Chapter 84: Chapter 84

"My love..." hearing the soft but distant whisper, Rima’s heart whimpered, the smoothness of the voice washing off the fear she was feeling, caressing her wounds softly, easing the pain.

"Open your eyes..." encouraged by the voice, Rima slowly opened her eyes, batting her eyelashes a few times to adjust to the dim light which didn’t help her recognize the strange place she was in.

She was in a room with wooden walls, fancy ones which had golden decorations, the furniture was of similar colors, a desk, a table, and some chairs, an armchair in one of the corners, and several boxes of different sizes.

Feeling the gentle touch on the back of her hand, Rima turned to the side, her tired gaze meeting a concerned one, the blue eyes she loved so much, dripping with lodging, love, concern, relief, and regret?

Why was there regret in his eyes? Rima wondered for a few seconds, before her memories rushed back to her, stabbing her already wounded heart.

“Your Grace!” Rima said in a weak yet firm voice, her eyes moving away from him as she tried to sit down, tried, and felt.

“Let me!” seeing her struggle to sit down, Henry got up from his chair beside the bed and leaned forward, his hand sneaked to her back to lift her up, while the other placed pillows behind her so she can rest on them without having to moving her sore body too much.

While Rima busied herself with staring at the white cotton robe she was wearing and contemplating her next words, Henry stared at her, studying her, not missing the way she called him ‘Your Grace’, so formally, the way her body stiffened when he touched her, the way she was avoiding his eyes, the way she was holding her hands on her lap tightly.

She was upset, hurt, and distant.

“I am sorry, I am so sorry!” Henry’s voice was not less apologetic than his words, sounding broken and scared, which he was, the thought of her distancing herself from him, the thought of her being hurt because of him, and the thought of them losing what they had, what they had built together in each other’s heart, those thoughts were terrifying, and instead of beating around the bush, he came clear, saying what he wanted to say, what needed to be said.

Fuck his pride, and fuck his ego, Henry thought as he moved from the chair to sit on the bad so they can be face to face, so she can look at him, to see the regret in his eyes.

Taking her cold hands from her lap and pulling them towards him, Henry squeezed them a little, knowing it was probably a bit uncomfortable for her, but he needed her to look at him, her shutting him off like that was stabbing his heart.

And she did look at him, a very small glimpse from under her lashes, wanting to say so many things but couldn’t, not to him, for unlike anyone else, she couldn’t stand up to him, he just mattered so much and the weight of his latest denial was still weighing heavily on her heart.

Seeing the sheen of tears on her beautiful eyes, Henry couldn’t take it anymore, to know that he had hurt her, Rima, the ice queen, the strong lady of the frozen edge, to the point of crying, to the point of shedding such silent but blaming tears that fell on his being like coals, tightening his hold on her hands, Henry pulled her forcefully, one of his hands releasing hers to grab the side of her face and slam his lips on hers.

For a second, Henry didn’t move his lips, he just kept his lips on hers, warming them for they were so cold, and waiting for her reaction, even when he wanted to do nothing but kiss the hurt out of her, kiss her with the fire of flames’ deep, let her know how much he loved her, how much he cared for her, and how much he was sorry, but again, he was too afraid that the fire would consume her, and shatter what was left of her, alas, he waited.

Rima’s eyes widened at first, for she didn’t expect him to kiss her, even when he did say he was sorry, she didn’t expect that, after what happened, things would remain the same between them, she thought that something was lost forever, a major chunk of the bridge that connected them, and that they were separated forever, but that kiss threw all of her assumptions out of the window and steered chaos in her already chaotic mind.

She was still for a second, but then something like a sob, but quitter, left her lips, charged with so many emotions, her lips trembled, but she didn’t pull away, and that was all what Henry needed, the sign he waited for to claim her lips as he wished, to tell her, in a nonverbal way, that he cared, no, cared was a humble word, that she mattered like a part of him, that he loved her and wasn’t willing to let her go, that he was sorry, and that he will try and overcome the pain for her.

Rima, and after two seconds of hesitation, kissed him back, with equal passion, understanding his unspoken words, her leaned forward, wanting his warmth, wanting to savor the moment, wanting to reassure her heart that he was truly there, kissing her fears away, breathing love back into her, opening her mouth, she gave him the access he was asking for by nibbling on her bottom lip, only for him to deepen the kiss without turning it into a hungry aggressive one, just a passionate one, to tell her what the words couldn’t convey.

Henry broke the kiss after a few minutes, and only because he sensed her need for air, releasing her lips, he heard her pants while kissing her cheeks, tasting the saltiness of her tears, and then her jaw, and the corner of her lips, his heat inviting her to move closer to him, and she did, her palms fisting his shirt, as if she was holding that perfect moment with her hands, the moment when nothing but them mattered, afraid to let go.

“Look at me” slowly and reluctantly, Rima looked into the blue orbs, her fear dissipating as she saw the amount of love they carried, for her, and only for her, as if nothing else existed.

As if nothing else existed! The thought felt like a bucket of cold water that pulled her out of her daze, reminding her of the other things that existed.

“What happened, where are we?”

“We are on the mastership sailing back home, this is my room, and many things had happened, but none of them is as important as the fact that you are here, safe.” Not understanding why, Rima’s lips were again filled with tears, a strange pain settling in her heart, the pain of feeling wronged by someone very important.

Seeing her cry again, Henry moved from his position to sit on her side of the bed, one of his arms holding her waist while the other pulled her head so she was leaning on his chest, shedding silent tears in his embrace while he caressed her beautiful brown hair slowly.

To think that Rima was actually that vulnerable inside, Henry didn’t know what to feel about the matter, he was sad that she was hurt and crying, angry at himself that he was the one who hurt her, and, in a twisted way, happy, that he was the one she was sharing that side of her with, that he was the one she chose to strip herself off her strength in front, that he was the one whose touch she craved, whose reassuring embrace she needed, it was all adding together in his heart, completing the already formed reality.

Once her tears subsided, Rima looked up at him, her eyes holding blame, love, hurt, and uncertainty, while his carried apology, love, remorse, and certainty, knowing that he loved this woman as much as he loved him, and that he wasn’t going to let her go, no matter what.

“I need to know” hearing her soft whisper, Henry caressed her lips gently, before answering her.

“We managed to free half of the creation energy, so the dark energy’s crawling will stop, the curse on the demons was also broken, most of the Gods are dead, only four left to take care of, and, according to Eren who showed up to save the day in the last minute, your people will no longer have to kill mine to survive, which means…” Henry looked at her eyes, making sure that she was looking and understanding what he said, “Which means that our people can finally coexist, in harmony, we can live in peace, together, If you want to, if you will have me"

Rima's eyes widened at his words, barely able to believe her ears, but he didn’t say it with his mouth only, the look in his eyes confirmed her assumption, making her lips tremble and eyes shine, only that this time, it was out of happiness.

"I gave few thoughts about what would happen if we won, mostly about how were we going to carry on with the alliance, but now I know that I haven’t think of it thoroughly, as I was too occupied to think of a way to win, and now that we won, there is a future to plan, only that this time, unlike before, I don’t want my future to be bound with duty only, just like my past has been, I want what I want, and what I want, what I truly want, is you.”

"Henry... "

"I cannot, in this life nor the next, tell you how much I’m sorry for stupidly pushing you away from me when I should have held you closer, I was stupid, for not understanding right away, for not believing in the person I know you are, When...I found you in the forest, with your hair covered in ice, you skin dead pale and your lips blue, my heart nearly stopped, I knew in that moment , That I would never be happy again, not without you by my side, I wished for a second chance, to tell you everything I was too coward and insecure to tell you before.. And here it is, my second chance..."

Rima's eyes were already tearing up only for Henry to catch them with his lips that moved tortuously slow on her face, his voice a little above a whisper.

"I, wanted to tell you, How beautiful I think you are, in every single way, every inch of you is so breathtaking, I can never grow tired, of hearing you talk, or watching you smile, or stealing glimpses at you when you are lost in your thoughts, I love the way you are, both strong and frail, and how you keep that frailty exclusively for me, I love how it feels, that everything will be alright with you near, I love that I can rely on you and you on me without asking, And I love you, with all my heart, Rima" Henry said with a smile, his hot breath hitting her face gently, his heart pounding in his chest erratically, both excited and afraid.

"Say something..." Rima snapped out of her daze when Henry urged her, his voice and eyes pleading her to say something, something he wanted to hear so bad, but to her misfortune, only sobs came out, unlike the human lord who was open about his feeling, who had love while growing up and wasn't afraid to love or be loved, she was very terrified of love, climbing her way up to the throne of the frozen edge, Rima kept everyone at a safe distance fearing that they could be used as means to get back at her, she barely had any love, she was afraid but At the same time, she was longing to be loved by none other than him, her king, she wanted him with all of her heart and soul, but how can she say it...

"Your eyes say it all, Love" Henry said while looking at her teary eyes where all her emotions were written clearly to read, He smiled at her sweetly before he placed his lips on hers once again, only that this time she didn’t shiver, instead she kissed him back, passionately, answering his words with her lips as her body moved on its own, craving his.

“Make love to me!” Rima breathed out the words through the kiss, her body moving again, her legs settling on each side of his as she straddled him, her hands holding his face on each side, her eyes loving, certain, and inviting.

Comments make the heart grow fonder and the fingers type faster, said one wise lady.