As Lucas slowly put Grace back down on the ground, she smiled into their kiss, one of her palms resting at the nape of his neck, the other one cupping his cheek. Their foreheads touched and Grace sighed in pure happiness and closed her eyes, breathing him in.
Lucas watched emotions dancing over his beautiful fiancée's face and he slowly caressed her back.
"Oh, I have news for you", as Grace opened her eyes and looked up at him, Lucas smiled and added in a tone of voice that was laced with humour "Mayor and his esteemed wife Valerie are leaving to San Francisco at January 3rd and won't be back until January 25th."
Grace's eyes sparkled as her lips turned upwards in the most devilish way Lucas ever saw on her face.
"Oh, that means we can have the Governor's Ball at January 15th!", she blinked fast, acting like a damsel in distress "Oh, but it saddens me that dear Valerie won't be able to attend!", she sniffed, her index finger going under her eyes, making a show of wiping the non-existent tears.
Lucas laughed, pulling her body closer to his.
"Will you manage without our biggest supporter?", he quipped.
Grace let out a mock sob.
"Hardly!", she wailed. In the next moment she snatched a handkerchief from his suit pocket and buried her entire face in it, her shoulders shaking.
Lucas lost it completely and laughed out loud, tightening his hold on her.
Grace peeked at him with one eye behind the handkerchief, trying to hold in her laughter, but as Lucas laughed even harder, she bursted into giggles!
"You, my dear Governor, will have to learn to hold that laugh in. I cannot have you blow up my undercover work at the Ball!", Grace gasped in a mock shock "What would people think?!"
Lucas shook with laughter that only got stronger with every word his Grace said.
He pressed his lips to her hair, still laughing.
"They should be glad that their Governor is happy. And they will adore you for keeping their Governor happy", he murmured in her hair.
Grace playfully raised her head and closed one eye.
"Is that so?", she asked and her lips spread in a lazy smile "Well, then, dear Governor, I will make sure that I play my role of hostess in the best way possible", with the air of haughtiness, she added "I will diligently study the names of all the annoying politicians and their equally, if not even more, annoying wives", as Lucas stifled a laugh at her silliness, Grace smirked like a cat that just caught a canary "And, I will make sure to host a dinner for the annoying politicians' wives once dear Valerie returns to our fair city", she tossed her head to one side to send her hair flying down her back "I will do my best to try and be a good girl. I will even allow dear Valerie to help me with choosing the napkins for the dinner."
By now, Lucas' eyes were closed, his face crinkled with lines of laughter as his entire body shook from laughing hard.
"Oh, how much I love you, my silly Grace!", he managed to say through laughter.
Grace frowned in mock annoyance and playfully hit his shoulder.
"Hey! Don't insult the future Governor's wife!", as she said that Grace slowly turned around and unlocked the doors. As she slowly opened them she turned back to look at him and winked "I am on excellent terms with the Governor himself and I may easily send you to jail for these insults!"
Lucas fought to stop laughing as he placed a palm on the left part of his chest and gasped:
"I am terribly sorry, dear lady! How can I ever make it up to you?", he quipped as they went inside.
Grace's lips twitched as she glanced at him.
"You can help me make some pancakes", she said and bursted to giggles as she tugged at his hand and rushed toward the kitchen.
—--
Grace mixed the eggs, flour and water in the fastest way possible, rushing to get some oil from the cupboard, then back to the task in hand.
Glancing behind her, she hissed:
"Lucas! Is the coast clear?"
Lucas stood by the entrance to the kitchen and peeked outside before replying:
"Clear. Santa is still eating", he grimaced as he silently added "Uh oh. It looks like he found something in the potatoes. He doesn't look happy at all."
Grace's eyes widened.
"You don't think that he and Bertha would argue on Christmas?!", she barely finished the sentence when Gustave's rambling on French was heard, followed by Bertha's high pitched voice.
Lucas turned to look at Grace.
"I'm afraid Santa is grumpy 365 days a year", as he peeked out the doors once again, his eyes widened "Oh, no! Grace, they are both coming here!"
"WHAT?!", Grace gasped, quickly turning around to run and hide, but only managed to bump into Lucas who was trying to do the same, both of them laughing as they tried to move, but only managed to send a ceramic teapot flying from the table to the ground, breaking into a hundred of pieces!
Both of them gasped and knelt down to clean up the mess, bumping their heads in process. Grace bursted out to laughter, so strong that she was unable to move, leaving Lucas to pick up the broken pieces by himself, even though he also laughed like crazy.
"What are you two doing in the kitchen?!", Santa Gustave yelled, pulling on his white beard, spitting the white pieces of hair from his mouth, grimacing as they just kept coming back from that beard on his tongue.
Bertha's eyes widened in shock and she hit Gustave on the back of his head, yelling:
"Hey! Don't spit in my kitchen!"
Gustave gasped as he glared at Bertha.
"Hey! Don't hit me!", he yelled.
Grace and Lucas were still at the same position, kneeling as they picked up the broken pieces of a teacup. Grace grinned most innocently, while Lucas sported a cocky facial expression as he looked up at his cousin.
"Gustave, Bertha is right. This is her kitchen. How can you spit on it?!", he deadpanned.
Gustave's mouth went wide open in shock, only to send him waving his hands frantically in front of his beard, spitting even more white hair.
Bertha gasped loudly, looking around frantically before she saw a tablecloth on the counter and grabbed it. At the next moment, she started to whip it against Gustave's shoulders, sending him running and she rushed after him, yelling all the time.
Grace laughed out and Lucas dropped all broken pieces of teapot back on the ground, leaning his forearms on his knee, laughing his heart out!
"Oh, my God!", Grace gasped through giggles.
Lucas got up and helped her get up too. He smirked as he took a broom and cleaned out the mess they made, while Grace went back to mixing the batch for pancakes, wiping her tears of laughter.
Lucas discarded the broken teapot in the trash and opened the faucet above the sink to wash his hands.
"Can you get me a pan from that closet behind you?", asked Grace, never taking her eyes from the bowl.
Lucas turned around to open the closet and took out the pan.
"Want me to turn on the stove?", he asked.
Grace nodded.
"Yes, thank you. I am almost done", as she worked hard to make the batch creamy, Grace concentrated so fully on her work that she didn't notice Lucas moving in her direction until she felt his arms wrapping around her waist, his body pressing into hers from behind.
She nearly dropped the mixer from her hand as her eyes closed and a sigh escaped her smiling lips. She stopped mixing, her body surrendering to his warmth as she leaned into him, her head falling against his shoulder, exposing her neck to his warm, hungry lips. Grace gasped as she felt the first kiss on her milky skin and her entire body trembled deliciously.
"You are playing with the fire, Governor", she silently mumbled, biting her lower lip as she felt his lips sucking on her skin. Gasping for air, Grace added "If you are not careful, you might get burned."
As those words left her mouth, Grace felt Lucas gently nipping on her skin, making her whimper…only to gasp silently as his tongue soothed the affected area. A fork dropped from her hand, falling into a creamy batch for pancakes as she fought for breath, trying to stay silent as his lips continued their loving attack on her neck. Her palm went to the nape of his neck, pulling him closer as a silent mewling sound escaped her…
"Who the hell do you think you are?! Nobody can threaten the Governor in MY kitchen!!!!"
Bertha's shrieking made them slightly flinch and pull away and Lucas quickly took the oil and poured a bit of it in the pan as he placed it on the stove.
Grace leaned both palms at the counter, taking a few deep breaths, trying to calm her breathing down.
"That despicable man!", Bertha stormed in the kitchen, throwing a tablecloth at the table and looking up, she frowned a bit "Miss Grace, are you alright? You seem a bit flushed", she quickly went to check the young woman's forehead.
Grace swallowed before giving Bertha a small smile.
"I'm fine, Bertha", she said, realizing in horror how shaky her voice was "It's just a bit too hot in here."
Bertha looked confused at her, then at the Governor.
"Well, why don't you two go and rest while I finish these '', as they tried to protest Bertha shook her head "No, no, I insist. Just keep that moron out from my kitchen", she grumbled as she shooed them outside.
Once they were out Lucas quickly checked their surroundings and seeing that nobody was around he quickly leaned in and kissed Grace's lips, making her silently moan into his lips.
She kissed him back passionately, hungrily, her fingertips dragging up and down his back, making him groan silently in pleasure.
Sound of voices and laughter in the living room broke their kiss and Grace swore she forgot how to breathe as Lucas took her hand, looked deeply in her eyes and whispered:
"Soon", and with that word, he gently tugged at her hand, pulling her back with him toward the living room.
—--
Grace opened the doors of her closet to get her long nightgown out, when her eyes stopped on the crisp white Lucas' dress shirt.
She slowly took it out, brought it to her face and inhaled deeply.
She slowly undressed and pulled his dress shirt on, letting out a silent sigh as his faint scent tickled her nostrils.
Grace laid down in the bed and snuggled further into the material of Lucas' dress shirt, inhaling deeply once again.
Soon.
—--
I, I've been in love before
I thought I would no more
Manage to hit the ceiling
Still, strange as it seems to me
You brought it back to me
That old feeling.
I, I don't know what you do
You make me think that you
Possibly could release me
I think you'll be able to
Make all my dreams come true
And you ease me.
You thrill me, you delight me
You please me, you excite me
You're something I'd been pleading for.
I love you, I adore you
I lay my life before you
I'll have you want me more and more.
And finally it seems my lonely days are through
I've been waiting for you.
I, I'm gonna make you mine
You're gonna feel so fine
You'll never want to leave me.
I feel you belong to me
Someday you will agree
Please, believe me.
You thrill me, you delight me
You please me, you excite me
You're something I'd been pleading for
I love you, I adore you
I lay my life before you
I'll have you want me more and more
And finally it seems my lonely days are through
I've been waiting for you
Oh, I've been waiting for you.
("I've Been Waiting For You" - ABBA)