AN: So I meant to sit down and write Mauraders part III, and this chapter accidentally fell out of my keyboard. One of my lovely reviewers mentioned Severus' self control and, cough cough...this chapter is of the steamier variety. The first of the chapters that actually merits the M rating, so don't say I didn't warn you. I promise after this Severus and Hermione will finally get back to the list.
Also, I want to thank DutchGirl01, ArabellaGrace, Cloelius Princess, HarryPGinnyW4eva, and Blue Night Fairy for such regular reviews! I love all the reviews that have been left, but you guys seriously rock.
And now, without further ado...
Chapter 19 - Uncharted Territory
Hermione awoke in the semi-darkness of early morning looking up at the velvety curtains of a bed that was most certainly not her own. Shaking the fog from her mind, she looked down and saw they were both still in their clothes from the night before. Severus' button down shirt was magically wrinkle-free, but the row of buttons on her blouse had shifted off center as she slept. Looking down, she gave a small gasp as her eyes rested on the large adornment to her left hand, which was currently resting on Severus' chest.
"I'm afraid it was not a dream, my love. You are now permanently stuck with a Slytherin."
Hermione smiled and turned her face up to look into her favorite dark eyes. "I'll have you know that this particular Slytherin happens to be my favorite person in the known world." She punctuated her sentence by planting a quick kiss on his chest. "But how lovely of you to demonstrate your point so aptly. May I ask just how long you had been watching me sleep?"
Severus grinned cheekily in response, "Not long enough to be considered improper, but long enough to cultivate the desire to do this." He wrapped his arms around her and slid her light body up along his so that her lips were within kissing distance. While his lips explored hers, his hand wrapped itself in the messy, brown curls behind her head. He again had to be the one to pull away from the kiss. Hermione, who had been in the process of wrapping her top leg higher around his legs to pull him closer to her body, whimpered noticeably at the loss of contact.
"Please, Severus, I... I need you." He scanned the look in her eyes, the intensity of her want whittling away at his closely-held self control.
"I will not let you destroy my one and only chance to do something the right way, and in the proper order." He couldn't bear her crestfallen expression and sighed deeply before speaking again, stressing his first word. "…but I do believe there might be some middle ground that I we could explore without causing any lasting damage to your virtue. That is if you're interested—"
Her lips cut his sentence short before he could even finish the word. Finally having met with an agreeable compromise, Severus allowed himself to disappear fully into her kiss in a way he had not allowed himself to do before. He felt the sparks from her lips that reached deep down inside him. He felt the pressure as her chest pressed into his own. Savoring the closeness and contact created as her leg wound around his waist, he pressed himself against her, hearing her gasp as their bodies made contact.
She began to press her hips against his, loving the way the pleasure it created seemed to shoot up her body into her stomach. If this was how her body felt through two layers of clothing, she feared she might not survive for the pleasure when he finally took her as his own. She kept pressing rhythmically against him as they kissed when she felt his lips leave hers. Suddenly she found herself being flipped onto her back, looking directly into Severus' eyes as he crouched above her.
Heightening the sparking electricity of the tension between them, Severus hovered frustratingly close to her lips without closing the final distance between them. She felt another jolt of electricity shoot out from her core as his velvety voice cut through the silence. "You've really never partaken of anything in this realm before?"
She loved the way he phrased even the raunchiest of topics in such a dignified manner. Blushing, she responded honestly, "Before you, two kisses. Neither were much good. I assume you'll have to take the lead." She looked up at him, but found a different expression than she expected.
"It may surprise you my dear, but that places you exactly two kisses ahead of me." Her eyes widened in surprise. Not even Lily? No one while he was under cover as a Death Eater? He spoke, yet again answering her unspoken questions, "My appearance as an asexual dungeon bat made it fairly easy for me to avoid unwanted advances from either side." Her look of surprise transformed into one of utmost adoration. I get him all to myself. Just us. No one else. A thrill of exhilaration shot through her body as he finished, "I guess we will have to do some exploring together then, won't we?"
With that and a devilish smile he once again pressed himself into her kiss. After he had ensured they were both thoroughly back in the moment, he began kissing down her neck. As she felt his teeth gently tease her jugular, she threw back her head with a jolt of pleasure. His lips didn't leave her neck, but she felt his long fingers begin undoing the small pearl buttons on her blouse. The cold air hitting her skin brought her eyes up to meet his as her shirt fell open to reveal the lavender lace of bra.
He looked deep in her eyes, questioning if she was still comfortable. Hermione nodded slightly and bit her lip in either anticipation or nerves, he couldn't tell. Severus took what he hoped was not too obvious of a deep breath as his fingers made their way gently down from her shoulders onto her chest. He felt her sharp intake of breath as his hands crossed the boundary onto her lace-covered flesh. For a moment he stared into her eyes, neither daring to breathe as his hands explored her body in a way no man ever had before. He watched the rapture in her eyes as she relished his slow, sensual touch. Everywhere his fingers went, they left a trail of tiny sparks in her body, only serving to exacerbate the throbbing she could already feel in her tightening core.
As he continued exploring her body, she sat up and shrugged off her now completely unbuttoned shirt. He inhaled sharply as, instead of lying back, her hands rose to the buttons of his own shirt. His hands froze on her body, his eyes closing as he savored the feeling of her dainty fingers slowly working their way down his chest. After she got to the last button, he felt her delicate lips brush against his as she pulled his shirt out from his waistband. She prompted him to open his eyes with a gentle nudge of her nose, and she peered deep into his eyes as he allowed his shirt to slide off of his shoulders. Without breaking the thread of their gaze, she brought her hands up to feel his chest. She had touched him in the course of healing and checking his wounds, and she had felt his muscles through his clothes the times they had slept next to each other, but she still marveled at the newly revealed spectacle of his body. A smattering of scars marred his chest, new and old, some long, others short, but none managed to obscure his beauty. He was still slender, but his teaching robes had obscured a very well defined physique.
After letting her delicate fingers trace the outlines of his chest, he pressed forward to kiss her, pinning her back down to the bed. The first instance of contact between their bare skin served as flint for the cloud of longing that had built as they made their first tentative explorations of each others' bodies. This kiss was the explosion. Her nails dug into his back while his hands covered every inch of her torso. He felt her heavy breath in his ear as he kissed down her jawline. With a silkily muttered incantation she felt her bra vanish to finally complete the flesh-on-flesh connection of their torsos. He noticed that she held her breath as his kisses worked their way down her neck and to her chest. She gasped audibly when his lips found their target, sending a bolt of pleasure through her core as he sucked her nipple into his mouth. She felt as his tongue swirled around her, sending unexpected waves of pleasure throughout her body.
He could think of nothing but her body as he closed his eyes and explored her with his mouth, but he froze and jerked his eyes open as he felt one of her delicate hands gently touch him through the fabric of his pants. He sought her eyes, but they were already looking directly into his, seeking permission or reassurance, he couldn't tell which. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to find words if he tried to speak, so he answered by pressing his hips gently into her hand. Interpreting that as her permission, he saw her eyes light up as the pressure of her hand increased. She was elated to hear a guttural moan escape his lips as he pressed even further towards her hand. She continued her ministrations, never breaking the eye contact that seemed to keep both of their nerves at bay as they ventured into this mutually unexplored territory.
She tentatively walked her fingers up to begin trying to unfasten the button of his pants, but he pulled back. "Ladies first," the corners of his mouth twitched upwards as he spoke, but the shadow of his playful smile didn't quell the fire she could see in his dark eyes. She nodded her assent as he undid the fastenings of her jeans, and lifted her hips up as he slowly slid them off her hips. He lay down, resting his body along the side of hers. He placed a quick but passionate kiss her lips before he pulled away to reestablish their eye contact. She inhaled and held the breath in as his hand slowly trailed down her flat stomach to the border of the lavender lace underwear that matched the vanished bra she had worn.
Nodding slightly in permission, it was all Hermione could do to keep her eyes open and on his as his hand dipped below the fabric of her underwear to the folds of skin that lay beneath. Severus' eyes widened as he felt how wet she had become. She really does want me, he thought to himself, relishing this final, physical evidence that the brown haired goddess in front of him could actually be attracted by someone like him. Eyes never leaving hers, he muttered the spell to send her underwear the same way as her vanished bra as he deftly began to work his thin, skilled fingers up and down as she jerked in pleasure.
How does he know how to do this so well? She knew the amount of research she had done to prepare herself should a situation like this arise had left her with the feeling that there must be a gap between research and practical application, but as she gasped and writhed under his seemingly expert touch her mind couldn't figure out how he knew to touch her just where she wanted most to be touched. He watched with rapture as she began climbing under his hands. She had finally closed her eyes and thrown her head back in her wordless pleasure, so he was free to take in the spectacle that was her gorgeous body as she bucked against his hand.
He saw her eyes return to seek out his and heard her cry as she began to come undone. "Severus!" It was somewhere between a plea and an exclamation. He pulled his body as close to her side as he could as his fingers deftly pushed her over the edge of the cliff. As she came undone he leaned over her to press his lips to hers, steadying her shaking and twitching body beneath him as she rode out the waves of pleasure that kept washing over her even after he had removed his hand. She pressed her body into his and gasped into his mouth as her movement stilled. When she finally regained her ability to think, she ran her hand through his hair to pull him into her lips for a slow, lingering kiss.
When her eyes opened, they found his looking at her laden with hope and questions. Trying to answer whatever query was pulling the worry into his brow, she sighed and broke the silence.
"That was indescribably wonderful." Her voice still shook from exertion.
"Satisfactory?" The genuine worry in his tone hurt her heart as a clue of the insecurity that still lay hidden behind his stoic front.
"Words cannot describe the wonderfulness of what I just felt. How did you know how to do that if you haven't…?" Her words trailed off. He smiled and placed a gentle kiss on her lips as he spoke.
"It would appear that our bodies are quite compatible together. Other than the empirical research I might have done on the topic, I acted purely on instinct. Judging from some of the more interesting noises which I have never before heard you make, it would seem your body didn't fault me for any lack of experience." He finished more confidently than he began, largely as a result of the smile steadily growing on her face.
"Instinct you say?" It was her turn to display the devilish grin that usually adorned his face in such moments. He smiled and nodded. With a move he did not see coming, she managed to pounce on him in such a way that he ended up pinned under her, looking up at her naked form and the look of triumph in her face. She took a moment to stroke him through the fabric of his pants before pulling her hand away and, keeping her eyes trained on his, speaking –with more than a touch of pride in her voice- the same incantation he had used to vanish her undergarments. Before she could look down to see what she had revealed, she smiled a laughing smile at the look of surprise in his eyes.
"I'm a quick learner," her bell-like laughter chimed out.
Returning her smile with almost as much pride, he purred, "My little know it all." She planted a quick kiss on his lips before pulling back to see what had been pressing on her through his neatly pressed trousers. She inhaled sharply when she saw the full extent of his glorious body. She had no frame of reference from which to judge, but whatever she had imagined hadn't been nearly generous enough. He caught the look of awe and nerves in her eyes and smiled a smile that spread warmth throughout her body and somehow managed to dispel her nerves. She carefully took hold of him and let her instincts guide her.
The second he felt the pressure of her hands where he had never been touched before, he felt his eyes roll briefly back in his head. Pure ecstasy. Whatever he had imagined it would feel like to have another person's hands on him, this was far better. Seeing his pleasure, Hermione gained both confidence and speed as she pleasured him. He couldn't believe it when he felt the first groan escape his lips, but as she quickly took control of the situation the noises he made were soon the last things on his mind. He felt himself climbing close to the point of no return and instinctively tried to rein himself back. Sensing the change in him, he heard her seductive voice in the silence, "Let go, Severus. I want to feel you let go."
Hearing his name on her lips was his undoing. He closed his eyes and succumbed. He let go to the beautiful, still naked witch above him, to the idea that his years of untouched solitude were finally behind him, to the idea that she was his and only his, and to the irresistible pleasure emanating from the delicate hands still wringing the pleasure from his body. Mirroring his earlier gesture, she leaned over his body and laid her lips on his as the tremors of his pleasure rolled over him, pressing her naked body against his until his ragged breathing began to steady.
When she felt his heartbeat returning to its normal speed, she curled into her favorite spot against his side, resting her head in the crook of his shoulder and resting her face on his chest. Borrowing his words from earlier, she looked up to see his face as she spoke.
"Satisfactory?"
"In all my years I have never heard a greater understatement than describing what just happened as merely satisfactory." He leaned down to kiss her smiling lips. "I love you, Hermione."
"As I love you."
With this, she rested her head on his chest. Completely sated and content to remain in each others' arms for as long as possible, both relaxed into the comfortable bed and listened to the first sounds of the birds around the grounds just beginning to stir. Neither knew who fell asleep first, but both slept in complete and utter happiness and peace, clinging to each other as they knew they would every night from then on.