Kellie and Brad Ch. 03

She reached down and yanked his boxers all the way off, tossing them into the corner. His erect penis pointed like an arrow to the ceiling. She wrapped her hand around the base of his member and ran her tongue all over the sensitive, mushroom-like head.

"Oh yes baby, just like that!" Brad said, eagerly enjoying Kellie's loving attention. The tight seal her mouth provided and the heat of her breath on his inflamed cock made him even harder.

She started sucking in earnest now, taking more of him in his mouth while jacking him off with her hand. She reached down with her other hand into her panties, fingering her soaked pussy.

"God yes that's so hot! Play with yourself while you suck my cock! Yeah, please don't fucking stop!"

Kellie was getting off on orally servicing Brad, as well as his dirty talk. With her mouth full she moaned in pleasure, and the vibrations rolled over his stiff dick, making him groan in response. Her fingers flew faster across her clit. Her orgasm erupted from deep inside of her seemingly out of nowhere; it came much quicker than she had anticipated.

Brad watched in fascination as Kellie took his cock out of her mouth with an audible popping noise. She leaned to the side, her eyes shut tight, a squeal emanating from her throat, a look of bliss on her face. Her body tensed and her toes curled as the orgasm washed over her. The hand wrapped around his cock never let go, keeping just the right pressure on without squeezing the life out of it. She stayed that way until she was fully ready to finish what she started for her man.

She positioned herself at his groin again, a smirk on her face. With one swift movement she took his manhood in her mouth. Her head bobbed up and down as she sucked him to completion.

"Oh god Kellie, I'm gonna cum!" he yelled.

Kellie took his erect tool out of her mouth and leaned forward over him. She stroked him until he could hold out no longer. He closed his eyes, groaned, and came, strands of semen blasting out of him and coating her chest.

While he recovered she dashed to the bathroom to clean herself up. She returned to hop back in bed and give him a sensual good night kiss.

"Thank you honey, that was awesome. When you get back from showing everyone you're the best curler on the planet, I promise I'll return the favour to you," he murmured, softly nipping at her neck and shoulder.

"Mmmm honey, you know I'd love that," she cooed in reply.

"I love you Kellie Ferguson."

"I love you Bradley Galenchuk."

"Won't be long before I get to call you Kellie Galenchuk."

As she closed her eyes and started to drift to sleep, Kellie said dreamily, "Oooh, I love the sound of that."

*******

January and February were busy months.

Kellie's life during that time revolved around two upcoming events, both of which promised to be momentous occasions in her young life.

One was preparing herself and her team for the defense of their title at the Canadian women's curling championships. She felt very confident of their chances at a repeat success. All of them were healthy, fit and talented at all aspects of the sport.

Kellie had progressed as a skip in many ways, from reading the ice and knowing how different shots would react in different conditions, to knowing different strategies and how and when to use them, to being a team leader and knowing when to push the team and when to back off, when to praise and when to offer constructive criticism.

Jennifer, Sandra and Amber had all improved as well. They better understood what Kellie expected of them and how to execute their skip's game plan. They knew and could play all the shots, and they were all strong sweepers, a critical part of the sport to help ensure shots stayed on track and the rocks ended up in the right spots. Heather had also proven herself to be a talented player, and Kellie was starting to understand her game and where she might fit in when and if she had to include her in the team.

Probably the main reason they felt good about their chances, beyond everything else, was how well the women meshed as a team. Kellie, Jennifer, Sandra and Amber were all close and tight-knit before, but the addition of Heather took the team to that proverbial "next level." Adding Heather turned out to be a terrific decision, even better than everyone had hoped it would be. Jennifer was thrilled to have her very good friend on the same team, and Heather's personality complemented those of Kellie, Sandra and Amber as well. Despite being the alternate and having no guarantee of playing time when it mattered most, Heather was now an integral part of the team, and she was very happy to play any part she could to help the team reach their goals.

Kellie and the team worked out a schedule of practice and warm-up competitions that they felt was best suited to preparing them for nationals. She felt it was important that everyone played and competed enough to be sharp, including getting Heather in game situations just in case, but not so much as to be burnt out or peaking too soon.

Part of their schedule was dictated by their status as champions. They were invited to a couple of exhibition matches, including one which had proved to be very popular during its existence, the Skins Game, where each end was a separate mini-game, and if the team throwing last scored two points or more, or the team throwing first scored at all, that team would win a cash prize, known in this context as a "skin". Traditionally a men's event, for the first time ever the organizing committee saw fit to invite the Canadian women's champions. Kellie and her team were matched up against the current Canadian men's champions in the made-for-TV event. It was a dream matchup of sorts, the first time in living memory that the men's and women's champions faced each other in a competitive game of curling.

Kellie and her teammates enjoyed the experience immensely. It was a game they could treat as fun while at the same time continuing to improve and refine their strategy and approach for when it really counted. The other reason they found this an exciting opportunity was the chance to meet the men's team, who had won world championships and even the Olympics. They were considered to be the best team currently playing and quite possibly the best of all time. They turned out to be very friendly and sportsmanlike people, highly complementary of Kellie and her teammates, and they took the time to talk to them and give them some tips for success, something that Kellie appreciated and cherished very much. Because of the popularity of both teams and the novelty of the event, it drew a large audience both live and on TV, and the fans were treated to some good shotmaking and seeing the lively personalities of the players shine through.

In contrast, the other events they entered were more intense and competitive. Especially the three competitions where Anita's team also participated. Over the course of those contests, both teams eyed each other warily but otherwise kept their distance and their tongues. The fans and the media wanted to see the consensus two best teams play each other, not only for the potential for a great match at that time but also perhaps for a chance to get some read on what would happen if they met at the Canadian championship. However, due to unforeseen losses by both sides and the quirks of scheduling, Kellie's team never actually faced Anita's at any of these three events, meaning all anyone could do was speculate at what the results of such a matchup would be.

******

Of course, curling, as important as it was to her, wasn't the only thing occupying her mind.

The first weekend Kellie was away with her team to compete in one of their lead-up tournaments, Brad went down to town hall and obtained a marriage licence. When she returned on Monday they scheduled the marriage for the one free weekend on her schedule, one week before nationals, and started to plan out all the other necessary arrangements. They each broke the news to their friends the next morning, who of course knew of their engagement but wondered when they would ever get around to selecting a date. Kellie received many excited squeals and hugs from Jennifer, Sandra, Amber and Heather, while Brad was subject to plenty of handshakes and hearty backslaps from Russ and his other friends and co-workers at the curling club.

That Tuesday night Kellie got down to the business of contacting her family to tell them of the upcoming nuptials. She started with the easy part, e-mailing her brother and sister who were each a half a world away. She didn't know her siblings as well as she liked but they did converse fairly regularly by e-mail, and the exchanges were upbeat and friendly, so she was glad to have that much.

Brad offered to sit with her as she made the calls to her aunt and uncle and her parents, to be there as a visible show of support. But she declined, explaining that this was something she needed to do on her own, and how she didn't want him to think any less of her in case there were arguments and she said something angry and insulting to her parents. He had misgivings about her decision, and thought the idea of him thinking less of her was patently ridiculous; in fact he'd hold her in even higher esteem if she stood up to her selfish parents and gave them a piece of her mind.

But he held his tongue. Something about the way she made the request made him think she would brook no argument with him. She wasn't angry or demanding in any way, but in her eyes he saw a hint of steely determination, one that he often saw when she was competing, but until recently he rarely noticed in her everyday life. She showed it more and more over the course of their relationship, however, and it made him feel proud of her all over again. He marveled over how much Kellie had changed since their first date, all for the positive, and he wondered at what other changes and secrets he would learn about her as time wore on.

He tried different things to pass the time while she attended to her task; reading, watching TV, pacing back and forth. Nothing seemed to work. A couple of times he heard her raise her voice, and it was all he could do to stop from running into the bedroom, taking the phone from her and berating whoever was on the other end. He silently cursed himself at how much he hated the feelings brewing inside him over his lack of control in this situation.

He didn't consider himself to be a domineering man, but he did see himself as a take-charge kind of guy, someone who prefers to be in control and dictate his own fate as much as and wherever he could. The one exception was with women and matters of the heart; it required the encouragement of his friend Russ for him to ask Kellie out on their first date, and he did everything he could to make the relationship he had with her one of equal partners, where love and mutual respect was the rule.

So to say that Brad now found himself in a very uncomfortable position would be putting it mildly. But he respected Kellie's decision and her privacy, so for now all he could do was wait.

And wait. And wait.

She finally emerged, a neutral expression on her face. He took that as a good sign, or at least as good a sign as could be hoped for under the circumstances.

But she didn't say anything for the longest time. She simply looked down, appearing to study her hands to see if she found anything interesting.

He could bear the silence no longer. "Kellie, is everything OK? Do you want to talk about it?"

She looked directly at him, her expression one of world-weariness. With a deep sigh she said, "Brad, I have good news and bad news."

"Well, I'm glad that there is good news."

"Yeah, my aunt and uncle will be there. They said they wouldn't miss it for anything."

"Oh honey, that's... wonderful!"

Kellie couldn't help but notice the hesitation in Brad's voice. "Yes it is, for real. Brad, I know you only met them that one time, and I know they didn't really open up to you as much as you hoped."

Brad tried to choose his words carefully. "They seemed fine, but it was so hard to read them, I couldn't tell if they liked me or not. Heck it was hard for me to tell if they liked YOU or not. I don't know what to make of them."

"Brad, I'll be honest. They are very stoic, it's true. They have real trouble showing their emotions to anyone. It wasn't easy dealing with them sometimes. They don't have any kids of their own, so they had a really hard time relating to me. I don't think they knew what to do with me, especially when I was going through all my teenage angst and the other issues in my life. But they allowed me to move in with them when they didn't have to, and they tried to help me as much as they could, they really did. I realize that now though I didn't see it at the time. They don't always say it or show it as much as I'd like them to, but I know they love me, and I do love them dearly."

Brad kissed Kellie's hand and held it in his hands, massaging it softly. "That's all I need to know. If they love you then they are all right in my book."

"Thanks honey. They are good people."

Kellie grew quiet and serious again. He didn't want to, but Brad knew he had to probe further. "Honey I hate to ask you this, but... there's bad news too. Isn't there?"

She sighed heavily. "Yeah. My parents... they don't know if they will make it."

Brad was incredulous. "What?! Their own daughter is getting married and they don't KNOW if they'll make it?!"

"Well we are breaking this to them a bit suddenly, and they do have their own lives and..."

Brad interrupted Kellie by shaking his head. "No, Kellie, stop it. Please. These people should be moving heaven and earth to be here, not feed you some bullshit line about how they MIGHT grace us with their presence!"

"Aren't you being too hard on them?"

"No way, in fact I'm not being hard enough! I at least understand your brother and sister not making it because they're all the way in Europe and in the middle of obligations they can't just drop out of, though it would be nice if they at least tried. But if your parents don't even make the effort to drive two fucking hours to see you get married then he's a selfish asshole and she's a selfish bitch!"

"Brad, please! They are my parents!"

The continuing mistreatment Kellie's parents inflicted on her, and her seeming acceptance of it, enraged him like never before, and he found himself unable to control that rage. "Then when the FUCK are they going to start acting like it?!" he thundered. "Christ, they've let you down every single fucking time, what makes you think that'll change now?!"

"Brad!"

"Come on Kellie, wake up and smell the damn coffee! They don't give a flying fuck about you and it's about time you figure that out! Fuck them, they can rot in fucking hell as far as I'm concerned!!"

"Brad, you're hurting me!"

Brad snapped out of his fury at those words. During the course of his tirade he had forgotten he had been holding on to Kellie's hand, and found to his horror that he now was crushing it. He let go immediately, and now that the adrenaline was wearing off he felt his own recovering hand pulse and throb with fresh pain. He turned away from her, so disgusted with himself that he felt like throwing up.

"Kellie, I'm so sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me," he whispered.

Despite his harsh words Kellie found it impossible to be angry with Brad. She knew in her mind that he was right, and she recalled the strong stance she had made in outlining her plan to him in how to broach this topic with her parents just a few days ago. But he just couldn't see that her heart wasn't quite ready to let her parents go just yet, not that she expected him to. It wasn't his fault, but his own happy experiences with his family meant he could never really understand what she was going through.

She tenderly rubbed his back and said, "I think I know what the problem is, it's the same thing as when you broke your hand after that witch Anita tried to put the moves on you. You're so protective of me and when you see someone hurting me it makes you so mad you lash out. I love you so much for it but at the same time I'm worried something will happen one day... and you'll react just the wrong way... and then you'll be taken away from me. It scares me, it really does."

"It scares me a little also at just how easily I lose control of myself when I see you in pain. It brings out this anger in me that I never, ever have otherwise. But I'm also scared that I'll drive you away from me. I just don't want you to think I'm a monster. I've never loved anyone the way I love you, Kellie, and it's bringing all sorts of other emotions and things that I'm trying to cope with. It makes me sick to my stomach that I was careless enough to hurt you while popping off like that. Please forgive me. I almost lost you once and I can't bear the thought of that happening again."

"Brad, you're not a monster. I forgive you, I love you and I'm not going anywhere. This is new territory for both of us. We'll work through these things together and become better people and make our love stronger in the end."

"You're right, honey. I want to go through this process with you. I want to learn more about you and about myself so I can be a better person and be the kind of husband you need me to be."

"Yes, and I want to do the same to be the loving wife you need me to be. Can I tell you something?"

Brad turned to face Kellie. She put her hands into his and looked him squarely in the eye.

"Brad, I need your support and for you to be there for me, but you don't need to save me from danger every time. There will be times when I'll need you to be my hero, but there are some things, like my relationship with my parents, that I need to deal with more on my own. I'm a big girl and I can handle things and stand up for myself."

"OK, Kellie, I promise to respect your wishes. And I want you to know something about me as well. I need you to help calm me down like you're doing now when I get too angry if I think I see someone hurting you. I don't want to hurt myself again, but more importantly I don't want to hurt someone else, especially you. I also need you to promise to let me know when you need my help. You're a strong, independent woman now, and it's fantastic, but you don't have to take on the world by yourself. I love you so much, and there's nothing in the world I won't do for you, if you'll let me."

"Thank you, honey, I will take your advice. I love you so much too, and there's nothing that I wouldn't do for you if you need me."

"Thank you. Kellie, I hope I'm wrong about your parents, by the way. I really do hope they prove me wrong, I'll happily eat my words if they do."

Kellie nodded. The couple grew quiet as they tried to absorb the emotional impact of the last few minutes.

"Brad?" she finally asked.

"Yes Kellie?"

"Hold me?"

Brad wrapped Kellie in his strong yet gentle embrace. She hugged him tightly in return. They held each other like that all night long.

*******

Time for a road trip.

Kellie, Sandra, Amber and Heather all piled into Jennifer's mini-van on the Saturday exactly two weeks before nationals to make the three hour drive to the town playing host to the provincial playdowns. There were some good teams gathered there, and the semi-final match played that evening was proof. Both teams were relatively new to the scene and led by young skips, but their talent was undeniable. They lacked experience and thus made strategic errors, but these were mistakes that would be correctable with time and good coaching. Kellie thought about her own evolution in the game and recalled the time when she and her team were very much like these two. As much as she knew the competition would get even tougher in a couple of years, and it was plenty tough now, she had to admit it was kind of exciting to watch the future of the game on display.