Evelyn woke to the feeling of kisses being trailed down her back. Her body felt warm, surrounded by soft, luxurious sheets, but the lips were cold as they slowly moved down, placing kiss after kiss on her spine.

"Mmm," she sighed, stretching before turning around to face the man behind her. Tom wore a smirk on his face and she forced herself to look at it instead of trailing her gaze down his body. Her legs were too sore to go for any more rounds. "I could get used to waking up like this."

Tom's arm snaked around her waist. He pulled her closer and kissed her forehead gently. "That can be arranged."

Legs tangled together as Evelyn buried her face in his neck. She made a point to ignore his hard member against her pelvis. Why did Tom have to have the perfect body? It made being exhausted all the more difficult.

Like always, Tom had spent the previous night exhausting her to no end. He claimed that it was the slit that undid him, that the little peek he had to view all night was the reason the cabinet at the edge of the room was splintered, that the dress was the reason one of the pillars in the Chamber of Secrets collapsed. But Evelyn knew that, in all reality, Tom was just a man who was as hungry for her as she was for him. On some nights, that hunger consumed him until she was left having to limp to her classes. On others, he was a little gentler, a little more loving as he slowly made love to her.

Last night was not one of the latter.

Their bond hummed with the energy created simply from being together. Evelyn smiled and snuggled deeper into Tom's embrace.

"Eighteen years ago, you entered this world," he murmured.

"Nineteen years and one day ago, you entered this world," she countered.

Tom chuckled. "Yes, and the world still doesn't know what to do with me."

"Well, I know what to do with you."

He leaned back and arched a brow. "I hope it looks something like last night. Or the night before that. Or the night before that. Or—"

"Okay, I get it." Heat burned on her cheeks from her flaming blush. It was a good thing it was dark in there.

"It's not that dark that I can't see the way I make you flush."

Evelyn just sighed and buried her head into his chest so the cold of his toned—very toned—pecs could cool her down. Tom laughed—another real one like before—and stroked her hair. "No more making me flushed. I'm already not sure if I can walk today."

"I would be more than happy to carry you."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you would but I don't know if the prefects and professors would like that."

Tom chuffed. "Prefects? Did you forget that I'm Head Boy, Little Dove? And I don't concern myself with the thoughts of those that are inferior to me."

"Don't you think everyone is inferior to you?"

He grinned and lifted her chin so her face was level with his. "Everyone but you," he purred before closing the gap between them and kissing her so softly. The air between them immediately heated, glowing under the power of the thrumming bond.

Evelyn pulled back as soon as his tongue swiped across her lips. "I'm serious, Tom! My legs hurt too badly."

"If only you were lying next to the most powerful wizard in the world, one who has proven capable of healing you—"

"And I'm going to be late to class."

"Fuck class," he growled. "I want you now."

She giggled before pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. "No."

And when she tried to stand up, her legs crumpled to the ground. "Fuck," Tom cursed under his breath as he quickly stood and caught her before she could ever touch the ground. "Alright, Little Dove, you can have the morning off. But tonight—"

"Tonight, you can have me all you want," she said with a knowing smile before kissing him again.

The corners of Tom's mouth turned upwards. "I'm already looking forward to it."

"As am I, though you will definitely have to take me to the hospital wing afterward to regain the use of my legs if you're anything like you were last night."

He scoffed. "I was merely trying to show my girlfriend how sexy I find her."

Evelyn gave him a pointed look. "No. That's a lie and you know it. You would never let me leave this bedroom if that was truly your reasoning."

The grin that appeared on Tom's face was reminiscent of a snake who had just caught his prey, looking down at it with narrowed eyes and a smile that was a little too wide. "You learn quickly."

She blushed and made her way over to the closet to get dressed. Thankfully, the wardrobe Tom shattered into small wooden pieces strewn across the room didn't have anything too important in it. As her eyes roamed around the shards, she could practically feel herself transported back to last night. Tom shoving her against the wood before she could even take off her heels, her legs instinctively wrapping around his hips to let him in. Evelyn's dress being pushed up to her stomach before he entered her in one harsh thrust that had her screaming. The wood splintering under his fierce grip before shattering completely when he came. Tom growling at the mess in the room before apparating them to the Chamber of Secrets—whilst still inside of her, she might add—before proceeding to crack the concrete column doing the exact same thing, thrusting into her so hard it was both the most painful thing she had ever felt and the most pleasurable.

He finally settled on taking her from behind first on the floor of the Chamber and then on the bed. He pulled her hair out of that bun, ruined her mascara, and ripped her dress all in the name of destroying her. And she would gladly let herself be destroyed. By him, at least.

Tom looked over at her with a twinkle in his eyes as if he knew exactly where her thoughts had headed. "And you're sure you don't want one more round?"

Evelyn gulped as her core immediately began to feel warm. She wasn't wearing anything so Tom noticed the glistening on her legs as soon as she did. "Later," she warned. "Or I'll be in a wheelchair."

"And I'll fuck you there too."

She shivered and began to get dressed, ignoring the way her body was practically pulsing to get to Tom. Her stomach flipped and her heart stuttered and her pussy ached but she ignored all of it.

Tom finally sighed and started to get dressed as well. "Fine. But I'll take my blue balls out on you later."

"I wouldn't have expected anything less."

Evelyn pulled on her skirt before buttoning her shirt. As she was tying her tie, she turned to Tom. "Can we go to Hogsmeade today?"

It wasn't the weekend so they weren't technically supposed to go to Hogsmeade but Tom had never cared for the rules and neither had she. He apparated away from the castle all of the time so why not today on her birthday?

But Tom immediately said, "No." His voice was final and a little cold.

"Why no—"

"Because there have still been reports of Death Eaters in the village and I won't risk your safety like that."

She frowned. "But I'd really like to go to the bookstore."

Tom narrowed his eyes at her. "And I'd like my girlfriend to remain alive."

She walked over to him and ran her hands down his chest. "It's my birthday, though, Tommy," she said with a slight pout of her lips. His eyes darkened staring at it before he hardened his face again.

"No."

Evelyn moved her hands up to the nape of his neck and played with the smooth hair there. For some reason, his curls were only ever on the top of his head, unlike his brother's, which were everywhere. She always loved to play with the short straight strands and from his reactions, she knew he liked it too.

"It would just be for a couple of hours. We could be back before dark and you'd be with me the whole time to protect me," she whispered, looking into his black eyes as he began to deliberate.

"Evelyn..." he began with a warning tone but she just shushed him.

"Plus... if you brought me there, I supposed I would owe you a sort of favor later. Maybe in the form of some rope, headboard, and the lingerie you like."

Tom hissed in a breath. His jaw ticked as he began to deliberate exactly what she was proposing. "Think about it," she whispered. "You can spend all night showing me who I belong to for just a few measly hours in a village. What could go wrong?"

He growled and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Fine," he said in a voice hooded with lust. "But I have one condition."

"What is it?"

Tom bent down and grabbed her panties from under her uniform skirt. "These?" he pocketed the fabric with a devilish smile. "Are mine for the day."

. . .

Several hours later, Tom was standing in the middle of Hogsmeade, surrounded by wizards who were far too jolly for his liking. The holidays always seemed to make some people act like idiots, too drunk on food and presents to think clearly.

Speaking of presents, the one in Tom's pocket seemed to constantly remind him of its weight. It was wrapped in the lacy black panties Evelyn wore for all of five seconds before he took them off of her. Tom had to admit, he should have taken them from her much earlier. Feeling the delicate ribbons between his fingers in his pocket was enough to get him through the day with minimum blue balls. Every time he touched the silky fabric, he thought of her. He thought about her most of the time anyway but now, with his fingers grabbing onto the very thing he ached to rip off her body, she consumed his every thought. He cared nothing for potions or transfiguration when he could be thinking of all the ways to make Evelyn scream.

He smirked as he watched her eye something through the window of Honeydukes. "Hungry, darling?"

Her eyes snapped up to him and she grinned. "Not for sweets."

Fuck. She was making it harder to be there instead of behind some building with a silencing charm cast on her. That little vixen. His little minx.

Tom watched her with a sense of adoration as her feet moved through the thick snow, trudging along happily. Despite his safety concerns, he was glad he brought her here. She seemed to lighten up outside of the castle and he didn't mind the extra affection she gave to him while they were there. She held his hand as she marched through the aisles of books, giggled into his shoulder when a Zonko's product startled her, and kissed him on the cheek every time they entered and left each store. He loved it. He loved her.

His fingers slipped into his pocket and fingered the present. Why was he so nervous to give it to her? Tom Riddle didn't get nervous and yet there he was, his heartbeat increased as he played with it absentmindedly.

It was harder to retrieve it than her uncle. He first had to go to the ashes of his paternal family's mansion before finding a note that led him to a cave by the sea. Just getting through that was a real pain in his ass but it was all worth it in the end.

Salazar Slytherin's locket. A heavy gold necklace with several glittering emeralds on the front. Smaller than most would expect and the picture of his ancestor in the middle had long since been removed but Tom cared more about the meaning than the actual locket itself.

The jewelry had been in his family for thousands of years, passed down from the creator of Slytherin to Voldemort himself. His father had wanted to turn it into a horcrux but he never quite mastered the dark magic. So he had tasked, oddly enough, the Black family with its safekeeping, which was how it ended up in a bloody cave hundreds of miles away.

Tom Riddle had very few heirlooms in his life. His grandparents died long before he was born. Their possessions burned in a fire started by his father. But through it all, this locket survived.

He knew of a ring passed down through the Gaunt family but Tom had yet to find it. He might never. But this locket was here. It was real and in his fingers, wrapped in the panties of the woman he was going to give it to.

Tom Riddle couldn't offer her many possessions. He couldn't offer her a family ring (not yet, at least). He couldn't offer her a grand home. He couldn't offer an easy life.

But he could offer her him. He could offer her a grand fortune to be received in only a few short months. He could offer her his family's locket. He could offer her the small London apartment. He could offer her a life with him.

And that's what that necklace meant. An offer for a life with him, a life that might not be filled with goodness or light but one that would be filled with the greatest love he had ever known.

Tom fiddled with the chain of the necklace as Evelyn giggled through the snow. Merlin, he loved her.

He loved her.

He loved her.

He fucking loved her with every breath of his body, every ounce of his dark soul. He loved her so much that looking at her without a ring on her finger hurt. Calling her anything other than his wife pained him. Hearing her name be anything other than Evelyn Riddle felt wrong.

Tom Riddle couldn't offer her much. He couldn't even offer her a ring. But he could offer her this. He could offer her this little necklace and an eternity by his side.

He could offer Evelyn Black his love. He just hoped it was enough.

Things are getting serious with Mr. Tom Riddle. Can we all agree that we need a Tom? Because I certainly do. This man could propose with a bag of dirt and I would sob like nothing else still.

Also good news luvs: I am planning on a DOUBLE POST tonight! Woop woop, am I right?