Among royalty (SG)

[Ethereal]

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[atrb=background,http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/lilDiablo_/adriantablemid.jpg] [scrolly:h(300),w(211),sy] The duchess straightened up, her posture becoming slightly rigid and less relaxed. Had she just been...rejected? No one rejects Adrian Bane! All too quickly Adrian's temper spiraled out of control. Her playful silver eyes turned to cold steel as she glared down at Alaric. The man had gone from a plaything to a chewtoy in mere seconds. For his own safety, he should retract whatever statement set the woman off. "I DO NOT 'lower my standards'" Adrian said with tight lips. "You are nobility, albeit of a lower degree than I am." She paused, one of her fingers playing with a lock of his golden hair, "But I always get what I want, Alaric. Always." She grabbed onto his head, her grip firm but not intending to induce pain. She released him after a moment, her good judgement returning. "Why don't you get off the floor and have a seat with me beside the fire." The suggestion could be interpreted as an order, and she didn't give him much choice as she coiled one arm under his.

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[Admiral Striker General]

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[ Alaric ]

Everything seemed so fast Alaric wasn't even sure what he'd been thinking during the ordeal as soon as it was over. Really, what... was that? He couldn't help but find himself oddly disappointed, but went along with her motion anyway, taking a place by that dreadful fire. Why was one going when it was so warm out, anyway? Ah well.. At least it looked nice...

Sighing, Alaric managed to free his held arm long enough to wrap it around Adrian, gazing down with somewhat sad sea-hazel eyes as he debated whether or not to keep going. What kind of woman reacted so outrageously to what was in all essence a compliment, anyway? "You know, my Lady.." he sighed. "It would be much easier to tease you if you would just pretend to play along.."

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[Ethereal]

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[atrb=background,http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/lilDiablo_/adriantablemid.jpg] [scrolly:h(300),w(211),sy] Adrian loved heat, all kinds of heat. The heat from the sun, from flames, from passion, from a warm body underneath her...She especially wanted the last one now. However it seemed unlikely that she would get it, at least tonight. Alaric hadn't reacted to her emotional backflip and well as she would have liked, but there was nothing to be done about it now. Perhaps she should try to be accommodating and see where it gets her. The feeling of his arm around her waist gave the duchess some hope of moving things along and in response she laid her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, my dear." She apologized dryly. "I can't help but be so flustered when a handsome man such as yourself resists my advances." She laughed quietly, "To be honest, it doesn't happen to me often, if ever." Adrian picked her head up and looked into his hazel eyes, "If you'd like to tease me to your heart's content, I'm open to it." She smiled gently, trying to ease Alaric back into his comfort zone.

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[Admiral Striker General]

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[ Alaric ]

Mmm... The feeling of her cuddling closer did ease him greatly all on its own; this was more the sort of thing he was used to. As she revealed- or at least rather implied- that she too was quite accustomed to having someone to spend the night with, he couldn't help but smirk. She hadn't said it exactly, but he didn't imagine from either her position or her behavior thus far that she was such a stranger to shunning because she was shy. When she offered to let him tease her...

Alaric suddenly had another thought, but faded to a somber expression. "What's the point? It's no fun if you know what I'm doing.." he sighed. Leaning over, he rested her head against hers, as if very tired or simply listless.

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[Ethereal]

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[atrb=background,http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/lilDiablo_/adriantablemid.jpg] [scrolly:h(300),w(211),sy] At Alaric's refusal, Adrian's thoughts began to twist in a different direction. Instead of wanting to see him in her bed, she now imagined him chained up in her torture chamber. The dungeon had been built centuries ago, before even the palace was constructed. Generations of Banes took their sadistic pleasures out on anyone who ticked them off. Adrian was no different, and was prepared to make that fact crystal clear to her gentleman guest. His attempt at smoothing the situation with sweet words failed miserably. No man could say no to this Duchess and live to tell about it. She straightened up quickly, her gray eyes narrowed dangerously. "Very well." She snapped, turning on her heel. The woman picked up the nearby bottle of wine and took a long drink from it. With the alcohol warming her system, the duchess felt her inhibitions float away. With a crash the half empty bottle landed inside the fire place. A small explosion followed as the liquid met the flames. Hopefully this scare tactic would be enough to bring Alaric to his senses. Her hand curled around the metal poker which leaned against the ornate fire place. Adrian grinned like the cat that ate the canary, and circled around her company. Slowly, lightly, she ran the tip of the poker up Alaric's spine. "I am a woman who doesn't need to be told what her standards are.." Her soft purr contradicted the violent outburst only moment before. "And doesn't take rejection lightly." In a swift movement the Duchess lowered herself to the floor and shoved the metal tool against Alaric's throat. The choke hold was tight enough to hurt, but loose enough to allow him to keep breathing. "Now I suggest you choose your next set of words very carefully." ((Sorry I took so long to reply Dx And if you mind the bit of god-modding I did just let me know and I'll edit my post.))

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[Admiral Striker General]

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[ Alaric ]

Alaric found himself more than a little surprised by her response, having been half-pulled when she'd stood. 'Very well'? He'd just been trying to confuse or annoy her, actually teasing by pretending teasing would no longer be fun, as that was the only thing he could think of that she definitely wouldn't expect. Seemed that prediction was a little too good. Really, why so seri--

Fucking- when did that wine get there?! This made him jump almost as hard as he did moments later at the crash of the bottle in the fire. Alaric did not like to be anywhere near alcohol if he could help it. Not that Adrian didn't suddenly seem very capable of defending herself. He sat there literally on the edge of his seat staring wide-eyed at the scene playing out before him. His heart was pounding in his chest as if someone had started a mosh pit in there consisting entirely of Palpitoad.

His jaw fell slack as she suddenly took the sharp metal object and approached. Where a normal person might have made some objection, had any reaction, Alaric could only stare, frozen. Occasionally, his lips would twitch as some word or other tried to form, but always he lost it before even a syllable could escape; breathing in general seemed to be something that was getting harder and harder to remember to do properly. All the (arguably) voluntary movement he seemed able to manage was keeping his eyes glued firmly on her- be it in general or focused on her suddenly-terrifying face or eyeing that poker and wondering just how sharp it was and what she intended to do with it.

"Ah--" The sound broke into a long, ragged and broken gasp as the poker traversed his back, though he made little effort to move away. He didn't even lean away, or even back where he may have found relief in the back of his seat blocking her assault; he only arched slightly with its movement involuntarily as a cat sometimes might when being stroked. The metal had not been in the fire at least, but sitting so near for so long was still quite hot, like a seatbelt in the middle of a southern summer. Even his loathing for heat was not enough to prompt him to action.

A few swift steps, and she was before him once again, and the hot side of that rod was nearly choking him, causing a small half-cough before the lesser noble accepted his fate. He was nearly shaking despite the fire, and in fact almost certainly would have been without it. No effort was made to hide the fear in his eyes... but that wasn't all it was.

For all that this woman could probably easily kill him if she decided to do so and the only fuss that would be made was that she'd stepped out of her region of jurisdiction to do so... And for all that she'd jumped to such physical violence and aggressive behavior over the most ridiculous of little jokes... And for all that his back still stung slightly and some minuscule working part of his brain was concerned this poker was going to brand a line on his neck if she left it there much longer...

Alaric was so turned on right now.

"I--" One could debate whether he'd even gotten that entire rasping word out despite its definitive brevity before his throat refused to continue working, but not because she was choking him. He wanted to explain he'd meant no harm and even perhaps explain his general stand on situations, clear the air and probably even apologize for pressing her.

He wanted to do that.... But if he did, she might stop.

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[Ethereal]

[bg=0b0121][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,false][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,400,true][atrb=background,http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/lilDiablo_/onemore.jpg] Adrian felt completely in control of the situation, of her own little world. This power put her more at ease than the alcohol could hope to achieve. And although the idea of branding her new chew toy was tempting, she slowly allowed the poker to move away from his neck. "At a loss for words?" She breathed, "Where's your eloquence now, Alaric?" She could practically feel his racing heartbeat against her skin. The duchess wasn't sure if his rapid breathing and shaking was due to fright or arousal, and she also wasn't sure if she even cared. All that mattered in this moment was that Alaric remain entirely complacent. He was doing surprisingly well considering the circumstances. Maybe he was too afraid to react? Or perhaps he was actually enjoying it as much as she was? Adrian smirked and wondered if she could convince him to take things even further. She had always wanted a more willing partner that wouldn't question her rather..violent ministrations. The Duchess stood without warning, tossed the metal piece of garbage across the room, and placed herself firmly in Alaric's lap. Her devilish smirk reached her eyes as she stared down at him. "Now I'm through with teasing, through with small talk." She spoke quickly, not giving him time to respond. "You're going to spend the night with me, my dear, and you're going to do exactly as I say." Then she paused, pointedly, wetting her lips. "I don't think I need to mention the consequences in detail."

[Admiral Striker General]

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[ Alaric ]

Alaric stared in mild disbelief, but he did not fight. Some part of him snapped back something witty in response to her remark on his eloquence, but so suffocated was the thought beneath everything else running through his mind- and everything not adequately running through it, like, say, blood- that he forgot it immediately.

This was terrible. He-... he had morals, dammit! Even if they may be looser in this regard than the average person, he was still very adamant about them. There were rules, and she was breaking all of them. All the rules, ALL of them! flashed through his mind, but even the mental internet meme did not make him crack a smile, or phase at all really, and within a moment it too was forgotten.

He sat there just as frozen, but his better judgement was raging. Even if she was his superior, she shouldn't walk all over him like this, and he shouldn't allow it. He was a romantic, and there was nothing romantic about this! Not even a little bit. He didn't accept her invitation to visit just to be carelessly used, nor should he be okay with this even if it wasn't breaking his rule on possible-one-night-stands. Alaric liked foreplay, dammit, most of all for his partner's sake but also for his own. It was slow and it was sweet and it was romantic.

But this? Coupled with that threat at the end, this might have bordered on rape. ... Well, really, since she seemed intent on having her way whether he was willing or not, there wasn't really a 'bordering'; this might have just been rape. ... 'Might' have.. if Alaric wasn't having trouble deciding which of those options sounded more enticing...

This was an absolute atrocity and he should be appalled. He should use his advantages in size and almost surely strength to fight her off, and even if her status protected her from punishment (not to mention the fact that essentially no one would believe or care about a report of attempted female-on-male rape, because double standards worked like that), he should.. He didn't even know, warn people or something. Warn them not to wander too close to the Desert Palace because the Duchess was an insane sadist who resorted to light torture over something as simple as not getting a joke. He might should even try to do something to teach her that this wasn't acceptable, akin to physically disciplining a spoiled child when nothing else would work (and he might have considered this, if he wasn't outright phobic of causing real harm). Maybe just.. held her down and found something just bad enough to be uncomfortable without actually injuring her or something.

He should have been thinking any of these things, but somehow each time one of them cropped up it quickly melted away again. Rather, half a quiet whimper finally escaped his throat, and his voice cracked a bit as he finally murmured an answer.

".. Yesma'am..."

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