You & I

Chapter Four:

Taste

No sleep, no chance, no need
Forget about it
One life, live free, big dreams
We're all about 'em

You're finding it, take it, take it in, it's all here
You and me, no one else, nothing else but us right now

- You & I - Crystal Fighters

You were standing outside my room room when the guard unlocked it. Your eyes were the first I saw that morning, hard and unblinking and latching onto my face like a limpet. I wondered if you saw the bags under my eyes, or even the redness on my lip from where I had been gnawing at it all night. For some reason, the meeting with my father had played in my mind over and over, almost giving me a damn headache.

The guard stepped back and grunted at us to hurry, but you simply tutted at him and said, 'No, Henry. Don't you remember? Madeline and I are on laundry room together today, aren't we?' you waggled your brows and Henry growled at you, telling you to shut up kid.

'Know how much trouble I could get in kid, huh?' Henry was an grumpy, ugly man who liked nothing more than to step back and let us inmates get on with whatever it was we liked to do. I think the most he cared about was whether we murdered each other or not but, other than that, he was as cool as a cucumber. Thankfully, he was normally the guy who checked up on our block at the Asylum.

You looked at me, smiled tightly, an turned away with a spin of your heel. You darked your tone quickly and gave him a hard, dark glance. 'Remember the twenty, uh, grand Sionis will drop into your account if you do me a freakin' favour, Hen'. Upon Henry turning and sighing, you clapped your hands and sighed. 'Come, come, Madeline. We do need to talk'.

We didn't on the way to the laundry room, though. You talked to Henry, of course. You blabbed on and on about money, the weather and what it felt like to kill your own mother. You did this to only amuse Henry, I think, because you knew it was near impossible to get a reaction out of the ape. The man simply did not care about what we did or how we got into the Asylum. He was numb. He was unbiased. He was what I hoped so desperately I would not turn into.

'Look, no silly shit, alright? I'll be down the hall doin' some rounds, Valeska. Get on with your shit and be quick about it, I got a job to keep'. Why Henry needed the job, I'll never know. Surely Sionis had paid him enough money in favours by then that he could live a pretty good life without the shitty Asylum job? I never really voiced it back then, but I always kinda respected Henry and his complete 'give a shit' attitude about everything. For a sane man, the Asylum was a lot to handle.

You smacked your palms together once the door shut behind Henry. 'Long time no see, huh, beautiful? You wanna tell me where you were yesterday?' You moved quickly with two long steps, like a lion ready to pounce. I blinked blearily at you.

'Not really, Jerome'. I was tired. I was very, very tired.

You frowned. 'That's rude, beautiful. Jerome only wants to know how his Madeline is doing, ain't that allowed now?' You patted both my cheeks and smiled. 'C'mon. C'mon, c'mon, c'mon. Tell me what happened - you were gone all day and the next time I see you you're actin' like the world is ending!' You pressed a hand to your chest. 'It isn't, is it? 'Cause I sure did miss the memo'.

For the first time ever, you were genuinely annoying me. Before I could stop myself (impulse, impulse, impulse), my hand connected with your chest in a gentle push. 'Jerome, just leave me for a second'. My head hurt. My head really hurt. I felt oddly alone and complete because I knew, I knew, I knew that I was finally done. What did they call it? Closure.

Pushing you had been, apparently, the wrong thing to do. It was then, in that moment, that I learnt you did not like to lose physical control. You caught my wrist in a vice like grip and squeezed, dipping your head to mine and still you were smiling. 'Mad. Mad. Madeline. We don't hit, do we?' You laughed in my face, mouth wide and teeth shining. 'When did I ever say that hitting was allowed, hmmmm?'

I yanked away from you. 'Don't talk to me like that, Jerome. You knew who I was beneath the silence, don't act like this now'.

You paused, hand still mid-air. You did not breathe. Then, with a great hoot, you laughed your fucking head off. 'True, true! Oh, Mads, I waited a while to see this side of you, didn't I? All angry and stomping feet - and, might I say, you are a beautiful woman when you're red with rage'. You winked at me and ran a hand through your ginger hair. I loved your hair, but right then I had very nearly hated you.

You were like terror seeping into my bones and, like any threat to me, I came on the defence and bared my teeth at you 'Don't, Jerome,' I warned, not wanting you too close, not wanting you to have that control you had been pushing so hard to get. You could only smirk at me, laugh bubbling behind your closed lips and eyes shadowed in that dark humour you always wore. I wondered what you were thinking in that moment.

You scooted your feet along the floor, hips moving in an exaggerated, mocking manner. 'Mad-Mad-Madeline, you could hurt a guys feelings talking to him like that'. You held a hand to your heart and licked your lips and tilted your chin upward. Your teeth glinted in the artificial light. 'Y'know, Mads, this is the first time we've been alone together, ain't it?'

My stomach dropped. Don't tempt me, Jerome. You knew, though, didn't you? You knew that once my want found it's focus, I would think and think and think about that until it was all I could fucking think about. In that moment - in that wash room, with the doors of the washing machines swung open and the light constantly buzzing above us - all I had wanted to do was taste you. You made me mad with rage, you made me mad with want.

You stopped before me, so much taller and so much bigger. Your mouth was still curved into that knowing little smile and, oh, how I hated the control you always had. How I hated the knowing, mocking looks you would always send my way and, oh, fuck fuck fuck. I licked my bottom lip, just staring at you, and watched as your eyes followed the motion. Unblinking. Always so unblinking.

'We don't have long,' you warned, and I'd wondered if you'd finally lost your patience. You were human, after all, under all of that crazy.

I had stepped forward before you could make the first move, hand twisting into the stripes of your shirt and mouth landing on yours, all the while pushing myself up onto tiptoes. Your mouth had been dry and stiff at first, surprised, perhaps, that I had made the first decision on where the occasion was going. Very quickly, you turned back into you. Both of your hands landed on my hips and, to my utter delight, your fingers curled round and pressed hard into the curve of my behind. You jutted my body forward with impatience.

Your mouth moved against mine and all I could do was grin.

Despite me making the first move, it was you who took charge after that. I was very quickly pushed against the back wall by your taller, towering form. Your head dipped, causing red hair to tickle my cheeks, and your mouth met my neck whilst your body pushed much closer to mine. Heat pooled into the pit of my stomach with a want that I had not felt so intimately in a very long time.

I craved you more than I had craved anything before.

I gasped loudly and swore at you when your teeth dug deep into the space between my neck and shoulder, though I can't remember exactly what words came out of my mouth. Whatever they were, they caused you to look up and meet my heated gaze and, for the first time, I saw just how undone you truly were. How real. Your eyes had been blown to a dark black, your cheeks (for once) held a small amount of colour and, to my surprise, there was blood on your bottom lip. Had you ever done this before? Had you?

'How hard did you bite me?' I asked, startled at how breathy my voice had become.

You leaned forward mouth pressing hard against mine. 'Not hard enough, beautiful'. You kissed madly and unexpectedly, starting at my neck and ending at my cheekbones. Splotches of light, pink blood followed your crazed path. I could only lean against the wall and let you, one hand still holding the front of your shirt and the other holding tightly onto your arm.

I wanted more of you.

I pulled you closer, reminding myself suddenly that we did not have long and that situations like this would continue to be rare. I kissed you. I bit you. You laughed and you cooed and you grabbed my chin and kissed me hard in return. I tasted copper. I tasted you. The closer your tall form came to mine, the more I felt how excited you had become with the chaos we were creating between us.

The heat scorched my belly.

The hand - your hand - that had been resting on my waist suddenly lowered and rounded my hip, yanking it over yours so suddenly that I swore and yelped. 'Jerome,' I admonished, causing you to laugh and cackled and breath into my ear. You bit my lobe and licked my neck.

There was no stopping you once you started.

The space between my legs was open wider for you now; the dress hiked up to my thigh whilst my other leg was yanked up by your other hand. I wondered what you looked like, under those clothes, to have such strength. Had you done hard labour at the circus? Is that why you could handle my weight? You moved your hips and my breath caught in my throat so loudly that I blushed brightly at your amused stare.

Your breath, sweet and tangy, was hot over my lips. I could feel you, pressed against the material of my white, Arkham administered underwear, hard and so close and-and- 'Jerome,' I very nearly whined, and I had been mortified at the sound of my voice like that. You kissed my neck, you squeezed hard where your hands held my thighs but, not once, did you move anything below the waist.

Finally, you leant your forehead against mine. I opened my eyes, having not even realised I'd closed them, and looked at you. Black eyes, pink cheeks, messy red hair, red lips. 'Yes, beautiful?'

'Please'.

You moved, hips thrusting into mine in such a teasing manner. I groaned and mewed and you - you breathed in deeply through your nose and when I looked at you your eyes were screwed shut. I moved against you, watching through half open eyes as your mouth opened to let out small, sharp breaths. Had you ever even been close to anyone like this before? I didn't dare ask.

Your hands slid round to my buttocks and pushed me closer; quicker. The sensation that brought very nearly had me calling out your name. I could see that you were close. I could see the pink in your cheeks growing. Finally, at the end, you pushed your hips against mine and groaned out something that might have been my name, but might also have been a curse. I was surprised you could even manage to hold me up, in all honesty.

When you pulled your moist forehead from the curve of my neck, I expected you to let me go and allow me to pull my dress down over my underwear, but you just looked at me, pupils now the size of pinpricks. You just looked at me. I finally saw the dark hue of blue. You licked your lips and, slowly, let my legs fall to the floor. Before my feet could even hit the ground, you said, 'I'm not done yet, beautiful. You gave me mine, now I give you yours'.

I had barely given you anything but a body to rut against. I blinked blearily, watching as you dropped to your knees. You, on your knees, before me.

Perfect.

You used both hands to push up the length of my striped dress, all the while never breaking eye contact with me as I looked down at you. I took the material in my hands and breathed quickly, my mind buzzing with the moment and the feeling and oh, oh. The heat in my stomach flared, the moistness in my underwear quickened. 'You don't have to,' I murmured.

You clucked your tongue and grinned at me. 'Madeline, don't deny me of this pleasure, will you?' We didn't have long. You wove your fingers through my underwear, pulling them down quickly and catching them on my feet, barely caring if you tripped me. You had a task, now, and all you wanted was to get going with it. You hiked the dress up higher, looking away from my face and instead to your aim. Bringing one leg over your shoulder, almost carefully, you lowered your head.

I could have given myself a concussion, you know, with how quickly I leant my head back and banged it on the wall. How you knew what you were doing and how you knew it so well, I will never know, but you worked me like I was a well known instrument to you. You had me gasping and swearing and reciting a prayer under my breath, Jerome. You undid me and wove me together again - your own little plaything.

It didn't take me long to come. With your fingers and mouth working at me, I came hard and fast, only looking down once I heard your demand of, 'look at me, Madeline'. I did. I looked down at you and saw your wet mouth give into a smile as I came around your fingers. I very nearly fell onto you, limbs like spaghetti and heart hammering inside of me. You knelt before me still, long legs pressing knees painfully into mine in my awkward position on the floor.

'Jerome,' I breathed, finally looking at you.

I remember how you looked at me then. You looked at me like I was good. Like I was a penny you found on the floor on a shitty day. Like I was sun peeking through a cloudy sky. I shut my mouth and I wiped the sweat from my brow and leant forward, hand balancing on your leg, and I kissed you. I kissed you then because I did not know when I could next do it, and because I wanted to.

'C'mere,' you had muttered, using your sleeve to wipe away at the light pink stains on my cheek and neck. When you were done, you had looked at me with something I could never decipher. What had it been, Jerome? Confusion? Worry? Disappointment? Either way, for some reason I had understood exactly what the look had meant, even though I could not pinpoint the emotion. I think it may have been something close to terror, because I had, after so long, found something I did not want to lose.

I don't know if you felt the same. It was unlikely.

Five minutes later, the guard came in. Henry had sniffed the air, rolled his eyes and told us that we better actually get on with some laundry if we wanted to carry on getting away with shit like this. At the mention of such trips happening again, you caught my eye whilst folding some striped and winked at me, mouth stretching into a mocking, over-done grin.

I knew you would going to only make me madder, perhaps even kill me.

But I had grinned madly back you all the same.

Boom. I hope you liked! I might not be able to update until the middle of next week because I'm going on a little trip on Friday, but those reviews might push me to write a chapter on the train ;) thank you for the ones sent already, they make me smile every time! Love you guys!