"This is so beautiful," Ruth said. They were in the grounds of Hellbrunn Palace and Ruth was thoroughly enjoying herself. It was early in the evening as the train had taken a while to bring them here, and the sun was setting in a glorious pink behind the palace. It was a perfect evening.

"Harry, thank you," she said, squeezing his hand.

"For what?"

"For trying to make this our own grand tour. For… being you." He pulled her into his arms, her back against his chest and kissed the top of her head.

"I wanted to ask you something," she said.

"Go on."

"How does it feel to be a knight of the realm?" He sighed with a smile and she laughed. "You really thought I wouldn't find out?"

"Of course you would," he said resigned.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, turning to face him.

"Because it's not anything I think about," he said honestly. "It doesn't affect my life."

"Really? You're Sir Harry now," she said, smiling. "It must have some benefits."

"Er, no," he said. "It gave me a few hours off one afternoon to go to the palace. Otherwise, no."

"You've never used it to get your way?"

"No."

"Well, you should know that it's a… rather an attractive quality," she said.

"Oh really?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The fact that I have a knight of the realm on my arm? Yes," she said. He kissed her deeply and Ruth moaned into his mouth as his arms tightened around her body. Then she squealed in surprise as they were suddenly deluged in cold water. She broke away from him and looked around, seeing the famed trick fountains, pouring water over the pair of them. Harry smiled at her through the haze of water droplets, thinking that she looked so perfect. Her face surprised, but happy, her eyes bright, a smile on her lips and her hair now drenched in a dark tangle around her shoulders.

"You look perfect," he said, just loud enough to be heard over the noise of the fountain. Her face softened into an almost sensual smile and she kissed him, her large stomach only getting in the way slightly as he put his hands on her hips, pulling her close.

"We're getting soaked," she whispered.

"I don't care." He kept kissing her until the fountain stopped spraying water over them. "I love you."

Her eyes opened in slight surprise and then she smiled. "I know." She pressed her lips to his very lightly. "I love you too." He sighed with relief and kissed her again, tongue licking deliciously over her lips.

"I think… we should go back to the hotel," Ruth said, her fingers on the buttons of his shirt. "We need a room."

He paused for a moment. "Yes," he said. "I think that'd be… a good idea." Ruth smiled, her eyes alight with expectation and eagerness as she held his hand and they left, getting soaked by another fountain as they walked, happy and very much in love.


Ruth awoke first the next morning, her body feeling very soft. She turned to her right and saw Harry sleeping, which made her smile. She stroked his hair lightly, not enough to disturb him and then got out of bed, wrapping a bed sheet around herself. She looked at the floor and felt her face split into a wide smile.

Their wet clothes were in piles on the floor and she grinned. They hadn't managed to dry themselves off before tumbling into bed with each other, and they were still forming wet patches on the carpet. She picked them up and hung them up over a radiator to dry, all the while smiling. She looked out of the window and watched the rain pour over the city in sheets.

"Yeah, I know you're there too," she said at a small nudge under her ribs. But she remembered the night before, with a glow inside her. They'd made love slowly and tenderly, each touch measured, each kiss breathtaking. Her skin was still tingling from where he'd touched her and she had what felt like a permanent smile on her face. Moving to look in the mirror she saw two red marks on her neck. She covered them with her hand, remembering his lips on her sensitive flesh.

"Are you okay?" a croaky voice asked from the bed. She turned, smiling.

"Very," she said. "Who was I kidding? We were never going to last three months before sleeping together were we?"

"It seems not," he said, grinning. "Come back to bed." She nodded, and did, curling up next to him. "How about we order room service and spend the day in bed."

"Some would say you have a one track mind," she teased, her palm drifting across his chest.

"After last night, do you blame me?" he said. "And this morning."

"It felt so good," she said. "It was… different than last time."

"Yes," he agreed. The first time they'd slept together had been at Havensworth, and it had been frantic, quick and a complete blur of sensation. After years of denying themselves, they'd exploded in a burst of desperate passion, which had been over in mere minutes. At the time, they'd both thought there would be more opportunities for them to be together and explore every delight they had to offer to each other.

But then Cotterdam had happened. And she'd had to leave. So last night every touch had been slow and treasured. Because they'd known it could be pulled away at any moment. "What do you want for breakfast?" he asked, picking up the phone.

"Anything," she said. "But a large portion. We burnt off quite a lot of energy last night." He kissed her again, and then dialled through to reception. She toyed with the fine hairs on his chest while he spoke German to the receptionist. She wasn't listening to what he was saying, instead admiring her lovers body. By the time he put the phone down her hand was drifting southwards.

"Ruth…"

"Hm?"

"You might want to keep your hands to yourself," he said. Then he gasped as her fingers wrapped around his length.

"Why?" she asked, her voice teasing.

"Because room service are going to be knocking on the door in the next fifteen minutes," he said, feeling all the blood in his body rush southwards.

"Oh well," she whispered. "If we have fifteen minutes…" He didn't say anything, because if he was being perfectly honest he didn't want her to stop. Her touch on him was far too exquisite.


When room service knocked on their door, they were both in a semi state of respectability. Well, they weren't writhing under the bed sheets at any rate, and they were covered up in the hotels dressing gowns when Harry opened the door. A large trolley was wheeled into the room and the smell of coffee made Ruth's stomach rumble. She sat up in bed as Harry tipped the waiter and closed the door, bringing her some coffee. She raised her eyebrows at him as she wrapped her hands around the cup.

"It's decaf," he said to her silent question. She sipped it and then sighed with pleasure.

"Oh that's so good!" she said. "That's the best decaf I've ever tasted. Are you sure it's not coffee coffee?"

"Yeah, when I checked in yesterday I had someone hunt down the best decaf for you."

"Thank you," she said, as Harry brought their breakfasts on a tray to the bed, before crawling in next to her. He kissed her briefly before starting to eat the selection of cold meats on a platter. As he ate, his foot started to slide up her inner thigh. "We're not going to get out of bed today are we?" she asked with a surprisingly steady voice.

He smiled. "No."


Okay, I couldn't resist. I had intended for them to hold out, but no, it just wasn't happening that way.