"Dolph, I won't be at dinner tonight," said Bellatrix, strolling into the deep green library where Rodolphus was reading a book. He looked up from his reading and raised his brows.

"No? Going to your parents'?" He asked lightly, but Bellatrix shifted on her feet and corrected him,

"I've been summoned by owl. By the Dark Lord. Ordered to dinner tonight. I'm not sure how many will be there."

"Well, not me, apparently." Rodolphus shut his book and narrowed his eyes a little, and he asked meaningfully, "Bellatrix, are you having an affair with him?"

Bellatrix felt her knees go a little weak with shock. She stumbled into the room and sat slowly opposite Rodolphus, and she whispered,

"I can't… I don't think I can…"

"That's a yes, then," Rodolphus nodded crisply. "I assume I'm not meant to ask any questions."

"He's our master," Bellatrix reminded him, and Rodolphus scoffed a little.

"I'm your husband." He looked away but gave a conciliatory nod and drummed his fingers on his book. He finally said softly, "I won't say a word. To you or to him. I'm not anxious to meet a Killing Curse over this."

"I've got to go to dinner," Bellatrix said, rising slowly. As she stood, Rodolphus asked,

"How did those Mudbloods go earlier today?"

"Fine." Bellatrix shrugged lightly. She'd had two captured Mudbloods that she'd tortured into oblivion, getting quite a lot of useful information from them about some Aurors in the force, and then she'd killed them. She put her hands on her waist and said to Rodolphus, "They went quickly. Easily."

"That's my girl," Rodolphus smirked, and Bellatrix just stared. Rodolphus' face went serious, and he asked plainly, "Will you be back tonight?"

"I've no idea," Bellatrix admitted. "All I know is that I got an owl ordering me to dinner. I don't know anything else."

"Right, then." Rodolphus tapped his fingers together and nodded. "Night."

"Night, Dolph." Bellatrix walked quickly out of the library, Disapparating mid-step.

"How did those Mudbloods go earlier?"

Earlier, when Bellatrix had been asked the question by Rodolphus, she'd been lukewarm in answering. Now, sitting at the dining room table with Voldemort, she grinned and told him,

"Margo Rollstead gave us all sorts of useful information about Alastor Moody," she said. "It only took her six or seven minutes under the Cruciatus to completely crack and give me everything I wanted about what he's been doing for Dumbledore. She was so weak. So weak, Master."

His lips curled up, pleased. He folded his hands on the table and asked, "The other one?"

"Gareth Rollstead," Bellatrix nodded vigorously. "Her Mudblood brother. Two Mudbloods from one set of Muggle parents! Astonishing, isn't it? Anyway, they were both working for Dumbledore. Gareth revealed that Dumbledore had been paying for them to live in a cottage so they could stay safe."

"Ha." Voldemort choked a laugh and sipped his red wine. He'd nearly finished his roast beef. He took another bite and then said again, "Safe. Safe from you? Hardly possible."

"Hardly." Bellatrix smirked and scratched at her curls. She ate a few quick bites of beef and said, "I tortured him a little extra just for fun, Master, and then I eliminated them. Rabastan delivered their bodies to the cottage where Dumbledore had been having them live, and he cast the Dark Mark. He and a few others."

"But you delivered the fatal spells. Just today, you killed for me," Voldemort purred, and Bellatrix nodded.

"I'll kill a thousand times over for you, Master, and then a thousand times again. And again, and again."

"I know. Sweet girl." He shut his eyes and told her, "I've punished you a few times. Now I want to reward you."

Bellatrix felt excitement flush through her, and she quickly shook her head as she insisted,

"I do not need any -"

"No, you don't, but I am entitled to punish or please you as I wish." Voldemort stared at her down the table then. He gulped and shrugged. "Rodolphus finally figured it out, did he?"

Bellatrix's lips parted, and she nodded. "He knows better than to question you."

"He's a fool in many ways, but he won't get himself killed over this," Voldemort said, narrowing his eyes. "If I want you, then you're mine. He knows that. He's not that sort of idiot."

"Yours." Bellatrix nodded a little, knowing what he meant. She was his Death Eater. She was his servant. She was his to do with as he pleased.

"Bellatrix." Voldemort held out one hand and beckoned to her, and Bellatrix's heart sped up in her chest as she rose slowly and approached Voldemort. As she did, she felt a slight choking sensation, and she dropped to her knees. Voldemort rose and loomed over her, staring down at her. He squeezed his hand a little, and Bellatrix felt like she was choking again. It was just a slight little feeling, just the hint of choking, just enough to feel… good. She gasped, sputtered, and clutched at her throat, and then she coughed when he released her. He reached for her hand and pulled her up to stand, and then he slid her onto the corner of the dining room table.

"Knickers down and off," he mumbled, and Bellatrix quickly hustled to obey him. She was already a little wet as she slipped her knickers over her hips, over her thighs and knees, and kicked them away. She let them dangle on her toe for one moment before kicking them, and the sight of that seemed to make Voldemort happy. He bent down and kissed her hard, and suddenly Bellatrix wondered if she was ever going to see him naked. Every time they ever did anything physical, he just pulled his cock out of his trousers. Would she ever touch his chest? Would she ever rub at his arms?

"Mmmph." He shoved her head aside and dug his mouth against her neck, and his hand squeezed at a breast as he asked against her skin, "You want to rub at my arms, Bellatrix? You want to touch my chest?"

"Yes, Master. Yes." Bellatrix tipped her head back and let him kiss her harder than ever against her neck, and suddenly he was nipping - no, biting - and squeezing so hard at the other side of her neck that Bellatrix was in intense pain. She liked this, this pain, and he knew that she liked it. This was the pain Rodolphus wouldn't give her. This was the pain he'd confessed to seeking for years, the pain he'd wanted to give to a witch. They both wanted it. But she also wanted to worship his flesh. She wanted to kiss his chest just above the place where his heart beat. She wanted to massage at his shoulders. She wanted to rub his back. She wanted to squeeze his backside. Oh, she wanted to touch him like that.

"Bella."

He pulled back from her, and she expected him to him to just pull his cock out of his trousers like he always did and drill her against the table before sending her home. But there was a strange glaze in his eyes, and he seemed almost tired as he tucked her hair behind her ear. He whispered carefully,

"If I keep taking you to my personal quarters, it's a line that can't be uncrossed, Bellatrix."

He was talking to himself, not to her, but she nodded and mumbled,

"I'm your slave. Master."

"I want you to rub at my arms and chest," he said, and his throat visibly bobbed. He wanted to be naked with her, Bellatrix thought. He wanted to take off his clothes. He wanted… they wanted the same thing, the two of them. Bellatrix reached up rather brazenly and cupped his jaw in her hands, feeling the little scrape of his scruff against her palms as she pulled him down and encouraged him to kiss her as hard as he would do. That, as it turned out, was very very hard. His tongue snaked into her mouth and he hissed as if in pain, as if making this decision was physically painful for him, and he suckled on her bottom lip before seizing her neck in his hands. He pulled back and squeezed, harder than ever, so hard that Bellatrix saw spots and couldn't find breath at all.

She was dying. He was killing her. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven… She couldn't breathe at all for so long that she just started counting, and then all of a sudden she lost consciousness.

When she woke, she was lying on a familiar bed, but this time she wasn't tied up, and there was a very naked Lord Voldemort beside her.

Author's Note: Sorry for the slow pace of updating this one as I heal up from surgery. If you're reading and enjoying, PLEASE do take a quick moment to leave a review. I'd really be grateful for the feedback. :)