Chapter 4

4

The next morning, by “ass crack of dawn” as Kris liked to put it, Cath was up and plotting to get them out of the house far earlier than she knew he would have liked. On a normal morning, be it a day off or working, she was an early riser, and her wake up routine was quick and efficient. It was more than regular for Kris to sleep through her leaving, so she wasn’t surprised when she got up and he remained curled under the covers snoring softly, never waking as she moved about the bedroom. She brushed a kiss to the top of his head, took a quick shower and headed for the kitchen, throwing on a pot of coffee and sputtering until it was almost ready.

As she began sourcing the ingredients to see if she had everything to make omelets for breakfast, she began making a mental list of holiday things she and Kris could do, things that were both traditional and fun that he may not have gotten the chance to enjoy before. Most overly physical activities were out due to his injuries, but by the time the coffee was brewed, and she poured herself a cup, she had a firm handle on a plan to make Christmas fun for both of them.

First up on her list was today’s expedition and tonight it was on to decorating the tree.

The evening before, they stopped on the way home to get a Christmas tree, only to find that getting it up on top of the Subaru, off again, and into the house when she was doing all the lifting would be impossible, even for her. It was also a given that it would also be impossible for Kris, for two reasons: one being his injuries and two being that he hated to see her struggle and do all the work when normally he’d have been more than able to help. Instead, they picked a six-foot Douglas fir and arranged for it to be delivered the next afternoon. It would be much easier for her to get it in the house and set it up in the living room with added help from the delivery service, as much as she hated to grudgingly admit it. It also gave her the opportunity to hunt through her storage room and find her lights and decorations. It had been years since she dragged them out and seeing the boxes stacked in her living room gave her a giddy feeling she thought was long forgotten.

With omelet ingredients laid out on the counter and her own coffee half gone, she grabbed another mug from the cupboard and poured another then headed back towards the bedroom. She slipped the coffee on the nightstand next to Kris’s inert form and dropped another kiss to the top of his head. “Time to wake up.”

“Says who?” Kris muttered, pulling the blanket around himself like a shield.

“Says me.” Cath said, running her fingers through his hair as he opened his eyes and made a face at her. “I’m going to get breakfast going, coffee’s here for you.”

She started to move away, only to find herself caught as he snagged her hand, tangling his fingers with hers and dragging her gently back onto the bed. She could have resisted but instead she allowed. Immediately he covered her with the blanket, snuggling her close to him and pressing kisses to her temple. “Don’t need coffee, need this.”

“We have places to be,” She reminded him gently. “We’re rolling out in an hour and a half. You need to get up.”

“I am up.” He kissed her, a sweet lazy kiss, letting his tongues tangle with hers. Taking her hand, he playfully slid it down the front of his pajama pants until it was resting on his cock. She could feel it rising under her fingers and with it the temptation to just give in and laze the morning away with him in bed. Instead with regret, she gave him one more longing kiss and slid out from under the blankets, rising to her feet.

With a grumble of discontent, he closed his eyes, and she watched as he began to doze off again. With a grim but determined smirk, she went and opened the window to let the cool morning air in, then returned to the bedside and snagged the edge of the comforter. She gave it a sharp tug, flipping it off of him with almost expert precision and draping it over her arm. As soon as the cool air hit his skin, Kris made a noise of dismay, his hand scrabbling around the edge of the bed, trying to find the blanket Cath was holding tantalizingly out of reach.

He opened his eyes, taking in Cath standing at the foot of the bed, staring at him with a raised eyebrow. With a groan, he gingerly swung his legs over the side, running his fingers through his hair as he reached for his coffee. “You’re a task master,” he muttered groggily. “A very very sexy taskmaster.”

“The term is drill instructor,” she informed him smugly. “And I don’t let my recruits laze around either. Up and about with you, I’m going to start breakfast.”

She returned to the kitchen, before she could give in to what she really wanted to do and crawl back into bed with him. Her plans for today were time sensitive unfortunately and her ironclad military training wouldn’t let her stray too far off schedule. With a wry grin, hearing him yawn loudly and start to head for the bathroom slowly, Cath leaned against her kitchen counter and sipped her coffee. Knowing she had enough time to make breakfast before he made an appearance, she added more brew to top off her cup and turned the small radio she kept on her counter to a local station playing Christmas carols. After a moment of contemplation, she set the cup aside and reached under the counter for her frying pan and got to work so they could roll out on time.