~Bruce's POV~
"Alright, you two, I've laid out different clothes for you in each of your huts. Please change and meet me up by the hotel in fifteen minutes!" Lia tells us before running off.
Diana and I had been existing in our own little world, neither of us had noticed that Lia had stopped taking pictures or gone into either of our huts. Diana's face flushes with embarrassment before she carefully sits up. "You know," she starts, turning to look over her shoulder at me. I have yet to move, instead choosing to watch the Amazon beauty. I should've paid more attention to the mischief in her eyes. "It would be a real shame if this tipped."
"Wait-" Before I even register what's happening, Diana pushes down on one side of the hammock and floats up into the air as I tip over and fall into the water beneath the hammock. I quickly swim back to the surface to find Diana cackling in the air, arms wrapped around her stomach. Then I notice all of my pillows floating or beginning to sink around me. I quickly grab them and throw them up onto the dock, glaring at Diana as I maneuver myself towards the end of the dock, dragging myself up onto it.
Diana's laughter has stopped but I don't bother looking at her as I pull myself fully onto the pier, rather annoyed with the princess at the moment. I already know Lia is planning on us getting wet at some point, but I was hoping to save the water till she dictated. I hate washing the salt out of my hair.
"Very funny, Princess," I growl, realizing my pillows are a lost cause as they drip on the deck.
When I receive no response, I glance towards where Diana was hovering last I had seen and notice she's landed back on the dock, eyes roaming my chest and mouth slightly ajar. I glance down, wondering if I have something on me when I realize she's tracking the water droplets that are running down my skin. My mouth tilts into a smirk as I walk closer to her, noticing how dilated her eyes are and the flush on her cheeks after laughing has turned to one of arousal.
"My eyes are up here, Princess," I comment, smirk growing bigger as her eyes snap up to mine, her entire face growing red at being caught openly ogling me. "Glad to know you like what you see." I bend down to scoop up what were my pillows and walk past her, knowing Lia will be coming down for us soon if we take any longer. "See you up at the hotel!" I call over my shoulder before I hear Diana begin to move. A quick glance over my shoulder shows Diana looking anywhere but me as she practically runs to her hut.
"Serves her right," I mumble to myself before changing out of the wet red swim trunks and into a pair of black ones. These are much more my style.
~Diana's POV~
Oh, that man! He can be so aggravating!
I duck into my hut, face feeling as if it were on fire. What was I thinking? I can hardly keep my hands off him as it is then I choose to dunk him in water? Stupid, Diana! Stupid!
I strip out of the red bikini and into a royal blue one. However, this one covers my chest just a little more, not as revealing as the last top.
Stepping back out of my hut, I nearly jumped in surprise at Bruce standing just outside the door, arms crossed over his chest with a smirk still firmly on his face. "Shall we walk up together?" Bruce holds a hand out and even though my face turns red all over again, having cooled down while I changed, I accept his hand and allow him to pull me out of the hut and up towards the hotel.
I try not to look at the man walking beside me, but end up sneaking peeks out of the corner of my eye or through my hair when it blows slightly in front of my face. He'd dried off from his dip in the water and is now wearing black swim trunks. Hmmm. Those are much more fitting for the Bat. And I don't mean just the color. The trunks don't seem as loose-fitted as the last pair.
"What are you looking at now?" Bruce leans over and whispers and I realize I was caught again.
"Nothing," I snap, knowing I answered that way too fast.
"I don't think I believe you."
"Well-"
"Finally! There you two are! What took you so long?" Lia comes up and grabs our intertwined hands before pulling us after her. "I only have the pool reserved for so long but I need pictures of you on my balcony first."
Despite the building being called a hotel, it's really just a large two story house with a pool hidden behind lush greenery and tall palm trees.
We follow Lia up the stairs and into her room, seeing the clothing flung all over the place but saying nothing as she pulls us out onto her balcony.
"Okay, Diana, you're going to stand against the railing and Bruce, you'll stand behind her. Despite my ease and almost eagerness to pose for the pictures last night and just a little bit ago, I now feel more hesitant and awkward to follow Lia's instructions.
"Come on, Princess," Bruce urges into my ear, gently pushing on my hips to guide us over by the railing. I don't think my face will ever return to normal again as the heat begins to spread down my neck. This time, though, it's from a mixture of embarrassment and desire from Bruce being so close. I step up to the railing and less then a second later, Bruce is behind me, hands on my hips. A shiver races up my spine as a hand leaves my hip to brush my hair over one shoulder, Bruce lips making contact with the skin that he revealed.
"Bruce," I gasp, completely unprepared for this or him.
I once again hadn't realized Lia had left us, Bruce becoming an expert at distracting me, but am brought back to reality as flashes catch my attention from below. "Diana!" She calls up to me. "Do something with your hands! Touch him!"
"Yes, Princess, touch me." Bruce whispers against my neck and a small moan escapes my mouth from the obvious double entendre. I hesitantly reach back and slide my fingers into his hair as he begins pressing kisses up and down my neck, his fingertips tracing the edge of my bikini bottoms where they rest on my hips. My other hand drops to sit on top of one of his but he doesn't stop the teasing movement.
"Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful, you two!" I faintly hear Lia calling out as her camera continues to click and flash.
"You are beautiful," Bruce compliments against flushed skin and I can't help the small smile that comes to my face at the genuine compliment.
~Bruce's POV~
It's true, she's absolutely radiant with a light flush covering her cheeks and in this blue bikini which brings out her eyes. I know I'm teasing myself as much as I'm teasing her but once I decided to test a theory, to see if she'd let me hold her close and adore her, I was easily hooked on the taste of her skin. And the jasmine scent that surrounds the warrior never fails to make my blood rush.
Lia had called for us to come down to the pool and I had reluctantly stepped away from Diana. However, I didn't miss the small noise of disapproval she made. I had hardly held my hand out for her to take when she was at my side, grabbing my hand while also wrapping herself around my arm.
I led us back down to the pool and Lia gestured for me to stay back before pulling Diana closer to the water. I stand back and watch as Lia instructs Diana to sit beside the pool, hands splayed out behind her, toned legs bent just slightly, with a slight arch to her back. Are they trying to kill me?
Lia walks around to the other side of the pool, as if checking to see it's where Diana should be. But before she has the chance to come back around and instruct me on where to move, I take off at a run towards Diana. She looks at me, eyes widening before I jump over her and dive into the pool, making sure to kick my feet right as they enter the water and send water flying towards Diana. I faintly hear two different shrieks before I resurface but I can't contain my laughter, no matter how much it hurts my side. Diana sits on the side of the pool, arms held away from herself, dripping water.
"I-I'm so sorry, Princess, b-but you had i-it coming!" It's my turn to hold my sides as I continue to laugh, hearing Lia laughing behind me as well.
"You weren't supposed to get her wet, Bruce!" Lia calls from behind me, chuckling.
"She pushed me out of the hammock before we came up here. It was only fair!" I hold my hands up in surrender. "At least I didn't push her in."
"You've got it coming, now, Wayne," Diana threatens from the side of the pool.
"If you say so, Princess."
"Well, I guess we'll just move on to the next photo. Diana, you'll need to get in the water." I push my hands back through my hair, pushing it out of my face before rubbing water from my eyes. Diana looks hesitantly at the water, as if afraid of it so I begin wading my way over to her.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I just was hoping to stay mostly dry." She admits. "Foolish, I know. We're at a beach resort."
"Come here," I pat the edge of the pool and Diana hesitates for a moment before sliding closer to the edge. "Do you trust me?"
"Normally I'd say yes but after that stunt you just pulled-"
"I could've pushed you in," I reminded her again.
She sighs. "Fine, yes, I trust you."
"Wow, really instilling me with faith here," I carefully grab her waist and lift her into the water, so mesmerized by the beauty in front of me, I hardly feel my ribs screaming at me in protest. I slowly begin to lower her into the water before stopping right before her hips are fully submerged, bringing me to eye level with her clavicle. I wrap my arms around her and she in turn wraps her arms around my shoulders, looking down at me from her slightly elevated position. I begin to walk backwards, bringing us closer to the center of the small pool. As soon as we reach close to the center, I begin to spin us, her legs gliding through the water with the motion and her head tips back, the laugh that I've come to adore falling from her lips. I watch her in wonder, before her head comes back up. Our eyes meet, my heart picks up and suddenly our lips are meeting, in a gentle, yet wonderful kiss.
I continue to spin us but have slowed way down, more concentrated on keeping my lips sealed with the Amazon in my arms. I slow to a stop, ceasing our spinning as the kiss begins to grow a little more passionate when someone clears their throat from beside us.
Diana and I instantly pull apart, realizing what we had just been doing. "I could cut through the tension between the two of you with a knife! This is way better than anything I could've asked for!" Lia exclaims, flipping through the photos on her camera. "Are you sure you two have never gotten together?" She glances up from her work to see Diana and I glancing away from each other.
"No, Lia, we've never been together," I insist. And I need to remember we never will be.
Oh how I wish we could be, if he'd just let us.
A/N: I'm really happy with how this story is going, I must say so myself. I also apologize for the shorter chapter! I didn't want it to be too long or make the next chapter too short so I cut it here.
Thx!
AMM