Author's Note: Hi everyone! I'm finally back with an update. I don't suppose you guys would believe me if I said that I did actually start this the day after I posted the last chapter? It's the truth though and you wouldn't believe what a pain Obi-Wan has been for me when it came to this chapter. I've had writer's block for weeks now but after a kick up the butt from my reviewer Maite I've actually been able to finish this new chapter.

Thank you so much for all the reviews, you guys are awesome and are a major help to me when it comes to choosing the direction that this story should take.

Ok well I'm going to shut up now so that you guys can read what you actually came here for, sorry for the long wait.

Enjoy!

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Against the utmost desires of his exhausted body he nevertheless felt himself drifting back into the unforgiving reality of the waking world.

He had his unrelenting overactive mind to thank for this untimely end to his much needed slumber and he wasn't happy about it.

His body and mind were in complete contradiction to each other and despite his wish to obey the request of his aching body it was unfortunately the needs of his mind that won the battle between the two.

Slowly the awareness of his surroundings filtered back into his consciousness, his memory reminding him of where he was and what had happened before he'd fallen asleep.

That was when he felt her warm body pressed against his, his arm encircling her, effectively holding her in place with no hope of letting her go.

Unable to contain his curiosity he carefully let his eyes flutter open, grateful of the fact that their room had been sparingly lit with only the golden glow of the fire and a couple of lights at the other end of the room ready to assault his tired eyes.

Within seconds they had completely adjusted and he was able to focus on the objects around him.

With great caution he looked down at the woman snuggled against his chest drinking in the sight of her while she wore an expression of utter contentment on her face.

He couldn't help the smile that slipped onto his lips as he silently watched her sleep, the force sending him whispers of the reason for her satisfaction, causing a slight blush to colour his cheeks briefly.

The memory of her admission that she didn't regret what they'd done adding to his good mood.

His heart had sunk into unimaginable depths of despair when she'd started to cry in his arms.

Immediately he'd thought that she hated herself for letting Dooku degrade her in the worst way possible and then that she hated him for not being able to protect her.

It had broken his heart to hear her anguished sobs.

Not once throughout the whole time that they had known each other had he seen her like that.

So weak, so vulnerable, so human.

He'd almost forgot that despite her incredible inner strength she was, after all, quite simply only human.

And as her body had trembled in his embrace he'd blamed himself for not trying harder to spare her from having to do what Dooku had requested and then proceeded to berate himself for finding pleasure and love in something that had caused her pain.

Never before had he felt so utterly helpless.

Stick him in the middle of a chaotic battlefield with the need of a clever change of tactics at a moments notice and he was fine, no problem but place the all too delicate creature that was the woman that now lay facing him, in his arms assaulted by uncontrollable sobs and he had been at a loss.

Relying only on instinct he had just let her get it out of her system, surrounding her with love and support he had held onto her tightly until her tears had finally subsided.

It had been when she had reached out for him as they lay together under the covers that his guilt had threatened to consume him.

He'd felt ashamed that she would seek him out for comfort and entrust him again with her well being when he had been the cause of her tears in the first place.

However she'd put a stop to that with her admission and now he didn't need to waste energy focusing his thoughts on something that had no basis in truth, that didn't stop a small part of his mind choosing to believe otherwise though but he'd deal with that another day if he had to for now he had other things to worry about.

Instantly his thoughts turned to his Padawan.

He released a heavy sigh as he thought about how what he and Padme had done along with his highly inappropriate new found feelings for her had complicated his relationship with Anakin.

He didn't know how he was going to look his apprentice in the eyes and hope that he wasn't completely overcome with guilt.

For the first time he was thankful that the young man was imprisoned in his cell, well away from what had transpired in this room.

He knew how strongly Anakin felt about the beautiful young woman and he knew that it wouldn't be easy for him to deal with the fact that his Master had been intimate with her, something he knew his Padawan craved to do himself.

The jealousy that Anakin would feel he could deal with, it was the fact that he had allowed himself to fall in love with her that would be the problem.

There was no doubt in his mind that not under any circumstances could he ever reveal this information to his apprentice, there was no telling what his reaction might be, Obi-Wan had a pretty good idea but there was no way that he wanted to find out for sure.

No this was something that would have to be tightly kept locked away at the back of his mind with a number of walls surrounding it making sure that it never came to light and that Anakin would never know.

Only he would know the truth of his feelings for the incredible woman who his fingertips were now absentmindedly stroking up and down the back of.

Not once had he seriously considered revealing his feelings to her for many reasons, fear of rejection and fear of acceptance amongst them but that no longer mattered because it was imperative that she never know, it wouldn't be fair to put her under even more pressure by asking her to keep his feelings a secret, he couldn't do that to her.

He hated that he would be constantly lying to everyone he cared about, most of all himself and especially Anakin but he had no other choice.

Ugh why did everything have to be so complicated?

Why did he have to go and fall in love with her?

And why did Anakin have to go and accept Dooku's indecent proposal?

His fingers still drawing patterns over her back as he lay contemplating these very questions with no real answers forthcoming he failed to notice the twitching of Padme's eyes as she slowly began to join him in the waking world, her voice startling him slightly.

"Mmmm Obi-Wan that tickles."

His attention being drawn to her straight away he stared at her still closed eyes not missing the smile that stretched across her lips a little confused as to what she was talking about and it wasn't until then that he realised what his idle hands had been doing to her bringing them to an immediate halt.

He prepared himself for her to roll away seeking her own space, the Jedi part of him wishing she would so that he could begin to detach himself from her and spare his feelings while the human part of him was delighted when she snuggled even closer into him than she already was, if that was even possible, burying her face in the crook of his neck as he felt her leg hook itself over his hip under the covers, bringing their lower bodies unbearably close together.

"Mmmm you didn't have to stop though."

He lay there frozen in place trying not to think about how sexy her voice was muffled against his throat and a little groggy from sleep afraid to move even one millimetre just in case her silky soft skin should rub against his one more time and break what little control he had over himself.

A million mundane thoughts flowed through his head as he tried desperately to stop his body from reacting to her the way it had the last time that their bodies had been so intimately pressed against each other like this but she wasn't making it easy for him, her lips placing feather light kisses against the pulse point in his neck.

He couldn't stop the shiver that shot down his spine or the desire that began to build up inside him at her ministrations, begging him to claim her as is own again.

The temptation to do so was painfully strong, he would need only have to gently push forward and their bodies would be blissfully reunited.

A moment's lapse in concentration sent his right hand on a determined path down the length of her thigh before taking a secure hold at the back of her knee as he very nearly gave into the temptation that promised to haunt him forever if he didn't do as it wished.

It took the image of his Padawan's disapproving face flashing into his conflicted mind to finally bring him back to his senses and force him to stop any other actions he may have taken.

Swallowing hard he worked hard to calm himself and find his centre in the force.

He couldn't believe what he'd been about to do and was less than impressed with his behaviour especially when he was almost a hundred percent sure that she wasn't entirely aware of what she was doing and that he would have been taking advantage of her blurry state of mind.

Clearing his throat loudly made her jump and seemed to bring the compromising position they were in to her attention for the first time.

Shocked brown eyes bore into his as he found himself at a loss for words only able to mumble her name without the hope of another sentence following it.

He didn't have to worry about that for too long though as she quickly jumped in before he could say anything else anyway.

"Oh my goodness, Obi-Wan I'm so sorry I don't know what came over me."

Just as quickly as she spoke her leg fell away from his hip and her body scooted away from his putting some much needed distance between them even if it was only a mere few inches.

"No Padme don't worry it was my fault, not yours."

He was quick to stop her from blaming herself, after all he could have stopped her sooner but he hadn't.

A slight smile crept onto her face as she looked at him.

"Well I'm not sure if you can blame yourself entirely Obi-Wan but thank you for trying to spare me some embarrassment."

After holding her gaze a few seconds longer than he probably should have he just simply let a smile of his own slip onto his lips before her eyes left his to search the surroundings of their room as much as she could from her current position before returning to his once again.

"So how long have you been awake anyway?"

"To be honest I really don't know but I can't imagine that it's been very long, surely no longer than an hour. I've no idea even as to how long we were asleep in the first place but from the way my body aches I can say for sure that it wasn't nearly long enough."

That earned him a little laugh from her in return.

"I know what you mean but once I'm up, I'm up."

"I'm sorry I woke you, I didn't mean to."

"Don't worry, better you than Dooku."

She had a point there, it wouldn't have been good for Dooku to have come in when they were asleep, he wouldn't have had any hope of protecting her then and there was no way that Dooku was going to harm a hair on her head if he could help it.

"How long do you think we have until he comes for us?"

Her question interrupted his thoughts.

"Not long, I should think he'd be looking forward to gloating about how we've gone through with what he wanted, believe me."

He could only imagine how ecstatic the sick old man was that he'd beaten them once again.

"Do you think he saw?"

Her eyes looked so innocent as he wondered what answer he should give to her, should he tell her what he honestly thought or should he just lie and tell her what she probably wanted to hear.

"Unfortunately yes I do, he's nothing if not thorough and what with him having such a twisted mind there's no way he would have missed it."

He decided that the truth was best, she'd see straight through him if he lied anyway.

"That's what I thought. Actually while we're on this topic I just wanted to say thank you."

"Thank you? For what?"

He was more than a little confused and he couldn't hide it either on his face or in his voice as she leaned closer to him and reached out with her hand to caress his cheek.

"For making last night special, for making me forget the reason behind what we were doing and most of all for making me feel so loved, I'll never forget that Obi-Wan, it'll stay with me forever."

He was speechless.

All he could do was stare in wonder at the love he saw in her eyes as she gazed so deeply into his soul.

Without caring what the consequences might be he did what he'd been dying to do since he'd woken up and seen her lying in his arms and gently lowered his lips to hers.

Tbc…….

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What do you think? I may have rushed the ending slightly but that was because I was desperate to get this up tonight for you. It wouldn't have been much longer if I had taken another day anyway as this was pretty much all I wanted to include in the chapter. Please review and let me know your thoughts and if you're still liking it. Thanks for being so patient with me. Take care and hopefully I'll be back soon, Sassy.