Really short chapter this time but the idea came and wouldn't leave! So here is a cute one for Vlad and Leila.
Vlad stretched stiff muscles as he breezed toward his and Leila's room. That trip had taken considerably longer than he had planned, complications turning what should have been a two day trip into a two week trip. Leila had offered to fly out, knowing that he didn't care for leaving her home without him anymore, but he had refused. Leila was capable of protecting herself and after he had gone back through and thoroughly vetted the people in his castle, he was confident there were no more wolves in sheep's clothing.
Also, with his oldest enemy dead, there were none of his enemies that vocally challenged him as of late and those that remained were no threat to him or Leila. It might be amusing to watch them try to take on his wife though.
He had begun personally training her after they had finally finished Szilagyi, at her request. While she was strong, he knew that she lacked formal training and skill. Once she also acknowledged that, she had wasted no time in going to him to receive it. While he didn't enjoy the times he accidentally injured her, memories of blackened flesh and a burning warehouse helped keep his fire firmly under control, he knew that it was necessary for her to improve.
And improve she had, in only a few months he had seen phenomenal improvements in her. If she continued at the pace she was currently traversing, she would be a force to be reckoned with within the year. Seeing her strategy, skill and strength improving by leaps and bounds made pride flare in his chest. It had also set his mind at ease, knowing that she was growing more powerful, for times such as the past two weeks when he had to leave her behind. There would be certain times when he couldn't bring her with him, so it was vital that she could be here without him.
Crossing the doorway to the lounge, he stopped short on his mission to join his wife, where he had previously assumed she was in bed. Walking over to the couch by the fire, his mouth pulled up into a smile. Leila's form was stretched out across it, her legs barely staying on the cushions, with her arms curled under her head. A blanket had been thrown over her, most likely by one of his people who had been passing through. She looked more comfortable than he would be on that couch, although he didn't know why she hadn't moved to their bed one room away.
Deciding to ask her later, he knelt in front of her and brushed her hair back from her face before cupping her cheek. She stirred slightly, the dawn that had only just broken still having a hold on her. Tired blue eyes opened, before recognition lit them. Her movements were sluggish as she went to rise, her words still heavy with sleep when she greeted him.
Chuckling to himself, he leaned forward into her arms when they lifted to wrap around him in greeting. In her tired state, he wouldn't be surprised if she fell off the couch while reaching for him. Rising to his feet, he slid his arms underneath her blanket wrapped form and lifted.
Leila didn't protest, proving just how tired she was, instead choosing to curl closer into his chest. Turning toward their room, he briskly breezed to the bed with the blanket ends trailing behind him. After he pulled the blankets back and placed her in, he wasted no time in stripping out of his clothes before sliding in alongside her.
Peeling the blanket off of her was more difficult with Leila still half asleep and resisting his attempts to remove it. Huffing in amusement, Vlad stroked a hand through her hair before speaking. "Darling, you need to let go of the blanket. You're making my goal of touching as much of your skin as possible more difficult than it needs to be."
Leila hummed as she considered his words, before relinquishing her grip. Apparently, his goal was worth more to her than the blanket, not that it surprised him in the slightest. His wife had always loved contact, the longer it lasted the happier she was. Throwing the blanket to the side and curling himself around her, he noticed her night shirt. It was one of his shirts, the one he had worn before he left to be exact.
"Why are you using that shirt? It can't possibly still smell like me after two weeks." The sight of her in his clothes was nothing new to him, as she preferred using his shirts as sleepwear than any other actual pajamas. Although usually she only did so when it still smelled like him, leading to his confusion now.
Her reply was muffled from where her face was pressed completely into his chest, but he made out. "Pillow still smells like you and your shirt is comfy." He shook his head in amusement, both at her words and her refusal to move her face from its place against his chest. He had offered to buy her shirts of the same fabric, but she still insisted on thieving his, not that he minded. Seeing her in his clothes would never be a sight he turned away.
Leaving that topic to rest, he wrapped his arms around her back before dozing off. The feel of his wife happily sleeping on his chest dropping him into the most comfortable rest he had in the past two weeks.