salute [h.s]

angel

Piper was completely out of it by the time he walked back to the bed, wet flannel in hand, her arms sprawled out on either side of her as she breathed slowly, her eyelids fluttering as if they wanted to stay closed but her mind was still too busy to drift off to sleep. He perched on the edge of the bed beside her and nudged her leg sideways so he could run the cool flannel along the inside of her thigh.

Her eyes snapped open when he did, a hazy blur resting over them as she sought him out. Her brow drew together as she realized what he was doing, her eyes flitting between his hand on her leg and his face. He gave her a lazy smile which only made the valley between her brows deepen.

"Just cleaning up a bit," Harry said gently, trying to keep his voice down so he didn't startle her. In this state, having just had her mind blown (and her world rocked if he did say so himself), she was like a little baby gazelle and he worried if he spoke too quickly or too loudly, she'd startle out of her dreamy daze. "Didn't think you'd want to sleep dirty."

She pouted, her lip jutting out, and Harry was so tempted to grab that lip between his teeth and press his mouth to hers and start up what they'd just finished. But frankly, he was bloody tired. She'd worn him out.

Another time then.

"Are you an angel?" she muttered thoughtlessly. It took about two seconds for her to realize what she'd said, her eyes shooting wide open as her cheeks flushed that lovely pink he liked so much.

He'd never been called an angel before. Any number of things on the opposite end of the spectrum, yes, and he'd been called a god a couple of times too. But never an angel. The fact that he was an angel in Piper's eyes made his stomach flutter in a way it hadn't in years, not since he was in college and his biggest crush, Laura Jameson, danced with him at the formal.

There was something special about Piper. She made him feel things he hadn't felt in a very long time and while it was a little nerve-racking, it was also sort of exhilarating.

"Far from it, petal."

And the way she grinned when that simple word, petal, slipped from his mouth, was a smile he would never forget for as long as he lived.