Page 36 of Against the Autumn Pines
“Batman,” she said, her voice breathy just like it had been last Friday when I’d taken her from behind, spread her wide for the club to see, and she pantedfuck, fuck, fuckas she milked my cock for all it was worth.
“Poison Ivy,” I replied. I hoped my voice didn’t sound as fucking pathetic as I felt inside right now. Every single part of me wanted to impress her. She was here. On my family’s ranch. At my brother’s house. Fuck, she was so close.
“Hey Batman!” I forced my gaze over, only to realize it was Ivy and Todd staring at me as if I’d lost my mind. I’d never been more annoyed over this party’s rules.
I cleared my throat and tipped my chin to them. “Super Girl,” I said to Ivy, but looking at Todd in his jeans and a hoodie, I struggled with the eye roll. “Todd.”
“Sup man, we’re going out to the bonfire. See you there.” He grabbed Ivy’s hand and pulled her around me, leaving me to stare back down into the soul-wrenching golden brown eyes in front of me.
“He seems like such a fucking tool,” she said quietly, and I couldn’t help the chuckle.
“Todd? Oh absolutely a fucking tool. Super Girl deserves a great deal better.”
“Do you know Ivy?” she asked curiously.
I smiled down at her. “Digging for information on my true identity, Poison Ivy?”
I caught the eye roll, even behind her mask, and fuck if I didn’t want to spank her ass and ruin her lipstick tonight. “You know me, Batman. A regular ‘ol brat who can’t help but break the rules every once in a while.”
I nodded as our gazes remained locked, and I wondered if she was thinking about the kiss too. I was suddenly thankful as fuck that these pants were stiff, thick, and uncomfortable, because her knowing I was fighting a massive hard-on from just staring into her eyes? Unacceptable.
“So what are you doing here?” she asked. I thought about an answer, because if she knew Ivy, she knew Aspen, which meant she knew Rowan. So couldn’t very well say it was my brother’s party.
“I was invited,” I said instead, which felt like a stupid fucking answer too.
She bit her bottom lip and nodded. “Not party crashing then? Or even better, stalking me? That’s good.”
I cleared my throat to steal a moment before I said something stupid—like how many times I had to remind myself that stalking was bad and I couldn’t use my job to my advantage and show up at her house. “Yeah, I’m uh, getting a beer before heading back down to the bonfire. Did you want to join me?”
“I’ve had plenty to drink, but I’m sure I’ll see you down there, Batman,” she said with a wink before she walked around me and out the front door.
Fuck me, I needed to go find her as soon as possible because if some other superhero tried to scoop her up? I’d end up fighting someone on my brother’s lawn.
I walked back downto the bonfire, pep-talking myself the entire time. This was the first time we’d been in the same place without it being a prearranged meeting for sex. It was a perfect time for me to actually talk to her, get to know her, and show her I was a real human. At least, that was my hope.
I had big dreams it seemed.
I’d been nursing the same beer for over an hour, glaring at anyone who thought to look at her too long, because leaving her side felt like the worst decision I could make.
“So, are we talking, or are you more of the internal monologue type when a woman isn’t tied up beneath you?” she asked from next to me, her voice soft and the words just for us.
Oh yeah, I hadn’t spoken to her or anyone since I came back to the group with my beer.
“I can talk, I just save my words for things worth saying.”
“And you can’t think of anything worth saying, Batman?”
I glanced down, the fire reflecting off those now familiar brown eyes. She was smiling up at me, the brat in her eager to stir the pot—a common theme between us.
“Well, I am known to be quiet and brooding, right?” I shot back.
“True, I guess I’m no Cat Woman after all.” Her gaze returned to the flames, and it took all of my control not to wrap my hand around her throat.
Instead, I leaned down slightly to ensure no prying eyes and ears would hear what I had to say. “I’d pick you in every multiverse, Rae. The writers never got it right anyway. It’s always been you and me.”
Her eyes locked with my own—wide, lips parted just slightly. Fuck she was a vision. “I wish I could kiss you right now,” I found myself whispering.
She blinked, and it was as though that small movementbroke the minuet spell that had previously held us in its grasp.
