A/N: Sorry about the delay. I'm a teacher and I've been super busy with the end of year approaching. I promise I haven't abandoned this story. Thanks for understanding and I hope you enjoy this third chapter.

They had been sitting in the cab for the past half hour in companionable silence, both nervous, but strangely comfortable at the same time. Neither one had dared to say a word to the other as the gently rolling green pastures moved by them eventually giving way to lush emerald meadows covered in edelweiss blossoms.

The quietness between them was becoming too much to bare for Maria and she finally broke the deafening silence between them, "Captain do you know where we are or where we are headed?"

"I'm not sure Fraulein, except that we are about an hour out of Salzburg and close to the Salzach River. I'm sorry for this little escapade, fraulein. I assure you Max will get his due."

"I''m not worried about it, Captain. Besides, you are not all that bad of a companion."

"Tonche, fraulein." He gave her a smile and a nod of his head. "I still wish I knew where we were headed." As if on cue the taxi suddenly swerved to the right side of the road and came to a complete halt.

The cab driver got out of the car and walked around the front of it to open the door for the couple in the back. "Well this is where I am suppose to let you out, sir, madame."

"Here," Georg said questioningly, "In the middle of nowhere?"

"Yes," nodded the cab driver, "I've been instructed to inform you that your destination is down this road just a little ways."

"Umm... you can't drive us down the road? Oh wait, let me guess, you have been instructed not to." He smiled sarcastically at him and Maria could see the veins in his neck begin to pop out.

The cab driver just stood their nodding and smiling as if he kept some great hidden secret behind his dark crinkly eyes.

Grumbling to himself Georg reached for Maria and without thinking or turning to say anything, grabbed her smaller hand in his and began to guide her down the road behind him. No sooner had they taken a few steps then they heard the sound of a motor reving up. They both instantaneously turned toward the loud noise to see the cab scurrying down the road in a cloud of dust.

Maria looked at Georg in panic who was still starring after the cab with lips pursed, eyes narrowing, and hands fidgeting at his side. It was a look that Maria had quickly come to recognize as the beginning signs of extreme agitation and anger, but as soon as he turned to Maria and saw the shocked expression on her face, eyes wide and eyebrows raised, his facial features softened a bit. This situation was really not her fault and he couldn't really blame her for it. No, he would reserve the building agitation bubbling up inside of him for Max after they made it home safely.

Georg sighed, "You said something about enjoying the afternoon, fraulein?"

"Oh Captain, I am sorry, perhaps we should have just convinced him to take us home."

"It's all right, it's not your fault that we are now stuck out here. I can't blame you for Max's bad behavior."

"Well what do we do now?"

"I guess we go find out what's down this road. Shall we?" He gestured for her to walk with him, but Maria was frozen in place, her eyes transfixed somewhere behind him. "Maria," he spoke gently, "shall we?"

Maria was jolted from her thoughts at the sound of her name rolling off of his lips. She felt her knees go weak as she looked at his concerned face.

"Are you all right?"

"Uh yes," she answered and she turned to walk down the tree lined path with Georg following and watching her warily.

He suddenly saw Maria come to a stop and he followed her gaze to a small clearing among the canopy of trees. There in the in the middle of nowhere was a small cottage with a wrap around porch and in front of it was a table set for two with a picnic basket in the middle.

Maria swallowed hard before asking, "You don't suppose that's for us do you?"

"Well the cottage appears to be empty and I certainly don't know who else it could possibly be set for. Wait here and I'll take a look." Georg approached the table and noticed a small envelope addressed to him next to the picnic basket. He carefully opened it and read the contents. It simply read:

'Here's your chance, good luck my friend.'

It wasn't signed. "It is for us," he motioned for Maria, "You might as well come and enjoy it. We might have a long walk back."

Maria found herself unable to move. She had never dined alone with the Captain before. The children had always been present, but the idea of doing so in such a private setting sent a myriad of emotions running through her, not the least of which was fear, fear that he would see right through her and realize the depths of her feelings for him. It petrified her and she could only think about how humiliating it would be for him to find out. Georg cleared his throat, "Fraulein, please." He motioned towards the chair this time.

Maria took a deep breath. There was really no way out of this one. She would just have to be careful to not reveal too much to him. She took one careful step forward and then another until she was sitting in the chair that the Captain had pulled out for her.

He walked around the table and carefully sat in his chair throwing Maria a weak smile. He absent mindedly scratched the side of his face with his fingers, "I suppose we should see what's in the basket."

He reached across the table and opened the top of the wicker basket and began to pull out its contents. The basket was full of meats and cheses, jam and bread, fruits, and an apple strudel for dessert.

Looking at all the food Maria instantly forgot about their situation and her mouth began to water with delight.

"Captain," Maria squeaked, "look at all that food!"

"At least good old Max wasn't planning on starving us to death. Shall we?"

"Yes," Maria shook her head eagerly, "Let's do." They both began to fill their plates and were soon consuming their food silently while the birds in the nearby trees chirped out their sweet melodies.

Georg finally broke the comfortable silence, "Maria..."

"It's beautiful out here with the birds singing happily in the trees and a quaint little cottage nestled among it all."

"Maria," he began a second time. She could feel her breath catch in her throat at the sound of his rich baritone voice calling her name yet again. He wanted to tell her everything about how he was feeling, about how his world had turned upside down when she left and how his heart had practically stopped beating when he saw her return only to be told she wouldn't stay, but he was finding it difficult to start the conversation. "I was wondering if you were ready for the strudel?"

"The what," she could barely get the words out.

"The strudel, would you like some?"

"Oh yes, yes please," she anxiously replied.

"I think we need to decide what we are going to do about getting back into town, Fraulein."

"We can always walk, Captain."

"We could, but I don't think that we will make it before dark. I think we should consider staying in this cottage for the night."

"Won't the children and Max be worried," asked a nervous Maria. Eating a private meal with the a Captain was one thing, but spending the night alone with him was an entirely different thing all together.

"I somehow doubt that," mumbled Georg.

"What did you say?"

"I said I think it would be better for them to be worried for one might than to have us not return at all. It will be safer this way."

"Uh... I really think we ought to at least try to make it back," said Maria panicking as she stood to pack the food back into the basket.

"Fraulein," Georg pushed his hands down on the table and stood from his chair, "it isn't safe and I will not jeopardize my life or yours. we are staying and there won't be another word about it."

Maria walked away from the table and turned to face him, her eyes shining with the same familiar spark of battle readiness he saw in them the day she challenged him about his children while standing soaking wet by the lake. It was an image that still haunted his thoughts with the way her dress clung to her slender figure in all the right places and her hair had matted to her face in perfect disarray.

He walked around the table and stopped just a few feet short of her, "Fraulein, I can see what you are thinking and I won't even entertain the idea of walking back down that long road after dark."

She stared at him in disbelief. He really had no idea at all what she was thinking. She was trembling on the inside at the thought of spending a night alone in a small intimate cottage with the man that she had been dreaming about inappropriately for the past few weeks. She put her hands on her hips and with a new resolve looked straight at him and adamantly said, "We just can't stay, Captain, we must walk back. It just would not be...would not be...er...appropriate."

She watched his eyes widen and then narrow as if he could suddenly see straight into the depths of the Hidden parts of her soul with a new understanding. He took a step toward her and chuckled in a frustrated manner, "Appropriate, Fraulein...yes, I see. It's now all starting to make sense."

Maria looked sheepishly down at the ground trying to hide the growing shade of pink passing across her cheeks, "Make sense, Captain?"

Georg straightened his posture, puffed put his chest, and raised his head higher with an air of indignant satisfsction. "Ah ha! It's not the children or Max you're worried about. It's me."

She swallowed hard, "You, Captain?" She crossed her arms in front of her and with as much courage as she could muster added, "I am most certainly not afraid of you!"

"Oh yes you are." He took another step towards her and this time she noticed he didn't stop moving. Her arms slowly flopped to her sides and she began to take a step backward for every step he took towards her, "you're scared to spend the night alone...with me...in the cottage. What are you so afraid of, Maria?"

Maria could feel her heart begin to beat faster with every step he took towards her. The alluring sound of his deep baritone voice was intoxicating, making it difficult for Maria to think. "I...uh...no...not at...not at all, Captain," she stumbled over the words while she faltered with them in her head. Maria took one more step backwards and came to a sudden halt as her back hit the table. Realizing her mistake her eyes widened with startlement and all she could do was stand there frozen to her spot as she watched him take the final steps towards her, unable to speak or breathe.

"You are afraid that if you have to spend the night with me alone that you might accidentally reveal how you actually feel about me." As he closed the gap between them, he now could see it all in her eyes, the fear, the excitement, the desperation, and the desire. It was the last of those that was the final undoing of all of his senses and he found he could not contain himself any longer.

Maria grasped the table behind her as she watched his eyes grow darker, but before she could escape in any one direction, his lips were upon her and she felt her head swimming in circles. She moved her hands to his chest to try and push him away, but then without any hesitation she felt herself melt into him and her hands slowly glided upward over his shoulders and into his hair. Any thoughts of resistance she may have had were now gone.

It wasn't the deepest of kisses but it wasn't chaste either. Her lips were every bit as soft and sweet against his as he had ever dreamed them to be and it caused goosebumps to run up and down the length of his body. His heart was beating so wildly in his chest that he knew she must have been feeling the effects of it. He smirked inwardly when he felt her resistance fade and her body relax against his. He wanted nothing more than to gather her in his arms and run her straight into the cottage, but instead he did what he knew to be right and released his lips from her, already feeling the loss of connection and desiring more.

He watched as her eyes fluttered open to look at his. He didn't have to search long into the bright shimmering blueness staring back at him. He saw the love and affection in them and a small smile spread across his face, "I love you, Maria."

He could see any last tension and trepidation leave her facial features at those four spoken words and she collapsed into him, laying her head against his shoulder. His arms instantly went around her smaller frame and his fingers immediately stroked her hair on the back of her neck, sending a tingling sensation up and down her spine. He moved his hands around to cup her face and tilted t up towards his so she was looking at him, "Now, will you please listen to me and trust me and just stay put for the night?"

The trust and adoration in her eyes gave him her answer before she even spoke it. Sighing in defeat, she nodded, "All right, I trust you completely. I always have because the truth is that I love you too, Captain."

He flashed a crooked smile at her that made her go weak in the knees and he tapped her nose playfully, "I knew you would see it my way." He watched as she smiled and rolled her eyes at him. "Come on let's get this stuff up." He looked upwards at the clouds forming, "I have a feeling we might get some rain out of those."

They quickly gathered their things together and entered the small house to wait out the night together.

TBC