What happened tonight makes it with no doubt in my mind the best night of my life.

I am lying underneath my beloved, Artemis Crock, in my bed, the bedclothes twisted around us or else on the floor along with our own clothes. My bones have finally solidified themselves back to their original state, my breathing slowed to its regular pace, the light sheen of sweat once covering our bodies has dried.

Artemis is asleep, pressed close to my chest, her hair, wild and tangled, cascading over my arm, one of her own thrown across my abdomen. To my amazement, the light makeup she was wearing earlier has not worn off, though it is no longer as neat as it before.

She has no obvious signs of waking soon, Perhaps another man would have made a lewd joke about the reason she was so deeply asleep. I merely pondered this event, and my fears of it that seemed ridiculous now.

M'gann convinced Artemis to attend a dance at Happy Harbor High. Neither myself nor Artemis truly know how. Artemis privately told me that she is mostly attending to "let M'gann play beauty consultant", whatever that may be. Anyway, tonight was the night. Artemis had asked me to attend with her, but I declined.
Partly because I feared I would be easily recognized, but mostly because I had more important things to figure out.

Lately I had wondered about my relationship with Artemis. About how best to move it forward. And I believe you know very well what I mean.

Several times now I have found myself... dreaming about Artemis. Very sexual kind of dreams, ending with myself waking covered in sweat and in the throes of release, only to realize that it was not real.

I am still a teenage boy you know. And though she has said nothing about the matter, Artemis is still a teenage girl. When I first told of my feelings for her, she made it plain that she had had sexual partners before. Several in fact, hoping it would dissuade my feelings. I find it safe to say it did not work.

And lately there have been several similar- situations. Such as this one time I allowed Artemis to take me a club in Gotham. Simply watching Artemis sway from side to side to the music in a short black skirt and tight-fitting purple tank top with her hair loose around her... simply put I had to excuse myself to the men's room very quickly.

And then Artemis zeta'd into the Cave and she looked... simply put I felt another one of those situations coming on. Her hair was put up and set with blue jeweled hair pins that matched the blue jewelry M'gann gave her. Her dress was what is called a long halter dress in a vivid blue. Her face was neatly made up. And from the looks of it, she was not wearing underwear. She smiled when she saw me sitting on one of the couches.

Definitely going to be another situation.

"You sure there's no way I can get you to come with me? We can laugh when M'gann tries to make Connor dance with her and then again when he caves in."

"I am sure. I fear there would be an incident should I be recognized." There would have been an incident right then if she sat any closer next to me. Thankfully M'gann entered, pulling Connor along behind her. "Hey Artemis! You ready?"

"As I can be." Artemis kissed my cheek before she got up, and I felt a rush of heat low in my body. M'gann weaved her arm through Artemis', pulling her with them to the zeta beam.

I breathed a sigh of relief and waited until I thought it safe enough to stand.

I had taken rest in my room in the Cave. We all have one, but for those of us who have long-term homes, we rarely use them. Mine juts out from the Cave out into the ocean, with wide tall windows showing its floor. Some nights when the Team returns late from a mission, it is sufficient. Otherwise I would not be able to stand sleeping on a marshmallow suffocated by the heavy bed-clothes.

That robotic voice announced Artemis' return, catching my attention. She had only been gone for two hours, and M'gann made it explicit that the dance would end at eleven. It made me curious enough to get up from the bed and wander out into the lounge. And I saw Artemis bent over, her upper half lost in the refrigerator and her shoes dangling from her hands.

Hello there erection. I (did not) missed you for those two hours.

She looked up, apparently hearing my approach, and smiles. "Teenagers running in and out of this place 24/7 and I can't find any Pepsi. Although there's plenty of fruit smoothies. Remind me to have a talk with M'gann." I did not answer. I was a bit preoccupied. Thankfully Artemis did not notice. She merely pulled a cup from the cabinet and walked to the sink.

I turned away to sit on the couch, hoping to disguise my predicament. "M'gann told me this dance would end at eleven. Is she mistaken?"

"No. I just got tired of standing in the corner drinking weak Kool-Aid while Connor and M'gann made goo-goo eyes at each other on the dance floor. Oh! And, M'gann and Connor are going to an after party, and then staying over at Wendy Harris'. Well, M'gann's staying over, Conner's making sure no one hits on her."

I nodded. The blood was starting to flow back to my other extremities. Until Artemis sat next to me and started pulling the pins from her hair, shaking it loose when she'd accomplished her task and letting it fall around her like spun gold.

"I also got tired of dancing with strange boys who rested their head on my chest and their hands on my ass," she said, stowing the pins in a small purse and doing the same with her jewelry.

The heat I felt then was jealousy plain and simple. "So, you did not enjoy yourself?"

"Well it wasn't all bad. I just think it would have been better if it had been you in place of those boys." My ego was soothed. But I must have had some look of satisfaction on my face because then Artemis grinned and said "Of course that's not to say they didn't know what they were doing." I blame what happened next on male ego.

I cupped Artemis' face in my hands and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around my neck and reciprocated. Everything was going well until Artemis pushed me back and climbed into my lap, discovering my state of arousal. She pulled back, in what I thought was surprise. I looked away, embarrassed. "I-I apologize. You seem to have this effect on me." She didn't speak and I couldn't look at her.

And then she pressed down on myself. I groaned in response to the sensation. "You know you just had to ask right?" Her dress gathered around her hips, with a little help from myself. She took my hand and placed it up her dress to rest on her hip.

I was right before. She wasn't wearing underwear.

I'm not sure how we ended up in my bedroom, just that my webbed hands fumbled with the knot holding up Artemis' dress until she took pity on me and did it herself, pulling away slightly so that I could push it down her body. It pooled around her feet, and she stepped out and pushed it to the side with her foot. She stood before me with no shame in her naked form.

My first thought was to touch her, to make sure that this was no dream. I cupped her face with my hands, which went down her neck to her breasts. Such an odd body part, and yet they gain so much attention. I was excited simply squeezing the firm mounds.

I pushed her shoulders slightly and guessing my desires Artemis turned away and layed down on the bed, her hair fanning out behind her. My own clothes followed not so quickly because of haste, but eventually they joined Artemis' dress and I joined her on the bed, kneeling between her spread legs.

To tell you the truth I had no idea what I was doing. I simply did what felt right. My hands went back to her breasts, squeezing them and pinching her hard nipples. Artemis closed her eyes and moaned her pleasure. It told me I was doing alright. I attached my mouth to the left of her neck, sucking and biting with reckless abandon. I could feel a dampness growing between her legs. It made myself much harder in return. It also made me curious.

One hand stopped kneading her breasts and went to explore this, fingers running up and down the entrance of her womanhood. Artemis took a deep breath and rolled her hips forward to meet my hand. It made me confident. I pushed one finger in slightly, testing my boundaries. Artemis moaned deeper. The rest of my fingers soon joined, pressing against her walls, pushing in and out and rubbing this small nub of flesh.

Artemis didn't speak, but her moans that were partly screams told me everything.

Curiosity drove me further. I pulled her legs so that they rested over my shoulders, my hands supporting her back and buttocks. Again, such an unusual body part, and yet it gains much attention.

My mouth attached itself to that aforementioned nub, my tongue replacing my fingers. Artemis' moans were mostly screams then, and I grew harder still, the evidence of my desire leaking out. A rush of liquid meeting my tongue and Artemis going limp with a long sigh told me she had reached the peak of her desire.

I sat her legs down around me. Artemis moved so that she was sitting up and reached for my member. I pushed her hands away and lifted Artemis so that she was straddling my lap, holding her up so that my member was just inside her.

This clearly annoyed her. I still remembered her comments from earlier. "Explain something to me Artemis." She looked at me questioningly. "Why should I let you come so easily after what you put me through?" Then she was clearly confused. "You spoke of other men 'knowing what they were doing'. You obviously enjoyed it. And I was obviously upset. So why should I let you come again?"

She took on a look of smugness. "Because you're not that cruel." I looked at her innocently, still holding up despite her efforts to push down. She tried another approach. "Because you want this just as much as I do." No effect. I also had more willpower than she did. Third times the charm. She looked purely sincere as she said "Because I love you. Kaldur, I love you."

I forgot how to think then.

Luckily for the both of us, the fine layer of sweat covering both our bodies caused her to slip out of hands and hard onto me. It caused us both to throw our heads back in ecstasy. In those moments we were completely connected. We were the only two beings in existence. There was no other world outside of that room.

All too soon it ended. We were both limp and exhausted, and simply fell back onto the bed. I barely even had the strength to move us so that I was not crushing Artemis. Still joined, we fell asleep.

There you have it. The amazingness of this night.

Artemis is stirring now. But she is pretending not to be. "I know you are faking." She opens her eyes and smiles at me. "Can you blame me?" No I can not.

"So, that was sexual intercourse?"

"No that was making love. I know the difference. We can have sex some other time." I ask what has been on my mind since she said it. "Did you mean what you said? That you love me?" She props herself up on her arms above me, looking just as sincere now as she did before. "I love you Kaldur'ahm. I don't know what else this feeling is."

"I love you too. I know love. This is love." We kiss. The kiss becomes deeper, leading to Artemis pulling away and kissing her way down to my- simply put Artemis only went home once the next day, so her mother would not call the police.