Mindful Beauty

33) His Woman

By the time Damien awoke the next morning, he was oddly and greatly comfortable.

The room was still somewhat dark, and thinking that it was still early, Damien gently kept Ella as still as possible as he reached across to check the time on his phone that had been plugged up right before he went to bed.

1:36 P.M.

Damien frowned, checking the time again.

Had his phone not automatically changed? He wasn't in the states, so why was it displaying that time?

"What is it?" Ella's groggy voice alerted him of her consciousness now.

"Sorry. Did I wake you?" Damien felt her remove herself from his side, turning her back so that she could find a comfortable and warm spot again.

"Did you get a phone call?" Ella murmured, almost half-asleep. Damien smiled in adoration at how she was forcing herself to stay away to check up on him.

"My phone is saying that it's 1:36 P.M." Damien murmured, setting his phone down so that he could lie back down.

"It probably is." Ella yawned, now becoming more awake.

"What?" Damien stilled. He had never, ever slept for so long. Not even when he pulled all-nighters in college preparing for exams or doing homework did he find himself waking up so late.

"What? Did you have an appointment?" Ella turned to face him now, watching as he sat up, pushing her white covers off so that he could go pull the curtain open just a bit as to not blind Ella.

"How did we sleep for so long?" Damien frowned, closing the curtains after blinding himself.

Ella shrugged, closing her eyes again. She still felt her limbs weigh down on her from how tired she was. "The others probably aren't even up yet, babe."

Damien, unable to resist her natural, almost siren-like beauty, approached her on the bed. "Still tired?" He grabbed a piece of her hair, pushing it behind her before he tucked her back into his arms.

Ella hummed a yes to his question, accepting his cuddle. She felt him place a soft kiss on her forehead before he unwrapped one arm and placed a hand on her forehead.

"Amore, you have a fever." Damien could feel a light heat emitting from her skin, and he frowned. "We ought to lock you inside a house for the winter."

Ella chuckled, moving away from him now. "I'm fine." She yawned as she sat on the bed, pulling down the large sleeves of her oversized sweater. "How do you feel about going downtown?" She ran a hand through her hair, relieved that not a lot of tangles had developed overnight since she didn't feel like she would be able to run a brush through it. Her head was beginning to develop a mini headache.

"Like this? Ella, I don't think you should be going out much." Damien was staring at her incredulously. Had she gone insane? She was sick, and here she also was, trying to go out in the cold and windy weather.

"I'll just take some medicine. Come on, I have to stop down there anyway, so I can show you around." Ella was already on her way to the bathroom, some fluffy slippers on her feet.

"If you're doing this because I'm here for a limited time, don't bother, Ella. I can always return." Damien called out to her right before she shut the bathroom door.

Damien sighed, shaking his head before he also got up. He dressed in some casual and warm clothes before entering the restroom where Ella had already finished dressing and getting ready for the day. Once they were both walking downstairs, Ella's parents were in the living room with Melissa and Erica.