ostavil | open post

Nikolai knows that eventually Natalia will marry and have her own children and while he'll still be in her life as her guard, his role will change and he won't be in her bed or so close to her as he is now. He knows that they depend upon one another as ports in a storm and when one or the other has bad dreams, they find comfort and solace in the closeness of their relationship. While Nikolai has no desire to be with anyone, he knows Natalia eventually will.

"I know. I know I belong to you. You belong to more than just me but I like to think a little part of you belongs to me too? Yes?"

She'd never let him go. Not even if she reigned for a hundred years, Nikolai would still be by her side, in her life, and, if she had her way, in her bed even still. She heard his whispered wish, a small plea to have even the slightest bit of her affection, and Natalia wanted to weep.

Rising up on her elbow, she shoved disheveled curls over her shoulder and gazed down at the man with whom she knew she'd fallen completely, foolishly, and totally in love, not needing the bright light to see his memorized features even in this almost-complete darkness.

"Nikolao," Natalia stated, reverting to English, their more common language these days, her voice warm, soft, and full of her hidden feelings, "all of me is yours, moya zvezda. Each...and every...part of me..." She couldn't help leaning down as she spoke, and the girl gave a soft little moan when she felt her lips touch his; a girl's kiss, but one stained with her heart's sweet desire.

Nikolai is shocked to feel Natalia's lips up against his own and it's been so long since he's had this sort of affection that he's not quite sure what to do. He parts his lips under hers after a moment's hesitation, though, and threads a tentative hand through her hair.

It's a stupid idea, really, considering she's the Grand Duchess and his charge and far too young but what was the harm in returning a girl's kiss given in affection when he's had so little of it in his life? He doesn't think there's much.

Nikolai wasn't the only one shocked, especially when he returned the kiss, and Natalia gave a soft start to feel his large hand tease through her loose hair. His lips were so soft, and she couldn't help a small mewl when she in turn opened her mouth just the slightest, nearly toppling over on his chest when she realized she could taste him like this.

"...Nikki..." She didn't even realize she'd moaned his name, her girlish voice so breathless, and oh-so eager. Natalia leaned into his hand, tilting her head in sheer instinct, and kissed him again, bumping his nose with hers in her growing enthusiasm.

It's clear (and he knows as a fact) that Natalia has never kissed before so Nikolai keeps things gentle and slow. He draws his tongue along hers for a moment, just showing her the ways they can taste one another, and other than the hand pressed at the small of her back and the one threaded in her hair, he doesn't touch her. He shouldn't be doing this at all but if he's going to, he isn't going to push into too much too fast.

Right now, all this is going to be is a kiss. He stretches out beneath her and shifts his thighs apart a bit to make a cradle for her so she can lay atop him more comfortably. This is going to be better than him covering her, he thinks, and he can gently pull her away when it's too much and he starts getting hard. That isn't something he wants to go into tonight.

A startled gasp escaped the princess when she felt her Nikki's tongue slide along her lips then slip between them, making her head spin and all of her nerves catch fire. She was more than willing to let him guide her, to show her how, and when he shifted downwards, Natalia let him maneuver her atop his broad frame, and she was already shivering with just the intimacy they were so hesitantly sharing.

It was pure instinct to slip astride one of those thick thighs, shifting lightly out of sheer want, that need for friction she still didn't truly understand. Natalia wasn't aware that her thin nightshirt was bunched up around her waist, or that her simple cotton panties were growing damp, or that her breasts ached because the nipples had beaded tight and hard, unconsciously pressed against a certain soldier's broad chest.

"...Nikki," she exhaled again, but this time her voice carried a needy little whimper, and she gently closed her lips over Nikolai's lower, sucking softly before seeking his tongue with hers, just as he'd done a heartbeat ago.

While Natalia might not be aware of her nightshirt or her panties, he is and Nikolai knows he's going to have to put a stop to this very soon or he's going to do something he'll regret for the rest of his life. He groans a little when she sucks his lower lip and for someone he knows hasn't kissed before, she has good instincts.

He grazes his teeth against her lower lip a little before pulling back so he can look into her face. This is enough for right now (and he doesn't know why he's talking himself into this madness except that he's lonely and he does love her) and he needs to let her know that without hurting her feelings.

"Enough for tonight, little printsessa."

His guttural groan nearly sent her reeling. Natalia didn't even realize she was mewing softly, nearly drunk on her first sweet kisses with the man she loved. When Nikolai eased her back, she frowned, protesting, but finally opened her eyes when she heard him speak.

"...but Nikki..." she heard herself whine, then licked her lips with a girlish moan, still able to taste him on her skin. Natalia tried to kiss him again, but only managed to reach his chin and beneath it, slight stubble rasping deliciously against her sensitive, tender lips. "...don't want to stop," she murmured into his neck, nuzzling and sighing in sheer bliss.

She squirmed lightly in his grip, sinuous and so very eager. "Kiss me again, Nikki, please? Just once more for tonight?"

"Printsessa," he says again, more firmly this time. "There's things about this that you don't understand yet and that's all right but when I tell you we need to stop, we need to stop. It isn't because you've done something wrong or that I'm angry...it's that I know more about this than you and you need to go slower."

Hopefully this is a good enough explanation for her but she is a lovesick teenage girl. It might not work.

"There will be other kisses but this one has to end just now, all right?"

The thread of steel in Nikolai's voice brought Natalia, reluctantly, upwards from the fog of lust in which she'd been willingly drowning. Green eyes slowly blinked back into focus, and all of a sudden, the princess found herself quite shy, and she nodded, mute, before gently sliding back to her side of the bed, tucking down small beneath her covers, although a shiver coursed over her when she licked her lips one last time.

"...all right," she whispered, curling up near Nikolai's arm, her red curls strewn across the pillows behind her head. She thought about apologizing, but swallowed the words, since he'd said she'd done nothing wrong, but the return of coherence had made her realize just how wanton she'd really been.

"You have to trust that I know what I'm doing," he says more gently. He settles back into the bed and pulls her to half lay across his chest. They sleep like this often but it feels different this time, feels more electrifying, and Nikolai isn't certain he'll be able to calm down at all.

"It'll be all right, lisichka," he murmurs. "And you'll be all right. I just know you probably feel overwhelmed right now. It's normal enough even if I don't remember the first time I ever kissed someone."

He doesn't remember the last time he did before now, either, but that's less relevant.

"I do trust you," she whispered, settling comfortably with her head pillowed on his chest and her arms draped around him once more. Natalia squeezed lightly before admitting, "...I just...got a little carried away, just now." She tucked her head beneath his chin and closed her eyes. "...didn't mean to."

But kissing him had felt so good! And even now, she yearned to taste him again. Her body definitely agreed, as she felt so warm and alive, pressed tight and close to him as she was. Natalia doubted she'd sleep even a wink tonight.

"How early did you set the alarm?" A safe question, she hoped.

"Four. You can sleep on the plane. You know I don't need to sleep," Nikolai says. He feels bad that she might be embarrassed about having "gone too far" or something like that so he rubs her scalp with his fingers, trying to soothe the tension from her.

"It was your first kiss. Most people get carried away. I just...I don't want you to hurt yourself, that's all. I have to keep you safe even if that means keeping you safe from me."

He says it softly but there's steel behind it: he'll keep her safe from anyone, including himself.

It was gradual this time, but Natalia slowly let herself relax beneath Nikolai's stroking hand, h'mmming softly as he petted her. "...it was a wonderful first kiss," she murmured, soft and happy.

"...and I'm so glad it was with you, my sweet, sweet Nikki..." Lethargy was returning; it, his heartbeat beneath her cheek, and his gentle petting coaxing her back down into slumber once more.

Natalia yawned, then slurred, "...you'll never hurt me, Nikki...not ever...I trust you with my life and even more than that...because I love you so, so, so much, my soldier, my beloved. ...love you so..."

It's a heady feeling, being loved, but Nikolai tries not to let it go to his head too much. He doesn't want to get hurt and while he knows that Natalia loves him she's also so very young and what she knows of love and relationships is very little compared to adults.

He holds her tight against him and while he doesn't sleep exactly, he does doze, and when the alarm goes off in the morning he turns it off so he can shift around where Natalia is on her back and he can lay alongside her. He smooths one hand just beneath her nightshirt and kisses her softly.

"Wake up, sleepy printsessa," he murmurs. "We have a flight."

She'd never been a "morning person", and today was no different. Four am was early, and even with her beloved Nikolai's gentle rumble at her ear and cool metal fingers tracing light trails across her skin, the princess was in no great hurry to open her eyes and "greet the day".

But the early hour didn't stop her from half-consciously reaching for him, turning her small body into his in an effort to hold him close, burrowing her nose beneath his chin as she demurred the very idea of getting out of bed.

"Mmmnnnmmm," she muttered, hitching a bare leg over his muscled thigh. "...too early, Nikki..."

"Flight today," he counters. Nikolai tries not to react to the feel of her bare leg slung over his thigh and wonders how, exactly, he's going to manage to keep his hands off her. He thinks a few kisses are all right. He's a safe enough object of affection, considering he'd never do anything to hurt her, but pushing beyond the boundary of kissing is something he doesn't know that either of them are ready for or should be ready for. As much as he wants it, he's at war with himself.

"We're flying to Malta so we can lay on the warm sand and feel the sun on our skins," he murmurs. Nikolai slides one big hand down to cup her ass and hold her up against him.

"The sooner you wake up, the sooner we can be on our way," he rumbles in rough French, trying to see if that will wake her up.

He was murmuring words at her ear in that wonderfully sexy rumble, almost a lullaby all on its own. Natalia sighed happily, but jolted into full wakefulness with a muted squeal when she felt a large hand settle on her rear, boldly cupping her and hoisting her right up against her Nikolai's hard thick frame.

"--Nikki!" But his name ended on a wanton moan as the princess all but melted against him, shivering as that rough voice flowed down her spine, the words leaving silken kisses mapped over her skin. "Mmmmm, moya zvezda..." Natalia eased up to tease her mouth against his, once more yearning for the taste of his kisses, but a mild flurry of commotion out in the corridor gave pause.

Apparently life was moving on beyond her bedroom door, for the palace was coming alive with the impending journeys of its ruling monarchy. Muttering a sour curse, the Grand Duchess of Russia reluctantly untangled herself from her personal bodyguard and fumbled out of bed, huffing at the timely interruption.

Nikolai is grateful for the interruption. He needs to slow whatever this is way down and being interrupted is a damned good way to do it without hurting the printsessa's feelings. He leans back in the bed and watches her as she gets up and starts moving around.

"I think it's a good time to go have a smoke, personally, but I don't know how they'd feel about it out there."

Everyone is bustling to get them ready to fly and he doesn't know how they'd feel to see him casually in the Grand Duchess's bed having a cigarette. He gets up and stretches enough that his tank top slides up his abs a little and then goes hunting for said cigarettes.

Thankfully, her back was turned when Nikolai ambled out of bed himself, else the princess might have had to duck into her large closet for a moment to regain her composure. But a knock sounded on her door a minute or so later, and the housekeeper opened it and stepped inside, turning on the overhead lights as she did so.

"Good morning, your Highness!" she sang, far too cheery for this ungodly hour of the day. Natalia just gave her a teenaged glower and continued rooting about in her dresser for suitable traveling clothes. Miss Donya had presided over the Tsar's domestic staff since the Grand Duchess had been but a babe, therefore she wasn't too surprised to see the princess's dark shadow emerge from the adjoining room, appearing just as tousled as the princess herself.

"Err, good morning, Nikolai," Miss Donya told him, bobbing her head respectfully. "The car will be ready in half an hour, are we almost packed, then?"

Edited 2020-11-29 16:45 (UTC)

"Da. I'll have her ready. Most of it was packed yesterday," he assures Donya. They're a good team, himself and the rest of the staff, and while Nikolai feels other and foreign sometimes he can let that drop and see them as friends, of a sort. Donya is the easiest one to do that with.

He goes to find Natalia and touches her shoulder lightly with his left hand. "Donya wants you up and at it. You need to become a soldier like me, printsessa. Do you think you can be ready to board the plane soon or am I going to have to pick out your underwear and carry you on?"

She was almost finished brushing her teeth, and she gave Nikolai a look through the bathroom mirror. "I am 'up and at it'," she muttered around her toothbrush, rinsing her mouth and washing off the brush. "Even at this miserable hour of the morning, I'm awake." Natalia shoved past the large assassin, still grouchy and out of sorts. "Be thankful."

Coming back into her bedroom, she eyed the housekeeper with a sour look. "Da, Donya, I'm getting ready, leave me alone." The older lady just raised an amused eyebrow at the cranky little princess, then swept over to the closet and fetched a white linen traveling dress, holding it out with matronly aplomb. "Here, dear. This one should do just fine."

Natalia took it, still grumbling, and shuffled behind the screen to dress. She didn't bother to pin up her curls, or even put on any makeup, since she planned to go right back to sleep once they left the airport.

Nikolai goes to dress as well. As much as he never wears color, there is a cream suit in his closet and he decides to wear it as a treat for Natalia, an extension of their joke the day before. He smooths his hair and doesn't bother shaving, figuring he can do that once they land. It's not a bad look even if it isn't his look.

When he comes back, Natalia is still dressing. He has on cologne again, a rarity, and when he speaks it's in French.

"Hurry up, Talia," he says, laughing as he does. "You don't want to be late, do you? Hold us all up? I'm ready to tan and be lazy."

Still grumbling, the Princess wiggled into the dress the housekeeper had given her; thankfully it was long enough to reach her ankles and had long sleeves, perfect for early spring weather in Russia, as well as the lovely tropical climate of Malta. Miss Donya brought a warm wrap while Natalia pulled on her shoes, and tried, tried very hard, to ignore the clean, masculine scent of Nikolai's cologne when he ambled back into her bedroom.

It was the housekeeper who commented, saying, "Why, you look very fine indeed, Nikolai." She lifted an eyebrow. "And are you two playing the language game again?" Natalia took the offered wrap with a surly look at her gorgeous guardian. "He thinks it's amusing," she muttered. But had to admit that Miss Donya was absolutely right, and it was going to be a long flight to Malta.

"All right," she said finally. "Let's get going, before the day wastes entirely."

When Natalia stumbles back into the bedroom, Nikolai offers her his arm. He doesn't need sleep, really, so he's alert in a way that his printsessa is absolutely not. That's fine. He's the one who has to be constantly aware, not her, and he can keep eyes out for the both of them.

"Am I going to have to carry you into the jet? Or are you going to manage walking on your own as long as you have a little support?" His mouth curves in a smirk as he says it and he knows there's a dimple in his cheek.

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