Integra would not admit to herself that she was losing it. She had been thinking the whole situation through, and did not know how to rectify things. Part of her cringed at the thought that it might partly be due to her not actually wanting too.
Blast his soul to hell. How dare he make her stomach twist in such an excruciating way?!
Integra shook her head with an air of annoyance and tried to return her thoughts to the book in her lap. She had been sitting in the library for the last few hours now, trying to read up on the old journals that previous masters of Alucard had written.
There was nothing like what she was going through in any of them.
Integra raised her eyebrows at the thought. She had been the first female to command the Hellsing family, after all.
Slamming the book shut, she leaned her head back against the high back of the green velvet chair she'd been sitting in. Removing her glasses, she closed both eyes and sighed. She'd been reading by only the fire in the nearby hearth, and her eyes had acquired a dull ache from strain.
Another chair sat beside her, a coffee table in between. The two mostly faced the fire, but were slightly turned towards each other as well.
Feeling weary of searching sources that she knew would not have the answers she sought after, Integra found herself wishing that Alucard would appear. So they could have a little chat about the situation that he had put her in.
The response was almost immediate. Integra blinked once, and when her eyes opened a millisecond later, there he was. Sitting in the chair beside her, his eyes staring into the fire, but reflecting nothing.
"You rang?"
Integra sighed, and placed her glasses on the coffee table.
"You know what it is I wish to discuss with you?"
Alucard stretched his long legs out in front of himself and grinned.
"It wouldn't take a mind-reader to figure it out…"
Integra raised her eyebrows, and looked away in slight aggravation at his impertinence.
"How do I fix this, Alucard?" Her voice was steely, and demanding. This game, whether it was one she liked or not, had gone on far too long. Nothing interfered with her work. Ever.
He glanced at her before continuing to stare into the bright flames before them.
"The only traitor here is the one within you."
Integra pursed her lips in anger, and bit her tongue to keep from yelling. Beyond the pride, however, there was a voice telling her that what he had said was true.
If she had no feelings for him, no inappropriate desires, then he would remain powerless. She had given him the power freely.
Desperation ate away at the shell she had fought years to forge, especially against him.
Rubbing her temple with one hand, she muttered, "You are right…Alucard."
A short, but clearly smug, laugh was his only response.
"However," she continued, "it can not remain this way. Hellsing will crumble, and you know better than anyone that I would die before letting that happen."
She peered at him from the corner of her vision and was surprised to see that it seemed as though he were thinking about the things she had said.
"You know I don't care."
Integra swallowed her distaste heavily. "I know you would prefer freedom to this. But I also know that, somehow, I am different from your previous masters."
Still watching him, she was pleased to see him arch an eyebrow at this.
"You flatter yourself, Massster." She felt she could almost see the word floating through the air towards her, swollen with condescension.
"Oh, do not play games with me, Vampire," she spat angrily. "I may not be able to read your thoughts, but believe me when I say that they are not as well-guarded as you might like to think!"
His grin quickly faded into a sour frown, and he fingered one of the buttons on his coat.
"I have things to do. I will be on my way, now."
"I am ordering you to stay here, Alucard," Integra snapped. "I have things to do, as well, but we are not leaving until this has been settled!"
The vampire's eyes glittered dangerously, seeming to burn with light more intense than that of the fire.
"What would you have me do, Master? Kiss the ground you walk upon? Lick your feet at the end of the day?"
Integra leaped up from her chair, skin grown taught and white with barely suppressed rage. She was livid.
In one stride, she towered over him suddenly, with one leg planted firmly on either side of his. A slender pale hand with the strength of ice grabbed the vampire's loose red necktie and jerked him up towards her face.
"I should rip the tongue from your mouth," she hissed through a tightly clenched jaw.
Alucard had made no moves to defend himself, but only stared up at her silently. His eyes remained full of fire, but burned for a different reason.
"Integra," he growled huskily. "It was your sweet blood that awakened me those several years ago, when you were just a girl. You've become an adult, but not yet a woman."
With that, his hand shot up and, cupping the back of her head, he brought her mouth down upon his.
Her lips tightened only briefly before relaxing and joining his in frenzied movements. Shoving him farther back in his chair, she deepened the kiss and ripped at his shirt. Buttons showered the floor, making light tinkling sounds as her hands searched the pale chest before her.
Alucard's hands twisted through her hair, never relinquishing his hold upon her. Integra gasped for air, and he allowed her less than a second before claiming her lips once again.
Working down from her hair, soft fingers left a trail of shivers down her neck to where he suddenly pulled her jacket away revealing a pale shoulder drenched in firelight.
She stopped, momentarily shocked by his actions, but before she could think, he had begun to kiss her neck, sending warmth to tingle its way through her body.
Neither of them seemed aware of the figure approaching from out of the fire's reach until it was too late.
"Sir Integra, I thought you might enjoy a cup of tea while you…oh…my…"
(A/N: Heheheh….sorry guys. See the PG-13 rating?! Thanks so much for all of the lovely reviews, too. I don't thank you guys enough. It really really means a lot to me.)