I am starting to think that I should rename this story, "Fifty Shades of Snowing." I think someone beat me to it though!
All I claim to own are the words you see here. Sometimes I wonder if I should claim those!
Chapter 20: You are nearly naked and I am pregnant. We can talk later.
"Snow!" A voice called out her name and caused her to reluctantly open her eyes.
She slowly opened her eyes and saw her husband standing underneath the shower head as water cascaded over his body.
His eyes opened wide in surprise, "Sweetheart, you found my sword! A bathroom is no place for it though. It is bound to rust."
He stepped out of the shower, grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist and took the sword from her. She followed him out of the bathroom and saw him place the sword on the coffee table. He was wet, nearly naked and dripping water on the floor. He turned to face her and saw the perplexed look on her face. A wily look crossed his face.
"You are alone?" She stated with a confused look in her eyes.
"Technically, I am not alone. You are here with me." He eyes crinkled in merriment. "I have not greeted you properly." He pulled her into his arms and enveloped her lips in a long searing kiss.
Every nerve in her body tingled and she had to remind herself that she was mad at him. What happened earlier in the day could never happen again. Not only had he broken his promise to meet her for the appointment, she had needed him and he had not been there. Plus, he was neglecting the renovations on the cabin.
She pulled away breathless and gave him a serious look. "We really need to have a serious talk."
He nodded in acknowledgement and pulled her to him again, showering her with kisses.
She pulled back again and tried to give him a scolding look. "I mean it! We need to long talk. What happed today is not ok!" She glared at him
"You're right," He agreed, "I am so sorry that I missed the appointment. What happened today was unforgivable." He admitted solemnly.
She sighed, "I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was unforgivable." She frowned in concentration.
He pulled her back to him and started to kiss her again.
"Charming, it has been two months." She whispered against his jaw.
"I know it has been two months." He whispered "It has been 1440 hours since the last time that I made love to my wife and I would very much like to correct that situation right now. We have been busy and the outside world has been interfering. But, right now it is just the two of us. We don't have to worry about Henry or Emma walking in on us." He promised.
"What about Jasmine?" Snow asked with her arms crossed defensively.
"She doesn't have a key." He informed his wife.
This surprised her, "Really?"
"I pay the rent and she works for me. Why would she need a key? She has no reason to be here without me."
That dismissed Emma's theory that her father had set up an illicit love nest with his campaign manager. It still did not explain or excuse his behavior.
"What about that talk?" Snow asked trying to ignore what her body was telling her, which was that it had been 2 months since she had been with her husband, he was pretty close to being undressed and he looked really good wearing only a towel low on his hips.
He sat down on the couch, "Let's talk." He challenged.
Snow found herself fixated on that towel. Was it her imagination or did it keep creepy lower.
"Are you going to put on some clothes?" She asked nearly begging.
"No, what is the point. The second we are finished talking, I am going to rip off every stitch of clothing you are wearing and have my way with you on this couch. I figured this will save us some time." He gave her a seductive grin. "Believe me I have nowhere to be for hours, so I am going to take my good sweet time with you." He promised in a low tone.
Snow whimpered and her resolve dissolved in a puddle at her feet.
"You win!" She exclaimed as she lowered herself to his lap.
"Are you sure?" He asked now with genuine concern in his voice. He would sooner die than force her to do something that she really didn't want to do at that moment.
"You are nearly naked and I am pregnant. We can talk later." She pulled him into a deep, passionate and extremely satisfying kiss. He shifted slightly until she was beneath him. The towel he had been wearing slid to the ground. It was quickly followed by her skirt, blouse and underwear.
Charming kissed her temple and then her cheek, he trailed kissed down her neck and collar bone, he kissed her shoulder and he heard her sigh contently. He had told her the truth when he said that he had no where to be for hours. He was not going to rush things. He had missed being with her too much and he wanted to savor the feeling of having her in his arms. Not to long ago she had gone over his body and told him what she loved about every part of him. It had been one of the most sensual experiences of his life and it had made him feel so loved.
Now, he wanted to return that favor and make her feel loved and appreciated.
He kissed her other temple, "Snow you are beautiful."
She smiled.
He kissed her cheek, "You are so sexy." He whispered.
She sighed contently.
He trailed kisses across her collarbone. He could feel her pulse quicken. "You are loved. There is no one else as special as you in this world or any other." He stated with feeling in his voice.
He kissed her shoulder, "You are kind and generous and so giving. You are playful" He gave her a seductive look and a quick wink. That made her laugh.
He worked his way down her body and continued to sing her praises. He kissed her stomach, the inside of her thigh, her knee bend and continued to tell her what he loved about her.
"You are the fairest of them all. You are my happiness. You are my heart's desire. You are perfection.
He positioned himself above her. "I am yours and you are mine." He kissed her passionately as he claimed her heart, soul and body. She gasped in ecstasy.
He misunderstood though and asked with concern in his voice, "Are you okay?"
She nodded that she was. The last thing on earth that he wanted was to hurt her or their child.
Snow had missed being with her husband. She had not realized how much she had missed the intimacy. Just being in his arms was a luxury that she had been denied for too long.
She missed the nearness of him. She missed being in his arms and she missed the feeling of his body against hers and the feel of him inside of her. It was not just about sex. It was about sharing everything with the one person she loved most in the world. She loved her children and she loved Henry, but her husband was the one she loved first, last and forever.
"I love you," She whispered to him.
"I love you too." He replied before kissing her long and hard again; breathe steeling kisses that rose and fell in perfect sync with the intimate rhythm of their bodies.
Afterwards, he held her tightly against him and kissed the temple of her face and ran his hands through her hair. He was getting used to the length in fact he preferred her hair short. It offered him better access to her neck and ears which were some of her trigger spots. He also found that with her hair shorter it took her less time to get ready in the morning and that left them with more time to pursue other activities. Which of course they had not had time to pursue lately, but that was another story.
What did you expect to find here?" He asked light heartedly.
"I really didn't think it through." She admitted. "Emma told me that Jasmine had been trying to seduce you and Regina had warned us about her as well. Why didn't you mention it to me?" She hit him on the shoulder playfully.
"To tell you the truth, I thought Emma was imagining things. Until today when Jasmine made it pretty clear what she was after. She wanted to have a threesome with the photographer and I had to pretend I had no clue what they were talking about!" He exclaimed.
Snow thought about it for moment. "They bought into the idea that you were that naive?"
"I guess so, but after today I am a little scared of her. She has been trying to seduce me for weeks, but Snow, she was just so bad at it that I didn't realize what she was doing." He scowled.
He reached over to the coffee table and grabbed the box of candy. He bit into one of the chocolates and decided that they were pretty good. He fed the rest of it to his wife. Carmel from the chocolate landed on her chin and he kissed her there.
"You really had no idea what she was planning?" Snow gave him a skeptical look.
"I had no clue." He told her truthfully. "Like I said before, it was the worst attempt at seduction I have ever seen. Some of the things Kathryn tried on David were sexier." He shrugged.
Snow made a face, "Do not ever again use the combination of the words, Kathryn, David and Sexy!" She pleaded.
He grimaced, "Sorry, it won't happen again. If it puts your mind at ease, Kathryn was pretty bad at seduction as well." He fed Snow another chocolate.
"To put my mind at ease, who exactly was a good seductress?" She asked with a serious look on her face.
He thought for a couple of seconds.
"You!" he replied playfully.
"Who else has tried to seduce you?" She asked tilting her head to look up at him.
"Regina is pretty good at seduction as well." He admitted reluctantly.
She gave him a shocked look, "Charming is there something else you need to tell me?" She raised an eyebrow.
"No," He insisted, "You know about how she tried to seduce me before she gave you the apple. Well, during the curse she made dinner one night and tried to seduce me in her kitchen." He replied quickly.
"When was this?" She tried to keep the hurt out of her voice.
"After you were cleared of murder and had made it clear to me in no uncertain terms that you could never forgive me for not standing by you." He winched at the unpleasant memory. "I guess she was not as good at seduction as she believed because she failed."
"Is there any chance that she might have eventually succeeded?" She asked giving him a serious look.
"Not unless she had followed me to Boston. I was packed and ready to leave town rather than live here and have to see you everyday knowing that you could not forgive me for doubting you. If Emma had not broken the Curse when she did I have no idea what would have happened. I have nightmares about it, Snow. But one thing I do know is that I would have never been successfully seduced by Regina. Curse or no curse, it was just wrong." He informed her with genuine feeling in his voice.
She took a deep breath. "I am glad that you told me about this. Are there any other seductress' that you need to tell me about?" She asked with hesitation.
"You," He repeated. "Mary Margaret was pretty good too." He answered wistfully.
"Mary Margaret was not a seductress. She was a school teacher!" She replied as if she were offended "Besides, you chased after her. She was just minding her own business!" She protested.
"Playing hard to get is so hot!" He grinned, "And those repressed outfits that you wore?"
She gave him a puzzled look. "Now you are just teasing me." She challenged.
He gave her a seductive grin. "I really liked those outfits." He looked at her clothes that were spread across the floor. She still dressed like a teacher however her post curse wardrobe was more stylish. Plus she had been able to find some very attractive maternity clothes.
She sat up on the couch and turned away from him so that her back was to him. She could not look at him when she said what needed to be said. Maybe he had not cheated on her, but what he had done was a betrayal none the less.
"Charming, I waited for you today. I kept looking at the clock and telling the technician to hold off a little longer to give you time to get there. Finally, he waited as long as possible and then he had to leave. We were supposed to find out the gender of our child today and I thought that was as important to you as it was to me."
He sat up and ran his hand through his hair, "Of course it is important to me. You and our child are two of the most important things in the world to me." He answered with emotion in his voice.
"Well, lately you haven't been acting like it!" She said with a little more anger than she had first intended to have in her voice.
Her words hurt, but what hurt the most was that he knew what she was saying was true.
"Your right and I wish I could blame someone else for what happened today. But it was my responsibility and I am very sorry. Can we reschedule an ultrasound for tomorrow because I really want to find out together if we are having a girl or a boy?" He grinned. She could not see it but she could tell from his voice that he was sincere.
She found herself smiling at his enthusiasm.
"Maybe, I will call the hospital later and see if I can schedule another ultrasound appointment." She promised.
"There is something else besides the fact that we still do not know the sex of our child. You said you were scared. Did something happen?" He asked in a worried tone.
"It turned out to be nothing." She turned to face him. She proceeded to tell him about the nurse and how scared she had been. First because she thought that there might be something wrong with the development of their child and then because she realized that the nurse meant her harm.
He sat there stunned speechless for several seconds. Then he pulled her into his arms.
"I am so sorry that you had to go through any of that. The baby is okay though?" He rubbed the back of her neck soothingly.
"There is nothing wrong with the baby. The doctor never ordered any tests. The mere thought that there might be something wrong with our child was petrifying and I really needed you there and you were here." She informed him with a hint of anger in her voice. "If Emma hadn't come along when she did, anything could have happened!"
"I'm glad Emma was there, but I should have been there too. You are not going to another appointment alone." He promised. "I consider it my foremost responsibility to protect my family. Today I failed in that responsibility. I can only say he was sorry so many times. Snow, you once told me that actions mean more than words. I will make this up to you thorough my actions." He informed her sincerely.
"There is more." She informed him. "After I finished with the doctor Emma took me to the diner. Geppetto informed me that his crew has not been paid in months for the work they have been doing on the cabin and he needed your signature on some purchase orders for materials." She said sadly.
"Why didn't he say something to me?" Her husband asked.
"He tried to call you, but apparently you never returned his phone calls." She informed him.
"Jasmine put my phone number on some of the posters. I have been getting a lot of crank calls and clearly I missed some important ones. Did you sign the purchase orders?" He asked.
"No, he couldn't accept my signature because I am not your wife. Then bank account is in David Nolan's name. Kathryn could have probably signed them, but she wasn't there!" She was sobbing by that time. "I wrote him a check for $10,000 from my saving account."
"I will pay you back." He said quietly.
"It isn't about the money. It is my home as well and I don't mind helping to pay for it. If you don't want to get remarried and you don't want to renovate the cabin so we can all live there together as a family. I just wish that you would tell us all so we can get on with our lives." She stated with finality.
Once again he was utterly stunned into momentary silence. "Of course I want to marry you. It was my idea!" He exclaimed. "I also want to finish the cabin and I want to do it all before the baby is born."
"Right now, that doesn't seem possible." She sighed.
"Of course it is possible. It is as possible as everything else we have done together. We have survived curses, restored kingdoms, given birth to the savior and found each other several times over. Impossible does not stand a chance against us." He vowed.
Snow laughed in a disbelieving way, "Right now I have to get cleaned up and get dressed for the start of parent/teacher conferences tonight."
He let out a breath of air, "That is tonight?"
"Yes, I mentioned it a week ago." She reminded him.
"Then this is probably not a very good time to remind you that I have a campaign dinner tonight and I was hoping you could go with me? I really don't want to spend the evening alone with Jasmine." Now he was the one that let out nervous laugh.
"This is where we start running up against the impossible. I have to be at the school. This is the first time I have had a chance to speak to some of these parents since the Curse broke. I think we have to face the fact that we are not on the same page right now." She gave him a heartbreaking look.
"I think we are on the same page. We both agree that there is no way that I am going to this thing tonight alone. We'll just have to get creative and find me a date." He grinned.