[Fic] [Round 15] Title: Evasive Manoeuvres, Rating: PG-13
Author: Isha
Title: Evasive Manoeuvres
Pairings: Gwendal/Anissina
Word Count: 3,065
Rating: PG-13
Any Warnings: None, really.
Prompt being used: Fear
Timeline: Set during season one.
Summary: There had to be some way he could distract Anissina from her professed plan-without damaging this fragile relationship between them.
Disclaimer: I own none of these very entertaining characters, please don’t sue me. Thank you.
Part of my Gwendal/Anissina series. Follows from ‘Courting Danger’.
~
Anissina frowned as she darted a surreptitious glance to her right. Gwendal looked tired as he absently ate his breakfast, but then that was to be expected, was it not?
Things had an unfortunate way of just happening around their new Maou; it seemed that they had only just mobilised the troops and rescued the boy from Stoffel’s clutches-really, what had Raven been thinking when he’d come up with the plan, she had no idea-when he had decided he had to go to Svalera, and had ended up nearly getting everyone killed.
Gwendal and his brothers had come home safely, though-with the Maou and the Demon Flute-but more surprisingly, they had returned with Grisela Gegenhuber’s lover. His human lover. Gwendal had not said a word to her about it, but Anissina knew just how angry he was that Gegenhuber could have done something so hypocritical, after all he had said and done in the name of the Mazoku Pride.
And then, of course, there was the fact that the woman was pregnant.
Gwendal had not relished the subsequent conversation he had had with his aunt and uncle, after all, Grisela had gotten his prejudice against humans from watching his parents. Despite their reservations, however, they had agreed to take the woman-Nicola, if she recalled right-home with them.
Then there were his regular duties, handling the minutiae of running Shin Makoku and doing reams and reams of paperwork for their Maou, who did not really have the head for it. All of which lead to Gwendal looking like he had not slept properly for a week.
Something needed to be done.
Having come to a decision, she nodded briskly to herself as she pushed her chair back. Gwendal and Wolfram both continued eating, but Conrart and the Maou looked at her quizzically as she stood up. She smiled preoccupiedly at them as she stepped away from the table, mind no longer on food. She wandered back to her lab in the same daze, and it was only once she was inside that she went into action.
Three hours later, she happily clapped her hands together as she looked over her latest project. It was not complete by a long shot, but enough of the rudimentary mechanisms were in place that she could now test it out to see if she was moving in the right direction or not.
The best way to get Gwendal out of his current state was to give him something else to think about, a pleasant distraction of some sort.
And what could be more pleasant than to help with the progress of science in Shin Makoku?
Satisfied, she looked over everything one more time before smiling as she made her way out of the door in search of her quarry.
~
‘Gwendal!’
He jerked as the door to his office was thrown open, quickly clutching at the papers before him as they fluttered in the resultant breeze. Anissina stood in the doorway, smiling as she regarded him.
‘Gwendal, you’ve been cooped up in here long enough! Time for you to take a break!’
He blinked as she turned to regard the other occupant of the room with a smile. ‘You don’t mind, do you, Gunter?’ The other man shook his head in reply, a bemused look on his face as he abandoned his own work and watched her walk to the large desk that dominated the room.
He stared, still speechless, as she came around to his side to carefully move his papers out of the way, and lean a hand on the back of his chair. ‘Gwendal-’
‘You’re right.’
It was her turn to blink as he stood up suddenly, and he hid a grin, enjoying the surprised look on her face. Clearly, she had been expecting more of an argument before he left his work behind, but she was right, he had been at it for too long. His fingers were inkstained, his hands were getting cramped from all the writing, and a headache had begun to settle itself behind his eyes.
‘I’ll be back soon, Gunter.’
The other man nodded as he went back to his work, and Gwendal expelled a sigh as he closed the door to his office behind him. Anissina beamed at him as they began to walk away, and his own heart grew lighter the farther away they got from his office and that damned paperwork. They had not really had the chance to spend any time alone together since that day they had both decided to move forward in this thing between them, and he found he had missed her.
‘What did you have he mind?’ he asked her now, a small, grateful smile on his lips. She always seemed to know just what he needed…perhaps they could take a short ride together, it had been a while since they had done that, or perhaps they could-
‘I’ve been working on a new project!’
Her words shocked him into immobility, and he rocked back on his heels, unable to help himself. A skitter of fear ran down his spine as he gaped at her in horror. She had dragged him away from his paperwork to be a test subject again?
She turned around when she noticed he had stopped, and turned a quizzical gaze on him. ‘I thought it would be a nice break from your routine,’ she said earnestly, and he squirmed uncomfortably. She looked so sincere, he could see it in her eyes, she really thought he would be happy to help her out with her inventions. He sighed, and realised with a sinking heart that he couldn’t refuse her. Especially not now that they were…well…
An hour later, he was beginning to regret his decision bitterly. Whatever it was that was between him and Anissina, it certainly couldn’t be worth this!
‘I’m sorry, Gwendal!’ she was saying now as she pulled him upright by one arm. ‘I must have made a miscalculation, there’s no way it should have done that.’ She watched with worried eyes as he brushed himself off and ran a hand over his dishevelled hair, and though he felt like assuring her that he was fine, he refrained. As soon as he was standing and more or less alright again, she turned back to her latest project. ‘I can’t understand where I went wrong,’ she said, putting a hand to her chin and rubbing it thoughtfully.
‘I think it is time I went back to my work,’ Gwendal said stiffly, moving to the door. ‘Gunter must be swamped again, he would appreciate the rescue.’ She nodded absently, and he clenched his teeth in frustration. Already he was forgotten. Really, he should have known better, when she was in one of these moods, she had no thought for anything else.
He was proved wrong, however, when she swung around to meet his gaze when he pulled open the door, and gave him a determined look. ‘I’ll be back tomorrow at around the same time. It’s not healthy for you to spend so much time hunched over that desk. A little break would do you a world of good.’
His heart stopped at the threat-no, to her it was a promise, he reminded himself-and he was only able to nod wordlessly as he exited the lab. As soon as he was out in the corridor, he slumped against the wall, closed his eyes and thought furiously.
He couldn’t go through that again, not even the pleasure of spending some time away from his official duties and in Anissina’s company was enough to counter the fear of being maimed and permanently injured or even blown up by her inventions.
There had to be some way he could distract Anissina from her professed plan-without damaging this fragile relationship between them.
He nodded to himself as he pushed away from the cool stones at his back and determinedly made his way to his office.
Time for some evasive manouevres.
~
Anissina hummed happily to herself as she walked down the corridors to Gwendal’s rooms.
She had spent the better part of the previous day working out the kinks in her latest invention, and she could safely say that it was now going to work perfectly. She didn’t really need to test it out again, but it would be good to have her results verified, and of course, she couldn’t deprive Gwendal of the opportunity to help her out, it wouldn’t be right.
With that, she smiled as she knocked on the door to his office and swung it open. ‘Gwendal!’ she called cheerfully. She frowned at the sudden look of terror that crossed his face, but then a moment later there was only steely-eyed determination in its place, and she was left thinking she had imagined the fear she had seen in his eyes.
She turned to greet Gunter, and smiled as she saw Gwendal push his chair back and stand up from his desk. She knew it, once he had seen the importance of her work and his role in it, he was ready to help her without her having to chase him down! Her smile grew as he moved out of the open door with her. She should’ve known, really, she mused; after all, Gwendal was an eminently sensible man, if he saw the use in something, he’d do it.
‘Come, Gwendal,’ she called merrily as she began leading him to her lab. ‘I’ve worked out the problem we faced yesterday, it was just-’
‘Anissina.’
She turned at his voice, which had gone softer now, and noticed that he had stopped in the middle of the corridor. She raised an eyebrow at him, blinking as he closed the gap between them. ‘What is it?’
‘Anissina, let’s go out riding, instead,’ he said, still in that same soft voice.
‘Now?’
‘Yes, now.’ He moved a little closer to her and her breath caught in her throat at the proximity; the last time they had been this close together was when they had almost kissed. The memory made her heart pound, and she tipped her head up to meet his suddenly intense gaze. ‘We’ve hardly spent any time together, something always seems to come up to keep one of us busy.’
She took a deep breath, trying to control her stuttering heartbeat, even as Gwendal raised his hand to her cheek.
‘But-my invention-’
‘If we stay here, there’s always a chance someone will come by and interrupt us,’ he breathed softly in reply. ‘Say you’ll come with me.’
It was true. They hadn’t seen much of each other lately, hadn’t she been thinking the same thing only yesterday at breakfast? And her invention could wait a little, Gwendal certainly wasn’t going anywhere…
‘Alright.’
His eyes shone at her answer, a smile on his lips as he gently stroked her cheekbone. He said nothing, though, only turning away to walk to the stables as she, too, silently kept pace with him.
Soon they were standing before their horses, telling Dacascos that they had no need of an escort, they were only going for a short ride, and to remember to say that they would be back soon enough if anyone were to ask after them.
As they trotted out to the gates of the city, Gwendal shot a glance at her. ‘Ready?’
She nodded, checking her mount as he started to prance in anticipation. This had long been a ritual for them, everytime they went riding together, they had a little race, each time trying to see who would best who.
The gates were soon opened, and the countryside stretched out before them, wide and inviting. She nodded at Gwendal, he cracked his reins without warning, and then they were both off.
She gave her horse his head, laughing as the wind whipped her hair back from her face and she easily outstripped Gwendal. He soon caught up to her, though, and she could see the wide smile on his lips as he urged his horse to go faster. She touched her heels to her own horse’s side, and they flew forward again, leaving Gwendal behind.
Soon she could see the tree that marked the end of their race, and smiled as she saw that she had won. A moment later she had dismounted, and was rubbing down her horse with grateful hands when she heard the sound of hooves, and turned her head to see Gwendal slowly come to a stop beside her, smiling as he tipped his head up to the sunshine.
Her heart soared at the sight, he seemed young and carefree, almost like the boy she had once known-in the days before Celi had married Dan Hiri and Gwendal had joined the army and learned resentment and anger and responsibility.
He must have felt her gaze on him, because he opened his eyes then, easily swinging down to the ground. He rubbed his horse down as well, giving him an affectionate pat before moving to stand before her in the shade of the tree.
‘Thank you,’ he said warmly to her, and she blinked in confusion. ‘It’s been a long time since we’ve done this,’ he explained and she smiled up at him, raising a hand impulsively to rest on his arm.
‘Yes, it has, hasn’t it? I’m glad you asked me to go riding with you, Gwendal, I’ve missed this.’
He said nothing in reply, eyes going dark as he stared at her, and she found her own voice was breathy as she said his name inquiringly: ‘Gwendal…’
~
It may have started out as a way to distract her from using him as a test subject that afternoon, but now that he had her alone and away from everyone else, looking up at him with that soft smile and those shining eyes…
Slowly, giving her time to draw away if she should wish it, he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers.
She gave a soft, small gasp as he drew away and his heart skipped a beat in anticipation. He moved to circle her arms and pull her closer to him, her own hands tangling themselves in his lapels and tugging his uniform jacket a little open. He fitted his lips to hers again, lingering as he learned the shape of her mouth for the first time, delighting in the way she gave a little moan as he deepened the kiss.
And then he was the one left groaning, as she opened her lips beneath his and sucked his tongue into her mouth, her own tongue a slow sweep against his. His hands slid down to her waist, and he tugged her closer, flush with his body, lips moving to press fevered kisses into her hair, to her closed eyes and her cheeks, even as he gasped for breath.
‘Gwendal…’
Her voice had gone husky now, and lust shuddered through him at her tone. Her eyes were wide and her lips were swollen already, and a wave of fierce satisfaction shot through him that he was the one who had put that smile of sensual fulfillment on her lips, those stars in her eyes as she looked up at him…
He kissed her again, lightly, and her lips clung to his for a long moment before she drew away to meet his gaze. She reached up a hand to lightly run her thumb over his bottom lip, and her smile turned wistful. ‘It’s been a while since we’ve been gone,’ she said softly. ‘We should be getting back.’
He sighed as he acknowledged to himself that she was right, but did not step away immediately. ‘I wish…’ he said softly, and she nodded, eyes filled with longing, and not a little wonder. He understood the feeling, he had not anticipated the passion that had sprung to life between them, and now he found it difficult to let her go.
Drawing her close again, he pressed one last kiss to her hair before taking her hand and leading her to their horses. She said nothing as she swung into her saddle, and they both remained silent even as they entered the city, her horse outpacing his again. She glanced at him as she dismounted and led her horse to the stables, and he frowned as his own horse drew to a clattering halt on the cobblestones behind her. She had seemed pensive all the way back, almost as if she was working out something in her mind…
‘Anissina-’
She only gave him a small, tight smile over her shoulder as he followed her into the stables, and his heart stopped with anxiety. She had seemed fine just a moment ago, in his arms under the tree…was she having second thoughts about their relationship now?
His thoughts whirled as he drew away from his horse, hurriedly leaving it in the care of a groom who took the reins from him. There were more important things to worry about. He followed her as she began to walk to the castle, still not looking back.
‘Anissina-’
She turned to him at his nearly desperate tone, and gave him a level look. ‘Perhaps we can go riding again tomorrow?’ she asked him, and he nodded fervently, unable to disguise his relief.
‘Although…’
He looked up at her, only to see her cock an eyebrow at him. ‘Perhaps we’ll be too busy testing out my invention tomorrow,’ she said archly, pinning him with a glare. He gulped, aware that he had been caught out and there was no way to deny it, and she wagged a finger at him reproachfully. ‘This may have worked as a distraction today, but don’t think you can wriggle out of helping me every time!’
He sighed as he watched her turn and walk into the castle with a jaunty step-evidently pleased at having gotten her way-and it was only once she was inside that he allowed himself a smile.
Perhaps he would be back to being a test subject again from tomorrow, but this afternoon’s respite-and the promise of many such afternoons to come, if he had anything to say about it-was certainly worth whatever inconvenience he might face.
~
A/N: Yay, first kiss! Many thanks for reading, all comment and concrit is very welcome. =)
Sequel 'Not Alone' is here.
Title: Evasive Manoeuvres
Pairings: Gwendal/Anissina
Word Count: 3,065
Rating: PG-13
Any Warnings: None, really.
Prompt being used: Fear
Timeline: Set during season one.
Summary: There had to be some way he could distract Anissina from her professed plan-without damaging this fragile relationship between them.
Disclaimer: I own none of these very entertaining characters, please don’t sue me. Thank you.
Part of my Gwendal/Anissina series. Follows from ‘Courting Danger’.
~
Anissina frowned as she darted a surreptitious glance to her right. Gwendal looked tired as he absently ate his breakfast, but then that was to be expected, was it not?
Things had an unfortunate way of just happening around their new Maou; it seemed that they had only just mobilised the troops and rescued the boy from Stoffel’s clutches-really, what had Raven been thinking when he’d come up with the plan, she had no idea-when he had decided he had to go to Svalera, and had ended up nearly getting everyone killed.
Gwendal and his brothers had come home safely, though-with the Maou and the Demon Flute-but more surprisingly, they had returned with Grisela Gegenhuber’s lover. His human lover. Gwendal had not said a word to her about it, but Anissina knew just how angry he was that Gegenhuber could have done something so hypocritical, after all he had said and done in the name of the Mazoku Pride.
And then, of course, there was the fact that the woman was pregnant.
Gwendal had not relished the subsequent conversation he had had with his aunt and uncle, after all, Grisela had gotten his prejudice against humans from watching his parents. Despite their reservations, however, they had agreed to take the woman-Nicola, if she recalled right-home with them.
Then there were his regular duties, handling the minutiae of running Shin Makoku and doing reams and reams of paperwork for their Maou, who did not really have the head for it. All of which lead to Gwendal looking like he had not slept properly for a week.
Something needed to be done.
Having come to a decision, she nodded briskly to herself as she pushed her chair back. Gwendal and Wolfram both continued eating, but Conrart and the Maou looked at her quizzically as she stood up. She smiled preoccupiedly at them as she stepped away from the table, mind no longer on food. She wandered back to her lab in the same daze, and it was only once she was inside that she went into action.
Three hours later, she happily clapped her hands together as she looked over her latest project. It was not complete by a long shot, but enough of the rudimentary mechanisms were in place that she could now test it out to see if she was moving in the right direction or not.
The best way to get Gwendal out of his current state was to give him something else to think about, a pleasant distraction of some sort.
And what could be more pleasant than to help with the progress of science in Shin Makoku?
Satisfied, she looked over everything one more time before smiling as she made her way out of the door in search of her quarry.
~
‘Gwendal!’
He jerked as the door to his office was thrown open, quickly clutching at the papers before him as they fluttered in the resultant breeze. Anissina stood in the doorway, smiling as she regarded him.
‘Gwendal, you’ve been cooped up in here long enough! Time for you to take a break!’
He blinked as she turned to regard the other occupant of the room with a smile. ‘You don’t mind, do you, Gunter?’ The other man shook his head in reply, a bemused look on his face as he abandoned his own work and watched her walk to the large desk that dominated the room.
He stared, still speechless, as she came around to his side to carefully move his papers out of the way, and lean a hand on the back of his chair. ‘Gwendal-’
‘You’re right.’
It was her turn to blink as he stood up suddenly, and he hid a grin, enjoying the surprised look on her face. Clearly, she had been expecting more of an argument before he left his work behind, but she was right, he had been at it for too long. His fingers were inkstained, his hands were getting cramped from all the writing, and a headache had begun to settle itself behind his eyes.
‘I’ll be back soon, Gunter.’
The other man nodded as he went back to his work, and Gwendal expelled a sigh as he closed the door to his office behind him. Anissina beamed at him as they began to walk away, and his own heart grew lighter the farther away they got from his office and that damned paperwork. They had not really had the chance to spend any time alone together since that day they had both decided to move forward in this thing between them, and he found he had missed her.
‘What did you have he mind?’ he asked her now, a small, grateful smile on his lips. She always seemed to know just what he needed…perhaps they could take a short ride together, it had been a while since they had done that, or perhaps they could-
‘I’ve been working on a new project!’
Her words shocked him into immobility, and he rocked back on his heels, unable to help himself. A skitter of fear ran down his spine as he gaped at her in horror. She had dragged him away from his paperwork to be a test subject again?
She turned around when she noticed he had stopped, and turned a quizzical gaze on him. ‘I thought it would be a nice break from your routine,’ she said earnestly, and he squirmed uncomfortably. She looked so sincere, he could see it in her eyes, she really thought he would be happy to help her out with her inventions. He sighed, and realised with a sinking heart that he couldn’t refuse her. Especially not now that they were…well…
An hour later, he was beginning to regret his decision bitterly. Whatever it was that was between him and Anissina, it certainly couldn’t be worth this!
‘I’m sorry, Gwendal!’ she was saying now as she pulled him upright by one arm. ‘I must have made a miscalculation, there’s no way it should have done that.’ She watched with worried eyes as he brushed himself off and ran a hand over his dishevelled hair, and though he felt like assuring her that he was fine, he refrained. As soon as he was standing and more or less alright again, she turned back to her latest project. ‘I can’t understand where I went wrong,’ she said, putting a hand to her chin and rubbing it thoughtfully.
‘I think it is time I went back to my work,’ Gwendal said stiffly, moving to the door. ‘Gunter must be swamped again, he would appreciate the rescue.’ She nodded absently, and he clenched his teeth in frustration. Already he was forgotten. Really, he should have known better, when she was in one of these moods, she had no thought for anything else.
He was proved wrong, however, when she swung around to meet his gaze when he pulled open the door, and gave him a determined look. ‘I’ll be back tomorrow at around the same time. It’s not healthy for you to spend so much time hunched over that desk. A little break would do you a world of good.’
His heart stopped at the threat-no, to her it was a promise, he reminded himself-and he was only able to nod wordlessly as he exited the lab. As soon as he was out in the corridor, he slumped against the wall, closed his eyes and thought furiously.
He couldn’t go through that again, not even the pleasure of spending some time away from his official duties and in Anissina’s company was enough to counter the fear of being maimed and permanently injured or even blown up by her inventions.
There had to be some way he could distract Anissina from her professed plan-without damaging this fragile relationship between them.
He nodded to himself as he pushed away from the cool stones at his back and determinedly made his way to his office.
Time for some evasive manouevres.
~
Anissina hummed happily to herself as she walked down the corridors to Gwendal’s rooms.
She had spent the better part of the previous day working out the kinks in her latest invention, and she could safely say that it was now going to work perfectly. She didn’t really need to test it out again, but it would be good to have her results verified, and of course, she couldn’t deprive Gwendal of the opportunity to help her out, it wouldn’t be right.
With that, she smiled as she knocked on the door to his office and swung it open. ‘Gwendal!’ she called cheerfully. She frowned at the sudden look of terror that crossed his face, but then a moment later there was only steely-eyed determination in its place, and she was left thinking she had imagined the fear she had seen in his eyes.
She turned to greet Gunter, and smiled as she saw Gwendal push his chair back and stand up from his desk. She knew it, once he had seen the importance of her work and his role in it, he was ready to help her without her having to chase him down! Her smile grew as he moved out of the open door with her. She should’ve known, really, she mused; after all, Gwendal was an eminently sensible man, if he saw the use in something, he’d do it.
‘Come, Gwendal,’ she called merrily as she began leading him to her lab. ‘I’ve worked out the problem we faced yesterday, it was just-’
‘Anissina.’
She turned at his voice, which had gone softer now, and noticed that he had stopped in the middle of the corridor. She raised an eyebrow at him, blinking as he closed the gap between them. ‘What is it?’
‘Anissina, let’s go out riding, instead,’ he said, still in that same soft voice.
‘Now?’
‘Yes, now.’ He moved a little closer to her and her breath caught in her throat at the proximity; the last time they had been this close together was when they had almost kissed. The memory made her heart pound, and she tipped her head up to meet his suddenly intense gaze. ‘We’ve hardly spent any time together, something always seems to come up to keep one of us busy.’
She took a deep breath, trying to control her stuttering heartbeat, even as Gwendal raised his hand to her cheek.
‘But-my invention-’
‘If we stay here, there’s always a chance someone will come by and interrupt us,’ he breathed softly in reply. ‘Say you’ll come with me.’
It was true. They hadn’t seen much of each other lately, hadn’t she been thinking the same thing only yesterday at breakfast? And her invention could wait a little, Gwendal certainly wasn’t going anywhere…
‘Alright.’
His eyes shone at her answer, a smile on his lips as he gently stroked her cheekbone. He said nothing, though, only turning away to walk to the stables as she, too, silently kept pace with him.
Soon they were standing before their horses, telling Dacascos that they had no need of an escort, they were only going for a short ride, and to remember to say that they would be back soon enough if anyone were to ask after them.
As they trotted out to the gates of the city, Gwendal shot a glance at her. ‘Ready?’
She nodded, checking her mount as he started to prance in anticipation. This had long been a ritual for them, everytime they went riding together, they had a little race, each time trying to see who would best who.
The gates were soon opened, and the countryside stretched out before them, wide and inviting. She nodded at Gwendal, he cracked his reins without warning, and then they were both off.
She gave her horse his head, laughing as the wind whipped her hair back from her face and she easily outstripped Gwendal. He soon caught up to her, though, and she could see the wide smile on his lips as he urged his horse to go faster. She touched her heels to her own horse’s side, and they flew forward again, leaving Gwendal behind.
Soon she could see the tree that marked the end of their race, and smiled as she saw that she had won. A moment later she had dismounted, and was rubbing down her horse with grateful hands when she heard the sound of hooves, and turned her head to see Gwendal slowly come to a stop beside her, smiling as he tipped his head up to the sunshine.
Her heart soared at the sight, he seemed young and carefree, almost like the boy she had once known-in the days before Celi had married Dan Hiri and Gwendal had joined the army and learned resentment and anger and responsibility.
He must have felt her gaze on him, because he opened his eyes then, easily swinging down to the ground. He rubbed his horse down as well, giving him an affectionate pat before moving to stand before her in the shade of the tree.
‘Thank you,’ he said warmly to her, and she blinked in confusion. ‘It’s been a long time since we’ve done this,’ he explained and she smiled up at him, raising a hand impulsively to rest on his arm.
‘Yes, it has, hasn’t it? I’m glad you asked me to go riding with you, Gwendal, I’ve missed this.’
He said nothing in reply, eyes going dark as he stared at her, and she found her own voice was breathy as she said his name inquiringly: ‘Gwendal…’
~
It may have started out as a way to distract her from using him as a test subject that afternoon, but now that he had her alone and away from everyone else, looking up at him with that soft smile and those shining eyes…
Slowly, giving her time to draw away if she should wish it, he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers.
She gave a soft, small gasp as he drew away and his heart skipped a beat in anticipation. He moved to circle her arms and pull her closer to him, her own hands tangling themselves in his lapels and tugging his uniform jacket a little open. He fitted his lips to hers again, lingering as he learned the shape of her mouth for the first time, delighting in the way she gave a little moan as he deepened the kiss.
And then he was the one left groaning, as she opened her lips beneath his and sucked his tongue into her mouth, her own tongue a slow sweep against his. His hands slid down to her waist, and he tugged her closer, flush with his body, lips moving to press fevered kisses into her hair, to her closed eyes and her cheeks, even as he gasped for breath.
‘Gwendal…’
Her voice had gone husky now, and lust shuddered through him at her tone. Her eyes were wide and her lips were swollen already, and a wave of fierce satisfaction shot through him that he was the one who had put that smile of sensual fulfillment on her lips, those stars in her eyes as she looked up at him…
He kissed her again, lightly, and her lips clung to his for a long moment before she drew away to meet his gaze. She reached up a hand to lightly run her thumb over his bottom lip, and her smile turned wistful. ‘It’s been a while since we’ve been gone,’ she said softly. ‘We should be getting back.’
He sighed as he acknowledged to himself that she was right, but did not step away immediately. ‘I wish…’ he said softly, and she nodded, eyes filled with longing, and not a little wonder. He understood the feeling, he had not anticipated the passion that had sprung to life between them, and now he found it difficult to let her go.
Drawing her close again, he pressed one last kiss to her hair before taking her hand and leading her to their horses. She said nothing as she swung into her saddle, and they both remained silent even as they entered the city, her horse outpacing his again. She glanced at him as she dismounted and led her horse to the stables, and he frowned as his own horse drew to a clattering halt on the cobblestones behind her. She had seemed pensive all the way back, almost as if she was working out something in her mind…
‘Anissina-’
She only gave him a small, tight smile over her shoulder as he followed her into the stables, and his heart stopped with anxiety. She had seemed fine just a moment ago, in his arms under the tree…was she having second thoughts about their relationship now?
His thoughts whirled as he drew away from his horse, hurriedly leaving it in the care of a groom who took the reins from him. There were more important things to worry about. He followed her as she began to walk to the castle, still not looking back.
‘Anissina-’
She turned to him at his nearly desperate tone, and gave him a level look. ‘Perhaps we can go riding again tomorrow?’ she asked him, and he nodded fervently, unable to disguise his relief.
‘Although…’
He looked up at her, only to see her cock an eyebrow at him. ‘Perhaps we’ll be too busy testing out my invention tomorrow,’ she said archly, pinning him with a glare. He gulped, aware that he had been caught out and there was no way to deny it, and she wagged a finger at him reproachfully. ‘This may have worked as a distraction today, but don’t think you can wriggle out of helping me every time!’
He sighed as he watched her turn and walk into the castle with a jaunty step-evidently pleased at having gotten her way-and it was only once she was inside that he allowed himself a smile.
Perhaps he would be back to being a test subject again from tomorrow, but this afternoon’s respite-and the promise of many such afternoons to come, if he had anything to say about it-was certainly worth whatever inconvenience he might face.
~
A/N: Yay, first kiss! Many thanks for reading, all comment and concrit is very welcome. =)
Sequel 'Not Alone' is here.