Maria cleared her throat gently as she left the bedroom and made her way over to the telephone that was ringing in the sitting room, slowly tying the ribbons of her silk dressing gown around herself as she yawned softly into the palm of her hand. She picked up the receiver and placed it to her ear, just as Georg's arms wrapped around her from behind and he started kissing the side of her neck. 'Come back to bed,' He murmured. 'It's too early to get up yet, you can speak with the children later,' She rolled her eyes with a light smirk as she waited for the caller to pick up.
'Hello, Max,' She replied when he eventually spoke from the other end of the line, a soft groan of annoyance escaping Georg as he gently pulled the end of the ribbon and Maria's dressing gown fell open at the front, his hands moving round to caress the warm skin of her stomach. 'Yes, it's been lovely so far. Max, what's wrong?' Georg slowly pulled away from his wife's skin as he heard the slight worry in her voice and he creased his brow when she turned to face him with her eyes holding trepidation. She gasped softly a few moments later and clasped her hand over her mouth as Georg could faintly hear Max's anxious voice feeding through the telephone. 'Yes,' She nodded nervously as she turned away from Georg for a moment. 'Yes, I'll tell him and we'll make arrangements as soon as possible. Please, just try and remain calm until we get there. Don't allow the children to worry about anything, it won't help matters. We'll see you soon, goodbye Max,' She then slowly put down the receiver and remained silent for several long minutes until Georg placed a gentle hand upon her back.
'What is it?' He asked gently when she slowly began to tie her dressing gown closed once again.
'It's the Anschluss,' Her voice trembled as she met his gaze. 'It started yesterday morning but Max couldn't get through until now, all the lines are being cut off,' Georg's heart sank at her words as he thought about the children being alone and in danger, and he brought Maria close to him as the fear was evident in her eyes. 'What if we don't get back in time?' She whimpered into the soft curls upon his chest, his fingers trailing slowly through her hair. He shushed her gently as he felt her beginning to cry against him, and dropped a soft kiss to the crown of her head.
'We will, my darling,' He reassured her as he slowly pulled her away from him and cupped her face, kissing away her tears as they fell down her cheeks. 'We're going to get back in time and I swear that I am going to protect you and the children with all of my strength, alright?' She nodded, but he could see the uncertainty in her eyes. 'Have I ever let you down before?' She shook her head with a gentle smile, stroking her fingertips against the soft hair that covered his arms. 'Then I want you to trust me, because to get to you and the children they have to go through me,' She lay her head down against his chest and nuzzled further into him as she wrapped her arms around his middle.
'Can we leave today, Georg? Please? I don't want to spend any more time worrying about the children, because all I want is for all of us to be together. I'm not going to deny it, I've loved every moment of our honeymoon, but I don't think I'll be able to stay here for another week. No, I can't stay here for another week...' He took her chin upon his index finger, lifting her gaze to his.
'I was just about to suggest that myself, sweetheart,' He smiled lovingly down at her as he held her close. She stretched up to brush her lips to his, and he deepened it slowly as she hummed into his mouth. 'I love you,' He breathed after gently nipping upon her lower lip.
'I love you too,' She cupped the sides of his neck. 'And we're going to get through this together. As a family,' He pressed his lips to her temple before the two of them headed into their bedroom to change for the trip back to Austria.
It was later that same afternoon when the two of them were able to board the train which would safely take them back home. Her nerves were beginning to get the better of her, and she found that she couldn't think of anything other than the children no matter how hard she tried. The thought of anything happening to the seven of them made her stomach turn and tears spring to her eyes, and she was thankful that Georg was so supportive of her. 'We'll be home soon, my darling,' He reassured her when he joined her by the window and rested his hands upon her sides through the jacket of her Chartreuse skirt suit that had been made for her new role as Baroness. 'I know you're worried about the children and so am I, but worrying isn't going to help anyone,' She took a deep breath as she knew that he was right, settling back into his arms as he kissed her shoulder comfortingly.
'I suppose you're right,' She breathed softly. 'Besides, they're with Max,'
'Yes, that's why I'm worried,' He teased as he buried his face into the crook of her neck, earning himself a halfhearted smack on the chest. She gave a content sigh as she lay her head back against his shoulder and he left several light kisses up the side of her neck. 'Why don't I help you try and take your mind off of things for a little while?' He hummed against her as his fingers moved to the buttons on the front of her jacket and began to slowly slip them through the holes.
'And how, may I ask...' She trailed off with a light whimper when he licked her neck gently, slipping her jacket off. 'Do you intend to do that?'
'By making love to you so profoundly that you won't remember your own name when I'm finished with you,' He turned her in his arms and her eyes held a darkness that he'd gotten extremely used to over the past three and a half weeks.
'Mmm, how could I ever refuse you when you announce it like that?' She purred as she let her lips meet his in a soft kiss, their tongues brushing gently over one another's as her arms made their way around his neck. 'Carry me,' She breathed against his lips, feeling him lift her gently into his arms before she wrapped her legs around his waist and he lay her down upon the seat.
'That was amazing,' She panted breathlessly as she lay on her back an hour and a half later, her hair stuck to her face as her chest rose and fell heavily from their exertions. 'How come we haven't done it like this before?' She turned her head to face him as he was looking up at the ceiling whilst he brushed a dark strand of hair out of his eyes, wrapping a strong arm around her and bringing her close to him beneath the soft blanket so that she could snuggle into his warmth.
'I didn't think you'd be up for it, I suppose,' He stroked his fingertips slowly against the warm skin of her shoulder. 'We were still learning what one another liked most whilst being intimate, and I didn't want to rush you into anything if you weren't ready,' He kissed her sweaty brow.
'Oh, my Captain,' She stroked her fingers through the dark curls that covered his chest. 'You definitely know how to make a girl find her sea-legs,' He chuckled as he tilted her head back slightly in order to cover her mouth with his own, revelling in her soft hum of satiation.
'Maybe I'll have to take you sailing one time, just the two of us,' He hummed as he turned his attention towards her neck. 'You'd enjoy that, right?' She hummed in reply as her head fell back when he sucked upon her sweet spot, his arm draped across her stomach.
'I think I enjoy anything as long as it's done with you next to me,' She admitted. 'Why do you think I sat through that ghastly business meeting last month when I was being told about what my new role as Baroness would bring with it?' He smiled lovingly at her as he traced her jaw with his fingertips, shaking his head slowly in disbelief that the beautiful woman in his arms actually belonged to him. Just a few months ago he was her superior and he was unjust towards her, yet now he saw her as just as equal as he was and he berated himself whenever he hurt her.
'I keep feeling as though I'm going to wake up and all of this is going to be a dream,' He murmured against her hairline. 'That-that you're going to be gone again, not in my arms. I dreamt of you so many times after you'd left, it was unbelievable. I even slept in your own room the night that I found it empty, but it just seemed so lifeless. Everything was so quiet and moved so slowly when you were gone, because we weren't able to hear your singing when you walked through the house. I think I missed you more than the children...Silly, isn't it?' She cupped his face gently and shook her head as she brought his gaze to hers.
'Not at all,' She whispered. 'I was selfish and troubled when I ran away and it broke my heart to leave you and the children behind. The reason that I felt that I had to leave was because I was...scared. I-I was frightened...' He furrowed his brow a little in concern.
'Frightened of what, my sweet Fraulein? I didn't do anything to make you feel uncomfortable or to hurt you, did I?' She silenced him with a kiss.
'No, you were a complete gentleman...Well, after our argument by the lake anyway...' They shared a loving chuckle. 'I just didn't know how to explain how I was feeling. Not even to myself. I was just so madly in love with you, and I was there on God's errand. I felt as though I'd sinned, and as though I was the one making you uncomfortable in your own home. I knew that you were going to marry the Baroness, but when I fell deeper and deeper in love with you it became such a struggle to hide my feelings. I couldn't come to you and reveal that I was in love with you, because it wasn't right to do so. When I returned that was only because I knew I needed to face my problems instead of hiding from them, but when Brigitta told me that you were engaged, I...' She cuddled against his chest and he kissed the crown of her head, gently stroking her hair. 'I had never felt so brokenhearted in all my life, and that just made me feel worse. If you hadn't had come out to me that same night and said the things that you did, before kissing me in the gazebo and singing with me, I don't know what I would have done. I just know that I wouldn't have been able to sit in the same room as you and the Baroness and pretend that everything was alright, watching you falling in love with another woman. It would have been too painful,' He brought her away gently and kissed the tip of her nose. 'I had so many dreams of you too...' She revealed. 'Dreams of you kissing my neck whilst your hands were upon my body and you were pressing me up against the wall, and dreams too inappropriate for me to think about. Especially when you were only my employer at that point,' He sighed as he caressed her flushed cheek.
'You never have to worry about how I feel about you, mein liebling. You are, and forever will be the only woman that I will ever feel desire for. The only woman that will ever lay in my arms in the evening whilst we listen to the rain together, and the only woman that will ever have the title of my children's mother. I could never get used to holding another in my arms now that I know how you feel against me, how your back fits perfectly against my chest when we settle for bed, how beautiful your sighs are when I wake you every morning with kisses over your face,' He peppered delicate kisses over her cheeks, forehead, nose, eyelids, chin, and lips to prove his point, revelling in her sigh of contentment. 'I love you, Maria, with my entire heart and soul, and I never want you to forget that,' She kissed his shoulder gently as she moved closer to him, her head laying there a few moments later as she nuzzled into his neck.
'I won't,' She murmured as she slowly began to settle into a peaceful slumber, his arms tight around her waist to hold her close. 'I never could,'
A/N: Please Review