Henry was fuming as he showed Ella to the guest bedroom. The dozens and dozens of flowers he’d bought had been arranged in various vases and placed about her room, but neither of them could enjoy the sights or smells, because Henry was so worked up. “I can’t believe he’d let Cordray go off the pill just to test his abilities.”
Ella didn’t contradict him, but she didn’t agree, either. She kept her mouth shut, knowing when someone was in a tirade, it was best to let the fit run its course. She stayed in the doorway, her hands folded in front of her while she waited for him to wind down. After he’d blown up at a shockingly calm Remus yet again, he’d ranted for a good five minutes, and all the way up to the second floor.
“I mean, there’s being scientific, which I understand, and there’s being purely and simply homicidal! What I don’t understand is that it’s Remus doing this! Remus! He sacrificed five years off the back end of his lifespan to give Rory a fighting chance at surviving Malaura’s curse. Then he goes and lowers her husband’s medicine—for what? Pure curiosity? It’s insane!” Henry gestured wildly with his hands as he paced the plush beige carpet, his white dress shirt standing out against the lavender walls that had gray trim along the baseboards. The comforter was the same shade of gray, making the bed look like it was from a designer’s collection. There was a dresser and a nightstand, but that was all that took up space as Henry stalked back and forth. “Why aren’t you more upset about this?”
Ella kept her lips tight together and shrugged, hoping he wouldn’t require more from her on the subject.
When Henry sensed she was keeping herself from him, he stopped walking and stared at her. “You don’t have to be silent.”
“You’re angry,” she observed carefully, her hands still folded in front of her. “If I talk, it might upset you more.”
Henry made to say something, but deflated at her decorum that had a note of anxiety to it. “I won’t be mad at you. I’m angry at Remus. Ella, you don’t have to be afraid of me.”
Ella’s cagey glances told him that she needed time to be the determiner for that promise, not merely his word. “I was thinking of turning in. Can you show me where I’m supposed to be sleeping?”
Henry motioned around the room. “Your new home away from home.”
Ella frowned. “No, not where you sleep. Where I’ll be sleeping. My head still kinda hurts.”
Henry softened and moved over to her, holding his hands out to invite her to hold onto him. He relaxed when she moved into his body space, squeezing his hands and trusting him enough to let him lead her forward into the room. “This is where you’ll be sleeping. Is that alright?”
Ella gaped at the room that was far too large for her. “But it’s only just me in here. I don’t need all this space. Where do the servants sleep?”
Henry’s eyes softened around the edges, donning the patience he was learning to produce as needed. “Remus doesn’t have servants. He has employees who go home after they finish working. This is Rory’s room when she stays here, and you can use it now.”
She shot him a baleful look. “I really don’t think the Chancellor’s daughter would like me sleeping in her bed.”
Henry pulled out his phone and called his best friend. “Rory, quick question. My girlfriend is staying at Remus’ place for a few days.” He didn’t get through his actual reason for calling for a solid minute, holding the phone away from his ear while Rory squealed and shot a string of rapid-fire questions at him.
Ella covered her mouth, unsure if she should be horrified that Henry was asking such a bold request of the elite woman, or if she should let herself be entertained by the steady stream of queries.
“I can call you that, right?” Henry whispered to Ella while Rory babbled on the other end.
Ella couldn’t believe the life she was now living, where the Prince of Avondale wanted to ask her such things. “Of course.”
Henry let out a gust of victory, and then reached out to hold her hand. Putting the phone back to his ear, he tried to rein Rory in. “Alright, alright. It’s not that shocking. I was just wondering if she could sleep in your bed tonight.”
“Yes!” Then, upon further thought, Rory shouted, “No! She can’t sleep in my bed. She has to sleep in your bed with you.”
Henry chuckled at his friend’s attempt at meddling. “Thanks, Rory. Tell Cord… I dunno, something nice.” He hung up the phone and used his grip on Ella to twirl her in, making her look and feel like an elegant dancer who was meant for such things. In that moment, they forgot their limitations and frustrations. They forgot about her black eye, and its many implications. They put aside the evolution of magic that was uncharted, and the dangers of magic unchecked, and simply were.
Henry nipped at her lips, but Ella wasn’t in the mood to be teased. She reached up and slid her fingers along the nape of his neck, deepening the kiss and parting his lips with her tongue. She was high on the thrill of exploring her magic and being so far from her responsibilities. She had been old for so very long, but on this night, she wanted to be a teenager. She relished Henry’s soft noises of passion that sounded equally hungry and fearful of how easy it was to fall.
When Ella’s Listening went out, her knees buckled, and she slumped in his arms, panting as he broke the kiss to press his cheek to hers. Without having to be told, Henry spoke her quandary aloud. “Breathe through it, blue eyes. Take a minute. We’ve got nothing but time to work through this.” He made a show of breathing deeply, stroking her hip until she could stand on her own again.
Ella burrowed her face between his pecs, which was rapidly becoming her favorite spot on his body. It was always warm, no matter how cold the world felt. She could feel his heartbeat, and that steady rhythm was a soothing balm that spackled over the gaps in her psyche. “Home,” she murmured as contentment washed over her, rinsing her anxieties away for the moment.
Though the longing in Henry’s eyes made it clear he wanted nothing more than to ravish her, his arms coiled around her curvy frame, gathering her to him as if they both needed to never let go. “Tell me I’m your home again. I think I need to hear it.”
She pulled her face back a few inches so she could rub her favorite spot on his body, making slow circles with her palm as if it truly was the one space in the world where she belonged. “You’re my home, Henry. This spot right here. You can have the rest of you. I just want this part.”
“You can have all of me,” he pledged, placing his hand over hers and holding it to his heart. Then he leaned in and pressed his cheek to hers, as if the secret admission was something that needed cover of darkness and whispers. “I want to stay with you tonight.”
Ella’s mouth drew to the side, clearly torn. “You might be disappointed when all we do is sleep.”
“Of course.” Henry’s face lit up, and he pulled back to press a kiss to her lips. “Anything more might bring the house down. We can’t have that.”
Henry took her hand, gave Ella her bundle of clothes, grabbed up the nearest vase of flowers, and moved backwards out of the room and down the hallways, a look of pure rapture on his face as he led her to his bedroom. “Welcome to my room.”
She couldn’t take her eyes off him, standing in the space and looking like the one thing that had been missing from all the rooms in her life. “That’s nice Remus has a room just for you here.”
He dropped her hand and went to the dresser to pull out pajamas, setting the blue carnations on the surface to add something to the room that enchanted her. “Yes, well, it used to be for Adam and me to share. There’s a trundle underneath. But Adam doesn’t leave his castle much anymore.” Before she could protest, he held up his hand. “And no, Adam won’t mind you sleeping in here. Adam doesn’t care about much of anything these days. Remus doesn’t mind, either, so long as we don’t break his house.”
Ella took her bundle and unwrapped it, fishing out a tank top and shorts to sleep in. She leaned up and pecked his lips before disappearing into the en suite bathroom to change for the night.
After she brushed her teeth and prepared for bed, she came out to find Henry in green flannel pajama pants and a white undershirt that looked somehow formal and expensive, even though it was a normal t-shirt. Everything he did and every item he wore looked tailored and upscale, making each movement a sight to study.
Henry looked down and frowned. “What? Did I put my shirt on backwards or something?”
Ella swallowed hard and tried to remind herself that making out was harder to slow down when a couple was already in their pajamas with a freshly made bed right beside them. “You’re handsome like this.”
Henry’s smile pulled to the side as he watched her fidget. Her white cotton tank top was faded and had a few stains on it, but made it delightfully obvious that she was a woman who was clearly in shape. When paired with her lavender cotton shorts, Ella noticed the deliberate steady breathing that was Henry reminding himself to be a gentleman.
He pulled back the covers and motioned for her to take the spot furthest from the door. “Under the covers with you. I don’t want anyone else seeing you so scantily clad and delicious looking.” He grabbed a book and climbed in on the other side, leaning against the headboard as he flipped open to the marked page and flicked on the antique lamp atop his nightstand, trying to slip into his normal routine with Ella by his side.
“It’s weird how natural this feels,” Ella commented as she shifted her pillow into place, supine next to his seated form. Her eyes drifted to the four dozen blue carnations, cherishing the look of something so beautiful existing just to make her smile. “You’re sure you don’t mind me in your space?”
“Are you kidding? I’m contemplating moving in, just so we can be exactly like this every night. Does it bother you if I read for a little bit?”
“Only if you don’t read aloud. I’d love to hear whatever it is you’re into.”
Henry snorted as he showed her the cover. “My dad insists I reread this one every year.”
“War Strategies and Artistic Battles? Not into light reading, eh?”
“I don’t mind it. It’s a little dense to plow through, though. Thin book, but it takes me forever to finish.” He flipped back to the beginning and started from the top for her benefit. He’d had to read aloud many times, and in far more formal settings. He’d read public statements and country addresses, but tucked away in bed with Ella, he looked truly vulnerable. He cleared his throat too many times, as if worried he might trip over the words.
Ella saw his quandary and tugged him down to lay next to her, bending his arm out across her pillow so she could rest her head on his bicep. She turned on her right side, her body tangling through his when he kissed her, biting lightly on her lower lip just because he could. They kept the pacing slow, and Ella only ended the kiss when she deemed Henry calm enough to read to her.
His voice was velvety and soothing as she leaned her cheek to his chest, treasuring every moment they were together. He read in various accents just to entertain her, switching nationalities between stanzas to make her giggle. If she ate up every word he read, he devoured every smile that graced her lips. Her black eye was starting to fade, and they both wished for the day when he could hold her exactly like this without the reminder of the people who were so very cruel to her.