𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔟𝔬𝔯𝔫𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔢𝔦𝔤𝔫.

[reignfall]

"We need to talk about the conditions."

To talk is not the same as to put them into ink, but she does not want a contract, hasn't wanted one from the start. For every other thing – every sponsorship, every appearance, every minute detail, she wants a contract, but in this instance, it would make her feel cheap. Sold, even if she is the seller. Perhaps this would be a good moment for regret, but regret does not come easily to her, and this is no exception. Her father would rage, if he knew she did not mean to get anything in writing, but, and it bolsters her resolve, her father would rage as well. Casimir Zarek is closer to his age than her own.

This isn't, she reckons, all that unusual for people like them. Both the situation and the age gap, but mostly the situation – what was the name of that actor, the one from the cult? Rumour him and his ex-wife, or at least one of them, did it on some kind of contract, too. Hell, it's probably more common now, where anyone could get famous on social media and numbers were everything. It will be good for both of their brands: she has missed out on the health craze, she has never posted pictures of herself exercising or eating clean or sipping juice cleanses, though she has done it all, because her body is as much, if not more, an asset than her mind is on some days. It would give her a boost, as would that hint of a scandal, the talk and the drama. Those who come only to see more of him, too.

He will get a new slew of followers as well: men who believe he'll get them a girlfriend half his age, then a number of her own followers, more deals for his own brand. It'll be worth every second in gold.

So here she is, in his minimalist haven, sipping one of his teas and finding herself enjoying the taste and view alike. If it must be anyone, she thinks, it might as well be someone as attractive as Casimir Zarek.

Comments

[reignfall]

It could have been an overstepping that means the end of their tryst before it even has a chance to begin – instead, she feels him hard against her, as though roused by the taste of blood. The red flags are raised high, then, and all she is thinking of is how very much red is her colour.

"I want to know if you usually get this hard when there is blood at play." She fails, then, to reject his mockery. Her curiosity might be less evident to someone less astute, but she has no doubt he will scope out her tells – the flicker of it in her darkening eyes, the way her breath catches when his mouth is at her throat, as though she is concerned he might bite. Her nails are sharp, even through the fabric of his shirt, and then one hand is at his neck, as if meaning to encourage him to leave his mark at her throat.

[borntoreign]

He can feel her pulse beneath the skin, a bird beating its wings against the walls of its confinement; her breath hitches beneath his lips, and even if he could not see her curiosity and her desire in her face, he hears it in her voice, and smirks. It was not unthinkable, until this moment, that she would flinch: that in this moment, propriety or fear would get the better of lust and this whole arrangement would fall apart. It would not have been a disaster if so - she has nothing that can harm him - but it would have been a shame.

It no longer seems probable that she will flee. Not when she is so pliant against him, and not when she was the one who bit first. He does not leave a mark, no matter how her guiding hand might invite it, but only nips playfully - albeit hard - at her neck, then draws back with a smile.

"You hardly seem disturbed by the idea," he muses aloud, and brushes a lock of gold back from her temple.

[reignfall]

If she were disturbed by it, she thinks, she would be no different from any other dull, unimaginative girl. She fancies herself different: smarter than the rest, more daring, cutting edge, a revelation even while balancing along the tethers of tradition. It is something she believes in with a shocking confidence, and also something that must all the same be half a lie – if she were so convinced of it, after all, would she need to dive into something that anyone else would readily declare unsafe?

"A little blood does not scare me." His smile, on the other hand, does send a chill down her spine, but it's more of pleasure than fear. He does not scare her, not truly, not so much as he tastes of something forbidden and exhilarating, and certainly not enough to have her rethink her idea of proving her maturity to him. There is something especially delightful about the idea of testing such boundaries while their public image would likely need to remain as pristine as can be. It's ever appealed to her, to carry out her affairs in secret, to mock every fool who thinks her pure in the arms of a lover she should not have in this way.

Her fingers edge beneath his shirt now, eager to feel more of him. "Why don't you show me to your bedroom?"

[borntoreign]

He has always felt that the art of seduction - the art of managing people at large - is in teaching people what it is they should desire; and she is, if nothing else, a quick study. She moves so quickly into the place he has set for her, and with such enthusiasm; and how, now, can she back away from where she has put herself with such aplomb? Her hands are hot and fine against the flat muscle of his belly, a tempting reminder of her willingness to give way to his desires.

His own hand shifts to her thigh, his touch light enough to be almost teasing as he plucks at the hem of her skirt. "Why not, indeed?" he purrs, leaning in again, his breath ghosting against her cheek. "Perhaps because I had thought you might want to look out over the city, to see the world at your feet when I make your knees weak. The view from my room is slightly less spectacular."

[reignfall]

There is little so tempting as the grace of his touch at her thigh, and she wonders instantly what it would be like if he went from this casual teasing to a more conquering approach. Her own fingers loop in his belt, before she begins to open it with deft expertise, and she doesn't much hesitate when he suggests that his bedroom might not be so grand a sight to see.

Not that this constitutes agreement. She swallows, and her own breath is hot and asking at his throat, and she presumes, as she has done before, that these things are entirely negotiable. He says he thinks she might enjoy the view – she has, in fact, no interest to find herself exposed in front of his window. They are too high up to give a passing stranger a show, yes, and still – there is the slight jerk of her head as she means to judge those overlarge glass panes – the thought of such openness is discomforting. Her voice, then, is low, persuasive. "I have all the view I need in this moment. The rest of the city can wait while we become acquainted."

[borntoreign]

He notes, with that detached part of himself which specialises in noting such details, how experienced her movements are and how readily she makes them; her body is pliant and willing in his grasp, delicate enough to be a sweet reminder of how easily it could be broken. She has not yet grasped her position, aims to negotiate out of discomfort, and there is a thrill in the question that poses itself: whether to disabuse her of that illusion now, or wait until she has signed herself away? She will have to learn, one way or another, whose decisions will carry more weight here. She will have to learn who is in charge.

Teach that lesson too soon, too aggressively, and she may still flee. Teach it too late, and she may balk, betrayed. It is a knife's edge, this kind of choice, and knives' edges have always appealed to him.

He nips at her ear, and the hand under her skirt continues to rise, still light in its touch. "The rest of the city will wait, regardless," he murmurs; and when he moves, it is snake-swift, as he twists and pushes her with sudden force up against the counter, yanking her shirt open. Turnabout, after all, is fair play. His mouth finds hers, rough and claiming, and he has her pinned for the moment between himself and the glass-topped counter, his hand cupping the swell of one full breast.

[reignfall]

The time for delicate consideration is slipping fast through her own fingers. She fancies herself in her father's image, cool and calculating, playing a situation to her own advantage, and neglecting to pay heed to the side of her that has long since overtaken this conversation. The part that is selfish and pleasure-seeking, blind to consequence where her myriad of petty lusts are concerned, and, worst of all, the part that is convinced a man this much older than her would be as easily out-witted as her most tried lover.

He nips at her ear; she moans her response, until her shirt is torn open and she can hear the tell-tale clutter of buttons falling to the floor. It's nothing compared to the sudden impact, the roughness with which he's shoved her into place, and perhaps part of her response means to restore some sort of balance in power. "You'll replace that," she hisses, and bites back another hungry sound from her throat. No rewards for manhandling her, she thinks, for about as long as it takes for her to grab at the hand at her thigh, meaning to finally force him to touch her where she needs him most. In spite of her sudden lurch in frustration with him, she is wet and waiting between her thighs, and her fingers dig sharp nails into his hand where she means to take some semblance of charge, even as he has her pinned and half-bared.

[borntoreign]

There is a dance here, a fine balance between her desire and her fury, and both of them are sweetly intoxicating. Her vitriol is every bit as satisfying as her lusty moans, and he laughs low in his throat as her long nails claw against his hand.

"I can afford it," he assures her, and the smirk is as clear in his tone as it is on his face; a joke with himself, a smug reassurance of how little he need care about such petty things. She drags his hand higher, and he can feel in the slick, smooth heat of her cunt just how little she actually minds this frustration. He can be kind, too, he decides, and takes her clear demand, pressing manicured fingers against her entrance and seeking out, with the pad of his thumb, the hood of her clit. His mouth wanders down again, teeth scraping the hollow of her collarbone, his fingers kneading roughly against the soft weight of her breast.