Chapter forty-five
Bellflower House
3625 Yuma St. NW
Washington DC

Susanna

Mrs. Knox said a hot milk bath and some chamomile tea were supposed to be a soothing combination. Marsha said that she was supposed to not worry; she was safe in the city and in this house and with her knight and guardian angel looking after her. Nina said that she was a free and independent woman and there was no legal way they could force her to do anything.

Susanna thought they were all nuts.

The hardest part was trying to convince herself it wasn't real. She kept wanting to panic, sure that her parents really had sold her off like this, that she was really going to be made to marry some horrid old man. It was still hard to believe that none of it could happen, that she had the right to say no. Sometimes her head was still swimming with the thought that she had any rights at all.

She sighed and slipped a little lower in the bath water; if she didn't relax she'd never get any sleep. There was another way, something she'd read about in a book Holly leant her. But Marsha had told her to be careful of her thoughts if she tried this, to remember that the right to say no came with the right to say a wholehearted yes. The trick was not to think of anything rough or forceful or hardness or anything cruel. Instead she remembered Spencer, how he felt in her arms, the slender strength, the way he felt so sturdy and solid when he guided her, and his hands, those long, slender fingers that would be so precise. She could picture how he would feel in that soft bed next to her, the heat of his body, the weight on the mattress. What would happen if she took his hand and placed it right here, or here, invited him to touch, to experiment, to learn until they were both satisfied? What would happen?

As she pictured his touch in her head she played it out, there in the heat of the tub. According to Marsha and Nina doing this was normal, even healthy. It was good to know what you liked; she could experiment on her own and be able to guide him when the time came. According to the book if was supposed to be good here, and here, and here. She quickly learned that the book was right, that was amazing. But it also made you crave more, and more and more…

All of a sudden some giant wave lifted her up to the sky. Without realizing it she cried out with the intensity of it all as an entirely new world opened to her. What was that, she thought. Did I just do that? Did I just do something that big?

Even as she was trying to catch her breath there was a tap on the door. "You okay Suze?" Holly asked.

"Yeah." For the moment she felt more than okay, her entire body felt warm and tingly and very, very good. "I'm all right." She was, and she was finally relaxed enough to sleep. She got up and rinsed off and took the rest of her tea to bed with her.

This was how the Prince woke Sleeping Beauty, she thought as she drifted off. By teaching her just what her body could do. I can't wait to try more.


Ponce de Leon Co-op
4514 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC

Spencer

Tonight, well this morning, he got to sleep on an air mattress set up in his bedroom because, according to Morgan, he should have gotten a bed. Morgan had the couch. "I don't need a babysitter." Spencer had protested.

Morgan turned to him in all, well mostly, seriousness. "How long have we been working together? Not to the day."

"Twelve years."

"Look, man, you're the little brother I never got. All I want is for you to live a long and healthy life and be happy with your lady."

"Thank you."

"Now in those twelve years I have learned that if I leave you alone you will screw that up somehow so for now I am on your couch."

He'd let Morgan have the first shower, mostly so he could stay in there longer and soak up the heat and have a chance to think. It had been quite a day, he and Susanna defining their relationship, deciding to work toward an actual partnership. No, he thought, deciding to work toward marriage, she was already his partner. He had one now. And those kisses, the softness of her lips and the way she melted in his arms. The feel of her against him and those little broken sounds she made. Yes, he admitted, there was something greedy and possessive in thinking that he was the only one who would ever know that, he was the only one she would ever melt for. And she'd be the only one who'd ever know his melting; he knew he could trust her with that for she alone knew what a rare and precious gift it could be.

He was so lost in thought he didn't realize what he was doing, that the hot, dark thing was creeping up on him again, that with the warmth of water and the slick of the soap he was doing something he hadn't done since Maeve. It had been once, the first time since Tobias had introduced him to that false form of love, and it had felt so achingly lonely, not knowing when he'd ever hold Maeve in his arms. Now he knew that Susanna would be there tomorrow and the next day and forever after and he could savor this as the prelude to everything wonderful. He thought of her skin and the softness of her hair and feel of her fingers on his face and the way she touched Kavi and within moments he was biting back a groan as he finally let himself go.

We're mixing our legends, he thought, Sleeping Beauty just woke up the Prince.


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Note: This update courtesy of a certain helpful soul. Should this story disappear you can find it on my AO3 account, the address is on my profile. I'm slowly backing up all of my stories over there.

I'm already planning my next story and to avoid any issues with helpful souls I'm going to start it over there. I hope you will all join me over there.