A/N: I so appreciate all the favorites and follows, and especially the reviews. They have encouraged me to continue this, at least one more chapter.
Chapter 2
Matt knew it was morning by the changing sounds of the city. The increased traffic on the street below. The rolling up of store-front gates. The mother down the hall making pancakes. The stirrings of the warm woman beside him.
Eyes still closed, he smiled, and remembered. Last night had been incredible, and not just because of the sex. For the first time in his life, he'd felt a complete closeness to another human being, an intensity, a unity, that he'd felt in both his body and mind. He'd had stirrings of it with Elektra, but because he'd never completely trusted her, there had always been that missing piece that would have made their union perfect. With Karen, nothing had been missing.
He knew the moment she awoke in his arms, sensed the momentary tenseness as she oriented herself to where she was. He felt her smile against his chest where she lay nestled against him, her soft (blonde, he now knew) hair tickled his skin, and one long, slim leg wrapped sensually around one of his hairy ones.
"Good morning," he said, his voice hoarse from sleep. He kissed the top of her sweet-smelling head.
She brushed her lips against his flat nipple, and he felt the instant hardening of his body in reaction. "Morning," she said shyly.
He wondered if she'd object to his rolling her to her back and giving her a proper good-morning. It had only been a couple hours since he'd taken her for the second time in the night, and he certainly didn't want to scare her away with his lustful appetite. But it had been a rather long dry streak as far as sex was concerned…
When her hand caressed him under the covers, he had his answer, and he was more than happy to take her up on her invitation.
With a gruff chuckle of joy, he fulfilled his most recent fantasy, and covered her body with his.
A half-hour later…
"Great minds think alike," Matt said, startling her from an exhausted doze. He was referring of course to their mutual idea leading to their passionate coupling.
"Hmmm…then you must be thinking that you're starving," she replied. He reached over to touch her mischievous grin, and she kissed his fingertips.
"All I have in the house is left-over Chinese food," he murmured regretfully, the scent of maple syrup still lingering from someone else's breakfast. "You caught me before my weekly grocery run."
She leaned up on one elbow to look at him. His hair was a wild tumble over his forehead, lending him a boyish air, though his sensual lips framed by dark stubble intimately reminded her he was all man. And oh, what that mouth can do, she thought, her skin still flushed from their recent morning exercise. She knew if she looked at herself in the mirror now, she'd be able to see constellations of stubble burn in strategic areas of her body.
"Chinese will do. You want it hot or cold?" She moved to rise, but he grabbed her hand.
"Stay here. The least I can do after you bought me dinner is bring you breakfast in bed."
"Ok," she said, settling back against the pillows. "Don't bother heating mine. I'll eat it right out of the carton."
"A girl after my own heart."
He kissed her lazily on the mouth before swinging his legs out of bed. He paused to pull on his discarded sweatpants before padding shirtless to the kitchen, and to her amazement, he was whistling under his breath. Karen admired the view from behind, her eyes caressing him with love and banked desire.
Last night for her had been nothing short of miraculous. For the first time in her life she understood what making love meant. Sure, she'd had plenty of sex in her life-more than she wished she'd had, in hindsight, at least with the wrong people. But somehow, with Matt, she had been reborn, and every lover in her past had faded from memory. What was between them now was pure, untarnished, the hurt between them healed and forgiven.
He'd said he loved her, and she'd been so overwhelmed with this impossibility, that she'd been unable to form the words, hoping her actions in the bedroom would convey her true feelings. But in the light of day, she knew she had to summon the courage to lay bare her heart and speak them aloud.
They sat cross-legged on his bed, sharing cold low mein from a box. It was bright and sunny in the room, promising another hot day. She stared again at his handsome face in the light, at his chest with all its scars and fading bruises. She felt sad and afraid for him, but also proud. He was risking his life to help people, a hero, though he no doubt hated that word. She remembered all the times he had saved her, and she hadn't even known it was him.
"I can feel your eyes boring into me, you know," he said wryly between mouthfuls of long noodles. "It's very…disconcerting."
"I'm not sorry. You're nice to look at."
"I'm sure you are too. These days, I'm more of a hands-on kind of guy."
She blushed, and wondered if he knew. "Blindness has its own rewards. I bet that line has paid off for you many times."
He chuckled and shrugged sheepishly, and she detected a faint hint of color in his cheeks. She leaned forward and kissed him, pleased beyond measure to see him so happy, so…free…
"Do you have plans for the day?" Matt asked her idly, once the box was empty and they lay entwined again on his pillows. His strong fingers drew slow circles on her upper arm.
She thought immediately of the overflowing hamper at her place, the empty refrigerator, the dishes she'd left in the sink, the thick layer of dust on her coffee table.
"Not really," she said.
"You want to…uh…hang out with me today?" His shy request was endearing, and she fell in love with him all over again.
"Yes," she whispered simply, for she would love that above all things.
He stifled a yawn. "First thing, I could really use a nap."
She yawned her reply and he grinned, showing those elusive dimples, pulling her body more comfortably against his.
They awoke a few hours later, showered, and he took her against the tiled wall while the water streamed over them. They dressed and held hands as they strolled through Hell's Kitchen before it got too hot, ate Rueben sandwiches at his favorite greasy spoon, carried home his groceries like they'd been doing this forever. He'd navigated the store and the city as if he weren't blind at all, his dark glasses the only thing even hinting at his disability, though Karen now suspected it was all just for show. Blind attorney by day, superhero by night.
"You know, Luke Cage doesn't hide who he is," she said later, drinking bottled sodas on her front stoop. It was early evening, and he'd walked her home. Soon it would be time to don his devil suit. Down the street, someone had opened a fire hydrant and the neighborhood children were playing in it, squealing with glee.
"You're right about blindness giving me an advantage. It's funny how people think a blind man can't hear either. And if the bad guys knew I was really blind, they would exploit that weakness first thing." He smirked. "And Cage doesn't have any weaknesses that I'm aware of…"
"Except maybe Claire," she added.
"Hmmm." That was about as noncommittal as you could get, though his brief smile before he took a swig of Coke revealed his knowing amusement.
Matt took her hand, thinking it best to change the subject.
"Aside from the heat, this was an incredible day." And that wasn't an exaggeration, he thought. Just being with this woman, holding her hand, sharing a meal, walking through the park, had been so damn normal that he was still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Don't borrow trouble, Matthew. He could almost hear Father Lantom advising him.
"Dare I say it was…perfect?" Karen ventured bravely, setting down her empty bottle.
His throat tightened, his stomach clenching at the reminder of the last time they'd sat on her stoop. It had been perfect then too, till everything went all to shit.
"Now you've done it: you used the P word." He forced a smile to his face, but neither of them was fooled. They both remembered the hell they'd gone through to literally and figuratively get back to this place.
"Hey," she said, and he felt her two warm hands on both his cheeks. He knew she was looking into his dull, opaque eyes. Not for the first time, he wished he could show her his true feelings just by a look.
"That date we had," she continued, "it was perfect. Maybe not the day after or the day after that; but today was, and I'm not afraid to say it, because I know this time will be different. We're different. And I'm not scared that by saying it I'll jinx it somehow, because I trust you, I've forgiven you, and because-" and here she took a shallow breath, and he could hear her heart stuttering, heard her swallow over a suddenly dry mouth—"because I love you. And I happen to think those words are like a—a security blanket. As long as we remember how we feel, nothing will ever be able to come between us. We'll be safe and warm and happy."
Matt's own heart was racing. He'd tried not to be disappointed last night when she hadn't said it right after he had, and he got that he'd taken her by surprise, but still, it had taken a lot for him to put his true feelings out there. Funny how those three little words could fill him with such complete joy now, such security, like she'd said. He felt his eyes water, and he blinked to keep from embarrassing himself.
He kissed her then, not holding back his love and passion, praying she would feel in his kiss what he couldn't convey with his eyes. Soon they were breathing heavily, their hands beginning to wander, and he was in grave danger of giving the neighborhood children an inappropriate eyeful. Reluctantly, he pulled away, his forehead and nose touching hers as they both struggled for control.
"I'm thinking this security blanket of ours should probably be made of titanium, considering what we might come up against," he teased.
He sensed her smile, shivered as her hands ran lovingly through his hair.
"Oh, it's much stronger than that," she whispered. And the strength of her kiss made him believe.
THE END
A/N: Thanks for reading. I would love to hear what you think.