Chiaroscuro and Catgirls

I loved coming home to the sound and scent of her. I loved the way that she'd drop whatever she was doing and come to hug me and help me. I loved how she always, always felt up my bum. She'd made me softer. And I was so much the better for it.

Her painting of the Atacama hung in pride of place over our feature hearth. It was my second-most-favourite thing - after her. I'd sometimes sit and stare up at it, sometimes for hours at a time, seeing the familiar details that I knew better than the skin on the back of my own hand. The rich symbology would still make me well up sometimes - the towering storm clouds and the life-bringing water they'd left behind on the dry dust...

Like the life she'd given me. My lover, my best friend, the woman I planned to grow old with if she'd let me...

I smiled, dabbed at my eyes. I hadn't yet told her that I was going to surprise her with a trip to Lima, Titicaca and the high Andes in the new year.

I liked springing surprises on her; she had never had someone to spoil her, and I'd never had someone to spoil.

I stretched, pointing my toes, yawning. I thought, briefly, about opening my work email, then rejected that thought. I'd been working hard to finish my transition to the European wing of our business. Global travel was no longer my remit; I'd recruited and trained my replacement and sent her off into the world; by all accounts she was flourishing.

And so now, at last, I had time to spare - enough that I didn't need to look at my emails on a Saturday night any more.

And, most special of all - I had someone to spend it with.

Viv laughed at something; probably some profane request put in by one of her class.

I yawned again, and stretched downwards to snag the thin fleece blanket that was bundled up near my feet. I tugged it up and snuggled down into it, then rolled onto my side and watched the evening slowly ebb away.

She'd come find me when she was finished.

She'd wrap her arms around me, and her scent would surround me and fill me up to overflowing as she slipped her legs in behind mine.

She'd probably cop a feel; Viv was a physical being and delighted in her ability to melt me with her touch. I'd prepared; I was clean shaven, and there was nothing under the thin leggings that would get in her way.

She'd almost certainly end up playing with me. In fact, that was my intent.

My toes curled and I smiled as I felt the gentle warmth build in me.

And in the meantime, I was content to wait for her.

I could wait forever for her.

And I slowly dozed off, secure in the knowledge that it would be her her touch that would wake me.