Moon Magic 15
Jan. 21st, 2008 12:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lit_galThis chapter gets a little hot, but no more than you'd see on TV (late night, anyway), so I'm leaving this GEN rated TEEN
Moon Magic 15
Faith/Snape --
Previous Chapters
Moon Magic 15
Back at Bellatrix's house.Rated: Teen
Faith/Snape --
Previous Chapters
Back at the house, Bellatrix seemed to take charge again, and when the potions wore off and that old face sort of slid around, rubber features settling into something younger and infinitely crazier-looking, Faith wasn't exactly reassured. The crazy witch giggled like a girl, her eyes darting around the house, and that damn wand was always in her hand. This bitch had issues to go with her issues.
The house she'd led them to was a big old thing with tall windows, and Faith counted five goons on the way into a living room that would make Giles orgasm what with all the dusty books. Had even more of the damn grandmotherish furniture here and a yellowed chandelier hanging in the middle of the ceiling.
"Charge extra for group sessions," Faith quipped as she considered the various goons with a twist of her hips and an aggressive expression that just challenged them to make a play for her. The youngest one, with a sallow face and a bulbous nose, oh yeah, he was their weak link. He'd fall for her in a second… he was already getting hard for her. She watched his eyes grow wide as he physically twitched, caught between fleeing and jumping her. Thank god for boy hormones, they made men stupid.
"You're not performing for a group," Severus said shortly, his hand still on her elbow.
"You're the boss," Faith shrugged as she looked at Severus, hoping he caught her hint. He gave her a blank expression, but then he'd pretty much given everything a blank expression since losing his damn wand.
Bellatrix fixed her eyes on Severus now. "Weakness. Needing someone, paying them. It's weakness, Snape. I always knew you were weak." Belatrix laughed. "So weak. Our lord is going to see how you're endangering his plan, how you didn't bring the other to us. Your weakness will be the end of you, traitor," she sang.
"I have always known you to hold that opinion; however, it is not the opinion of the Dark Lord. And I rather value his good will above your own," Snape answered coldly. Faith might have thought he was unaffected by the goons, but she felt him tense when an older man with threads of silver in his hair came between them and the door out. Faith might not be as smart as Giles or Willow, but she sure as hell knew how to smell shit when she was up to her neck in it, and this qualified.
"One day, you'll make a mistake," Bellatrix warned in her little girl whine. "Your whore may be the mistake that gets you killed."
"Oh, I have already made many mistakes," Severus answered calmly. "And I can assure you that I shall make more. But more importantly, I can name the many mistakes you have made over the years. Your devotion to our lord does not excuse some of the errors in judgment you have made."
"I don't answer to a halfblood," the witch just about screeched, and Faith found herself tensed for battle--only Severus' fingers tightening on her arm kept her in place. And then that ridiculous smile was back and she sing-songed her words. "Our lord is coming. He's coming here. He's going to know what you have done!" Bellatrix's happy expression creeped Faith out more than all the threats in the world. This bitch was seriously off her trolley. The elevator wasn't even making it past the basement. Hell, she was so nuts that Spikey would be panting after her.
"And when he arrives, he shall find that you have interrupted his plans for nothing," Snape warned.
"We'll see," she smiled insanely. "He'll come, and he'll be able to see into your perfidious heart, half-blood, and then we'll see. Escort Professor Snape and his friend to a room for the night," she said, her emphasis on professor certainly suggesting she had her nose out of joint about something related to the school, but no one had given Faith the decoder ring for crazy girl's head. And now crazy girl was backing up, rubbing her hands in glee. "Our lord is joining us tomorrow!" she almost sang in her joy. Faith glanced at Severus, watching to see how he would play this. Severus stood looking at the crazy bitch for a second before he tilted his head her direction.
"Then I shall retire for a night with Faith. I shall look forward to morning when you will be sorry that you started this insanity," he offered coldly before he rested his hand on Faith's back and guided her toward the two thugs guarding the door.
"We'll see!" the woman said, her childish voice giving Faith an urge to bitch-slap her into taking the whole kidnapping seriously. But instead, she followed Severus' lead and trailed after some neckless thug up the stairs and into a room that was an odd cross between haunted house creepy and old-lady weird. These people seriously needed a makeover show or two in their world or possibly just a good bulldozer. Without a word to either thug, Severus slammed the door so that he and Faith were finally alone in the room.
For a moment, Severus stood, his hand flat against the wood of the door as he just stared at it. Knowing just how he was feeling, Faith just backed up to the bed and sat on the hideous vomit-green bedspread. It took Severus several minutes of just staring at the door before he finally curled his hand into a fist and pushed away from the door to look around. Yep, Faith knew that feeling of being so fucking trapped you couldn't even breathe, of being so fucking caught between throwing yourself against the bars and sinking into a corner and crying that you couldn't even moved.
Been there too fucking much both before and during her prison days. That was the feeling that just about got Xander dead with her hands around his throat because she'd wanted to break down and cry and confess everything and have him hold her and forgive her, and she knew he would. But at the same time, she wanted to blame him and all his fucking friends because they had homes and knew where their next meal was coming from and none of them was ever there when she was alone and fifteen and waking up screaming from nightmares where she wallowed in death. Caught between crying and screaming, she'd just tried to kill him. Faith pulled her legs up under her Indian style and scratched her leg as she watched Severus silently work through his own demons, and not the kind with claws.
He pulled green curtains back and tugged at a window that didn't move. He poked furniture and peered behind a huge cabinet-looking thing. He paced. Pulling out the knife no one had bothered taking from her, Faith cleaned under her nails and waited. She'd gotten good at that.
Finally, Severus pulled out a small bottle and sprinkled the red dust into the air, watching it carefully as it drifted to the floor and joined all the other dust down there. He muttered something, circling the new dirt and watching it carefully on the floor. Faith just picked and catalogued potential weapons: a forgotten fireplace poker, the rope ties on the curtains, a chair that looked fragile enough to smash.
Then again, if these people were afraid of conventional weapons, they would have taken her knife. Those wands were just pissing her off because a knife or a fireplace poker weren't going to match up. Then again, a good throw, and she could probably launch either through someone's throat before he had a chance to fire off some curse. She wondered how many of them she could get before some wand caught up to her. Severus threw more red dust in the air, muttering words that made it sparkle.
Severus had taken her out the first two times they'd tussled, but then those loses had taught Faith something about taking these people out. Close quarters, killing strikes, target the voice and no hesitation—she could probably take three to four before one got her. Problem was, it would only take one hit from a wand to take her out, and her and Severus really didn't know each other well enough to fight in close quarters without accidently taking each other out in the crossfire. She resigned herself to following Severus' play on this one, which meant bluffing their way through. Faith just really hoped that bluff didn't mean throwing Riley to the wolves. All this talk about 'him' wasn't improving her digestion.
"No one is listening or watching," Severus finally announced. With a sigh, he stood up and looked at Faith, his expression unreadable. The man could teach Angel a thing or two about having a poker face.
"Well, this is interesting." Faith stretched her legs out and leaned forward on the bed.
"That would depend on one's definition of interesting." Faith couldn't help smiling at Severus' dry humor.
"Oh babe, I find most any reason to get locked in a room with you interesting."
"I assure you, we do not have an audience here, so you may cease your antics." Severus looked just so damn lost, Faith couldn't resist.
Faith laughed. "You're assuming it's an act."
"I'm assuming that I'm at least fifteen years older than you." Severus sighed and leaned against the tall, carved bedpost as he poked the dusty green bedspread with obvious disgust.
"You know what they say about assuming: it makes an ass of you and me," Faith pointed out as she stood and stretched her back. All that tension with no fight wasn't good for a growing slayer.
"You are an endless fount of irreverent sayings; however, I am not interested in continuing this conversation."
"That's funny because you're looking mighty interested to me." Faith reached out and cupped Severus' crotch with her hand, and he reeled back until he stood near the end of the bed looking vaguely panicked. Oh yeah, boy was hard. Faith had known he would be because he'd been watching her stretch, but damn she hated how those robes hid everything.
"What do you think you're doing?" Severus demanded, and all of the calm and the cool indifference had vanished under a shocked expression.
"Just double checking. With all those robes, it's hard to be sure, but that was interest, Sev."
"And if you hadn't found me hard?" he demanded, but Faith could see the amusement just threatening to make him lose that dour expression he wore. She wondered if his attitude was as fake as her sexual aggression. Fact was that she hadn't spread her legs for anyone since Wood, and she was guessing Severus didn't actually eat babies, no matter how mean he tried to look.
"This is me," she said with a smile and a shrug. "The only man who ever didn't get hard around me was Andrew, and trust me, women don't do it for him. One of these days Spike is going to figure out that Andrew has a fairy-sized crush on him and break all the boy's bones, but aside from Andrew, all the guys like what they see."
"I can imagine how interesting that must make your dinner parties." And there was the Severus she knew, all hard-edged humor and that flat voice of his delivering a stinging insult. Of course, Faith wasn't exactly insulted. Giles had learned that asking her to dinner with any stuffed shirt who needed impressing was doomed to failure. Yeah, Buffy with her blonde shit was a whole lot more dinner-party appropriate than Faith.
"Oh babe, you have no idea. So, is that one of your fantasies, doing it on the dinner table, maybe with all your little friends watching?" Faith gave a twist of her hips and tilted her head.
Severus sighed and considered her with a raised eyebrow. "I assure you, I have no interest in having anyone watch."
"Ah. So you'd prefer it if we just did it right here? That can be arranged rather easily." Faith slid closer.
"I'd prefer we not engage in sexual activity at all," he answered quickly, backing up a step, and again, that glum mask slipped. Faith smiled as she caught a glimpse of the need and the pure panic below.
"You're lying to yourself, Sev." Faith moved in on him, expecting another round of objections and retreat. Instead he stood still as her palm rested against his chest.
He sighed heavily. "It's a skill I have honed over years of practice," he admitted softly.
"Oh, babe. You're just all tied up in there, aren't you? Would it help if you were all tied up out here? 'Cause I have to say, the thought of you squirming helplessly under me, that could work," Faith teased. The softening she'd seen in Severus' expression hardened, and once more she faced that perfected mask.
"I think I've had quite enough of feeling helpless already, thank you."
Faith backed off a step as the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. "Hey, five by five with me," Faith quickly said, feeling her advantage slip away from her. "You want to work it the other way? Mmmm. I don't normally take the passenger seat, I prefer to guide a guy 'round the curves, but for you I could make an exception." Faith slowly stalked forward again, pressing in when she saw that subtle amusement return to his face.
"You are really quite annoyingly persistent," he sighed, but he didn't give any hint that he was giving in. The man had to be hard, but he just wasn't responding the way a hot-blooded male should, and Faith knew Sev had some hot blood under all that dour. Problem was, she didn't have time to play the game, especially when he wasn't playing with her. She crossed her arms and considered the stubborn SOB.
"You haven't seen anything. See, there's this little thing called breathing. I'm fond of it. And if we spend the night and come out looking like nuns... I don't think I'm going to keep breathing." Faith sighed. "Babe, if we're playing this, I'm the whore in our little drama, not the nun. Although, I have to say, with that robe, you definitely look more nunlike than I do," she offered as she looked him up and down.
"Do I even want to know what a nun is?" Severus asked, but the question didn't have the undertone of humor… it had something closer to distress.
"Probably not," she shrugged. "But the point here is that I figure I can get a little hot and sweaty action with someone who's easy on the eyes and save my own neck, so it's a two for one as far as I'm concerned."
"I hardly think—"
"That they'll kill me? Sev, think about it. This guy who's coming, he likes you, or at least he doesn't hate you which I get the feeling is as touchy feely as this lot gets. But me? Oh, that crazy chick would just love to check out my insides."
"I have no doubt she would—"
"And you said this lot can read minds, so I'm thinking you want to keep the lies as close to the truth as you can. So, we go out there saying I'm a whore when you've never touched me, and that's going to show up in our minds, isn't it?" Faith slid closer and put her hand back on his chest.
Snape sighed and then got that stubborn expression that made Faith smile. Men, always thinking they can make the impossible happen. "That's a safe assumption. You show a clearer understanding of legilimency than Mr. Potter ever managed, but I would never allow—"
Faith held up her hand, brushing her fingers against Severus' lips to silence him. "Stop right there, Sev. Don't go making promises you can't keep. Better yet, don't go making promises you *shouldn't* keep. This shit is big, and you're right in the middle of it, aren't you?"
"I put myself in the middle of it with my foolishness. I was an idiot, an idiot far too afraid to take a stand when it would have mattered."
"Sev." Faith stopped. She knew how he felt, and he had to find his own way out of the guilt choking him to death. "Been there, bought a whole fucking wardrobe of t-shirts," Faith she settled for saying. From the look Severus gave her, he had no clue what she was talking about, but he was smart, he'd get the gist of it. "But you can't afford to make a stupid move now. If this big bad wants to go reading our minds, I can put something in there that will leave him believing I'm every bit the succubus. You just have to let it happen." She whispered, her voice rough, "I want it to happen. I haven't been exactly subtle about enjoying your company."
"I didn't think you were acquainted with the word subtle," Snape sighed, and Faith could feel him softening.
"Oh babe, I'm not," she agreed. "And I know the score, so if that cow wants to use my guts for Christmas decorations, you're going to let her."
Severus' hands had been moving: smoothing his robes and checking his emply wand pocket and generally twitching. Now they stopped. "You cannot mean..."
"Babe, you know I mean it.
"Mr. Finn would gut me." Neither of them mentioned that Riley had less of a chance of getting out of this than Faith.
"Mr. Finn wouldn't have a chance against you, and he knows it," Faith countered. "And you need to give the boy some credit. He knows the score, and he knows about acceptable losses."
"Perhaps then I am the one to whom you ascribe too much credit." Severus stiffened, his hand grabbing the post of the bed so hard that his knuckles turned white.
I love how you get all your fancy words going when you get your panties in a wad," Faith said with a small smile. "But you know it's the truth. So, since I don't really want to see if divine justice really exists, at least not until I've earned back a few karma points, it seems like bumping uglies is a pretty good idea to me. Not that I think a guy's uglies are all that ugly. Like right now, I'm wondering if you're circumcised. A man who's not is just so much more… sensitive."
I think we should--" Severus stopped.
"We should," Faith agreed.
"I didn't mean."
"Oh, I know what you meant. Just forget them and this weird hang-up you have over our ages and look at me. What do you see when you look at me?" For a few seconds, Severus looked everywhere except her, and Faith finally resorted to reaching up and cupping his cheek with both hands, drawing his eyes to her.
"What do you see?" she repeated softly.
He took a deep breath. "Someone who very well may be part succubus."
"I think that means you like me," Faith said with a smile.
"More than I should, I suspect. I hope you're not planning on checking again," he said with an arched eyebrow that almost could have been a smile.
"I thought I'd make a more thorough examination this time. I always did like playing doctor."
Severus' expression slipped again, the fear sliding through a crack in that smug arrogance he wore around him. "I don't know if I can."
"Oh, babe, you can."
"To save your life?"
Shaking her head, Faith let her hands slide down to his shoulders. Severus was strong… a weak man would have panicked by now. He would have sold her out or gotten himself killed, and from the sounds of it, he'd played this game a long time. But this was a different sort of strength than most men she bedded. There weren't the heavily muscled arms and wide shoulders. He wasn't eager and fighting to press her back into a wall. But his calmness even in the middle of this bullshit attracted her. "Sev, don't think about anything outside this room. This is just you and me, and you can because you feel this between us. I know you do, so just... just let this happen," she asked.
Faith stepped even closer, pressing her body to his and watching the panic growing in Snape's eyes. Bringing her hand up, she rested just one palm against the side of his face. Slowly she used just her thumb to stroke his face, wondering if that mask of his would slide off as he reached orgasm. From the widening of his eyes and the sudden gasp of breath, Faith was guessing that whatever lovers he had in his past, there hadn't been a lot of tenderness there. But then, tender didn't describe most of her sexual encounters either.
She pushed up onto her toes. When she slipped her hand around to the back of his neck, strong hands found her hips, steadying her. Faith opened her mouth just a little and then Severus' lips were on hers. He kissed her hungrily, mouths and bodies pressing together, and for a second, Faith waited to get tossed on the bed. Instead, after that first frantic moment, Severus slowed, his desperation turning to tenderness as he kissed her lips and then her cheek and then his mouth was on her ear, whispering words she couldn't hear or understand.
Faith tangled her fingers in his hair and arched her back at the soft touches.
"I don't--" Severus said, his hands pausing on her body.
"Shhh. Just, just let it happen, okay, Sev?" Faith whispered as she leaned into him, her hands working his robe. "Just let this happen."
Severus shivered and made a sound that Faith couldn't even begin to interpret, something desperate and pained. And then his fingers found her bare stomach, ghosting over her skin reverently and Faith was the one shivering. Slowly, they sank onto the bed, and Faith took her own advice... she just let it happen.
The house she'd led them to was a big old thing with tall windows, and Faith counted five goons on the way into a living room that would make Giles orgasm what with all the dusty books. Had even more of the damn grandmotherish furniture here and a yellowed chandelier hanging in the middle of the ceiling.
"Charge extra for group sessions," Faith quipped as she considered the various goons with a twist of her hips and an aggressive expression that just challenged them to make a play for her. The youngest one, with a sallow face and a bulbous nose, oh yeah, he was their weak link. He'd fall for her in a second… he was already getting hard for her. She watched his eyes grow wide as he physically twitched, caught between fleeing and jumping her. Thank god for boy hormones, they made men stupid.
"You're not performing for a group," Severus said shortly, his hand still on her elbow.
"You're the boss," Faith shrugged as she looked at Severus, hoping he caught her hint. He gave her a blank expression, but then he'd pretty much given everything a blank expression since losing his damn wand.
Bellatrix fixed her eyes on Severus now. "Weakness. Needing someone, paying them. It's weakness, Snape. I always knew you were weak." Belatrix laughed. "So weak. Our lord is going to see how you're endangering his plan, how you didn't bring the other to us. Your weakness will be the end of you, traitor," she sang.
"I have always known you to hold that opinion; however, it is not the opinion of the Dark Lord. And I rather value his good will above your own," Snape answered coldly. Faith might have thought he was unaffected by the goons, but she felt him tense when an older man with threads of silver in his hair came between them and the door out. Faith might not be as smart as Giles or Willow, but she sure as hell knew how to smell shit when she was up to her neck in it, and this qualified.
"One day, you'll make a mistake," Bellatrix warned in her little girl whine. "Your whore may be the mistake that gets you killed."
"Oh, I have already made many mistakes," Severus answered calmly. "And I can assure you that I shall make more. But more importantly, I can name the many mistakes you have made over the years. Your devotion to our lord does not excuse some of the errors in judgment you have made."
"I don't answer to a halfblood," the witch just about screeched, and Faith found herself tensed for battle--only Severus' fingers tightening on her arm kept her in place. And then that ridiculous smile was back and she sing-songed her words. "Our lord is coming. He's coming here. He's going to know what you have done!" Bellatrix's happy expression creeped Faith out more than all the threats in the world. This bitch was seriously off her trolley. The elevator wasn't even making it past the basement. Hell, she was so nuts that Spikey would be panting after her.
"And when he arrives, he shall find that you have interrupted his plans for nothing," Snape warned.
"We'll see," she smiled insanely. "He'll come, and he'll be able to see into your perfidious heart, half-blood, and then we'll see. Escort Professor Snape and his friend to a room for the night," she said, her emphasis on professor certainly suggesting she had her nose out of joint about something related to the school, but no one had given Faith the decoder ring for crazy girl's head. And now crazy girl was backing up, rubbing her hands in glee. "Our lord is joining us tomorrow!" she almost sang in her joy. Faith glanced at Severus, watching to see how he would play this. Severus stood looking at the crazy bitch for a second before he tilted his head her direction.
"Then I shall retire for a night with Faith. I shall look forward to morning when you will be sorry that you started this insanity," he offered coldly before he rested his hand on Faith's back and guided her toward the two thugs guarding the door.
"We'll see!" the woman said, her childish voice giving Faith an urge to bitch-slap her into taking the whole kidnapping seriously. But instead, she followed Severus' lead and trailed after some neckless thug up the stairs and into a room that was an odd cross between haunted house creepy and old-lady weird. These people seriously needed a makeover show or two in their world or possibly just a good bulldozer. Without a word to either thug, Severus slammed the door so that he and Faith were finally alone in the room.
For a moment, Severus stood, his hand flat against the wood of the door as he just stared at it. Knowing just how he was feeling, Faith just backed up to the bed and sat on the hideous vomit-green bedspread. It took Severus several minutes of just staring at the door before he finally curled his hand into a fist and pushed away from the door to look around. Yep, Faith knew that feeling of being so fucking trapped you couldn't even breathe, of being so fucking caught between throwing yourself against the bars and sinking into a corner and crying that you couldn't even moved.
Been there too fucking much both before and during her prison days. That was the feeling that just about got Xander dead with her hands around his throat because she'd wanted to break down and cry and confess everything and have him hold her and forgive her, and she knew he would. But at the same time, she wanted to blame him and all his fucking friends because they had homes and knew where their next meal was coming from and none of them was ever there when she was alone and fifteen and waking up screaming from nightmares where she wallowed in death. Caught between crying and screaming, she'd just tried to kill him. Faith pulled her legs up under her Indian style and scratched her leg as she watched Severus silently work through his own demons, and not the kind with claws.
He pulled green curtains back and tugged at a window that didn't move. He poked furniture and peered behind a huge cabinet-looking thing. He paced. Pulling out the knife no one had bothered taking from her, Faith cleaned under her nails and waited. She'd gotten good at that.
Finally, Severus pulled out a small bottle and sprinkled the red dust into the air, watching it carefully as it drifted to the floor and joined all the other dust down there. He muttered something, circling the new dirt and watching it carefully on the floor. Faith just picked and catalogued potential weapons: a forgotten fireplace poker, the rope ties on the curtains, a chair that looked fragile enough to smash.
Then again, if these people were afraid of conventional weapons, they would have taken her knife. Those wands were just pissing her off because a knife or a fireplace poker weren't going to match up. Then again, a good throw, and she could probably launch either through someone's throat before he had a chance to fire off some curse. She wondered how many of them she could get before some wand caught up to her. Severus threw more red dust in the air, muttering words that made it sparkle.
Severus had taken her out the first two times they'd tussled, but then those loses had taught Faith something about taking these people out. Close quarters, killing strikes, target the voice and no hesitation—she could probably take three to four before one got her. Problem was, it would only take one hit from a wand to take her out, and her and Severus really didn't know each other well enough to fight in close quarters without accidently taking each other out in the crossfire. She resigned herself to following Severus' play on this one, which meant bluffing their way through. Faith just really hoped that bluff didn't mean throwing Riley to the wolves. All this talk about 'him' wasn't improving her digestion.
"No one is listening or watching," Severus finally announced. With a sigh, he stood up and looked at Faith, his expression unreadable. The man could teach Angel a thing or two about having a poker face.
"Well, this is interesting." Faith stretched her legs out and leaned forward on the bed.
"That would depend on one's definition of interesting." Faith couldn't help smiling at Severus' dry humor.
"Oh babe, I find most any reason to get locked in a room with you interesting."
"I assure you, we do not have an audience here, so you may cease your antics." Severus looked just so damn lost, Faith couldn't resist.
Faith laughed. "You're assuming it's an act."
"I'm assuming that I'm at least fifteen years older than you." Severus sighed and leaned against the tall, carved bedpost as he poked the dusty green bedspread with obvious disgust.
"You know what they say about assuming: it makes an ass of you and me," Faith pointed out as she stood and stretched her back. All that tension with no fight wasn't good for a growing slayer.
"You are an endless fount of irreverent sayings; however, I am not interested in continuing this conversation."
"That's funny because you're looking mighty interested to me." Faith reached out and cupped Severus' crotch with her hand, and he reeled back until he stood near the end of the bed looking vaguely panicked. Oh yeah, boy was hard. Faith had known he would be because he'd been watching her stretch, but damn she hated how those robes hid everything.
"What do you think you're doing?" Severus demanded, and all of the calm and the cool indifference had vanished under a shocked expression.
"Just double checking. With all those robes, it's hard to be sure, but that was interest, Sev."
"And if you hadn't found me hard?" he demanded, but Faith could see the amusement just threatening to make him lose that dour expression he wore. She wondered if his attitude was as fake as her sexual aggression. Fact was that she hadn't spread her legs for anyone since Wood, and she was guessing Severus didn't actually eat babies, no matter how mean he tried to look.
"This is me," she said with a smile and a shrug. "The only man who ever didn't get hard around me was Andrew, and trust me, women don't do it for him. One of these days Spike is going to figure out that Andrew has a fairy-sized crush on him and break all the boy's bones, but aside from Andrew, all the guys like what they see."
"I can imagine how interesting that must make your dinner parties." And there was the Severus she knew, all hard-edged humor and that flat voice of his delivering a stinging insult. Of course, Faith wasn't exactly insulted. Giles had learned that asking her to dinner with any stuffed shirt who needed impressing was doomed to failure. Yeah, Buffy with her blonde shit was a whole lot more dinner-party appropriate than Faith.
"Oh babe, you have no idea. So, is that one of your fantasies, doing it on the dinner table, maybe with all your little friends watching?" Faith gave a twist of her hips and tilted her head.
Severus sighed and considered her with a raised eyebrow. "I assure you, I have no interest in having anyone watch."
"Ah. So you'd prefer it if we just did it right here? That can be arranged rather easily." Faith slid closer.
"I'd prefer we not engage in sexual activity at all," he answered quickly, backing up a step, and again, that glum mask slipped. Faith smiled as she caught a glimpse of the need and the pure panic below.
"You're lying to yourself, Sev." Faith moved in on him, expecting another round of objections and retreat. Instead he stood still as her palm rested against his chest.
He sighed heavily. "It's a skill I have honed over years of practice," he admitted softly.
"Oh, babe. You're just all tied up in there, aren't you? Would it help if you were all tied up out here? 'Cause I have to say, the thought of you squirming helplessly under me, that could work," Faith teased. The softening she'd seen in Severus' expression hardened, and once more she faced that perfected mask.
"I think I've had quite enough of feeling helpless already, thank you."
Faith backed off a step as the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. "Hey, five by five with me," Faith quickly said, feeling her advantage slip away from her. "You want to work it the other way? Mmmm. I don't normally take the passenger seat, I prefer to guide a guy 'round the curves, but for you I could make an exception." Faith slowly stalked forward again, pressing in when she saw that subtle amusement return to his face.
"You are really quite annoyingly persistent," he sighed, but he didn't give any hint that he was giving in. The man had to be hard, but he just wasn't responding the way a hot-blooded male should, and Faith knew Sev had some hot blood under all that dour. Problem was, she didn't have time to play the game, especially when he wasn't playing with her. She crossed her arms and considered the stubborn SOB.
"You haven't seen anything. See, there's this little thing called breathing. I'm fond of it. And if we spend the night and come out looking like nuns... I don't think I'm going to keep breathing." Faith sighed. "Babe, if we're playing this, I'm the whore in our little drama, not the nun. Although, I have to say, with that robe, you definitely look more nunlike than I do," she offered as she looked him up and down.
"Do I even want to know what a nun is?" Severus asked, but the question didn't have the undertone of humor… it had something closer to distress.
"Probably not," she shrugged. "But the point here is that I figure I can get a little hot and sweaty action with someone who's easy on the eyes and save my own neck, so it's a two for one as far as I'm concerned."
"I hardly think—"
"That they'll kill me? Sev, think about it. This guy who's coming, he likes you, or at least he doesn't hate you which I get the feeling is as touchy feely as this lot gets. But me? Oh, that crazy chick would just love to check out my insides."
"I have no doubt she would—"
"And you said this lot can read minds, so I'm thinking you want to keep the lies as close to the truth as you can. So, we go out there saying I'm a whore when you've never touched me, and that's going to show up in our minds, isn't it?" Faith slid closer and put her hand back on his chest.
Snape sighed and then got that stubborn expression that made Faith smile. Men, always thinking they can make the impossible happen. "That's a safe assumption. You show a clearer understanding of legilimency than Mr. Potter ever managed, but I would never allow—"
Faith held up her hand, brushing her fingers against Severus' lips to silence him. "Stop right there, Sev. Don't go making promises you can't keep. Better yet, don't go making promises you *shouldn't* keep. This shit is big, and you're right in the middle of it, aren't you?"
"I put myself in the middle of it with my foolishness. I was an idiot, an idiot far too afraid to take a stand when it would have mattered."
"Sev." Faith stopped. She knew how he felt, and he had to find his own way out of the guilt choking him to death. "Been there, bought a whole fucking wardrobe of t-shirts," Faith she settled for saying. From the look Severus gave her, he had no clue what she was talking about, but he was smart, he'd get the gist of it. "But you can't afford to make a stupid move now. If this big bad wants to go reading our minds, I can put something in there that will leave him believing I'm every bit the succubus. You just have to let it happen." She whispered, her voice rough, "I want it to happen. I haven't been exactly subtle about enjoying your company."
"I didn't think you were acquainted with the word subtle," Snape sighed, and Faith could feel him softening.
"Oh babe, I'm not," she agreed. "And I know the score, so if that cow wants to use my guts for Christmas decorations, you're going to let her."
Severus' hands had been moving: smoothing his robes and checking his emply wand pocket and generally twitching. Now they stopped. "You cannot mean..."
"Babe, you know I mean it.
"Mr. Finn would gut me." Neither of them mentioned that Riley had less of a chance of getting out of this than Faith.
"Mr. Finn wouldn't have a chance against you, and he knows it," Faith countered. "And you need to give the boy some credit. He knows the score, and he knows about acceptable losses."
"Perhaps then I am the one to whom you ascribe too much credit." Severus stiffened, his hand grabbing the post of the bed so hard that his knuckles turned white.
I love how you get all your fancy words going when you get your panties in a wad," Faith said with a small smile. "But you know it's the truth. So, since I don't really want to see if divine justice really exists, at least not until I've earned back a few karma points, it seems like bumping uglies is a pretty good idea to me. Not that I think a guy's uglies are all that ugly. Like right now, I'm wondering if you're circumcised. A man who's not is just so much more… sensitive."
I think we should--" Severus stopped.
"We should," Faith agreed.
"I didn't mean."
"Oh, I know what you meant. Just forget them and this weird hang-up you have over our ages and look at me. What do you see when you look at me?" For a few seconds, Severus looked everywhere except her, and Faith finally resorted to reaching up and cupping his cheek with both hands, drawing his eyes to her.
"What do you see?" she repeated softly.
He took a deep breath. "Someone who very well may be part succubus."
"I think that means you like me," Faith said with a smile.
"More than I should, I suspect. I hope you're not planning on checking again," he said with an arched eyebrow that almost could have been a smile.
"I thought I'd make a more thorough examination this time. I always did like playing doctor."
Severus' expression slipped again, the fear sliding through a crack in that smug arrogance he wore around him. "I don't know if I can."
"Oh, babe, you can."
"To save your life?"
Shaking her head, Faith let her hands slide down to his shoulders. Severus was strong… a weak man would have panicked by now. He would have sold her out or gotten himself killed, and from the sounds of it, he'd played this game a long time. But this was a different sort of strength than most men she bedded. There weren't the heavily muscled arms and wide shoulders. He wasn't eager and fighting to press her back into a wall. But his calmness even in the middle of this bullshit attracted her. "Sev, don't think about anything outside this room. This is just you and me, and you can because you feel this between us. I know you do, so just... just let this happen," she asked.
Faith stepped even closer, pressing her body to his and watching the panic growing in Snape's eyes. Bringing her hand up, she rested just one palm against the side of his face. Slowly she used just her thumb to stroke his face, wondering if that mask of his would slide off as he reached orgasm. From the widening of his eyes and the sudden gasp of breath, Faith was guessing that whatever lovers he had in his past, there hadn't been a lot of tenderness there. But then, tender didn't describe most of her sexual encounters either.
She pushed up onto her toes. When she slipped her hand around to the back of his neck, strong hands found her hips, steadying her. Faith opened her mouth just a little and then Severus' lips were on hers. He kissed her hungrily, mouths and bodies pressing together, and for a second, Faith waited to get tossed on the bed. Instead, after that first frantic moment, Severus slowed, his desperation turning to tenderness as he kissed her lips and then her cheek and then his mouth was on her ear, whispering words she couldn't hear or understand.
Faith tangled her fingers in his hair and arched her back at the soft touches.
"I don't--" Severus said, his hands pausing on her body.
"Shhh. Just, just let it happen, okay, Sev?" Faith whispered as she leaned into him, her hands working his robe. "Just let this happen."
Severus shivered and made a sound that Faith couldn't even begin to interpret, something desperate and pained. And then his fingers found her bare stomach, ghosting over her skin reverently and Faith was the one shivering. Slowly, they sank onto the bed, and Faith took her own advice... she just let it happen.
