SPELLBOUND (ONC2022)

Chapter 2 - Speedwells and Daisies

Penny

The princess lazily drags the tip of her index finger along my arm.  

Her face is tucked in the crook of my neck, the tip of her nose just below my earlobe as her lips lightly skim my bare shoulder, muttering something about the palace guards stationed below before becoming silent. 

The dim moon's light illuminates her skin in an iridescent glow, basking her and the rest of my bedroom in soft, angled shadows. For a while, we don't say anything, choosing instead to enjoy each other's company in blissful silence with the occasional kiss or sigh. 

Her rose from earlier lies on top of a book she gifted me the night after I awoke, thick and old and bound in dark leather with elaborate copper designs embedded around the edges. I meant what I said when she gave it to me, it smells sweeter than the pedals on my bed the morning she kissed me awake. 

With the hint of a smile, I turn over so I face her, feeling warmth envelop me as the downy covers shift over my shoulder, its texture lightly scraping my skin. Allura looks down at me, her eyes turning into half moons as she props herself up on an elbow. It's my turn to lift a finger and brush it along her collarbone, teasing her with skimming it further below. 

"Tell me about how we met again," I whisper, "I like hearing the story."

Laughing, she shakes her head, bringing a hand to her chest and wrapping it on top of my own. She squeezes it once before letting go and pushing her hair back, sighing.

"Oh, where to begin..."

She gains a faraway look in her eyes before continuing. 

"Are you sure you wish to hear it? It's awfully long."

I nod, feeling my cheek brush against the silken pillow coverings, suddenly becoming self conscious about my inability to recall anything. Does it bother her to often have to explain things to me?

"I'm sorry, if my memory--"

"No, no! I simply do not wish for you to see me as a bore."

I gasp, feigning offense, smiling as she leans forward and delivers a chaste kiss to my shoulder.  

"Never! I just like listening to you speak, it's attractive." 

Lifting a brow, Allura shifts in place, moving the covers with her. 

"Is that so? Perhaps I should speak more often then, if it means having you here, tangled within my bedsheets, your soft flesh turned a wonderful blush after an hour of intense exercise."

Her fingertip returns to follow its previous path on my collar, eliciting shivers up and down my arms. I laugh, reaching to place them around her in a tight embrace, bringing her closer to me, feeling as though her couple inches of distance are more like miles, despite the fact I can feel her breath lightly fanning my cheeks.

"I hardly believe that's an appropriate thing for a princess to say! Here I was under the impression this was my bedroom, but I suppose I was wrong."

It's the princess' turn to laugh, returning my embrace and squeezing her arms around me before letting go and falling back onto her downy pillows, eyes anchored to the ornate ceiling. 

"You're at liberty to discuss the matter with my mother, I am sure the mere notion of it will cause her so much elation, she will fall ill." 

Her laughing voice grows soft, sweet, and she turns to look at me, half her face bathed in borrowed light, the other eclipsed by the darkness of night. Her eyes, however, gleam with life as she sighs dreamily.