A Place To Stay

End of Fall

Claire woke up bright and early. Today was the last day of fall. Any remaining fall crops had to have their final harvest, and then the plants themselves had to be cut down. Claire nudged Cliff to wake him up. He groaned and whined. “I don’t want to get up yet.” Claire rolled her eyes at him, and started to scoot out of bed. “Wait, don’t go,” he grabbed at her arm. “Let’s snuggle.” He stretched out his arms for a hug, a needy look in his eyes.

Claire sighed but smiled and shimmied back under the covers and moved up close to him. She pressed her face into his chest, breathing deeply to enjoy his scent. It was half the smell of soap, half something else that she couldn’t describe. Claire traced her fingers on his sides, feeling the softness of his shirt. He felt so good in the morning. He was always warmer and softer than usual. Well, most of him was softer. Claire squealed as he thrust his hips against her thigh. “Hey, hey, you said you wanted to snuggle!”

Cliff grinned. “We ARE snuggling. This is snuggling plus.”

Claire groaned. “As much as I’d love to, we have a lot of work to do! Did you forget what today is?”

Cliff pouted. “It’s Snuggling Day.”

Claire made the sound of a buzzer. “Wrong. It’s the last day of fall. There should be a lot of yams just ripening today, so we’ve got to get them harvested and shipped off, then we have to get out the sickle and thresh them to the ground.” Claire turned away to start to get up, but Cliff pulled her back in close, spooning her.

“Can’t we just leave them? They’re just going to freeze up and die anyway. Let the snow take care of them,” he said, as he kissed her neck.

His kisses sent thrills through her body, but she still tried to resist. “No! That would look so ugly, all those dead plants encased in ice for the whole season! And then we’d just have to deal with them in spring…and… and…” She lost track of what she was saying as he reached around and slipped his hand into the front of her panties. He massaged there gently, then stretched his fingers further to dance in the wetness that was just starting to seep from her. “Oh…Cliff…” Claire moaned, forgetting all about the work that had to be done.

Cliff touched her for a while more, brushing his lips against her ear and breathing there softly, which caused goosebumps to spread all over her body. Cliff chuckled inwardly. That trick works every time, he thought. Then, he pulled his damp fingers out and used them to ease her panties down onto her thighs. He used his hand to pull his pajama pants just low enough, and then he spread the back of her thighs slightly and pushed himself into her wetness. Claire cried out in pleasure. Cliff just groaned happily as he thrust in and out of her, reaching his hand around to her front to massage her again. Claire tilted her hips back at him. Their movement was limited by their sideways position, but they both were enjoying it greatly nonetheless.

Cliff planted hot kisses all over Claire’s neck and shoulders as he stimulated her with his fingers. She moaned and then her breath became slightly ragged as she brought her own fingers on top of his and pressed them in more firmly. She writhed against him, panting with desire. The pace became frenetic as she built up, tensing her body, and then she cried out his name in ecstasy as she climaxed. He groaned and thrust against her until he released as well, whispering her name roughly in her ear. They both shuddered with pleasure, then relaxed. He wrapped his arm tightly around her, giving her a squeeze and planting a kiss on the back of her neck.

Claire sighed. “That was so wonderful…but we still have to take care of the crops.”

“Aw, man…” Cliff groaned.

Claire giggled as she pulled away from him, getting out of bed. “I know you have the magic touch, but it doesn’t apply to crops. Now come on, get up!”

Cliff groaned some more, but finally rolled out of bed and got dressed. Claire prepared them some simple breakfast, and they ate before heading out into the field. Cliff held the basket and walked alongside Claire as she plucked the last of the yams from the plants, then tossed them in the basket. When it got full, Cliff would heft it over to the shipping bin and pour it in, then go back for more. Once the plants were picked clean, Cliff got out the sickle and swiped the crops down. Claire got a rake and dragged the refuse off into a large pile on the edge of the farm.

Claire thought of something. “Hey, today is Pumpkin Day. Stu , May, and Popuri, came by last year, demanding candy first thing in the morning. They didn’t come by today. I wonder why?”

Cliff shrugged. “Of course Popuri is off traveling with Kai…but as for Stu and May…maybe they decided they were too old for it now.” Claire agreed that he was probably right.

When the work was all done, they were both pretty exhausted. They went inside and got a shower together, and then Claire put on one of Cliff’s T-shirts with nothing underneath, and curled up on the bed for a nap. Cliff joined her after a while, moving in close and pulling the covers over both of them.

When he woke up about an hour later, Claire was still sleeping soundly. He eased out of bed so as not to wake her, and then went in the kitchen. He looked at the clock. It was about 6pm. He grinned to himself, deciding to surprise her by making dinner. He wasn’t a very good cook, but he wasn’t horrible either. He decided to make spaghetti.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Cliff raised his eyebrows and went to answer it. As he swung the door open, his ears were assaulted with the high-pitched voices of children yelling. “Trick or Treat!” Stu and May called out in unison.

“Oh, heh heh…hello, you two. Don’t you usually come in the mornings?”

Stu nodded. “Yeah, but Popuri wrote us a letter that said in the town she is at now, the custom is to ask for candy at night.”

May piped up. “And you have to yell ‘Trick or Treat!’”

Stu nodded. “Mmm hmm. And if you don’t give us a treat, then we have to play a trick on you.”

May spoke quickly. “I don’t want to do that part though. That’s not nice.”

Cliff grinned. “Well, you don’t have to worry about it, because I’ve got a treat for you.” He had already spied some chocolate sitting on the kitchen table. Claire must have set it aside the night before in preparation for this day. He handed them both a piece, and they cheered.

Suddenly, Cliff heard a sleepy voice behind him. “Cliff? Who’s that?” He turned and there was Claire, rubbing her eyes. She still couldn’t see the children at the door, and she yawned and stretched her arms over her head. Cliff’s eyes bugged out as the shirt lifted over her hips, revealing that she had nothing on underneath. She dropped her arms and the shirt covered her once again. He glanced back at the children, sweating nervously.

Fortunately, the children’s lower eye level was blocked by the kitchen table, because they had no hint that they had seen anything. “Hi, Big Sister!” Stu yelled. “Thanks for the candy!”

Claire shrieked, surprised that children were there. She tugged her shirt down lower over her hips. Cliff caught her eye and mouthed “It’s okay.” Her eyes still showed panic, and she kept pulling the shirt lower. “Oh…oh…you’re welcome,” she managed to say.

May frowned as they turned to go. “I don’t like doing Pumpkin Day at night. Adults are all sleepy then.”

Stu nodded. “No, but my big sis and Doctor were awake when we went in there. They didn’t answer the door, so we had to just go in, and they were wrestling on the couch.” He grinned innocently, and then they walked away.

Cliff and Claire looked at each other, and bit their lips to keep from laughing. Cliff thought of something and called out after the children. “Hey, don’t go to the Poultry Farm today, okay? They, uh, they’re out of candy,” he fibbed, trying to keep them from walking in on Karen and Rick’s “wrestling” and being scarred for life!

Stu and May just nodded and waved goodbye.