"Let us start our second lesson, my lord." Sebastian stood in front of the wooden desk, a finger tracing his lips in contemplation, as if deciding the most proper place to begin.
"Hold on." Ciel stood up from the armchair, cocking a brow. "You just said second lesson. What happened to the first?"
A tight-lipped smile slithered across Sebastian's lips. "The first has just been completed, young master. I have just demonstrated to you the means to affect another at a near proximity without direct touch. Face flushed, biting down on one's lips, sweating, irregularities in breathing -these are all tell-tale signs that the 'moves' as you call it, are working. Your reaction to me moments ago demonstrated this quite nicely."
Without a second thought, Ciel grabbed the cherry meringue in front of him and threw it at his butler's face.
Sebastian, however, caught it effortlessly. "Pray, do compose yourself, young master." Palpable irritation creased his brows as he rearranged a crooked cherry. "Lady Elizabeth will think even poorer of you if your volatile temper is made apparent."
Ciel glowered, but made no means to protest. Instead, he slouched back into his Queen Anne armchair, his attention drifting to the cherry stems lying on the desk.
An unsteady ringed finger pointed to the double knotted stem. "Are-are you going to teach me that?"
"Pardon my impertinence young master, but one cannot ride a four-wheeler without learning how to ride a bicycle first. I daresay you'll need a bit more, ah, practice before attempting those sorts of...tasks."
Heat swipe his cheeks. Ciel bit the hollows of his cheeks and fought the need to retreat from his butler's amused stare. This whole matter was utterly improper on so many levels.
As if sensing his hesitance, Sebastian murmured, "Young master...if this is all too much for you, you are free to stop whenever you wish." Despite his customary tone, Sebastian's voice dripped with challenge.
Gathering bravado, Ciel steeled his face. "You should well know by know I don't back down from a game. And right now, this is nothing more than a game to me." He caught Sebastian's gleaming eyes. "One that I have every intention of winning."
"In that case, why don't you prove it?" he whispered.
"I think I will." Ciel took a step towards Sebastian. The latter watched in silence as the boy stuck out a pale, creamy finger and trailed it along his suited arm. Ciel glanced up, but only to become piqued at Sebastian's indifference to his antics. The butler wore a mask of imperial boredom.
"Do put a little more effort into it, young master."
Ciel flinched at those bruising words. Throwing propriety out the door, he stood up on his heels and flung an arm around Sebastian neck, his fingers wrapping around and brushing against that the silky obsidian hair. To the earl's satisfaction, a muscle twitched along Sebastian's jaw; The enigmatic black flecks in his crimson eyes darkened. Noting this with a relish, Ciel smirked and busied his other hand, tracing his fingertips in small circles around a button on Sebastian's waistcoat.
"Well?" Ciel whispered. "How about now?" He made his voice resonate, smooth and rich -just like the baroque violin Sebastian's fingers played so deftly.
"I suppose it is passable."
"Tch. Just passable?" Ciel disengaged himself from Sebastian, a sneer on his lips. "I'd like to see you do better."
"Very well, my lord, I shall endeavor to do just that." Using his mouth, Sebastian tugged off his satin glove with exaggerated slowness, finger by finger.
Ciel's palms grew sweaty; his pulse sped up with mounting anticipation-for what, he didn't know. Or perhaps he did know. At once, he chided himself from his foolish, illogical thoughts. This was exactly what Sebastian wanted. To make him lose control. To manipulate him like a chess piece without his awareness. Reminding himself the reason why he was doing this in the first place, Ciel narrowed his vision. "What are you do-"
Before he could finish, an instant pressure on the back of his neck made him he suck in a sharp breath.
"Shh." Sebastian placed his ungloved hand behind his neck and pressed down on it, his smooth, sculpted fingers massaging a patch of skin in languorous movements. "This shall be your second lesson, young master. This here is an erogenous zone, an area filled with nerve endings which makes it sensitive to the slightest touch."
A wave of shivers stole over Ciel's whole body like an electric current. It was as if he'd become nothing but a bundle of nerves, his entire body becoming one erogenous zone. Unable to look at Sebastian, he clamped his lids shut, but only to have fuchsia orbs burst behind his eyes and skilled hands pressing deeper into his flesh. This was the first time he felt Sebastian's bare skin on his. It felt utterly foreign. Even when the butler had assisted with rinsing and lathering his hair during baths, Sebastian always wore gloves. Being so used to it, he had never gave it much thought -but this...this was giving Ciel a little too much thought.
Sebastian increased his pace, pressing down even harder on him. Ciel's breath betrayed him, coming out hitched and ragged. Judging the way Sebastian's eyes danced at him, the butler noted it with utmost relish, not even having the decency to feign an inkling of shame. Sebastian's lacquered like fingernails now grazed his skin, as if marking him for his own. The earl clenched his hands; some strange and foreign feeling gnawed inside him, something carnal that threatened to spill from his confines. He was mere moments away from reaching his threshold, from imploding.
"Enough of this debauchery." Ciel jerked away Sebastian's hand. He had come so close to losing their game. "I asked for lessons in baser manner," he said in a breathy voice. "Not lessons in how to become some licentious rake." He flashed Sebastian a look of mild disdain.
"I apologize, young master. Perhaps that was a bit...much for you."
"As if." Ciel lifted his nose, watching Sebastian's hand slide back into his glove. "You still haven't given me a proper solution to my dilemma, Sebastian. That move is much too forward to work on Lizzie. Aren't there any other erogenous zones other than this?"
"Plenty, young master." Sebastian faintly smiled and his gaze traveled across Ciel's face. "Lips...earlobes..the nape of the neck." His thick lashes fanned out as crimson eyes traveled lower, leaving Ciel feeling more than a little self conscious.
"The chest...the inner arms, the fingertips," continued Sebastian, moving lower on his frame,"the base of the tailbone...the area around the navel..." And then Sebastian's flickering gaze dropped even lower.
Ciel's cheeks burned. Sebastian slowly returned his gaze to his master's face.
"You blasted-"
"Perhaps, you should concentrate on targeting the Lady's fingertips for now, young master, seeing you are still a novice..."
Ciel glared at the subtle mockery lacing Sebastian's voice, but tried his best to ignore it. "Fine, but how?"
"Well, there are many ways, but perhaps the best for you would be through...a dance."
"You know I can't dance," he grumbled. "Much less be suave while pulling these moves."
"In that case, allow me to show you how to apply baser manner during our third lesson -a close contact Viennese waltz." Sebastian went forth to set the gramophone to a classical waltz piece. When the sweet, lulling violin music drifted into the air, Sebastian extended his gloved hand to Ciel, lips upturned. "Come, my lord," he whispered.
Drawing in a deep breath, Ciel reluctantly reached for Sebastian's hand. In one fluid move, the butler curled his fingers around Ciel's waist, drawing him near.
"Do watch your feet, my lord."
Ciel tried his best to follow Sebastian's lead, though his feet fumbled every down and then. When he stared down to get a proper footing, he caught sight of Sebastian's feet and felt his cheeks heat up at the way the moving fabric hugged the butler's toned legs to perfection. Rebuking himself, Ciel forced his face up.
"Is something the matter, young master?" Sebastian's voice was smooth and lilting, sticky as a spiderweb.
"No...everything's fine." Ciel gave him an irascible stare, averting those dancing eyes. Before long, the music swelled with fortissimos, the notes smooth, sensuous, and potent as they swirled around the duo. Ciel glanced up at Sebastian, heavy-lidded.
"Sebastian, what's the name of this song? It's...nice."
"It is a classical waltz piece, young master -titled as 'My Sweet and Tender Beast' " Sebastian's eyes glowed with humor.
The earl clicked his tongue as the song tapered away and a new one began playing -this one much more fast paced, rife with sharps and flats. A piece Ciel had known well -a song Sebastian had played him once before.
"A variation of Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata and Fugue," Sebastian answered before the question left Ciel's lips, "-adapted for a darkly passionate waltz."
As the music room filled with heady, wistful sounds, Sebastian once more resumed his tutelage. "Now young master, it is time to incorporate our previous lesson into this dance."
Before Ciel could question him, Sebastian fingers slipped from his waist, and then dipped lower.
"Sebastian, what are you-"
"Shsh, young master." His other gloved hand rested on Ciel's lips. "Did you forget that the base of the tailbone is one of those zones I mentioned?" He began tracing it, unbearably slow. "A small touch here can have the most profound affect."
"Y-you..."
Sebastian didn't bother to take his hand off as he continued the dance. Ciel could've swore Sebastian's slippery fingers inched even lower as the music's increased its pace. He give the butler a sharp, warning glare, but curiously, made no protest. The rhythm begin to build up to its climax. When the crescendo hit, Sebastian dipped Ciel without warning. Back arched, Ciel drew in a sharp breath, his eye patch loosening, and involuntarily grasped Sebastian's lapels by both hands to steady himself.
For longer than a few decent moments, the master and butler stared at each other, holding fast to their positions. Obsidian tendrils of hair fell upon Ciel's forehead. Sebastian's face hovered over his, the intoxicating scent of eau de cologne,Twinnings tea, and that distinct musk of his butler wafting under his nose. A shiver ran through the earl; for a split second he could barely recall what he was supposed to be doing. His contracted eye blazed at Sebastian fervently, though his lips gave no verbal order.
"My foolhardy young master," Sebastian whispered. Taking a gloved hand, Sebastian tugged off the loose eye patch; it drifted to the ground, unmissed.
Ciel wetted his lips. Glowing eyes pinned his gaze, burning with the mark of their contract. Something flickered deep within those fuchsia depths, something unbidden, something almost perverse. A raw hunger...an unbridled desire. But perhaps most noticeable to Ciel were those sinful lips that were but a hair's breadth away from his own.
Almost of their own accord, Ciel's fingers reached for the black tie that was falling out of place. "Sebastian..."
"C-ciel...?"
Ciel's eyes flashed; he jerked himself from his butler's impassive face to the sound of the voice. Bright green eyes stared at him from the doorway, growing twice their usual size. Rosy lips parted agape, something akin to confusion and shock marring those delicate features.
At once, Ciel felt the color drain his face. "Lizzie..."
Author's note: Sorry for the head-hopping and ambiguous pronouns :v I didn't spend much time editing this. Someone really wanted me to post another update to this series on ff, so well, here it is. I'll probably be putting this little series on hold. Atm, I'm working on the next couple of chapters on my other Kuro fanfic, Book of Cipher, which contains a much more substantial plot than this. It's a mystery romance that's much more interesting for me to write about ^^ (Sebaciel solving ciphers, cryptograms, riddles, and hidden messages galore). If you want to check it out, it's up on my archivesofourown account: ThatMysteryWriter.