Opening the door to my apartment, I tossed my keys on the tiny table that served as a catch-all for my hand held crap when I came home. Closing it, I went to the bathroom and began to draw a bath for myself. The thing I wanted most was a nice long soak in the tub and maybe, afterwards, a cuddle with Bruce.
After Bruce had left the club, I'd been check out by the emergency response personnel. They'd wanted me to go to the hospital for x-rays of my legs after I'd told them I'd been pinned but I demurred. I felt fine and if they started to ache, I'd make an appointment with my regular doctor. Penny had emerged completely unscathed and I knew it was thanks to Bruce's warning that we'd both made it out virtually unharmed.
Penny was worried about Janice and Trisha. The only one of the trio we'd been able to find after the explosions had stopped was Becky. She'd been able to make it to the very front when the last explosion happened. She had a concussion and a fractured arm. She was one of the lucky ones.
We'd heard the police talking, saying how they thought the death toll would be well over fifty at least if not higher. Penny and I had said a quick prayer for the two missing girls as police had ushered us out of the area. Penny had called one of Dad's drivers to come pick us up and they dropped me off first, before heading to my parent's house.
With the tub sufficiently full, I turned the tap off and put a folded towel on the back of the tub where my head could rest.
Stripping my ruined clothes off, I sank into steaming hot water with a sigh and a hiss as the water hit scrapes and cuts that I hadn't realized I had.
Leaning my head against the back rim of the tub, I realized I was slightly shaking as I tried to encourage my body and muscles to relax. All of a sudden, my throat began to tighten as tears welled up in my eyes and emotion threatened to overcome me.
A gasping sob burst forth from me before I began to cry uncontrollably for several minutes. Finally regaining control of myself, I wiped at my nose and eyes and realized that I felt much better than I had when I entered the bathroom.
Closing my eyes, I wondered why Bruce hadn't been there to yell or berate me when I got home. A part of me was hurt that he hadn't been waiting but another, more practical side understood that there could be a myriad of reasons why he wasn't there. Not the least of which was he might be dealing with the Riddler.
God, I hope he's okay. Hopefully the police didn't chase him around the city again. Please let him be okay and not at the mercy of the Riddler. I hope…
A loud thud woke me from a light doze and I started in the lukewarm water as I came to discern that I had fallen asleep in the tub.
I stepped out of the bath and wrapped a towel around myself. Hearing grunts and other frustrated sounds from my living room, I deduced that it was Bruce who had made the loud noise.
I pulled the plug on the tub drain, watching the water begin to swirl out of sight, and stepped out of the bathroom.
Bruce was in the middle of removing his Bat suit. He had his cowl off and the upper half of the suit peeled off like a wetsuit. He stopped and turned towards me as I emerged.
Suddenly self-conscious, I turned away from him and began to head towards my bedroom. I heard him move but I still started when he grasped my shoulder and turned me to face him.
My eyes were closed but I felt his hands move over my face, ghosting across the butterfly bandages on my forehead, down my neck and shoulders, sliding down my arms to settle on my waist.
"Gia." The softly spoken word had my eyes fluttering open to meet his. "Gia."
Oh, the passion in that one word!
We had danced around the sexual tension between us like glass would break if we were to take it any farther than kissing and caressing for weeks.
I hadn't wanted to make any missteps in this relationship. It had been years since I'd felt this strongly for anyone and I wasn't going to make the same mistake I'd made the last time. I had had some fierce arguments with myself over the logic of that choice when we lay in bed together, simply holding each other as we slept.
But now, looking into his eyes, I felt no hesitation whatsoever as I closed the gap between us and kissed him with all the emotion still reeling under my skin from the events of the day.
His arms came around me suddenly, intensely as his tongue delved into my mouth, plunging its depths and provoking a moan from my throat.
"Oh Bruce…"
His grip on me tightened and he lifted me up; my hands dove into his hair pulling him closer as our mouths melded in a frenzy of pent up passion and emotion.
I could feel the hesitation, the question in his touch, his gaze, as he pulled back just enough to look me in the eyes.
"Yes."
That was all he needed to hear. Grasping my thighs he lifted me up more and I wrapped my legs around him as he carried me into my bedroom with more speed than prudence.
In his rush to get to the bed, he hit my bench at the end of my bed and sent me reeling back onto the bed, towel flying off.
Looking up from his position, leaning over the bed, knees against the bench that had caught him off guard, he stopped, staring.
I felt my cheeks flaming as his eyes roamed over me, finally settling on my face. Swallowing, I scooted down the bed until I sat in front of him. He simply stood still as I slowly removed the rest of the Bat suit from his well-muscled, albeit bruised, figure. I had always watched him remove it with such ease before and now, like then, when I came to the black boxer briefs he wore underneath, my breath caught in my throat and my fingers stilled.
His hands came and took mine, fingers lacing, as he planted a kiss on each before pulling away and removing the last barrier between us.
Laying me back on the bed, Bruce covered me with his body and began kissing my neck, slowly working his way down. I couldn't help the breathy pants and slight whimpers that escaped as his journey progressed.
He was almost to the heat that had pooled in my center when a very insistent knocking sounded on my door.
"Georgiana?! Georgiana, you open this door right this instant! I know you're in there! Your doorman said you came up but haven't left! Open this door at once!" The high pitched, grating voice had my heart and libido sinking.
"Who's that?" Bruce's voice was a whisper, as he came up to look at me.
I groaned. "That's my mother…"
The knocking continued as I rolled away from Bruce and slipped into a pair of pajama pants and a hoodie that were on my floor.
"Can you-?" I gestured to the remains of his Bat suit that were still in my living room as I made my way out into the living room.
He nodded and grabbing the rest of the suit, headed back into my bedroom, shutting the door.
Steeling myself, I took a deep breath and opened the door.
"Mom! What are you doing here?" I tried to make it clear that I wanted to have the conversation at the door but she barreled right through me and into my home.
My mother's hair was slicked back into an elegant chignon and her wardrobe choice of an evening gown had me realizing she'd come from some party or gala.
Taking a seat in one of my arm chairs, she sat and gestured imperiously for me to do the same.
I sighed as I shut the door and went to sit opposite her on the couch.
"Georgiana. I know we haven't gotten along but still, that is no excuse for not calling and telling us about your mugging two months ago. Now this!?" She shook her head and her Harry Winston diamond teardrop earrings swung back and forth.
"You're here because I didn't call you two months ago?!" I couldn't keep my incredulity and anger from entering my voice.
"No, young lady. I am here because you were involved in an incident tonight and we need to decide how to handle it as a family." Her voice took on a steely quality that she only used when she tried to force me to do something she knew that I'd balk at.
"What incident!? I almost got blown to hell tonight and all you're worried about is how it will look if the papers print that your children were there?!" I could feel my blood pressure rising and I stood up and walked to the door.
"Georgiana, you may not understand the implications of such news becoming public but your father and I do. Your father invested quite a bit of money in that club and now we're trying to figure a way to distance ourselves from it and the explosion. The last thing we need is the papers printing that you were there with Penelope and making the connection." She looked every inch the Lady Victoria as she swept towards me.
I opened the door, set my jaw and fought back angry tears, as she came to stand in front of me.
"For the sake of your family, please do keep your head down until this blows over." She left with that parting request and made her way down to the waiting car to take her back home.
I shut the door and leaned my forehead against it. I could feel anger and sadness welling up in me and I lashed out, punching the wooden door with such force it dented and splintered the wood under my hand.
I heard the bedroom door open and I turned. Bruce stood in the doorway with an unreadable expression.
"Don't, " I said vehemently, as I made my way to the small cabinet that held my liquor.
I poured myself a generous shot of vodka and tossed it back.
Bruce made his way out of my doorway and went to stand in before the front door, studying it where I'd hit it.
Taking another shot, I turned around to face him, feeling sufficiently fuzzed to deal with whatever he chose to throw my way.
He had put his briefs back on and he still looked good enough to eat but anger was winning out over my libido.
"You have one hell of a right hook."
Whatever I'd been expecting, that wasn't on the list of possibilities that my mind had supplied.
He cracked a small smile as he came to me and took a shot of vodka himself.
"Thanks…" I eyed him cautiously. "Sorry about all that."
"I don't know why she even bothered coming by in the first place. I always keep my head down. It's what I'm good at." I shook my head and I took a seat on the couch I'd previously vacated in anger.
Another way of emotion cascaded over me. "She didn't even ask if I was alright! Ugh!" I lashed out again, this time punching a pillow that sat next to me.
"Hmm, violent when angry. Good to know." The amusement laced through Bruce's voice made me glance up from my brooding.
"You find this funny?"
"A bit. Gia, I don't need an explanation. I just want to make sure you're alright." With a gentle smile that reached his eyes, he sat next to me and took my right hand in his and examined it.
"I'm fine. She just knows how to push my buttons. No one else can do it like she can." I sniffed and flexed my fingers and realized that I was going to need to ice my hand.
As if he read my thought, Bruce got up and got a frozen bag of mixed vegetables out of my freezer.
"Here, put this on it. It'll feel better."
"Thanks. I feel like I should say that I don't normally react this way." I felt a bit ashamed that he'd seen a side of me that only Penny had seen before then.
"No, it's good to know that you've got some fight in you when push comes to shove." There was an undertone to his voice that had me paying closer attention to him.
"What exactly are you saying?"
"Nothing. It's just good to know. " His tone again said that there was more to it than that.
"Hmm… Sure…" Bruce looked over at the skepticism in my voice. There was a part of me that wanted to push him to explain what he meant but then again, he hadn't pressed me for a detailed explanation so I figured that it made us even.
I stood up and returned the now thawing bag of veggies to the freezer.
Wanting to forget about what had just happened, I tossed a sassy look over my shoulder at the still supremely sexy man watching me from the couch with intense interest.
"We going to pick up where we left off before we were so rudely interrupted?" I grinned as I stripped my hoodie off and threw it to the side.
The speed with which Bruce leapt off the couch and into my room would have been laughable had I not been just as eager as he to resume our rather heart racing bedroom activities.
I wondered if he'd use "the voice" in bed if I asked.
Ah, well. Time to find out.
A/N: Coitus interruptus from the female parental unit! Oh no! Sexy time will have to wait until next time folks. Hope you enjoy! Reviews make me write faster and more often so any and all are appreciated!
