I am so unhappy with this, but figured I'd post it anyway. My friend asked for an Irene/Sherlock fic, but my favoritism of Johnlock got in the way and it was all over after that. But I don't know where I should edit this, so I'll just post it and let you, readers, tell me what you think and then I'll rewrite it. Expect something similar to this at some point. I really need to rewatch A Scandal in Belgravia.

She saw him and knew that his appeal was a strong one. He was handsome, with dark curls and bright eyes that were sharp with intelligence the likes of which she had never seen. Sharply cut jaw and cheekbones highlighted the paleness of his skin. He captured her attention immediately.

He left her heart racing and her lungs bereft of air, but the look in his eyes when she refused to collaborate made it worth it. She was a puzzle to solve and she knew it, but the best part was that he knew it, too.

So she asked him out.

"Let's have dinner."

She never got a reply, but the looks on people's faces when his phone pinged with a new message were nearly as rewarding.

She changed her phone's password.

…

For a little while, she thought she might be in love with him. Her heart stuttered when he looked at her, and the thought of his hands bond and red welts across his white, white skin made her heat in all the right ways.

It was exhilarating.

It would have been perfect, too, but he seemed to forget she wasn't an idiot. She saw the way he looked at him. The army doctor- it was complete and utter devotion. She knew, when she faked her death and cornered the doctor, that he felt the same, but neither of them knew. If they did, they refused to acknowledge it. She knew that she didn't look like that.

When the realization hit her that he was in love with the doctor he had for a flat mate, she wasn't even hurt.

By then, it didn't matter. It was too late.

He got the pictures. He got everything.

She nearly died a prisoner, but he came for her after all. If she didn't love him before, she loved him now. But she wasn't in love with him.

She was in love with the promise of the thrill he brought her.