ANTONY & CLEOPATRA → ALFIE SOLOMONS

"come to bed"

A has their hands on B's neck, murmuring the phrase softly. A's hands slide down B's arms to their hands, lacing their fingers together and slowly starting to pull B towards their bedroom. A continues to pepper B with kisses all the while, trailing them down their jaw and neck.

Alfie was stressed.

That much you could tell. He had been in his office since he came home from the factory, sitting at his desk and going through hundreds of thin-leafed documents spread across the oak. You had been in and out of his office wordlessly; stuffing a pillow behind his back, dropping off a plate of food, later coming back to pick up the same plate still full of food. Each time you pressed a kiss to the side of his face and left without a word.

But it was getting late, and you hated sleeping alone. The bed was much too big without Alfie's body pressed against your own. The sheets too cold without him there to keep them warm. You doubted you would be able to shut your eyes and rest without his fingers in your hair.

With a huff, you pushed yourself out of bed and made the short trek down the hall, where soft golden light was spilling out of the crack of the door. Your bare feet made no sound against the wooden floors, and all was quiet until your knuckles softly hit the door that separated you and Alfie.

You didn't hear his voice telling you to come in, but you pushed down on the handle anyways, letting yourself into your husband's office. The moment you walked in, you saw him with his head in his hands, palms pressed deep into his eye sockets.

"Alfie, dear," you began quietly, moving forward and coming up behind him, hands falling on his shoulders. He straightened up with a groan, his head tipping back and bumping against your stomach as he looked up at you. "Come to bed."

"Am I in heaven?" You rolled your eyes. "I must be in heaven, 'cause I'm looking into the eyes of a fuckin' angel, I am."

"Come on," you said, bending down to press a kiss to his forehead, hands sliding down his arms. "Bedtime for the crime boss."

Alfie groaned again with protest as your hands slid back up his arms, pressing to his chest, fingers tugging at the buttons on his shirt. His eyes stayed glued to your face, hands coming up to grasp your wrists, halting your movement. Alfie's lips pouted, and you couldn't stop yourself from humouring him and pecking them lightly, pulling away almost immediately.

"Not fair," he mumbled, pulling on your wrists and bringing you back down again, nose bumping against yours and rubbing sweetly. "Y'know, love, as enticing as you are, I think I might have to spend the night in here."

He gestured to the leather sofa, and you smacked his chest.

"Absolutely not," you said, coming around to his front and taking him by the hands, giving him a small tug. "Your back, Alf. Think about your back."

Alfie looked thoughtful for a moment as he laced his fingers with yours, squeezing affectionately. "I will be in immense pain, I imagine," he murmured, thumbs smoothing over her knuckles. "But these invoices for the bakery aren't adding up, and I don't think I'll be able to sleep if I don't get them done."

Leaning forward, you pressed your lips to Alfie's forehead, giving him a sweet kiss. He let out a content sigh, his hands pulling you closer until your bum hit his thighs, his arms wrapping around your waist and tucking his face into your neck.

"Alfie," you murmured against his skin, lips pressed to the crown of his head. "Bed, please. You know I can't sleep without you."

Alfie scoffed, lips puckering to press kisses to your chest, hands massaging deep into the places he held you close. When his kisses turned biting, you pinched his bicep.

"I'm not fucking you here again," you warned, hand sliding up his arm to wrap in his hair, pulling him back from your neck. "Last time we did it on the desk, you spilled stamping ink all over my nightie."

"Yes, and I bought you twelve new ones to make up for it," Alfie grumbled, nipping at your throat before delivering a sharp smack to your leg. "Right. What were you saying about bed?"

"Your back is starting to get sore, isn't it?"

"Darling, it's been sore since I've sat down six hours ago," Alfie said, and you stood up from his lap, taking his hands again and giving him another tug. This time, he budged just a bit. "I really should figure out the numbers."

"I think you should come and lie with me," you said, crouching and kissing him quickly before pulling away. "And we can figure out the numbers tomorrow, love. I'll help you."

Alfie stared at you for a long minute, and you watched the contemplation in his eyes. You were tempting him, and you weren't sorry for it at all. When you tugged at his hands again, he stood with a deep groan, forehead hitting your shoulder.

"My fucking back, fuck." You patted his shoulder, helping him straighten up with a painful sounding huff of breath. You kissed him again and took a step back, leading him out of the room. "Good fucking Christ, woman."

"The sooner you're in bed the better you'll feel," you promised, lips pecking his neck as you continued to lead him back to your shared room. "If you hurry it up, I'll give you a massage."

Alfie grumbled, but moved quicker, enticed by the periodic kisses being pecked on his face, lips, neck, and the exposed areas of his chest, where you had unbuttoned his shirt. As you walked, you continued to pull at buttons until you were inside of your bedroom, the shirt falling from his shoulders as he shrugged out of it, revealing hard, tight muscle littered with scars and tattoos.

"Pants," you ordered gently, and when he simply stood, staring at you with smouldering eyes, you reached forward and unbuckled his belt, popping the buttons and the pulling the zipper. "Please."

You fought off a giggle as Alfie shucked his pants, stepping out of them and kicking them
to the side, leaving him in his shorts. If it was a bit earlier, you would scold him, but all you wanted was to get into bed.

"Right, lie down," you said, hands holding his sides and drawing him in, leaning up as Alfie leaned down, kissing you so softly that you could have cried. "Or keep doing that. I'm fine with whatever."

Alfie chuckled, kissing you shortly again before parting and flopping down on your shared bed, laying flat on his stomach.

You suppressed a smile. "Now, would you prefer me with or without clothes?"