Twenty

Legend hadn't planned on staying out so late. But then, she hadn't anticipated that Cherise would be so fun.

The young woman looked at life like it was one big, wonderful adventure and Legend wished she had that kinda view. Instead, she was as jaded as the whole of Gotham city and one particular Batsuit-wearing, crime-fighting citizen of said city.

So, maybe she'd stayed out far too late because she'd had to go have a few drinks to think over Cherise's reason for wanting to meet her.

Apparently, Cherise thought the people at Gracecomics were assholes who didn't know 'a slightly weird but totally awesome employee' when they saw one—yes, she'd been talking about Legend.

"Those folks don't treat you right. And the audience doesn't know squat, either. I don't know how someone can claim they know their comics and still leave bad reviews about Soulmaster." She'd blazed with righteous fury that made Legend blush just a little bit.

She had then gone on to suggest that Legend become her own person.

"For your first job, you could write a comic strip of your own with me as your illustrator." She had pulled out her iPhone and soon had Legend wowing and OMGing at her drawings.

So, yes, Legend had needed a drink or five—with water in between, of course—to think about it because this had been her dream since high school, when she had been drawing penises on the mean girls' lockers, and yes, she might have gotten carried away when the bar announced that they were starting Karaoke early.

She stepped into the lobby and Matt heaved an enormous sigh of relief when he sighted her.

"Miss, Thank God you're safe."

"Umm...is it full moon already?" She laughed at her little joke but stopped when Matt didn't join in.

He looked so worried that Legend suspected he was holding on to the desk to avoid wringing his hands.

"You had us all worried, Miss. Raph said you weren't answering your phone. We thought the paparazzi had finally gotten to you."

The way he said paparazzi, one would've thought Paparazzi was synonymous to coven.

"My battery died. I'm sorry. Is Raph home yet?" You know, since he's made his office his new sleeping quarters and only comes around here once in a purple moon?

"Yes, he returned in the middle of the afternoon," Huh, that was new. "I think you better bound upstairs and stop your young man from calling the police."

"Thanks, Matt."

She did as she was told. She stepped into Raph's apartment, which was dark, making her conclude nobody was home. She would be pissed if Raph had really gone out to look for her like she was some baby who couldn't be trusted to return home in one piece.

Just as she was about to step into the kitchen, however, a hand grabbed her and Legend screamed at the top of her lungs while trying to take out the faceless arm attacking her with her purse.

"Please, please! I'll give you anything you want! I've got only twenty dollars on me but I'm sure Raph's got a safe in here somewhere! "She had to resort to begging because another arm had joined in and had taken her bag away from her before wrapping itself around her waist.

Legend thought that this was really her last moment on earth. What would people say about her death?

Woman found in kitchen; cause of death suspected to be muscular arms.

Through the fog of panic, her brain took a break from constructing her obituary to realize that her assailant was calling her name.

"Legend, stop! It's me!"

Suddenly, the lights came on and Raph's face was inches from hers, concern etched all over it.

"Are you OK? "

Jesus, it was Raph. Translation: Thank Goodness.

Jesus, it was Raph. Translation: WTF?!

Anger came quickly and Legend wiggled out of his arms, reclaimed her purse and resumed beating him with it.

"Don't. You. Ever. Scare. Me. Like. That. Ever. Again." Each word was accompanied by a large thwack of the torture device on his arm.

With little effort, Raph grabbed the purse and held it above his head.

"Where the fuck have you been?!"

"Well, excuse me for acknowledging that I'm a grown woman who doesn't need your excuse to stay out all night. It was Karaoke night at the bar." She tagged on as an afterthought after she caught Raph's glare.

"Call next time."

"My battery was dead."

He crossed his arms. "I don't care. Send a pigeon, start a fire, do something. Anything but giving me an anxiety attack."

OK, this mama-bear act was beginning to wear on her.

"There won't be a next time! Guess who called?" She asked with false cheer and without waiting to see if he would guess correctly—chances were he probably wouldn't—Legend answered her question.

"Burt the Builder! He says my house is fixed and super-duper! Isn't that great?!" She smiled, baring her teeth but they both knew that wasn't a smile so much as it was cross between a sneer and a scowl.

"It's Bob the builder," Raph muttered, making Legend wonder if insanity was in the air that day. Of all the things she'd said, he'd picked that up?

"Bob is the name of the main character on a children's program. Burt's the name of the annoying asshole who claims to be my electrician. Who has fixed my house." Since Raph had become so dense, she found it necessary to spell it out again.

Raph's lips turned down and without warning, he scooped Legend up in a rib-crushing, heart flutters inducing hug.

"Don't be mad." It was hard to be when he asked so nicely in a really sexy voice.

"I don't wanna fight with you." He pressed a kiss on top of her head and Legend almost sobbed with the emotions welling up in her heart. It seemed like forever since he'd held her like this.

She'd missed this. Missed him.

But…

"This makes no difference, Raph. I'm still going back. I can't keep on living off you like a pink haired leech. Besides, I'm sure the neighborhood's missed me."

"Yeah, I'm sure Robbie has missed you real good," Raph muttered darkly. His tone made Legend stifle a giggle. She couldn't believe he was jealous of Robbie.

Really, it was like a majestic, Mufasa-like lion being jealous of a shaved, malnourished cat.

He laid his chin on her head and stayed that way for eternity, their arms around each other before Raph titled her chin up with his finger and kissed her fiercely.

Legend grabbed his shirt because her knees had served her an eviction notice and she would've slithered to the ground if she hadn't grasped handfuls of the hand-woven cotton. The heat licked its way down her body to her core and she could tell she was about to add another panty to the ruined pile.

Raph kissed her eyes, the tip of her nose, slowly kissed her cheek and planted another soft kiss on her slightly swollen lips.

"Legend, what are you doing to me?" He groaned, resting his forehead against hers, his eyes closed in what looked like sheer agony. She didn't know if that was good or bad, but Legend was taking cues from his body and his shallow breathing meant it was a good thing.

Right?

He grabbed her hands and planted a kiss on her index finger.

"Tell me now if you don't want this" Next finger.

"Because once I start, I won't stop until you're screaming my name under me." Next finger.

"On top of me, up against the wall." Next finger.

"Anywhere, any position." He sucked her pinky into his mouth.

Legend sucked in a deep breath because her chest felt so heavy.

Apparently, Raph not only talked dirty, he also fought dirty.

How exactly did he expect her to say no to him when he was looking like some Malibu sex god with his blonde hair and the scruff he'd been keeping?

"Say yes, Legend." Green eyes bored into hers in an almost hypnotic way and Legend found herself wanting to say yes to anything he asked, even if he ordered her to jump off a plane.

For record purposes, her story was that she was under a spell. That was the only reason why she would even be having do-anything-for-that-boy thoughts.

"You haven't said anything, sweetheart."

She thought she had. Huh, turns out the million or so yeses she'd been screaming were all in her head.

Well, better, scream them out loud, Missy. Because I need me some Raph.

She didn't know when her subconscious became such a ho.

Who was she kidding? She didn't know when she herself had become a hussy.

"Yes." That came out way hoarser, way weaker, and far less sexy than she had intended.

Raph didn't seem to mind—or maybe, he didn't notice she sounded like Yoda because he was as sex starved as she was. He kissed her again and inched her into the sitting room until her knees bumped against the couch.

She stopped kissing him for a moment to tease him.

"The couch? Really? Seems very frat boy."

Raph missed her lips too much.

"I know. But I can't wait." He confessed minutes later after he was done sucking her face off.

He laid her gently on the soft leather and hovered over her, staring intently. His gaze made her nervous and knowing her luck, she probably had a booger the size of a tennis ball making its way out her nose and Raph was wondering why he even wanted to do the deed with her.

"What?" She squeaked again. Seriously, this clown voice needed to go.

"You're so beautiful. I want to do something real dramatic right now, like pray to your body."

Oh. Wow. That didn't fluster her at all.

"You look flustered," He observed amusedly.

"How am I supposed to remain all calm and unfazed when you're going all poetic on me, Romeo."

Raph covered his body with hers, balancing his weight on his elbows, with a mock frown on his face.

"Puh-lease. We both know Romeo got nothing on that line."

"You probably got it off some dumb article titled, ‘Things to say to get your woman in ‘da mood.''" She wiggled her eyebrows along with her fingers which were bent into the shape of inverted commas.

"At least it got you in ‘da mood,' didn't it?"

"I was in ‘da mood' before you pulled that one, lover boy."

"But you still liked the line." He insisted obstinately.

She cupped his cheek.

"I loved it. It was really sweet of you, Raph."

He looked adorably smug.

"I've been reading books."

She felt like she'd explode if she didn't taste him then and she didn't just that, teasing and dancing with his tongue until all traces of playfulness were gone and he dragged her by the throat and dominated the kiss.

Clothes flew, underwear joined in and soon, they were both naked with Raph's head on her chest and her fingers in his hair, urging him on as he took a pebbled peak in his mouth.

Legend gasped. She didn't think she would get used to the feeling of wonder and delicious heat when she and Raph were together like that.

It would always be something new, a discovery made over and over again each time.

"Oh, Raph!" She moaned when he nipped her while playing with her other nipple, rolling it between his skilled fingers.

"Tell me what you want, babe."

"God, don't stop." Yep, she was about to come from three whole minutes of breast play, y'all.

And she couldn't even find it in her to give a damn.

"Say my name, Legend." His hands slid down her body, caressing and fondling and generally screwing with her mind.

"Raph," she sighed.

"Tell me what you want me to do."

"I want you inside me, Raph."

"Beg for it."

Legend moaned and slipped her fingers in between her legs, working her clit frantically. If Raph was playing hard to get, then by God, she'd take this ride alone. It might not be as satisfying as nine inches, but she was seriously desperate, so she'd take anything she'd get.

"Jesus Christ, Legend." She opened her eyes to see Raph's eyes almost popping out of his head.

Who knew being smug and aroused at the same time was a thing? That was how Legend felt in that moment, and because no one could accuse her of not being a tease, she spread her legs even wider and gave Mr. Beg-For-It a view that made another epithet fly from his lips.

"Beg for it," she teased him while her finger continued pinching the swollen, little nub.

Raph swallowed, and when she slowly inserted a digit into her wet hole, Raph was gone.

Like, literally off the couch and gone.

"Where are you going?" She called after him.

"Condom."

A few minutes later—seemed suspiciously like a blink of an eye—Raph was back and this time, he wasn't kidding around.

He rolled the condom on his erection and slid into her with one move.

She gasped, eyes widening at the sudden fullness.

Raph's eyes were closed in concentration and sweat beaded his forehead.

"What are we doing?"

"Hold on, I'm trying to make it last. God, you're so fucking tight. Nothing could get much better than your pussy milking me. "

Apparently, it could get much better, especially when he moved and, boy, did he move. He was like a beast, throwing her leg over his shoulder and plowing into her time and again. He thrust and he grinded and he took Legend to heaven until she could stand it no more.

"Raph!" She gasped, her pussy spasming against his dick. Raph continued to move and three strokes later, he grunted and came hard.

Post coital bliss was good. With Raph, it was better. He tickled her and told her stories about slender women who liked to dye their hair pink and dressed like bag ladies.

"You wouldn't know good fashion if it jumped up and slapped you in the face."

"I'll have you know that I hold the award of The Best Dressed Employee for three years running."

Legend rolled her eyes.

"Guess whose ass the employees love kissing."

Raph wrinkled his nose.

"That's a disturbing picture, Legend."

They were silent for a while with Legend drawing patterns on his arm.

"What are you thinking?" She muttered.

"I'm thinking I want to ruin our friendship."

Her finger stilled.

Oh. This was it then. The moment it all would come to an end. She had known this was coming and yet, no amount of pep talks on how she was a queen and that Raph was a fool if he let her unmatched awesomeness walk away could've prepared her for the pain that assaulted her chest right then. He hadn't even let her listen to Regret In Your Tears once last time, the motherfucking heartbreaker.

"That didn't sound right. What I meant to say was I'm tired of this friends-who-go-at-it-like-rabbits thing. I want us to be more."

Oh. Oh. Ohhhhhh. Later, Legend would whup her own ass for jumping to conclusions. Now, she was busy trying to list all the reasons this had bad idea that would end horribly written on it.

And then, ignoring all those reasons because well, Why the hell not?

She was already fucked.

Might as well do it properly.