Obligatory Disclaimer: Dark Horse and Mr. Mignola own all, save for my own original characters. A special thank you to Guillermo del Toro for bringing this wonderful character to my attention.
Torie hunched over her laptop, peering at the screen over the dark-rimmed glasses perched on the end of her nose. Her hair was in a modified topknot, held in place by a pencil. Bobby Darrin was singing to her about "sailing, somewhere beyond the sea," from the depths of her stereo. Lance was curled up at the other end of the couch where Torie had set up base camp for the project she had been plugging away at for the past several hours. As soon as she had gotten home from work, she had changed into a white tank top and boxer shorts and then sank onto the couch. Hours had gone by and Torie was oblivious to anything but the screen before her.
At around eleven o'clock, Lance slid off the couch and began nosing Torie in the side. With a sigh, she checked her watch. Torie then smiled and rubbed Lance's head. "Time for a walk, huh? Actually, you're way past due. My bad."
Torie set her glasses down on the coffee table and turned off the stereo, then walked across the apartment and grabbed Lance's leash, her dog prancing around her. She grabbed her keys and the two of them headed out into the night.
The air around Torie was oppressive, bearing down on her like a two-ton weight. Lightening skittered across the sky. Thunder rumbled overhead. Sweat broke out on Torie's forehead and beaded on her upper lip. Saying it was humid or muggy didn't begin to describe the disgusting feeling her skin soon took on.
Normally, Torie didn't push Lance into making a decision in where to go, but with the threat of rain about to overtake them she urged Lance to stop sniffing and get down to business. "Lance, come on. Stop dilly-dallying, will ya? Now go potty!"
Too late.
The skies opened the floodgates and within seconds both creatures were soaked to the skin. Torie sighed and tucked a tendril of hair that had fallen loose from her topknot behind her ear. "No use hurrying now, little man. You can take your time."
Lance gently wagged his tail, embarrassed, and raised a leg, then squatted. Torie patted his head as she pulled a bag out of the waist of her shorts, then squatted to clean up after him. As she stood up, her shorts started to slide down because of the weight of the water. Embarrassed, Torie hoped that none of her neighbors were watching as she pulled up her shorts.
"Ready?" Torie asked before running back to the building, Lance at her heels. Torie tossed the bag into a garbage receptacle before pushing the door open.
It was cold inside the building compared to the outdoors. Goosebumps rose up on Torie's skin and she hustled up the stairs to her apartment door. She fumbled with the keys before opening the door and tumbling inside.
Torie unsnapped Lance's leash and set it on its hook, then noticed the puddle that was forming on the linoleum at her feet. With a sigh, Torie kicked off her shoes and peeled off her socks. Muttering under her breath, she pulled the pencil from her hair, letting her hair fall past her shoulders in an audible plop and padded her way to the bathroom. She grabbed her bath towel and wrapped it around her head before making her way to her closet.
"Man, it's steamy out there – like a romance novel."
The voice nearly caused Torie to jump from her skin. She spun around to face her intruder and saw, standing halfway through her front door, Hellboy.
Torie put a hand to her racing heart and quickly closed the distance between them. She could feel the steam radiating from his skin and coat. "I could kill you, Sam! You scared the bajeezies out of me! As often as you come by, you think I'd be used to your comings and goings. But steamy? Man, are you a few minutes too late for that comment. As you can see, I got caught in the rain, same as you." Seeing he still hadn't closed the door behind him, she asked, "So you gonna come in or not?" She then mock punched him in his stone arm.
"Well, I don't want to track water all over the place," he responded quietly. Hellboy felt his heartbeat pick up and his breath shorten. He was never more aware of Torie… or just how close she was to his body. In fact, he was never more aware of just how feminine Torie was, but her question broke through his thoughts.
"And that never stopped you before now, why?" Torie narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips.
Hellboy bit his bottom lip. Torie must have no idea that the rain caused her white tank top to become transparent. The fabric of her shirt and her shorts clung to her frame. He didn't want her to move and yet he felt that it was disrespectful not to bring attention to her situation.
Trying a different tactic, Hellboy had to refrain from taking a deep breath, instead smiling and pretending that nothing was… unusual. "I guess you're right. But boy, is it a lot cooler in here than it is out there! Does it have to be Siberia in here? I mean, I like that you keep it cooler here for me, but come on Tore… Hey, want a beer?" Hellboy winked at her but looked away quickly as he shed his coat and made his way to the kitchen to get a beer. He knew he was talking fast, trying to cover up his nervousness, but this was a lot scarier than tackling some of the monsters he met on his cases.
Torie rolled her eyes, but had to admit that Hellboy was right about how cold it was, especially since she was soaked to the skin. But a beer sounded really good. "Uhm, sure." She walked across the room, going out of her way to hip check Hellboy, to the thermostat. The air conditioning kicked off and she spun around, an eyebrow raised. "Better?"
Hellboy had not looked at Torie from the time he turned towards the front door and took his coat off, not even when she crossed the room to nudge him with her hip. While she was messing with the thermostat, he had opened the fridge and grabbed a canned beer. Now, he popped the top and took a long pull before he turned to acknowledge Torie.
He swallowed hard and felt his pants tighten. Before him was every man's fantasy. The white tank top was completely transparent and had not dried any from her body heat. And she has no fucking clue.
But he had to admit that it was also a little scary. It had been a long time since he had been with a woman. And even when he had settled into a relationship, Hellboy still found human women to be the hardest creature to understand. But in the time that had passed since his last encounter, Hellboy had filled the void with the Internet. Downloading porn was a little different than having a real live image before him. This was even better, although downloading on the Government's dime was pretty thrilling.
He didn't know how to tell her. Or maybe he did and he just didn't want to. Regardless, enough time had passed that when she found out, the consequences would be pretty much the same so Hellboy decided to enjoy the ride for as long as it lasted. "Much better," he replied. "Want a beer?"
Torie wrinkled her brow in confusion and nodded her head slowly, as they had already been over this conversation before and he knew she did. But she then shrugged her shoulders and began walking the distance between them. "Sure. Then I guess I'll be changing my clothes. I don't think I've ever felt so waterlogged."
Hellboy opened the fridge and pulled out a beer. He then leaned on the open door as he handed Torie her microbrew. "No rush."
Torie tilted her head back and took a long swallow. In doing so, Torie's chest rose and her back arched, giving Hellboy a better view. Her nipples were puckered. The fabric of her shirt hugged each peak. His fingers itched to reach out and rub them, to pull them, to feel them. Her breasts weren't big, but they were full and had heft to them. He ran his hand over his face as he tried to block out such thoughts. Torie was his friend.
She grabbed the stereo remote off the counter and clicked on her CD player. Tom Waits began to serenade them as his music filled the apartment.
Got no time for the corner boys,
Down in the street makin' all that noise.
Don't want no whores on Eighth Avenue,
Cause tonight I'm gonna be with you.
Torie set the remote back where she found it, placing her beer next to it. She unwrapped the towel around her head and her hair dropped in wet strands around her face. Rubbing her hair dry, and walking around the apartment at a leisurely pace as she did so, Torie hummed along with the music.
Cause tonight I'm gonna take that ride,
Across the river to the Jersey side.
Take my baby to the carnival,
And I'll take you on all the rides,
Sing sha la la la la la sha la la la.
Hellboy hated himself for noticing, but with her arms raised the way they were, it afforded him the perfect vantage in which to admire the cling of the fabric. It barely registered that he should look up when she wandered back to the kitchen and stopped next to him.
"Hey Sam…" Torie started as she turned to face him, but she quickly saw that Hellboy wasn't looking at her face, but at her body. She looked down to see what had grabbed his attention and saw that her nipples were completely visible to Hellboy, the shirt fabric clinging to every millimeter of her frame. Feeling her cheeks burn, Torie felt her nipples pucker even harder. "Uhm, yeah. Let me go change clothes."
Hellboy swallowed hard. He knew that Torie was right; she was in cold, wet clothes and needed to get out of them. I could help her get out of them. He felt such a reaction to the nearly nude woman standing before him that it took everything in his power not to reach out and pull Torie to his frame.
Torie could feel her chest rise and fall with every breath, making her painfully aware of the scene before Hellboy, and yet she made no effort to move. But she wasn't frozen in place; Torie was torn. The electricity between the two of them was now almost tangible. She knew what he wanted; Torie wasn't that dense. She might have been oblivious to the state of her clothing, but there was no denying the heavy-lidded look of desire in Hellboy's eyes. And those feelings were starting to well up inside of her, starting at the juncture of her thighs. What she wanted to do more than anything was peel off her wifebeater and close the distance between them, consequences be damned.
But, instead, Torie worried her bottom lip between her teeth and mentally pleaded with Hellboy to make the first move. But she couldn't make eye contact with Hellboy for fear that she'd bolt. After what seemed like an eternity passing, Torie took a deep breath, feeling her breasts swell as she did so, and slowly began to pivot on her heel.
As she turned her back to Hellboy, she felt something lightly grasp her wrist. Looking down, she saw it was Hellboy's tail. Confused, Torie looked him into his eyes and saw the emotions dancing in them.
"Tore, forgive me," he said before gently pulling her to his body and lowering his lips to hers.
Torie closed her eyes and sank into his embrace. While her body screamed that she wanted this, her mind wasn't able to switch gears quite so quickly. This is your friend! If you do this, there's no going back to where you used to be! But it had been eons since anyone had kissed her, especially like this, and after a moment's hesitation, she returned the kiss and felt his arms tighten closer around her.
She ran her palms across the broadness of his shoulders and smiled nervously against his lips as he picked her up, her feet dangling. Her mouth opened to accept his shyly probing tongue and her legs wrapped around his waist as he walked her towards the kitchen counter. Her backside bumped against the Formica and soon Hellboy had her sitting on it.
Their kiss deepened and without having to support Torie's weight, Hellboy allowed his left hand to roam while his right hand held her body against his. His left hand toyed with the bottom of her shirt, slowly sliding it upward. When the fabric gathered beneath the underside of her breast, he stopped, waiting to see if Torie would protest.
With no objection forthcoming, Hellboy allowed his hand to lift her shirt higher, exposing her right breast. He waited for Torie to pull her shirt down, push him away and kick him out, but rather she arched her back and pushed her breast into his hand. He broke their kiss and pulled the garment over her head. Torie then grabbed his left hand and landed it back on the swell of her right breast. He groaned in approval and closed his eyes as Torie tightened her legs around his waist, pulling him ever closer to her soft center. As he allowed his hands to pluck at her tips, one thought entered his mind.
Oh dear Gawd, her nipples are pierced.
His passion overwhelming him, Hellboy again picked up Torie and carried into her bedroom. In all his visits, he had actually never set foot in her room, although he had stood in the doorway numerous times while Torie would pilfer through her drawers or closet, always looking for her elusive prey. Stepping into her room, while an act that friends often did, seemed too intimate a gesture on Hellboy's part. He couldn't articulate it when she would tease him, but he felt his presence would taint her sanctuary.
But as he crossed the threshold to her room, Hellboy never felt more at home. He gently laid Torie on the bed and after discarding his own shirt, quickly joined her. The bed groaned under his weight, but held. And the encounter that had began in the kitchen now escalated, with Torie's neighbors hearing them all through the night and well into the breaking dawn.
A/N: First, happy 4th of July! Hope you all have fun and are safe. Oh, and I hope that you have good weather; it's cloudy and threatening to rain here this morning.
And second, the whole story was written around this scene, which came to be based on a dream I had. It's crazy where we get our inspiration from. ;) And no, the dream was just a snippet of the scene, sorry!
Hope I did it justice. Always get nervous about scenes like this.