The last chapter contained a pomegranate, this one contains a lemon. You have been warned!
It was overwhelming and terrifying and wonderful at the same time. She could taste the honey of Ivy's tongue coaxing its way into her mouth; she could smell the scents of ripe fruit and blooming flowers, feel Ivy's skin and her fingers and her lips, those lips that had been smiling at her so freely only seconds before.
And then, with no warning, the spell was broken. Eve opened her eyes and backed away, shuffling back along the branch until she was leaning against the tree trunk, trying to catch her breath. Ivy stared at her, confused.
"Evelyn? What is it?"
Eve tried to collect her thoughts, to articulate the question that had suddenly blazed across her mind. "I just need to know," she whispered. "Is this real?"
Ivy frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I mean…did you…do anything to me, so you could seduce me? Did you mess with my head? Or," she paused, hardly daring to say it, "do you really want this?"
There was a pause, where the only sound was the still-falling rain splattering on the grass below and the leaves surrounding the two women. It was a small thing, that pause, that silence, but it justified the icy trickle of suspicion and pain that was starting to pool in Eve's heart.
"I have…manipulated your mind, yes."
A knife, twisting. Eve looked away, tears starting to prick behind her eyes.
"Evelyn…Eve, please. Please, listen to me." She heard Ivy moving, coming closer, then felt her cool hand resting on her arm. "Back when we first began our…relationship, I admit I did use some of my mind-controlling spores on you. I didn't trust you not to let something slip to someone else. Everything you just told me, about me trusting you to keep my secrets, that that makes me human, I couldn't do that at first. It was too hard for me. It's been so long since I properly trusted someone, and it didn't work out for me when I did. I'll admit, I found it hard to believe that you would keep everything to yourself, so I needed a…contingency plan. Just until I could be sure. I only used it a few times, I swear. I stopped a long time before you came here to stay with me." Her voice was full of shame.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Eve looked at Ivy from underneath her wet eyelashes. "Is that true?" Her voice was small and cracked when she spoke, like she was trying to keep from screaming. She didn't want to let the chance of being with Ivy slip through her fingers, but while of her was shouting in indignation and rage while another part wished she'd just kept her stupid mouth shut.
"All of it." Ivy's hand slid into Eve's, their fingers interlocking, while the other cupped her chin just like she had when they'd first met properly. A single sneaky tear manages to slip over the edge and run down Eve's cheek, and Ivy's fingertip brushed it away. The contact left a blossom of gentle heat on her skin. "I trust you now, more than I have anybody, in a long time. There's something about you, Evelyn, that I just can't ignore, no matter how hard I try. I'm not just playing with you, seducing you, manipulating you…I want this. I want you." As she spoke, she moved closer to Eve, straddling the branch opposite her, until they were a hair's breadth away from recreating their first sensually charged kiss.
There was a long, tantalising moment of silence; Eve's mind seemed to be disregarding basic functions like breathing and moving, in favour of relishing how close their bodies were. She couldn't stop herself from staring deep into her eyes, such a rich and piercing shade of green, and so close she felt like she was drowning in their gaze, unable to pull away.
"So do I," she said at last, her voice barely above a whisper.
And then they were together, Eve trapped between the solid trunk of the tree and the sensual curves of Ivy's body. Her lungs emptied with a shocked gasp as she felt Ivy's lips brushing against her neck, planting delicate kisses up her jaw before finally capturing her mouth and sending an explosion of honey across her tastebuds. Feverishly, she kissed her back, wrapping her arms around Ivy's shoulders and twining her fingers into her hair. She felt like she couldn't breathe – the air she was taking in wasn't enough, it was too hot, too heavy with pollen and misted rain – but in the best possible way. She was vaguely aware of a sharp point trailing down the middle of her chest and stomach, a gentle ripping sound following in its wake, and then her breasts were exposed to the night air and the firm caress of Ivy's fingers.
Eve gasped again and a small moan, barely audible, escaped her mouth, when she felt Ivy's lips leaving another trail of kisses down between her breasts before she took one nipple into the cool wetness of her talented mouth. Her nipples were sore and sensitive, made hard by the temperature, and she cried out at the careful nip of teeth and lavish swirl of tongue. Ivy toyed with her, seeing what her mouth could do to set her off, her hands roaming over Eve's exposed body, causing goosebumps to scatter across her skin. She paused and lifted her head, fixing her with another intense gaze. She leaned in close, pressing skin to skin, and Eve realised with a start that the covering of leaves which usually preserved some of Ivy's modesty had disappeared. The softness of their breasts brushing together brought another moan, louder this time, up and out of her mouth.
"Do you trust me?" Ivy whispered in her ear, her lips barely making contact but somehow still managing to make Eve shiver.
"Ye-es…" It was hard to speak.
"Then relax," came the reply, "I promise I won't hurt you. I don't want to hurt you."
And then, for the second time in her life, Eve felt vines trailing up her legs, winding around, but they weren't attacking her. Instead they slithered upwards inside her jeans, sharp thorns cutting the fabric right through until the clothing fell off and disappeared into the darkness of the grove below, taking her torn underwear with it. At the same time, another vine carefully encircled her wrists and pulled them above her head, winding itself around the trunk of the tree, and all of a sudden she was completely exposed, straddling the tree branch in just her torn T-shirt. Any protests she might have had were silenced with another powerful kiss that sent Eve's mind reeling and an unbridled cry of need into Ivy's pliant mouth. She answered it with an almost animal groan, her hands sliding down and round to grip Eve's thighs and lift her onto her lap. Eve wrapped her legs around Ivy's back, gasping again when she felt one hand make its way down and settle between her thighs.
Now that she'd gotten used to the temperature of Ivy's skin, her skilful fingers felt amazing as they teased and stroked, making her shudder and gasp. They explored her, working her out, seeking the exactly right spot, and when they found it Eve cried out and bucked her hips, instantly craving more contact. She was breathing hard in short gasps, and when her mouth was captured by Ivy's again at the same time as she slipped two fingers inside Eve and crooked them in a 'come hither' gesture, a raw whimper of need burst from her throat and she knew that she only needed one more push to send her over the edge.
She arched back to feel more of the delicious friction of Ivy's smooth, skilled fingers as another one made its way inside her, the three working together to coax her towards climax. Ivy's thumb started to rub teasing circles over Eve's clit, as she leaned forward to whisper in her ear once more.
"Evelyn," she purred, "I want you to give in. Give yourself to me…" Her tongue traced a delicate trail down from Eve's ear to her mouth, then slipped inside to kiss her deeply again. She could feel, rather than hear, the other woman's desperate moans as she struggled to contain her desire before finally giving in and letting it take over her body, rocking it through with waves of pleasure, taking her breath away until she was spent, her head lolling forwards to rest on Ivy's shoulder.
"Ivy…" she breathed, then started kissing her in any place she could reach. The vines trapping her arms uncoiled themselves gently and she immediately threw them around Ivy's neck again, launching herself forward so Ivy was lying beneath her on the branch and she was on top, straddling her hips. One hand slid down Ivy's gorgeous body, the other entwined itself in her hair, cupping her face while she kissed her hard.
Ivy broke away for a second and gazed up at her, her eyes hazy with lust. "Pamela," she murmured. "My name is Pamela."
And with that, the final barrier between them fell.
Hands explored, fingers groped, lips caressed, breaths and gasps and moans of longing were shared. The atmosphere around them grew thick with heat and the scent of sex; thousands of grains of pollen floated in the air, clinging to hot and cold skin damp with sweat and condensation; the rain had ceased and the only sounds that filled the air were Ivy and Eve's combined cries of passion.
Eve crooked her fingers inside Ivy's body, in the same gesture as she had with her, then twisted and pumped them in and out until Ivy's panting breaths morphed into a long, keening cry that echoed through the trees, and she relaxed onto the branch, her limbs hanging down at the sides.
Neither of them said anything for a long time – they simply lay together, Eve resting her head on Ivy's chest, their hands interlocked as they relished the aftermath of their ecstasy and waited for their breathing to return to normal. Then, two thick vines made their way between the dozing pair, coiling under their arms and lifting them up. They held each other's hands as the vines carried them down to the ground, where a patch of thick, smooth leaves was waiting. When they were released and lying down in the leaves, Eve rested her arm across Ivy's stomach. Ivy simply lay on her back with her eyes closed, a tiny satisfied smile on her lips.
The night air was chilly now, and Eve's state of languid bliss was interrupted by the need to wrap her arms around herself. She shivered, and Ivy looked at her, then smiled wider. With a leisurely wave of her hand, a thin blanket of moss started to form and make its way up Eve's body, where she was able to grab the edges and wrap it around herself gratefully. Ivy remained resplendently nude, basking in the moonlight that was no longer blocked out by the canopy. She wrapped an arm around Eve's shoulder and drew her closer, stroking her messy waves of hair with her other hand.
"Eve?" she whispered into the night.
"Yes?" The reply was quiet and stifled by a small yawn.
"Do you love me?"
There was a pause as the question hung in the air, waiting to be answered. In response, Eve raised her head and kissed Ivy softly but assuredly, like it was the only thing she wanted to do for the rest of her life.
"Yes," she murmured. "I love you."
Ivy swallowed hard, surprised at the lump of emotion that appeared in her throat when she heard those words. She held Eve closer with one protective arm, as if she couldn't quite believe that the woman was real. Nobody had said those words to her and meant them, really meant them, in such a long time that she'd thought she'd forgotten how it felt to be on the receiving end, until it had just then all come rushing back. Wildly, suddenly, there was a flash of an image in her mind, of her and her Eve living a quiet life together, getting lost in each other, learning how to make it work between them. No more Gotham. They'd find a place in the rainforest somewhere, to be left in peace. No more crime. Just her, and Eve, and the Green, forever.
Could it be possible? Had she really found someone with whom she could truly just…be? To be free with, to love and be loved by them in return? Ivy glanced down again at the sleeping woman in her arms and believed it to be true. There really was nobody else she wanted to be with, that she could love, that she could trust so completely.
With a whisper even she could barely hear, she said, "I love you too."