A Masked Getaway

Ladybug

Things are better when you have people to share them with. That's what they say, right? Well, Marinette wasn't entirely sure she believed it, especially as she was now standing in a mountain of clothing in nothing more than her French knickers!

"Tikki! Please! Help me with this!"

Her small kwami giggled, weaving her way in and out of the clothes mountain. "Hummm...no!"

Marinette groaned. She'd brought so many choices, and yet, now Chat Noir was here, none of them seemed good enough. She needed something that would impress him, not something that looked like she'd made it with tiny scraps. Chat Noir was a sophisticated man. He didn't want a woman barely covering her breasts and arse! He wasn't that type of guy.

Though, after the way he looked at her by the swimming pool, maybe he was. Gah! She needed to get this sorted and quickly! He'd be here any minute.

"He likes you in red," Tikki said, rising from the ashes like a phoenix, holding a red skater dress with the bow on the back. She couldn't wear a bra with it thanks to the position of the bow, but it wasn't too slinky that she couldn't pull off sophisticated women, and it was cute—damn right adorable if she said so herself.

"Nice choice, Tikki!" She grabbed the dress and slipped it over her head, giving herself a thorough inspection before finding the matching red heart sunglasses and slipping them on. Oh, yes! If he didn't want her after this, he never would. The way it moulded to her curves and sat effortlessly on her hips made her feel all woman. "Okay, Tikki, let's go. Spots on. Power down."

Heading down the staircase, Ladybug found her partner in the kitchen making Henry Cavill look like a poor excuse for a superhero. She stopped at the bottom and took a moment to appreciate the fine human being in front of her. She wasn't sure if it was his personality that added to the overall look, but one thing she did notice was that her partner was smoking hot.

Squinting her eyes a little, she imagined him in less mask. His pure, sculptured face, with thick black glasses and a suit. All smart and dapper, only a moment away from transforming into hard muscle and a cape. Damn, he'd look good in a cape.

A quick tilt of her head and a little more of him came into view. His shorts clung in just the right places, causing her to shiver with anticipation. Maybe, just maybe, this could be the time they needed for him to fall in love with her again and away from whoever this unknown woman was, who'd stolen his heart.

"So, let's get out of here!" Clapping her hands together she moved past his bags and towards the door, vacating the building as though it was on fire. She was quite sure her cheeks were glowing with something reminiscent of a third degree burn from all the ogling.

"What did you want to do?" Chat Noir jogged up beside her, his feet joining her strut effortlessly.

"I was thinking we could wander around the resort and find out a few things about the island."

Chat Noir nodded, his long, lean, muscular legs taking one stride for every two of hers. "Great plan. So, any reason you chose to come here?" he asked, interest coating every word.

"I read a book."

"You read a book?" Though she wasn't looking at him, she was almost certain one of his eyebrows had made it into his baseball cap.

"Yep," she replied, heading towards the main foyer. "There was this book where the main character had been cheated on and she found out on her wedding day. Her honeymoon was here and she came alone."

"Let me guess, the strapping bartender made sure she was okay?" Chat Noir laughed, Ladybug easily joining in the laughter.

"Of course! Though, she didn't know at the time, but the bar man was actually a Hollywood actor."

"And they fell in love, living happily ever after?"

"Why would I read anything else?"

She could see his body moving as he let out a low delicious chuckle. "Sounds like an interesting book."

"Si! There they are!" The sudden shriek from the other side of the lobby had them stopping in their tracks, Ladybug on edge and wishing her yo-yo was at her hip.

A tall man, with a rather impressive head of hair, strutted across the lobby, clearly homing in on them. "Ah, Signora Bug and Signor Noir, welcome, welcome."

He stretched a hand out, taking Chat Noir's in his and giving it a rather hearty shake. "We're so happy you have chosen our resort for your romantic getaway."

Not wanting to bring more attention to themselves, Ladybug did the best thing she could. She grabbed Chat Noir's toned arm, rested her head against it, and pushed her body into his side—ignoring the way he suddenly tensed.

"Well, we wanted somewhere special for our first romantic vacation. We don't get the opportunity often..."

"Yeah," Chat Noir said, his voice slightly higher pitched than usual. "What she said."

"Well, just so you know, the heroes of Paris will get treated very well here. Just let me know what we can do for you and we'll sort it out. I'm the manager, but you can just call me Anthoney. Have a wonderful stay in San Valentino."

"We sure will, thank you, Anthoney." Chat Noir rested his head on hers as they both watched him walk away.

"What the hell was that?" Chat Noir whispered through the side of his mouth. His cheek still resting on her huge, straw hat.

"We'll talk about it in a minute, let's just get out of here first." She muttered the words through the side of her mouth, moving again and dragging him through the lobby.

The outside courtyard was decorated with hanging lights and straw canopies. The fountain in the middle featured a Cupid on top (one neither dark nor tacky) and the whole feature was surrounded by beautiful pink and white flowers.

Ladybug led Chat Noir in the direction of a bench seat hidden under a canopy of vines and pretty pink flowers, and sat down, tapping the space next to her.

Begrudgingly, he sat down and crossed his arms, his stare intense and thrilling. He was always handsome and cute when he was playful, but when he was angry his face and jaw hardened and he looked like a sculptured god—made from marble, and completely gorgeous. Her fingers twitched, wanting nothing less than to stroke her hands and fingertips all over his face. Caressing every inch with her fingers before moving over to follow the path with her lips.

"Is there something on my face?" His eyebrows furrowed as he stretched up and wiped over his chin. Even his chin looked lickable. She wasn't sure when she'd crossed the border into Unhinged-ville, but she was well and truly a citizen there now.

"No. No!" She moved on the seat, allowing him to sit beside her and making herself seem a little more normal — if that was possible.

"Okay, you can totally say no if you want to, but what if we pretend we're a couple while we're here. Everyone thinks we're soulmates anyway. I know we already said we'd help each other out, but wouldn't it just be easier to say we're together?"

She could see him pondering the idea. As much as she wanted to scream at him, 'Love me! Be with me! This is our chance!' putting it across this way was a little less psychotic.

After what felt like a lifetime, he sighed. "I suppose, for the time we're here, we could pretend we're a couple. After all, we're sharing a bed and everyone we come across seems to think that anyway. It would be easier than keeping denying it and then explaining why we're here—together."

She nodded, excitement bubbling in her like lava ready to explode. "Exactly."

His face looked like he was trying to figure out a Sudoku puzzle, lips pursed and eyes vacant. "And, I guess, the girl I love won't know I'm here with you because she doesn't know this about me." He pointed to his mask. He was so close to agreeing.

Come on, Kitty cat!

"Fine. Whilst we're here. After all, what could go wrong?"

"Great!" she said through a smile. "So, shall we go and check out the restaurants?"

Standing up, she made her way back inside with a smile on her face and a leap in her heart.