The incident with the wolves was just too sudden, too real, too close for comfort. As soon as danger had passed Peter and Susan were in each other's arms, trembling and holding the other tight.
It started with a small kiss on the shoulder from Peter. Soon he was wandering up her neck and onto her face, giving her nearly frantic kisses on every inch of skin he could reach. Warm breath and the soft feel of Susan's plush lips told him he was receiving the same treatment. And then very suddenly their kisses connected.
It was like a bolt of electricity running through his body. He pulled back from Susan and saw that her cheeks were very flushed. They embraced again, this time not letting go for a good while.
That had been several hours ago but the scene had been flashing through Peter's brain all day. It was now sunset and he was standing on a high rock that overlooked their normally busy camp. However the several able bodied men who had been sent to look for Edmund and had not yet returned. That fact coupled with the events of the morning (not to mention that Peter could not stop remembering exactly how intoxicating Susan's lips felt and tasted) clouded the young king's mind.
It should not have surprised him, then, that after an hour or so of standing and brooding he felt warm hands caressing his back and strong but comforting arms surrounding him.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Susan's soft voice said in his ear.
Peter leaned back in to her embrace, his eyes fluttering closed and he could feel himself being rocked very gently. "I've got more thoughts than you've got pennies handy, I'm afraid."
Behind him, Susan smiled. "I'll let you off the hook this time."
But the older boy only sighed and broke away from her, not meeting her gaze. He took a few steps away, kicking at a particularly large clump of grass before throwing himself on the ground and leaning against a rock. "I dunno, Sue," he said distractedly, running a hand through his tangled hair. "I just think I've got a little too much on my plate."
Susan gave him a sympathetic look and took a seat next to him, taking his hand in hers. "I know Peter. I'm worried about him too."
"Its not just that," Peter replied distractedly, casting a look over the camp again. "This morning... if anything had happened to you..." he broke away and looked her in the eye, his face full of emotion. "I don't think I would be able go on living."
The young queen bowed her head and without a word crawled into his lap, nestling her face in the crook of his neck.
Peter didn't know how long he sat there, cradling Susan in his arms and thinking very heavily on everything that had passed since they're arrival in Narnia. Edmund's betrayal, fleeing from the Secret Police, Father Christmas's "tools," meeting Aslan, and Susan's... close call.
Presently deep, even breathing told him that Susan was long since asleep and he felt it was time to take his sister to bed. It had clearly been several hours. There was dew on the grass and a little distance away he could hear a bird's song. Dawn was breaking.
He lifted Susan easily and carried her back down to her tent where Lucy was sleeping very soundly. Once she was snug in her bed (he had managed to do it without waking her) he gave her a long look. The way her hair spread out on the pillow was very picturesque and beautiful, the rise and fall of her chest fascinating.
A strand of her dark locks was splayed across her cheek. His hand reached up automatically to brush it off her face and as he did so he leaned down and gave her the most loving and tender kiss he could muster.
When he came back up he bit his lip. It had suddenly and forcefully occurred to him... "I... I love you, Sue," he whispered, his voice shaking.
Susan stirred in her sleep, settling her face into Peter's cupped hand on her cheek. "I love you too, Peter." But she was not awake.
Peter smiled sadly and stroked her cheek with this thumb. Minutes passed before he tore himself away, giving her sleeping form another loving gaze and pushing himself out her tent as though he regretted nothing more in the world.