Today was a big day. Monumental in my opinion, because I never once thought Harry would ever agree to this. Yet here we were.

Sighing, I shook my head as I pulled out another heavy math book from one of Harry's many bookshelves. After months of begging him to let me arrange them by subject, then alphabetically, he had finally surrendered and let me. He refused to see the practicality of re-arranging them, since, according to him, he knew exactly where every sporadic book was when he needed them; The chaotic mind of a genius.

But I was no genius, and I needed my systems. Every time I came to borrow a book from his study, I ended up sifting through tons of books about math, physics, geography and non-fictions about space and time continuums and the impact of long-lasting gravitational something-or-others. Not to mention the many books in both Latin and Italian, a few in Greek and even French. Publications from other mathematicians in works that had yet to be translated into English. And then, among them all, believe it or not, there were a few classical novels, a few works of fiction, some thrillers, some crime and even one or two romances from last century. These were the golden nuggets I had been searching for among all the other headache-inducing literature.

But it had taken me almost 45 minutes just to find a single copy of pride and prejudice that Harry claimed was, quote; 'somewhere on one of the shelves'. So much for remembering where all the books were.

So today, any normal Sunday after brunch, I had once again begged Harry to let me organize his bookshelves, and at last, he sighed and let me. With a victorious smile and an overbearing eye roll from Harry, he had then left me to it for about an hour and a half now. So far, I had dragged books off of two whole seven foot shelves and divided them into piles on the floor by category. I had just begun on the third shelf when I suddenly heard the door go.

Looking to my left, I saw Harry trudge in, followed by Giselle who was carrying a tray. Both of them smiled my way when they caught me yanking a heavy book down from his top shelf.

"Still not regretting your choice?" Harry commented with a small smile as he let his eyes glide over the many piles and stacks of books already on the floor, before looking to the 20-something other shelves still waiting to be sorted. "It's not too late to put them all back."

"You should know by now I don't quit on something big and hard," I shot his way with a wry smirk, before catching Giselle giggling behind him. She tried to hide it by scurrying up and placing the tray on his desk. A hot pot of tea and two cups gave an inviting view.

Harry chuckled quietly, shaking his head at my antics. Instead of replying, he took a seat behind his desk and gave a short nod to Giselle. "Thank you."

She grinned back before walking out, but not before sending me a little look I couldn't really decipher. It looked almost... anticipating?

Choosing to ignore it, I turned back to my quest of pulling books down. I looked at each title of the books as they joined the others in my arms, reading them quietly to myself. Fibonacci Sequence; How not to Fib the Sequence. What? Logarithm; To Raise or to Sum? That was probably a real exciting read. Topology; Advanced Study of Möbius Strips. I hardly understood most of these. How the heck was I going to divide them into subjects and genres?

"Would you like a cup?"

Harry's voice broke me from my concentration of trying to decipher titles and made me look up. He was pouring himself a cup of tea and had lifted the pot over the second cup.

"Sure, why not," I smiled, watching him pour a cup for me as well.

"Do you mind if I get some work done while you bury yourself in my books?" Harry then asked, stirring in a lump of sugar, before sipping his hot tea. He shot me a questioning brow.

"Not at all. In fact, it's probably good to have some supervision. You know, in case I drown in these boring titles and need mouth to mouth." I cheekily shot at him, causing him to chuckle.

"In that case, I'll wait till you get to the third shelf from the bottom on that one. Should knock you right out." He nodded towards the bookcase next to me.

I laughed, but then continued my mission to sort through all of his books. Harry let me work in silence, making no other noise than sipping his tea or penning equations into his little notebook. For thirty minutes or so, this continued to be our rhythm.

Finishing the last gulp of my tea, I set it on one of the empty bookshelves while absentmindedly trying to understand the title of yet another book. It sure as hell wasn't easy to categorize them when you couldn't even make out the titles. To Postulate the Impossible; wise or pointless?

"Cassandra."

I gasped, because I hadn't even heard him move until I suddenly sensed his voice in my ear. I looked over my shoulder and found Harry smiling down at me, those amber eyes like honey as the sun poured in through the windows. It really wasn't fair. Those eyes could both speak depths and be so quiet and ponderous at the same time. Right now, though, they were focused entirely on me, gliding over every freckle on my face.

"Sorry, what?" I breathed out, momentarily caught off guard. "Did you say something?"

Harry's smile grew quietly. Then, cupping my face, he surprised me again by leaning down and pecking my lips softly, giving me a taste of the tea we had both just drunk; peppermint with just a dash of sugary sweetness.

Pulling me closer to his body, I moaned quietly and melted into his embrace where I had no desire to break free. Harry took that liberty to kiss me deeper, brushing the hair away from my face and angling my chin up to meet his mouth.

I couldn't remember drowning yet, but I sure as heck didn't mind this early mouth-to-mouth. Perhaps I had looked sunk from across his desk. Did that mean he had been watching me?

Pulling and inch away, after several moments of simply kissing me weak, Harry finally allowed us both to draw breath, me much more breathless than him. I kept my eyes closed as we stood sewn together, simply breathing each other in.

"Marry me."

– Never mind. My eyes sprung open and widened to saucers.

What did he just say?

Following my eyes' lead, my mouth fell open as well as Harry suddenly shifted and moved one hand down to his pocket. My eyes dropped automatically, but then nearly rolled out of my head as I watched him procure a little black ring box.

Oh my God... now I really was going to need mouth to mouth, because I wasn't sure how breathing worked anymore.

Cracking the black box open, he lifted it for me to see the beautiful slender ring inside with a small cushion cut diamond encrusted at the centre. The diamond was glittering in the sunlight, just like his eyes—and mine, probably, because I could now feel tears beginning to well up. "Oh my God."

We hadn't really talked about the future. At least not in this fashion. I had assumed we had both felt the same way about our life together, that we wanted to spend it with one another, no obligations or demands involved. Neither of us needed to validate our love with a wedding or a piece of paper. Simply just being together was enough for us both.

Or so I had thought.

"Harry," I croaked out, thinly.

"I would've gotten you a bigger one, but then I know you would've refused me," He told, cracking a small smile. He knew I hated when he used his wealth on me; knew the big flashy things weren't my style. He could've easily bought me a diamond ring the size of my fist, and yet he had chosen a smaller, more simple design, knowing this is what I would love.

Just like our life; simple, yet shiny. Ours to shape however we wanted to.

"I didn't think you wanted to," I finally whispered, meeting his amber irises. They glowed with a warm light and crinkled as he smiled softly at my words.

"Neither did I," He confessed, taking my hand and bringing it to his lips. "But lately, I've begun to understand the appeal."

My heart melted as he kissed the top of my hand, because truth be told, I wouldn't have cared if we spent the rest of our lives unmarried. But the fact that Harry had felt the need for something more... something permanent... it made me soften in place where I never thought I could soften up.

"There's no pressure, however," Harry assured as my eyes began to tear up and my heart began to pound louder than ever. "If this isn't what you want—"

"—I want it," I broke him off, shaking so much I couldn't stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks. A happy smile broke out on my lips, and I nodded frantically. "I want it. You. In every way I can have you. For however long I can."

Harry's lips lifted slowly, and with a molten glow to his eyes, he moved towards my lips, just as I felt him slide the ring onto my finger. "How does the rest of our lives sound?"

"Not long enough, but I'll take it," I declared, before throwing my arms around him and meeting his lips with my own.

Kissing him desperately, Harry grunted and caught me, pressing me against his half-empty bookshelf with 'To Postulate the Impossible; wise or pointless?' caught between us. The book was completely ignored and fell to the floor as we got lost in each other, unable to break apart. I hardly even sensed as Harry lifted me up off the floor and carried me to his desk, where he carefully deposited me next to the tray of coffee.

Moving his lips across mine, Harry cupped the back of my head and sweetened his kiss by gliding his tongue languidly against mine. I moaned and melted even further into him, looping my arms around his neck and pulling him closer. I could feel the diamond ring like a pulse on my finger, reminding me that the man who had sworn never to open up to anyone had just vowed his life to mine.

Pulling my lips an inch from his, I breathed in a small suck of air, before cupping his cheek. The faint prickle of stubble on his cheek met my palm. "I know say this all the time, and you're probably tired of hearing it by now, but..."

"Yes?" Harry murmured against my lips.

I bit into my own bottom one. "I... I'd really like to suck your dick right now."

Harry's mouth split into a silent chuckle as he closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against mine. Then, angling his head, he moved down and pressed a slow kiss to my lips. After several moments, he then slowly pulled back, humming lowly. "That is certainly one way to silence this incorrigible mouth."

"So can I?" I whispered, just as his lips began a slow, tender path down my neck, pressing hot kisses to my throat, all the way down to my cleavage.

He paused at my heart, then pressed a warm kiss right over it. "No."

I couldn't help the pout that grew on my lips. "Why not?" I whined breathlessly as his mouth suddenly continued its path, kissing me down my cleavage, until he reached the cut of my dress.

"Because..." He halted again and pulled back slightly, only to surprise me by sliding his hands up my thighs, pushing up my summer dress. "And this might shock you..." His eyes met mine, before he leaned in and pecked a kiss right next to my ear, his husky voice filling it; "I happen to like the things that come out of your mouth."

A small breath left me, and I was pretty sure it was the last air in my lungs as Harry then drew back and gave me his eyes. They were dilated and promising, vowing nothing but truth behind his words. "Really?"

"Really. But if you don't believe me, I'll do what every mathematician is required to do when presenting a case."

"And what's that?" I gulped, watching him lean in and upturn my chin with a single nod.

"Provide proof." And with those damning words, he gave me a last promising look before dropping to his knees between my legs.

The gasp that flew from my lips was completely smothered by the sound of Harry yanking me to his mouth and covering my dripping core with his lips. One moment I was breathless and on edge, the next I was moaning loudly into his office and clinging to his locks of hair for support as he brought me headfirst into a shattering orgasm with his tongue.

– Providing the house with all the proof that would ever be needed of liking my naughty mouth.

• • •

Seemed only right to upload this today, haha. Congratulations to my darling friend AuthorlylahJames – you know why.
Cheers!