Nick woke to sunlight filtering through cracks in the ceiling. He blinked a few times and looked up at the green canopy above them. The yellow and white honeysuckle were blooming and fragrant. No wonder Jen smelled like she did; she lived inside a honeysuckle bush!
Speaking of Jen, he turned his head to see her golden hair on the pillow beside him. She was sleeping on her side with her back to him. Her wings were draped around her like a gossamer blanket. He gently turned toward her, hoping she wouldn't wake. She shifted but did not wake. Nick propped his head up so he could watch her for a moment.
Knowing that she was a fairy made more sense with her ethereal beauty. Because there was something about Jennifer that was just otherworldly. The glow of her golden skin and golden hair, the sharp rise of her cheekbones, her lithe but powerful body, her perfectly shaped pink lips, her mesmerizing turquoise eyes. It was probably good he'd not had much time to just stare at her before this. He'd be lost in her. He was lost in her. Utterly lost. He was in her bed and in her home and watching her sleep and he just wanted this moment to last forever.
Gently, Nick reached over her, careful to avoid bumping her wings, and placed his hand on top of her arm and pressed a soft kiss to her exposed shoulder. Jen reached her free hand back toward him and ended up landing on his arm as she turned over. Interestingly, her wings seemed to move themselves out of the way as instinctively as the rest of her limbs. "Good morning," she said in a sleepy voice.
He smiled and kissed the corner of her mouth. "Good morning," he whispered.
"Did you sleep well?" she asked, waking up a bit more. His smile was certainly nice to wake up to. That gentle smile of his made her heart expand with joy.
Nick gazed into her eyes and said, "Yes, I slept really well. Your bed's very comfortable."
"Magic," she replied with a teasing smirk. "We should probably get up and get started with the day. We should get to the palace as soon as we can."
He nodded in agreement. He gave her one swift kiss and rolled away to get out of bed.
Jen watched him with an admiring gaze. He'd slept in just his trunks, so his torso was bare. It was just as beautiful and thoroughly arousing as the first time she'd seen him without a shirt on, when he was washing dishes in his house and she was watching through the window. She should probably tell him about that sometime. But for right now, she just wanted to watch the way the muscles of his back rippled as he stretched.
"You wouldn't happen to have any coffee, would you?" he asked.
She was jolted out of her gawking at his body by the question. "What…what's coffee?" she asked back.
"That'd be a no, then," he said with a shrug. "How do you keep yourself awake on a long day? In my world, we've got drinks like coffee and tea with caffeine to wake you up in the morning and keep you going."
Jen was getting herself up from the bed, pulling down the simple pink nightgown she wore to bed that had ridden up to her waist during the night. A drink that woke you up? What an odd thing. "We don't have anything like that. If you're tired, you're tired. Though flying always helps me."
"How so?"
She smiled. "I'll show you later. Let's get dressed and eat before we go. Do your clothes need cleaning?"
Nick found that an odd question. "Do we have time for you to do the wash?"
Jennifer just chuckled to herself. She walked over to where Nick had left his clothes hanging over the back of a chair. They were a bit the worse for wear, probably thanks to how they'd taken off their clothes and tossed them aside in the woods yesterday. Definitely in need of a bit of freshening.
He watched her pick up his jeans and hold them out in front of her. She furrowed her brow, causing that little crease between her eyes. After a second, she nodded and picked up his shirt and did the same.
"Here you go," she said, handing them to him.
Inexplicably, his clothes were suddenly clean. It was like…well, actually it was in fact magic. "Thanks," he said.
"You can take a bath if you want, or I can clean you up the same way," Jennifer offered.
The urge to tell her he wanted them to take a bath together—after all, the tub was big enough for two—was almost overpowering. But Nick knew they had to go see the fairy queen today. Not the time to bathe together. "Best do it the quickest way," he said with resignation.
Jen stood in front of him, trying not to get distracted by how he looked again. She'd have closed her eyes if it would have worked with them closed. But she concentrated on his body, on the outlines and contours of it, of the sweat and dirt that were making him dirty, and she pushed her magic through her.
Nick felt a bit of a tingling sensation, but it wasn't unpleasant.
"All clean," she announced.
He had to take her word for it. "Thanks," he said once again.
Jen wished she could take a bath, but Nick was right, there wasn't time and she'd best do it the quickest way. For this, she did close her eyes. She imagined the sensation of being clean and turned her magic to that thought. And then she was clean.
As Nick got dressed, Jen conjured her clothes for the day. Pale pink lace bra and knickers, flowing pale green dress with shimmering gold going through it. It had a slit up the front of her left leg to make it easier to walk and it gathered over her right shoulder. Comfortable and pretty and certainly befitting spending the day in the palace.
The two of them, all dressed, had a bit of breakfast of fruit and oats and juice. And then it was time to get going.
"Right, you want to see how I get myself properly awake?" Jen asked as they stepped out of the front of her house.
Nick was a little nervous about what that might mean. "Alright," he answered somewhat warily.
Jen had never quite done this before, but she had an idea of how it might work. She stood in front of Nick and took both of his hands in hers. And then she got up on her tiptoes and kissed him. He kissed her back, which made it hard to concentrate, but she pushed her magic in a slow, steady stream and beat her wings.
When Jennifer pulled away, it took Nick a second to get back to reality. And the reality was that they were about ten feet up in the air. "Jesus!" he exclaimed. He gripped harder onto her hands.
"We're alright," she soothed.
He calmed down almost immediately. At least outwardly he was calm. She'd noticed that about Nick. It took a lot to rattle him. Flying certainly did.
"I'm going to let go of one of your hands now so we can both face forward, alright?" she warned.
Nick nodded and let go of her hand when she released him. He felt strangely weightless. Like floating in a pool. But in midair. It was a very odd feeling. But Jen held his hand, and he trusted her. Really, he didn't have any other choice.
"Ready?"
He did not know what he was ready for, but he just said, "Yeah, sure."
Jen gripped his hand and shot through the air like a rocket. Her wings beat powerfully to propel them both forward. She tilted to one side or another as they wove through the trees. The wind whipped through his hair and his clothes like being on a motorbike on the highway. His eyes were even starting to water. And then before he knew it, they were at the palace. She slowed and brought them to the ground in a gentle descent.
Nick's heart was pounding in his chest as the adrenaline thrummed through his body. His legs felt a little wobbly.
"Feeling more awake?" she asked.
He had to laugh. No wonder fairies didn't need coffee. If flying gave them that kind of rush, no one would ever bother with caffeine! "That was…that was incredible," he told her.
"I'm glad you liked it."
Nick wanted to tell her he wanted to fly more, but they were already walking into the palace. He'd tell her later.
In the grand foyer, Terry was waiting for them. "Nice of you to join us, kiddies," he greeted sarcastically.
"Nick isn't used to how things work here. We got here as quick as we could," she defended. Her wings flexed and twitched slightly, still recovering from the sprint they'd just done. She didn't usually fly like that without reason, but Nick was here and she wanted to show off.
Terry certainly noticed her wings and what that movement. He raised his eyebrows in slight surprise, but he didn't say anything about it. "Well, come on. Bernice is waiting. We've been talking about this all night. But she's gotta tell you herself."
Jen did not entirely know what Bernice had to tell her or especially what she had to tell Nick. What was it that Jen did not already know? And if it was something Jen didn't know, what was it that Terry knew about but could not tell them himself?
Despite knowing she was going to see her closest friend, Jennifer was getting nervous as she followed Terry up to the throne room where Bernice was waiting. A hand took hers and gave a gentle squeeze. Jen looked over to see Nick give an encouraging little smile.
He saw that she was anxious. He somehow knew about her enough to know that she was worried, and he wanted to reach out to comfort her. Just as she had done for him the day before. What a wonderful thing.
Jen found herself feeling just a little bit better until they reached the mighty adorned doors to the throne room.