Give Me Love

chapter twenty three*

Warning: mentions of smut
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The walk back was hot and exhausting. You were dying of thirst but you weren't going to say anything to Anakin because he was walking with a purpose now and you didn't want to slow him down. Still, you were having to jog to keep up with his long steps, and the sun was in your eyes, and even the breeze was hot--

"Y/n, you look tired," he teased, coming to stop suddenly. You didn't even notice where you were as you wiped the perspiration from your forehead, blowing out a long breath.

"It's okay, I'm fine, we're almost there anyway."

"One water, please," he spoke to the Elyrian behind the stand, and now you could see that he'd stopped before a refreshment booth. He was digging out some money from his pocket now, swapping it for the water and then handing it to you.

"Oh. Thanks. You didn't have to do that," you took it from him hesitantly, trying to fight back the rising shame.

"No problem, it's not my money," he joked, and the two of you began walking again. Thankfully, he slowed his pace so that you could actually drink the water without spilling it everywhere. He also let you have your hand back so you could open it, holding it up to your mouth with both hands on the sides which he found oddly adorable.

"Better now?"

"Yeah," you swallowed with a strange look on your face. You held the bottle up for him. "Try it, it's sweet."

He took it from you quizzically. It was just supposed to be normal water, he didn't ask for any flavorings or anything. He studied the label for a moment as you walked under the shade of a few trees in the path, and then took a sip. It was sweet.

"Hm. Strange," he handed it back to you, and noticed that you looked unsure about drinking it now. "Don't worry, it's probably just a natural property of their water here. It should be fine for you to drink still."

Anakin had gone to far more planets than you ever had, and was way more familiar with all these different cultures. No matter how much he liked to tease, you trusted him. So you tilted your head back and downed the rest of the water, licking the sweetness off your lips. It was like nectar.

"I wish all water tasted like this," you admitted. "It's so good."

Between you licking your lips, the slight shine on them now, and you actually admitting that you found the taste good... Anakin felt a funny little flip in his stomach. He wanted to taste the sweetness on your lips for himself, and hear those words in a different context.

The intensity of that feeling was far too strong to be natural. He frowned, suspicious for a moment as a familiar heat rose in his veins.

You were feeling it, too. Suddenly, the prospect of your hand not being in his was appalling, and you chucked the empty bottle into a bin as you passed it and reached out yourself to take his gloved hand. You had never done that willingly before, but even just the feeling of his large hand accepting yours sent little thrills up your spine.

You dismissed the warm feeling in the pit of your stomach as being satisfaction from a day's work well done, allowing Anakin to help you step into the carriage. He followed after you and then you were off, sitting across from each other in the small space while the golden light of late afternoon spilled into the carriage, lighting him up like a flame.

You could hardly stand to look at him straight on. He truly was beautiful-- the tan of his skin, flawless and smooth over the strong set of his jaw and the peaks of his cheekbones, the seaglass blue of his eyes, translucent and tinged green as you passed under the orange beams of light. His hair gleamed a burnished brown, the curls blowing back slightly in the breeze. He never looked more like an angel.