I owe nothing but my headcanon - which is loosely based on the Christmas movie "Love actually"...
Hope you have fun!
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Chapter 21 / 28
Royal chambers
Note: I may repeat myself... but sometimes, life is complicated...
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Working down in the old castle dungeons was thrilling and spooky at the same time.
First, it had been the stretch bench which had to serve for several posing, and it had all been somewhat creepy since the place was rather dark and gloomy. It took the light technicians a lot of effort and skills to get the settings right. Somehow, Anna was glad for any moment where she was allowed to grab her bath robe in between.
And then later, being cuffed to the wall was not necessarily what she had imagined to be expected of her. Kristoff must have sensed her uneasiness at some point when he asked her if she was alright, leaning over her though making sure of keeping the respectful distance. After all that time he was still acting so the correct gentleman around her.
“Uhm… thank you. Somehow, I don´t like the feeling of being tied up like this.”
“It´s fake, you realise that?” he whispered to her temples with an amused voice when David had asked him to move closer and sort of “bury” her into the wall. It was strange though…
“I know,” subconsciously feeling his protection, Anna turned her face, panting into the crook of his neck, “but I can´t tell you why, I´m afraid everybody will go away and leave me here all alone.”
Kristoff abruptly turned his face to look at her, and his heart dropped. Anna fought some tears, how come? She was so jovial all the time, how could she not have fun of what they were doing here like she normally did? It was certainly complete absurdum, and that was the reason they never took it all too seriously.
“Hey…” He hastily but reassuringly squeezed her fingers above the cuffs over her head, while his hand was supposed to rest above her anyway, “nobody is doing such a thing!”
Anna nodded shakily, “sorry.”
“No reason to apologize.”
“Alright folks! Hey Kristoff, once you´re done with flirting, can we go on?”
There was a casual laughter from the team. Usually, nobody really took much notice of the doubles´ conversing during their work, but everybody thought it funny just to imagine them coquetting …
David grinned sympathetically. He was not blind and had well noticed the two getting along so well, of which he was glad after all. The job was odd enough, and he appreciated his actors – even if they were only the doubles – to get along nicely. It brought good vibes to the place.
But he could not restrain to make some jokes occasionally…
“Okay everybody, listen! Great job so far. We are almost done down here. What about we head for a quick break?”
General nodding agreement.
"Good! Uhm, since these mechanisms are a bit tricky here, I suggest we just leave Anna like this for now and come right back. Anything that we can bring you, dear?"
Anna stared terrified, and she instantly felt her body temperature sinking below zero. Luckily, Kristoff was still covering her body, then for the first time on this set she felt utterly embarrassed and exposed. She pressed her eyes shot and prayed inwardly that she could please turn invisible. And then she heard Kristoff´s energic voice yelling through the room.
“That´s not funny, David!”
“Hey, that was only a joke, okay? Sorry Anna! Sam, where are the keys?”
“I got them, just a second, Anna! There you go. Sorry for our boss being an asshole sometimes.” Sam whispered the last words.
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Luckily, they were told to move upstairs into the former royal chambers for the afternoon.
Now, Anna was excited and back into good mood. It was quiet something to be in those rooms where kings and queens must have spent their nights for several centuries. The interior was exquisite, and the bed equipped with nobly embroidered cushions and satin sheets.
Kristoff was lying on his back and Anna was supposed to do the riding. First, she was called to move more up towards his upper chest – well, in fact close to his neck, which was indeed a bit disconcerting since they had not done that before. But right now, Anna didn´t care if only she had not to be tied up to some wall again.
And then, Kristoff made it easy for her when he casually stated that he could not wait to see her in her dining dress that evening. He had an inkling that Anna was excited to spend the night at the castle.
She smiled, grateful for this leisured comment during that irritating task, and had he not helped her out already, when she had felt distressed in the morning?
To mark her regained cheeriness, Anna squeezed her knees teasingly against his rib cage, which got him chortling.
“Alright, looks good so far. Oh Anna, could you scoot back again please, so that you´re sitting on hips level and then lean in a bit? Thanks, yes, that´s it!”
And the team scurried around the room to rearrange panels, screens, and lamps.
This position was not necessarily new to them, and Kristoff had touched and held on to Anna in so many ways already that they were by now moving pretty sync and comfortably at ease with each other. Nevertheless, there was something both could not tell the other, due to respectable reason. They were workmates and although they understood each other so well and found a lot of common interests, still there was this unspoken pact of not getting too flirtatious or too close in any sense.
Anna could not tell Kristoff how attracted she was by him. Not only that he was utterly handsome, but that he represented that sort of man that she had dreamed of maybe all her life. He treated her so kindly and yet with a certain wittiness that made her feel appreciated but not cheaply desired. She could not tell him that she dreamed of him while she tried to find sleep at night. And on the edge of slumber, she fought the desire to wish him next to her in bed… After all, they worked together either in, next, or on the bed every day…
Kristoff could not tell Anna how beautiful she was. It would make it all so complicated. He was used to work with different people, to try different scenes with different colleagues. But by now he could not deny anymore the excitement that he felt when thinking of their teamwork. To work those hours with anyone else was out of question… And then, he could not tell her that he thought of her constantly when he was alone…. It was terrible, but her loveliness so close during the day, made her absence at night almost excruciating.
The thought alone of her being that close like when David called them to imitate those positions like the cowgirl right now, sent a thrill through his system. Her smile and moves were so delicate and teasingly inviting, though most likely undeliberate...
Kristoff closed his eyes, slowly drifting into the sweet secret dream of making love to that wonderful girl. Only that this pure imagination formed more real in his mind than he had intended to and apparently in his groins just the same…
Shit!
The man's eyes snapped open as he felt the pulsating pain in his loins as well as the slight jerking of Anna's hips.
That was the unthinkable nightmare… but it was only her who had noticed, right?… And what will she think of him now?!... Shit, shit, shit… and he was so hard…. Fuck!
Anna gurgled in surprise, looked down at him with blinking eyes and then continued to move rhythmically as before. No one was supposed to notice anything strange. How stunning was this woman?!
"Shit! Anna, I'm so sorry...." He winced barely audible, his face rigid in horror. But Anna's gaze warmed all over and she pressed a soft palm to his chest, leaning forward a little more and whispering so no one could hear, while her moving hips still hid the reason of irritation.
“This… because of me?”
“Who else?” He shrugged, his face burning by now. She was the sweetest, the hottest…
“Oh… don´t worry. I feel flattered.” She bit her lips, and a soft chortle escaped her throat.
“You do?” he almost shrieked with a choked voice. And Anna nodded with a glinting smile.
“Hold on. I take care of this.”
She winked soothingly, and then waved discreetly towards Samantha who came over to the bed. Anna straightened and aimed to plop her complete weight onto the man´s hip, though the confusing convulsing throbs beneath her butt making her heart race in a frenzy. If only nobody would notice. He had helped her, so it was her turn now!
“Uhm… Sam, do you think we could get a short break? I… uhm…. don´t feel so well. I think I ate too much for lunch. Just five minutes or so?”
“Oh dear,” Sam nodded supportively, quickly glanced at Kristoff who grimaced oddly with a shrug and then the woman rushed to David, asking for the break.
“Okay, everybody. Coffee break five minutes. Kristoff, Anna, can we bring you something?”
“Oh, no thank you! We… uhm, just hang around a bit”. Anna chirped with a dismissive gesture.
Everybody left and the room went quiet.
Anna pressed her lips together, waited till the door had closed and then turned her gaze at her partner.
“I… uhm… I will get down and leave you to some privacy, okay?”
“Okay….”
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This had been the most embarrassing moment of his life.
What will Anna be thinking of him now? Though she had been all kindness by leaving him alone for the moment and not making a big deal of it, still he felt so stupid.
Kristoff winced every time the memory of his roused state beneath the girl popped up in his mind. Tragically, this was like a cruel, repeating tape that had been running in his head ever since David had called it a day.
He had grabbed his things, bid Anna a good evening, then stormed out of the chambers and up to his room.
Maybe he should best quit. He could not do this anymore. She was on his mind day and night, and now he could not even stop thinking of her in most intimate ways at work. Well, obviously, because she sat right on top of him. But she didn't deserve such obtuse and disrespectful behaviour.
He had not gone down to the hotel bar to join the others for a late afternoon drink. Nobody seemed to really bother anyway.
Apparently, somebody had noticed his absence when there was a knock on his door. Kristoff did not feel like talking to anybody, but maybe it was Sam with some information about next day´s start which he had missed out. So, he got up and slurped to the door, opening it with a sigh.
