They didn't touch her as much anymore. Granted, every time she entered a room, she was greeted with a chorus of wolf whistles, but since her doting husband saw those as a compliment, she doubted that would change anytime soon. Still, she was grateful for the small reprise from hands. Little blessings were still blessings. And yet, she felt an unfamiliar unhappy sort of gnawing in her stomach. She pushed it away, deciding to focus on her work- to get through the evening and get to bed. As she walked past her husband with a tray of plates, he caught her by the wrist. She turned, imagining she was in trouble.

"You've put your hair up."

She stared at him, waiting. "Yes."

"It looks good, I like it. Shows off your face so much better." He tucked a stray strand behind her ear, smiling. She blushed, ducking her head down.

"So you've said."

As she made her way back into the kitchen, a few of the women frowned at her. She kept her head down.

It seems she wasn't the only one who had been affected by the events of the last meeting. They had eaten up his feat of bravery, his chivalrous decision to not allow his wife to become the victim of yet another violent crime thrilling them, she thought bitterly. As she reentered the room, two of the women were rubbing his shoulders, crooning in his ears. And he was smiling triumphantly, glad for the attention. Resentment burned within her. It wasn't that she wanted him for herself, but if she was going to have to suffer through this marriage, he could damn well act married. At the very least he could act less interested.

She had only looked down for a second, stopping to clean a spill off the floor, but when she looked up again, one of the ladies was pulled him away by the lapel of his shirt, down the hall, away from the troop. Seeing them disappear, Violet stood angrily, throwing down her rag to follow them. If she had to be miserable so would they.

"You're just sooooo brave," the scrawny woman looked up at him from under batted eyelashes, "such a manly man, so tough and manly." Her long earrings clinked against her exposed collarbone. She ran her hands up his chest to his neck.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" There was a smile in his voice.

"Oh, I'm not trying to do anything." She stepped closer, tilting her head up toward him.

"Because if you are, I regret to inform you that I have never once been seduced. Never." She frowned before smiling coyly. "Well, there is a first time for everything, yes?"

"There's the problem. As a master of seduction myself, it is boring to see a game poorly played by others. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Kills all the fun. I'd much rather be the one setting the fire than putting it out. No, I am sorry, you are just going to have to wait and see if one day you are lucky enough that I decide to seduce you."

She raised an eyebrow questioningly. "You're kidding, right?"

He squared his shoulders, offended. "I am a very handsome man. If I were to take up every offered seduction, I'd hardly have time to do anything else."

Right as she wrinkled her nose in disappointment, Violet rounded the corner.

"Oh, there you are. I was looking for you. My Husband. Who married me. And took oaths when you married me. There you are. In the hall. Of the house that we share. Because we are married."

The strange woman pushed off him, walking away in a huff, glaring daggers at Violet as she went.

Olaf watched her go, before looking down at his wife with a cocked eyebrow.

"You were looking for me?"

"Yes, I-"

"Are you sure you weren't looking for some better acting skills?" His voice was filed with sarcasm.

She was glad he couldn't see her face flush in the dim light. "Yes. I mean no. I needed to find you to-"

He leaned against the wall, folding his arms across his chest. "To spy on me?"

"No!"

"To follow me in order to spy on me?"

"No, I came to remind you that you are a married man, and really ought to begin conducting yourself as such." She held her chin out, defiant.

He looked at her in surprise for a second, before laughing, amused.

"So, you followed me in order to spy on me because you are jealous?"

"God no." She screwed up her face angrily.

He clicked his tongue in mock warning, smiling. "Careful, people might start to think you're actually fond of your husband."

"You know what, forget it, fuck you." She turned to walk away, but he caught her by the wrist.

He laughed, a single breathy chuckle, before lifting her hand to his lips to kiss it softly.

"My Countess, my one and only." Her breath hitched, but her face stayed fixed in a scowl. He paused, then kissed her again on the gentle insides of her wrist. "No need for all that, you know the only person I could ever have eyes for is you." She hummed a staccato note in response. He smiled slyly, beginning a soft trail of kisses up her arm.

Her breath grew shakier with each one, but she didn't pull away. A warm rumbling spread from the base of her spine down through her legs, curling her toes inside her shoes. He kissed his way up her shoulder, his one hand still holding her arm outstretched. His other snaked behind her, gripping her tightly by the hips, pulling her so that he was holding her back pressed against him. He paused at the base of her soft neck, nipping lightly at the skin, pleased to note the soft breath she gave in reply.

"My Countess?" He muttered, his lips pressed to her skin.

"Yes, I'm here." Her answer was curt and breathy.

"There's no need to smash me over the head with a pile of broken glass, just so you know." She didn't reply. "Although if you didn't want to stop... who could blame you, really?"

She groaned as way of reply but didn't push him away. He rolled his words, breathing them against her skin.

"It's hardly a secret that you must feel it too by now. I am, after all, both handsome

and dashing, a renowned lover and talented actor-"

"Not to mention super humble." She muttered.

He spun her around quickly, pressing her against the wall. She grabbed at his shoulders, trying to keep her balance.

"Do you want to say that to my face, Dearest?" He rocked his weight into her. She inhaled sharply. He let out a low, smiling growl.

"I said," she looked up, up, up to meet his eyes, "not. To mention. Humble."

She annunciated each word, spitting them between her teeth. He tightened his jaw.

Her voice lilt-ed sarcastically.

"See, the joke is, you make claims to adjectives you cannot possibly live up to. Your ego is implausibly large."

He quickly tried to remember what an adjective was. Obviously she was being rude, regardless of her fancy words.

A wicked, slow smile stole across his face.

"Oh really?" He asked, his voice dripping with innocence. "So, if I were to do this," he rocked his leg between her thighs, pulling her up and pressing her into the wall, "it wouldn't do anything for you?"

Her ears and nose flushed red, but to her credit, her expression didn't change.

"Nothing at all."

He lifted his eyebrow in mock understanding. "Oh, I see. So if, for example, I were to do something like this," he grabbed her at the back of her thighs, lifting her so that she rested on his waist, his long fingers pressing into her, "you wouldn't even notice?"

She swallowed. "Not. A. Thing."

He purred, frowning. "Then I suppose this is right out of the question?" Rocking her back against the wall, he pressed himself against her, lips pulling at the tender skin along her jaw line. She gasped, and reflexively grabbed at him to keep from falling. Carefully, he lifted one hand to her face. Hungrily, pausing only long enough to see the surprise in her eyes, he kissed her on the lips, forcefully. He traced the outline of her teeth with his tongue, all the while pressing himself into her, feeling the warmth between her legs and behind her lips as she gripped tightly at him.

For a man of his frame he was surprisingly strong. She gasped as the sensations rushed into her, the pounding warmth against her, spreading into her bones.

And then, all at once, he pulled back, slow enough that she didn't quite fall, but rather slid to the floor, a groggy look in her eyes.

"That's a shame, really. Guess I'll just need to figure something else out."

He strode out of the hall quickly, leaving her dazed on the floor.

Her heart pounded, head keeping time with a monotonous loop of "What just happened? What just happened?" even as her rushing blood chimed in with its own chorus of "oh yes, oh yes, oh yes!" leaving her bleary eyed and buzzing.