On This Wild Night

IV. Artemis

The house was empty. Artemis pulled Charlie inside, where the familiar surroundings of the Weasleys' kitchen were quiet around them.

When she kissed him, he let go of her hand and brought both of his to her face, his thumbs resting on her cheeks and his fingers at her hairline. She kicked off her shoes, rested her bag down on the kitchen counter, and ran her palms up his chest until she reached his bow tie. Tugging slightly, she worked at the knot so that it came to hang loose around his neck.

Meanwhile, Charlie's hands began to travel down her body. As they reached her waist, he manoeuvred her to the middle of the room. He pulled his wand out of his back pocket and placed it on the kitchen table so that he could lean back against it, and his fingers dug slightly into her hips as he pulled her towards him.

"How long do you think we have?" she whispered, fingers fiddling with the buttons at the collar of his shirt.

"Speeches are in fifteen minutes."

"Won't anyone come looking for us before then?"

"No," was Charlie's reply. Artemis could feel his words as much as she could hear them, softly murmured against her skin as he started to trail kisses down her neck to her collarbone."I made up an excuse. They'll leave us alone."

"What did you tell them?" Artemis asked, her voice already breathy. Charlie paused, and pulled his lips away from her sternum to stare at her. "What?"

"We have all of fifteen minutes and you really want to know what rubbish I've spouted to keep everyone away? Does it matter?"

"No, you're right. Waste of time. As you were."

Charlie shook his head and chuckled, lowering his mouth to — as she could have predicted — Artemis' breasts. She let out a small moan and brought her hands down to untuck his shirt from his trousers, using her fingers to gently trace the lines where the muscles of his lower abdomen ended above his hips. He pulled her even closer, and she smiled as she felt him stiffen against her for the second time that afternoon.

This time, though, Charlie was responding in kind. He released his hold on her hips to run his palms down her thighs and back up again, bunching up the material of her dress as he went. He moved almost tantalisingly slowly, so that by the time his calloused fingertips grazed the top of her thighs, she could feel her yearning for him like a knot in her core. He continued to tease her with gentle touches that moved closer and further away again as he kissed his way back up her neck to her earlobe.

"Well, we both know there's nothing else in my way now," he said wryly, and a moment later, his fingers were exploring the wetness between her legs. His lips moved back to hers, and she felt them curve into a smile as she sighed against them, her hips already gently bucking against his hand.

Determined even now not to let him get the better of her so easily, her hands found his belt. Her fumbling fingers made less light work of it than they would normally, but it wasn't long before she was able to feel him through just his boxers. A few moments later, those were unbuttoned as well. She continued to work him, firmly massaging the length of his erection, feeling it twitch in her palm as his breath became ragged.

In response, Charlie upped the ante, drawing rough circles with his fingers before delving them into her, curving them to form a question mark. But just as she thought she had the answer, he moved his hand away entirely.

"Why did you stop?" she asked him.

"To do this," said Charlie's low voice. A second later, he had hoisted Artemis up, lifting her up from the ground with his hands under her bum.

Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and legs around his waist, and he carried her to the side of the room, resting her back against the wall.