Between his sudden clasping of both of her hands in his and the words that were springing forth from his mouth it was only the risk of being seen that kept Ursula from giving in to the violent urge to kiss him... and more. She managed to keep her mouth to herself only by telling herself repeatedly that there might well be a time for what she so desperately wanted to do with him later on.

For all of her amorous inclinations she failed to return his compliments after happily lapping up those he had given her.

"Is it really possible that you could feel such things for me, Mr. Crouch?" She locked her eyes upon his with great intensity, willing him to either confess his love for her or to prove it with a more proactive gesture. Ursula squeezed his hands. "Such things as... love?" She squeezed them again. Now was the time for him to quickly remove her to a safe spot for a passionate kiss.

---

OUTFIT

  

---

Later, Aldous would not be able to say what had come over him but in the moment, it felt like a surge of pure necessity—pure fate—that propelled the wizard forward. More importantly, that same surge propelled his lips forward, meeting Mrs. Black's own in answer to her question.

So soft, so warm, so inviting, so right. How had Aldous lived more than three decades without feeling Ursula Black's lips upon his own?!

The following 1 user Likes Aldous Crouch's post:1 user Likes Aldous Crouch's post
   Ursula Black

---

— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

Sweet Merlin, yes. She kissed him back instantly with all the eagerness of a starving street urchin let loose on a banquet.

Her hands came to rest on his arms where they quickly came to be clutching tightly at the fabric there. What did it matter if anyone saw? What else in the world mattered but this? Nothing, that was what.

---

OUTFIT

The following 1 user Likes Ursula Black's post:1 user Likes Ursula Black's post
   Aldous Crouch

---

"We should be careful," the wizard murmured, reluctantly drawing away from her lips. While he cared not a whit for his own reputation—not in comparison to the goddess before him—Aldous very much cared that her husband might discover their embrace and kill him before he could liberate her from Black's unworthy clutches.

"I beg that you allow me to remove you to somewhere more private."

The following 1 user Likes Aldous Crouch's post:1 user Likes Aldous Crouch's post
   Ursula Black

---

— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

As much as she'd been hoping to be somewhere private with him that evening, she was still surprised to find it escalating to that point so quickly. She had never thought Aldous Crouch to be a rakish bachelor but it seemed she was pleasantly mistaken. "But of course," she purred. She took a slight step back and gazed at him expectantly, a giddy sort of smirk on her face as she wondered where he was going to take her.

---

OUTFIT

The following 1 user Likes Ursula Black's post:1 user Likes Ursula Black's post
   Aldous Crouch

---

Her hand in his—how exhilarating that felt!—the wizard disapparated with the tell-tale pop!, reappearing in an instant in his very own study, his very own home. It had been the first place to come to mind, a sanctuary that Aldous yearned to share with her, for she alone could truly appreciate it, could appreciate him.

He moved to steady her, remembering that side-along apparition was not always a comfortable experience. It was important, he thought, that she be comfortable, content, as elated as he—for if not, she might recognize his unworthiness, leave him for another man.

The following 1 user Likes Aldous Crouch's post:1 user Likes Aldous Crouch's post
   Ursula Black

---

— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

Expecting him to whisk her away to a room within their hosts' house, she was quite surprised to find herself being apparated off somewhere. The next thing she knew she was standing somewhere entirely unfamiliar, the distant din of the party completely gone, replaced by the quiet of what appeared to be a study. Presumably his study, unless she was wildly mistaken. Here was his private space, a room he presumably kept sacred as most men seemed to, and he'd decided to take her there of all places. It was probably a compliment, although Ursula really would have preferred feather pillows and silk sheets to the cold, hard wood of his floor.

At least she assumed he wasn't thinking of the desk, that seemed an awkward place to do it and she wasn't sure he ought to try with his leg as it was, the last thing she wanted was to see him hurt or embarrassed. "Where have you brought me?" she murmured playfully, leaning in close to him so that she breathed the words almost against his neck.

---

OUTFIT

  

---

"Home."

The word was weighty, carrying with it ideas of safety, of comfort, of peace. The idea that she was in his home struck Aldous both as unbelievable and inevitable. In leaving the party, it was as though they had left the real world behind them: here, all was as it should be, Mr. Crouch and his beautiful wife. That she was not his wife but someone else's was an unnecessary, troublesome detail that nagged irritatingly at the back of his mind even though her closeness, the feeling of her breath upon his skin, was like an opiate, drowning his senses.

A hand on either of her arms, Aldous held the woman back so that his eyes might drink her in even as other organs screamed for a closeness they had never before known.

"How right you look here," he offered softly, filled with wonder. "As though you have been here always, and must always be."

The following 1 user Likes Aldous Crouch's post:1 user Likes Aldous Crouch's post
   Ursula Black

---

— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

Ursula whined very softly with dismay as he pushed her away from him. As pleasant as his gaze upon her was she would much rather be back where she had been, up close and personal. She leaned in to his hold and gazed back at him with a heavy-lidded ardor. "Wherever you are is where I always wish to be." If she weren't besotted she might've been annoyed at him for disrupting the flow of their descent to debauchery but instead she felt some displaced impatience that seemed only to make it all the more urgent. "Won't you hold me?"

---

OUTFIT

The following 1 user Likes Ursula Black's post:1 user Likes Ursula Black's post
   Aldous Crouch

---

How could he refuse her and still call himself a man? Aldous enveloped the woman in his arms, trying not to place too much of his weight upon her, but finding it a bit tricky to remain upright without the cane, which now rested against his desk. But how could he complain, with the smell of her hair in his nostrils and her porcelain flesh against his own? Aldous' lips found hers once more, and he couldn't help but agree with her sentiment: so long as they were together, they would find true bliss.

  

---

— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

Ursula welcomed the return of his lips eagerly. There was no time to lose. Her hands moved to the buttons of his clothing of their own accord, deftly tackling them with muscle memory she hadn't realized she still possessed. She assumed he'd be at the fastenings of her dress at any moment, unless he intended to relocate them. She hoped he did even though it would momentarily stall things, a bed would be so much better.

---

OUTFIT

  

---

Aldous faltered as fingers began fumbling with the fastenings of his clothes, quite taken aback by this particular turn of events. She was his in spirit, in essence, in love—but oughtn't she be a bit more demure about this particular matter? Passion, though, had a way of overriding the mind, and so in turn Aldous found his own clumsy, inexperienced fingers fumbling at her fastenings.

  

---

— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

For a gut-wrenching moment Ursula thought she sensed him hesitate but it seemed either to pass or to be a figment of her imagination for he was soon making a start on her own clothing. He seemed to be making slow work of it she soon observed, much to her chagrin. If she wasn't careful she'd have him bare as the day he was born while she was still drowning in fabric. She didn't want to make him feel bad by helping him - at least not too obviously - but she couldn't just stop what she was doing or he'd notice that too.

There was only one thing for it. Ursula pulled away from their kiss ever so slightly. "My love," she began, stopping herself for a moment to consider how pleased he'd seemed about bringing her here in particular, what if suggesting they relocate hurt his feelings terribly? How could she put it delicately? "Here?" Would he catch her drift with just one word?

---

OUTFIT

  

---

Actions, they said, spoke louder than words.

So he acted.

  

---

— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —