Chapter 25

Holy. Bloody. Fucking. Hell! Were the only words that came to mind as Lucius looked down at the woman who had just given herself an orgasm with his name on her lips. Lucius hadn't even taken the time to change out of his heavy robes before rushing here, but he knew the sweat running in rivulets down his chest and back wasn't only due to the weather.

He had hoped to find Hermione so they could talk; he had wanted to talk to her for more than a month now, but he knew they both had too many loose ends and too many unresolved issues to deal with before they could even begin to talk about the future. If we even have a future, Lucius thought anxiously.

Lucius had arranged for the dinner on Halloween to coincide with Hermione's divorce hearing so that they could finally talk about what had almost happened between them, what he still wanted to happen between them, what he prayed would now happen between them. So he had hinted strongly to Draco that it would be nice if Hermione and Pansy could meet; maybe in a relaxed setting like a small dinner party.

Draco and Pansy thought it was a wonderful idea, and had jumped in with both feet to plan a nice, but casual dinner. Lucius knew Hermione would finally be free by Halloween. Free to date, free to explore other options… free to spend a week in bed with him. But she hadn't shown; she had cancelled.

Lucius hadn't found out about her cancelling until the afternoon of her hearing, and when Draco finally did tell his father Hermione's reason for cancelling, Lucius decided to throw caution and decorum out the window and went to the courthouse to find her. Why had she cancelled? Did she really have a business trip or was she simply avoiding him?

So he went to the Ministry so he could talk to her. He realized too late that Dianna wasn't aware Hermione had cancelled either, or she would have delayed Hermione until Lucius could show up. After all, they had a plan.

Seeing that stupid cow Molly slap Hermione had almost been his undoing, and it was only his supreme self control that prevented him from hexing Molly into tiny pieces.

Lucius followed Dianna as she led Hermione through the back corridors of the Ministry, thankful that the trusting fools hadn't changed the passwords since Fudge's days as Minister. By the time Lucius caught up with them, he was only able to catch the tail end of Hermione's words before she was Apparating away, and he realized with dismay that she was leaving the country and he didn't know where she was going. He tried to put a tracer spell on her, but he was too slow... then she was gone.

He spent the next week waiting anxiously for her return; wondering if she was okay, and what she was doing. Had she met someone? Had he waited too long to explain? It was hard enough staying away from her for the previous month, but he had kept telling himself that he only had until Halloween, surely he could wait a mere five weeks… right? Except five weeks had felt like an incredibly long time to wait until he could see her again.

The last time he had seen Hermione, it had been when she arrived at the Manor to escort Draco to Narcissa body. Lucius knew he had been cold and formal to her, but he was struggling to maintain his composure in front of Draco after his son had just accused him of murdering Narcissa because he had never loved her. Hermione had arrived in the stunned silence that followed Draco's pronunciation.

The thing was, Lucius had loved Narcissa at one time, but if he was honest, he didn't feel anything other than guilt, and intense sadness when he thought about Narcissa now. No, the woman who had made him feel again, who had made him burn again, made him want to be a better man; a more worthy man… was Hermione.

Then Draco had come back, and the week that had started out bad, had slowly gotten better, until by the end of the week they were actually talking... really talking. Draco told Lucius what Hermione had done to him, and said to him and Lucius couldn't believe it. Why had she done that? Why had she risked herself for him? For Draco?

When everything had settled down, he and Draco were even able to laugh about the whole thing, and Draco had shown him a pensieve of the incident. Lucius was absolutely amazed by Hermione. That brave, compassionate, forgiving, and incredibly beautiful woman had given him back his son… she had given him back his life.

The next few weeks of waiting were made more bearable by the arrival of Draco and Pansy. They had agreed to stay with Lucius at the Manor for a few weeks, so they could reconnect and get to know each other better. It had been so good for Lucius to see Draco and his wife truly happy together, and get to know the man Draco had become; he knew he had Hermione to thank for that.

Oh, he planned to thank her… he was going to thank her… thoroughly and repeatedly!

Lucius had rehearsed countless scenarios in his head of what he would say to Hermione when he finally saw her; he just hoped she forgave him for avoiding her so that he actually got a chance to say them.

When Dianna finally got the letter from Hermione, she contacted Lucius right away with Hermione's location in France. Lucius delayed only long enough to throw a few things into an overnight bag, and he was on his way.

After arriving, he barely wasted a glance on the eye catching scenery… there was only one thing he was interested in seeing. When he arrived at the house, Poppy greeted him warmly, almost as if she had known he would be arriving, and directed him towards the beach where Hermione was reading.

Lucius had spotted Hermione from a distance, but it wasn't until he got closer that he saw what she was doing to herself. The sight of her pleasuring herself shot a flame of pure lust straight through him. As he got closer he saw her hips buck, and then he heard her scream... she screamed his name... HIS name?

The warmth that flooded his body when he heard that had nothing to do with what she was doing… well, not entirely anyway, he was human after all. But hearing his name had given him a flicker of hope.

Maybe she will forgive me; maybe she already has forgiven me. Lucius felt his heart soar at the same time as he realized she was practically naked, and suddenly his heart was far from the only thing that was full of warmth.

His erection was making itself known quite insistently, but Lucius knew that now was not the time for that. They had a lot to discuss before they could even begin to do that… but Oh sweet merciful Merlin did he want to.

Then Lucius was close enough to notice her bare breasts… her beautiful, bare breasts. Oh Gods she had amazing breasts, full and firm with large brown areolas surrounding twin peaks of pure suckability. I could spend hours on just her breasts, thought Lucius heatedly.

Lucius felt like he was twelve again looking at his first issue of Playwizard Magazine. Miss September had been a walking wet dream, all lush curves and dark, mysterious crevices. He had masturbated secretly to her picture for years; even after he and Narcissa were married he kept that issue warded in one of his chests.

Lucius realized with a start, that Hermione reminded him of Miss September. Hermione had become his Miss September, she was his walking wet dream, but she was so much more than that.

It had been a very long month for Lucius, and he wanted nothing more than to sink into her luscious body and not come up for air for at least… a week… a month… forever? Lucius shook his head to clear his thoughts, and looked at her once more… big mistake… HUGE mistake.

Holy mother of Circe, what was she wearing… or more precisely, NOT wearing? Is that even legal?

Sweet Merlin, he prayed to all the deities above for strength as she got up to wrap herself in a towel… she had the sweetest, juiciest, most delectable ass he had ever seen and he wanted to sink his teeth into it. Hell, he wanted to devour every inch of it.

Then she was covered… Damn… but he knew it was for the best, because they had a lot to discuss, and he seemed to lose the capability for coherent thought when she was naked. He knew it was probably because all of the blood seemed to leave his brain and travel south. Evidently, he really didn't have enough blood for both heads, at least where she was concerned.

"Lucius?" Hermione was looking at him as if she was not sure he was real.

I'm real alright, Lucius thought lasciviously, and it's a good thing you can't read my mind right now, because the things I'd like to do to you would probably make you run screaming in the other direction.

Lucius mentally slapped himself for letting his thoughts stray into dangerous territory again, and smiled, hoping he looked contrite instead of predatory.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted... something," Lucius trailed off as he realized what he had just said. Of course you interrupted something; you saw what she was doing… how she was rubbing… uugghh… focus!

Hermione was looking at him as if he had just crawled out from under a rock, and her face which had paled a few seconds ago, was now beet red. Lucius watched as her mouth opened and closed a few times as if to say something, but no words were forthcoming, and he knew he had to try and salvage the conversation somehow.

"Hermione, I didn't mean…," he began hesitantly, "… I just meant that…," that what? That I heard you scream my name as you fingered yourself to orgasm? That I wanted to offer my services?

"Hermione, I know I'm making a real mess of this, but I was hoping we could talk," he said, trying to show he was sincere, as he nonchalantly tried to disguise his insistent erection.

Hermione had gathered up her things and was headed back towards the villa before Lucius realized what she was doing, and he quickly followed her.

"Hermione… wait!" Lucius called after her retreating back, struggling to keep from sinking into the sand too deeply with each step. Damn boots, he thought irritably as he tried to catch up to her.

"Hermione… please!" Lucius half yelled, half pleaded as she started to enter the villa. His tone must have finally gotten her attention, and she turned back to face him. She looked at him strangely for a moment before speaking.

"Why are you here? How did you find me? Are you trying to torment me?" she asked in an agonized voice. Then before he could answer, she shook her head and turned back around, her voice carrying in the afternoon breeze.

"Never mind," she took a shaky breath and ran her hand over her eyes as if to compose herself, when she spoke again, her voice was calmer, colder.

"I don't want to know Lucius. I'm going in to shower; and I expect you to be gone by the time I'm done. You know the way out." Then she was gone, and when Lucius tried to enter behind her, he was thrown back ten feet. As he lay in an ungainly sprawl on the ground, his thoughts were racing.

She had warded the villa against him, she must really be pissed. Now what was he going to do? He had to find a way to talk to her and convince her of his sincerity, and of his intentions.

Lucius knew he had made mistakes, and screwed up many things in his life, but this was one thing he planned to make right... somehow.