[Fic] [Round 18] Title: So This is Love, Rating: R
Author: Isha
Title: So This is Love
Pairings: Gwendal/Anissina
Word Count: 4, 333
Rating: R for sex
Any Warnings: Um, het sex?
Prompt being used: Fanon backstory
Timeline: Set during season two, episode 43.
Summary: From Episode 43: Gunter: ‘It seems Gwendal was caught by Anissina all day yesterday.’
So if Gunter ended up testing out ‘Make-Friends-With-Everyone-Kun’, exactly what was Gwendal doing in Anissina’s lab all day?
Disclaimer: I own none of these very entertaining characters, please don’t sue me. Thank you.
Part of my Gwendal/Anissina series. Follows from ‘Not Alone’.
~
His open mouth dropped to her neck and she moved restlessly against him, hands tightening on his shoulders. He had pulled her hair out of its usual style, and the strands tangled in his fingers as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him.
He licked a path up her neck, and she trembled, a gasp on her lips. He felt like he couldn’t get enough of her, he wanted to taste every inch of her, to put his mouth all over her luscious body…
He moved to her ear lobe, nipping at the delicate flesh, and he delighted in her answering shudder.
She arched her back, and he shivered when she pressed her hips into his, her own hands moving to his jacket and pulling it open, hot fingers making his skin burn as she caressed him. With a sigh, she leaned back against the arm encircling her waist. Her eyes were heavy lidded as she gazed up at him with a satisfied smile, panting through her already swollen lips.
Slowly, he pushed her back against the cool stone wall behind them, and his hand moved to her collar, tracing the cloth with his fingers as he leaned forward to whisper in her ear.
‘May I?’
Gwendal jumped as the door to his office opened, startled out of his memories by Gunter’s entrance. He nodded at the other man and turned back to his work, frowning at himself. Really, he needed to focus. There was much to be done; daydreaming was simply unacceptable.
Besides, it had not been that long since he had last spent time with Anissina. She usually breakfasted with them, but only recently she’d said she was working on something new, so of course she had been busy since. He still met her now and then, though, passing her in the halls on her way to and from her laboratory. Which was how he had been able to pull her into a rarely used corridor off the royal library two weeks ago, and they had been able to steal a brief but very enjoyable rendezvous from their schedules.
His body was still tingling with those very memories.
But it had been two weeks since then.
Of course, he was busy himself, too, what with Conrart’s return to Shin Makoku, his subsequent pardon by the Shinou, and the increased urgency in the search for the rest of the Forbidden Boxes. Then there were the normal, day to day matters of the kingdom that fell to him. And also the arrangements for the annual Newborns’ Ceremony, coming up in a week’s time.
The door opened again, and he couldn’t help himself, he looked up, wondering if maybe this time it was her-but it was only his mother.
He raised an eyebrow, and she swept over to the chair in front of his desk, seating herself gracefully. ‘Gwennie,’ she said gaily, ‘reach for a sheet of paper and start making notes. I have very specific instructions for my first grandchild’s Newborns’ Ceremony.’
He saw Gunter duck his head to hide his smile, and rolled his eyes as he did as he was told. It was easier to go along with his mother sometimes rather than argue with her. Atleast he’d get back to work sooner.
He wrote absentmindedly as she spoke of her grand arrangements for her the ceremony, his mind drifting to Anissina again. What present would she give Greta on this ocassion? Perhaps-
He broke off his train of thought when his mother finished speaking, putting his seal on the sheet of paper before him with a sigh.
‘Oooh, Gwendal, darling, don’t tell me my prayers have finally been answered and you have fallen in love!’
He blinked, startled by his mother’s statement, and looked up to see her grinning at him. Gunter stared at her from his own desk on the other side of the room, even as she leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs and smiling delightedly.
‘What nonsense. Not that it’s any of your business, but I am not in love.’
‘Come now, Gwendal, I’ve noticed it-you’re distracted all the while, and you keep sighing to yourself. Only people in love do that!’ his mother refuted him, looking far too pleased with herself for his liking. He said nothing, and she pouted a little. ‘Well, I can see you’re shy, so I won’t ask you who the lucky person is,’ she trilled, winking at him, and he resolutely turned back to his work.
‘I refuse to deal with you when you’re like this.’
She giggled-giggled!-as she got up, pausing just before the door. Despite himself, he looked at her. She smiled at him then, a soft, happy smile, the one he remembered from his childhood. ‘I’m happy for you, Gwendal,’ she said softly, and then she was gone.
‘I am not in love.’
‘I never thought you were,’ Gunter assured him, and Gwendal turned sheepishly. He had almost forgotten the man was even in the same room.
He pressed his lips together as he turned back to his work, pulling Franchire’s new trade agreement from the stack to his right. Even as he read it, his mind spun with these new thoughts his mother had planted in his head.
Love?
Nonsense. Whatever this thing was between Anissina and himself, it wasn’t love. He had seen love; his mother had often fallen in and out of it, after all. When she had been in love, she had forgotten everything and everyone else, leaving all her responsibilities to Stoffel and not behaving as a Maou was expected to behave.
Nothing of the sort had happened to him. Here he was, in the office, going about his routine perfectly normally, seeing to all his duties and responsibilities as he always did.
Ergo, he was not in love.
But then, his mother was right, he had been distracted lately…
Only sexual frustration. It had been months since that first kiss under their tree, and yet events continually conspired to keep them from progressing much further. His body burned for Anissina, it was only natural that he find it a little difficult to concentrate on work.
Giving a satisfied nod to himself, he put his seal on the agreement.
~
‘Aw, that’s too bad.’
Anissina paused outside the door to the servants’ quarters, holding her lunch tray in her hand. Doria had brought it to the lab, and she had decided to stretch her legs with a trip to return the tray and thank the other woman at the same time.
‘And I had a small sum on him, too!’
The voices coming from behind the slightly ajar door, however, held her immobile. She had expected to hear whispers of palace gossip, something to giggle over with the maids, but this had her curiosity piqued. What could they be speaking of?
‘But Eva overheard Lord von Voltaire telling Lady Celi he’s in love, so it must be true. I guess we can cross him off the list of potential candidates for the Maou’s Love Lotto…unless he’s in love with the Maou?’
She staggered back, even as giggles and squeals erupted inside, and it was only with an effort that she did not let the tray drop from her fingers. She must have made some involuntary sound, however, because there was a sudden silence inside the room. Clearing her face of the shock she still felt, she put on a pleasant smile and opened the door.
The maids inside were unfamiliar to her, so she did not stay to talk, she only thanked them with a small smile, and beat a hasty retreat. It was when she was back in her lab again and the door closed behind her that she swallowed hard as she sank into her seat.
Gwendal…was in love with her.
Of course, the maids were notorious for spreading rumours, half of what they said was never true. So it was likely that this was just another bit of gossip that would die down in a month.
But if it was true…
She closed her eyes, and bit her lip. She had hoped to put it off as long as she could, this moment when they had to label what was between them.
Now, there was a chance that Gwendal wanted more from her, and she wasn’t sure she could give it to him. She had never seen a relationship between a man and a woman in love where they could be truly equal, even the ones labelled ‘happily married’. Lady Celi never seemed able to keep any of her men, her higher status as Maou always drove them away in the end.
Her own mother had given up everything, had sacrificed everything that made her unique-all for love of the man she had married. She had been horrified when her mother had told her of it, how it had been little things at first-giving up wearing anything but dresses and skirts because her husband thought it ‘unladylike’, forgoing her say in the way the province was run because it ‘was not a woman’s place to question her lord’s decisions’-until her mother had not been able to go back to who she had once been.
‘The things a man finds desirable in a lover are the very things he does not want in a wife,’ her mother had said to her bitterly. ‘Everything changes when you marry a man.’
Her mother was long gone, but her words remained.
Granted, there had been no talk of marriage between herself and Gwendal, but if he had admitted to being in love with her to Lady Celi…
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
But then, Gwendal was not like her father. He had never asked to her change anything, be anything different than she was-in fact, the only time he had ever said something similar to her had been when he had asked her to spend a little more time on the planning stage of her inventions before moving to the testing stage-which was quite understandable, really.
Her heart had stopped pounding now, and her breath was coming a little easier. She repeated it to herself with another deep breath: Gwendal was not like her father.
And she was not like her mother.
She would not let the ghosts of her past stop her from grasping her future, whatever it might be.
An hour later, she was able to smile to herself at the thought that he might love her.
~
She had her breakthrough the day before the Newborns’ Ceremony.
She had spent a long time puzzling over her latest invention; it had nearly driven her mad that she could visualise it, could know how it would look once it was finished, but that she could not figure out how to translate it to reality.
It had finally come to her the previous night, and she had spent her time sketching and working feverishly so that it would be ready by morning.
Now, she clapped her hands together excitedly as she admired it. All she needed now was her favourite test subject.
With a smile, Anissina left her lab.
~
He was in the courtyard, inspecting his soldiers when she found him.
‘Gwendal!’
His heart leapt at the sound of her voice, but he recognised the glint in her eye. All he could hope for at this point was that it would be over quickly, whatever it was. Still, he would not be himself if he did not protest a little, so he put on his most fierce scowl as she drew closer to him.
‘No.’
‘But-! Gwendal, you don’t even know what it is I want!’
‘You have some new hare-brained invention you want me to test out, and I cannot. The Newborns’ Ceremony is tomorrow, Anissina, I have no time for anything else!’ He paused. ‘And I’m in the middle of an inspection.’
‘Oh, come on, Gwendal, I’m sure your soldiers are in fine shape,’ she said, smiling at the soldiers before them. ‘You train them well.’ Many of the men had straightened even further at the sight of her, and at her smile, some of the younger ones flushed in pleasure.
He frowned at them, and they immediately turned their eyes to the front again. He had never thought of himself as a jealous man, but he had to admit he didn’t like seeing his men’s reaction to Anissina. ‘Check the perimeter of the castle,’ he snapped at them. ‘Make a note of every entrance and exit. Security will be tight tomorrow, but I do not want anyone slipping into the castle under the pretext of attending the Ceremony.’
With a huff of impatience, he turned away from them. ‘Come on,’ he said to Anissina, and she walked at his side as she led him to her lab, talking about her latest idea. It certainly sounded interesting, and the idea of being surrounded by baby animals-bearbees, sandbears, squirrels, bunny rabbits-sounded very tempting indeed. He could brave a little pain to see if it worked, he decided.
She had closed the door behind them now, and he blinked in the sudden darkness.
‘Anissina, why haven’t you drawn your curtains?’
‘Oh-I’m making some photosensitive potions.’
Her voice sounded strange, but he thought nothing of it as he fumbled his way to the table on one side of the room and picked up the candelabrum there. He groped for a flint, and soon the candles were lit and he could see. He set the candelabrum on the table, and turned to her.
She advanced on him with a smile, holding aloft a metal helmet. He gulped, but knew from experience that it would be easier if he got it over with himself, instead of having her force him into it. He had lost a lot of hair that way. She beamed at his quiscent attitude, pulling him into a comfortable chair and fitting the helmet carefully onto his head.
‘And now I just-’
‘Think of the creature you want to attract and use all your maryokou,’ she said, clasping her hands together excitedly and nodding at him to start. He shut his eyes as she pulled a nearby lever, and there was a loud ZAP-
He ripped the helmet off his head, not caring for his hair at that moment. He patted his head frantically, even as he heard the helmet crash against something and break it as it left his hand. Anissina gasped, moving to the noise, but she seemed to think better of it at the last minute, and turned to him.
‘Gwendal!’ she cried angrily. ‘Why did you do that?’
‘Because it felt like my brain was being fried!’ he said furiously, advancing on her. She stood her ground, though, and he could feel his eye beginning to twitch. ‘Do you honestly spend such little time planning these things out?’ he thundered at her, wincing as he pulled his hair out of its tie and massaged his tingling scalp.
‘Don’t be such a baby about it,’ she said dismissively. ‘It was only a loose connection in one of the circuits, obviously.’
Speechless with anger, he moved quickly to the fallen helmet, ignoring her cry and her attempt to block him. ‘You try it out this time, and see how you like-’
He broke off as he bent to pick up the helmet, staring at the puddle of pink liquid and broken glassware that surrounded it. A faint smell of apples hit his nose, and he blinked. He remembered that scent, recognised the potion-from the most embarassing conversation he had ever had with his mother, when she had told him in detail how ‘two people who loved each other very much’ expressed that love-and then she had handed him a bottle of that very liquid and told him what it was meant to do.
It was a contraceptive potion.
He turned to Anissina, who had gone red, and was avoiding his eyes. If she had this with her…if she had been brewing it for herself-because he knew her, she preferred to keep such things private, she wouldn’t have gone to Gisela about it-then that meant she had been thinking of sex. With him.
‘Anissina, I-’
He stopped, unsure of what to say. The knowledge that she wanted him as much as he wanted her was pounding through him now, his head was swimming-
She visibly took a deep breath before raising her eyes to his. ‘I’ve already taken a dose,’ she said softly, and he felt his heart skip a beat at what she was saying to him with those words.
She took a step forward, he surged toward her, and a moment later they were in each other’s arms.
The first kiss was all lips and tongue and teeth, but second was slower; her mouth clung to his, breaking away and returning again and again, almost as if she was stoking the fire in him. He drew away from her with an irritated grunt when his hair got in the way again, and she panted as she ran her fingers down a long strand until they rested on his chest.
She flicked the other locks of hair away from his face, raising her eyes to his. Her smile was slow but utterly tempting, and his body quickened at the awakening sensuality in her gaze. Silently, she pushed him back against the table behind him, raising her hands to his collar and pulling the first button loose. Her hands made quick work of the rest of them, and soon his jacket gaped open over his chest. Pulling his belt loose, he shrugged it off and pulled her closer to him with an arm around her waist, fingering the end of her ponytail, which had gotten tangled between his fingers.
‘Fair’s fair,’ he murmured, and she looked at him quizzically for a moment before his other hand tugged the hair tie out of place. She let out a little cry of pain, slapping his hand away, undoing her hair herself, and when she glared at him, he couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up and out of his mouth. She laughed, too, and he felt some of the tension of the moment leave him.
‘You should laugh more often,’ she told him seriously, and he rolled his eyes as he pulled her close again.
‘Anissina,’ he said, ‘while any other time I would debate that with you, right now I’m afraid my attention is entirely elsewhere.’
She grinned delightedly as she pulled his head down for another kiss.
~
She had worked her hands into his shirt by now, pulling the buttons loose, and he broke away with a gasp when her hands found his flesh. She smiled at the reaction, enjoying the feel of his muscles tightening under her touch. A moment later he had pushed his shirt open, but he abandoned it halfway so that it hung from his shoulders as he reached impatiently for her again.
As his mouth met hers, she pushed closer to him, meshing their bodies together, thigh to thigh, chest to chest. She could feel him against her hip now, and fire burned low in her stomach, making her shift against him restlessly. He groaned at the movement, and when he broke away to look at her, his eyes were glittering.
‘Take this off, please,’ he grunted, pulling at her collar. She obliged, raising shaky fingers to the buttons and pulling them free. He had never seen her like this before, they had always been interrupted before things could have gone this far, even that one interlude two weeks ago-when she had thought that finally they could do more-had been cut short unexpectedly.
She couldn’t look at him now, her eyes stayed on her fingers as they unbuttoned and pulled the material aside, her heart pounding with more nervousness than anticipation and desire. This wasn’t her first time, but it was her first time with him.
A shiver ran up her spine as she shrugged her blouse off, and she heard him draw in a sharp breath.
He reached for her, his fingers splaying themselves on her waist. He ran his thumb gently over her skin, and she shuddered. He moved to put his mouth on her neck, fingers moving up until they found a breast. She tore her mouth away from his on a gasp, and he smirked, looking very satisfied with himself.
That would never do.
He hissed in a breath when her fingers slipped under the waistband of his trousers, her other hand tangling in his hair and pulling him down to her. He shivered against her when her fingers found him, and then it was her turn to smile.
She had just wrapped her fingers around him when his hips jerked, and he pushed himself away from her, eyes wild.
‘Anissina,’ he ground out, a question in his eyes, and she nodded.
He caught her by the shoulders and reversed their positions, so that she could hoist herself onto her workspace. A pipette rolled to the floor with the movement and broke, making her wince, but then his hands were moving up her legs, pushing her skirt up. Her hands dropped to his waist, pulling buttons free and sliding his trousers down his hips.
‘Oh, Gwendal,’ she said, eyebrows raising as she saw him for the first time, and she looked up in time to see him blush. She laughed delightedly as she pulled him to her and slid her fingers under the navy blue material that was now doing a poor job of covering him. He shuddered under her slow and thorough exploration, and a moment later he had stepped away from her.
‘This has gone on long enough,’ he gritted out, and then his fingers were between her legs, pulling her undergarments down her legs. Her mouth fell open on a gasp when he slid one finger inside her, the sound adding to his own low growl. Her back arched uncontrollably, eyes slipping shut as she moaned his name.
Her mind was going…he had added another finger now…there was something she had to tell him before they did this, though, something important…
‘Gwendal,’ she gasped, managing to meet his eyes somehow, ‘I love you.’
He went still, staring down at her with wide eyes, even as she panted for breath. A long moment passed, and then: ‘We’ve always loved each other, haven’t we?’ he said softly, and she shook her head.
‘No,’ she said, ‘no. This is different. I’m in love with you, Gwendal.’
‘Anissina,’ he said quietly, ‘I-’
He broke off with a grunt of frustration, but she shook her head again. He may not have been able to say the words yet, but she had seen the truth of it in his eyes.
‘I know,’ she said gently, pulling him down for a kiss and watching as his eyes became clear again.
In the middle of the kiss, she snapped her hips forward, taking him completely into herself. He tore his mouth away from hers, dropping his face to her neck, and she fell back against his encircling arm with a gasp. He lowered her gently to the countertop, meeting her eyes as he put one hand on her hip and tangled his fingers in her hair, bracing the other above her head.
‘Gwendal,’ she commanded shakily, and he nodded.
--
He couldn’t wait any longer.
With a small groan he pulled out of her all the way and made her gasp, before surging back into her. She made a high pitched sort of sound and arched off the counter, her fingernails digging into his shoulders and her legs going round his waist. He knew he would have some bruises later, but right now he couldn’t care.
He started moving then, his rhythm guided by her moans. ‘Faster,’ she breathed, meeting his pace, and a few quick strokes later, he was almost undone. He untangled his hand from her hair, and reached between their bodies, fingers moving through the slick folds. He wanted to bring her with him when he fell.
He heard his name spill from her lips-and then he was coming in a blaze of colour and light, her nails digging into his back like little spikes of heat.
When he came back to himself, they were in a sweaty tangle of arms and legs. They were both panting, and he felt her smile against his neck as her fingers swept over his sweaty back.
‘Anissina,’ he said softly, ‘I may not be able to say the words, but I hope my actions will always show you how much I care.’
Her smile widened against his skin, and she pushed against his shoulders, indicating that he straighten up and look into her eyes.
‘If that’s the case, then you’ll be happy to test out ‘Make-Friends-With-Everyone-Kun’ once I’ve worked out the kinks in it, won’t you?’
His eyes widened in horror, and then narrowed when she started laughing. ‘Oh, don’t worry, Gwendal,’ she cried, still giggling. ‘I’ll get Gunter to test it out. After all, I wouldn’t want anything to happen to this very fine body of yours!’
The last sentence was punctuated with a saucy slap to his backside, and he gaped as she rolled out from under him and quickly divested herself of her skirt. She grinned over her shoulder at him as she sauntered to her bedroom, wearing nothing but her boots, and he felt lust sizzle through him.
‘Well,’ he heard her voice float out to him, and then she poked her head out of the doorway. ‘Are you coming, or not?’
Shaking his head even as he smiled, he pulled his trousers up and followed her.
~
A/N: Yay, they’re finally together! *does happy dance* And it only took, what, fourteen chapters to get here? :P
Many thanks for reading, all comment and concrit is welcome. =)
Sequel 'Ground Rules' is here.
Title: So This is Love
Pairings: Gwendal/Anissina
Word Count: 4, 333
Rating: R for sex
Any Warnings: Um, het sex?
Prompt being used: Fanon backstory
Timeline: Set during season two, episode 43.
Summary: From Episode 43: Gunter: ‘It seems Gwendal was caught by Anissina all day yesterday.’
So if Gunter ended up testing out ‘Make-Friends-With-Everyone-Kun’, exactly what was Gwendal doing in Anissina’s lab all day?
Disclaimer: I own none of these very entertaining characters, please don’t sue me. Thank you.
Part of my Gwendal/Anissina series. Follows from ‘Not Alone’.
~
His open mouth dropped to her neck and she moved restlessly against him, hands tightening on his shoulders. He had pulled her hair out of its usual style, and the strands tangled in his fingers as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him.
He licked a path up her neck, and she trembled, a gasp on her lips. He felt like he couldn’t get enough of her, he wanted to taste every inch of her, to put his mouth all over her luscious body…
He moved to her ear lobe, nipping at the delicate flesh, and he delighted in her answering shudder.
She arched her back, and he shivered when she pressed her hips into his, her own hands moving to his jacket and pulling it open, hot fingers making his skin burn as she caressed him. With a sigh, she leaned back against the arm encircling her waist. Her eyes were heavy lidded as she gazed up at him with a satisfied smile, panting through her already swollen lips.
Slowly, he pushed her back against the cool stone wall behind them, and his hand moved to her collar, tracing the cloth with his fingers as he leaned forward to whisper in her ear.
‘May I?’
Gwendal jumped as the door to his office opened, startled out of his memories by Gunter’s entrance. He nodded at the other man and turned back to his work, frowning at himself. Really, he needed to focus. There was much to be done; daydreaming was simply unacceptable.
Besides, it had not been that long since he had last spent time with Anissina. She usually breakfasted with them, but only recently she’d said she was working on something new, so of course she had been busy since. He still met her now and then, though, passing her in the halls on her way to and from her laboratory. Which was how he had been able to pull her into a rarely used corridor off the royal library two weeks ago, and they had been able to steal a brief but very enjoyable rendezvous from their schedules.
His body was still tingling with those very memories.
But it had been two weeks since then.
Of course, he was busy himself, too, what with Conrart’s return to Shin Makoku, his subsequent pardon by the Shinou, and the increased urgency in the search for the rest of the Forbidden Boxes. Then there were the normal, day to day matters of the kingdom that fell to him. And also the arrangements for the annual Newborns’ Ceremony, coming up in a week’s time.
The door opened again, and he couldn’t help himself, he looked up, wondering if maybe this time it was her-but it was only his mother.
He raised an eyebrow, and she swept over to the chair in front of his desk, seating herself gracefully. ‘Gwennie,’ she said gaily, ‘reach for a sheet of paper and start making notes. I have very specific instructions for my first grandchild’s Newborns’ Ceremony.’
He saw Gunter duck his head to hide his smile, and rolled his eyes as he did as he was told. It was easier to go along with his mother sometimes rather than argue with her. Atleast he’d get back to work sooner.
He wrote absentmindedly as she spoke of her grand arrangements for her the ceremony, his mind drifting to Anissina again. What present would she give Greta on this ocassion? Perhaps-
He broke off his train of thought when his mother finished speaking, putting his seal on the sheet of paper before him with a sigh.
‘Oooh, Gwendal, darling, don’t tell me my prayers have finally been answered and you have fallen in love!’
He blinked, startled by his mother’s statement, and looked up to see her grinning at him. Gunter stared at her from his own desk on the other side of the room, even as she leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs and smiling delightedly.
‘What nonsense. Not that it’s any of your business, but I am not in love.’
‘Come now, Gwendal, I’ve noticed it-you’re distracted all the while, and you keep sighing to yourself. Only people in love do that!’ his mother refuted him, looking far too pleased with herself for his liking. He said nothing, and she pouted a little. ‘Well, I can see you’re shy, so I won’t ask you who the lucky person is,’ she trilled, winking at him, and he resolutely turned back to his work.
‘I refuse to deal with you when you’re like this.’
She giggled-giggled!-as she got up, pausing just before the door. Despite himself, he looked at her. She smiled at him then, a soft, happy smile, the one he remembered from his childhood. ‘I’m happy for you, Gwendal,’ she said softly, and then she was gone.
‘I am not in love.’
‘I never thought you were,’ Gunter assured him, and Gwendal turned sheepishly. He had almost forgotten the man was even in the same room.
He pressed his lips together as he turned back to his work, pulling Franchire’s new trade agreement from the stack to his right. Even as he read it, his mind spun with these new thoughts his mother had planted in his head.
Love?
Nonsense. Whatever this thing was between Anissina and himself, it wasn’t love. He had seen love; his mother had often fallen in and out of it, after all. When she had been in love, she had forgotten everything and everyone else, leaving all her responsibilities to Stoffel and not behaving as a Maou was expected to behave.
Nothing of the sort had happened to him. Here he was, in the office, going about his routine perfectly normally, seeing to all his duties and responsibilities as he always did.
Ergo, he was not in love.
But then, his mother was right, he had been distracted lately…
Only sexual frustration. It had been months since that first kiss under their tree, and yet events continually conspired to keep them from progressing much further. His body burned for Anissina, it was only natural that he find it a little difficult to concentrate on work.
Giving a satisfied nod to himself, he put his seal on the agreement.
~
‘Aw, that’s too bad.’
Anissina paused outside the door to the servants’ quarters, holding her lunch tray in her hand. Doria had brought it to the lab, and she had decided to stretch her legs with a trip to return the tray and thank the other woman at the same time.
‘And I had a small sum on him, too!’
The voices coming from behind the slightly ajar door, however, held her immobile. She had expected to hear whispers of palace gossip, something to giggle over with the maids, but this had her curiosity piqued. What could they be speaking of?
‘But Eva overheard Lord von Voltaire telling Lady Celi he’s in love, so it must be true. I guess we can cross him off the list of potential candidates for the Maou’s Love Lotto…unless he’s in love with the Maou?’
She staggered back, even as giggles and squeals erupted inside, and it was only with an effort that she did not let the tray drop from her fingers. She must have made some involuntary sound, however, because there was a sudden silence inside the room. Clearing her face of the shock she still felt, she put on a pleasant smile and opened the door.
The maids inside were unfamiliar to her, so she did not stay to talk, she only thanked them with a small smile, and beat a hasty retreat. It was when she was back in her lab again and the door closed behind her that she swallowed hard as she sank into her seat.
Gwendal…was in love with her.
Of course, the maids were notorious for spreading rumours, half of what they said was never true. So it was likely that this was just another bit of gossip that would die down in a month.
But if it was true…
She closed her eyes, and bit her lip. She had hoped to put it off as long as she could, this moment when they had to label what was between them.
Now, there was a chance that Gwendal wanted more from her, and she wasn’t sure she could give it to him. She had never seen a relationship between a man and a woman in love where they could be truly equal, even the ones labelled ‘happily married’. Lady Celi never seemed able to keep any of her men, her higher status as Maou always drove them away in the end.
Her own mother had given up everything, had sacrificed everything that made her unique-all for love of the man she had married. She had been horrified when her mother had told her of it, how it had been little things at first-giving up wearing anything but dresses and skirts because her husband thought it ‘unladylike’, forgoing her say in the way the province was run because it ‘was not a woman’s place to question her lord’s decisions’-until her mother had not been able to go back to who she had once been.
‘The things a man finds desirable in a lover are the very things he does not want in a wife,’ her mother had said to her bitterly. ‘Everything changes when you marry a man.’
Her mother was long gone, but her words remained.
Granted, there had been no talk of marriage between herself and Gwendal, but if he had admitted to being in love with her to Lady Celi…
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
But then, Gwendal was not like her father. He had never asked to her change anything, be anything different than she was-in fact, the only time he had ever said something similar to her had been when he had asked her to spend a little more time on the planning stage of her inventions before moving to the testing stage-which was quite understandable, really.
Her heart had stopped pounding now, and her breath was coming a little easier. She repeated it to herself with another deep breath: Gwendal was not like her father.
And she was not like her mother.
She would not let the ghosts of her past stop her from grasping her future, whatever it might be.
An hour later, she was able to smile to herself at the thought that he might love her.
~
She had her breakthrough the day before the Newborns’ Ceremony.
She had spent a long time puzzling over her latest invention; it had nearly driven her mad that she could visualise it, could know how it would look once it was finished, but that she could not figure out how to translate it to reality.
It had finally come to her the previous night, and she had spent her time sketching and working feverishly so that it would be ready by morning.
Now, she clapped her hands together excitedly as she admired it. All she needed now was her favourite test subject.
With a smile, Anissina left her lab.
~
He was in the courtyard, inspecting his soldiers when she found him.
‘Gwendal!’
His heart leapt at the sound of her voice, but he recognised the glint in her eye. All he could hope for at this point was that it would be over quickly, whatever it was. Still, he would not be himself if he did not protest a little, so he put on his most fierce scowl as she drew closer to him.
‘No.’
‘But-! Gwendal, you don’t even know what it is I want!’
‘You have some new hare-brained invention you want me to test out, and I cannot. The Newborns’ Ceremony is tomorrow, Anissina, I have no time for anything else!’ He paused. ‘And I’m in the middle of an inspection.’
‘Oh, come on, Gwendal, I’m sure your soldiers are in fine shape,’ she said, smiling at the soldiers before them. ‘You train them well.’ Many of the men had straightened even further at the sight of her, and at her smile, some of the younger ones flushed in pleasure.
He frowned at them, and they immediately turned their eyes to the front again. He had never thought of himself as a jealous man, but he had to admit he didn’t like seeing his men’s reaction to Anissina. ‘Check the perimeter of the castle,’ he snapped at them. ‘Make a note of every entrance and exit. Security will be tight tomorrow, but I do not want anyone slipping into the castle under the pretext of attending the Ceremony.’
With a huff of impatience, he turned away from them. ‘Come on,’ he said to Anissina, and she walked at his side as she led him to her lab, talking about her latest idea. It certainly sounded interesting, and the idea of being surrounded by baby animals-bearbees, sandbears, squirrels, bunny rabbits-sounded very tempting indeed. He could brave a little pain to see if it worked, he decided.
She had closed the door behind them now, and he blinked in the sudden darkness.
‘Anissina, why haven’t you drawn your curtains?’
‘Oh-I’m making some photosensitive potions.’
Her voice sounded strange, but he thought nothing of it as he fumbled his way to the table on one side of the room and picked up the candelabrum there. He groped for a flint, and soon the candles were lit and he could see. He set the candelabrum on the table, and turned to her.
She advanced on him with a smile, holding aloft a metal helmet. He gulped, but knew from experience that it would be easier if he got it over with himself, instead of having her force him into it. He had lost a lot of hair that way. She beamed at his quiscent attitude, pulling him into a comfortable chair and fitting the helmet carefully onto his head.
‘And now I just-’
‘Think of the creature you want to attract and use all your maryokou,’ she said, clasping her hands together excitedly and nodding at him to start. He shut his eyes as she pulled a nearby lever, and there was a loud ZAP-
He ripped the helmet off his head, not caring for his hair at that moment. He patted his head frantically, even as he heard the helmet crash against something and break it as it left his hand. Anissina gasped, moving to the noise, but she seemed to think better of it at the last minute, and turned to him.
‘Gwendal!’ she cried angrily. ‘Why did you do that?’
‘Because it felt like my brain was being fried!’ he said furiously, advancing on her. She stood her ground, though, and he could feel his eye beginning to twitch. ‘Do you honestly spend such little time planning these things out?’ he thundered at her, wincing as he pulled his hair out of its tie and massaged his tingling scalp.
‘Don’t be such a baby about it,’ she said dismissively. ‘It was only a loose connection in one of the circuits, obviously.’
Speechless with anger, he moved quickly to the fallen helmet, ignoring her cry and her attempt to block him. ‘You try it out this time, and see how you like-’
He broke off as he bent to pick up the helmet, staring at the puddle of pink liquid and broken glassware that surrounded it. A faint smell of apples hit his nose, and he blinked. He remembered that scent, recognised the potion-from the most embarassing conversation he had ever had with his mother, when she had told him in detail how ‘two people who loved each other very much’ expressed that love-and then she had handed him a bottle of that very liquid and told him what it was meant to do.
It was a contraceptive potion.
He turned to Anissina, who had gone red, and was avoiding his eyes. If she had this with her…if she had been brewing it for herself-because he knew her, she preferred to keep such things private, she wouldn’t have gone to Gisela about it-then that meant she had been thinking of sex. With him.
‘Anissina, I-’
He stopped, unsure of what to say. The knowledge that she wanted him as much as he wanted her was pounding through him now, his head was swimming-
She visibly took a deep breath before raising her eyes to his. ‘I’ve already taken a dose,’ she said softly, and he felt his heart skip a beat at what she was saying to him with those words.
She took a step forward, he surged toward her, and a moment later they were in each other’s arms.
The first kiss was all lips and tongue and teeth, but second was slower; her mouth clung to his, breaking away and returning again and again, almost as if she was stoking the fire in him. He drew away from her with an irritated grunt when his hair got in the way again, and she panted as she ran her fingers down a long strand until they rested on his chest.
She flicked the other locks of hair away from his face, raising her eyes to his. Her smile was slow but utterly tempting, and his body quickened at the awakening sensuality in her gaze. Silently, she pushed him back against the table behind him, raising her hands to his collar and pulling the first button loose. Her hands made quick work of the rest of them, and soon his jacket gaped open over his chest. Pulling his belt loose, he shrugged it off and pulled her closer to him with an arm around her waist, fingering the end of her ponytail, which had gotten tangled between his fingers.
‘Fair’s fair,’ he murmured, and she looked at him quizzically for a moment before his other hand tugged the hair tie out of place. She let out a little cry of pain, slapping his hand away, undoing her hair herself, and when she glared at him, he couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up and out of his mouth. She laughed, too, and he felt some of the tension of the moment leave him.
‘You should laugh more often,’ she told him seriously, and he rolled his eyes as he pulled her close again.
‘Anissina,’ he said, ‘while any other time I would debate that with you, right now I’m afraid my attention is entirely elsewhere.’
She grinned delightedly as she pulled his head down for another kiss.
~
She had worked her hands into his shirt by now, pulling the buttons loose, and he broke away with a gasp when her hands found his flesh. She smiled at the reaction, enjoying the feel of his muscles tightening under her touch. A moment later he had pushed his shirt open, but he abandoned it halfway so that it hung from his shoulders as he reached impatiently for her again.
As his mouth met hers, she pushed closer to him, meshing their bodies together, thigh to thigh, chest to chest. She could feel him against her hip now, and fire burned low in her stomach, making her shift against him restlessly. He groaned at the movement, and when he broke away to look at her, his eyes were glittering.
‘Take this off, please,’ he grunted, pulling at her collar. She obliged, raising shaky fingers to the buttons and pulling them free. He had never seen her like this before, they had always been interrupted before things could have gone this far, even that one interlude two weeks ago-when she had thought that finally they could do more-had been cut short unexpectedly.
She couldn’t look at him now, her eyes stayed on her fingers as they unbuttoned and pulled the material aside, her heart pounding with more nervousness than anticipation and desire. This wasn’t her first time, but it was her first time with him.
A shiver ran up her spine as she shrugged her blouse off, and she heard him draw in a sharp breath.
He reached for her, his fingers splaying themselves on her waist. He ran his thumb gently over her skin, and she shuddered. He moved to put his mouth on her neck, fingers moving up until they found a breast. She tore her mouth away from his on a gasp, and he smirked, looking very satisfied with himself.
That would never do.
He hissed in a breath when her fingers slipped under the waistband of his trousers, her other hand tangling in his hair and pulling him down to her. He shivered against her when her fingers found him, and then it was her turn to smile.
She had just wrapped her fingers around him when his hips jerked, and he pushed himself away from her, eyes wild.
‘Anissina,’ he ground out, a question in his eyes, and she nodded.
He caught her by the shoulders and reversed their positions, so that she could hoist herself onto her workspace. A pipette rolled to the floor with the movement and broke, making her wince, but then his hands were moving up her legs, pushing her skirt up. Her hands dropped to his waist, pulling buttons free and sliding his trousers down his hips.
‘Oh, Gwendal,’ she said, eyebrows raising as she saw him for the first time, and she looked up in time to see him blush. She laughed delightedly as she pulled him to her and slid her fingers under the navy blue material that was now doing a poor job of covering him. He shuddered under her slow and thorough exploration, and a moment later he had stepped away from her.
‘This has gone on long enough,’ he gritted out, and then his fingers were between her legs, pulling her undergarments down her legs. Her mouth fell open on a gasp when he slid one finger inside her, the sound adding to his own low growl. Her back arched uncontrollably, eyes slipping shut as she moaned his name.
Her mind was going…he had added another finger now…there was something she had to tell him before they did this, though, something important…
‘Gwendal,’ she gasped, managing to meet his eyes somehow, ‘I love you.’
He went still, staring down at her with wide eyes, even as she panted for breath. A long moment passed, and then: ‘We’ve always loved each other, haven’t we?’ he said softly, and she shook her head.
‘No,’ she said, ‘no. This is different. I’m in love with you, Gwendal.’
‘Anissina,’ he said quietly, ‘I-’
He broke off with a grunt of frustration, but she shook her head again. He may not have been able to say the words yet, but she had seen the truth of it in his eyes.
‘I know,’ she said gently, pulling him down for a kiss and watching as his eyes became clear again.
In the middle of the kiss, she snapped her hips forward, taking him completely into herself. He tore his mouth away from hers, dropping his face to her neck, and she fell back against his encircling arm with a gasp. He lowered her gently to the countertop, meeting her eyes as he put one hand on her hip and tangled his fingers in her hair, bracing the other above her head.
‘Gwendal,’ she commanded shakily, and he nodded.
--
He couldn’t wait any longer.
With a small groan he pulled out of her all the way and made her gasp, before surging back into her. She made a high pitched sort of sound and arched off the counter, her fingernails digging into his shoulders and her legs going round his waist. He knew he would have some bruises later, but right now he couldn’t care.
He started moving then, his rhythm guided by her moans. ‘Faster,’ she breathed, meeting his pace, and a few quick strokes later, he was almost undone. He untangled his hand from her hair, and reached between their bodies, fingers moving through the slick folds. He wanted to bring her with him when he fell.
He heard his name spill from her lips-and then he was coming in a blaze of colour and light, her nails digging into his back like little spikes of heat.
When he came back to himself, they were in a sweaty tangle of arms and legs. They were both panting, and he felt her smile against his neck as her fingers swept over his sweaty back.
‘Anissina,’ he said softly, ‘I may not be able to say the words, but I hope my actions will always show you how much I care.’
Her smile widened against his skin, and she pushed against his shoulders, indicating that he straighten up and look into her eyes.
‘If that’s the case, then you’ll be happy to test out ‘Make-Friends-With-Everyone-Kun’ once I’ve worked out the kinks in it, won’t you?’
His eyes widened in horror, and then narrowed when she started laughing. ‘Oh, don’t worry, Gwendal,’ she cried, still giggling. ‘I’ll get Gunter to test it out. After all, I wouldn’t want anything to happen to this very fine body of yours!’
The last sentence was punctuated with a saucy slap to his backside, and he gaped as she rolled out from under him and quickly divested herself of her skirt. She grinned over her shoulder at him as she sauntered to her bedroom, wearing nothing but her boots, and he felt lust sizzle through him.
‘Well,’ he heard her voice float out to him, and then she poked her head out of the doorway. ‘Are you coming, or not?’
Shaking his head even as he smiled, he pulled his trousers up and followed her.
~
A/N: Yay, they’re finally together! *does happy dance* And it only took, what, fourteen chapters to get here? :P
Many thanks for reading, all comment and concrit is welcome. =)
Sequel 'Ground Rules' is here.