I love this time of the day. I love these moments we spend together, limbs entwined, skin against skin. She is mine in these moments. We are not who we are in our working life, or our family life, we are just Gil and Catherine. I love that we talk about everything, and nothing. I love that she is here.

"Gil." My sleepy wife is waking up, waking up to me.

"Morning, Catherine." I move closer to her, which should be impossible considering I am lying flush against her back, but for us there is always closer. I place tiny kisses at the base of her neck and am rewarded by the smile I know she is wearing.

"It's time to get up Catherine, we have to go get ready for work. I'll claim the bathroom first and you rest for another few minutes."

"No, don't move. Stay in bed. Stay in bed with me."

She turns in my arms so we are face to face. We have woken up like this so many times, but the thrill of this experience is still there. The thrill will never go, not when Catherine is in my bed. She knows she could persuade me of anything when she looks at me like this.

"Cath." I touch her lips with mine. It is the briefest of contact, but none the less satisfying for it. "We have to get up honey. Come on, we go on vacation in a couple of weeks. I know you're tired, but just think about two weeks of sleeping late."

"It's not that I don't want to get ready for work, I just don't want to move from here. I love lying here with you and I don't want it to end. This is me being selfish, I want you to be mine for ten more minutes."

"I'm yours forever sweetheart. I love you."

"I know, I love you too. But..."

"No buts, I love you and we have to get up."

I realise this will not be a fair fight as she begins to kiss her way from my collarbone down my chest.

"Cath..."

"You're still here Gil, you don't seem to want to leave me either. So are you staying in bed with your wonderful new wife."

"No"

She kisses me again and then rests her head on my chest as she exerts the slightest pressure on my skin with her long, skillful fingers.

"I just want to lay with you for a few minutes. We don't get the chance to do this often enough. I'm demanding we spend 15 minutes hugging every morning. Agree or divorce me..."

"Ahh, my crazy wife has raised to the surface again." I'm rewarded with a slight nip in the side for this remark, which Cath kisses away almost as soon as she has done it. "We don't have the time sweetheart, we're running late now. We've been debating this for so long we're behind schedule."

"I have a plan. A plan to give us more time. A plan that would give us cuddling time before work."

"We are not moving closer to the office so we can spend some more time in bed."

"You could not shave."

"Right, but then I'll look like I've just rolled out of bed and have forgotten to shave."

"You could not shave all the time."

"You're serious?"

"Why not? Do you know how many more hours of alone time that would give us in a year?"

"Have you worked it out?"

"No, but I can if you want. What do you say?"

"You want me to grow a beard so we can spend more time in bed together."

"Yeah."

"I could shave at work, you know."

"I think it would be very sexy. I think you would be very sexy with a beard."

"See, those were the magic words." I kiss my wife again and cuddle up to her, cuddle next to her for an extra fifteen minutes.

I love waking up like this, waking up in his arms. Waking up in our bed. Actually, I love saying that, 'our' bed. It still gives me shivers.

For the last week I have been waking up to the changing appearance of Gils face. I have persuaded him to grow a beard. I am fascinated by his face, I am fascinated by him through and through, but his face is wonderful. I love to waken early and trace the contours of his face with my fingers, or on mornings when I want Gil to waken up too, with my tongue. The simple action of growning a beard has invoked an incredible reaction from me. I like manly men, it's a weakness, and I love how masculine Gil is, but with the beard... Well I've always loved his arms. They are solid, and strong, and they incredibly hairy, incredibly sexy - the beard is causing the same response. I can't leave him alone, I can't stop touching him.

"Cath..."

"Gil."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm touching your face."

"That I get. Why?"

"I love your face."

"You always say the right thing."

"I'm perfect..."

"Cath?"

"Let me finish. I'm perfect for you."

"Okay. That's true."

And he pulls me close as we kiss for the first time in a few hours, and the pressure of his skin against mine, the sensation of his beard against my skin is intoxicating.

"Catherine, so do you like the results of our little experiment?"

"I do. What about you, if you don't..."

"I like that you like it. But I actually do like it, I feel slightly ridiculous worrying about my appearance so much. I feel a little vain..."

"Gil."

"Yes sweetheart."

"We've only got fifteen minutes here, you're wasting time."

And we lose ourselves in each other as the day waits to claim us once more. But for a few precious minutes, we answer to no one but ourselves.

The End