Valentine stayed with Henry in her room long enough for her to quickly clean her self up and grab her bags. He tried his best to ignore the bulge in his pants, willing it to go down on its own. It was proving to be more taxing than he remembered. It was very rare for Valentine to be left wanting more from a woman. The woman he equated were more often people he had no plans of seeing a second time. Now he stood alone in the hotel room of a nineteen year old girl wanting nothing more than to barge into her bathroom and take her against the wall hard and fast. He somehow knew that was exactly the way his blue eyed consort would want him. Maybe it was the way she had pushed herself into his finger or who she had slid her fingers between his as he flicked her sensitive flesh.
Valentine felt bad, leaving her high and wanting more...but it was amusing seeing her desperate eyes set ablaze with need and fury for not helping her finish what started. All the wonton things he would do to her. He would make sure to ruin her for any man that may come after him. The thought alone set Valentine down a rabbit hole of self loathing. He shouldn't want to ruin her. He shouldn't crave destroying her for others.
He was proving to himself every day that he was simply no good for Henrietta. The night before, he had climbed on top of her ready to take her without asking if she had even ever been with a man. Then today he had pushed her against the elevator wall and stuck his fingers down her panties. He made her cum right there despite knowing that there were cameras clearly hanging from the far left corner of the lift. Granted, he planned on taking care of that before he left the hotel, but he was sure Henrietta wouldn't have let him do that to her had she known someone might see her.
The point was, he knew all along that he didn't deserve her. The more time he spent with her, the clearer that was becoming. But he couldn't bring himself to care. He was selfish that way...but if he wanted for this to work...whatever this was, he needed to be honest with her. He needed to tell her everything. The simple thought of telling her all the things he had worked so hard to keep from her made his stomach twist in knots. It was a feeling he was not used to. Something now foreign to him.
But he wanted it to work...he needed it to work. Valentine wasn't willing to let her go. Not anymore. Not after the kiss they shared outside of the elevator. When she ran into his arms, he pictured her years from now, the feeling of her against him just as natural as it had felt when she crashed into him. When her lips touched his, he swore he could taste the next thirty years on her.
Letting Henrietta go, wasn't an option.
Not anymore.
So he waited for. He waited until she walked out of the bathroom, sporting black leggings and an old AC/DC tee shirt he had seen her father wear on more than one occasion. Her hair was wet, water still dripping for the ends.
He smiled when she caught him staring, she returned it. Her eyes downcast as a soft blush took over her full cheeks.
"Are you ready Henrietta?" He asked, getting up from the corner of the bed where he sat.
She nodded quickly wringing out her hair once more using the towel she had in her hand and then tossing it onto the bed. She went for her bad but Valentine reached it first and picked it up before she could.
Henry stood in front of him looking at his chest. Valentine reached below her chin and lifted it up softly. He looked into her eyes, licking his bottom lip before leaning down and pressing his lips against her gently. Henry seemed to melt into the kiss, sighing against his lips.
He loved that about her, how responsive she was to him.
"Lets go home Sweetheart."
Henry nodded, pecking his lips once more before he pulled away fully. Valentine chuckled, caressing her cheek once before grabbing her hand and walking over to the door. He opened it easily and lead her back towards the elevator that would forever be one of his favorite places in all the world.
Valentine stood silently next to Henry, holding her hand in his. His eyes traveled down to her every few seconds, so as to make sure she was still standing next to him. Flashes of what he had done to her in the elevator came and went before him. Henry squeezed his hand, as if to tell him she was seeing them too. He only spoke to her when she asked him if she could ride back in his car with him.
"I will place your bag in my car, when we get downstairs stay close to Remi and don't talk to Sunny. Keep your head down and I will take care of it." Henry didn't ask him what he meant, she did what he said after he kissed the top of her forehead. It was his way of saying goodbye for now. Seconds before the elevator doors opened, Valentine let go of her hand and walked out first. It was as if she blinked and then he was gone. Even before she reached her uncle who sat in the same chair she had seen him in earlier that day, she did a quick sweep of the room, but could not find Valentine anywhere, even though the rest of her Nate, Sam, Link, the kids, and Sunny were all huddled together, talking to each other in hushed whispers.
She had to remember that Valentine had always been like that. In the couple of months she had been staying with the Quest's, Valentine was the one person in all of the family that gave explanations to no one. Not even Sunny.
"Hey, here comes my personal security guard." Remi teased her when he saw her take a seat across from him.
Henry tried to find the humor in his statement, but couldn't shake the suddenly uneasy feeling that fell over her. "You should have told me Valentine did that to you." She grumbled, watching him sit up in his chair.
Remi smiled, "You should lighten up a little." He leaned back in his chair, allowing his head to fall back on the chair to stare up at the ceiling. "And I tried...you didn't give me the chance to finish."
Henry licked her dry lips, pulling her damp hair over her shoulder so she could also lean back "Why?"
He chuckled. "I don't know Henrietta, you kinda ran out of her as if the devil himself was trying to catch you. I honestly didn't know your legs could move that quickly."
He laughed with ease as if he wasn't even hurt.
"No, I mean why did he do that to you?" Henry leaned forward instead not being able to find comfort. She rested her elbows on her knees. She waited patiently, looking over at her uncle. He looked like a Roman statue chiseled out of stone. His jaw bone was sharp, his shoulders wide, his honey hair standing up and back as if he had simply ran his fingers through the strands and called it a day. He was beautiful in a classic sort of way. His face was still boyish, but when he smiled she was sure women fell to their knees for him.
Remi looked over at his niece who had been staring at him intently. He smirked, shaking his head before laying it back on the chair. "You didn't ask him? You guys were gone for a while. I imagined that would've given you guys plenty of time to talk."
Henry cleared her throat, clearly aggravated. "If you have something to say, you should just say it." He could see he had ruffled her feathers but that wasn't his intention. He just wanted her to just let this all go.
Remi thought a long while before answering. He didn't want to lie to her, but he definitely couldn't tell her the truth. At least not yet. There were things that weren't his secrets to tell.
Instead, Remi sat up straight and then mimicked her posture. Elbows on his knees, his face leaning in close, his eyes glued to hers. "Look, I didn't mean anything by it okay?" He licked his lips and then sighed. "There are some things that are better left unsaid Little Bird. All you need to know is that Valentine did what he had to do. It wasn't his fault, so don't be upset with him." As always he answered in riddles, expecting Henry to be satisfied with whatever little information he gave her.
