Liz and the Duke - (2 Parts)

[March Hare]

now wouldn't it be nice to meet a guy like this... golly I like him... the hay fever is only part one, mind you. he gets quite a bad cold in the next part of the story, only I haven't got it all worked out yet... anyway, enjoy ^^

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Liz and Duke had met in the long warm days of July, a year and a half ago. It’d been a picture perfect case of opposites attracting, for while Liz had whirled through summer in a continuing feast of healthy and happy enjoyment, Duke had undergone the season in all the exhausting misery caused by an aggressive form of hay fever. There had been days when he’d had violent sneeze fits when outside but otherwise he’d been okay; there also had been multiple days when the allergy forced him to stay inside, mostly in bed, with a sore throat and a throbbing head and unable to stop sneezing for more than thirty minutes at a time.

It was disaster for him as the sneeze attacks totally prevented his playing the piano: jazz and blues were his main talent, favourite pastime and the reason everybody called him Duke (he had been christened Ralph).

Liz he’d seen for the first time at a small jazz festival in the park, where she had been swaying and skipping along to the St. Louis Blues. She caught and held his eye with her sprightliness, her happy smile, her obvious lust for life. Pretty little thing. Fortunately it had been one of his good days, the allergy keeping a bit of a distance, which made him feel courageous enough to come up and speak to her.

Something about the performance, he’d said. She had looked up at him, throwing him one of the sunniest smiles he’d ever seen and agreeing wholeheartedly, which had encouraged him further. So he’d introduced himself.

“Ralph Morissey – my friends call me Duke.”

“Pleased to meet you,” she had answered with that sunny smile, “Ralph – or would you consider me your friend?” adding just a hint of seduction to her voice.

“I will if you tell me your name,” he said lightly.

“Liz. Liz Harding.” She held out her hand with a spontaneous, amiable gesture and he took it with a hearty shake. From that moment on they’d been friends.

He’d asked her to come and have an ice cream cone from the stand across the lawn – and that’s where things started to get a little out of hand. For the lawn had recently been mowed and the penetrating smell of grass drying in the warm sunshine had brought a persistent tickle to his nose. Tiny, invisible particles of grass blades were dancing through the air and inevitably found their way into his sinuses. Breathing through his mouth, he tried not to sniff as that would make it worse; but the dry, herby fragrance was too strong.

Liz, happily chattering along as they crossed the lawn, was oblivious of the changes in his countenance; she didn’t hear his breath hitching, nor did she see him stealthily rub his nose now and then.

The itch was now worsening to an unbearable prickling which spread to his throat. He cleared it, trying to abate the irritation by inhaling sharply through his nose; but it was no use.

“EhCHISHH!” he managed to stifle the sneeze in the crook of his elbow, but Liz did turn around.

“Bless you,” she said lightly. She must have sharp ears.

Duke didn’t even get the chance to mumble a thank-you. Hastily cupping his hands over his face he surrendered to the attack. “AhCHUSHH! HiYESHHahh! AhCH-Chahh! AhCHEEyaah! Huhh.. TSHuhh!”

He sniffed deeply, for now his nose had started to run. He fumbled around in his pocket for a hanky, but didn’t find one. Damnit, he should have thought of that. He sniffed again and again, but it wasn’t much help.

“Ah… have you got a tissue or something?” Hell, if ever anything was embarrassing. Asking a really nice girl whom you’ve just met for a tissue is not exactly a turn-on.

“I’ve got a paper napkin,” she told him and fished it from her pocket. “It’ll do. D’you have hay fever or something?”

“AhTSHOO!” Duke sneezed freely into the napkin, then blew his nose, wiped it clean and nodded. “I am sorry.”

“Come off it,” she said quietly. “Off the lawn, I mean.” Without any hesitation she took him by the arm and brought him to the nearest edge of the field. Embarrassed, but thankful at the same time, he followed suit. At the edge of the lawn a narrow gravel path wound into a small oak copse.

As they walked in the shadws of the ancient trees the prickle in his nose faded somewhat. “Thanks,” he said a bit sheepishly.

She made a derisive hissing sound. “Hay fever’s a nuisance. Do you take medication?”

“I’ve tried about a million different kinds. None of them worked. Some even made me worse.”

She’d given him a funny look then, as of suppressed interest almost. “So you just grin and bear with – the sneezes?” Her voice suddenly became a bit hesitant and she looked away as she spoke.

“Yup, that’s what I do.” He sniffed, then grinned.

“It’s not as bad as it looks, you know. I’ve known far worse days.”

Liz didn’t answer. A very slight, puzzled-ish frown appeared upon her face and she still didn’t look at him.

The puzzled frown, as Duke didn’t know then, sprung from a strong feeling that had assailed Liz that very moment – the urge to grab hold of this boy, to secure him for her own, to get as deeply involved with him as to – to justify her presence at… at more of those sneezy fits…

She had let on nothing though. Absolutely nothing. They’d walked and talked together, listened to more jazz performances, reached the ice cream stand by clever deviation and ended up in a Greek restaurant, where they’d exchanged phone numbers over coffee.

Needless to say, things had marched right on from there.

[Kitty]

Nice background offering inclunding the sneezes - clever lass!

Do continue!

Kitty

[tma]

Awwww!! I really enjoyed that. very cute and adorable.

I'd Love to see more.

Thanks

[March Hare]

whoo-hoo, part two finally completed tonight and now it's waaaay past my bedtime. curse those Muses, they should really adjust their inspiration-and-bedtime compatibility factor

anyway, here's to all those horribly alluring sick guys. remember, gentlemen, don't be cranky to your girl when she wants to take care of you and your flu

---

With a prolonged grinding of brakes that could make your skin crawl off, the train halted. Liz had gathered her stuff only moments ago and had to run out before a crowd of eager incoming passengers imposed on her. Out first, in second – a rule which less and less of the train-faring population seemed to respect.

A bus, she had to find a bus. To get home as soon as possible and wait for Duke.

As if by miracle, her bus was waiting for her. She got in, had her card stamped and two minutes later it took off, halting only at one stop – hers.

Walking into the street where she lived, she could see her little house in the distance – and Duke’s car right in front of it. Immediately her pace quickened, as did her pulse. Duke was home early.

She opened the door, dropped her bags in the hallway and softly climbed the stairs. Duke, she was certain, would be in the bedroom.

The thought was confirmed by a sound that made her heart race and blood rush to her cheeks. Knees trembling, she proceeded up the stairs.

“Huhh… h-CHOO! AhCHEEh! CHISHhoo! Sniff… ah-CHOO! Hhh… h’CHISHH! CHSHH!”

Duke was in bed, apparently naked, and looked up when she entered the room. He looked so miserable that Liz felt her heart melt – and warmth flow right down through her body, setting everything aglow. Duke’s eyes were red and watery, his cheeks were flushed, and he hid his nose in a tissue as soon as he saw her “CHISSHH! Ehh… TCHH! TSHishhahh!”

Crumpled tissues lay strewn all around him, on the blankets, the bedside table and the floor.

Liz clicked her tongue, firmly suppressing her agitation. “A bit under the weather, eh? Poor dear. How long’ve you been home?”

“’Bout ‘dour or so.” His voice, hoarse and congested, made her bite her lips to stop herself from licking them in pleasure.

“Right. I’ll deal with this mess in a minute – first I’m going to get you some tea. And a thermometer and some aspirin.”

“I’b dot sick,” he protested. “Just sdeezy.”

“Oh yeah, and you’re just home early, and you’re head just looks like it’s about to burst into flame.” She came up to him and felt his forehead.

“Ouch. Your had’s cold.”

“Your head’s scalding,” she corrected. “There’s a fever if I ever saw one.”

He frowned. “So are you goig to baby be aroud dow?” he asked indignantly. “Huh-TSHOO! ‘Scuse be.”

“I most certainly am. There’s only one thing I’d rather do right now,” she added, wishing her voice wouldn’t tremble so.

“Wha’s that?”

“Shag you,” she replied, with averted eyes.

He looked up, surprise on his sneezy face. “Shag be,”he mused. “That’s a good ode. I like that.” There was just the slightest hint of sarcasm in his voice. He buried his face in a wad of tissues and blew his nose loudly and with apparent satisfaction.

“Sorry love,” he mumbled. “I don’t think I’m up to it.”

This was a bit much for her over-sensitive feelings on top of the sarcasm, however slight it had been. Still she kept her countenance and said coolly “Oh really. Well, then the least you can do is let me baby you around a bit. Come on, honey,” she coaxed, falling down on the bed next to him, lying on her stomach with her still-shod feet in the air. “Don’t tell me you mind my doing that.”

Duke smiled faintly, not looking at her, and rubbed his face with both hands, sniffing deeply two or three times. Liz kissed his neck, unable to keep from touching him any longer. She ran her lips over his skin to his shoulder and bit him there very softly. Duke always liked that a lot. This time, however, he didn’t even seem to notice.

This isn’t going anywhere, she realized. It almost looks like he’d rather be alone. Ouch! That’s not funny. Oh very well, I’ll leave him be. Just make sure he’s got everything he needs and then let’s get some sleep.

She got off the bed and started picking up crumpled tissues from everywhere. The dustbin was heaped when she had finished. Aspirin and a thermometer she got from the bathroom, as well as a glass of water and a new box of tissues.

Duke didn’t look up when she re-entered the bedroom; he lay on his side with his knees pulled up against his chest and his eyes closed.

“Duke,” she coaxed. “Sit up, honey. Get some drugs inside you.”

Groaning, he heaved himself into a somewhat upright position and allowed her to shove some aspirin into his mouth. “Drink,” she ordered and obediently he took a few sips of water, swallowing the aspirin with them. This threw him into a nasty coughing fit, however, and Liz sat close to him while he seemed to be coughing up his lungs, rubbing his back and biting her lips and feeling horribly torn between excitement and concern.

When the fit finally subsided, he fell back into the cushions and gasped, almost without sound: “Can I please get some sleep now?”

Well, really. Liz almost bit through her lips. One would think it’s I that’s bothering him, not the stupid bloody cold. Now indignation stirred inside her on top of everything. She got up swiftly, put the glass on the bedside table and said tonelessly, “I don’t know. Try.”

“Yeah. Night, honey.” And Duke turned his back to her, folded his arms under his head and closed his eyes.

“Night,” she whispered.

The excitement subsided somewhat, but it did not go away as she undressed and turned off the lights and slipped into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She could hear him sniffle and cough through the closed door and it was wreaking havoc on her senses. She could not help it. Duke was so hopelessly alluring when sick. The sneezes alone were enough to arouse her, but the warm limpness of a fever-racked body, the incessant sniffling and harsh coughing fits, the tiredness in face and voice… all those things on top of the sneezing were enough to drive her absolutely crazy, not only with lust, but with a feeling that could only be described as endearment. Not only did she need to take care of him, her body ached to be close to his, skin to skin, limbs entangled…

But he was probably asleep already. And for the mood he’d been in, that was really all the better.

Liz sighed as she crawled under the covers in the dark, next to a very warm and restless Duke. He wasn’t asleep after all; she saw his eyes glimmer when she got into bed, she saw him look at her. But he said nothing and she didn’t dare make a sound.

There was no question of sleeping though. Liz moved as far as she could to the edge of the bed so that Duke would have enough space, thanking the heavens it was a double bed. He was tossing and turning, apparently unable to find a comfy position to lie in. once or twice he kicked the blankets away with angry vigour, leaving Liz half-bare as well, after which she hardly even dared to pull them back up. It was hopeless.

Where’s the childlike, clinging sick guy from the stories, that begs for TLC and is sweetly grateful for every bit of fussing you do over him? Liz thought, aggravated. Things would be so much easier if Duke were a bit more like that. Damn. She wished she could just go and sleep on the couch. But she didn’t want to wake him, if he was asleep at all, and through all the pain of confusion and irritation there was still the attraction, still that overwhelming need of being with him that made her stay put and try to be as far out of his way as possible.

Miraculously, after an hour or two the fever seemed to go down all by itself, and Duke relaxed. His breathing was heavy to the point of snoring, but this was something Liz was well used to. After the misery of before, she found it soothing.

She turned onto her back, grateful she could move again, and snuck a glance at him in the darkness. He was lying on his side, facing her, his arms tucked under his head and his mouth a bit open. He looked fast asleep. Wet sniffles between the snores almost had her turned on again, but she decided that there must be no more of this nonsense. Sleep, she ordered herself, and it worked, for a few minutes later she started to drift off.

Only to be rudely jerked out of her slumber by a harsh, cough-like ”Hih-EITSCHH!”

Her eyes flew open, turning to him immediately, reeling at what she saw. Duke lay in the same position, only with his hands cupped over his nose and apparently awake. He sneezed again, compulsively, the tickles in his nose nastily keeping him awake “CHISHH! Huh… hehISSHHoo! ETCCHHH!” He took a deep, gasping breath, rubbing his nose with both his index fingers, and sneezed once more, deeply. “Huhh… HEEISSHHHaah! ughh…”

He opened his eyes, and saw hers, glistening in the tiny glimpse of light that came from outside.

“Sorry,” he whispered.

She swallowed and bit her lip. Then she tentatively reached out her hand towards his. He took it and planted a gentle little kiss on it, sniffling softly at the same time.

Oh, Duke.

“It’s okay,” Liz whispered back, unable to keep her voice under control. “Bless you, my love.”

[Sneesee]

Ooooh, how I just love this story! You'd better write a lot while you're on vacation, 'cause I'm gonna miss your stories!

[Love_2_Sneeze_666]

Awww! This is a wonderful story, SillySooze! PLEASE keep writing!!