Ok people, chapter 10! *fanfares in the background*
In celebration: Please tell me what you think so far in the comments. Like it? Love it? Hate it? Meh? and why. It would make my day. Enjoy your dose of fluff!

Chapter 10: No trouble

Gideon had taken to closing the blinds of the bakery every evening now, explaining to Elliot that it was easier to signal to customers that they were closed that way.
The real reason of course was to conceal the fact that even after closing, the bakery had a regular visitor.

Gideon had seen teens sitting like this in the window seats before. It annoyed him, and he always told them to take their dirty feet off the cushions. Now however, with Mary leaning comfortably against his torso, carefully blowing on her hot tea, he would never be annoyed again.
She fit perfectly against him as she sat between his legs, her own knees pulled up in front of her. Gideon leaned one knee against the closed blinds, his bushy tail lazily moving back and forth below them, brushing against the tiles on the floor.
He had one arm around her middle, securing her against him while he used his free paw to play with the dark brown curls on her head. He gently pulled on one curl until it was straight, and twice the length he noted, before letting go, watching it curl back with a bounce.
Mary was smiling to herself as she sipped her tea, allowing the fascinated fox to play with her wool.
Lowering his head, Gideon rubbed his snout against her neck, inhaling deeply, not finding a single hint of stress or fear in her scent. She seemed completely content and happy in his arms. This brought him a newfound type of joy, slow and warm, like a sunrise.

"That tickles" Mary giggled lightly as she crunched her shoulders to protect her neck from his probing nose. Gideon playfully blew a final puff of air through her wool, before leaning back against the pillows he had stacked up behind him.
Mary tipped her head back, looking up at the underside of his chin above her.

"Gideon?"
"Mmm?"
"What do I smell like?"
"Happiness" he mumbled.
"No, I'm serious" she laughed, her eyes still on the light fur under his chin. "You draw my scent quite often"
"Does it bother you?" Gideon asked, suddenly worried that this very predatory habit was not welcome.
"Not at all" she assured him, reaching up to scratch the underside of his chin, making his tail pick up its pace. "But your sense of smell is so much better than mine; I'm curious"
"Alright" Gideon chuckled, placing a kiss on her forehead.
"It's almost like layers" he begun. "First, you smell like prey and sheep, so a little sweet and woolly"
"Woolly?" she asked, a sceptical smile on her face.
"I don't know what else ta call it. Wool just holds scent different 'an fur" he shrugged apologetically.
"Then there's these added things that vary a bit, like the apple detergent you use, green apple I think, and chalk and crayons" He buried his nose at the crook of her neck, taking another whiff.
"Can't help the chalk and crayons" Mary giggled as his nose tickled her again. "An occupational hazard"
"And then there's the flowery shampoo you use. I like that one" he mumbled into her wool. His lips moving against her neck was sending shivers down her spine.
"And then there's you"
"Me?" Mary could hear her voice starting to go a little shaky.
"Yeah" he muttered into her wool. "At's the best part, cutting through the other layers, and just smell your scent: It's sweet n' rich, like cardamom, but there's somethin' earthy to it…"

Gideon was getting lost in what he was trying to describe. He was so concentrated on Mary that he noticed immediately as her heartbeat quickened, the increased blood flow making the sweetness in her scent go from subtle to dominating in a matter of seconds.

Mary had forgotten all about her tea; her eyes fluttering shut as she felt Gideon's heart beating faster against her shoulder blades. He was rubbing his nose along her neck as if in a trance, drawing long deep breaths.
"So I smell nice?" she asked breathlessly.
"Very nice" he drawled, his voice muffled in her wool.

Mary raised her hoof, running her digits through the thick fur on his cheek and up behind his ear, enjoying the feel of him.
Gideon knew all he needed to do was to lift his head just a little to get the kiss he wanted, but by how sweet Mary smelled right now he doubted that he would be able to stop at that. So he willed his paws not to wander, and instead stayed completely still as he enjoyed the sensation of Mary running her hooves through his fur and along his scalp.

"What 'bout me?" he finally whispered by her ear. "What do I smell like to you?"
"Pastry, mostly" Mary answered without missing a beat, her ear flicking as Gideon chuckled right into it. Returning the laugh, she let go of his fur, allowing him to sit back up.
"And jam, and sometimes freshly baked bread"
"Can't help it; occupational hazard" he replied playfully.

Remembering her tea, Mary took another sip of the now lukewarm liquid before setting the mug out of the way on the table beside them. With an uncharacteristically sly smile on her lips, she quickly got up on her knees and turned to face him on the cushions. She could feel his body go rigid as she leaned her hoofs against his chest, burying her face in the fur just below his jaw, drawing a couple of deep breaths of her own.
"My nose is not as keen as yours, but…" she whispered, feeling his pulse racing against her lips. "Your pred, and a fox, so strong and musky"
"Musky?" he croaked, his paws laying limp in his lap, still immobilised by her unexpected move.
"Yea, musky, like cloves" Mary explained while she rubbed her cheek against his.

Bringing her hooves up, she racked them through the thick fur on his cheeks again, before pressing them against a spot just under his ears, holding his head in place as she laid a lingering kiss on his lips.

Gideon was lost, completely helpless in the hooves of this small black sheep. At that moment she could have done anything she wanted to him and he would not have been able, or willing, to resist her. Her lips moved softly against his, and he felt something deep and permanent taking a hold around his heart.
When Mary came away from the kiss, opening her brilliant blue eyes to him, he nearly blurted it out. The confession almost drawn out of him by one unsteady exhale.

He loved her.

Mary did not quite understand the expression on Gideon's face. He seemed scared and happy at the same time, his lips parted as if to say something, but deciding against it at the last second.
"What-" she begun, but was promptly cut off by Gideon pulling her down for another kiss.

He drew her down with him, until he lay flat on his back in the cushioned window seat with Mary on top of him. She was so light; he could comfortably breathe with her relaxing all her weight on his belly and chest.

Mary sighed contently, her hoofs holding on to his shirt as she nuzzled her nose against the fur just above his shirt collar. Gideon circled both his arms around her, holding her tight, while his tail came up to gently rest across the back of her legs.
"I could sleep here" she mumbled against his shirt.
"I ain't going nowhere" Gideon replied softly, smiling into her wool as her breathing became slow and steady.

Benjamin was slurping his cereal, the puffed honey flavoured flakes floating around in the soymilk as he dipped his spoon in, engrossed in some puzzle on the back of the cereal box.

Eva stood by the sink in their tiny kitchen in the small rented cottage. She almost had to hunch down to not brush the tips of her ears against the ceiling when she walked. It was clearly built for smaller mammals; maybe pigs or perhaps goats judging by the population of Bunnyburrow, but she had been relieved to find anything above rabbit size.
It did not matter much to her anyway, and the low ceilings and smaller furniture did not bother Benjamin, still just a cub as he was. Barely ten years old.
She swallowed the lump in her throat with the last of her coffee, setting the mug down in the sink.

"Alright Ben, time for school"
It warmed her heart that this sentence no longer seemed to draw the light out of him, he did not seem to mind going, sometime he even looked forward to it. She guessed she had the tiny energetic bunny in his class to thank for that. Lately he also spoke of other kids; Sally this and Kevin that. Together with the birthday invitation hanging proudly on their fridge, it proved to her that her boy was fitting in. He was adapting and finding his place in their new home, and he was almost back to being the happy cub he had been before.

"Yes mama" he drank the last of the cereal right from the bowl, swiftly pulling on his backpack hanging over the kitchen chair. His mother slipped on her coat over the light blue scrubs she was wearing, checking the pockets for her keys and phone. As if her paw touching it was some kind of signal, her phone's generic ringtone filled the tiny kitchen.

Eva fished out her phone, a worried wrinkle between her brows as she glanced at the unknown number on the display.
"Hello?"
"Good morning Eeeeva" Benjamin strained his ears to pick up the crackling voice at the other end of the line.
"W-what do you want?" Eva asked in a harsh whisper, turning her back on Benjamin so he would not see the look of fear on her face.
"Aren't I allowed to ask how my nephew's doing?"

A whimper from behind her made Eva realise that Benjamin could hear both sides of the conversation. His hearing was developing so fast, he grew up more every day. Trying her best to give her son a reassuring look she walked out into the hallway, closing the door between them.
Benjamin quickly followed, pressing his ear to the crack between the door and the doorframe; he could still her his mother's voice.

"Rex, we had a deal" she pleaded. "We have been out of your fur, I-I have spoken to no one-" she was cut off, before her voice came back as a sharp whisper.
"I will not let you drag him into that life, I…"
"He is my son Rex"

Benjamin waited until he heard the tell tail beep of his mother hanging up before opening the door to the hallway. His mother was sitting on the terracotta coloured floor-tiles that ran through the cottage, her face hidden in her paws as her shoulders shook.

"Mama?"

Eva held out her arms, beckoning her son to come to her. He crawled into her lap, letting her hold him to her, smoothing her cheek over the fur on top of his head.

"Mama, was that-"
"Sssh" she soothed. "I will never let anything happen to you, do you hear me?" she continued running her cheek and nose over his fur, calming him as much as herself.
"Never" she promised, holding him even tighter.

Mary was humming as she poured herself some coffee from the coffeemaker in the teachers break room. The autumn day was grey and overcast, but the weather was in no way enough to put a damper on her mood.
She had slept for almost an entire hour in the window seat with Gideon yesterday, only to wake by him carefully running the back of his knuckles over her cheek, mumbling softly to her that it was almost nine.

They had intended to alternate days and meet at different times to make it harder for others to notice, but that plan had fallen flat almost right of the bat. They had met every day after seven for the past week and a half.

She stirred her coffee with her spoon, mixing the white soymilk with the black, making it turn a rich brown. Gideon took his coffee black, two sugars. She smiled at this little piece of information; something she knew that few others did.

"If only I could find someone who looked at me like you look at your coffee" Graham sighed melodramatically as he poured himself his own cup beside her. "But alas" the middle-aged bunny put his paw on his forehead in his best theatrical fashion "No bonnie bunnies will cast one glance in my direction"
Mary laughed, but it sounded more nervous than she wanted it to. She was swift to bury her face in her coffee mug, hiding her blushing nose.
"Oh, don't be overdramatic" Claudia cut in, only rolling her eyes enough for Mary to notice.
"I'm a single bunny in Bunnyburrow my dear, I am allowed to be overdramatic" Graham took a deliberate sip of his coffee before padding over to join the other teachers on the miss-matched sofas and chairs around the coffee table.

"Mary, can I ask you a favour?" Claudia asked as Mary made to follow after Graham.
"Sure" she smiled at her senior colleague, her nose thankfully back to its normal shade of pink.
"Do you mind switching gate duty with me tomorrow? Kelly has a dentist appointment, and Oscar isn't able to take her"

Gate duty was shared equally between the teachers in Bunnyburrow Elementary. Every morning and every afternoon one teacher would stand by the gate and another in the schoolyard to make sure students were delivered and picked up safely. In the quiet Tri-Burrows that usually just meant keeping the kids away from any traffic until their buss or parent arrived, but it was a precautionary measure all schools in the country were required to have.

"Of course, no problem" Mary nodded. "You can take mine next Monday"
"Thank you, you're a real lifesaver" she smiled, taking a sip of her own coffee. "Oh, and another thing; Benjamin Wolfskinsky, noticed anything lately?"
"No, he has seemed to adjust nicely" Mary looked up at the cheetah, a little puzzled. After Ellie broke the initial ice front, she had seen the young cub get along well with the other kids. "Why?"
"He's just seemed a little distant today" Claudia said, rubbing her chin. "You have him in class next period, just tell me if you notice anything?"
"I will" she assured her, hoping all the progress he had made lately was not in vain.

Maybe it was because Claudia had made her aware of it, but Benjamin did seem like he had trouble concentrating. His mind seemed to be elsewhere, his eyes distant as he looked down on his math problems, not making any effort to solve them. Neither did he pay attention when she went through the solutions to the problems on the blackboard, but Mary was not the kind of teacher that would call pupils out for not paying attention in front of the entire class. Everyone could have a bad day, but if he still seemed troubled tomorrow, she decided she would take him aside.

Elliot had not even been gone five minutes before Gideon heard the soft knock on the back door that he had come to associate with Mary. Quickly putting the empty flour sack in the pile with the other empty sacks in the storage room he went to unlock the door, still wearing his apron.
Mary was standing on top of the stairs, wearing her casual jeans and a light pink knitted sweater. Gideon shot a quick glance around the alley before bending down, a big smile matching hers on his lips as he circled his arms around her small waist.

Mary let out a muffled giggle as he lifted her inside and closed the door behind them in one smooth motion. Gideon had found it was much more comfortable for both of them if he lifted her up when they kissed, and he had had enough opportunities to perfect his technique over the past week.
She melted against him, her arms around his neck as he leaned his back against the wall opposite the door, holding one arm just under her rear, the other around her waist.

"Evenin' Lovely" he greeted softly, touching his nose against hers as he broke from the kiss.
"Good evening" she replied, drawing small circles with her nose against his.

Mary was in no rush to get down, and Gideon did not mind holding her where she was. There was something inexplicably calming about being lifted up and held in his arms like this. She felt safe, and every ounce of stress or worry that may have piled up during the day melted away.

"How's your day been?" she asked, pulling her head back a little more to get a better look at his face. He had his usual calm smile on his lips, his bangs a little tussled after the long day.
"The usual; made some pie, sold some pie, ate some pie" he smiled, looking at her with affectionate eyes as she ran her hoof through his bangs, evening them out.

"Saved some for me?"
"What kinda question's at?" he chuckled while raising one eyebrow at her. "I'm startn' ta think you only come here for the free pie"
"It's a perk" Mary admitted with a playful smile, before closing the distance between their lips again.

Gideon let out a content sight as he leaned the back of his head against the wall, allowing Mary to steer the kiss. This was all he needed, however tiring his day had been, the sweet sensation of her lips moving against his made the weariness wash away. To his slight annoyance, she broke the kiss sooner than he had expected.

"Do you hear that?"
"What?" Gideon opened his eyes lazily to see Mary, eyes wide, tilting her head with her ears angled in two different directions. He was struck by how alert she looked, and very prey-like.

Then he heard it; the sputter of a familiar engine of a smaller vehicle, one he had heard a number of times before, as it pulled up in the alley. They both froze, unable to move as they listened intently to the engine coming to a stop and a car door opening and shutting.

Mary tensed even more in his arms as there was a knock on the door, the jovial voice of Stu Hopps travelling into the hallway:
"Gideon? You in there?" there was a pause where neither Gideon nor Mary dared to breathe.
"It's Stu! I know you're closed, but I was in town and thought I'd drop by" one could clearly hear him being proud of himself for doing something impulsive for once.

Gideon watched in horror as the door handle started to turn; he had forgot to lock the door.

Turning to the closest hiding place he could think of, Gideon dove in through the open door to the small storage room. Landing roughly on top of Mary on the pile of empty burlap sacks inside, he almost managed to push the door closed behind them with his left foot before Stu opened the door into the hallway.
There was still a small crack between the door and doorframe, letting in a thin strip of light in the otherwise dark room. Gideon did not dare to close it in case Stu noticed; bunnies had a sense of hearing that was unmatched by any species he knew of.

"Gideon?" Stu's voice could be heard as he walked past the storage room door and into the bakery.

Gideon was desperately searching his mind for any explanation the carrot farmer would believe as to why he was on top of Mary in a dark storage room. Unfortunately, there was only two believable explanations to why a fox would be on top of a sheep. Neither one what he wished Stu to assume.

Mary was holding on to his forearms, eyes wide trying to see in the dark room. The only light was the thin strip creeping in through the crack in the door from the hallway. It was enough for Gideon's eyes to pick up, though right now he had all his focus on his hearing, angling his ears to follow the sound of Stu walking around the bakery, questioningly calling his name.

As the soft patter of the carrot farmer's feet came back out of the kitchen, Gideon tensed, holding his breath, sensing Mary doing the same underneath him.
Thankfully, Stu did not seem to think about checking the storage room. Gideon could hear him mutter something about keeping one's doors locked as he shut the back door behind him.
They stayed completely still, Gideon waiting for the sound of the engine in the Hopps' small car to start again.

"Is he gone?" Mary finally whispered as silently as she could.
"Yea" Gideon angled his ears to make sure. "He's gone"

Mary let out a sigh of relief, and promptly started laughing.
"What's funny?"
"You're a fox hiding from a bunny" she said teasingly, the relief of not being caught fuelling her laughter further.
"Oh yea? Well you're a sheep trapped alone with a fox" he teased back, lowering himself towards her with a mock growl, his snout nuzzling her neck. The move earned him another exited giggle as Mary started to squirm under him.
"That tickles!"

Gideon loved the new sensation of Mary moving beneath him. It made him feel wonderfully satisfied and hungry at the same time; he could not help but put a little more of his weight on her, though careful as not to crush her.

Mary felt a rush of heat as Gideon pushed her down onto the burlap sacks. She willingly pushed back against him, bringing her arms up around his neck to pull him further down, locking his lips in a passionate kiss.

His apron was the first thing to go, flung carelessly against the wall. Now that the path was cleared, Mary's small smooth hoofs moved down to his shirt-collar. Slowly, she carefully started to unbutton his shirt; one button, two buttons, three…

Gideon tugged impatiently at her sweater, finally untucking it from the front of her jeans, sliding one paw through the wool on her stomach, up to her chest. He groaned gently against her lips; she was so warm, so incredibly soft.

Mary let out a soft wanton moan, making his fur stand up as a ripple of need ran through him. Gideon felt himself on the edge of a cliff. One more move and he would fall over, unable to stop.
With whatever self-control he had left, he pushed himself off her, sinking panting down on the floor.

Confused, Mary sat up and watched as Gideon reached for the light switch and turned on the light. It was a harsh white light from a naked lightbulb, making her eyes hurt after the time in the dark. As she saw him clearly, sitting on the floor in front of her, she suddenly felt ashamed. His shirt was completely unbuttoned, revealing that the light fur around his mouth and chin ran all the way down his chest and stomach.
Maybe she had assumed too much.

"Look" she managed, voice shaking with embarrassment as she straightened out her sweater. "If you don't want to…" she stopped as Gideon cupped her cheek with his paw.
"No, I want to" he said softly.
"I want you so much it actually hurts, but not like this. Not in some dark n' dusty storage room, like I'm doing somethin' wrong" he was looking into her eyes intently, his voice low and sincere as he spoke.
"I wanna put my arm 'round you, I wanna kiss you, whenever I want, no matter who's lookin'" Mary felt her breathing hitch in her throat as he grasped her hoofs in his paws.
"I wanna tell everyone: My girlfriend's a teacher at Bunnyburrow Elementary, her name's Mary, and I love her very much"
Mary covered her mouth, tears threatening to stream down her face as she watched Gideon kneeling on the cold floor in front of her.

He had not meant to tell her that yet, thinking it was too soon, but there it was: He loved her. As simple and as complicated as that feeling could be.

"Gideon" she said softly, her eyes shimmering with tears that was just a blink away from running down her cheeks.
"I love you too"

Gideon let out a sound between a groan and a sigh as he pulled her into his lap, burying his face against her shoulder while holding her firmly against him. Mary closed her eyes, circling her arms around him under his open shirt, enjoying the feeling of his soft fur against her cheek. She drew deep calming breaths of his familiar scent, though it was a little stronger than usual.

He did not want to move, he just wanted to hold her for the rest of the night if possible, but his knees were starting to hurt, and the naked light in the storage room was becoming uncomfortable on his eyes.

"You-" he cleared his throat "You want some tea?"
Mary laughed softly against his chest, before reaching up and placing a quick kiss on his nose.
"I'd love some tea"

They sat facing each other in what was becoming their regular spot on the window seat nearest the counter, a plate with cookies sitting between two steaming cups of tea on the table beside them.

Mary was looking out the window through a small crack between the blinds, deep in thought as she watched the rain run down the window: They had not mentioned rain on today's weather forecast.

"Gideon…" Mary turned away from the window to look at the fox in front of her. "You want to…To not keep this a secret anymore?"
"I think I never wanted ta keep it a secret" he answered, taking a sip from his tea. "I just, figured we had to"
"Yea" Mary nodded. "Maybe if we lived in Zootopia, or in another larger city…"
"You wanna move?" He had meant it as a joke, but Mary just sent him a sad smile.
"No" she reached for her own tea. "And I've been thinking; I can't think of many interspecies couples" she sighed. "I knew a liger in college, her parents where obviously mixed, but still similar you know? And she still got enough uncomfortable comments about it"
"Yeah, figures" Gideon sent Travis' unfortunate aunt another sympathetic thought.
"Of course, I've heard of couples that are-" she did a gesture with her hoof between them
"Prey and pred?" he finished for her.
"Yea" she nodded. "Read about them online, but never met or seen anyone myself"
"Me neither" Gideon admitted. "Tough I've never been outside the Burrows myself, so not that it matters much" he sent her a careful smile.

"I worry for you, for what'd happen to you" Mary said in a hushed tone. "I still think about what Travis said; that they would beat you to a pulp"
"Nah" Gideon bit into a cookie. "They'd just yell at me, prolly smash my windows again, throw stuff at my van"
"That's still pretty bad" Mary muttered, imagining the bakery going bankrupt as more and more mammals boycotted him for being with her.
"I don't want to get you into trouble"
"No trouble" he assured her, his eyes lovingly on hers. "For you, it'd be no trouble"

Mary nearly began crying again. She quickly moved to curl up against his chest, feeling his arms close around her again.

"What 'bout you?" he whispered carefully into her wool. "Won't I cause you trouble, with work n' what not?"
"The school can't fire me for who I date" Mary made small circles on his shirt, now fully buttoned again. "Though I guess a lot of parents would want them to"

She tried to imagine what it would be like; going to work every morning if everyone knew. Maybe the other teachers would just avoid her, or be rude, Marnie would probably be worst of them all.
The pupils would mirror whatever their parents thought, and even though so many of them seemed like descent mammals when she met them, she could never know for sure. She remembered the suspicious glances when Gideon had helped her home with her groceries, almost a month ago now.

Taking her silence as reluctance, Gideon continued his whisper into her wool.
"We don't have to. We can keep it like this" he knew he was asking too much, and the last thing he wanted was to see her unhappy.

"Maybe for now" Mary answered hesitantly, still deep in thought. "But we could tell just a few? Travis already knows, maybe tell our parents?"
"Yea" Gideon ran his fingers lazily over the edges of her ear, smiling when he made them involuntarily twitch and flick. "I still think Ma 'd like you"
"Can't promise the same" Mary sighed, imagining the shock that would play across her mother's face when she introduced a fox as her boyfriend, followed by the inevitable yelling.

Getting up on her knees in front of him, she cupped his large head in her hoofs, placing a long kiss on his lips, which he eagerly answered. She felt his paws come to rest on her hips, the sound of the rain against the window becoming muffled as Gideon occupied all her senses, filling her with a warm calm.
"Gideon" she breathed intently. "You're worth the trouble, don't you believe anything else"

Gideon brought one paw to the back of her head, pressing her forehead against his, eyes closed as he whispered:
"Thank you"

Their tea had long since gone cold when he loosened his embrace on her, allowing her to sit down on the cushions in front of him. The wind had joined the rain outside, filling the narrow streets with a high-pitched howling, not unlike a pack of wolfs on a moonlit night.

"Did you bring a jacket?" Gideon asked, already knowing the answer.
"No" Mary answered silently, meeting his eyes, her pulse quickening as she knew what the next question would be.
"Stay?"

Mary stood just inside the door of Gideon's small apartment above the bakery. She ran a nervous hoof through the wool on her head; it did not seem too bad even though they had to run through the rain and wind up the stairs.

Gideon was turning on the light in the kitchen, or more correctly the kitchen nook. His entire apartment was one room, the kitchen tucked in the right corner by the door, a breakfast bar serving as a separation between the kitchen area and the rest of the room. The bed was the largest piece of furniture, taking up most of the floor. Above it was the apartment's only window, long and narrow, framed by a pair of beige curtains Mary suspected were just as old as the building itself.
Beyond the bed was a wooden wardrobe and a door she assumed had to lead to the bathroom.

"It isn't much…" Gideon began.
"It's not much smaller than mine" Mary assured him, hanging her purse on the coat stand by the door.

There was an awkward silence as Gideon stood fiddling with his fingers by the kitchen counter while Mary held her eyes on the worn linoleum floor.

"The bathroom's through there" Gideon nodded to the door at the other end of the room. "If you wanna…"
"Right…" Mary was about to make her way, when she realised something that made her blush. "I-I don't have anything to sleep in"
"Oh" Gideon swallowed, hesitating a moment before walking over to his wardrobe, pulling out a white and green-striped baseball shirt.
"Thank you" Mary muttered, holding it to her chest as she ducked into the bathroom, closing the door between them.

After a couple of steadying breaths, Gideon started to unbutton his own shirt with shaky paws. Standing in front of his bed in nothing but his boxers, he quickly changed his mind and pulled on a white t-shirt, sitting down on the bed just in time for Mary to come back out.

She had loosened her wool from her usual bun, allowing it to bounce freely on her head. His baseball shirt almost reached her knees, and even though she had buttoned it all the way up, it was still loose enough to reveal more of her chest than he had seen before. Gideon's mouth went dry as she walked over to him, her eyes never wavering from his.

If he lifted her up, or if she climbed into his lap he was not sure, neither did he care. Mary was straddling his hips, running her hoofs through the fur on the back of his neck has he slipped his tongue into her mouth, groaning as it met hers.
His paws easily slipped under the too large baseball shirt, running over her thighs and hips, coming up around her waist. The soft noises Mary was making as he carefully raked his claws through her wool and over her skin drove him mad. A tension building so high it threatened to burst as she started slipping her own hoofs under his t-shirt.

Securing her against him with one arm around her waist, he lifted her up, carefully laying her down with her head on his pillow. He supported himself above her on his forearms, never breaking the kiss, shuddering as Mary's tongue curiously touched the sharp edges of his canines. Her scent was growing incredibly sweet, drawing him in and capturing him.

Mary broke the kiss, taking a moment to look up at Gideon hovering above her. He was breathing heavily, near a pant, his eyes hooded and lips parted. Leaning down again, he placed another kiss on her lips before he started trailing kisses along her jawline and down her neck. Mary moaned softly, running her hoofs over his back and shoulders. The trail of kisses came to a stop at the top button on the baseball shirt, Gideon fingers rested hesitantly against the button, feeling Mary's chest rising and falling with rapid shallow breaths.

Understanding the unspoken question, Mary moved one of her hooves under his chin, steering him back up to her, placing a gentle kiss in his lip.
"That's enough for now"
"For now" he agreed breathlessly, smiling against her lips.

Rolling off her, Gideon lay on his side, holding up the duvet for her to lie next to him. Straightening her baseball shirt, which had travelled up around her waist, she snuggled against him. Resting her head on his arm, she buried her face in his t-shirt, allowing his warmth and scent to envelop her completely.
Holding his free arm around his waist, Gideon pulled her flush against him, his tail coming up to rest around her legs. He lay completely still as he felt her breathing even out against his chest, burying his nose in the wool on her head, drawing her scent deep down into his lungs.

He wanted more. He wanted everything with her, but for now, this was enough. For now, this was perfect.