the doll house

excerpt from an unknown chapter

form: rough draft

 

 

The bath had been long and the water as hot as he could take it. After soaking for over an hour every fiber of Mallick’s being felt soft and pliable.

He made his way back to his chamber, where he quickly prepared a small glass of absinthe. He drank it in two gulps and filled it again before sanking heavy into the cushions of a large arm chair. His hands found their way to a weathered book of incantations he had been pouring over for the past few days.

It was after he’d attempted to read the same page four times that he realized his brain would have no part in the act of concentrating.

 

Mallick allowed his eyes to close and his head to tilt back. The book slipped from his fingers and he found that he was almost too tired to even care.

Just as he was allowing his weary body to sink further into his chair he heard a soft knocking at his door. It seemed to take all the energy he had left to force his eyes open and his hand to take the book from the floor.

“Come in,” He stated, closing his eyes one last time.

 

When he opened his eyes he found Fairuzza entering his room, feet bare, shawl wrapped about her shoulders loosely.

“you busy?” fairuzza quizzed from the doorway.
“not particularly,” mallick replied, making a motion with his fingers to reiterate that she should enter the room.

he took a deep drink of his absinthe and watched
fairuzza step into the room.

her hair was a messy crown of golden curls
about her head,
as if she’d just awoke….
her clothes hugged against her
with a few wrinkles and she pulled at her garments to
straighten them.
her feet were absolutely silent. silent, he remarked. and
her movements
were slow and precise.

quietly shutting the door behind her,
she made her approach, a smile fleeting across her
mouth…

and he watched with slow-blinking eyes as she moved across the floor.

“I wanted to chat with you for a moment, if you can spare the time,” She spoke, taking a casual seat on the floor across from him, her legs folded beneath her. “I….I tried to chit chat with Agneshka, but she seems a bit– out of sorts and Matilda seemed far off and exhausted too…She kept falling asleep in her chair. I finally convinced her to just give in and go to sleep and walked her to her bed chamber. Everyone else has gone to bed. So you’re next on my list….So, aren’t you excited? I’m so excited I’m jittery and can’t even imagine trying to sleep.”

Mallick had been watching her carefully as she had been talking, letting his eyes slowly take in her details.

“I’m excited too,” He said, voice quiet, “It’s a lot to take in all at once.”

“Life is about to change,” She replied, eyes wide, “I’m nervous and anxious in a whole different way now. Not the stomach knotting anxiety I felt waiting to find out if I would be chosen…It’s very different…It’s the good kind of anxiety though.”

“Just what is that I can do for you, Fairuzza?”

He could see her body stiffen a bit as the cold tone of his voice washed over her.

“I….I just wanted to…chat with you, Mallick. It’s been a while since we just talked.” She replied.

“Just talk?” He questioned her, voice soft, “Really? When have you ever indulged in my company simply for lively discussion?”

She smiled at him, “Come now, Mallick. There’s no need for you to be so sharp with me. There have been times when we simply sat together…and talked.”

“Seldom,” he began, carefully shifting in his seat, “Have our rendezvous ever been simply for the sake of idle chit chat, my lady…and you know it.”

Their eyes locked and Fairuzza made it a point to hold his gaze and a long moment of silence passed between them.

Mallick spoke first, “So spare me the suspense that builds with idle conversation and come out and say what you’re actually here for.”

“You were never much for skirting around a topic, were you?” she stated bluntly.

“No,” Mallick answered plainly, “I’m extremely fond of getting right to the point.”

Fairuzza moved in close to him, to a position where she was kneeling at his feet, and looked up into his eyes. She then placed her hands on his knees.

.

Mallick’s eyes were drawn to her small hands and could see that they were shaking ever so slightly. He smiled a rather small smile, a private smile that was really just for him for he could read between those delicately shaking lines a certain measure of desperation.

“I want,” Fairuzza began carefully, her expression soft“….I want to renew our arrangement, Mallick. I want to begin seeing you again…as a client.”

His smile was slow and precise and he did not hesitate, “No.”

He watched her hands grow tense, fingers finding each other to tangle into white knuckled frenzy. The hands then calmed and when Mallick raised his eyes he found hers waiting.

“Why do you have to be difficult?” Fairuzza questioned him, head tilting a bit to one side.

She had but to blink and a wave of heat crawled across Mallick, like a soft exhale from a sleeping dragon.

He laughed softly, finding her gentle show of power delicious, “The last time we were together you made some things very clear to me. You do recall that don’t you?”

Fairuzza nodded and began to rise to her feet. From there, she gently pushed herself into a spot beside Mallick in his large chair. Her right arm moved around his neck and she pressed her body against his.

 

Mallick kept his composure, despite the close proximity of her warm body, “And before that you thought it fitting to send a page boy to end our arrangement instead of coming to me directly. The point being: There are unspoken rules to the games we play, Fairuzza. Etiquette to consider…Tact…and when a client ignores the rules or handles a situation with absolutely no regard for tact it makes me question if I’ll ever offer services to that client again.”

She pulled herself a bit closer to him and his left arm naturally moved around her waist. She let her free hand move towards his and carefully allowed only their fingertips to touch.

Mallick looked down, watching her delicate fingers as they made contact with his. Feather soft they grazed the top of his hand. They then moved, fluttering towards his face, across his cheek until finally coming to rest at his chin.

“Come on, Mallick,” Fairuzza began, “I’m sure we can negotiate this.

I’m sorry about the way I went about ending our arrangement. That was an extremely emotional moment in which I made the decision. It was hasty and hence it wasn’t handled in the best…manner. I admit that, ok?”

Her hand caressed his cheek and she let her head rest on his shoulder…..

Mallick’s free hand went for her wrist and surprised her by gently pushed her hand away.

“Not ok,” He stated sharply, his eyes settling on her like ice before looking quickly away.

She looked at him, keeping her expression soft and raised her hand to his face yet again. She could see the muscles of his jaw tense as he turned his face from her further. But Fairuzza would not give up so easily and managed to force him to at least face forward. She then moved her mouth close to his ear, inhaling the clean smell of his hair and cologne.

“Please, Mallick,” she whispered low, “I’m sure there’s some way I could convince you to change your mind about this.”

Fairuzza began to move her left leg slowly. The movement caused the side split of her dress to widen in the just the way she wanted. She then moved with slow and deliberate grace, shifting her leg to a particular spot which allowed her to force Mallick’s knees apart with it.

His expression remained cold and indifferent, but her actions nibbled on the edges of his resolve. His hand moved to the side of her knee. Slowly, he allowed his hand to move up her leg to rest gingerly on her exposed thigh.

Fairuzza inhaled sharply, her mouth still close to his ear. She lifted herself a bit more to secure her position and Mallick’s left arm now moved beneath her bottom to support her further, for she was quite short in stature compared to him.

“How I’ve missed you,” she said eying him, “Missed you terribly. And despite the things you say…I know you’ve missed me.”

She tilted her head, exposing her neck. He turned to face her and she moved her mouth but inches from his.

 

His shirt was open a bit and she opened it further for it had been so long since she had been able to take such liberty with him and she so loved the smooth and perfect milky beauty he hid within the confines of his clothing. His chest rose rapidly with his steady breathing.

“What you’re trying to accomplish here is not lost on me,” Mallick intoned, eyes studying her closely, “I know you and your charms all too well and… I know exactly what you’re trying to do.

“Good,” Fairuzza answered, never letting her eyes leave his, “I’m glad you understand. One would hope, ” She began, her hand moving beneath his shirt, fingers caressing his skin, “that your keen awareness would make things all the easier for me. I can’t fathom that you feel absolutely nothing for me. Remember this: I know you Mallick. Just like you know me and all my little weaknesses, I know you and I know your weaknesses as well….You can at least spare me… a kiss, can’t you?”

Her right hand moved through his hair and he shut his eyes to enjoy it, “A kiss…Oh, but that’s how it starts though.”

His hand slowly went to her face for a moment. With eyes still shut his fingertips brushed her lips lightly, “You outlined it yourself in our contract, that I begin…slowly, teasing you out of your shell of inhibitions with the smallest kiss to wet your parched lips.”

Mallick’s thumb went over her bottom lip, barely touching it, “And then, I am to escalate: a full kiss so that our tongues will touch.”

He let his hand fall from her face and moved his mouth close to hers again. He opened his eyes, “It starts with a kiss…. and I refuse.”

Beneath her soft gaze, a quiet rage was brewing. Their lips were so close, if but for a few scant inches she would have had him.

 

Her hand was in his hair again, silken locks cool between her fingers. She let her hand rest close to his skull and then secured her hold. She then gave his hair a gentle tug.

Mallick gasped quietly, for this action was not something he’d expected of her. It was bold, practically electric, for she knew how it would arouse him, for it was a signal. A silent signal between them as lovers, a sign to let him know in the heat of passion that he could indulge in his vampire nature. A signal to bite her hard and to drink her slowly.

“Very bold for you,” He said, eyes narrowing just a little.

Fairuzza smiled slyly before whispering, “I mean business, Mallick Constantine. I will pay you double.”

Her left hand brushed a curtain of hair from his face, then found its way to his chest again. Fingernails glided to his nipple, drawing circles around a pale ariola.

A slight almost unnoticeble trembling crawled all over her now. She was employing many subtle magics to control it, but Mallick could see past the haze.

 

“Feeling a little…desperate, are we?” His voice nestled in her ear. His free hand held her thigh firmly.

“Terribly so,” She turned her face from him, for the blush of his lips was too much to bear.

Mallick pressed his nose to her hair and spoke softly, his voice passing into her, “Your desperation is like sugar to me, my Fairuzza. Sweet, yet silver lined with perversion, its almost as sweet as the taste of your blood or the sounds you make in the height of orgasm. It’s been a long time since we partook of one another’s flesh, hasn’t it.”

He kissed her neck, tenderly and her eyes rolled back. He kissed her neck again, slightly parted lips pausing against it, warm breath humming over her sensitive flesh and Fairuzza felt as if her heart would burst. She turned to face him, an intensity settling over her.

 

 

 

 

“Too long,” She said as she began to shift her body, forcing him to adjust his own position. She summoned her witch’s strength and he felt her forcing his body to turn so that she could comfortably move her body to a position that allowed her to sit astride him.

“There are things within my power…Things I could do to make you see things my way,” Fairuzza said, her gaze roaming over him.

Mallick quietly laughed, “Bravo: Threatening to use your witch’s powers to bend me to your will is not the way to warm me up. Your desperation is indeed showing now, no doubt. But remember that we have sparred before and last time I recall our powers were matched, so don’t think me such easy prey…..And beyond that, you need not cast spells to make me want you, Fairuzza.”

“You say that and you can’t even bear to kiss my lips,” Fairuzza spat at him, their faces but inches apart.

 

“Because that’s where it starts!” Mallick spat back, a bit of his witch’s voice peaking out in a the moment of anger, “That’s where we start and you know this. I can kiss your neck and hold my resolve, move on. But if I kiss your mouth I won’t stop, can’t stop, not until we’re done. I’ll not let you manipulate me so easily Fairuzza.”

Fairuzza’s mouth was still within inches of Mallicks. When he exhaled, she felt it on her lips. He could see her trembling now, and feel it as well, for she allowed her veil of control to drop a bit.

“If not now then when?” she inquired.

“When I am ready to renew our contract I will send…. a page to let you know. Now I ask you to leave me…please.”

She made as if to speak, but it was now Mallick’s turn to press his fingers to her lips.

“Shhhh,” he whispered. He allowed his fingers to drop yet his gaze still bore into her.

Fairuzza promised herself she wouldn’t cry, scream or set the entire room on fire with her rage… and before she could break her promises, she moved from his lap in one perfect movement. Almost cat like, she seemed to effortlessly spring away from him, landing neatly on her small bare feet. She then turned from him, pulling her shawl tight round her shoulders and left the room.