Thank you so much for the reviews and messages I had regarding the previous chapter (especially the messages I had with suggestions of what they'd like to see in this one). It's nothing short of encouraging, especially when I struggle to write these kinds of chapters.

I promise I will respond to your reviews as soon as I can, life has just been a bit manic lately, and I wanted to get this chapter out.

Oh, and a special thank you to guest reviewers who I can't respond to personally. You're great!

Disclaimer: I own nothing - although I really, really wish I did.

Chapter Thirteen – Lessons (Part Two)

"It would only be fair, I suppose." she said to herself, clearly deep in thought.

"What would be?"

She looked up at him and searched for the same sparkle of desire that glazed over her own and thought she would never be able to see it, until a glint of something she couldn't quite describe flashed over his eyes.

"For you to teach me a lesson about you too."

Georg von Trapp was in trouble.

Deep trouble.

He couldn't. He wouldn't. They had already crossed the line, and by God had he been rather proud of himself, proud of keeping himself too occupied with his task to not let his own selfish urges overtake him.

Proud of his ability to stop himself from climbing on top of her and taking her right there on the desk. He would keep that self-control as restrained as he could, but oh – that look in her eyes! She was staring into his very soul, patiently waiting for his response. He had to pull back, he had to stop them both. There was only so much a man could take – even an honourable man such as himself.

Oh, who was he kidding? He wasn't honourable at all! Sometimes, he almost wished that Maria wasn't his virginal bride. That way, he could put them both out of their misery. Then again, he couldn't deny that whilst she was mature and – judging by their encounter mere minutes ago – willing, her innocence was appealing. The knowledge that he was the only man to have kissed her, touched her and pleasure her was most definitely appealing. It was for this reason that he had to respect her, they would have to go slowly. He needed to claw back at least some kind power. A bizarre combination of disappointment and relief left his body with a sigh as he removed her dainty hands from his chest.

"I don't think that will be necessary, Maria." He replied politely, taking her hands in his and kissing her fingertips. He watched as she struggled to hide her own disappointment judging by how her face fell at his words. For a worried-stricken moment, he thought that she may have misunderstood his reasoning and knew he had to clarify his meaning. "I'm not saying that because I don't want you" he rambled quickly. "I just mean that there is plenty of time for that."

She nodded slowly and gave him a small smile. "I understand" she replied quickly, and sat up straight in her seat, laying her hands in her lap.

He was surprised by her reaction; she had seemed quite eager before. Whatever disappointment she may have expressed had apparently vanished. She was up to something; he could feel it. "You do?"

"Of course. I mean I have lived under your roof for some time, and we have been engaged for three – almost four months now" she replied calmly. "I have learnt quite a few things about you already, even without… You know… Having much experience when it comes to intimacy." Whilst her voice remained level and calm, she was anything except calm of course, but she enjoyed watching his face contort into a confused expression as he tried to figure out where she was going with their conversation.

She may have sounded calm, but the gravity of her words made his ears prick up before he too slowly sat up a little straighter from his position, eager to hear more. "Is that right? Tell me, what have you learnt so far?"

She pursed her lips together and smoothed out the imaginary creases in her dress, trying to recall what she had observed during her time at the villa. "Well, there's the way that you wriggle your fingers whenever you're agitated or deep in thought. Then there's the way you have that scowl etched upon your face when your brooding…" she cupped his cheek with her hand and smiled at him tenderly.

He closed his eyes at her touch and leaned his cheek into her palm. "What else?" he asked quietly and placed a lingering kiss to the inside of his wrist.

She felt his lips against her wrist, something he did often. Usually it was fleeting, tender, a small token of affection. This time however, it was as though he has kissed liquid fire into her veins. It pulsed through her wildly, setting her alight all over again.

When she didn't respond, he opened his eyes again and found her own sparkling back at him. He stared at her and watched her suck in a shuddering breath but by God, she was breath taking! Everything about her was breath taking, from her eyes, her smile, her laugh, her beautiful voice, her heavenly moans that tore from her throat when his mouth was on her.

"Maria. What else?" he repeated, with such a low voice that he wasn't sure if she had even heard him.

"Well captain..." She cleared her throat in a drastic attempt to soothe her pulse pounding away through her body. His eyes bore into hers; those dark blue pools had transformed into a colour as black as midnight. Yes, that was something she had most definitely learned about him. "Your eyes… They change colour depending on your mood. For example, when you're happy, they're a deep blue. Or when you're…" she trailed off in thought for a few seconds, trying to determine the right words.

She turned away from him then, unwilling to dare herself to get lost in his eyes once again for if she did, she would lose the confidence to speak again. "In fact, they're the colour they are now, and I've learnt, that it's the colour they turn into when you... When I-When I call you... Captain."

Good Lord! He hadn't even realised it before - or maybe it was perhaps more a case of not being willing to admit to himself - but he positively loved it when she called him 'captain'. She would be the death of him, he was sure of it and worst of all, she knew it!

He shook his head violently, remembering a conversation he'd had with Mathilde earlier that day.

"You be careful with her, Georg. I know all too well what it's like when it comes to being engaged, I was just like her once upon a time."

He raised an eyebrow at her and scoffed before he sipped on his drink.

"Oh alright, maybe not exactly like her, but I know how she's feeling. Just make sure you are careful as I said."

Georg rather wished his chair would swallow him whole. He had never felt as awkward as he did right now. Mathilde was unlike any other person he'd ever known; her intentions were always good and she always had her friends best interests at heart. He knew she was only trying to help Maria. Nevertheless, he couldn't but help feeling that she was overstepping the line. "Mathilde, I hardly think it's appropriate for us to have this discussion. Especially without Clement present."

"Oh, Georg please!" she scoffed, rolling her eyes at him.

"Are you saying you don't you trust me, Mathilde?"

She gasped and pressed her hand to her chest in mock offence. "Why Georg! I'm offended you even have to ask. Of course I don't! Although, if you're asking me about whether I trust you to do the right thing when it comes to you and Maria..."

"And what exactly does the right thing mean?"

Well, Maria is – as I'm sure you know – not exactly… An expert when it comes to the physicality of love, but just because you aren't married, it doesn't mean you can't at least... Discuss it. I dare say you haven't had the opportunity to even attempt talking about it. Your dedicated chaperones have certainly made sure of that!"

He scoffed at her tone of voice. "Ha! And what kind of chaperone does that make you?"

"The kind of chaperone you are very happy to have in your home, I'm sure." She replied sweetly with a smug smile. "Anyway, it's much too late to get into all of that. I'm retiring to bed. Goodnight, Georg."

"Goodnight, Mathilde."

He fell further into his chair once he heard the clicks of her heels fade as she walked away, leaving him completely and utterly bewildered. In a state of complete stupefaction, he felt rather than heard a rumble of laughter vibrate through his chest at the bizarre situation he had found himself in. "What is going on?" he muttered to himself in disbelief. His once orderly home had been thrown into disarray by a tornado in the form of his Maria, and whilst he had already accepted it – and he had to admit, now revelled in it – the arrival of his chaperones had made the tornado look more like a gentle breeze!

It just so happened that the tornado was nothing compared to the storm that raged ferociously through his body at that very moment. It would be far too easy to grab Maria's hand and lead her straight into his bed, to love her in the way she so thoroughly deserved, to ravish her until she begged for mercy, and have her understand just what it meant to belong to him entirely. Heavens, the way he was feeling, it wouldn't necessarily have to take place in his bed. He would even make do with the sofa at this rate!

Of course, this way of thinking was disgracefully selfish of him. He owed her more than that. She deserved more than that. He reminded himself of what he'd said to Maria only moments prior, a testament perhaps, to how much he loved and respected her.

Good things come to those who wait.

Or perhaps not.

In the midst of their kisses, Maria's nimble fingers had found their way to his belt buckle. Before he even had a change to try and stop her – not that he could have – she pulled his belt through the loop and flicked the needle open. For a brief moment, he considered helping her. After all, it would be futile to stop her. She was his to do with however she pleased. Before long, he realised his hands were guiding now her own, freeing him from the confines of his trousers and undergarments.

His eyes never left hers and he stared at her whilst she figured out what to do next. He should stop now! The angel and devil sat at each of his shoulders, the former screaming at his to put an end to this madness, whilst the devil repeated the angel's sentiments – in the most difference sense.

Ignoring the angel completely, he took her small hand and placed it around him, guiding her movements for a couple of seconds, showing her what to do.

She could help but let a sharp gasp leave her throat. She had felt it through his clothing, but nothing prepared her for what she felt. She expected it to feel hard, she expected him to throw his head back in relief and moan her name.

What she didn't expect however, was for it to feel so... Silky.

Coming to her senses, she suddenly snatched her hand back and bolted upright, rubbing her hand with her thumb as though it had burned her skin.

His eyes snapped open when he felt her touch leave him to find that she was glaring at him with a look of what could only be described as horror! She may as well of poured a bucket full of ice over his head! It took him aback for a few seconds he had to admit, and after a few, long moments of silence, he had to break the tension in the only way he could - by letting out a sheepish chuckle. "Well... You certainly know how to flatter a man" he hurriedly grabbed the waistband of his underwear and attempted to wrench them back up his legs but was prevented by Maria's hand roughly grabbing his wrist.

"No!" she commanded before she lowered her voice to barely even a whisper. "Don't do that. I just didn't expect it to feel like that, that's all."

He nodded and gave her a melting smile but didn't grant her command. Instead, he gently removed her hand from his wrist and rectified his clothing. He knew it, damned fool! He knew that it was too much, all too quick for her right now. He should have trusted his instincts and stopped her, stopped them both.

"Please Georg, I didn't mean it. Heavens! I've ruined everything haven't I? Just let me try ag-" she began to ramble but was silenced by him placing his index finger directly to her lips.

"Maria..." he sighed with a smile. He heard her desperately try to speak again but he shushed her yet again. "Maria please, just let me speak." she nodded, but her soft lips grazing against his finger due to the movement of her head had him stunned into silence instead. He removed his finger, replacing it with yet another searing kiss, one that threatened for them to go tumbling straight back into the predicament they were in moments prior. However, he had somehow grappled his self-control back. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice. He pulled away from her, half-expecting her to have forgotten about her panicking - it was futile of course, for Maria started attempting to explain herself yet again.

"I only wanted to return the pleasure you gave to me. Oh, what have I done?" she felt the heat rise up into her cheeks, turning her face into a shade of scarlet red. She was ready to explain the world to him, but when she met his eyes again, she suddenly wished he hadn't. He wasn't... Was he? He was! He was chuckling silently at her, causing her to see red, and she felt anger begin to bubble away inside her at an alarming rate.

The arrogance of that man!

"There's no need to mock me, Georg! Who do you think you are!? I am trying to explain myself and you can do nothing other than laugh at me!"

He ceased in his laughter instantaneously. Oh no! How had he misread the situation so badly? He honestly wasn't trying to taunt her. It was those cheeks of hers. When she blushed, oh – how he adored her so! He was trying to put her at ease, to let her know that he was only laughing at how lovely she looked when she blushed, but alas, he was once again in danger.

A very different kind of danger.

The danger of his darling Fraulein in a fit of rage.

"I'm sorry, Maria. Honestly, I am not laughing at you at all. I was only-" he raised her hand to stroke her hair, but she instantly swatted his hand away.

"No, Georg!" she interjected sharply. "You don't understand what it took for me to do that, do you? You might have all of this worldly experience" she continued, flailing her arms about to emphasise her point.

"Maria" he growled through gritted teeth. "Stop it. We have been over this." His warning tone had gone completely unheeded. Maria was already too far gone, and he realised he would just have to sit this one through, completely dumbstruck.

"Unfortunately, you chose to be with a woman like me. A woman who doesn't have all of the experience you so obviously require in order to satisfy you." She abruptly stopped and stood up, her chin raised in defiance and stormed out of his study, signalling her exit by slamming the door on her way out.

Georg was rendered frozen in his seat, completely and utterly bewildered by a bizarre turn of events. What an earth just happened? Mere minutes ago, they were locked in a fierce embrace for heaven's sake! He was right, Maria was like a tornado. This time however, she was justified - even if she had misunderstood him. She must have thought he was such a pig-headed imbecile, he even thought that himself! He groaned and threw his head in his hands. He had to make this right. He had to make her see that her assumptions were entirely incorrect. Deep down, he knew that she didn't really believe that of him. Despite the guilt that flooded his entire being, he couldn't help but let out a bitter scoff. They were so alike; his temper often tended to rear its ugly head. She was no different, her temper had gotten the better of her. She exploded like a volcano, and he stupidly added unnecessary fuel to that fire that raged within her.

Groaning again, he raised himself from the sofa and threw open the door to a calm home. If he knew no better, he would even argue that all was still, tranquil even. He directed his glance to the nursery, and with a heavy sigh, made his way to her room. In his current state, he barely even realised that he was already knocking gently at her door.

"Leave me alone, Georg." came Maria's muffled retort through the wooden divide between the two of them.

"Please Maria, just open the door. I need to explain myself." When no reply came, but he waited patiently for a minute, then another, and another after that. After long moments of silence, he turned around in defeat, about to make his way to the safety of his own room until he heard the quiet creak of her door opening. Through the crack of the door, he saw the sadness in those blue pools of hers and his heart shattered into pieces at seeing just how much he had unintentionally hurt her.

"Oh, Maria! I am so sorry. Please let me in." his voice croaked with despair, ready for her rebuff him. To his surprise, she did the complete opposite and granted his wish, opening the door fully for him. She kept her distance however, and walked towards the other end of the room, focusing her attention on the open window in front of her instead.

They stood in silence for a few seconds, her with his back to him whilst he shoved his hands in his pockets in a desperate attempt to stop his fingers from wriggling and shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot.

"You wanted to speak with me, Georg."

He stopped his shuffling and cleared his throat. "Yes. I-I did, but I won't until you look at me."

She did as she was told, and slowly turned to face him. Her expression of sadness was still plain as day on her face, but he could tell that she was desperately attempting to conceal her emotions.

"Maria I… I want to apologise for my behaviour, but I need to you to know that this is nothing more than an awful misunderstanding."

"You were laughing at me" she stated, angrily crossing her arms over her chest.

"I wasn't. In fact…" he smiled sheepishly at himself. "I was laughing… Well… I was laughing at myself."

"You were what?" she questioned; her brow furrowed in confusion. She lowered her arms slowly, allowing herself to hear his explanation.

"Earlier, you were talking about what you had learnt about me. It got me thinking about when I fell in love with you. I didn't think I was able to pinpoint the moment it happened before tonight, but when you were talking, it dawned on me."

Whilst she still kept a small part of her guarded, she felt her body begin to relax slightly at his confession. "Is that right? So, when did you fall in love with me? At what point?"

"It was the night you offered me your guitar. Or – more precisely – it was the way you looked at me after I sang." He cautiously took a few strides towards her until he met her, toe-to-toe. He slowly raised his hand to cup her chin and stroked it as though she was made of the most precious porcelain, his touch as light as a feather. "The way you looked at me, I could hardly breathe! You blushed, that flush in your cheeks rendered me speechless, and I realised that you were the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. I suppose that was all it took, and I fell for you there and then. I remembered back to that night, and I suppose it made me laugh, but not at you. Never at you."

Despite her anger, despite everything as a matter of fact, she felt her tense shoulders sag with relief. She squeezed her eyes and winced at her own behaviour. At the time, she believed her anger to be righteous - perhaps it was – but there was still one more question left unanswered.

"Georg, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted to uh… I mean I shouldn't have pulled my hand away. I-I, oh I don't know. I hope you can forgive me. Are you disappointed? All those things I said…"

He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. "I could never be disappointed in you, my darling. However, you must stop thinking that I am. You said that it was unfortunate that I chose you. It is anything but unfortunate to be lucky enough that you chose me! You are a kind, loving and beautiful person. You love me and most importantly, you love the children. You speak of being too inexperienced enough to satisfy me, but don't you understand? You satisfy me in a multitude of ways."

She pushed her dainty fingers against his chest to look at him "tonight though, I wouldn't… I mean I couldn't."

"It doesn't matter. To be honest, I'm glad it happened."

Her eyes blew wide. "You are?"

"Of course! After all, we wanted to learn more about each other. I think we may have just done that." He raised an eyebrow at her, remembering just how intense their entire night had been and before he knew it, they both fell into laughter before collapsing back into each other's arms once more.

"There's one more thing…" Maria finally murmured against his chest after a few moments.

"Hmm? And what might that be?"

She pulled away from his embrace and walked past him towards the closed door. She stood with her hands behind her back, grabbing onto the handle. "It's one last thing I want to learn about you." She fiddled blindly with her hands behind her back until she heard the click of the lock.

"Teach me how it feels to be held by you at night."

I know that this probably wasn't what you were expecting after part one but remember, whilst Maria is most certainly not an idiot, she is inexperienced, and still has a lot to learn. She isn't going to be an expert at these kinds of things straight away. Don't worry though, there are still a lot more 'lessons' to come and after Georg's reaction, it seems he has quite a lot to learn too.

No rosé to blame for this chapter I'm afraid, so as always, constructive criticism is just as welcome as praise, and I always love knowing what your thoughts are.

Until next time, take care!

Charlotte