Irish Mist by Caitlin Ricci Page B

he knew the whiskers were and he came forward further, hesitating only a few inches from her lips. She closed the gap and put the hand that had been on his cheek around his shoulders. They’d kissed plenty in the dreams, but this was so much different and far better than anything they’d done in those private moments. He let go of her hand and put them both on the base of her spine, right over the waist of the low jeans she was wearing. Caelum experimentally dipped his hands lower and she gave his shoulder a swat without breaking the kiss. Smiling against her lips, he relented and brought his hands to her waist.
    Blushing fiercely, he broke the kiss when he needed to breathe again and was glad to see bright pink color streaming across her cheeks as well. She pulled him into the house with a hand on the front of his shirt as she walked backwards. “C’mon, show me around. Maybe Ippy will be feeling better soon, too.”
    “There’s not much to show, and you’ve seen it all in the dreams, but sure,” he said, trailing behind her. Until he nearly ran over her when she stopped in the middle of the living room.
    “I didn’t know that you painted.”
    Now he was blushing for an entirely different reason. “It’s nothing. Just a hobby.”
    Hannah gave him a quick smile over her shoulder. “I like it.”
    Caelum let out a little mumbled “Thanks,” before moving her attention away from what he’d wanted to be a landscape, but was looking far more like a blob of blues and greys. He hadn’t even remembered using gray in the piece, so how it got there was a mystery to him. Oh well. It was just paint. And it could be fixed easily with a bit more work. That’s what he liked about art—it was easy to fix when he messed up.
    “I like it here,” Hannah said when she’d finished looking around the room.
    Honestly, there wasn’t much to see. He lived pretty simply overall. Three bedrooms lay against the left wall from the front door with a single bathroom between the last two smaller ones. He’d been sleeping in the biggest bedroom, thinking that they’d eventually all migrate there anyway, but if either of them wanted it he’d gladly give it up. Across from the bedrooms lay an open space that opened to the sea. It used to be a few smaller rooms, but over the generations the house had been opened up and expanded as his family grew. The outside still completely matched, for the most part, the original old weathered stone that it had always been. But the inside had been updated with a full kitchen and bright windows that let in the natural sunlight.
    “I’m glad you do,” Caelum said softly as he looked at the back of her head, or, more specifically, the way her hair fell over her shoulders and down her back. It was longer than he remembered it being, but he knew that she’d had it cut recently.
    Ippy emerged from the middle bedroom and almost seemed startled to see them there in the living room as he stopped short and looked at them closely for several long minutes.
    “Ippy?” Hannah asked him, her voice coming out hesitant, like she was uncertain.
    Caelum frowned. “Want to go for a walk along the beach with me, Ippy?” he asked him.
    Ippy perked up a bit at that and Caelum was glad when he nodded after seeming to consider the offer for a good minute or so. Caelum pulled Hannah close and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’ll be okay?” It was a simple question, but so much more. Would she be okay here, by herself? But also, this was the first time that the three of them had been together in five years, and he was asking for time alone with Ippy after they’d just arrived. A poly relationship wasn’t going to be a cakewalk, he knew that. But was she ready for it like he was? Like he hoped Ippy was?
    She gave him a smile, though it did look a bit stiff, and nodded. “Sure. I can start unpacking. We brought the essentials and a bunch of clothes, but will probably be bringing back a few suitcases when