Rather shyly, Maria rejoined the Captain and Max after the children had gone to bed the night before she was to return to the Abbey to prepare for her marriage. Max, obeying a silent demand from his friend, stood up after half an hour of animated conversation and stretched. "Well, I guess I should be off to bed ... that is, if you will allow me, Fräulein Maria? Georg? If you need a chaperone, I will stay, by all means, but ..."

"Good night, Max!" Georg almost growled.

Maria smiled at the man who had never looked down on her and who had been so very kind to her in the last few bewildering weeks. "Thank you, Max, for everything."

He gallantly kissed her hand, then confided, "From the moment I first saw you interacting with Georg's children, and standing up for yourself against HIM, I knew you'd be perfect for him."

"MAX!" Georg scowled at him, and with a chuckle, the other man left the room. Then Georg beckoned to her. "Now that we are alone, at last, come here, my dear ..."

Maria hesitated only momentarily, then she said, "G-Georg?" She was still not used to calling him by his name.

"Hmm?" Confound her, why was she not obeying him? He was only ... ah ... he was TELLING her to come closer, not asking her. Then he realized she was speaking again.

"Will you ... play the piano for me tonight?"

"Are you sure?" he asked, surprised by her request.

"Please. It's very relaxing, and I love music, as you know!"

Tucking her hand in his arm, they walked together to the room which housed the piano. "If it hadn't been for you, this room would still not be open," he commented as they entered. "You brought music back into this house ... and love back into my heart."

"You DID have the children, but you wouldn't let them love you," Maria reminded him, smiling. "You only needed to love them, Ca ... Georg."

"Only someone who loves them can put up with that noise in the morning when they're all trying to be so quiet!" he grimaced, but his smile was loving. "And because of you, we all feel loved now." Then he drew her down beside him on the piano bench and began to play, soothing and delighting her.

As the last notes died away, she lightly touched his cheek with her lips. "Thank you. I ... I should go now ..."

"Hmmm ..." was his only audible response. Instead of releasing her, however, he kept a firm hold of her hands and steered her over to the lounge along the side where he sat down and pulled her down beside him. Then his lips came down on hers possessively.

Maria had become more accustomed to his kisses over the last few weeks, but tonight they were headier, more loving, hungrier than ever before. Her arms tightened around his neck and she gave herself to him, body and soul, struggling for breath against the waves of sensation buffeting her slender body, feeling the hot, heavy feeling building almost unbearably.

"Please ..." she begged in a voice she hardly recognized as her own. "Georg, please ..."

"Let go, Maria, FEEL my love!" he urged her huskily, continuing to move against her purposefully. "Feel what I want you to know once we are married and you are mine ..."

"GEORG!" Maria almost sobbed her pleasure, writhing against him in her want and need. Spasms began in her core, spasms that gathered speed and sent her careening helplessly into pure rapture and uncontrollable joy. His movements slowed then stopped, and he cradled her in his arms and murmured soothingly to her until her breathing returned to normal, although strangely her body was still aching for something it hadn't received. Then she realized he was still tense and anticipatory. She could FEEL the desire still shuddering through him! "Are ... are you not ...?" she faltered. Had she done something wrong?

"No." His voice was strained, but his look gentle. "Your first time will not be on a lounge, but in the finest, largest, softest bed in all Salzburg, the night of our wedding. Just two more days, Maria, and you will be mine. MINE!"

She shivered with the intensity of his voice, and the look of fierce hunger in his eyes. How could he possibly love her as much as she loved him? There were so many more appropriate women for him to choose ... what was so special about her that had drawn him to her side?

"Go to your bed, now, Maria. Alone." He almost dispassionately re-fastened the buttons on her bodice, and drew her to her feet, supporting her until she found her balance.

"But ..." she began helplessly.

"Now." His hands clenched at his sides and he turned away, then swung back. "I love you, Maria. I love you, but I shan't take advantage of your innocence more than I have. I ... I'm asking you ... please. Go. Before I forget myself and all my fine resolutions ..." Unconsciously his hand rubbed against his still-impressive erection.

Maria swallowed, and averted her eyes hastily. Was she really ready for what was going to happen on her wedding night? Between her thighs, another rush of wetness startled her, and without a word, she stumbled out of the room and gained the sanctuary of her room. Oh yes, she was ready! Her body was, at any rate, even if her mind had not yet caught up!

O o O o O o

After a wedding that had been more wonderful than she had ever dreamed a wedding could be, Maria and Georg changed into their going-away outfits and bid farewell to the seven children and to Max who had agreed to watch over them for the month the newlyweds were to be away. They had been taken to a very fancy hotel and at last they were alone in a very elegant suite where they were to spend the night before catching the train for Paris in the early afternoon.

Maria had been afraid that her shyness and awkwardness would upset her rather volatile new husband, but moments after the door had closed behind the young man who had carried their bags up, she found herself in Georg's arms, and all her worries vanished under the waves of love he poured upon her. She had no memory of removing her clothes or of him removing his, but in a very short time they were entwined together on the bed. It was no longer a time of tenderness and gentleness, now she was seeing and feeling a fiery passion that ripped through them both with fury.

His mouth took hers with heat and a savage possession while his hands skimmed over her, leaving a trail of raw need over every inch of her bare flesh. When he touched her, it was with fire and light. Maria sobbed into his mouth, unable to help it. It was a cry of fulfilled fantasies.

They climbed the mountain together, both hearts thundering, both breathing quickly and heavily. The feeling of unbearable intensity grew larger and larger as she felt him completing her, making her whole. They reached the summit and she ceased to breath, and in the silence felt the shifting of all she had ever known, ever believed, to make room for the one truth. She loved Captain Georg von Trapp as she had loved no other human being before. Then an avalanche of sensation hit with an explosion of white light and careening motion, catapulting them both down the other side of the mountain, gathering speed and intensity. Maria heard cries she knew were hers joined by his shout of triumph. Pulses of energy coursed through her flesh, her veins, her cells, through her heart and soul.

Maria was only dimly aware when, after a long moment, Georg let out his breath and rolled over, bringing Maria with him, cradling her in the bend of his arm and cushioning her head on his chest. She snuggled against him, listening to his erratic respiration, feeling his skin gradually cool and his muscles unclench. With the echo of Reverend Mother's song in her mind, Maria slept, enfolded in Georg's arms, replete and sated from loving and being loved, content to know that they had both found and fulfilled their dreams...

Climb every mountain,

Ford every stream,

Follow every rainbow

'Till you find your dream!

A dream that will need

All the love you can give,

Everyday of your life

For as long as you live!

Climb every mountain,

Ford every stream,

Follow every rainbow

'Till you find your dream!

THE END!