Note: Thank you for all of your lovely reviews! I hope you all know that they are my main motivation to keep on writing! Sorry this took so long to update, but I had major writer's block. Hopefully, there are enough lovely Arwen moments to make up for it :)

Chapter 17

'Well this is odd,' Gwen thought, 'My bed isn't usually this lumpy.'

Her eyes were still shut as she was just waking up. In the mornings she liked to have a moment of peace, and explore her surroundings using her other senses before opening her eyes. To Gwen, once her eyes were opened it was officially the start of her day-and she had to get her butt out of bed. But it didn't feel like she was in her bed this morning.

She mentally sent out her other senses to identify the strange cause of her bed's sudden change in texture...'and hardness,' she thought, for her bed was not only lumpy, but firm, built, solid. And her sheets were all wrong. The fabric which covered her was fuzzy and worn in-unlike her starched cotton sheets. And now her sense of smell had kicked in and she realized that it didn't pick up on her usual lingering traces of lilac perfume on her covering. Instead, it smelled like a musky scent of a man's cologne. 'Well this is odd,' Gwen thought, her brow creasing in confusion. Befuddled, Gwen turned her mind to the cues her ears were sending to her brain. That was when she suddenly realized she heard breathing. And with the epiphany, her sense of touch kicked on high alert once more as she became conscious of the fact that with the breathing came the rising and falling action of what she originally thought to be her bed.

She was laying on what seemed to be a moving, hard, sturdy apparatus which was clearly not her bed, and was covered with an unknown shroud. And-now that her senses were heightened even more so-she realized that part of what she mistook to be her bed had draped itself over her shoulder. Thoroughly terrified now of where she was, Gwen's eyes shot open.

It took a moment for them to adjust, and the picture before her was slightly fuzzy. But she soon realized that she was laying on her side. Then the picture focused in on the flesh-colored limb which draped, and was gently squeezing her arm. Her eye dropped down to her own body, which was covered with a woolen blanket, and slightly tucked into which she thought was a mattress. Now, however, she understood that it wasn't a mattress, but a much larger body than her own-a hard, toned, muscular, solid body from what Gwen could tell through their clothing.

Her brain still groggy with the remnants of sleep, she didn't know who is stranger was. She was partially afraid, but mainly eager to know who this clearly handsome stranger was that she had decided to take a kip on. So she tentatively looked up.

As she did so, her eyes were locked onto the face of the man who had haunted her dreams that night. It was none other than Arthur Pendragon. The memories of what happened the previous night flooded back to her.

-Flashback-

After they shared their first kiss, Gwen and Arthur had forgotten about the movie. The kiss wasn't supposed to go farther than just a simple, sweet, touch of the lips. However, the built up tension between the two of them for the past few months had other ideas-it simply had to be released. So instead of turning their attention back to the telly, they found a much more stimulating activity to entertain themselves with.

Gwen had made her standards to Arthur very clear when they worked on Vivian's case together-she was saving herself until her wedding night. But a good old-fashioned snogging session with her boyfriend was completely within Gwen's ethics. And wow! What a session it was! Gwen had thought she knew what passion meant from Lance. They had dated for years-obviously they had made out. But Arthur took her to another level-one which was far out of this dimension. He was gentle with her, but fierce at the same time. His lips roamed over hers with a hunger that she was taken aback by-at first. A desire which was fueled by her fervently returned affections once she rose spectacularly to the challenge he had placed before her. As they lost themselves in each other, Gwen had the distinct feeling that Arthur was actually holding back all of his attentions to her.

'If this is Arthur holding back,' she thought as she rearranged her grip, and fisted a handful of his blonde locks tighter in her hands, 'I can't even imagine what he's normally like.'

She couldn't have been more accurate if she had read his thoughts. For Arthur was indeed holding back. Guinevere was experiencing only a little bit of all the feelings which he had associated with her. The feelings of frustration over the fact that she was unattainable, feelings of victory as she finally agreed to be his, and most of all feelings of an all-consuming love which was rapidly filling his entire being. She had told him that she was saving herself-a noble act which Arthur fully supported. However, her close presence and his instincts were currently gaining ground over the more gentlemanly aspect of his personality. He wanted her now. So he forced himself to hold back-so some sort of decency would be preserved. But it was difficult. The fervor with which Gwen was now returning his kisses was rapidly matching his own, and Arthur wasn't sure he would be able to control himself if she became anymore inflamed. Her desire was fanning the already all-consuming flames which burned in his heart. It was out of his mortal powers to resist that strong of temptation. So he surfaced for breath-it served the dual purpose of replenishing what was rapidly becoming a necessity of oxygen and a chance to rein his desires back in check.

He was on top of Guinevere, who was laying on her back on the couch. They had been in a tight embrace, but now Arthur propped himself up on his elbows. They both had wide grins plastered onto their faces, and their chests rose in time with the other as they struggled to regain their breath.

"So…" Gwen said breathlessly.

"So," Arthur agreed in an equally strained breath.

The moment of passion now broken (much to Arthur's simultaneous disappointment and relief-he wasn't sure he would be able to restrain himself-try as he might-against any more similar encouragement from Gwen), Arthur carefully sat up from his position on the couch. Gwen followed suit, and soon they were sitting side-by-side on the sofa once more (although slightly sweatier).

"So is this what I am to be expecting?" Arthur roguishly grinned.

Gwen flushed a deep scarlet as she realized that only shortly after agreeing to be his girlfriend, they began to have the most intense, passionate, inflamed make out session she had ever partaken in.

"I wouldn't mind it," Arthur said, his grin expanding even more so (if it was possible) on the lower half of his face, "But just warn me next time."

Gwen swatted playfully at his shoulder, coming out of her acute feelings of embarrassment. Somehow, what would've been a situation which would have been awkward with Lance didn't feel that way with Arthur. He had a way of making her feel confident and secure that no one else had ever accomplished before.

"Oh don't worry, I will," Gwen said smiling from ear to ear, "But as pleasurable as these activities have been, I still want to watch the movie."

The sudden change in topic, and Guinevere's allusion to their previous actions caused Arthur to let out a bark of joyous laughter. Of course, it would be just like her to switch to a more "delicate" topic, yet still compliment him at the same time.

"As you wish, my lady," Arthur said as he took her hand and pressed his lips to it.

So they started the movie halfway through the plot, as it had continued to run as they were engaged in a rather vicious snog for part of it, but neither of them seemed to mind. Instead, Gwen put her feet up and leaned her head against Arthur's shoulder. This caused the blonde-haired man to violently grin even more than he had before, and for Gwen to sigh contentedly.

He hadn't realized how late it had truly gotten before he realized that Gwen was fast asleep on his chest. They had shifted slightly as they watched the movie to a more comfortable position. He leaned further back on the sofa, allowing Gwen's head to more easily droop down onto his broad chest. Her feet were still tucked up on the cushions. Sometime before she had fallen asleep Arthur had retrieved a blanket for her-a soft, woolen, Pendragon red blanket. He made a mental note to see her wrapped up in the shade more often as she had snuggled into his side once more-it made her positively glow. The shade complimented her nicely, and Arthur felt as if the shade had branded her his for the entire world to see. And while Arthur's mind was slowly beginning to succumb to sleep, Gwen's dreams were filled with thoughts of what the future would bring.

-End Flashback-

So they had spent the night together-fully clothed and in close quarters-cuddled against each other.

Arthur was still sleeping peacefully, Gwen could tell from the gentle rise and fall of his chest. However, as she shifted ever so slightly so that she could view the peaceful look on his face (one that she was sure she would never get tired of), his eyes shot open. Suddenly, Gwen found herself staring into what could've been the exact shade of the sky on the brightest English sunny day.

"I didn't mean to wake you. I'm so sorry-" Gwen began, but Arthur cut her off.

"Good morning to you too Guinevere," Arthur smiled.

Gwen shut her mouth closed-Arthur clearly wasn't mad at her. In fact, judging from his posture, Gwen could tell that he had no intention of leaving where he was anytime soon. He looked like a man content with all that was right in the world.

They lay there, Arthur holding Gwen in his arms, for a few moments as they relished in the comfortable silence between them, before Gwen spoke up.

"We have to move at some point Arthur," she said gently, nudging Arthur in the ribs.

The sun had just begun to work its way across the heavens, and they both had a busy day of work ahead of them. Arthur's part in Mithian's case would most likely conclude that day. Everything looked promising, and Ryan's release seemed within grasp. However, that didn't mean that they still didn't have a lot of work to do today-and t hat meant they had to get off the sofa.

"Mmmmm," Arthur mumbled, turning his face away from the room and burrowing its way into her hair. His arms decided to wrap fully around Gwen as he did so, firmly locking her in her position of half laying on top of him.

"What was that?" Gwen laughed as his nose brushed against the back of her neck.

"I don't want to," Arthur whined.

Gwen giggled, about to chastise him once again, and maybe squeeze in a morning kiss. However, at that moment Merlin had decided to walk into the room.

"Listen Will, I know the risk that this favor is costing you. But you know I wouldn't ask for it unless-"

He abruptly stopped talking into his cell phone as he realized that Gwen and Arthur were still on the sofa which they had occupied during their movie. The young man clearly did not know that Gwen hadn't gone home the night before, and that Arthur was still in the room.

"I'm going to have to call you back," Merlin said hastily into the receiver before hanging up and turning his attention to his friends.

"So I take it that she said yes?" Merlin asked Arthur, flashing his trademark foolish grin to mask the seriousness of his previous conversation.

Apparently, Arthur hadn't noticed Merlin's sudden change of subject as he grumbled, "Oh shut up Merlin."

He picked up the pillow lying beside him on the couch and threw it at the raven-haired man. Merlin dodged the pillow with ease, his reflexes well-trained to avoid the daily items which were aimed for his head. He decided to take this moment to wisely duck his head out the threshold he had just crossed, and disappeared, yelling over his shoulder, "Hello to you too Gwen!" as he vanished out of sight.

"That idiot…" Arthur mumbled under his breath.

Before he could go any further, however, Gwen had risen up off the sofa, and was currently stretching in the center of his living room. As she stretched with her eyes closed, Arthur drank in all of the curves of her body, marveling at how lovely she looked after their kip on the sofa.

He continued to stare as Gwen opened one eye self-consciously, asking, "Arthur, what are you doing?"

She abruptly stopped stretching, her arms coming down to her side, and opened both of her eyes. She stared back at Arthur, but before she could say another word he jumped off the cushions with lightening speed. He raced over to her and wrapped his arms firmly around her waist.

He leaned in for a kiss on the nose, stepping back with a grin, cheerfully saying, "Nothing at all!"

Then he grasped Gwen's hand, and led the way to the kitchen for breakfast. It was going to be a long day, but with a morning like this one, Arthur had a feeling that it was going to be a good one.

To be continued