Kissing a Lesson

"Fräulein, you will stay here please." The Captain said, in a cold, hard voice.

She was in for it now, she knew it. But if she didn't go and change now she wouldn't be fit for anything when dinner came. She wasn't about to stand here and risk catching a chill just so he could exercise his military discipline. She watched the Baroness make a tactful retreat. As she walked passed Maria she looked her up and down with something like a smirk on her lips.

Now she was painfully aware of how she must look. Even though she new he would never look on her with anything but annoyance, she new she was in a very compromising position. She was going to get changed weather he liked it or not.

"Not to be disrespectful or anything Captain, but we will have to have this conversation later when I am not dripping wet." With that she turned on her heal and walked, head held high, to the house.

The Captain followed the woman with his eyes. What right had she to decide when and where he chose to berate her? He new he should have sent her back to the abbey the moment he set eyes on her. She was far too young - and too attractive - for her own good, and his piece of mind. All the time in Vienna she kept sneaking her way into his thoughts. He couldn't get out of his mind the image of her dancing around her room with his children, in a nightgown that he could just see the outline of her body through.

His lips went dry, as they seemed to do whenever he thought of it. He had used his growing desire to fuel his anger then, and he would use it again now. For even as he watched her walk away his body responded to what he saw. He watched the skirt of her dress slapping at her very long, fine legs. That dress clung to her figure like a second skin, showing off all her very womanly curves. It left little to his imagination. He had the strangest urge to follow her and see if his imagination was correct.

Hell and damnation! What in God's name did he think he was playing at? He shouldn't allow that little chit to invade his thoughts like this. He had to pull himself together. He needed to remove the temptation before he accepted the invitation she offered so innocently.

She stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in one of the warm, thick towels that hung from the rail. She walked into her room and was just about to pick out another dress when there was a knock on the door. Making sure that her towel was firmly fixed, she walked to the door and opened it, it was Frau Schmidt.

"I heard about what happened and thought I would wash your clothes with the children's so that it won't dry wet." She said all this with a very funny smile on her face.

"Of course" Maria said with a puzzled smile. She motioned for the other woman to come in. "I was going to put them to soak in the bathtub." She closed the door and went to fetch the clothes that she had left on the bathroom floor. "But since you offered that would make better sense."

Frau Schmidt took the clothes from Maria with a smile and turned to go. She was at the door when she remembered something. "Oh yes, I almost forgot. The Captain would like to see you in his study when you are ready." She flashed Maria that funny smile and left. Maria picked out a dress, changed swiftly and went promptly to his study.

The door was slightly ajar when she got there, she pushed it and it opened silently on well oiled hinges. He was standing at the window staring aimlessly outside; he hadn't heard her come in so she took this rare opportunity to study him.

He was handsome. She had to admit that from the very first moment she saw him blow that whistle he had been forever in her thoughts. She dreamt dreams about him that she didn't fully understand. He aroused feeling in her that she didn't want to examine too closely, for fear of what she discovered. Maybe it was just as well he was going to send her back to the abbey.

He moved and saw her standing there. "Close the door Fräulein, and sit down." He barked. She closed the door but she would not sit down. The captain noted her defiance of another order.

"Who the hell do you think you are? When I give you and order I expect you to follow that order without comment."

"I'm sorry about that." She said truthfully. "It's just that I catch a chill very easily. If I had stayed around like you told me to I would have been feverish by nightfall."

"Well why you didn't tell me that instead of apparently disobeying my order for the sake of it."

"I am sorry, I really am. I just didn't want to catch a chill again. When I was a child I almost died because of one. Mind you that was partly because my uncle didn't care if I lived or died. I only pulled through because my sister, Amy, got the school nurse to come out to me. Uncle wouldn't let her near me you see and…" She stopped when she realised was babbling.

"Apology accepted. Now, Fräulein. I want a truthful answer form you?"

"Yes Captain?"

"Is it possible, or could I have just imagined it. Have my children by any chance been climbing trees today?"

"Yes, Captain."

"I see." He held up Louisa's head piece and walked menacingly towards her, but she stood her ground. "And where, may I ask, did they get these, um, these, uh ...?

"Play clothes."

"Oh, is that what you call them?"

"I made them. From the drapes that used to hang in my bedroom."

"Drapes!"

"They still had plenty of wear left. The children have been everywhere in them."

"Do you mean to tell me that my children have been
roaming about Salzburg dressed up in nothing but some old drapes?!" He through the head piece to the floor and kept walking towards her.

Seemingly untouched by his anger she answered calmly. "Mm-hmm. And having a marvelous time!"

"They have uniforms!"

"Straitjackets, if you'll forgive me."

"I will not forgive you for that."

"Children cannot do all the things they're supposed to do if they have to worry about spoiling their precious clothes all the ..."

"I haven't heard them complain yet."

"Well, they wouldn't dare. They love you too much. They fear you too much."

"I don't wish you to discuss my children in this manner." He walked away from her so that his back was to her. He didn't want to hear this, and shouldn't have to from her.

"They're not your children, they are your crew!" She shouted at him, finally losing her temper. He turned and gave her a cold stare. A ripple of fear ran through her body, but she raised her chin higher and said what must be said. "Children need to be in a loving environment, not a naval base." He was advancing on her again, but this time it really was threatening. She started to back up, matching him step for step. She did this until her back hit the wall.

"I'm warning you Fräulein, stay away from this subject. You have no idea what you're talking about." He whispered dangerously, stopping inches from her. His eyes boring into hers with a mixture of anger and something else she couldn't name. It stirred that strange feeling inside her, making her blood boil and her heart race. She had to continue none the less, she had to make him see.

"I know exactly what I'm talking about. Those children downstairs need their father, not a sea Captain. You're pushing them away and they don't know why. Oh, please, Captain, love them. Love them all!"

"Enough. I don't care to hear anything further from a sheltered, bible reading witch," which is precisely what she was to weave such a spell on him he thought, "such as you about my children!"

Without thinking, she slapped him hard on his check. She gasped, neither moved as the sound rang in their ears. Then he grasped her forearms and kissed her hard on the mouth. His lips at first were cold and cruel, but as the kissed deepened they softened.

She was shocked at first and tried to push him away, but he trapped her hands between their bodies and trapped her between the wall and himself. When he felt her lips soften he ran his tongue over her lips. She gasped again and he took instant advantage, he gently but firmly explored her mouth. Their tongues danced in the timeless dance of their ancestors. He let her hands go and they sneaked around his neck. She ran her fingers through his hair while he let his hands roam down her forearms, over her shoulders and down her sides to her waist.

"Mmm"

Maria's eyes shot open. Had that actually come from her? 'Holy Moses, what am I doing?' She thought. That sigh had brought her crashing back to earth. She had to stop this now.

"No!" She gasped and pushed him away from her. With such force he was stunned that someone her size had such strength. The next moment she kneed him in his groin, making his eyes water. "You…" Maria called him things he hadn't heard since his navel days. "…Touch me again and I will do worse than that. Don't think for a moment that I don't know how to defend myself. I have to leave. I won't let that happen to me." She said the last part to herself. Looking at her he saw fear and panic flash in her eyes, even from his crouched position. He wondered what can of worms he had inadvertently opened.

Before he could say a word to stop her she had bolted. He was about to follow her when he heard the most curious but beautiful sound coming from downstairs. What the devil…

I have corrected and changed a few things here that will tie in better with what I have planned.