[ this sparks a pang of hunger, but not in her gut. it must be how a thief feels when he spots a flash of silver in someone's pocket. something valuable, ripe for the taking. ]
I'll come over, then. Maybe I can name the color you're so fixated with, and you can practice.
[ were she kinder, she'd bring him back into her home. into the bed they'd shared when they'd forgotten the fold and the war. she will not be kind. not to him. not before he's proven he's earned it. ]
( he doesn't extend an invitation because she has a key of her own already. had made a point of letting him know this when she'd brought him here. he was in her power, now. utterly.
[ he doesn't fight. doesn't push. doesn't needle for it to be her house, even though he had just bemoaned the state of his own residence. her heart beats a little faster, like it's daring to hope this really might be safe for her. a way to touch the fire without being burned.
she packs up her things and leaves the theatre. it's convenient, his timing. she's already in the down. she picks a path that circumvents as much of the mob bullying as she can. the gangs have truly made this place uninhabitable, as far as she's concerned. the route means taking twice as long to get to him.
but he doesn't needle her about that, either. doesn't confirm that she's coming. she lets herself into the building, picks around the squatters in the halls to his door, and lets herself inside his apartment.
it's too narrow a space for the announcement of her intrusion not to be abrupt. she is suddenly almost upon him, upon his slim mattress, from the moment she steps inside. the pill case is still out. her eyes draw to it like a magnetic pull, then she meets aleksander's dark gaze and nearly backs right out of the room again. but no. she's the one in charge, here. she presses the door shut behind her. ]
If you need me to cover the cost of the pills, I can.
( while the apartment was never particularly big, having alina hear seems to shrink it to the point of becoming claustrophobic. her attention goes immediately to the pillbox and his follows.
right, that. )
My salary should cover it?
( a lilt at the end that transforms it from a statement to a question. the salary is largely for show given that he can't do anything with it without her permission. but then his needs have always been sparse so it feels logical that he would cover it. )
[ 'if that changes.' if he continues to take them at all. but there are more pills in that package. she teeters toe-to-heel for a moment, then leans back against the door. ]
Come here.
[ there's no sense in further pretense. her own pharmaceutical solution ensures that she doesn't hesitate to ask for what she wants, and she couldn't give a shit about the colors of his walls and carpet.
but she holds her hand out for him. there's not much of a room to cross, but enough of one. ]
( well, now. that's something he can certainly do.
it's impossible to avoid crowding her a little. but given that she doesn't appear overly concerned, he doesn't pause to question it. instead he cups her face with once hand while the other skims low, down and along the shallow of her back.
then comes the kiss, itself. a cautious dip of his head, mouth slotting over hers. careful, because this moment feels strangely fragile and he's reluctant to be the one that breaks it. )
[ her breath hitches as he envelops her, betraying the precariousness of this thing between them. one breath could blow all the cards down. she folds herself close against him, one palm coming up to rest at his shoulder blade while her other arm winds around the back of his neck, drawing him down to her level.
she sighs into him. the tension of anticipation leaves her body. this is comfortable, familiar even. her lips part to make room for him. then, steadily, she scrapes her teeth against his lip, tasting him. hungry enough to tear off pieces. she has denied this want deep in her bones for long enough. scared herself off of it. she can indulge it, now. safely, she thinks.
after a short time, when their breath has mutually grown shorter still, she no longer contents herself with kissing him. she uncoils her arms, puts her hands between them, plucks open the buttons of his shirt, assured and steady. ]
( he moans into the pain—this, at least, hasn't changed. the bright, red flare of it just as searing as the press of her lips. the hungry little growl caught somewhere in her throat as those clever little fingers peel open his shirt like she's unwrapping a gift that's been left just for her.
she's trying to overwhelm him, he registers distantly, desire spilling through his veins like a fever, like her honeyed sunlight, and for once he's inclined to let her have everything. )
[ the noises he makes stir her blood. a sudden spike of hunger — alina had always categorized hunger by an ache, but this is different. it's a frenzy. a desperate scramble.
her fingernails scrape his skin in her eagerness to peel him out of his shirt. she shoves it down his shoulders and backs him the few shuffled steps towards the mattress. it feels easy and direct to pick a path for now, but considering her next steps leaves her spoiled for choice.
she breaks the kiss, her smile breathless. a quick scan of his face. his cheeks are flushed and his lips swollen. she likes this look on him. ]
You'd let me do whatever I want to you, wouldn't you? [ knowing this delights her. more than it should. it feels good, having the same power over him that he'd had over her. the thrill of novelty, made stronger by the fact that this time he'd submitted himself to it willingly. ]
I'm afraid your options are somewhat limited. ( he murmurs, breath brushing against her lips.
an unfortunate consequence of their surroundings but nothing that can't be overcome. as it stands, he's already leaning into her, trying to maximize all points of contact. it's not the "out of your skin with desperation" sensation of whatever he'd been given at the soup kitchen months ago, but there's a definite itch of need. )
[ her breath is thin and reedy, edging towards a whine. no amount of pressure between them hits where she wants friction right now, and her need is only mounting. her hands fall to his hips, still him. ]
Greedy. [ she warns him. ] We may not be spoiled for choice, and I may not have your dexterity in summoning, but you will still wait for what I give you.
[ she bites his lip again, sharper this time. a warning. she won't let him rut his way to completion against her before she even gets her pants off. she won't let him have any pleasure while she can't take any. no amount of medication can make this thing between them feel like any less of a battle. ]
Anything I give you. [ their last time together — as themselves — stains this encounter too. the kiss she'd demanded of him, when he had not so much as kissed her when he'd set the nichevo'ya on her. that mention of summoning. that one, at least, gives her an idea. she lifts one hand, brings her fingers to his lips, gently probing. testing. ] Open.
this feels familiar in a way he can't quite place. a false memory that overlays the truth. she had commanded him like this before, in that other life, and he'd bent so easily to her will, as natural as breathing.
his mouth parts easily around the pressure of her fingers, eyes skating over her face. she's in the sort of mood that makes her difficult to predict. all bruising teeth and bristling anger. )
Do you worst.
( lightly, almost coaxing, because even the drugs haven't robbed him of a lifetime's worth of insight. )
[ after his tongue pushes her fingers back out to make room for those last three words, she forces them vigorously back in. a nearly violent thrust. less fascinated, more possessive. ]
Maybe I'll stuff every greedy hole of yours full. You liked doing it to me well enough. I'm sure the nichevo'ya would oblige. [ her fingers twist sideways, and she curls them to hook against the side of his cheek, tugging lightly, tooling with him. her voice is rough and quiet, mesmerized by entertaining the possibilities. by what she could do. ] Men have this one spot inside. Andy showed it to me. I could make you scream.
[ she pulls her fingers free of his mouth. trails the wet path down his bare chest, over the sunburst burn scar she'd left in him. the wet trail of her fingers traces the edges of its outline, admiring the mark she'd left on him. she leans in to kiss the hollow of his neck. ]
Or I've heard that people here like to drip hot wax on each other. They savor the little burns. [ her fingertips sear lightly at the surface of his skin, elsewhere on his chest. soft, light. just a flash of heat. a similar effect — as vanessa had told her, another sensation, something to draw out wonder at what the body could feel. ] Would you like that, Sasha?
( he lifts an eyebrow as if to say that he's not the only one that's greedy. )
I'm familiar with it.
( she's expecting him to protest, he realizes. to baulk at these promises that feel so much like threats. but there's a space where the worry should occupy. a wound slowly scabbing over.
that name, though. that sends a thrill through him that's harder to pin down. sasha is a name for something more than just lovers or beloved enemies — especially when it's delivered in that eager, ravenous tone. )
And you've never had much trouble there.
( it was never the ability that lacked, only ever the drive to do it and evidently she now has that in spades.
his nose brushes against her hair. breathes her in and holds the scent of her in his lungs like he would keep another part of her with him given the chance. )
[ this time, when her fingertips land on his chest, the burn is a little stronger. punishing. it sears. ]
Would you like that, I said.
[ and he hadn't answered. only teased her. she should expect as much. he'd been like that before, when their memories were muddled, too. he may submit to her, but he'll never be spineless. ]
( he manages to bite back a hiss, but it somehow doesn't dampen — doesn't even come close to it — that yearning blossoming somewhere beneath his chest bones. )
I'm here, aren't I? ( his hand lifts to cover hers, fingers lacing together. ) Ready to break for you.
I want to hear a straight answer, moy merzost. [ her abomination. her monster. her magic. a pet name that is sweet and terrible, just like he can be. she digs her nails in lightly, though it is nothing next to the strength of suns burning under her fingertips — which is, admittedly, only enough to redden the skin for a time. a stinging, lingering pain, but not a real burn. not the kind she'd left him with before. ] Show me that you know how to behave.
( he breaks off, breath rasping out of him, and he's just—he's exhausted. has been for so long that he can't truly remember what it had felt like to be anything other than bone-weary. those old fears and older want he has done everything in his power to push down and forget. )
[ a little thrill rolls through her, hearing him beg. sucking the breath out of his lungs. in complying, she chases more of it. she lifts one finger to lightly singe his lip — like a flash of sunburn. like a drop of hot wax.
then in the dip of his collarbone. down over the sunburst she carved into him with sunlight. tiny, brief touches of heat. she drinks in every twitch, every shudder of his breath, eyes shining with wondrous delight. ]
Look at you, moy yeretushko. [ he looks so pretty this way. helpless. or maybe it's not that at all — maybe it's that she feels powerful, untouchable. he had brought her so low, but she can do the same to him. ]
he takes all of it because there's really no option but to take it all, and there is something close to peace in accepting this fact. a weight that drops from his shoulders even as those little flickers of pain makes his nerves sing. it keeps him focused: on her and her dark, gleaming eyes as they watch him.
oh.
a hoarse, pained sound stuttering out of his chest. sheared away before it can become a full-blown sob. )
[ she backs him towards the lone window in this cramped one-room box she had packed him into. lets him lean in the sill so she can press open-mouthed kisses to each of the rosy sunburns in the shape of her fingerprints that she leaves behind on him.
her fingertips continue downward. over his abdomen. against his hip. slow enough to ensure he focuses on each one. then she sinks to her knees, paying close attention there, too, with her tongue, before the waistband of his slacks gives him a break to catch his breath.
she reaches up for the belt, meeting his gaze. the stiff jut of his erection shows proudly through the front of his pants. she has been in this position before, with him. when she wasn't in control. it feels like returning home to the little palace had — revisiting all the little corners, all the little hurts he'd inflicted. this time, though, she's the one in control. ]
( this abrupt shifting of gears is more than a little disorientating. confusion etches his brow as she sinks to her knees, and she isn't the only one that remembers the last time they were like this.
he draws in a shaky breath that does absolutely nothing to steady him. )
Alina — ( he starts, then stops because he honestly has no idea what he wants to say next. if he should be saying anything at all when she seems to know exactly what she wants and his only job is to apparently lean back and take whatever she gives him. )
Is there something else you'd like to ask for, Sasha?
[ she scrapes her teeth across the exposed bone of his hip as she patiently unbuckles and unloops his belt, rolls it carefully — it's one of the nice leather ones she'd bought for him, after all — and sets it aside.
she looks plainly up at him while she unfastens the button and zipper of his trousers, easing them and his underwear too down around his ankles. that glint is still there, in her eye. starving and steely. ]
( it's an order couched in a question, casually issued like she can't imagine he'd possibly disobey her.
his lips part, fingers flexing at his side like he's testing a theory, reminding himself that nothing of real consequence has changed. that he's still himself in all the ways that matters. )
Please — I want... ( draws his tongue across his teeth. ) I want you.
[ she reaches for his shoe. picks up his foot to ease it off, then the sock. she'll have him bare if she can get him. the neutrality of her expression is wasted when his cock is jutting between them. she hasn't touched it yet, tells herself she won't until he says the words. ]
Unless there's something particular you want from me. You're usually so eloquent.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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I'll come over, then.
Maybe I can name the color you're so fixated with, and you can practice.
[ were she kinder, she'd bring him back into her home. into the bed they'd shared when they'd forgotten the fold and the war. she will not be kind. not to him. not before he's proven he's earned it. ]
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( he doesn't extend an invitation because she has a key of her own already. had made a point of letting him know this when she'd brought him here. he was in her power, now. utterly.
it was strangely thrilling. )
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she packs up her things and leaves the theatre. it's convenient, his timing. she's already in the down. she picks a path that circumvents as much of the mob bullying as she can. the gangs have truly made this place uninhabitable, as far as she's concerned. the route means taking twice as long to get to him.
but he doesn't needle her about that, either. doesn't confirm that she's coming. she lets herself into the building, picks around the squatters in the halls to his door, and lets herself inside his apartment.
it's too narrow a space for the announcement of her intrusion not to be abrupt. she is suddenly almost upon him, upon his slim mattress, from the moment she steps inside. the pill case is still out. her eyes draw to it like a magnetic pull, then she meets aleksander's dark gaze and nearly backs right out of the room again. but no. she's the one in charge, here. she presses the door shut behind her. ]
If you need me to cover the cost of the pills, I can.
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right, that. )
My salary should cover it?
( a lilt at the end that transforms it from a statement to a question. the salary is largely for show given that he can't do anything with it without her permission. but then his needs have always been sparse so it feels logical that he would cover it. )
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[ 'if that changes.' if he continues to take them at all. but there are more pills in that package. she teeters toe-to-heel for a moment, then leans back against the door. ]
Come here.
[ there's no sense in further pretense. her own pharmaceutical solution ensures that she doesn't hesitate to ask for what she wants, and she couldn't give a shit about the colors of his walls and carpet.
but she holds her hand out for him. there's not much of a room to cross, but enough of one. ]
I want you to kiss me.
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it's impossible to avoid crowding her a little. but given that she doesn't appear overly concerned, he doesn't pause to question it. instead he cups her face with once hand while the other skims low, down and along the shallow of her back.
then comes the kiss, itself. a cautious dip of his head, mouth slotting over hers. careful, because this moment feels strangely fragile and he's reluctant to be the one that breaks it. )
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she sighs into him. the tension of anticipation leaves her body. this is comfortable, familiar even. her lips part to make room for him. then, steadily, she scrapes her teeth against his lip, tasting him. hungry enough to tear off pieces. she has denied this want deep in her bones for long enough. scared herself off of it. she can indulge it, now. safely, she thinks.
after a short time, when their breath has mutually grown shorter still, she no longer contents herself with kissing him. she uncoils her arms, puts her hands between them, plucks open the buttons of his shirt, assured and steady. ]
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she's trying to overwhelm him, he registers distantly, desire spilling through his veins like a fever, like her honeyed sunlight, and for once he's inclined to let her have everything. )
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her fingernails scrape his skin in her eagerness to peel him out of his shirt. she shoves it down his shoulders and backs him the few shuffled steps towards the mattress. it feels easy and direct to pick a path for now, but considering her next steps leaves her spoiled for choice.
she breaks the kiss, her smile breathless. a quick scan of his face. his cheeks are flushed and his lips swollen. she likes this look on him. ]
You'd let me do whatever I want to you, wouldn't you? [ knowing this delights her. more than it should. it feels good, having the same power over him that he'd had over her. the thrill of novelty, made stronger by the fact that this time he'd submitted himself to it willingly. ]
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an unfortunate consequence of their surroundings but nothing that can't be overcome. as it stands, he's already leaning into her, trying to maximize all points of contact. it's not the "out of your skin with desperation" sensation of whatever he'd been given at the soup kitchen months ago, but there's a definite itch of need. )
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Greedy. [ she warns him. ] We may not be spoiled for choice, and I may not have your dexterity in summoning, but you will still wait for what I give you.
[ she bites his lip again, sharper this time. a warning. she won't let him rut his way to completion against her before she even gets her pants off. she won't let him have any pleasure while she can't take any. no amount of medication can make this thing between them feel like any less of a battle. ]
Anything I give you. [ their last time together — as themselves — stains this encounter too. the kiss she'd demanded of him, when he had not so much as kissed her when he'd set the nichevo'ya on her. that mention of summoning. that one, at least, gives her an idea. she lifts one hand, brings her fingers to his lips, gently probing. testing. ] Open.
no subject
this feels familiar in a way he can't quite place. a false memory that overlays the truth. she had commanded him like this before, in that other life, and he'd bent so easily to her will, as natural as breathing.
his mouth parts easily around the pressure of her fingers, eyes skating over her face. she's in the sort of mood that makes her difficult to predict. all bruising teeth and bristling anger. )
Do you worst.
( lightly, almost coaxing, because even the drugs haven't robbed him of a lifetime's worth of insight. )
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Maybe I'll stuff every greedy hole of yours full. You liked doing it to me well enough. I'm sure the nichevo'ya would oblige. [ her fingers twist sideways, and she curls them to hook against the side of his cheek, tugging lightly, tooling with him. her voice is rough and quiet, mesmerized by entertaining the possibilities. by what she could do. ] Men have this one spot inside. Andy showed it to me. I could make you scream.
[ she pulls her fingers free of his mouth. trails the wet path down his bare chest, over the sunburst burn scar she'd left in him. the wet trail of her fingers traces the edges of its outline, admiring the mark she'd left on him. she leans in to kiss the hollow of his neck. ]
Or I've heard that people here like to drip hot wax on each other. They savor the little burns. [ her fingertips sear lightly at the surface of his skin, elsewhere on his chest. soft, light. just a flash of heat. a similar effect — as vanessa had told her, another sensation, something to draw out wonder at what the body could feel. ] Would you like that, Sasha?
no subject
I'm familiar with it.
( she's expecting him to protest, he realizes. to baulk at these promises that feel so much like threats. but there's a space where the worry should occupy. a wound slowly scabbing over.
that name, though. that sends a thrill through him that's harder to pin down. sasha is a name for something more than just lovers or beloved enemies — especially when it's delivered in that eager, ravenous tone. )
And you've never had much trouble there.
( it was never the ability that lacked, only ever the drive to do it and evidently she now has that in spades.
his nose brushes against her hair. breathes her in and holds the scent of her in his lungs like he would keep another part of her with him given the chance. )
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Would you like that, I said.
[ and he hadn't answered. only teased her. she should expect as much. he'd been like that before, when their memories were muddled, too. he may submit to her, but he'll never be spineless. ]
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I'm here, aren't I? ( his hand lifts to cover hers, fingers lacing together. ) Ready to break for you.
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( he breaks off, breath rasping out of him, and he's just—he's exhausted. has been for so long that he can't truly remember what it had felt like to be anything other than bone-weary. those old fears and older want he has done everything in his power to push down and forget. )
—do it.
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[ a little thrill rolls through her, hearing him beg. sucking the breath out of his lungs. in complying, she chases more of it. she lifts one finger to lightly singe his lip — like a flash of sunburn. like a drop of hot wax.
then in the dip of his collarbone. down over the sunburst she carved into him with sunlight. tiny, brief touches of heat. she drinks in every twitch, every shudder of his breath, eyes shining with wondrous delight. ]
Look at you, moy yeretushko. [ he looks so pretty this way. helpless. or maybe it's not that at all — maybe it's that she feels powerful, untouchable. he had brought her so low, but she can do the same to him. ]
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he takes all of it because there's really no option but to take it all, and there is something close to peace in accepting this fact. a weight that drops from his shoulders even as those little flickers of pain makes his nerves sing. it keeps him focused: on her and her dark, gleaming eyes as they watch him.
oh.
a hoarse, pained sound stuttering out of his chest. sheared away before it can become a full-blown sob. )
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her fingertips continue downward. over his abdomen. against his hip. slow enough to ensure he focuses on each one. then she sinks to her knees, paying close attention there, too, with her tongue, before the waistband of his slacks gives him a break to catch his breath.
she reaches up for the belt, meeting his gaze. the stiff jut of his erection shows proudly through the front of his pants. she has been in this position before, with him. when she wasn't in control. it feels like returning home to the little palace had — revisiting all the little corners, all the little hurts he'd inflicted. this time, though, she's the one in control. ]
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he draws in a shaky breath that does absolutely nothing to steady him. )
Alina — ( he starts, then stops because he honestly has no idea what he wants to say next. if he should be saying anything at all when she seems to know exactly what she wants and his only job is to apparently lean back and take whatever she gives him. )
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[ she scrapes her teeth across the exposed bone of his hip as she patiently unbuckles and unloops his belt, rolls it carefully — it's one of the nice leather ones she'd bought for him, after all — and sets it aside.
she looks plainly up at him while she unfastens the button and zipper of his trousers, easing them and his underwear too down around his ankles. that glint is still there, in her eye. starving and steely. ]
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his lips part, fingers flexing at his side like he's testing a theory, reminding himself that nothing of real consequence has changed. that he's still himself in all the ways that matters. )
Please — I want... ( draws his tongue across his teeth. ) I want you.
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[ she reaches for his shoe. picks up his foot to ease it off, then the sock. she'll have him bare if she can get him. the neutrality of her expression is wasted when his cock is jutting between them. she hasn't touched it yet, tells herself she won't until he says the words. ]
Unless there's something particular you want from me. You're usually so eloquent.
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