Chapter 25

Vader and Padmé were both exhausted by the time they reached Bellassa. It had been an emotional forty-eight hours, and both were drained emotionally and physically. Without even discussing plans, they simply headed for the bed upon reaching their hotel room. After getting undressed, they both collapsed into bed, both falling asleep within minutes. They spent most of the afternoon asleep, and when they awoke, it was almost evening.

Vader awoke alone, and then heard the sound of the shower in the fresher next door. He thought briefly of joining his wife, but was soon overcome with powerful hunger pangs that quickly negated any amorous feelings he may have had. Getting out of bed, he walked into the fresher where Padmé was just turning off the water.

"I'm as hungry as a wookiee," he told her as she wrapped a towel around her hair.

"Me too," she said. "I was going to suggest we go out, but I'm not sure I can last," she told him with a smile.

"I know I can't," he told her. "Why don't we eat in and go out afterwards? Maybe there's a concert we could attend."

"Good idea," she said.

"You go ahead and order while I get cleaned up," he said, starting to disrobe.

"Alright," she said, giving him a quick kiss. "Is there anything you fancy?"

"Nope," he said. "I'm easy to please."

She smiled to herself at his unintentional double entendre, and walked over to the comm. to order dinner for them.

"So how do you know Kenobi?" Vader asked as they ate their dinner a little while later.

"He was one of the two Jedi who rescued me when the Trade Federation set up a blockade around Naboo ten years ago," she told him. "Obi-Wan was a padawan at the time. He and his master, Qui-Gon Jinn, got me and my entourage off of Naboo and to safety. They were also instrumental in the battle that took place on Naboo a short time after that."

"I've never heard of Qui-Gon Jinn," Vader told her.

"He died during the battle," she told him. "Killed by a very strange, savage looking creature. I'll never forget the sight of him."

Vader frowned. "What did it look like?"

"He had a red and black face," she told him as she remembered, "and his head was encircled with horns. His eyes were yellow…he was terrifying. He killed Qui-Gon, and then Obi-Wan killed him."

Vader thought about this for a moment. "Sounds like a Sith," he told her. "It was probably Darth Maul, Palpatine's apprentice before Dooku. I've heard him mention him now and then. I didn't realize that he was killed by a Jedi."

"Well he was," Padmé told him. "And a padawan at that."

"I'm impressed," he told her. He sat back in the chair. "I feel better now," he said.

Padmé smiled at him. "You inhaled your dinner," she said. "Did you taste any of it?" she teased.

Vader grinned. "Some of it," he said.

Padmé laughed. "So what shall we do this evening?" she asked. "Besides that," she added when she saw his grin growing bigger.

"Well, we could take in a show," he replied.

She nodded. "What about dancing?" she asked.

"I suppose we could do that," he replied. "If you really want to."

"Such enthusiasm," she said, standing up. "Think of it this way, you can touch me and hold me close all evening in public," she told him. "Does that make it any more appealing?"

"Yes, definitely," he replied. "Only if you get me too excited I won't be held responsible for my actions," he added with a smile.

Padmé smiled, his words exciting her. "I'll do my best not to," she promised.

Vader stood up. "I'll believe that when I see it," he replied.

Padmé just laughed.

The night club was rather crowded when Vader and Padmé arrived a short time later. He was having a difficult time keeping his hands to himself, for Padmé looked very enticing in her short, sleeveless dress. The fabric hugged every curve, leaving little to his imagination.

"Dance, Senator?" he asked, taking her hand.

"That's what we're here for," she replied with a smile as he led her to the dance floor. The band was playing a lively tune when they got there, but that didn't stop Vader from pulling Padmé into his arms.

"This is a fast number," she told him.

"So?" he replied. "You promised that I could hold you close all evening," he told her. "I'm holding you to that promise, Senator."

She smiled, running her hands up his chest and resting them on his shoulders.

"You're making it difficult for me to keep my promise holding me close this way," she told him as she felt his hands run down her back.

Vader smiled. "I don't know what you're talking about, Senator," he said. "All I'm doing is dancing with my wife."

Padmé laughed. "Yes, that's all you're doing," she said.

Vader's smile grew. "So suspicious, my love," he told her, bending to her and kissing her.

Padmé wrapped her arms around his neck, realizing that keeping their hands off of each other was next to impossible.

"We should never have left our hotel room," she told him as his mouth moved down to her neck.

Vader stopped what he was doing and looked at her. "No, you wanted to go dancing," he told her. "So, we're dancing."

She shook her head at him. "Is that what we're doing?" she asked.

"Of course," he told her. "Why, what do you think we're doing?"

"I think the term is foreplay," she told him.

Vader looked down at her, her comment surprising him. "No, we'd both be wearing far less clothing if that were the case," he told her, bringing his mouth to her ear. "And I'd be covering your perfect, soft skin in kisses."

Padmé closed her eyes; his words making her grow weak in the knees. "Ani, don't," she said.

"I'm not doing anything," he protested. "I'm not actually doing those things, just telling you about them. Is there something wrong with that?"

"You know very well there is," she replied.

"What is wrong with that? Explain it to me," he said.

Padmé felt her face grow warm, the thought of describing how his words were making her feel embarrassing her. "No," she replied.

Vader raised his eyebrows. "No?" he said. "Why ever not, Senator?"

She looked up at him. "Because it makes me feel uncomfortable," she told him, giving him her best senatorial face, or at least trying to.

"I wonder why that is," he teased, enjoying her discomfort immensely.

Padmé said nothing in response, which Vader only took as a challenge. "I mean, it's not like you didn't enjoy it last night," he whispered into her ear. "Do you remember? I was.." he stopped when she put a finger over his lips.

"Don't say another word," she told him.

He didn't, but took her finger that was covering his lips and kissed the tip of it. And then he kissed the palm of her hand, and then her wrist. Padmé felt any sense of self restraint evaporating as she looked into his eyes, his mouth continuing to kiss along the length of her arm.

"You are so bad," she whispered to him, her voice breathless with her own excitement.

Vader said nothing, but kept his eyes riveted to hers as he returned her hand to his shoulder. "That's not what you told me last night," he said at last with a smug smile.

Padmé narrowed her eyes, deciding that she'd let him get away with far too much. It was time to fight fire with fire.

"Well, you're a wonderful lover," she told him, deciding to get even.

His smile only broadened at this praise.

"In fact, I haven't been able to stop thinking about last night," she told him. "Or this morning. It was all I could do not to get into the shower with you earlier."

Vader looked at her, knowing that she was trying to get to him. "Why didn't you?" he asked simply.

She shrugged. "You were hungry," she replied. "But when I was getting dressed I just couldn't get the image of your naked body out of my mind," she told him. He simply smiled in response. "In fact," she said, motioning for him to bend down so she could whisper in his ear, which he did at once. "In fact, I was so distracted by it that I completely forgot about undergarments. Can you believe it?"

Vader moved so that he was looking at her. "You…you're not wearing any undergarments?" he asked, all trace of a smile gone from his face.

Padmé shook her head. "No," she told him. "It's just me under this dress," she told him with a smile.

Vader swallowed hard, the mental image she had just painted him going straight from his brain to his groin. "Touché, Senator," he said with a smile. "I always said you had a ruthless streak to you."

Padmé's smile grew. "You don't believe me, do you?" she said.

"I know you well enough to know that you'd never do anything so daring," he told her.

"I guess you don't know me as well as you think, Lord Vader," she responded.

Vader looked at her, truly at a loss to know if she was telling him the truth or not. But his ability to reason was far too compromised by the heat in his veins that he didn't even try to guess. "You know there as a way to prove your bold statement," he said at last, upping the ante.

"Yes, I'm sure there is," she replied. "But we're in public, and the last thing you want is to make a scene," she reminded him.

Vader frowned; frustrated that she'd thought one step ahead of him. "I didn't say anything about doing anything here," he told her.

"No?" she asked. "You could have fooled me," she said with a smile, walking away from him as the music ended.

Vader stood in the middle of the dance floor, watching her walk away. And then he ran to catch up to her as she seated herself in a nearby booth.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Senator," Vader told her as he slid into the booth beside her.

"Am I?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Oh yes," he replied, moving closer. "Playing with fire is what you're doing," he told her, brushing his lips over her temple. "Doesn't that frighten you?"

Padmé looked up at him. "Not at all," she said. "I don't frighten easily. I'm married to Darth Vader, remember?"

Vader smiled. He looked at her, the image of her being naked under her dress still filling his mind. "Are you really wearing nothing under that dress?" he asked, running a finger down the side of her face.

Padmé laughed, loving the fact that she had him truly rattled. "Maybe," she said.

And then she felt his hand on her thigh, moving upward without hesitation.

"Anakin!" she admonished, pushing his hand away. "We're in public!"

"No one can see," he told her, his hand unrelenting, "it's dark, we're behind a table."

"I know, but..."

"I thought you said you didn't frighten easily," he challenged her.

She looked at him, his single mindedness starting to annoy her.

"Ani, please," she said, wanting him to stop but not wanting him to stop.

"Please what?" he whispered into her ear as he nibbled on her earlobe. "Please stop? Or please don't stop?"

She closed her eyes, fighting to keep control of herself. "Please don't tease me this way," she said at last.

"I'm teasing you?" he asked. "I'm not the one who forgot to put underwear on," he told her.

She knew she'd been bested, but he wasn't playing fair. "I want to leave now," she told him, pushing his hand away firmly. "Now."

Vader looked at her with a frown. "Are you angry with me?" he asked, moving away.

She made no reply, and he knew by her silence that she was. He sighed loudly, frustrated with the way things were working out.

"Let's go," he said, standing up.

Padmé looked up at him, seeing that he was annoyed with her. What had started off as harmless flirting had somehow escalated into a tension filled situation and hurt feelings. She slid off the bench and stood up. Vader walked away without looking back. She followed him out of the club and to the lift. There was no one inside of it, and it gave her an idea.

"You're not angry with me, are you?" she asked him as soon as the doors closed.

"Why would I be?" he asked, not looking at her.

She watched him for a moment. "I'm not sure," she replied.

He turned and looked at her. "Teasing a man to distraction and then asking him to stop cold is rather cruel, don't you think?" he asked.

"I suppose it would be," she said, walking over and activating the lift's brake. At once the lift came to a halt. Vader looked over at her.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked.

She looked up and around the ceiling of the lift for a security holocamera. "Apologizing," she replied, walking over to him. He watched her warily as she came to stand right in front of him, and looked up at him with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"You don't need to," he told her.

"Oh but I do," she insisted, running her hands over his chest. She smiled when she discovered that despite his irritation he was still more than a little turned on. He watched her, feeling himself growing more excited with each caress of her hands. Glancing up at the camera, he used the Force to discontinue its power source, and then looked back at her.

"You do like to play with fire, don't you Senator?" he growled, moving suddenly and backing her up against the wall of the lift.

"Yes," she said. "You're not the only one who likes to live dangerously, Lord Vader," she whispered against his ear as he pressed his body to hers, his mouth ravaging her neck with hot kisses.

"You know what happens when you play with fire," he told her as he looked down into her eyes.

"No, why don't you tell me," she challenged.

"I'd rather show you," he replied…

A short time later…

"Am I forgiven?" she asked, kissing his forehead as he lifted her to the floor of the lift.

He could only nod, bracing one hand against the wall as he caught his breath.

Padmé smiled, and helped him arrange his clothing so that they could resume the lift. Vader stood behind her, his arms wrapped around her lovingly as she activated the lift once more. "I love you, Senator," he whispered against her ear.

Padmé's smile grew. "I know," she said, as the lift reached their floor and stopped.