All You Want

12) So Close With You On My Lips

Draco stared at Granger and wondered whether he was really understanding the question she had posed. Her eyes were black, and her cheeks deeply flushed as she looked desperately up at him, crossing her legs tightly as she continued to speak.

"You—you can say no. Obviously it's not—" she swallowed hard, "—necessary for scent-marking. It's not what you agreed to. It would just be easier for me if I know where the lines are or I'm going to be constantly worried that I'm pushing them."

"You're asking me if I want to have sex with you?" Draco said in a dazed voice, trying to ignore the burning desire he had to ignore her talking and simply pull her remaining clothes off. He stepped back.

Granger turned a deep shade of scarlet and dropped her eyes.

"Yes..." she said in a small voice.

"I would think that was obvious," he said, baffled.

Granger abruptly went from red to white.

"Right," she said quietly. Then she proceeded to pull her shirt closed and looked away from him. "Good to know. We—we should probably—write down what is and isn't acceptable. Have it all worked out ahead of time. If you don't mind. That would be helpful for me. I think I'll go now—since you have classes."

Draco blinked slowly. It was difficult to form many coherent thoughts just then, but he was fairly certain that a massive misunderstanding of some variety had somehow occurred.

"Wait," he growled, and then felt his cheeks flush. His voice had a mysterious habit of dropping into a rumble as soon as he caught so much as a whiff of Hermione. He had to make a conscious effort to try to keep his tone in a normal range so that he didn't constantly sound like he was snarling at her like a predator.

Granger looked back up at him sharply, and he noticed her shiver.

"Wait," he said again in a more normal tone. "By obvious, I meant yes. Did you—think I was saying no?"

Granger stared at him doubtfully.

"Yes?" she said, her voice hopeful and her eyes enormous as she studied him. It caused a painful tugging sensation to occur in his chest.

"Yes," he forced out. "I already said if I didn't like something I'd just tell you."

"I know," she said in a low squeak, and then huddled down, hunching her shoulders around her neck. "I just—I don't want you to agree to something and then change your mind. If you don't want to, I'd just rather know right off."

Draco stared at Granger in bewilderment as she set her jaw, slipped off the desk, and started straightening her clothing and rapidly repairing her torn shirt.

"In fact," she said quickly in a high, nervous voice, "we should probably give it some time. So you can think about it."

"What?" Draco said, incredulous.

"Yes," Granger was nodding to herself as she smoothed her hair and avoided looking at him, "time... would probably be a good idea—maybe a day or two. You can—can—can owl me."

Draco was speechless as she continued.

"Yes. Owl me. And then we can discuss terms—maybe somewhere better ventilated like—the library. Just, let me know; yes or no. You can say no. If you do, I'll—I'll just—that's fine. I won't keep pushing for it or anything."

Before Draco could formulate a response Granger had bolted across the classroom and disappeared through the door leaving him in a state of utter confusion and miserable arousal.