~*~ Dinner and a Dance ~*~

I was sitting there, enjoying a light meal and watching the floor writhe with bodies, when he sat down next to me. He then had the balls to reach over and pluck a baby carrot from my plate and eat it, licking the butter from his fingers with a pale pink tongue. I was immediately hard.

He looked at me with those silvery-grey eyes and smiled pleasantly. "I never knew one could get meals here."

"One can't normally. The owner gets perks."

One elegant brow rose up in a stately gesture. "What about the owner's friends?"

I shook back my hair and laid one arm across the back of the booth, gazing at him steadily and letting the corner of my mouth curve slightly. Then I reached out and took a carrot for myself and asked, "Were you hungry, Draco?" before mimicking his actions.

"Yes, I do believe I am," came the drawled reply.

"What are you hungry for, Draco?"

"Oh, whatever you're having is fine." He brushed a nonexistent speck of dust from his shoulder.

He was definitely on his game tonight. Cool, collected, not to mention dead sexy. I could swear I was getting harder by the second. I couldn't help it, I let loose with a full-blown smirk as I signaled almost imperceptibly.

As usual, the server was there before I could so much as blink with a round of drinks.

"He'll have what I'm having, Sally, if you would be so kind."

She nodded and moved away. I wondered if he'd mention he'd talked to Hermione. Probably not. Either he wouldn't want to, or he expected she'd already told me. So I smiled lazily at him and ate another morsel from my plate.

"You dance very well," he commented as though mentioning the weather.

Hmm. That wasn't quite the starting point I was hoping for. "I'm pleased you think so. I happen to think you're quite good yourself, if the other night was anything to judge by." I reached for my glass and drank. Nobody but me had to know it wasn't even alcoholic; it was bad enough I smoked.

"We'll have to do that again...soon." And then his eyes flicked up from where my fingers were sorting through my plate and gazed into mine, sparkling with...something.

At which point Sally returned and gently set a plate before him, nodded, and moved off. She really was a dear, and probably due a raise. He began to eat, slowly and with care, so I fished around on my plate, my mind far more on how uncomfortable I was and trying not to shift around noticeably.

"Why did you--buy?--make?--this place?" he asked.

"Make would probably be a better term. I'm comfortable enough in both worlds, but this is my haven. It's here to be that." I replied casually and licked butter from my fingers.

"From?" Again he arched that brow at me.

"What else? The world."

He paused in the act of forking a broccoli floret and stared at me. "You're surrounded by what I presume are mostly muggles and that's a haven?" he asked in surprise.

"Of course. I'm just the owner, who happens to like to dance on his own floor. I can do what I want, when I want, and no one can gainsay me."

The floret had made it halfway to his lips when he paused again. "So you built all this," he said, waving his fork around, "so you could become a face in a crowd...and dance."

"That's one way to look at it, yes."

He looked thoughtful as he ate, but finally spoke again. "I wonder why they all come here. Grey, why do they come here?" He speared a carrot and raised it, using it to point at me. He was a tricky little devil.

I swiftly reached out and circled his wrist with my hand and drew it closer until I could steal the carrot from his fork and crush it in my mouth. Then I released him and sat back, shaking my long hair behind me, and said, "Isn't that obvious? They come here to have fun, to relax, to forget about things, to get lost in the music, whatever."

"So that's you," he said, eyes narrowed.

"Me?" I asked, letting my own eyes widen to falsely innocent proportions.

"Yes, you. You dance off into your own little world, don't you," he accused in a velvety drawl.

"I didn't dance like that with you did I?" I countered, flashing Draco a casual smile.

"Grey, what is your surname?" he asked after finishing his meal.

"What an odd question. It's Senir. Why?"

"I've seen your club. I've seen your home, briefly. Those are a start, but how am I to learn more about this...you...without a few little details to start with?"

"Planning on investigating me further, are you?"

"Perhaps. I like to know things. Many things."

"I see." What in blazes was he up to? He'd been playing things so close to his chest that I wasn't sure what his interest was now, and I felt a little bit worried. Nervous. Jittery even.

"Care to dance?" I asked, sliding free of the booth. With or without him, I planned on getting onto the floor. I needed to dance, but I wanted him to follow. "Or, would you prefer to watch?"

Then I walked away without looking back, gained the floor, and slipped into the music. I'm not sure how much time passed before I felt hands slide over me from behind.

~*~

It had only been a little flirting, to see how Grey would react, but something I'd done had obviously bothered the hell out of him. I heard his parting sally and watched him take long strides toward the floor and insert himself seamlessly into the throng of gyrating bodies. So I sipped from my glass and watched him move fluidly until I had nothing left to swallow except the sight of him out there alone. And lonely? It was hard to tell really, but she'd said he does get lonely.

I stood and deftly slipped between and around bodies until I was there behind him, letting my hands begin a dance of their own against sleek muscles concealed from my wandering eyes. I snaked my arms around him and pulled, then ground my hips against his leather-clad ass as my hands came up under his arms and around to grip his shoulders to hold him back against me. He smelled of patchouli.

I think I heard him moan, but the music and the people were so loud that it might have just been wishful thinking on my part. It wasn't long before he turned the tables on me. I was left wondering if he was upset or not because his hands were everywhere, his hair was whipping me blind and he drove every coherent thought from my head.

A timeless span later, he was the one to back off, to retreat, as the music ground to a close. He finger-combed his hair like always then looked at me with glittering emerald eyes. He reached out to brush wayward strands of hair away from my perspiring face and said, "I hope you enjoy your evening, Draco. I'm glad you dropped by."

And then he left me standing there. I could feel my nostrils flare in response. He'd left me--how dare he! I wanted to hex anyone foolish enough to breathe. I stormed back to my customary table and slammed into the seat to fume and mutter curses.

Well, he had said he was glad I'd come by. A smile almost surfaced but my features pulled into a scowl as I thought of him walking away like that after practically shagging me on the dance floor. How dare he! Then again, maybe he was just being cautious? After all, I had to admit I knew next to nothing about him. Maybe he thought I just wanted to ease my curiosity on a number of points and then I'd be on my way.

Did I? Would I? No, I don't think that was at all it. Not what I wanted, anyway. I cast my eyes upward and imagined him upstairs, preparing for sleep, standing under a stream of warm water...that was a problem. I'd had my hands on him, but I had no real idea of how he looked underneath those surprisingly attractive, but very annoying, muggle clothes. Hmpfh.

Maybe he hadn't stayed because I'd already rejected his company several times already? He walked off before I could tell him I had something else to do, someplace else to be? He was gracious about it, certainly, but I was becoming more convinced that I had hurt him, or caused him disappointment the last time I'd been here. I furrowed my brow and bit my lip. This would take some time apparently, and thought.