Disclaimer: See chapter 1

Drabble 8: Remembering.

Warning: This is still "T"…but this chapter is perhaps…maybe…a little…erm…detailed. (And oh so much fun to write. I should do this more often.)

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Neal/Yuki for Grace of Masbolle– sorry that it's a little short.

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"Now, Nealan." Yuki's voice was winter cold. She was in no mood to be trifled with.

"Yuki," groaned Neal trying in vain to hide under the bed covers. "It's not even light."

"I know that. Now, get up." Yuki walked out of their bedroom calling behind her: "You have five minutes to be up and dressed and awake. If not I will leave without you. We need to be well on the road to Queenscove by midday."

Neal muttered a curse under his breath and opened bleary eyes. It was her fault that he was tired. After last night…Neal grinned at the memory and looked around their bedroom. Yuki's obi was nowhere in sight, her outer kimono lay crumpled near the hearth, inner kimono thrown carelessly onto the desk. He couldn't quite remember where his tunic had gone or, for that matter, his shirt, breeches and loincloth. Suffice to say, they were gone. Perhaps swallowed into the fierce lust and burning passion that had consumed them both last night.

Neal shrugged. Those sorts of details were not important. He remembered the essentials from the night before…her inner kimono was the colour of rust and smooth as silk, beneath that her shift and stockings were the softest gold and he could feel her shivers as he caressed her through the delicate fabric, slowly, teasingly.

The taste of her lips on his – green tea, his new favourite flavour, her insistent fingers tugging at his shirt ties, her hands tracing intricate patterns up and down his back, her lips upon his neck - biting and teasing, his mouth caressing the hollows of her collarbones. He recalled the way their bodies seemed to mesh perfectly, like two pieces of a whole, reunited. Even the way she had giggled after they were done. He had never thought that Yuki could giggle.

Recollections were shattered as his lover, friend and wife came back into their room. "What are you doing, Neal?" she snapped, waving her fan threateningly.

Neal gave a lopsided grin. "Just remembering last night," he said with a smile. "You were quite insistent, my love."

Yuki crossed the room in three strides and sat down on the bed, trailing fingers up and down her husband's chest. "Indeed," she murmured dryly, with only the merest of blushes. "Well," she continued. "I am just as insistent now. Get up." Yuki prodded Neal sharply in the chest. "Don't make me make you," she whispered in his ear. "You might enjoy it a little less than last night."

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Just a quick note to say that, no, I have not forsaken you all. My final high school exams are but three weeks distant and hence study seems like a somewhat pivotal thing to be concentrating on right now. This does not mean that I will stop updating, rather, just that you may have to be patient with me. Come November 21st, I'll be a free woman and updating (perhaps if you're super kind) once daily.

Reviews make me grin manically.