By now, waking up curled up with Stuart was not new, but it was still very nice. Though today was a new feeling as waking up completely naked and curled up with him, I snuggled deeper onto his chest, feeling his skin completely on mine and enjoying it.

I turned my head slightly and placed my lips onto his, and got a slowly waking kiss in return as his hands slowly powered up and moved carefully on my back. We slowly kissed as his hands moved further down, finding my now bare arse and we kissed deeper as he roamed, though staying away from the area he knew not to explore, yet! With every touch, I awoke more and gently purred, enjoying the sensation there and feeling the growing sensation between us.

He smoothly and slowly rolled me over, and we continued making out, and then he slowly started moving down me. His touch and warmth travelled down, each kiss filled with care and playfulness. I watched him, smiling at the tenderness in every gesture, feeling grateful for the love between us.

We heard a muffled knock on the door, “You OK?” we heard, and we quickly put jeans and T-shirts on before unlocking the door.

“Coffee guys,” Stuart deadpanned as he greeted Sacha, and I headed to the sink and found the XL Plunger, though we didn’t need coffee after the liquids we’d just generated. By now, it was nearly morning tea, and I dug out the carrot cake and placed it on the table along with five plates, and Stuart returned with the loaded plunger.

“How are you?” Sacha asked off camera, and I cocked my head at Stuart.

“Last night was a surprise. Seeing them Jumpered up,” he laughed. “Then the wedding and our Uniting. So, so powerful,” he moistened again, and I hugged him tightly. “I knew our Uniting was right, and now I have the full context - one couple powerfully in love and now,” he hung looking at me.

“Another couple on the same path, walking and exploring,” I gently kissed his lips as The Boys nodded.

“Hand in hand,” he held mine up.

“Shame that several couples want to punch each other,” I mused, and he hugged me as The Boys nodded, though we knew that both hugging and punching couples are good for filming.

“Eat,” I commanded.

My phone bleeped. Alisha was the display. Erika pregnant: 2 months! I smiled as Erika is Nest CEO Tomaz’s EA, and the ladies are the same age. Bex a bit confused but floating she continued, as in my absence, Alisha was covering my role, and I’d arranged with Jake that she should part-time Alisha’s role to gain wider organisational knowledge. This also meant that, when Rapid stands up happened, which it does regularly, she was wearing one of two hats - EA (Ali) or Control (Jake’s) Junior.

I showed Stuart my phone, and he smiled, thinking of how stunned she had been in our first interactions and that now, I’d thrown her again by seemingly randomly putting her into a role that she had no career interest in.

At our Uniting, he’d had a brief chat with her and later said she seemed somewhat reserved, though he knew she was around friends. We were already discussing post-show projects, and had mentioned a project in Vancouver that his company was in final tender for, which I was thinking that this might be a sign. I sent a meeting invite to Tomaz for three days’ time when I’d be alone, though with the heading Catchup, as I wanted to low-key it.

I got up and went to the wall, “Wall challenge,” I announced to everyone’s surprise, and pointed at Sacha’s Age Comp results. “It says that we must cook dinner tonight,” and they laughed. “But this old lady is tight and needs a swim and hot tub first,” as Stuart smiled, not quite as good as our previous rub down. “We’ll cook after that,” and they wrapped and we headed to the bedroom.

“What do you prefer?” I asked as I found my activewear. He pulled off my T-shirt and cupped me, leaning over for a kiss. I reciprocated but playfully kicked his ankle, and his right hand reached over and grabbed the red swim bikini. “You wanted the tube,” I whispered, and I felt his answer, “You know what would happen if I swam in that,” and I felt his forceful answer in my back. With both hands and still kissing, his soft hands gently placed it on my bust and slid my arms in. He clipped it and diligently set it tight on me, though something else was very tight again. “So soon,” I kissed, purring and wondering if I could cope with three full soons when we eventually did.

We effected the rest of our change separately as we wanted to swim and then robed before heading to the pool. As we arrived, we saw Tina and Timmy in the spa, and they looked at us. She was wearing a skinny two-piece that seemed more theoretical than actual, and they eyed us as we disrobed onto the loungers as their crew were filming. My top was much bigger than hers, and it fitted me much tighter as swimming with a loose bikini isn’t fun. I don’t sunbathe, so I always wear swim one or two pieces, so there wasn’t much of me to see, though they eyed us, seemingly expecting shrivelled wrinklies.

We dropped in and started swimming, doing our usual effective freestyle and relaxing into the swim, and I pushed harder to see how he’d cope, which he did. I powered harder and was now two-stroke (right-right, left-left) breathing instead of bilateral to really hit the gas, and saw him still pacing. Another tick, a guy who has energy for swimming after two orgasms. I certainly didn’t come into here desiring to be rooted constantly, but was hoping for capability and in every respect, he was exceeding all my mental and physical ticks. I wonder what it will be like when we’re totally ready? I mused.

Stuart: I do like swimming, but unlike our previous swims, today she was really hammering it, and I was so glad when she finally knocked off as another length, Timmy might have had to pull me out, but I knew she was gently testing me and so far, I seemed to be passing all of them.

We looked up and saw another couple now on the loungers, though they seemed also not to be heading our way, and we carried on for a decent, straight half-hour before we concluded. The bikini now clung to my body, and I noticed Emmeline, the newer arrival, looking at me as we briefly chatted about how filming was going and wondering what next week’s Guys and Girls Days would be like, though I was still relaxed from the long swim and impressive wake-up. Finally, we hit the sauna, “So nice - such good company,” he leaned in and kissed me.

“So nice, just need a full day of pampering like I had once,” I purred, kissing him, remembering The Manor House. “Today is nice, and I’m not doing it alone, but the massage will be so nice,” as we kissed alone in the steam.

We headed back to the apartment and changed back into jeans and t-shirts, and The Boys arrived, “TLS or MasterChef today?” Cameraman Ian laughed.

“Who’s judging?” Stuart shrugged as I whacked the basil leaves with the pine nuts in the blender and ground the salt, killing any more chat. Stuart seared two trays of Wagyu meatballs as he started mixing the Polenta into the stock. He reserved the meat and fried carrots, parsnips and some beans in the juice and then added two cans of tomatoes for the sauce and let that simmer.

I sliced and toasted off a ciabatta and then plated it, placing the pesto atop, and placed them on the table. “Eat,” I sternly commanded to laughs as we hit the starter.

“Tasty,” Stuart purred as his hand tickled my back, and The Boys’ eyes rolled, wondering what the exact dish it pertained to, and I looked deep in his eyes and shrugged. I’ve had two orgasms after breakfast.

The main was ready and he placed a layer of the polenta on the bottom of the pasta bowls, then the succulent orbs and finally, caressed them with the ragout. “So hot,” Sacha commented as the first half of one slid down, “Better than normal for us,” he nodded as they smiled as they got their hit.

“Worst couple this series,” Ian laughed, “I’ve put on weight being around you guys,” he rubbed his flat tum. “We need to get the word out to the other couples,” he shrugged, and they laughed.

When we got the groceries yesterday, Stuart surprised me by slicing and immediately freezing the rhubarb, rather than putting it in the fridge. Now, he put a slice of butter in the frying pan and melted it, then took the thawed chunks and placed them on top. Finally, he dropped in a decent dose of mixed spice with a splash of cinnamon and just a touch of sugar - a mere fraction of what I’d use, and I was intrigued. He let the mixture boil, and when it steamed, he immediately shut down and plated, surprising me. He took the teaspoons out and dished one for each of us.

“Wow,” I started, “Not stringy and perfect tenderness. Just the right sweet v bitterness too,” I enunciated, and The Boys nodded.

“Weird way to do Rhu, but effective,” Ian approved, and I kissed Stuart on the cheek, though I really wanted to kiss him on the lips, just not with others around.

“Mostly MasterChef, with Love,” Sacha joked as the dessert was plated with a neutral yoghurt and a splash of muesli for crunch. “We’ll get so evil looks from the other crews: they’re on KFC!” he laughed and hugged us. Our relationship with them was more parent-child than them being disinterested observers now.

Sacha: In BA, Annie had really screwed us by Breaking The Wall, as we do want to do the best and be honest, but we have to be disinterested. Making us break bread ... and all the other tasty dishes since meant that it was very hard to try to stir them negatively, which I have to do, though I really don’t think there’s much to even flick here. I’d been impressed with how she’d forgiven us for last series’ screw-over, and she’d certainly evened the score at the airport! This was the final straw for us, having a stunning home-made dinner, and I knew they thought of us as sons rather than just crew. We’ve got to up our cooking game, I knew. Buggers! Such a hard task compared with separating fighting couples!

We concluded with decaf and as he made it, he syphoned off 50ml of the water and blended it into a Pyrex of cold water to make 400ml of tepid and then dropped 100ml in a bowl, which he blended in 3tsp of yeast with 1tsp of sugar and folded it in, finally let it bloom which slowly started emitting its fragrance.

As we drank the coffee, he broke off and blended the bloom and the water in a large bowl and folded in 250g of flour and covered it, making my stomach growl again as I realised that tomorrow, I’d be having fresh bread for breakfast served by my hot guy. The Guys looked on enviously, and then they bade us good night, probably to gloat to their KFC or rice-cracker-fuelled colleagues. On their way out, Sacha told us that the actors strike threat had got worse and that there was talk that there would be a complete shutdown in a fortnight if it wasn’t resolved.

We did the washing up, sadly still clothed. “That was fun entertaining,” he leaned over for a kiss.

“So nice cooking for more than one, or two,” I returned the kiss and sniffed, getting a decent hit of the rising bread, “Bread, something else you’re good at making rise,” I ground on him, “How many times do you let that rise?” I slyly observed. “So much to love about you,” I finally enunciated.

“You are loved deeply by many. Every day, I discover more about you to love.” He hugged me tight, kissed me, and we finished up and then headed to bed. We started snuggling, though I was deep in thought. “The strike?” he asked me.

“Yes, I was wondering what will happen to us – will we get sent home?” But I hung as I had another thought, and he nuzzled me to continue as his hands played with my nipples, giving me pleasurable tingles. “It’s a month until Terri’s birthday,” I mused, and felt his shiver as he again remembered her!

“We could go over and Tag her? Hit up The Experts?” he suggested, as during our time in Patagonia, he’d asked why A&S had callsigns if they weren’t flyers. I’d explained how Nest Tags were given by peers for someone’s notable activity, and that, while it was rude to explicitly ask anyone about a Tag’s reasoning, discretely enquiring was OK. I’d fessed that my one’s reason was long-forgotten and explained about theirs, and he laughed. “She is a star - they both are,” he mused about them.

“We jump Sacha tomorrow on that?” I asked, and he kissed me, as my plan was to simply request The Experts’ presence, which on TLS is an ill omen.

The next morning, I woke and immediately felt something was off. I reached around and found the bed empty, then something else got me. I sniffed deeper and slower, and the smell of baking bread filled my nostrils, waking me up.

I went to the kitchen and found him preparing breakfast, and slid behind him with my bare chest on his bare back. I brought my hands over, holding him tight. “Morning, sexy,” he leaned behind to kiss me.

“Seeing you making breakfast like this is so hot,” I tightened on him and carried on making out. So nice to feel so young again, I realised as the oven buzzed.

“Shame, I was hoping to make you breakfast in bed,” he me kissed harder, and I held him tight.

“Hopefully many years of breakfast in bed to come,” I whispered, and he kissed me harder, but the oven was still buzzing. “Safety first,” I disentangled.

He removed the bread and then sliced it as I breathed in the sumptuous smell, and then we sat in our usual place for our now-usual breakfast. We decided to omit the final course as we had the massage soon, so we then got dressed and went for a brief walk before it was time for the taxi to take us to the massage venue.

While waiting for Sacha, I powered up my tablet, opened Libby [app], and downloaded Isobel Allende’s Zorro and passed it to him. “Terri, for birthday?” he asked as we sipped through it, wondering if she was too young for it. He pursed his lips and kissed me, “Not sure ... age-wise, maybe too young but for her, hmmm.”

I messaged SV: Please download Isobel Allende’s Zorro, and see if you think too old for T.

I know that massages are something that TLS are very keen on as they think it bonds couples, although I was somewhat glad that it hadn’t happened until now. While we’ve always been comfortable around each other, we would have been very tentative when they filmed us massaging each other, and now was definitely The Right Time.

Sacha greeted us as he filmed us leaving for the massage, and then his face sank as I issued my request, emphasising that I wanted them all, and not just one of them. “Who’s turn?” I asked, referring to the lunch and Alan the Runner smiled, which lightened the mood slightly, and Stuart flashed eight fingers, which he nodded.

At the massage venue, we changed. Me to the tube and bikini bottoms and him in Speedos, and then we robed and headed to the massage room where The Boys were already filming. We disrobed and lay face down as the masseurs started their gentle progression and then worked up, soothing and loosening, though we both told them to go a bit harder as they were being tentative. On command, we rolled, and they worked down our still-swimweared bodies, relaxing us.

“Finished,” they announced as the camera still rolled, and Stuart got up and robed up, then came to my table. I rolled over so he could start on my back, and he gently massaged down my back and neck, increasing in depth. I raised my hand and circled harder, and he worked my back harder which I found so relaxing and stimulating as I was now thinking of Part 3, when The Boys would be gone. He worked down my legs, staying in the Appropriate Zone and kneading my muscles, so I pleasantly moaned and then whispered to turn over. I turned over and he smiled as my tube showed two signs of how much I was enjoying this as he massaged my neck, then arms, chest and top of legs as I gently moaned.

I swapped and started on his back, enjoying the sensation of exploring his body and feeling his decent muscles, though sometimes I deliberately briefly went in too hard to see how much he could take, though he just grimaced. He turned and put the towel over his waist as I started on his neck, then moved down efficiently massaging like I’ve had many times, though soon I was at his ankles.

“How was that?” Sacha asked.

“Nice and relaxing,” I smiled. “So nice to be massaged by you,” I looked over and kissed him on the cheek.

“Someone’s got it in for me,” he laughed and kissed me on the cheek as The Boys packed up and we waited until they had gone to have our own fun!

Sacha: Filming them during the massage was the same as normal - pleasant and seemingly problem-free as they gently and happily massaged each other on camera, and I was clueless about what caused her request. Their request for alone time worsened my confusion as I had a few sly thoughts about what they would get up to once they were rid of us. During their alone time, I texted the Master Producer and then The Experts called me for advice, and I simply emphasised her request and that I was absolutely stumped, and that they were currently off-camera massaging.