Padmé's heart nearly lept into her throat when she saw the droids dragging Anakin back to them. She wanted to run over and hold him tight, but her feet wouldn't move and she could only watch as he crumpled onto the ground in front of them.
Raising her eyes from her beaten husband's body to the Separatist's ship, she watched as General Grievous got away yet again. It just wasn't right! They'd had the chance to end the war right then and there and they'd just let him escape!
Anakin let out a soft groan, snapping Padmé back to reality. She knelt down beside him, knowing in her heart that she had made the right choice. They couldn't just abandon Anakin.
"Padmé," Anakin croaked out. "You okay?"
"Of course I'm okay," she said with a small smile. "You're the one who's injured. Can you stand?" she asked.
Padmé and the Queen's guards helped Anakin to his feet. He slumped on her as she led him back to her ship, his feet practically dragging through the dirt. Luckily they had a medic droid on board, and she laid Anakin down on one of the cots.
"He's hurt," she told the medic droid. "Please, do everything you can to help him."
"Of course, Mistress Padmé," the droid replied, and automatically went to work assessing Anakin's wounds.
"Is there anything else you need, Senator Amidala?" the guard asked.
"No, thank you," Padmé said. "I just need to get him back to Coruscant."
Anakin groaned again when the droid touched him, and she reconsidered. "Or maybe I'll wait and give him some time to rest," she said nervously. "He's in no condition to go back into battle like this."
"Of course, Senator," the guard said. With a small bow, he left the ship, the ramp closing behind him.
"Padmé," Anakin croaked again.
She walked over to him and sat at the edge of his cot, making sure to keep clear of the medic droid. She didn't want to hinder his healing in any way.
"You worry me sick, sometimes," she told him.
"I could say the same about you," he said with a weak smile. The smile changed into a grimace when the medic droid plunged a syringe into his arm. Padmé put a hand on his leg to comfort him; the numbing agents were always hell to take.
"So," he said, trying to speak through the pain, "we heading to the lake house now?"
"What?" Padmé asked incredulously. "Anakin, you need medical attention. And after that we need to get to Coruscant. There's no time for us to go to the lake house."
"Oh, come on," Anakin said. He tried to sit up but then thought better of it. "You said that after the mission was over, you wanted to head back to the lake house. Spend some quality time together. Be as a husband and wife should be," he said.
Padmé blushed.
"Hey, your words, not mine," he replied.
Before Padmé could protest, Anakin said, "I'm already being healed. Being in more comfortable surroundings would help me immensely." He reached for Padmé's hand and she leaned forward to grasp it. "Especially when you're with the one you love most in the galaxy."
Padmé blushed even harder and fought to keep the smile off of her face.
She wanted to spend time with Anakin, to hold him and kiss him and make love to him like she had wanted to do for what seemed like a lifetime, but his health was on the line. She shook her head, no, but Anakin's grip on her hand tightened.
"At least take me there so I can heal properly," he said gently.
"Okay," Padmé said. "But you better not exert yourself on my behalf."
"Or what?" Anakin asked.
Before Padmé could reply, he drifted off the sleep, the medicine the droid had given him finally starting to work. She walked back to the helm of the ship and took the pilot's seat, heading towards the lake house she and him had been married in.
xoxo
Anakin lay on her bed.
It was dark out, the moons having risen and their reflections shimmering on the lake outside. The medic droid had finished its work and had left the two of them alone. With a sigh, she approached the bed, putting a hand to Anakin's cheek.
"You feeling any better?" Padmé asked him.
"Yeah, tons," he replied.
"Let me help you get more comfortable," Padmé said. She went to remove his boots, carefully undoing the buckles and pulling them off. Anakin groaned at the sensation, his muscles still aching. She unclasped his belt, laying it down on the nightstand along with his lightsaber. "You need anything else?" she asked.
"Depends," Anakin said. "What more do you want to take off?"
Padmé rolled her eyes. "Anakin, please, just let yourself rest. You've been through enough today. Honestly, sex should be the last thing on your mind."
"And yet it isn't," he replied. "It's been ages since you and I were alone together, and being with you today only made me want you more."
He reached up and stroked her cheek with his ungloved hand. Padmé's eyes closed and she leaned into his touch. His thumb stroked her cheek slowly and she sighed in contentment. "Anakin," she whispered, opening her eyes to look at him. He was beautiful...and sweet...and content…
He was everything.
"I know you feel guilty," Anakin said, taking her by surprise.
"What?" she asked, pulling away from his touch.
"I can sense it. You feel guilty about letting General Grievous get away," he said.
Padmé didn't know what to say to that, so she chose to say nothing.
"I understand," Anakin said. "But trust me, if it had been you, I wouldn't have given it a second thought."
"I know," Padmé said. "I just couldn't let you die, but the war…"
"Padmé, I don't think that killing Grievous would have ended the war any sooner. There's Count Dooku and whoever Count Dooku's working for. Besides, he'd just get a new apprentice, like he did with Ventress," Anakin said.
"That's...both comforting and disturbing to think about," Padmé said.
"Then let's not think about it," Anakin said, putting his hand back to her cheek. Padmé leaned into his touch just as before, relishing the feeling. "Kiss me?" he asked softly.
Padmé smiled and crawled onto the bed with him, laying next to him. She put her hand to his cheek and softly pressed her lips to his. He closed his eyes and slid his arm around her waist, holding her close.
Padmé was slow and gentle, not wanting to hurt him any more than he had been hurt today. She smoothed his hair down with her hand, knowing he loved it when she stroked his hair. Anakin's free hand came up to cup her cheek, pushing her now-loose hair out of the way and then trailing down her jaw. When they broke apart, he put his thumb on her lip and she kissed it.
"I love you," Anakin said.
"I love you too," Padmé replied. "I love you so much, Ani. I don't want anything to happen to you."
"Don't worry," Anakin said. "Nothing's gonna happen to me."
Padmé gave a small smile and shook her head in disbelief, tears stinging at the corner of her eyes. She let him pull her down into another slow kiss; let him comb his fingers through her hair and slip his tongue into her mouth.
Her heartbeat sped up. Her fingers curled in his hair as she let her tongue meet his. She had wanted this night so badly, but not like this. Not with her husband still wounded from his fight with Dooku. Still, she couldn't help the desire building within her as his kisses got wetter and his hands gripped her body harder.
"Anakin, you promised you wouldn't exert yourself," Padmé told him.
"I'm not," Anakin said. "To me, this is as natural as breathing."
"It is not," she said with a smile.
"I'll prove it to you," Anakin said and pulled her back into another kiss.
Padmé was beginning to relax and let her full weight fall on him. When he grunted she tried to pull away, afraid that she'd just hurt him even worse, but before she could both his arms encircled her and pulled her back down, flush against his body.
"Don't you dare worry," he told her in between kisses. "I need you with me. Stay with me."
"I'm not going anywhere," she said.
"Promise me you'll always be with me?" he asked her.
"Of course," Padmé said. "After all, it was in our vows."
As they began kissing again, Padmé couldn't help but let her hand travel between his legs. She rubbed him slowly, feeling him harden under her touch. Their kisses became quicker, hotter, and they were beginning to moan.
Padmé glanced down at him, seeing the bulge in his tunic, and sat back on her knees.
Anakin watched her as she moved his tunic up over his knees, his hips, his waist. She rubbed him through his pants and he closed his eyes and groaned. The way her touch felt, even through the linen of his pants...it was like heaven. His hips rose as she stroked him and he groaned when his muscles burned.
"Stay still," Padmé told him, putting a hand on his thigh.
"As you wish," Anakin said, relaxing against the bed.
Padmé pulled his pants down off of him until he was naked from the waist down, completely exposed to her. She clasped her hand around his shaft, clenching her pelvic muscles as she felt the warmth on her palm, felt the soft skin wrapped around hard muscle.
She ran her hand up and down his penis, agonizingly slow. Anakin's eyelids fluttered as she stroked him and his breath became ragged. "Padmé…" he moaned.
When he thrust her hips up into her hand, she let go of him. He groaned at the loss.
"I told you to be still," she told him.
"Of course," Anakin said. "My apologies."
She chuckled and put both of her hands on his thighs. "Anakin, tell me when you're close, okay?" she said.
Anakin's breath caught in his throat, knowing what was about to happen. He nodded, and luckily she was able to see that in the dim lamplight.
She lowered her mouth to him and pressed a kiss to the tip of his penis, tasting the familiar metallic flavor of his precum. She licked at the slit and he groaned again, trying his best not to thrust his hips upward. She wanted him to be still, so he was going to stay still.
Padmé swirled her tongue around the head, taking her sweet time doing so. She started at the frenulum, circled all the way around, and came back to it again and again.
Anakin's head was spinning. "Padmé…" he moaned.
"Put your hands on me," Padmé told him, and guided his normal hand to her head. He stroked her hair and teased the shell of her ear. Padmé moaned in response. Opening her mouth wide she lowered herself down on him, taking as much of his shaft into her mouth as she could.
Anakin rasped out a moan.
She was just as slow as she had been all night, lowering herself down and pulling herself back up, her hand clutched at the base near his testicles. He spread his legs wider and Padmé lowered herself down onto her stomach. With her hand, she pumped up and down on his shaft, her mouth following her hand.
"Padmé," Anakin moaned. "You're an angel."
Padmé tried smiling at that, but her mouth was busy. The metallic taste of his precum was now thick on her tongue and she knew that he was close. She quickened, just enough to satisfy him but not enough to make him shake and tremble like she normally did. He was panting, his chest heaving under his tunic.
"I'm close!" he said.
Padmé pulled away but continued to stroke him. She slid her thumb over his frenulum and teased the underside of the head of his penis. Anakin squeezed his eyes closed and saw stars. He couldn't even feel the soreness of his muscles anymore; he couldn't feel anything but Padmé's hand on him and her presence through The Force.
His hands fisted in the sheets as he came, white-hot pleasure racing through his body as Padmé stroked him. His seed spilled out of him, all over Padmé's hand and his thighs and hips. She stroked him until she was sure he was empty, and even then she let her hand linger on him. When he was finally soft, she let go and went to go get a damp towel from the refresher.
"Padmé!" Anakin called out, not wanting her to leave. Again he tried to sit up and again he regretted it, the pain in his muscles smarting him. He laid back down and waited for his wife.
"Relax, Ani, I'm just going to clean us up," she said.
The warm, wet cloth felt good against his skin and he couldn't help but let out a whimper of pleasure. Padmé wrapped her hand around him again, this time with the warm cloth and gave a single stroke. Anakin sighed and bit back a curse.
"Now it's your turn," Anakin told her.
"Ani…" Padmé said, "there's no way I'm riding you in your current condition."
Anakin propped himself up on his elbows. "You don't need to ride me. Just sit on my face. There's no way I'm gonna leave you wanting."
"Well, so long as you don't do anything crazy," Padmé said. "Oh wait, you're always doing something crazy."
"I promise. Nothing crazy. Just let me return the favor," Anakin said.
Padmé nodded and slipped out of her nightgown, letting it puddle around her on the floor. Anakin scooted lower onto the bed so she had room to move.
"Wait," he said, placing a hand on her before she got into position. "Help me take this tunic off."
Anakin groaned as she helped him undress, but the freeing feeling of being completely naked with his wife trumped any pain he had felt. Padmé delicately put her hands on his chest, feeling his skin for scars or burns. Her thumbs found his nipples and she tweaked them until they hardened.
"Ani," she whispered, her hands stroking the sides of his face and down his jaw.
"Come on, get on me," he said, his voice now husky with anticipation.
Padmé crawled up until his mouth met her labia. He was slow and teasing at first, just as she had been with him, focusing on the outer lips before sliding his tongue in deeper. He teased her entrance with the tip of his tongue, coating his tongue with her lubricant. He ran his tongue up and down the lips of her labia before finally focusing his attention on her clitoris.
Padmé sighed and closed her eyes, trying to still her hips. She wanted to ride his face desperately, giving into her frantic desire to be with him and to climax on his mouth, but she needed to be gentle. She needed to be slow and patient, as if they had all the time in the universe rather than a few stolen rotations before they resumed their wartime duties.
Anakin circled her clitoris with his tongue, first clockwise then counterclockwise, switching in between the two whenever she held her breath. He pressed his tongue flat against her and licked up, again and again, lapping her up slowly until her legs were trembling.
Padmé tried to buck her hips, but Anakin's hands held tight to her. He pressed into her soft skin, holding her still, not wanting her to rush her orgasm.
"Ani…" Padmé breathed. Her hands came down to rest on his arms. "Ani...ah…"
"I love it when you call me that," he said, his voice slightly vibrating through her skin. She whimpered at the sensation.
"Please...I'm close…" Padmé said.
Anakin moaned in response and wrapped his lips around her again, sucking hard at her clitoris. Padmé trembled, so close to climax she was nearly in tears. But he was determined to drag this out as long as possible. She tried to move her hips again, but he held her still. Her hands tightened around his wrists, desperate to release all her tension.
"Ani...please…" she begged.
He moaned as he sucked her. He went back to lapping her up, making her whimper, when he felt her tense, her whole body pulsating. Padmé closed her eyes and struggled against his grip as she came, unable to control herself, only able to ride out the pleasure that pulsed through her. When she came back down from her high, Anakin began circling her clitoris again, letting her ride out the warm aftershocks of her orgasm until she was spent.
With a satisfied sigh, she swung her leg over him, reaching for the towel yet again but thinking better of it. It still had his seed on it and she was hoping she didn't have to take her contraceptive tonight. She went back to the refresher for a fresh one, wiping his saliva from between her legs, slightly enjoying the feeling of the warm water pressed up against her body.
"Padmé," Anakin called out when she was taking too long.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," she murmured, stumbling back into the bedroom.
When she got to the edge of the bed, she could only flop down on it, curling up beside her husband as he wrapped his arm around her and she laid her head next to his shoulder. He pressed kisses into her hair, loving the sweet smell of her tresses as he did. The scent was so exotic...so Naboo...so Padmé.
"My angel," he whispered in between kisses.
Her hands tightened into fists against his skin. "I love you, Ani," Padmé said. "Please don't ever scare me like that again."
"I'll try my best not to," he said, pressing another kiss to her hair. "I promise you, by tomorrow morning, I'll be back to normal."
"Don't try to force it, Ani," Padmé said. "Just take your time to rest and heal. I need you to be okay."
A long moment of silence passed before Anakin finally spoke. "The Council won't object to me staying here while I'm injured. I'll tell them I'm under the care of a medic droid. I won't leave until I'm better, okay? I promise."
"Good," Padmé said. "That puts my mind at ease."
With that, they both closed their eyes and surrendered to sleep.