Does This Constitute Kidnapping?, (Rhyssen)

[Haddock Vibe]

The moment they appeared in his flat, Ethan let go of Rhyssen, spinning and tossing a complex locking charm on the door - one he'd created himself.

She wasn't going anywhere.

Thoughts of her daughter being in Diagon alone didn't even enter into his mind.

"You're going nowhere. Not until we talk this all out. Every last detail. If I have to keep you locked up for a month, I will."

Okay, so he was getting a bit dramatic, but he couldn't keep doing this. Running into her in random places and wondering, always, if this might be the breaking point for them. If maybe this one time she'd finally let it all out.

That locking her away until she confessed her feelings - good or bad - was probably the worst way to go about it wasn't a flicker in his mind at the moment. All he knew was that he needed to be with her and that he needed to know what had gone wrong.

[Rhyssen Swanson]

Disoriented for the first few moments, Rhyssen became aware of where she was then, and glanced around the flat with an uneasy, but undeniably curious air. This was where he lived now, what he called home, where he came back -

Without her.

"You're going nowhere. Not until we talk this all out. Every last detail. If I have to keep you locked up for a month, I will."

"Ethan," his name fell from her lips without so much as a moment's wait, and she hesitated for a second before taking a step towards him. Her step stilled and she, her fingers rising to tuck a loose lock of hair behind her ear, shook when they linked together in front of her.

"It's just us again," she murmured, her eyes lifting slowly to meet his own, and she swallowed gently, her mouth nearly going dry. Hesitating only for a moment she slid her fingers back up into her hair and undid the knot holding her curls swept back from her face. They tumbled down her back and past her shoulders just as she slowly slid open the first few buttons of her robes, her gaze sweeping up once more to hold his own, her bottom lip tugging between her teeth.

"Just us."

[Haddock Vibe]

Given, this was Rhyssen, but still, he'd expected at least an outburst of anger before she was moving in for the proverbial kill. His own mouth was definately dry as she stepped towards him, his name on her lips; her hair cascading in silken waves about her face; a slash of milky skin showing.

The cherry on the top? Her teeth dragging against her bottom lip.

He was primed and ready to go without much of a thought. Pulling her against him, his mouth descended to take possession of whatever skin he could find, his fingers taking over the pleasant chore of disrobing her. It wasn't until his hand was slipping along smooth skin under her robes that he was aware of what he was doing. It took every ounce of willpower that he contained to pull his mouth from her, his breathing ragged as he did so.

"No." His head shook hard. "No, Rhys. I didn't bring you up here for this."

Still, his hand was pressed to her skin, his body still very much betraying him as his thumb circled idly at her waist. "We need to talk. We need to because I can't keep doing this. It's driving me...you're driving me...insane."

[Rhyssen Swanson]

Her breath hitched when he was against her, his mouth trailing along her throat in a manner that would always, undoubtedly have her wanting him so bad that it hurt , and Rhyssen surrendered herself to the feelings it encited in her. It had been far too long since she'd felt truly desired, the last time had been nothing but primal lust, and this was already beginning to make up for a year's worth of nothing.

Before she could truly relish the feel of his hand moving across her bare skin as if discovering the beauty of the moment for the first time ever, however, he was moving back from her, his words taking a moment to pierce the fog enveloping her.

"No, Rhys. I didn't bring you up here for this."

"I know," she murmured weakly, her fingers tracing over the top of his shoulder as she slowly drew herself closer to him. Her frame swayed and as it just so gently brushed against him, her eyes slid shut with a sharp intake of breath.

"We need to talk. We need to because I can't keep doing this. It's driving me...you're driving me...insane."

"You're driving.. me insane, too," she breathed as she pressed herself closer to him, her hand moving to touch his own on her waist. Closing her eyes, she grasped his fingers and led them slowly on a forbidden exploration downwards, her head tilting backwards as she sighed his name.

"I.. gods, can't live without you," came the broken whimper of a murmur.

[Haddock Vibe]

Good. They agreed on that much. Of course, it didn't seem to stop her next move and Ethan's breath completely stilled as her hand took the lead. The burning in his chest had him gasping for air, though if that came more from lack of oxygen or the location of his fingers as they teased along the crease where her thigh met her torso, he wasn't sure. Not that he was analyzing that at the moment.

Taking back control of his own hand, he broke contact long enough to shed his own shirt before he was scooping her up, his mouth playing along her ear as he took her to his untried bed. "This isn't right." The words spilled from his mouth. "We shouldn't be doing this." He laid her on his bed. "You're not mine. Not anymore."

His mouth followed as he finished the job of unhooking the clasps of the robes before he was sitting back to take in her form. Merlin, but she had only grown more beautiful over the years.

He didn't remain silent for long, though. Saying the words he knew he should seemed to be alleviating the guilt of his actions. "You have a new life," he was working nips and kisses along her stomach, "and you need to be mindful," he skipped past the center of her being, lifting her leg to press openmouth kisses along her inner thigh, "of how others see you."

[Rhyssen Swanson]

Laying back against his bed, her eyes swept over with shadows, her fingers traced over the skin of his chest, not only desire reflecting in her hazel orbs, but self-gratifying, all-encompassing need. She had needed this wizard almost immediatly upon meeting him, upon touching him - upon kissing him. She'd been unabashedly forced with the first of his intimate caresses to the realization that she would long for him again and again and again, as if their paths were meant to criscross throughout their lives, their needs only being fulfilled completely by the other.

Gods, what she wouldn't give to be able to do without him.

"No.. this isn't right," she half-whispered, half-moaned when he sat back, his fingers gently curving along her skin. Arching back with a gasp when his mouth worked over her middle, Rhyssen's fingers worked into his hair as she trembled against him, her breath coming out rushed, "I'm not yours anymore, no, oh gods..."

When his mouth trailed along her inner thigh, Rhyssen slid her head back against his pillow, her fingers gripping his shoulders as she sighed desperately, "You are my new life-"

Forcing him to pause as she leaned forward, Rhyssen slid a hand along the side of his face, her fingers dipping along the column of his throat. Her eyes focused wherever her fingers trailed, and she moistened her lips as she moved further forward, manuevering him gently back against the bed. Her head bent as she pressed lingering kisses along his chest, her hair brushing against his skin as she splayed her fingers lower against his middle. Pulling back, however, she finally met his gaze, pressing a finger to his lips. Without a word, she slid a leg over him so that she was nearly straddling him, and then moved closer to whisper darkly beside his ear.

"I've been dying to feel you inside of me since I saw you..."

[Haddock Vibe]

Was there anything more gratifying than to have Rhyssen tremble beneath him, her words coming out laden with such sensual deisre? If there was, he was sure he didn't know - unless it was her straddling him. He wasn't even sure how he'd ended up in this position by the time she was leaning down to breath into his ear. Hell, he wasn't even sure he knew his name anymore.

He most certainly had forgotten just what it was that had been so pressing to talk about with her as his stomach flopped hard at her words. Sucking in a ragged breath, his hand slid into her curls as he drug her mouth hard against his own for a probing, bruising kiss.

"What're ya waitin' for then?" he barely breathed, his hands working their way to release the lace holding her breasts, his mouth greedily sucking in a nipple.

[Rhyssen Swanson]

With her eyes glazing over as his mouth descended to her newly-freed breast, Rhyssen found breathing even more difficult than it had been so far. Her head tilted back and her fingers slid to forcefully clutch his shoulders, and words tumbled from her dry lips without ceremony, "Yes, Ethan.. please--"

A cry slid past her lips when she finally, in excruciatingly slow measure, allowed the core of herself to brush against his length, but refusing to give in to her pleasure yet (along with his own), she slid up the length of his body instead. Dropping her mouth to press heated kisses along his throat, she grazed her teeth along his skin as she breathed, "How much.. do you want me?"

Lifting her gaze to study him through hooded eyes, she teased his skin through her teeth as she moved further down his chest. Her tongue flickered out from her mouth as she tasted his skin, and she threw her hair back as she straddled him once more, her features heavy with taut desire.

Her voice was throaty as she lowered herself just so he could feel her before rhytmically raising herself from him and whispering, "Tell me, Ethan... what would you do to have me?"

[Haddock Vibe]

It was an unfair question asked at an unfair advantage. He'd not have it any other way, not with this woman. A raspy groan exited him as her mouth played over his skin, the feel of her, even through his thin trousers, killing him.

And then the torture grew until he just couldn't handle it anymore. All thoughts of what he'd needed to talk to her about no longer existed, even in that far back corner of his mind. The lack of blood to the brain the culprit.

It took him less than a heartbeat to have Rhyssen on her back beneath him, his hands shedding the remainder of clothing on both of them. Forcefully, he took possession of her mouth, a free palm sliding along her flesh to reach her leg. In a smooth motion, her leg was hooked over his hip as he pushed into her with a low groan of pleasure.

"Gods, Rhys," he murmured against her skin as he moved with her, "there's never been any but you. I swear it."

His kisses covered her flesh before he was bringing her hand up to press his lips against each finger. The mad pace he'd started with had slowed.

He wanted to feel every sensation. For all he knew, this would be the last time for them.

[Rhyssen Swanson]

"Gods, Rhys," he murmured against her skin as he moved with her, "there's never been any but you. I swear it."

Moaning heedlessly as she felt every single nerve-ending in her frame ignite with the feeling of him inside of her, Rhyssen tightly arched back, her hands clutching the bedspread. With her frame restlessly rising to meet his every stroke, gods she'd never needed him like this, she nearly growled when she felt him slow down the pace at first.

"Ethan, gods, don't stop," the words tore from her throat in a hoarse voice, and it was only with sheer will that she complied with his slower, more languid movements. Her eyes fluttered shut when the excruciatingly beautiful pleasure began to spread from her center, and her hands rose to tightly clutch his shoulders as she dragged him closer against her. She allowed him this pace for a bit, before the restraint became too much for her - she needed to know he was giving her everything she'd missed, every single wild, reckless bit of his desire. Pressing a frenzy of kisses and nips along his throat, she bent her head to breathe hotly beside his ear, her fingers sliding over his chest, her nails digging into him.

"Faster, Ethan, I need more..."

[Haddock Vibe]

He'd never been able to deny the witch beneath him anything she wanted and it appeared that, even now, even when he wanted desperately to make this moment last, her wishes and desires were foremost his concern. Her plea was taken and their moment together drew to a fast, explosive finish.

Breathing hard, Ethan slumped ontop of her, sweat slicked hair sticking to his forehead as he lay his cheek against her shoulder. He caught his breath before he rolled off of her and pushed himself up. His eyes closed at the same moment and he cursed under his breath before looking at Rhyssen.

Everything came back to him, now. The reason he'd brought her here. It had nothing to do with what had just happened.

"Fuck. Rhys...Rhyssen," he spoke her full name with a forced detachment, "I don't want this. I can't want this."

He stood, grabbing his boxers and yanking them on as he reached for and tossed her her own things. "I brought you here to talk. Not to," make love, "...fuck."

Saying the more base version hurt him. Afterall, what had just happened had been anything but a simple fuck.

[Rhyssen Swanson]

Heaving a long sigh of wonderful satisfaction, Rhyssen melted against his pillows when he laid his cheek against her shoulder. She wanted to remain like that forever, but it seemed eternity was far from going to happen when he was pulling away from her before she even knew what was going on. Tugging his sheets up gently to salvage some modesty, she tilted her head towards him with a soft smile that immediatly slid away at his words.

Sitting up slowly in his bed as she realized the seriousness of his declaration that he had not wanted what had just occurred between them, Rhyssen closed her eyes, holding the sheet against her frame in what could be seen as a child's manner of defense. She was being broken to that degree of vulnerability with every further word he spoke.

"I brought you here to talk. Not to," make love, "...fuck."

It was like he had slapped her. Hard. Across the face, with the back of his hand, and the tears that stung her eyes could have almost convinced her that he had physically hurt her. The wrenching in her stomach was another proof of it. It was suddenly difficult to breathe, but she managed, she didn't know how, but she managed enough to gather the will to speak, as well.

"Was that it for you?" she asked, the tremble in her voice giving away her feelings more than she wished. Swallowing, she glanced at him, "I thought this meant something, but.."

Leaving her statement incomplete, Rhyssen closed her eyes momentarily, as if gathering strength. When she opened them, there was resolve in her features, and though she spoke quietly, there was a steadiness laced within her words.

"I want you, Ethan, in my life. I know that I can't.. go on as I did before now that I've, I've.. had you. Everything's so complicated, I know, with Felix and me, and Gemma, and your work- but, I need to see you. I just do. I can't deny that now, I can't deny us."

Quietly, her voice nothing more than a whisper then, she managed, "Tell me you feel the same, Eth. Please.."

[Haddock Vibe]

Yes! Yes. I do. I want you. I need you. Life isn't worth the simple act of breathing when you're not in it.

He raked his hands through his hair as the words resounded hard in his head. How he kept them from tumbling out he didn't know. He just knew he had to keep them at bay. It was for the best. For her best.

She had a husband now. A daughter. A future that his presence would only serve to complicate.

He needed her, though. Oh the gods in all the heavens ever imagined, real or make-believe, he needed her. And yet, she was another's. The sooner he came to complete grips with that, the better. The sooner she came to grips with it the better. And if he had to break her completely to save her...

"I can't." His voice broke. It took him a moment to regain his composure. And now he had to put on the performance of a lifetime as he stood and faced her. "I can't pretend what I don't feel, Rhyssen - Mrs. Hainsworth. You were a part of a my past. A good part. A part that I won't ever forget - but you can't be in the present. Or the future. Because," he halted for a moment testing the lie out on his tongue before speaking it, "you're not what I need anymore."

[Rhyssen Swanson]

"You're lying."

The words slipped from her lips without so much as a thought, the shaky certainty with which they were voiced undeniable. She hadn't even thought further on what he was saying, or even why he was saying it - she simply wouldn't, couldn't believe there was any truth in his statement. Afterall, if she could sit there feeling as if he was everything to her, she must have still meant something to him.

Didn't she?

"Ethan," she whispered gently, her swallow hard as she tugged the sheets closer to her frame and gently manuevered to the edge of the bed. Before she could stand, however, she paused and glanced up at him, her hazel eyes pleading with his own that he not do this. Not now, not like this.

"I know you need me as much as I need you, I just do... We can make this work, love, I promise we can..."

She spoke forcefully, though if one was to have heard her, they would have thought her plea was hollow.

There was something in his expression that made her think, even before she uttered those words, that it was over.

[Haddock Vibe]

"You're lying."

Yes. Yes. Yes.

How he kept that resounding answer from showing in his eyes, he didn't know. But, he stood his ground, his jaw clenching so slightly he was sure she'd never notice. It was over; she was over; they were over.

Didn't much matter how he put it, it hurt just as much. More than the first time because this time he knew there wasn't ever a chance of things working out. How could they? She was married; just not to him.

The whisper of his name came like a stab to the heart. He swallowed, hard.

"I know you need me as much as I need you, I just do... We can make this work, love, I promise we can..."

"No." The word came out clipped. Hard. "No. We can't." He turned, unable to look at her anymore as he reached for the rest of his clothing and tugged it back on. Once he was presentable, he crossed to the door, his hand pausing as he forced the next words. "You have a daughter waiting for you. Best you get back to her. We're only a mile from Diagon. I trust you can apparate yourself back."

And with that, he left behind the most important part of his life: his soul.