Caspian stomped through the long narrow tunnels of the How, he couldn't find Adalina anywhere. He needed to talk to her about Peter. He had kept giving him those weird looks and after what he saw yesterday he wondered if she had told him about his and Adalina's relationship. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks, of course he thought, he knew exactly where she was.
Adalina still sat against the wall of the How, the sky was now a dark blue, all of the light had been drawn out of it, leaving the stars to shine even brighter in contrast. The tears still fell down her face, but she hardly noticed them anymore. She continued to stare ahead, another clear drop running down her cheek.
From the corner of her eye she saw a boot come into view. She knew exactly whose boot that was. Great. She thought. He always has such perfect timing. She kept her eyes staring straight ahead, ignoring his presence.
"Adalina, I need to talk to you, about Peter." His voice started out a little hard, but softened as he saw Adalina's face and the clear stains that her tears had left behind.
"What about Peter?" She snapped, still not looking at him. "You have nothing to worry about; he is more than willing to hand Narnia over to you."
"I am not talking about that, I want to know what is going on between you and Peter."
"What about me and Peter?" Her words still stung as they left her mouth and she finally got the courage to look up at Caspian.
"I saw you two yesterday, you…you kissed him."
Adalina popped up onto her feet, "Is that it? You're just worried that someone else might be moving in on your territory or that I may actually like someone other than you?! Well don't worry because Peter and I will never happen, ever, thanks to you!" Caspian was taken aback by her response.
"I...uh…that's not what it is like, you know that. I don't consider you my property."
Adalina just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. God, she was stubborn sometimes.
"Listen, did you ever tell Peter about us?" Adalina's eyes grew wide; she looked like she was going to smack him.
"Oh, so it's this again? You don't care what I do just as long as I don't spill your little secret! Well, guess what? I learned my lesson. Peter doesn't know a thing!"
"It's not like that, Adalina. I do care about you. I am trying to protect you!"
"Well, I don't need your protection!"
"Well I still need to give it!"
Adalina threw her arms down in defeat; a shouting match would do no good. "Why? Why are you holding on to me? This has been hard enough. I just want to move on, I just want to stop thinking about you, dreaming about you, remembering how it used to be. "Adalina took a long breath to try and calm her nerves, but it didn't help. "You wanted this, you wanted us to be over, so let us be over."
Caspian looked deep into her eyes. "I didn't want to not be with you, Adalina. I had to stop it before you got hurt. I couldn't bear to see what would happen if the wrong people ever found out about us."
Adalina's eyes began to water. "Don't say that. Don't say those things." She said, shaking her head. "I might actually think you feel the same way about me as I do about you."
"Why would you think I wouldn't?"
"Stop! Stop, stop, stop! This isn't fair! My head isn't on straight; you can't say things like that to me right now." The tears started to flow again, at full speed.
"Adalina, what is going on? What do you mean?" Caspian was thoroughly confused by her behavior; she seemed to be fighting with herself more than him.
"I mean, I don't want to hear this right now. We have a battle tomorrow; I need to be focusing on getting ready for a war." Adalina tried to make an escape, but Caspian was too close. He caught her by both shoulders, holding her steady in front of him.
"I don't think so, you can't run from this. Tell me what is wrong; you know you can trust me."
"I don't want to talk about it, just let it be!"
"No! It is obviously hurting you, let me help."
"You can't help! You caused it!" Caspian was taken aback, his hands fell from her shoulders and he took a small step back.
"What do you mean I caused it? What have I done to you?" his voice was quiet and weak and his eyes were full of guilt.
"You did this!" She said, throwing her hands up, gesturing to him. "You pretend like you care, you try and help, you comfort and console me, and you make me believe that you want to be with me." Tear streamed down her face now, her body shook with its sobs. Caspian had a pained look on his face.
"I do care about you and I do want to be with you! It has pained me more than words can say to have to see you every day and not be able to kiss you, and at night when you are so close, but I can't hold you. I long to feel your touch, I miss the burning sensation it leaves on my skin. Just the sway of your hips when you walk plagues my thoughts, everything about you consumes my mind, I can't think straight either because of you! But I would rather live in this agony, unable to touch you, than to see you punished at the merciless hands of our people."
"But that's just it Caspian. I can't, I can't live without you like this. I don't care what will happen to me; nothing could hurt more than this." She tore her eyes away from his to look down at her fidgeting hands; the tears streaming down her face blurred her vision. She had to tell him, she had to get it out. Looking back up, fear in her eyes, she let out a meek shadow of a voice. "I am in love with you."
They both were silent, standing still, eyes focused on each other. At the lack of response she began to get nervous. She couldn't take this anticipation anymore. "I told you! I told you that you didn't feel the same way, I should have never said anything, this was stupid…" she began to trail off as she neared the entrance back into the How. However, a voice stopped her.
"No, you were wrong." Caspian said calmly, looking off into the distance, a confused look on his face. Then he suddenly twisted around to face her, a new, enlightened expression adorning his face. "I do love you."
"What?" Adalina thought she was dreaming, he couldn't have said what she thought he did. But oh how she wished she had heard him right!
Caspian gulped, and then shrugged his shoulders displaying that signature smirk of his. "I love you too."
Ok, she was sure she heard him right that time. She felt her legs go weak; a hand left her side to hold onto the wall behind her. She felt like bursting into tears, but instead of feeling liquid drip from her eyes she heard giggles rise from her mouth. As the giggles grew into laughter the tears finally came. Adalina took a deep breath to reorganize her emotions, once composed she found her voice. "Really?"
Caspian took her hand in his, gently cradling it. "Yes, I do. I didn't want to admit it for the longest time, but hearing you say it has made me realize I can't deny it. Adalina, that's why this hurts so much, being away from you, fearing the consequences you may have to bear. I have never felt so much for one person as I do for you. Forgive me for ever letting you go and deny me your touch no longer."
And with that, Caspian cupped her cheek in his hand and crashed his lips into hers. The feeling of his lips on hers ignited a spark of passion in Adalina that she had not felt for far too long. Her body had begun to forget what Caspian's touch could do to it. But as soon as she felt his hand touch her cheek it suddenly remembered and reacted with fiery instinct.
They held back nothing. Adalina didn't tease and Caspian didn't play stubborn, they just let it all out, attacking each other's bodies with their hands, invading each other's mouths with their tongues. Adalina felt dizzy, her body thrashed up against the wall of the How and her breathing was shallow and sporadic as Caspian continued his torturous re-exploration. His hands ran up her legs, under her skirts and ripped at the material covering her chest. His lips finally abandoned hers and traveled down her neck and collarbone. He roughly pushed her body up against the wall while his other hand successfully pushed the material concealing her beasts away from the tender area. Without hesitation he captured her nipple in his mouth, sucking at the sensitive skin, flicking his tongue lightly over it. Adalina let out a whimper as her breath hitched in her throat at the feel of his teeth gently nipping her swollen breasts. She wrapped her legs around his waist pulling him closer to her, moaning in pleasure as she felt his hard member press against her center. Caspian responded to her encouragement by sneaking his hands up her skirt. His rough calloused hands brushed against the soft delicate skin of her inner thigh. Just as his index finger began to separate her folds voices began to echo in the tunnel leading up to the ledge of the How. Adalina let out a disappointed moan as Caspian's hand retreated back down her leg, finding its way out of her skirts.
Caspian lifted Adalina off of his body, her feet landing on the hard ground beneath them. Adalina had to lean against the wall once more to keep herself from falling. She yanked up the material of her dress to cover her exposed chest. Adalina took deep breathes to try and calm the excitement that Caspian had aroused in her body. Caspian leaned against the wall with his forearm covering his brow, his eyelids were pressed together hard as he inhaled deep, trying to calm his own, noticeable arousal.
The two voices soon emerged from the tunnel. It was two of the Narnians, most likely on lookout for the night. The sky had turned a pitch black; the only source of light was the luminous moon hanging high in the sea of darkness.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we are on duty for the night." The faun spoke, acknowledging the tension.
"No need to apologize sir faun, you are only fulfilling your duty. Caspian and I will leave you to your shift. Good night." Adalina smiled politely, leading Caspian into the tunnel.
Once they were out of earshot, Adalina leaned in close to Caspian whispering in his ear, "Don't worry, we will finish later." She gave him a wide smile before skipping off to join the Pevensies, leaving Caspian with an elated expression on his face.