Author's note- Well, here it is! The chapter you've all been waiting for! ^.~ Thanks to Aries of Attitude, Biowolf, and Rinon Toros for reviewing. I'm happy that you like it as it only gets better from here!

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Loyalties of the Heart by Shelly

CHAPTER SEVEN


"I see you managed to get here," he said as he slowly approached her.

She could do nothing else but stand there rooted to the floor. "Colonel, I must admit I am confused," she said, knowing that she looked like a fool for the way she was staring at him.

"Please, none of that tonight," he replied. "And the manner in which I wish to treat my prisoners is my own business as I mean to ease things between us. Starting with these," he said as he stopped before her, taking out a key to unlock the handcuffs.

She watched them fall to the floor, her eyes closing when she felt his breath tease her cheek only to open when she raised her gaze up the white expanse of his shirt to the slight gap that offered her a teasing glance of his skin underneath. When their eyes met, she saw for the first time how he really felt about her, feelings which she returned freely and knew he saw in her own eyes.

After seeing for himself the love she still felt for him, he ached to hold her in his arms and end the torture they had suffered, but he restrained himself with a great amount of control and motioned for her to sit at the table. He pulled the chair out for her and made sure she was comfortable before he retrieved his own dinnerware and brought it so that he could be seated next to her. "My brother means well, but sometimes I wonder if he's trying to tell me something," he explained then saw her raised eyebrow. "I had him and Van help me get things ready while you were showering."

She smiled at the image his words brought up, flattered when he picked up her plate and began filling it with the food in front of them. Soon they were both enjoying a most delicious meal, Tania even more so as she had not eaten since last night. They spoke of his brother who he was proud of for having been appointed to the Guardian Force and of his own promotion to the rank of Colonel, mainly trying to keep from asking questions about her own life.

But she soon opened up to him, telling him of her childhood and the threat to her mother's life. "That's why you wouldn't stay with me," he pointed out.

"That's why I couldn't," she corrected. "After meeting you and becoming so close to you, I knew that if there was ever one person that could change my life it would be you. But if I chose to risk everything and stay with you, my father would only hunt us down until we were both dead. And I feared of becoming too close to you as I knew he would only exploit that against me as well.

"He saw the sacrifice I had made and after that he gave me a little more freedom, although I still believed that he could destroy those I loved if I so much as thought about leaving. He tricked me into believing that the plans he had made were for the good of the Empire, I see that now, but at the time I believed him and stood beside him, even mourning for him when he was killed. Up until now I was obsessed with my revenge on Van, but after seeing him and getting to know him I came to see the error in my father's designs. He cared nothing for those he destroyed only so that he could get what he wanted, and that's what Van was protecting. For so long I thought he had killed him for a reason, but he only meant to destroy the Deathsaur. It was only my father's greed that got him killed."

Karl was sorrowed as he had had no idea of the pressure she had been under for most of her life, and it was a wonder that she turned out as well as she had. "So was that why you joined this group that has been attacking military bases?"

She smiled. "I wondered when you would get around to asking me about that," she said. "After the peace was established, there were those that remained loyal to Prozen and his views who approached me and asked me to join them. Like I said, I was itching for the day when I would have my revenge on Van so I agreed to join them but I told them that I was going to have nothing to do with their objectives as I only wanted one thing from them. They agreed as they only wanted me to be there as a way to remind the men of who it was they once served.

"I was allowed to pretty much go my own way. I trained to better my piloting skills most of the time and would occasionally inquire as to how things were going. But most of the time I was oblivious to their plans except until recently when things began to speed up. When the Guardian Force began repelling the attacks, I became involved when I learned Van was involved and the rest you know about. So any information I could give you is limited at best."

"Limited, yes," he agreed. "But you could tell us some things that would help us in a big way."

"Yes, Thomas pointed that out to me already," she smiled then turned a teasing glance on him. "But what makes you think that I'll tell you anything?"

"Oh, I don't know," he replied, easing out of his chair to stand behind her. "I suppose I could think of a few ways to try to persuade you," he breathed in her ear, reaching up with his hands and lightly massaging the back of her neck and shoulders.
"Keep doing that and you'll get anything you want out of me," she groaned, her head tilting forward as she reveled in the feel of his fingers on her skin, wondering how they would feel elsewhere.

"Maybe, but would you tell me what I would most want to hear?" he asked, ceasing his ministrations when she turned towards him and he crouched down so that they were eye level with one another, resting his arms on the back of the chair and his chin on his arms.

"And what would that be?" she questioned, unable to resist the temptation to reach up and brush her fingertips across his forehead, his hair running across her knuckles. She saw his eyes close and knew then that she had the same effect on him that he had on her, an observation that made her want him all the more.

"Did you miss me half as much as I missed you?" he whispered, opening his eyes.

Her breath caught in the back of her throat as she fought for the right answer that would describe her heartache adequately. "That I did and more, every day of my life," she answered. "You have no idea how many times I've wanted to be here with you, or anywhere for that matter. It didn't matter to me as long as we were together."

He took a lock of her hair in his fingers, admiring the way that it shimmered in the candlelight and wondering how someone so beautiful and brave could have had Prozen for a father. "I suppose it helped that I had something to keep me company," he said.

She had an idea of what it might be but was afraid to ask. "What was that?"

He smiled. "You gave me your heart, remember? But you never allowed me to give you mine." He reached underneath his shirt and pulled out the necklace for her to see.

Her hand flew to her mouth as her eyes moistened. "You kept my necklace?" she whispered, reaching out to touch it with nervous fingers.

"I never took it off," he answered, taking her hand in his own and kissing the back of it.

"Karl," she moaned, taking his head in her hands and brushing her lips across his lightly at first then more passionately when she tasted the sweetness of the wine on his mouth which only served to enhance his own flavor. Her tongue slowly eased its way into his mouth, stroking his with a fiery passion that had him clinging to the back of the chair to keep from falling to the floor, as well as drawing a tortured groan from deep within his chest.

She finally broke the kiss when her lungs threatened to burst and rested her forehead against his, their breathing labored from the strength of their emotions for one another. "Karl, I love you so much," she whispered, kissing his cheek. "I need to feel your arms around me, but I fear I cannot stand up," she breathed softly into his ear.

He rose to his feet and helped her to hers, immediately pulling her into his arms and hearing her soft moan when he held her tightly against him. "I love you, too, Tania," he said, rubbing his hands up and down her back, her hair caressing the back of them as well. "There were times when I thought that maybe things would be different once we saw each other again. I feared that you had outgrown your feelings and had moved on, but here you are in my arms and I swear to you I will not do anything that will endanger our love for one another. And I will not let you walk away so easily again," he added with a smile when she drew back to look at him.

She returned the smile. "I also had my doubts. Most of all about the fact that you did let me leave so easily, but I am glad that you did for if not then I would've been sorely tempted to stay. And I was afraid that once you found out what I had become you would turn me away and I would never see you again."

He brought his hands up to brush his fingers across her cheeks and mouth. "That I could never do," he answered. "During the short time we spent together, I had gotten a glimpse of the person that was hiding underneath the exterior that had been forced on you by others. That person was the one I fell in love with and I know that little by little that person will emerge again."

She eyed him silently for a moment. "So you're saying that you don't love me now?" she teased.

"No! I didn't mean it that way," he quickly amended, making a grab for her when she pulled away from him.

"I heard what you said, Karl," she continued as she dodged away from his reach. "Don't try to deny it."

"I know you're just teasing me," he replied, making one last attempt that sent her running this time. "Come back here!" he cried as he took chase after her. She ran into the nearest room and there he caught up with her, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her onto the nearby bed. She still struggled against him, laughing at the top of her lungs, and he quickly pinned her beneath him, his legs on either side of her hips as he held her arms against the bed. "You know you can't win in a wrestling match against me."

"I know," she said with a tired chuckle. "But it was at least worth a try. And where did this bed come from?"

"I don't know, but I plan to make good use of it." Leaning down, he placed light kisses on the side of her neck, hearing her sharp intake of breath as well as feeling her fingers slide up the back of his neck and into his hair. "That is, if you want to," he added in a hoarse whisper.

His assault on her neck was driving her insane, making her lower stomach throb with an intensity she had never felt before. "More than anything," she answered, moving her hands around to slowly begin unbuttoning his shirt and sliding her hands across his warm skin, hearing his own moan when her fingertips brushed across his chest and teased his nipples.

He sat up and quickly discarded his shirt onto the floor, lowering himself back down to capture her lips in a deep kiss as he worked at removing her vest, filling his hands with her breasts and teasing the nipples with his thumbs. His mouth moved from her lips to her neck, his tongue brushing across her taut nipples, drawing a surprised gasp from her, and he had to remind himself that she was but a novice in the ways of love and unfamiliar with how to please him as well.

Raising himself up once again, he removed the rest of her clothing, leaving her lying on the bed naked looking even more beautiful than he thought possible. He took the opportunity to shed his own clothing, watching as her eyes roamed over his body and stopped at his eyes, a smile appearing as he saw the light of fear and uncertainty in their depths. "Tania, do not worry," he comforted her as he eased back down beside her. "You have nothing to fear from me."

Her cheeks blushed a rosy hue. "It's not that. I have heard plenty from other women about what happens, but I am unsure of how to please you and do not want you to think me a bad lover." Her heart was racing wildly within her chest from the thought that she loved someone so perfect and well blessed at that, causing her cheeks to become even redder.

To save her any further embarrassment, he kissed her softly as his hand traveled lower down her sleek stomach and into the patch of curls between her thighs only to find her hot and very wet. His fingers found the center of her pleasure and he began stroking it slowly; she pulled away from him with a moan of pure pleasure, her need increasing when his mouth found her breasts once again. Soon she felt an enormous pressure build where his fingers were, and she cried out as her first orgasm washed over her, her body flushing as delicious tremors washed over her.

Their lips joined together once more as he moved so that his body rested on top of hers. "What did you do to me?" she asked when she found her voice.

He kissed the side of her mouth. "Just an orgasm to make sure you're wet enough so I don't hurt you as much." He reached back to lift her legs up and slowly pushed his hardness inside her, not wanting her first time to be painful but it couldn't be helped as she was very tight from her orgasm. He kissed her again, pushing inside her and hearing her cry of pain, his own heart aching when he tasted the sudden salt of tears on her lips. "I'm sorry, my love," he whispered. "Are you all right?"

"I think so," she replied, touching his face with her hands as she became used to having him inside her. He began moving slowly, increasing the speed when he saw her tilt her head back, her hands moving around to clutch his back, and he had to fight against his own orgasm as she was incredibly tight and it felt so wonderful being with her. But he soon gave free rein to his emotions as her fingernails dug into his back, Tania muffling her own cries of pleasure against his shoulder as she unknowingly sunk her teeth in slightly when a second orgasm claimed her, only to be joined by his own. She felt the warm rush deep inside her before he withdrew and collapsed next to her, his own body trembling.

She raised up on an elbow, bringing her hand up to brush strands of her hair back from his face that had been glued to his forehead by the sweat from their lovemaking. He turned his green eyes to her own, and she was consumed with love for this man who had loved her for so long. "I love you so much," she whispered, leaning over to kiss him.

"I love you, too," he replied as she laid her head on his shoulder and he wrapped her in his arms, both of them drifting off as sleep overtook them.

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Author's note- Aww! *sniff* They're finally together. But I can tell you now that it won't be smooth sailing for them in the future. I hope you all liked this chapter as it is my first published lemon. :p Thanks for reading!