Shades of Grey Ch. 16

Hello there! You've made it to the last chapter of Shades of Grey, and it's been a long while in coming. Those of you who've followed it since the beginning know that this story has been in the works for years. So, here is Chapter 16, the last installation of Caleb and Bianca's life. Enjoy and don't forget to rate and comment. ;-)

©SecretFantasy69 aka Violette D.

*

Someone was tickling her.

Bianca's heavy lids lifted at that recognition, and she released what was a cross between a whimper and a moan. Her hands flew down to her knee and she weakly sought to push whatever was there away. It retreated, and she smiled, snuggling closer into the soft pillow. The object moved to her side, and she released an involuntary giggle as it moved slowly against her skin. Sleep fled and she rolled onto her back, shaking her head at the multi-colored feather that Caleb held in his hand.

"Merry Christmas, babe," he whispered, leaning down to place a kiss against her lips.

Lifting her arms above her head to stretch, Bianca blinked and looked around the room. The guest room in Caleb's house. The curtains were still drawn but gentle light was peaking through.

"Merry Christmas," she replied an almost shy smile, and then the smile faded as her brows crinkled. "What time is it?"

"Just after eight," he murmured, grazing the feather across her nipple. Bianca moaned, and involuntarily sawed her legs together.

She'd arrived at the McTaverish's house last night, and she'd been too tired to do anything but greet everyone before passing out on the bed. Her eyes widened a fraction as she gazed down at her fully nude body. She didn't remember removing her clothes.

"I helped you out of them," Caleb answered, effectively reading her mind. "They looked very...restrictive."

The feather moved between the valley of her breasts, and worked its way down. She tensed against the pleasure as her breathing hitched. Where had he found a feather?

As the feather dipped into her bellybutton, she found her voice, "I was wearing a t-shirt and sweats." She'd been in a hurry, and had dreaded the thought of missing the last flight out of Santa Barbara.

He clucked his tongue, before lowering his lips to her ear. His tongue touched the lobe, before he whispered, "You shouldn't wear clothes to bed, Bianca."

She would have laughed at that twisted logic, but for the fact that he tossed the feather, and replaced it with his fingers. Fingers that slipped further down until they parted her sex, and stroked within.

Her hips lifted off the bed as her back arched. Caleb buried his face in the side of her neck, sucking and nipping at the tender skin there. A mewling sound came from her lips, and Caleb began to pay particular attention to the rapidly hardening bud between her legs.

When her legs began to shake, her removed his finger, and lifted his head to see her face. Her eyes were closed, her forehead scrunched in concentration. She looked...needy. Just like he imagined he did.

Before getting into bed with her, he'd removed every stitch of clothes except for his boxers. He easily pushed them from his body, and rolled onto her. The bulbous tip of his cock nudged her clit, and she cried out loudly beneath him. Lowering his head, he kissed her, stroking her tongue with his own. Reaching down, he drew a finger along her slippery slit, groaning into her mouth as he did so, before positioning himself at her entrance.

Her thighs clutched him tighter. Lifting his head so that he could watch her expression, he rolled his hips forward. She sucked in a breath, and smiled, tilting her pelvis to receive all of him.

"God, you—are—so—sexy," he murmured to himself, but she heard him anyway. Bianca lifted her hands to his face, and then ran her fingers into his hair, pulling him closer.

"Every time, I look at you, I want you inside of me," she murmured softly, biting down on her bottom lip at that admission.

Caleb groaned, and tightened his hold on her waist. He withdrew almost to the point of pulling out, before thrusting back into the warm and tight cocoon that was her body.

Bianca locked an arm about his neck, and another around his back. As his chest pressed down as hers, she closed her eyes, basking in the overload of pleasure.

"Bianca," Caleb grunted after a particularly powerful thrust that made her dig her nails into his back.

"Hmm?" she murmured, incapable of stringing together sentences.

"I'm coming," he replied, jabbing his hips against hers once more. She nodded, licking her lips as her body felt the first tremor that marked her impending orgasm.

Caleb repositioned his body to take her nipple into his mouth. His tongue bathed the peak, before his mouth encircled and pulled at it.

"Caleb," her voice was breathy. Her hips began a frantic dance against his own.

The sound of his name on her lips as she peaked sent him over. His fingers dug into her waist as the tendons stood out in his neck. His hips swung freely, rapidly, until a hoarse groan erupted from his lips as his body unloaded inside of her.

He fell onto her, a sweaty mass of tangled limbs. As he recovered, he rolled onto his back, and pulled her atop him. The smile on her lips was so contagious that he smiled as well.

"I think I'll start sleeping in the nude just for you," she joked lightly.

"I think you'll have to," was his still breathless reply.

A knock sounded at the door, and Bianca squeaked and rolled off of him, reaching for the covers at the bottom of the bed. She'd just concealed both of their nakedness, and could feel the heat in her face as she answered, "Yes?"

"Good mornin', Bianca. Trust you had a good night last night and that little thunderstorm ain't bother you none." Lara called from the other side of the door. Bianca almost groaned. What a way to make a good impression, sleeping with the woman's son right under her nose!

"Good morning, Mrs. McTa—."

"Oh darlin', didn't I tell you to call me Rita? Tell you what, you get yourself washed up and then you come down to the kitchen, and us girls'll talk."

"O-okay...Rita," Bianca called, glaring at Caleb and swatting his hands away. They were inching very close to her breast. He gave her a sheepish grin, but remained quiet.

"By the way, you didn't happen to see my son, did ya? Promised to help me clean the dining room, and just up and disappeared."

Bianca placed a hand over her face and shook her head at the culprit, naked and lying beside her. His hands went behind his head as he grinned up at her.

"No, I didn't see him. I—err—just woke up," she lied. Caleb crawled closer to her and kissed her side, his blond head nodding in agreement.

"Well, that's fine, darlin' but if he does pass this way, you let him know that his mother is not happy with him, okay? And let him know that the dining room needs to be cleaned, and I need help in the kitchen. And his father's looking for him too, so he better appear before Jahn comes a'questionin'. And his cousins need to be picked up for lunch so he's got a lot of things to do today."

Caleb glared at the door, and Bianca smiled. "If I see him, I'll tell him that."

"Okay, darlin', you get yourself prettied up and come downstairs, alright?"

"Okay."

They listened as Rita's footsteps moved away from the door, and then Bianca dissolved into a fit of nervous giggles.

"I think she knew," she whispered when she caught her breath.

Caleb, propped up on an elbow above her, nodded and smiled down at her. "Yea, I think so too. That was a long list of things she wanted you to tell me."

Bianca shook her head, and bit her lip. The laughter faded from her eyes, and Caleb asked, "What's wrong?"

"What's she going to think of me now?" Bianca asked, and then covered her concern with a wave of her hand and a slight laugh.

Caleb saw through it. He wrapped an arm about her body, and said, "She'll think that her son is obsessed with you, which I am, and can't keep his hands off of you, which I can't." He kissed the tip of her nose. "Bianca, my parents will love you, just like I do."

Footsteps sounded outside their door, this time heavy footsteps, and Caleb groaned and removed himself from the bed. The footsteps continued along but he wasn't fooled. That was Jahn's warning. The next time, there would be a knock and embarrassing hell to pay.

He pulled on his clothes, and leaned over to give her a quick kiss. His eyes twinkled down at her. "I'll see you at breakfast."

Bianca lay back in the bed and called softly as he moved to the door. "Go do your chores, chore boy."

He sent her a playful glare, before cautiously opening the door and poking his head out. The hallway was obviously clear because he slipped out seconds later.

Chuckling, Bianca stared at the door for long seconds before flinging the covers back and moving over to her suitcase. She pulled out a bath robe, which she put on, and a few potential outfits. Versace. Gucci. Dior. All had either red or green to go with the Christmas theme. She was digging around for her body wash when her eyes landed on Martin's business card. He'd added his cell phone number, telling her that if she needed to talk to him during the break, she could call at any time. In their last session before she left Boston, he'd told her that she seemed much happier.

As she headed down the hallway to the bathroom at the end, Caleb emerged from another room. Upon seeing her, a large grin touched his lips, and something devilish twinkled in those blue eyes. Determined to pass him with only a smile, Bianca was doing exactly that when he caressed her bottom. She jumped, glared at him, which only broadened that already broad smile, and headed into the bathroom, where she dissolved into half-mortified laughter.

**********

"Pass me those potatoes, would you, darlin'?"

Bianca reached for the peeled and boiled potatoes sitting in one of the many bowls on the countertop. She handed it to Rita, who placed it before her, and began to mash it with a masher. Bianca watched her work, feeling out-of-place, and utterly useless. There were two stuffed chickens and a large turkey in the oven, and she'd already seen Rita make at least three more dishes as Bianca handed her ingredients and occasionally stirred the pot.

"So, your Dad's okay with us stealin' you for Christmas?" Rita asked as she simultaneously whipped the potatoes up. Lifting her head, Rita passed a friendly smile, which Bianca returned.

She nodded in response to the question.

"What about your Mom? Us mom's usually take stuff like that harder than dads—," Rita said, and promptly broke off when she noticed Bianca's face. The smile had faded and in its place was such sadness that Rita regretted ever bringing it up.

"Oh darlin', you don't have to answer—," Rita began softly, placing the masher down, and wiping her hands on the tablecloth.

Bianca forced a smile, and shook her head. "No, it's okay. My mom died when I was eleven."

"Oh," Rita managed, and then she walked over to Bianca, and gave her a quick, comforting hug. "Oh darlin', I know you've probably heard this a lot, but I'm truly sorry."

When she stepped away, Bianca recognized that her eyes were slightly misted. She chuckled and ran the back of her hand over her eyes, moving back over to the potatoes.

"Caleb didn't say anythin' so I just figured...," Rita broke off, and shook her head. "But we don't have to talk about it anymore—."

"I don't think I ever told him," Bianca responded with a shrug.

If Rita thought that was odd, she managed to hide it well. She simply nodded and grabbed the masher once more.

"Well, you'll tell him when it's right for you," she replied with a confidence that had Bianca lifting her brows. "Sometimes, we don't want the people we love knowing the things that make us...tick. I know you'll tell him when you're ready. Until then, I'll keep what I know to myself."

Bianca smiled. Rita McTaverish was a great person, and she had a big heart. It was easy to see how a woman like her had raised Caleb.

"So, did Caleb tell you how many of his cousins are coming today?" Rita asked, changing the subject.

"Not really."

Rita clucked her tongue and chuckled, and then she passed Bianca a look that should have warned her of what was to come next.

"Makes me wonder what you two were talking about so early in the mornin'?"

Bianca's eyes widened, and she stilled. Caleb's mother laughed, and then said, "It's okay, darlin', I just thought he would have told you then. Jahn's family is Irish—his granddad was—and mine just typical Southern with the cousins three times removed and aunts and uncles that we done even know that well." She smiled and nodded when Bianca looked doubtful. "Yea, an extra family member or two always shows up when we invite 'em over." Rita looked over to the clock on the wall. "Yea, in about an hour, it's going to get real hectic, but hectic's good when its for Christmas. Don't worry, you'll like it. Plus, Caleb's gonna be busy showing off his pretty girlfriend to everyone, so you won't have one dull moment."

At that moment, the timer on the stove went off, and Rita left the mashed potatoes, and walked over to the stove. She turned down the oven, checked the three pots on the burners, and then grabbed the pepper shaker. After a generous helping of peppers over the mashed potatoes, she grabbed a spoon and handed it to Bianca.

"This is your dish, darlin'." When Bianca took the wooden spoon, Rita nodded, and said, "Just stir the peppers in, and if it needs some more, just keeping addin' em. Here's the black pepper, and some crushed basil. You'll add the thyme last..." She trailed off at Bianca's slightly horrified expression. "Oh darlin', don't you worry about anything. You just stir. Trust me, between my family and Jahn's, they'll eat it."

*********

Bianca couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun at Christmas. The holiday had always been on of her mother's favorites, and as such, the first years after her mother death had found the holiday quiet for herself and her father. The food was always good—the cook usually outdid himself—and the presents were always thing that many of the girls her age could only dream of, but the Christmases had never been filled with the type of unrestrained laughing that she was doing now.

Rita had been right. It was hectic. There were children running everywhere, and ever so often she would hear above the Christmas music the sound of something breaking. Either Jahn, Caleb, or one of the men would glare in the direction of the noise, before shrugging their shoulders and returning to whatever it was they were doing. The women had long since given up, and were all huddled in one section of the living room, chatting happily amongst themselves. Bianca had been privy to who was getting married, who thought she was getting married, who was pregnant, who was suspected pregnant...

From the moment that his family had begun arriving, Caleb had been beside her, or always nearby. She'd been introduced to all twenty-two and a half—one of his cousins was pregnant—of his family members. Although apprehensive, she was afraid of something happening that was similar to the encounter she'd had with that racist guy—Earl—the last time she was here, she'd quickly found that most of Caleb's family were really nice. Except for the occasional widening of an eye or the raised brow, and that was usually from the older relatives, they were all excited to meet her.

Caleb sat on her right for lunch, and his other cousin, Flynn, had taken her left. Flynn was close to Caleb's age, and the two bore an almost uncanny resemblance. It was obvious that the two were close as well, from how different there interactions were from some of his other cousins. By the time lunch was over, and it was time to open the hundreds of gift wrapped presents under the tree, Bianca felt...exhausted. The food had been so good that she'd overeaten, and meeting and remembering the names of his family, was no easy task.

By the time they arrived in the living room for the opening of the presents, every seat had been taken, and the area before the Christmas tree was crawling with cousins under sixteen.

Jahn and Rita nominated themselves "gift-passers" as they stood close enough to the tree. They began calling off names, and handing the present to be passed on. A slow Christmas tune came over the sound system, and Bianca felt Caleb move behind her.

His hands slid around her waist, and he laced his fingers together over her belly through the cotton material of her light v-neck sweater. Smiling, Bianca placed her hands over his.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" he asked softly.

Leaning her body back against his, she nodded. She was.

"Good," he murmured, and Bianca felt him shift at her back before she felt his soft lips press to the side of her neck. His lips retreated and he rested his chin lightly atop her head. They remained that way until Jahn called Bianca's name, and everyone turned to look at them. Bianca heard a few giggles from Caleb's teenage girl cousins as she stepped out of Caleb's arms and moved to take the gift that was making its way to her.

It was a wooden picture frame with engraved symbols of horses, compliments of the McTaverish family, or else, Jahn and Rita. She thanked them, and gave Rita a hug when the crush of people let her through. By the time all of the presents were opened, it was almost an hour later, and there seemed to be a unanimous decision that the family who were remaining for dinner, would either relax in the den with the television or retire to the guestrooms that were empty until evening.

Although Bianca found the latter quite appealing, Caleb managed to coerce her into going to the barn. Of course Caesar was there, and he was still as bad tempered as she remembered. The only difference was that he seemed less likely to bite. Caleb explained that his better temper was due to the mare one stall over. Even Bianca, who wasn't quite a horse-lover like Caleb or his family, had to admit that the mare was beautiful. Lean and majestic, she was the exact opposite of Caesar. Where he was dark—pitch black—she was snow colored, where his eyes were brown, hers were a clear green, where he was bad tempered, she was quick to nuzzle. Bianca watched as Caleb ran a comforting hand down her neck and she nuzzled his hand.

"What's her name?"

A devilish little twinkle entered his eyes and he said, "Guess."

She smiled and lifted a brow at him. "I don't know—."

"What's the first thing you think of when you look at her?" he asked.

"Snow," Bianca replied immediately, and then laughed when Caleb nodded.

"Yep, this beauty here is Snow." He looked down at her, standing feet away from the pen. "She's very friendly."

Bianca shook her head, and Caleb smirked before walking the few steps and grabbing her hand.

"Caleb, don't—."

He tugged her until she stood before him, and Snow was staring directly down at her. Catching her hand with his, he said, "Trust me" and then she was caressing the side of Snow's neck, Caleb's hand over hers. The mare snorted, and she pulled back their hands, but Snow came forward, as if seeking out the comfort.

Bianca chuckled.

"I told you she was friendly," he murmured against her ear. He removed his hand from hers and Bianca caressed the pretty horse on her own. Caleb never moved from behind her.

They'd left the stalls, and Bianca thought they were making their way out of the barn, when Caleb suddenly tugged her in another direction. She followed him, and then laughed when it became apparent where he was taking her. She went up the ladder first, and he followed her, until they were both standing in that small room where they'd first made love.