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In which a superhero meets his match, masks are uncovered and a mad scientist just tries to get some mad science-ing done without getting distracted by the antics of her magical minion.
Kara sighed sleepily, pressing her lips to the slender neck exposed in front of her.
Tastes like summer.
She smiled drowsily, feeling more relaxed and at ease than in… longer than she cared to remember. Maybe ever. Her fingers started tracing the curves of the woman curled up in her arms, memories of last night slowly filtering into her consciousness. Vines. Pain. Pleasure. Kara shifted her weight, subtly rocking her morning erection against Diane’s backside with a soft moan.
Her brow furrowed. There was something wrong with this picture, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.
Villain, her brain helpfully pointed out.
Shade jerked up, his eyes wide.
Villain, his brain repeated, with a touch of hysteria. You slept with a villain.
Shade was strangely okay with that.
No! None of this was okay in any way, shape or form. He drew back from the sleeping woman in his arms, noticing some resistance. Tiny vines were curling around his wrist, trying to keep him close. Unlike the massive monstrosities that had held him in place last night (until they let go and you stayed anyway, an accusing voice in his head snarled), these weren’t truly restraining him. In fact, the way they clung to him seemed more… affectionate than anything.
He yanked his hand away, ripping the delicate plant apart. Diane winced in her sleep, turning restlessly.
She felt the damage inflicted on her creations? Interesting. He filed away that information for future use.
Shade exhaled, calming himself. The casual observer might not notice the depth of his distress, or even that he was distressed at all; the only hint to his mental state was a crazed gleam to his eyes, hidden beneath the domino mask he’d — thankfully! — kept on. Appearing cool, calm and collected under tremendous pressure — like while facing a death ray or a mutant Doom Squirrel — was no easy task, but Shade, like most heroes, had honed that skill. It came naturally to him. Some of his colleagues found his aloof coldness unsettling, which Shade scoffed at. They were usually the first to panic in the face of the Doom Squirrels.
Shade realized his thoughts were drifting, trying to steer away to any topic that was not the naked villainess in front of him.
Deep breath.
He’d had an indiscretion. As heroes sometimes did. He was not the first, nor would he be the last, to have a fling with one of the morally challenged. It was an open secret that was tolerated and, much like the frequent wardrobe malfunctions that came with capes and spandex, not spoken of in polite company.
He just had to not repeat it. Ever.
While one-night stands were tolerated, relationships were not. A relationship between a hero and a villain never lasted. If they did somehow manage to stay together, it still ended in one of two ways: As two heroes, or two villains.
Shade ran his fingers through his short black hair, willing himself to stay calm and to look at this rationally.
His gaze strayed to the woman peacefully asleep to his feet, lying naked in a soft bed of ruby petals. With her inhuman red eyes closed, she looked deceptively innocent. Maybe… Shade shook his head, taking another step back. No. He shouldn’t even be thinking that. Many fallen heroes had thought they could change their partners, only to end up being the ones corrupted.
Shade knew himself. He was weak. All his life he’d fought temptation, and all his life he had lost. There was no way he’d come out ahead on this one.
Still his mind flashed to the image of the sick, dying girl she’d been only a few months ago. Had she been evil then? Maybe it wasn’t too late—
No.
He turned away, his body dissipating into fine dark vapor.
***
Diane stretched like a lazy, utterly content cat as the sun’s first rays touched her, shining through the museum’s big arched window. She sleepily blinked against the light. Then she turned her face toward its source, basking in the glow. Better than morning coffee, she thought, and sighed contently.
God, she felt great, her body tingling with the echoes of half-remembered delight. That had to have been the most fun night she’d had in—
Diane frowned and craned her neck.
Alone. Shade was gone.
She huffed, highly offended. So much for the chivalry of heroes; apparently Shade was the love ‘em and leave ‘em type. Jerk. It wasn’t like she cared; she got what she wanted.
Her frown deepened.
Why was this upsetting her? She was the love ‘em and leave ‘em type, for God’s sake. If Shade had still been asleep next to her, there was a good chance she would have snuck out on him. Well, okay, she wouldn’t have. She would have woken him up to tell him the museum staff would probably be arriving soon, and then she would have walked out on him. Diane was nothing if not considerate.
Shade had been considerate, too.
Diane rolled over on her belly, contemplating last night. The violently antisocial hero had turned out to be an amazingly gentle lover, seeming to want nothing more than to please her. It had been… sweet. Like a devoted pet. A very sexy, very skilled pet in very pretty underwear, obediently answering to a woman’s name.
So many contradictions within that man. He just got more and more intriguing.
A sudden clatter disturbed the silence, interrupting Diane’s thoughts. She raised her head.
A woman wearing a conservative suit was standing in the entrance to the hall, her eyes wide. Diane belatedly realized what the scene must look like to her — vines and flowers growing along the walls, black leather scattered everywhere, and a naked red-eyed lady sunbathing in the middle of the room.
Oh well. It was Paragon. Surely she’d seen stranger things.
The woman opened her mouth, taking a deep breath as if building up to a scream.
Perhaps not.
One of her many vines lashed out, gently wrapping itself around the woman’s mouth, effectively muzzling her.
“Hush, peon, I’m thinking here.”
The problem thus temporarily taken care of, Diane’s musings returned to Shade. Kara. Whatever.
When one was living on borrowed time, it was not a good idea to waste one’s life with indecision. Diane had her life neatly sorted into what she wanted, obstacles she had to overcome to get to the former, and tools at her disposals with which she could crush the latter. And she was, above all else, honest with herself, refusing to feel shame for the things she craved, nor to try to talk herself out of it.
What did she want? Shade. Also money, but that was always a given.
What obstacles stood in her way? The answer was, once again, Shade.
What did she have? Her gaze surveyed the exhibition hall. She had her vines, but she doubted he’d keep falling for that. And if he did, well, at some point she’d start questioning his intelligence and that led to the land of no-attraction.
What else…
Her gaze zeroed in on something lying not far from her.
Her lips curled into a grin that some might call evil.
Kara will want those panties back.
In which a superhero meets his match, masks are uncovered and a mad scientist just tries to get some mad science-ing done without getting distracted by the antics of her magical minion.
Kara sighed sleepily, pressing her lips to the slender neck exposed in front of her.
Tastes like summer.
She smiled drowsily, feeling more relaxed and at ease than in… longer than she cared to remember. Maybe ever. Her fingers started tracing the curves of the woman curled up in her arms, memories of last night slowly filtering into her consciousness. Vines. Pain. Pleasure. Kara shifted her weight, subtly rocking her morning erection against Diane’s backside with a soft moan.
Her brow furrowed. There was something wrong with this picture, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.
Villain, her brain helpfully pointed out.
Shade jerked up, his eyes wide.
Villain, his brain repeated, with a touch of hysteria. You slept with a villain.
Shade was strangely okay with that.
No! None of this was okay in any way, shape or form. He drew back from the sleeping woman in his arms, noticing some resistance. Tiny vines were curling around his wrist, trying to keep him close. Unlike the massive monstrosities that had held him in place last night (until they let go and you stayed anyway, an accusing voice in his head snarled), these weren’t truly restraining him. In fact, the way they clung to him seemed more… affectionate than anything.
He yanked his hand away, ripping the delicate plant apart. Diane winced in her sleep, turning restlessly.
She felt the damage inflicted on her creations? Interesting. He filed away that information for future use.
Shade exhaled, calming himself. The casual observer might not notice the depth of his distress, or even that he was distressed at all; the only hint to his mental state was a crazed gleam to his eyes, hidden beneath the domino mask he’d — thankfully! — kept on. Appearing cool, calm and collected under tremendous pressure — like while facing a death ray or a mutant Doom Squirrel — was no easy task, but Shade, like most heroes, had honed that skill. It came naturally to him. Some of his colleagues found his aloof coldness unsettling, which Shade scoffed at. They were usually the first to panic in the face of the Doom Squirrels.
Shade realized his thoughts were drifting, trying to steer away to any topic that was not the naked villainess in front of him.
Deep breath.
He’d had an indiscretion. As heroes sometimes did. He was not the first, nor would he be the last, to have a fling with one of the morally challenged. It was an open secret that was tolerated and, much like the frequent wardrobe malfunctions that came with capes and spandex, not spoken of in polite company.
He just had to not repeat it. Ever.
While one-night stands were tolerated, relationships were not. A relationship between a hero and a villain never lasted. If they did somehow manage to stay together, it still ended in one of two ways: As two heroes, or two villains.
Shade ran his fingers through his short black hair, willing himself to stay calm and to look at this rationally.
His gaze strayed to the woman peacefully asleep to his feet, lying naked in a soft bed of ruby petals. With her inhuman red eyes closed, she looked deceptively innocent. Maybe… Shade shook his head, taking another step back. No. He shouldn’t even be thinking that. Many fallen heroes had thought they could change their partners, only to end up being the ones corrupted.
Shade knew himself. He was weak. All his life he’d fought temptation, and all his life he had lost. There was no way he’d come out ahead on this one.
Still his mind flashed to the image of the sick, dying girl she’d been only a few months ago. Had she been evil then? Maybe it wasn’t too late—
No.
He turned away, his body dissipating into fine dark vapor.
Diane stretched like a lazy, utterly content cat as the sun’s first rays touched her, shining through the museum’s big arched window. She sleepily blinked against the light. Then she turned her face toward its source, basking in the glow. Better than morning coffee, she thought, and sighed contently.
God, she felt great, her body tingling with the echoes of half-remembered delight. That had to have been the most fun night she’d had in—
Diane frowned and craned her neck.
Alone. Shade was gone.
She huffed, highly offended. So much for the chivalry of heroes; apparently Shade was the love ‘em and leave ‘em type. Jerk. It wasn’t like she cared; she got what she wanted.
Her frown deepened.
Why was this upsetting her? She was the love ‘em and leave ‘em type, for God’s sake. If Shade had still been asleep next to her, there was a good chance she would have snuck out on him. Well, okay, she wouldn’t have. She would have woken him up to tell him the museum staff would probably be arriving soon, and then she would have walked out on him. Diane was nothing if not considerate.
Shade had been considerate, too.
Diane rolled over on her belly, contemplating last night. The violently antisocial hero had turned out to be an amazingly gentle lover, seeming to want nothing more than to please her. It had been… sweet. Like a devoted pet. A very sexy, very skilled pet in very pretty underwear, obediently answering to a woman’s name.
So many contradictions within that man. He just got more and more intriguing.
A sudden clatter disturbed the silence, interrupting Diane’s thoughts. She raised her head.
A woman wearing a conservative suit was standing in the entrance to the hall, her eyes wide. Diane belatedly realized what the scene must look like to her — vines and flowers growing along the walls, black leather scattered everywhere, and a naked red-eyed lady sunbathing in the middle of the room.
Oh well. It was Paragon. Surely she’d seen stranger things.
The woman opened her mouth, taking a deep breath as if building up to a scream.
Perhaps not.
One of her many vines lashed out, gently wrapping itself around the woman’s mouth, effectively muzzling her.
“Hush, peon, I’m thinking here.”
The problem thus temporarily taken care of, Diane’s musings returned to Shade. Kara. Whatever.
When one was living on borrowed time, it was not a good idea to waste one’s life with indecision. Diane had her life neatly sorted into what she wanted, obstacles she had to overcome to get to the former, and tools at her disposals with which she could crush the latter. And she was, above all else, honest with herself, refusing to feel shame for the things she craved, nor to try to talk herself out of it.
What did she want? Shade. Also money, but that was always a given.
What obstacles stood in her way? The answer was, once again, Shade.
What did she have? Her gaze surveyed the exhibition hall. She had her vines, but she doubted he’d keep falling for that. And if he did, well, at some point she’d start questioning his intelligence and that led to the land of no-attraction.
What else…
Her gaze zeroed in on something lying not far from her.
Her lips curled into a grin that some might call evil.
Kara will want those panties back.
Comments
Trophy
Ah villains and their trophies. But, it seems to me that Shade is leaving something to give him a reason to come back.
Trophies?
Your choice of words made me giggle for reasons that will become apparent soon.
Lord,
I love Diana. She is so fresh if not innocent and so expressive about things. She is, I think, also in love with Shade. And he returns that feeling even if he is fighting it just now. Again, this story is really entertaining.
Maggie
Diane? Innocent?
Lies and slander! She'd be highly offended to be described thus *grins* I'm glad you like her!
And yus... the romance tag is there for a reason <3 I'd considered calling it Of Heroes And Villains: A Love Story, but went with the shortened title.
That's it!
I'm addicted! First thing this morning I started looking for my fix. Shade sees things in black and white; good guy or bad girl, and no shades of gray. Let's face it, Diana robs banks and other institutions that automatically makes her crimes federal and due for hard time.
On the other hand, she's not a violent offender. Well, except where lacy panties are concerned. :)
Oh by the way, I'm loving this!
Hugs
Grover
*conspirational wink*
Happy to hear I've got you hooked!
As for Diane doing hard time... it is a different universe with altered laws to account for meta humans, keep that in mind :3
giggles, I'm sure Kara will want the panties back
grins
*grins back*
But the question is - will he get them?
Doom Squirrels
Doom Squirrels.
Yes.
I'm really liking both of the characters, mainly because they're so contradictory (particularly Shade).
Onwards!
-Tas
Coming back and reviewing, I
Coming back and reviewing, I'll admit to really liking the 'bedroom aftermath' here. vines, clothing scattered, naked red eyed lady sunbathing..... in a museum, with an old book of magic nearby.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.