It had been a week since Katherine's fever and she hadn't gotten tired of the thrill of kissing Peter. She had asked Peter before they had gone back to writing letters that day if they could keep what they had private for now. Peter had been hesitant to agree but he had anyway. The truth was Katherine did want people to know, she wanted it a lot but she was scared what people would think of them if they did.
She didn't want people to think badly of Peter especially after what happened at the last ball she attended here. She didn't want people to judge Peter because he was with her. She also had to admit she was also worried what people would say about her. People already saw her as someone who had leached off of the Pevensies in the war and even now many courtiers felt she only had her positions because she had sucked up to the royal siblings or that she had manipulate them. She had found that the chatter and gossip had died down in her most recent stay and yet it didn't stop the looks she received when she was around.
Those questioning disapproving stares that she constantly received, as if everyone was silently judging her even while she breathed. It always spiked up her stress and anxiety and she found that she hated being in spaces full of people that were paying attention to her. Those glares weighed on her shoulders more than she would have liked them to. But sometimes in those rare moments with Peter everything seemed to disappear.
It was the way, when they sat at lunch together, that he ever so delicately interlocked his pinky with hers, constantly making sure not even the servants could see the link. And if a servant did manage to come around to that side of the table he quickly let it go and no one caught their secret gesture. But Katherine found she increasingly missed the warmth it gave her and she always shivered slightly at the loss of contact.
Once when they had a rendezvous behind two of the smooth marble pillars that lined the hallway closely, Katherine had nearly given them away. As two maidservants walked passed their hiding spot, Katherine had broken off the kiss and tilted her head slightly to look through the crack between the two. Peter took the opportunity to find that sweet spot where her neck and shoulder joined and he bit down as he sucked harshly. Katherine had clamped her hand over her mouth to keep her from moaning loudly as Peter soothed the hurt with kitten licks.
The maids had turned around in the hallway, their eyes scanning for the source of the whimper that had escaped however, upon finding nothing, they shrugged and turned away walking down the hall. Katherine had turned back to Peter, very flustered at them almost being caught in this compromising position but Peter had just smirked and kissed her again.
Now Katherine was a little more adjusted to their secret relationship and got a little less flustered around him now that she was aware his feelings were mutual. No matter how many smirks and comments he made, he also showed her that his feelings were pure. Peter, with all his boldness, also got flustered from time to time and Katherine always thought he looked most adorable when his cheeks were dusted in a pink and he would give her a small peck on the lips to distract himself from his obvious embarrassment.
Although they could spend time together in the day, the time they spent was most frequent at night. They had found one day that their balconies were next to each other, separated only by a thick wall of roses and a narrow trellis that supported it. They had never seen each other yet because the rose-covered wall blocked the view of either side. The roses in question were a beautiful dusky pink, but Katherine had never really payed attention to them as she wasn't particularly fond of roses.
However one night as she was out on her balcony she began to hum a quiet tune to herself. It was no Narnian song that she could remember but the melody was warm and it filled her with a sense of home. Suddenly a noise came from her left and she peered over the edge to see what had moved. In the darkness through the roses she could just make out a pair of cobalt blue eyes.
"Katie!" A voice called out softly, "Katie is that you?"
"Peter" she responded, "Peter are you here?"
He leaned to the side of the balcony to get a better view and then suddenly he was met with her grinning face, she smiled mischievously and then before he could protest she he jumped onto the trellis. It shook a bit, but it was a metal contraption and balanced beautifully under the added weight. Katherine carefully moved around the side of the trellis to Peter's side and she winced slightly as some of the thorns pricked her.
"Katie, wait a minute" he finally managed to hiss, "You're going to fall if you're not careful"
Katherine turned around and smiled at him, "Then you'll catch me"
She jumped towards his end of the balcony and he quickly moved forward with his arms outstretched, he let out a sigh of relief as his arms wrapped around her waist and her chest pressed against hers. Her knees slightly knocked against the marbled balcony at the impact.
Pulling her closer to him as he lifted her over the balcony. Placing her gently on her feet, he ran a hand through his hair and breathed deeply.
"If I didn't have my reflexes, you could have died" he told her sternly, ever the overprotective boyfriend.
"But I knew you had those reflexes" she countered with a satisfied smile.
Peter gave her a look and she pouted as she looked down at the floor. Her eyes widened and she looked back up to him with a wan smile. It looked like she was asking him very nicely not to murder her.
Peter looked down to her feet and so the reason why. Blood had started pooling slightly where her feet were, as if they were coming from her feet themselves, because it was.
Gently he picked her up, bridal style and carried her to his bed. As he began to put her down she started squirming.
"Wait, just wait a minute, I'm going to stain your sheets" she told him as she struggled.
Sighing, he instead sat her by the edge of his bed and went into his bathroom. As he turned around, she gasped slightly. He looked back at her confused. She gave him a guilty smile and said softly.
"Maybe you should change your shirt"
Peter went into his bathroom where the basin and cloth he had used when Katherine had a fever was kept. As he turned in the mirror a red stain caught his eye and he moved back to see what it was. Red hand stains were left on his shirt and he realized that he hands were probably bleeding too. He took his shirt off quickly and then began to fill the basin with warm water.
When he came back out of the room he found Katherine waiting quietly on his bed where he had left her. He only realized now how beautiful she looked in the night. Her hair flowed freely and cascaded down her back in chocolate and chestnut waves. The tresses seemed to stop just as they reached the bed surface, about an inch past her lower back's dips.
She looked up at him, noticing that he had entered the room and looked at the basin in his hands to the cloth hung over one of his shoulders and her usual pink cheeks flamed up in red. She averted her eyes as he drew closer and when he finally knelt down by her bed she squeaked out a remark.
"Aren't you going to put a shirt on?" she asked him as she turned her head to the wall where his four poster bed had it's headboard.
He smirked as he propped one of his legs up in a mocking sort of proposal stance and jokingly replied.
"I thought you'd prefer it if I left it off for you but maybe you just don't appreciate art"
Katherine found her spitfire courage again and turned back to retort, "I've seen plenty of artwork whilst supervising your army, trust that there are a lot of good pieces in that collection"
She smirked triumphantly at the slight frown he made and grudgingly he picked up one of her feet and propped it on his knee. Delicately with the washcloth he began to wash away the blood and clean the cuts. Katherine made eye contact with him and suddenly the gesture was such a beautiful intimate thing. He kept eye contact with her even as he rinsed the washcloth in the basin and wrung it out, even when he picked up her other foot when he was done with the first.
Only when he bent down to kiss the inside of her calf when he was finished did the eye contact break.
Then when he gently picked up her hands from her lap and he washed them too.
They looked at each other once more, even when he brought both her hands together to kiss each gently. He kissed the tips of each finger, then her palms. Then he turned over her hands and kissed each knuckle, and the back of each hand. She looked into his eyes as he did, every fibre of her body singing at the touch.
This was Peter. She loved him.
She could hardly think of anything else as she moved to cup his cheeks delicately and traced his cheekbone with one of her thumbs. She wished that they could just stay this way forever. Just the two of them, no titles, no duties, no need to please anyone just the two of them together.
It didn't matter if everyone was around them or if they were alone, it just felt like home. And then he was threading his finger through her dark mass of hair and she barely had time to breathe as their lips connected.
Always gentle, he always held her with the utmost care. It wasn't like she felt like a breakable in his arms and she knew that Peter could be rough when he wanted to be. She smirked into his kiss as she thought of a fond memory, yes he could be rough but even then she felt safe. Like when she was in his arms she was away from the rest of the world and he could protect her from any storm.
And she would to, as she furiously entangled her hair in his thick blond hair and pulled him close to her she knew. She would protect him at any cost. There they were, two parts of a whole, the golden king and the woman shrouded in silver.
Peter broke the kiss for a moment to stare at her, her lips now slightly swollen from their kissing, her hair spread out underneath her and her silver nightdress dangerously pooling higher up her thighs. He marveled at how good the silver looked on her tanned skin, pooling like moonlight by the cinching in her waist.
The silk and lace itself was a wonder to behold but he found his gaze drifting from the nightdress to the apex of her thighs, then he looked back up to her again. He kissed her nose lightly, then her cheeks, then her forehead. Peppering her face in kisses and giggling she leaned up to peck his lips before rolling him over so that she was straddled on his warm, bare chest.
In the lamp glow his golden skin shone as she leaned down slowly and they shared deep kiss, pecking her lips one more time he eventually sat up causing her to laugh slightly as she nearly fell over, he also chuckled and held onto her tightly as he got off the bed.
Then hoisting her over his one shoulder he carried her out of his room and through the hall. Katherine just snickered slightly under her breath as she hung upside down with her hair tickling his ankles.
"Nice ass" she muttered quietly as she continued her snickers, Peter chuckled slightly before slapping her own that was dangerously close to his face, "I know"
He set her down gently on her bed and kissed her brow softly before returning to his room.
They had time he thought to himself as he lay back down in his bed. All the things he wanted to do with Katherine, the life he wanted to live with her, he rolled over in his bed and smiled to himself.
"We have time" he told himself softly as he drifted off to sleep.