Rachel stirred beneath me, opening her eyes. My heart thrilled at the ready smile that touched her lips as she looked up at me. "Morning, lover," she murmured.
I placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Did you sleep OK?"
She nodded. "Never better."
I shifted so that my body was only half-covering hers. "Me too." My stomach rumbled, and I gave her a resigned smile. "I'd love it if we could just stay here, but we probably both need some breakfast."
Rachel nodded. "Plenty of time for loving later, though."
I swung my legs off the bed. "Want me to make something and bring it up?"
Rachel shook her head. "Would you mind terribly if I had a quick shower, then came down to eat?"
She threw me a knowing smile. "I loved what we did, but I do still feel a little... sticky."
"Sure, no problem." I watched as she went through into the en-suite, then as the water started running I pulled on my dressing gown and made my way downstairs to the kitchen.
A quick search of the fridge revealed bacon, eggs, sausages, and as an afterthought I took a tin of beans from the shelf in the larder, starting to cook. The eggs were just starting to look perfect when I heard footsteps on the stairs, and I turned as Rachel came into the kitchen, still barefoot and wearing a long t-shirt that only just reached below her thighs.
"What?" she grinned. "I didn't want to get dressed, but we don't want to shock the neighbours if they happen to glance over the fence, do we."
I moved the frying pan off the flame, and turned to wrap her in my arms. "You look fantastic whatever you're wearing."
I waved towards the table. "Everything's ready – would you like coffee?"
Rachel shook her head. "Let's eat first, or yours will go cold."
I brought heaped plates over to the table, and we started to eat. "Perfect," judged Rachel.
Finally I put my knife and fork down, and took my plate over to the sink. I spooned fresh grounds into the coffee maker, flipping the switch, and it started to make its familiar gurgling sound. "Mm," said Rachel. "I love the smell of real coffee."
I poured for us, making sure to use Rachel's favourite mug, and sat down again. "So, what would you like to do today? It still looks like rain, but I'm sure we can find a way to entertain ourselves."
She threw me a soft smile. "Definitely. But dull as it sounds, there are a few things we ought to do around the house."
"OK," I agreed. "What's first?" "Well, fair's fair, you cooked, I'll wash up. Maybe while I do that you could empty the bins and put some washing on."