Celeste had discovered a good way to trick her morning sickness - going to bed and getting up a few hours earlier than she would've otherwise, drinking a few sips of ginger ale and a eating a saltine or two just as she got up - this way actually beginning to feel like herself in an hour or so without having to hug the toilet bowl every morning.
This lazy Sunday, she was feeling quite good about her skills in having learned how to trick her body and instead allowing her eyes to take in Jess' almost nude body, just a light bed sheet draped across his hips. His one arm was stretched across her pillow, now empty, and the other was bent behind his head, his chest falling and rising steadily. Not every symptom of her pregnancy, by now confirmed by the bloodtest, was unpleasant - the increased blood flow to her genitalia having its own added perks, not that their physical relationship had been in any ways lacking before.
She pondered whether to go lay down next him, snuggle, or even try to get a few minutes of sleep waiting for him to wake on his own, but every other thought that crossed her mind seemed more appealing. She felt like he deserved a little treat too - having spent the entire Saturday moving her boxes into their new home on his own, so while they renovated they at least wouldn't have to keep living in the midst of all that stuff they didn't need on a daily basis. Thanks to not having to wait around for mortgages or sales, they'd gotten the keys to their new house in less than two weeks.
Celeste crept over the bed bench, her arms slightly brushing the outsides of his calves and thighs, wanting to test how asleep Jess really was. She positioned herself just above him, the hem of her short silky camisole sliding across his abs as she brushed her nose against his temple.
"Good morning sexy," she whispered in his ear, knowing too well how sensitive he was to that motion. Jess stretched instinctively, unfolding his arm, and gently stroking the small of her back with it, while his eyes peeked at her for a moment, closing again with a smug smile.
She kissed her way down his chest and abs, causing him to grin widely while he allowed his eyes to rest a little longer. By the time she shoved the sheet away, his arousal already bounced in anticipation, not ever really needing much incentive at her touch. Teasingly she closed her warm mouth around him, gently and slowly, allowing him to stiffen fully. Tilting her head to one side, she let her hair flow across his thighs and moved her tongue around a few times, pausing as his fingers, now resting on her shoulder, squeezed, letting her know to pace herself. Celeste took him in more deeply now, allowing it to hit the back of her tongue, throat even, again and again, unhurriedly, keeping an easy slow rhythm. He opened his eyes, enjoying all too much the view to keep them closed any longer and letting out a satisfactory sigh. He'd never with anyone else understood so well how this was the ultimate power play - it was about a demonstration of power, him being at her mercy and about accepting the position of the receiver. Unlike it was often perceived in literature or films - it was as much her pleasure as his. If there ever was a need to surrender, he had no objections to surrendering to her.
The way her eyes smiled back up at him as she continued, made his chest ache, and in that moment they both knew that this wasn't going to end like that. He heaved her slightly reddened lips up for deep kiss a moment later. His arms cradled her thighs and ass as she scooted upwards, straddling him. She hovered just above him, teasingly, barely grazing his member with her inner thigh. He dipped his fingers into her mouth, administrating a painfully slow stroke along her core next, causing the initial, visible, spasm through her, leaving her biting her lip with a wicked smile, eyelids forgetfully falling shut. God, she looked amazing like that - lost in sensation. She'd hardly noticed as his other hand had positioned his member to replace his fingers, jolting her as a pleasant surprise when she realized the sensations were only about to improve. Her fingers brushed her own hair back, trailing down her body along the curves of her breast, over to her stomach, and down to his. He pushed his own hips up, while she pushed down, both letting out a loud groan, not caring if the window right next to the bed was ayar.
She continued to control the pace, him knowing all too well that he would need very little for his release with her, mostly focusing on delaying. Her hips rose and slammed back down, over and over, the frame of the bed squeaking with each impact, his fingers gripping her thighs firmly. She did a rolling motion with her hips, getting herself the friction she needed and not much later her climax slammed through her, eyes rolling up and her back arching. He allowed her to ride the wave of pleasure, until a deep and guttural moan vibrated through him as he finally let go. He drew a lungful of breath just as she landed on top of him, panting, wrapping his fingers into the back of her sweat dampened hair.
"Having a good morning, I see," Jess murmured to her hair.
"The best," she smiled back at him, raising her head.
"This might not have anything to do with allowing you to pick the kitchen cabinets you wanted, would it?" he smirked smugly.
"Would it make any difference if it did?" she said, trying to appear innocent. It hadn't been her plan, but if it got her the dark marine shaker-style cabinets, or at least the doors, instead of his more masculine tastes, so be it.
"I'll go make us some breakfast," he replied simply, turning her around to her back, leaving a trail of adoring kisses along her shoulders and chest, finishing off at her abdomen, making her smile in a completely different way than before.
The place was still largely empty, only the downstairs unit housing now most of her belongings temporarily. The insides of the house exposed massive red brick walls, accented with white ceilings and walls, cherry wood detailing, a lot of it needing to be re-plastered and painted. The kitchen was a little dated, hence the plan to change the cabinets or cabinet doors, if the structures themselves were sturdy and decent enough and the 4 week waiting time for the whole set proved too lengthy. The kitchen overlooked the backyard, needing a lot of work, but Celeste had already a contract with the gardener from the old house, now just changing the location, the gardens being even roughly the same size. The only negative was that the garden wasn't as private - several of the neighbouring houses glancing over it, but it was something she figured she could learn to live with, especially when adding some higher hedges on the sides, perhaps even a pergola.
They were just walking back down from the 3rd floor, having made a list of things needing to be done.
"So what do you think? I was thinking we might make the 3rd floor master bedroom into a large study with a library, add a nice couch or something. We could have the guestroom on the same floor and then have the two main bedrooms on the 2nd floor. I know the closet isn't huge there, but nobody says we can't use the wardrobe upstairs for off-season stuff and occasionwear," she explained, wanting to have the nursery close by. She cautioned herself a little, on how much though she should put into nursery related things this early on, but she had never really been good at stopping her imagination anyways.
"Yeah, like I have a ton of occasionwear," Jess chuckled humbly. "But sure," he added. The idea made sense in a way - having less floors to walk up and down on less frequently. And if there was any noise downstairs, the study, on the third floor, would be quiet enough.
"Fine, for my dresses," she admitted, having only really grasped how many she owned after having to pack everything up herself, as they had been unable to get a moving company that short notice when they'd moved out before going to Paris.
"What about the downstairs?" Jess asked as they reached the kitchen.
"The ground floor apartment - I don't know. Back in the old place I always thought I'd get a live-in nanny, you know, but now… I don't know, maybe I can do without," she pondered, suddenly feeling very motivated to try - really do it the way most women did.
"Well I guess then the smart thing would be to leave it as a guest apartment for now, I might sometimes have some authors who are visiting who might need a place to crash, so I guess we could even treat it as a airbnb type of thing," Jess suggested.
"That's not a bad idea really," she commented.
"And here I think the kitchen needs the most work, and we need to somehow figure out how to make the living room both comfortable and formal," she added, as walked back and forth the dining areas between the kitchen and living area.
"The only person who might expect a formal living room is Logan, and I think he's been around Rory long enough to be adapted to all types of situations," Jess added, not quite understanding why this was vital at this point.
"Yeah, or…," she began, wanting to say 'her friends might come to visit' but come to think of it, she hadn't really seen them in some time. These were her PR contacts, collegues, from a time which seemed like a lifetime ago, while they knew of her new name, and at one point they'd been her reasoning for settling in New York. But by now she felt they weren't really anything close to what she would call friends, acquaintances at best. The realization made her a little sad.
"But if you need formal, do formal," Jess assured, sensing her going thoughtful.
"I'll think about it," she replied. Surely there was some middle ground she could think of, not ruling out either options.
"Oh, and if you can, can you make agreements for the electrical guy to come by to make sure there are a few more outlets in the new study and the new master bedroom, and I think we could use wifi sooner rather than later as well," Jess advised as Celeste typed down their to-do list, knowing that she would have more time during the week to deal with things like that now that he was back at work.
"Do you want me to get some estimates from general contractors as well?" she asked.
"It doesn't seem that bad truthfully, most of these things are just cosmetic. Getting the contractor will probably take just as long as me doing this on evenings and weekends," Jess pondered looking through the list.
"You seriously think you can do all this on your own?" Celeste asked Jess, questioningly. It wasn't that she didn't believe him - she did know that he had done a lot himself at his Philadelphia apartment. But she wasn't used to being around this type of guys who were actually handy, and it was quite admirable frankly.
"Luke will help," he replied simply.
"Yeah, but the cabinets, the walls, the baseboards, the three broken tiles in the bathroom," she began to list. It seemed like a lot of work to her.
"You can find someone for the tiles, sure, but the rest shouldn't be a problem," Jess assured.
"I could help, I guess. I always wondered what it would be like to paint a room," Celeste sighed, still in a sense of disbelief. She'd never done anything like this before, getting hands on and involved, without interior decorators or having someone else do the planning for her.
For a moment Jess was reminded by how different of a life she'd lived until now.
"I don't want you painting," he replied firmly, "but I'm sure you can help with some things," he added, apologetically, feeling like his first reaction had been a tad too controlling. That had not been his intention, rather concern for their safety.
"We'll just use non-toxic paint, I'm sure it'll be fine," she added. "We can ask the doctor about it when we go in next week," she settled, in a way wanting to feel as much a part of this place as he would be, embracing the new way of living fully.
"Este, I'm not saying this to deprive you of anything, okay?" Jess explained, holding her hands, his eyes speaking for themselves.
"I know," she sighed. "I guess I'd better stick to shopping then," she added, dissapointedly, crossing her arms across her chest playfully.
"Just delay the delivery by at least a few weeks, okay?" Jess replied, knowing he needed to get everything done quickly or the place would be piling up with furniture and decor in no time.
