Claire started to stir awake for the second time that morning after she began to miss the heat that had kept her warm all night. Patting the space next to her, she noticed it had gone cold and her new favorite body pillow wasn't there to snuggle up against anymore. Alarmed, she immediately sat up and opened her eyes to scan the room. It was empty. She jumped out of the bed and hastily dashed out of the bedroom without regards for anything other than finding Aiden.
The marble floor was icy cold, but she ignored the stinging sensation under her feet as if she felt nothing at all. She simply hurried down the stairs as she searched every open room she passed by. Every single one of them was empty. Seconds away from starting to truly panic, she heard a loud clatter. Like metal being thrown onto the floor. Not thinking twice, her body moved on it's own as she practically ran towards where the noise came from. A few moments later, she found herself slamming the door that gave way to the kitchen that Aiden had remodeled for her. And there he was. Standing over a mess on the floor.
"Did I wake you Angel? I'm sorry. It slipped from my-" Claire slammed her petite body against Aiden's huge frame making him immediately stop talking. It was so sudden that he almost fell back. Making it the second time his little lady almost managed to quite literally knock him off his feet. He could feel her heart practically hammering against her chest and instantly understood she wasn't okay. "What's wrong Baby?" He asked as he let the rag he had in his hand drop to the floor to grab her by the shoulders and inspect her. Not seeing any obvious injuries, he focused on her flushed expression.
"I-I woke up and you weren't there. I thought that maybe something ha-happened again while I was sleeping." She breathlessly told him as her lungs struggled to work properly due to her sudden sprint.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry." He pulled her into a tight hug as he kissed the top of her head. Of course she would freak out. Not twenty four hours ago she woke up to find herself in a war zone. It was obvious she would worry if he suddenly disappeared without even leaving a note behind. They were only taking a short nap together, but she always fell into a deep sleep when she was with him. So it wasn't odd for her to have woken up in such a dazed state. "I wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed so I avoided waking you up. It's my fault." He gently stroked her back as she calmed down. Her arms were wrapped around him in such a tight hug that he felt even guiltier.
'So much for not being the one to cause her anything but happiness.' He cursed at himself as he continued to sooth her.
He was momentarily looking at the pancake batter on the floor to prevent her from accidentally stepping on it when he noticed she was barefoot. And besides that, she was still only wearing his t-shirt and a pair of his boxers. Knowing exactly how cold she must have been, he scooped her up in his arms and sat her on the kitchen's island. The feeling of déjá vu overwhelming his senses. He had done this more than once already.
Aiden was still in a t-shirt and sweatpants, but unlike Claire, he was properly wearing house slippers and a hoodie to keep warm. His house had proper calcification, bu it was still early in the morning. So the chilly air wasn't all that odd. Taking the hoodie off, he placed it over her head and helped her into it. Making her look so adorable he had to fight the urge of having her as his breakfast instead.
Claire's jade green eyes were watery from having just woken up. Her curly red hair was messy, her cheeks were blushing from running and to top it off, his hoodie was huge on her. So much so that her hands didn't reach it's cuffs. He couldn't handle how cute she looked as she wore a slight pout on her face from having panicked unnecessarily.
'I really am done for aren't I?' He thought as he brushed a few loose strands of her hair behind her ears. Standing between her open legs, he gently started to draw circles on her thighs as he looked down at her. Silently telling her he was okay. They were both safe and nothing bad was happening again.
Claire had quickly managed to calm down. Being half asleep when she noticed he was gone was mostly to blame for her sudden worrisome state. So unlike other times, it didn't take much time for her erratic heart beat to slowly go back to normal.
"I'll leave you a note next time okay?" He sweetly said as he smiled down at her. She had placed her hands on his chest.
After having carefully observed her over the past few weeks he had understood that for whatever reason, his little lady would always gravitate towards either hearing or feeling his heartbeat. Why? He didn't really know. But nonetheless it was something he had begun to enjoy.
"You don't have to." Claire replied before she decided to hug him by wrapping her arms around him and placing her head on his chest. Finding the warmth she had missed when she woke up. "I just got worried when I didn't see you. It made me panic a little. But now I know you're okay, so it's fine."
"Well, it's not really fine." He said as he kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her as well. The fact that she worried about him as soon as she opened her eyes made his chest swell with happiness. "But let's not focus on that right now." He pulled back a bit to better look at her before he continued. "Do you want to make breakfast together?" She nodded up at him and mimicked his smile.
Claire was about to get down from he counter top when Aiden grabbed her by the hips and pressed her down. Making it impossible to move from her spot. She looked up at him confused and noticed his eyebrows were furrowed together. He looked, displeased?
"You really have no sense of self preservation, do you know that?" He said as he easily picked her up and started carrying her out of the kitchen in a princess hold. "You need to stop walking barefoot on all these damn cold floors." He mumbled as he walked through his house and began to make his way up the stairs. It had been too many times already that he carried her because of her insistence on wandering around without regard for her feet. Not that he minded carrying her, but what if she got sick? Not on his watch.
Claire couldn't help but giggle as she snuggled into his embrace. If he hadn't mentioned it, she truly wouldn't have noticed she was barefoot. He really didn't miss a thing when it came to her.
When they got back to the room Aiden sat her down on the bed before he left again. He didn't say anything before leaving, but Claire didn't mind. She had already calmed down and was now thinking rationally, so there was no need to worry. Finally starting to feel her feet throb from how cold the floor had been, she pulled her knees up to her chest and began to rub them in the attempt of warming up a bit. A few minutes passed, and Aiden reappeared with some clothes in his hands.
"It's starting to get even colder outside so I brought you something warm to wear." He said as he placed the clothes he picked out for her on the bed next to her. Noticing what she was doing, he sat down on the bed as well and pulled her onto his lap. After doing so, he held a foot in each hand and continued to rub them for her. And the way she once again leaned onto his shoulder as she drew circles on his chest let him know he was doing a good job at it.
"We should take Lucas and Jacob to the city's center base." Claire said after a few moments of silence. "It's not fair to leave them in the dark after yesterdays ordeal. They must have a thousand questions of their own."
"I'll brief them on what they need to know before hand." He replied as he continued to warm her up. "I told you're brother we would be there by lunch time, so we have a couple of hours to kill before we leave."
Claire hummed as she lifted her hand to brush it through his hair. It was without a doubt that their love language was expressed through physical touch, and she very much loved it. She was lost in thought as she listed in her head all of the things she would have to do once they stepped out of their little romantic bubble.
Looking down at the clothes he had brought, she noticed they were practically tailored for her. She assumed he now knew where Aurora had kept them. "I should call Lily after I change."
"You can use the room." He said as he smiled after hearing his little princess' name. Being satisfied with having successfully warmed up his little lady, he gently moved her back to sit on the bed. After standing up, he gestured towards the clothes he brought. "I picked those out for you, but you can go take a look at the rest of clothes if you want to wear something different."
Claire smiled up at him. He really knew how to spoil her even with the simplest of things. She stood up on the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Why are you so big?" Her giggles filled the room as Aiden was now the one looking slightly up at her.
Their height difference was so noticeable that even when she stood on the mattress, he didn't have to extremely crane his neck to look at her beautiful smile. "Villan's have some serious gene pool game." He answered while also snaking his arms around her. Whenever they were together, they had to have their hands on each other. And he wouldn't have it any other way.
She pressed her lips against his for a few seconds of tender kissing before she leaned back and spoke with mischievousness in her tone."Hmmm. Good to know." Finishing off the killer strike on his heart with a cheeky wink.
Aiden was about to push her on to the bed and have her know exactly what her sultry words did to him, but before he could, Claire had already slipped from his grasp and got off the bed in a hurry towards the bathroom. Obviously giggling all the way since she knew exactly what the sudden darkening of his eyes meant. She enjoyed teasing him from time to time. She didn't look back even once before she shut herself behind the protection of the locked door.
Aiden stood their slightly shocked after witnessing his little lady riling him up. He hadn't seen her act so playful before. And although he truly wanted to bust open the bathroom door and make her understand exactly how much she affected him, he simply stood there with a satisfied smile on his face.
'Baby steps.' He thought to himself as he took in a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. She was finally letting him in. Letting him see even more sides of her personality. Gracing him with the sounds of her giggles and laughter more often than before. He wanted to make her feel even more comfortable around him before he completely showered her with every pent up emotion he felt for her.
Deciding to change out of his pajamas as well, he stepped out of the room they were using and made his way to his massive closet to look for something that would match with what he had picked for her. After all, today was the beginning of an eventful week. One dedicated to loudly remind who he was. And more importantly, who belonged to him.