Chapter 9 – Henry
Iknow the exact moment she puts it together. The fact that there is only one bed.
One very small bed and two of us.
It goes against my gentlemanly instincts not to ease her mind and offer to sleep on the floor or somewhere else in the cabin. I know that’s what I should do. Yet I don’t.
There really is no other place to sleep in here. The floor is definitely not an option. The dust alone would probably kill me or cause a kind of lung illness that I did not want to sign up for.
From the corner of my eye, I watch as Ellie pauses in untying her boot laces. Her body stiffens and she jerks her head to the side, focusing her attention to the area of the room I’m in. On the bed.
She stays like that, staring at the bed, for what I believe is a full minute. I struggle to keep my expression neutral as I go about pulling out the extra clothing I packed. When I have the extra pair of socks out of my bag along with the baggies of food I had packed for lunch, I finally break the silence.
“Do you need help? You haven’t moved in a while.” Her mouth opens but her gaze never wavers. “Are you in pain?”
That has her expression clearing. “No. No, sorry. I just—” She clears her throat. “I just realized a couple of things.”
“And those would be…” My voice trails off, but I can no longer hide my amusement from her.
“That there’s one bed and we both only have the clothes on our backs.”
I hadn’t factored in a full change of clothes. It wouldn’t be smart to stay in our wet clothes. While the thought of losing items of clothing with Ellie was appealing, this was not the time.
“And the bed’s a problem?”
“No, not a problem just…inconvenient maybe? But really, it matches the luck we’re having today.” She rubs the back of her neck, brow bunched.
I feel like an asshole. Here I am delighting in the fact that our circumstances are going to help me get to know her better while they only cause Ellie stress. Her face is pale and her shivering has intensified.
In four quick strides I’m by her side, crouching down and reaching for her hand.
“Is the bed thing really that bad?”
“No, it’s not that. It just all hit me. This clusterfuck of a day. And now we’re trapped here until the storm lets up with barely any food and no change of clothes.” She lets out a long sigh, running a hand down her face. “Sorry,” she mumbles. “I’m being—”
I cut her off, not wanting to hear her brush off her valid concerns.
“You’re right. It has been a clusterfuck of a day. But you know what? I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else by my side but you. In between the moments of chaos you’ve shown me absolute beauty, shown me the value of quiet, and you’ve become one of the best people I know. You got us out of that storm and here to safety.”
“I’m the one that got hurt and broke our only means of calling for help.”
I wave that away. Placing a hand under her chin, I gently tilt her head up so that she can see the sincerity in my eyes.
“None of that was your fault. Shit happens. And we’re here now. I for one couldn’t be more grateful for the extra time I get with you.”
Her lashes flutter, and a nice rosy stain fills her cheeks, making something unclench from around my heart. With bated breath, I watch as her hand lifts and comes to the side of my face. Thumb scraping along my stubble, she nods, giving me a small grin.
“The extra time is nice,” she whispers.
Having her hands on me feels electrifying. I never want it to end.
But I need to take care of her first. Get her cleaned up and warm.
Covering the hand that is on my face, I beam at her and bring her palm down to my mouth. I gently kiss the center of her hand. She lets out a shaky exhale.
“Good. I’m glad you feel the same, sunshine.” Reluctantly, I place her hand back down in her lap and stand. “Now, let’s see if I can find any extra clothes or blankets that we can use. You need to get warm and staying in those clothes is not an option.”
“What about you?”
I give her a cocky grin, wanting to hear the magic of her laugh again. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy the view.”
My words have the desired effect. She rolls her eyes playfully as a small giggle rings through the cabin.
It takes more time than I care to admit to spot the small closet that holds shelves of linens and bulky sweaters. Everything is packed in sealed bags and seemingly clean.
We both let out little cheers of relief and the tension I was unknowingly holding in my shoulders disappears. We’ll make it through the night without turning into human popsicles now.
Helping Ellie into the small bathroom, I hand her a change of clothes along with two towels. There’s a shower but we’re both unsure of the water situation.
While she’s in there, I make myself useful and begin lighting candles and lamps around the room. The storm is casting a dark shadow through the cabin and soon we’ll lose all light as evening creeps closer.
Needing to get rid of some extra pent-up energy, I go about cleaning up the cabin as I wait for Ellie to appear again. I find a roll of duct tape in a kitchen drawer and cover up the hole in the window. It solves the draft problem for tonight but definitely isn’t a permanent fix.
The small squeak of the bathroom door has me turning to see a refreshed Ellie hopping out.
“Careful, sunshine,” I say, going to her side. She looks insanely hot and ridiculous in the oversize sweater and large sweatpants. Both items are so big on her that she’s rolled them at the wrists and ankles.
“I’m fine, Henry, honestly.”
I give her a grunt, not agreeing. She’ll be better once her ankle is wrapped and I can assure myself it’s not a break like I initially feared. I think I’ll play back her falling down for years to come and still lose my breath every time.
She laughs at me as she twists and sits on the bed.
“I see you’ve made the bed.” Her voice has gone a little husky.
“Figured you’d rather lie in bed than sit in that uncomfortable wooden chair for the rest of the night. Now, let’s see that ankle,” I say as a way to distract her from realizing that I’ll be joining her in this bed shortly too.
Scooting back on the mattress until her back is leaning against the headboard, she pulls up the leg of the sweatpants.
I hiss. Her ankle is swollen and colored with bruises.
“Ellie,” I whisper. “You should have told me it was bad.”
Her tone matches mine, quiet and low. “It’s not bad, I promise. It looks worse than it is.”
“On a scale of one to ten, how bad is the pain?”
She bites her lips, a contrite look coming over her face.
“On the way here, it was a solid eight. But after resting and sitting down for bit, I’m sure it will go down to a four now.”
A four gutted me. Hell, I would probably feel like an asshole for not taking better care of her if she was at a two. I hated that she was in any kind of pain.
I needed to push that aside though. Grabbing the first aid kit I had found with the duct tape, I pulled the kitchen chair over and angled myself so that I could easily reach her bad ankle.
“You should have said something earlier.”
“Well, a lot was happening earlier.”
Upon opening the kit, the first item I went for was the bottle of ibuprofen. I shook two pills out and handed them to her before grabbing my water bottle. Without protesting Ellie threw back the pills with a gulp of water.
I give her a nod of approval. She gives me a glare.
Loving the attitude she’s throwing at me, I shake my head with a satisfied smirk.
Next, I go for the hot-cold pack. I snap it in half to activate the liquid inside and place the quickly heating pack on her ankle.
“Go get cleaned up.” She waves me away once I get the pack balanced on her leg.
I think about it and decide she’s right. I am uncomfortable in these wet clothes, and I can’t do much for her while the pack is heating her ankle.
With a quick “Fine,” I grab the extra clothes that I thought would fit my frame and head to the bathroom.
By the time I’m changed and as clean as I can get, the hot-cold pack has lost its effect. Ellie doesn’t say anything, just gives me a knowing smile when I pull out the roll of gauze next. Unrolling the end, I meet Ellie’s eyes and she takes a deep breath before silently giving me her consent.
As carefully as I can, I lift her foot just enough so I can get under it and begin wrapping her ankle. I go a bit overboard, using the whole roll, but I don’t care. I’d rather her ankle be overly supported than have her be in any discomfort.
I’ll unwrap and help her ice the area again later with the last hot-cold pack, but for now, we’ll rest and wait for her pain meds to kick in.
“Thank you.”
Running two fingers gently down her shin and hovering along her ankle, I then unroll the leg of her sweatpants again so that she doesn’t catch a chill.
“No problem, sunshine.”
“Are, um, you going to join me up here?”
“Definitely.” I grin at her, closing the first aid kit. “Just going to put this away and grab us some snacks. That sound good to you?”
“Yeah, real good.”
I like her answer. It gives me hope that the bond we began developing the first time we met and throughout today was still there and going strong. This may not be how I saw the day ending, but I was being given more time with the woman who fascinated me.
I grab the snacks I had packed for the day and the half-dozen granola bars that I found buried at the bottom of Ellie’s backpack. There’s a crate of water bottles at the far end of the cabin and some canned goods, but I’m going to try to go through our stuff first before eating the ranger’s food.
I pass over her refilled water bottle with the small filtered nozzle and throw all my snack bags plus the sandwich container up onto the bed.
“Did you really pack gummy bears?” Ellie asks, trying to claw for the bag but not able to reach it.
“Absolutely. Gummy bears are the best. I’m addicted.”
“Addicted?” she snorts. “There’s no way you can be addicted to gummy bears and still look like you do.”
“There’s a compliment in there somewhere,” I tease back, failing to act offended.
“I mean,” she begins as I crawl onto the bed and work my way up to the headboard. I expect her to continue but the silence continues.
Flipping myself over, I sit back and twist my head to her. She’s staring at me in a strange way.
“Are you going to finish that sentence?” She shakes her head, eyes lingering down my body. “Are you okay?”
“Did…did you pick those sweatpants on purpose?”
Confused I peek down at the gray sweatpants I grabbed to change into earlier. “Is something on them? Do they say ‘assman’ or something on the butt?”
“N-no.” She pauses, finally making eye contact with me. “Don’t you know that gray sweatpants are a woman’s ultimate weakness?”
“Sweatpants?” I respond, thinking she’s pulling my leg. “That’s a joke, right?” Pinching the material, I try to think back on if I’ve ever heard anything like this. I thought a man in a tux was the ultimate fantasy.
“You’ve never heard that? Or seen, like, memes or whatever about gray sweatpants.”
I shake my head. “I guess I’ve been living under a rock.”
“A royal rock,” she murmurs with a smile.
“The mouth on you,” I tease, turning my upper body fully toward her and giving her side a little tickle. She squirms away just enough to escape my fingers but not upset her injured foot.
“I’m serious!” she cries, laughter filling every corner of the cabin. “If my phone was working right now I would totally prove it. It’s a thing!”
“Fine. I believe you, but it seems like a weird thing to be turned on by.” Her eyebrows rise and her eyes flare, mocking me and my disbelief. “Eat your granola bar.” I laugh with her, tossing the snack in her direction.
For a couple minutes we eat in silence, opening baggies and sampling each other’s snacks.
“I guess this isn’t how you thought the day would end, huh?” Ellie tries to make light of the situation, but I can hear the note of insecurity in her voice.
Finishing my bite of pretzel, I look across the room and watch rain drip down the window. There’s barely any light outside now and the storm rages on. The candles flicker, casting long shadows around the room.
I’ve taken too long to reply to her, and Ellie flicks the baggie that’s in her lap and begins to fidget uncomfortably.
Stopping her hands from wringing over and over, I grasp one and hold it tight, intertwining our fingers and setting my hand down on her upper thigh.
“Actually”—I take a deep breath, drawing on my courage to tell her the truth—“this is what I had imagined.”
Her head jerks to me, brow quirked. She definitely doesn’t believe me.
“I had hoped that after our hike today that I could convince you to have dinner with me. I knew that only a day with you wouldn’t be enough. I knew that the first time we met and I knew it the moment we headed out today. There was this moment when you turned back to look at me, with this wide smile on your face and your eyes sparkling with joy and I knew. Knew I’d have to drum up my courage to ask you for more time.”
Her expression of disbelief has fallen into one of shock. Ellie’s lips are softly parted, her eyes shimmering.
“And honestly, I never thought we’d end the day in bed together so I have to say, all in all, it’s been an exceptional day.”
“You really mean that, don’t you?”
“Mean what? That it’s been a great day?”
“No, that you never expected to end the day in bed with me.”
Licking my lips, I try to think of the best way to answer.
“I, ah, would never presume anything like that. I won’t lie and say it didn’t cross my mind, but I wanted to take my time.”
She makes a thoughtful noise.
“This surprises you?”
“Yes,” she says before quickly changing her answer. “I mean no.” Covering her face with her hands, Ellie takes a deep breath then turns to me. “I just mean, I’m sure you’re used to women throwing themselves at you and moving a little…faster.”
It’s my turn to make a thoughtful noise.
“Maybe. But women do not throw themselves at royals. That’s what we pay our security guards the big bucks for. I’m generally more accustomed to the long con.”
“How the heck did I slip by your guards then?”
“I guess I got really lucky that day.”
Her lips twist up in a small smile, her head dipping a little. “I did too,” she says on a whisper.
The cabin lights up with a flash of lightning. A rumble of thunder rolls through the sky next, making us jump. Her hand shoots out to me, clutching the fabric of my sweatshirt and twisting.
I place my hand over where she’s holding me, reassuring her with a touch.
“God, this storm is nasty.” Her voice is a little shaky. It hits me then that maybe I haven’t asked the right question yet.
“Do storms make you uncomfortable?”
She doesn’t hesitate. “A little. It’s more the lightning than anything.” Her hand slowly untwists from my shirt but I don’t let her pull away. Instead I bring her hand up to my lips and give her a light kiss.
The move is innocent at first. Wanting to calm her as the storm rages on outside. But at her quick inhale and the slight tremor that worked its way through her body, I couldn’t stop there. One kiss to the back of her hand, another to her palm, then wrist.
A low moan comes from her parted lips, and I can feel myself getting turned on by the tempting noise. I want to hear more. I want to cause more little sounds of pleasure from her.
“Henry,” Ellie sighs, twisting closer to me. “I want—I want more.”
“What do you want?” I demand softly. I need her to say the words.
“I want you to—to kiss me again.”
Conscious of her ankle, I pull away from her for a moment. She makes a sound of protest but it’s quickly cut off when I scoop her from her side of the bed and drape her over my lap. I grab one of the pillows that was supporting her back and place it under her bad foot.
Then I get back to taking care of my girl.