Amici ed Amanti

Amici ed Amanti

With Friends Like These Part 6

He really is pretty, she thought as she walked around the massive mahogany desk that was situated at the far end of the long room and framed by two enormous floor to ceiling stain glass windows.

For his part, Liam was leant back in his leather chair with his feet propped up on the desk, ankles crossed and eyes closed. He had long since discarded his black outer robes, the charcoal suit jacket and deep green and silver striped silk tie he'd worn to lunch. The top few buttons of his crisp white linen dress shirt were undone, exposing the corded muscles of his neck.

Lucy Ann took her time observing him. They'd been stuck in the study now for over two hours and he'd been asleep for past half hour. She hadn't had a chance to see him, really see him, since her fateful last day in Italy when he had looked so tired and lost. That definitely wasn't the case now. It wasn't often she could catch him in such an unguarded moment and she planned to take full advantage.

"He needs a haircut," she mouthed, but no sound escaped her lips. Although she had to admit that the messy Malfoy blond locks that just barely graced his shoulders made him look almost dangerous, but in a good way - the stomach-flipping, weak knees kind of way.

She admired the way his bottom lip was slightly fuller than his top lip, which was both pouty and sexy. She was remembering just how good those lips felt against her bare skin when his eyes flicked opened.

His lovely mouth curled in a wicked half-smile. "See something that you like?"

She opened her mouth to protest, but no sound came out. She cursed him and his silencing spell. Instead she shook her head vehemently and backed away.

The half-smile turned predatory as he sat up. "I don't bite, you know. Well, not all that hard anyway."

Lucy Ann glared at him, silently trying to cast a Bat-Bogey Hex on him. That'd teach him to be so damn smug.

"What's the matter, Goosey? Cat got your tongue?" She gave him a very rude gesture with her hands, which only made him smirk. "Well, that certainly wasn't very ladylike now was it?"

He rose from behind his desk to stalk her until she backed into a corner, leaving her with no means of escape. "Luckily for you, it's one of your qualities that I happen to admire a great deal."

Not one to back down from a challenge, she gave him a dubious look before shoving away hard so she wouldn't feel so trapped. She crossed her arms in defiance. He was not going to get the best of her.

"Promise to be a good little witch if I lift the spell?" She stuck her tongue out at him just as he removed the spell with a wave of his hand. "Naughty, naughty. I can think of better uses for your tongue."

She had to bite her tongue to keep from telling him what he could do with himself. She wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of her ire. That was exactly what he wanted and the last thing she wanted him to have. Liam Malfoy needed to learn that he couldn't have everything at his whim, especially her.

"I'm going to fix myself a drink. Would you like something?"

Lucy Ann ignored him, returning to the chair where she'd spent the last few hours with her back to him, trying to pretend she wasn't thinking about him. He wanted her silenced, then that was what he was going to get. And so help him if he was the one who locked them in the study...

"Fine, Lucy Ann, act like a spoilt child. See if I care," he said angrily, slamming a crystal tumbler down on the marble counter top in the liquor cabinet and causing her to jump. "Just remember, when all is said and done I at leated tried!"

He was angry now, she could tell, and it wasn't a good thing. She'd finally managed to push him too far. She sat there listening to him fix another drink - scotch on the rocks. The creak of the chair told her that he's resumed his position behind that imposing desk that used to belong to his Grandfather Malfoy. The heavy scratching of quill against parchment was the only sound in the room.

"I see you've moved into the Manor," she said finally, figuring she had to start somewhere.

"Yes." He didn't look up from whatever he was doing.

"Did your Mum go nutters?"

"No."

"Is everything in order or do you have more work to do?" The study looked so different from the last time Lucy Ann had been in Malfoy Manor.

Liam had wanted to see the infamous old manor house for himself and his mother wouldn't hear of him making the trip out to Wiltshire. So one day they caught the train and had a look-see for themselves. The house had not been lived in since shortly after his grandmother's death and it definitely looked it. Most of the furniture had been covered with oilcloth, the heavy draperies were pulled closed and everything was dusty. There'd been several rooms they couldn't explore because of strong wards.

"More work."

She'd gotten up to peruse the books on the shelf near her chair a few moments before admiring the portrait of a delicately beautiful woman in wedding dress above the fireplace. "Who is that?"

He finally glanced up from what he was doing. "Narcissa Black Malfoy, my grandmother."

"She was really beautiful wasn't she?"

"Yes."

"Ava looks just like her."

"Maybe."

"She does. She's going to have wizards queuing at the door."

"Over my dead body."

Lucy Ann laughed at his overprotective nature. That was just like him. "For someone who didn't want any more siblings you sure are attached to the two newest ones."

That earned her a dark look before he returned to whatever task he'd been doing previously. Once again the room fell silence except for the sound of quill against parchment.

"I'm hungry," she announced approximately fifteen minutes later unable to stand the silence any longer, but at a total loss as to how to start a real conversation with him.

The scribbling stopped and the silence was enormous while she held her breath waiting for him to respond. "Well, whose fault is that?"

"Yours."

"Mine? I think not! You were the one who caused a scene."

"I did not cause a scene! You were the one causing a scene with that blonde tart-"

"Tabby is a nice girl-"

"I bet she is a nice girl."

"She's a friend."

Lucy Ann snorted. "Shag buddy maybe."

"I can't do this anymore," he said, sounding defeated. He shoved back from the desk, getting up to stare into the fireplace. "I'm done. I thought after getting your invitation to lunch that you were willing to meet me half way, but I see that simply isn't the case. I will tell Murphy I can't be his best man because I refuse to ruin my best friend's wedding with childish fighting."

She blinked as his words sank in. "What'd you just say?"

"You heard me." He turned to give her the patented Malfoy glare.

"I invited you to lunch?"

"Yes."

"No. You demanded my presence."

Liam shook his head, shifting the parchments on the desk until he found the cream colored note. "I have the note right here. "Liam, We need to talk. Please meet me at the Thai Gardens at 1pm Saturday for lunch. Lucy Ann." It's definitely your handwriting."

"I didn't write that!" She pulled out her own piece of folded light grey parchment. "I got one from you demanding my presence."

"Let me see that," he said, taking the note from her. "This isn't my parchment. It's the wrong color."

Their eyes locked, widening with recognition as they both hissed in unison, "Stephie!"

"I'm going to. . . to. . . to. . ." Lucy Ann started, her anger robbing her of the ability to think.

"I should have known after Murphy's visit to Sydney. I didn't want to believe it."

"He went to ask you to be his best man."

"No, an owl would have sufficed. Stephie probably suggested that Mere bully Murph into spying for them. He's weak when it comes to women - can't say no."

"They wouldn't. Stephie wouldn't do that to me!"

"Face the facts, sweetheart. She did."

"Why would they do this to us?" She was at a total loss as to why her best friends in whole world would do something like this. They knew how she felt about Liam and all his antics over the past year. He'd toyed with her emotions then broke her heart in Italy. They knew this perfectly well.

"No, the question is what are we going to do about it?"

"Well," Lucy Ann said, her mind turning over possibilities. "They don't know that we know."

"And just what are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggesting that we become their worse nightmare."

"Oh." Liam's eyes twinkled mischievously. "I'm really liking the sound of this."

"The way I figure it is we would have put our differences aside for the sake of our friends - eventually, that is." She gave him a questioning look. "We're both adults."

"Yes. And?"

"They are counting on that little fact so what if we give them the exact opposite of what they wanted?"

"I like the way you think witch, it's damn sexy," he all but purred.

"Stop, I'm being serious here." She was finding him increasingly more difficult to resist. Damn him for being so adorably smug. It was wrecking havoc on her ability to think properly.

"I am too."

"It shouldn't be too difficult to make them believe since I can barely stand to be in your presence as it is."

"If you say so."

"I say so."

"I don't believe it."

"Believe it."

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks." He grabbed her hand, pulling her hard flush against his long body.

She immediately started to struggle, pushing at his chest. Anything to gain some distance, some control over the situation. This was not what was supposed to be happening. One of his arms snaked around her waist while his free hand found its way to the back of her neck. "What do you call yourself doing?"

"Shutting you up."

Warmth flooded her body, making it increasingly more difficult to protest when it settled pleasantly in the pit of her stomach as his lips finally assaulted hers with the tenderest of kisses. Lucy Ann's mouth parted with ease as he begged entrance, his tongue tentatively invaded, exploring and teasing. He tasted of the scotch he'd drank earlier. Her arms slipped around his shoulders, her fingers found their way to his silky hair, guiding his movements as she gently sucked his tongue. She felt his groan more than she heard it. A small thrill went up her spine just knowing she could do this to him.

The edge of the desk was pressing insistently against the back of her thighs. His hands slid down her sides as he leaned her backwards, reaching around her to push stacks of parchment, quills, and an inkpot carelessly to the floor. His hands found her hips, urging her to slide up on the desk so he could settle between her thighs. Her ankles locked behind his knees as his mouth become more demanding. He trailed hot, open mouthed kisses down her throat to a hollow on her shoulder, nipping lightly at the little spot until he'd elicited a deep moan from her.

Lucy Ann's hands busied themselves with unbuttoning his shirt, the desperate desire to feel his skin beneath them was almost more than she could bear. She could no longer lie to herself this was exactly what she wanted. Had always wanted. Would always want. Liam was her everything. How could she have been so stupid?

Her sense of loss was immediate when he stepped back to stare at her with darkened eyes, panting. His shirt was hanging open so she could see the smooth defined muscles of his chest. Her eyes closed as she tried to steady her breathing and still her heart before it beat out of her chest. She was about to implore him to continue on before he smirked at her.

"Well, would you look a-there. The door is open."