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Chapter Two: The Thrill of the Chase

*.*.*.*.*

"What the fuck is this?"

Lacey Delaney stared indignantly down at the slip of thick, expensive-feeling parchment in her hand, ignoring the tawny owl which was still hovering, awaiting its reward for the successfully delivered message.

"How does he even know where I live?"

The message had arrived out of the blue, a couple of days after the Cannons v. Harpies match, just as Lacey was planning on heading out to meet Ginny and a couple of team mates for drinks at the Leaky. She could practically hear his arrogant, aristocratic intonations as she read it:

Miss Delaney,

It was my pleasure to meet you after the match the other night, although I fear that I didn't make as much of an impression upon you as I perhaps hoped I might.

I would very much like to have the chance to speak less formally with you. May I tempt you to dinner?

L. Malfoy

"What in hell's name does Malfoy want to talk to me about?" she asked out loud, finally noting the owl and reaching up to a handily-placed jar to fetch a treat for it.

Lacey couldn't help feeling very uneasy about anything to do with Lucius Malfoy. She hadn't heard anything about him since her Hogwarts days, but after their short exchange of words in the top box at the stadium, the Chaser had made a couple of subtle enquiries about the man and learnt of his recent divorce. Rumour had it that he'd returned from his escape to France with a young Beauxbaton graduate who he was living with, supposedly with a view to marrying her, although Lacey couldn't imagine why any woman in her right mind would want to have anything to do with the ex-Death Eater, let alone live in his house with him.

Trying to put the note out of her mind, she grabbed her old Gryffindor scarf to guard against the cold winds and made for the door of her modest apartment, crumpling the parchment into a ball and pushing it deep within her jeans pocket with a shake of her head.

*.*.*.*.*

"Virginia, my dear, I'm going to the Ministry. I'll be back for dinner." Virginia looked up from her writing desk with a smile at the figure of her lover, hovering in the door frame of her newly decorated room. There was nothing unusual about his words or timing, but she could detect a slight edge to his tone; he sounded more distant than usual.

Virginia rose from her chair and made her way across to him, her concerns heightened when he didn't rake his eyes over her visible cleavage in the new dress he'd had made for her earlier that week, or the way she her hips swayed in their naturally enticing manner as she walked. "Is everything alright, Sir?" she asked sweetly, deliberately referring to him as such because she had learned early on in their relationship how much he liked it, and she placed the flat of her palm against his chest, pulling him a little closer to her.

A smirk briefly graced Lucius' lips, but the expression didn't reach his eyes, and when he ran a hand down her bare arm and leant in to kiss her, it was such a chaste affair that Virginia could do nothing but wonder what on earth had happened to the Lucius she knew.

"Of course, pet." This was even more disturbing to Virginia - there was clearly something wrong, and Lucius had always used her as a sounding-board when something didn't go his way, coming to rely on her soothing responses and gentle caresses, making him feel like the powerful wizard he needed to feel like. Maybe he's upset with me... she thought anxiously, but before she could say anything else, Lucius had turned away from her, and was telling her over his shoulder to behave and to be ready for dinner at eight as he strode down the corridor.

In actual fact, unbeknownst to Virginia, Lucius was simply pre-occupied. Ever since he had met Lacey Delaney a few nights ago, he couldn't seem to shake her from his mind. He had done his research, of course, and found that he had become only further intrigued by the young witch the more he read of her Ministry file. As much as he was enamored with Virginia, and certainly wasn't finding her lacking in any way, he wasn't used to being so monogamous, and part of him still longed for the thrill of the chase which he had rather missed out at the start of his affair with Virginia.

Lucius was also growing frustrated, albeit in quite a delicious way. He had sent a message to Lacey, restraining himself from grimacing at the thought of sending his prize owl to the slum of a place her file claimed she resided in, but had, as of yet, received no reply. This was simply unacceptable. But it only made him more intrigued about the impertinent Miss Delaney.

"Charlotte," he snapped upon entering his offices at the Ministry, and his nervous looking assistant almost knocked over a chair as she hurried after him, notebook and pen at the ready to scribble down his orders.

"The file you found me on Monday," he started before she'd even shut the door behind her, "Had only the basic facts about Miss Delaney. I'd like more information. Get me notes on her friends, acquaintances, where she goes, what she does when she's not playing Quidditch." Charlotte nodded quickly, jotting down his words with a pen which made an irritating scratching noise at it moved along the paper. "And find me information about her past-boyfriends. I want everything." He dismissed her with a flick of his hand - rude, maybe, but anyone who worked with him, (other than his closest business partners), was used to it.

Lucius smirked absently as he set about his business for the afternoon. Oh yes, he would have her. Lucius Malfoy wanted for nothing. He was determined. He'd have Lacey Delaney begging on her knees by the end of the month, no matter how she dared to ignore him now.

*.*.*.*.*

"Lace, these just came for you..."

"Cheers, Jocie," Lacey called, although her teammate was already heading back out on to the pitch at a brisk jog.

Lacey wiped a towel over her forehead, sticky from her laps around the Quidditch pitch that morning, as she eyed the bouquet of flowers warily. Red poppies. Who on earth would know to send her those?

"The fuck?" she almost growled, tearing open the sealed card attached to the front of the bouquet, and recognizing the distinctive handwriting and Malfoy seal at once.

Miss Delaney,

I fear you did not receive my previous message? Or perhaps you've been too busy to reply...

She could just hear the sardonic smirk in his voice.

I would like to congratulate you on your most recent victory - Puddlemere stood no chance against the Harpies' star Chaser. I'm only sorry I wasn't there in person to witness your impressive skill a second time.

Dinner?

L. Malfoy

"What does he want?" she huffed, slamming the note down.

"Alright, Lace?" Ginny asked, entering the changing room and throwing her flaming hair up in a make-shift ponytail as she took in her friend's clenched jaw and narrowed blue eyes, which were never a good sign.

"Did Malfoy-the-Elder talk to you the other night, after the Cannons game?" Lacey enquired, trying to sound as if she was changing the subject.

Ginny pulled her Harpies shirt over her head before she answered, completely unbothered by appearing topless in front of her oldest and closest friend. "No," she replied, "Well, he sort of nodded at me, and said 'Good game,' or something like that, but I moved on to the next rich git pretty quickly."

Lacey laughed, although her friend's answer didn't put her mind any more at ease.

"Why?" Ginny asked, although Lacey had unrealistically hoped she wouldn't.

"He just...He's sent me two owls since then. I don't know what he wants."

"Two owls?" Ginny's eyebrows shot up as she continued getting changed. "What did they say?"

"He's asking me to dinner," Lacey admitted, realizing that she wouldn't be able to keep this from Ginny for much longer anyway.

"Shit," Ginny breathed, sounding genuinely shocked. "You haven't agreed, have you?"

"No, of course not! I've ignored both of his messages. But now he's sent me these..." She gestured to the poppies with an indignant stab of her finger in their direction. "He knew my address, he knows my favourite flowers-"

"Stalker!" Ginny interjected with a laugh, eying the bouquet dubiously. "Maybe you ought to meet him?"

"You're kidding!"

Ginny shrugged, beginning to apply mascara in the mirror to Lacey's left. "Aren't you sort of intrigued? I mean, he's an arrogant bastard-"

"He's worse than that!"

"Maybe, but I for one want to know what he's up to. I thought he was with some French tart anyway?" Lacey sighed. If she relented to dinner, he might just stop chasing after her after all.

"Fine," she agreed reluctantly, and Ginny smirked as she pouted at herself in the mirror, preparing to apply lip gloss. Lacey took out the crumpled and slightly torn piece of parchment of Malfoy's first message from the bottom of her pocket, and, boycotting his pretentious tone and style, wrote one word:

When?

*.*.*.*.*

"Bedroom. Now." Virginia had barely had a chance to look up before Lucius had disappeared from the doorway and was, presumably, making for his bedroom. It was only a quarter-to-eight, they hadn't even had dinner yet, Virginia mused, pulling her hair from the tight confines of its up-do, a look she'd adopted to take her bath. She knew how Lucius preferred her hair down, and judging from his abrupt summons he was in no mood to be crossed that evening.

She hurried across the house to his quarters in his wake, the familiar tingling beginning deep in her abdomen, and before she could even knock on his door, Lucius had pulled her inside, and pushed her up against back of the door. His lips crushed against hers, forcing his tongue into her mouth, as Virginia attempted to find a comfortable position, being held up, as she was, between the hard muscles of Lucius' chest and the mahogany door frame.

"Lucius..." she breathed, quite taken aback by his rough treatment of her so early in the evening, but aroused to say the least.

Lucius wasted no time in slipping a hand between Virginia's legs, and cupped her firmly, stroking a finger up and down the outside of her panties, which were damp already.

"You're to do exactly as I say this evening," he told her, his mouth close to the shell of her ear, his voice hoarse. "Do you understand?"

Virginia nodded, whimpering as Lucius tugged almost painfully on a handful of her hair. "Yes, Sir," she corrected herself.

"Good girl..." He used the soft hair in his grasp to tilt her head back, and Virginia's mouth went dry at the look of pure lust in his darkened eyes. Lucius covered her mouth with his, thrusting against her so that she was pushed uncomfortably against the door knob for a brief moment, before he swept an arm under her legs and carried her swiftly across the room, setting her down on top of the silk covers of his bed.

Lucius took a step back, beginning to shed himself of his robes. "Touch yourself," he practically growled at her, "I want to watch you."

Virginia's mouth fell open, in a way which Lucius, had he not been so utterly and irreversibly turned on, would have found endearing, one of her innocent charms. As it was, however, he was in no state to be disobeyed.

"You're testing my patience, my darling," he said, his voice low and his aristocratic tones more clipped than usual. Virginia recognized the semblance of control which meant his tether was near its end. She felt a further fluttering deep inside her at his tone, and vaguely wondered if there was something wrong with her to be in affected like that by his harsh and rather patronizing tone. Still, he had never asked her to do that before, and she frankly felt uncomfortable proceeding.

"Do it, Virginia," he hissed, looming over her in only his boxers and swiftly pulling her satin dress up over her head. His erection strained even more uncomfortably as he realized she'd been wearing no bra, but he'd given an order and he'd be damned if she didn't give him what he wanted. He'd spent the day royally frustrated with most everybody at the Ministry, and Charlotte had yet to produce a single new piece of information about Lacey Delaney. Furthermore, the woman herself had yet to return his owl. He would be obeyed in this.

Tentatively, Virginia moved to do as he'd told her, although she was completely unsure of what exactly he wanted her to do. She skimmed her hands over her stomach, and slid one under the lace of her panties, her eyes fixed on Lucius. He made a predatory noise in his throat as she stopped.

"Keep going, pet," he commanded, voice strained, grasping himself through his boxers as he watched her.

"I don't know how to..." Virginia began and trailed off, and Lucius shut his eyes briefly, inhaling deeply. If it was possible, his eyes were even darker when he opened them again.

"Bring one hand up to your breast," he told her, and she did so without question, desperate to please him, although wishing dreadfully that he would just touch her himself. "Take your nipple - yes, like that, - and roll it between your fingers." Both groaned in want as she did what he told her.

"Now rub yourself with your other hand, as I would. Don't stop, Virginia," he instructed her, his voice carrying a warning edge which told her that doing anything else would carry serious consequences. And she loved it. She loved the dominating force to his voice, the way he looked at her.

Lucius watched her as she continued to rub herself for a couple of minutes, stroking his hard length and reveling in her soft moans and whimpers when he told her to tug on her sensitive nipples. In the end, however, it all became too much for him to bear. He lunged forwards at the bed, leaving his last remaining item of clothing on the floor, and covered her writhing body with his. Virginia was beyond thrilled that he'd decided to join her.

He pressed her back into the mattress when her back arched to meet him, and pulled her soaking panties down her legs, tossing them aside impatiently. Without being told to, Virginia spread her legs wide for him, disregarding her natural modesty and embarrassment, which had disappeared by this point, and her lover was quick to take his place between them.

Lucius grasped her wrists firmly, and pulled them up to rest beside her head. "You are mine," he growled, his face inches from hers, and in the back of her mind Virginia wondered what had made him so possessive this evening - not that she minded, far from it. In her mind, she was his. He lined his achingly hard cock up with her entrance, and with one forceful thrust sheathed himself completely inside of her. The sound Virginia made was a sort of pleasured mewl, and Lucius quickly slammed into her again, eliciting a garbled version of his name as she screamed out in pleasure. He fucked her with long strokes, groaning as he took her quickly over the edge, and finding his own release soon afterwards. He held her arms down as he came, wanting to be in complete control right until the very last moment.

Virginia was panting and covered in a light sheen of perspiration as he rolled off her, and pulled her towards him so that her head was resting on his chest. He leant forward and kissed her hair, the tender action at odds with everything which had transpired moments ago.

"Are you alright, pet?" he asked softly, concern evident in his voice although he sounded out of breath. He had been rough with her before in the two months they'd been together, and knew that she enjoyed his dominant nature, but never before had it been like that - in all honesty, Lucius wasn't entirely sure what had come over him.

"Just a little sore, Sir," she murmured in answer, reassuring him as she so easily could about any matter. In that moment, Lucius felt luckier than he ever had to have this beautiful young witch in his arms, accepting him completely.

Virginia lay comfortably on his chest, absently stroking his muscled arm, until her heart beat had returned to normal, and she felt a little cooler. She twisted gently in his arms, propping her chin up to look at him. His eyes were shut, and he looked refreshingly peaceful. She kissed his lips softly, smiling as he cupped her neck tenderly.

"Is everything alright, Lucius?" she asked quietly, echoing her words from that morning. This time he didn't pull away from her, but opened his eyes, meeting her gaze with ill-disguised adoration.

"I had a bothersome day. There are some infuriating people around."

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked, gently cupping his cheek with her small hand, genuinely unaware she'd already given her lover exactly what he needed.

"You've given me more than I could have reasonably hoped for this evening, my dear," he replied, sitting up and pulling her with him. "What say you to dinner?"

*.*.*.*.*

"Owl for Master!" Lucius' house elf Lexi called, bowing sporadically to Lucius as she crossed the Dining Room to pass him a horrendously crumpled piece of parchment.

"Heavens," Virginia murmured at the sight of it, and missed Lucius' sharp intake of breath as he recognized his own handwriting on the note he'd sent two days ago to Miss Delaney. He tried to be subtle in holding the note out of Virginia's line of sight, lacking the self-restraint to wait until he was alone to read her reply.

"Is someone writing to you from a rubbish tip, Lucius?" she joked, and he let out a chuckle, largely ignoring what she was saying. The smirk which spread across his lips was from the reply he found scrawled on the back of his original note:

When?

*.*.*.*.*

A/N: Will Virginia be suspicious of the note? How will Lacey react when she has dinner with Lucius? Let us know what you think in a review! More to come soon!