Part 6
The princess of Arus had just finished her last meeting of the morning when her comm rang with a call from her personal secretary. Almost ignoring it, she picked it up on the last ring. "Yes, Tessa," she managed, exhaustion evident in her voice. "I was just wrapping things up and getting ready to head to my quarters for a quiet lunch. I have a meeting at 1:30 I need to prepare for with the mayor of Almar." The topic would be funding for healthcare for the new maternity hospital that was currently being built in the small, nearby village. Sitting back in her chair as she waited for the secretary to respond, Allura grimaced slightly at some of the pings and pangs that she felt as a result of her night of lovemaking. Flushing slightly at the memory, she smirked as she absent-mindedly straightened the papers on her desk.
"Yes, your Highness, I am sorry to interrupt you," Tessa replied cautiously in response to the sound of weariness in the princess's voice. She found it unfair that everyone else got some time off during the two week respite but the princess did not. Hoping the news she had would bring a smile, the secretary continued, "The Commander is here to see you. He dropped by with some lunch and hoped to catch you with some free time. I know he does not have an appointment; I can tell him you're busy if you prefer…." Her voice trailed off.
Allura's heart leaped in her chest. Keith was here to see her, unannounced and without an appointment. It was so unlike him. Finding the spontaneity exciting, the princess quickly replied, "No, Tessa, it is fine. Please admit the commander. I would love to see him." Realizing how overeager she sounded, she reworded her last comment so it had more decorum. "I mean I would be happy to accept his offer of lunch. Please see him in."
"Yes, your Highness," Tessa replied. In the reception area outside the princess's office, the personal secretary smiled to herself. The princess's enthusiastic response did not go unnoticed. Working together for the last couple of years, Tessa and the princess had become quite close. Though the princess would never reveal something so personal, the secretary could tell what she was feeling whenever the commander was near or whenever his name was mentioned. She blushed and became what Tessa could only describe as giddy. The personal secretary knew that the princess had an extreme crush on the commander and who could blame her.
Glancing over to where the commander stood waiting patiently for the princess's response, Tessa breathed a small sigh as she took in the commander's handsome form. Clutching a small sack in his powerful hands that contained the lunches he brought, he stared out the picture window toward Castle Lake as he waited. Not wanting to keep the princess waiting any longer, Tessa called out to the commander. "Sir," she started. "The princess would be happy to accept your invitation for lunch. You can go on in. She is expecting you."
Turning towards the secretary excitedly, Keith offered a warm smile. "Thank you so much, Tessa. Have a great day!"
Taken aback by his gorgeous smile, Tessa felt her own heart rate quicken. He really was the most desirable man on the planet. Fully understanding what the princess saw in him, Tessa had to turn away before the commander saw the flush rise on her face. Hearing the door swish open, she glanced back at the reception area with a sigh of relief when she realized he had entered the princess's office.
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Inside her spacious, yet cozy office, Allura leaped into action. Running to the ensuite powder room, she quickly checked her hair and make up. Finding herself presentable, she smoothed down the simple blue sheath she was wearing. Hearing the door swish open, she stepped back into the office to greet her unexpected lunch date.
Walking into the room with purpose, Keith stopped short when he caught sight of the princess. She was walking out of her powder room, looking absolutely gorgeous in her knee-length dress with her hair styled in an informal chignon at the base of her neck. His eyes quickly raked over her from head to toe. Knowing what he would find underneath that dress, Keith swallowed hard as his pulse quickened and his eyes darkened. His innocent intentions of talking and lunch flew out the window as his body tightened in anticipation of other delicious possibilities.
Allura felt the heat of Keith's gaze before she even made eye contact. Keith stood stone still, clutching the paper sack in his hand as he stared at her. Riveted by his gaze, Allura allowed her eyes to rake over his muscular form before her eyes finally locked with his obsidian ones.
"Hi Princess," he whispered huskily, her title like a gentle caress. "I thought maybe you could use a break and some lunch. I hope you're hungry." Cocking an eyebrow, he offered a small smile, not realizing the double entendre in his words.
Smiling coyly, Allura realized she was hungry all right, but not for the food contained within the paper sack. She was hungry for what lay underneath the red uniform.
"I would love that, Commander, thank you," she replied. Knowing that deep down she wanted and needed more than just lunch, she asked, "Can you hold on for one moment?"
"Of course," he replied as he moved toward the sofa and coffee table that stood adjacent to the princess's large work area. Settling into the cushions, he placed the paper sack on the coffee table and waited.
With purpose, Allura stepped back to her desk and pushed the button that would connect her to her personal secretary. "Yes, your Highness?" Tessa responded immediately to her summons.
"Tessa, why don't you take the rest of the day off?" Allura offered. Glancing over at Keith, she noticed his eyebrows rise in response to overhearing what she said. Turning back toward the window, the princess continued, "I only have one meeting left at 1:30, and then I plan to take some time for myself."
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In the reception area, Tessa stared at the communicator in her hand. This was too good to be true. She would love to get some time off to spend time with the castle guard she was dating. On the other hand, she knew she should not leave the princess unattended. "Are you sure, your Highness? I really should not leave you alone…"
"I am not alone," came the princess's immediate reply. "The commander is here, and my afternoon meeting is with the mayor of Almar. Koran will be with me. I will be with someone or the rest of the day."
"If you insist, your Highness, thank you," Tessa replied. Beginning to gather her belongings, Tessa wanted to be gone before the princess changed her mind. "I will see you tomorrow morning?"
"Yes, that works," Allura responded. "Oh and Tessa?"
"Yes, your Highness?"
"Can you please put my communicator and summons to "do not disturb" for the next hour and a half? I would like to enjoy my lunch with the commander in peace," the princess requested, an air of authority in her voice. What was left unsaid was that the princess required absolute discretion from her personal secretary on this matter.
"Of course, your Highness," came Tessa's curt reply. This was exciting and unexpected. Nodding to herself, Tessa programmed the do not disturb mode on the princess's communication devices. Somewhat understanding the princess's reasoning behind her need for privacy with the commander, Tessa found she did not care. She would ensure the princess's privacy and enjoy her sudden afternoon off.
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Just as she was about to turn away from her communicator on her desk, Allura was suddenly enveloped by a pair of strong arms, encircling her from behind. Feeling his breath next to her left ear, Allura inhaled sharply as she heard him whisper, "Now Princess, are you sure that's a good idea?"
Turning to face him, Allura glanced up into Keith's face, his handsome features hardened with passion. "Is 'what' a good idea?" the princess breathed, moving her face closer to his, her lips mere inches from his.
"Being completely alone with me," Keith breathed out, moving his lips even closer. "Remember what happened the last time we were alone together?" he teased, eliciting a slight darkening in the eyes of the princess. Unable to stand it any longer, he closed the last distance between them and lowered his lips to hers.
Electricity shot through both of them the moment their lips met. They consumed each other, as if the other was the only thing that could satisfy the insatiable hunger that churned inside them. Kissing passionately for several minutes, the couple stood locked in an impenetrable embrace.
Trying to get closer to her commander, the princess lifted one slim leg to wrap around the commander's waist. Suddenly aware of the intimate position and unwilling to take advantage of it, Keith slowly pulled away. Allura tried to pull his lips back to hers, but he resisted. "Allura," he whispered, leaning his forehead to hers. "Stop, please. We must stop," he implored. "I am not going to ravish you in your office."
"Why not?" she mewed. "Tessa is gone; we are alone."
Sighing deeply, Keith closed his eyes, trying to center himself. "Because you deserve more than that," he explained. "Besides, we don't have much time and we have things to discuss."
Accepting defeat, Allura conceded. She offered one final, chaste kiss to Keith before she dropped her arms and took a full step back. Seeing the longing and regret still in his dark eyes, she offered a conciliatory smile. "So what's for lunch?" she quipped.
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Half an hour later, the princess and commander relaxed on her sofa after consuming the soup and salads that Keith had brought with him. They chatted about mundane things, avoiding the topics of sex and passion and everything that had happened between them in the last twelve hours. Allura found that she enjoyed this side of Keith, friendly, open, down-to-earth and with a great sense of humor. It was a side he seldom let her see. She was hoping that maybe she had earned this side of him, considering that she had given herself to him, heart, mind, and body. Shuddering as her mind went back to last night, she tried to refocus her thoughts to more innocent things.
Keith noticed the darkening of her blue eyes. Knowing where her mind had gone, he decided it was time to talk about what had happened. "Allura," he began. "We need to talk about whatever this is between us."
Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. "No, we don't," she stated emphatically. "Can't we just let things happen? Let it evolve? Ride the wave, as Lance would say?"
Keith laughed at her last statement. "It's funny you would mention Lance because he is the reason I am bringing it up."
"Why?" Allura questioned. "What does Lance have to do with any of this?"
"Well," Keith explained. "I got confirmation that Lance is returning to Arus today. In fact, he arrives…" Keith paused to check the time on his communicator. "...in about a half hour."
"Why is he coming back so early?" the princess asked in confusion. "He still has 4 more days of his leave."
"No idea," Keith replied, "and it doesn't matter. I was hoping we had a few more days to figure this out. But we don't. Lance will be back here this afternoon and we both know that he will know that something is up."
Allura shook her head in disagreement. "No, he won't," she replied. "He couldn't possibly."
"Oh yes, he will," Keith repeated. "He will be able to smell it a mile away."
"I think you're wrong," Allura defended. "And even if he did, what does it matter?" Looking at Keith pointedly, she crossed her arms. "So Keith, since you are so hell bent on having this conversation, what is this between us?" Her doe like blue eyes stared into his dark ones, begging for answers.
Finding her penetrating gaze a bit unnerving, Keith had to glance away for a moment. Clearing his throat, he settled back against the cushions, preparing to say what he needed to say. Raising his eyes, he met and locked eyes with the princess, but with confidence this time. "Allura," he began. "There is a part of me that doesn't think anything should change…"
"What?" Allura exclaimed, anger tinging that one syllable.
Holding up a hand, Keith motioned for her to be quiet. "...but," he continued. "I think we both know that is impossible."
Nodding, Allura didn't say anything. She sat quietly waiting for him to continue.
"I think we both know that there is something between us, that there has always been something between us, and I think it would be unfair to both of us to not see where this goes," he finished before adding, "especially since we crossed the finish line before we even started the race." He smiled to himself with pride at his precise analogy. "I think now we need to run the race."
"But?" Allura questioned. She knew there was more that he was not saying.
"Nope," Keith replied, shaking his head. "There is no but. I think we should give this thing a try and see what happens." Shrugging his shoulders, he tilted his head toward the princess. "What do you think?"
"So just let it evolve as I had already suggested?" Allura restated, a look of bemusement on her beautiful face. This was unexpected. She had expected Keith to come with a laundry list of reasons as to why they couldn't be together; why they shouldn't be together. She's a princess; he's a pilot. She's his subordinate; he's her commanding officer. Koran; nanny. But none of those reasons had even crossed his lips. Glancing up, she saw him watching her.
"Well, what do you think?" he prodded gently. "Let's just see what happens?"
"I need a minute to think," she replied, as her mind churned and her heart raced. She walked over to the picture window overlooking Castle Lake and stood with her arms crossed. Keith remained on the sofa, giving the princess the space she said she needed.
The chirping of Keith's communicator interrupted the tranquility of the room a moment later. "Black, here, over," he responded into the small electronic device.
"Commander, that Garrison transport is entering Arus's airspace. They have been given permission to land in Bay 2," came the voice over the comm. Lance, Keith thought to himself. His second in command would be home soon.
Watching him while he took the call, the princess of Arus acknowledged that their time left together was short. Walking back to the couch, she sat down next to him, leaving little space between them. Once again, their conversation felt unfinished. Reaching out, she took his rough, large hand in her small, soft one. Entwining her fingers with his, she heard his sudden intake of breath at the intimate gesture. She played with his fingers for several moments, marveling at how right it felt to touch him.
"Let's keep things between us for now," Allura said finally. Lifting his hand to her lips, she gently pressed a kiss to his knuckles. "I am not ready to share this with anyone yet."
The simple kiss sent electric shocks firing up Keith's arm. He closed his eyes and worked to slow his breathing as he willed his body not to react. "Fuck," he mumbled to himself. To Allura, he spoke through gritted teeth. "Do you have any idea what you do to me?" he implored. "Right now, all I can think about is laying you down and …" His voice trailed off.
Her blue eyes blazing with awareness, Allura responded by sliding still closer to him. Pressing against him, she lifted her face within an inch of his. "What about now?"
"You are not nice," Keith replied gruffly, before kissing her hard and fast. As soon as it began, the kiss ended. Keith pulled back and slid away from the princess, putting some space between them. "Ok," he finally agreed. "We can keep this between us, but for how long, I don't know. Romelle already suspects and it won't be long before Lance is sniffing around."
"I will deal with Romelle," Allura replied. "You are in charge of keeping Lance out of our business."
Keith's comm chimed again. Glancing down, Keith received a text message stating that the Garrison transport had just landed. Lance would be disembarking soon, and he had told his old friend that he would be there to greet him. Reluctantly, Keith stood up and began gathering what was left from their lunch. Once the table was cleared and the trash thrown away, he turned back to Allura who had stood as well. "I better go," he said reluctantly.
"I know," she replied. Her next appointment was in thirty minutes and she needed a few minutes to freshen up and get herself together. A moment later, the princess's comm chimed indicating that Koran and the mayor of Almar would be meeting the princess in conference room A in 20 min. "See you later?" she asked, her voice hopeful.
"For sure," Keith replied, reaching out to embrace her one more time before they parted ways. He placed a chaste kiss on her temple before he released her. With a final nod, he turned on his heel and headed out the door, heading toward the cargo bays at the rear of the castle.