Esteemed Malevolence

XX: An Undesirable Proposition

Sweeney pressed Eleanor firmly into the bake-house door, the two of them were lost in a sea of deep kisses once more. Her head was reeling from how much attention he was giving her - after going almost weeks without any real interaction between them, what they'd both participated in was a shock to their systems.

It wasn't long, however, before he pulled away, and she gasped out, in dire need of air. With curious eyes, reddened cheeks and swollen lips she looked back at him, watching him intently as he crouched down and reached an arm backwards, feeling for their scattered clothes in the darkness. As soon as his fingers grappled onto the pile of material, he pushed himself forwards, so that he was directly before her bare bottom half.

He glanced up at her darkly, smirking when she instantly returned the look. His amusement heightened as he closed his eyes and leaned forwards, pressing kisses to the tender skin above her knees. When she groaned in response, he began to slide his entire body upwards, his lips trailing over each sensitive cell of skin. Once his mouth pressed kisses over the partially-exposed skin of her abdomen, he quickened his pace and stood up straight, dipping his head down again to catch her mouth in a hard kiss...

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

The main shop was deserted of anyone, apart from the suspicious girl, who was still hogging one of the window booths, hat tipped over her brow to shield her eyes.

Clearly lost in her thoughts, or merely disinterested, she failed to notice the movement of the shirtless barber - he was making an effort to creep out from the parlour, eyes analysing as he watched the girl with wary loathing. He wrung his clothing in his hands and he clenched his teeth, muscles tensing with frustration as the girl proceeded to place her feet up over the table, her arms folding behind her head.

He promised himself that he'd slit that little throat of hers another time, for now he needed to process what the hell had just happened... and how much he needed to encounter his accomplice, again, again ... and then again.

He swallowed, holding in his shallow breaths and pivoted in the direction of the narrow staircase, quietly bringing down his shoes with each step that he took.

As soon as he was halfway up the stairs, the heavy steps and equally fatigued breaths from behind him alerted him of Mrs Lovett's presence. She was peering up at his bare back, biting her lip... which was a lot redder than normal. He tilted his head back to the right, catching a glimpse of her still lusting after him over his shoulder. A smirk tugged on his mouth and he swivelled back further so that she could see his grin for herself, her chocolate pools cascading into his black hollows as their connection was finally rediscovered.

Neither could look away.

However, he soon seemed amused by her appearance. It would be clear to whoever was to walk in what the two of them had just done - the way her auburn hair was a tad more knotted than usual, the light pink tinge to her cheeks, the contented softness in her light brown eyes... not to mention, the dress that had clearly been slung on in a hurried manner - the blatant sight of her alone was enough for him to feel his want for her racing through his veins.

Feeling like he'd started to perhaps study the alluring woman far too much, he turned away and dropped his head down to the ground, bounding up the rest of the stairs like he had been expecting her to chase him up to his parlour for what she truly desired.

Instead, she chuckled under her breath, eyes gleaming with adoration as she watched the door to his quarters shut.

She hadn't expected them both to repeat their intimacy, especially so soon... especially when the two of them were within their open hours...