Bella was thankful Rodolphus had only stayed at the palace for a few days. He had only been there as her partner for the gala, so after, he had returned to England while she had to stay behind for the rest of her duties. It had not been pleasant.
Now, there were only a few days left until she could return and leave this wretched country behind her. If she was objective, she would recognise the palace was extravagant and one of the great architectural designs in the Wizarding World with staff who were almost always cordial and eager to assist their distinguished British guests. Even if she was not in a fiery mood, she doubted she would have recognised these positives.
Ever since the ball (and after she had recovered from the killer hangover), she had a keen memory of the incident and a determination to avoid that stupid slut, though it was not always possible and, whenever they did run into each other, Bella avoided speaking at all costs.
It was also one of the rare occasions Bella did not want to see her Lord. Unlike the previous night, while her anger had not satiated, her motivation to confront or even mention the situation to her Master had wisely disappeared. Just like when she had first found out about her Lord's plans, she was wisely attempting to keep her mouth shut.
Closing her eyes, Bella stretched her arms out on either side, savouring the space she had to herself. It was nearly eleven and, even though she did not want to sleep, there was nothing to do and she was concluding she might as well attempt it.
Well, she thought that way, until there was a firm knock on the door.
Snarling a little she did not even need bother looking up. "I am fine," she called carelessly, her frustration apparent in her tone. Ever since she had been here, the staff insisted on pestering her. She was used to England where elves stayed out of her hair unless she requested assistance. "I do not want anything."
"Are you sure about that, Bella?" A cold voice sounded, cutting threw the silence of the room. She knew who it was. On instinct she sat bolt upright and wide eyed, focusing on her Lord who entered, softly closing and locking the door behind him. She moved to get out of bed, but her Master raised a pale hand. "Stay."
Awkwardly, she remained where she was, pushing herself up slightly on her elbows, following him with her eyes with her usual devotion, as well as uncertainty. If it would have been before, it would not have had a problem and she would have known why he was here, but now, she could not be sure. She could only hope. Merlin, she wanted him.
"Master," she murmured breathlessly as he stood by her bed. She was only wearing a silk night dress that finished a little above her knee. It might not have been see through, though, considering the material, it clung to her and did little to hide the shape of her body. Not for a moment did she consider trying to hide herself. If her Lord wanted to see her body, he was welcome to. She just hoped it went beyond more than merely seeing.
"You did not answer my question," he stated curtly, though, from the twitch upwards of his lips, she did not think he was irritated with her. "Are you sure you do not want anything?"
Her eyes never left his nor did she flinch. They had played this game more than once. "You always know what I want."
His lips curled forward dangerously into what others could see as a smirk as he leaned over, placing both of his hands on the bed, though not touching her. "Do I?"
She was awfully tempted. Very, very, tempted. It normally would not have been an issue. As a rule she would never beg for anything, though her Lord was an exception. Usually, she would have reached up or merely confessed how much she ached for him. Not this time. There was something else her mind was focused no matter how much she argued with herself. She wanted to keep silent, but she eventually cracked.
"You know I would want you, my Lord," she murmured almost meekly. For the first time she broke eye contact, trailing her eyes down to his chest, his hands, anywhere so she did not have to meet his scarlet eyes. "With recent circumstances I thought you did not want me."
She had expected an explosion, screams or curses. Her body had even tensed, but, instead, all she received was laughter.
"Silly girl," he scolded lightly. She restrained from mentioning that at 40 she was far from a girl, though, to be honest, she did not mind him calling her that. It made her feel young. "Why would I? No, dear Bella why would I give away something that can please me?"
Her only response was to blush slightly as only he could make her do.
He knelt beside her on the bed and immediately she reached for him. If he was in one mood he could slap her hands away or, in another, he could indulge her. When her hands met the collar of his robes and were allowed to tug him towards her, she assumed the later.
Their lips crushed together and swiftly she set about almost viscously undoing his robes. It had been a couple of weeks now and the past weeks frustrations had been building up. Seeing him, but being unable to act, had been driving her wild. Her anger only added fuel to the fire.
Once she had undone the first few buttons, she broke her lips away from his and settled on his neck. Her lips stayed there, her teeth grazing his skin, though she knew, from the slightly suppressed hiss from her Lord, he did enjoyed the sensation. In fact, if she was lucky, there might be a mark for that girl to find later.
She only broke away when she felt her Lord's hands slide under her night gown and clasped over her breasts. She moaned against him and he took the opportunity to flip her onto her onto her back, but not before he had stripped her of her clothing.
She could only grin. She had long since become accustomed to lying naked before her Lord and now it did not embarrass her in the slightest. She only stretched out her arms towards him and eyed him with desire. For his part, her Master took his time slowly undoing the buttons she had missed.
"Master," she murmured all but begging. She knew he was only teasing, but it did not mean she liked it. "Please."
"Look at you," he chortled to himself, carefully and painfully slowly dropping his robe on the floor. She knew he was just trying to get under her skin. If it was anyone else, she would not stand for it, but because it was her master... "Before you seemed apprehensive, but now you are begging for me."
"Before, I did not know why you were here, my Lord," she said, attempting to keep an emotionless voice, but she failed miserably as he then deposited his shirt over the side of the bed and started working on undoing his belt. "I had assumed you would now not require me."
"Well, since the dear princess seems determined to remain pure and innocent until her wedding nigh,t you need not worry about my lack of attentions." She could not tell if his tone indicated displeasure, though she was concentrating far more on him sliding his slacks down his legs. "Do not fret. I intend to keep using you until well after the wedding."
She was only half listening, but what she did pick up she liked. What she liked more was when he finally tossed off the final layer of his clothing and crushed his body against hers.
Bella supposed it would have been simpler if the wedding would have been closer, but no, like any preparation for an upscale event, it was months away. The engagement had been announced in November, but the actual ceremony was not until June.
It had created problems for Bella.
Not only did she have nearly six months to hopelessly wish the Dark Lord would change his mind, yet she also had to contend with the sheer media circus about the event. As the date crept closer, all she ever saw in the paper was the cursed wedding and reporters insisted on springing questions that she neither knew nor cared to know the answer to. Rita Skeeter in particular seemed insistent on flinging herself at her as often as possible as if she expected her to admit to plans to halt the wedding or some secret love she held for the Dark Lord. Bella knew the stupid half blood's behaviour was just because she still held the deep seeded jealously that had lasted ever since they shared a dormitory at Hogwarts.
As well, her Lord seemed even more cautious than ever about their affair. It had not halted, though he was especially careful. Added media attention meant they had more chance of being caught, thought, after nearly twenty years, she doubted it would happen. Besides, she was not sure if she would have minded. She would loved to have seen the look on the girl's face if she found out. The wedding might even be cancelled!
The only thing that stopped her was the thought of disappointing her Lord.
She could only be grateful she was not a part of the bridal party. If she actually had to tolerate any more of that girl's presence or attempt to act like the whole thing was not bugging her, she might go mad or, more likely snap, and curse someone. Besides, if she had to hand the Dark Lord the ring at the altar, she supposed she might 'accidently' lose it.
As it was, the position of best man went to Lucius. According to her Lord, it was meant to act as a reward. In fact, he was very insistent that were she a man, that honour would have went to her. She merely smiled and thanked him not mentioning she would have loathed the position. It was bad enough to sit in the front row!
It was unsurprising to her that it was an extravagant affair. There were various foreign dignitaries and high profile ministry officials including all of the old Death Eaters. They were positioned according to their rank, so, of course, she sat right at the front, only a short distance from where her Master stood at the podium. It was a good distraction to attempt to make eye contact with him. She was rather smug whenever she succeeded.
However, that smugness soon disappeared when the ceremony began. For nearly an hour, she had to restrain herself from glaring at the back of the stupid brat's head, attempting to keep her expression neutral as she felt her heart shatter even more. She knew it meant nothing. He had told her time and time again, but, despite that, she wanted nothing more than to be in her place. She even briefly considered pushing her away and standing there instead, though, she remained seated.
At one point, she felt Rodolphus touch her shoulder in what she assumed was an offer of support, but she swiftly slapped the hand away. She did not need nor want it. The only thing she wanted she could not have.
Despite it, her faced remained mostly impassive. She even managed to not cry out as her Lord's lips brushed against the woman who was now his wife and to clap numbly along with the rest.
She had no idea how she had done it.