AN: Surprise! We are posting two days early! We hope you love the chapter and, as always, appreciate all follows, favorites, and reviews. The next chapter will post in two weeks. Only four more chapters to go in book two! Thanks again for reading!
Beta Love: thebeebeegun, what_the_fawkes, dracoswhore17, & ladysnape89
Thursday, August 30th
She was drowning in his kisses, her heart glowing with the knowledge of his pride in her. Her body was on fire as his hands caressed and kneaded her skin. He hadn't stopped touching her since they came through the floo.
"Gods, you were amazing, Mine," Severus breathed in her ear before sweeping her up into his arms, his mouth started suckling on the supple skin below the sensitive cartilage and she groaned appreciatively.
"Thank you, Master," she gasped. "I'm so happy you're proud of me."
"Always, Hermione," he promised as he tumbled her out of his arms and onto her bed. "I want you on all fours, love."
Hermione scrambled into position, wishing he'd take off her bra and stockings. She knew they drove him mad, though. She could hear him fumbling in the bedside drawer and her heart rate accelerated with the thoughts of what it held - of what he could be getting.
She sensed him rounding to the front of the bed and then his fingers were tilting her face up. "Open," he told her, thumbing her swollen lips. Hermione complied without thought, but was a bit startled when a cool, glass vial was pressed against her mouth. "It's your Witch's Delight, pet. You will feel everything tonight - heightened, intense - the pleasure, the pain, the submission, the emotion. Drink."
Her stomach flipped and her cunt clenched, she could feel herself start to tremble as the bittersweet liquid pooled in her mouth. She swallowed before he let a bit more trickle past her lips. After she swallowed the second time, he kissed her. Delving his tongue deep, stroking her own tongue with a swirl followed by a nip that left her whimpering in lusty need.
"Scoot back, so your knees are right on the edge of the bed," he commanded as he pulled away. Hermione was ready for him before he rounded the mattress. "Put your chest on the bed and turn your face. I want your wrists."
Hermione did exactly as he told her, trembling with anticipation and lust. It was then that the effects of the potion started taking root inside her. The trembling increased, her skin felt hotter, his fingertip brushing along her bum caused a jolt that connected her nipples to her womb. A small, surprised screech left her when Severus encircled her wrists with cuffs he then attached to her ankles, leaving her bound wrist to ankle with her arse in the air for him.
She heard a muffled Accio and could tell he was settling onto a chair behind her, she had no idea the pleasured hell he had in store for her, however.
Gently, without saying anything, Severus brought one hand to the tops of her lace stockings, brushing the smooth, flawless skin with the pads of his fingers. He couldn't help the wolfish grin that crossed his face when a deep moan was ripped from the depths of her chest.
"What does it feel like, Mine?" He rumbled low on purpose, watching the sound of his voice cause a shiver to run down her spine.
"Like ice and flame!" she gasped as one finger dipped below the stocking, pulling it down enough that it fell the rest of the way to where her knee was bent. He moaned along with her gasp as her back arched and a whimper filled the room.
"What else?"
"Gods, it's incredible, Master. I don't know how to describe it!" She gasped again as he repeated the process with her other stocking.
"Try, love, for me." He slid his hands to the outsides of her thighs, trailing his palms up to grip her hips.
"Fuck!" she whimpered, the small of her back dipping low as she pushed her pussy out, looking for more. "Please touch my pussy, Master!"
"Not until you answer me." He was teasing her mercilessly.
"Ooooh, nnn! It feels like satin and sandpaper. Like you're touching me everywhere at once!" She cried out as his hands ghosted up her inner thighs. "My nipples are rock hard and my cunt is dripping. Master, please! It's dripping for you!"
Severus could not help the growl that left him. The need to surge forward and plant his face in her soaking quim was undeniable, but he had promised himself a slow, tormenting build up. When she shattered, nothing and no one would ever again be able to come close to the sensations he was bringing her.
Hermione squirmed miserably ... elatedly … determinedly … when she felt her dark wizard's breath steam across her backside. She whined pitifully when the brush of his lips across her heated skin was barely a whisper of a butterfly on the breeze. His chuckle made her whimper. The build up was surely going to leave her mindless - if it didn't outright kill her.
Her heart was thundering painfully in her chest and she couldn't control the erraticness of her breaths. And then - and then - he licked her, and she couldn't even process how to breathe.
His tongue felt like smooth caramel on her tongue, the sensation causing her to moan in appreciation. It wasn't even on her quim, it was over the curve of her arse, but her body reacted as if he had shoved his tongue up her channel.
"Master, Master, Master!" she pleaded, near tears.
Severus was nowhere near done with her, though. He was just getting started. He continued to lap at her heated rump with his tongue like a cat with a bowl of custard. She tasted incredible, it was almost as if the position heightened her flavor. The salt of her sweat, the floral freshness of her skin, the underlying musk that was a powerful witch, an independent woman, and just her combined.
He unsheathed his teeth and scraped them along the crack of her arse, relishing the shrill shriek of surprise. He hadn't done it hard; he meant to startle her. Her sounds were incredible tonight. While she was always responsive, it was like any insecurities she may have held evaporated. Everything garnered a reaction, whether it was a twitch or a gasp, a moan or a cry.
Smirking into her skin, he re-sheathed his teeth and let his tongue come out to play more, dipping into her crack and swirling against her rosebud.
"Oooooh, Gods! GODS! Fuck my arse, Severus! Please!" Her desperation was palpable and swiftly he pulled his tongue back, trailing over her skin to lap at the creviced skin in the crease of her leg and labia. After a long, sensual stroke he pulled back.
"You don't mean that, love," he murmured, grinning. "My cock is too big, sweetling. I'll destroy you."
"Destroy me then!" she growled savagely, picking her head up and glowering at him. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from bursting into laughter.
"We'll build up to it, I'll start stretching you out, Mine. It's not on the table tonight."
For a moment, Hermione looked as if she were going to cry, but then her eyes rolled back in her head when he purposefully brushed the pad of one thumb over her seam.
"Yes, Master," she mewled, her back arching for the umpteenth time.
"Good girl." He returned to the task at hand, letting his tongue trace nonsensical and unpredictable patterns over her perineal area, the creases of her hips, and the swell of her bottom. Everywhere but where he knew she wanted him most.
Hermione was on the verge of tears. The anticipation and build up was incredible, yes, but she was actually going to die if he didn't touch her clit, or shove a finger up her arse, or fuck her cunt. She needed him - desperately. The potion was making it worse than normal. And normal was honestly enough.
"Please, please, please!" she sobbed. "Master, please. I'll be your good girl. I swear! I'll never disobey again. I'll do whatever you want. PLEASE! I need more!"
Severus growled and laved one more sweep of his tongue over her skin before standing. "I told you to be patient, pet."
"I'm going to die!" she argued and Severus grinned at her back. Not thinking twice, he clapped an open-palmed hand across the globe of one arse cheek.
"Ahh!" she screamed, and he could hear the tears in her voice.
"What color are you, pet?" Suddenly concerned, he knew he'd better double check.
"I'm green! Green, green, GREEN! More, more, more-more-more!"
He sneered at her bum, loving how deep the small of her back was bent. Her quim looked like glazed icing. Shining for him and him alone. He cracked her other cheek and immediately swept into a rhythm for pleasure instead of pain.
Hermione shrieked and groaned and squirmed and pleaded. Unashamedly, she begged him to finger her arse, her cunt. She begged him to round the bed and fuck her mouth. She asked for his teeth and his tongue and his cock. Oh, his cock. His glorious, glorious, marvelous, incredible cock. She wanted it in her pussy, up her bum, down her throat, between her breasts. She wanted him to make her come; she wanted to make him come.
And yet, he kept up a steady, unrelenting pace. A simple Smack! Smack! Smack! across her buttocks. Never veering from his set rhythm. She was seriously going to die. Spontaneously combust. Burn to death.
Then...then he flipped her.
On her back, she was splayed open just for him. Her knees were drawn up and spread wide. Her breasts heaved with her respirations. Her wrists, tied to her ankles, were straight at her sides, fists curled tightly.
Her eyes, though. The honied pools were dark amber, pupils blown wide. Her lashes were wet. They drank him in, pulled him in. Begged him for more.
He had never put his shirt back on after their demonstration, and the leather pants were uncomfortably tight. She watched avidly as he unbuckled his belt and pulled it through the loops. He wrapped it and set it right next to her head before he undid the button and pulled the zip down. Adjusting his cock, so it could breathe. He watched her hungrily as he reached for his belt again.
Hermione mewled, "Yes!" as she watched him fold the leather in half, creating a makeshift strap. Lightly, he slapped it down on one breast, making sure to hit just over her nipple. The beautiful witch threw her head back, her pouty lips opening in a soundless gasp of exaltation as he brought another blow over the opposite peak. He repeated the actions two more times on each bouncing breast before throwing the belt away and falling over her, pulling one tight bud into his mouth while his fingers closed none too gently around the other.
"MAY I COME, PLEASE?!" Hermione squealed. He didn't even have time to answer as her body detonated on itself. He pulled back in utter amazement, watching as she came completely undone. Tears were streaming down her temples, her mouth was open and the sounds ripping from her chest were primal. Her skin was flushed the deepest pink from the tip of her nose to the tips of her breasts, which were pushed out with the force of her body bowing in pleasure. His eyes dipped to her mound, which was swollen and red, and positively drenched with her arousal. He could see a dark flood of liquid seeping into the bedding underneath her.
"Fuck!" he growled before he lunged, latching his mouth over her pulsating pussy. She wailed in ecstasy as he shoved his tongue up her cunt sucking as much fluid out of her as he possibly could, elongating the intensity of her climax. Making her scream his name with wild abandon.
Severus pulled back with a groan of satisfaction - she tasted of ambrosia - before swirling his fingers through her slick and wetting her whorl. He slipped two fingers up her channel while dipping a third up her backside and attaching his mouth to her clit.
"FUCK, MASTER!" Hermione bellowed, her chest caving in with a deep breath as her hips ground down, chasing his tongue, which he flattened. He hummed in his throat, adding the vibrating sensation as his fingers started working more quickly throwing her off a precipice for a second time.
The keen that left her was magnificent. Her whole body tensed and shattered in a mass of palpitating waves, her clit pulsing in his mouth. He scraped his teeth gently against her nub causing a feral growl. Liquid was seeping around his fingers, and he pulled them gently out of her before raising them to her mouth, slipping in and mixing her cream with her saliva. She clamped down on them, sucking fiercely, and his cock twitched maddeningly while she moaned around his digits.
He couldn't hold back any more. Raising himself from the chair he had positioned at the edge of the bed, he covered his body with hers and captured her bee-stung lips, sucking her tongue into his mouth.
Hermione could barely catch her breath, but she kissed him back with every ounce of energy she could muster. She felt the velvety head of his cock against her labia and weakly grunted, chasing it with a raise of her hips. She felt him grab himself and wet his length with her juices before notching the frenulum against her core.
"Yes!" she hissed as he groaned. Severus buried his face into her neck, nipping and sucking at the tender skin there while he slid his prick through her slick.
"You are so swollen, love."
"Nnnn!" was her feeble response. She felt totally mindless, her body still trembling violently from her last orgasm.
As her dark Dom started pushing into the ring of muscles of her pussy, Hermione gasped, her eyes widening hugely. He felt larger than normal, making her a bit concerned that it would hurt. But he kept going, and it was nothing that even resembled pain.
It was perfection. Superbness. Bliss. She could feel the ridge of his cock head, the thick veins that ran along his shaft, the wideness of his girth stretching her to an obscene circumference.
"Severus!" she cried. Tears spilled down her temples and sweat trickled down the back of her neck. "Oh, Gods - my MASTER!" She came again before he had the chance to move and listened to a colorful volley of swears leave his mouth, his deep, resonant baritone making her cream all over his cock.
Severus couldn't stay still. He had to move! He withdrew as slowly as he could and pushed forward, feeling her vibrating vaginal walls trying to castrate him with their pulsating spasms. "Fuck, Mine. You're so fucking tight." He was panting, barely able to get a full breath.
"Please fuck me!" she cried. Her arms were attempting to escape their cuff, Merlin knew she would bruise. They only succeeded in pulling her legs further apart and he surged forward. For the first time ever, her pussy accepted the entirety of his length. Buried bollocks deep, Severus began fucking her as requested, his hands fisted in the bedding on either side of her head.
He pulled back just far enough to watch her irises disappear into her head, lashes fluttering over the blank whites of her eyes as she climaxed again. She had no breath for sound, just a gaping mouth, her beautiful lips damp with saliva. It only made him fuck her harder as he chased his own end.
One of his hands reached down to strum her clit, soaked with her come and juices. He swore her cunt was trying to swallow his whole body. He wouldn't be able to hold on.
"Her-my-oh-nee!" he panted as his balls drew high. There was no tingling at the base of his spine - just an explosion in his mind as he shot his load into her little body. He vaguely heard her scream again and felt the shuddering of her pussy as it milked every single ounce of semen from him.
It took Severus too long to come back to himself, and he had collapsed on top of her - practically smothering her to death. However, he had regained his senses before his little witch. There was something to be said for that. Carefully, he pulled himself out of her, tucking his cock back in his pants before buttoning his trousers.
Gently, he undid the cuffs on her wrists and ankles and helped her uncurl her legs. Helping her slide back on the bed, Severus inspected her ankles first. The marks were red and deep indentations circled them. There was no broken skin, however. After a bath, he would rub some contusion cream into them. Her wrists looked the same.
Hermione was still breathing hard when her eyes finally opened, searching him out. His heart leapt when she reached for him, beckoning him to come to her. Without hesitation, he crawled up next to her and slipped an arm underneath her. He pulled her onto his chest as he settled onto his back as she slung both an arm and a leg over his body, burying her face into the side of his chest. He heard her swallow almost painfully as she tried to regulate her breathing and he held out the other arm, casting a silent Accio on the bottles of water he knew were in the fridge.
The cold bottle landed with a thump in his outstretched palm. He gave her another moment before quietly coaxing her into a sitting position with his assistance. Jostling her slightly so he could remove the cap, Severus tipped the bottle to her lips, smirking when some of the liquid splattered their overheated skin. Hermione shivered, but drank greedily. When she'd had her fill, Severus tipped the rest of the bottle back into his own parched mouth.
"Come, pet, bath," he told her silkily.
Hermione had immediately returned to snuggling against him, her body lax and boneless.
"Mmm," she breathed, finally in control of her respirations. "There's no way I can walk yet." Her voice was husky from her exuberant vocalizations. "Severus?" she whispered.
He made a ticking noise in the back of his throat, instantly emotional at the way his name sounded falling from her lips at that moment. "What, love?" he murmured into her hair, tracing his lips over her brow in a gentle kiss.
"I…" she trailed off on a yawn, and he felt his heart starting to thud. He wished she hadn't paused. "That was incredible." He smirked against her forehead.
"It was, Mine," he assured her. "I don't think I've ever come so hard in my life."
"It was more than that," she told him.
"So much more," he agreed quietly. Severus paused, wondering if she would continue. When she didn't, he suggested, "Bath?"
"Bath."
Hermione laughed at herself when he scooped her up into his arms after her failed attempt at taking a step. The water was heavenly, and he pampered her with every stroke of the flannel and gentle caress of her skin. He took care of himself briskly and exited the tub before helping her out.
She watched him lovingly as he bid her to hold onto the counter top to steady herself while he dried her by hand. Then he carried her back to the bedroom, where he laid her back onto her pillows before sitting next to her with the contusion cream.
Watching him with adoration, Hermione relished the way he gently rubbed the cream into the marks on her wrists and ankles before smoothing more over the contusions on her breasts and belly from the whip earlier in the evening. She was sad to see the marks go, but the ones on her wrists, ankles, and upper chest would be far too visible with her job.
They were silent with their words, but their eyes and touches spoke volumes. When he was done with the ointment, he pulled the sheet over her before rounding the bed to climb into his spot. Without saying a thing, Severus rolled to face her, using his chin to indicate that she roll the opposite way. Hermione did so with a smile.
They didn't often fall asleep in each other's arms, usually preferring their own space when they were ready to actually go to sleep. Tonight, however, touching was the only option.
Hermione was asleep in moments, love and the man behind her the only things on her mind.
Saturday, September 1st
It was ridiculous how nervous he was. He had taught in front of a classroom of thirty-plus children for upwards of twenty years. In more recent years, he had done BDSM demonstrations for crowds of hundreds.
So why did he - Severus-bloody-Snape - find himself a wreck when all he was going to be doing today was dropping on one knee to propose to the witch who had turned his head onto his ear over the last year? Granted, he was going to be doing it at the end-of-summer celebration Molly and Arthur were hosting for their family.
But his palms were sweating.
Sweating.
And his fingers had been trembling since they had woken this morning.
Ridiculous - just…
For what felt like the fortieth time this morning, Severus heaved a sigh of frustration.
"You know..." Hermione said timidly, startling him. He looked across the table at her and couldn't stop his heart from leaping. She looked bloody gorgeous. She had slept later than he did. While he was showered and dressed for the day, she was tousled. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were slightly puffy from sleep. Fuck, he loved her. Really, truly was in love with her. He hadn't said it yet, but he would. Today. When he proposed to her in front of her entire adopted family.
He was going to be sick.
"...if you don't want to come, it's okay," she whispered and immediately he knew she was reading his nerves for annoyance. Severus let it slide, he'd let her think that was what was bothering him. It would be easier than telling her nothing was wrong when he knew he seemed off.
"I never said that," he grunted dismissively.
"Your sulking is screaming it at me." She wasn't upset, which made his heart flutter again. Hermione Granger understood him. Understood him the way very, very few people ever had.
She got that his gruffness and annoyance was more about his nerves or inability to find joy in the company of most people - especially crowds that he wasn't presenting in front of. She understood that he was a private person with a sordid past that had worked hard to turn toward the light and had barely made it out of the darkness with his life. Hermione understood him. And he was positive she loved him.
She does...but you know she lo - He batted the thought away before it could finish. He wasn't going to go there today. Refused. Lucius had left. He hadn't fought. He hadn't talked with Severus. He hadn't confessed what was going on between himself and Hermione. Severus knew that his friend was trying to clear the way for him, and for that he was grateful. Grateful his best friend had been so supportive and encouraging. Grateful he had taken himself out of the equation. Grateful that, because of him, Severus was going to get his happily ever after at almost forty-seven years.
"Ignore my sulking, love," he told her, pushing himself to stand. He rounded the table and used his fingertips to gently tip up her chin. He smiled softly down at her before he stooped to press a light kiss to her forehead. "You should shower," he told her fondly after pulling back to find her face peaceful and her eyes closed. "We leave in about an hour." Nodding in agreement, Severus watched as Hermione left the room - throwing a smile over her shoulder before disappearing into the bathroom.
He took a few minutes to clear the table and set the dishes to washing before he made his way down the hall. Pausing outside of the bathroom door, he ensured that the water was running. He could hear the little witch humming slightly off key and smirked to himself before turning into the bedroom. Moving to a small pile of discarded clothing from the night before, Severus pulled up his trousers and pulled the small, black velvet box from a hidden pocket. He opened it up, taking in the lines of the piece. He had only taken Draco once to look at it. He, himself, had been in over a dozen times before making the final purchase.
Fingers trembling once again, he snapped the case shut and slipped the box into his pocket.
"Severus?!" Hermione's voice came ringing through the room so clearly, he thought she had been standing behind him, watching. He spun toward the door, relieved to find it empty.
"What, Mine?" he called back.
"Can you get my earrings for me? The ones you bought?"
"I can, where do I find them?"
"Top drawer of my jewelry armoire!" A pause. "Thank you!"
"Jewelry armoire," he mumbled to himself, pulling open the top drawer of the small oak cabinet. The drawer was flat with little raised lines that created around two dozen little square compartments. The earrings he had gotten her in celebration of their milestone sparkled merrily up at him from the very center, causing him to smirk smugly at the place of honor. He plucked them out of the spot and moved to slide the drawer back shut, muttering to himself when one of the earrings dropped to the ground.
Severus dropped down on one knee on the hardwood floor, realizing the hoop had rolled underneath the armoire. He bent lower, and slid his fingers underneath, but was startled when he brushed the familiar texture of a book. Curiously, he pulled the leather bound pages out, glancing at it passingly. He was just about to snap it shut and put it to the side to continue looking for the earring when Lucius' handwriting jumped off the page at him. He realized instantly he was holding the journal she had kept while being Lucius' training submissive.
He shouldn't.
He knew he shouldn't.
But he couldn't help himself.
He smoothed the page open, to see an exchange back and forth dated May 12th - after their D/s contract had ended. His stomach tightened, and he couldn't help but skim the page.
"I've missed that closeness...so much."
"Severus and I had a fight tonight."
"Severus can be pig-headed and difficult. And he can get his feelings hurt easier than a Hufflepuff in pigtails."
"Don't forget, your suite is here if you ever have need of it."
"Darling Doll."
"My Dear Lucius."
"Yours, Lucius."
"Love, Hermione."
The words started to swim on the pages as he continued to flip through, showing entries much more recent. Then he saw them. The words he knew were going to be there, but had prayed were not.
"I miss you, please come home."
Hermione wanted Lucius.
She loved Lucius.
Severus felt as though time had stopped. As though all the air had been sucked out of the room. As though gravity itself was squeezing the life out of him. He had known she had feelings for the man, of course he did, but this, this was...
He wasn't sure if he had been in a daze for seconds or minutes. All he knew was that it felt as though a lifetime had passed when he registered his name being called, and realized footsteps were approaching the bedroom.
Severus slammed up his Occlumency shields and cleared his face. His mind raced, the ring in his pocket felt like lead as he shoved the book back under the armoire before standing with both earrings in his hand.
"Oh, you did find them!" Hermione stated, smiling her brilliant, heart-stopping smile at him. "Thank you, love."
"You're welcome," he said automatically, forcing his voice to sound normal. He was very aware of the assessing glance she gave him, but then her eyes swept lower and heated and he felt like he was going to vomit. She loves Lucius.
A smirk played at his lips as years of espionage came back to him instantaneously. "Like what you see?" he drawled. Hermione glanced up at him from under her lashes.
"Of course, Sir."
"Mmm, does my pet feel like playing?" It was taking every ounce of control not to lose his mind. To not rage at her, demanding he be given answers. Demanding the truth from her.
"I think that depends on what my Master has in mind," she whispered. He had to physically check himself to stay relaxed as her arms wrapped around his shoulders and she lifted onto her tiptoes. As she pressed a kiss to his lips, he had to remind himself to kiss her back.
He needed to escape.
He needed to think.
But...Gods...he needed her, too.
"Submit to me during the party - I promise nothing too demanding. Nothing embarrassing."
"Deal." Hermione pecked his lips again and then held out her hand for the earrings.
He dropped them into her palm and gently closed her fingers around them, keeping one arm around her waist. Severus settled his forehead against hers, relishing the feel of her against him. He had come to depend on her so much. She giggled against him and kissed him chastely one last time, not even realizing he had barely responded. "I'm almost ready, Severus. We'll leave soon?" He nodded, watching as she danced out of his arms and left the room to return to the loo.
For the second time in his life, Severus knew his heart was breaking.