Thank you for reading! Please let me know if you enjoy! I don't own any of Black Butler! Updates on the second and fourth Saturday of each month!
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Lady Phantomhive's chat with Sebastian was cut tragically short when the smiling man came and pulled her dapper gentleman away from his seat across from her.
After Sebastian had gone and the smiling man had returned, Ciel faced him and demanded angrily, "I beg your pardon, sir, but may I ask the meaning for that unwarranted interruption?"
"I apologize, my lady." The man said with an eerie grin, "I merely sought to introduce you to Mr. Michaelis. As I said, I'm afraid he is my most sought after gentleman and there are several, paying customers waiting to have their own private moments with him."
If Ciel had any remaining doubts about what kind of foul debauchery the smiling man allowed in his bizarre establishment, they were dissolved by that sentence.
When the bluenette opened her mouth again to speak after a long pause, her cheeks were bright red with mortification, "I see…….so if I wish to linger in Mr. Michaelis's company, then-"
"-Then all you have to do is pay the price, my lady." The man smiled sweetly at Ciel.
Ciel frowned to herself and looked around.
Without Sebastian in front of her she felt out of place and horrid and……..it wasn't a good feeling.
As the smiling man called out and begged Ciel to stay awhile longer, she rose from her seat, briskly walked out of the shop, and dashed back to her carriage.
While Snake pulled on the reins and commanded the horses to begin the return trip home, Ciel looked out of the carriage window with a scowl.
She stared at that strange place, there on the desolate street at the end of the fashion district, until it disappeared from her sight.
As much as Ciel tried to forget, she couldn't help but keep ruminating over the evening's events in her mind.
She also couldn't rid herself of the jealous anger that rose up in her whenever she imagined Sebastian Michaelis, that handsome, chivalrous alpha, speaking to another lady instead of her.
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Ciel thought often about her night out over the next few weeks.
She thought about the carriage ride and that strange place she had visited, but mostly, she thought about Mr. Michaelis.
Sebastian~.
Ciel thought about his tapered eyes and his tall, lean frame.
She thought about his raven black hair that hung down over the fine angles of his face.
Mr. Michaelis's black hair had seemed so feather soft that Ciel felt like it was begging her to reach out and touch it for herself.
Ciel thought about the elegant smoothness of Mr. Michaelis's voice and the way his eyes seemed to glow when they had spoken there in the parlor.
Ciel thought and thought and thought and thought………..and no matter how many sleepless nights went by or how many empty mornings she spent staring out at the stone balcony while Elizabeth prattled on, she couldn't rid her mind of the handsome alpha.
An alpha~.
What was it like to have an alpha?
Ciel dared to wonder and even more boldly, she dared to dream of having a mate.
She imagined a man, as tall, handsome, and suave as Mr. Michaelis, holding her each night when she went to sleep, waking her each morning with a kiss, walking with her throughout the day, keeping her satisfied during her heats…….
It pinkened Ciel's cheeks to contemplate, but she was certain that if her life had been different and she had married Mr. Michaelis instead of Edward, she would have already borne Sebastian a house full of children, strapping sons and beautiful daughters.
Ciel scolded herself inwardly when those particular wonderings danced across her mind.
Those notions were certainly not acceptable material for a noblewoman's musings.
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No matter how badly Ciel wanted to deny it, her body didn't care about what was proper and what was not.
As the month came to a close and she felt her next cycle approaching, she began her usual pattern of irritable restlessness.
When Ciel woke one morning with tender breasts and low, deep cramps in her abdomen, she knew it would only be a matter of hours and her real suffering would begin.
It made her laugh bitterly to know that as usual, Edward was nowhere to be seen.
Why would she expect anything different?
When Elizabeth went to bed early that night and those vexing cramps intensified, Ciel grit her teeth and made a choice, a selfish choice.
She opened the front door to Phantomhive manor and walked boldly out into the driveway.
It only took her a moment of searching around before she found her footman working with the horses and she called out to him, "Snake!"
The pale boy turned around and blinked in surprise to find his mistress once again addressing him alone, so very late in the evening.
"Take me to London." Ciel ordered stiffly.
Snake blinked his green eyes at Ciel for a moment before he nodded in silent obedience.
Ciel watched, while she tried to stop the sweat that seeped from her pores, as Snake rustled around and prepared a carriage for her.
Once the vehicle was ready, Ciel climbed inside without even giving her servant the chance to assist her.
As a beta, Snake didn't really understand Ciel's urgency but once she was in and the carriage door was closed, he shrugged aside his mistress's strange behavior and pulled on the horses' reins.
In the stuffy backseat of the carriage, Ciel blew out a breath of relief.
It wouldn't be too long now, not long at all and she would be where she needed to be, with whom she needed to be.
Every heat was the same, but she was determined to break that pattern.
This time, she was going to look after herself instead of her marriage, or her country, or her family.
If only for a chat or a simple kiss on her hand, Lady Phantomhive couldn't wait to indulge in Sebastian Michaelis~.
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It was a cold night.
By the time Ciel's carriage pulled into the street of the deserted fashion district, the bluenette was shivering beside the chilled, glass window.
She paid the temperature little mind, although the frigidity did nothing to ease her cramps.
Snake opened the door for his lady and watched as she stepped out of the carriage and walked down the street to the loud and uproarious establishment situated on the very end of the buildings.
"Shall I wait for you, my lady?" Snake called out to his mistress.
During Ciel's first visit to that odd place, Snake had been left on the curb with the carriage for so long that he regretted not asking his mistress for instructions before she left him.
After Snake asked his question, Ciel stopped and turned around to face her footman.
Snake frowned in pity when he saw how sad and watery Ciel's sapphire eyes seemed under the flickering street light as she gazed at him with a determination and a fierce defiance, the likes of which he had never seen on her face previously.
"No." Ciel commanded, "Leave me here and return in the morning, just after dawn, but bring a different carriage."
Snake looked confused and he asked humbly, "...What carriage shall I bring, my lady?"
He would have spoken to his reptile friends, but he had thoughtfully left them behind at the manor since he had been frightened the evening's cold may harm them.
"A commoner's carriage." Ciel ordered her footman with a curt nod.
Snake watched Ciel resume her walk and disappear through the doors of that bright, vivid place on the otherwise dead street and as he did, he frowned to himself.
He climbed back up into the driver's seat of the carriage and pulled on the leather reins again until the horses marched to begin their journey back to Phantomhive manor.
Snake thought about Ciel's strange request, but he was more interested in considering the possible ways that he could discreetly secure a commoner's carriage, and some commoner's clothes, if he was to be believable about the ruse Ciel expected him to put on when morning came and the city was flooded with people.
Snake thought very little about the reason behind Ciel's austere order.
Considering his past, Snake was grateful to have a home, as were all of the servants of the Phantomhive household, a group of misfits that had become a family.
To ensure that he kept his home, Snake made a habit of asking Ciel only the most necessary questions.
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Despite the chill in the air, Lady Phantomhive's elegant, pale shoulders glistened with perspiration as she stepped through the door of that scandalous place.
Over the noisy bustle of the crowd, the smiling man who had introduced Ciel to her desired alpha recognized her immediately and began to scurry towards her.
"My lady!" He cried as he walked up with another wide smile.
The man always remembered his wealthy customers, especially those of noble blood, and it was easy to see that Ciel was of the highest social class.
The aristocrats were usually the richest of the rich.
"You've come back to visit us again!" The smiling man exclaimed happily, "How can we help you this evening?"
Ciel offered a gold coin to the man and nodded as she drew in a breath, "I wish…..to see Mr. Michaelis."
The smiling man nodded, "Of course, my lady. He begins his work for the evening in a half hour, in the meantime, may I offer you a drink or a-"
"I wish to see Mr. Michaelis NOW." Ciel demanded haughtily as she thrust two more gold coins at the smiling man.
The smiling man's eyes lit up at the amount of payment he already received from his anxious customer and his yellow teeth showed as he grinned widely.
"Of course, my lady~. Wait here a moment, if you will, please." The smiling man said with a nod.
Ciel huffed and crossed her arms while the man hurried up the grand, sprawling staircase and knocked on a door at the far end of the left hallway.
"Yes?" A smooth voice called from inside the room.
"You have work downstairs." The man replied.
"I don't begin for nearly half an hour." The smooth voice on the other side of the door answered.
"...It's the omega from earlier this month, the one with the blue and grey hair~." The smiling man called temptingly.
A second later, the door swung open, and Sebastian stepped out into the hallway.
The smiling man tried not to drool with greed as he watched his most prized employee stride swiftly down the corridor with his elegant black suit attractively framing his trim physique.
Sebastian Michaelis wore a smile on his face too as he walked down the stairs and greeted Ciel like she was an old friend.
"My lady! How good it is to see you again!" Sebastian said as he bowed to Ciel.
Lady Phantomhive pouted up at Mr. Michaelis as she held out her delicate hand.
Ciel's cheeks were still flushed and if that hadn't tipped Sebastian off to her oncoming condition, the pheromones that rose from her skin would have as soon as he pressed his lips to her clammy flesh.
Ciel could have promised that she saw the alpha's eyes flash as he looked at her and politely let her hand fall away.
"Come, my lady. It is far too loud here and you look a bit fatigued." Sebastian said as he offered Ciel his arm, "Allow us to seek refuge in a more intimate place."
Ciel hesitantly took Sebastian's arm and trustingly followed him up the stairs, unknowingly towards his bedroom.
Sebastian had thought quite a bit about Ciel since their first meeting too.
In fact, he couldn't wait to explore the bluenette in more depth and in her current state, it made him gnash his teeth when he considered the scope of work that he was interested in pursuing for the night.
Lady Phantomhive was breathless by the time she and Sebastian arrived outside of his door.
For a married woman of her age, Ciel remained quite naive.
She had been largely sheltered like most women of her breeding.
What had Mr. Michaelis meant when he had spoken about…….a 'more intimate place'?