AN: I think I had planned for this chapter to be longer, but it has been sitting on here forever and I haven't added to it, nor can I read it again to edit it. Please ignore any mistakes, and let me know what you guys think. Also I don't know if anyone reads the author's profile page, but I explained on my page that I have had technical difficulties and lost most of my work. I was lucky I had this, but anything else I have written is gone. I am currently having to rewrite a lot. I apologize for seeming as if I will never finish my stories. It will happen... Eventually.
Sitting in the car next to her was worse than he had imagined. It had already been horrific having to drag himself away from her in the first place. In the confines of the back seat of the car was making it hard for him to think. The scent of her perfume was subtle, but every single time he took a breath, his chest was set on fire. Everything burned within him with the need to finish what they both had started. His throat was dry, sore, and constantly constricting every time he tried to look at her.
For the hundredth time he told himself silently to calm down. For fuck's sake that was hard to do. She adjusted herself on the bench seat and just that movement made his pulse leap. Just the sound of her dress rustling as she moved, and the way she hitched her breath until she was comfortable made him think of the sounds they could have made tonight if it weren't for the dinner that they were currently on the way to. Maybe he should have sent a messenger apologizing for his absence, coming up with some lame excuse of being sick.
Landa knew better though. He had seen Werner Best just that afternoon. He had met with the man to do a perimeter check of the house and to assign guards around the estate. So a sudden sickness wouldn't have been a very good excuse. So he had done the only thing he wished he didn't have to do, and that was drag himself away from her. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from looking at her. They should have taken different cars.
Already he was trying to escape her without realizing it. He sat pressed against the door so he couldn't feel her heat. He kept trying to advert his gaze out of the window but that would only nauseated him all the more since his stomach was already twisted into tight knots. The more he tried to ignore her the more his mind kept drifting back to the apartment where he should have never left. Damn this woman for having such a tremendous effect on him.
"Don't be nervous," he said, flashing her a dashing smile as she turned to face him. He couldn't help himself, he let his eyes roam freely over her again. She was stunning in the dress he had bought her. Her appearance was all the more pleasing to him in the darker colored green than a lighter colored green. Her skin, already alabaster, seemed to take on an ethereal glow in the darker color. And her hair... It was magnificent. Her dark red hair took on an even darker hue of auburn and just looking at her intoxicated him with her beauty. The best part was no other man seemed to look at her here like they had a few times in the country. She appeared to only be wanted by him. It was as if he was the only one who could see how valuable she was, and that prospect excited him.
She stopped twisting her hair though, that nervous habit that he was determined to break. They locked eyes and he found himself wanting to drown into the depths of her hazel eyes. Having three months away from her had really done a number on him. He had come to rely on the friendship she offered so much in the countryside that when she wasn't here in the city with him, he hadn't been able to find a moments peace. The first night she had arrived had been the first night in months that he had a decent night's sleep. Of course there was a part of him that hated that he relied this much on her. There was always something nagging him at the edges of his mind not to trust her. Yet over the time he had been away from her he had convinced himself that she hadn't ever been playing a game with him. That had just been something he had formulated in his mind because he didn't trust anyone.
"I can't help it, this is our first outing together," she said. She didn't need to say the word couple, but the term hung heavy in the air. She started at him for what seemed like forever and it was as if there was something she was trying to get him to understand silently. Her gaze was so unyielding that he had almost looked away. He was determined though to try to understand what it was that she wanted him to know. Why wouldn't she just say it out loud? That would have been the easiest thing for her to do.
Her gaze intensified so much that the fine hair rose on the back of his neck. He couldn't stop himself from drawing his brows together in confusion. If someone came in right now and saw them looking at each other, they would think the both of them mad. He knew they must appear as if they were trying to read each other's minds. Someone... Then as if being shot in the heart he understood.
Tonight would be the literal first time that they were seen together as a couple. They hadn't really spoke to each other about the parameters of their relationship other than she was just the woman he was courting. That was the thing though, her fierce gaze told him that she was not just some woman that he was courting. Tonight when everyone would see her on his arm they would understand that she belonged to him. The thing was though tonight when they saw her on his arm they wouldn't just know she belonged to him, they would also know that he belonged to her. The gravity of the situation bore down on him so hard that he nearly forgot how to breathe.
After just this one dinner, nothing would be the same for him. He had courted other women for brief amounts of time, and society understood that by nature he was a bachelor. So those other women had been nothing more than casual flings. In fact every time he had ever introduced a woman that he was courting to anyone they always gave her a false smile and pitied her with their eyes. Sometimes that had to do with the fact that he was the Jew Hunter, and sometimes it was because they felt sorry that the woman never really stood a real chance with him. Silently Celest was telling him she would not get the same reaction out of anyone when they saw her with him.
This night he would become hers and he would never be the same man after her either. If for any reason that they parted ways, women would know what an easy target he really was. They would know that Hans Landa could indeed make a commitment. The reputation he had as a bachelor would be burned to the ground tonight by this woman standing in front of him.
"Don't be nervous," she repeated back to him, using his words against him. He watched her raise her winged eyebrow. He narrowed his eyes at her as he realized he truly forgot how to breathe. He couldn't tell how he felt at the moment. There was resentment, anger, loss, fear, and most of all desire coursing through his veins at this very moment. The resentment came from the fact that he wouldn't be the same man after tonight. Anger because he had fallen prey to this woman, and no one had ever in their lives bested him. Loss because no matter how hard he tried he was losing himself to her. Fear because he didn't have control of the situation. And desire because for the first time in his life he wanted to consume every part of someone and never let them go.
When he remembered how to breathe it was already too late. He couldn't seem to catch his breath to calm down and his blood was pumping so hard he could hear his heart beating in his ears. He couldn't stop himself from reaching out and grasping her chin. It was like a whirlwind of him acting and her allowing him to do what he wanted. He forced her to look up at him and he tried to will her to understand what he was feeling. When she didn't seem to grasp what he wanted her to know he realized it was because he wasn't even sure how to feel. So on instinct he forced her backwards into the wall. He leaned in, trying to be threatening in his actions as he rested his lips on the shell of her ear. His free hand found the curve of her waist and he couldn't stop himself from holding onto her tightly as if she would float away if he didn't.
Being this close was a terrible idea. It was the moment that he realized that he had an erection. He hesitated a moment, telling himself to back down but he couldn't. He had to let her know how he felt. He wanted her to know just how dangerous this was becoming between them. He wanted her to know there wouldn't be an escape for her either after tonight. She couldn't just expect to ruin everything anyone knew about him without him taking something from her too. He would rip away every notion she may have that this would end pretty after tonight.
"Don't dare start something that you can't finish," he whispered into her ear. Her breath danced against the skin on his neck. How he hated her in that moment, but yet was intoxicated by her. She was breathing so evenly, as if she weren't afraid. She should be terrified. He was the Jew Hunter! No... He wasn't. In this very moment, he was just himself, Hans Landa. He was the man, not the title. His breathing became more rapid with the realization that she wanted Hans Landa. Celest wanted him. She didn't fear him as the Jew Hunter because she didn't care about his job title. She cared about the man he truly was.
"Don't take me tonight if you don't want me to finish this," she whispered back. She then placed her hand on his chest. He knew she could feel his heart hammering against his sternum. Her hand then traveled up to his shoulder and her other hand found his other shoulder. She clutched him close and his body became flush with hers. The material of his underwear rubbed against his erection until it came to rest against her hip. It was like white lightning ripped through him. He imagined that this was how she felt that day he had licked the inside of her wrist. He groaned loudly, but not loudly enough to miss her sigh.
He moved his hand from her chin to rest on her throat. He wanted to curse when he didn't feel her heart racing like his. He would correct that now. He was determined to make her feel like he was feeling. He then kissed the shell of her ear and he heard her breath hitch in her throat. He kissed a trail from her ear to her jaw until finally his lips found their new home, her mouth.
He forced himself to stop thinking about what occurred in the apartment just in case his body tried to react more than it already was. He needed to get control on this situation otherwise he wasn't going to be able to function appropriately tonight. He hated her again. No other person had ever muddled his mind this much.
"Are you alright?" she asked. He was entirely too grateful that she was speaking French. The man driving the car could only speak German. He wanted to laugh. They both knew he wasn't alright, despite his best efforts to act like he was. He had to hide behind humor back at the apartment to pull away from her. He had almost lost himself when she had pulled him back in, but then eventually she let him go again.
"I am fine," he said. He was proud that he sounded stern.
"Look at me at least when you lie to me," she demanded. Apparently his stern tone had done nothing to dissuade her. Slowly he tilted his head to so he could look at her. It occurred to him that she was fishing for a certain answer from him. The gleam in her eyes suggested that she was excited and his brooding in the corner of the car was distracting her.
"You win, I am not fine," he said with a bit of bite as he locked eyes with her. She lost the gleam in her eyes immediately. His tone and mood were serious and he was fixing his famous gaze on her. Earlier she had made him lose himself to her, he couldn't afford to do that right now, when they were getting closer to Best's estate. He may have his bachelor reputation ripped away from him forever tonight, but he had to keep his calm, cunning, and loquaciousness about himself for that part of him could never fail on the job. Yet as soon as she lost the gleam in her eye, he felt guilty for taking that away from her. Gesturing dramatically with his hands as he spoke again, he tried to let her have her excitement back.
"I am not fine knowing that it may be a while until I can get you alone again."
"Liar," she whispered with a smile.
"I wouldn't dream about lying about such a thing," he said darkly as he leaned across the space between the to claim her lips. He kept the kiss just a simple peck, but when he withdrew from her he wanted to kill something. He really wanted to be alone with her, and he wanted to do so right now. When he locked eyes with her again, that gleam had returned.
"So tell me is there anything I should know about anyone before we arrive?" she asked. He could have kissed her again for changing the subject to something so serious. He began immediately telling her to avoid speaking to at length, who to avoid being alone with because they were "handsy" old men, and who if she wanted a decent conversation who to seek out. As he spoke he could feel himself relaxing into her company and it was soon after that he felt like himself again.
"You know they will ask," he said. He looked out the window for a moment as the car turned onto a street that he recognized.
"What do you mean?"
"They are going to ask about the basterds," he said looking back to her. She visibly stiffened and blanched. It was like she had forgotten about them completely. Maybe it was due to the fact that he hadn't spoken to her overly much about them afterwards that it had been easy for her to repress her memories and move on.
"I hadn't thought about it," she whispered. He didn't really know what to say so instead he reached out and took her closest hand into his. He gave her a reassuring squeeze just as the car pulled up to the gates of the estate.