10 insp (8/10)
Title: Never Did Run Smooth
Characters: Catwoman/Batman
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 913
Disclaimer: DC owns.
AN: For 10_inspirations, Prompt: Words #3- frisson- A brief moment of intense excitement
Previously…
Bruce could never admit it out loud. He’s having trouble simply admitting it himself, but he’s missed her so much that when he sees her following three men, he wants to drop down into the alley he knows they’ll be heading into just to see her, but he doesn’t. He waits.
When Catwoman has knocked all three unconscious, he jumps down into the narrow alley. She sees him the moment he lands, maybe even saw him before that. He’s standing a few feet away from her one minute and the next, he’s kissing her with weeks’ worth of pent up passion. He’s not sure what surprises him more, her yielding or his rare submission to his emotions, but he doesn't think about it too much and focuses on her instead. Everywhere she touches him-his face, his shoulders, what’s hidden behind the cape-he feels hot, like his skin is on fire. They stumble towards the darkest corner as he scoops her up and she wraps her legs around his waist.
There are so many things he wants to say to her, do to her…that he doesn’t know where to begin. Her lips feel heavenly against his and his body moves against hers without his permission. He wraps one arm around her waist and the other cups her face. He kisses the side of her lips, her chin, her cheeks, and he’s not sure if it’s her tears or his that he tastes.
As she kisses him, she’s also trying to pull away, but he doesn’t release his hold on her. He can’t. He’s gone without her far too long. He’s completely lost in the sensation of her mouth and the delicate curves of her lips until she bites him hard enough to draw blood. Then, he pulls back reluctantly.
“I want to see you,” she gasps, “See your face. Your eyes,” and tries to push back his cowl.
His right hand reaches for his grapple and he shoots the line. His left hand tightens around her and he swings them up to the roof. Her lips press to his cheek and she’s not surprised to find stubble along his jaw line. The cold air against her face seems to bring her back from her lustful state.
When they land, she untangles herself from him and stands on her own two feet. He removes his cowl and she stares into his hauntingly beautiful blue eyes for a moment before she slaps him. He doesn’t fight her. He knows he deserves that and more. His words, those cruel, horrible things he said still echo in his mind and he’s never regretted saying anything more in his life.
It was nothing she’d never heard before nor things she had not considered herself, but to hear it from him….if he really believed what he said, there was no reason to be with him. As she considers walking away now before she gets sucked back into his world, she notices he’s pleading with his eyes, asking for forgiveness. Her anger is momentarily forgotten and gives way to her desire. She closes the space between them as he reaches for her. He needs to touch her. He wants to taste her again. His eyes are glued to her and his hand is surprisingly steady as he lowers the zipper of her suit.
His tongue darts out and licks the exposed skin left by the absence of her costume. She knows all the secrets to removing his armor and she does it much faster tonight than ever before. He can’t wait to be inside her, feel her all around him. He needs her desperately… but... he also wants her to know he never meant what he said. He regretted it the moment the words left his mouth.
“Selina…”
“No.” she argues, shaking her head.
“…the things I said-”
“Not now.” She interrupts, throwing his tunic aside, “Forget it.”
But she stops, looks up at his face, and pushes him away. She doesn’t want to hear that he meant it or didn’t. Why did he have to say anything at all?
“I can’t.”
She takes a step back and the anger sets in again. She wanted him one last time without having to think about all the complications and everything else in their way. She closes her eyes and the anger begins to simmer again, then boils over. She doesn’t care what he has to say and starts picking up her clothing to dress quickly. When she looks at him again, he’s fully clothed as well.
“That’s what you think of me.” She states and her voice cracks like a whip.
“No…it’s not,” he whispers and only the searing hate he feels for himself pushes him on, “They would never think that either.”
She narrows her eyes, “Then, why?”
The muscles in his jaw tense and his gaze drops to the ground.
“Bruce?” she asks a final time. She wants to punch him, to kick him, anything so he can open his damn mouth and say something, but she doesn’t and he doesn’t, “This…this right here is why we don’t work.” Her voice is calm and he doesn’t like the quiet resignation she’s speaking with, “Why can’t you…why can’t you simply…just once… Never mind,” she says defeated, “Don’t bother. I’m not going to anymore.”
She walks over to the ledge and jumps off. He watches her leave. Again. And again, he doesn’t have the courage to stop her.