Black Eyes

Chapter 16: Listen

I stood in front of the mirror staring horrified at the smear of red lipstick across my mouth and cheeks. Suddenly the air was knocked out of me. Something had slapped into my chest, sending me tumbling backward. I caught myself and looked up to see a pair of black eyes looking down at me. The eyes began to grow a face and body, one which loomed over me as it's form rooted in the ground. I looked to see it was holding a heart in its hand. Panic overtook me when I looked down to see my chest had been ripped open, void of a beating heart. I looked back up to see a pair of red lips smiling crookedly at me, blood soaking its yellow stained teeth. I screamed.

I screamed and I screamed until my throat hurt. "Give it back!" I cried out.

"Iris- the fuck you'll wake up the goddamn neighbours! Well, if I had any-"

I swung my hand up and slapped the figure who loomed above me in the face, sending him stumbling back. I leapt from the bed and fell to the floor, sweat dripping from my body. "Give it back! Give it back!" I screamed. I couldn't stop saying it over and over again as I sprung up and tackled whoever was in my room.

I only got a few punches in before I was the one beneath my predator. I struggled under his firm grip, kicking and screaming. He pinned my arms to the floor and sat on my hips, completely restricting me. I burst in a fit of tears and finally awoke, my eyes snapping open and adjusting to the dark shadows spiraling across the room.

"Hey, hey, look at me." My eyes spastically looked for the calming voice. "What's this all about, huh? Are you gonna make a habit of always waking me up in the middle of the night?" The voice belonged to the Joker, but I knew that even before I woke up. He would always be there.

My breath remained unsteady seeing as I couldn't find a way to calm myself. I woke from a nightmare to another nightmare. There was no waking up anymore. No more running away from the monsters.

My sobs became silent as I looked away from him. He loosened his grip on my wrists and planted a soft kiss on my neck at the same time. Anger boiled my blood instantly as I went to slap him a second time. He tightly grabbed my wrist before I could make contact with his cheek and squeezed it hard.

I let out a squeal at the pain shooting through my arm as he snarled at me. "Watch it there, sweet cheeks. I'm not your punching bag."

We stayed glued in our positions, my frantic breathing giving away my inability to self sooth. "I have something you want, so take it. Why don't you try listening for a change?" Again he brought his head down, cautiously this time, and planted another kiss on my neck.

My eyes fluttered shut, the same feeling of when he kissed me before came crawling back, but this time it was more intense. He trailed up to the back of my ear and kissed me again. My arm lightly fell to his shoulder, uncertain of where he was going with this, but wanting to find out I let him continue while bringing my other hand up to his neck. He must've seen this as my way of giving him permission to go on, because he made his way back down my throat and began to suck and chew lightly.

A groan of pleasure escaped my lips and I opened my eyes in surprise. Thank goodness it was too dark for him to see my cheeks flush pink with embarrassment. He paused at the sound I just made and lifted his head so he could see my eyes in the little light that poured through the window.

"It feels good. Admit it." He brushed some of my hair to the side and traced the arch of my eyebrow with his thumb. His fingers trailed down my jawline and stopped at my chin where he rubbed my bottom lip with his fingers. His weight shifted on top of me in a way I had never felt. I inhaled sharply, taken by surprise. "I knew you were a virgin." A hint of amusement and lust in his voice.

The Joker got off of me and held a hand out for me to take. I ignored his gesture and picked myself up, trying to compose my thoughts. "You don't have- the right-" I gave up trying to prove a point I couldn't find and let out a whine, almost like a hurting animal.

I let him walk over to me, closing in the gap between us. He gripped the arch of my back so that our bodies pressed together. Another wave of butterflies and pleasure again gripping me. I couldn't explain or understand why my body was reacting this way. I mean, none of this should feel good- he was a psychotic criminal coming up on me just to prove a point.

"Please, stop." I pitifully begged him this time. My head fell into his chest and my hands curled in frustration. I could still feel the lingering high and buzz from earlier tonight and it was making my head pound. I was in pain and I was loving every minute of it, but I was also scared. Scared of how I felt and what he had the power to do to me if he pressed on.

"Why would you want me to stop, Iris?" He said my name so casually for the first time. It felt so good to hear him say it and I don't know why. It sounded so much better then those other nicknames he used, that was for sure.

"I know what you're doing. It isn't right. You're confusing me by playing with my thoughts, making me second guess everything I've ever known." I let out a sigh, but refused to look at him. "You're manipulating me. So why does it feel so..." I didn't want to say it, because that would admit that he had gotten to me.

He ran his hand up my spine and spread out his fingers at the crook of my neck, gently pulling my head back so he could look at me. Chills ran down my body. The pads of his fingers felt so amazing against my flesh.

The Joker sighed dramatically, his shoulders shrugging. After looking at me for a second and composing his thoughts, he spoke carefully. "It feels good because deep down you crave what I have to offer." He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and followed it down to the ends while leaning in closer to my face. "You want to know what madness feels like. And madness... well, sometimes it needs a little bit of a push-" The Joker took me by surprise as he clashed our lips together much more fiercely this time. A thousand emotions spilled into that kiss: lust, confusion, fear, but what overpowered them all was desire. I desired to know who this man was in every way possible. I wanted to know him inside and out; his thoughts, his body, his reasonings, and his desires. I wanted to know everything about him and how he could make me feel this way. It was exotic. Everything about this man was exotic, from the words he spoke to the actions he followed them up with.

I came to a conclusion right then. I didn't care if people thought he was crazy. I didn't care if people called me mad for what I was going to do: I needed to know him, so I was finally going to listen. Very, very carefully.