She looked up from her supper to find Georg staring intently at her, his gaze deep enough to touch her soul. It caught her off guard, as she did not expect the heat that met her eyes as she returned his gaze. He took a bite of his food, slowly pulling the spoon between his lips in a suggestive way. She gave him a soft smile, taking a bite of her own food and doing the same. He raised an eyebrow to her, and she bit her bottom lip in excitement. The silent promise had been made; they would find a way to be together immediately.

With the wedding planning well under way, she had been pulled in many different directions by many different people lately, and their time together had suffered a bit. Not to mention the fact that any time one of them did try to sneak to the other's bedroom or find themselves alone, one of their many houseguests would inevitably block their efforts. Her future mother-in-law had unknowingly, or perhaps she did know, stopped her from going to Georg's room many times throughout the past week, and they had both found themselves quite frustrated.

They were seated across from one another at a party, the women on one side of the table and the men on the other. He had taken her to two others so far, but this one seemed to make her particularly nervous. She had previously been able to spend time with him, and essentially they had treated the other parties as dates. But this one was very much split down the middle, women with women and men with men. She was at least thankful to have Hede in town still, as she would have been even more nervous if she had to face the other women alone.

They parted ways after supper, Georg giving her a wink as she and Hede moved to the drawing room with a group of other ladies. Hede handed her a glass of champagne, which she wanted to decline, but Hede shook her head.

"You'll need this for what you're about to endure." She raised her eyebrows in question as they made their way to the drawing room, sitting next to one another upon a sofa. Hede leaned to whisper in her ear. "You see that woman there?"

"In the yellow?"

"Yes. She's sleeping with that one's husband." She nodded to a younger woman with a flower in her hair; she looked incredibly clueless.

"You're sure?"

"One can never be absolutely certain, but I believe this one." She took a sip of her champagne before leaning back to whisper again.

"And that woman in the blue, her husband keeps a complete family on the side. He's only home half of the week." Maria's eyes widened, and she took a sip of her own champagne.

"That's terribly depressing."

"We can fix that. You see that young lady sitting alone over there?"

"Yes." Maria smiled, finding it exciting to have the inside information without having to learn it some other way.

"When her husband is away on business, she enjoys taking to the beds of other women."

"How do you know that?" Hede raised her eyebrows, letting Maria know she had found out that information first hand. She felt herself blush a bit at the knowledge of Hede's personal preferences. "I see."

"My point is, they all have secrets. Don't ever let them make you feel as if you don't belong." She smiled at her future sister-in-law, feeling a warmth in her heart. She couldn't have asked for a better friendship than the one she had found in Hede, quite unexpectedly. She felt safe with her, taken care of. She suddenly understood why Georg has asked his sister to stay with them a while longer.

The evening continued with much of the same. Hede told the secrets of their party-mates, and Maria actually felt that she was enjoying herself. Many of the women treated her suspiciously, but some asked a few polite questions about the wedding. She supposed it would take quite a while to get better acquainted. She did receive an invitation to a luncheon at one of the younger lady's homes in a few days to celebrate her own upcoming wedding, which Hede accepted for them. She was inclined to turn down the invite herself, but supposed it wouldn't hurt to go.

As the party began winding down, she saw Georg appear in the doorway of the drawing room, raising his eyebrows to let her know he was ready to go. She and Hede quickly excused themselves, and he smiled as he took her hand in his own to lead them out the door. Maria noticed that Hede's husband, ever quiet and quite dull, didn't even offer her his arm. She wondered a lot of things about their marriage, but never had the courage to ask any questions.

As she was readying herself for bed that evening, she wondered what it would be like to finally be married to Georg. While he had been nothing short of kind to her, for the most part, he also had a darkness to him that was very unsettling at times, particularly when the state of their homeland was concerned. She wondered how that would translate into their marriage. She never felt unsafe in his darkness, but it had been more difficult lately to bring him out of his brooding. All it used to take was a kiss or a touch. She decided that it was more likely that the incredibly full house they were keeping certainly did not help.

Suddenly, the door to her bedroom opened, and her fiancé whisked inside, quickly closing and locking it behind him. He looked a bit frazzled, causing her to laugh at the sight. He brought his finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet.

"Did you know my mother keeps watch over your room?" He whispered, his eyebrows raised. She rolled her eyes, moving closer to greet him properly with a kiss.

"You didn't believe me when I told you that. She follows me everywhere at night." She wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her close by the waist. "She's afraid Max isn't taking his chaperone duties seriously."

"I think she knows why he isn't and is purposefully trying to stop us from being together." She shrugged, having thought the same thing before, but doing her very best not to think ill of his mother. She was trying to treat the woman how God would want her to, no matter how difficult it had been.

"Well, we're together now." He smiled, bringing her close and pressing his lips against hers in a gentle kiss. She responded immediately, deepening their connection and eliciting a sigh from him. They slowly removed one another's clothes, and he laid her upon her bed, the cool sheets making her warm skin prickle a bit as he pressed his body atop her own.

He took his time with her, kissing down the side of her neck, his tongue tasting the skin at her collarbone. She ran her fingers through his hair as his kiss trailed between her breasts, and he moved to take a nipple between his lips. He circled it slowly with his tongue, suckling and sending warmth to her pelvis in the process. His lips were incredibly soft as they made their way down her stomach, his teeth gently grazing her hipbone.

She loved when he did that, when he took stock of her body and left no part of her skin without a kiss. They were usually in more of a hurried state, but tonight they felt as if they had all the time in the world. He kissed past her center, his lips trailing against the sensitive skin of her inner thighs as he moved down her legs, his hands caressing and adding pressure to her bare feet before caressing up her legs.

As he trailed his kiss upward, he moved her legs over his shoulders and leaned forward to part her with his tongue, eliciting a heavy sigh from her lips. His hands roamed and squeezed her backside as he brought her hips closer to his mouth, nuzzling his lips to follow his tongue. He was slow and steady, his hot tongue making sure to touch every single part of her as she felt her hips moving against his rhythm.

"You taste amazing, Maria." His breath was hot, and she felt a jolt of pleasure run through her body, a sigh escaping her lips. He continued to work, the slow boiling continuing to build in her stomach as she closed her eyes and took in the sensations of his perfect mouth. He flattened his tongue against her, and she began to climax without warning, so quickly. She jolted upward, gasping as he moved a bit faster and the ripples in her pelvis turned into crashing waves.

He continued his movement until her pleasure subsided, moving his kiss to her inner thighs and leaving a mark for her to find later. He trailed his kiss over her hip, pressing his lips into her stomach as he moved to take her previously ignored nipple in his mouth, sending another jolt of electricity down her body. He finally returned to her lips, and she kissed him passionately, faintly tasting herself on him.

She rolled them over for him to lie upon his back, pressing her naked body against his as their kiss continued, and she moved on top of him. Kissing down his neck, she intended to give him the same treatment he gave her, trailing her lips over his skin. She kissed down his chest, taking one of his nipples into her mouth and suckling, licking all around it until a sigh escaped his lips. She let her hand trail down his chest as she kissed her way over his hard body toward his erection, her breasts brushing against him and causing him to groan.

Kissing his thighs, she spread his legs a bit further, dipping between them and gently licking the throbbing flesh beneath his erection. His breathing hitched when she did that, so she tried again with more pressure, and he shivered. Licking all the way up his length, she paused only for a moment before taking him fully in her mouth.

He moaned loudly, and she looked up at him from her place between his legs, feeling pride at the fact that she was the one making him lose control like that. He met her eyes as she continued to pull up and take him in again, her tongue applying pressure where she knew he liked it the most. He sat up a bit and pulled her mouth from him, bringing her up the length of his body and kissing her hard.

She sat upon his lap and guided him into her body, biting his lower lip as she took him in deeply. Wrapping her legs around him as he sat up further, she began to rock her hips atop his own, his hands caressing her back. Her body felt as if it were being caught on fire, always so desperately hot when he was inside of her, and she sighed at the sheer heat of it all.

"I love you." Her words were soft, punctuated by her heavy breathing, and he smiled, kissing her gently as they continued to move.

"I love you so much, Maria."