Anakin backed her up to the edge of the table and before any rational thought came back into her mind, she was on top of it and wrapping her legs around him to make sure he didn't dream of moving. His tongue pressed against her lips, once, twice, before sweeping into her mouth and fuck, maybe she was about to break her every promise. Especially the longer he kissed her like that, the more time she had to savor the taste of him, the wine on his lips, and the strength in his arms…

Anakin pulled back, stealing another much softer kiss as he cup her cheek while they both caught their breath.

"Maybe… Maybe we should stop."

Padmé leaned into him to kiss him again, drawing it out with every small bite of his lip. She leaned back on her hands. "Maybe…"

"But you…" He took a deep breath, taking a step back before she tightened her grip on his hips between her thighs. "Jesus, Padmé. You make it really hard to want to."

"Just a little more, then?" she ventured. The question was more rhetorical than anything else until he made a low noise that seems like an answer of its own.

When she came up for air again, because kissing Anakin without letting it go any further was something akin to drowning, she was flat on her back against the table and his lips were descending at a rapid rate. When she'd landed on her back was hardly as relevant as where his lips were going. He reached her naval before it hit her that it was now or never.

She sat up quickly and grabbed his hands that were settled on her thighs. "Fuck, okay! We have to stop now!"

He dropped to his knees. Or, rather… Fell to his knees and slid his hands down until they landed at her ankles.

"Do we?" He peered up at her from his place at her feet, her lipstick staining his kiss-swollen lips.

No, a voice inside her head screamed. Absolutely not. Please put your current position to good use, screamed another. Just pull me to the edge of the table and…

She groaned softly, closing her eyes tight before she opened them again and nodded. "We do."

"Right," he said, a much more serious expression crossing his face while he rose again and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He cleared his throat and fixed the collar of his shirt. "To… The living room?"

Anakin walked away without her, and some feeling of deep regret landed in her chest. She wanted him to come back and rewind time to two minutes prior when she might've made a different decision. But it was probably for the best—they really should stop. It wasn't until he yelled for her again that she realized she hadn't moved.

She hurried to her feet to join him. In the center of the brown leather couch, he sat with his long legs stretched out to rest on the ottoman in the center of the room.

"Where do you want me?" she asked, mostly innocent, but she swore his eyes darkened further when he cast a glance upwards at her.

"Anywhere you want."

Anakin tilted his head to the spot closest to him and guided her to sit with his hands on her waist. She turned her body to rest her back against the armrest, with her feet on the cushion beside his hip.

This was friendly, wasn't it? Casual? A way to sit that may stall and dim the flames they'd let run wild moments ago…

Anakin cautiously pulled her feet into his lap and rested his forearm on her shins. "What's on your mind, Padmé?"

Too few sane thoughts, and a lot of others that involved still having her back against his dining room table top. She definitely wasn't telling him that.

She shrugged her shoulders and gave him a half smile. "I don't know. A lot of things. And nothing. All at the same time."

"Nothing? Something's always on your mind. I can see it in your eyes." He looked down at his lap, slowly taking one of her feet in his much larger hands and pressing his thumb into the arch of her foot.

Not when your hands are on me like this, there isn't. She didn't even have it in her to scold herself for the thought, either. Not anymore. It was just the shameless truth. And now he was giving her a foot massage? Was that supposed to make it easier for her to think straight?

"You… Don't have to do that, Ani," she stammered out, readjusting herself in her seat.

"Oh." He stopped and dropped her foot. "No, you're right. I'm sorry. I'm getting way too comfortable, too fast, right?"

He started to shift away from her and she reached forward quickly to grab the shoulder of his shirt.

"No! Don't. Don't… Move. I don't—I didn't—mind. I just was saying if you don't want to, you don't have to. That's all." She swallowed thickly as he moved closer to her again, but held his hands away from her.

Yikes. Could she be any more awkward? Or could he? Two seconds ago, they were devouring one another and now it was as if her entire dating history had flown out the window. Every uncomfortable date she'd been on and every relationship she had, had somehow not prepared her for slight physical contact with this man. The one man walking the earth she'd had more physical contact with than anyone else. Sure, it had been a while since she'd been on a date so casual, but… Get it together!

Padmé nudged his hand with her foot carefully, smiling at him when he turned his face to see her. "C'mon. I know you want to." She nudged again, sliding her foot across his thigh and into his other hand.

He snorted a laugh before picking her foot up again. "Not trying to make you uncomfortable. Things were getting a little heated, but I don't want you thinking certain things about me."

He and his damn respect for her was getting her 'a little heated,' to say the least, all over again. Between the two of them, she was the one that should be worried about him thinking certain things about her.

"I would tell you I'm uncomfortable. Trust me and know I don't hold my tongue well." She sighed pleasantly, leaning back when he moved his thumb against the ball of her foot just right.

"Do you go back home tomorrow?"

"I do… I have road plans to go over with the team over the next few weeks. Dormé has my schedule packed, and I have bills and notes to look over, letters to sign, meetings to set up, meet more of the new interns…" She was starting to feel like she was droning on and on, exhausting herself thinking about the list of items on her agenda. She should really learn how to just be quiet when she was nervous. Employ the skills she used every day instead of blabbing on and on about things he couldn't care less about. "You don't care about any of that, and that was super rude. I'm sorry. Yes, I leave tomorrow."

"I didn't mind. I'd listen to you talk about that for hours. Or anything, really. Long as you didn't expect me to have much to contribute."

Anakin slowly twisted his wrist and worked his hand around her heel before he moved just barely up her leg. He gave her a mischievous grin as his hand crept up her calf before moving back down again.

Oh, now he wasn't playing fair at all.

An involuntary hum slipped from her lips and her cheeks warmed from her own lack of self-control. It didn't help, either, that Anakin caught her with raised eyebrows.

"Oh? Enjoying yourself a bit there, Senator?"

Senator. He was impossible. She should stop enjoying every second of his massage just for that, but she decided not to put up a fight. Not tonight. And definitely not when she was enjoying herself, quite a lot, without the desire to call attention to it and make him stop again.

"You better watch your hands if you know what's good for you, soldier." She pointed at him, doing her best to maintain a serious face as he hooked his grip behind her knee. Her eyes went a little wider when she felt his fingertips brush the back of her thigh, but he only laughed before switching legs and rubbing back down toward her ankle. "Th-that's right. That's what I thought," she stuttered out, only encouraging his evil little game.

"Is it? Is that what you thought? Because your face told a very different story just now." He slid his hands back out from under her dress, much to her relief, focusing his attention back on her other foot. She'd sit there all night if he wanted to keep this up, but she had a feeling that would eventually lead to… something else. He was so cocky about it, too, which told her he also knew that could lead to an alternate activity.

"It is, thank you. You don't know everything about me, Anakin!"

"Yes, you are definitely a master of the poker face. On the floor of the senate, that is. Not so much on my couch."

"Anyway. Talk to me. Tell me about you and the… last ten years. I know this is weird and not traditional, but I think we should get some things out there, or at least try to."

"I thought that's what we had been doing."

"It is, but there's still so much we haven't gotten to. And you and I both know there's been a lot of us just recapping the day's events before we fall asleep, too. I want to know, Anakin. I want to know what I missed."

"I don't know what to say, Padmé."

Padmé didn't love putting him on the spot, but he was the one that had the private life. The one that went to war and lost his mother. Sure, she kept her cards close to her chest, but not like he did. Not in the same way at all. Maybe he wasn't ready, though…

They sat in total silence until Padmé got uncomfortable enough to reach behind him for the tv remote. She felt him subtly scoot closer to her on the couch, but pretended not to notice as she scrolled through his Netflix account. If they weren't going to talk, then they should do something that didn't require talking. And not the one thing she could think of that didn't require too many words, either.

She paged through his recommendations and shook her head in exasperation. "Anakin, these movies are all related to sports or war!"

He laughed, yanking away the remote. "I know! And I like it that way. You get your hands on my account and all my algorithms are gonna change to chick-flick suggestions!"

Padmé lunged forward to grab the remote again. Anakin held it far above her head, waving it away every time she came close. "Give it back. You're such a child!"

"You're the one trying to sabotage my account!" He held her back with his other arm as she pawed at his back to climb over him.

She slumped back against the armrest with a huff and stared at him. She was… Definitely not pouting. That would be ridiculous. But… Okay, fuck it. She was pouting. Only because he was such a pain in the ass, though!

"Give it back," she all but whined, using the heel of her foot against his thigh.

He turned his attention back to her, a Cheshire-cat-like smile on his face that made her groan internally. "What do I get out of it if I do?"

Oh, this was the game he wanted to play now? Avoidance, at its finest, with a healthy dose of getting on her nerves. That sounded like them.

"What do you—You are so cantankerous sometimes!"

"Don't use your fancy words around me, okay? Especially not when you're the one asking for things."

"Fancy… Anakin, cantankerous is not a fancy word, especially when it describes you so perfectly. Now. Give me the remote." She shook her head and held her hand out.

Fancy words. What an idiot. Her idiot, she thought momentarily before brushing that aside. No need to dwell on that particular conjured up note of insanity.

There was something incredibly comfortable about the entire night. The reason the silence didn't bother her or she didn't yank away from his every touch had her drifting away in her head to think of the building blocks of moments leading her here. The way he looked, grabbed, held, teased her like it was second nature. God, he was infuriating. He was so familiar and being with him was—she hated to admit—just as simple as he pointed out it could be if she got out of her head. And with Anakin, it was easy to.

"Ah, ah, ah. I asked a question. What do I get in exchange for this remote? What's it worth to—" He swung his arm back out as she attempted to lunge forward and snatch it from his grasp, but it only landed her squarely in his lap. The rest of his words caught in his throat as they both settled into the reality of their new positioning.

She stared at him for a breath, her heart pounding in her chest and threatening to break free. Anakin's eyes scanned her face in that same familiar way, and she tried, so hard, to remind herself she would not look at him like this again. A failed effort because one of them moved and then his lips were soft and warm and taking her breath away all over again.

She moved to lean into him, her hands wrapping around and resting casually at the back of his neck. With less hesitation than before, his tongue parted her lips, and she gripped the curls at the back of his head. The groan that escaped his throat was desperate, needing, wanting.

If not for the fear that she may never breathe again, she wouldn't have broken away. Ever. It may have taken her literally jumping on him to get there, but it wasn't a feeling she wanted to lose too quickly. They'd moved from a smoldering heat to fervent desire coursing through her and the decreasing threshold for giving a damn about what tomorrow brought.

His eyes remained closed to her relief while she scrambled her brain for some kind of plan. Every contingency she'd put on this night and there wasn't a one for an alternative saying when other parts of her body wanted to ask which way to his bedroom. She didn't exactly have too many ways to play this, especially not since she wanted to kiss him. More and more. And… more of him kissing more of her. But she really shouldn't. Not tonight.

When his deep blue eyes finally opened again, she put a lid on her last bit of good judgment. It was her tongue slipping in his mouth, and his hands pushing her down onto her back. His weight moving over her slight frame when she pulled him down with her. His knee nudging hers to prop himself up with a leg between her thighs. Two puzzle pieces trying to fit together on one couch that suddenly felt way too small.

His face hovered inches above hers and everything became very real, sending her right back into a pool of her nerves and distracting her from that warm swirling feeling in her lower back. Anakin noticed her hesitation and stopped, moving to support his weight with the arm braced beside her head.

"Is… this still okay? Do you want to stop?"

She didn't know if he was as worked up as she was, yet here he was, being the sensible one while they were making out like teenagers that couldn't get enough of each other. Aside from the age range, that was exactly how she felt. She wanted more. He was her safe place, and the place she could take risks, trusting he wouldn't even push her unless she gave him the okay. And all she wanted was the feeling of his lips on hers while his weight and warmth surrounded her with no stopping point in sight.

Padmé traced the edge of his jawline with her fingers, placing gentle kisses along the same path before laying her head back again. "I'd like to do what we're doing. But I just—"

"Don't want to have sex," he finished for her. He waited for her confirmation, not even moving a fingertip in the meantime.

"Right. But I don't want to stop, if you're still okay. If you want to, though, we—"

The rest of her words were lost when he reclaimed her mouth and moved yet again to settle his weight where she made room for him to lay between her legs. His chest rested against hers in a much riskier position, but she wasn't that wanton, was she? She had some level of self-control… Or; he did with sticking to their guns. That didn't stop her from hooking one leg around the back of his when his mouth started dragging along her jaw and down her neck. A soft whimper slipped out when he nipped a small spot just below her ear and she gripped his shoulders tight.

He shouldn't be so good at this. He should have to work a little harder to turn her on to that degree, yet he didn't. The soft bites and the gentle way he sucked where her neck met her shoulder had her biting on her own lip so hard, she was shocked she hadn't drawn blood. Wet kisses trailed across her collarbone, warm hands moved up her sides, and she began wondering just how badly her dress would wrinkle if it ended up in, say, a pile of clothes on the floor for a few hours.

He didn't give her long to contemplate that before a combination of one sharp nip at her pulse point and his palm covering her breast through her dress made her gasp as she arched her back to meet his touch.

Her eyes opened wide to find Anakin gazing down at her, matching expressions on their faces. Where did… any of that come from? His action or her reaction. Wherever it came from, they should really stop, or find their way onto a surface that didn't make a sound every time their flushed skin moved against it.

Anakin pressed his forehead against hers. His smile rivaled hers while they beamed at each other and tried to catch their breath.

"We should really stop…" she whispered against his lips. "I'm afraid I won't be able to in a few more minutes."

He let out a shaky, out of breath laugh. "You're probably right. You know you never could resist me."

Leave it to Anakin…

"I'm sorry, who's on top of who right now? I'm innocent, Mr. Skywalker."

"You are many things, Ms. Naberrie. Innocent is not one of them and I should know," he said before he settled down on top of her and rested his head on her chest. "If memory serves."

She popped him in the back of the head gently, but enough to make him flinch as he looked up with a smirk on his face. "Don't you go saying things like that in front of other people. I have a reputation. And you probably left a mark tonight I'll be covering for weeks now."

His smile turned smug, so proud of his handiwork. She only wished she didn't find him so attractive. It would've made for a more effective round of scolding.

"Trust me. I don't want anyone else in the world knowing how not innocent you are. It's our secret," he growled. The low tone of his voice forced her to suppress a shameless noise threatening to escape her as she distracted herself by playing in his hair.

There was that subtle possessiveness she wondered about. It came through in the tightening of his fingers around her waist when she confirmed it was still their 'secret.' Not that she hadn't been with anyone and he had to know that, but it was never like this. She hadn't been anything close to innocent in probably fifteen years, and it truly was Anakin's fault. In some regard, she supposed that made it something just between them. She was perfectly happy—unknowingly—being naïve about certain ideas before Anakin worked on expanding the limits of her imagination.

Though she was always more sheltered and, as Dormé put it, still rather reserved… Anakin Skywalker was the one man that could testify to knowing another side of her. Most of the time, he was the one coming up with some new idea, position, place for them to try. With his constant praise and reassurance, she was more than comfortable with all of his wants. Or demands. But she may have seriously injured several of the men she'd been with since if they'd even dreamt of demanding something from her.

It wasn't the same. And not just because she was older now, though she initially chalked it up to her and Anakin being so young that anything would've been that intoxicating. But he had her more turned on simply laying underneath him than she'd been during with a few of her past partners. So, it was them. Not her. And definitely not her age or lack of experience back then. Her mind started wandering, thinking about what it would be like when they did…

She really needed to stop thinking about this, especially as she squirmed and caused him to grin at her again. All of his looks were sending heat straight between her legs, and what she needed was to keep her cool. All they did was kiss a little. And… touch. Very little. Him having this kind of effect on her just was not fair, in any sense of the word.

After a few moments in the quiet that allowed her to get her heart rate in check, he mumbled, "You still want this?" Anakin handed her the remote with a laugh that rumbled through her until she was laughing along with him. In the frenzy of their kissing, she'd almost forgot how it even started with her and his Netflix account. "And do you want me to get up? I don't want to crush you…"

She ran one hand over his upper back and shoulders, taking the remote in her other before he could tease her with the damn thing again. "Unless you want to, I'm fine. I kind of like it, actually."

He hummed and nuzzled his cheek against her. "Just checking."

Padmé took the opportunity to seek out and search through Netflix's romantic comedy options because if she had to sit through Remember the Titans one more time in her life with Anakin, she would lose it. And since any of the movies were sure to elicit an eye-rolling groan from him, she might as well pick whatever she wanted.

"What about Notting Hill? You always had a thing for Julia Roberts…"

He coughed out a laugh. "Me?! You mean you always had a thing for… What's that guy's name? Hugh something."

"I do not have a thing for Hugh Grant! Don't turn this back on me just because you know I know!"

He scoffed, nudging her in the ribs with his chin as she proceeded with her movie choice. "Whatever. It's not like you were really asking for my opinion, anyway. You were always going to choose it just being a girl, standing in front of a boy in a bookshop…"

"You're right, I wasn't. And great job, quoting a movie you supposedly don't like," she said, trying to contain her smile.

She sat the remote down behind her head on the end table and wiggled further onto the couch. Anakin slid down with her, not wanting to leave his spot, and she didn't really want him to either. He was basically like an oversized, heated, weighted blanket that made her feel calm and content. She turned the volume down, and the subtitles on, hoping whatever they were going to do next was soon because she could already feel the weight of her eyelids.

"Did you still want to know about me?" he said, barely audible over the low volume of the movie.

She looked down to see him still facing the tv. The fabric of her dress pulled some from where he was obviously playing with it in his fidgety nervousness. She continued her gentle strokes of his back and refocused her attention on the movie. "I want to know whatever you want to tell me, Ani."

"Okay…"

She waited. She'd wait forever if that's what it took before she pressured him into speaking. If there was one way to get him to shut down for good, it was to press him or push him about something emotional.

"I still don't really know where to start," he admitted.

Padmé mindlessly twirled one of his curls around the tip of her finger to keep up her affection while he cleared his throat. Wherever he started would be sufficient, though there was one topic she hoped he'd bring up.

"Do you want to start with your mom?" she said, hesitantly. He readjusted himself as she ran her fingertips along the now-tightened muscles in his back. "You don't have to, Anakin. It's only a question. Just the closest point to where we left off…"

She felt his hand moving down her leg, working the soft cotton of her dress between his fingers. "No, that's… That's probably where I should start. That's the part I don't know how to put into words."

"Do you want me to? Because I actually have a few things I've been wanting to say since I wasn't there. And I should've been."

"Stop, Padmé. It's not your fault. It's… No one's fault. That's one lesson I've been nearly beating myself in the head with for years to learn. Sometimes bad things just happen and there isn't a reason."

"But I can still tell you I'm sorry. And I am. There was not a single day I didn't want to tell you that. I can't even imagine—"

"It's definitely one of the worst things I've dealt with. The news was delayed getting to me because I was out in the field, so I didn't know until days after and it…" He paused and took a deep breath. "I'd say it was like someone ripped my heart out, but that was something I felt before and this wasn't. This was like losing the reason to live."

Padmé gripped the back of his shirt in her fist, fighting the burning in her nose. It wasn't the talk of his mom that hit her like a ton of bricks, but the personal note he added in. Having his heart ripped out. Hadn't they done this already? In an ugly, off-balance, drunken argument where they just had to put everything on the table and air all of their grievances. It was born from anger, though, and this was pain.

Her quivering lip caused her words to be mumbled together, grateful that she didn't have to face him while they ventured into the remnants of heartache again. "I didn't want to hurt you, Anakin. Ever."

"I know… I wasn't trying to rehash that, I know. Things are different now. I've been working through it. And I have with a lot of it. Not all, but I try."

He moved again and her breath caught, thinking he was going to look up and see the tears in her eyes. She watched him adjust his face as another tear fell onto her dress. She brought her arm around and gently rested her palm against his cheek. The juxtaposition of the two of them teary-eyed while Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant got along wonderfully on the television in front of them.

"I was angry, Padmé. For a long time. Just… Consumed by it. At everyone. About everything. I was mad at Cliegg. I was mad I missed her service. And I couldn't stop. They relieved me of my mission and I was afraid I'd lost the one thing I had, but they found me a redirection with less dangerous tasks and forced me to talk to someone. Honestly, I still feel shitty about that. I was a real asshole to her, and she was only doing her job. Slowly, though, you know. I got back to doing what was asked of me. She was gone. That was that. My life wouldn't be the same, but it was still my life to live…"

"I'm proud of you. Of all that you've accomplished and overcome, Anakin."

He remained silent, not moving aside from an occasional shudder or tremble, so she tried to fill the air. With her voice lower, she could keep her own emotions in check and still be soothing.

"I know I gave you a hard time about keeping up with me, but I felt I couldn't escape you. I wanted to stay up on military operations when I really had no business on those committees. I just wanted to know if something happened to you."

She chewed the inside of her cheek. Her mouth was moving faster than her brain in telling him any of this and totally disregarding the multitude of rules she was probably breaking in the process.

"Your helicopter was shot down and they couldn't find you even after they found your men, I—" She took a deep breath, trying to ground herself enough to carry on. His hand engulf her much smaller one and he held it next to his face. His thumb gently reassuring her as it swept over her hand. "It made me sick—physically sick—that I'd never even have the chance of seeing you again. That you wouldn't know I cared."

The weight of her words hung in the air like a thick fog. After what felt like an eternity, he whispered, "You're too good for me." He turned his head to press a gentle kiss to her palm and looked up for the first time. "There's so much more to say that I just can't. But I want to tell you when I figure it out. If you'll still listen?"

"I always want you to talk to me. Even when I suck at showing it, it doesn't mean I don't feel it."

The next words out of his mouth were almost as heartbreaking as his comment about shattering hearts.

"Padmé…"

"What is it?"

"Do… Are we… Am I going to see you again after tomorrow?"

"Of course, Ani. Of course. I'm going to figure out how to see you all the time if that's what you want, too."

He took a deep breath, lifting himself and turning over to look in her eyes as he spoke. "I have never wanted anything more." His cheeks were still streaked from obvious tears, but there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes that she'd never been happier to see.

She grabbed his face and pulled him in for a slower, more passionate kiss. Neither had she. He'd defied expectations with his honesty. She knew it only scratched the surface of pain and regret, and that she was probably taking a lot on with getting more involved than she'd been in years, but she couldn't imagine going back to a world without Anakin. She'd end up with an Anna Scott press conference moment in the middle of a campaign speech from some guy that just reminded her of Anakin.

Regretfully, he pulled away and stood to take off his dress shirt before he sat on the other end of the couch and held out his hands for her. She obliged, crawling over his legs that stretched toward her and leaned in for one more lazy kiss before she laid on his chest. Safety. She basked in sharing his warmth again with his firm body beneath her and her ability to feel every twitch and jolt while she casually traced the hard ridges of his muscles through his thin undershirt. Her Ani.

His fingers moved to take down her braids while she yawned. There was something so tender and natural about him working to unpin her hair while they lay tangled in each other's arms. He pulled out the last of her bobby-pins, trying to be gentle while he pulled her hair apart. She tried not to wince but couldn't help but hiss when his fingers got caught in one braid and he pulled unexpectedly hard. He murmured an apology, and she rushed to assure him it was fine before deciding to help him out.

Once her hair was freed, he made fun of his own clumsiness and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. His fingers massaging her scalp were slowly lulling her to sleep. She should probably go home, but she didn't want to. She started to not even want to leave him in the morning.

Sola's words came flooding back to her mind while she listened to the thump of his heartbeat beneath her ear. He made everything different. She was sure as she ever was—she did love him. And maybe he still loved her. Or maybe he could eventually. It had to be possible to make it work. She wanted to because, like her sister said regarding Darred, Anakin was the only one she could imagine 'doing' life with. Now. And forever.