Disclaimer: I certainly don't own Batman, although I'd really like to.
A/N: My second fic in the fandom, and the first one with Batman. It's PWP, and BatmanxOC.
A Moment's Escape
Bruce Wayne grabbed a glass of champagne and looked out over the crowd. His living room was filled with nicely dressed people chatting in groups. A few were swaying to the music, but mostly they were too occupied to even notice the music that came from a very expensive stereo mounted on one wall.
He knew most people by name, but far from everyone. Invitations had said 'guest plus one' after all, and it wouldn't be a big surprise if there were a couple of people here that had never gotten an invitation. Party crashers weren't exactly unheard of. It seemed like everyone wanted to see his apartment, just because it was one of the biggest, most hi-tech and, not to forget, most expensive apartments in Gotham. Not that Bruce cared much, a couple of guests extra didn't make a big difference.
As he glanced over the crowd he noticed several women looking his way, smiling whenever they noticed him looking at them. He smiled back at a couple, but mostly just let his gaze wander on. Most of the women were either way too young or way too old, or just not interesting.
Slowly he walked through the crowd of people, exchanging a couple of words here and there with business associates or people his father had known. Well across the room he slid down on an available chair, the glass still untouched in his hand. He leaned back, closed his eyes for a brief moment and took a deep breath before opening them again. He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep lately, and it was starting to take its toll on him. His days were spent as Bruce Wayne, doing what was expected of him in that role, and his nights were spent as Batman, saving a Gotham that didn't even want to be saved, not by his hands at least. The mob was causing the same problems as always and he really had his hands full. But he still had to throw his parties and go to dinners and whatnot, because if he didn't then people would start asking what he was up to, and he needed to make sure no one ever found out that he wasn't only Bruce Wayne, but the Batman too.
As Bruce opened his eyes and again let his gaze wander over the gathering of people he finally found something interesting to look at. He had no idea who she was, but she was absolutely gorgeous. A blue dress hugged her curves, going down to her mid thigh and showing off just enough cleavage to intrigue him. Her hair was a rich mahogany that swept just past her shoulders in soft waves. He was seeing her in profile as she was talking to a business associate of his. As far as he knew said business associate was happily married for twenty-two years to an African-American woman, so at least she wasn't married or dating him. Since he didn't recognise her he reckoned she was someone's 'plus one,' and only hoped she was someone's sister or daughter, not wife or girlfriend.
Bruce lifted his glass to his mouth, his eyes still lingering at her. Her lips spread in a big grin at something Mr. Hurst, the business associate, said, and soon she was chuckling, her shoulders shaking with the laughter. As the laughter stilled she turned her head slightly, and Bruce got a better look at her face. Her eyes seemed to be either green or hazel—it was hard to judge from the distance—with thick lashes. Her lips were full and glossy, and her nose was small and cute. She was naturally pretty, not one of these fake ones who got their looks from knives and needles and what not.
Bruce realised that he had forgotten to actually drink anything; his lips were almost touching the brim of the glass, but not quite. He hesitated for a moment and then lowered the glass again, content still untouched. His eyes left her for a moment as he quickly looked around for a place to put down the glass. He thought he had a small table standing next to this chair, but it seemed like someone had moved it sometime during the night. Or maybe he just remembered wrongly, it wasn't like he'd spent that much time here lately.
Giving up the mission and deciding that he'd just have to hold on to the glass he looked back up. His eyes met hers. His lips instantly set in a faint smile, which she returned after a moment's hesitation. Then she directed her attention back to Hurst. Bruce took a gulp of champagne and waited for her to turn back to him; he just knew that she would.
And, a minute later, she did turn her head in his direction, meeting his glance again. She held it a moment longer now, and even added a small wink before Hurst telling her something pulled her attention away again.
Bruce debated what he should do—go over and talk to her, or wait for her to come to him, which he thought she would do, eventually. But he never got to decide, as a small cough to his side forced him to drag his attention away from her.
He peered up and saw the towering form of Patrick Hershey. At 6 feet 8 he was taller than himself when they were both standing up, but now, that Bruce was sitting down, he seemed humongous. The fact that his arms were the size of small trees didn't make him seem any less intimidating. Not that Bruce couldn't take him down if he wanted too though, bulk wasn't everything. But, Patrick Hershey's size fit him well for his job. He worked in security, and was currently employed in Bruce's service to keep this party under control. Toss out any unwelcome guests and whatever else would occur.
"Mr. Wayne, could I have a word?" Patrick asked in a hushed voice. Bruce felt like sighing, but didn't. Instead he nodded and got to his feet, walking into the hallway with Patrick on tow like an oversized puppy.
"What is it?" he asked Patrick.
Patrick ran a hand through his short hair and hesitated for a moment. "It seems like, well, I might have pissed off some broad. She didn't have no invitation, so I wouldn't let her in, and well, she was insisting that I found you to she could talk to you about getting me fired."
"And what would her name be then?" Bruce asked, annoyed with whoever it was for dragging him away from the girl in the blue dress.
"Vintresca or sumthin'" Patrick said with a shrug. "I didn't quite catch it with the yelling and all."
"Serena Ventresca," Bruce whispered to himself. Why was he not surprised that Serena would be making a scene? Having grown up with a mother that came from a family of old money, and a father that Bruce knew was, or at least had been, high in the Italian mafia, she was a temperamental woman, to put it nicely.
"I'll deal with it," he said to Patrick, and the larger man nodded, turned around, and disappeared back to whatever else he had been doing. Bruce took a deep breath and walked over to the door that he knew Serena would be behind. He plastered on a fake smile and opened the door.
He almost toppled backwards with the sheer force of the tirade of words that streamed out of her mouth, like a tsunami hitting the beach. He understood enough to figure out that she was very offended by the fact that Patrick hadn't recognised her and let her in, even if her invitation was forgotten back home. Bruce just waited until she calmed down, and let her in without an invitation. He knew he'd sent one to her, so it was no big deal. But it still took some time for Serena to just shut up. She kept insisting that Bruce should fire Patrick, of which Bruce had no intention to do. But he didn't say that, he just nodded in affirmation and let her believe he would.
Five minutes later he was finally able to rejoin the party, after letting Serena loose on the other people there. He made his way back towards the chair he'd been sitting in earlier, hoping that the woman in the blue dress was still around there.
But the chair was occupied, and she was nowhere to be seen. Bruce took a quick round of the living room, hoping to see her somewhere, but she was gone.
As he suddenly noticed Serena walking towards him he turned around, and headed out of the living room. The other woman wasn't there, and Serena was, so he really saw no need to stay there anymore. He knew the woman he still didn't know that name of—but very much intended to find out—hadn't left, since Serena had occupied him in the entrance hall. So that meant she was somewhere in one of the other rooms, of which there was a plenitude.
Bruce walked through his penthouse apartment, peering into the different rooms along the way, but he didn't see her anywhere. Not in the bedroom or bathroom or study. Finally he came to the last door down the hallway. It had a large frosted window, but he couldn't see whether she was in the room or not. Quietly he pushed the door open, and was greeted with a gust of hot, moist air. The lights in the room was off, but due to the fact that two of the walls were just glass, and there was a big glass window in the ceiling as well where the almost-full moon peeked in, he could still see the room clear enough and noticed the woman from earlier almost instantly.
He smiled and stepped into the room, still quiet. She was sitting with her back to him, with her feet dangling in the pool that took up most of the room. Her shoes lay next to her, and her skirt was hitched up enough to allow her to sit on the very edge of the pool, with her legs in the water up to her mid thigh. Her hands were grasping the edge of the pool to keep her balanced as she leaned slightly forward.
Bruce took another step closer to her. "Are you lost?" he said, breaking the silence in the room.
The moment the words left his lips several things happened simultaneously, and he could do nothing but watch. Her head snapped around and her hands left their grip on the edge of the pool, startled with the fact that she wasn't alone in the room anymore. But the sudden movements made her lose her balance, and he saw her eyes widen as toppled into the pool, everything going too quickly for him to react. One moment she was sitting on the edge, the next she was under the water, splashing around. Bruce ran to the edge to make sure she was alright and not drowning, but her head was already over the water, and it seemed that it was shallow enough that she could stand with it only reaching her to the waist. Her hair was clinging to her face, darker than it had been because of the water. Her dress seemed to be almost black now, and it clung to her chest like a second skin.
Slowly she lifted a hand and pushed her hair out of her face. Equally slow she lifted her head and soon her eyes met his. He couldn't quite decipher the look on her face and started to apologise. An apology that was soon disrupted when she burst out laughing.
The sudden guffaw echoed in the room, but she didn't seem to mind, but kept on laughing, doubling over and clutching her stomach as her entire body shook with it.
Bruce stood quietly and watched her, a smile tugging at his lips. She seemed to take the fact that she was completely drenched rather nicely. Had it been Serena he knew he'd been getting his ears full right about now. But this girl, she just seemed to think it was funny.
As she quieted he walked over to the edge of the pool and held out his hand for her to grasp. She just stared at it.
"Really, do I have to get up already?" she said, a mischievous grin on her face.
Bruce let his hand drop to his side. "Well, if you'd rather stay in the pool, then that is alright with me, ms?" He made the last word a question, curious to whom this woman was.
"I'm Sarah McLaughlin," she said. "I came with my uncle, Carl Hurst."
So that was why she had been talking to Hurst, Bruce thought. He was rather happy she hadn't come here with a boyfriend or husband in tow.
"I'm Bruce Wayne," Bruce said.
Sarah grinned. "Yeah, I know."
For a moment neither of the two said anything, the only sound in the room were the water lapping at the edges of the pool, stirred alive by Sarah's movements.
"So, should I leave you alone to swim around then? You are more than free to take however many towels you want," Bruce said and nodded towards a pile of fluffy white towels stacked on a table in the other end of the room.
Sarah looked at him, her lips set in something resembling a pout. "It's no fun swimming around alone," she said.
"Isn't it?"
"Nope. Care to join me? It seems like you need to have some fun. It didn't look like you were really enjoying your party."
Bruce shrugged. "Maybe so." He didn't really have much time for fun and games in his life. Being the Batman was too important. But maybe for tonight he didn't need to be Batman, maybe he could just be Bruce Wayne?
Deciding that he'd just do what he felt like rather than what he felt obliged to do he shrugged off his jacket and started unbuttoning his white shirt. Sarah grinned and leaned back in the water so she was floating on the surface.
Bruce shrugged off his shirt and let it fall to the floor where it joined his jacket and shoes. He quickly pulled off his socks too, and was left in his pants and a white wife-beater. He stepped over to the edge of the pool, and in a smooth movement dived in.
As his head broke the surface of the water again he saw that Sarah was again standing in the water, a smile on her face as she dried away droplet of water from her face, most likely courtesy of his dive.
Bruce took a few steps towards her, his hands drifting along the surface of the water. His eyes were locked on hers, and the grin on her face slowly faded. Bruce's eyes dropped to her mouth, and at the same moment she rolled her bottom lip into her mouth and bit down on it. Bruce didn't think she realised she was doing it, but it gave her the most seductive look. She was irresistible.
Bruce stopped right in front of her, and for a moment they just stood there. Neither of them said anything, neither of them made any attempt to move, they just looked at each other.
Slowly she let go of her lip. Bruce's eyes were transfixed on her mouth now. Her lips were full and looked soft. They screamed out to be kissed.
Bruce lifted a hand and rested it against her cheek. Gently he traced his fingers against the soft wet skin down to her neck. She was just looking at him with her big eyes which he now made out to be hazel.
With a hand on the back of her neck he gently pulled her closer to him. She moved towards him willingly and tilted her head a few degrees to the side. Bruce's lips sought out hers.
The kiss was soft and tentative at first, but soon it grew in intensity. Bruce wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. She wound her arms around his neck in response, and when he traced her lips with his tongue she eagerly parted them, allowing their tongues to meet and dance.
His hair was hanging down his forehead, and a steady drip of water was trailing down the bridge of his nose and down his closed eyelids as he gently eased her backwards until her back was pressed against the edge of the pool. He rested his hands on her waist as his tongue explored her mouth. He only let go of her lips long enough to grab the hem of his wife beater and yank it off. Her hands were quick to explore the newly exposed skin, running over his back, his shoulders and his chest in feather light strokes.
Bruce let his hands slide down her side, over her hips and following the line of her leg to the bottom of her dress. Gently he bunched the soft material in his hands, pulling it slowly upwards, inch by inch.
When it was pulled up around her waist she wrapped her shapely legs around him, and Bruce turned his attention towards the top of her dress. He kissed down her neck, and when he came to her shoulder he eased a finger under the strap and slowly pulled it down her arm, following with a trail of kisses.
The other strap followed, and soon he could pull the dress down to expose her breasts. They were beautiful. Not too big, not too small, and all natural. He caressed them with his lips, pulling the nipple into his mouth and letting his tongue flick over it.
She seemed to be enjoying his ministrations. Her head was tossed back, and she was moaning every time his tongue traced over the sensitive bud. Her hands were clutching at his back.
"I waaaa—" she started saying, but interrupted herself with another moan. "I want you so bad," she muttered hoarsely moments later. Her legs wrapped tighter around him, pulling him closer to her, and Bruce's lips sought out hers in a passionate kiss.
He wanted her too, his whole body screamed out for her, and he just couldn't wait another moment. His erection was straining against the front of his pants, yearning to be out and in her, and he was quick to release it from its confinement and shift closer to her. Slowly he thrust his hips forward, sinking into the heat of her. For a moment he didn't move, just stayed, sheathed inside her, with his forehead resting on her shoulder.
This was the only time he could be just Bruce Wayne, could forget all about the Batman and just enjoy himself with a beautiful girl. He could lose himself in the moment and relinquish all control. Tonight, in this pool, with her, he had no worries.
When Sarah spurred him on, her hips thrusting up into his, he started moving, slowly at first, but soon his pace increased. One of his hands were digging into her thighs, keeping her up, the other was clutching the edge of the pool, steadying his thrusts.
The water lapping at their bodies added a new sensation to their lovemaking, making their bodies light; their movements softer than it would be out of it. And the light in the room, a faint and flickering blue, created an almost ethereal feel to the room, making this all seem almost otherworldly. Wrapped in soft blue light and water they were far away from the dark and shadowy city, the world consisted of only the two of them now.
Bruce was quickly spiralling towards the edge that would bring him his release, would send him toppling into bliss. That moment of ecstasy was one where he had no control, a moment in which he would be swept away by his orgasm and could forget everything else.
Soon his movements were getting more erratic, more desperate. She responded, her fingers digging into his back, leaving small crescents in his skin. Her lips found his in a heated kiss that Bruce happily met.
His body tensed for a moment when he finally hit that blessed edge and could feel the first tingle of his orgasm before it hit him like a tidal wave. His arms wrapped around her, and he held her tight to his body as release flooded through him.
It took him a while to get back in control over his body and let her go. Her legs slid down his before they found their footing. She leaned a hand against his chest, and her lips were set in a soft grin that he kissed gently before climbing out of the pool.
Bruce extended a hand for her, and she grasped it. Nimbly he lifted her to her feet and placed her on the tiled floor. He handed her a towel from a stack on the table standing against the wall and she wrapped it around her body. Bruce could see her lips shivering slightly, and quickly led her into his bedroom which was just down the hall.
The magic of the moment they had shared was ruined when the sounds of the party still going on met him. He knew that they had to part ways, that this had been a small encounter, only a small flight from reality, but he still wished that it could have lasted, that he didn't have to get back to the real world and all the pain and darkness in it.
"Do you want some dry clothes?" he asked as they came into the bedroom. She laughingly shook her head.
"No, it's no problem," she said. She reached under the towel and started tugging on the dress she still had around her waist. When she had pulled the skirt of it down she turned around and dropped the towel. Her back was lean, and Bruce got the urge to let his hands slide over it, but she soon started tugging the wet fabric up over it. It involved some squirming, as the fabric was clinging to her body snugly, but soon she was decent again and turned back to him.
"I think I should head home now," she said.
"You will get a cold going out like that."
"I have a jacket, it'll be fine."
Bruce didn't want to argue about it with her, so he took her hand and walked her through a corridor towards an exit that would be less populated than the main one. The coats were kept in a room just by, and she quickly found a black blazer and tossed it on, buttoning one button as she peeked up with a mischievous grin on her face. "See, I'm all good to go, no problems there."
But a blazer like that wouldn't do her much good in the cold night. Bruce quickly fetched one of his own coats, warm and long. Even if she protested he put it on her. It fell to her ankles, and covered her hands to the very tips of her fingers— and even if she drowned in it she looked great.
"I can't take your coat; it'll get ruined by the water," she said, glancing down at the coat."
"Don't worry about it, I got plenty of coats."
She smiled. "Thanks. I'll get it delivered to you as soon as possible."
"I told you, I have plenty of coats, don't worry about it."
It seemed like she was about to protest again, so Bruce stopped her with a kiss.
All too soon she pulled away. "I need to get going now. If you see him, can you tell my uncle I went home because I wasn't feeling good?"
Bruce nodded, and Sarah went up on her toes and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and then, before he knew it, she left. Bruce stared at the closed door for a moment, suddenly finding that he wished she could have stayed. But he knew that this was for the best. As soon as the party was over he had other commitments. The city was still hunting for the Batman, but that didn't mean that it didn't still need him. There were still place for the Caped Crusader in the shadows of Gotham, and for now he had gotten the only moment of escape he could allow himself.
A/N: I dedicate it to my good friend Karine (Liave Ekeli here at ffn). She's the one who's been nagging at me to finish it ever since I first got the idea to it months and months ago, and she's betaed it (although I take all the responsibility for all the mistakes that might still be here) and helped me along. She's a real angel!