My first Sanctuary fic, written for July who prompted 'the morning after a night together'. Sanctuary doesn't belong to me etc.
Helen awoke slowly at the feeling of a hand resting itself against her abdomen. She smiled sleepily and pressed herself further into his embrace. It had been a long time since she last had someone in her bed, so long in fact that she had almost forgotten what it felt like to wake up next to another person, to feel their warmth beside her and the contentment she felt at being held first thing in the morning.
She hadn't been expecting the previous nights events to happen, but she also couldn't bring herself to regret their actions either, it had been a long time coming after all, the culmination of one hundred plus years of flirting, unspoken attraction (on her part at least) and his fear that she had perished during the destruction of the Sanctuary.
She rolled over slowly, careful not to wake the sleeping man beside her, and studied his face. He looked so content in his sleep, a marked difference to the stress and grief that had been etched deeply in the now smooth skin of his face. When she had greeted him at the entrance to the new Sanctuary the previous afternoon, even though she knew it was impossible, she could have sworn that he had aged.
She reached out and ran the tips of her fingers down his cheek lightly, smiling again when he shifted towards her, seeking out her warmth in his sleep. The hand of his that was now draped across her hip moved slowly up her body in a way that made Helen realise that Nikola certainly wasn't anywhere near as asleep as he seemed to be.
His fingers graced the bare skin of her arm in a caress completely opposite to the fevered, desperate touches he had bestowed upon her the night before.
"Nikola…" Helen mumbled thickly, watching as his sleep glazed blue eyes opened and focussed quickly on her.
He blinked slowly and moved her long tresses away from her face, "Don't ever do that to me again, Helen."
Helen briefly opened her mouth to reply but stopped when she caught the vulnerability that was reflected in his eyes. She nodded against her pillow, and allowed herself to be pulled closer to him, tucking her head beneath his chin and kissing the soft skin she found there, content to just let herself be held.