ONE

It was a Saturday, a most excellent day for puttering around the house. Rory and Jess were doing just that. They had no plans to take them out of doors today.

Rory wore her large terry-cloth robe and—just to be cute, because being cute made her happy—fluffy, baby-blue bunny slippers. She came down the stairs with a certain type of yearning which grew by leaps and bounds as she emerged into the living room and saw the bounty the room held for her.

Jess, who had come downstairs a few minutes earlier, was exactly where she'd expected him to be: at the far end of the room, poised in front of their bookcase. He had his back quarter-turned to her as he perused the shelves expertly, purposefully. He wore pyjama bottoms and nothing else and, as he lifted a finger to place it on the spine of a book, it offered Rory a fantastic view of his broad shoulders and sexy torso.

He pulled the book off the shelf and held it in front of his chest, where Rory, from her vantage point, could no longer see it. His head was bowed over the book and the cutest, sleep-induced curls straggled and writhed down the lines of his neck. That was what Rory could see. That was all she could see, with her vision and her heart filled to the brim. Jess was bowed over a book, flipping through its pages, gauging the merits of that particular literary selection. But all Rory saw was Jess bowed, as the muscles beneath his skin twitched and worked with each page turned.

Rory placed upon the stairs the small treasure chest she held, tucking it just out of sight. As Rory sauntered nearer to him, she saw in his demeanour that the book he held had won his attention.

But today wasn't going to be a reading day.

She had to get this right. She really only had one try before the element of surprise was ruined.

Rory stepped up behind him and gently kissed his neck. "Hey," he said as a way of wishing her a good morning. He attempted to turn around to face her, but she held him securely from behind.

"Hey," she echoed warmly, kissing his neck again. She lifted her hands from his stomach to place them upon his shoulders. With gentle squeezes and delighted reverence she began to knead the expanse of muscle there.

"Oh yeah," he murmured in response. Jess's head lolled to one side as he came to enjoy an impromptu massage. The book thumped shut in his hand and Rory smiled. He took a deep breath and stretched his neck as her fingers manipulated the fibres of his shoulder. The many hours he put in, sitting in front of his computer keyboard, took a toll on him, she knew.

"You're tense today," she said. "You should really stretch more."

Jess stretched his neck to the other side and Rory adjusted the administration of her treatment accordingly. "Can't I just let you rub me?" he said wistfully.

Rory laughed. His words played right into her hand. She patted his shoulder lightly. "Here," she said, as she pulled her hands from his bare skin.

The living room was a large expanse separated into two functional spaces. Rory traversed five footsteps to where a table and chairs demarcated the end of the lounging area and the beginning of the dining area. She pulled a wooden chair away from the table and set it up facing Jess and the bookcase. "Sit," she said.

"Yeah?" he replied, instantly enthused by the offer of a neck massage. He thought that's what he would get. Rory smiled.

"Yeah. Sit!"

Dutifully, Jess took his seat in the chair and Rory's fingers and thumbs were magnetically drawn back to the breathtaking display of Jess's bare shoulders. She stood close to the back of the chair, close to the heat of his body, and pressed her thumbs in, honing in on the knots she readily found. "Put your arms down," she said, prompting his hands to drop down to the legs of the chair, right where she wanted them. The book was lightly released to the floor.

She leaned slightly upon his shoulder, pressing her elbow into his flesh and held it there. Jess groaned in approval.

Then, because she felt like it, Rory leaned forward to smell his tousled hair. It was as yet unwashed for the day and therefore unfettered by the artificial shackles of some perfumed shampoo. It smelled deliciously of Jess. Her fingers snaked into it, ruffling the fronds she found at the nape of his neck. She kissed him again. Jess's hands sought her knees as he leaned back into the chair and tilted his head into her kisses.

Again her left elbow dug into his shoulder and again he approved. She took this opportunity of freed fingers to dip her right hand, unnoticed, into her pocket. There were reasons she wore the terry-cloth robe today. It provided excellent coverage of her body, which was essential if she wanted to avoid clues that might tip him off. It also had very deep, useful pockets.

She toyed with its contents, sightlessly surveying them, and hoped her plan would work. Jess was strong and she wouldn't hold him long. But if he were suitably prepped, devoid of his senses, she'd likely be able to hold him long enough.

In the depths of her terry-cloth pocket, she threaded her wrist loosely through a loop, retrieving it. Then, with her new cargo, she placed her right hand upon his right shoulder, mirroring the gesture on his left. She feigned calmness as her heart began to pound. With a firm stroke of the muscles from his neck, over his shoulders and down along his arms, all part of a thorough massage, she lightly clasped both wrists now. The moment of truth had arrived.

Her right hand, which was draped with a rope, now collected and squeezed both his wrists together as firmly as she was able, eliciting a yelp of confusion from him. Quickly her free hand slipped the loop from her own wrist onto both of his and pulled the slipknot tight. It went surprisingly smoothly.

The other end of the rope was fed around the horizontal brace of the chair and then the deed was done.

The first one at least.

AN: Please, please review! I crave the interaction! Is there anyone out there?