Getting Used to It
Catherine felt herself stiffen once again at his gentle embrace around her tiny waist. She was glad that she had opened her locker door all the way so that he wouldn't have to see her facial expression. She wasn't stiff because he was embracing her lovingly while they were still at work.
"Warrick…" She almost whined as she tried to pull away. He only tightened his grip around her and began to give her love bites on her neck. She tilted her head back onto his shoulder and granted him more access to her neck; she was still tense though. "Not here…"
He responded by moving his hands up to her bosom.
"Why not?" He asked in a whisper. "We've done it every where else."
Catherine blushed at that. Normally proud, lately, she'd been flaunting her sex life less and less…being with Warrick had changed her, and she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.
He moved his hands back down to her hips. She sighed and moved out of his hold.
"Why do you always do that?" Warrick asked with a mixture of concern and irritation.
"Do what?" she asked, knowing full well what he was talking about.
"Why do you always tense up every time I touch you?" He asked.
Catherine sighed. "I don't know."
Warrick kissed her shoulder and then rubbed her sides.
"Well, whatever the reason," he whispered. "If we're going to stay together, you better get used to it."
She looked up at him and he had a grin on his face. She couldn't help but smile.
She leaned up and kissed him again before retrieving her things from within her locker.
When they arrived home, Catherine put her things down on the couch and Warrick followed behind her, picking her things up and putting them in the coat closet. He'd mentioned before that using the couch as a dumping site was the worst of all of her bad habits, next to whining and using up all the hot water.
Living together was complicated. Every space that had two sides was now completely taken over by Warrick: the other side of the bathroom, the other side of the closet, the other side of the shower stall, the other side of the bed. Catherine had not seen those spaces bombarded with a partner's effects in years and she still couldn't believe it. She was happy, even though he drove her crazy half the time. His neatness collided with her half-cleaning ways. Not a good mix on clean up weekends.
Catherine sighed as she sat down on the bed in their spacious master bedroom. Warrick entered and came over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Didn't you already kiss me once today?" Catherine asked with a chuckle.
"Yeah, but I wanted to kiss you again," he said. This time his kissed her lips before heading into the closet.
Sometimes Catherine couldn't stand how sweet he was to her. Sometimes she wished that he'd get so mad at her that he'd have to yell and not talk to her for a few days. Not kiss her or anything and then have a big makeup thing. That's how it was with all the others. Instead, he chose to find common ground with her in an argument, and he would forget about them, and the next day, he'd kiss her like he did every day. Another thing that bothered her was that he never forgot to kiss her.
Catherine took off her shirt and pants and threw them on the chair. She took down her now longer and red (she hadn't dyed it blond at Warrick's request because he claimed that "I fell in love with a redhead") hair. She yawned with the anticipation of going to sleep, but when Warrick emerged from the closet with no shirt on, tiredness in Catherine was forgotten. He gave her a once over with a smirk that she thought was sexy. She crooked her finger at him, beckoning him over to her with a seductive look in her eyes.
He followed her command and he kissed her deeply. He kneeled down in front of her and pushed her knees open and settled between them. She leaned down and kissed him again.
"Damn girl," he whispered. "You are fine."
He kissed her again while pushing her down to the bed.
Catherine collapsed onto the bed, covered in sweat, panting, and satisfied.
"That's what I'm talking about," she panted. "That was incredible."
Warrick laid beside her, equally sweaty, breathless and satisfied.
"That was pretty hot," he said breathlessly.
Catherine curled up close to him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I love you," she said.
"I love you," he said, drawing her closer to him.
***
Catherine woke up to the smell of cooking. She looked over at the clock. Three hours before she had to go get Lindsay.
She got out of bed and put on one of her skimpy nightshirts that was laying in the floor on her side of the bed. She knew that Warrick wouldn't mind. Now that she thought about it, Warrick didn't mind a lot of things when it came to her looks and body.
Catherine attributed that to the fact that he was three years her junior. Sometimes, he would want her to show off her body, especially when she started feeling self conscious. Sometimes he would go through a period of every time he looked at her, he wanted to make love to her and Catherine didn't mind that at all. For the most part, Warrick looked at and loved Catherine as a woman. It showed in his lovemaking, and Catherine wasn't too sure about that either. It was still great sex, but she wanted it faster and harder all the time. His gentleness was something she welcomed, but it bothered her. Earlier she had gotten what she wanted, but there wasn't as much passion in it as when it was slow. This acknowledgement put her in a funk.
She walked into the kitchen.
"Hey," she said with a smile.
"Hey," he said. "Did you sleep well?"
"Hell yes," she purred.
He chuckled.
"You didn't have to do dinner," she said, getting closer to him. "I could have done it when Lindsay got home."
"Babe, we go through this everyday," Warrick said, facing her. "Have you ever considered that maybe I like to cook for you and Lindsay?"
"Yeah," she said. "But you don't have to."
"Baby, that's what I'm telling you," he chuckled. He cupped her face in his hands. "I want to. I know I don't have to. I want to because I love you."
He kissed her lips before going back to making dinner. She couldn't understand it.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and she tensed up again and pulled away. Warrick looked at her strangely.
"Cat, why do you do that?" He asked, more hurt than irritated this time.
She looked at him.
"Look," she started. "I'm not used to this. You're so sweet and gentle and kind. It's kind of a shock to my system. When Eddie and I were married, he never hugged me or kissed me like you do. You kiss me because you love me, he kissed me because he thought he owned me. He never cooked or cleaned or anything. I don't want you to feel like you're obligated."
"Babe, I don't feel obligated," Warrick assured her. "Catherine, whether you want to realize it or not, you're special to me. I love you and I respect you. Like I said before, you have to get used to it because I don't want you to ever feel like I don't love you or want you."
He brushed a strand of hair from her face and caressed her cheek. She smiled. He turned her around so that her back was to him and he embraced her around her waist once again. She stiffened as a reflex at first, then she slowly relaxed into him. Her love for him was increased twofold as she leaned against him and put her arms on top of his.
Yes, she could definitely get used to this.