Even If It Hurts -H.S. AU

59

I returned to the kitchen in my finest silk lounge set, and I managed to convince Harry to change as well. We sat at the dining room table in our pajamas to eat the exquisite dinner Harry cooked for us. The first home cooked meal either of us have had since we got back.

I had never tried shrimp scampi before, but I'm convinced I'll never love it as much as I do right now being fed to me by Harry, with his own fork.

I'm so in love with him, it's nauseating. I never really thought I'd be one of those women who enjoy being doted on hand and foot, but when a man like Harry offers to cook you dinner and draw you a bath? I can swallow my pride enough to admit that I won't turn that down- not ever.

I climb into the tub filled to the brim with bubbles, waiting impatiently for Harry to return and join me. My stomach flips when he comes back into the room holding champagne and two glasses in one hand, and a platter of chocolate covered strawberries in the other.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Harry?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at him, making him hesitate in the doorway. "It's working."

"I'm trying to remind us both that there's more to life than work and fighting and work again." He confesses softly as he pulls his shirt over his head.

I take the initiative to pour champagne into both glasses that he set on the marble lining the tub. He climbs in with me and I hold his glass out to him as he gets settled. Our legs tangle together in the warm water and he leans back against the edge with a contented sigh.

"To life." I mumble when he takes his glass from me.

"To our life." He says firmly and clinks his flute against mine. "Together."

"Our life." I repeat with a smile. My heart feels like it's about to burst out of my chest, and based on the smile on his face, I'm convinced he can hear it.

"Here." He reaches for one of the strawberries after we both take a sip of champagne and moves closer to me in the tub.

He slides the chocolate covered fruit along my bottom lip, his eyes glued to my mouth as my lips part and I take half of it between my teeth. He pulls back, looking at me with dark eyes and smiles as he bites the rest of the strawberry before discarding the stem.

He places his hand at the curve of my neck and pulls me toward him. He runs his tongue along my bottom lip, humming when he tastes the sweetness left there. He kisses me gently. His movements slow as he dips his tongue into my mouth. He tastes sweet as well, the brightness of the strawberry dances on his tastebuds and makes me a little dizzy.

He's been so wonderful tonight. The dinner he planned with the music and flowers and wine. The dessert- my favorite dessert- that he clearly hand dipped himself and paired with the most expensive bottle of champagne he could find. At the same time my heart is leaping in my chest, my stomach is sinking.

"Don't." He mumbles against my lips, pulling back slightly when he hears the anxious wheels turning in my head.

"I'm sorry for being a dick these past few days." I tell him anyway, making him sigh and lean back against the marble to look at me. "It should be me making you dinner and feeding you strawberries, since you have to put up with my moody ass."
He chuckles softly, and I wait for him to say something, but he doesn't. Instead, he just stares at me with a dreamy look in his eye that I can't place.
"What?" I whisper a little harshly as a flush creeps up my neck under his gaze.

"I can't get enough of you." He says casually, despite his words being anything but. "I mean it, Vi. I am absolutely captivated by you, and I'll never get enough."

"You are insane." I exhale a laugh as my skin tingles at the way his stare hasn't wavered for a second. "I don't think you understand how enraged at nothing I was when I came home. I feared for your life."