I'd like to start off by saying thank you for your patience. After reading a few of your reviews, both posted on the site and those emailed to me, I had stopped work on this chapter and finished up a few other stories I had been working on. The story was starting to meander without a point and someone called me out, and they were right. I trimmed pages off the draft and hopefully I've gotten back on track and will be able to focus a little better with the break I took.
I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it.
I've had a long standing love of Irish lasses. Their eyes, complexion, smiles have always warmed my heart, and a few have broken it.
Constructive criticism as always is welcome in the comments, others will be dealt with in the usual manner.
*****
I stood looking out the bedroom window at the white landscape. The snow was falling quickly. Steam rolled out of my cup and misted the window. I looked over my shoulder, Cate's hair spread out on the pillow like spilled coffee. I smiled and took a sip of mine. She came to bed very late, and tried not to wake me but I wasn't able to sleep well without her there. I'd seen her stretching her neck from long hours over her books and laptop before climbing into bed. Once she'd slid under the covers I rolled over and began rubbing her shoulders. She sighed deeply. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Her accent was stronger when she was tired. I kissed her forehead.
"Lay flat and I'll give you a back rub." I said softly. She complied by pushing her pillow away and laying on her stomach. I started at her neck which was stiff under my fingers, my thumbs digging in to loosen up the tension. She let out a soft moan or two as I worked down her shoulders then down her back.
"If I weren't already promised to a roguishly handsome young man, I'd marry you for this." She mumbled into the comforter I'd pushed aside.
"Well he's a lucky guy." I said with a big smile on my face.
"That he is. I won't let him forget it either." She said laughing.
"I don't think he will any time soon." I kneaded the muscles between her shoulder blades with my thumbs, varying the pressure drawing big circles in the muscles. She was so quiet I thought she'd slipped off to sleep while I was working my way further down her back.
"Sometimes I think I've bitten off more than I can chew, between taking this professorship and working on my dissertation."
"You're doing fine. Stress is making you worry, just keep at it and you'll be done before you know it. I've told you I can help you with the class workload if you need it."
"I know, but you've got your own studies to work on."
I chuckled at that. She knew I was taking a semester of mostly electives to get them completed and out of the way. It also kept me clear of the computer science department, except to see her on occasion, which fit the agreement I'd made with the provost of the school.
"I know no ways to mince it in love, but directly to say 'I love you'." I quoted and gave her a kiss between the shoulder blades.
"Shakespeare was the sweet talker wasn't he." She laughed and pointed her thumb up at her shoulders and I worked my way back up. "Romeo and Juliette would be too obvious."
"Henry V, he was trying to woo a girl named Catherine of Valois, she was a princess, daughter to the king of France."
"I'll take your word for it, I don't think I've ever read it, and you don't have any wooing left to do. I'm putty in your hands."
"Right now I'd say that's a very literal statement." I said working my way down her back again.
"Mmm hmm." She responded with another deep sigh. I finally just stroked her back a few times and pulled down the top she had on and drew the covers back over her. She rolled to face me and tucked her pillow under her head. "Thank you." She kissed me and closed her eyes.
"You're welcome, now go to sleep Princess Cate. Sweet dreams." A wry little smile flashed across her face.
She hadn't moved much since then. I took another sip of my coffee as I looked down at her angelic face. Due to the sizable storm forecast, classes had been canceled for the day. Cate had made sure that her students had plenty to do on their own, and she'd told them she should be available via email, barring power outages, if they needed her during the day. Though it was getting on to eight in the morning I was loathe to disturb her. I straightened the covers over her and crept quietly out of the room and closed the door gently behind me. I kicked back with my much annotated copy of Henry V and read for a while.
Eventually there were the sounds of life coming from the bedroom. I heard the bathroom door close. I hopped up from the couch and went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast, leading off with a large cup of coffee. She came out to the living room and called my name.
"In here, gorgeous."
"You may want to double check before throwing that adjective around." She said coming around the corner. She was running her hands through her hair pushing it over her shoulders.
I turned around, closed an eye and held up a thumb like an artist perusing his subject. "Nope, I'm sticking with gorgeous." I leaned forward and kissed her forehead and placed the coffee cup in her hand. When I leaned back there was little grin on her face.
"Flatterer."
"I am that."
She took a long swallow of her coffee and made a nearly orgasmic moan. "Oh that hits the spot. What would you like for breakfast, or brunch." She added with a scrunched nose when she saw the time.
"It's already covered. You only need to decide which flavor, blueberry or chocolate chip." I pulled a bowl of pancake batter out of the fridge and set it on the counter.
"A little of both sounds good to me seeing as we're having a completely decadent Thursday off."
"I doubt either of us will be completely 'off' since I've got some heavy reading to do and you won't stay away from your email long." I said with a kiss. "Though a thoroughly decadent morning would be nice."