A/N – I can't remember the last time I had an entire day to write. It's my hedonistic pleasure. Thanks for joining me for the ride. –Snow

WARNING - GRAPHIC

Her entire body protested and her head pounded. There was a strong arm thrown over her waist, her body cradled protectively in an embrace. It was a beautiful sensation. She felt whole and warm. It was only then that she felt something else. Her cheeks instantly flamed as her eyes snapped open. Severus was beside her, his eyes closed. He shifted as he felt her move, his eyes opening to narrowed slits. In the next moment his lips were on hers, the kiss searing and hot. Something inside her shattered and she yielded without conscious though, relishing that contact. It was a thorough kiss, one that spoke of an intimacy she had never experienced. It was as if her beleaguered brain had begun to wake up from a fog, and yet she couldn't fight the sensation that crowded her mind and her body, urging her to turn in his arms. It was not until she felt him move, settling himself between her open thighs that she realized what she was doing. He devoured her lips with a hunger she'd never thought the reserved, cold man she'd met a few days before could feel. She melted beneath his touch and it was as if all the questions that buzzed through her head fell away.

He didn't speak, didn't pull away as he buried his fingers in her hair, the other sliding to her hips and pulling her more securely beneath him, his fingers grasping her bottom as he lifted her hips in silent demand. She yielded to that demand without hesitation, though why she had no idea. He thrust into her without a confidence that startled her, and as she tore her lips from his own, her eyes slammed closed once more. It was a foreign and yet familiar sensation. His voice was silent to her ears as it always was, but she felt the whisper of his words against her ear as he began to move. The fullness of his cock within her, invading her body was familiar, and overwhelming to her senses.

Elizabeth's spine arched into him, her legs moving to wrap around his waist as he lifted his head. Her eyes cracked open and his fingers slid up her hip, silently guiding her to lower her legs, splaying her for him as he pressed her knees into the bed. Confusion set in for a moment before he began to drive into her harder. Her eyes locked to his face as she realized the subtle shift in position brought him more pleasure. He didn't speak, his lips didn't move as he stared at her through half-lidded eyes. It was in that moment it all came crashing back down on her. Her lips parted in a cry as his lips formed words she didn't catch.

Pleasure seized her and he rose up on his knees, the blankets falling away as he lifted her hips from the bed, easily supporting her weight as his gaze swept down the line of her body. He drove into her, forceful, confident strokes deep into the core of her. He hissed something at her, his eyes half-lidded and dark as she clutched at the blankets, the mattress, anything to keep an anchor on reality. Something snapped in the air, and as she cried out without conscious effort, her orgasm overwhelmed her. He drove into her one last time, pinning her body against his own as she felt the jerking of his cock inside her, the warmth of his release. He stared at her, his expression a clouded haze of lust and need. Through the fog of pleasure that still gripped her, she realized what he was saying. "Only ever mine."

It was not until he collapsed forward, catching himself on one hand that the haze began to lift. The previous night came flooding back to her in startling clarity. He was still inside her, his length still full and heavy within her as she stared up at him. Fear instantly took hold. He saw it, his expression quizzical for a moment. In the next heart beat though, his own eyes widened and he seemed to realize what they'd done. He withdrew from her and began to reach for her, then stopped himself.

Elizabeth reached for the duvet, snatching it up to cover herself. He, however, seemed unconcerned with modesty. He sat back on his haunches, his cock still half-hard, still bearing the telltale faint traces of blood. Her stomach turned at the sight and instantly shame filled her. She turned away from him, drawing in a deep breath. She didn't want to know what he'd been about to say. She needed to get herself under control. When he finally did touch her, his grip was firm, but gentle on her arm.

As she turned to face him, she released the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. His expression held no recrimination, no judgment. She bit her lower lip, her gaze lowering for a moment in curiosity. When his eyes followed hers, she was stunned to see his cock twitch under her study. She felt no repulsion, only curiosity, and that heat that began in her belly any time he was near her.

As she lifted her gaze to his face, his eyes held a glimmer of amusement, though it quickly faded. His lips formed words, and she had to force herself to concentrate. He repeated himself, the concern in those dark eyes touching her on a level she didn't understand. "Are you hurt?"

She took a mental inventory of her state. Mentally, she was startled and more than a little stunned by the clarity of her recall of just what they'd done. Apparently, virgin or not, she was a freak in bed. And Severus… her gaze lifted to his face once more, then dropped again. He was not nearly as reserved and cold as she had thought him. He was passionate and thorough and intense. That intensity had bordered on cruel. Physically she ached. There were bruises inside her thighs from their activities, prints on her hips in the shapes of his long-fingers hands. Her body screamed at her, worse than on her morning runs when she took a week off. She was sore. Very sore. And yet even as his fingers brushed her cheek her body responded as if a fire had been lit under her ass. Strangely though, she wasn't frightened, only humiliated by how much of a slut she'd turned into.

"I'm fine." She lied through her teeth, then stopped herself. "Okay, not exactly fine, but I'm not hurt. You? Are you…." She groped for the right word. "All right?"

His lips quirked upward in a self-deprecating smile. "I'm…" He hesitated, his gaze steady as though fearing her response. "sated." He seemed to be having the same trouble with the words that she was.

As she began to relax, she still didn't yield the grip on his duvet. It didn't seem to bother him. He merely stared right back at her as that silence stretched into awkwardness. Finally she cleared her throat and spoke once more. "I'm sorry. I didn't…. know. I couldn't stop myself."

He released her arm and cocked his head. As he brushed his fingers over her cheek, she could see the apology in his eyes. "No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let either of us take that first drink. You were trying to be polite and I could have stopped it."

She snorted and finally common sense overcame shame. "I think it's safe to say that neither of us could have truly stopped it, Severus."

His eyes darkened as she said his name. She watched in fascination as he leaned toward her, his hand touching her face. He shook his head as if to clear it and let his hand drop away. "The magic of that potion is dangerous and potent. It's more than just sex, Elizabeth. I took your virginity. I brutalized you."

"I don't recall protesting." She cut him off. "And it's not as if you were any more in control of yourself. We both did things that go against who we are-"

"No." It was his turn to interrupt her. His face was alive, vivid with a range of emotion she'd never have thought him capable of. "That potion is like alcohol amped up. It doesn't manufacture those things, it only amplifies what is already in our nature. What I did to you, what you…gave me… those things are who we are and that's a part of why it's so dangerous."

She frowned. "I don't understand. Never in my studies have I come across that. I've never made it, but none of the ingredients-"

"It's not the ingredients. It's the interaction with the wine. The delivery system. Why do you think there were flecks of gold in the wine? It's not just for pretty, Woman."

For the first time she saw the hint of the cold man she'd met. It all suddenly made sense. "How do you know so much about it?"

"I brewed it. The fucker drugged me with my own potion. Now do you get it? Last night was my fault, Elizabeth." The shame in his eyes was more than she could bear.

She inhaled slowly. "I know you did things, during the war, Snape. But you aren't that man. Not anymore." She lifted her chin and rose to her feet, taking his duvet with her. "We made a mistake last night. We were drugged and things happened. But do not lay the blame at the feet of anyone but the man who gave the potion to us. We just move on."

Snape rose to his feet, reaching for his trousers he'd worn the night before and drawing them on. By the light of day, he cut an even more imposing figure. He rounded the bed and gripped her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze as he spoke slowly and clearly. "You're right. We do have to move on, but the fact is that the things that happened can't be undone, none of them."

There it was again, that sadness. Her heart sank as she began to realize there was something he wasn't telling her. She waited. Her silence paid off when he began to speak once more. "The potion created a bonding that breeds demands that must be met, demands that are permanent. There is a damn good reason it's illegal, Elizabeth."

Her heart was now somewhere permanently lodged in her gut. "Permanent." She repeated quietly.

Snape nodded. "I took your virginity, that sealed the magic and somehow, that ass must have known. It wasn't idle chatter, Woman. Your body belongs to me now and there is nothing I can do to undo that. There is no choice, for either of us. You're ruined in the eyes of the wizarding world and the blowback will be swift and it will be total. There's no time and there's no way out."

It hit her with sickening clarity. She was already fighting an uphill battle very day of her life. Muggleborn. Foreigner. Deaf. These were things she was used to. But fallen woman. He was right. She KNEW he was right. She shook her head and lifted a hand to silence him. She made her way from his room, his duvet trailing behind her along with the tattered remnants of her dignity.