The Ripper

William Jack Holloway

Truly, William was not sure what the hell he had been thinking.

For two hundred years, his heart had belonged to but one soul. Even in the days of London when they were so torn apart by social customs and rules and laws, he had loved Sebastian. It was that alone that had led to countless fights between himself and his father as he simply refused to consider any of the perfectly acceptable young women he had been forced to court. It was simply unacceptable that a Duke's son refused to marry, and yet William had been firm in his belief that if he couldn't have Sebastian, he would have no one at all. Of course, there were rules and lineage and heirs to think about - something his father pointed out on countless occasions about the importance of the bloody Cavendish bloodline - and even William knew that he would have to marry eventually. But then his untimely death had took even that away from him as swiftly as it had taken Sebastian.

The two hundred years that followed had hardly given him a situation in which he could even think about falling in love, even if he hadn't been devastated by what had happened to him. It was simply impossible to meet anyone when you were running from city to city every few weeks or months. Even if he had found anyone he liked for more than a one night stand, he could never subject them to the life that he had that was so full of running and being chased. But now that he was making a home for himself in Sacrosanct - because how could he ever leave Sebastian's side again now that he had found him again - it was perhaps the first time that the Hunter was able to interest himself in those... wants.

There was something about the little blonde witch he'd ran into the night before that had immediately intrigued him. Sure, he'd thought immediately that she might have been hunting him at first, but there were moments after that in which it had been so... different from anything he'd ever experienced. Kissing her once had been a distraction, but the times that followed had been entirely for pleasure. Perhaps it was the adrenaline that had been pumping through his system that had had him calling out to her to ask if he could see her again. But it was even more pleasurable that she said yes and had given him that address to follow and a time.

In the nearing twenty-four hours that had followed, all William could think about was the taste of her lips and the way that she felt pressed against his form. For hours, he'd considered what a terrible idea it would be to go see her again. He couldn't settle down with someone. It wouldn't be fair to Sebastian. But Sebastian had someone. But it wouldn't be fair to whoever it was that he decided to see, would it? What if he had to leave again? But he wouldn't leave... It had been hours of back and forth arguing with himself until finally, he'd pulled on his coat and started out the door to the address that she had given him to meet her. Yes, he would meet her. It was one night. If it didn't go well, he would never have to see her again.

The man was positively nervous as he knocked on the door to the apartment she'd directed her to, though he took several breaths to attempt to conceal that. The last thing he wanted was for the snarky blonde thing to have something else to mock him for. No, he would be the face of composure today. At least, he was sure of that until she opened the door. He hardly had a time to react to her presence before she was shutting the door behind her, nearly falling into his arms. His hands shot out instinctively to grab ahold of her, pressing her back against the door with his hands on her hips and his face pressed only inches from hers. He couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips at her words. "I like meeting like this," He chuckled.

"Vhalla," He murmured as he leaned back just slightly, though he didn't remove his hands from her hips. Her name sounded almost musical on his lips, and it was that alone that had him whispering it once more. "Vhalla, you look..." He couldn't deny the way his eyes trailed down the length of her body. She looked stunning in the dress that exposed so much of her skin, and he certainly couldn't deny that he wanted to press his lips to those red ones of hers. "Beautiful," He finished, a grin playing on features before his lip quirked up into that smirk. "Now this is a pretty thin dress. How, my darling, do you possibly have anywhere to put the blades to kill me with?"

But darling -- it's only human nature.