Bouquets of Chocolate (manxman)

Ten

His arms around my waist are incredibly distracting, particularly because they hold me pressed against his chest, which in turn allows his face to nuzzle my neck, his breath hitting it with every exhale. I'm desperately trying to concentrate on cutting the marshmallow in front of me into even squares, but his kisses-turned-nibbles on my throat make that virtually impossible.

"Would you stop already!" I finally exclaim, putting my knife down in an effort to prevent any fatal injuries.

Rather than be intimidated or taken aback, he just whines in his throat.

"Why? I finally get to hold you every day and I'm planning on making the absolute most out of that. Besides, there's something about you in an apron."

I roll my eyes. We've been officially dating for just over 10 months so no, he doesn't get to use that excuse anymore.

"I'm literally wearing like 3 layers, one of which are my knee high fluffy socks, so shut the fuck up." I choose to respond instead.

"Let me rephrase. There's something about you being all domestic."

I fight the sudden impulse to either hit him or give in to him. Both not ideal considering I have a reason for keeping him here rather than sending him away like I usually would around this time. I check my watch discreetly and sigh internally; I still have half an hour to keep him in line.

Abandoning my marshmallow for later, I decide to use my secret weapon. I turn around in his arms, which makes us now stand directly chest to chest, and look up at him.

"I want to cuddle." I state bluntly.

Without even answering me, he squeezes me tightly once, then grabs my hand, leads me to the living room, clearly planning to use my sofa. But of course the cat has taken the liberty of stretching herself across the whole thing, leaving maybe a few inches of space for us.

Sighing, I let go of Jordie and lean down to push her but towards her other end, squashing her back into her natural shape. She even slides a bit further up, which gives us just enough space to at least sit down. But somewhere during me repositioning her, she wakes up, looks at me with eyes that could - and probably will - kill, then huffs, gets up on all four legs and stretches into a a perfect arch. After a few shivers, she simply hops off and leaves the room. Well, I guess that'll do, but before I can make myself comfortable, Jordie is already pulling me up so he can lie down and have me lie on him.

Back to keeping him quiet until later. This strategy is two fold. First, I'm rarely ever this straight forward when it comes to our relationship, mostly because I have no reason to be, he usually just knows what I want. But hearing me say it gives him some sort of kick apparently. Second, I know he loves to cuddle. Frankly, I do too, but like I said, it's embarrassing to say, and I hate blushing, so I just usually never put that particular desire into words. My last ditch effort to keep him in line takes advantage of both of these facts. Works every time. And it's an added bonus that I get to cuddle to my heart's content too.

I love lying on his chest, my ear right over his heart. Every once in a while, I crane my neck up so I can give him a chaste kiss to his throat or the underside of his jaw, and he'll reward me by gently squeezing my shoulder. We rarely talk when we're like this, and if, only in whispers or strangely meaningful hums.

"Love you," he whispers when I give in to a moment of weakness and lightly nip at his jaw, even though I know I really shouldn't.

"Hmm," I hum quietly. I don't really have to answer.

When I check the clock across the room, I start mentally preparing myself to get up, knowing that soon, I won't get a choice anymore. And no more than a few minutes later, the door bell rings. I sigh.