Taming the Dragon - H.S. - Harry Styles (AU)

Chapter 19

"We did not panic."

"Yes, we did," Darya replied. She smiled at her husband while she contradicted him, then turned her attention back to her task.

Harry was stretched out on his bed, lying on his back and had pillows propped behind his head. Darya knelt at the foot of the bed. She wrung out another long strip of cotton and applied it to her husband's leg. The heat from the water made her fingers red, but the mild discomfort was definitely worth it as she was rewarded by Harry's loud sighs of pleasure.

He'd barely even grumbled when she had handed him the list of suggestions Dr. Summers had made. He refused both pain medication and liquor, but he took the time to explain why. He didn't wish to become dependent on either and so he went without, regardless of how painful the leg became.

The hot cloths helped take the cramp out of his calf, however, and as long as she kept him busy thinking about something else, he forgot to be sensitive or embarrassed about the scars.

He certainly wasn't embarrassed about the rest of his body. He was a bit of an exhibitionist, in truth. Darya wore a prim pink and white high-necked nightgown and matching robe. Harry was completely naked. His hands were stacked behind his head, and when he let out another long sigh, she decided her husband was thoroughly uninhibited with her... and just as content.

"I will admit Louis did run around a bit, but only because there was the slightest chance Martin might somehow be involved."

"Ran around a bit? Are you joking, Harry? The man literally picked up his wife and tossed her into his open carriage, then went racing to the park to find Catherine. I thought Eleanor would die of mortification when he went running out the door with her slung over his shoulder like a sack of flour!"

Harry grinned remembering the scene. "All right, he did panic. I didn't, however."

She let out an unladylike snort. "Then I didn't see you leap over the side of their carriage so you wouldn't be left behind?"

"Better safe than sorry, Darya."

"And all for nothing," she said. "Catherine would have died of mortification if Louis and you had caught up with her. Thank heaven Martin took her home before you spotted her. This is all my fault, by the way."

"What's all your fault?"

"I got everyone all worked up," she admitted. "I shouldn't have made your relatives so worried."

"They're your relatives, too," he reminded her.

She nodded. "Why do you think Elizabeth turned Martin down?"

The change of topic didn't confuse Harry. He was getting used to the way his wife's mind raced from one thought to another. She was an extremely logical woman, damned intelligent, too, and he no longer shrugged off any concerns she might have. If she wasn't completely convinced Owen was the culprit, then he wasn't completely convinced either.

"Martin's up to his neck in debt and could very well lose his estates."

"How do you know that?"

"Roberts told me," he answered. "Maybe Elizabeth thought she could do better."

"Yes," Darya agreed. "That is possible, I suppose."

"Sweetheart, let's go to bed."

She scooted off the bed and put the bowl of water on the bench near the window. Then she removed the wet strips from his leg, folded them, and put them next to the bowl.

"Harry, are you feeling guilty because you wouldn't listen to me when I tried to talk to you about Elizabeth?"

"Hell, yes, I'm feeling guilty. Every time you brought up the topic, I told you to leave it alone."