"What's this? Slacking on the job, Corporal?" Riley's grumpy voice tore the couple apart.
"Sir!" Peter cried, turning red. "I was just–"
"Proposing? About time! You've been dilly-dallying on this far too long."
"Riley!" Ashley said with censure from behind him. "You told me you were done interfering. Leave them alone."
"But–" He tried.
"You're only going to make it take longer. Give them space." The diminutive blond fixed her husband with a firm glare. "It's time to push off, or something that needs your attention, I'm sure."
Riley's mouth twitched as he prepared a retort, but his wife's one raised eyebrow deterred the effort. With a final look at his sister, he complied with his wife's wishes.
Mayra was a bit dazed from the sudden kiss, one hand covering her mouth. Her lips still tingled.
Peter let out a long sigh as he watched Riley and Ashley walk away.
"You're going to get me into terrible trouble," He grumbled to Mayra.
"Me? Get YOU into trouble??" She asked incredulously, suddenly pulled from her fog of strong emotion. "I'm as innocent as a dove in all this."
"Sure, a messenger dove carrying military secrets," Peter replied. "Perhaps you don't know you're doing anything wrong, but being seen holding you without authorization might get me executed."
Mayra stared at him for a moment before she burst out laughing. His mouth twitched, and he looked over his shoulder to make sure Riley was completely out of sight.
"So you're going to wait for authorization, then?" She asked with a coy smile.
"Only yours," As Peter gazed at her, Mayra's face heated.
"I see." Was all she managed to say.
"And, since you love me…" He began.
"I did say so," Mayra admitted.
"Perhaps I should request permanent authorization." Peter finished.
Mayra's heart pounded in her ears. Was he really about to…
"Is this because Riley told you to?" She suddenly asked. Riley had been far too deep in her business for a while now. She didn't want him to be able to crow in triumph over something so important.
"The man's ideas can't ALL be bad," Peter defended himself. "Surely you wouldn't reject me just to get back at him?"
The young man suddenly seemed quite vulnerable, and Mayra couldn't let him suffer under that mistaken impression. She wasn't petty enough for that, not if it would hurt Peter. She chewed her lip for a moment before making a quick decision about how to handle the moment.
"I suppose there's only one way for you to find that out," She batted her eyes at him.
Peter grinned, and dropped to one knee, taking one of her hands in his. Though she had just given implicit permission for him to do so, the gesture still caught her off guard.
Her breath seemed stuck in her throat, her head flooding with heat. Had the sun come out? It was suddenly so warm!
"Mayra." Peter said, and her eyes were glued to his. A lot passed between them before he continued.
The difference in their heights now that he was kneeling seemed less than when he was standing. The slightly dismaying thought passed quickly out of her head at Peter's next words.
"I love you, deeply. Will you marry me, and be mine forever?" The proposal was simple. Not flowery like in Mayra's books, nor full of meaningless words that all fell short of conveying some everlasting true love.
It was exactly, completely, and perfectly what she hadn't even known she wanted. She put one hand to her chest, trying to calm her heart down from its frantic pace.
Marriage was forever. Absolutely forever, tied to one person, no matter what. Could she commit to that? Was she capable of such a long-term promise?
A small well of panic rose from her stomach, and she struggled against its current, lest she be swept away by it. The urge to flee warred with the knowledge that they were on a relatively small river boat pushing off from shore. There was nowhere to run.
She would have to face this, head-on.
"Peter," She said, focusing on his face.
His handsome, kind, loving face. His entrancing eyes stared into her, waiting patiently while she sorted out her thoughts.
Forever was a long time to make a commitment, yes. But forever with Peter was an easy choice to make.
"Yes." She finished, throwing her arms around his neck as he stood. Her feet left the ground as he hugged her tightly against him and spun her around.
Applause sounded behind Peter's shoulder, and Mayra opened her eyes as the spinning stopped to see her brother and sister-in-law giving them a standing ovation. Peter lowered her to the deck and slowly looked behind him.
"You too, Ashley?" Mayra chided.
The woman unrepentantly ran up to hug her.
"I'm so happy for you!" She cheered, before pulling away. "Come now, Mayra, it is a pretty small boat. We couldn't exactly pretend to be ignorant about it forever. I got too excited!"
"This time it's not my fault." Riley said. "I entirely blame my partner-in-crime."
"Crime? What crime? I'm an innocent observer! Now we have something to celebrate for a few precious hours before we get home and have to deal with all the seriousness of Klain."
"Shouldn't we be preparing for all that?" Peter asked, blinking at her. He seemed uncomfortable with the attention.
"Preparing how? We're on a boat. There's not much to do before we arrive and all get orders. Let me see if I can find something appropriately celebratory in the food aboard. Riley, be a dear and help me, will you?" Ashley winked at Mayra, and then drew her husband away, leaving Peter and Mayra alone in the only semi-private location on the vessel. The rest of the troops aboard were near the stern.
"That was… kind of her," Peter commented a little uncertainly.
"I suppose she couldn't keep Riley away entirely, so she revealed that they were watching before you kissed me again," Mayra thought aloud, a little amused.
"In that case, it was very kind of her," His voice warmed as he turned back to Mayra. "I'm sure she'll keep him away as long as she can, but–"
"--Our time is likely quite limited, yes," She agreed.
He didn't waste another second of it, catching the back of Mayra's head with one hand and pulling her face to his. She was surprised at his speed and passion, so different than the first, gentle, brief kiss they had shared.
He had been trying not to scare her away back then. Now, with her word given and her love declared, he kissed her with all the emotion he'd kept in check for so long.
Peter held her almost desperately, as if afraid she would take it all back. She hugged him closer, kissing him in return with enough passion to allay his fear.
He responded in kind, and the breath was pressed out of her by the fierceness of his embrace. They were both gasping for air when he finally pulled back.
"We should–" He began.
"--take a break from that." She finished.
Not content for him to let her go completely, she laid her head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. He held her more gently than before, his breathing as ragged as her own.
"How soon?" He asked.
"What?" She didn't remember any context for his question. Had she forgotten something they were talking about before? The kissing had driven every thought but him from her mind!
"How soon can we get married? If you're going to kiss me like that, it will be torture to make me wait too long," He teased.
"Oh!" She blinked and pulled her head back to look at him. "I don't know!"
"I know you've probably had your wedding planned out for ages. Just stick me into those plans as the groom. How long can that take to put together?" A smile played about his mouth.
Her eyes narrowed and she stuck out her tongue at him as he chuckled. She wouldn't admit to having everything planned, even though it would make everything a little quicker.
"What if we get through the next national crisis first? There will be too much to worry about when we get back to Klain to prepare for a wedding." She said, her tone sobering.
"Let's not dwell on that until we have to," He responded. "We'll get through it, as we have before."
"With me bandaging your wounded, shirtless body?" Mayra's lifted one eyebrow, hoping to earn a blush from Peter.
"I wouldn't complain about that at all," He grinned like a cat, causing her to blush instead.
"You're not allowed to get wounded." She deflected from his flirtatious tone.
"Whatever you say, Ma'am." He withdrew one arm from around her waist to give her a jaunty salute.
"That's what I like to hear," She winked at him, and he dipped his head to kiss her again. "Mmmm. I like that, too," Mayra murmured against his lips.