was just a silly joke.”

“I’d have gotten hard for you, even if I was ninety,” Kirill says.

She rolls her eyes. “Yes, of course you would, my big, strong Russian. Why don’t you show me how strong you are?”

His brows knit together, but she points past him. “There.”

The high striker has a small line in front of it, and Dom grins. “I challenge you to a duel,” he deadpans as he smirks at me.

“What’s the prize?” I ask.

“The three of us take a turn, and whoever wins gets to decide tonight’s after dinner entertainment.” Dom says.

Sounds good to me. I think I’m stronger than both of them. They might have an inch or two on me in height, but I’m definitely the one packed with muscle. I flex my neck, aware of how the tattoos crawling up my skin always catch Kenzie’s attention.

We approach the man running the high striker.

“Three tickets, please.” I hold out a twenty-dollar bill.

He narrows his eyes and frowns at the money. “This game is sold out.”

I have no idea what he means. “How can it be sold out? There isn’t a line or anything.”

He gives a sniff and looks us up and down. “Sold out to the likes of you.”

What. The. Fuck.

“Our money is as good as anyone’s.” I’m doing my best to keep my temper, but adrenaline is already surging through my veins.

“No, it isn’t. This is a local fair for local people, not the likes of you. Take your money elsewhere.”

I ball my fists, fully prepared to take the fucking sledgehammer and use it to bash this asshole’s brains in, but a hand on my arm stops me.

“Let’s just go.”

Kenzie stares up at me with those big blue eyes I love so much.

I look to Dom and Kirill for backup, but, though they both appear unhappy with the situation, neither of them seems to be preparing for a fight. This is supposed to be a happy, chilled out time. No one wants to get into a scrap with one of the locals.

We turn away from the stall, but I’m still grinding my teeth and almost willing him to shout some kind of insult out to us so I’ve got a reason to go and punch him in the face.

“We’d have all hit that bell easily, anyway,” Kirill points out, trying to lighten the mood. “I think we all should get a turn to say what fun we have at some point during our stay.”

“We can draw numbers out of a hat,” Dom says, “then go by those numbers for what order we get to have our fun in.”

Kenzie’s eyes narrow. “Have you all been storing fantasies up or something? I don’t want to go home unable to walk for a week.”

Dom leans in. “Baby, if you go home walking normally, we’ve not done our job right.”

I laugh because he’s not wrong. I shiver and look up at the sky, which is blanketed with heavy white clouds. The snow is coming in thicker and faster now.

“Should we get back for the night?” I ask.

Although part of me doesn’t want to leave the cheer of the fair, I know we need to cook, or at least warm up tonight’s food, and get the open fire roaring, too. The cabin also has an amazing bathroom. I’d love a soak in that tub with Kenzie.

Then there’s whatever depravity we are going to get up to tonight.

Mackenzie yawns, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. “I am quite tired.”

Tired? No, that won’t do. We need her awake and energized for later. As we head back toward the car, we pass a coffee stall, and I grab us all double shot lattes, with hazelnut for three of us, and caramel for Dom because he doesn’t like hazelnut.

The drive back to the cabin doesn’t take as long this time, now Kirill knows the road. I also get the feeling he hates this drive and the darkness pressing in on all sides and wants to get back. He takes one corner too fast and corrects as the car skids a little.

“You want me to drive?” I ask.

“No,” he snaps.

“Kirill.” Mackenzie puts her hand on his thigh and keeps it there. “We’ll be back soon, but if we have an accident, we’re going to be out here in the dark a lot longer.”

Headlights illuminate the road behind us, and I twist my neck to look out of the rear windshield. A car is following us, but, in the glare of the light off the snow, combined with the dark, I can’t tell anything more about it. I wonder where they’re going. They must have been visiting the market, like us, though I’m unaware of any other lodgings out this way. Of course, I don’t know this area, so there could be a whole other town on the other side of the mountain.

I don’t know why the car is bothering me so much. It’s keeping its distance. At least, if we were to have an accident, someone would be able to help us.

The thought of us careening off the side of a mountain road jumps into my head, and I squeeze my eyes shut. That isn’t the way things are going to go.

Dom speaks in a low voice. “You okay, dude?”

I release a breath. “Yeah, fine.”

I glance back over my shoulder. The vehicle that was behind us has gone. It must have turned off somewhere.

Ten minutes later, we arrive back at the cabin. We head inside, stamping the snow off our boots and unwinding scarves to hang up. I rub my hands together and blow on them, trying to warm them. It’s cold in here, plus, getting creeped out by that other car has chilled me from the inside.

Dom turns to Kenzie. “Why don’t you take a long soak in the bath, baby? Let us get everything ready for the meal.”

She grins. “Really? That would be so nice. You’re spoiling me rotten.”

“You gave us the most precious gift.” I kiss the top of her head. “You deserve it.”

I wanted to soak with her, but that can wait. Dom’s right. We should get everything perfect for her while she’s resting. There’s a chill to the air, even inside, and we need to get the fire roaring.

“And you know we want you all perfect and pretty so we can enjoy ruining you so much more,” Dom says with a snap of his teeth at her.

She laughs. “Well, I’ll make an extra effort to look all pretty, then.”

She heads into the bathroom, and I throw the massive stuffed toy on the sofa and turn to Dom. “Why don’t you tackle reheating the food? I’ll get the fire going, and Kirill, you can sort the wine and set the table.”

Kirill rolls his eyes. “So, you get to play the tough guy, lighting the fire, while I have to set the damned table?”

“I love a well-set table, Kirill,” Mackenzie calls back from the bathroom, clearly having overheard. “Men in touch with their feminine side get extra treats.”

I’m not sure anyone could ever claim Kirill is in touch with his feminine side, but her words seem to do the trick, as he races into the kitchen.

We all go about our tasks. I head to the sound system in the corner of the cabin. It’s old school and still has stacks of CDs next to it. I find one that has some old Rat Pack songs and put it on. The sound of Frank Sinatra fills the room.

“Really?” Kirill asks.

I shrug. “It’s festive.”

I go to the fireplace and drop to a crouch. The cabin’s owners already have the place well stocked with wood and kindling, and the grate is clear of the ash of whoever used the place last. I stack the kindling and add a firelighter. While I’ll always want Kenzie to see me as a man, there’s no need to be rubbing two sticks together here. I use a box of matches to light it, and, as soon as the kindling catches, I add in a couple of larger logs. We’ll have to keep an eye on it, make sure it doesn’t burn out, but it’ll soon warm the place up.

The wood cracks and pops, and the scent of smoke fills the air.

I grab the candles from our bags in the bedroom and light a few in here and then carry some back to the living room. I can hear the water running in the bathroom and picture Kenzie stripping off to get into the bath, all naked and cold. Soon, her skin will turn nice and pink from the water. I adjust myself because I’m half hard just thinking about it.

Dom’s correct; if she’s still walking right when she goes home, we’ve failed.