Notes: The NC17, pretty-damn-close-to-Xrated warning is still very much in effect here.

Possession

++Barbara++

I rarely enjoyed waking up. Having been converted to the cause of rampant pessimism, all my fears and worries and pains seemed all the sharper after the comfort of sleep. At least when there were no nightmares, and boy did I have some doozies, truly hellish stuff. Not this time though. There was no fear or pain as the sensations of my body and heart awakened. Ro was pressed tightly to my back and Helena sprawled imperiously atop both of us. They warmed the nape of my neck and my ear, and their bodies were utterly boneless in the manner of sleeping cats and dogs. Despite my embarrassment and knee-jerk alarm at this new development, I had to smile affectionately. Damn good thing I didn’t have any constriction issues, as they were practically suffocating me.

After a blissful few minutes of drinking in my lovers’ warm embrace, I finally opened my eyes and saw that it was at least mid-afternoon. “Damn,” groaned up from my chest before I could stop myself and both of them stirred lazily.

“Wha?” Helena murmured sluggishly and Ro made a puppy sound that was almost intelligible.

“Good thing you’re not tremendously heavy, Huntress,” I teased fondly and stroked her bracing arm where it was pressed tightly to my chest. “But I must say that the two of you make a great blanket. Even if it’s getting warm in here.” They chuckled and began pressing kisses to my skin. Reluctantly, I spoke up again. “I suppose I should go see what the rest of the ‘pack’ is up to. That, and I need to get ready for finals at school. I’ve taken too much time off as it is.”

After Helena grumbled and slithered boneless to the mattress beside me, Ro propped herself up on an elbow. “School?”

“I’m an English teacher as a cover for my nocturnal superhero antics. I guess you missed that part of the story.”

“No, I had only forgotten temporarily. A teacher,” Ro mused and kissed me deeply. “How admirable.”

Her comment pleased me in its respect for my vocation. “Thank you Sweetie. Give a girl a hand getting ready?”

“With pleasure. Helena, you stay put and I’ll be back soon.”

“’Kay,” was the weary reply and Helena cocooned herself in the bedding. Ro snorted in amusement and pulled on the sweatpants until they butted into her tail. There was something incredibly playful and sexy about seeing her exotic form in the hazy sunlight with the gray sweats rakishly low around her hips. She roughed her hair up before yawning hugely and I grinned in delight.

“You’re not going out like that are you?” I teased and she flashed her teeth at me in a half-threatening grin. Retrieving the first shirt she found, ironically mine, Ro returned to the bed. None of my clothes were even remotely within my reach. “Damn.”

“I could dress you, Foxy, but I need a shower as much as you do,” Ro growled playfully and I was suddenly flat on my back yet again, with her strong body straddling me. “And I’d rather bathe you myself.”

It was going to be hard to say no to that gleam in her eye. I might as well face my fate gracefully. “I’m all yours.” So she gathered my body into strong arms, sheet and all.

I could be honest enough with myself to admit that I was a bit disappointed that Helena wouldn’t be joining us, but somehow this woman was less threatening to my sense of propriety. I had no history with her, no baggage and nothing to prove. Her very strangeness made her approachable and impossible to judge her behavior to any kind of ‘normal’ social norm. Which made me suddenly remember something that had been bugging me ever since meeting her.

“Ro?”

“Hmm?”

“Why aren’t your eyes pink?” Taken aback by the question from left-field, Ro paused and blinked at me. I was fascinated again by the sideways-closing nictitating membranes. “Those have got to come in handy.”

“The membranes or the eyes?” She chuckled and resumed walking. Sniffing at the air like an experienced hunter, she murmured, “do you smell that?”

Flashing her a wry look, I gamely sniffed at the air before shrugging. “Nope, you have me there.” Ro grinned and nuzzled my face for a moment until I giggled softly.

“People use different chemicals in the bathroom, generally speaking. I smell the same ones that Alfred used in the clocktower bathrooms. People are creatures of habit. Care to be adventurous?”

A day ago, my answer may have been different, but this time I grinned gamely. “Sure.” It was a big room, barely illuminated by the sunlight pouring past our combined mass once the door was opened. There was a click as the tail flipped the switch and we both stopped cold. “Wow,” I breathed in pleasant shock.

“No shit. Boy, if this is one of the perks of living here and keeping the ladies of the house occupied, I’m definitely staying put.”

The bathroom was an enormous space completely tiled in blues ranging from inky dark on the floor to almost white on the ceiling. It wasn’t the vanity alcove off to the right that really drew us both. It was the bathing area. There was a massive tiled platform the size of my car, with handsome wooden lids over what I could only guess were three baths, and a half dozen showerheads ranged over the walls at different heights. There was even a couple with hose and head attachments that looked like they would reach halfway across the large room. The tail caught my eye again as it yanked open a nearby cabinet to reveal towels and bathing supplies.

“Gotta admire that Alfred,” Ro commented softly. “I’m guessing that he wanted Helena to take this place for a long time.”

“Oh, he’s so happy she’s finally taken this place, Ro.”

“Yeah, I thought he was practically glowing. Grab a couple of towels.” Curious to her motives, I did as she instructed and found myself sitting comfortably at the edge of the bathing platform on the towels. Two big teakwood benches rested against one wall and I admired the play of strong muscles as Ro moved them into the center of the room and pushed them together.

“My eyes were pink when I was a kid,” Ro suddenly offered as she worked. “When… Squeakers and I were about four, she was messing around with some equipment and had a UV light nail her right in the eyes. So the scientists used the nanites to build a chemical barrier in our corneas to help filter light before it harmed us. Hence the faint bluish tinge. The nictitating membrane helps when I stare at something to long and don’t want to blink. It’s unnerving to others.”

It was an interesting series of footnotes about her, and delivered in such a neutral tone, that I would bet there was far more the story. But this wasn’t the time or place to gently pry because I was beginning to see where she was going with her construction project and I was starting to get excited. Those strong hands and the furry body had been a wild thrill and I was curious to see what else she was capable of. For a long moment, Ro paused and admired her handiwork before flashing me an incendiary grin. “Guess these are pointless,” she chuckled and shucked off her borrowed clothes. Her fur stood up at weird angles all over her body, even slicked down in random directions where she’d been… wet down last night, so to speak. “See, I don’t just get bed head,” she joked and I laughed.

“So I see. Now quit showing off and kiss me.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Rowan Jones was a good kisser, she paid attention to what I liked and traded control of the intimacy back and forth. Her lips were soft, her tongue quick and sandpapery like a cat’s. There was no hint of teeth today; it was apparent that she was calmer without Helena’s wild influence. I hadn’t been certain that either of the young women could play gentle, but Ro proved to me that my fears were unfounded.

++Ro++

It was easy for me to steal the sheet draped around Barbara’s body, leaving her chuckling at my playfulness. It was quickly folded up and draped over my impromptu massage table before I went back for more towels

“I think we might start having to call you April,” I said while finishing my preparations.

“Why?”

“Because April was the brains behind the Turtles, y’know? And Hel is Rafael all the way, troublemaker that she is.”

How I adored making her laugh, it was obvious that she didn’t do it enough. With the benches heavily cushioned and the internal heating system I found turned up slightly, I was ready to return to the beautiful redhead watching me. Humbled by the clear, piercing gaze, I crouched by Barbara’s feet and felt unaccountably shy. After a moment, a gentle hand ran over my short hair and I nearly purred. “What is it?”

“I’m… intimidated by you,” I confessed and hazarded a glance into her striking eyes.

“Intimidated?” She parroted in amused confusion.

“You’re so smart and beautiful and you’re bonded so tight to Hel. I just don’t… don’t wanna be any trouble.” I hated these bouts of insecurity where I felt like a terrified eleven-year-old lost in the woods. Knowing that Doctor B was perhaps closer and more dangerous than she had been since South Fork was unnerving me. “I’d rather be back in that lab than hurt any of you.”

In an instant, Barbara pulled me into the haven of her warmth and strength, the fierceness of her hug nearly suffocating. “I like having you here. You and Shan and Davie have been good for us and I kinda like having more heroes to order around.” That comment earned the grin she was after and I leaned back to look her in the eyes. “You understand parts of Helena I don’t and you understand parts of me that she never will. Huh, smart girl?”

“Thank you,” I purred humbly and licked at the corner of her mouth, again submissive. It was almost easier with Barbara, where there was no feeling of physical one-upmanship. Despite the fact that I was quite certain those batons could give me a run for my money. Barbara was about out-thinking an opponent, not out-muscling them. My animal instincts had no problem giving in to her higher intellect. Particularly since she had given me free access to her body. Scooping Barbara up, I deposited her gently on the benches so that she could roll onto her stomach and relax.

The scars were worse on her back.

They were actually quite horrific: especially the crater of long-ago damage, flesh torn away by a projectile no bigger than the last bone in my middle finger. Shrugging off the morbid fascination, I moved away to find something to file down my too-sharp claws and see if there was anything slick for her skin. Baby oil and an emery board were tucked into Helena’s stuff on the counter and I was good to go. While I filed, I flickered my gaze from my fingertips to the scars and back again, looming over Barbara’s trusting body.

“What exactly was the damage? I have a solid basic understanding of anatomy,” I suddenly found myself asking bluntly and a sleepy green eye peered up at me. For a moment I was certain that she was going to tell me to fuck off, but again Barbara surprised me.

“Thirty-five caliber bullet fired at close range, hit me just under the navel and impacted the anterior surface of the fourth lumbar vertebrae. It cracked the bone, pinching off the left spinal branch and the bullet exited to just the left of my spine as you can see.” I made an affirming rumble and crouched to trail my newly groomed nails over her back. “The swelling damaged the right side of the fourth lumbar as well as partial damage to the third and fifth. I’m damn lucky to be able to feel my hips and kept use of all my lower abdominal functions.”

“So it could have been worse?”

“Yeah,” she sighed and pressed her face back into her crossed arms. “It could have been much worse.” There seemed little for me to say, so I plucked my thick, claw-like nails over her skin, not skirting the long-healed damage to her body. There were deep, straight grooves, bracketed in like the yellow lines on the road, that ran from hip to hip, the handiwork of the surgeons, hell-bent on saving her life.

“Barbara,” I began hesitantly, tracing a finger over the scars. Again she twisted enough to focus one eye on me. “The fleas…” I lost my nerve for a moment, scared to bring it up because… because what if it didn’t work? “The fleas, the nanites, might be able to reconstruct your spinal branches.” The floodgates were open now and I raised my head to stare intently into her shuttered gaze. “They’re capable of extensive biological reconstruction and they helped piece together my DNA in the first place, but I can’t guarantee anything, and…”

There was a stunned hope that broke through the clouds of wariness in her eyes. It was a thin silver lining, but I felt my own hope rise up again. “How are you certain this might work?” Barbara asked me in a flat tone and I winced. This was exactly the reason I hadn’t brought this up before. Her skepticism and my uncertainty were crushing. How the hell could I build her up if there was a chance it wouldn’t work? Then I remembered that first time she had cried in my arms.

Pressing my hand flat to her horrible scars, I mustered up all my assuredness of a lifetime of academic achievement. “I don’t know that it will work at all. But I want you to have the chance to be free.”

Barbara rolled carefully onto her side to pull me into a one-armed hug that led to a kiss that left me whining in pleasure. She scratched almost roughly into my scalp, digging her nails into the back of my ears before gentling. “Thank you for the chance,” she breathed almost soundlessly into my mouth and I had to think about what she was saying.

“My… my pleasure,” was all I could formulate coherently for a long moment as my libido wrestled with my higher brain. Barbara smiled slyly, the lopsided, quirky expression making me grin back. She was such a delightful enigma. So she again rolled trustingly onto her tummy to give me access to her back and settled into a comfortable position. “It’ll take months for them to build up to the kind of quantities we’re talking about, but there might be a way to rig up a bigger home so that they can reproduce faster. We’ll have to put our heads together. Later of course.”

Barbara chuckled softly at my teasing and I began to sweep my hands over her silky back, pressing into the muscle and tendon beneath. She groaned softly and sighed at the attention while I deliberately lost my attention into her body. The solidness of her muscular yet feminine body was magnificent and I relished the chance to enjoy her naked and up close like this. Beneath the light sheen of baby oil, the delineation of every muscle was mouth-watering. The plane of her smooth back was perfect, the swell of her strong butt, sublime. The scars were just part of the terrain and I gently trailed the pads of my fingers over the marks so not to cause her any pain. Barbara’s body language spoke volumes, her visceral delight at being touched like this for pleasure alone, her nervous tension and guilty joy at my fearlessness with her old wounds.

Not knowing exactly where her sensation loss began, I didn’t avoid her lower body, caressing and massaging right down to her dainty little toes.

“Turn over,” I whispered and she grumbled at having to help me with the effort so that she didn’t roll off the makeshift table. Another towel cushioned her head and let me watch her smoky green eyes as I concentrated on her front side. Making a show of it seemed fitting, so I traced mouth and tongue over her feet, shins and higher before changing her taste with the oil on my hands. Any time I earned the slightest flutter of reaction or a shift in her deep breathing, I paused and concentrated my attentions for a moment. There were times I wished I had whiskers, and this was one of them, but instead I let my lips rest against her skin until I could judge if the response was worth coaxing up again. At her knees I began to get regular, twitchy reactions, and willingly worshiped at the bony caps while caressing the soft backs with gentle fingers. Binky was getting frisky now, lashing at the sultry air as my arousal grew. My noises were becoming more guttural, the interaction with her body more sexual and less merely comforting.

++Barbara++

“God, that’s sexy,” I breathed out almost soundlessly and caught a flash of Ro’s grin as she rubbed her face over my thighs and wallowed in the thick smell of my desire. A rough pink tongue dipped into the crease of my thigh and pelvis, and I wanted desperately to wrap my legs around her head and keep her there where I was burning for her touch. Unfortunately, she seemed satisfied for the moment with just a hint of my taste. Each of my tense abdominal muscles was carefully washed by Ro’s sandpapery tongue before it tickled into my navel and I giggle-groaned at the stimuli. I finally had to grab the white hair and Ro snarled wildly at me. I wasn’t the least bit intimidated; the growling was more conversation than threat. I’d certainly heard enough of it in the last twelve hours or so. “Oh yeah baby,” I groaned teasingly at Ro, who gave me a wide-eyed sexy smile. “Talk to me.” Open, wet kisses danced up my torso, after a quick side trip to caress the little bullet scar lovingly. Part of me was disturbed at the attention and the odd half-numb wash of sensations from the scar, part of me loved her acceptance of my body exactly the way it was. Ro was hunched over me now, hungry to make me prey and I tightened my grip in her silky hair and growled softly back at her. She was aiming for the scattered curtain of my hair, but I decided that kissing was a better use of her time and felt her instincts take backseat to this most delicious of human interactions. It was easy to drown in her heat, feel the sprawl of her body and trade these sloppy kisses with her. I liked suckling at Ro’s lips and tongue, letting the wet pressure shoot straight to every erogenous zone in both of our bodies. Her nips were light and teasing, leaving me to chase after her teeth and gently nip back. She and Helena had played a little rough with me before, and I was grateful that Ro could relax into subtler desires.

As Ro settled ever more heavily into my body, I felt my left leg start to slip and the tail lashed out to grab my wayward limb in a protective embrace, drawing my calf up over her pelvis. The ripe scent of my own arousal assaulted me as Ro shifted her weight so that her still-healing arm could skim down my body. I just knew where she was headed and I huffed in near-distress as her hand cupped around the wiry hair at my groin. I pulled away to catch my breath while Ro treated me to an erotic massage that was making me a little wild with the teasing. “So beautiful,” she breathed feather-soft. “Sweaty and hot like this. I can smell how much you need it, feel you on my fingers, taste your lust in your sweat.” Lost in her words and her touch, I squealed happily as she pressed past the curls and into the boiling slick of me.

“Ro… please. Please.”

“Yesssssssssssss,” she hissed softly and pressed two fingers inside my clinging body, her thumb snaking out to caress the tiny shaft of my deepest pleasure. Arching into the slow fucking, I was only dimly aware as my right leg began to slip. Ro froze for a minute and I was vaguely aware that the tail had grabbed my loose leg and tangled both feet up in the small of her back, leaving me open and vulnerable to her fingers. I knew I was begging for it, and didn’t honestly care. That was her cue to rock her hips into my body, thrusting and withdrawing inside my heat, licking and kissing at my face and throat.

Oh yes, yes, it felt so good to be loved smooth and slow like this, Ro’s gentle touch tugging me up that slippery slope to orgasm instead of pushing me over. Huffing, purring, moaning, her mouth and the tickle of her damp fur was everywhere, as the pressure in my belly built, spiraling out from the slide of her fingers between my legs.

++Dick++

The whole place was still quiet, all of them sound asleep in whatever corner they had chosen. It was a relief to feel life returning to the old manor. I was getting bored with the comfortable quiet lingering over the building and grounds. Eventually, I was desperate enough to see if I could sneak into the penthouse without disturbing Helena and wake Babs up. She had taken the pair of smaller rooms in the penthouse as her own, and I could understand that she wanted the views. More likely, she wanted to keep an eye out on Helena and the strange furry woman, Rowan. The twins seemed nice enough, but they were so odd. Shrugging off my unease, I took the lift up to the top floor, admiring Alfred’s foresight to have the whole manor made wheelchair accessible. At the top, I wandered down the short hall to the entry door to what had been Bruce’s inner sanctum. I still felt like a nervous sixteen-year-old and that annoyed me enough to try the handle. It was unlocked and I stepped into the space beyond. Winding past furniture and boxes, I was drawn to the brilliant sunlight coming in from the open door to the right. An odd noise wafted out as I noticed with some surprise that Babs’ wheelchair was parked next to the massive antique bed that once belonged to Bruce. That was odd. She must have been uncomfortable in the smaller rooms and kicked Helena out. That would be just like her. So I grinned wickedly and decided to act like the boy I had once been and jump on the bed to startle her sleeping lump on the bed. Another strange, animalistic sound carried through the air. Was Rowan killing something nearby? I carefully climbed onto the bed, carefully balancing in the soft surface and prepared to pounce.

Then a sharp, guttural cry split the air and I froze. There was no mistaking that erotic sound… or exactly who had made it. The sleeping lump near me stirred and surged to life with a suddenness that shocked me. Not Barbara in the bed, but a ticked-off Helena, dark hair askew and lanky body looking like someone had thrown her to the lions. Again, Barbara’s wanton scream echoed out of the bathroom and my stunned brain tried to decipher the scene.

Helena, looking like the final scene of a really rough porn flick, Babs screaming in ecstasy in the bathroom, Rowan nowhere to be seen, but I’d bet my kidneys that she was making those feral growling sounds…

It was Helena’s laughter that finally got my poor brain working again. “The look on your face!” she was nearly doubled over in hysterics and I was only just registering that she really was as stark naked as I thought she was and how paralyzing embarrassed I was. “I didn’t believe it, but some things are truly priceless.”

Her laughter chased me from the penthouse like the hounds of hell were at my heels.

++Helena++

I locked the door behind the Boy Blunder to make sure that my goddamn new apartment would stay private. With that done, I scrambled for the bathroom, hoping I could catch the tail end of the action. Barbara’s sounds were ramping down now, deep and heartfelt with satisfaction, and Ro’s rumbles were soothing. Framing myself in the doorway, I took in the sight of Ro’s fine body arched over Babs, Binky keeping the non-working feet locked in the small of her back. I could only just make out the soft kisses and nose rubbing around the bulk of Ro’s strong body and Barbara’s muscular arms, fingers deep in the white mane.

“My kingdom for a camera,” I purred softly and watched them both crane their necks to look at me. “You two are amazing.”

“’Morning,” was Ro’s smiling reply, still braced above Barbara’s body on both hands. I sauntered over, feeling sexy and a bit shy. There was so much history between me and my green-eyed lover that I was feeling a little unsure.

“Loosen your grip,” I encouraged, laying my hand on one of Binky’s coils.

“Sorry,” Ro was immediately all apologies as the tail released its crushing grip and I caught Barbara’s right leg. Standing, Ro carefully gathered up Barbara’s left leg and we looked down at the supine woman. “I got carried away.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Certainly not the most eloquent thing I’d ever said, but… damn. Painted every color of roses, flushed and sweaty and glowing in the aftermath of orgasm, green eyes glassy… I was vaguely formulating the idea that, if I were a little more normal I should be jealous, and then Babs smiled softly at me and any negative thoughts drained right out of my brain.

“You’re here,” she hummed happily and pulled her upper body into a luxurious stretch that left both of us kitties purring. Powerful muscles rippled under her silky skin and I gave into the urge to lean over and lick the salty sheen on her belly. “God I feel amazing today. You two are too good to me.”

“Never,” I hummed happily into her belly muscles and she giggled roughly. Barbara high on sleep, sex and endorphins was possibly the most wonderful thing I’d ever seen. So I laid my head on her torso for a moment and pressed both hands to her skin. Beneath my right one was the irregularity of her scars. “No one could be too good to you.” Barbara smiled beatifically and my heart clenched. Had I ever not been wildly in love with her? My train of thought was derailed by the gurgle of Barbara’s tummy just under my ear. “You’re hungry.”

“Now that you mention it, I’m starved.”

“Bath first,” Ro hummed quietly from where she had stepped away. Neither of us had even noticed. Oops. There was a shower of warm water that blasted over the both of us. “You’re filthy.”

Her grin was playful and a little challenging behind the hose and spray showerhead. She stepped closer to hose Barbara off and the redhead laughed as the water sheeted over her. Ro coaxed Barbara to shift around to get her hair washed and I helplessly wanted that task. Until Barbara distracted me by shampooing my short mane. Her caressing fingers in my hair and skritching my scalp was pure heaven, even if I did need to remain crouched uncomfortably over her.

“Your poor ear,” Barbara noted softly and I hissed as she rubbed shampoo-coated fingers into that sore spot. “No biting so hard, Boo.”

“Sorry, Raf,” Ro apologized from where she sat on the floor by Barb’s head. “You bring out the beast in me.”

“’S’okay,” I yawned as Barbara’s fingers moved away from the nasty bite and massaged my neck. “Is that another of your silly Turtles?”

“Yep, Rafael was the bad boy, so I thought you’d like the name.”

“Sweet.”

Once I was shampooed up and rinsed with Ro’s handy hose, I got the pleasure of soaping Barbara down, taking great pleasure in teasing her curves beneath the layer of sweet-smelling soap. Between me and Ro, Babs was humming in sensual contentment from having every square inch lovingly tended to.

“Would you like to soak for a few minutes while we get cleaned up?” Ro asked and Barbara smiled contentedly before nodding. “Helena? I have no idea how those tubs work. Give a couple of smart girls a hand?”

Chuckling, I went to the wooden lids lining the deep shelf to the left of the door. Beneath each was a carefully tiled tub ranging in size from one to an orgy. I set the small one to filling and Ro wrestled Barbara’s body into the space. It was only a couple feet deep and big enough for a large man to sit cross-legged in. It’s smallness would ensure that Barbara wouldn’t have to work to stay upright since this place wasn’t set up for her. The second was just a larger version of the first, with a shallow bench built in, but the one I was curious about was the big one. Under a split-circular lid was a big, honkin’ tile-lined pit that could comfortably accommodate six people. Eight if they were friendly. Ro leaned over my shoulder to comment, “Squeakers will be so jealous.” The cold tickle of her wet fur brought up my sympathy and I grabbed her in a crushing hug and a long kiss.

“Let’s get you groomed, sexy.”

“Please,” she grinned and I leapt over to scoop up the fallen shower-hose. Soaking wet, Ro looked weird, her patchy fur slicked to her skin. We turned getting soapy and clean into a game, running teasing hands over one another’s skin. She started growling again when I knelt down to attend to her lower body, deliberately sliding my slick hands between her legs and into the sensitive spot at the base of her tail. It was easy to slip past the wet hair and slide deep into her body, taking some of her weight when she hunched up and grabbed at my shoulders. A few slick thrusts and she was rrrowling in my ear, tugging at my hair with her teeth. The contractions started deep in her body, the muscles nearly painful in their strength. That tail took some serious buffness to operate. “Saints…” Ro breathed as I stroked her back into her skin, slow and gentle before leaving her heat. Licking my fingers seductively, I stepped away to retrieve the shower-hose yet again and rinsed her down.

“Sorry if I got any soap inside,” I purred and Ro shrugged as she turned in the spray.

“’S’okay,” she purred and stepped over to me to grab my wrist and aim the hose between her legs. The violet eyes were dilated and wild, the nictitating membrane half-mast. “Better.”

“You are such a nasty tease,” I chuckled and spluttered as she aimed the spray up my body and stepped away to go snuffle over the sleepily grinning Barbara.

“Ready to start your day?” Ro asked and Barbara hummed lazily. She was scooped out of the water and returned to the benches with their soaked coverings. We all toweled off halfway decently and went scrounging for clothes. The sky had grown surly and nasty out, damp air whistling through the still-open window.

“Storm brewin’,” I noted and was abruptly grabbed and kissed thoroughly. “What was that for?”

“This,” Ro growled and I squealed happily as she threw me on the bed and ravished me while Barbara laughed in delight.

++Dinah++

During my first visit here, I had taken note of the massiveness of the Wayne Manor. It wasn’t just the size of the place, but the weight of history here. There was something almost tangible about the old money that built and maintained this place. With the mysteries of the Batcave directly underfoot, the building took on an almost living quality. Gabby had only murmured sleepily when I stirred awake, her body still wanting to sleep to encourage healing. Shan was already gone and I decided to try out my superhero skills and track her down. Calling on my knowledge of my pal, there were a variety of places that would appeal to her: the kitchen, any workout area, a high vantage point or the trees outside. It seemed only reasonable to start at the kitchen, grabbing a quick cup of coffee and a roll that Alfred had left out. Then the hunt began for real.

What felt like days later, I realized that I really just didn’t have the patience for this. It was pouring outside in one of those lovely east coast cloudbursts that tried to drown a person. Unlike most bursts, this one hadn’t dissipated, but was now merely pouring instead of doing a biblical flood impersonation. I was fairly convinced that Shan wasn’t in the house and that left the grounds outside. The surrounding thick forest was much closer to the building at the back, so that’s where I headed. The twins weren’t comfortable with full exposure, especially in broad daylight, so she would want to get into the trees as quickly as possible. If nothing else, their poor albino skin and eyes would suffer something fierce in UV rays. There was a vast solarium that ran along the back of the Manor that was bigger than some parks I’d visited, and I padded along the edge of the walkways, keeping an eye out for my target. Then I came to the double glass doors and looked out at the storm beating down on the glass far over my head. I could barely make out the shape of the pool house and the heavy green of the forest. Nothing left to do but open the door enough to peek outside.

I was astonished to see Shan sitting on a lounger at the side of the enormous pool, knees trapped in the circle of her arms, face turned up to the storm above. And, damn, was it a storm. I had been in some doozies back in Missouri, but this was an impressive display, with periodic flashes of lighting in the dim afternoon and roaring thunder making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Something deep inside was tugged at by the untamed display and the very naturalness of Shan’s presence in the middle of it. There was no denying that a big part of her appeal was the wildness that was so much a part of her. It terrified me, but in a good way. While I adored her humor and her easy acceptance, it wasn’t those things that made me step into the raging storm. It was the tug of the feral, the primitive, the unknown…

Soaked, utterly drenched to my bones, I stepped into Shan’s vision, well out of reach. I was jazzed to see her jerk with shock at my sudden appearance. The sound of her voice saying my name was lost in the chaos, but I recognized the way her lips shaped the word. Had it barely been more than a week since we’d faced off over our partners’ fallen bodies? Already she had made such a difference in me and the way I looked at the world around me. Then I really looked at the way her mouth formed my name, the sensual play of those delicate facial muscles, lightning throwing her features into stark relief.

There was no reason to deny it, was there? Sure I was young, sure I was inexperienced in so many things, but I was damn certain of one thing with sudden clarity.

I really, really needed to know what she tasted like.

If I had thought about what I was doing, I would have panicked, but something in the shadowed violet eyes, something about her body language, something about the untamed forces around us gave me courage. Straddling Shan’s long body, I wrapped my arms around her, our faces close, the rain beating violently on us. Then I finally knew what she felt like, the play of her lips against mine tentative and friendly. I barely had an idea of what to do, what I liked, but was determined to find out and pressed in deeper. I had no clue if that was the thunder or her rumbling like that, but it made both of our bodies vibrate as I caressed her mouth with mine. It felt incredible, soft and sweet, her taste mixing with the rain, her slender body pressed close. Then Shan took the next step, tilting her head, gripping my soaked hair in both fists, coaxing past my lips with a teasing tongue that was sandpapery enough to make me gasp. She felt… she felt… amazing. That smooth-rough tongue traced up under the edge of my upper lip, making my teeth tingle and I gave into the urge to tease back with my own. This time I knew the growl came from Shan, rumbling up from her chest to be breathed into me. It was enough to chase off any lingering nerves and I dove into her, wanting to know everything all at once.

We must have necked for the entire storm, not that I had any concept of time passing. Her hands low on my sides and something powerful wrapping around my waist and the back of my thighs finally made me jerk my head back. Slinky gripped me tighter as I propped myself up on my hands, only now realizing that I had shoved her flat and was fully straddling her. The storm may have passed, but the hurricane in her eyes was still wild. I had never kissed a girl, but looking at her wet, swollen mouth, I couldn’t remember why the hell not.

“I’ve wanted to do that for awhile,” I made myself say between the fading rolls of thunder; still feeling like the storm was surrounding us. Shan’s hands rested at my waist, the weight of them grounding me and making me want to scream in frustration. There was the weirdest look on her face, the arousal mixing with what almost looked like panic. My heart sank at the implied rejection. “I… I should go,” I blabbered idiotically and tried to get up and away from her hands and mouth and her strong body between my legs.

“No!” Shan finally came to life and yanked me back into a suffocating hug, not that I could have gotten away from Slinky’s death grip around my hips. Huffing and purring, Shan pressed snuffle kisses into my drenched hair and ran her hands over my back. It was heaven. The little kisses on my temple and cheek finally coaxed me to turn my head and meet her eyes, so close to my own. “Stay, please. I’m just… surprised. Good surprised! But still…” I didn’t want to talk just yet, and leaned that last tiny distance to capture her mouth again. Luckily, she seemed just as willing to drop the conversation for more pleasant activities. It was gentler this time, curious instead of just hormonal. Shan had a beautiful mouth, lean and sculpted like the rest of her, and she kissed so wonderfully that there was no chance that my mind was gonna wander. Those wandering hands were making me squirm and I had the vague thought that maybe we should knock this off before all this necking turned into heavy petting.

A loud grumble deep in Shan’s belly gave me the perfect out, pulling my head back to laugh, “you need food.” The words strangled in my throat as I watched Shan flinch away from the water still dripping from my hair. It wasn’t that, but the way her thin tank top clung to her like a transparent second skin.

Woo boy…

The breeze kicking up after the cloudburst was chilling the water and Shan’s little pink nipples were standing up at attention. Bet mine were too. Mouth suddenly dry with something I still wasn’t sure I wanted to fully acknowledge, I needed to get up. I was overwhelmed, and it was freaking me out. But not enough to turn away from Shan when she scrambled up beside me and tilted my chin up to meet her eyes. She was starting to squint in the growing sunlight, but smiled softly at me. “Can I…” Obviously embarrassed, Shan paused and ducked her eyes away, leaving me less nervous and more curious.

“Can you what?”

Again the violet-pink eyes met mine, raw and vulnerable and hot enough to make my breath catch.

I did this to her. I made her like this, hot and bothered and scared. It was a visceral shock to realize that fact. I needed to be gentle with her heart, and I prayed that she would be gentle with mine. Cupping a hand around her cheek, I ran my thumb over her lower lip and shivered when she kissed the sensitive pad.

“Shan. Can you what?”

“Ask you out,” she breathed and I was shocked again. “I can’t promise anything like a normal date, but I think we could figure something out.”

I stopped her nervous rambling by pulling her down to attack her mouth and buried my fingers into her hair. These were the best kisses, deep and sure, lips, teeth and tongue playing back and forth until we separated only far enough for me to speak very, very hoarsely. “I’d be delighted.”

“Sweet,” Shan grinned manically and kissed me again. At this rate we’d never make it inside for breakfast, lunch, whatever. “Can I ask you a question?”

“I think you just did.”

That earned me a swat across the butt that made me squeak and get all flushed again. “Smartass. Why have you never read me?”

The question sobered me. “I… I don’t know exactly. It’s sometimes really hard for me to control. I think I’d rather get to know you the old fashioned way, y’know?”

“I know exactly what you mean. Thank you.”

To Be Continued…

Who doesn’t love this song? If you don’t then you won’t understand the bittersweet poetry of it, the love and loss. I think that Barbara is overwhelmed yet calm about this new phase in her life, these sweet and feral women in her life and her bed. There are many people who see her as always so calm and self-possessed, but it takes a fringe personality to do some of the things that she’s done. To don a costume or a persona and try and save the world takes a very special breed, and Barbara is one of the best.

Possession

By Sarah McLachlan

Listen as the wind blows

From across the great divide

Voices trapped in yearning

Memories trapped in time

The night is my companion

And solitude my guide

Would I spend forever here

And not be satisfied

(Chorus)

And I would be the one

To hold you down

Kiss you so hard

I’ll take your breath away

And after I’d wipe away the tears

Just close your eyes dear

Through this world I’ve stumbled

So many times betrayed

Trying to find an honest word

To find the truth enslaved

Oh you speak to me in riddles and

You speak to me in rhymes

My body aches to breathe your breath

You words keep me alive

(Chorus)

Into this night I wander

It’s morning that I dread

Another day of knowing of

The path I fear to tread

Oh into the sea of waking dreams

I follow without pride

Nothing stands between us here

And I won’t be denied

(Chorus)

 

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