He’s strong and forceful in a way that makes her body warm even as her mind protests. She parts her lips to tell him they shouldn’t, but his tongue is there and then he’s kissing her with a hunger she’s never experienced before. Resistance is futile, she knows, so, instead, she kisses him back.

For the first time in months, she feels alive. Her skin is on fire and her heart is racing. He pushes her shirt up above her belly, and his fingertips slide against her warm skin as he trails them up her ribs until he reaches her breasts. She doesn’t know what to do, has never been in this sort of situation before, but she tries to rely on extinct. Her time with Viktor never went beyond a few kisses and shy touches. There is nothing shy about this, however, and she whimpers when his fingers caress her breast through the worn cotton of her bra.

She moves her hands along his back and slides them beneath his shirt. She can feel his skin now and finds him hot and sticky with sweat. He kisses her neck and sucks her skin, his teeth nibbling as she moans softly. He’s pushed her bra up to free her breasts and his hands are squeezing them lightly. She stares at a potted plant as she makes noises she didn’t think were possible. When his lips close around her nipple and his tongue lashes out, her head falls back as she arches forward. He sucks gently, which is a contrast to the roughness of his touch as he unzips her trousers and grips her arse.

It’s too much. She needs to say no, to stop it before there’s no going back, but she can’t find the words. His fingers move against the damp cotton of her knickers and rub her, back and forth and back and forth as he moves his mouth to the other breast. Her hand is in his hair and she’s rocking against his hand. Everything feels different. Her skin is sweaty and doesn’t feel like it fits right, and there’s an energy in the air that’s confusing her at the same time it intrigues her.

He raises his head and looks at her. His glasses are askew and there’s a gleam in his eyes that makes her shudder. He doesn’t say anything but she knows he’s asking. Without thinking, she nods once. He growls softly and then he’s kissing her again, hard and rough, and his hands are pushing her knickers and jeans down. She feels the wood of the workbench beneath her as he raises her up. She knocks one of the candles over and listens to the hiss of the wax as it spills.

She turns her head and blows out the flame as he struggles to remove her shoes. There’s a pause when her shoe falls and she knows he’s seen her foot. She flushes and stares at the flickering candle, knowing exactly what he sees. Warped skin, twisted and swollen from the painful spell that destroyed that bloody cup. Her small toe is gone and the rest of her foot is misshapen. His fingers brush against the scarred skin gently and then his lips are on her thigh and time seems to cease again.

Her jeans and knickers are on the floor and he’s between her legs. She looks down to see him staring at her and then he lowers his head. His tongue is on her and she gasps as he licks and laps until she’s writhing on the workbench. His fingers feel large when they enter her, and she whimpers in discomfort as she stretches around them. He moves his hand fast, pushing them inside her as he flicks his tongue against her until she’s rolling her hips for more.

She can’t breathe. It’s like all the oxygen has been taken from the room. His touch is rough again, any gentleness dissipating as she moves against him. There’s an odd feeling in her belly that she recognizes from when she’s touched herself and, soon, the world tilts and she falls. She sees spots and shakes as her body quivers. It’s never felt like that when she’s done it. Percy is suddenly over her, kneeling on the workbench, and she tries to stop trembling to focus but can’t.