The way we play

5- On a string

Once she had finally realized, and sadly, accepted the truth that he would not return to finish what he started, she actually looked at the room she found herself in. Alone.
As with the rest of the palace it was as tastefully extravagant as it could get. However, the more she explored, the more creeped out she began to feel. It was obvious that someone had decorated it solely for her. It was personal.

The giant bed was made with soft and shiny silk covers. Like the ones that graced her bed at her flat back in New York.
The wardrobe was filled with clothes exactly to her taste, all in the right size. Even the underwear were correctly sized.
In the bathroom, and what a glorious room it was, she found all her favorite products. From skincare, to make up and hair products.
Someone really did get the assignment.

Everywhere she went and everywhere she looked she saw things she recognized from her flat. It wasn't necessarily the very things she had there, but rather brand new ones.
And there were lots of strangely familiar things she had never seen before. Books she did not remember she had ever read, and yet, as she flipped among them she knew at the back of her mind that she knew what was in alot of them.

The fact that she could read the strange markings that were instead of the old an honest alphabet didn't pass her by. The ink on the pages looked like abstract art, each page was like a masterpiece of its own. Both the words and the way they were written was captivating.

And what lovely things she could read, come morning and she would have a whole other sense for this place. She couldn't decide if she would read about the Netherworld and its creation, or perhaps the hierarchies and the everchanging landmass of it all. There seemed to be different levels, or rather- territories. Each with their own ruler and a whole court that came with the monarchy.

Lilly must have spent a good while skimming through pages, but then she suddenly started to have this itch. It was no physical itch, and not one she had ever experienced before. The closest description would be that she was on a string and someone or something tugged at the other end. Her problem was that she had absolutely no idea what it was or what it meant. She couldn't even begin to figure out what appeared to be calling out to her.

A few minutes of the intense feeling and she began to get severely irritated. It was distracting and not a particularly nice feeling. Something big was missing in this very complicated puzzle her life had become, and she was determined to solve it.
To wander off on her own was probably a terrible idea, but strange as it may be she felt entirely safe. For the first time in her life it was as though she was exactly where she was meant to be. That feeling had carefully nestled its way to the bone the very moment she had seen the ocean of scarlet colored flowers. Somehow she identified herself with them, and found a strange sense of comfort as she had been gazing upon them.

So she took a risk and left the safety of her chambers and followed the feeling of the taut string down a corridor. She had no idea where she was or where she was heading, it was a small adventure.
The sensation guided her to a door that was slightly ajar, flickering from flames spilled out in the rather dark corridor she stood in. This door was not too far from her own.

She couldn't detect a single sound from inside the room so she decided to push on the door, ever so lightly. She wouldn't want to reveal her presence if there was actually someone inside.
The sight she was greeted with left her breathless. Broad shoulders that glistened in the light from the fire in the fireplace, a muscular back and arms that flexed as he drew the shirt over his head. He was magnificent.

Seth dropped the shirt on the ground before he tensed. If she wouldn't have been devouring him with her eyes she would have missed it.

"Don't you know it's rude to spy on people?" His voice hit her like a forcefield. Then he spun around with a speed that surprised her. They stared at each other for a few moments without uttering as much as a word.
"What are you doing anyway?" He said at last.

"I was looking for... Never mind, it does not concern you."

"Oh, but it does." He took one graceful step after another, like a predator that stalks its prey. She felt so small in his presence, not only because he towered over her. There was something else, something of importance she knew she missed. She became even more agitated.

"Everything you do and everything you say concerns me from now on." And that would do just about it- she was close to snapping at his words. It was with great effort she managed to grit her teeth and keep the irritation and immense confusion to herself.

"Oh? And why is that?" She said curtly as she narrowed her eyes. He just grinned and kept a steady pace to cross the room.

"Because you are tied to me now." The honest response left her taken aback, and then the words sunk in.

"The string leads to you?!" She almost screamed at his face. Of all the possible things, and by now she truly believed anything to be possible, this was what she had expected the least.
For a split second he looked just as stunned as she felt, but he recovered fast. She looked into his eyes as he stopped, his feet almost on top of hers.

"Do you feel this?" He gently grabbed her hand and laced their fingers together. There was warmth, at first. Then it began to tingle until those small electric shocks went up her arm and continued straight down to her stomach. She gasped at the sensation and tried to pull her hand away. He wouldn' let her and held on tighter.

It was too much, intense to the point where she felt like she couldn't take it any more.

She kept trying to break free, and he kept holding on to her. His burning eyes, yet again, seemed to burn right through her. There was no escaping him, it hit her. Especially when his other hand grabbed her hip before it traveled to her lower back and she found herself being pressed against him.

"You, Lilly Asmodeus, are mine and mine alone. Anybody that lays a hand on you loses the hand, is that clear?" She dropped her jaw in disbelief. This fucker.

"You son of a bitch." She spluttered the words out, not really sure what to say to his proclamation.

Instead of backing off he dipped his face down to her neck and breathed her in. When he finally let go of her hand it was only to cradle the back of her head to get her even closer. With as good timing as ever her body then decided to react all on its own. Her hands trailed up his biceps to land on his chest. There she spread her fingers to feel as much of him as possible, all the while she looked at her hands with rising apprehension.
What is going on?

"I'm going to have to keep a close eye on you, don't I?" The words murmured against her skin made her insides ignite. She couldn't form a single thought, let alone words.
Angry with herself that having him this near affected her so, she made one of the greatest efforts of her life to literally peal herself off of him. Her body stung from the loss of contact, but she decided to ignore it.

With as much sass as she could rally from within she turned away from him and strutted out the room. Making sure her hips swayed alluring as she went. Until she reached the door, there she put a hand on the doorframe and glanced back at him over one shoulder. Then she was gone.