Invictus [Tom Riddle / Tomione]

Manipulation

"He saw her before he saw anything else in the room." - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Tom pulled a black and silver case out of his robes. He took a cigarette out of the case and shoved the end between his lips, then lit it with his gold lighter.

He breathed in the smoke deeply, then exhaled. He could still taste her on his tongue.

He stood in the gardens beneath the starlight, basking in his victory.

Not only had his spell worked, but he had also successfully coaxed her into verbal assent. She was his . She'd admitted it, and the submission had fallen so exquisitely from her lips.

Tom grinned as he thought about Alphard Black.

' You're a shopboy, Tom. You are nothing. You have nothing. '

He chuckled to himself. "I have her ," he thought. "I have the support of nearly every pureblood family in Britain. I have my power, the most invaluable thing of all."

Perhaps Black was the one who truly had nothing.

It depended entirely upon perspective.

She was his .

Whether she wanted to be or not.

He recalled the way she'd clung to him, how she'd moved her hips desperately against his hand. He thought of how tight she felt around his fingers. He wished he'd been wearing his ring. The thought of the cold metal of his horcrux being coated in her juices made Tom come unhinged.

He was still dumbfounded by the fact that she was a virgin. He had not expected it.

That particular fact titillated him.

Tom closed his eyes and tilted his head back, breathing the tobacco deeply into his lungs. "Fuck," he exhaled.

The entire encounter had turned into much more than he had planned. He was surprised at how easily she'd come apart under his touch.

For two months he'd bided his time; he had not pursued her. He had not owled, nor attempted to see her.

So that the moment he touched her, she'd been ready to crumble... and crumble, she did.

He wanted more than anything to apparate her back to his flat, but he couldn't. He would have to approach this slowly. With caution.

She would go back into the gathering. She would leave tonight with Alphard Black.

He would allow that to happen.

But she was his .

That's all that mattered to Tom.

He didn't care whose arm she was on in public. He didn't care what the papers wrote. He truthfully didn't even care whose jewelry she wore.

It was his name on her lips. His fingers made her come undone.

That was enough for Tom.

For now .

Of course, there were her secrets. Another obstacle to deal with. Perhaps, he didn't need to uncover them. Perhaps, if she trusted him enough, she would reveal them herself.

Tom turned and gazed up at the balcony where she had disappeared. He took another long drag from his cigarette, savoring the blending of tobacco with the sweet and metallic taste of her.

Then, he cocked his head. There was a flash of green light, then blue which lit up the entrance to the hallway beyond the terrace. A moment later, he saw a flash of red. His brow furrowed, then his eyes narrowed. Another flash of blue.