(Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANY of the characters in this story aside from Krista, and perhaps the men whose names we did not learn. Bane belongs to whomever owns Batman ((I believe it is DC?)) and all rights go to their respective owners. I do not make any money from this; it is for entertainment purposes only.)
The city was finally finished. There were still some minor repairs around the city that needed to be completed, but overall it was ready for people to begin living their new lives.
Bane and I had worked on this city for three years. With the help of thousands of men, most of whom were the rest of my father’s guards, we finished it quickly. We had stores that sold anything, from books to clothes to food. We had luxurious homes and gyms and one large high school. Half the city was already filled with Bane’s friends and allies. We did not have very many women yet, and because of this Bane would not let me leave our home without him.
Sometimes I consider leaving anyway, just to see how he would punish me, but I cannot bring myself to betray him. I know that going out unprotected would mean I would get hurt, especially in a city of criminals. That never stopped me from dreaming, though.
Bane stood and wiped the sweat from his brow, watching the other men as they finished painting a house or carrying furniture into their home. Although they were in a desert, the streets were cobblestone and not meant for vehicles. They had trucks driving on it now while they finished the city, but once they were done the trucks would be gone.
He sighed and stooped to dip his brush into the paint. Lately, it seemed he had been working every night, only to come home completely exhausted and fall asleep instantly. Bane would then get up early in the morning and repeat the process. He knew that Krista had been feeling lonely lately, even without reading her journal. They hadn’t been making love as often as they used to; that in itself was enough to make Bane feel like an ass. He was deprived. He needed to touch Krista, to feel like she needed him. He knew she needed him, yet he still hadn’t touched her in two weeks. Two weeks.
The words circled through Bane’s mind like a sickening mantra. Krista affected him the same way he affected her, though he would never admit it. Bane was the type to make others need him, to make them beg for his touch. He wasn’t one to get on his knees and ask his wife for sex.
The more time that passed, though, he found that that sounded pretty reasonable.
Maybe the attraction was gone.
The minute Bane thought those words, he wanted to hit something, preferably something hard that would make his knuckles bleed. Had he lost his touch? Maybe if he slept with another woman to see—no. Bane would never betray Krista like that.
Bane was a hard man; he had seen many things in his lifetime, things that people normally see on gritty television shows, in horror movies, or in their nightmares. He was the person people would check their closets for. Despite that, Bane still had that scared child inside him, the little boy who lost his mother and was forced into the scariest situation you could put a child in. Krista was the only person who knew that, who saw right through him, yet still loved him, and here he was, considering sleeping with another woman. He knew she would never do that to him.
I was trying to think of a way to seduce Bane. I’ve never seduced a man before—I never had to. With Bane, all I had to do was…well, exist. I’ve seen Talia do it enough that I was certain I could do it as well.
All it took was a little ingenuity, some makeup, and a skimpy dress.
I decided taking a shower would be an excellent way to prepare myself. I entered the large bathroom Bane and I share, with its stone tiles, walk-in steam shower, and Jacuzzi bathtub. I dropped my silk robe on the floor, turned the steam on and stepped into the shower.
It felt amazing.
Almost as amazing as Bane’s touch feels.
“Krista?” Bane called as he entered the large room they shared. He heard water running and opened the door leading to their bathroom, only to see steam. Everywhere. He could only see a vague outline of Krista in the shower, and only recognized her because she was humming a familiar tune. Suddenly Bane got a very naughty idea…
I didn’t know anyone was with me in the bathroom until he was right in front of me. I didn’t recognize him until he grabbed my upper arms. It was Bane.
He pushed me gently so that I was pressed back against the wall of the shower. I could barely see him though the steam. Bane released my arms and instead places his hands on the wall beside my head, effectively trapping me.
“Bane? What’s…are you okay?” He didn’t answer at first, only leaned in so that his nose almost bumped mine.
“Krista…you know it’s been two weeks since we last made love, correct?” I nodded. “Today I was wondering why. Is it because we’re too busy, too tired? All those reasons sounded mundane and yet perfectly plausible. Finally I came to the conclusion that maybe…” he used his nose to trace the side of my face. “maybe you’re not attracted to me? Maybe you don’t need me like you once did.” The steam, combined with Bane’s words and stance, had me a little light-headed.
“Uh…no, it’s not that, the first two reasons--” Bane silenced me with his mouth. I didn’t pull away or even attempt to finish my sentence. I knew I wouldn’t be able to if I tried.
Bane pulled away slightly, pausing to stare into my eyes as if looking for an answer. I wondered if he could see how he was affecting me.
Krista wasn’t reacting the way she normally would. Bane knew that; any other time, she would have begged him to stop teasing her and get on with it already by now. This time, though, she was quiet and thoughtful, somehow managing to stay on her feet without any help from Bane. The steam should have made the situation that much more unbearable for her—she should be putty in his hands. But she’s not.
Bane was almost completely convinced by now that he just didn’t have the magic he once did, so long ago. He completely forgot that it was only two weeks, and not two years.
I wasn’t going to let him have the satisfaction of making me melt so easily, no matter how much I wanted to. I didn’t know where I got the strength to stay standing, or to keep my expression thoughtful, but it was there, and it was strong. Bane was going to have to try much harder if he wanted me that much.
He knew this.
Bane gently cupped the side of my face, letting his hand drop to my neck, then even lower. I couldn’t keep a small gasp from leaving me when he touched my sensitive areas. There was a small flash of triumph in Bane’s eyes. I gritted my teeth, determined to win this one.
He wedged his knee between my legs. Any other time, this would be my undoing—this would be the moment I broke and we stopped the game.
I smiled suddenly, surprising Bane. Two can play at this game, I thought wickedly. I tilted my head and gave him my best alluring look, the one I had practiced in the mirror. His eyes narrowed and he leaned back.
Krista figured it out. Damn, he should have known she would. Krista wasn’t dumb. She smiled at him, tilted her head and shot him a look that went straight to his groin. He leaned back, lest she feel it on her thigh.
She extended a slender hand, letting it drop on his chest and slowly slither down, stopping just below his bellybutton. Bane swallowed a growl, glancing up to see Krista had a smirk on her beautiful face.
I wasn’t sure if Bane could see how much self-control I was using at the moment, but I could definitely see what I was doing to him. I used my fingernail to trace small circles under his bellybutton, loving the way his eyes narrowed to the point of closing. When I removed my hand they opened again. I spread my legs wantonly and tapped my index finger on my smiling lips. “What’s the matter, Bane, is this too much for you?”
Now Bane did growl. He grabbed my wrists and held them above my head, leaning in close.
“Enough of the games, Krista. Just admit it—you want me.” When I didn’t answer he growled again. “You belong to me. You’re mine.” I merely smiled at him. His words affected me strongly—they were exactly the kind of thing I’d always wanted him to say, and now that he finally said them I couldn’t react the way I so desperately wanted to. I had to stay strong. I refused to lose.
We didn’t kiss. We didn’t move. For the first time, we were two separate beings with opposing needs. I wanted to win; he wanted me to submit.
After that I stepped away from both Bane and the wall, standing under the hot water. I turned my back to him and swept up my long white-blonde hair. I felt a single finger run down the length of my back, and almost couldn’t contain a shiver, despite the hot water.
“You have goose bumps,” Bane noted from behind. “Are you cold?” I didn’t answer. Bane stepped up and wrapped his arms around me, resting his head on top of my head. I pulled away.
“We’re wasting water…um, you should shower now, so I’ll go and get dressed…” I stepped out of the shower, surprising Bane so much that he let me go.
Bane stood alone under the spray of water, letting it run down his face and into the drain. He wished it would wash the pain away as well, but it didn’t. Why was Krista doing this? He smashed his fist against the wall, a new spark in his eye.
He wasn’t about to lose to Krista.
I avoided Bane for the next week. It took all of my self-control to not melt into a puddle at his feet when he touched me; now that we were in a sort of seduction war, I couldn’t imagine the lengths he would go to in order to win. All his life, Bane has been fighting against something, and now it was me. For me.
Why was I fighting?
I sat in front of my mirror, brushing my hair. What was the point of this?
That night, when Krista was asleep beside him, Bane opened her journal. He needed to know. Had to know.
I haven’t made love in three weeks. Bane and I have done it enough to last us a lifetime, yet I still feel a dull ache in my chest when I think of our overwhelming lack of love, passion and intimacy. We’re playing a game now, and I never was one to play games. I hate them. Aside from chess, that is.
We are trying to see who will break first. Will it be Bane? Or will it be me?
He still affects me the same.
I’m not sure what the point of this is anymore. Can we not admit our mutual desire? I’m not a telepath, yet I do sense that he needs me as much as I need him. Perhaps we need this break from the lovemaking.
In the shower, Bane told me that we haven’t made love lately because the attraction was gone.
I don’t believe that is why.
We have been busy, and tired. While Bane has been working on construction, I have been working on buying furniture and finding people to come here. I haven’t been doing as much physical work as he has, but it is work nonetheless.
Despite the overwhelming lack of time, I still yearn for his hand upon my skin again. If this is a contest, I am almost certain I will lose.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t play just as hard.
Bane closed the journal and glanced over at Krista. Asleep, her face was peaceful and innocent. She was innocent until he dragged her into a world of criminals and hate. Ra’s al Ghul was not a saint either, but he let her be. Bane couldn’t ever leave Krista—a day without seeing that face, that hair, without touching her…he wasn’t focused solely on her body, no. Krista was the most intelligent woman he’d met yet, even more so than Talia.
With his beloved’s words still fresh in his mind, Bane fell into a restless sleep.
When I woke up, Bane was gone. I had thought that since the construction was completed, he would be staying home, but he wasn’t. I was beginning to learn that I’m almost never right when it comes to these things.
I yawned and threw the covers off, swinging my legs off the side of the bed. I hummed while I slipped on a short white dress, and boots. My hair was too fine to tangle, so I didn’t need to brush it.
I didn’t know what to do with myself. Without Bane, there really wasn’t anything I wanted to do. Then I remembered a guard who told me the library was completely finished, yet didn’t have any books in it.
I knew exactly what I was going to do.
The library in our palace was furnished with hundreds of thousands of books—perhaps even millions. I’ve never counted them. Over the years, I’ve discovered that father had more than one copy of many books, most likely forgetting he already had a copy when he bought the second and third editions.
It took most of the afternoon, but I finally found enough copies to fill up several bookshelves in the library. We still had a few guards around, the most loyal ones. I asked them to help me carry the books to the library, which really wasn’t far away.
I froze the minute I stepped out of the castle.
It looked like a city. Granted, the streets were cobblestone and not paved, but considering we live in a desert, this was most impressive. The large majority of the buildings were completed. I clutched the books in my arms tighter to me and began making my way to the library, the guards close behind.
Every time I saw a man, they stopped what they were doing, dropped anything they were holding, and stared. I suppose not seeing a woman who had a wonderful lack of facial hair in three years had really taken its toll. Some of them even went so far as to approach me, but one look from the guards and they stepped away.
These were supposed to be the toughest, scariest men on the planet.
And I was the only female in sight.
Perhaps it’s only fair that Bane had not been having sex with a woman, while these men had to suffer for three years. I remembered what he did in the shower and blushed, glancing down at my feet.
After a few more awkward minutes of gawking criminals, we finally reached the library. The guards carried the books in and set them down on the floor beside one of the bookshelves.
“Miss,” one of them began, “Do you need our help with arranging them?”
“No,” I said, waving a hand and laughing gently. “I can do it. I can walk back on my own, as well. I’m a big girl.”
With my track record of being wrong, I should have known better.
Bane didn’t have any work to do. He left as early as he normally would, but all the work was left to each home’s respective tenant. Once everyone had each home ready to be lived in, they would bring in their wives, if they had any. He knew Krista was working on finding female criminals looking for a fresh start, but so far no luck.
Suddenly a guard ran up to him, panting. “Bane, it’s Krista!” Bane immediately turned on the man, anger flashing dangerously in his eyes.
“What happened?”
“We were helping her carry books to the library and we left, and several other men we didn’t recognize went in and locked the door! Then we heard Krista screaming and we came to get you!”
Bane started to run.
FIVE MINUTES EARLIER
I began arranging the books on the shelves first by genre, then by alphabetical order. Father hadn’t stocked modern romances, only classical books; poetry, old adventure stories, plays, things such as that. I had just finished a shelf when three unfamiliar men stepped in, one wielding a gun. They locked the door and faced me, evil smiles adorning their ugly faces.
I dropped the book I was holding.
“Looky here boys, looks like we got us the only woman here.”
“Boss, isn’t she Bane’s woman?”
“Does it matter?” the leader hissed. “Bane isn’t here. He’ll never know. We’ll take care of her real good, then make sure she never talks again.” His accent grated on my nerves.
The boss stepped forward. “Just play nice, missy.” He grabbed me by my shoulders and pushed me harshly against the shelves, causing the books to fall on me. I knew the guards might still be outside.
I let loose an ear-shattering scream. The other two men winced, but the leader didn’t react similarly. “Shut up! Do you wanna get us caught or somethin’?” He slapped me and grabbed my throat, his other hand slinking down…
PRESENT TIME
Bane could only pray to a God he didn’t think existed that Krista was okay. He repeated the mantra in his head as if it was a lifeline he could extend to her. Please let her be okay. Please let her be okay. Please let her be okay.
If he failed to protect her…Bane didn’t know what he would do. I’m the strongest man here, dammit! I can’t even keep my wife from being raped the third time?
Finally he reached the library, kicking open the door. What he saw almost made him blind with rage.
Krista, being held off the ground by her throat, being groped by a dirty man while two others kept watch.
One of them had a gun.
Bane lost all his self-control.
I nearly melted with relief when Bane kicked in the door. He stood there for half a second, assessing the scene. His eyes almost popped out his head when he saw me. I swore I saw steam coming out of his ears like those dorky cartoons I used to love.
He grabbed the man closest to him and snapped his neck, grabbing the gun he dropped to shoot the other man.
Bane ran the final few feet to us. I was beginning to see red around the edges of my vision from lack of oxygen. He tore the man away from me and I fell to the floor, alternately gasping for breath and coughing. I knew I wouldn’t have had much longer if Bane hadn’t arrived so quickly.
Bane had sworn to never kill again after the death of Ra’s al Ghul, despite the fact that that wasn’t his fault, but the thought of allowing a man who had touched Krista to live was enough to break even his resolve. He grabbed the man off of her, causing her to fall. He didn’t pay attention to that, not yet. She wasn’t choked long enough to be in any serious danger, though he regretted the fact that he hadn’t caught her.
He slammed the man’s head to the ground, albeit only hard enough to cause pain. “She is mine,” He snarled in the man’s ear. “No one touches her but me. For that, you shall die.” Bane didn’t want this to be clean. No, he wanted it to be messy. He wanted this man to suffer.
He shot his knee first, then his groin. The man immediately began screaming in agony. Bane restrained himself from laughing only for Krista’s sake. One more shot to the head, and it was done.
Bane killed the man right in front of me. He didn’t give him a quick, painless death, though. He tortured him. I wasn’t sure how being shot in the groin would feel, but I imagined that, to a man, it’s the worst pain imaginable. That and perhaps a lack of sex.
I touched my neck gently. It felt sore; I would have a bruise there tomorrow. I was grateful that Bane hadn’t seen how the man had hit me before he arrived—a slap to the face, a punch to the stomach. I ached all over and wanted nothing more than to soak in our bathtub with a good book.
Strong arms lifted me from the floor bridal-style. I curled up against Bane’s familiar chest, going in and out of consciousness as he made the walk back to the palace.
“Krista? Krista, wake up. I have soup here for you.” I opened my eyes and saw Bane. I sat up and rubbed at my eyes.
“Oww…what happened?” Then I remembered. The men. The blood. The attempted rape. Bane coming to my rescue.
I didn’t talk to anyone after that. For days, I stayed in my room, refusing to eat and refusing to talk. I had begun sleeping most of the day, waking up only to shower. I would spend most of my waking hours sitting on the window seat, watching everyone outside. Women had begun to come, some of them attractive, some of them not, but women nonetheless.
All I could remember was the times I had been raped, the time father’s men had hurt me, the time I was almost raped.
I wouldn’t let Bane touch me. I wouldn’t let myself touch him. I couldn’t stand to look at myself in the mirror anymore.
I began to hate myself.
Weeks passed. I found that as more time goes by, I’m able to take more than a few small bites of food. Bane was always there, hovering around, making sure I was safe.
I was sitting at the window when I realized it.
I had to go back, to the library. I had to finish it.
I had to prove to them that they didn’t have power over me.
Knowing Bane, he wouldn’t let me go without him, but I was beginning to grow restless under his watchful gaze. I needed to do something on my own. I needed to overpower the demons holding me back.
One morning I awoke to the sound of Bane taking a shower. I knew this would be my best chance to get out.
I threw the covers off and dressed quickly, sliding a knife into my boot as an afterthought. While I didn’t know how to use it in the slightest, the knife itself would frighten a person into making a mistake, or hesitating. With one last glance at the bathroom door, I left the room.
Outside looked exactly the same. Men bustled around while the few women watched and laughed. I knew they were making the men do all the work, but I didn’t say anything.
As I walked down the street to the library, even the women watched me hungrily. I swallowed nervously and tried to keep my expression calm, focusing on peaceful emotions. I reached the library after what felt like eons.
The inside hadn’t changed a bit. No one was worried about working on the library; they all wanted to finish their homes before there was another sandstorm. Looking off into the distance, I could see one was approaching. I glanced away and walked inside, closing the door behind me.
Krista was gone. Bane knew that almost immediately; he walked out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, and saw she wasn’t there. She had been venturing out of the bedroom more and more lately, but only with him by her side. She jumped at every shadow, always keeping a tight hold on his arm. Not that he minded.
But this time felt different. There was a subtle change in the air, a change that only occurred when she wasn’t in the palace. A change that felt like danger. Bane knew Krista better than anyone, and he knew she would try to go back to the library eventually. She wasn’t a weak person—once she was tired of hiding, she would go to face whatever it was that was holding her back. He knew this, and yet was still surprised she was gone.
Bane stepped over to the window, looking outside as he changed in hopes of seeing her. All he saw was a sandstorm looming in the distance. His heart began to race. What if Krista was outside when it hit?
He shook his head. No, Krista was smart. She would see it, and she wouldn’t stay outside. She would take refuge in the nearest shelter.
That scared him more than anything.
Bane’s senses must be rubbing off on me somehow, because I knew the man was there. I didn’t know where he was, and I didn’t know who he was. All I knew was that his aura was dark with hatred and greed, desire and rage.
It was all I could do not to run outside.
I knew that if I ran, he would follow me, and he would catch me. I had to stay here and ward him off myself, until Bane came. I knew Bane was coming—he was an intelligent man and would quickly figure out where I am.
I ducked behind one of the many shelves, making sure I was quiet about it. Bane and I used to do this sometimes—we would hide in the library and try to find each other. This was before we fell in love; Bane thought it would be a good way to sharpen skills I barely had.
I’ve never been more grateful for hours of hide-and-seek in my life.
I pulled the knife out of my boot and held it awkwardly in front of me. I knew I wouldn’t be able to win in a fight against most people, but I could ward them off until Bane got here.
In that moment, I felt angry. Angry that I was so fragile and angry that I had to rely on Bane to save me from all these perverts. You would think they would leave me alone, considering I was the one who so generously provided them with everything here. A home, food, water, books, education…I’ve provided them with luxuries they wouldn’t have in prison, and how do they repay me? They try to rape me!
I jumped when he stepped out of the shadows in front of me.
“What is little miss Krista doing out here all by herself?” I glared at him, though the effect seemed to be amusing rather than frightening. “Without Bane, no less. Looks like you’re defenseless…”
He stepped forward. He was within my reach.
“Wrong. I’m not defenseless.” He grabbed me arm and yanked me to him. Anger gave me strength, and I slid the knife forcefully in. A little part of my mind sensed it went in cleanly between the ribs. He fell. For several minutes, I stared at him, at the blood, at the lifeless man who was lifeless because of me. I just killed someone. I just killed someone. I just killed someone. Those words repeated themselves in my mind until I could think of nothing else, and I slowly sank to my knees, a shaky hand over my mouth. I dropped the knife.
Somehow I managed to get to my feet and walk outside. I didn’t stop walking until I got to the palace, where I hesitated only to open the doors and lock them securely behind me. Restless, I began walking through the large, empty marble halls, never stopping. I couldn’t stop.
I had just killed a man.
I found an empty storage room and stepped inside, sneezing from all the dust. I left the light off and huddled in a corner. I began to weep.
“Where the hell is she?” Bane exclaimed to a random man he stopped on the street.
“Where the hell is who?” he replied in a Brooklyn accent.
“Krista! You had to have seen her.”
“Ah, that Krista. You know, I haven’t seen a woman like her in a long time, if you know what I mean.” The man winked and nudged Bane with his elbow. Bane grabbed a fistful of his shirt and lifted the man a few feet off the ground.
“I’m not going to ask again. Have. You. Seen. Her?!” When the man didn’t immediately respond Bane began shaking him violently. “Tell me!”
“I-I did see someone who looked like her--”
Bane ceased his shaking. “Where?”
“I think she was headed to the library--” He dropped the man and began to run. The sandstorm loomed even closer.
She wasn’t there. Not at the library, not at the school, the city hall, not anywhere. He asked everyone he saw—they all said they saw a bloody woman running as if she was running from something. Bane was angry and didn’t listen to the voice of reason in his head telling him she was at the palace. He only returned when it was impossible that she was anywhere else.
After an hour and a half of asking the staff, he still had no idea where the hell Krista was. Bane began walking aimlessly in frustration, exhausting all the possibilities in his mind.
Suddenly he froze.
Was that someone crying?
Bane opened the door to his right, seeing nothing but black. He flicked on a light and saw Krista curled up into a little ball.
“Krista?” he asked gently. She didn’t move. “Krista?”
She lifted her head, giving him a view of the tears that flowed down her face. “I killed him, Bane.”
To Bane, killing wasn’t something to cry over. Killing wasn’t something that takes weeks of surveillance and planning. Killing was something you do when it’s necessary, and sometimes when its not. Bane had been killing since he was a child—growing up in a prison leaves little time for a childhood.
Even though he didn’t understand what Krista was going through, he still tried to see it from her point of view. He couldn’t, no matter how hard he tried.
All he could do was pick her up and carry her back to their room.
With Bane’s help, I managed to get over the death of that man. He was a criminal, he probably raped many children before he came here. That fact alone made me feel a little better, knowing that I hadn’t killed a man. I had gotten rid of a monster.
Months passed quickly after that. We spent every day working on the city. Bane helped me in the library, and when that was full of books he helped me find a man to work as a librarian, to keep track of the books, who had what, and to get them back when they were overdue. He helped me finish the school, putting up posters and colorful banners and buying textbooks.
He came with me to Gotham to find teachers and criminals with children who couldn’t go to a normal school. We found many, and took them off of Batman’s hands by bringing them with us. We had about forty teenagers and fifty children, and still more were coming in. With the help of every capable person in the city working on one building at a time, the city began to grow rapidly.
It was no longer a small town, it was a large city. The population was growing each day, with more and more reformed men and women coming together in a place of harmony. Business men began to flock to the city like birds—they set up bookstores and clothing stores and large chain stores such as Walmart or Target. We even had a mall built.
Eventually we had just as many women as we did men, and no longer did they all stare at me when I dared to venture outside. They still looked, but not in a hungry way. There were other beautiful women to gaze at now, women who had the strength to defend themselves. Women who were murderers or falsely accused of something, women who killed people defending their home and their family.
Our city was a home for the brave, for the scared, for the strong and the weak. We built a prison, appointed police officers and judges. We adopted a government system closely resembling that of the USA Gotham began to clear itself of the criminals. The mobs, with no one to follow their orders, moved to other places. There were still petty thieves and the like, but all the dangerous ones had come here. To our city.
Bane and I began making love regularly again. I had desperately missed his touch, his love.
The city is growing rapidly. I am grateful for that; finally I am a part of something bigger than myself, something not evil and disgusting, but something important and good. The economy is thriving—Bane and I no longer need to lend money to them. We haven’t had anyone pay us back yet, but that is only to be expected. They have paid us back in taxes, anyway.
Last night Bane told me he loved me for the first time since my attempted rape. I remember it clearly.
We had been lying on our shared bed, reading. I was reading a book one of my newfound female friends had suggested to me, and it was indeed a thriller. I began to grow paranoid as I read about apparitions and spirits haunting the living. When something thumped in the bathroom, probably just the shampoo falling again, I jumped so high I nearly fell off the bed, and Bane had to grab me.
I wasn’t in any serious danger of falling, but he grabbed me nonetheless and did not let go immediately. I slowly turned to look at him, surprised at his expression. His eyes were dark, his gaze hungry and searching. I knew that look. I had seen it many times before.
He rolled me gently so that I was trapped underneath him, soft against hard, small underneath large. He trailed his fingers lightly down the side of my face as he often does, and I reacted the way that I always do. I wrapped my legs around his hips and smiled at him, enjoying bringing out the vixen in me, though I doubt my skills are anything compared to Talia’s. Perhaps the side of me I call a vixen is normal for most women, but being the shy person I am, this side of me is not one that comes out often, is one that I sometimes cannot bring out.
I smiled up at him, desire curling my lips and darkening my eyes as well as his.
“Well?” I asked. “What are you waiting for?”
And so he began.
Perhaps life is more than what we make it out to be. Death is not something to be feared; it is merely a painful truth.
Life is just a beautiful lie.
