A Change of Venue

Chapter 8 ~ Connecting

“Come here, Hermione,” Severus said, sitting back in his chair.

Hermione blinked at him.

“What?” she asked him.

“I said stand up, walk around the table and stand in front of me,” the wizard said, a bit of iron in his voice.

Hermione stared at him for a moment, then stood up and slowly walked around the table and squeezed in front of Severus, who looked up at her. He sat forward.

“Touch my face,” he said softly.

Hermione’s brow furrowed.

”Why?” she asked him.

Severus let out a sigh, then asked her in a slightly aggravated voice, “Are you going to question everything I tell you to do, witch? If you are…don’t. Do as I ask.”

Hermione looked at the wizard, then brought one hand to his pale cheek. She had never touched the Professor before and it felt odd, yet strangely intimate. He closed his eyes at the contact.

”I want you to familiarize yourself with my features through touch, Hermione,” he said softly, “This face is rarely touched with any interest…though other parts of me have been handled with great alacrity. Yet you said you find me attractive, this pale skin, angular face, cold eyes and great beak of a nose…”

“I do,” Hermione said, now tracing his aristocratic brows with her fingertips, then running them over his cheekbones, “Your face has great character…and your eyes are far from cold, Professor. I even liked the way your hair was, before you started taking such good care of it.”

Severus opened his eyes and stopped her for a moment, pulling out his wand and pointing it at his head.

”Finite,” he said, his hair instantly becoming lank and stringy.

”A glamour,” he said, “I couldn’t be bothered with all the work it took to keep my hair silky. I did try but the results were less than stellar and didn’t last very long. A glamour was quicker.”

He put his wand away and Hermione gently ran both hands through his hair, the wizard closing his eyes again.

”It’s so soft,” she breathed, “Not greasy at all. Just thin.”

Severus said nothing as she played in his hair. The contact was very pleasurable, made doubly so because he knew Hermione wanted to touch him this way, and it made her feel special to be allowed to do so. The Potions Master had never been the kind of wizard that invited contact and she couldn’t imagine him letting anyone paw all over his face at any rate.

But he seemed to like her touching him this way. She ran her hand over his nose…yes it was large, with a kind of bump and hook, the nostrils large and delicate. He sighed as her small hand explored the shape of it.

”I like your nose, Professor…it’s expressive,” Hermione murmured.

Severus’ eyes snapped open.

”Expressive?” he asked her.

”Oh yes. Whenever you are angry, the flare of it is quite magnificent, and nothing can express distaste like it does when it wrinkles,” Hermione said, still petting the protuberance, “Your nose alone speaks volumes. You don’t have to say a word if you don’t want to. The state of your nose says it all.”

Severus fought back a chuckle because the witch was being serious. Expressive? Good gods. His nose had been called many things…but never “Expressive.” Hermione’s hand moved to his mouth, three fingers passing over his lips slowly, her amber eyes fixed on them.

”Your mouth is so…so sensuous. Soft. And when it curled, or quirked, snarled or even sneered, it always made me wonder what it would be like to kiss,” she said softly.

“Kiss it then and wonder no longer,” Severus said to the witch, pursing his lips slightly.

Hermione looked down at the wizard, then bent, twisting herself slightly and kissed him. His mouth was warm, soft and he kissed her back almost tenderly. There was such gentleness in the kiss, and it was unexpected…pleasantly so. Hermione pulled back, her eyes shining as she looked at him.

“That was nice,” she said, warmth streaming through her body. He wasn’t what she expected at all.

“It becomes nicer,” he replied, suddenly pulling the witch on to his lap.

The Potions Master wasn’t rough, just insistent as he lowered his mouth to hers again, his lips gently sucking and pulling at her own. It was one of the most sensuous kisses Hermione had ever experienced, and her arms wrapped around his neck of their own accord as he possessed her mouth, his hands beginning to caress her back and shoulders, before one slid to the back of her head, guiding it as he deepened the kiss, Hermione’s mouth opening slightly in invitation and her body shuddering as he slipped his tongue inside it. He tasted of tea.

He pulled back from Hermione’s mouth and looked at the sloe-eyed witch.

”That was the first tremor, Hermione,” he purred, going in again.

Hermione could feel herself quaking as the wizard gathered her into him more securely, his kiss becoming more passionate, deeper and more possessive. There was no part of her mouth his tongue didn’t claim, the slip and tangle of his heat fanning a flame inside her that she could feel down to her very toes. It was like a building of pressure, an impending eruption as his mouth claimed hers, Hermione locked in his embrace. He smelled of spices and his body under his robes was lean and hard.

Severus growled a bit as he kissed the witch, her soft curves pressing against him. Hermione was so responsive and he could feel her attraction. Yes, all the witches he had been with were attracted but because of his own desire for Hermione, this was something different…something real. He hadn’t done “real” in a long, long time. He could feel her losing herself to him, going under, her body trembling ...just his kiss taking her outside herself.

Yet there was no “take me now, Severus” issuing from Hermione. The witches he serviced were always so anxious for the plunge, so ready to move past kisses and caresses to experience his sex. But Hermione was finding pleasure in this kind of contact, not rushing but responding to him, wanting just what he was giving her.

The truth was, Hermione never done much kissing in her experiences with wizards. Of course there was some, but always not enough…the wizard involved wanting to get to the main event as soon as possible. Perhaps that was because there had been no love, only attraction. But there was no love here either.

There was pleasure however.

Obviously Severus enjoyed kissing her or he wouldn’t be spending so much time doing it. The way she felt now, she wouldn’t protest if he moved right toward the sex…but his kisses were so nice she felt she could kiss him all night long. Actually, they were intoxicating. It was as if the only thing that existed in the world right now was Professor Severus Snape and his beautiful, soft hungry mouth, and she needed nothing more.

There are times when a simple kiss can be more intimate than a rousing bout of sex. For Hermione and Severus…this was one of those times. For Severus, because it was something rarely indulged in to this extent and for Hermione because no man had ever kissed her the way the Potions Master was. Something was being fed in both of them. Something good.

Something…real.

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A/N: Another short chappie. My hands are numbing up a bit, so I have to rest them. There will be more throughout the day. Sorry about this ya’ll.