Chapter 10

10

The next morning, after a rock solid and dreamless night, Cath sat up in bed with a muffled groan. Seeing the light coming through the window, she jolted up, a horrified sense of déjà vu from months before washing over her. She was halfway out of bed in a panic when she remembered a message from her CO hours before. A total stand-down of operations had been affected; she should take the day and work from home.

With a sigh she eased back down onto the sheets, and then realized she was alone in bed. Kris’s side was rumpled and empty and when she ran a hand over the pillow it was cool to the touch. Given that she was the early riser of the two of them, she felt a current of anxiety at how long she had been down and out. She pushed the blankets away and stood, stretching her aching muscles as she tried to wake her body up. Seeing Kris’s black silk robe laying over the back of a chair, she reached out and tugged it on, pulling it around herself and inhaling the faint but familiar scent of the sandalwood soap he used. She tied the belt around her waist and started to pad towards the kitchen and the heady coffee she could smell brewing. As she passed by the mirror above her dresser, she caught sight of the utter wreck her hair had turned into after sleeping on it in a loose braid all night and winced. She pulled the hair tie out of the end and shook her hair out, running her fingers through it until she was satisfied it was under control; letting it fall in wheat-colored ripples over her shoulders and down to the small of her back.

She left the bedroom and started down the hall to the kitchen, hearing Kris moving about. He was in the midst of a conversation and as she got closer to the kitchen doorway, she could hear fragmented pieces:

“No, I’m feeling a lot better…Yeah, still have pain in my ribs, the lung is totally healed but the shoulder and collarbone flares up like a bitch at night.” There was a long pause and the sound of a bowl being moved across the kitchen counter. “No, no, I’ll be there, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. 8PM sharp… Yeah, I’m totally bringing her with me, I think you’ll like her, she’s… amazing.”

Cath walked into the kitchen slowly, taking in the scene in front of her. Kris was at the stove, phone tucked between his ear and good shoulder as he juggled flipping a pancake in her frying pan. Beside him on the counter was a bowl filled with batter and a measuring cup, and further down a plate stacked with flapjacks. On her small kitchen table was a bowl of cut up bananas and another of strawberries. She felt her stomach growl at the smell of the food and fresh coffee. She watched impressed as he flipped the cake onto the plate and quickly measured out the batter for another in an almost smooth gesture.

He inclined his head in her direction as he finished his conversation and motioned to a cup of coffee steaming on the counter, indicating it was for her. “All right, see you tonight.”

Cath retrieved the cup of coffee, bringing it to her nose and inhaling the rich scent for a moment before taking a sip. She leaned against the kitchen counter and observed as he disconnected, tossed his phone next to him and finished cooking the batter in the pan. “Good morning.”

“Morning.” He leaned over and brushed his lips over hers sweetly, trying not to jostle her coffee cup. “I was just about to wake you for brunch.”

For the first time Cath caught sight of the time on the microwave and nearly choked. It was almost 11:30AM, hours past when she normally rose; in fact, in terms of a normal nine to five, the bulk of her day was gone. She made a noise of dismay and white knuckled her coffee cup. “Why didn’t you wake me? I should have been up ages ago.”

“You needed the rest.” He shepherded her over to a chair at the table and guided her into it. Retrieving the plate of pancakes, he set it on the table then returned to the coffee pot and brought it over as well.

Cath narrowed her eyes and gestured to him with her fork. “Like I said last night, I can be the judge of that.”

“Woman, you’ve been making me rest for weeks, take your own advice for once,” He sat down and pushed the plate towards her. “Eat your breakfast.”

For the first time, Cath was awake enough to realize he used his injured arm to accomplish the task at hand. It was the first time since the accident she had seen him without his sling, a welcome sight, if not a concerning one. “What’s going on here? And you’re lecturing me on taking care of myself?”

“I have permission from the doctor.” Kris took a sip of his coffee and then carefully stretched his arm out in front of him. “I saw her yesterday remember? I told you I had an appointment scheduled. She wants me to start taking short breaks from wearing it, to regain the flexibility in my joints.”

“And you thought flipping pancakes was a good start.” Cath teased but inwardly, a flare of guilt burned across her stomach, making her feel anxious and unsettled. With everything going on at work, the fact he had a doctor’s appointment totally slipped her mind. It was a swift and brutal reminder of how sometimes a personal life didn't mesh with her life as a soldier. They were two very different coins she was constantly juggling. The problem was she loved both, and it meant that she was constantly in danger of letting one side hit the floor to protect the other.

With a sigh, she finally tackled the plate in front of her as her stomach growled in protest. With her fork poised above the plate, she stopped and stared at it curiously, the pancake in front of her was two toned with a star clearly visible on the top. Reaching for another, she was met with a Christmas tree. “What on earth…?”

“These are my famous Shadow Pancakes, Christmas edition.” He pulled a pancake decorated with a Santa hat onto his plate and began to layer it with fruit. “I figured you could use a good breakfast, plus they require a little bit of dexterity, so it was a good opportunity to kill two birds with one frying pan.”

“How did you learn to do this?” Cath took a bite, closing her eyes for a moment as the buttery sublime taste hit her. It seemed like it had been years since she enjoyed really good pancakes and he nailed them.

“I can’t give away all my secrets,” he chuckled and refilled both their coffee cups. “I need reasons for you to keep me around.”

“I can think of one really good one,” Cath gave him a look from under her lashes and took a sip of her coffee. “But I’ll settle for you telling me where we are going and what you have planned for tonight. You mentioned shopping? Do you need something for your sister? Your mom?”

Kris cut into his pancakes and took a healthy bite, taking his time answering her. “Not exactly, it’s for charity.”

“How does one shop for charity exactly?” Cath asked curiously. In her mind she was picturing a game show, competing celebrities playing shopping games to rack up charitable contributions.

“You’ll see,” he winked at her, and she could see from the look on his face he wasn’t going to tell her more. She loaded her fork and arched it back like she was going to flick it at him.

Reaching across the table, he picked up the can of whip cream and held a finger above the trigger. “Try it, and I’ll take great pleasure in covering you in whip cream.”

“You’ll ruin your robe,” she pointed out, using every ounce of self-control she had to sound serious.

“Not if you take it off first.” He sprayed some of the whip cream onto his fingers and held them out to her suggestively. Cath leaned across the table slowly, taking the offered digits into her mouth and sucking the whip cream off.

She watched the arousal flare in his eyes and sat back with a smirk. After a moment she rose from the table, brushing by him teasingly as she took her plate to the sink. She looked over her shoulder to where he sat, purposely adopting a casual tone, knowing it would drive him crazy. “So will the press be there?”

“Only for a little bit, early in the evening.” Kris rose and set his plate on the counter, coming to stand behind her. He wound his arms around her waist, hugging her close then pushed her hair over her shoulder, out of the way and kissed her neck. “Mmmm, I’ve missed being able to do this.”

“I’ll bet you have.” She leaned back against him as he slowly ran his hands up from her waist, cupping her breasts and teasing her nipples with the silk fabric of the robe. She playfully ground her hip off his, hearing his quick intake of breath and feeling his body respond as his cock hardened against her. “Has the doctor cleared you yet?”

“The hell with the doctor.” He tugged gently on the robe’s belt, letting it fall open. As she closed her eyes, he trailed a hand inside and stroked along the curve of her breast. She wanted him badly, and the temptation to just give in was right in front of her, as tangible as his hand against her skin. Still after overhearing his earlier conversation, and knowing he was still in pain it wasn’t something she was going to risk. Fooling around in the shower previously had been pushing it enough. With regret, she gently stilled his hand. They waited this long, a few more days would be frustrating but wouldn’t kill them.

She turned around, winding her arms around his neck, and kissing him. After a moment she gently disengaged and pulled a stern expression. “In this house, we follow orders.”

He leaned his head against her shoulder, and she stroked the back of his neck tenderly. A moment passed and then he sighed a discontented sigh. “I’m sorry.”

“That was a joke Kris, don’t apologize.” She pulled back to look at him and ran her fingers along his jaw. “You’re still in pain, I just don’t want you to hurt yourself. We can wait, I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you.”

“You’re right, I know you are.” He moved to lean against the counter beside her and gave her a crooked smile. “I guess I’m just pushing hard to get back to normal again.”

The entire exchange of words smacked of irony considering that “getting back to normal” did mean he would be going somewhere. Once he was healed, he could return to living in LA at the condo and they would be back to traveling to see each other whenever they could. Cath found the idea of going back to separate homes gave her an uncomfortable weightless feeling in her stomach; like she was freefalling into the unknown and the bottom was approaching faster then she would have liked.

“Tell you what,” She pushed the emotions aside, and bumped her hip against his gently. “Why don’t I go get dressed and we’ll go for a run? See how your ribs do with some moderate cardio before we put you through full on calisthenics?”

“If I do, you promise to give me a full body workout when we can?” Kris crossed his arms and pouted dramatically.

“And then some.” Cath teased her fingers up his arm then leaned up close to his ear and whispered in great detail exactly what she planned to do to him once they could.

“Cath, you’re killing me here.” He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose between fingers.

“Oh sweetheart, that wasn’t a kill shot, not by far.” She pushed away from the counter and began to saunter back towards the bedroom to get dressed.

“Really, what do you call it then?” He passed a hand over his face and rested his chin in his hand, clearly amused.

“How about a damn good reason for you to follow your doctor’s orders?” Cath looked over shoulder with a smirk. When she was almost at the doorway to the kitchen, she stopped with her back to him and let the robe shimmy off slowly, letting it pool at her feet. Deliberately taking her time so he could see her naked body just out his reach, she turned and scooped the robe up then tossed it at him as she exited the room. “And just in case you need a visual reminder…”