thorns (rose)

[DAMIAN ANDREAS KARKAROFF]

Early March 2027

Damian had managed to stuff Rozalina Nightshade to the back of his mind for all of 10 minutes. After he had dropped her off back at her ramshackle looking flat (from the outside at least), he'd popped home, showered, and started to wonder where she had gone off to again. It was temptation as he had never seen it before - and rare that Damian ever found his match in the form of another person. The Karkaroff family was used to composure, but Rose held herself in a way that intrigued him. But Damian, ever the self sacrificer, had ultimately thrown himself into a new story about the potential for corruption with the new minister, who was predictable at best.

Damian had made a promise to himself. If, after a month of wondering, he was still thinking about Rose, he would cash in on that next time he had promised. And a month after their dinner, Damian had found himself thinking about her again, the sensual curve of her hips, the sheet of long blonde hair, the way her eyes twinkled like a cat playing with a toy. Damian had found other ways to distract himself, but Rose kept surfacing in his mind.

And so, after finishing up a filler piece for the Prophet, Damian left the paper's headquarters and wandered down to Knockturn Alley. Even after years of meandering the cobbled streets, the place still raised the hairs on the back of his neck. Damian didn't like the feeling of being watched, especially not when he couldn't decide from what direction. Swallowing this insane bit of paranoia, Damian stalked towards the chipped wooden door that led to Rose's flat. He knocked twice, and stood back. In a fit of madness, Damian summoned a bouquet of yellow roses - thinking the colour could liven up her dreary flat.

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade

[Rozalina Antonina Nightshade]

Early March
DAMIAN ANDREAS KARKAROFF

Most people could never feel at home in Knockturn Alley, but Rose was one of the exceptions. Sure, it wasn’t the best kept place. But people minded their own business and no one asked stupid questions. It wasn’t just that though. Rose actually preferred the shady individuals that’s called the place home. Why? Because she knew they’d try to stab her in the back. She much preferred an environment when she knew it would happen then one where you didn’t know. That was the preference of someone raised in chaos. They’d rather be surrounded by chaos because that’s all she knew. It also gave her the most business. Her skill set could be legal, but she wasn’t interested in the route. Thus, Knockturn alley was the best fit.

She’d just finished healing a regular and sent him on his way. From what she’d pieced together from his injuries over the past year he was a magical creature dealer, though obviously not legal if he came to her to heal the injuries he received. She didn’t care to get more details. He always paid well and he’d never posed any problems for her. After he’d left she left her house elf to clean her workspace and went to take a shower, washing any remaining blood away and just enjoying the steaming hot water on her skin.

Rose dressed casually after getting out her long damp hair brushed over one shoulder as she headed down the stairs to the main floor of her home, a glass of whiskey in one hand. As if by fate, there was a knock at the door before she even finished descending the stairs. She paused mid step, head tilting a little as she stared at the door. Another patient? Or was rhe man from before back? She finished descending the stairs and peered through the peephole on the door. When she saw who it was she smirked and opened the door with her free hand. ”Damian,” she greeted, his name rolling off her tongue like silk. ”What a pleasant surprise,” she finished. She opened the door wide and stepped to the side, silently welcoming him in as she downed the remaining whiskey in her glass.

[DAMIAN ANDREAS KARKAROFF]

Damian despised the way Rose had lingered in his mind after their most recent encounter. He remembered finding her enchanting, but just how tempting she was... Damian promised himself that he would wait a suitable amount of time before calling on her again. And as he strode purposefully down the cobbled streets of Knockturn alley, he wondered if he was being a fool. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he tried to shrug off the feeling of being watched unsuccessfully.

At long last, Damian rapped twice on Rose's front door, and summoned a bouquet of roses. He didn't know why the thought that yellow roses would brighten up her flat, or why he felt like appearing on her doorstep empty handed was a horrific idea, but they led to an immediate action.

The sight of Rose with her damp hair and casual clothing sent a shiver through Damian, and the way she said his name drew a grin to his lips. "Rose," he murmured in greeting, bending forward to brush a feather light kiss to her cheek. "Thank you," he said. He offered the roses to her, his free hand swiping a stray lock of dark hair from his forehead. "For you," he said. "Didn't want anyone to think that a flat here couldn't be cheery," he added in explanation. He suddenly felt a bit silly, and swallowed thickly. Composure. Cas' voice rang inside Damian's head and he settled himself. He nodded towards the now empty glass she held. "You going to offer me any or make me beg?" he asked, his voice like molten honey.

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade

[Rozalina Antonina Nightshade]

Early March
DAMIAN ANDREAS KARKAROFF

Damian was a peculiar and intriguing existence. The intelligence behind those dark eyes, and a recklessness that was intoxicating. There wasn't just charm in his words, he could make her question her own mind and reality, disarming her in ways she'd never encountered. Damian was a dangerous man and Rose happened to like danger.

Roses. He'd brought roses. Both her english namesake, but ironically her favorite flower. How could she note love them? They were most fitting, weren't they? Rose tilted her head up and to the side so that he'd have an easier time as he leaned down to lightly kiss her cheek. The gesture left a desire for more contact, though she swallowed the emotion. "My, aren't you a charmer," she answered as she accepted the bouquet with her free hand. Such a lovely color they were.

It had been quite a while since Rose had had a normal house call, and not something work related. She wasn't much used to entertaining at her home in Knockturn alley, but that didn't mean she couldn't. Especially when they came bearing flowers and charming words. She smirked a little wider as he spoke. "I wouldn't mind seeing you beg," she answered slowly the words thick with hidden meanings. She lead the way into the sitting room just to the right of the foyer. It was a nicely decorated space, expensive, sophisticated, though as he'd been right to assume rather dark and dreary. Rose conjured a vase to set the roses into, setting them on the coffee table. She turned towards another table in the corner that had a spare glass and a glass bottle filled with the whiskey she'd been enjoying herself. Quickly she filled both glasses before turning to Damian and offering him one of the glasses. "And what brings you to Knockturn alley this time?" she asked, smirking as she took a seat on the couch, crossing a leg over the other as she eyed him before motioning with her eyes to the seat beside her.

[DAMIAN ANDREAS KARKAROFF]

As Damian's lips gently brushed Rose's cheek, the overwhelming desire to tangle his fingers in that long blonde hair and devour her almost overpowered him. There was a glint in Rose's eye that read to Damian as if she was feeling the same. "I do love to flirt with danger," said Damian, arching a brow meaningfully. The Nightshades were notoriously dangerous, as poisonous as their namesake. The yellow of the roses was particularly stark against the plain decor of Rose's home, and Damian looked around curiously. His heart was beating rather faster than Damian was used to, and he heard Cas' voice in his head, directing him to maintain his composure. His face was a mask free of cracks, and Rose could only see his inner turmoil if she met his gaze.

Turning purposefully away, Damian nodded towards her now empty glass, requesting a fill himself. Her purred response went straight to his lower belly, stirring arousal there as Damian kept his head held high. "Miss Nightshade, I do believe you will get us both in trouble if you keep along that line," said Damian, his voice less smooth than he wished. Thankfully, Rose acquiesced and filled him a glass, turning to hand it to him in a swish of platinum locks and the lingering scent of fresh roses. Damian took a long drink, knowing that he had damned himself the moment he had walked through the door.

"Just a pleasure call. You see, I had something on my mind. And when I have something on my mind, I have to get every tiny little detail." Damian finally lifted his gaze to hers, capturing her with the intensity of it as they sat together on the sofa. "After our dinner, I thought it would be very interesting to get a deeper look into the Nightshade line," said Damian, not revealing that it was simply because he was very interested in her rather than her family history. When all was said and done, he knew the Nightshades had gained their reputation for a reason. Just as the Karkaroffs had. But whilst his family was working to clear their name and become trusted and respected members of society. "And Rose, do you want to know what I found there?"

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade

[Rozalina Antonina Nightshade]

Early March
DAMIAN ANDREAS KARKAROFF

Flirting with danger was a trait they both shared. His admittance made a particularly wicked and cat like smile spread across Rose's lips. It promised the exact sort of danger he loved to flirt with. "More than flirt, I hope," she breathed in response with a soft taunting tone. It truly was a dangerous game, and Rose felt a flutter in her chest, just a hint of excitement. Damian was an unpredictable man, something Rose found extremely attractive.

Rose took a painfully slow sip from her own glass, her gaze unflinching and intensely focused on Damian. He certainly knew how to bring out her playfully cruel side. But perhaps that was his intention. He knew who she was, to a point. No doubt he knew that, while she wasn't as crazy as her family, she was no saint. She lowered her glass finally and that cat like expression was back. Amused, enthralled. As if trying to decide if the catch in front of her was a toy or food. "If you didn't want trouble you wouldn't have willingly entered a viper's nest," she finally answered, that same taunting tone back.

Rose had settled on the love seat now, and leaned forward to set her half empty glass on the coffee table as he explained. She smirked as he explained. A ran a hand through her hair as she leaned back, brushing it all over one shoulder and slowly twirling locks between her fingers. A deeper look into the Nighthsade line? No, a deeper look into her. His words made it clear where his interest truly lay. Though there was a hint of curiosity as he asked her what he found. "My family has a truly fascinating history, much of which I'm sure you'd find interesting. I truly wouldn't know even where to begin my guesses. So why don't you tell me?" It wasn't like she much cared for her family's secrets after all, and she was actually quite curious what Damian had found on herself or her family.

[DAMIAN ANDREAS KARKAROFF]

Damian arched a dark brow, but didn't rise to the bait. Oh, if he had his way, there would be much more than flirting with the dangerous vixen before him. And yet there was something infinitely more tantalising about the game they played with one another. Like cat and mouse, but both of them played both roles. He was lucky to have so much control over his mind, because the way that Rose spoke to him made him wild with desire. But she relented and poured him a glass of whisky, and Damian was granted a reprieve.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, Rose. While all vipers may be venomous, none of them are poisonous," said Damian slowly, his voice barely above a low hum. He caught her gaze and held it for a long moment before taking a deep drink. Damian recounted how he had been curious about her family, all a ruse to get to know more about her. She'd infiltrated his mind, like a virus replicating time and time again, infecting his every thought. Damian's eyes followed the movement of her luxurious blonde hair, though his voice remained unbroken.

Damian posed the question - did she know what he had found out about her family. Again, her response was a tease, though Damian noted the slightly distracted turn of her gaze. Her family's history meant little to her - she had so aptly pried herself away, despite the lingering shadow. Damian said nothing for a long moment, building the suspense. When he opened his mouth, there was only a single thing for him to say. "Nothing."

Taking another drink, Damian settled back against the cushions, his focus still on Rose. His eyes trailed hungrily along the pale curl of hair over her shoulder, the rise and fall of her chest, the mischievous light in her eyes. "If you could go back and change one instance in your past, setting you on a different path in life, would you? Would you change a single thing?" asked Damian, resting his glass on the table without breaking her look.

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade

[Rozalina Antonina Nightshade]

Early March
DAMIAN ANDREAS KARKAROFF

Rose had the horribly curious thought of just how far she might push Damian. He was so confident. Someone who seemed to enjoy playing with fire, and live dangerously close to the edge. It was the truly sadistic Nightshade side of her that brought on the thoughts. It wasn't like Rose was unaware of the mental programming form her childhood. In fact, quite the opposite. She was terrifyingly aware of it and used it however she pleased. All Nightshades were dangerous, but Rose's self awareness made her dangerous in a completely different way. Because unlike her family she could turn her sadistic side on or off. She could draw you in with honey, should she desire, or crush your wings so you couldn't escape her. It was that side of Rose that drove her to toy with the man. Seeing how he reacted to her attention. So far? She quite enjoyed it. Hopefully Damian would keep it at that, as he wouldn't like what she might do if she grew bored.

Rose's gaze stilled, meeting his own as he spoke and then took a drink. After a moment she just chuckled, shaking her head and crossing a leg over the other. "Perhaps you fancy yourself a snake charmer then. Poisonous.... Venomous... Aren't they equally as dangerous?"

Damian seemed to enjoy dragging out his answer as long as he could, as if to build the climax of the moment. So, when he spoke? For probably the first time Damian would see a glimmer of genuine surprise cross her expression, her eyebrows raising and that normally icy cold gaze disappearing. There was a moment of silence as that surprised look lingered, before Rose laughed. Like that expression it wasn't her usual controlled and manipulated chuckled, but a genuine laugh that had only come out because of the surprise his words had had a moment before. It wasn't loud, or even long, but it was one of those rare moments where Rose's emotions rose to the surface. She shook her head after she stopped laughing, though an amused smile remained. "I highly doubt that," she finally answered. He was like her, someone that sought out information.

His next question though surprised her almost as much as his comment, though in a very different way. Her controlled expression had returned though it was much softer then before. An eyebrow raised momentarily and she pursed her lips softly, pondering. She reached for her drink and downed the remaining alcohol in it, before silently getting up and moving to the liquor bottles. Instead of just filling up her glass she brought the entire bottle back with her. She sat back down, refilled her drink, and took another long sip, downing half of what she'd just poured before she looked at Damian again. She smiled, though it was a mask. One meant to look pretty and hide any actual emotion. "Unfortunately it wasn't a single instance that set me on my current path. All that would do is delay the inevitable." There was a hint of resignation in her voice. No, it wasn't a single event that had made Rose what she was, or set her on her course. It was many. Too many, in fact. She stared down at her glass, momentarily lost in thought as his question ran circled through her mind once more. Finally though she took another sip before setting down the glass and glancing towards him, her eyes half closed as she spoke, hair half falling in her face and her voice uncharacteristically soft. "But there are moments I wonder about. What might have happened had I made a different choice." Regret was not something Rose expressed ever, but she felt it. More then anyone might believe. She sat up straight, running a hand through her hair to brush it away from her face and reached for the liquor bottle with one hand and for his glass with the other to refill it. "Are you wondering if I would change any of the events you found out about me?" She still doubted he hadn't discovered anything about the Nightshades during his search, or that he at least wouldn't have found out quite a bit of information about her.

[DAMIAN ANDREAS KARKAROFF]

Damian wasn't accustomed to the word no. So when Rose indulged him, it was in his nature to push her limits as far as he could. And she could handle more than any other woman he'd met. She was both intriguing and highly dangerous, a combination that was utterly irresistible to the youngest Karkaroff son. He smirked at her reaction to his carefully concocted prose. "Perhaps, but only one is dangerous on the tongue," he replied smoothly, arching a brow playfully. He wondered how Rose would taste - he suspected she would be sweeter than the venom she spouted.

Drawing out Rose's curiosity elicited great joy from Damian. It was worth every second, especially the look of shock on her face when he finally revealed he had found nothing. Admittedly, he had perhaps not combed the archives as fully as he could have, but it was still worth the roundness of her lips, the widening of her eyes, and the arch of her brows as he spoke. Damian thought perhaps he looked like the cheshire cat as he watched her hungrily, drinking in her genuine reaction like it was a sweet nectar. And then, Rose laughed. It was a sound Damian would pay to hear again and again, but he suspected that few could say the same.

A beat of silence followed where the pair of them simply looked at each other before Rose spoke. Damian replied with a cryptic shrug. "You look very lovely with those rosy cheeks of yours," he said at last with a smirk. He meant it genuinely, but he wondered if the comment would throw her off kilter. After all, she'd broken from the buttoned up woman he was so used to into a foreign but beautiful thing that Damian hungered to witness again.

Damian thought for a long moment before posing his next question to Rose. Would she change anything? It was broad, but narrow at the same time. A precise point in time that perhaps could change everything. At last, she replied, a heaviness to her town that had Damian frowning. "Once there was a time when you could change the past," Damian replied at long last. "But not now. Now we have to live with the decisions we made and shape them to our future the best we can." He sighed, taking a long drinks.

"Not necessarily. I was wondering if I hadn't known your last name, would I be sitting here right now? If I hadn't heard rumours of your bloodline, would I have taken such a keen interest in you? To find out that you're more than your name?" Damian wasn't looking for an answer, but he searched for one at the bottom of his glass anyways. "You intrigue me, Rose. You're beguiling, and tempting, and everything that I know is bad... yet here I am."

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade

[Rozalina Antonina Nightshade]

Early March
DAMIAN ANDREAS KARKAROFF

Rose wondered if he would actually follow through with his flirting. If he merely flirted around the edge of danger or if he'd actually cross the line. While he hadn't made a move yet... she had a feeling he was a man of action though. Once the perfect opportunity presented itself. Perhaps she'd offer him up one? See if he took it. She set her glass down and shifted on the couch to face him, giving him a smirk that seemed to dare him. "I think you should test that theory," she said slowly and quietly.

Damian seemed to have a way of drawing out genuine reactions from Rose, emotions that she normally kept under wraps, tightly controlled. It was a skill she'd learned from a young age to survive her family, though her adult life was when she truly mastered it. Rose... couldn't remember the last time she had genuinely laughed. Honest, not forced or controlled. The sound almost surprised her, as if she'd forgotten the sound herself. How carefree it sounded. Damian wasn't done trying to get a reaction out of her though as he almost casually, but genuinely, threw out the compliment. It wasn't the usual flirting they'd been exchanging up until that point. Unfortunately it seemed like her control was back, at least a little. She smiled, just a little, meeting his gaze, before looking away, forcing attention to something else. "Thank you," was her answer, forced due to the manners she'd been raised to have. Pretty and flattering words like that might woo a normal woman, but Rose tried to force them to have no effect. Though, she was still a woman. A woman who, sometimes, liked pretty and flattering words. She wouldn't admit it though.

Rose did wonder how much Damian knew about her past, or at least the Nightshades themselves. If he did know... would he pose such a question? Would he ask knowing some of the things she'd personally done? Or horrors her family had committed? There was a reason the Nightshade name was so infamous after all. "I wonder if that's true," she answered honestly, staring thoughtfully at the fireplace in the room. There had been a fire roaring earlier, but it was merely embers now. "Do you believe in fate? That our paths are predetermined no matter how hard we try to change it. Can we fight against fate and change our future? Or do we simply accept it?" Questions Rose had, from her tone of voice, contemplated a great many times.

Rose was definitely intrigued by his thoughts, of if he would have been here had he not known her name. Rose downed the rest of the contents of her glass and leaned back into the coach, resting an arm along the back and her head in her hand, tilted towards him. In this lounging position she realized he was surprisingly close. "And what if I'm not more then my name?" she answered him quietly. She shifted again, this time her own boldest finally kicking in as she raised her head from her hand and leaned towards him, so that her next words would only be a breath away. Barely a whisper, her eyes lingering momentarily on his lips before moving to his own gaze. "What if every horrible thing you've heard about the Nightshades... about me.... is true? Would you stay?"

[DAMIAN ANDREAS KARKAROFF]

It was rare to find Damian completely taken aback. And Rose's next quip did just that. A flash of shock registered in his eyes, then was replaced by a sort of dark flame. He placed his glass on the table with deliberate slowness, not breaking the intensity in her gaze. Then he leaned forward, so mere millimetres separated their faces. He brushed his nose against her cheek, her sweet breath washing across his lips. "Rose, if I didn't know better, I would think you wanted me to kiss you," said Damian, his fingers trailing a scorching line up the side of her arm, wrapping around the back of her neck and into her blonde hair. "And I'm a man of action."

There was a raw hunger that surged through Damian as he captured Rose's lips in his own. He gave himself to the urgency that burned within him, drinking her in like a tonic. She tasted like whisky and smoke, a delicious combination that made him crave more and more. He always knew this girl would be trouble, but had underestimated Rose. She was a drug, toxic and made especially for him. She pulled from Damian his weaknesses, making him tremble at the mere thought of her.

Breathless, Damian pulled away from Rose, a sort of dazed half smile tugging at his lips. "And that's just the start," he said. He dropped his hand from her hair and tilted his head at her, appraising her as her eyes shuttered once more and she drew herself up. For just a moment, she had been Just Rose. But now, she was back to the Nightshade with poison in her veins.

Rose asked him about fate, and Damian shifted uncomfortably. He was a man of the present and the past, not one of divination and the future. He was the sort of man who acted upon his wills, who was impulsive even with each calculated move that had been trained into him by Cas. He rarely thought of the future, instead focusing on what could play out in the immediate present. "I don't think I do," he replied at long last, eyes narrowing slightly with intrigue. "You don't strike me as that sort of person either," he supplied, but knew that she did. It was evident from the way she delivered the question. "I think we are utterly in control. That we can't blame the world for happening to us," he added after a moment of deliberation. "I think we need to make the choices that suit us, Rose."

Damian admitted how Rose intrigued him so, drawing him in like a black widow to her web. He chewed thoughtfully on the inside of his cheek as his eyes roved the pale planes of her face, the rosiness from their kiss having receded. "You would be lying," said Damian simply. "The Rose I know... the one before me now... she is not just her name." He exhaled slowly as her voice dropped to a whisper and he found himself leaning in. Would he stay? Damian had a taste for danger. But he also knew how to take a loss. Was Rose insinuating that all those murders, all that power and trickery was true? But he knew Rose, he knew her. She was not like the others. Damian would prove that to her.

"I would."

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade

[Rozalina Antonina Nightshade]

Early March
DAMIAN ANDREAS KARKAROFF

If Damian hadn't taken her taunt, she would have herself. As her words sunk in she couldn't help the wicked grin on her lips, watching his reaction like a cat. Would he? She'd basically dangled the opportunity right in front of him. It was her turn to shock him though, and his reaction was exactly what she wanted. That brief touch of his nose sent a chill down her spine, but Rose didn't move, instead just waiting in and drinking in his response, her eyes training on his own with a new intensity. As she felt his hand at the back of her neck she immediately leaned closer. "Stop thinking then," she breathed just before their lips touched.

It was a desperate, hungry kiss. An intensity that might make you think they were starved and this their only relief. Rose pushed into the kiss hard. She wasn't one who sought out lovers or romance. It'd held little interest to her, but Damian had dragged out a desperation for more. Ever word, and brief touch had taunted her. Always just out of reach. But not now. Now that she'd had a taste though a new desperation was awakening. Once simply wasn't enough. It took all her self control to not drag him back when the kiss broke. Rose, not trusting herself, leaned away from her after, running a hair through her hair and breathlessly eyeing him with a smirk. She didn't respond to his words, but the widening of her smirk was answer enough.

Rose wouldn't consider herself superstitious. Life was surely in your own hands. But if that were true, why did it seem so impossible to escape the path she was on? A somber and bitter train of thought. It was a different kind of desperation then the kiss. Desperation and frustration. It seemed her thoughts had taken even Damian by surprise, as it took him quite some time to respond. She tilted her head a little to the side as she listened. It sounded so simple. And yet why did it feel as if soem choices were pre-destined? As if she had no control or choice? One instance came glaringly to mind. A choice that she'd thought about so many times, trying desperately to try to think of what she could have done differently. Her gaze flickered to the bottle of alcohol, contemplating another drink as these dark thoughts never liked to go on their own, before flickering back to Damian. Finally she gave the briefest smile, though it was haunting. "No, I suppose there are better people to blame."

Damian sounded so confident, unafraid and daring. It was intoxicating and made Rose want to try to break that confidence. She wanted to find out. "Are you sure you know me, Damian?" He had a way of slipping through her defenses, getting under her skin in a way no one else did. For some, it might be terrifying. But to Rose? It was thrilling. He was so close now, just a breath away after he leaned in. She didn't move yet though, instead waiting with baited breath for those final words. Waited for an answer that would determine where things went. Would this dangerous game of cat and mouse continue? Or would he leave?

He'd barely managed to get those two simple words out before Rose closed that little remaining distance and kissed him once more, her hands moving to wrap around the back of his neck and lock together to pull him closer. They'd already crossed the line before, and Rose wasn't going back. Now that she'd a taste she needed more. Addicted to the high that was Damian Karkaroff. While just as hungry and desperate as the first kiss, the second was shorter as Rose broke it to smirk at him. "You might regret that decision one day," she spoke breathlessly. The consequences of letting someone, even a Karkaroff into her life would be many, but to hell with the consequences right now. She wanted Damian, and she'd take what she wanted.

[DAMIAN ANDREAS KARKAROFF]

Disappointment tickled at Damian's spine as Rose's gaze shuttered, slamming the door on her true self as she looked at him. Her heady scent lingered, and Damian yearned to stop talking and resume snogging. He'd never been the sort of person to shut down a conversation, especially a conversation as tantalising as any he'd shared with Rose. But the spark in her eye had gone, and Damian found himself leaning back, dejected. Her smile was haunting before she made a cryptic comment. Damian appraised her silently, searching those depthless eyes for a hint of the woman he knew was in there.

When dangled so dangerously before him, Damian couldn't help but take the bait. Usually, he was the one baiting, the one fishing for answers. And yet the response bubbled so easily to his lips, he couldn't stop himself. "No," he replied, his voice husky. "I'm not sure that I know you, Rose. But I intend to learn every bit of you," he murmured, his fingers ghosting along the outside of her thigh. He leaned closer, their breaths mingling, letting his promise linger in the air between them.

Rose pulled him closer, capturing his lips with hers once more. He opened himself to her, drowning in her taste and her temptation. But Damian was left wanting as Rose pulled back with a smirk dancing at her lips. "I haven't made a decision I've regretted in my life. I don't plan to start with you." With that, Damian stole any protests she might have wanted to make, sealing the promise with another hungry, desperate kiss. One hand slid up her silken thigh, the other wrapping around her waist to draw her closer to him.

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade

[Rozalina Antonina Nightshade]

Early March
DAMIAN ANDREAS KARKAROFF

It was a dangerous game, the one Damian and Rose were playing. Like moths drawn to a flame, unaware (or rather indifferent towards) the dangers of being burned. Perhaps that was what they wanted, though. Rose lived in a state of constant control and trying to hide the storm beneath the surface. Passion was a dangerous slope that Rose stayed far from. But like Icarus who flew too close to the sun with wax wings she found herself drawn towards this man. Despite knowing the dangerous, however, Rose in this moment chose to ignore them. She needed to see just how dangerous this dance with Damian Karkaroff might become.

Rose grinned as he spoke, admitting he didn't know her would he intended to. A wide and wild grin that seemed to threaten both pain and pleasure. "I look forward to it," she breathed. She shifted closer as she felt the lightest of touches on her thigh, her eyes trained intensely on his own.

It seemed with that final promise of Damian's that words were finally beyond them. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling herself fully into him as his lips captured her own. A game of cat and mouse could only go so long until one captured the other. But who was the hunter and who the prey? Rose didn't care anymore. She met his hungry desperation with her own, pressing her body into him and breaking that breath of separation that had been like a barrier between them. There was little reason for it anymore. The line had been crossed and there wasn't any going back. All that was left was to see how hot the flames would burn.

(eeeeh, fade to black/time jump? Or end? We know where they are going, hahah. You decide haha)

[DAMIAN ANDREAS KARKAROFF]

[end]