6:30 am
Harry laid in bed, staring into the ceiling with a gaze that would have broken
any looking glass, quietly waiting for Will to wake up. Most mornings she found a way to escape but
with Will’s head directly across her chest and long arms wrapped around her
waist, it was nice to enjoy the comfort.
The warmth from Will was almost enough to distract Harry from thinking
about the feline contents of the basement freezer.
Which only more occurred to her of the other shady things
that she had stored downstairs. Yes,
there was the body of the assassin that had followed Glenn across a star system,
but there were the other goods she was keeping claim tickets to. The different illegal (and legal) products
that would only last a couple of months before someone came back for their
stash. Or Harry would just be forced to
sell the items on the black market.
“You’re thinking about the cat in the freezer, aren’t
you?” The hands moved from her waist and
one tilted a cheek towards her partner. Even
before Harry managed to wedge her eyes open, she could feel Will’s gaze staring
into her face. “Harry, I know you’ve
been awake for an hour.”
“I just didn’t want to wake you.”
“Or were you finally embracing the domestic life?”
Harry rolled out of the bed, grabbing onto the frame right
before her right knee collided with the hard concrete. The area rug wasn’t always enough to protect her
legs from impact and as Will had pointed out they would need carpeting if any
little ones happened to be running around.
Hopefully Harry didn’t have any “little ones” running around out there
already, she had experienced enough pregnancy scares living on Barma. Four hundred years would have been the time
to be a father and certainly not now that she was almost as old as Jud.
With a robe in one hand, Harry leaned in for the first
official kiss of the new day, saying, “Will, I love you.”
That wasn’t an answer, but it was enough to satisfy the
conversation while she searched for her clothes. The walk to her braces hanging on the back of
the door was rather grueling, and so was the pain of compressing her spines
back into their sheaths. This is why
everyone on Tanis wore dresses, skirts and loose trousers.
“Fucking skin-tight clothing.”
The familiar hands went back around her waist, dragging Harry back to bed.
“That is the thought I get to when you’re wearing this stuff.”
Harry eased onto the edge of the bed, falling back on the
discarded pile of pillows and blankets, and welcomed the feeling of Will in her
lap.
"Will, I'm going to be late for work."
"That's a lie and you know it."
"Yeah but I had to try something. Us old folks don't have the same
sex drive as spring chickens like you."
Each kiss that successfully made contact with a portion of
Will’s body supported the emotions Harry had.
Those just perfect thoughts that hadn’t existed since Cara and Cara had
been an entirely different type of girl.
Cara who was so sweet and innocent through her core and Will who only
pretended to be that way.
Will’s hands were on the drawstring of Harry’s lounge pants
as the voice whispered, “Then I’ll just have to make up for your side of the
bargain.”
A laugh almost escaped Harry’s throat from Will fumbling to
undo the knot. Will might have even
thought that the way Harry tied her pants was purposeful, like she would really
do it to deny sex. That was thinking too
much of the plans that were laid out.
“Need some help down there?”
“I don’t know how you wear these.”
“Will, someone needs to wear the pants in this relationship.”
With the taunt obviously in mind, Will managed to finish the
job and threw her own robe back to the laundry pile at the bottom of the bed.
The unfamiliar feeling of comfort came back to Harry as the
game began again. Even for as often as
they had relations that happened within the confines of a mattress and a sheet,
Harry didn’t have the same comfort most people felt. Being held in her lover’s arms while kissing
up and down their body would not always connect as a peaceful feeling.
But it did here and now.
Because this moment was with Will.
Just enough to tempt Harry to say, “Will, I have a question
for you.”
The regret following her statement was blocked by Will’s hands
unbuttoning the front of her shirt, a clear distraction from her plans. This was one of the reasons to keep going in
her proposal plans. Knowing that her
partner probably wouldn’t even hear the words she was asking.
“So, do you want to ask about how I want to get it this
time?”
“Will, I have a serious question.”
“And my question isn’t serious?”
Harry laughed while laying back down onto the bed, letting
the hands slip back over her and working on the plan again.
“Will, would you please do me the honor of-”
Everything had been going just right until the door clicked
open and was followed by a disturbed scream.
Ria standing in the doorway, holding a basket of muffins in one hand and
“Lady’s List” in the other. It took
Harry a further moment to realize that today, the twenty fourth of December,
was both Christmas Eve and the Ladies’ Morning Saturday.
Harry could have sworn that the door was locked or would
have at least been blocked by the small pile of clothes behind. The scream was an unexpected but an
interruption all the same, while Will scrambled for clothing and a blanket was
thrown over Harry’s body. A discussion
of her partner’s aim would have to be
reviewed once they were wearing a bit more clothing. The blanket on her head still wasn’t as much
of a trouble as the shaken Ria still standing in the hall way.
“Ria! Get out of
here.”
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