This oneshot was written in honor of galaxywolf27 and - with her permission - fits in with her wonderful series of Warcraft fics. These are not the same versions of events as they will appear in my own Warcraft stories, but they are still the same characters... think of it as her stories and mine occurring on alternate time streams.

For those who have read - or would like to read - galaxywolf27's stories, this particular piece takes place after the events of Chapter 25 (and the first part of Chapter 26) of the fourth part of her series, Lion's Torment.

Please note, this story is rated mature and contains content that is objectionable for younger readers.

Desperate Pleas

Kill me... It hurts... Please...

Auriana's words kept repeating themselves over and over in Anduin's mind, growing louder and louder each time. He shut his eyes tightly, trying to block out the reverberating of her desperate pleas in his head, but they only continued to torment him.

He'd told his father he wasn't sure if he should have given in to her request, but secretly a part of him had wanted to, if only to spare her from the memories she would have. He'd seen what was done to her in the foundry, felt the pain wrought by each horrible act as if it had happened to his own body. And then, what that vile orc had nearly done to her... It made him physically ill just to think about it, and a fresh wave of tears sprang to his eyes.

"Anduin?"

The voice came from the doorway of his bedchambers, though he hadn't heard her enter his rooms. He wanted to turn to look at her, to go over to her and hold her in his arms, but his body wouldn't move. All he could do was remain sitting on the edge of his bed, gripping the coverlet beneath his hands so hard he was sure his knuckles had probably turned white. He heard her move closer and he let out a shaky breath, attempting to reign in his emotions so he wouldn't upset her and failing as his body continued to tremble.

"Anduin, what happened?" she asked, and he felt the bed shift under her weight as she sat next to him. "I overheard Mathias talking to one of the agents he sent with your father and they said someone had been badly hurt."

A sob suddenly burst through and he blindly reached for her, pulling her into his arms and crushing her tightly against his chest. The tears he had been trying to keep at bay rolled freely down his cheeks, and he buried his face against her shoulder even as he felt her arms envelop him in return. He couldn't make out what she said as her fingers began gently brushing through his hair, but the tone of her voice was soothing, the way a mother might sound when trying to console a child. There was something off about it, though, and it took him a moment to realize that she was crying, as well.

He slowly pulled away from her and found her green eyes sparkling in the dim lighting of the room, full of tears she had yet to shed. Gently, he reached up with one hand and brushed away the wet trails on her cheeks, confusion slowly replacing his earlier torment.

"Why are you crying?" he asked, his voice not much more than a hoarse whisper.

"Because I know how much your father meant to you," she told him, and Anduin blinked a few times before letting out a short, soft laugh and shaking his head.

"My father is fine, Larraine," he assured her. "Physically, at least."

"Then what has you so upset?" she asked in return, tilting her head slightly to one side.

Anduin tucked a loose strand of her red hair behind her ear, then traced the line of her jaw with his fingertips. He wanted so desperately to just tell her everything, to share with her all of the horrible things that had happened to Auriana, to let her know just what was weighing on his soul. He couldn't, though. Those were not his secrets to tell. Instead, he merely shook his head and pulled her close once more.

She didn't protest, not that he thought she would. There had always been an unspoken understanding between them, something deeper than mere words. He wondered if that would always be enough, though, and something else Auriana had said in her fevered state entered his mind. She'd said she loved his father and – judging by the look on his father's face – that had been the first verbal admission of her feelings toward him. It had taken her being half-delirious to have the bravery to admit it, and he worried he might never have that bravery at all.

It wasn't that he didn't love the girl in his arms. He did. He loved her eyes and her smile and her laugh; the way she had always been so competitive with him in archery; the feel of her hair as he ran his fingers through it; her kind and generous heart; the soft spot she had for injured beasts, no matter how dangerous they were; even the way her passionate nature sometimes caused her to speak her mind without really thinking... They were all parts of who she was, and he loved each and every one. Still, he was afraid to say the words out loud. Nothing good ever happened to those in love, or to those he cared about. In his mind, telling her the depth of his feelings for her was a sure-fire way to get her hurt... or worse.

His arms tightened around her as the visions of the torture Auriana had endured replayed themselves through his mind, only this time it was Larraine who was being subjected to the horrors within Blackrock Foundry. The pain he felt... the helplessness and anger which flared up within him at the very idea of someone hurting her that way... it was almost more than he could bear, and he knew his father could never find out the details of what happened to Auriana. Then again, his father was stronger than him in so many ways. He'd stormed the foundry himself with the intention of rescuing Auriana, which was something Anduin knew he could never do. He was blessed by the Light, but casting barriers and healing spells could only do so much. Even his archery skills – expert as they were – surely would fall short in such a dire situation.

"Anduin?" Larraine whispered his name, her voice trembling a bit, and he suddenly realized that he'd been holding her far more tightly than he intended. He loosened his arms around her and turned his head slightly to nuzzle her neck, deeply breathing her in. She smelled like fresh air and the forest, with the faintest hint of Pandaren cherry blossoms from the perfume she wore.

"Please, talk to me," she quietly requested, and he sat back and searched her eyes. He wanted to tell her everything, to let her know the horrors he'd borne witness to while healing Auriana and all the doubts and fears they had brought out in him. He wanted to lay his soul bare before her and tell her how he felt about her and apologize for not having said the words sooner.

He couldn't, though. As they quietly sat together on his bed, he reached up and touched her face and she mirrored his actions, wiping away the fresh tears he hadn't realized he was still crying. His gaze then fell to her lips, and he cursed the sudden need he felt within him even as he closed the distance between them. His kiss was nearly frantic in its intensity, a desperate claiming of her mouth in an attempt to find some sort of peace from the voice of Auriana which was still haunting his mind. After a brief moment of surprise, she began to kiss him back but a few seconds later he found her pulling away from him.

"Anduin, what is going on?" she demanded, though the only emotion showing on her face was an obvious deep concern for his well-being.

"It was Auri," he heard himself say before he had a chance to stop himself. "She's the one who was hurt. I healed her and... and I could..."

"Oh, Anduin," Larraine sighed, pulling him back into her arms and holding him tightly as he started shaking again. He didn't need to say any more. He'd told her before about some of the unpleasant setbacks to being a healer, and he knew she could easily fill in the rest of what he was trying to say.

"It's okay. I'm here," she told him, bushing her fingers gently through his golden hair.

"I need you," he said quietly, then pulled away so he could look into her eyes as he said it again. "I need you, Larraine."

He heard her breath hitch quietly, though he hoped that she realized he meant it in much more than merely an intimate way. Ever since they first met as children, she'd been the one person who always saw him as he was. He wasn't the Prince of Stormwind to her – he was Anduin. She had believed in him when he didn't fully believe in himself, comforted him through some of the darkest times of his life, and allowed him to let down his guard in a way he often couldn't even around his own father. She meant the world to him, and he hoped she had at least half a notion of how much he truly cared about her.

"I need you, too," came her reply after a moment, and he knew that she had fully grasped the underlying meaning of his words. "So much more than you'll ever know."

She kissed him then, her fingers tightening in his hair to press his lips firmly against hers, and Anduin knew she was silently giving him her consent to find his comfort in her however he needed to. A part of him hated how selfish it would be to use her like that, but once he heard the first faint whimpers escape her throat he was lost to the moment. Love and desire and the desperate need to be rid of the echoes of Auriana's voice in his head overtook him and he gently grasped the back of her neck in order to take control of the kiss.

He scarcely knew what transpired over the next few minutes. He could feel her removing his clothes even as he helped her out of hers, and somewhere along the way one of them had pulled the leather strap from her hair, allowing it to fall freely about her shoulders like silken waves of fire. All the while, they continued to kiss each other deeply, and she matched his passion just as strongly and even fought with him for dominance at one point, catching his bottom lip ever so sightly between her teeth. The mixture of pleasure and that little bit of pain was enough to cause him to nearly lose all sense of control, and he let out a deep groan as he laid her back on his bed.

It would have been easy to take her then, but he needed more. His hands roamed her body as he rested between her legs, fingers tracing and burning every inch of her soft skin into his memory all over again. He could feel her starting to writhe beneath him, and hear the soft gasps and needy whisper of his name falling from her lips over and over. Still, he decided to bide his time in spite of the aching need in his loins. He found the sensitive spot along her collar bone that he'd discovered the first time they made love and began placing feather-light kisses there, one of his hands still buried in her hair while the other grasped firmly at her hip and pulled her closer to him.

"Anduin... Please..."

Those softly moaned words were exactly what he had needed to hear from her. He kissed her neck as he slid himself deep inside her, drawing another breathy moan from her lips, then claimed her mouth as he began to move. He wanted to be gentle, to take his time and make love to her as he had every other time they'd been intimate together, but the need he had to just be with her outweighed those desires.

His lips crashed down upon hers in one bruising kiss after another as he took her, his tongue clashing almost violently with hers. He swallowed each of her pleasured moans even as his own were torn from his chest, the heat of her driving him quickly toward his breaking point. Surprisingly, he could feel her body moving in rhythm with his, the rocking of her hips matching each of his thrusts in almost perfect timing. Raising himself up ever so slightly, he met her half-lidded gaze as they both raced toward the peak of perfection, and she slowly drew her hand down the front of his body. The feeling of her nails gently scratching down his chest was his undoing, and Anduin let a rare curse fall from his lips as he felt the hard wave of pleasure slam into him, sending his head spinning and causing his entire body to tense as he found his release.

He breathlessly fell into her waiting arms a moment later, gently kissing her over and over again amidst whispered apologies. Larraine angled her head to one side to look at him and reached up to brush some of the sweat-dampened hair from his face, her face a picture of amused contentment as she smiled lovingly at him.

"Why do you keep saying you're sorry?" she wondered.

"I used you," he whispered, still catching his breath, shame darkening his handsome face. "I was rough with you and... you didn't even... did you?"

"It doesn't matter if I did or not," she attempted to comfort him. "As for you being 'rough' with me..."

She leaned up a bit and kissed him, lingering for several seconds before resting her head on his pillow once more.

"I didn't mind," she admitted, a pale blush coloring her cheeks, and Anduin raised an eyebrow at her.

"I didn't hurt you?" he asked her, moving to rest next to her on the bed, propping his head in one hand.

"Not at all," she told him with a small laugh, rolling onto her side to face him. "If you did that the first time we were together, it probably wouldn't have been too enjoyable – but I think we're past the point where you have to be gentle every time we make love."

"Duly noted," Anduin said, reaching out to push her hair back behind her shoulder. "Still, I feel bad that you didn't-"

"Stop," Larraine ordered, placing her fingers over his lips to silence him. "This was all for you, tonight. Besides, I think you more than made up for it last time."

It was Anduin's turn to laugh as she smiled coyly and blushed, and he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him until she was nestled against his chest. He kissed the top of her head and ran his fingers through her hair, feeling it catch occasionally in a knot and a strange sense of pride filled him knowing it was his fault her hair was such a mess.

"Are you okay, now?" she asked him after a bit, sounding hesitant.

"I think so," he told her, his hand catching her under her chin and tilting her face upwards so he could kiss her. "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me," she said, and Anduin kissed her again. He knew she was still being considerate of him and what he had just been through, but she would never know just how important her being there was for him. He could never tell her about how Auriana had begged him to kill her, and how much he'd needed to hear her beg him to take her so he could replace that horrible sound stuck in his brain with one which was infinitely more pleasant.

He suddenly yawned, feeling himself start to crash hard. He'd already been pretty drained from healing Auriana and the events of the night prior to her arrival had also been emotionally draining. He felt Larraine sit up and start to shift away from him on the bed, and he reached out to grasp her hand.

"Where are you going?" he asked, and she forced a smile and leaned down to kiss him briefly.

"You need to rest. I should go."

"Stay."

Larraine blinked at him, her mouth opening and closing silently a few times, and Anduin could see the internal war she was having over whether or not she should give in to his request playing across her face.

"Stay with me tonight," he repeated, pulling himself up to sit next to her.

"Your father-"

"Will be fully occupied with Auri's recovery," he cut off her protest. "And he knows how much healing can drain me, so I highly doubt he'd come looking for me early tomorrow, anyway. You'll be gone without him even knowing you were here at all."

She still looked uncertain, and Anduin linked his fingers with hers, then brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, his blue eyes meeting her green ones and silently conveying all the words he wanted to say to her.

"Okay," she quietly agreed, nodding and settling back down onto the bed. "I'll stay."

Anduin smiled and rested next to her, kissing the back of her hand once more, and Larraine hesitated a beat before pushing him onto his back and snuggling up against his side, laying one of her arms across his chest. He kissed her forehead and started to absently play with her hair again, but soon enough he drifted off into a deep and – blessedly – dreamless sleep.