Mary. 28. I spend  lot of time dreaming up things that will never happen and sometimes I write. Asks and requests are always welcome! I like Criminal Minds, Peacemaker, RodrickxRegina, and Yellowjackets. Link to Masterlist
Just read the Vigilante part of the Peacemaker Vigilante/Early Double Feature. My favorite part is the diary entries written by Freddie Stroma from Adrian's POV.
A/N: I'm getting better at this yeyey â lwk corny, I laugh my ass off writing the dialogues sometimes. â English is still not my 1st language, so there may be some mistakes, but ehh
Tags: +18; nsfw; smut; MDNI; gn!reader; dom!reader; whiny!Adrian; dry humping; dry prgasm; overstimulation; praise kink; spit/saliva; foul language; no use of y/n.
Friendship bonding for Adrian had always been a very twisted concept in his mind. It was known for you that he had his quirks, and that never really bothered you. Still, you kept him at bay, never really got too close because you knew how obsessive he could get.
However, sometimes it was cool to have someone willing to do whatever if it meant to be beside you and have a bit of fun.
Now you had him pinned to your bed with your lips all over him. Skin texture and the sour flavor of his cologne covered your tongue as you slowly pressed wet kisses on his neck. The heat of the room was nearly unbearable for you, making your breath ragged and your skin sticky.
However, he was taking all that like a silly little kissing session. Your head lifted when you heard a quiet hum, finding that dumb smile plastered on his face, and his pulse steady as ever under your palms.
"That tickles..."
His comment hit you like a bucket of ice water. Still, your blood roared in your ears, and you could feel that distinguishable tickling down your stomach.
"God, Adrian... If you weren't so pretty, I'd have killed you already for being so stupid."
Your voice was low and breathy as you pushed yourself up with a sigh, slowly trying to climb off him, but his hands suddenly tightened on your hips to keep you in place.
The moment you looked back at him, his lips were parted, and his eyes were wide with awe.
"What?"
"Am I pretty?"
His voice was slightly strained now, breaking a bit as he tasted the words in his tongue. You snorted, amused that he seemed to overlook the insult entirely.
"Yeah, you're pretty. You're a handsome guy. Now, let me go."
Another attempt to slip off him was denied. You were wiggling lightly, and a bit of discomfort flickered through his face despite being the one keeping you there.
His face contorted in that faint pout he usually did when he was in mild pain, but still keeping you from moving. Your brain took a second longer to process that. Suddenly, the distance between you was too much and too little at the same time.
"You got hard because I called you pretty?"
"Fuck... No? That's notâuh..."
"Really? It looks like it, though."
The slightly amused accusation, with that skeptical teasing tone, earned you a breathy protest from him. You felt him moving beneath you, repositioning himself, trying to deny what was already pretty much clear.
"It's not my fault! I can't control it, and I'm not used to you being this nice to me!"
It was so obvious that he tried to be annoyed while his hips kept twitching slightly beneath you. His breath hitched slightly when you leaned down until your lips brushed his, letting your hands sneak under his shirt in the process.
"I'm always nice to you."
"Uh. Noânever like this. You don't say things to me."
"Have I never told you how pretty you are? Or how strong and good..."
You spoke directly against his lips, dodging his attempts to chase your smiling lips. His abdomen was tensing under your palms.
"You barely acknowledge me as a friend."
He cut you off with his wavering voice. His fingers dug into your hips momentarily before loosening gently.
"You're my best friend."
Another little twitch of his hips was enough to let you feel the hard-on through his jeans. The pressure pushed the air through his throat in the form of a quiet whine.
It was twisted to call him your best friend now, knowing what that meant to him, while touching him like that, and you knew it. But it was affecting him, and that affected you.
"Shi... shit, I'm so fucking hardâI think I'm gonna cry."
"You'd look so cute crying for me."
Your voice lowered to that velvet tone you barely ever used around him, making his breath grow so heavy and hot that it fogged the bottom of his glasses.
Both stayed there for a second, breathing into each other's air without moving an inch. That's when you got an idea.
Your hands glided under the hem of his shirt, pushing it up until it crumpled over his chest, leaving his stomach free. You leaned down.
He barely registered what you were doing when you sapped his hands off your hips, but the second your tongue pressed flat under his navel, his whole body arched.
"Ghhgfuck! WaitwaitwaitâThat feels strange... I canâcan I take my shirt off at least?"
"No, I like it with your clothes on."
"God, please... You're gonna make me come without touching anything!"
His protests were so unconvincing, contradicting even. Both his hands fisted around the sheets as your voice tickled his skin, abs raising and falling rapidly under your wet tongue.
Your drool was coating his torso like warm honey, nearly drowning him as his body kept shivering with every sweep of your tongue.
"Nâno, I can't take it... I'm gonna ruin my pants, please. Let me take them off..."
A particularly hot lick that ended with you giving him a hickey near his ribs made him make a noise that you had never heard from him. It was a loud, broken cry, almost pained, that took you by surprise.
Your mouth left his already damp skin to look at him, trying to find out what was wrong. But all you found was his hand now covering his mouth, and his glassy eyes barely open.
"Mh... you look so pretty. What is it? That's all you can handle?"
Sweet words left your mouth with a grin plastered on your face, and all he could answer to that was a quiet "mhm" that sounded suspiciously close to a sob. Your hand slowly reached for his wrist to uncover that flustered face of his.
"Come on, I know you can do better than that. I didn't even touch you."
"Hnn... No, I can't..."
"Try."
You pressed your mouth on his, finally giving him what he wanted since you called him pretty. The kiss was eager, a bit messy since he was desperately trying to breathe into your mouth while his lips tried to devour yours, holding your face with both hands.
All his protests died against your lips, not even a breath escaped him when your hand traveled down again, acting on impulse until it reached the button of his jeans.
It wasn't until the zipper was pulled down that you broke that sweet kiss, letting a little thread of saliva hang between your mouths.
The erection swelled notoriously past the waist of his jeans, only covered with the thin white cotton of his boxers. Your hand hovered for a moment before lowering to press against him through the fabric.
A choked moan escaped him at the sudden contact. It wasn't aggressive, but one hand latched onto your wrist as his body jerked, instinctively seeking more friction.
"Does it hurt?"
"NghâShhhhit... No... No, it's just..."
The confirmation was enough to make you press more firmly, move your palm against his already damp boxers in a rhythmic pace that ripped another moan from his throat.
Your eyes were fixed on his face, where small tears rolled from his eyes as he trembled. His breath came in hot and heavy, mixing with little moans through parted lips.
"You sound so cute..."
"Ghhgod... don't teaseâ"
"I'm gonna remember those noises when I'm alone..."
Mockery dripped from your lips in the shape of sweet little words that made him choke on air.
His hand tightened its grip on your wrist, nearly bruising your skin, as you picked up the pace. Hips bucked relentlessly against the heel of your hand as his moans turned into a long string of nonsense.
"Ughhhhâwait. Stop, please... I can't. Ican'tIcan'tâI'm gonna... I'm gonna ruin my clothesâfuck!"
"It's alright..."
"Nhhâno, no... Ohgodohfuck! I'mâ! I can't stop..."
The whiny babbling didn't stop you from keeping the rhythm on with a grin, fighting against his own hand that was holding so hard onto yours. You pressed lightly, giving him quick strokes that blurred his vision.
Only a few seconds passed until a tremor swept through his body, making his eyes squeeze shut and his hips roll hard against your hand. The front of his boxers became a sticky mess, clinging uncomfortably to his skin.
His body started to melt, coming back down from his orgasm, his breathing easier than before. However, the change of pace didn't really stop hour hand. You just gave him a second to open his eyes and relax before putting pressure on him again.
The touch made him contort, knocking the air out of his lungs as tears swelled up his eyes again. Your hand moved gently against his wrecked underwear, tearing a broken cry similar to your name.
"NonononoâI'm done! I already came, please! Mhgod..."
"Aw, is my boy overstimulated already?"
"Fuck... I'm yours. I'm your boy, please! it's too muchâahh.. stoppp!"
You didn't stop immediately, just slowed down progressively while watching the way his face twist slightly. By the time you finally stopped, he was sniffling, limp over the crumpled sheets.
"You're so cute."
That's all you gave him before pressing your lips on his again. This time her took a moment before returning the kiss, but when he did, it was the softest you had ever gotten from him.
Tied him down to my queeeeen beeeed tease him just enough to hate meeeee
OMG HII. me again đ«Ł here with a creepy busboy adrian fic (as promised ages ago, forgive me) eEEE, as always let me know if you enjoy, comments and reblogs are super appreciated, xoxo!
adrian chase x reader
cw: creepy and stalker-ish? behavior oop. reader has no idea how to set up healthy boundaries yay!! a lil bit of SMUT. please read at your discretion, this may have upsetting and triggering topics for some people. content is obviously 18+, MINORS DNI.
it's not like you have anyone to blame but yourself really.
your coworkers had flat out warned you about being nice to him from the moment you started your job at fennel fields. they warned you from their own experience about what could happen if you were to give adrian chase an in.
of course you thought it was rude and inconsiderate of them to do and say that. like- how bad could adrian really be?
its funny now, you never imagined that ignoring their advice would ever bite you in the ass quite like this.
because now, theres his relentless and intense stares that make doing your job all the more difficult, adrian waiting with bated breath for whole minutes at a time for you to make eye contact with him from across the room on a daily basis.
it just that the strength of his gaze alone creates a charged atmosphere that you can't ignore even if you tried. you always end up meeting his eyes, no matter how far away or how close he is.
and every time without fail, when adrian realizes he's captured your attention, you can practically see the way his body straightens up, he perks up at the eye contact, as if there was a shock of electricity running through his body.
he always smiles in response. dopey, sweet and giddy. triumphant too.
adrian never once flinches or blushes at being caught in the act. he wears that shit like a badge of honor.
and no matter how much your coworkers snicker about him, call him names, run their mouths about how creepy he is. you can't ever stop the upwards twitch of your mouth at the sight of his.
now it's him lingering by his car almost every day, standing in the darkness of the parking lot just outside of the restaurant. waiting patiently for you to come out at the end of your shift.
adrian is eager to know about your day, your plans, what songs you're listening to at the moment. anything and everything just to keep you around for a while longer. he tells you about cool new animal facts heâs learned, he tells you about a new movie that he watched or a new video game heâs playing, he gives you hints of what his life is like outside of work but he always keeps it vague enough that it accidentally starts making you intrigued about him.
like some kind of black hole, adrian's gravitational pull is fucking merciless once you get close enough.
"honey, you need to stop encouraging him. he's been looking at you like that for 5 minutes now." one of your coworkers had worried out loud to you once.
and sure, not encouraging him sounds easy enough-
but adrian just so happens to be- well, adrian. pretty big eyes behind dorky glasses, soft curls and bright toothy smile.
he's also just disarmingly endearing, and silly. funnier when heâs not even trying to be. he makes you laugh so easily, the noise always startles you with how quick and how loud it escapes your body around him.
you can't help it, the way you cave in to his relentless pursuits at trying to get to know you better, entertaining his silly and sometimes pointless conversations, inadvertently getting distracted by the cuteness of his canines, the little curls that bounce on his forehead and the softness of his hands while he rambles on about how much you would love his collection of beanie babies in his secret room.
that really should have been a red flag all on its own truly. but your brain was all too worried with thinking: god, he's cute.
so no, you cant really blame anyone but yourself when adrian starts pulling stunts like this. far worse than what anyone ever warned you about.
now, he's started following you outside of work too.
âïžâïžâïž
"the creepy busboy from your job is here again" you hear the worried whisper of your friend against your ear, when you turn they're already nodding towards him
adrian, who stands all the other way across the bar with a bottle of beer in hand, nodding his head to the music
he's out of his busboy attire of course, wearing a simple, long sleeved green polo shirt and jeans.
you cant help the way your eyes trail over his frame. it's not that his clothes are incredibly stylish, they're just distinctly adrian. comfortable, practical and dorky. but you think they fit him, and so so fucking well.
"you want me to get rid of him for you?" your friend suggests when she doesn't get an immediate response from you. theres a hint of disgust in her features once she realizes how your face hasn't turned with disgust at all. in fact, she thinks she might have seen a small little pleased turn at your mouth.
it's embarrassing, how sharp and how final your "no!" is in response. its so impulsive you quickly feel the need to elaborate "i mean- it's ok- i- i can handle him."
funny, you're not exactly sure how you're planning on handling him at all.
when you approach adrian you find that his eyes are entirely too focused on nothing in particular for it to be considered natural, as if he were actively and ridiculously trying to avoid looking in your general direction.
he clearly hadn't expected for you to walk up to him first.
its just that, usually, adrian was the one 'bumping' into you.
"oh hey- funny seeing you here!" he always chirped. flashing his canines at you with a big smile.
it's happened a couple times now though, so it might as well be fucking hilarious at this point.
"what the hell are you doing here adrian?" you ask, forcing yourself into his field of vision, his mouth falls agape, he stares at you in shock of your confrontational tone of voice.
you've never been this severe to him before. a mistake on your part, thats for fucking sure.
"im listening to some sick ass live music! what do you thin-" adrian responds defensively, his scowl heavily pronounced as he gestures with his beer around the venue.
âoh really? do you even listen to this band at all?â you snap, folding your arms over your chest in challenge
âuh yeahâ
âsince when?â
âsince foreverâ
âyou don't seem like the type to be into themâ
âand why the hell not?â he scowls, hilariously raising his voice at you.
âwell- youâve always been more pop inclinedâ
âi'm inclined to whatever fucking rocks actuallyâ adrian answers with a sassy little twist of his head âi'm a dude of very diverse and complex taste in case you forgotâ
and damn it, you laugh at that. its natural, it's escaping your lips before you realize its even there, like all the other times he's managed to wring it out of you
the edge of his mouth tugs upwards at the sound, looking far too proud of himself, his eyes start gleaming at you in a way that makes your breath hitch.
"are you following me again?" you ask, desperately trying to wipe the smug look off his face, absolutely not buying his answer at all.
theres a quick flash of worry that shows on his features, a subtle gulp in his throat, a drop of his mouth, eyes widening in a way that makes them look like two giant orbs.
it fades away just as quickly as it appears.
"what? fuck no!" he lies.
and he could have left it at that too, but of course adrian will never not elaborate and make things worse for himself. "besides- how do I know youâre not the one following me huh? creep? did you ever think of that maybe? i should probably call the pigs on you"
you hate it, how you can't hold back the snort at his outrageous response.
the absurdity of it all is incredible, you can't fucking believe him.
but of course all adrian can see is your smile now, the victory in having amused you. he gets that satisfied look on his face again, the one that for the first time in forever is actually making your entire body feel like its burning from the inside out.
maybe its the music thats having this effect on you, maybe its the drinks, maybe its the fact that you're evidently growing weak against adrian's infuriating charisma, all you know is that you have to snap the fuck out of it, quick.
"my friends are starting to recognize you y'know?" you say, at a loss for anything else that could scare him off.
of course it doesn't get the desired effect.
"you told your friends about me?" adrian's face lights up, his stupid smile reaches his eyes in a way that makes them crinkle. "that's like- so sweet"
and maybe it is because youâre down a couple drinks, but you swear you see adrian leaning in close enough that you can feel the warmth radiating from his body.
"adrian, dont change the subject-" you warn, placing a hand on top of his chest to stop him from inching any closer, you're not even convinced he was leaning in at all but the panic surfaced either way
you dont expect to feel how his heart is literally thrumming inside his chest, the loud thumps hitting against the skin of your palm, almost in sync with yours. the knowledge of him being just as affected by you as you are of him keeps you frozen in place, unable to walk away and stop fucking touching him.
when your gaze lifts up from where your palm rests over his shirt and towards his eyes again its when you realize that yes, he has in fact, moved in a lot closer.
so close you see how his cheeks are turning rosy pink at your anchored hand on him, you notice how his glasses are almost imperceptibly crooked on the bridge of his nose, you also dont think you ever realized how toned and how big he actually is until now.
it dawns on you like a pile of bricks over your head, that not only is adrian stupidly and boyishly handsome. he's also just hot, in the most objective and straight forward sense of the word.
he's hot. so hot it continues to silence the little voice inside your head that's trying to remind you the hot guy in question has basically been stalking you this whole time.
it's maddening, how he makes your stomach twist and flutter even when he makes your skin crawl.
"iâve told my friends about us too" he adds, with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "chris thinks you're awesome by the way-"
wait. what? who the fuck is chris?
"us?" you ask, because it's all you can do to try and process the implications of what he's saying.
"yeah, y'know this thing-" he quickly gestures between you and him with a nod of his head, he smirks at your hand still weighing on him "- we have going on. you know what I'm talking about"
'adrian, we don't-" you start, but you cant explain why the words die in your throat instantly when his face starts falling sullenly in response. instead, your brain chooses another avenue. because you're a fucking coward apparently. "how long have you been telling people about this?"
"i dunnoâ he giggles, lifting his index finger to adjust the glasses on the bridge of his nose far too casually for your liking âcouple weeks maybe."
âïžâïžâïž
theres a burning shame that settles in your stomach, it's strong, but not strong enough to stop you from digging your hands in adrian's hair and pulling until he gasps out a surprised laugh.
you know somewhere around the bar your friends most likely have already gotten a glimpse of the little scene you've been putting on, how you grabbed at adrian by the sleeve of his shirt and dragged him away to a secluded corner of the bar.
your friends now know what it looks like when you're making out heavily and nastily with adrian chase
because for the life of you, you just cant fucking stop.
you're kinda grateful for the booming loud music, otherwise the people around would be getting an earful of something waaay to obscene to be happening in public.
the way he moans eagerly straight into your mouth is not helping at all either.
adrian kisses like the world is ending tomorrow, like maybe he hasn't kissed anyone in his whole life and he probably never will again. but even though its sticky, messy and its clumsy you're responding with your own needy noises with every nasty swipe and flex of his pink muscle over yours.
it's embarrassing, the many times you daydreamed about doing exactly this, every time you stared for a little longer than necessary while he waited tables at the job, always moments before adrian could notice you were just as enthralled by him as he was of you.
wait- wasn't there a reason you had approached him in the first place? before you started bitting off his mouth?
"you can't keep showing up wherever i am, its creepy" you say, breathless, trying to raise your voice so it beats the loudness of adrian's whine in annoyance of you even daring to part from his kisses
"okay sure, if you say so-" he says with a little evil smirk, trying to lean in quickly to press his lips on yours again.
oh, so he admits it.
"adrian-" you squeak out like you want him to stop, but your arms are still wrapped around him, keeping him captive and close to you by the neck "adrian!"
"what?!" he groans in irritation, separating just enough so you can talk but only just, eyes still zeroed in on your glistening mouth, his spit is smeared all over it and he loooooves how that looks.
"promise me you'll stop it?"
"i dont think you want me to" he states, not teasing, only matter of factly.
"what?"
"i mean, yeah- i followed you here, now you're sticking your tongue down my throat. i think its a pretty obvious conclusion here-"
your stomach drops, the words die at your throat, the shameful feeling you were trying to push down only burns all the more brighter on your skin, it morphs before your very eyes into something that makes you wild with need. almost like adrian grabbed this hidden part of you forcefully by the hand and pushed them out into the light before you could stop it.
its the terrifying notion you tried so hard to shove away, that you thrived in his nearly deranged unwavering attention, that you craved to have adrian trailing after you like a lost little puppy in need of love, you loved it, you fucking want it so bad it has you seeing bursting hearts over his head
theres a beat of silence before a helpless curse slips from your lips, before you pull him down to bite at his mouth once more, defeated and relinquished.
god, how the hell are you supposed to see adrian at work every day after this?
now that you know exactly how it feels when his hands circle around your waist and he clumsily pulls you flush against his body. now that you know what it feels like when adrian follows your lead with every swipe of your tongue agains his.
it's like you're turning a dial to the max inside his head, adrian responds in turn to your every bite and every kiss, progressively matching and then outmatching your already frantic rhythm until it makes you dizzy.
his hands wander aimlessly inside your shirt, his spit is making a home inside your mouth with how messily he slides his tongue over and past your lips.
adrianâs burying himself to the hilt inside you in some filthy bathroom, smiling into your mouth happily every time you cry his name, he's staring at you with the same intensity he always has only this time the shock of electricity that strikes up his back is coursing through him nonstop, and it's coming not only from the eye contact but from where the both of you meet, from where he keeps thrusting in with uncoordinated and unmeasured snaps of his hips until he hears your yelps getting louder.
"fuck! fuck! fuck!, adrian-" you whine, the urgency and the frenzied edge to his movements inside you have you brainless and already fucked out, at a loss for any coherent words that aren't his name and needy desperate moans.
"holy shit you're so noisy-" adrian mocks with a snicker, staking his final claim by bringing his digits up to your mouth, sliding two of them in until you're feeling them all the way down your throat and pressing over your tongue.
it's funny, that your coworkers and friends warned you about not giving him an in. adrian has seeped into you so badly, you're literally drowning and choking on him now.
lowkey feel like adrian can only fuck if he can see his partners face the whole time⊠đ€ like missionary, doggy in front of mirror, yahda yahda but he just gets soft pretty quickly if he canât ogle
HEHEEEE hard agreee đ€ i just think he gets really pouty if he can't see the look on your face at all times, it grounds him, keeps his focus on the task at hand, he loves knowing that the way your brows dip and your mouth parts is in response to what he's doing, he smiles proudly every time, he also hates not being your center of attention :( what do you mean you're just thinking about and looking at his dick? NO. LOOK AT HIM. ACKNOWLEDGE HIM.
Chapter Ten ⊻â ⊻ âŹÎčđ - HungerÂ
âŻâ pairing: Adrian Chase x fem reader
âŻâ AO3 | word count: 6.3k | chapter 1|chapter 9|chapter 11
âŻâ synopsis: You really shouldn't eat that alien goo, no matter how hungry you are.
âŻâ tags: ASPD! reader, assassin/mercenary reader, smut, casual sex, canon typical violence, fake relationship (at first), eventual romance, childhood trauma, reader is Chris' little sister, Auggie Smith is a pile of garbage, references to past torture, mdni please, sex pollen.
đŻ ----
âAll things feel hunger.â Auggie stated, wiping his brow underneath the bonnet of his pet restoration project over the summer.Â
A 1976 Mercury Comet, sleek and in a deep red, the same shade dripping from your nose onto the concrete. It was near tandem with the oil as Auggie used a socket wrench to tighten up a gasket head.Â
âIf you really want to win a war, any true victor and smart general will tell you how, starve them out.â His other pet project was proving more difficult than he anticipated, hardly making a sound or protest.Â
âWhen someone gets hungry enough they'll do anything. Even chew through their own arm just to survive.â The life lessons were hitting home perpetuated over the betraying garble of your stomach.
Tightly clasped hand-cuffs bound you, chained to the wall, they dug into your wrists, scarred with a litany of pointless escape attempts or trying to seek a position that would provide comfort.
There was none to be found.
âYou've done well this past week at âsummer campâ not even a peep outta ya.â Auggie chuckled, standing up from the car to admire his handiwork.Â
The mercury was a beauty, and what a year â76, Ford was president, Cold War against those damn commie Russkies still in its prime offering Auggie plenty of mercenary work, the Eagles released their greatest hits, Hotel California graced the radio and that year his first son Keith had been born.Â
So much promise there in Keith, lost in an instant. He was the perfect soldier, followed orders to a tee, easily manipulated but not to the point of stupidity like his younger brother. Nor did he have that attitude and all the rest of it that came with being a girl like his sister.Â
A true weapon, one that he couldâve used to conquer nations. Only a fool would try to use a dull blade, too heavy handed and prone to making mistakes, or an overly sharp blade, edge too unstable and prone to losing control.Â
Captain Triumph wouldâve been his moniker, the suit sat in the display of his interdimensional workstation, along with Peacemaker, Precision and of course his own mantle White Dragon.Â
Now it was 2006, and he had sired a waste of space pansy-ass son Chris and an acting up, wilful daughter that needed to learn her proper place in the world. Where had the fucking time gone and where had he gone wrong?
Auggie turned back to you, a silent question on his thin lizard-like lips, pursed as if begging you to give him a reason to get the car battery cables out again.
Suspended by a chain bolted to the garage wall made it difficult for you to really seem imposing. All you could do was glare back, not wanting to give him the satisfaction.Â
Pangs of hunger clawed desperately at your gut, vision failing, but still you had to keep eye contact.Â
You had to try to let him know that he hadn't broken you yet. And he never would.Â
That belief had to reside in you somewhere at least. It was literally keeping you alive.Â
Auggie didnât appear to notice nor care about your deep set scowl, returning an effortless one of his own. Like a haunted house two-way mirror. âSummer camp is over. A hungry dog is most obedient,â he led waiting for you to continue, mockingly shaking the set of keys for your release in front of your gaunt face.Â
Your literal meal ticket, to finally leave the basement and get to the dinner table. There was no rejecting your basic instinct, biology was screaming at you to eat.Â
â..a hungry dog hunts best.â You finally replied to finish that stupid favorite saying of his. Â
âThatâs my girl.â The dark grin made your stomach turn, youâd lost this bout, as he anticipated, a chess game with your hands cut off wouldâve been easier. âLetâs go upstairs and get ready for supper, your brotherâs going to be home soon and itâs an important day.â
Stumbling up the basement stairs, you let the shower pelt you with cold water, trying to wash off the grime with an old bar of soap. The drain spiralled with a dark mix of dirt and blood, you watched it intently, until the water eventually went clear.
An old Linkin Park hoodie from a concert Chris took you to helped hide the swollen marks at your wrists and across the landscape of torture youâd endured over the past week. Auggie was more clever than he let on though, your face was left unmarred, so when Chris got home from his job at the local ammunition store, he was none the wiser.Â
âDinner!â Auggie roared at you to hurry up, despite how much you wanted to collapse in a heap into your cramped cot bed and sleep.Â
âGood to see you sis! Did you enjoy summer camp?â Chris asked as he walked through the door, a wide stupid open-mouthed smile on his face.Â
Auggie glared at you from across the dining room table, knife and fork squealing across ceramic pointedly for you to keep your story straight or else.Â
âUh-huh, it was so much fun.â You lied robotically, stabbing a fork into the peas on your plate.Â
âMake any friends?â Chris looked so hopeful, as if it was ever a possibility that you could ever connect with another human being in that way.Â
âNot really.â You replied, trying to keep the story realistic. âI enjoyed learning archery, wood carving, fishing and hunting though.â The bullshit lines Auggie told you to spout out were easy coming off your liars tongue.Â
âGlad you enjoyed yourself at least.â Chris nodded, none the wiser. âThanks for cooking dad, this steak is awesome!â Â
âItâs fine.â Auggie grumbled back, glancing over at you. âThis one was too lazy to make anything, youâd better sort out a birthday cake quick smart young lady if you know whatâs good for you.âÂ
It took everything within yourself to cut the steak and not your fatherâs trachea with the steak knife in your hand. âWhat cake do you want?â You asked instead, rigidly facing your brother.Â
âChocolate!â Chris exclaimed, already salivating at the thought.Â
âTwenty-five, still living under my roof and youâre excited over chocolate cake. What a pathetic fuck up you are.â Auggie suddenly announced, fist slamming on the table, iron-clad.
âSorry sirâŠâ Chris started to make excuses, how heâd gotten himself a place with his pal Gut Chase, a trailer at the local trailer park and would be moving out soon. None of it seemed to impress Auggie, who wordlessly finished off his meal.Â
âYouâre moving out?â You were shocked that the big lug had managed to keep it a secret from you, or that he managed to save enough from his job.Â
âItâs in the works, sorry Strawberry, I was gonna tell youâŠâ He winced, as if youâd be upset to see him gone.Â
âWho cares, do whatever you want.â You shrugged, scooping more gravy onto your mashed potatoes, refusing to make eye contact with him either during the rest of the meal.Â
Afterwards you got to work baking the chocolate cake with whatever batter mix of cooking chocolate and half-used Betty Crocker packets you could find in the pantry to make something edible. Piping with cream on top you spelt out 25 in bold letters, your handwriting precise and clean, it read more as a statement than a heart-felt addition.Â
âCandles?â Chris had the audacity to ask when you emerged from the kitchen, baking tray in hand with a big stupid cake on top.Â
âWhat are you going to wish for? Another sock to jerk-off into?â Auggie put an end to that with one fell swoop of his poisonous ire.Â
That zipped Chris right up, who cut the cake up in silence, passing paper plates round. All of you ate up that chalky chocolate, a little too soft in the middle mess youâd baked while still half-dead from being tortured for a week straight, all pretending to be a regular family.Â
âTime for your present son, itâs down in the garage.â Auggie announced gruffly, wiping his face off of chocolate and enjoying how wide your eyes got.Â
âA present? Holy shit!â He was just as shocked, neither of you ever got gifts on special occasions, outside of when Auggie forgot what day it was and handed you a new weapon or ammunition absent mindedly.Â
Following the pair back into the basement youâd only just escaped from would have made most go into a hyperventilating mess, but you werenât most people. You didnât feel things like normal people did.Â
âWoah dad thanks so much! Oh man, I'm gonna call it the Peace-Mobile!â Chris was so excited, pumping the air and running around the car like a dog.Â
He forgot himself in his excitement and went to try and hug your father, who shot him a look of pure scorn and disdain at the act of affection. Â
âFucking pussy.â Auggie shoved Chris back into the wall and shook his head thoroughly disappointed. When he went storming off to get himself another beer, you glared at Chris for poking the rabid bear.Â
âThanks a lot big bro, bet Iâm gonna have another shiner for school tomorrow for that now.â You snapped venomously, eyeing the car with intense jealousy.Â
In a sick twisted way, you felt owed the vehicle for what Auggie put you through. That had been your daughter-daddy bonding project over the summer.Â
Chris was left alone with the cold car keys in his hand, trudging back to eat the rest of his birthday cake, hoping food would fill the loneliness he felt in the pit of his stomach. The warmth of a family who cared and loved him wasnât something he could rely on, Chris knew for his sanity that he had to get out of this house.Â
But he still worried, abandoning you with Auggie. Yet the way you treated him with such malcontent, he couldnât lie, that helped with the decision to get the fuck outta dodge.Â
It was fine, you were totally okay, Chris lied to himself after moving out, he went to family dinners on Sunday evening to do a welfare check-in.Â
At school you didn't interact much with anyone, keeping to yourself. A true loner it opened the gateways of would be bullies, had they not been terrified of you. So any teasing about how horrible your home life or financial situation judging by your clothes was usually done well outside of your periphery.
However at times you did hear hushed whispers of your fellow female kind, discussing the new trends that you clearly couldnât afford. What bothered you wasnât their vapid murmuring, gaping stares or exclusionary tones. It was that they had something you couldnât attain.Â
Money was paramount to keeping appearances, blending in, getting what you wanted, climbing the ladder, being left the fuck alone. You needed to get money. But your father wouldnât let you get a part-time job, and you didnât want one.Â
Being told what to do for minimum wage? Youâd likely snap within the first shift at McDonalds and the greasy managers atlas cervical vertebrae in one swift motion.Â
Stealing was easy, you had been trained for warzones and operative missions by your father, swiping some clothes from Hot Topic was childâs play. Speaking of, there was a neat Childâs Play t-shirt along with a Poltergeist shirt that you proficiently snapped up to wear at school tomorrow.Â
The emo grunge style suited your wants to be left the fuck alone and spoke to you the most of the cliques that hovered around the school yard. A nice camouflage to be the strange girl that kept to herself, listened to MyChemicalRomance and smoked cigarettes under the bleachers.Â
âHeya, a little help there goth lady?âÂ
A voice called out to you one frosty morning during your routine of dragging a pack stolen off your dad's wardrobe of Marlboros and imagining his rage-filled shout tear through the house as he turned it upside down trying to find them.
Looking directly up at the source of the irritating sound landed you with the sight of a scrawny bespectacled boy hanging suspended by his underwear on the bleachers. A seriously heinous wedgie.
âKinda a lot of effort for them to haul you out of middle school to do this. Who'd you piss off?â You replied, standing up to get a better look at how pathetic he was.
His face was riddled in acne and a couple bruises, curly hair a frizzy mess alongside a metal monstrosity of head gear. A striped polo shirt with a precious pocket protector, washed high-waisted khakis and bright white sneakers finished the geeky ensemble. âAnd why are you dressed like the weirdo host off Blues Clues?âÂ
âSteve? Wow that's an honor you think so! But I'm not a middle schooler, I'm Adrian Chase, a senior just like yourself!â Adrian explained, swinging helplessly back and forth, trying to keep the position where he could bask in your beauty most.
Adrian knew that your makeup was urban decay graveyard themed, banned apparel black knit cardigan with holes down the sleeves, a military green skirt and combat boots with red and black striped tights. While he didn't approve you stealing from Hot Topic, he had to admit it all looked great on you.
âMy condolences.â You blew a line of smoke right into his face.Â
âWe're actually in math class together and share the same lunch period!â Adrian knew this because he sat in a prime spot to watch you eat your lunch.Â
It was the same thing every day, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He had counted how many bites it took you to finish it and that was how many motions he was allowed to finish his own meal.Â
Totally normal behavior and he didn't use that measurement to finish anything else off later at home while surfing the world wide web on the family computer in the basement.Â
âWhat's in it for me?â You asked, stamping out a cigarette and considering putting the next one out on his sweaty forehead.
âJustice?â Adrian suggested.
âNot very lucrative.â You shrugged.
âI could hold your book bag for the rest of the year?â Adrian offered.
âGross. You look like you'd love being my little slave, no thanks.â You pulled a face of disgust at the very idea.
âNuh-uhâŠâ Adrian tried in vain to hide the half-chub forming by swinging to the other side. âHm well what about something super valuable, it's in my locker if you let me down it's yours!âÂ
âWhat is it?â You frowned, his clothes weren't overly preppy but not super discount store looking either. Maybe he did have something valuable.
âPayment only after the kind deed is performed, milady.â Adrian wouldn't budge and you sighed, flicking open your switch blade to cut him down.Â
âFine, but a deal's a deal. Better be worth my time.â Slicing through the tightie whities, Adrian bellyflopped to the grass with a groan.
It wasn't worthwhile at all.
It was a fucking toy.
âA priceless Spinner the spider beanie baby for your trouble madam!â Adrian proclaimed proudly, green eyes sparkling behind those insanely punchable frames.Â
âYou've got to be shitting me.â You grumbled, holding the stupid PVC bean bag with beady eyes and for whatever reason a tiger patter on its abdomen.
âNope! She's all yours.â Adrian grinned, retrieving a spare pair of underwear of which you could see there were several folded and slammed his locker shut. âTotally gonna be worth like a million dollars soon, sheâs discontinued by TY!â He whistled cheerfully along to the Gilmore Girls theme on his way to English class.Â
Without another word you marched off and never really spoke with that geeky Chase kid again. The spider toy remained in your locker, a reminder to never do a favor without the payment negotiated clearly and first half upfront, second half after the job is completed. Via wire transfer. Â
But youâd been staring at the photograph of Chris with his new car, you beside him, after he painted it over with an American flag decal and that stupid beanie baby on your mantle for too long now. Note to self, never let either of those idiots into your room, lest they believe you hold sentimentality for them.Â
Another morning, another run around Evergreen park. This time though, no sign of Rick. Finally you could be left alone, taking a slightly different trail than usual. The thought made you nearly crack a smile, until a man in a gaudy teal lycra sweatsuit right out of the late 80s came bounding up to you, waving profusely to get your attention. Curly bob of hair was bouncing above a thick silver framed set of polarised running goggles.Â
Fuck. This was worse. Much worse.Â
Mostly because Adrian was in great shape and could keep up with you, and talk at the same time. âWoah! You run around the park too? What a coincidence.â He flashed you a genuinely toothy grin, one that spelt out indeed he hadnât been following you around.Â
âYes, quite the coincidence.â You muttered back, mentally checking off to never change your morning routine or run path again, ever. Upping the pace, Adrian smiled even wider, happy for the challenge that he frustratingly met.Â
âWhat are you listening to?â Adrian wondered, motioning to your noise cancelling headphones.Â
You really should get a refund for those, they clearly didnât work on whatever whiny annoying frequency Adrian operated at. âHotel California.â You replied stiffly.Â
Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes-Benz, uh
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys that she calls friends...
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget...
âOooh nice a classic, Iâm listening to In This Skin by Jessica Simpson.â Adrian showed you his ancient teal iPod nano.Â
To be worthy! To feel beautiful in this skin
Be beautiful in this skin, love the skin I'm in
Love me for me! Have confidence in this skin!
Be confident in this skin!~
âI didnât ask.â You rolled your eyes, what a weird song choice, did he need the early morning boost of body empowerment or some shit?Â
âI listen to it for a boost of body empowerment early in the morning, to know I am beautiful in this skin and while I run for fitness itâs not to define my self-worth.â Adrian explained and you hated how you got that right and were unraveling his insane logic so easily.
He truly was a toxin of insanity infiltrating your mind. Â
Parasitic in every sense of the word, blathering on.Â
âIâm getting a coffee after this.â You said it to try and stop the conversation, but Adrian of course took it as an invitation, dawdling behind you all the way to Jitters.Â
At this point after hearing him drone on during your run without skipping a breath about the MTV reality series Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica and his opinion on every one of forty episodes, youâd become immune to being annoyed any further for today.Â
After you ordered your usual of an Americano, iced today as it was getting hot, before you could pay, Adrian stepped forward. âI donât really drink coffee, Iâm already high energy. But Iâll get a caramel frappe with extra whipped cream thanks!â Then he unexpectedly got his credit card out, a pithy low-rate blue American Express, and paid for your drinks.Â
âWhy did you do that? I make exponentially more than you do. Also the low-rate cards are a scam, you shouldnât fall for those gimmicks.â You lectured him and despised how he smiled sweetly at that, as if you were giving advice from the bottom of your heart.Â
âItâs my momâs card and I wanted to be a good boyfriend and buy you a coffee!â Adrian insisted, not at all seeing how cringe that was and gesturing for you to both sit down at a booth.Â
Right, youâd nearly forgotten. You were fake dating Adrian.Â
âWe have a lead on the aliens, Guan Tai or some shit, sounds like yoga.â Adrian informed you, slurping down his sugary drink.Â
âDonât you do pilates?â You scoffed, checking over the newspaper for your favorite orange cat.Â
âThatâs totally different! Itâs like awesome for my core strengthâŠâ Adrian whined, peering over to read the cartoon with you.Â
Today Garfield was sitting at a laptop, typing away, John behind him. âIâm creating a new organizational chart, Iâm supreme overlord of courseâŠâ Then he classically turned to the idiot John. âDo you want to be called Food Servant or Litter Box Flunky?â Garfield asked with a smirk.Â
Adrian was in total stitches, laughing horrendously loud, milk snorting out of his nose, hand clutched to his side, another banging the table with a closed fist. âGARFIELD YOUâVE DONE IT AGAIN!â He didnât care about the looks glaring his way in the slightest, wiping tears out of his eyes before smiling adoringly at you.Â
âThat was a good one.â You admitted quietly, finishing your coffee to stand up and leave. Adrian wasnât at all finished with his drink, but chugged it down in two choking gulps to race out ahead with you towards the Hennelotter video hideout.Â
There was a game plan in motion, hit up the warehouse, secure whatever they were making and get out of there. Simple enough.Â
Then Vigilante started setting off a chainsaw loudly in the back of the van. âI canât wait to fucking kill someone with one of these bad boys!â He exclaimed, Harcourt viciously telling him to knock it off. Everyone denied him the fun toy, as it wasnât great for espionage.Â
Despite how annoying Vigilante was, you did feel a little disappointed to not see or get to participate in the next Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The group split up to cover more ground and be inconspicuous, you and Vigilante paired together with Harcourt who bitterly lost the paper scissors rock with Adebayo for who would babysit the psychopaths.Â
Adrian wouldnât know quiet if you put it into a cement brick and hit him upside the head with it, something you imagined out frequently. âHold up! I remember this warehouse, it was the old hideout of that asshat and where we first met Pris.â He attempted to whisper but barely contained a shout.Â
âYes, the job for taking out that mafioso wannabe.â You agreed upon survelling the warehouse more closely.Â
Heading through the coast was not clear as your brother Chris immediately fucked up and it was a fire fight that with your skill was easily dispatched of. Closing in to reconvene as a larger group, Adrian was still wandering down memory lane for some reason.Â
âOh wow, right here you were, Pris, gosh you looked so beautiful bent right over in this spotâŠâ Vigilante began dreamily, and the gang all wondered how he still had his voice box intact with you standing next to him.
âUGH DUDE I AM RIGHT HERE!â Chris shouted, looking close to vomiting.Â
â...as you shoved that live grenade down that fuckers throat, fuck still gives me tingles!â Vigilante continued, clasping his hands together into a full swoon.
âThat was fun.â You admitted, sauntering past Vigilante to continue investigating the warehouse.
âRight?â Vigilante beamed.
âI donât know if thatâs better or worse.â Adebayo shook her head and Harcourt merely rolled her eyes. Murn wasnât participating at all, actually getting to work at finding another hidden door at the back and waving them to join him.Â
âDo you seriously have an erection right now dude?!â John asked with a disgusted frown on his face, everyone looking down at a tent that had formed at Vigilanteâs crotch.
âNo, it's just the crotch padding to protect the merchandise. Which is definitely flaccid at this current moment in time.â Vigilante boldly claimed, his voice getting a few octaves higher. âDon't be staring at my dick!â He squealed at everyone, who walked past him to check out the secret back room.Â
âTheyâre making that goo stuff Goff was eating here!â Chris exclaimed, picking up one of the jars and turning it around.Â
âMore like transporting it from somewhereâŠâ Adebayo noted, there didnât seem to be any production plants, only conveyor belts for transporting onto trucks.Â
John logged into the computers to try and figure out where else they could be, and all in all you were quite bored until the next wave of whoever you were allowed to kill turned up. The entire warehouse was surrounded, Murn, Chris and Harcourt all leaving to deal with the exterior, Adebayo below with you and Adrian as John tried to hack into the computer for the location of the cow like creature these aliens were milking the goo from.Â
It was all going great until Adrian unleashed a shotgun shell into a shelf of goo jars above you both, glass shattered across the ground, and the thick honey like ooze was dripping helmet to boots, obscuring your visors.Â
âYou fucking idiot VigâŠâ You grunted, trying to wipe the goo off, you blasted away the final stragglers. But there was no use clearing the visor, you only achieved smearing it more, sticky residue coating your glove.Â
âSorry Pris!â Vigilante similarly had to take his helmet off, the goo was everywhere. Then you caught him doing something insanely heinous.Â
This motherfucker assessed the goo on his gloved finger and licked it.Â
âDid you just fucking eat that?â You demanded, like an owner discovering their dog eating some mysterious item off the ground.Â
â...no.â Adrian lied, trying to hide his shame, some of the honey still on his bottom lip. âIt does taste good though.â He admitted when he realised there was no point in lying.Â
âSo this is how we figured out which mushrooms were poisonous in the middle ages.â You scoffed at him, rolling your eyes. âNice knowing you.â
âIt was?â Adrian cooed, over the moon by that, âAwww it was nice knowing you too!â
âGross this stuff is all over my gloves,â You tried to remove them but it was tricky with how stuck together the fingers were. Using your teeth, you got one of the gloves off to remove the other, not noticing the intense stares until they flopped to the ground.Â
âThatâs better.â You sighed, then took in their bewildered expressions. âOh fuck.âÂ
âVig ate some of that weird alien goo and now Pris has also ingested someâŠâ Adebayo updated the others outside.Â
âThey did what?!â Harcourt shouted back.Â
âThatâs not great, you two might want to get a wide berthâŠâ Murn said, sounding as if he could anticipate what might happen next.Â
âUhh guys they're fighting!â John called out over the comms.Â
You and Adrian were circling one another, interlocked in an equal sided sparring match. Swiping a leg to underpin his own, you smashed an elbow at his sternum, but Adrian caught it and wrestled back a shaky control. Kneeing you in the gut, you returned the favor with a sharp jutting punch to the chest, winding him. Â
âWhat the fuck?â Harcourt replied, âwhy would they do that?âÂ
The two of you unsheathed the blades at your backs and began to clash swords, dodging, ducking and weaving, each with dazed grins plastered on your faces.Â
âI wonder if it tasted any good?â Chris wondered and Harcourt slapped his hand from grabbing a nearby jar in the van.Â
âUgh Adrian also suddenly smells awful, like he rolled in pig shit.â John bemoaned, pinching his nose shut.
âNo I donât! How dare you say that around my girlfriend!â Adrian gnashed his teeth back towards John. Did that fucker just growl at him?Â
âMale butterflies emit an anti-aphrodisiac for other males to leave when about to mate.â Murn explained calmly.Â
As if on queue there was a new wave of pheromones in the air, palpable enough to cut with a blade, the two of you dropping your blades to the ground.Â
You swallowed dryly, starting to feel overwhelmed as his scent hit you like a freight train, sending shocks right to your core. Sure Adrian was meticulous with his skin care routine and used pleasant smelling deodorant, it never had this visceral reaction before.Â
Adrian had a similar experience, because oh god, you smelled way too good, like a bakery putting out their sugar buns out on a spring morning, fresh pastries, vanilla, big plush, bouncyâŠ
Okay the bakery metaphor was gone and he was fully staring at your tits now. He felt himself hardening at an alarming pace, which wasnât all too strange around you to be honest, but there was something a little off this time.Â
âAbout to mate? Oh god they aren't fighting anymoreâŠâ John raced for the door before he could witness anymore of this insanity.
The imperative took over, the two of you stepping closer, only inches away, before taking a deep long breath of each other's intoxicating, alluring scents, eyes locked in an amorous war. When Adrian reached out to touch you, pulling in an arm around your waist, you moaned lowly. He responded in kind with a deep purr, pressing his tenting desire against your thigh, biting down on his lip with a swear when you ground back.Â
âSweet baby Jesus...â Adebayo was well ahead of him, dashing down the hall.Â
You had come out victorious, and slammed Adrian to the ground, unbuckling his belt. His hands were desperately groping out for your own.Â
âOnce the female is satisfied with her suitor, she allows him to attach himself by extending and offering her abdomen towards the male for coupling.â Murn continued to inform them flatly.Â
âHow long do butterflies usually mate for?â John asked, Adebayo giving him a weirded out look. âSo we know when to go get them!â He qualified.Â
âAnywhere the coupling could be from one to twelve hoursâŠâ Murn replied with an awkward clearing of his throat.Â
âI think I'm going to actually throw up, please can we stop talking about this.â Chris retched.
âLet's leave them there and go before more show up!â Harcourt said, stepping on the gas.Â
âWhat about their safety?â Adebayo asked.Â
âTrust me, they were even more psycho than usual in there. They'll be fine!â John shouted back, buckling his seatbelt.
âI guess youâre right.â She supposed, looking back a little worried through the window at the warehouse now in the distance as Harcourt peeled out onto the highway.Â
Duran Duranâs A View to a Kill started to spill into the van, slightly muffled, with gun fire riveting over top.Â
Meeting you with a view to a kill, face to face in secret places feel the chillâŠ
Nightfall covers me but you know the plans I'm makingâŠ
âYou know what Vig, keep that on.â You had to give it to him, that song was a certified banger while killing enemies.Â
âYou mean it?!â He was so excited, a murderous puppy wagging its tail as he shot through another line of enemies.Â
âYeah, but donât keep those pants on, get them off.â You ordered him.Â
A very unsettling unzipping and ruffling sound echoed throughout the van communication system. âDude, turn it off.â Chris nudged John to hurry up.Â
Usually whenever Adrian accidentally hit the comm button it was funny and they laughed that they overheard him tinkle or something stupid.But this wasn't funny.
Dance into the fire that fatal kiss is all we needâŠ.
âIâm trying, thereâs some interference with the signal,â John typed away, but it was far too late.Â
âHurry up and give me your cock Vig! Put it insideâ now!â Your sharp voice boomed.Â
âOhh baby, itâs all yours, uhh fuck youâre tight!â Adrianâs panting love struck voice was met with an unspeakable sound.Â
Choice for you is the view to a kill between the shades assasination standing stillâŠ
First crystal tears fall of snowflakes on your bodyâŠ
âShut up and stop talking, just move your hips!â You demanded coldly.Â
âC-choke me harder PrisâŠohh y-yeah make quiet...â Adrian strangled out adoringly.Â
First time in years to drench your skin with lovers rosy stainâŠ
âTURN OFF THE GOD DAMN COMMS!â Chris wailed in a pitch that could break glass, John quickly shutting down the comms in the van.Â
The rest of the drive to the Hennelotter video was in complete silence outside of Chrisâ sobbing about how he could never enjoy Duran Duran ever again.Â
Meanwhile the two of you were in a heated lock together, it was like a frenzy, and now that you had gotten a taste, you needed to have all of him.Â
Adrian was trying to keep a proper pace, but you were so fucking tight and gripping him so well, that restraint or coordination werenât really an option, so it had to be fast, unrelenting and awkward. Heâs huffing underneath you, eyes rolling in the back of his thick skull, mouth wide open, jaw shifting in gasping silent cries as your hands squeezed around his neck.Â
âYouâre so fucking big Adrian, itâs really good,â despite yourself the words tumbled out, body reveling in how his hip bones struck against yours.Â
That was strange. Why did you say that?
Adrian glanced at where you were both connected, a delirious grin on his face from the compliment. âYouâre so fucking b-beautifulâŠâ He cooed, his next thrust incredibly rough and making you mewl.Â
âY-youâre handsomeâŠI think youâve got gorgeous green eyes.â Your brow furrowed, what the fuck was happening?Â
That encouraged him to rut against you harder, âOhhh Pris, youâre so kind to me,â Adrian looked so taken aback and pleased. âI donât deserve it!â The room filled with the sounds of desperate slapping flesh from his thick cock fucking you in earnest.
âI also love your music taste.â You clapped your hands over your mouth while bouncing at every thrust, it had to be goo doing this. What else might you accidentally reveal with this truth serum? Or rather false serum, obviously you hated his musicâŠobviously!Â
âReally, you do?â He leant back bewildered by your kind words, watching you ride him in amazement.
Adrian was looking completely wrecked underneath you, pure putty, sending another shock of lust through you. Not satisfied by being the only one moving, you tugged him by the hair to direct Adrian, unleashing a moan in appreciation of his overeagerness at that to participate, driving his hips mercilessly against yours, bodies rejoicing at the slick sloppy connection.Â
He hummed as your hands traveled to his stomach muscles and the V at his hipbones, pawing at the outline through the combat gear. He allowed his own hands to find their way to your figure, squeezing your hips and thighs, hoisting you up so you could wrap your legs around him.Â
When you complied, both working purely on instinct that shouted in bright lights that you needed to fuck whatever this was burning hot within eachother, and god fucking damnit had to do it now.Â
âAhh fuck, I want you to have my babies!â Adrian groaned, hands latched to your waist, thumbs pressing where the outline of him was at your lower abdomen.Â
âGive me them, I need you to finish inside!â You moaned back, wrenching a fistful of his hair to urge him to move. A cry ripped through you, back arching as Adrian properly split you, rough hands holding you in place as he sawed in and out, pushing deeper with every thrust.Â
âShiiiiit,â he growled, he could tell he was insanely close, his balls were tightening, cock twitching and legs weakening as he drove himself closer to his release.
But a good feminist, Adrian sucked the tip of his fingers before rubbing your clit to ensure youâd hopefully finish alongside him too.Â
âThatâsâŠamazing, Adrian, feels so fucking good!â You hissed, head tipping back, swollen lips parted, eyes squeezed shut.Â
Adrian had noted youâd been letting a couple things slip this time and broached the topic heâd been wanting to ask for a while, âdo you love me Pris?âÂ
âWh-what?!â Your eyes snapped open and were just as magnificently murderous as he thought theyâd be when he popped the question. âWhy would you ask that you fucking moron?â There was a deeply seeded part of you glad that those words left your lips.Â
Another sentence had grated to a halt, entirely unwelcome.Â
âSorry, I think itâs the goo making me tell the truthâŠbut seriously I love you,â Adrian hung his head into the crook of your shoulder, blubbering as he felt his gut tighten.Â
âIâm g-going to--â words failed him, his sentence ending with a sharp guttural cry. With a final breathy gasp, you bucked against him, jolting as you came, savoring how good his twitching cock felt inside of you until your mind caught up to speed.Â
The alien goo haze had left, and you pushed yourself off him, Adrian sitting there dumbfounded, brain still rebooting.Â
Damn it, heâd completely finished inside.
âYou're a fucking moron. I'm going to the pharmacy, then a shower.â You said and stood up.
âWhat for? I have wet wipes here.â Adrian helped clean you up and you slapped his hands away when done.
âObviously for pregnancy tests and some plan b.â You snapped.Â
âYou don't want my kids?â His goofy face fell.
âNo, I only said that because of the fucking insane alien goo was ruining my brain chemistry.â You firmly rolled your eyes.
âOhh. Yeah totally me tooâŠâ Adrian replied, twiddling his thumbs awkwardly. âBut it did kinda seem like that goo was acting like a truth serum right?âÂ
âUghh. I can't even look at you right now.â You grumbled, not wanting to engage with this lunacy any further.Â
âCan I still look at you? Your pretty face is all redâŠâ Adrian was met with Precisionâs visor and the barrel of her gun. âOkay, no looking, got itâ Iâll drive.âÂ
OMG HII. me again đ«Ł here with a creepy busboy adrian fic (as promised ages ago, forgive me) eEEE, as always let me know if you enjoy, comments and reblogs are super appreciated, xoxo!
adrian chase x reader
cw: creepy and stalker-ish? behavior oop. reader has no idea how to set up healthy boundaries yay!! a lil bit of SMUT. please read at your discretion, this may have upsetting and triggering topics for some people. content is obviously 18+, MINORS DNI.
it's not like you have anyone to blame but yourself really.
your coworkers had flat out warned you about being nice to him from the moment you started your job at fennel fields. they warned you from their own experience about what could happen if you were to give adrian chase an in.
of course you thought it was rude and inconsiderate of them to do and say that. like- how bad could adrian really be?
its funny now, you never imagined that ignoring their advice would ever bite you in the ass quite like this.
because now, theres his relentless and intense stares that make doing your job all the more difficult, adrian waiting with bated breath for whole minutes at a time for you to make eye contact with him from across the room on a daily basis.
it just that the strength of his gaze alone creates a charged atmosphere that you can't ignore even if you tried. you always end up meeting his eyes, no matter how far away or how close he is.
and every time without fail, when adrian realizes he's captured your attention, you can practically see the way his body straightens up, he perks up at the eye contact, as if there was a shock of electricity running through his body.
he always smiles in response. dopey, sweet and giddy. triumphant too.
adrian never once flinches or blushes at being caught in the act. he wears that shit like a badge of honor.
and no matter how much your coworkers snicker about him, call him names, run their mouths about how creepy he is. you can't ever stop the upwards twitch of your mouth at the sight of his.
now it's him lingering by his car almost every day, standing in the darkness of the parking lot just outside of the restaurant. waiting patiently for you to come out at the end of your shift.
adrian is eager to know about your day, your plans, what songs you're listening to at the moment. anything and everything just to keep you around for a while longer. he tells you about cool new animal facts heâs learned, he tells you about a new movie that he watched or a new video game heâs playing, he gives you hints of what his life is like outside of work but he always keeps it vague enough that it accidentally starts making you intrigued about him.
like some kind of black hole, adrian's gravitational pull is fucking merciless one you get close enough.
"honey, you need to stop encouraging him. he's been looking at you like that for 5 minutes now." one of your coworkers had worried out loud to you once.
and sure, not encouraging him sounds easy enough-
but adrian just so happens to be- well, adrian. pretty big eyes behind dorky glasses, soft curls and bright toothy smile.
he's also just disarmingly endearing, and silly. funnier when heâs not even trying to be. he makes you laugh so easily, the noise always startles you with how quick and how loud it escapes your body around him.
you can't help it, the way you cave in to his relentless pursuits at trying to get to know you better, entertaining his silly and sometimes pointless conversations, inadvertently getting distracted by the cuteness of his canines, the little curls that bounce on his forehead and the softness of his hands while he rambles on about how much you would love his collection of beanie babies in his secret room.
that really should have been a red flag all on its own truly. but your brain was all too worried with thinking: god, he's cute.
so no, you cant really blame anyone but yourself when adrian starts pulling stunts like this. far worse than what anyone ever warned you about.
now, he's started following you outside of work too.
âïžâïžâïž
"the creepy busboy from your job is here again" you hear the worried whisper of your friend against your ear, when you turn they're already nodding towards him
adrian, who stands all the other way across the bar with a bottle of beer in hand, nodding his head to the music
he's out of his busboy attire of course, wearing a simple, long sleeved green polo shirt and jeans.
you cant help the way your eyes trail over his frame. it's not that his clothes are incredibly stylish, they're just distinctly adrian. comfortable, practical and dorky. but you think they fit him, and so so fucking well.
"you want me to get rid of him for you?" your friend suggests when she doesn't get an immediate response from you. theres a hint of disgust in her features once she realizes how your face hasn't turned with disgust at all. in fact, she thinks she might have seen a small little pleased turn at your mouth.
it's embarrassing, how sharp and how final your "no!" is in response. its so impulsive you quickly feel the need to elaborate "i mean- it's ok- i- i can handle him."
funny, you're not exactly sure how you're planning on handling him at all.
when you approach adrian you find that his eyes are entirely too focused on nothing in particular for it to be considered natural, as if he were actively and ridiculously trying to avoid looking in your general direction.
he clearly hadn't expected for you to walk up to him first.
its just that, usually, adrian was the one 'bumping' into you.
"oh hey- funny seeing you here!" he always chirped. flashing his canines at you with a big smile.
it's happened a couple times now though, so it might as well be fucking hilarious at this point.
"what the hell are you doing here adrian?" you ask, forcing yourself into his field of vision, his mouth falls agape, he stares at you in shock of your confrontational tone of voice.
you've never been this severe to him before. a mistake on your part, thats for fucking sure.
"im listening to some sick ass live music! what do you thin-" adrian responds defensively, his scowl heavily pronounced as he gestures with his beer around the venue.
âoh really? do you even listen to this band at all?â you snap, folding your arms over your chest in challenge
âuh yeahâ
âsince when?â
âsince foreverâ
âyou don't seem like the type to be into themâ
âand why the hell not?â he scowls, hilariously raising his voice at you.
âwell- youâve always been more pop inclinedâ
âi'm inclined to whatever fucking rocks actuallyâ adrian answers with a sassy little twist of his head âi'm a dude of very diverse and complex taste in case you forgotâ
and damn it, you laugh at that. its natural, it's escaping your lips before you realize its even there, like all the other times he's managed to wring it out of you
the edge of his mouth tugs upwards at the sound, looking far too proud of himself, his eyes start gleaming at you in a way that makes your breath hitch.
"are you following me again?" you ask, desperately trying to wipe the smug look off his face, absolutely not buying his answer at all.
theres a quick flash of worry that shows on his features, a subtle gulp in his throat, a drop of his mouth, eyes widening in a way that makes his eyes look like two giant orbs.
it fades away just as quickly as it appears.
"what? fuck no!" he lies.
and he could have left it at that too, but of course adrian will never not elaborate and make things worse for himself. "besides- how do I know youâre not the one following me huh? creep? did you ever think of that maybe? i should probably call the pigs on you"
you hate it, how you can't hold back the snort at his outrageous response.
the absurdity of it all is incredible, you can't fucking believe him.
but of course all adrian can see is your smile now, the victory in having amused you. he gets that satisfied look on his face again, the one that for the first time in forever is actually making your entire body feel like its burning from the inside out.
maybe its the music thats having this effect on you, maybe its the drinks, maybe its the fact that you're evidently growing weak against adrian's infuriating charisma, all you know is that you have to snap the fuck out of it, quick.
"my friends are starting to recognize you y'know?" you say, at a loss for anything else that could scare him off.
of course it doesn't get the desired effect.
"you told your friends about me?" adrian's face lights up, his stupid smile reaches his eyes in a way that makes them crinkle. "that's like- so sweet"
and maybe it is because youâre down a couple drinks, but you swear you see adrian leaning in close enough that you can feel the warmth radiating from his body.
"adrian, dont change the subject-" you warn, placing a hand on top of his chest to stop him from inching any closer, you're not even convinced he was leaning in at all but the panic surfaced either way
you dont expect to feel how his heart is literally thrumming inside his chest, the loud thumps hitting against the skin of your palm, almost in sync with yours. the knowledge of him being just as affected by you as you are of him keeps you frozen in place, unable to walk away and stop fucking touching him.
when your gaze lifts up from where your palm rests over his shirt and towards his eyes again its when you realize that yes, he has in fact, moved in a lot closer.
so close you see how his cheeks are turning rosy pink at your anchored hand on him, you notice how his glasses are almost imperceptibly crooked on the bridge of his nose, you also dont think you ever realized how toned and how big he actually is until now.
it dawns on you like a pile of bricks over your head, that not only is adrian stupidly and boyishly handsome. he's also just hot, in the most objective and straight forward sense of the word.
he's hot. so hot it continues to silence the little voice inside your head that's trying to remind you the hot guy in question has basically been stalking you this whole time.
it's maddening, how he makes your stomach twist and flutter even when he makes your skin crawl.
"iâve told my friends about us too" he adds, with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "chris thinks you're awesome by the way-"
wait. what? who the fuck is chris?
"us?" you ask, because it's all you can do to try and process the implications of what he's saying.
"yeah, y'know this thing-" he quickly gestures between you and him with a nod of his head, he smirks at your hand still weighing on him "- we have going on. you know what I'm talking about"
'adrian, we don't-" you start, but you cant explain why the words die in your throat instantly when his face starts falling sullenly in response. instead, your brain chooses another avenue. because you're a fucking coward apparently. "how long have you been telling people about this?"
"i dunnoâ he giggles, lifting his index finger to adjust the glasses on the bridge of his nose far too casually for your liking âcouple weeks maybe."
âïžâïžâïž
theres a burning shame that settles in your stomach, it's strong, but not strong enough to stop you from digging your hands in adrian's hair and pulling until he gasps out a surprised laugh.
you know somewhere around the bar your friends most likely have already gotten a glimpse of the little scene you've been putting on, how you grabbed at adrian by the sleeve of his shirt and dragged him away to a secluded corner of the bar.
your friends now know what it looks like when you're making out heavily and nastily with adrian chase
because for the life of you, you just cant fucking stop.
you're kinda grateful for the booming loud music, otherwise the people around would be getting an earful of something waaay to obscene to be happening in public.
the way he moans eagerly straight into your mouth is not helping at all either.
adrian kisses like the world is ending tomorrow, like maybe he hasn't kissed anyone in his whole life and he probably never will again. but even though its sticky, messy and its clumsy you're responding with your own needy noises with every nasty swipe and flex of his pink muscle over yours.
it's embarrassing, the many times you daydreamed about doing exactly this, every time you stared for a little longer than necessary while he waited tables at the job, always moments before adrian could notice you were just as enthralled by him as he was of you.
wait- wasn't there a reason you had approached him in the first place? before you started bitting off his mouth?
"you can't keep showing up wherever i am, its creepy" you say, breathless, trying to raise your voice so it beats the loudness of adrian's whine in annoyance of you even daring to part from his kisses
"okay sure, if you say so-" he says with a little evil smirk, trying to lean in quickly to press his lips on yours again.
oh, so he admits it.
"adrian-" you squeak out like you want him to stop, but your arms are still wrapped around him, keeping him captive and close to you by the neck "adrian!"
"what?!" he groans in irritation, separating just enough so you can talk but only just, eyes still zeroed in on your glistening mouth, his spit is smeared all over it and he loooooves how that looks.
"promise me you'll stop it?"
"i dont think you want me to" he states, not teasing, only matter of factly.
"what?"
"i mean, yeah- i followed you here, now you're sticking your tongue down my throat. i think its a pretty obvious conclusion here-"
your stomach drops, the words die at your throat, the shameful feeling you were trying to push down only burns all the more brighter on your skin, it morphs before your very eyes into something that makes you wild with need. almost like adrian grabbed this hidden part of you forcefully by the hand and pushed them out into the light before you could stop it.
its the terrifying notion you tried so hard to shove away, that you thrived in his nearly deranged unwavering attention, that you craved to have adrian trailing after you like a lost little puppy in need of love, you loved it, you fucking want it so bad it has you seeing bursting hearts over his head
theres a beat of silence before a helpless curse slips from your lips, before you pull him down to bite at his mouth once more, defeated and relinquished.
god, how the hell are you supposed to see adrian at work every day after this?
now that you know exactly how it feels when his hands circle around your waist and he clumsily pulls you flush against his body. now that you know what it feels like when adrian follows your lead with every swipe of your tongue agains his.
it's like you're turning a dial to the max inside his head, adrian responds in turn to your every bite and every kiss, progressively matching and then outmatching your already frantic rhythm until it makes you dizzy.
his hands wander aimlessly inside your shirt, his spit is making a home inside your mouth with how messily he slides his tongue over and past your lips.
adrianâs burying himself to the hilt inside you in some filthy bathroom, smiling into your mouth happily every time you cry his name, he's staring at you with the same intensity he always has only this time the shock of electricity that strikes up his back is coursing through him nonstop, and it's coming not only from the eye contact but from where the both of you meet, from where he keeps thrusting in with uncoordinated and unmeasured snaps of his hips until he hears your yelps getting louder.
"fuck! fuck! fuck!, adrian-" you whine, the urgency and the frenzied edge to his movements inside you have you brainless and already fucked out, at a loss for any coherent words that aren't his name and needy desperate moans.
"holy shit you're so noisy-" adrian mocks with a snicker, staking his final claim by bringing his digits up to your mouth, sliding two of them in until you're feeling them all the way down your throat and pressing over your tongue.
it's funny, that your coworkers and friends warned you about not giving him an in. adrian has seeped into you so badly, you're literally drowning and choking on him now.
bpm part one > bpm part two > bpm part three > bpm part four > bpm part five
summary: You and Adrian never did anything normally, so why start now?
gif by @/life-or-something-like-it
pairing: adrian chase x f!reader
word count: 8.2k
tags: 18+, smut, mission partners to friends to hook-ups to whoevenknows to friends to lovers, sub Adrian, dom Vigilante, oral (f receiving), fingering, protected sex, biting, mask stays on (sometimes), accidental exhibitionism, Checkmate reader, idiots in love
note: surprise! it's a goddamn double feature finale! STOP RIGHT NOW if you haven't read part four: the limbic system yet! thank you to everyone who has followed along as this went from smutty one shot to angsty multi-part. so glad i decided the story wasn't quite done! crossposted on ao3.
Friday morning at the office was nearly untenable. Work was boring as fuck, everyone was tired at the end of the week, but your skin was buzzing.
Every word on your computer seemed to blur together, unable to be parsed apart. You opened and closed the same email approximately ten times before giving up entirely. How was it that the day seemed to go by slower than ever before, as if Time knew you and Adrian had a date to get to and was purposefully torturing you?
Your utter distraction was actually what caused you to realize that, in fact, the only decorations on your desk were things put there by Adrian. The Mario and Luigi figurines heâd painted to match your uniforms after your first joint-mission (Mario had started on his desk but migrated to yours because Adrian worried Luigi might be lonely). The bat Beanie Baby heâd given you after the mission in a warehouse that was, it turned out, home to a colony of bats and youâd both had to get rabies vaccines afterwards. The now totally dead succulent youâd found on your desk one Monday morning after mentioning off-handedly to Adrian on a Friday night out that the office needed more greenery. Over a dozen various doodles on random Post-Its.
He had loved you, quietly, the entire time. In his strange, and deeply Adrian way.Â
God, youâd been so fucking stupid.
A chat box popped up from Adebayo.
Adebayo: Adrian wants to know if youâre still coming to drinks tonight?
You: why doesnât he ask me himself?
Adebayo: why does Adrian do anything that he does?
That was a fair question. And one that plagued you often.
You: tell Adrian if he wants to know if Iâm coming to drinks he has to ask me himself
Perhaps it was cruel to make Ads an unwitting middle man in whatever was transpiring between you two. Only a moment later Adrian was launching himself into his office chair and you heard a flurry of typing at the desk next to yours. You shifted your gaze from your computer to the view of Adrian hunched over his keyboard, brow furrowed.
Vigilante: sar e y cumming
Vigilante: **are you coming to drinks tonight
Vigilante: *****?
Vigilante: that was a question
Vigilante: without the question mark it seemed like a threat
Vigilante: i would never threaten you đ§ââïž
You watched a flush creep up the side of his neck, but still he refused to look at you. So, you turned to your computer.
You: Is there a reason youâre typing this while sitting next to me instead of just speaking to me?
You didnât need to look over to know that the reason his desk chair was squeaking suddenly was because his leg was bouncing rapidly beneath his desk.Â
Vigilante: i canât talkt o you out loud rn iâm gonna say something incriminating
You swiveled in your chair to stare at him and when he finally glanced at you, you rolled your eyes. His brows lifted and he brought his fingers to his keyboard once more.
âHey,â you said coolly, giving him a small smile. The truth was you wanted to smile at him so widely it might split your face in two. Somehow, you wrangled it down.Â
âHey,â he squeaked out, grinning at you like an idiot. You glanced around and then beckoned him over with a single crook of your finger. He slid his chair so fast the two of you collided and you laughed as he nearly fell out of his chair into your lap.
âWhy were you asking if Iâm going to drinks tonight? You know I am.â
He shrugged, his ears tinged red. âJust checking.â
âI might be a little late though,â you feigned a sigh and Adrianâs held tilted. âYeah, Iâve got this really hot date right beforehand.
His confusion gave way to a handsome smile after a moment. âRiiiiight. Right, right. Cool, yeah. Yeah, cool. Lucky fellow! Iâve also got a hot date before, so I might be late, too.â
âLook at us,â you commented, giving Adrianâs knee a subtle squeeze before pulling your hand back. Adrian gasped suddenly.
âWait, what if we put both of our monitors in the same cubicle and we could sit next to each other like this all the time,â he gushed, turning both your chairs to face your monitor and smashing the arms together.Â
âAdrian we are not doing that,â you sighed. He leaned into your shoulder.
âBut then I could hold your hand literally all day,â he cooed, his pinky brushing against yours on the armrest of your chair.
âGet it together, losers! Weâve got a last minute tip. Suit up, weâre heading out in 10!âÂ
Chrisâs strong hands clamped down on a shoulder each and spun you towards him. Adrian shifted away, pretending to cough for some reason. You watched Chris wrestle down a grin before he gestured towards the armory where your uniforms and weapons were kept.
It wasnât the first time you and Adrian had suited up in the armory at the same time, but it certainly was the most difficult. You two kept bumping arms and elbows and you began to suspect that Adrian was doing it on purpose just for an excuse to touch you. Heat crawled up the back of your neck and you shook it off, getting your brain in the proper headspace.Â
âHere, let meâŠâ Adrian mumbled, zipping up your compression jacket all the way to your chin, his fingers lingering there. He nudged your chin up ever so slightly, forcing you to look up at him.
âYou donât have to help me put on every item of my uniform, you know,â you remarked casually, even if your skin was burning under his touch.Â
âMaybe I donât have to but I want to. Gotta make sure youâre properly equipped!â he cheered.
You smiled but rolled your eyes. âYou sure do love to help in the most annoying way possible.â
âWell, what is it that that scary guy who lives on the street says?â His brow pulled taut in consternation. ââLook for the helpers!â Thatâs me. Iâm your helper. Well, sometimes. But sometimes youâre mine! We balance each other out. Like Iâd lick your boots clean if you asked but youâd pet my hair. You know, reciprocal.â
You couldnât even process the entirety of that because, âSorry, do you mean Mister Rogers?â
âWho?â Adrian laughed. Then he simply shrugged. âIs he a homeless guy whose only friends are puppets?â
You turned your back to Adrian wordlessly and he buckled your holster under your arm for you. When you turned back to him you hooked your finger into the front of his chest plate and pulled him close.Â
âI wish I could put your brain under a microscope,â you said quietly, eyes studying his handsome face. You held out your hand and he took his glasses off and pressed them into your palm. You unzipped his pocket for them but when you looked back up he was still just holding his mask in his hand. His green eyes, unobstructed from your view by any lens or visor, were wide and glistening.
âI think thatâs the most romantic thing anyoneâs ever said to me.â
The mission, while successful, overtook the rest of the day, effectively squashing you and Adrianâs date. Heâd also taken a slice to the forearm while being cocky and stylish with his hand-to-hand instead of efficient. By the time youâd made it back to Checkmate, everyone was ready to head home and clean up and regroup at the bar, and you juggled excuses deftly without Adrian to fumble the lies.Â
You were getting a jumpstart on your paperwork, you wanted to stop sweating before you showered, each lie doled out to your friends with a tiny bit of guilt. Instead, you sat at your desk and ate emergency candy from the drawer just to give your fingers something to do. By the time Adrian returned, newly bandaged up under his Vigilante sleeve, Adebayo was flipping off her office lights and calling out that sheâd see you both at the bar. Adrian surreptitiously tried to shove several gummy bears in his mouth at once.
âRight behind you, Ads!â you called out, listening for the jangle of her keys. Your head whipped towards Adrian. âGet in the closet.â
âWhat?â
âGet in the closet right now.â
If Adrian was still confused he didnât waste anymore time arguing with you in the hallway. He pushed the door open and you followed behind him, clicking the lock into place as the door shut firmly.
To say you were proud of your next actions would be a gross overstatement. To say that you âcould live with themâ was maybe more accurate.
You were shrugging out of your uniform before Adrian could even properly turn around in the small space.
âSo, whatâs going on right now â oh.â
Adrian started nodding, looking you up and down, visibly swallowing in a way that made you want to sink your teeth into his neck. Why was he soâŠbiteable? That thought was surprising enough on its own, surprising enough that your hands stilled over the clasp of your bra.
âWell donât stop on my account!â he giggled. Then his eyes widened. âNo, wait, do stop.â
You arched an eyebrow at him, heart tugging in your chest thinking about the possibility he was about to turn you down. Instead, he took a step closer to you.
âLet me do it,â he said lowly, giving you a toothy grin. You allowed your arms to drop to your sides and to give in to Adrianâs request. His mask was still clutched in his gloved fingers and he reached up to gently place it on a shelf full of office supplies.Â
His eyes flicked from your chest to your mouth to your eyes and then, wordlessly, he raised his hand in the space between you and gestured for you to turn around with a little twirl of his finger. You obeyed, measuring yourself to make sure you were not coming off overeager.
His gloves scratched against the skin of your back as he pressed close, taking hold of the clasp of your bra. If he noticed that for once you werenât wearing a sports bra under your tactical gear, he didnât comment on it. He undid the clasp with a surprising deftness and slid the straps off your shoulders, breath hot against the side of your neck.
âGo on, ask me,â you demanded, hating how breathless you sounded. But you had an inkling of what he wanted to hear. You could hear the crackle of Adrianâs wet lips sliding over his teeth as he grinned.Â
âAre you mad at me for getting a tiny bit stabbed?â
âLivid, actually,â you lied.
âWell, you better show me how mad you are. Just so Iâm clear.â
You meant to turn around but Adrianâs teeth sunk into the meat of your shoulder, dangerously close to the scar there. Instinctively, your elbow lashed out behind you and landed somewhere in his ribs. Air escaped his lungs in a pleasant mix of laughter and pained surprise. Seizing your chance to turn around you darted up to kiss him, more bite than anything else. His lip was caught beneath your teeth before he could react.Â
âAlright, alright, Iâm sorry,â he pleaded, still laughing. His lips trailed down to your jaw, a kiss pressed there followed by a breathy apology. Another whispered into the column of your throat. Another bout of penance at your collar bone. Then his tongue laved, flat and hot, over the mark left by his teeth. He pivoted from the tense weight of his attention to daintily kiss your scar before dropping to his knees in front of you to continue his devotion to your body, wasting no time swirling his tongue around one of your nipples.
His gloved fingers sunk deep into your bare flesh, scraping down your sides until they came to rest on your waist. He kissed up your sternum and then grazed his teeth across your other breast. One of his hands travelled up to the underside of your breast and he pulled back just a moment to tear the glove off with his teeth. He caught his breath, face pressed against your stomach and you realized he was checking your pulse. You rolled your eyes but something about the intimacy of it had you shifting, your thighs pressing together. A crooked smile stretched across his pretty mouth.Â
He kept his fingers pressed flat for your apical pulse as he dragged his chin up your torso and licked flat up between your breasts. He peppered kisses to the tops of both and then, with no warning, sunk his teeth into the side of one.
âAdrian!â you gasped, hand raising to swat him but instead your hand gripped into his hair when he laved over the bite with his tongue and then took your nipple into his hot mouth. He pulled back slightly, catching it in a careful drag of his teeth and then he sat back on his heels and nodded to himself.
âYou like that,â he assessed, seeming pleased.Â
âYeah, I like you having your mouth on me, a novel concept,â you managed, noting for yourself your own elevated pulse.Â
He shook his head. âWell, duh. I mean the biting specifically. You like it. I bet if I put my hand in your pants right now youâd be soaking wet.â
âArenât you getting ahead of yourself?â you countered, grasping desperately at taunting for some semblance of power in the situation.
He just smiled blissfully. âI canât wait to put it in you.â
You could only laugh in disbelief. You couldnât believe you were going to have sex with this hapless idiot. Finally.Â
âShit.â
âWhatâs wrong?â
âUm, so sorry, Iâm realizing right now I donât have a condom. But! I can just uhhhh pull out maybe? Or, no, the pull out method is like scientifically untrustworthy, so maybe I just use my fingers instead and we save the â â
His brain was pacing ahead, already assuming a problem where there wasnât one. You pulled him back to standing by the front of his suit and presented him with a condom fished from your pocket.Â
He gasped in relief. âOh thank god. Can I admit something? That day when I thought we were maybe dying all I could think about was how annoyed I was that I never got to fuck you properly â not that thatâs likeâŠthe only thing I think about when it comes to you. I donât evenâŠI like sex a totally normal amount, for the record. As in, Iâm not some kind of pervert. But I have been wanting to fuck you, and when we were almost-dying I was really bummed I wouldnât. And just now I was thinking: fuck, I am still fucking it up so bad."
âGood thing one of us pays attention to logistics, hm?â you taunted, feeling rather smug. You were about to ask him exactly what constituted a totally normal amount. That was, of course, until Adrianâs face shifted slightly and his eyes searched yours.
âWhy did you have this in your pocket?â he asked, blinking slowly at you. A grin slowly spread across his face and his head tilted. âWait a minuteâŠwere you planning this?â
âIâm not at liberty to say.â
âNo, no, no â you so were!â Adrian exclaimed, as if scandalized by the idea. That you would plan to have sex with him. That you thought about him like that and wanted it. âOh my god, you want to have sex with me!â
âWell, yes, Adrian, thatâs the general idea and I think you already knew that.â
âNo, but likeâŠyou want it. Enough to put a condom in your tactical pants. Thatâs kind of textbook premeditation,â he rambled. He was fucking delighted. And you hated the stupid part of the back of your brain that found that cute.Â
âAre you talking about murder or fucking?â you nearly growled.Â
âWell, Iâm perfectly happy to multitask.â
âAdrian, shut the fuck up and kiss me, please.â
âCopy that. Shutting the fuck up!â he eked out before he dove for your mouth. He kissed you sloppily, not even giving you a chance to catch your breath. He moaned as he ran his tongue across your teeth and you bit down at the intrusion. His fingers fumbled at the closure of your pants and you hated that it charmed you. Here was a man who could toss a knife into a manâs skull without even looking and yet couldnât seem to get your pants unbuttoned.Â
Desperate, you reached down to assist him and the second your pants were unbuttoned his hand was slipping in between your legs, dragging against your clit. He retreated quickly and immediately put his slick fingers in his mouth, moaning pathetically. You swallowed hard.Â
âI love how wet you get for me,â he breathed. His head dipped forward like he was going to kiss you but he just leaned his forehead against yours and pressed his fingers inside you, panting against your open mouth. âI love how you feel around my fingers.â He crooked his fingers ever so slightly and it was as if a spark had run straight up your spine. âI love how you respond to my touch.â
He leaned down to bite at the juncture of your jaw and throat and then ran his tongue up the side of your neck. âI love the way you taste.â He bit down hard, sucking a hickey into your collarbone. âI love how you bruise.â He kissed the scar on your shoulder. âI love how strong you are.â
Then he dropped to his knees and yanked your pants down. You whined at the loss of his fingers in you, but he pressed gentle kisses to your stomach that had your brain melting. No one had ever touched you like that. âI love how soft you are.â
He paused a moment, fingers pressing into the back of your thighs, holding you firmly in place. You hadnât even realized youâd shrunk back slightly.
âDonât do that,â he said, a darker edge to his tone.
âDo what?â you asked, your voice a betrayal.
âPull away from me because you donât believe that I could love things about you.â His expression was deadly serious. âIâm sorry I didnât use the words to let you know before, but Iâm telling you now. And Iâll never stop telling you for literally the rest of our lives. God, I really fucking hope I die before you.â
You found the corners of your eyes suddenly wet. âNo, Iâm sorry I was afraid to love you.â
âItâs okay,â he said lowly. Then he shook his head. âOkay, bleh! Enough serious shit, letâs get down to fucking business!â
Once heâd managed to untie your boots and get them off, your pants were quick to follow, and he returned to his dogged devotion of you. His bottom lip dragged across the skin just above the waistband of your underwear and he looked up at you through long eyelashes. Your mouth flooded with want so quickly you thought you were about to drool.Â
The pulsing thrum of desire felt like it was narrowing to a point so sharp and sure it could cut you right open. That you might as well use it to make a careful incision between your breasts and yank your heart out for Adrianâs consumption.
He caught the fabric between his teeth and slowly sunk down, dragging the garment with him until he let it go and it pooled at your feet. He wasted no more time taunting or teasing or prolonging, he nudged your knees apart, hooked your knee over his shoulder and put his mouth to you.
But he didnât devour you. No, instead he was mercilessly tender and slow. Like heâd turned the burner to low, just to let you simmer. You writhed against him, desperate for more, desperate for faster. Adrian smiled against you and continued his meticulous pace. Heâd let his teeth graze your clit, sending a jolt down your spine, and then swirl his tongue around it like it was made of glass. The alternating sensations were driving you towards the edge quickly, even if his machinations were languid and unhurried. He opened his mouth even wider and ran his tongue the length of your folds before sucking your clit between his lips. And he did it again, slower. And slower. You were about to beg him to just let you come when he dragged his tongue up and stopped, bringing his fingers to your clit while he made love to you with just his tongue.Â
Your head tossed back of its own accord, knocking the shelf behind you, and sticky notes tumbled to the floor beside you but you couldnât be bothered to care because you were too busy crashing into an orgasm, hot and ragged and still somehow not enough.Â
âAre you okay? That was crazy! Came so hard it started raining office supplies! But we should probably pick those up because Fleury will be really annoyed if we mess up his color coding system and â â
You dragged him into a kiss, something slow and deep and tender. Adrian's hand slid to the back of your neck and held you tight, your bodies bending together as if you were trying to kiss your way into existing in the exact same space. Youâd let him take up residence along your atoms and neurons. Youâd let Adrian do anything.Â
âOkay!â he exclaimed, clapping his hands together as he pulled back and dropped to his knees. âOne more!â
âAdrian!â
âOops, Iâm already down here!â he said with a shrug, before he kissed a trail up the inside of your thigh. He pressed two fingers into you with no warning and you gasped, taking care to not whack your head a second time.
Your nails dragged across his broad shoulders, catching on kevlar. The feeling of the suit beneath your fingertips had you thinking about often Adrian had fucked in the suit. You knew heâd had threesomes with Chris before Chris knew Adrian was Vigilante. And some after, still as Vigilante. But that must have meant the mask stayed on. But if the mask stayed onâŠ
âWait, didnât you claim youâd been told your pussy eating could make anyone love you?â You hadnât entirely meant to ask the question out loud. Post nut clarity was a real thing, apparently.
Adrianâs head popped up between your legs, looking up at you, his head cocked to the side.
âDid I?â
âHow are you eating pussy with the mask on, Adrian?â
âIâmâŠnot? I donât think I understand the question.â
âSorry, was the first time you ate someone out â â
âWith you? Oh, yes.â Then he paused, his fingers crooking absently as he hummed in thought. âWell, I mean, one time with P a girl rode my face with the mask on but I donât really count that. She didnât come and I felt like I was getting waterboarded.â
And you felt totally normal about that. And about the way he was scissoring his fingers inside of you.
âListen I hate to inflate your ego but â â
âIâm very good at it. I know. I was there and you came twice!â he said, beaming with a sort of pride that you couldnât even resent him for. âIâve done a lot of studying. And Chris is an excellent teacher.â
You squirmed slightly. âPlease donât talk about Chris while your fingers are inside me.â
âWell, it is his technique so basically itâs like Chris is inside you.â
You both frowned at that. âJe - sus Christ, Adrian.âÂ
âWait, forget I said that,â he panted, before pressing a series of kisses to your hip. âChrisâŠuhâŠsucks at sex. Heâs sooo bad at it. You donât want to fuck him, I swear.â
You laughed. âAdrian, I do not want to have sex with Chris.â
âPromise?â
âPromise.â
Adrian started to lower himself back down with a very pleased grin on his lips but you grabbed him by the hair. âYouâre not allowed to come in your pants, Adrian.â
âIâm sorry about last time, really. I donât know what came over me â well, I do, you came over me. Thighs clenched around my head, actually. It was just really hot and I was really excited that you were letting me eat you out.â
âNo, donât apologize, Adrian,â you insisted. âIt wasâŠflattering. But this time, I need you to keep it together long enough to properly fuck me.â
âAye, aye!â he chanted and then gave an honest-to-goodness salute before putting his mouth back to work between your legs.Â
Was a man who just saluted your pussy really about to make you come?Â
Evidently, yes.Â
You muffled your second orgasm into the palm of your hand. A brief thought crossed your mind that maybe that action was utterly useless at this point, but your brain was too clouded with the milky-haze of pleasure to properly consider it.
âNow what?â Adrian asked, sitting back on his heels, looking up at you with wide eyes and a swollen mouth, your own wet smeared across his chin.
âNow, youâre going to fuck me,â you replied with a grin, inhaling sharply in a clumsy attempt to even your heartrate.Â
âOkay, hold on,â he said, panting, hand fumbling around on the floor for a moment. When he found what he was looking for he sat up and dragged his mask over his head.Â
âWhat are you doing?â
âOh, well, remember way back after we hooked up the first time you said next time I should wear the suit?â he prompted as he yanked it all the way down. âAnd also, I donât put P in V without the mask on.â
You stared at him for a long moment. âYouâŠsorry, are you saying youâve never had sex without the mask on?â
âWell, yeah. Vigilante fucks.â
âAnd Adrian doesnât?â
He didnât respond right away. âI donât know if I understand the question.â
âAdrian â â
âVigilante,â he corrected. You rolled your eyes.
âVigilante, you went down on me, remember? I gave you a handjob in the back of the fucking truck. You werenât wearing the mask either of those times.â
âWell those werenât sex.â
Oh now they werenât sex? you wanted to yell. Instead you sighed.
âThat feelsâŠpretty heteronormative.â
Adrian yanked the mask back off. âPsh! Iâm not heteronormative. Iâm likeâŠthe opposite of heteronormative. Peacemaker and I have threesomes like all the time! Well, not so much now that heâs totally in love with Harcourt, but, yeah!â
Your mouth reached a new level of dry. You had just wanted to get fucked senseless by Adrian in a supply closet and instead you were accidentally unpacking some deeply weird shit. Obviously, you had not learned your lesson the first time. Or the second time. Curse him and his good head. And his cute face. And his devotion to you. And your weak, weak heart.
âWhat the hell is the opposite of heternormative?â you asked, despite yourself.
âI dunnoâŠhomoâŠhomo-freaky?â
âHomo-freaky?â you repeated.
âI donât know, my dick is too hard to think straight right now!â
You let the accidental pun slide and just grin at him crookedly. âThink thereâs a box for homo-freaky on government forms?â
Adrian smiled a dimpled smile, the delicate lines creasing at the corners of his eyes in a way you hadnât noticed before. You wanted to trace them with your fingertip while you two wasted away a weekend day in bed.
Oh my god, you loved him.
You frowned quickly. âWhat?â
âNothing!â
âNo, what is it? Youâre smiling at me.â
âI smile at you all the time.â
âSure, but, this feels like a very specific smile.â
Adrian ducked his head slightly, like he was attempting to turn down the wattage of his own grin. He was failing. Fondness tugged at the center of your chest.
Finally, he shrugged. âI just like it when youâre funny.â
You snorted. âYeah, well, you like it when Iâm mean to you, too. Pick a lane, dude.â
âIâm a man of many tastes,â he sniffed. âForgive me for enjoying the full spectrum of your attention.â
âSpeaking ofâŠâ
âWell, how do you want me?â
âWhat do you mean?â
âDo you want Adrian or do you want Vigilante?â
You paused, genuinely thrown by the question. You knew exactly how devoted and pathetic Adrian could be. And you were very, very curious about the possibility of Vigilante rearranging your guts. But the moment was for you and Adrian. Vigilante could wait his turn.
âJust you, Ade. Youâre all I need.â
Chewing on his lower lip as he contemplated it, Adrian nodded.Â
âWhere do you want me, Adrian?â
âDesk, I think?â
Turning to look over your shoulder, there was a spare desk, covered with all sorts of extra office supplies. It would have to do. He picked you up and you wrapped your legs around his waist and he leaned over and with one arm swept everything off the table and onto the floor. The two of you were still for a moment.
âI thought that was going to seem sexy,â he explained. Then he looked back up at you, a bit of a pout on his lips. âBut I think if we leave them there Iâm going to break out in hives.â
You allowed yourself to reach up and smooth his hair back slightly, your fingertips not-quite trailing the sharp curve of his jaw.Â
âAde, I promise weâll clean them up. But right now, weâre finally going to have sex.â
âYes, please,â he groaned, practically banging his forehead against yours as he scrambled to kiss you again. Maybe kiss wasnât the right word. His tongue was scraping your molars, charting your mouth like he was going to go home and make a topographic map from memory. Gently, he placed you down on the desk, his mouth not breaking from yours as he shed the top half of his armor and uniform. You ran your hands appreciatively up his abdomen â god, he was hot. Maybe he was onto something with all that weightlifting after all.Â
Nah. You could just watch him weightlift from a distance and enjoy the sweat traveling between the planes of his chest and think about licking it off. You were pretty sure heâd enjoy that scenario more.
You batted Adrianâs hands away from the closure of his pants, taking it upon yourself to undo the utility belt that sat around his hips, letting it drop to the floor. You popped the button open and undid the zipper so you could dip your hands into his underwear. True to his word, he was already completely hard, the tip slick and flushed. You gave a few testing strokes that had Adrian dragging himself from your mouth to wriggle his pants down. He kicked them and his boots aside like you were timing him.Â
When he stood again at the end of the desk he paused and you watched his chest heave as he took you in, his eyes glistening behind those long lashes of his. His head snapped up suddenly. âCondom!â
He reached over to retrieve it from its perch on the supply shelf and he ripped the foil open. You took the condom from his hand and kissed his lips as you rolled it gently down his shaft. Already, his hips bucked slightly into your touch.Â
âCan I?âÂ
Nodding, you leaned back on your elbows to watch as he gripped your hips and pulled them to the edge of the desk. Air hissed through your teeth at the sensation of him running his tip through your folds. His brow was furrowed, his tongue pinched between his teeth in concentration, glasses already slipping to the end of his nose. God, he was so stupidly cute. Looking at him at that exact moment gave you the kind of aggression you felt seeing a cute animal.
âAdrian,â you breathed, not a demand, but an encouragement. He nodded, seemingly to himself, before splaying one hand flat against your lower abdomen and finally pressing himself inside.
It only took one smooth, slow motion for him to bury in you completely, aided by how wet you already were and how steadily he paced himself.Â
âDonât forget to breathe,â he taunted. An exaggerated breath from you later Adrian smiled and then took a firm hold of both your hips.Â
âYou can move,â you assured him.Â
âIâm just enjoying this for a sec,â he admitted, a blush creeping high into his cheeks. âBecause I mean like wow this isâŠand weâreâŠâ He gestured between the two of you. âIâm likeâŠinside you.â
âYeah, you are,â you hummed in agreement, too pleasantly filled to make fun of him. How could you, when your brain too was starting to go blank already? He hadnât even done anything. It was justâŠAdrian making you stupid.Â
âDo you think, uh, do you think you could tell me?â he asked, voice a needy whisper that made your mouth flood with want all over again. Swallowing hard, you nodded.Â
âFuck me, Adrian Chase.â The words were barely out of your mouth before they were being replaced by a moan as he finally moved his hips, a testing withdrawal before sweetly sliding back in. You let him get his footing, feeling your bodies working together in a way they never had before. But it was easy, frankly. For him to find the pace that dragged ragged gasps from your lips with nearly every hard thrust, for you to find that the scrape of your nails up his sides made his lower lip quiver and him beg for more, for you two to both discover at the same time the angle that made him hit just right and cause you to clench around him.Â
He looked down at you â equal parts hunger and reverence.
âYouâre so beautiful it hurts,â he managed between choked back whimpers, one hand sliding up to your breast. âI feel like I shouldnât look directly at you. Youâre like a â fuck â youâre like aâŠum, oh god uh uh whatâs it called? The thing youâre not supposed to stare at.â
âA solar eclipse?â you asked, slightly jarred by the topic while he was railing you so hard the desk was scraping the floor beneath you both.Â
âYes! Youâre my little solar eclipse,â he exclaimed with a gasp. âI canât look right at you or I might go blind, but thatâd be okay, actually. If youâd be the thing burned into my retinas forever and â holy fucking shit, do that again please please.âÂ
He leaned further forward, the angle changing slightly as he hooked a hand under your knee and pressed it up towards your chest. Your eyes fluttered shut as a groan dredged itself from somewhere deep in your chest and you were babbling his name as he pressed his forehead to yours, his mouth touching your skin wherever he could manage between thrusts.Â
âIâm gonna â fuck I donât think I can last much longer. I need youâŠâ he inhaled sharply through his nose, seeming to regain his senses slightly. âI need you to come first.â
âYou can come, Ade,â you assured him, wrapping a hand around the back of his neck and pulling him to your mouth for a sloppily placed kiss. But he shook his head and slipped his hand between the two of you, his fingers circling your tender clit. It sped the process up significantly, and you could feel the release building up, pushing ever closer as Adrian held your hips down with his other hand. His pursuit drawing another orgasm from you was almost dogged. His fingers fumbled as his hips stuttered and he squeezed his eyes shut.Â
âNo, no, no, keep it together, Adrian,â he coached himself.
âOr donât,â you suggested coyly. In response, he pinched at your nipple but that only made a shudder run down your spine and you squeeze around Adrian again.Â
Inspiration struck you in a diabolical way, and you grinned as you grasped him by the chin, and slipped two fingers into his mouth.Â
âCome for me, Adrian,â you ordered.Â
The sound he made as he fucked desperately into you as his release overcame him would be locked into your brain forever. He suckled at your fingers until you pulled them away and his mouth chased them, nipping weakly at them as they escaped his grasp. He murmured nonsense against your clavicle, his body dead weight on top of you. After a few moments, his hips ever so slightly still bucking against yours, he pulled himself up and kissed you deeply, fingers resuming their work on your clit. He slid in and out of you, the small push and pull ramping you back up just as much as his firm, strong thrusts had. He licked into your mouth, mumbling your own name between your lips, and his fingers pressed firmer until suddenly you were tumbling over the edge into your third orgasm with a sharp gasp.Â
His lips trailed along your jaw and down the slope of your neck and you couldnât be bothered to care that he was absolutely sucking a prominent bruise at the side of your throat. He slipped out of you as he ran his hands along any part of you he could get within reach, tracing your fingertips with his and the curve of your hip and your lower lip.Â
All the while, he lay his head on your chest, ear pressed over your heart, and you watched his lips shape around silent numbers.
âI think we messed it up again,â Adrian said.
You shook your head as you finished zipping his suit back up and then ran your fingers through his damp curls. âNo way. I think this was exactly right. The right way for us.â
âThatâs sweet,â he remarked. âYou still owe me a date, though.â
âWe will make it happen, I promise,â you agreed. You pressed a kiss to his forehead. âJust like the field, sometimes we have to pivot.â
âYouâre good at that, you know,â
âOh, I know,â you laughed. You opened the door and backed into the hallway, pulling Adrian with you. You gave him a quick peck. âNow we have to hurry up and change so we can meet everyone andâŠâ You realized Adrian wasnât looking at you. Following his gaze led you to the sight of Ads standing in the middle of the hallway. Your heart dropped straight into your ass.
âHow long were you out here?âÂ
âToo long.â
âOkay, hear me out â â you began but she was already waving you off.
âOh, no, we are not going to talk about this right now. Maybe after a drink. Or seven. But notâŠnot right now.â
âIf youâre worried about whether or not she came, donât worry she came,â Adrian said, suddenly appearing behind you. âMultiple times.â
âYou know, I wasnât worried about that actually, Adrian,â Adebayo said, looking pointedly at where his hand had come to rest on your hip. Â
âWe had to do it!â you exclaimed. âIt was messing everything up if we didnât. And, I guess, also itâs kind of messing everything up that we did.â
âWell, and also because you love me,â Adrian chimed in again, completely unhelpfully. Adebayoâs expression softened slightly.
âThis is likeâŠa love thing?â she asked gently. It didnât escape your notice that she was only looking at you.Â
âOh, yeah, it was a love thing for me before I ever even went down on her that one time. And way before the van thing.â
âAdrian, I wasnât talking to you!â Ads sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Then her eyes shot open again. âWait a minute, so this wasnât the first time you two have hooked up?â
âSo, anyway, back to the love thingâŠâ you said with a grimace, trying to skirt around the gory details you were sure Adrian was about to provide.
âThis is really going to mess up the betting pool.â
âThe what?â you and Adrian asked at the same time.
Adrian pulled off onto the shoulder and put the car in park.
âOkay, briefing time.â
âWhat do you â â
âI just think we should get our story straight, right?â His fingers were gripping the steering wheel for dear life, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. You waited for him to elaborate on exactly what he thought that entailed. âNow, obviously, you probably want to keep it a secret and thatâs fine with me. Totally fine. And Iâm so good with secrets. If I concentrate really hard. So maybe when we get to drinks donât sit near me? Or across from me? Just maybe like directly out of my eye line is good? That way I can stay locked in. Because I look at you and suddenly my insides feel like goo and I canât think straight.â
âOkay,â you agreed hesitantly. âWeâll tell everyone we came together because â â
Adrian hissed, his hips shifting slightly in the seat. âDonât say that!â
âWhat, that we came together? Because we did,â you remarked, knowing you were torturing him. âIn both senses of the word.â
âYeah, I, uh,â he paused and inhaled sharply. âI remember.â
âOkay, we say we arrived together because my car wouldnât start?â
Adrian bit his lip but managed to nod.
âWhat do we do about Adebayo?â you asked.
âI really donât want to kill her, dude.â
Your head whipped towards him âWhat? No, no, Ade, not at all what I meant!â
He let out a pent up breath. âOkay, good, thank god.â
âWhy would you ever think thatâs what I want?â
âI mean youâve spent allllllll this time pretending like you didnât love me and Ads could totally blow your cover.â
âLove the implication that I was the only one pretending here.â
Adrian finally looked at you. âI was never pretending not to. You just didnât see it.â
For once, you didnât deflect. You let the truth of that sit between you as you nodded thoughtfully.Â
âSo, we go in, we order drinks, we sit apart, we act totally, totally normal and chill and if anyone asks we came â we arrived together because your car wouldnât start.â Adrian looked at you expectantly for your approval. The whole while you couldnât help but think you actually didnât give a fuck about the plan for once.Â
God, you sounded like Adrian.Â
But the truth was, sometime in the time since Adrian had pulled over you realized you had no intention of pretending at all.Â
âWow, thatâs probably the longest youâve ever paid attention to a briefing, fictional or not. Good boy, Adrian.â
Evidently you should not have said that. Because itâs how you found yourself in the backseat with Adrianâs tongue in your mouth and his hand snaked up your shirt, squeezing your breast tight. He dragged himself across your thigh again and again, the hard outline of him against you but not in you left you strangely wanting.Â
More than once youâd offered to put him in your mouth, thinking it might speed up the process so you werenât so egregiously late to drinks, but Adrian insisted, whimpering against your throat or wherever he could get his lips until he finally came.Â
âGood thing I keep extra clothes in the trunk for blood emergencies,â heâd whispered somewhere behind your ear.
Adrian waved at your friends waiting just outside the front door as he opened the car door for you. He extended a hand your way and then drew it back slightly, looking over his shoulder, and then gave up somewhere in between. You bit down a laugh and slipped out of the car without any assistance from Adrian.Â
Before he could step up on the curb, you grabbed his wrist, fingers curling inside, rooting out his radial pulse like you always knew exactly where it was. There was a time before Adrianâs heart mattered so much to you, but you couldnât really remember it now.
He bounced on his toes excitedly and took your unoccupied hand and did the same. Your hand hovered in between the two of you. Adrian pressed the timer on his watch and the two of you counted silently, staring at each other with moon eyes.
âWhat the hell are they doing?â Chris asked in a rather loud stage-whisper.Â
â85,â you said, speaking at the same time as Adrian. His eyebrows shot up.Â
âWhatâd you say?â he asked.
â85? What did you say?â
â85.â
You had no choice but to laugh. Because of course.Â
âNo fucking way! Jinx!â he cheered, raising his hand for a high five. You obliged him and he cupped his hand around yours but didnât let it go.
âI wanna kiss you so bad right now,â Adrian complained, shifting his weight from foot to foot. You grinned up at him.
âHey Ade? New mission plan.â
You grabbed him by the front of the shirt and kissed him. It started relatively chaste, but Adrian did not know the meaning of the word. His arm wrapped around your waist tight as he dropped his mouth open, whimpering. Adrianâs back hit the car door, slamming it shut, jostling you both, tripping over each otherâs feet but not stopping you. His tongue tasted of the handful of Icebreakers heâd insisted on downing on the ride over, something about being sure Chris would be able to smell sex on his breath.
âOh, thank fuck.â Adebayoâs voice from the sidewalk made you laugh against Adrianâs lips. âThere was no way in hell I was going to be able to keep that a secret.â
âYou knew aboutâŠwhatever this is?â Economos asked.
âThey were fucking in the supply closet like half an hour ago!â she exclaimed. You pulled back from Adrian who whined in protest. He kissed your neck like a horny teenager as you looked over your shoulder at all your friends.
âWe were trying to keep things subtle!â
âYou mean to tell me you thought fucking the loudest man alive in the supply closet at work was keeping things subtle?â Chris asked with a bemused laugh.
âWe thought everyone was gone! Would you believe me if I said that was actually the better option?âÂ
âYou know, I donât want to jerk my own chain too much here, but I will be taking full credit for you two finally hooking up. The sparring thing was a stroke of genius, I think. I mean, Iâve been waiting for this since Adrian said your name while we were banging this really â â
Harcourtâs elbow straight into his ribs put an end to the rest of that sentence.
âEasy with the elbows, Emilia,â he grumbled.Â
âOh dude, as much as I believe in your matchmaking abilities, weâve likeâŠbeen hooking up,â Adrian said. Economos gasped so hard he choked and Sasha pounded him on the back.Â
âI canât believe Iâm going to say this, but â we need details? Iâm gonna need receipts, proof, timelines,â Rip sighed. When you winked at him he rolled his eyes.Â
âFor the sake of the betting pool, right?â you taunted.
âYou guys know about the betting pool?â Fleury asked. Then, seemingly to himself, he muttered, âDamnit. Really should have gone all in on âthem finding out about the betting poolâ.â
âI, for one, donât want to hear anything else or see anything else until I have at least two drinks in me,â Harcourt said dryly. But when her gaze landed on you she gave you a small smile before rolling her eyes.Â
âHow about we all go inside and the first round is on me and Adrian?â you suggested.Â
âThank fuck,â Chris agreed, shepherding them all inside the bar. At the front door, you paused, catching Adrian by the sleeve.
âHey,â you said quietly. His attention was immediately laser-focused back on you. He smiled down at you warmly.Â
âHey,â he replied. You looked to where he was holding the door open for you and you smirked.
âThis one of your ways of telling me you love me?â you teased, but Adrian grew suddenly very sober.
He shook his head. âNah. Itâd be a little something more like: I love you.â
It was incredibly smooth, but he still looked sheepish. Like there was a chance you might pull the rug out from beneath him and tell him to fuck off. Instead, you smiled back at him.
âI love you, too.â
âCome on, lovebirds, the people are thirsty and, for some reason, want to hear about you two nasty freaks!â Chris shouted. Chris asking for details of his sex life was Adrian-specific catnip and he practically launched himself into the bar.Â
Following close behind him, you realized the tag was sticking out of the neck of his shirt. Without a word, you reached up and tore it free. Adrian whipped around and plucked it from your fingers.
âSo, about that seam ripperâŠâ
âTomorrow. Second date.â You looked down at your wrist as if there was a watch there. âI think we can make some time between bouts of being ânasty freaksâ?â
âIâd like that,â Adrian said gently, leaning down to kiss you gently.
When he pulled back you looked down at where his fingers had laced through yours. âIâd like that, too.â
if you'd like to join my taglist for any future adrian stuff, let me know! please note, I am not adding anyone under 18 to the taglist, so if your age isn't listed on your blog or you don't tell me when you ask, I can't add you! sorry! love you all! <3
bpm part one > bpm part two > bpm part three > bpm part four > bpm part five
summary: You and Adrian have many skills in common: hand to hand combat, surveillance, marksmanship and avoidance. Maybe together you two can work on that last one?
gif by @/userilyarozanov
pairing: adrian chase x f!reader
word count: 8.9k
tags: 18+, smut, mission partners to friends to hook-ups to whoevenknows to friends to lovers, sub Adrian, dom Vigilante, chasing, dry humping/thigh riding, mask stays on (sometimes), Checkmate reader, idiots in love
note: surprise! it's a goddamn double feature finale! i literally had to split it up for readability purposes, but I was so, so tempted to keep it intact at its behemoth 17.2k length lololol. (shout out to the 4 Fs of the limbic system, only half of them appear in this chapter now because of the split haha!) don't say I never did anything for you! part five is also live! crossposted on ao3.
Missions had ground to a halt at Checkmate. Apparently, even criminals were taking the summer off this year.Â
You couldnât even enjoy the ease that had settled over the office because Adrian was actively avoiding you. And he wasnât exactly couth about it. How could he be, when your desks were next to each other? Â
He was like a deeply unsubtle ghost â a blur of a man bolting across the office mumbling an excuse about Ads needing to see him, or Economos being lonely and needing company every time you were nearby. One day that week, with a lack of other options, he even sheepishly approached Rip at his desk. You werenât sure if Rip had maybe taken pity on him, given him safe harbor, but Adrian did return to his desk with orange-dusted fingertips. And put his headphones on before you could even open your mouth.
If you wanted to talk to Adrian, to try andâŠwhat? apologize?...he was impossible to pin down.Â
Every night your fingers hesitated over your phone, typing and re-typing a text that would never be able to vault the gap. How could it, when you had dismantled the bridge, plank by plank, until your fingers were raw and bleeding?
You had never felt like this in your entire life. The thought had crossed your mind that the first time youâd kissed him had been the mistake, in fact, it had crossed your mind the moment youâd put your lips to his. But you were quickly realizing the mistake was the way youâd treated Adrian. Like it was at all fair to kiss him, to touch him, to make him come, when every time it became clearer youâd be unable to suppress the fondness for him in your chest. And youâd punished Adrian for your brainâs stupid insistence on having feelings. Feelings he couldnât reciprocate. That wasnât his fault.Â
Still, the avoidance stung. Even if you deserved it.
âHave a seat,â Harcourt said, barely looking up from the paperwork spread across her desk. She rubbed at the furrow in her brow but it did not seem to relent even when you were finally settled into the chair and she ran her incisive gaze over you.
âIâm going to cut right to the chase.â
It didnât sound great, but still you nodded slowly. âOkay.â
âDo you want a new partner in the field?â
You recoiled slightly, genuinely gobsmacked. âSorry, what? Did something happen to Adrian?â
You could have sworn youâd seen him about 15 minutes ago, trying to hide behind the open refrigerator door when you went in to wash your coffee mug. Heâd seemed fine then.Â
Well, fine probably wasnât the right word.
She sighed and then leaned forward on her desk, her fingers interlaced. âIâll be transparent with you: you have seemed distant from Chase for the last few weeks in a way that everyone has noticed. I donât know if something happened between you, if he did something â because trust me, I know how Adrian can beâŠâ
âHe didnât do anything,â you said firmly. Then, you tilted your head slightly and amended. âHe didnât do anything wrong. Iâve just beenâŠoff my game. And Iâm sorry if thatâs been manifesting in a way thatâs clear to everyone. It wonât happen again.â
Harcourtâs eyes roved over you and you were struck suddenly by the memory of dissecting a frog in sixth grade science class. And if Harcourt was the one wielding the scalpel, that made you theâŠÂ
âIt canât happen again. Do you understand me?â she said slowly, words seemingly imbued with another layer of meaning.Â
You nodded sharply. âOf course I understand.â
âSo, to be completely clear, you want to stay partners with Vigilante?â
âYes.â You nodded, half to Harcourt and half to yourself. âI want Adrian.â
Something flashed across Emiliaâs face so briefly â there and gone before you could make heads or tails of it.Â
âThank you for your time,â Harcourt said and you started slightly, realizing that was your cue. You stood slowly.
âHow long before Adrian stops hating me, do you suppose?â you asked. You watched her visibly oscillate between being Harcourt your boss and Emilia your friend.Â
âHe doesnât hate you,â she said gently.
âAnd yet heâs avoiding me completely,â you countered, with a cross of your arms over your chest.Â
âWhy might he be doing that, do you think?â Emilia sighed, like there was some sort of obvious answer you were missing by a country mile.
You paused in the doorway, assessing whether you might be able to pry some kernel of truth from her. âDid, uh, did Adrian say something to you?â
âNo.â Harcourtâs lips pressed into a tight line. You knew how seriously she took confidentiality. She was not one to indulge in gossip. Mostly. At least not before you got tequila in her system. Her head tilted slightly. âNot to me, directly, no.â
âEmilia,â you sighed, exasperated.
Her palms pressed flat to her desk and her eyebrows lifted as she refused to meet your gaze. âHe may have said something to Chris.â
âSomething along the lines of âtotal hypothetical here but how do you get your partner to like you again?ââ Chrisâs voice from behind you made you jump, then scowl up at him. He shrugged. âClose the door next time if you donât like my commentary.â
âThanks, Captain Obvious,â you snipped, pushing past him.Â
âHey! Thatâs a real fucking insult, man. That guy sucks! And not in the fun way!â
The totally hypothetical question rang in your head. Adrian thought you didnât like him. When that couldnât have been further from the truth. But it was bad enough that it had gotten you dragged into Harcourtâs office as an official matter. You were absolutely blowing up your life over an unreciprocated crush. It was like you didnât even recognize yourself anymore.Â
âYou. Me. On the mats in five,â Chris said as he breezed past your desk. Normally, you would have assumed he was talking to Adrian, but, as had become habit over the last two weeks, Adrian was nowhere to be found.
Which was how you found yourself being choked out by Peacemaker on the clock. Slipping beneath his hold with relative ease, you freed yourself again and he groaned. You put your hands on your hips and studied him.Â
âHave you ever considered maybe your biceps are too bulky?â you asked, only half a joke.Â
âI didnât bring you here for your commentary on my gains, killer,â Chris said, rubbing a hand over the swell of his muscle like he was maybe genuinely considering what youâd said.Â
âWhat did you bring me here for? Because Iâm getting the impression after my meeting with Harcourt this maybe has something to do with Adrian.â At the expression on Chrisâs face, you sighed. âCome on, Chris, Iâm not stupid. Please tell me youâre not trying to be some kind of middleman between us.â
âFuck no.â Chris waved you forward and you two settled back into your sparring flow. You ducked out of his grasp again. You always had your best success against Chris when you kept your center of gravity dropped and low. That didnât work on Adrian. Actually most things didnât work on Adrian â he knew you too well. But it was also why he was the most fun to fight, it was like solving a logic puzzle. A very mouthy logic puzzle.Â
âI justâŠlook, you care about him, right?â
âOf course I do. Heâs my teammate.âÂ
Chris managed to grab you by the forearm.
âYes, butâŠâ he trailed off and paused, raking his other hand over his face. A window of opportunity that made your fingers itch to strike. âWhat the fuck, why do you two make this so hard? Jesus, you two just need to talk to each other!â
âHeâs avoiding me,â you pointed out, twisting your arm until you were gripping his, pinning it behind his back. You couldnât help your smug smile.
âWhat if I told you youâre both being fucking stupid?â Chris spit out. Then he shook his head as he tapped out. âSorry. Sorry, I promised Emilia I wouldnâtâŠI would never presume to fully understand how Adrianâs brain works but I can say that youâre likeâŠyouâre like his north star or something.â
Your stomach flipped so violently you thought for a moment you might vomit. Looking down at the mat like it might ground you, you found the corners of your vision wet and blurry. âWhat does that mean?â
âTo be honest, I donât know. Normally Adrian tells me everything, but when it comes to you heâsâŠcagey. I donât know if that means something has happened or nothing has happened but I know where Iâd be willing to place my bets,â Chris said, so seriously it made you start to sweat. He paced behind you and you were thinking too slowly to counter properly. âI thinkâŠbasically Iâm just asking you not to break him.â
âI â â
Chris got your knee from behind and grabbed you before you could go down to the mat, tossing you over his shoulder, knocking the wind right out of you.Â
âP-P-P-Peacemaker! Wanna spar? I promise we donât have to talk about you-know-what again! Iâm being so chill and cool about it. Well, Ads says Iâm being, quote, âmore distracting than usualâ and Harcourt said I should find you and burn off some energy but â âÂ
Adrian was upside down from your vantage point over Chrisâs shoulder. He stopped dead in the doorway to the training gym, nearly dropping his gym bag in the process.Â
âOh.â
âHey, Adrian,â Chris said. You tried to take advantage of him being distracted to wriggle loose from his hold, but he was onto you before you could even try to leverage your weight against him.Â
âOw!â you hissed, digging your elbow into Chrisâs shoulder blade. He swatted at you like an annoying fly.
âStop it!â he grumbled.Â
âWhatâs uhâŠwhatâs â I didnât mean to interrupt something. Iâll go!â Adrian squeaked.Â
âNah, man. Iâve got a meeting with Ads and Bordeaux, but you two both clearly need some enrichment time or something. Stay. Spar with her,â Chris said, a weird tone to his voice. Then he inhaled sharply and with one fluid movement he slammed you onto your back on the mat.
Air wheezed out of your lungs. âYou know, I think you missed your calling in the WWE.â
âThose losers would be lucky to have me.â Chris stood over you, a foot on either side of your hips. He lowered his voice, his brow furrowed as he gazed down at you. âPlay nice.â
He didnât even help you up off the mat, slipping out the door of the training room without another word, leaving you and Adrian alone.Â
For the first time since youâd left him standing in the bathroom.Â
âIâll go.â
âAdrian, you donât have to â â
Adrian whipped around, his back pressed to the door. âOkay, so, I guess Iâll stay.â
âOh, IâŠdidnât think it was going to be that easy to convince you,â you said nervously. You wiped your perspiring palms on your sweatpants. When you looked back up, Adrian was grimacing. Uh oh. âAdrian, what is it?â
âThe door wonât open.â
âSorry?â That had you on your feet fast. Â
Adrian tried the handle again. âYeah, no I was pretty sure the first time but now Iâm definitely sure. Just wanted to be thorough!â
He pounded his hand against the door. âPeacemaker! Dude! I think the door is stuck!â
That absolute bastard.
âI think itâs locked, Adrian.â
âWhat?âÂ
You took a deep breath. âI think Chris locked us in here on purpose.â
He paused, then, doubled over in laughter, his hands pressed between his thighs. âYouâre so funny. Peacemaker would never imprison us against our will. False imprisonment is a crime.â
You sighed. âHeâs not imprisoning us.â Though, you thought, that was kind of exactly what he was doing. âI think he thinks heâs Parent Trap-ing us.â
âWeâre not twins.â
âNo, Chris is the twins in this scenario.â
Adrianâs brow wrinkled. âWeâre not divorced?â
You inhaled sharply. âWell, since weâre stuck in here, wanna spar? I barely broke a sweat with Chris.â
He seemed to be hesitating at the door, his hands behind his back still fiddling with the doorknob. Adrian frowned. âSo, you and Chris are besties now?â
Oh, he was jealous. You fought down a grin.Â
âI think he was looking for you and I was just the next closest body,â you said lightly. You rolled your neck slightly. âHe seriously needs to work on his chokeholds, by the way. His form is all over the place.â
âThank you! Iâve been telling him that but he just doesnât want to hear it,â he exclaimed, tossing his hands up for extra emphasis. He took a tentative step towards you, fidgeting with his hands. That was promising, at least. A tension that had been wound in your shoulders was finally starting to release. âDonât tell him I told you this, but I think his biceps might be too bulky.â
That drew an honest-to-goodness laugh from you that seemed to startle you both. There was a moment of tense silence until it faded into something familiar and easy between you two. Adrianâs resulting smile was radiant. Optimism wasnât exactly something with any staying power in your life, but, for once, you could feel the possibility unfurling in your chest.Â
âI told him the same thing and he told me he didnât need my advice on gains,â you managed to get out between laughs. Moving closer still, his fingers played with the sleeve of his sweatshirt that heâd tugged down over his hand. âHeâs not wrong, I donât know the first thing about gains.â
âThatâs so true!â he cackled. âYouâre so useless with weights.â
âNot my fault itâs boring as fuck,â you retorted. âBesides, your body can still be a weapon without being jacked. Iâve always preferred sparring, you know that.â
Adrian nodded sagely. âI do. And youâve been slacking.â
You genuinely guffawed. âYeah, well, my preferred sparring partner has been avoiding me like the plague. If I wanted to be body slammed into the mat I would have asked Chris sooner, or if I wanted to be climbed like a tree I would have asked Rip. But thatâs not what I want.â
âYeah?â Adrian asked quietly. âWhat do you want?â
You swallowed hard. âI want to spar.â
Adrian turned and tugged his sweatshirt off and you reached up to tuck the tag of his t-shirt in before you could think twice about it. He shivered under the light graze of your fingers.Â
âI thought you said you were going to cut all the tags out,â you remarked. The subject of Adrianâs disobedient shirt tags had long been a topic of conversation between you two. Youâd tried to convince him to start buying shirts without tags, but he insisted his wardrobe was pretty set as is and it would be wasteful to buy more just to not have tags, even if he hated tags with a violent passion.Â
âWell, I tried, but the seams of my collars kept unraveling and my mom got super pissed about it,â he huffed. You refrained from commenting on his mom doing his laundry. Adrian turned his back to you again to put his sweatshirt down and you seized the opportunity to jump on his back.Â
He stumbled forward. âWhat the fuck!â His sweatshirt dropped to the floor, forgotten, as he tried to reach behind his back for you. You flipped his collar and leaned down, ripping the tag clean out with your teeth.
âOw!â Adrian hissed.
âWhat are you saying âowâ for?â you asked through gritted teeth. You spit the tag into your palm.
âSorry, I thought you were going to bite me. It was a reflex.â
âIâm going to invest in a seam ripper for you,â you commented, looking at the clean rip.Â
âYeah?â Adrian breathed. âDo you, uh, do you think youâd want to come over and help me seam rip all the tags out some time?â
Adrian hadnât even moved but it hit you like a punch to the gut. An olive branch. âYeah. Iâd like that.â
âCool,â Adrian said softly. Then he grabbed you by the thigh and yanked you so you were hanging onto the front of him. You barely managed purchase on his shoulders before he rolled you both forward in a somersault, tucking your head down, using the momentum on the tail end to whip you off of him. You tumbled across the mat, air knocking out of you in a laugh.Â
âYou protecting targetsâ heads like that in the field would be a little counterproductive,â you teased. He cracked a grin.
âNah, thatâs a special maneuver, just for you. Precious cargo.â
You scrambled onto your hands and knees and when you looked over at Adrian grinning at you that sparkling feeling was back in your chest.Â
Before you could say anything, Adrian slid across the mat towards you and wrapped an arm around your neck, flipping you both onto your backs. He was breathing fast in your ear, his chest rising and falling against your spine. âEven the stupid tags that they put on the side of shirts?â
âThose too,â you agreed. Adrianâs hold tightened slightly but you gave it a long moment before you tapped his arm and he immediately released you. You rolled off of him and sat up.Â
âDo you think maybe the person who invented those secretly got off on it?â
âOn slightly scratching the sides of people forever?â you asked with a laugh. You leaned back on your hands as you considered it. âOh, without a doubt. Just like the person who decided scissors should be packaged in plastic that needs scissors to open it.â
âYes!â Adrian agreed, nodding emphatically, his eyes wide. Then he looked down at where his hands were fiddling with the leg of his sweatpants, rolling the fabric between his fingertips. âHey, are we friends again?â
âWe never stopped being friends,â you replied gently. You wanted to say more, but you werenât sure what would come out if you opened your mouth again. There was something painfully sweet about the easy rapport between the two of you and you didnât want to ruin it. Not when youâd just gotten it back.
He seemed to consider that. âOh. Okay.â
âUm, and you donât hate me?â
âWho?â Adrian asked, brow wrinkling. Then he scoffed, âMe?â
âYes you!â You were breathless as you shifted up into kneeling. Wrangling down your own impulse to flee, you sat back on your heels.Â
âWhy would I hate you?â he asked, genuinely trying to understand.
âJust answer the question, Adrian!â You already knew the answer, you just needed to hear it. To fully shake yourself out of the delusion that everything between you was ruined forever.
âNo! No, I donât hate you and Iâm confused why you would even think that! Donât you hate me?â
âOf course I donât hate you, Ade, I â I could never hate you.â
âBut you said you wanted me out of your system,â he whispered.Â
Suddenly, it became glaringly obvious why heâd been avoiding you. Because he thought thatâs what you needed. What you wanted. Your heart hurt in a way you couldnât verbalize to him. Not yet.Â
âOh, Ade,â you said gently. You thought about reaching out, putting your hand on his. You didnât. One thing at a time. âThatâs not what I meant at all.â
He stared at you, blinking slowly behind his glasses (You really ought to make him take them off so they didnât get damaged but he was always so persnickety about being at a disadvantage.) Adrian was so, so still. The way he got when he was really trying to wrap his brain around something. Usually it involved significantly more questions. He could ask the exact follow up you were dreading, forcing you to fully bear your heart to him. To say it out loud and have the real possibility that he would say he didnât feel the same way towards you. But he didnât.
Instead, he started laughing so suddenly it made you jump. He slapped his hands against his thighs. Then he just kept laughing, laughing so hard he doubled over at the waist, nearly planting his forehead against his knees. His whole frame shook and when he sat back up his eyes were wet and he lifted the bottom of his t-shirt to dab at them, giggling the whole while.
âThat is so funny!â he finally wheezed out. He gestured between the two of you but still couldnât catch his breath enough to explain. âWe both thought? You mean you thought that I â and â and I thought that you â ! Thatâs so silly of us.â
âItâs not silly,â you said defensively.Â
Adrian tried to stop laughing but he couldnât suppress his shit-eating grin. âItâs a little silly â hey!â
All his laughter shifted into a giggling wheeze as you tackled him back into the mat. His head bounced against the cushioning and popped his glasses askew. You paused your process of restraining him to resettle his glasses properly on his nose.
âI totally let you do that, for the record,â he grunted out. âBut itâs uhâŠgood, uh, good strategy, you know. Attacking when your opponent is distracted.â
âOh, totally, of course you let me,â you drawled, rolling your eyes.Â
He pouted. âWas that sarcasm?â
âNo, I totally meant it,â you taunted him again. His whole face contracted in that way it did when he was annoyed, giving you pause. The next thing you knew you were on your back, staring up at the gym ceiling fluorescents.Â
âYou know itâs confusing to me when youâre sarcastic,â he complained, dropping his forehead to your shoulder. The two of you laid like that for a few moments silently. You were grateful to have your friend back. Even if his body weight pressing you into the floor made it difficult to ignore your stronger feelings for him. You could get over him. Eventually.
âCanât believe you got me that fast,â you grumbled. Adrianâs head lifted off your shoulder but he dragged his cheek along your neck.Â
âYou let your guard down,â he replied matter-of-factly. Finally, his head lifted to look at you.
âI keep doing that when it comes to you,â you admitted quietly. A crooked grin played at your lips. âYouâre very disarming, you know that?â
âIs it bad that I want to kiss you right now?â Adrian asked.Â
âWhat?â You could have sworn your heart had stopped beating entirely.
âUhâŠwhat?â Adrian echoed. âItâs probably bad, right?â
You swallowed hard. He wanted to kiss you. Your brain was too busy trying to suddenly sift through things to properly respond. It wasnât that you didnât want to â in fact you very much wantedâŠbut youâd only just begun the gentle process of stitching the wound between you two. The whiplash was dizzying. So, you only managed another dumbstruck, âWhat?â
His eyes widened and he scoffed. âI mean, considering how it went the last time we kissed? You stopped talking to me!â
âYou stopped talking to me!â you countered.
âI didnât think you wanted me to talk to you!â
âI always want you to talk to me, I justâŠâ you trailed off and squeezed your eyes closed. Maybe if you werenât looking directly at him you could manage some semblance of a complete thought. âI havenât been very nice to you, Adrian.â
âWell, I mean, I do kind of like it when youâre mad at me. Itâs hotâŠwhen youâre all wound up...â he trailed off.
You shook your head slowly and forced yourself to peel those eyes open and look at him. âWhat I mean is, I havenât beenâŠkind. Is that a better way to say it?â
Adrian only looked at you with continued confusion. You rolled out from beneath him and sat up on the mat. Silently, Adrian followed suit, mimicking your posture and the lazy cross of your legs so that the side of his calf was pressed up against yours, warm even through your sweatpants.
âFuck, Iâm bad at this. Okay, um, good lord this isâŠI â those times when I was mad at you? The times when we hooked up, but alsoâŠbefore that? And for a long time now, I thinkâŠI was angry because I worry about you. In the field andâŠnot in the field. I was angry at myself for even being worried. Because I didnât understand it â Iâve never had a partner before, not like you. And sure, you always watch each otherâs backs but with you and me weâreâŠâ
âWeâre like puzzle pieces,â he mused. Fuck you wanted to kiss him.
You nodded. âWeâre like puzzle pieces. We justâŠfit. Even if thatâs because Iâm covering your ass when youâre being reckless â â
âHey!â
âBut Iâd do it for you. A hundred times over. YouâreâŠimportant to me. And when we almost died, which was objectively mostly your fault â â A half-hearted whimper of protest died on his lips â â I tried so hard to be mad at you. But I couldnât, because I kept thinking I was just grateful you were alive. And that terrified me, Ade. I had a huge blindspot and it was you. I didnât feel you crawling into my heart until youâd already built a home there and I didnât know what to do with that. So, I was cruel.â
âThatâs okay,â he said quietly. You shook your head, hating whatever happened in his life to make him so desperate for affection that he would forgive so easily.Â
âNo, itâs not. You donât deserve that. Iâm sorry, Adrian.â
A long silence passed between you. Finally, Adrian pursed his lips and nodded slowly. âThank you.â
Shifting your weight, you moved to stand, but Adrianâs warm hand wrapped around your wrist and tried to pull you back down to the mat. You were quicker than him, breaking his hold and pulling his arm behind his back, pressing him face down into the floor. He moaned, writhing underneath you, but made no attempt to get you off of him. You straddled his waist and sat down on his disrespectfully perfect ass.Â
âArenât you going to at least try?â you asked. âYou never let me win.â
âIâm exactly where I want to be right now,â he mumbled, breathy and pathetic. Consuming want coursed through you, and lust threatened to haze your rationality. You released your punishing hold on his arm and he whined. He didnât waste any time, bracing that arm beneath him and tossing you off his back with ease. Of course, you certainly werenât trying very hard at all either. No, you laid on your back patiently as he crawled over you, watching the languid pull of his muscles beneath the skin. He didnât pin you down, he only held himself above you, a hand planted firmly into the mat by your shoulders. He leaned down until his hair was tickling your forehead and you could smell the coconut scent of his curl cream. Your heart hammered in your chest as his nose brushed yours.
âWe canât kiss here,â you whispered against his lips. In fact, you were all too aware of the cameras in the training room. And the entire wall of windows. You wrapped your legs around Adrianâs waist and he didnât fight you as you flipped him onto his back. Pinning his hands above his head, you grinned down at him. His pupils were blown wide, consuming the lovely green, and his gaze was fixed on your mouth. He swallowed hard.Â
âWhat about bathroom?â he asked, barely a sentence. âI need to kiss you somewhere soon or Iâll probably die.â
âYouâre not going to die â â
âYou donât know! I might!â
His hips shifted beneath you.Â
âDonât do that or I wonât kiss you at all,â you taunted and Adrian immediately stilled. âGood boy, Adrian.â
âYouâre evil,â he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut.Â
Guilt coursed through you suddenly, a cold plunge into dangerous and icy waters. âAre you saying you want to kiss me because you want to kiss me?â
âWhy would I lie about wanting to kiss you?â
âNot lie, justâŠis it because you want it or because you think itâs what I want?â
âI donât think I understand.â
His eyes darted back and forth between yours, like the understanding of what you were saying might lay somewhere in between.Â
âOkay, maybe you need some tangible examplesâŠâ Adrian always did better with real world examples â he needed the debrief. âLike the phone sex thing â â
âBy the way I read up on that in Cosmo and I have some killer ideas now!â
âThis is what I mean though! You think of things! You think of me!â you exclaimed, exasperated.
âOf course I do. I think about you all the time!â
âBut do you think of you?
He squinted at you for a long moment before he finally managed an uncertain, âYes?â
âWhat do you want, Adrian?â
âJust to be with you.â
It was immediate. A breath, a gently uttered simple statement. And, in true Adrian form, utterly devoid of complex undertones. It was the truth â bare and easy. You envied the ease with which he accessed his emotions and was able to present them as they were. Even if he was always insisting he didnât have them.
âYou have to promise me that doesnât come at the expense of you.â
âI promise.â
âOkay.â
He smiled gently and then pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. âOkay.â
It wasnât everything, but it was most things, laid out between you. A mutual understanding â you were friends. Friends who wanted to kiss and to be with each other. You were unwilling to ask for more. Knowing you were wanted was enough. For now. Enough to quell the uncharacteristic uncertainty that had been consuming you for weeks. Adrian made you feel off balance in a way that youâd never experienced before. But you knew now, without a doubt, heâd be there to catch you if you fell.
âWanna come patrolling with me tonight?â
You werenât sure youâd heard him properly. Heâd never invited you on patrol before. Youâd always sort of imagined it shrouded in mystery. Like it was his own personal time, an almost-sacred communing with his personal deity, Vigilante.Â
âYou want me to come patrol with you?â
He looked at you like you were stupid. âWow, and you always rag on me for not listening!â
âWhy?â
He shrugged, slipping back into his sweatshirt. âI dunno. Thought we could burn off some more steam. I feel like a caged animal at my fucking desk all the time and I know you feel the same.â You bit back a comment about Adrian spending his time anywhere but his desk. âWeâre not meant for this life, dude. Weâre meant to be free range.â
âIâd be honored,â you said with a smile.
âFuck yeah,â he whispered, pumping his fist as if he wasnât standing directly in front of you. As if you couldnât plainly see him. Or, more like, he didnât fucking care. That was the Adrian that you loved. Then he straightened up and assumed his patented totally-cool-Adrian affect that was not cool at all. âPick you up at 9? Iâll bring extra knives.â
Evergreen was so damn sleepy. Earlier in the evening, Adrian had posited that maybe some mad scientist had dumped a chemical in the water supply that made everyone stop committing crime? It was utterly deranged, and yet, in your line of work the possibility wasnât zero.
âItâs kind of eerie how quiet it is,â you commented as Adrian kicked another rock down the street as you patrolled. Heâd lost the first one in the gutter somewhere, which you were pretty sure he was still stewing about under his breath.Â
âIâm sorry this is so lame,â he apologized.Â
You shrugged. âNot lame at all.â
He huffed and you could almost picture the expression on his face beneath the mask. Definitely pouting.Â
âWe could always do something else, Vig,â you offered. âWhat else do you like to do when youâre not-on-the-Checkmate-payroll Vigilante? Donât you and Chris shoot stuff in the woods or â âÂ
âYou should let me chase you.â
He said it so simply, like it was the most normal sentence in the world. Admittedly, it didnât even rank in the top 100 strangest things heâd ever said to you. Still, you couldnât help but betray your surprise.
âYou want toâŠchase me?â
He nodded. âIt could be fun! Like a custom one-on-one immersive Vigilante experience. Thereâs a lot of people out there who would probably pay big bucks for that!â
Laughing, you stopped and looked at him. âLucky me, I get it for free.â
âFriends, family and partner discount,â he chirped.Â
âPhew! Thank goodness I meet the partner criteria,â you laughed.Â
âNo,â he said with a scoff. He stopped and you stumbled to a halt beside him. âYouâre all three of those things. Thatâs the You Discount.â
Bereft of any other words you just managed a choked, âThank you?â
As quickly as the seriousness had settled between you, it crackled apart as Adrian kept strolling.
âItâll be good for us. Burn off some energy, get our heart rates up.â You couldnât help but notice the way his index and middle fingers twitched at the idea, like he was already itching to press them to your pulse and tell you exactly how your heart was reacting. âAnd once I catch you I can give you some pointers on how to avoid capture better.â
You barked out a laugh. âBold of you to assume youâll catch me at all.â
His head inclined slightly, leaning closer into your side. âI know I will.â
âYeah?â you taunted. He laughed, low and wicked, about to say something overly confident. So you took advantage of the moment and broke off in a dead sprint.
âHey!â he called after you.Â
But you were already yards away, breaking right for the woods beside you. You knew there was a small forested area that opened on the other side to the sleepy stretch of downtown where everything shuttered at 9pm. Far from the morose bars of Evergreen, far from prying ears and eyes, exactly where you wanted Vigilante to catch you.Â
If he could.
So maybe you didnât try that hard. Still, you ran at top speed, branches whipping past you. Alert and alive, your kept you eyes wide and focused as you ran, avoiding roots and rocks and low-hanging foliage. When you burst forth on the other side, your boots pounded as the dirt gave way to pavement and a new surge of energy coursed through your bones. You glanced behind you but he was nowhere to be seen.
You knew better than to be cocky about it. Adrianâs cardio had always been better than yours. You werenât outrunning Adrian in a foot race on a good day, and you certainly werenât outwitting Vigilante in the streets heâd made his domain for years.
The first hope for cover were the buildings on the other side of a wide, empty parking lot. Which also left you wide open, absolutely nowhere to hide. Even if you couldnât see him, you could feel him. For a moment you thought you heard boots on the pavement that werenât your own but when you risked another look, still nothing.Â
When you hit the building, you ran your fingers along the brick face as you ran, a burn in your fingertips to match the burn in your lungs. An alleyway opened up between the Jitters and some video rental store that had been shuttered for years. You seized your opportunity and ducked between them, hoping to add to your visual cover at the very least.
But that was when you finally saw him, running along the roof of the video store.
âJesus Christ,â you muttered, trying to pivot and turn back, your heart launching into your throat. Your brain knew it was a game but your body was unconvinced. The dark shape of him cut an imposing figure that somehow was not entirely swallowed by the night sky. He was still in your peripheral one second, but the next gone again.Â
âFucking hell,â you whispered to yourself, feeling your stamina start to flag. You should have paced yourself but the prospect had just been too thrilling. You made it past the storefront of Jitters without incident, but he was already waiting for you at the mouth of the next alley. Had he jumped down from the fucking roof? You yelped, trying to feint past him, but he grabbed you with an almost bored ease and dragged you into the alley.Â
âOkay, okay, I give up!â you laughed, but Vigilante still shoved you into the wall. He didnât say anything, and you couldnât decide if that was better or worse. Either way, it was certainly menacing.
âSo? Whatâs the hot tip? How does one escape Vigilante?â you asked, breathless, chest heaving, palms pressed into the brick. You squirmed against him slightly and he relented the pressure of his body for just a moment, so he could turn you around.
âYou donât,â he growled.Â
It struck you as funny. He was right. There was no outrunning him. Not as Vigilante. Not as Adrian. And youâd been foolish to try. There was no outrunning your feelings, try as you might, as new and tumultuous and terrifying as they were.Â
Of course, you knew that was not at all what Vigilante meant.Â
âGee, thanks for the lesson,â you said with a stupid smile. Perhaps heâd taught you something anyway.
âSay: âthank you, Vigilanteâ,â he murmured, voice low and gravelly in your ear. You scraped out a gruff laugh. The impassiveness of the mask did lend the whole thing a certainâŠje ne sais quoi. A flame of fear and desire licked at the bottom of your stomach. He crowded you, backing you into the wall, his gloved hands on your hips.Â
âThank you, Vigilante,â you said, mocking his tone. His head crooked to the side, and you could feel yourself being studied even if you couldnât make out his expression. Your tongue darted out to wet your lips before you realized you were doing it.
He laughed, sounding distinctly more Adrian-like. âYou like this?â
As if to prove some kind of depraved point when you didnât answer he pressed his knee between your legs, pinning you against the rough brick behind you. At first, he seemed to hesitate, his hands sliding to your hips like they were moving in slow motion. Slowly but surely, his hands on your hips guided you into a kind of rhythm on his thigh. A kind of rhythm because your pants kept catching on the stupid (âŠwhat even was it?) tactical garter he always wore clasped around his thigh. You couldnât even begin to comprehend a useful function for it but it had been there as long as youâd known him, and it was as much as part of his uniform as his weapons.Â
âYou like me so bad,â he murmured, fingers flexing into your skin again. Hard. Sure to leave a mark. Maybe thatâd be the only thing that reminded you it wasnât some fever dream after all.
âYes, Adrian, I like you,â you sniffed, giving him that much. He stopped moving you and you bit back a decidedly desperate whine.
âVigilante.â You rolled your eyes and his gloved hand came up to grasp your jaw. âYou like Vigilante.â
âI said what I said,â you retorted. His gloved fingers flexed against your skin.
âWrong answer.â It might have been menacing if it wasnât for the desperate whine in Adrianâs tone.Â
âI like Vigilante,â you caved, if only so heâd let you come on his thigh. He hummed in pleasure. âAnd I like the dork inside the suit, too.â
âHey!â
âMr. Vigilante acts very tough for a man Iâve seen get hard over just having my fingers in his mouth,â you taunted.
âI shouldnât even let you come,â he argued back.Â
âAnd I shouldnât let you let me,â you countered, knowing how dumb it sounded the moment it left your mouth. Your thighs tensed around his. âBecause thereâs this guy named Adrian I really like. It wouldnât be right.â
He was quiet for a long time. âMaybeâŠmaybe you can pretend Iâm Adrian.â
âYeah?â
He nodded emphatically. âYeah, I betâŠI bet this Adrian guy really wants to be inside you right now. I bet he wants to bury himself inside you. Like his dick but also kind of like metaphorically. Like he wishes he could be as close to you as possible. Actually, Iâm kind of jealous of Adrian because he probably gets to put his mouth on you.â
You laughed. âIf heâs lucky.â
âBut I have to keep my mask on because, you know, secret identity and everything!â
âOf course,â you agreed, feigning seriousness. You wrapped your arms around his neck and dragged him closer. âHow about you let me come on your big, strong thigh, Vigilante, and then Iâll kiss you through the mask?â
He tapped his index finger against his chin. âHmm. I donât know if that seems like a fair trade.â
âWell, then, Vigilante gets nothing at all,â you taunted, bracing your hands against his chest to push him away.Â
âBut then you donât get to come?â He sounded genuinely perplexed.Â
âI have two hands and a bed thatâs calling my name,â you said with a shrug, biting back a smile as you acted like you were going to leave him standing alone in the alley. His arms wrapped around your waist and dragged you back to the spot heâd had you pinned before.Â
âYouâre lucky youâre cute,â he murmured, mask brushing the side of your face as he leaned into your ear. âNow, ride my thigh like a good girl.â
A shudder rolled down your spine. You ought to give him a piece of your mind, but it was surprisingly pleasant to have someone else tell you what to do. Adrian was soft, adoring, obedient, eager to please. Vigilante wasâŠwell, frankly, a fucking brat.
You huffed as he forced your hips down again, frustrated by the thigh guard blocking you from feeling the firm warmth of his thigh between your legs. And, in fact, the stupidâŠoh. Maybe it did have some use after all. Certainly not the intended one, but once you were sort of able to position yourself correctly it pressed against you just right as you let Adrian rock your hips. Your hands fluttered up to his neck, forgetting you couldnât knot your fingers into the hair there. The mask had some disadvantages â anyone whoâd fucked Vigilante had not gotten the distinct pleasure of running their fingers through Adrianâs curls. Their loss.Â
And, if you had anything to say about it, theyâd never get the chance again.
His grip tightened exactly at the moment you realized you were about to come strictly from riding Adrianâs thigh. The hard metal and plastic of the garter pressed deliciously in between your legs and your head jolted back, knocking into the brick. You hissed, but one of his hands swept up and into your hair to prevent it from happening again. His fingers rubbed gently over the tender spot as you ground down one final time and pleasure coursed through your whole body, rough and quick and not quite enough.Â
Vigilante was panting too, and his forehead dropped to press against yours, forcing you to meet his gaze through thick red plastic. You rolled up onto your toes and pressed a kiss where you were pretty sure his mouth was.
âThank you, Vigilante.â
The ride to your place was pleasantly still and quiet, a kind of thrum in the air between you. Like at any moment you might reach over and stroke the strong line of his jaw, or he might put his hand on your thigh. But you were both a little too stubborn to be the one to cave.
When Adrian parked the Sebring in front of your building, he finally punctured the silence.
âMaybe weâre doing this all wrong.â
âProbably,â you agreed with a half-hearted laugh.Â
âSo, I was thinking we could go to dinner before team drinks tomorrow.â
âOh, sure, whereâs everyone going?â you asked, not sure how the two things were related. Things often made sense in Adrianâs brain and literally nowhere else. It was part of his strange charm.
Adrian paused. Blinked slowly. âNo. Just us.â
âJust us?â
âYes?â
âLikeâŠâ
âLike a date? Yes.â He tilted his head like it might help him parse the confusion festering between you both. âBecauseâŠweâre dating? Arenât we?â His brow wrinkled. âBecause you said you love me? And now weâre done running away from each other. Metaphorically, obviously. Because you literally just ran away from me but that was different.â
You laughed nervously. âWhen did I â I donât â what are you â â
âOh, yeah, I mean I think you thought I was already dead but I fully heard you.â He paused, his head tilting, eyes flitting as he verbally processed his way through. âI mean I actually kind of thought we were dating like riiiiiight after it happened and then I realized whoops! Not the vibe! So when I was trying to stay away from you because I thought that was what you wanted it was kind of like we broke up. But then, you know, I feel like weâre kind of back together again? Whew! What a whirlwind romance weâre having! Just like the movies!â
Silence passed between you for a beat before you inhaled sharply.
âYou know, if I did say I love you â â
Adrian laughed. âDude, you definitely did say it.â
You glared at him. âIf I did say I love you, you didnât say it back.â
He blinked slowly. âWhat?â
You fidgeted in your seat, yanking on your seatbelt like it was the last lifeline saving you from drowning. âYou didnâtâŠyouâve neverâŠand anyway I thought we were dying, it was like aâŠa panic response or something.â
âSoâŠare you trying to say you donât love me?â
âNo!â you gasped, feeling like the air was being wrenched from your lungs.
âOh,â he said, nodding. âYeah, thatâs what I thought. But for the record? I said I love you first. So actually you were just catching up.â
âWhat the hell are you talking about?â
âOh, I thought I was being obvious? Chris is always telling me Iâm deeply and profoundly unsubtle. I say I love you all the time!â
When you stared blankly back at him he laughed nervously, his fingers picking at the steering wheel.Â
âThe first time was that mission when Harcourt made us stay in that awful motel room together? And you let me put on whatever stupid movie I wanted and you raided the vending machine and we stayed up half the night shooting the shit and Harcourt was so mad the next day when we were sleep deprived, but I was kind of only pretending to be sleep deprived so you wouldnât feel bad. I was likeâŠwired. I felt this weird sort of electric feeling in my bones that Iâd never felt before. Kind of like being tasered, but pleasant? Anyway, that night when you fell asleep next to me on the rooftop while we were staking things out I told you.â
âAdrianâŠâ You trailed off, uncertain what else to say. âThat mission was, what, like, a year ago?â
âEleven months and sixteen days, but whoâs counting?â he said cheerily with a shrug. Casual. Like he hadnât just confessed to loving you. For almost a year.Â
âWhy didnât you say something?â you wondered, a desperate ache unfurling in your gut.
âI did! I do!â he insisted as your eyes only grew wider. Had you smacked your head and forgotten somehow? Then, Adrian grimaced. âOkay, well, I guess I maybe havenât said it directly with words. But every time I bring you a cup of coffee, or you give me a piece of candy from your desk drawer, or when we high five after a really good mission. Oh! And every time weâve touched each other or kissed or made each other come. I was thinking it a lot when you let me eat you out.â
Unable to stop yourself, you reached up and touched his face and he shuddered. You ran your thumb over his lower lip before you drifted them down to his pulse point.Â
âYour heart is beating really fast, Adrian.â
âYou do that to me,â he said simply. You nodded.
âMe too.â You pulled your hand back but Adrian caught you by the wrist and let his fingers settle over your radial pulse. You let him count while you studied his handsome face, marked the way his eyes always drifted back up to yours, glittering like youâd captured the stars and put them in his expression for safekeeping. You would. For him.
âI lost count,â he admitted.Â
âCan I kiss you?â you asked, realizing youâd never asked before.Â
He shook his head slowly. âTomorrow. On our second date. I want to do things right.â
âSecond?â
âUh, yeah. This was our first?â he laughed in disbelief at your dumbstruck expression. He crossed his arms defensively over his chest. âPatrol is a totally legit first date!â
âAdrian,â you groaned, covering your mouth as you laughed.Â
âI made you come! It counts!â
âVigilante made me come,â you corrected. Adrianâs lips seemed like they were trying to frown but he was conflicted.Â
âYeah, but I made you come first weeks ago so it doesnât matter,â he huffed, seemingly in a competition withâŠhimself?Â
âI should go inside,â you said, gesturing vaguely over your shoulder towards your building. When had you turned completely sideways in your seat? The seatbelt was cutting a red mark into your neck with every passing moment but you didnât much mind because each was a moment longer with Adrian. âAnd Iâm not going to invite you in. If we want to do this right, letâs do this right.â
âYeah?â Adrian asked, sighing dreamily, batting his eyelashes at you. The last dregs of your self restraint were quickly fleeing your body. You had to get out of the car or you were about to fuck him right there in the front seat.
âYeah. Dinner, drinks with our friends, and then you and I are going to finally fuck.â
âSick,â Adrian nodded emphatically. He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel as you unbuckled yourself and opened the door.Â
ââNight, Adrian,â you said slowly, still giving him a chance. But he was seemingly committed to his no kiss rule. He lifted one hand to give you a polite wave before slamming it back down and gripping the steering wheel for dear life and staring straight ahead.Â
You had only reached the stairs when you heard Adrian sprinting up behind you, so you leisurely leaned against the railing, waiting for him.Â
âI realized I should probably walk you to your door. You know, to be respectful,â he wheezed out. For a man who did a lot of cardio he was somehow cartoonishly breathless often. âBecause thatâs what respectful guys do after first dates. Make sure youâre home safe. Which is not to say you canât fend for yourself, Iâve seen you tear a manâs windpipe out before and choke a man with your thighs, but you know. To do things right.â
âRight.â
Twirling your keys around your finger, you blinked up at Adrian. Youâd made it to your door by the time heâd finished talking.Â
âOh! Weâre here! Well! Good night!â Adrian saluted. Standing a foot away he bent over slightly, his lips pursed until they connected with your forehead.Â
âMaybe you should just kiss me?â you suggested coyly. âI think thatâs totally appropriate first date behavior.â
Especially after I rode your thigh in an alleyway while you were in full Vigilante outfit, you didnât add.
âI mean, if you insist â â Not even allowing himself to finish he stepped forward and swept you into his arms, kissing you earnestly. He pressed you up against the door and your keys slipped from your fingers so you could knot both your hands in his hair. There was no coming up for air â it was a kiss to end all kisses. Utterly all-consuming. Hot, wet, Adrianâs glasses pressing into your skin as he tried to be somehow even closer, but you didnât mind. He was trying to speak into your mouth again, but you couldnât make heads or tails of it. You had half a mind to stop and ask him but the sound of someone clearing their throat was what did it in the end.
Staring at you was your neighbor from across the hall, Mrs. Flores.Â
âIâm her dentist!â he said at the same time as you said, âThis is my boyfriend, Adrian.â
The two of you exchanged a look. You two seriously needed to work on getting on the same wavelength. Wait a minute, did he say dentist? Mrs. Flores looked Adrian up and down. âGetting a bit late, isnât it?â
âYes!â Adrian audibly gulped. âI was just seeing her to her door. Like a totally normal date. And I am going to go right now! Bye! Good night!â
Adrian took off in a flash, leaving you to sheepishly smile at your elderly neighbor and her decrepit looking dog. You expected some kind of reprimand about public impropriety but instead she just smiled warmly at you.Â
âYouâre dating your dentist?â she asked. You exhaled a soft laugh, shaking your head.Â
âI have no idea why he said that,â you admitted. âNot my dentist.â
Mrs. Flores chuckled. âShame, I could use a handsome dentist.â
if you'd like to join my taglist for any future adrian stuff, let me know! please note, I am not adding anyone under 18 to the taglist, so if your age isn't listed on your blog or you don't tell me when you ask, I can't add you! sorry! love you all! <3
looking for part five, myocardium? look no further than right here! :)
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