Drifting Deception

Chapter Twenty-Seven

SYDNEY

I must have cursed myself when I told Henry I'd never been sick during one of these phases...because I woke at two a.m. and ran straight to the bathroom.

I was sick into the bowl three times before I felt Henry scoop up my hair and hold it back. My forehead was sweaty, and my cheeks were red, but I didn't care one bit. I felt like absolute shit, and I had no energy.

I felt him rub my back as I chundered for another five minutes. I couldn't think of anything to take my mind off the acidic taste. It had corrupted all senses. Fuck, I prayed for the day I became pregnant and had to suffer from morning sickness.

Afterwards, I sat on the floor and sighed. The cold tiles helped cool my body temperature, while the hard floor helped distract me from the pain. Henry turned on the dim lamp in the bedroom, the low light highlighting the absolute mess that I was in.

"Feel better?" he asked as he knelt down beside me.

I nodded, my eyes struggling to stay open. "Slightly." I looked at myself in the mirror. My hair was tangled, and I already knew I smelled awful. "God this is embarrassing. Please don't look at me like this. I'm disgusting."

Henry chuckled. "You couldn't disgust me, ma chérie."

I scrunched my face and cringed at myself. "I think I need to shower right now."

Henry stood and held out his hand. I hesitantly took it, while he gently lifted me off the ground. He then began lifting off his shirt.

"What are you doing?" I chuckled.

He continued to remove his clothing. "I'll help you wash your hair. You look like you don't have much energy left in you, and rightfully so."

"I have energy," I said as I steadied myself against the bathroom sink. I missed the basin the first time and had to catch the wall to stop myself from face-planting. Okay, maybe I didn't have the energy...but I didn't want to burden him anymore.

"Come on, ma chérie." With that, he was removing his pants, and I widened my eyes. He walked to me and helped me lift my shirt. My disgusting, sweat-drenched shirt.

We walked into the marble-tiled shower, and I felt the warm water wash away every part of me that felt gross. I tilted my head and let the water cover my face. Henry grabbed the bottle of shampoo and gently began massaging my head.

"Fuck," I sighed. This was better than any massage I'd gotten from a hairdresser. Henry's hands worked wonders—which I already knew, of course.

He gently brought the shower head to wash away the bubbles and went in for another round of shampoo. I stopped relaxing and looked at him with an eyebrow raised. I bet he knew to double shampoo because he did it with every woman he let in his bed. A big part of me felt jealous at the thought.

"What?" he chuckled, as he placed a bubble of shampoo on my nose. "Don't worry, I only know how to double shampoo because a video appeared on my feed. I think it was a how to impress your girlfriend video. I've never showered with a woman before."

It was as if he read my mind. My cheeks blushed at the thought. If he really could get into my thoughts, I'd be doomed.

He continued to scrub my hair as we stood in silence, the only sound in the room the trickling water behind us. I was feeling much better now, but that lingering nausea could be found in my stomach. I didn't know if it was due to my body or due to the fact that I was really, really falling for Henry. Either way, my stupid hormones needed to stop.

We hopped out of the shower, and Henry immediately wrapped a warm towel around my body. He grabbed another towel to help dry my hair, ruffling the roots and likely giving me frizz. I stared up at him, smiling, because I didn't know what else to do. This felt so damn intimate.