Freed From Desire

Part 28

Nora

Overwhelmed was the understatement of the year. Not only was I not prepared in a packing sense and looked like a proper hobo, walking into the house in sweats while everyone was looking all nice and done up. I also had spent the majority of the flight trying to learn everyone's names and failing at it miserably.

Katie was lucky, I only had one brother and they'd already met. That little boyfriend-mix up set aside, she was off the hook when it came to siblings. I was face to face with too many to count. Names and faces became a blur as I tried my hardest to make sure I said hello to everyone, Katie laughing by my side, one arm around my waist.

"Okay-okay, let her breathe for a bit, you lot are being pushy," she finally said, pulling me with her to her parents instead. They both gave her a tight hug and I felt the nerves kick in here as her mother then turned to me.

"Nora, welcome to the family! We've heard so much about you!" she said, opening her arms. I smiled at the warm words and hugged her, giving the same kind of hello to her father then. They both looked at me with kind eyes and I had to blink a few times at the unexpected feelings that brought up in me.

"I've heard a lot about you all as well. Sorry to be crashing your family celebrations kind of last minute though. This one didn't give me much choice," I said with a nervous smile, giving Katie a pointed look.

"Oh nonsense, I'm already cooking for a small town worth of people, what's one more," her mom shrugged the apology off. "Speaking of, I should check on the food," she added, obviously using it as an excuse to give us some breathing room. 

Most of her siblings had also left to return to whatever they were up to right before we walked in and I mentally thanked them for it. I pushed my shoes off my feet, Katie smirking at the motion. No one else seemed to be in the habit of doing that, but I couldn't help if it was how I was raised. 

"You okay?" she asked, leaning in close. I bit my lip, eyes darting down to her lips for a second. As if reading my mind, Katie gave me a soft kiss. One that I pulled away quickly from, looking around. The only sibling person near us was one of her brothers.. Gary? I hoped I got that name right. And he was busy gathering our bags up to bring them to.. wherever we were staying I guess.

But it still felt weird being so openly physical, definitely not something I was used to. I wasn't close to my own parents cause they didn't really approve of my 'lifestyle' as they called it so this in front of family was unheard of for me. 

"I'd be better if you could keep it in your pants," I smirked at her in response. 

Katie simply laughed a little and grabbed my hand, leading me upstairs. I looked at all the photos on the wall, the sight reminding me of all those american romance movies where pictures of the kids adorned staircase walls. It actually looked really nice here.

"Oh wow, baby Katie?" I asked, stopping midway and pointing to one of the photos. She, of course, was chasing a football in the picture, her little face lit up in a wide smile. Just like it did now as she stopped one step higher than me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders.

I was slowly warming up to the public affection and placed mine around her waist, looking even tinier than usual next to her. Which she probably enjoyed immensely, as usual. 

"Yeah, I think that was one of the first actual competitions I was in. I loved it as you can see from that grin. We ended up winning too!" she explained. I wasn't at all surprised by that fact. That little girl in the picture had that same fierceness in her, I was certain of it. 

We walked slower then, me taking time to really appreciate the photos and Katie just being annoying as usual and distracting me with little kisses she placed all over my face and neck.

Just as she was busy trailing kisses down my jawline, her mom's voice made me quite literally jump, accidentally knocking my shoulder into Katie's chin. "I have whole albums of photos we will definitely go through later," she called out from the bottom of the staircase and then kept walking towards the dining room like nothing had happened.

I almost died of embarrassment and Katie next to me died of laughter, rubbing her chin and trying to pout at me, pretending to be mad. "You didn't have to punch me!" she exclaimed, her accent thick. 

"Your fault for being so close to me!" I rebutted, grabbing her hand and leading us upstairs before any other accidents happened.

"Well I can't help it," she smirked. Right as we got upstairs, she quickly looked around the small hallway and then turned us around, her arms on my waist, so I ended up with my back pressed against the hallway wall.

Katie then proceeded to press her warm lips to mine, her tongue demanding access and fighting mine for dominance. My heart sped up immediately and I felt hot all over my body, but especially on my waist, where she'd snuck her hands under my top, fingers tracing patterns on my bare skin.

I couldn't hold back a soft moan as she parted my legs with hers, pushing her thigh against my middle. She ended the kiss too abruptly then, biting my lip lightly and tracing it over with her tongue to soothe the gentle ache there, before pulling away completely, leaving me a gasping mess against the wall. 

Thank god for the wall at least or I'd possibly collapse onto the floor.

"That's for punching me in the face," she laughed softly, trying to act like the kiss hadn't bothered her at all. But I could see want in her eyes and all I could think about was figuring out which of these doors led to her room and then pulling her into it.

I pushed away from the wall, closing the distance between us, Katie's eyes immediately flickering down to my lips. But instead of granting her another dizzying kiss, I softly placed one on her chin. 

"Better?" I asked, pulling away to look her in the eyes again.

Katie shook her head and took my chin between her thumb and finger, guiding my lips towards her. "Bit higher," she smirked.

Just as our lips were about to touch again, her mother interrupted. Again. "Alright gang, food is ready!" 

This time I managed not to cause any injuries at least. Katie still groaned in frustration and I laughed, giving her lips a tiny peck. Any more and we wouldn't be able to stop.

"And back downstairs we go!" I grabbed her hand and headed back in the direction we came from. Seeing her bedroom could wait for now.