Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Black Butler! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates on the second and fourth Saturday of each month!
—————————————————————
The vast number of people present that night prevented Lord Phantomhive's daughter from making any real or permanent escape.
With a sigh of consternation, the youngest Lady Phantomhive soon realized that the farthest she could retreat from her terrible situation was the refreshment stand on the far side of the ballroom.
Hushed gossip quickly circulated through the party's attendees in the form of speculative whispers.
Fury surged through Ciel's veins as she stood in the corner with a rageful scowl.
As Lord and Lady Phantomhive resumed their witty conversation with the masked stranger, filled with pleasantries and punctuated by amused laughs, Ciel grit her teeth as she walked over to the punch bowl.
She considered it a small mercy that at least since her hand had been spoken for, the other leering young men left her alone.
With a melancholy grimace twisting her lips, Ciel let out a breathy sigh as she scooped out a bit of punch from the bowl into one of the many, intricate glasses, too impatient to wait for a servant's assistance.
She lifted her glass to take a sip before a smooth voice purred in her ear, "Pardon me, my lady, may I have this dance?"
Ciel was certain she knew exactly who had spoken.
It was Sebastian, it had to be, she would have known his cadence anywhere!
She whirled around, ready to see her lover at last, but her heart dropped into the soles of her feet as she found herself gazing instead at…….her new fiancé.
"Is something the matter?" The masked stranger asked with a kind smile.
"No…." Ciel sighed, "I beg your pardon, sir, I mistook you for someone else."
"There's no need to apologize, my lady." Sebastian said as he offered her his hand, "Though I would be honoured beyond measure if you would allow me the privilege of a single dance. You are, beyond all shadow of doubt, the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."
Ciel had no desire to dance with the man she would be forced to marry.
As she glanced across the room though, she noticed her father stared at her with an authoritative glare.
Depressed that there was no sign yet of Sebastian at the ball, she decided she would save herself a bit of trouble and comply with the masked man's request.
"Is that why you've come to ask for my hand in marriage?" Ciel frowned as she allowed the masked man to lead her out onto the dance floor.
"I'm afraid not, my lady, though your beauty is a gift beyond comparison." Sebastian smirked as he gazed at Ciel through his disguise while they began to dance.
To her parents' chagrin, Ciel had never become a graceful dancer like all of the other young ladies in her social class, despite the many hours of lessons she had endured.
She tried to avoid dancing as often as possible, not eager to embarrass herself publicly with wide eyes of horror and stumbling, uncoordinated steps.
Her body was as fluid as carved lead and her feet as out of rhythm as a confused cow's hooves but somehow, while that masked stranger held her in his grip, he used his own skills to make it appear as though Ciel actually possessed a hint of feminine grace.
Her sapphire eyes widened as the masked man twirled her effortlessly through song after song, eager for her to return to him each time as he caught her in his arms, only to right her on her path without allowing her to stumble a single step.
The smirk on his face caused her to frown in response as she asked, "Tell me then, sir, why have you sought me out as your future wife?"
The man's smirk turned into a happy grin as he announced, "You see, my lady, I find myself hopelessly, madly, completley…..in love with you. My life will no longer be worth living if you are not by my side day and night."
The confession was romantic but under the circumstances, Ciel failed to be impressed.
His statement struck her as ominously bizarre.
Before he had a chance to explain further, Ciel snapped, "Forgive me, sir, but may I ask how that's possible when we've never met previously? How can you love someone you haven't ever known?"
"Would you permit me to show you, my lady?" The masked man asked.
Ciel scowled up at the man while she thought.
After a moment of careful consideration, she hesitantly nodded before she gasped as he whisked her towards the outer edge of the ballroom floor.
Ciel squealed as the masked man ended their dance and grasped her hand while he pulled them both through the crowd.
Her heart clenched with anxiety as she realized that he intended to leave the room with her.
Before Ciel could scream or flail, her suitor had slipped them both out of the ballroom, taken her into his arms, and raced down the hallway with her in his grip, bridal style.
"W-Where are you taking me?!" Ciel gasped as the world rushed past them while the man increased his pace.
The masked man only grinned in response as he came to the abandoned Phantomhive library.
Utilizing the first room of complete solitude from the hustle and bustle of the ball, the masked man quickly slipped through the library's doors with Ciel held firmly in his arms.
The idea of being in a darkened room with a man who had already begged to pursue her and complimented her beauty sent fear creeping through Ciel's heart.
She mentally prepared herself to make a desperate attempt at battling him as the masked man carried her through the room until they arrived at a plush, red sofa in the center of the library.
Her blue eyes widened as the man sat down on the sofa with her obscenely in his lap.
Determined to fight to the last, Ciel grit her teeth as she summoned her courage and hissed, "Sir, if you think for one instant that I'll lie still and allow-"
While Ciel snarled, the masked man lifted a hand and reached up to pull his disguise away from his face.
She blinked as she slowly watched him reveal himself as……..
"SEBASTIAN!" Ciel cried with her sapphire eyes wide from shock.
"My lady~." Sebastian smirked.
"It….it's you!" Ciel exclaimed in disbelief, "But….But….."
"I attempted to tell you earlier, my lady, though I'm afraid you fled from my side while I spoke to your father." Sebastian chuckled.
"But…….why?" Ciel asked as she glanced from his handsome face to the mask he held in his hands.
"Surely you've heard that I myself am from a noble family in a land far from this one?" Sebastian spoke, "Your father is quite proud of that fact. Although I have deeply enjoyed my years of traveling, from the moment my gaze fell upon you, during my first visit to this house, I knew that time had drawn to an end."
Ciel gasped quietly as Sebastian leaned forward and cupped her fair face in one of his large hands.
"My lady……" Sebastian cooed in his velvet voice, "Let us marry and lead a life of happiness together….You and I, shall we? Or is it true that I repulse you beyond words to such a point you would embarrass yourself by fleeing from me as you did moments ago?"
Sebastian finished with a chuckle but Ciel clearly didn't find the situation amusing as she cried, "I….I didn't know it was you! Why are you in this ridiculous disguise, anyway?! If father knows you're of proper breeding and high birth, why didn't you just ask-"
"-Do you believe that the other members of your class would allow such a sight, regardless of my true status in this world? To have an Earl's daughter be promised in marriage to a lowly butler?" Sebastian scowled.
The social mechanics of the situation did not bother Ciel.
She took too much delight in her own happy victory to worry over the fine details that the other aristocrats would squabble about.
Her sapphire eyes flashed with curious longing before she leaned forward and pressed her lips against Sebastian's.
As he reveled once more in his sweet love's kiss, a low growl issued from his throat as he wrapped his arms around his darling and pulled her closer.
The dark, quiet privacy of the library felt like a blissful escape made just for them while the noise of Ciel's debutante ball droned on somewhere in the background, past the sheltering doors of their reclusive haven.
She had grown tired of pushing aside her desires.
Without any servants or wandering eyes to interrupt, their kiss deepened as their ardor ignited to a feverish degree.
Anxious to know Sebastian as her lover and far too capricious to endure the months of wedding planning and pompous ceremony that surely lay ahead, Ciel let her fingers roam over his chest as he possessively splayed his hands across her hips.
"My lady," Sebastian gasped against Ciel's lips in a husky whisper, "Perhaps we should wait for a more….appropriate…..time. I will have you in my bed the night of our wedding….The days will pass by soon enough."
"Take me, Sebastian." Ciel whispered, though untouched sweetness still consumed her, she found the bravado to nip seductively at her lover's lips as she spoke, "Are you not still employed at this house as a servant? Take me, that's an order."
A shiver of anticipation ran down Sebastian's spine.
Normally composed and in control of himself, under Ciel's brilliant, sapphire gaze, with the vivid brightness of her beauty and wicked tongue, his inhibitions came undone.
Moments later, his trousers joined his inhibitions as he held Ciel on his lap, with the great skirts of her massive ball dress pushed up to her waist as they coupled together on the plush sofa that sat in the middle of the Phantomhive family's library.
Sebastian had managed to ease his lover's breasts from the restrictive confines of her ballgown.
As he moved inside of her, Ciel squinted her eyes shut as his hands held her while his gentle lips found her sensitive nipples.
The rest of the ball went on without a hitch, though everyone remained unaware the betrothed couple had already taken it upon themselves to consummate their union.
As they expressed their love for one another, Ciel and Sebastian cared little about the potential consequences their actions may cause them to face.
The fires of their passion burned away any pesky qualms.
--
As a side note, I have heard pretty sufficient rumors that this site may be shutting down soon. If that does happen, please know that this story along with my others is posted on archive of our own under my username there - mermaid886.