Chapter 57

A/N Anniversary

This is a short chapter, but it is a set up for what is to come.

January rolled around and Henry was thinking about their 6 month anniversary. They had not taken their relationship to the next step. They had been sharing a bed together for several months, but had not been together physically yet. He wanted to wait on her to be ready. She had told him that she had never had sex with any of her previous boyfriends and he wanted them to wait until she was ready.

They were going to go to dinner at A`ime. They wanted to get dressed up and look nice for each other.

Elizabeth had bought a new dress for the occasion and could hardly wait to wear it for him. They had decided to wait until Saturday night so they could concentrate on their classes during the week.

She had spent more time at his apartment than at her dorm, but wanted to get ready there and have him pick her up. Cassie had helped her pick out the dress and had insisted on helping her get ready.

"So is Henry good in bed?" Cassie asked her.

Elizabeth had taken a sip of her wine when she asked and nearly choked on it when Cassie asked her. Elizabeth composed herself and told her, "Cassie that is personal, how do you ask someone that?" Elizabeth was deflecting trying to get Cassie to drop the subject.

"Well, is he? Come on, give up some details," she said.

"We actually haven't slept together yet."

"WHAT, you practically live at his apartment and you're telling me you haven't gotten into Handsome Henry's pants? What the hell are you waiting on?"

Elizabeth ducked her head trying to hide her reddening face.

Cassie saw the redness and a light bulb clicked on. Elizabeth had told her early on in their friendship that she had only dated a couple of guys and that their relationships had not gone very far. She could tell that Elizabeth was struggling with the issue and didn't want to push her on it any farther.

"Let's get you dressed in that hot dress and blow Handsome Henry's socks off," Cassie told her.

Henry was in his apartment getting dressed for their dinner. He had called Cassie last week after she and Elizabeth had gone shopping to ask her what color dress they had picked. He wanted to pick a tie to match. He knew it was corny, but he knew it would bring a smile to Elizabeth's face when she saw it and that was his sole purpose in life to keep her with a smile on her face always.

Henry knocked on her door and when it opened he was not prepared for what he saw. He could not get his brain to work. He ducked his head trying to make his mouth work. He saw her sky high stilettos and those legs, damn they were hot. His eyes moved up to her dress. Wow, didn't do it justice. It was fire engine red and hit just at mid thigh hugging her just perfectly. The top was halter type and was cut low enough to make him swallow hard.

He finally looked up into her eyes. They were sparkling and full of life. Damn this woman was going to kill him. She wore her hair down and curled it to hug her face.

She looked him up and down and was at a loss for words also. He had on perfectly polished shoes, black slacks that hugged his thighs snuggly making her mouth water. A starched white shirt that showed off his muscular torso. His tie matched her dress perfectly. Wonder how that happened?

They smiled at each other since words would not come to them.

Finally Henry was able to form coherent words. "My god you are beautiful. Are you ready to go?"

She nodded her head yes. She turned to retrieve her cover up and he saw the back of the dress and lost it all over again. The dress was hugging her ass like a glove. He swallowed hard and hoped his body would settle down and not show his unclean thoughts about getting her out of that dress.

He placed his hand on the small of her back and realized the dress was backless, which meant she didn't have a bra on. He groaned at this realization and she curled an eyebrow at him. He shook his head and guided her out the door.

Dinner was fun for them both. They laughed and teased each other. Talked about their time as a couple and what the next semester would be like. They flirted, held hands and traded kisses. PDA was not something that they shied away from.

She asked him about his tie, how it matched her dress so perfectly. He admitted to asking Cassie. She smiled into her wine glass. It was always the little things he did that brought her such joy.

After dinner, they walked around the area. Elizbeth draped her hand around his waist and he pulled her tight into him. They didn't talk much, just enjoyed being with each other.

Henry unlocked the door of his apartment and they walked in. He helped her with her coverup. She sat down on the couch and pulled her legs up after she kicked off her heels.

He took off his jacket and his tie, unbuttoning his first few buttons on his shirt. He sat down and pulled her feet into his lap and started massaging her feet. She snuggled down on the couch and moaned from the feel of his hands on her feet. Henry continued upwards and rubbed her ankles and calves. Henry's hands felt like heaven and she was quickly becoming putty in his hands.

"Why don't you go get out of your dress and I will give you a real massage." he told her.

She smirked at him and said, "Am I putting clothes on?"

He blushed from the implication of her words. She laughed and stood up and walked into the bedroom. She changed into one of his ROTC t-shirts and a pair of shorts. She had been spending so much time at his apartment that some of her clothes had found a home there.

He walked into the bedroom once she opened the door. He was still red in the face from his earlier comment. He sat down on the end of the bed and was going to change out of his suit. Once he was down to just his pants he retrieved some shorts and headed into the bathroom. He came out and found her lying facedown on the bed.

Damn her ass looks so good, those legs that go on for miles she is killing me. She is so fucking sexy and hot. He walked over to her and sat down on the side of the bed. He tilted his head down to see if she had fallen asleep. She was a whirlwind 99% of the time and when she did slow down she often crashed and crashed hard for a few hours. She opened one eye and peered up at him and smiled that smile that melted his heart.

"Mr. McCord, what are you looking at? You have a look on your face like you want to eat me alive."

He placed his hand on her cheek and his thumb caressed her skin. "You are so beautiful. I could spend all day just looking at you and my life would be complete."

"Henry," she said softly as she ducked her head. She did not think she was beautiful as he was always telling her and it embarrassed her when he did tell her that.

He nudged her to turn over so she could look at him fully.

"Sweetheart, you are the most beautiful person I know. Not just your physical beauty. You are beautiful inside and out. You are the smartest, most kind and gentle human being. You use your knowledge to lift others up instead of putting them down. Your smile lights up the room and brings me to my knees when you smile at me. I love you so much and am so lucky to have you in my life."

The whole time he was talking she was trying to hold back her tears and when he finished she crashed into his chest. He held her tightly as if he didn't she would somehow fly away from him.

Her tears subsided and she pulled back from him. She used her shirt to wipe her tears from his chest.

"Henry, I am not sure that I deserve you. You have brought me back from some dark places and allowed me to feel whole again. After my parent's deaths, I didn't feel like I deserved to be happy again, but you changed all of that."

"Babe, you are not the reason your parents died. You being in the car with them is not the reason and had you been with them you could have died too. That would have robbed the world of you and that is just not how it was supposed to be. You have been through a lot in your life and you deserve happiness. I hope that my love for you can bring that to you."

"Ok enough with the tears and sadness, let's get you out of that shirt."

She chuckled at him and raised an eyebrow.

"No..I uh..didn't…oh hell. You know what I meant." he told her as he stuttered his way through his comment.

She shimmed off her t-shirt and laid face down on the bed.

Henry spent an hour on her back, shoulders and legs and before he was done she was out like a light. He laughed when he looked down and she was relaxed and could hear her light snore.

The first time she had spent the night with him, he woke up before her and heard her snoring. He could not believe that the noise he was hearing was coming from his sweet and innocent girlfriend. She could peel paint off the walls, but he found it endearing.

Elizabeth hated the cold. She often wondered why she didn't leave and go somewhere warm for college. February was a brutally cold month and the thought of having to go outside was not something she wanted to think about. She was looking forward to spending time with Henry tonight, but was struggling with something she wanted to talk to him about.

They had not gotten to spend as much time with each other as they wanted lately so dinner at his place sounded heavenly.

They were sitting at the table eating and Henry saw that she was not really eating, just pushing her food around on her plate. She was always a voracious eater so this was so unlike her. She was also very quiet and only answered him in one word responses.

"Babe, are you okay?" he asked as he placed his hand on hers.

She jumped slightly from his touch. Her thoughts were 100 miles away. She had something to ask him and was trying to get up her nerve.

"I wanted to ask you something, I just don't know how."

"Well just ask and we will see how it goes."

"Do you have plans for spring break? I wanted to ask you if you wanted to spend it with me at the farm."

"I have not really thought about it. I just assumed we would spend it together here, but going to the farm sounds like a great idea. I am not sure why you struggled with asking me."

"Well, there is another part to that. I was thinking it was time that we take our relationship to the next step," she said sheepishly.

Henry leaned back in his chair contemplating what she had just said. They have been dating for 8 months and yes they had gone farther than just kissing and often both of their shirts would end up off, before they pulled back and stopped. He had more than one dream about making love to her, but wanted it to be her decision when they did. He didn't want her to do it just because she thought it was something he expected.

She was nervous to ask him. They had discussed the issue more than once. He was aware she was a virgin. He told her they would take things further in their relationship when she was comfortable with it.

He had been out to the farm at Christmas, but was looking forward to going back. She was so happy when she was there.

Elizabeth was in her last class of the day before spring break dismissal and she was having a hard time sitting still and concentrating. Once the clock ticked over and class was dismissed she bolted out of her seat and ran out of the building. She made a quick stop at her dorm to change and pick up her overnight bag. She had plenty of clothes at the farm, but she and Cassie had gone shopping earlier in the week and picked up something special.

Henry met her outside her dorm and they drove off for the farm. The drive was short and the weather was supposed to be unseasonably warm that week. They were both looking forward to spending time together