Chapter Ninety One - Henry
Henry woke the next morning, his lips curling into a smile before his eyes even opened. The heaviness on his arm could only mean one thing, Elizabeth was still tangled within his embrace. He shifted his body over on his side, his finger tips trac- ing the contours of her body, walking up over her hipbone and up to her jawline. Gently tracing the edges of her bone structure, slipping his hand down to the back of her neck, pulling his body closer, his lips tenderly locating her forehead.
Elizabeth nuzzled into him, her senses responding to his touch as she inhaled his morning scent, a smell she had convinced herself was lost. Her hands reached for his body, his skin still bare from the night before. Her fingers smoothing over his tor- so as she wrapped herself around him.
'Morning' she mumbled sleepily into him. Her body utterly relaxed as she lay within his arms.
'Good Morning' he squeezed her, his head resting on top of hers and secluding her in his safe embrace. They lay in silence, both of them drifting in and out of sleep for a few seconds at a time. Their fingers caressing the bare skin of the other, as they took the moment to just be them.
'What time is it?' Elizabeth asked, pulling back from him slightly to open her eyes and focus on him. A warm smile fell on her lips the instant she caught his gaze.
'Urm' Henry flicked his wrist and checked his watch, forgetting to remove it last night. 'Coming up to Nine'
'Hmm, too early' she mumbled, her eyes closing again as she nuzzled her head back down into Henry's arm beneath her and the pillow. He chuckled softly at her sleepy state.
'I've never known you to sleep past nine unless you've been unwell' he raised his eyebrow and she shrugged
'Jet lag' she suggested, but Henry pulled his arm softly from beneath her and propped himself up on his elbow, his gaze raking over her. She opened one eye and shook her head. Henrys raised eyebrow telling her that he saw straight through her. She sighed inwardly and rolled onto her back, pulling the covers up a little.
'I'm so tired' her eyes closing with the heaviness and the flickering back open. The truth and severity within her words dually noted by Henry. He used his free hand to rest upon her thigh above the cover, caressing in soothing strokes. He watched as her eyes began to close, her body sinking into the bed as she began to drift back off asleep. Henry continued to settle her, allowing her to rest as much as she needed.
It didn't take long before she had completely drifted back into a full sleep. Henry eased his hand from her leg and tucked the covers around her properly before slip- ping out of the bed. He picked up his boxer shorts and slipped them back on to cover himself up before working on cleaning up their mess from last night.
He slipped outside onto the balcony and cleared away the empty wine bottles and the glasses. As he brought them back in he left the door open slightly, allowing the warm summer breeze to fill the room. He looked through the hotel wardrobe for a hanger, retrieving it and placing Elizabeths dress on it for her.
*Knock*Knock*
'Shit' Henry cursed, he glanced to the bed and Elizabeth hadn't even stirred. He stood still for a moment, a slight panic in the pit of his stomach as he contemplated his actions.
*Knock*Knock*
'Madam Secretary?' Blakes cheery tone waded through the door as he pressed down on the handle. Thankfully Elizabeth had locked the door last night. Henry sighed heavily and walked towards the door, slowly unlocking it and opening it slightly, his body covered, hidden behind the door.
'Morn- Henry?' Blake stood wide eyed, his mouth a held open a moment longer than intended.
'Close your mouth Blake' Henry chuckled in a whisper
'Dr McCord, sorry, I-' he paused as he heard a snigger coming from Matt. Both Blake and Henry turned to look at him, but he kept looking forward, trying to hide his laughter.
'You could have stopped him knocking Matt' Henry pointed out 'Sorry Dr McCord, Next time I will' he tried to keep a straight face.
'Blake, Elizabeth is sleeping, is it urgent?' He asked, bringing Blakes attention back to him.
'Not urgent, could you let the secretary know that her 2 o'clock afternoon tea with the Home Secretary has been cancelled, apparently the Brits are having an issue with public backlash around their Brexit vote. I guess there are some things tea cannot solve' He muttered
'Thanks Blake, so she has the day off?'
'Of sorts, she has no planned meetings but Nadine is on the phone with Russell as we speak, He's just come from the situation room so I anticipate they might call on her to return sooner than planned.' Blake explained and Henry nodded.
'Thats fine, Conrad won't call her back this soon after the wedding. Thanks Blake' He smiled and started to close the door. 'Oh, can you make sure no one disturbs Elizabeth unless it is urgent please' His tone firm but soft
'Of Course. Urm, Henry?' He hesitated, Henry paused and looked at him, encourag- ing him to continue 'She's been lost without you I-'
'Don't worry Blake, she isn't lost, I've found her' He smiled genuinely as he cut across him, slowly closing the door and locking it again.
'Henry?' She murmured, the commotion at the door stirring her from her sleep. Henry walked back into the room and over to the bed, sitting on the edge and drap- ing a hand across her body.
'Shh, sleep babe' he soothed
'Who was that?' She mumbled, her eyes still closed as she rolled on her side, turn- ing into Henry.
'Blake, the Home Secretary has cancelled today, he just wanted to let you know'
'Blake!' Her eyes snapped open. She pulled her body up and immediately rubbed her eyes. 'Blake? You answered the door to Blake?' A slight panic in her tone as she woke abruptly.
'It's ok, It's fine babe, it's just Blake. You can trust him, look at everything you've trusted him with to date. He isn't going to tell a soul' Henrys hand rubbed up and down her bare arm as he reassured her. She let out a short puff of air as she started to calm herself down.
'Yeah I suppose' she yawned, arching her back as she stretched the sleep away.
'Plus Blake knowing helps us out' he stated as he slipped off the bed and walked towards the side unit in the room, grabbing the menus off the top, bringing them with him as he headed back to Elizabeth.
'How so?'
'Well,' he paused as he climbed back into bed with her 'You said you wanted to keep it private, so that is going to require a degree of sneaking around for a while' he highlighted, passing her a menu
'Oh I see, so you want Blake to make time in my schedule for you?' She teased, turning over the menu as she cast her eyes across it.
'Yep. Maybe we should come up with a code name for me' he joked as he leant closer, reading the menu over her shoulder.
'Hmm, like what? Ethics?' She tilted her head, gazing at him lovingly 'Would the secretary of state really have an ethics meeting every few days?' 'Every few days? You planning on seeing me that much?' She mocked
'I would see you everyday if I could' he nudged her softly. Elizabeth fell into him a little, her hand placed on his shoulder to stop him nudging her more, as she giggled. She leant into him and placed a delicate kiss on his lips.
'Good Morning Handsome' she whispered
'Hmm, Morning Gorgeous' he kissed her back 'I'll order room service when you're ready' he mumbled into her lips before kissing her once again. Elizabeth looked over the menu once more, trying to decide on her choice of breakfast. Henry placed a hand on her shoulder, rubbing it gently as he also took a moment to decide.
'Are you ok?' He asked tenderly. Elizabeth sensed the seriousness within his tone, she set the menu aside and shifted to look at him
'Why'd you ask?' Her eyes soft but holding her confusion, she knew Henry, there was always a reason when he spoke in that tone.
'I am a bit concerned about how tired you are' he admitted. Elizabeth reached out and took his hands in hers, smiling softly at him, her heart bursting with warmth at his concern for her, it had been a while since she felt like that.
'Last night was the second night in a year that I slept through the whole night, I meant what I said, I am so tired, but I am ok.' she reassured him
'Second night? Elizabeth that is a lot of lost sleep, no wonder you've been so stressed and anxious' he sighed, his voice thick with concern for her.
'The first time I slept through was after we slept together that one weekend-' she started to explain but was cut off
'Oh so what you're saying is I need to make love to you every night just so you can sleep?' He winked and she giggled at him
'No, what I am saying is that I need you and I need me to be happy to sleep' she giggled 'I need us'
'That's it, you can get Blake to call our meetings INU. To everyone else it can be some sort of, I don't know, International Nato Unit-' Elizabeth giggled and shook her head, '-But, to us, it's 'I need us', because I need that too' he whispered.
'You can be really cheesy you know that?' She raised her eyebrow, trying to hide her smirk.
'Oh yeah, but I happen to know that cheese is your weakness' he growled, lunging at her and pinning her down on the bed, trailing kisses down her neck and pinning her hands above her head.
'Hmm, what about room service?' She teased, trying to hide her body delighted re- sponse at his pleasurable moves.
'First we need to work up an appetite' he moaned, dipping down her body, and un- der the duvet. His lips dragging across her stomach and down towards her core. Elizabeths giggles were soon turned into lustful moans as she succumb to the plea- sure of the man she loved. Henry.