Weft of Power, Warp of Blood: A Tapestry of Desire

Chapter Ten
Bath and Bed

After a particularly busy day in May, Jasmine was exhausted. Severus had been to the house that morning, to take Arielle out, so she’d done a quick bit of dynamagus work on him. Narcissa Malfoy – a woman she despised, came by to pick up the family’s dress robes. Jasmine had been forced to politely offer her tea and conversation while the lady tried on her new clothing. She had been regally disdainful of the robes, as always and had spoken to Jasmine as though she was an inept servant. The elegant blonde wasted half of Jasmine’s day with gossip, which, in Jasmine’s mind, was a crime worse than talking down to her peers. After gently edging Mrs. Malfoy on her way, Jasmine cleaned up the many pots and trays of herbs that crowded the tiny greenhouse, repotting, weeding, fertilizing (which meant going out to the paddock with an enchanted shovel) and watering the lot. Several herb cuttings were strung from the kitchen windows to dry. Sally Salamander’s Everburning Flame was freshened, though she was still playing in the kitchen fire and Jasmine finished off three new commissions for the Wizard’s Ball and Mr. Percival\'s granddaughter\'s things. Two hours were spent playing Barbie and Cindi with Arielle, after homework was accomplished and Jasmine’s hands ached from tugging tiny clothes on and off the dolls. Dinner was made and finished, dishes were done and the day’s clutter picked up. The barn was clean, animals fed, inside plants watered, rugs beaten outside while she had used magic for that, the dirt had still flown all over – so the house had to be dusted. After Arielle’s bath and story, Skeevers scampered down from an attic visit with Albert and was let into Arielle\'s bedroom, the door was closed with a soft snap. The redhead pattered downstairs to work for a couple of hours. By eleven o’clock, she felt tired, grungy and was heartily sick of ribbon rosettes. She decided on a bath. Sirius followed Jasmine upstairs, her shadow, as usual.

Since Buckbeak had taken the last stall in the barn, Jasmine allowed Sirius to sleep in the house. As the days wore on, he moved from sleeping by the living room hearth, to the upstairs sitting room, to the hallway outside of Jasmine’s bedroom, to just in front of the fireplace in her bedroom and was now comfortably laying next to her bed like a large rug.

She turned on the large bathtub to fill with scented water and bubbles, then in her bedroom, she turned on soft chamber music, lit a few scented candles and began to strip out of her robes. Sirius stared while Jasmine was oblivious to his attention. Button by button, a thin strip of alabaster flesh and strips of burgundy satin were revealed between soft folds of royal blue Egyptian cotton. She hummed softly along with the music, dancing a small step every once in awhile. Sirius was entranced. She shrugged out of her robes facing the closet, tossing them into the hamper. Standing still in the candlelight, Jasmine was a fantasy. Her skin glowed pale gold and her curves were intriguing. Her long hair streamed down her back in a tousled cascade of dark copper. Jasmine was as petite as many young girls but her curves were all lush woman. A dark triangle of satin rested low on her hips and Sirius ached to feel the difference in textures.

She turned slowly, with the toes of one foot pointed as a harpsichord plucked out a pavanne melody. She curtsied to an invisible partner and moved forward a couple of steps. Lifting her left hand to meet the hand of her partner, she circled slowly in time with the slow music then reversed. She smiled dreamily, eyes closed, thinking only of how lovely the music was. Bare feet were silent on the wood floor. A gentle wind through the open window made the candles flicker and her hair dance over her back, revealing and concealing skin. A quick bransle made her hair flash once more. The satin covering her full breasts glowed in the candlelight and the tender flesh rising above the cups rose with every breath and reflected moonlight as she passed the window. The cleft between her breasts was a velvet shadow as she switched places with her invisible partner.

Between the ridges of her collarbones, in the hollow of her throat, sparkled a pendant on an impossibly thin gold chain. Her father had given her the necklace when she graduated from Hogwarts. A tiny open circle of gold wire hung from the chain. Enchanted to spin around the circle was a tiny golden sun with a dancing corona. The other piece of the necklace was added when Arielle was born. Looking like the moon as it spun around the pendant, a small pearl glowed in the candlelight.

Jasmine continued her solitary pavanne as harp and flute joined the song. She slowly circled and dipped, her mind in swirling colors of silks and velvets of a ballroom. Dancing into the bathroom, she turned off the water. Sirius followed just in time to see Jasmine flip her hair over one shoulder and lift her hands behind her to unhook the red satin bra. It dropped to the floor with a shimmy of her shoulders.

Bare breasted with dusky pink nipples slightly puckered in the cool night air, Jasmine pulled a couple of jeweled hairpins from a drawer and secured her auburn hair in a loose topknot. Sirius watched, not daring to blink. She applied a clear, glistening salve to her lips and rubbed them together absently. Slipping her fingers into the waistband of her panties at the hips, she slid them down her legs. Conscientiously, she scooped up the lingerie and tossed it to the hamper. Sirius had to close his eyes, as her sex was revealed when she bent over.

After picking up the latest copy of Witch Weekly and a Muggle romance novel, Jasmine stepped into the bath, sinking into the steaming water and was soon covered to her shoulders in bubbles. Sirius moved closer to the tub.

“You know, Sirius, I don’t mind a big black shadow, but I probably don’t need an audience while I take a bath,” giggled Jasmine. The dog sat down on the bath rug, and seemed to grin down at her. She reached a wet hand out to scratch his ears; he licked her fingers one by one, which made her giggle and say, “So now you’re helping me get clean? Thanks!” Jasmine shook her head and flipped through her magazine, her fingers still being licked.

Later, she set the book down when her muscles were buttery, her hair was curling in humid tendrils down her neck and she was on the verge of falling asleep in the tub. Jasmine was several chapters into her romance novel, improbably titled Witch Way to Love. It featured an American cowboy and a woman that had the face of an angel and the magical powers of a veela – the woman certainly wasn’t a witch, it was unlikely that she was even human. Jasmine shuddered at the terrible pun in the title. She considered the future the poor hero would have with her – but the interplay between the characters was amusing and the lovemaking was torrid. It was nice escapism even if it had nothing to do with reality. Sirius sat with his large head perched on the edge of the bathtub; she combed her fingers absently through his fur the entire time she’d been in the bath. Giving him a final scratch, she stood, water streaming off of her flushed body. Sirius licked the water off her thigh with his warm velvety tongue and Jasmine laughed.

“Eewww, that’s bubbly water, you silly beast get out of here! Shoo,” she tried to command, but the laugh took every bit of authority away. Sirius took it in the spirit in which it was meant and sat down again while she dried off with a thick towel. Once she was mostly dry and wrapped in the towel Jasmine settled on a pretty little vanity chair and smoothed a softly scented moisturizer into her face, arms, feet and legs. The amethyst pins were tugged from her hair and carelessly tossed into the drawer again. She ran a brush quickly through her hair, hung up the towel and left the bathroom, her eyes heavy with sleep. Slowly, Sirius followed; his rainstorm eyes shining in the candlelight.

Jasmine blew out all but one candle, placing a glass holder over the last flame. She tugged back the navy silk duvet and pale blue sheet to climb, deliciously naked and warm, into bed, snuggling under the covers. She felt slightly alone without her shadow next to her as he always was. Sleepily she patted the bed next to her and Sirius, shocked, climbed up. Jasmine murmured, “Don’t let those nails tear my bedspread.”

He settled to lie next to her but jolted when the bed, obviously enchanted, expanded to fit his huge body. Jasmine made a soft sound of amusement and curled her arm over his thick chest, rubbing his stomach with the tips of her fingers. He closed his eyes in agony. As Jasmine’s fingers slowed, Sirius tried desperately to remember every hex he’d ever learned, trying to forget that there was a beautiful, sensuous, sexy, naked woman next to him.

Sirius waited until he heard the soft even breathing indicating Jasmine was asleep. He crept silently from the room. Careful not to wake Arielle, he went into the downstairs bathroom and transformed into human form. Breathing heavily, he leaned against the door. Oh God, the thoughts he was having. He splashed some cool water on his face and looked in the mirror. He looked bad. He rummaged in the cabinet and found some scissors, which he immediately took to his unruly beard and mop of hair. Twenty minutes later he decided that would have to do for now, until he could get a razor. He had shorn most of the beard and tidied his hair as best he could. He put the scissors away and ran his tongue over his teeth... he sighed, not wanting to violate her privacy, but needing a toothbrush and some toothpowder. He weighed the risk of going to the barn where his bag was hidden but decided that it would be too far and too loud. He rummaged some more and found the toothpowder but not a spare toothbrush. After considering for a moment, he grabbed up the larger of the two from the holder. \"Sorry Jas, but a man\'s gotta do what he can.\" He quickly brushed and rinsed, hating the taste of tea tree oils but relishing the clean mouth. \"Damn. Who knew dog breath was simply from lack of toothbrushes for dogs?\" He chuckled to himself and looked in the mirror. \"Not bad, better, but sure not good though,\" he thought. Jasmine\'s image floated across his mind. He groaned inwardly, cleaned up the mess his hair had made, then started the water in the shower. Ice cold. Yeah, that would help.

\"Damn!\" He thought as the stinging needles hit his body. He stood under the spray as long as he could stand it then decided, \"As long as I\'m in here...\" he turned on some warm water and quickly soaped up. This, it turns out, was a mistake. The image of a naked Jasmine walked into the shower with him and he felt the erection start. He quickly turned off the warm water and rinsed under the frigid needles hitting his body. His desire quelled, he stood there for a few more moments letting the water totally quench his desire. Freezing, he stepped from the shower and briskly toweled off. His nipples were hard, his cock was flaccid and he was miserably cold, but clean. He made sure the bathroom was in the same shape as when he had entered forty minutes (had it only been forty minutes? It seemed like a lifetime) ago. He transformed back into his dog form and stealthily remounted the stairs.

At the doorway, he paused. He looked around the room amazed at how much of her imprint was evident. There was no evidence of a man ever having entered. Nothing to indicate a man was even welcome. She had dozens of candles, though only one was still glowing, the scent of springtime mingling with the scent of the fresh cut irises and roses that were in crystal vases scattered about the room. He listened to her breathing, even and deep, coming from the bed. The canopy was draped with white tulle and covered with heavy navy tapestry curtains, dotted with winking stars and glowing moons to add warmth in the winter. She had these tied back with softly gleaming gold ribbons and he could see the ornately carved head and foot boards. He watched the movement of the pale blue sheets as she breathed and moved under them, the navy comforter having been abandoned. He moved into the room and flopped down on the enchanted Oriental rug, watching the woven dragons roam through the rivers and forests while a unicorn visited with a lady in white. Sirius sighed as he watched, listening to Jasmine\'s soft breath and feeling like he had wasted his time taking a cold shower.

Jasmine made a soft sound, tiny hand reaching across the sheets, seeking soft fur. He stood and perched his head on the side of the mattress, nuzzling her back. In her sleep, she twisted, found him and murmured sleepily, \"There you are, c\'mere, boy\" He again climbed up on bed and carefully laid his head on her hip. She placed her hand on his shoulder and settled back into a deep sleep. He tried to make himself believe that he was just a glorified teddy bear. She shifted in her sleep and the sheet slipped below her breasts. He tried to ignore it. The smells, the sight of her naked breasts gleaming in the moonlight filtering through the window, her breathing, so soft and even. He thought about Quidditch players and their stats. He got through eight of the thirteen British and Irish teams before his fierce concentration was broken by a cloud shadow passing through the moonlight. Sirius watched the light play over Jasmine’s skin, over her beautiful breasts and gulped. He used his teeth and tried to move the sheet back over her now exposed breasts. The scent of honeysuckle hit his oversensitive doggy nose. Honeysuckle and Jasmine. It was too much.

Where the dog had lay, there was now a full-grown man. He tentatively lowered his head and flicked his tongue over the exposed nipple. She shuddered in her sleep and he slowly moved so that he could suckle her breast. She moaned and his mouth covered her hardened peak, his hand moved over her belly, the sheet shifting further at his touch.

She dreamed that she was the stunningly beautiful violet-eyed blonde woman from her novel. She dreamed that her true love was a non-magical man who had an uncanny ability with animals and hard, callused hands. He didn’t want to love her, he didn’t want to believe that she was a witch, and hated her for the lie. She dreamed the man with dark eyes and hair was stroking her body and he lowered his poet’s mouth to her breasts. The images in the dream jumbled together, whirling in scenes and lines, but the sensations were vivid. She could feel his tongue on her breast and moaned softly in her sleep.

Sirius explored her with his hand, caressing one smooth hip - then moving down her thigh. Her legs parted slightly and his hand moved to her inner thigh, his mouth still on her breast. She moaned and shifted - he looked up startled and was further surprised when she reached for his head and pulled him back to her breast. The veela woman in Jasmine’s dream tugged her lover’s head closer, Jasmine’s fingers tangled in his hair but her eyes remained closed, lost in the dream. He was more than happy to oblige.

His hand continued stroking her; moving from inner thigh to outer thigh to hip to belly and back again. Jasmine wriggled and moaned, never waking. He could feel the heat between her legs, could smell her arousal. He allowed his hand to slip into the warmth and felt the dampness there. She groaned and her legs parted a bit more. He stroked her sex gently, stirring her arousal and feeling the dampness grow. He continued stroking her gently as his mouth moved to the other breast. He slid a finger into her satin folds, feeling her response immediately. She moaned and slightly arched in her sleep.

The veela-Jasmine arched into her lover’s hands, her eyes closed in passion. Her limbs felt like lead as she slept, but in her mind, her fingers were buried in his soft, damp hair. She felt his beard brush over her skin and thought the sensitive flesh would be red in the morning. It didn’t matter, his mouth was so hot and the tingles he gave her went straight to her clit. The dream woman felt his finger probe into her and she parted her legs even more. She clenched around the cowboy hero’s big finger, trying to hold him inside but her slick heat allowed him to move easily.

He continued to stroke in and out ...his tongue and mouth arousing her breasts until he could wait no longer. He trailed his tongue down her body...into the valley between those beautiful lush breasts...baby kisses on her belly as a second finger entered her. She moaned and bucked as his mouth moved over her. He moved lower, gently parting her thighs further, aware that he shouldn\'t be doing this. He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind that this was wrong, but he couldn\'t stop...she smelled so good and tasted better - and it had been so long.

Jasmine felt her lover leave her breasts and slide down her body... no, it was the veela woman’s body in the dream, but it felt so good. Her thighs spread as she felt his shoulders move between her knees and her hips raised to his mouth.

His tongue found her clit and gently flicked at it...her reaction caused him to deepen the penetration of his fingers and fasten his mouth over her clit. She began to buck beneath him, which caused him to move his fingers in and out in rhythm to her movements. His tongue caressed, flickered, licked and tickled her clit. She moaned and bucked beneath him and he could sense that she was close to orgasm.

Words and phrases from the book flashed through her head. “Building tension”, “stoking fires”, “gasping”, “wide shoulders”, “velvet tongue,” “unbearable heat”, “surging”, “reckless speed”, “heart thudding”, “rolling”, “shimmering,” “pulsing”, “soaring” “pleasure washing over”, “hot honey rain.”

He increased the pressure of his tongue on her now engorged clit and thrust his fingers faster into her...she moaned and shuddered. He felt her pussy muscles clench around his fingers and increased his tongue\'s pressure and speed, bringing her to a peak again and again. When her spasming finally slowed, he slowed his tongue and gently removed his fingers one at a time, gently stroking her down to earth. She gave a final shudder and her breathing returned to normal. She sighed deeply in her sleep and rolled over, seeking her big black shadow.

Sirius swung his legs to the floor then inched his body away from her. He knelt, back bowed, sitting on his heels. His head was bent low, upon his face was a look of anguish. She never consented to having sex with him. She never asked him to touch her. Just because her body had responded… her mind hadn’t. He lifted his hands to cover his face and smelled her on them. His tongue darted out and tasted her sweetness on his lips and then his fingers. He had violated her. By all that was right, she should banish him. He turned into the dog that he was and walked stiffly downstairs to sleep in the kitchen, by the barn door.

Jasmine awoke in a glorious mood, feeling well rested, happy and oddly beautiful. She’d had an amazing dream and felt wonderfully feminine though slightly embarrassed –she’d woken up with her bottom in a damp spot. Jasmine could slightly remember an actual orgasm last night. She giggled and decided that her sleeping body had enjoyed itself while she dreamed about that silly book. The only damper on the day was that Sirius spent most of it with Buckbeak, instead of shadowing her, as usual.

“Oh well,” she mused “I’m not all that exciting anyway, except for that dream.” She giggled the thought away and forgot it.