𝑨 𝑻𝑶𝑼𝑪𝑯 𝑶𝑭 𝑫𝑨𝑹𝑲𝑵𝑬𝑺𝑺

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔𝟔: 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐎𝐧𝐞

AT THE AGREEMENT of Alyssa's earlier request, Lilith did in fact sit beside Severus, though she thoroughly believed that it would have made no difference if she hadn't because he seemed far too flustered for any spacial awareness.

After her comment in the corridor she had left him standing, enabling his own mind to peruse her words and become whatever he wanted them to be. Lilith had seated herself at the table and almost instantly began engaging in mindless chatter with Alyssa, evident enough to show that she had moved on from the corridor. But Severus on the other hand had been left to overcome his heightened intrigue.

She had teased him. She was still teasing him.

He knew that she was attempting to appear entirely unaware of how he felt or even unaffected by her own words. Even now she remained winning at her own game as his thoughts were clearly still on her but he didn't know what else to do. He had been given no time to respond and had intrinsically come crashing down in a fix of desire all of which that did not belong at Mrs Jenning's poor dinner table.

From the corner of Lilith's eye she noticed that Severus still hadn't settled in his seat. Apparently she hadn't been the only one to notice as Alyssa had followed her eye movements and then turned back to Lilith with a smug smile.

"What did you do to him?" Alyssa mouthed as she brought a glass of water to her lips in attempt to disguise her suspicious silence.

Lilith shrugged her shoulders in response as her fingers continued to tap on the table, her own smirk etched across her face in the kind of victory only she would recognise.

"I'm actually going to see if mum and dad need any help with food, I'll be right back." It seemed as though the silence had morphed into something that Alyssa couldn't handle, explaining her excusal. As the kitchen door gently locked itself behind the retreating Alyssa, Lilith took the fact that they were now alone as an opportunity to push Severus further. She twisted around in her seat, her arm lay across the table as her hand fell gently over the side. Just as she suspected, Severus was already staring at her, his eyes as dark as his hair but watching her with far more intent.

His face was darkened even more from the lack of light in the room, enabling her to admire his features from a different perspective. He held himself sternly in his seat, not quite allowing himself to hold full authority as he recognised that this place was not his own home. His hand gripped tightly to the crystal glass of whiskey that appeared even smaller in his grasp. He pulled the drink to his mouth, allowing the liquid to moisten his lips and delicately glide to the back of his throat. It burned almost as much as Lilith's intense gaze and she wanted nothing more than to taste the torment of his lips but diligently refrained herself in doing so.

He continued to watch her menacingly, slowly pulling the almost empty glass away but still choosing to hold it in his hand. His lips seemed to twitch slightly at the thoughts in his mind which made Lilith question what exactly he was thinking of.

It appeared to Severus that Lilith would not be the first to look away. Nor would he. And therefore he found it best to entertain her subtle equal intrigue in him as he had for her. His tongue pushed around his mouth tasting the remainder of the whiskey that hadn't left his palate before opening his mouth where a slight sigh escaped.

"Do you like games, Lilith?"

Thrown off by his question, she had lifted her head from her palm and narrowed her eyes at him. "Games?" She repeated in a questionable yet dangerous tone. There was no definitive question to how she said it, she knew her answer and was merely taunting Severus further. "I'm afraid I don't have much time for playing around, Severus."