I added a chapter and edited this one. I'll be off to edit the last added chapter so it'll fit the changes I made. Hopefully I'll be able to upload it in a couple of hours. Sorry for the inconvenience, guys!

ACT II

Lawlessness

Part II.

Sin.

She had taken the next week off and he had missed her dearly and clearly Jasper had known. Because after the third day of him pouting the man had threatened him with a gun, thrown him in the trunk of a black Range Rover and had driven them to Poppy's house. Except Jasper had announced at lunch that day he'd be using his free day to visit a friend and Robert had promptly invited himself. So luckily, he hadn't known.

'I need a distraction from this palace,' Robert had said.

'And Poppy's the only person you know who can put up with your sorry ass?' Jasper had questioned.

Robert had refused to be offended by Jasper's words and had simply climbed into the Rover.

'Drive, peasant. Drive.'

She had greeted Jasper with a, 'What's he doing here?', instantly reminding Robert of the fact that oh yeah, almost forgot, she really was an unrefined hellhound clearly lacking any manners. And if her voice had whispered in his head, just the way you like it, he had ignored it because, yeah, as she had said, that's just crazy.

It was clearly her day off; she was dressed in a nondescript long shirt and when she had bent over to grab a newspaper in front of her door, he had caught a glimpse of fiery red knickers. Interesting. She had been watching football, Liverpool against Chelsea – the red made him wonder whether she was supporting the wrong team -, but Jasper had handed him a glass of whiskey so here he was, calm and carefree, one hundred percent King and nobody owned him. Especially not his mother.

He cheered.

Poppy looked over her shoulder and smiled at him. That smile he had come to lov –

'What are you doing?' she asked with a grin. 'Nobody scored, you loony.'

He shrugged, smirked at her. 'Just happy.'

She pushed herself up from the floor, came to sit next to him on the armrest. He found it funny how she juggled two bottles of beers, was perplexed she see she was actually drinking from both of them at the same time.

Bacchanalian ogre, then.

She looked down at him, waving on of her bottles in his face. 'You want to go out later? You know, just like the other night?' Almost three years ago. He wondered if it was just the memory of that night he was attached to, or the fact that she was in it.

She played with the cuffs of his dress shirt. Her fingers brushing bare skin. Jasper pretended not to see, focused on the telly.

'I have an Adidas vest you can wear,' she grinned. 'The same one actually.'

He smiled up at her, stilled her hand. He placed his glass on the glass table in front of him, next to where she had put both her empty beer bottles and curled his fingers through hers. Squeezed softly and she did the same.

'Nah,' he said. 'I'd rather stay here. Watch football.'

He smirked. 'And I'm way too buff now to fit in your tiny vest.'

She laughed and when she made to get up, he held onto her hand a little bit tighter. She sat back down, her knees touching, and perched herself daintily on the arm.

Duchess Slant.

Perhaps she wasn't noble born, but at least she met one of the requirements on his mother's list.

And on impulse he rested his head on top of her thigh, only for a moment, only until Jasper turned around and coughed pointedly. They scowled at each other, Poppy blissfully unaware – but she was good at feigning ignorance and he was never too sure with her. He sighed, lifted his head slowly off her lap.

And just because he was Robert the King and she was a cursed shaitan, he pushed her off the couch. She hit the floor with a satisfactorily thud and Jasper snorted loudly, approvingly.

'In my own house,' she muttered dejectedly as she crawled back to her original spot in front of the telly, opened another bottle of beer to drown her sorrows.

Chelsea held a comfortable lead and the game was already played, so Robert entertained himself by watching her.

As if he hadn't seen enough of her during the Royal Ascot.

But he hadn't. Even though he despised her and would love nothing more than to kick her back into the depths of Hell, he liked spending time with her. Liked getting on her nerves, liked her getting on his.

Loved her hand in mine.

And he really needed to get that out of his head, because if her hand already felt this good, then how would the rest of her feel? All of her? And that thought was insanely disgusting because Calliope was the bane of his existence and as common as Jasper and not nearly fit for a man like him.

Yet all he wanted to know was if she could please a man like him.

He eyed his almost empty glass of whiskey and set it down again. Pushed it further away with his big toe.

Poison. Dangerous and traitorous poison.

He took a swig straight from the bottle.

The sound of Jasper's phone vibrating distracted him, but only temporarily.

'We have to go.' Jasper got up almost immediately after reading the text message he had received,

'Why?'

'I need to run an errand.'

'Then why do I need to go?'

Jasper looked at Poppy, hands spread but she shrugged. 'How long is this errand going to take?'

'An hour, maybe two.' He sighed. 'Could be longer.'

'Is it urgent?' Jasper glanced over at Robert and nodded. 'Does he have to come?' Jasper shook his head.

'Well, in that case, he can stay.' And Robert hated how they were talking about him like he wasn't in the same room. He stayed quiet, though, even held his breath. The prospect of staying with Poppy alone had him slightly excited. He didn't dare ponder why, simply focused on their conversation.

'He's a handful, especially when he drinks,' Jasper said.

'You think I don't know that.' Poppy snorted. 'I'm his GCHQ liaison, remember.'

'I'll be as quick as possible.'

'Take your time.'

'Are you sure?'

'One hundred percent.'

She laughed, weaving their fingers together as she rested a head against his arm. Their familiarity annoyed Robert.

He frowned.

'Don't worry, Jasper.' She pushed him towards the door, but Jasper held his ground. 'I'll whip up something to eat and we'll be fine until you're back. He needs to be punished for pushing me off my sofa, anyway.'

Robert could pinpoint the exact moment Jasper gave in, and he smirked. Until Jasper turned around with a scowl on his face, walked towards him.

'Don't do anything stupid.' The man's grip on his shoulder was tight, almost painful. 'She's my friend and she's not part of your people.'

Noted.

Jasper hugged Poppy quickly and then he was gone. A silence fell as the door closed behind him. Poppy had her arms crossed over her chest, was looking at him through narrowed eyes. He looked right back, an eyebrow arched. She huffed and walked into the kitchen. He could hear her rummaging around with pans and the cooking hood whirred to life. She was actually going to cook him dinner. He smiled.

'So, Poppy,' he said eventually. 'I assume "whip up something to eat" means poisoning me?'

He was surprised when dinner was actually more than decent. In all honesty, he thought she'd be a shit cook. Spaghetti wasn't the hardest of dishes to prepare, but he still had to give credit where credit was due. It tasted good. And he prayed to God she hadn't sprinkled rat poison through his, with the way she had been staring daggers at him over her plate.

When she had come to collect his plate, he, for a moment, had feared she would stab him with his own knife, but she had retreated to the kitchen without harming him and upon her return had handed him an ice-cold beer. Her fingers had lingered, as had his, and when their eyes had met, his throat had tightened.

Surely she had forgiven him for throwing her off the sofa.

'I am always welcome here, right,' he questioned and she nodded, remembrance dawning on her face. He hadn't forgotten that conversation either, when he had asked to go to her house. Because he had wanted to escape. The madness. Running away, like a weak man. He wasn't that person. He liked to think he was a better man.

Yet here he was.

'Come here.' He breathed out slowly, patting the empty spot next to him.

She hesitated; he pretended not to care. She sat down next to him, her back against the armrest. The distance between them was enormous and she looked at him, almost challengingly. He held out his hand.

'Come closer.' This time she didn't wait, but immediately moved, her shoulder touching his, her hand next to his thigh.

'Close enough?'

'Not nearly,' he said and she draped both her legs over his right thigh, rested her head against his chest. He ran a hand through her hair and eventually let it fall to her hip. She scooted closer. A comfortable silence settled between them.

'I haven't spoken to my mother since last week.' Of course he was the first to break it. She heard him and brought the bottle of Heineken to her lips. Took a sip.

'Neither did I.'

He snorted and he saw her smile from the corner of his eyes.

'I don't want to marry.'

She nodded, took another sip.

'I know.'

He sighed. So did she. She lifted her head from his chest, rested it against the back of the sofa instead.

'I read the list.'

Poppy cocked her head to the side to look at him. Robert frowned.

'I think she finally accepted that the twins are going to end up with commoners and little bastards, so she's going to make damn sure at least one of her children doesn't marry beneath his station. I'm King, though. So if marrying down is not an option, then there's actually nobody left.'

She poked him in the chest, grinned at him.

'You're so cocky. You should've just snatched up Kate Middleton when you had the chance. Now you're just doomed to stay alone forever.'

'Or settle.' He looked at her. 'Settle for an unhappy life with a woman I care nothing for.'

'Yeah.' She nodded. 'Settle.'

'I still haven't completely dismissed killing Liam and marrying Willow.' But Poppy shook her head. 'Base born. Just as plebeian as Jasper and I. So that is not going to work.'

He smirked. 'Nobody is as base born as you and Jasper.'

'And nobody likes you.'

'You do.'

She chuckled. 'I have to. You pay my salary.'

'Not really,' he said. 'My mother does, remember.'

'Truth.' She slapped him playfully. 'In that case, fuck off, I don't like ya.'

He clamped his hand over her mouth. 'Shut up.' The sound was muffled, but her shoulders shook with laughter.

'What if I want to marry commonalty?' Her chuckling immediately stopped, but he didn't remove his hand. 'What if I met someone that I like and she's third estate, just like Willow. And Jasper. And you?'

Her eyes widened. She licked her lips as she looked at him. Almost expectantly.

He smirked.

'Well, not you. You're more fifth, sixth, seventh estate. Proletarian.'

She scoffed and showed him her middle finger, flicked him against the nose.

He bit it.

I bit it.

She cried out and jumped back. Instinctually he followed her, hunted her as she scrambled back over the sofa, until she was trapped between the arm and Robert. She grinned.

'Seems like you got the little base born pleb,' she smiled.

'Not really, though,' he replied and he crawled closer. Rested his hands on either side of her hips.

'Jasper said, don't do anything stupid,' she said innocently.

'Jasper's not here.' His voice was low.

'He isn't,' she agreed.

Huskily.

She grazed his wrists, moving her hands up his arms simultaneously. The contact hit him hard, shot through his entire body and he moved instantly.

He straightened the entire length of his body over her smaller frame. Gripped both of her wrists firmly in one hand, pressing them into the arm behind her head. Testing her chances of escape, she wiggled, and he sneered at her wolfishly.

'Now I got you.'

She bucked against him. 'Let go.'

'Why?' He sniffed her neck. She smelt good. A faint scent of perspiration – was she nervous, because of him? -, pink pepper and something vaguely resembling…

Chocolate?

He resisted the urge to run his tongue over her skin.

I'm not fooled, succubus. I know what you are.

'I'm serious, Robert. Let go.' He heard the threat, but there was something else in her tone. Amusement. And something he found much more interesting. Something he wanted to explore.

'Let go of my hands, Robert.'

I'd be an idiot to trust a dybbuk.

He should let her go. He didn't want to, though. Except what he wanted didn't matter. Never did. So he released her.

He didn't even have time to respond. The moment he let go of her hands, she flipped them over with ease, straddling him triumphantly. She rested her knees on the insides of his elbows and smugly arched an eyebrow at him.

'Told you to let me go.'

He smirked, placed his hands on her thighs. 'You did.'

'And now I've caught you.'

'You have me.' And the words lingered between them.

He kneaded his fingers into her soft flesh and she tensed. Her skin was hot beneath his hands and he squeezed her.

He lifted himself up, until he was eye to eye with her, his hand still on her thighs. She didn't avoid his gaze and he stared straight back. He wondered what she was thinking.

His mouth was dry.

'Are you drunk?' he asked her slowly.

'Are you?'

He shook his head and she smiled. 'I only had some beers.'

He ran one hand over her hips. 'Good.' Slipped beneath her long shirt, fell flat against her spine. Her body was tense, leaning away from him. Her arms hung limp at her side and he took one, lifted it up until he could rest it on his shoulder. Then the other. Her eyes were confused, dark, but still she didn't break eye contact.

For fuck's sake, she was beautiful.

'Come here,' he whispered. Massaged her hips, pulling her closer, and she must've felt his obvious arousal as she slid nearer, because the corners of her mouth twitched and he could barely suppress his moan.

'Closer,' he murmured. The hoarseness of his voice had her bury her hands in his hair and he breathed in deeply.

'Close enough?' And he loved the way her voice broke.

'Not nearly.'

And he kissed her. His lips pressed against hers, warm and soft, tender. She kissed him back, pressing her body to his as she did so and he groaned against her mouth.

Not nearly enough.

He almost growled as he deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding into her mouth.

And she was perfect and fire and everything he always and never thought she would be.

She pressed herself closer, tighter against him, spreading her legs further so she pressed down on him completely. She surprised herself with the movement and gasped, pulling back. Chest heaving with heavy breathing.

Every inch of his body recoiled as the loss of contact and he nipped forward, trying to claim her lips again. She placed both her hands flat on his chest, pushing him back so she could look at him. He at her. She looked fucking gorgeous and he bend forward to kiss her again. She stopped him.

'What about rather kissing Jasper?' And fuck, why did she remember?

She smiled at him teasingly, still slightly out of breath. He sighed, closing his eyes. His cock was fucking throbbing and she decided to bring up Jasper. He adjusted their position so his back was against the arm rest. Massaged her softly and ran his thumb gently along the inside of her thigh. Inching higher and higher. His left hand ran up her back, softly coercing her closer as he pressed a kiss against her throat. He heard her sharply breathe in and smiled. He could feel the heat coming from her core. She held her breath and he knew. She pressed her hips down against him, trapping his hand between her thighs. He unhurriedly pushed her knickers to the side, placing his hand flat against her. She mewled – for fuck's sake, she was so beautiful – and rolled her hips again.

He leaned back and leered at her, imperiously.

'What about it?'