Of Death and Fire

sweat


CHAPTER 15: Sweat, Blood and Silence.
 
Author's warning: This chapter contains hints of consensual sex, although nothing graphic. If this offends you (and I hope it doesn't) DON'T READ IT! If not, enjoy!
 
 
It only took her minutes to reach Snape's dungeon. With her heart pounding wild, she sneaked inside the half-lit room and closed the door behind her, trying to locate him in the darkness. But as soon as the door was closed, he came out of the shadows and pulled her in his arms. Waving his wand and mumbling something, he secured the door and forced his lips on hers.
Any trace of rational thought had vanished from their minds, as they tore each other's clothes, trying to feel each other with all senses. They reached out with fingers, with tongues and teeth, lost in the smell of passion that rose from their bodies. Morgaine found herself pinned against the wall, Snape's body pressing hard on her, her hands pulling him even closer. She lifted her legs around his waist, rejoicing at the sound of his sharp breath. He carried her across the darkm anm and inside his chamber.
He put her down next to the bed. For a few moments, they just stood there staring at each other, knowing that there was no way back. Slowly, Morgaine removed the shredded remains of her dress and climbed on the bed, never taking her eyes from his face. A heartbeat later, Snape removed his shirt, unbuckled his pants and followed her.
The room was silent save for their breathing. Never loosing eye contact, he crawled closer to her, caressing the skin of her thighs as he parted her legs. As he lowered his body on hers, she bit her lips trying to hold back a cry, feeling the pain of the first thrust in every cell of her body. But pain was an old friend of hers, and could not discomfort her for long. And mingled with this pain was a new, more fierce sensation that made her blood run wild.
Their bodies danced in an ancient rhythm, as he thrusted in her, with each movement reaching deeper and faster inside. And with each thrust she felt a tidal wave building up, until she could not longer hold back. She let herself surrender to bliss, pulling him harder on her, her body shaking and trembling out of controntilntil pleasure was also pain. And then he felt him reach his own release, as his muscles stiffened suddenly, and thrusted one last time, letting out a long, soft sigh. It was the only sound he ever made during their coupling.
He collapsed on her, but then rearranged his body on her side, letting her breath, with his arm still around her. He was staring at the ceiling, while her face was hidden in her hair, as the silence grew tighter around them. It was an awkward moment, none of them sure of how to handle it. Morgaine was the first to break it.
"Take it", she whispered in his ear.
He turned and looked at her, his face unreadable.
"Take it", she repeated. "My blood".
"I already told you", he whispered, "that I don't want your blood".
"And we both know you lied", she was quick to reply, her eyes fixed in his. "Go on", she urged him. "I won't be offended".
She closed her eyes as she felt him rising from the bed, his fingers reaching for her inner thighs, stroking gently as he collected his prize. He rose from the bed, and she could hear sound of vials and glass jars as he was storing away his new ingredient. She turned around, lying on her stomach and hid her face between her hair and the pillows.
She said she would not be offended, but she was. For a brief moment she had hoped that there was more in this, but once more she ended up feeling used and humiliated.
As he returned to bed, Snape felt the change in her mood. He lied beside her, turning to his side to look at her. Her face was still hidden, but he knew she was just shutting him out. He let his eyes follow the delicate pattern of the tattoos on her back, and he traced the marks with his fingertips. He felt her flesh tremble under his touch, as he reached an old scar at the left side of her chest.
"Was it that bad?" he asked, attempting to break the silence.
It was the last thing Morgaine expected to hear, and she removed the hair from her face, revealing a surprised look.
"Bad? No, it wasn't bad at all", she replied. "Just a little... uncomfortable at first", she added, hoping she wouldn't blush.
He lowered his head over her face, kissing her ear with his breath.
"The second time would be much better, believe me", he whispered with a smile that implied a lot.
She turned on her back, facing him.
"So, there's going to be a second time?" she smiled back.
"Definitely", he replied, his arousal evident in his voice. He once more climbed on top of her, letting her know that this 'second time' was sooner than she thought.
"You didn't think you could get away so easily, now, did you?" he said, as he sealed her mouth with his, never giving her a chance to answer.
And they spoke no more, as he was determined to show her that the second time would indeed be much better. And, much to their pleasure, he was right.
~*~
A few hours later, Snape started from his sleep. For a moment, he failed to recognize the person sleeping beside him, but in no time the memories of the past hours came flooding in. He carefully sat on the edge of the bed, trying not to wake her up. And then he begun to evaluate the new situation he found himself in.
His first thought was to send a message to Malfoy saying, "I won!", but quickly dismissed the thought. Better to keep this a secret, at least for the time being. The main question was how he should deal with her?
He could approach this as a one-night stand, letting her go in the morning and avoid future complications. He had achieved his goals, harvesting her blood and beating Malfoy's challenge. Better end it now, before things got out of hand. But as he looked at her, he knew he wouldn't let her go. Not yet. This was too good to throw away so easily. Not just the sexual part, which, he dared to admit, was probably one of his best experiences so far. This woman had power. Not the power of money, or status or whatever someone like Malfoy might value. This was true power; the one that could built bridges between worlds, elves and necromancers, between Life and Death. And he could benefit from this power, learn from it. Especially with what waited him down the road.
He shivered and touched the faint mark on his arm. He wondered if she had seen it. And if she had, why hadn't she said anything? But again, he doubted if she would ever ask. One thing necromancers knew and respected were old, dark secrets.
By now he was wide awake. Knowing he would not sleep again that night put put on his robes and walked to his office. Let her sleep in peace, he thought, as he took out several ungraded assignments, deciding to occupy troutroubled mind with work.
~*~
Some time later, Morgaine woke up. She looked around, puzzled of the unfamiliar surroundings. And then she remembered. She looked around once more, but there was no trace of Snape. Feeling a bit relieved, she rose from the bed and entered the bathroom. She hardly dared to look at herself in the mirror. She just tried to clean up the sticky remnants of their past activities.
Back in the room, she studied the remnants of her clothes. Feeling vulnerable naked, she decided to summon something from her room. But with her mind not well focused, she ended up with one of her brother's shirts. Well, at least it's black, she thought and put it on, knowing it was at least two sizes big. And then he moved to find Snape.
She found him in his office, grading papers. For a moment she just stood there, not believing her eyes.
"Are you insane?" she said. "Grading papers in the middle of the night?"
He raised his head from his work, turning to face her.
"I couldn't sleep", he replied, returning to the scroll before him.
She walked behind him, and took a look at the already finished assignments.
"And this is your idea of relaxing?" she mocked him. "Most people prefer milk and cookies", she added, going through the papers, curious to see what he had scribed on them.
"This is something I should have done hours ago", he replied harshly, trying to take the parchments of her hands. "And stop messing with the scrolls, will you?"
She ignored him.
"You know", she said, as if she had suddenly remembered something, "I should have accepted my brother's bet". He looked at her quizzically. "Back when we were students, he had once claimed you would get softer with age". Looking at the failed papers in her hands, she added, "boy, was he wrong!"
Holding back a rather nasty comment, he removed the papers from her hands and stuffed then in a drawer. Seeing his annoyed look, she sighed.
"OK, I'm going back to sleep", she said, and headed for the bed.
She had hardly reached the door, when he heard his voice behind her.
"Wait!"
She turned to look at him. He was still over the rest of the scrolls.
"I'll be don a n a few minutes, and I was hoping you would join me for a glass of wine", he said, pointing with his quill at a bottle with two glasses by the fireplace.
Without a word, Morgaine walked by the fire and sat down on the thick carpet, staring into the dancing flames.