The boys are upstairs. It's quiet in the kitchen. Caroline is cooking, something hearty and healthy and no doubt delicious. She's not trying to impress Kate with her culinary skills or anything like that. She just really likes the look on Kate's face when she takes a first bite, and her eyes flutter shut without willing it, and she gives a deep, contented sigh, and her mouth purses ever so slightly into a little moue of pleasure. Caroline lives for looks like that. Evidence of Kate's pleasure make her … well, a little too pleased to be honest. Make her think of all the other things she could be doing, other than stirring a velvety cream sauce, a sauce as smooth and pliant as Kate's own skin beneath her fingers.

Caroline glances up from her methodical stirring, and looks over to where Kate sits at the centre island. She's perched on a long-legged stool, elbows leaning against the counter top, her brow furrowed in concentration as she marks a pile of French essays. Obviously sub-standard essays, if the displeased curve of her mouth is any indication. Oh dear. As headteacher, Caroline knows it is her duty to offer support to a member of staff facing the challenge of an underperforming class. She allows her eyes to rove over the other woman. She's wearing that blue shirt that Caroline likes so much; the one with buttons and a neckline that stops just slightly short of being indecent; the one that untucks with such little effort. Caroline turns her attention back to her sauce, has a little taste, and nods once. Perfect. She turns off the heat on the stove and moves over to the island. She doesn't realise it, but she moves like a predator stalking prey, slinking and soft.

Unsuspecting, Kate squeaked in surprise when Caroline snaked her arms around her waist. A throaty voice hummed in her ear "Dinner'll be ready in twenty". Kate thought it was a bit scary how a phrase so mundane could send so many sparks flaring through a woman's body. But there was something about the way Caroline said it, low and confident, as if she was also saying 'twenty minutes is plenty of time'. "Um, great. Smells great" Kate tried to sound normal.

"Hmm" Caroline hummed, her mouth staying close to Kate's ear "So do you".

Kate smiled, despite herself. Maybe twenty minutes would be plenty of time. She leaned her head back so she could kiss that wicked mouth. Caroline allowed that for a while, and then, just as Kate was deepening her kisses and starting to turn around in her seat, Caroline broke contact. Kate hummed in disappointment, but then it didn't matter anymore, because Caroline was kissing her way down Kate's neck, and her hands were moving up under her shirt.

"I want you" Caroline husked. It was a question. Even now, she still asked for Kate's permission before claiming her. Kate could only nod wordlessly as her back arched, giving Caroline better access to stroke aching nipples. It didn't take very much of that before Kate was parting her thighs and redirecting Caroline's hands, begging breathlessly for "More" and "There". Caroline kissed her as she slipped one hand under the waistband of her trousers. Kept kissing her as she stroked relentlessly at the wet heat she found. Kate shuddered her way through her orgasm, her desperate clutching hands on the counter the only thing keeping her from collapsing into Caroline's body.

Thank goodness that teenage boys thundered everywhere they went. They heard Lawrence on the stairs before he appeared in the kitchen. Even then it was a close thing, and Caroline had only just made it back to the stove and Kate's hands were dropping from a hastily fastened button when Lawrence burst into the room demanding to know when he'd be fed or else he'd perish from hunger. He didn't complain too much about being told to set the table. After all, they had obviously been working very hard. Both women were still hot and flushed from cooking his dinner.

The news was infuriating. The Department of Education had instituted some regulation or other that was making life even more difficult for teachers, and Kate was furious about it. So furious that she was sitting tensed up, ranting at the television, her hands curled into tight fists. Infuriating. This was not how Caroline had wanted to spend their afternoon.

They had just got home from a very nice picnic lunch with the boys, where they'd sat on blankets, on a little hillside not too far away from Gillian's farm. It seemed no one went on picnics anymore, as they'd had the entire gorgeous sun-kissed countryside to themselves. The only downside was that Caroline and Kate couldn't snuggle, as much as Kate may have wanted to. Not with the boys happily squabbling and stuffing their faces with egg sandwiches not three feet away. Caroline was trying to make up for that lack now, as they sat on the couch watching some idiot newscaster blather on about the 'sweeping reforms' and so forth, that would never affect Caroline's school, because she'd like to meet the Minister who would dare to tell a headteacher of a proud independent school that lessons had to be 'more fun' to keep students engaged. She couldn't quite fathom, as these new requirements really would never darken the halls of Sulgrave Heath, why Kate was being quite so up in arms about it all. Kate felt so deeply about things, Caroline thought. She really was quite splendid when she got all fired up and passionate about something. Her eyes flashed and her voice got very firm and pointed.

The segment on the news finally ended, and Kate started winding down a bit. She huffed and glared at Caroline, like it was her fault that the country's leaders of education were, not to put too fine a point on it, pillocks. Caroline smiled, a predatory little smile, returning Kate's glare with a smouldering look of her own. "What would you like me to do about it, dear?" she asked. She deliberately allowed her glance to fall to Kate's mouth, and then all her intentions to tease her lover were lost, because Kate's mouth was…well it was right there, slightly parted and firmed in anger, and just begging to be kissed.

Kate's voice lowered, heavy with emotion "Don't do that".

"Hmm?" Caroline glanced up to take in the dark fiery eyes, then back down to Kate's mouth. Of its own volition, her tongue swept across her bottom lip. "Do what?"

"That" Kate said pointedly. She glanced over her shoulder "The boys –"

"Are out in the garden" Caroline murmured distractedly, inching closer to Kate.

"Caroline" Kate said warningly, even though she knew it was a lost cause. No one could resist Caroline when she got like this, all hooded eyes and an intensity that vibrated off her. To be the focus of that attention was heady and made you not care who could walk in and see you kissing your lover on the couch in the middle of the afternoon. And when the kisses got deeper, and hands wandered further and wider under clothes, and zips were unfastened, and suddenly you had one leg draped over her shoulder, and she was looking up at you with those incredible eyes and saying huskily "May I?", God and all his angels could be at the door and yet have no power over you saying anything other than "Oh gods yes. Please."

When Lawrence came thundering through the room, crowing how he had trashed poor William yet again in whatever testosterone-soaked game they had been playing, he thought it a bit odd that his mother was sat on the floor, barely looking at Kate as she lay under a blanket on the couch. Maybe they'd argued over the news again. They did that quite a bit it seemed.

Kate loved watching Caroline work in her little alcove-office behind the kitchen. She looked so different than she did in her office at school. There, she was The Headteacher – capital letters clearly in place, tight-laced clothes and not a hair out of place. When she worked at home however, she was looser, in casual shirts, her hair worn softer, sometimes with bare feet! It was glorious to get to see her like that. Still very much a woman in charge of hundreds of lives, but so much more relaxed, open, and available.

Kate had told her once of a fantasy she'd had about them in Caroline's office. How this time she wouldn't stop at a quick snog and frustrating grope because someone was bringing her a cup of tea and there was no time for anything more. How she would take her time, how she would make Kate beg, and then make her come like she always did, hard and shattering. Caroline had looked at her, arched one eyebrow, and said "Really" in that cool neutral tone she used sometimes that could mean anything.

Thinking about that now, Kate crossed her legs against the sudden throb of arousal she felt. Caroline glanced up from her laptop, probably because some sixth sense was telling her that Kate was thinking about sex. Kate grinned at her ruefully. She wished she could get some of this hero-worship under control. Caroline wasn't superhuman, she could not read her thoughts; she did not know how much Kate was aching for her right now. Except, Caroline was getting up from her chair, stretching like a cat unwrapping itself from sunning on the floor, and then stalking over to where Kate sat on the little sofa just barely big enough for two.

Caroline sat down next to Kate, curling her long legs under her, and kissed her briefly on the mouth. "All ok? Not too bored are you? I'm nearly done with the reports. Then we can open a bottle of wine and …" her voice trailed off. Kate looked a bit disappointed, even though she was trying hard to hide it. Caroline's enormous brain worked furiously. What had she said to cause this reaction? What had she done? She saw Kate fidget just a smidgeon, rearrange her crossed leg, and flick her fingers against her knee. Ah.

Caroline reached over and ran her hand up Kate's exposed knee. "I like you in skirts" she said nonchalantly. "It's probably a good thing you don't wear them more often. Especially at work."

"Oh?" Kate said, suddenly perking up.

"Hmm." Her hand continued it's wandering. "Far too distracting".

"Are you making that an order Headmistress?" Kate grinned "No skirts at work?"

"Unless you want me … oh, what was it … 'taking you up against a door' in my office, while poor Beverley was brewing some tea?"

Kate's breath caught "You are…something else. You know that, don't you?"

"So you keep telling me" Caroline smiled, and kissed Kate a bit more thoroughly than before.

She hadn't lied about liking Kate in skirts. Kate had wonderful legs, and skirts made it so much easier to see them, and touch them, and to run her hand up and down Kate's thigh in such a way that it made her breath sob in the back of her throat as she fought to control her moans. A skirt made it so much easier to spread Kate open, gave her more room to work in close quarters like this sofa, so that when she paused to ask "Yes?", she could already feel the answer in the heat that radiated from Kate's centre.

A skirt was also easier to drag hurriedly back into place when young Lawrence, oblivious as ever, went thundering from bedroom to kitchen in search of ice cream. Caroline smiled fondly at Kate's post-orgasmic blissed out face, as Lawrence prattled on about how he'd think better of them if they didn't sit around staring at each other like a pair of love-sick teenagers.

Days later, when Caroline was massaging Kate's leg as they waited for an ambulance, she had to question, yet again, the quality of her youngest son's intellect. Of all the times she didn't have to explain away her actions, this time – when there was a completely innocent explanation, and everyone had their clothes on, and no 'mucky business' was going on – this was the time he decided to be horrified at her and Kate's sex life!