- Alexander had gone through the lists and the motions of preparing a dinner for Francesca Beechworth. It had been a task to get everything arranged in such a short period of time. Sadly, he had not been able to get a hold of the gardens at Buckingham Palace, but he thought the ones he had picked just outside of the city were lavish enough. The entire scene around them was filled with white lilies, as she had requested, and a small table with a white tablecloth sat in the center of it all. It was close to sunset now, the dimness broken only by a few candles hovering about and the two set on the table. Off to the right, he had hired a small chamber orchestra, consisting of only a violin, a cello, and a harp to keep the music going.
Now all he had to do was wait.
Dressed to the nines and the sixes, Alec leaned back in his chair. His flawlessly tailored charcoal suit rested against his cut figure, His dark hair was slicked back, the beginnings of a beard on his face, his reading glasses perched on his nose as he read the book in his hand. He knew she would be there soon enough, simply out of shock that he had gone through the trouble of arranging exactly what she wanted in order to get what he wanted. And what he wanted was her.
Why he had gone through the trouble he still was not sure. She was just like any other woman, wasn't she? No...there was something different about her. He liked the chase, and she was surely going to give him one hell of a chase. He smirked off handed at the thought now waiting idly. A hand reached up and lifted his glass of wine, taking a sip of the red liquid inside without lifting his eyes from his book. His ears, however, were alert, waiting for the pop that signalled she had arrived.
The nerve. Oh the nerve of that man! Alexander Dukovney was nothing more than a cad, Chess thought as she pulled on her evening cloak to fend off the coming evening chill. She was dressed in her nicest dress, though it was visibly worn and used by its bearer. Chess did no have nice things, not that she needed them. Sure, it was a fanciful thought to once, at least once, be taken care of instead of taking care of everyone else, but it was a thought at best. She had her lot in life and that was that.
And nothing disturbed her more than some pretentious Ministry man, attempting to come into her life and play with her emotions as though it was a game to divert himself from his lowly task of watching her. Naturally, she was furious.
Chess was fuming, muttering all manner of curses towards the man as she walked to a place to apparate to the destination Alec had imparted on her in a cryptic, minimalist note delivered to her that day. She simply had to tell him that she would not be dining with him, nor would she be pandering to his affections. And then she would leave.
But then, upon gaining her bearings as she looked about the softly lit, private looking garden that was overflowing with romantic light and white, beautiful lilies, Chess was given pause. She saw him, haloed in the romantic candlelit emitted form the hovering candles, his glasses down on his nose and that proud, straight nose nestled in a book. Her heart gave an involuntary leap at the look of him, a soft sigh emitting from her, a sad one. He was so...picturesque. So incredibly perfect in his masculinity, removed in a world that Chess did not belong to. She was unsure why she felt a sense of loss at that thought.
"What is all of this?" she whispered upon approaching him, obviously taken off guard as she looked about. She was so out of place, in her well-worn cotton dress and her well-worn leather boots. Her dull, brunette hair cascading in messy, unkempt curls half pulled up atop her head, to be out of her way while she worked that day. She felt she had no sense of allure or beauty, not the kind that belonged in a place like this with a man like him. And it ached her. She looked down at him, a sad look on her face.
Chess opened and closed her mouth, unsure of what to say. And she bowed her head slightly, feeling entirely too inadequate. Surely this all wasn't for her. "I would ask what it is you want from me so I may disapparate before the lady this is for certainly arrives." She was probably becoming with silk dresses and white gloves. Soft skin and cascading blonde hair in perfect curls. And soft blue eyes. Everything that Chess did not and never would possess.
- Alec did not look up right away as he heard the sounds signaling she had apparated. He, instead, let her observe him for a moment as he knew she was, he could feel it on his very skin. He finished his page before marking it and looking up. Despite the well worn clothes she wore, she did look lovely...as she had upon their first meeting. He smiled invitingly, waiting until she had spoken before he spoke as well. "The lady I'm waiting for actually just arrived." He put his book aside and stood, taking his glasses off and tucking them back into the inner pocket of his jacket.
He moved around the table, grasping the chair he had arranged for her and pulled it out. "Forgive me, but I could not get my hands on the gardens at Buckingham Palace. The Queen had other plans for it tonight." He informed her, rather nonchalantly. "But I believe you will find everything else to your specifications." He kept dark, trained eyes on her waiting to see how he would react. He knew that she had meant for her words to be taken with a grain of salt, but he had not taken them with that. He wanted the surprise factor, to make her think that he was willing to pamper her to death.
Well...perhaps he was. Alec was never one to abuse the women he was with. He did spoil them to death with jewelry, dresses, and a life of luxury, as long as his interest lasted. And his interest with this one would last as long as she knew how to play the game and how to keep him interested. "May I offer you a glass of wine or brandy?" He asked, still rather nonchalantly, as if this was hardly a big deal to him. He wanted her to think that.
To think that this was normal for him, to bend over backwards to give a woman what she wanted. Alec never claimed to be Casanova, but he certainly knew how to treat a woman or...at least make herself believe she was being treated.
As Alec ushered her into her seat, Chess took another look about the place and she sighed, sliding off her cloak onto the back of the chair. She felt so underdressed, yet again, but she waved off the thoughts as he spoke again. Her specifications.
There it was again, that matter-of-fact tone of voice, and Chess felt herself snap back to reality for a bit, at least as much as she could. "Wine please," she replied, her voice low and tainted with surprise and anxiety over the whole situation. She waited for her drink to be poured before taking a dainty, yet full drink of the liquid, and setting it down politely.
Chess looked at him again, unsure of the angle he was posing. Surely, he only wanted her in his bed. And why shouldn't she indulge? She was older, unmarriagable. So why did she stop at kisses? She was scared perhaps. Scared of the moment that she knew would come, the one where she could only feverishly see her brother over her. She feared the moment that Alec made her feel too much. And she feared that his pretty words were all a facade.
But instead of showing the fear, Chess took on a twisted, crooked little smirk, looking over at him over the rim of her glass. "You put on a very good show, Dukovney," Chess crooned out. "My only question is, to what end?"
- Alec nodded to her response and walked over a table sitting not far away, pouring her a glass of wine and bringing it back to her. He watched her take a sip before pushing her chair in and moving back to his own seat. He lowered himself into it with the liquid grace that water would have envied, and leaned back comfortably in his chair. He picked up his glass of wine and sipped it, watching her.
"To what end. Miss Beechworth?" He asked curiously. "My only end is to make you see that not all men are monsters. I am not a saint but I am certainly not the devil either." Close, but not completely. He mused to himself, still watching her, "Nothing upsets me more than seeing a woman completely offset by the male sex." He took another sip of his wine, still watching her. "So my only intention is to make sure you have a good dinner and a wonderful time as my date for the evening."
He turned his eyes to where the small band was and lifted his hand, waving it. The instruments began pouring out a simple waltz and he stood, moving around the table towards her. "Dinner will be done soon, but the night is young." He offered a hand to her elegantly, bending slightly at the waist. His other hand took residence behind his back, dark eyes still focused on her face. "And you are hardly smiling yet."
His eyes did not stray from her face, as tempting as it was to allow his eyes to trail slowly downwards over the line of her neck and the swell of her bosom. "So dance with me."
Chess couldn't help the dark chuckle that punctuated his assertion that he wasn't the devil and she shook her head with a raise of her brow. "You, sir, are certainly the devil in an angel's body, if I am to be quite honest," she offered. Though that wasn't totally true. He was a dark looking angel, but he looked so unearthly and heavenly that he could only be classified as such.
She took his explanation of the evening with a grain of salt, and yet she took his hand, allowing herself to be swept into the waltz.
"So this is a job of civic duty, is it?" she offered, dark amusement in her sultry, alto voice. If she couldn't dissuade him with sharp words, she may as well try to reciprocate his affections for the time being. Perhaps use that against him later down the road. Or let him find his own folly in her.
"I cannot see how the circumstance of one bitter and cynical nurse from Hogwarts requires your attention, Dukovney," Chess offered matter-of-factly, though her voice was still low and sultry. She was tall for a woman, yet still shorter than him. She was pressed to him in the devilish form of a waltz, and he allowed her eyes to graze up to his darkly handsome face. Play his game and win it, she thought. That was the only way to slip out alive.
Chess leaned forward, pressing her soft lips to his collarbone, raking her lips and the edge of her top teeth along the scant bit of exposed skin there, then placing a soft kiss. She was out of her element, but to a certain point things became instinctual. If she could ignore the uncomfortable heat pooling between her legs, she would be quite alright. "And your attentions would make a woman wonder what sort of dance you have on your mind, Alec," she crooned, her lips close to his ear.
- "Yes it is a job of civic duty." He replied darkly, whisking her around the small stretch of gardens he had allowed them. "And I take my job very seriously." He was perhaps holding her a bit closer than necessary, but he hardly cared. It was not enough to be scandalous, but just enough that she would be able to feel the heat of his body and smell his cologne, as accidental at it seemed. Alec may not always seem that every measure was calculated and weighed, but in all honestly he never did anything that served no purpose.
"The plight of every woman I meet who has been wronged by a man is my concern, Miss Beechworth. You were just unlucky enough to walk through my door with the attitude that you did." He teased, his own voice a deep, baritone of a purr. He whisked her about to the music, never missing a beat, each move practiced and perfected. Despite the fact that Alec had once been a soldier, he had always made it a point not to dance like one. He had found himself lapsing into it for a while, and he had forced all of the female servants in his house to dance with him until he moved fluidly once more.
He felt her lean in towards him, and he stiffened only slightly as he felt her lips trailing over his skin. He growled, almost like a lion, warning her. Warning her not to go to far and bait the beast. He twirled her quickly before dipping her low, low enough that he was also kneeling, her back nearly on the ground. "Any type of dance you wish, Miss Beechworth." He responded in a low growl, allowing the hand that had been appropriately cradling her hand to move to her natural waist. His fingers walked up beneath the valley of her breasts to her lips, taping his index finger on her lips before pulling them both back up straight and moving into the waltz once more.
A smug smile stayed transfixed on his face as he lead them back through the twirls of the dance, dark eyes fixed on her own.
He was a charming one, that was for certain.
Chess felt his growl, the warning, and she wasn't sure she cared. Baiting the beast seemed like something that would give her enough reckless abandon to sate her restless appetite and slip back into her pleasant job as a nurse for the rest of her days. She wasn't sure why her stomach churned over Alec and her skin heated under his hands, but it did.
She inhaled sharply as his hand traveled up her body and tapped her lips, and then she was pulled back up, her heart thudding a little harder and her features taken off guard for a split moment. And then the facade of bitter Francesca was back on her face.
"It would hardly matter what dance I wished," she crooned out, her moss green eyes trained on his dark brown ones. "I am a ruined woman, Dukovney. Ruined and tainted. It doesn't matter what I want." She rolled her eyes and allowed her head to lean forward resting on his chest lightly. "I am no better than a common whore in the eyes of society now. I suppose I could begin acting like one." Though there was a soft ache in the sound of her words then. Regret maybe. Maybe resignation. Something undefined and decidedly sad.
- Alec smirked almost victoriously as he watched her features, at first caught off guard before she righted herself and continued her facade of indifference. Alec, however, did not even bother to cover up his look of victory, He rolled his eyes at her words, continuing to move through the steps of the dance. "Ruined or not, you deserve happiness. Every woman deserves to be happy." His hand left the small of her back to grasp her chin and tilt her face up towards him. "And call me Alec." He kept his voice low, and not commanding, still a playful purr.
He stopped their dance then, a dead stop, looking down at her and exhaling hard. "Miss Beechworth, if you do decide to be with me, I want it to be because you want to, not because you feel you might as well." His eyes were as sincere as his words, meaning every word he said. "I want your toes to curl in pleasure because you want them to, not because you feel obligated." Alec enjoyed women, and he enjoyed pleasing women. He wanted her to enjoy him because he had seduced her, not because she had nothing better to do.
He leaned down slowly to take her lips in a soft and gentle kiss. It offered all and demanded nothing in return, only asking that she kiss him back. His hand that had been holding hers moved down to grasp her waist, joined by it's twin moments later. The kiss only lasted for a moment, however, before he pulled back, fully expected a mouthful or even to be slapped. As much as he hated to admit it though, his heart was thundering from that kiss alone.
Chess felt him stop their waltz and begin speaking ot her, in that dark, passionate tone that seemed to make her want to crumbled into his arms. Though she stood her ground, listening to him talk about giving her pleasure. Could it really be that easy? To give into it all? It felt like it might be, as she tood there, enveloped in his arms and breathing a little faster, her heart beating a little more urgently.
"Alec," she whispered out, in a soft, tentative tone, but then he kissed her. She felt the softness of it, the undemanding movement of it all, his hands gentle and urging. As though she was something gentle, to be cherished. Gentlness. She couldn't remember when she had last been regarded as a lady as such. Her family had treated her as one of the boys at best and a whore at worst. Her friends treated her as the cynical woman would was more like a man than a female emotionally. But he...he made her feel feminine.
"Alec," she whispered out, her eyes closed as he pulled away. She looked up at him, her mossy green eyes wide and vulnerable for a moment. She trembled, unsure and battling herself on the inside. Chess stared up at him for a moment more before sliding out of his grasp, a gentle hand reaching up to touch her long and slender neck before her slender arms came up to hug herself.
"I am not the woman that you think I am," she said quietly. "You would be disgusted with me if you knew..." Chess didn't dare turn around. "It's best if you leave me alone." She wanted him, but she had always thought the rape was her fault. That any man to touch her in the future would be disgusted with her and her frailty as a woman. She didn't want to taint her thoughts of Alec or his thoughts of her by uncovering the truth.
- Alec refused to give up that easily. He was hesitant of his touches, and he did not blame her, most women were at first. He watched her turn away, wrapping her arms around herself. Normally, he would have taken her advice and left her be, but her voice whispering his name was still ringing in his head. He growled softly, that lion-like sound once more. "God damnit, I don't care." He growled. He came up behind her and grabbed her shoulders, turning her towards him.
He took her in his arms once more, holding her tiny form to his and leaning down to kiss her once more. But this one was much more passionate, a torrent of emotions combining into a heated kiss. He pulled back after a moment, breathing hard as well. "Say my name again, Francesca." He whispered softly before leaning into kiss her once more. His lips were nearly bruising against hers, kissing her with all he had, not willing to let her go, and allowing his tongue to explore the curve of her lips.
He exhaled and pulled away, licking his lips and waiting to see how she would react. He still did not let her go, his arms still wrapped tightly around her and holding her slight form against his much broader one.
At the feel of Alec's urgency, turning her around and taking her roughly into his arm. She let out a soft whimper as she felt Alec's lips crush against hers, bruising and taking, inciting a deep passion she didn't imagine she had. He would care. He should care. But she could ride out the passion until then.
Chess panted softly as she felt him pull back, his body enveloping hers and holding her up against his warmth. She panted and gazed up at him, wanting to be what he thought she was. Deluding herself into thinking that she was what he thought she was. She leaned up and gently, teasingly kissed along his jaw, the stubbly chin and strong form of his face.
Chess panted against his skin, wrapping her arms around his neck and biting her lip feeling the passion and desire threading through her. Giving in felt like such an easy thing.
"Take me somewhere. Make love to me, Alec," she breathed out. giving in felt so natural and so easy to do. And if she gave in, then it would end quickly after, leaving her be. He could watch from afar, and she would have no regrets. She could handle it, and she could handle being left behind. She had been before.
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