The Lady and The Snake

The Lady and the Snake

It was Valentine’s Day and he was in rare form. If one more enchanted…thing took flight in his classroom, he was going to poison the entire class and likely move on to the staff. Beginning with Filius Flitwick. That man might be one of the great charms experts of all times, but he was a bloody menace when he conspired with Dumbledore every February. Dumbledore. He growled under his breath, frightening one of the students sitting near his desk. He really didn’t care. He was too focused on his outrage over what that supposedly venerable wizard had done. The man had enchanted the castle so everything smelled like chocolate. Every. Damn. Thing.

He looked up and glanced at the ormolu clock sitting on the self. It was early yet, but….he slammed his hands down on the desk. “Get out. Out!” he thundered, one black-clad arm pointed at the door like the Grim Reaper showing a one-time chance for redemption. The classroom was empty so quickly it almost looked as if they’d all apparated out. He sighed with visible relief before scowling at the mess left behind. The little buggers would pay for that on Monday, he promised himself.

The next few hours he spent tidying up the classroom and marking papers, avoiding going back to his—their—rooms. Well, it wasn’t that he was purposefully avoiding her, but he still felt awkward in moments where some bizarre holiday tried to force him into protestations of undying love in a sickeningly romantic fashion. He’d never been sickeningly romantic. And his few declarations of love hadn’t come with any ease or courtly gestures. Even now he was gruff and prone to sarcasm instead of loverly prose.

He sighed. In factst wst would be shocked to know it, but he had gotten a gift for her, giving in to a rare whim when he’d been in Diagon Alley searching for a rare ingredient. She’d given him so much over the past couple of y tha that he did like to shock her occasionally with something extravagant and less than practical. He’d placed the black velvet box on the table next to where she always sat with her coffee during her waking-up ritual, then left at dawn to work on a potion in progress before his classes began. Until the chaos of the day began with the students pouring in, he’d honestly forgotten that it was St. Valentine’s.

And now it was the dinner hour, yet he was oddly reluctant to return to his rooms. The last thing he wanted to do was set a precedent of celebrating the annoying day with a special gift, but… he tapped one long index finger against his chin… he was also not averse to taking advantage of any ‘gratitude’ she might be feeling for his thoughtfulness.

With that happy thought, he locked up his dungeon kingdom and headed for their private rooms.

*~*

She wasn’t wearing anything but a snake and the diamond.

He had to remind himself to breath.

Oh, it had been an inauspicious enough entrance. The spacious living area where they relaxed, had private meals and often worked had been strangely quiet. He shrugged out of his teaching robes and frock coat, put them away, then called out for her. No answer. Odd. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. Someg wag was going on. Frowning, he strode into the bedroom.

She wasn’t wearing anything but a snake and the diamond.

He shook his head, reminding himself that he’d already had that thought and should most likely move on to another. Another thought, that is. But thinking seemed to be a rather difficult achievement.

He’d frozen, his frown disappearing as his eyes widened at the sight of the woman lounging indolently against the post—or what used to be the post—of the large, ornate bed. It seemed to have been transfigured into what could only be described as a glade, complete with towering trees and a velvet carpet of grass.

“Care to come play in my garden?” she drawled slowly, her eyes twinkling with a fire that promised him all manner of delights as her fingers caressed the head of the snake.

That damned snake. That was what had stolen his voice as sure as if she’d thrown a silencing charm. He knew the woman could be audacious, but this was… He resisted the urge to speak, knowing that he’d most likely embarrass himself by stuttering and sed fod for letting his eyes devour her.

Her long blond hair was hanging down her back, brushing the tops of her hips from he could see. But he wasn’t looking at her hair. Curving around her luscious little body, from shoulder to ankle was the most artfully rendered snake he’d ever seen painted on a body. It was as green as pure jealousy with black and silver highlighting the creature’s scales until it seemed to undulate around her. The tip of its tale seemed to lie placidly atop her right foot while the body curved around her calf, her knee and her upper thigh before slipping up her abdomen.

He shivered as he eyes continued to follow the creature as its lithe form curved lovingly just under her right breast to lay across her delicate collarbone before descending over her shoulder. He could just see a hint of a coil peeking over the back of her left shoulder, then it reappeared on her left side, the magnificently powerful arrow point of a head covering her navel. The eye of the snake glittered in her navel: a teardrop diamond the size of his thumbnail, strung on a silver belly chain—his impulsive, extravagant gift for her.

His eyes took in the almost haughty look on the face of the serpent as it was frozen there, perpetually read to strike. Ready to strike at… He felt himself go hot, cold and hot again. There was one other design skillfully painted on her body. Across her left hip was painted a tree branch, obviousn thn the full bloom of spring. And hanging from that branch, painted a deep, almost pulsing red on her clean shaven mons was an apple.

She smiled her siren’s smile as she watched his eyes travel over the snake and down to the apple.

“I can’t promise you ultimate wisdom and knowledge, but I’m sure you’d enjoy the fruit as much as Adam did in his time,” she said with smirk. “Most likely even more.”

His eyes dilated as his mind finally wrapped itself around the scene she’d set. Decadent didn’t even begin to describe it. He could almost feel the blood boiling in his veins, the erection that had sprung up at the first sight of her throbbing painfully.

“I doubt the poor, persecuted man had much enjoyment at all,” he murmured, stepping up to her and lifting one finger to run it over the length of the serpent that curved around her breast and shoulder. “If the truth were told, I’d guess of them all, the much maligned serpent enjoyed himself the most.” He ran the calloused pad of his fingertip over the tip of her nipple, enjoying her intake of breath as the silky bud hardened.

“Ironic, under the circumstances, don’t you think?” she asked mischievously as she stretched, giving the impression that the snake was moving as she did.

“Quite,” he replied, fascinated with illusion of the painting’s movement as he cupped her breast. “Except I am going to have the additional delight of devouring the apple.”

Her breathing hitched as he squeezed her warm flesh firmly, his movements slow and languid enough to fool her into complacency. Once he sensed it, he pounced, pulling her up against him by the shoulders and taking her mouth in a kiss that should have set the room on fire. His tongue pushed into her mouth, demanding entrance and taking control immediately. The fire between them flared as she quickly responded, rubbing her tongue against his, then sucking it with a rhythm that caused his hardness to throb with even more intensity.

He slipped his hands over her shoulders and down her back, sliding them over her silky skin until he found the gentle swell of her bottom. He wasted no time as he pushed his hands under her and pulled her up hard against him, uncaring if the fabric of his trousers chafed against her sensitive skin. He only knew this woman inflamed his senses in a way that was almost frightening, yet he had to have her.

She moaned softly into his mouth as he slammed her hips against his, the immediate heavy pressure of his erection against her making her instinctively pull her legs up and around him. She gasped as the most sensitive part of her--made even more so than usual after the depilatory charm--rubbed against him through the fabric of his trousers.

“No clothes allowed in the garden, love,” she murmured breathily as he started to carry her into the glade. He paused and looked down at her, his eyes completely black with passion. Then he smirked and simply set her down. “I suppose you have a little work to do then, don’t you?”

She arched a brow and grinned at him, her nimble fingers toying absently with the diamond. “Taskmaster,” she murmured, leaning in to nip his shoulder through the linen of his shirt. He simply bared his teeth at her with a feral growl. She’d long since lost any fear of the man and simply laughed softly as her nimble frs rrs reached for the buttons of his shirt.

He stood there, looking down at her quietly as her fingers toyed with the buttons, her aim obviously to torture him as long as he’d allow it. Only his eyes showed his intensity as he watched her with a predatory air. Every time the linen whispered against his skin as she opened another fastening it sent a bolt of lightening through his body. He was determined, though, to allow this moment she’d obviously gone to so much trouble for.

His back teeth were set together firmly by the time she pushed the shirt back off his shoulders, her hands skimming over his skin as she hummed in appreciation. While he enjoyed leisurely lovemaking just as much as the next man, it was rare for him to give over control of the situation. It was titillating and frustrating all bound up together.

Electricity arced between them as she pressed her lips against his chest, letting her teeth scrape his skin. He flinched involuntarily, earning a knowing smile from the woman before him. “Tease,” he muttered darkly, once again pulling her up against him for a kiss that spiraled wildly out of control. He thought the feel of her breasts crushed against his chest was going to drive him mad.

A moment later she pulled away, breathless, her lips swollen and red from the intensity of their embrace. “Believe me, love, I have every intention of bringing you to paradise before the evening is out.” She slne hne hand down into his trousers, gently caressing his rigid flesh. “Maybe even sooner,” she chuckled softly, feeling him harden even further as he pushed against her fingers.

He closed his eyes as the feel of her against him proved to be distracting enough to prevent him from coherent thought. Except for the idea of burying himself in her as soon as was humanly possible. He growled, his hips bucking gently as she slipped her hand from him.

“Patience,” she murmured, kneeling in front of him, unfastening the buttons on his trousers with an experience born of long practice. He barely had time to breathe before he felt the cool air of the room hit his overheated flesh, followed immediately by the humid warmth of her breath.

He groaned softly, pushing his hips forward, silently encouraging her to take him into her lovely mouth. Delighting in her momentary control, however tenuous she knew it to be, she took the opportunity to prolong his torture. Instead of opening her lips to him, she leant forward and nuzzled his length against her cheek, her hands playing lightly against the inside of his thighs, never quite touching the areas she knew he craved so desperately.

He growled low in his throat as she continued to taunt him, caressing him fleetingly with her cheek and fingers. She was driving him to distraction and it was only his monumental control that kept him from jerking her up and pushing her up against one of the trees that used to be their bed. Just as that control was slipping, he felt her tongue along his erect flesh and he went utterly still.

She hummed low in her throat as she finally took him into her mouth, the clean taste of him accented by the slightly salty flavor of the drop of fluid hovering at the tip of him. Slowly as she could, knowing she was torturing him mercilessly, she slid her mouth down the length of him until the head of him was firmly lodged against her throat.

He grit his teeth, caught halfway in between heaven and hell as the sorceress on her knees wove her spell around him. Unable to help himself, he threaded his fingers through her hair and pulled her back just enough that he had room to push forward again. This time it was her turn to growl low in her throat. She resisted the pressure of his hands as she slipped her palm up the de ode of his thigh with a purpose this time. The minute her fingers began to gently knead his sac he was distracted.

She was killing him and he knew she knew it. The feel of her incredibly agile tongue flitting over him and her hand slowly rolling his balls was about to undo him. He moaned and thrust his hips forward again, silently begging for me. She retaliated by pulling back and sucking hard on the head of his penis, her tongue swirling ferociously, making him gasp with the pleasure-pain that sizzled through his body.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath, trying to find some sort of equilibrium to take back control, but she had him too far off balance. In fact, just when he was thinking she’d finally caught up a rhythm with lips and tongue, she pulled away from him completely.
“Well get around to that soon enough,” she chuckled, her eyes nearly as dark as his with her enjoyment of what she was doing. She knew he rarely used foul language and when he did, it meant he was losing control. It pleased her to no end that he was the one in a frenzy this time.

He opened his eyes to frown down at the women on her knees, ready to deliver a sharp remark, but once again she attacked before he had his bearings. He thought he would collapse as she took him into her mouth once again, but this time she was anything but casual. She laved his erection with her tongue as her lips formed a tight ring around him, moving down the to the base and back up almost to the head, her timing swift and decisive. The world began to turn red behind his eyes as the orgasm began to build. He groaned loudly, ready to explode into her mouth any second. She chose the second before that to pull away.

He ground his teeth together, sparks of pain flaring up his jaw as the denied release left him reeling. “You will pay for that, you realize,” he muttered, bearing down on her with an expression that would have sent most women screaming in fright.

“Yes, and I’m quite looking forward to it, too,” she smirked, backing away until she was in the middle of the ‘glade’ and reclined quite provocatively in the grass. Her look positively dared him to do his worst. He had every intention of living up to that unspoken gauntlet.

He kicked off his trousers and boxers, the muscles of his long, lean body rippling under his skin as he stalked her. Kneeling down next to her he pushed one knee between her legs, nudging them apart as he surged up against her. With a grunt of satisfaction, he nestled his hardness against her slippery warmth, making both of them shiver.

She lifted one leg and danced her toes across the small of hick, ck, ing ing him to slip back just far enough that he was almost inside her. He smirked, familiar with the trick and held their positions firmly with his weight. Leaning in once again, he trailed heated kisses down the side of her neck, taking pleasure in leaving marks along the way. She moaned softly and arched against him.

He smiled, entranced with how quickly she still responded to him, but knew this was nothing to the pleading, begging creature he had every intention of reducing her to before he was through. With deliberate slowness, he slid down her body, frustrating her with the loss of his hardness, yet causing a thrill to course through her as her nipples responded to the friction of skin on skin.

“Severus,” she sighed softly, her eyes closed and her head turned to the side. He knew that she was asking him to touch her, to fan the flames higher still. But he was in charge again. Instead of going for the most obvious, he took the opportunity to inspect the body painting. Her skin still felt as satiny as it ever did, but he was fascinated by the illusion of undulating serpent coiling around her body. His fingers touched the creature everywhere, causing her to writhe and squirm when that touch never strayed to the places she wanted it most desperately.

Once he’d touched it everywhere, he decided that a follow up was necessary. Starting with the finely detailed tail of the serpent on her foot, he began to kiss his way up her leg, following the shimmering painted scales. By the time he reached her knee, she was shivering. One loop around her leg and his lips were hovering at her inner thigh. Her breathing was erratic.

“Please,” she gasped softly, pushing her hips up to give him whatever access to her that would take. He rested on one elbow, watching her with sardonic amusement. “If the apple is to be my downfall as Adam’s, shouldn’t ke tke the rest of the journey first, my dear?” he drawled, drawing the pad of his thumb down over her labia with as much weight as a feather. She whimpered softly, her hands fisted at her sides.

“God, you are evil,” she muttered, refusing to beg him for more. Yet. He arched a brow at her defiance and decided to teach her a lesson. He left his perusal of the serpent for a moment to turn his attention to the apple. As intent as he would be over one of his potions, he slid one long finger down those warm, wet nether lips then slowly… slowly pushed it into her body.

She groaned and arched against his hand, her jaw clamped together against any further entreaties. He made a disappointed tsking sound and pulled his finger out, only to add a second one, again inserted with an infinitely slow motion. Her body was strung as tightly as bow, but he was far from done.

“Is that what you want?” he asked softly, pumping his fingers into her in a maddeningly uneven rhythm, his black eyes full of unholy glee at the state she was obviously in. Still she was silent. He was impressed. She was playing the game well tonight.

“Not yet, hmm?” he murmured, ready to launch the devastating salvo. Leaning in, his fingers sill moving erratically within her, he dipped into her heat with his tongue, tasting the essence of her femininity. She gasped and arched, pushing her hips forward hard. He stroked the engorged little nub with his tongue in response, giving her no time to catch her breath as he pushed her ruthlessly toward a staggering orgasm. And then when he sensed she was ready to explode into a million pieces, he pulled totally away from her.

He looked her in the eye and knew she was furious. All he could do was smile knowingly. He had warned her after all. She retaliated by kicking him in the shoulder with enough force to knock him backwards. “Bastard,” she ground out, her eyes flashing a fire that most men would have quelled under.

“You little wildcat,” he growled, on her in a split second. “You started it, my dear,” he ground out harshly as he flipped her over onto her stomach. “You should be prepared to finish it.” Pulling her hips back against him, he fit his erection along the shallow trench between her white buttocks. Even here she was wet with her own juices and he slid easily, the friction sending a shudder through him.

“It would serve you right if I just finished things this way and had done with it,” he threatened, pumping himself along her slick flesh. “Or I could do this…” he said in a softer voice as he took his cock in his hand and slid the head into heatheat of her. She moaned and tried to back up against him, but he wouldn’t allow it. He simply rocked against her, never letting her have more than the head of him

She shuddered repeatedly as he held her in his iron grip, but his own resolve was starting to weaken. Feeling the walls of her passage trying to pull him in ever deeper was making him sweat. Quite literally. Decisive as ever, he pulled away and rolled over, taking her with him. In one swift movement, he impaled her on his shaft, enjoying the startled look in her eyes almost as much as the feel of being sheathed within her hot, wet walls.

It only took her a second to sigh with relief and start to move against him, only to find herself a prisoner of his iron grip one more. His hands held her hips down to his so all she could do was squirm. She looked at him with supreme frustration, then gave up the game. “Please, Severus,” she murmured hoarsely.
He grinned wolfishly. “Good girl.” He paused, not quite done yet. “Feel free to help yourself.”

Her eyes widened as she realized his meaning. This was relatively new. He’d liked to watch her touch herself before, but never when he was buried inside her. Her body nearly convulsed at the thought of it. Trying to find some measure of control, she swallowed hard, then smiled her siren’s smile at him as her fingers drifted down over his belly to where they were so intimately joined.

“Is this what you meant, love?” she purred softly, drifting her fingers across the base of his shaft before traveling up to find the tiny button that brought her so much pleasure. His eyes burned into hers, taking in every detail all at once. She was sure this one would end up in his private pensieve and she intended to make it a good one.

He almost… almost… lost control of things for a moment when she arched her back and began to knead one breast and nipple with her free hand as the other stroked rhythmically between her thighs. He could feel her finger make small, rhythmic circles over her clitoris, feel her walls clenching him tighter. And the sounds she was making could have made him come all on their own.

He grit his teeth, the need to move inside her nearly completely overwhelming. “Come on, come on,” he muttered sharply, nearly cursing at the knowing smile that quirked her lips even as she obeyed him and begin to move her fingers more swiftly. Her breathing suddenly quickened and her hips bucked, a sign he knew meant the tidal wave was about to take her.

As quickly as a striking serpent himself, he flipped them again, leaving him free on top to pump into her as hard as he desired. And he wanted it hard and fast. She screamed and arched against him in her own orgasm as he pistoned into her over and over again.

“I… I can’t, Severus…” she panted, fighting the wave that was rising again. “I… can’t.” He shook his head in denial, determined to push her to the edge of sanity and exhaustion. “You will.” She writhed beneath him, unable to deny him as each stroke of his cock rubbed her clitoris so deeply she thought she’d die from wanting.

“Oh god, please,” she cried out harshly, her breath coming in short, sharp gasps. If he hadn’t been concentrating so hard, he would have smirked at his victory. As it was, every molecule of his being was focused on the incredible orgasm about to break over him. He plunged into her once more, twice more, a third time and with a hoarse shout came so hard he thought he was going to black out. Only vaguely did he know that she spasmed again in his arms as his hot seed rocketed against the mouth of her womb…

Silence reigned as the sweat dried on their bodies, both of them two spent to do more than breathe and try to stop the trembling of bodies left in the wake of an incredible storm.

It was he who moved first, having rolled to her side one ini initial maelstrom was over so as not to crush her beneath his wait. “Still breathing?” he asked smugly, opening his eyes to give her a quick once-over. She turned her head towards him and gave him a mock-baleful glare. “No thanks to you.”

He snorted inelegantly and reached over to tweak an over sensitized nipple, making her yelp. “Haven’t you yet learned that I’ll finish whatever you start?”

She aimed a half-hearted kick at his foot lying next to her own before rolling over to stretch out on top of him. “And haven’t you learned that I always get what I want, whether you realize I want it or not?”

He grunted, unwilling to acknowledge or deny that statement. “So, did you like your gift?” he asked lightly once the silence had drawn out again, refusing to look her when he’d spoken.

She bit his shoulder to get him to open his eyes, earning a withering glare. “Yes, I loved my gift, Severus, even if it horrified you to realize you gave it to me on St. Valentine’s Day,” she said with rolled eyes. She knew him well. “I loved it enough so that I pushed my classes off on Remus with the excuse of a pressing errand so that I could have your personal symbol painted all over my body. I’m rather sickened by my willingness to feed your possessive streak by marking myself,” she sighed in an overly dramatic, long-suffering tone.

His expression cleared to one of supreme smugness. “It does suite you, I must say. Can we make it permanent?”

She scowled and bared her teeth at him.

“Ah well,” he murmured, his tone relaxed with a hint of deviousness underneath. “If it won’t last forever, I’d better inspect this apple before it disappears. After all, one is supposed to eat sweets on Valentine’s Day, correct…”

She gasped as his intentions became clear, her eyes fluttering closed. It seemed they were celebrating the day after all.

A/N: This was just a bit of a horny bunny running around thanks to Valentine\'s. It has NOT been beta\'d, so please go easy on the grammar mistakes. Enjoy! And Happy V-Day to all!!!