Disclaimer- All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Author's Note:

Let's just say Artemis is, I don't know, 18.

Luv

Creatress

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Dedicated to RuDoragon and KitsuneHeart... For being as twisted as I am.

Artemis, To the Power of 8

Artemis was having trouble keeping his eyes open. The glare of the monitor was making his eyes blur even more, and his eyelids were begging to be dropped. He stopped typing so that he could rub at his eyes and temples with his fingers.

Save for the light of the computer, the study was completely dark. One could barely make out the snow falling outside in the pitch black night, but the blizzard made itself known through the howling wind. The manor was sturdy, there was no doubt about it; but the windows still occasionally shook. Evidence that nothing was stronger than the Earth itself.

Artemis tried to look at his screen and make sense of his research again, but his mind wandered back to earlier. Holly had flown in wet, shivering and weak from the cold and immediately passed out in his bed without getting past pleasantries. She'd kissed him hello, and he remembered thinking that her lips didn't feel like her – instead of warm and soft, they felt icy and hard. Then she'd mumbled something about a "short nap" before stumbling into the warmth of his bed. He'd covered her with a blanket and left so that she could rest for a bit… That had been two hours ago.

Holly was exhausted from long hours of work and the lengthy flight from Tara to Fowl Manor, but couldn't even heal herself, as she'd waited too long to do the ritual again. Whenever her carelessness didn't irritate or worry him, Artemis liked to tease her about it, warning her that the idea of kidnapping her again had crossed his mind more than once. "Instead of holding you for ransom this time, I could just keep you handcuffed to my bed." When she'd glared at him, he just threatened to make it worse by handcuffing her to the cot in dungeons. "It really makes no difference to me," he'd told her flippantly.

Artemis couldn't even find the energy to complain about Holly's current state. He was just happy Holly had made it to the manor and hadn't gotten lost in the storm. It was so hard for him not to move away from the computer, and join the redhead in his room. She wouldn't be very… Pleasurable… In her current state, but curling up around her in the sheets and giving into sleep… It was so very tempting.

Artemis slouched in his chair a little and scowled at the screen. He couldn't leave and go to Holly, though. He hated leaving things unfinished, and he hated being behind schedule.

A thought struck him and the mastermind smirked wryly. Before he'd kidnapped Holly, this spot had been his favourite in the whole building. The large oak table and the high-backed leather chair had been bought during his father's kidnapping. Because he had felt uncomfortable going through his father's workspace, he had set up his own and after moving his father's to another room. He would sit here for hours on end, wishing to be nowhere else in the world. In fact… Artemis had planned all of his business right here, including ones that took Holly into account.

Sighing through his nose, Artemis slouched in his chair a little, and decided that he would close his eyes for a few minutes. Just to rest them. Because he couldn't get any work done with the monitor blurring up every two minutes. His eyelids dropped, and the faint light in the room disappeared too.

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Artemis knew, as soon as he woke, that he'd slept longer than he'd intended. The screen was black - it had changed to a screensaver, and then automatically gone to stand-by mode. With his settings, it took about twenty minutes for that, but he didn't know how long his computer had been on stand-by. The study was darker than ever; he could barely see.

It wasn't until Artemis leaned forward to reach for his mouse that he noticed something soft against his throat and a light weight in his lap. It snapped him awake and he realized that he already had his arms around the small figure in his lap. Judging from her even breathing against the bottom of his neck, she was asleep. Smiling in fond exasperation, Artemis rolled the chair closer to his desk and flicked on the desk lamp.

In the warm, yellow glow of the lamp, Artemis saw that Holly had reacted with displeasure to the movement. He tried not to chuckle as she pouted in her sleep and cuddled against him, trying to burrow into his chest. Her small hands were clutching fistfuls of his jacket, and her legs were curled up in his lap. It was easy for him to tell from what she was wearing – a rather small cream coloured slip – what she had been planning. Obviously, the plan had been to come up to seduce him after her little nap. The plan changed when she saw him asleep, and instead, she'd decided to curl up in his lap and go back to sleep.

Though such a situation had never come up before, Artemis was fairly sure that he'd be greatly, er - displeasured, if someone's sleep cycles got in the way of his plans. He was also fairly sure that Holly felt the exact same way he did.

As if to confirm her boyfriend's suspicions, Holly moved against him again, sighing softly in her sleep. Artemis grinned wide enough for his canine tooth to glint in the dim light. Your wish…

When Artemis pressed the pad of his index finger to Holly's lower lip, she pouted against his skin and he noticed that her eyes were moving beneath her closed lids. REM sleep – her brain was active; she was most likely dreaming. However, there was always the possibility that fairy sleeps cycles were different than human. He wondered just how deep asleep she was.

In the darkness of the study, where there was no one awake to see him, Artemis allowed himself the luxury of smiling fondly as he brushed Holly's bangs aside before he moved his fingers to the side of her head to caress her hair. It was only a few inches long, barely long enough to fall past the bottom of her ears and chin.

Holly seemed to be enjoying his attention, as she sighed again, the slightest hint of a smile flickering across her lips as she cuddled against him, trying to get closer. Artemis wasn't someone who showed this much open affection often, especially if there were other people around, so it was always something she savoured when he did.

With one arm wrapped gently, but securely around Holly's neck and shoulders, Artemis brought his other hand down from her hair, trailing the back of his fingers lightly over her ear, making her start a little, her body jerking a bit. She still didn't wake up, and his fingers travelled on, down her throat and across her collar bone. Artemis smirked a little when Holly arched against him, making a sound that was a cross between a sigh and a moan. He turned his attention back to what she was wearing.

The slip was simple and unassuming, keeping the attention on the girl wearing it, the soft fabric gliding over and accentuating Holly's curves. The neckline didn't plunge, it didn't reveal the least bit of cleavage, as it ran innocently across the top of her chest. It was short, however, only coming a few measly inches past her hips. Because of the way Holly was curled up against him, the hemline had already ridden up quite high, stopping just slow enough to cover her panties. If she was even wearing any. Artemis trailed his fingers over one thin, suitably fragile-looking strap before he came to the swell of her breasts.

Artemis looked to Holly's face – she was sleeping peacefully, innocently unaware of what he was doing to her and what he was planning on doing to her. He wondered just how far he could push it. Watching her carefully, he cupped one of her breasts through the slip, discovering quickly that she was not wearing a bra. He grew hard beneath her, and Holly inhaled for a second longer than she had before, her lower lip slightly trembling in a silent whimper. Gods, he loved her lips.

Rubbing her breast, feeling her nipple harden beneath his thumb, Artemis pressed his lips against Holly's, the contact fueling his arousal further. He thought he felt her kiss back for a second, even in her sleep. He pulled away a little, running the tip of his tongue across her lower lip, making her pout as he moved away, grinning wolfishly when her hand jerked on his jacket.

Keeping one arm around Holly, Artemis used his other hand to quickly clear his desk of the papers he'd been looking at while working. Her last visit had been a month ago; he'd waited far too long for her. His monitor was fortunately situated at the side of his desk, or it might have been pushed off in his impatience. Once the dark wood became clear of clutter, Artemis rose from his chair, holding Holly against his chest.

Artemis lay the fairy down so that her body was on the desk, taking caution so as not to wake her up. Her backside was right at the edge of the desk, so that her legs would have dangled off the side if Artemis hadn't been holding them. She turned her head from one side to another, possibly in a subconscious attempt to get comfortable. But a second later, she was still.

Keeping a light grip on Holly, Artemis ran his fingers up the sides of her legs, pushing the flimsy material of the slip up higher as he went. She was wearing simple black panties, which he easily slid down her legs and pulled off of her. Artemis tensed a little when Holly's squirmed a bit on his desk, her lips parting for a second.

After a few seconds of still silence, Artemis deemed it okay to continue. He spread Holly's legs and stepped in between her thighs. In the soft light, he looked to Holly's face again. She looked beautiful – he had to stop for a moment to take in the slight arch of her dark red eyebrows, and the way her lashes curved, almost brushing against the top of her cheek. He had a sudden urge to lean over and kiss her eye, but resisted just to avoid the risk of waking her up.

Holly's lips parted for a second, almost as if she wanted to say something, before she moved her hand to rest it beside her head. He trailed his hand up her inner thigh, and smirked devilishly when Holly writhed on the desk, her eyebrows furrowing, as he reached his destination. She was warm there and so wet; so much more aroused than he had expected her to be and he raised an eyebrow at her disturbed, but still slumbering features. "What are you dreaming of, Holly?" Artemis murmured, beneath his breath.

She was so hot, the exact opposite of what she had been like earlier. Suddenly, Holly jerked in her sleep, pulling her legs away from him and trying to push them back together. All she succeeded in doing was trapping Artemis's hand at her centre, sending a jolt of lust rushing to his head and his loins. Removing his hand, Artemis impatiently unzipped his pants and freed his throbbing, erect member before prying Holly's legs apart again.

Holly's eyebrows furrowed, and she whimpered almost inaudibly. Artemis half-noticed that her hands were curled into fists as he grabbed her hips to hold her still. He entered her slowly, going in halfway, trying not to lose control of himself as she squirmed in her sleep, the slight rocking of her hips causing her to massage him. Steadying himself, he pulled out a little and thrust back in, fully this time.

Holly arched her back, inhaling sharply, and Artemis froze, closing his eyes for a second and groaning, relishing the feeling of being back inside her. He had missed her the last month, terribly so, more than he'd care to admit, even to himself. He began to move, increasing his speed, burying himself to the hilt with each thrust. When he opened his eyes, he quickly took notice of Holly's lashes fluttering a little. Finally, she was starting to wake up.

Artemis was far from Prince Charming, but he found the idea amusing on an almost ironic level. He stopped for a second, coming to a jerky halt inside of her before he leaned over and caught Holly's lips under his own. His tongue invaded her mouth as he started moving again, the rhythms almost in sync. He growled hungrily into her mouth. He was drowning in the familiarity of her, the taste of her, the scent and feel of her – this was his most favourite place in the world.

Holly's lashes swept across Artemis' cheek when her eyes finally opened, and later he would think it miraculous that he even noticed in his state. When he realized his lover was awake, Artemis broke the kiss off just as Holly opened her mouth in a soft gasp of ecstasy. He kept his forehead against hers, and looked into her glassy eyes – she seemed frozen. But then her eyes shut, and her back arched. Artemis stumbled, burying his face in Holly's hair as her walls tightened around him. They came at the same time, Holly crying out as Artemis groaned into the side of her head.

They lay quietly for a long moment, Artemis trying to catch his breath and Holly just trying to breathe. Artemis quickly became aware that the redhead hadn't moved or made a sound since her orgasm, and became concerned. He pushed himself off of her, fixing himself before he stood upright. "Holly?" he asked, looking her over.

Holly was staring off to the side, looking dazed. She seemed not to hear him.

Artemis cupped her jaw, rubbing at her cheek a little with his thumb. "Holly," he said, again.

Holly finally turned to look at him. "Hmm?" she mumbled, staring at him as if she'd never seen him before.

Artemis raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you okay?" he asked, letting go of her cheek. "Can you sit up?"

Holly blinked and then smiled a little, bringing her hands up to her face. She rubbed her temples with her fingers, and her voice sounded muffled behind her palms. "I don't want to. I want to go to sleep."

Artemis' lips twitched. When Holly let her hands fall lifelessly on either side of her head, he took one, gripping her small fingers gently. No one could ever guess just by looking what those dainty-looking hands were capable of. "Not on my desk, Holly," he chided, pulling on her hand.

Holly squirmed a little, her mouth twisting. She looked ready to argue with him, but instead, she just let Artemis pull her up into a sitting position. Once again, she leaned forward and buried her face in his chest, against his dark green tie. "I…" she started. "I was dreaming…"

Artemis smiled a little, using the tips of his fingers to comb through her hair. It had a softness and a slight curl to it at the ends that no one would have noticed when it had been in its buzz cut. "What about?" he asked, lightly.

Suddenly, Holly seemed to stiffen. She jerked away from him, her eyes wide and her face flushed. "Nothing," she said, quickly.

Too quickly.

Artemis' eyes narrowed, as he recalled her being so aroused before he'd barely even touched her. What had she been dreaming of? "Holly…"

Holly's lower lip disappeared between her teeth for half a second, before she hopped down from the desk. Because of how exhausted she was, from the flight over or her little 'nap' on Artemis' desk, Holly faltered when her feet touched ground and had to grab Artemis' forearm to steady herself. "I'm going back to bed," she said, her words fast, as she rushed, stumbling almost drunkenly, toward the door.

Artemis stopped for two seconds, looking at the papers strewn on the floor, considering his work. He quickly decided that there were more important matters to attend to and left the room to go after Holly.

Artemis got to his dark room and immediately knew Holly was fully covered by the blanket, in bed. He would have to have a chat with No 1 – because of the demon, he couldn't order Holly to confess. No 1 had undone that spell along with the need for invitations when entering dwellings.

Artemis paused, letting his eyes run over Holly's outline under the sheets and smirked. But then again, No 1 undoing that spell gave him an excuse to do this the hard way. He quietly closed and locked his door behind him before turning the lights on, increasing the brightness to an almost blinding glare. Holly moved a little under the covers. He walked over to the bed and whipped the blanket off of her.

"Why are the lights so bright?" Holly groaned, rather petulantly and moved to hide her face in the pillow.

Artemis wasn't having any of that. He grabbed her arm and jerked her up into a sitting position.

Holly scowled angrily, and tried to pull away from him. It was obvious from the way she blinked rapidly that she was still dead tired and having trouble focusing. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Artemis smirked, keeping a firm grip on her arm.

Holly tried to pull away, so that she could fall back on the comfortable bed. She momentarily cursed herself and Butler – herself for forgetting to do the ritual that would have allowed her to regain her strength quickly, and Butler for forcing Artemis to weight train. Maybe it was the hard day followed by the hard evening followed by the hard night, but Holly was seriously considering crying. "I want to go to sleep, Artemis - " She winced when she heard her voice – half whining, half begging.

"I know you do," Artemis said, coolly. He pulled her closer and held her against his chest, rubbing her back in a gesture that contrasted his uncaring tone of voice. "And I'll let you go to sleep - " Holly pushed away from him a bit and looked up at him with wide eyes. " – when you tell me what you were dreaming of."

Holly stared at Artemis for a second, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. "What?" she asked, slowly, mentally processing what he was saying.

Artemis gave her a derisive little smile before firmly pressing his lips to her forehead. He then looked her in the eyes. "You don't think I'm above using sleep deprivation, do you?"

Holly shivered, a sudden chill running up and down her spine, following the path that Artemis was tracing with his fingers. She twisted a little, trying to push away from him. "You wouldn't," she muttered.

"Wouldn't I?" Artemis leaned down to kiss her on the lips, silencing whatever retort she had planned.

Holly stopped fighting for only a second, though before she groaned; not in pleasure, but in resistance as she twisted her head aside to break off the kiss. "Artemis," she gasped. "Please – I have no magic. I need my sleep – it's been a long – "

"I don't care, Holly. These lights will stay on until I hear what I want to hear," Artemis said, shoving her gently so that she fell back on the bed, on her knees. He cocked his head to the side a little, studying her. To most people, he would have looked thoughtful, but Holly caught the dark glint of suspicion in his eyes. "Why are you so insistent on keeping quiet about it?" he asked, lowly.

Holly brushed her bangs aside with the back of her hand, but immediately regretted it as her face started to redden. She lowered her eyes to Artemis' neck, unable to look him in the eye. Her voice dropped several decibels. "I was dreaming about you, Artemis, I swear." If Holly had been more alert, she would thought that Artemis would have noticed her look away and construed that to indicate she was lying.

Artemis frowned, wondering if she was lying or just embarrassed. He decided to try another tactic and sighed, exasperatedly. He cupped the side of Holly's face and looked sober when she looked up at him. "Holly, it's me," he said, gently. "You tell me everything. What did you dream about?"

Holly looked away from him, but bit the bottom of her lip – as if the words wanted to come out and she was fighting to hold them in.

Artemis decided to prod her a little. "It was… One of those dreams, wasn't it?" No need to specify what one of those dreams were.

Holly nodded her head once, still avoiding Artemis' gaze. If she looked into his eyes, she would tell him everything, and she would hate herself for it.

"You've told me about those dreams before," Artemis reminded her, his lips brushing against her temple.

Holly buried her face in his chest. She had; but all the others ones were so… Normal.

"I'm sorry, Holly." Artemis pushed her away from him, just enough so that she couldn't lean into him. When she looked up at him with wide, begging eyes, he smiled apologetically and kissed the top of her head. "Tell me what I did to you," he said, matter-of-factly. "And I'll let you sleep."

Holly couldn't find the energy to hate him for acting like this – she knew he cared for her, and she knew he loved her. He'd told her so – once. A very long time ago; after escaping a situation that should have, if the world was logical, ended with their deaths. She sighed, softly. It was only a fantasy – a fantasy that couldn't be. All things considered, what's the worst way he could react?

Suddenly, vivid images of the dream hit her, flashing before her eyes in such a way that they could have caused a seizure – Holly inhaled sharply, and clutched fistfuls of Artemis' jacket, fixing her eyes on his tie, taking comfort in the dark, forest green of its colour. She exhaled. "I… You and I…" She licked her lips. She couldn't bring herself to look up Artemis' face, but she could imagine him raising an eyebrow in impatience. "There wasn't just… One."

"One…?"

"You." Holly wanted to bury her face in his chest. "There was more than one you."

Artemis was silent for a second. "Ah," he said, finally, sounding rather unimpressed. "Was there more than one Holly, as well?"

Holly didn't react for a second, but Artemis caught her eyes widening a little before she shook her head. "No. Only one me." She felt – for Frond's sake – she felt him smile, and an electric chill shot through her.

"How many were there? Of me?" Artemis asked, tightening his arm around her waist. Holly suddenly felt like she wanted to get away.

"I don't know – a – " Holly stuttered. "A lot – I don't know, Artemis." She suddenly sounded panicked and Artemis thought he saw her eyes glazing over. "Can't I please go to sleep now? Please?"

Artemis chuckled, lowly. "Yes, Holly, you may sleep now." For Holly's sake, Artemis wiped the vampiric smile off of his face, and left Holly to turn to his bedside table. Aware of Holly scrambling away from him and pulling the blanket to her neck, he picked up a small remote control and pressed a button. The room plunged into darkness.

Artemis turned to where Holly was and his hand found the side of her head. He quickly pressed his lips none too gently against hers, in what was supposed to be a good-night kiss. Her eyes were closed, but he knew she wasn't asleep just yet. "Sweet dreams, Holly."

End of Chapter 1

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A/n

Who understand the title now?

Okay, this is an apology for not updating for two and a half months. I've actually taken that time to focus on school and write some of my original fiction. Now, Like a Lollipop is just sitting there because I have a hard time reconciling humour with first-time smut. But, this kind of smut (gangbangs, yo) is funner and, somehow, easier to write. Also, I'm… experienced with it. Well, writing it. Not actually taking part…

Persephone's Crown and Holly at Hogwarts will be up sometime this week. Probably Friday, Saturday at the latest.

If you're neither RuDoragon nor KitsuneHeart and, yet, you still want this fic to continue… Review and tell me so. (RuDoragon and Kit, I expect you guys to review, too.)

Luv,

Creatress