In the Meantime - A Fade Retelling of Red Queen

Chapter 2

A/N: Hey, I'm here to confuse you and disturb the timeline I've set. But I had this nice idea for Fade smut after I posted the last chapter, to my chagrin. But it was too tempting to not include this belatedly.

There was no direct light in the safehouse. Even at sunrise, only faint, stray, beams found their way through the shuttered and nailed shut slit close to the ceiling; it was rather a vent than a window.

But still, one ray of light was there, and it tickled Farley's skin, waking her up. She didn't want to, not to chase away her dream or to leave Shade's arms.

He smelled so good. Let the rebellion be for a second, let this moment linger. Although the pain of her wounded cheek was quickly resurging, she wished to remember only the peaceful minutes of last night. She leaned against his bare chest, planting soft kisses here and there. Carefully, she shifted and moved upwards, over his neck, to his chin, his mouth and his nose, to taste the air he was breathing in. Finally, his eyelids fluttered.

He wasn't blinded by the sunlight, it only fell on her face. Yet his golden eyes carried the same warmth as the sun, even more when he smiled at her. His hand stirred from where he'd cradled her waist, and landed in her hair.

"I never saw you with your long hair open," he said. "Must've been a gorgeous sight, with the morning light shining on you."

Her cheek throbbed and heated, now from a blush as well as the ache. She bit her lip, which only made his grin broader. "The dawn is a strong symbol," she said in a low voice. "Beautiful – meaningful – on its own, not because – "

He half-rose above her and turned to kiss her forehead. "Sure, sure," he uttered. "Would you please let me compliment you, Dee?"

She hesitated. It was a rhetoric question, wasn't it? But above her, he looked at her expectantly. Of course.

"Yes," she murmured. He doesn't want to ... move on immediately either. "Thank you." And then she kissed him, not careful or soft, but passionately, exasperated, demanding, and he fell in line.

"We have some time," she gasped as she took a breath. "Let's have this moment." For us alone. "Ignore the world for a little longer."

When she caught sight of his face, she'd expected another cheesy smile that bespoke their mutual arousal. But instead, she saw astonishment that turned into ... pride? And even as he grabbed and angled her thigh, and she moaned, she understood.

He was a devoted lover, putting to use what he'd learned about her last night. But he didn't really know her. Nobody did. Yet Shade was ready, excited, to get to know her as she began to open up to him. He'd met the austere and imperious Captain Farley of the Scarlet Guard and was amazed by every piece and layer of the person Diana revealed to him.

She hadn't considered this before, had only thought about her own desire, her onw struggles to hide her heart. Now she wanted him to find it, and herself to hold his as well. She pulled him closer, then dragged on his underpants. He, again meticulous about where he kissed her wounded body, jolted in surprise. "Once more?" he asked.

Her other hand went up to stroke through his hair. "You're obviously ready, aren't you?" she wondered.

He flushed. "That doesn't mean I can't control myself."

"But do you want to?" she said. "Because I do not."

He chuckled, a sound that caused her its own kind of joyous tickles and goose bumps. The same appeared on him as her hand went lower, grabbing his butt.

He moaned, and gave her a last kiss on her breast before he shifted his body and pulled off both their underpants. And while she'd talked about forgetting time, she didn't want to waste it either. Her fingers painted delightful, impatient, circles over his brown skin, until he was back to kissing her, his hands moving everywhere. Truly, his magic fingers hadn't been a one-time fluke and now, once more whispering, "ready?", to assure her consent, he knew exactly when to change from foreplay into penetration. They didn't need long.

They stayed entangled at first, while the light had shifted from the orange of dawn to the yellow brightness of day. Shade kept kissing her occasionally, while her fingers still coursed over his skin, finding the hard muscles of his lean body like he found the hidden soft spots of hers.

The whole intimacy of it began to hurt. It'd been hard to built and uphold her armour, and now it was difficult to let go of it. But she wanted to let go, at least when it came to Shade. She liked the person she was with him, like the person she'd been long ago. She wondered if he saw her that way too, or whether he'd always known of her lone soul as well as of her dream to invert the world order.

He was the one to get up first, after a final kiss. She followed quickly and they got dressed without talking, preparing for war yet again. But their hands kept on touching casually and as often as possible, for while they lacked the words for now, their bodies spoke of love loud enough.