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Marinette fought back a shiver as the wind cut through the thin white silk of her dress. She didn’t know when the city had begun dressing their sacrifices in nothing more than what should only ever have been a nightgown, but she thought she hated whoever had thought of that more than she hated whoever had made the deal to sacrifice young women to the monster in the first place. If she was going to die for the greater good, could she not at least be warm while she waited?
The wind picked up, blowing strongly enough to make her sway and lose her footing for a moment, and she bit her lip to keep silent through the increased strain on her arms. Marinette’s wrists were held high above her head by deceptively delicate looking silver cuffs. The chains had been pulled so tight that she was only just barely able to remain standing on tiptoe, though if she was left to wait much longer she wasn’t sure she would have the strength to keep herself from fully dangling. The soldiers could have adjusted the chains for her height, but they had been too cowardly to linger long enough to do so. It had been just sunset when they left her, but now night had long since fallen, and there was still no monster come to claim her.
She didn’t know how to tell how much time had gone by based on the moon, but it had risen and would likely reach its apex soon, and she thought that dawn might not be too long after that. Supposedly, if she lived to see the sunrise then she would be the last sacrifice the city ever had to make. Once, the soldiers who chained the annual sacrifice to the altar had stayed to defend her, to fight off the monster no living person could name so that she would see the sunrise and end the death.
None of them had ever survived the attempt, and it was rare now for anyone to even try, barring some deep personal connection to the woman in question. Marinette had thought she had a connection that would merit such a rescue attempt in her fiancé, and she had planned several arguments to convince him not to die trying to save her after her name was called at the lottery. They hadn’t been needed in the end. Adrien had asked for his ring back when he said goodbye, so that he had something to remember her by, and Marinette had been left with a tangled mess of heartbreak and relief and betrayal that she didn’t anticipate living long enough to sort out.
A wave of fog rolled over her, thick enough to blot out the moon and stars above her, and leaving her blind to anything more than a few feet away. She didn’t know if it was better or worse, that she wouldn’t see her death coming now.
“Well, you are a pretty one,” a lilting, accented voice called through the fog, moving in a circle around her. “I’m surprised no one came to defend a face like yours. Why is that?”
For a brief moment, Marinette entertained the hope that this was someone come to save her, but then the implications of the words sank in, and she realized that no matter how human the voice sounded, it was no rescuer speaking to her through the fog.
“It’s difficult to convince oneself that you could be the first person to ever survive this tradition when you don’t know what you’d have to face to do it,” Marinette said, feeling proud when her voice didn’t waver. She knew she was going to die tonight, but she refused to give this monster the satisfaction of making her afraid. “No one alive knows what I’m being sacrificed to, and that has cut down on would be rescuers.”
“I wouldn’t say no one,” the voice said, much closer now, though she couldn’t see even the outline of the speaker through the fog. “I know what I am, after all.”
Something that almost felt like fingers trailed over her wrist, the touch light but sharp, and Marinette couldn’t hold back a shiver at the feeling. She wished the monster wouldn’t toy with her, but she wasn’t feeling quite brave enough to demand a quick death. She didn’t want to die, even if she was resigned to the unavoidability of it.
“Usually, this is the point where you start begging for your life,” the monster said, now standing right behind her.
“Would that make a difference?” Marinette asked, trying not flinch when a clawed hand curled around her hip. She refused to look down at it.
“No, but you’d be the first to refrain from trying,” the monster said, sounding amused. Marinette shivered reflexively at the feeling of breath against her neck. “Aren’t you afraid?”
“Yes,” Marinette answered, seeing no point in lying. “But I’ve accepted my fate. There’s no point in pleading for a different one.”
Her city had been making annual sacrifices to this monster for over a century now. If it had any sense of mercy, it would only be to grant its victims a quick death, which she had already decided not to ask it for. Not yet, at least.
“Such a tragedy, for one so wise to be given to me,” the monster said, slowly wrapping her hair around its fingers. “How were you chosen?”
“A lottery,” Marinette answered, breathing in sharply as her head was gently tugged to the side and cool skin pressed against her throat, breathing in her scent. “Every girl from eight and ten to two and twenty is entered.”
“You’re still an innocent,” the monster said, and Marinette shivered at the plain want in its tone.
“We’re not allowed to marry until we’re too old to be chosen,” Marinette said, though there was more to the law than just that. Too many potential sacrifices had tried to escape the danger by giving away their virtue, and now it was a capital offense to have any willing part in such activities before aging out of the lottery. “Isn’t innocence a requirement of yours?”
“It makes no difference,” the monster said, though she wasn’t sure that she believed it. “Though now I wonder if you’ll let me have it.”
“What do you mean?” Marinette asked, feeling herself freeze. She’d never heard of the monster doing more than killing the sacrifices, but that almost sounded like…
“Will you give me your innocence?” it asked, pulling her back against a firm chest that wasn’t warm enough for a living thing.
“I don’t have a choice, do I?” Marinette asked bitterly, feeling a firm pressure against her backside. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but she thought she knew what it meant.
“You do have a choice,” it said softly, shifting its hips away. “I won’t force you.”
“Only kill me if I say no though, is that right?” Marinette asked, glaring into the darkness ahead of her.
“I’ll kill you either way,” the monster said, its mouth tickling her neck as it spoke against her skin. “Make no mistake, you won’t survive tonight, I’m only waiting for the right time to end you. But I leave it to you to choose whether or not you perish with your virtue still intact.”
Marinette was strangely reassured by that assurance, though she didn’t know why she believed that the monster would let her choose. She did believe it though. “Do you always offer that choice to your sacrifices?”
“Not always,” The monster said, the hand on her hip sliding over her stomach. “Only the special ones.”
“Has anyone ever agreed to it?” Marinette asked, curious despite herself. She told herself she wasn’t considering this. Why should she give her killer anything more, when her life was already forfeit? Why did her body have to react to this monster’s touch as if it were a man? Why was it being so gentle with her, instead of just tearing her apart as she’d prepared herself for?
“Not for the right reasons,” the monster said, claws tracing patterns across her abdomen.
“What are the right reasons?” Marinette asked, shivering again as her hair was released, only for the claws to encircle her throat instead.
“Desire, of course,” the monster said, both hands tightening on her, though not enough to cause her pain. “Desiring to know the pleasure of lying with a man, desiring the thrill of passion before your life ends, desiring my touch simply because you enjoy my hands on you.”
“I…I don’t enjoy it,” Marinette protested, but her words sounded weak even to her own ears.
“No?” the monster asked, whispering right in her ear. “Then why are you shivering, if not with pleasure?”
“It’s cold,” Marinette said, which was true, but somehow she didn’t feel the cold as keenly with the monster at her back.
“Oh, is that all?” the monster said, its grip loosening as it pulled away from her. “Well, if you’re not interested, I won’t keep touching you then.”
The hands had barely lifted off of her before she was protesting, without any conscious choice being made on her part. “Wait!”
The monster paused, hands a hairsbreadth away from her, and Marinette realized that while her mind was still uncertain, her body knew exactly what it wanted. Why she wanted this monster was a mystery to her, but her skin felt colder without the contact between them. “I shouldn’t enjoy your touch.”
“But?” the monster questioned, pressing its chest to her back once more as it held her again, and Marinette bit her lip to keep quiet. “You can accept your own death. Is admitting that you want me really so much worse to you?”
She had never even considered intimacy with anyone other than her fiancé before, but she wasn’t engaged anymore, and she would be dead soon anyway. She shouldn’t want to let this monster have her, but she couldn’t convince herself that she didn’t want it. “You’re going to kill me. What does it say about me if I want you in spite of that?”
“Does it matter?” the monster asked, trailing claws down her throat. “No one will ever know but you and I. Why deny yourself pleasure in deference to imagined judgement?”
The claws trailed lower, past her collarbones and then between her breasts, and Marinette sucked in a sharp breath and finally looked down. The monster’s hands were blackened as if burned, tipped with claws so sharp that she thought it a wonder she hadn’t been cut by them. The hand at her chest moved back up, then gently wrapped around her neck again, a firm pressure that felt more like a promise than a threat.
“How much would it hurt?” Marinette whispered, feeling herself flush at the question.
“It won’t hurt,” the monster said, and Marinette stiffened.
“The married women I know have said that it always hurts the first time,” Marinette said, wondering if she’d been wrong to trust the monster’s word on anything.
“It doesn’t have to,” the monster said. “Trust me. I won’t hurt you with this.”
“Only when you kill me then,” Marinette said, an absurd urge to laugh bubbling in her throat.
“A little,” the monster conceded, and it wasn’t funny, but the laugh escaped anyway, sharp and quick and perhaps a bit hysterical. “Are you alright?”
“No, I don’t think I am,” Marinette said, getting the laugher under control but not being able to shake the feeling of unreality. If not for the fact that she could never have conceived of this situation, she would think she was dreaming. “Do you have a name?”
“Several,” the monster said, “You can call me Nightwing.”
“My name is Marinette,” she said, though the way Nightwing tensed behind her made her wonder if she shouldn’t have. “Did you not want to know my name?”
“Oh, it’s not a problem for me, Marinette,” Nightwing said, and something in the way the monster said her name sent heat working through her. “But names have power.”
“You already have power over me,” Marinette said, because it was true. Whatever could be done to her with her name, Nightwing already had her life in its hands. “You can do anything you want to me.”
“Is that an invitation?” Nightwing teased, and Marinette almost said no on instinct, before she really considered it.
“Yes,” Marinette said, feeling breathless and reckless and slightly giddy.
“Yes what?” Nightwing asked, holding her tighter.
“Yes, it was an invitation,” Marinette said, shivering at the growl Nightwing pressed to her throat in response. “Do anything you want. Take my innocence.”
“Why say yes now?” Nightwing asked, and Marinette wondered why it mattered.
“Because I want you to keep touching me,” Marinette whispered, since the last time she’d lied she’d been called on it immediately.
“And where should I touch you?” Nightwing whispered back, making her shiver again. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
“You just want to hear me beg after all,” Marinette said, then gasped when she felt fangs graze over her neck.
“Only for this, Marinette,” Nightwing said, licking the column of her throat. She thought that the monster’s tongue might actually be forked. “Will you beg me to pleasure you?”
“Please,” Marinette said, the whisper slipping out without a thought. She bit her lip to stop any further pleas from escaping. This had been Nightwing’s idea, after all; she shouldn’t have to beg for something they both wanted.
“Surely we can do better than that, Sweetheart,” Nightwing said, shifting to grip the thin silk dress she was wearing and then ripping it clear down the middle. Marinette gasped as the thin fabric fell away, leaving her bare to the cold and to the monster’s hands. Nightwing’s touch was so much more intense when they were skin to skin, and Marinette gasped and arched her back when Nightwing cupped both of her breasts and traced her nipples with claws.
“Nightwing!” Marinette cried out, jerking in her bonds with enough force to make the chains rattle above her.
“That’s a start,” Nightwing teased, sliding both hands down to her hips. “Tell me how you like to be touched, Marinette.”
“I don’t know,” Marinette answered, feeling herself flush as Nightwing moved one hand down her thigh. “I’ve never, never been—”
Marinette broke off as Nightwing’s fingers curled around her knee, pulling her leg up and away from her body, leaving her open and exposed. “You’ve never been touched? Not even by yourself?”
“We’re not supposed to do anything that could jeopardize the sacrifice,” Marinette answered, “Someone decided that meant being as chaste as possible.”
“Ridiculous humans,” Nightwing whispered, sliding the hand not holding her open down between her legs, until claws were lightly grazing over her clit. Marinette moaned and struggled not to squirm at the teasing. “Though I am enjoying how sensitive you are.”
Nightwing rubbed a quick, careful circle into her clit, and Marinette threw her head back as she cried out. She could just see Nightwing’s face in her periphery; the monster had grey and black skin, large fangs, a wild black mane, and bright blue eyes. She’d never heard of any creature like the one holding her close right now, and for a moment she remembered that she was going to die, as well as all the fear that came with that knowledge.
Then Nightwing dipped one careful finger inside of her, claw retracting to keep from hurting her, and Marinette closed her eyes and set aside the fear. She’d been afraid all day and all night, and she was tired of the feeling. She could be afraid again later, when Nightwing was finished fucking her and was ready to kill her, but for now she was going to enjoy letting the monster have its way with her.
“You’re so wet already, Sweetheart,” Nightwing whispered into her ear, and Marinette couldn’t hold back a moan as Nightwing revealed sensations she’d never dared to explore on her own. “That’s very flattering, I’ve barely touched you yet.”
Marinette whined when Nightwing’s finger slid out of her, the claws returning to trail up her stomach. Marinette shivered as the wet trail left behind cooled in the night air.
“Nightwing, please,” Marinette pleaded, resolutions forgotten in the face of desire.
“Please what, Sweetheart?” Nightwing asked, squeezing her breast again.
“Please stop teasing me,” Marinette gasped, feeling hot and cold at the same time. “Please, I want—”
Marinette broke off, biting her lip in embarrassment. Was she really going to be reduced to begging so easily?
“Tell me what you want, Marinette,” Nightwing said, the command holding more weight than it should have.
“I want you to fuck me,” Marinette gasped out, and Nightwing growled in her ear. It didn’t strike her as an angry sound. “Please.”
“Patience, Sweetheart,” Nightwing said, lowering her leg back to the ground. “We’ll get there eventually.”
Nightwing pulled away completely then, leaving Marinette shivering and feeling the monster’s absence more keenly than the cold. For a brief moment she worried she was going to be left wanting after all, parting words notwithstanding. Then the chains holding her up went slack, leaving Marinette ill prepared to suddenly take her own weight. She stumbled and fell to her knees, her shoulders aching now that her arms weren’t being held above her head any longer.
“Oh, now that’s a pretty sight,” Nightwing said, gripping her hair to force her to look directly at the monster she suspected she now belonged to. “I should have put you on your knees right from the start.”
Nightwing towered over her, a picture of inhumanity, and Marinette breathed in sharply. Nightwing’s skin shifted between grey and black, with no discernable pattern she could see, but otherwise the monster was lean and muscular and almost human, except for the massive black bat wings. She gulped at the sight of the cock she had agreed to take; it seemed impossible for that to not hurt, but at this point she was too aroused to even consider changing her mind.
“Do you still want me to fuck you, Sweetheart?” Nightwing asked, crouching in front of her to meet her eyes. Nightwing’s eyes glowed an impossible shade of blue, pinning her more effectively than the chains or the hand in her hair ever could.
“Yes please,” Marinette whispered, and Nightwing grinned terribly. Looking at oversized fangs, she wondered if those teeth would tear out her throat after they finished. The most disconcerting part of the errant thought was that it did absolutely nothing to curb her arousal, and might have actually made it worse.
Nightwing brushed a thumb over her lip, and Marinette took it into her mouth without thinking. Nightwing breathed in sharply, then chuckled lightly. “Are you always so eager to please, or is that only for me?”
Marinette flushed again, watching Nightwing’s eyes follow the blush down her neck to her chest. It wasn’t until Nightwing’s finger withdrew from her mouth that she realized she was actually going to be expected to answer, and if it was possible for her blush to get worse she was certain that it did as she whispered, “Only for you.”
“Good girl,” Nightwing said, gently pushing her to lie back, and Marinette followed the direction without a fight. Marinette gasped at the feeling of clawed hands trailing over her thighs, and then Nightwing was holding her open again, blue eyes greedily taking in the sight of spread out and wanting. “You’ve been very quiet for me so far, Sweetheart, but now I want you to scream.”
Marinette frowned in confusion, but before she could ask what that meant, Nightwing’s head had dipped between her legs, and a forked tongue flicked over her clit. “Oh!”
She shut her eyes and threw her head back, feeling immediately lost in the sensation, thought that didn’t last very long.
“Look at me, Marinette,” Nightwing said, and Marinette forced herself to look down at the inhuman gaze resting between her thighs. “Lose yourself to pleasure, but don’t forget who’s giving it to you. Don’t forget that right now, you’re mine.”
“All yours,” Marinette breathed out, the words barely audible, but the way Nightwing was looking at her, she didn’t think her words had gone unheard. She felt hot all over, nevermind the chill of the air, and when Nightwing’s head dipped again, licking and sucking at her clit without hesitation, Marinette didn’t hold back anything in her response. “Nightwing!”
She kept her eyes on Nightwing, even when that forked tongue worked inside of her and proved to be longer than it should have been. Marinette gripped the chains just to give herself something to hold onto, her breathing heavy and erratic as pleasure burned through her veins in ways she’d never known. Nightwing seemed to know exactly how to please her, pressing on her insides in just the right way to have her seeing stars.
A finger pressed into her alongside Nightwing’s tongue, curling up repeatedly, and Marinette’s thighs shook as her pleasure grew further. It felt like her body was building to something, but she wasn’t sure what that something was, or how much more she could take before she was wholly overwhelmed. Nightwing watched her with clear satisfaction, as if her every thought was laid out on display as well as her body.
Nightwing slid a second finger into her, stretching her, and Marinette did scream as her pleasure boiled over, her muscles all tensing up at once before relaxing as a feeling too good to describe hit her. Nightwing kept stroking and licking at her as the feeling pulsed through her, until she was too sensitive for the touch to feel good, and her monster pulled back, then stretched out along her side.
“That was beautiful, Sweetheart,” Nightwing said, tracing patterns across her stomach, and Marinette shivered. “Still cold?”
“Not anymore,” Marinette said truthfully, though she didn’t know how long that would last. Nightwing’s tongue flicked out, licking away the last traces of her from its lips, and the look of satisfaction on her monster’s face made her curious. “What do I taste like?”
Nightwing hummed, then pushed three fingers inside of her without warning. Marinette gasped out a moan, finding that the oversensitivity had faded quickly in the absence of Nightwing’s touch, but just as quickly as they had entered her the fingers left her empty again only a moment later. “See for yourself, Sweetheart.”
Nightwing’s fingers pressed against her lips, and Marinette opened her mouth to take them without protest. She could taste herself, sweet and salty and rather odd, but not unpleasant. Marinette moaned as Nightwing stroked her tongue, feeling heat start to rise in her core again. Nightwing shifted above her, wings spreading wide to hide them from the world, and Marinette spread her legs just a little wider.
“Do you still want me to fuck you, Marinette?” Nightwing asked, fingers leaving her mouth to trail down her neck while she nodded.
“Yes,” Marinette answered, her body desperate for more. “Please keep going.”
Nightwing gripped her hair and pulled her head back, leaving her throat exposed, and Marinette sighed when she felt her monster’s tongue slide up her neck. She felt something large and blunt pressing against her, a firm pressure that was just shy of pushing inside. “How much do you want me, Sweetheart?”
Marinette whined, arching her hips to try and speed things along, but Nightwing stilled her with one hand on her hip. “Nightwing, please.”
“Please what, Sweetheart?” Nightwing asked, looking smug. “I’m not a mind reader.”
She remembered her resolution not to beg for something they both wanted, but then Nightwing shifted, adding pressure against her clit, and Marinette’s restraint snapped in the face of raw need. “Please fuck me, Nightwing, please, I need more, I need you, I need—Oh!”
Nightwing pushed into her with one smooth thrust, filling her up in a way she never could have dreamed of. It didn’t hurt, though the stretch was just slightly uncomfortable. Marinette gasped as she adjusted to the feeling, and Nightwing watched her face carefully while trailing claws over her breast. The light, teasing touch felt good, distracting her from the slight discomfort, and it wasn’t long before the sting faded completely.
“Nightwing,” Marinette whined, making a vain attempt to rock her hips up. “Please move.”
“You’re so pretty when you’re begging,” Nightwing said, pulling back slowly before thrusting into her again. Marinette gasped, feeling as though the air had been pushed out of her lungs, pleasure sparking up her spine as Nightwing set a rhythm, slow and forceful. She couldn’t keep her breath, but the lightheadedness only made her pleasure more intense. “Do you like being fucked, Sweetheart?”
“Yes, yes, oh, yes!” Marinette panted out, finally understanding why people risked death to have sex early. She felt better than she’d ever thought she could, and the pleasure Nightwing gave her seemed to perpetually build on itself, taking her higher and higher. Nightwing pinched her nipple, and the sharp burst of pain pushed her over the precipice again, making her scream.
“I could spend hours fucking you, Sweetheart,” Nightwing said, not slowing or pausing as Marinette came down from her peak. Every movement jolted through her, and the pleasure was quickly growing overwhelming, but she didn’t want it to stop.
“Please,” Marinette gasped out, desire still burning hot in her veins. “Oh, fuck, please.”
Nightwing growled above her, and for a moment the monster’s glowing blue eyes turned red. The grip on her hips tightened, pulling her off the ground so that Nightwing could fuck her harder, and Marinette threw her head back with a scream as her pleasure rapidly built up again. “Do you think you can drag this out and delay the inevitable? Is that what you’re hoping for?”
Marinette shook her head, panting as she tried to get enough air in her lungs to speak while Nightwing mouthed at her neck. “Just, just want you, over and over, and—Oh, fuck!”
Nightwing came with a snarl, and the warmth spilling inside of her sent her over the edge once again. Marinette arched up into her monster, her mouth held open in a silent scream while she bared her throat, and her vision seemed to white out for a moment as she was overwhelmed with pleasure.
When they both came down, Marinette was hit with a wave of exhaustion, her adrenaline used up entirely. Her skin seemed to tingle, and the air buzzed, but she didn’t have the energy to so much as open her eyes. Nightwing’s body was warmer now than it had been earlier, and sleep called to her like a siren song.
“Thank you, Sweetheart,” Nightwing whispered, pressing a kiss to her neck, and Marinette hummed contentedly. She didn’t have the energy to respond in any other way. She felt Nightwing’s hands on her wrists, unlocking her cuffs, but she had no illusions that the lack of chains would allow her to escape. She felt completely drained, and she wondered if this was why Nightwing had wanted to fuck her, to tire her out until she couldn’t resist. “Go to sleep now, Marinette.”
Marinette let herself drift off without trying to fight it. As last living moments went, she thought that hers was the most pleasant option imaginable.
***
Marinette grumbled and turned her face away from the sun, then settled back into the warmth beneath her with a happy sigh. She almost slipped back into sleep, before she realized that she didn’t know where she was. Whatever she was lying on, it wasn’t a bed. She fought through the contented buzz fogging her mind, trying to remember what had happened, and then she stiffened her memories came into focus.
Marinette jerked awake, blinking rapidly in the morning light while she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. It wasn’t just that she was still alive that had her reeling.
“Good morning,” said the most beautiful man Marinette had ever seen. He had long black hair, a perfectly chiseled jaw, and flawless tan skin, which she could see every inch of, because he was entirely naked, just the same as she was. Marinette started to jerk away, until his hands spread out across her back, not trapping her but urging her to stay. “Easy, Sweetheart, you’re safe now.”
Hearing him call her Sweetheart was enough to make her realize that his voice was familiar, and Marinette looked up to meet bright, inhumanly blue eyes that she knew, even if they were now set into a wildly different face. “Nightwing?”
“Oh, good, you do recognize me,” he said, smiling brightly at her as Marinette laid back down. “You can call me Dick, Marinette.”
“You’re—” she almost said human, but looking at his too bright eyes and too symmetrical face, she knew that he wasn’t. “What happened?”
“You broke my curse,” he answered, carding his fingers through her hair. “It’s been over a hundred years that I was trapped in that form, but last night you set me free.”
“I…how?” Marinette asked, blinking in surprise. She’d never known anyone who’d been cursed before, but all the tales she’d heard were usually cured by True Love’s Kiss, not…
“The witch who cursed me was in love with me, but I had never seen her as more than a friend, and my heart belonged to another anyhow,” Dick said, tracing Marinette’s spine. “She cursed me into the shape and mind of a monster, leaving me my wits only when I was given an opportunity to break the curse, though I lost them again if the attempt failed.”
Marinette shivered, thinking of how close she had been to saying no last night. She didn’t quite understand how she’d broken the curse, but she had a feeling that it had been contingent on laying with the monster.
“There had been many people who loved me back then, truly and unconditionally in a number of different ways, so the witch had made certain that love would not be what broke her curse,” Dick continued. “Only true desire would break the curse, which she had assumed only she would have for me while I was in my cursed form.”
Marinette blushed at that, and she tried not to think about what that said about her.
“She didn’t have to wait long for the death to weigh too heavily on me, so I set aside my pride and my anger and I asked her to break the curse. She made a mistake though,” Dick said, his tone turning bitter. “The desire needed to break the curse had to go both ways in order to be successful, and after what she’d done to me, what she’d made me do to others, I could never have wanted her in return.”
Marinette watched as Dick seemed to lose himself in unpleasant memories for a moment, until she pressed a kiss to his shoulder and drew him back to the present.
“After that, I fled my home and came to the mundane world, where I at least couldn’t do harm to my kin any longer. I lost hope that I would find someone to break my curse, but I could never stop trying, whenever I stumbled upon a human who could potentially free me,” Dick said. “Eventually your village began sending people to me as sacrifices, and I limited myself to trying once a year, until finally they gave me you, Marinette.”
She breathed in sharply at the intense look in his eyes, partly awed and partly possessive, and Marinette’s stomach swooped as she found herself thinking that Dick might not let her go. What scared her most about the thought was that she wasn’t sure she would mind it if he didn’t.
“Any idea what you want to do now?” Marinette asked, and he grinned at her.
“Several,” he said, his hands sliding down to her hips. “Unless you only wanted me for the thrill of laying with a monster?”
“That wasn’t it,” Marinette said, and Dick rolled them so that he was on top of her again.
“What was it then?” he asked, settling between her legs while trailing his fingers up her sides.
“It was the way you touch me,” Marinette said, moaning as he flicked a finger over her nipple. “You make me want more.”
“Will you let me have you again then?” Dick asked, leaning close to whisper in her ear. “I believe you seemed interested when I said I wanted to spend hours fucking you last night.”
Marinette shivered, and the word yes was on the tip of her tongue before the wind blew hard enough to make the chains clink in the breeze above them, and Marinette remembered where they were and shook her head. “The soldiers will be returning soon. They always leave to collect the bodies at first light.”
“They’re slow getting here in the mornings, we have time,” Dick said, kissing her throat. “But that reminds me, I do have one more question that I wanted to ask before we see anyone else.”
Dick moved his hands off of her, putting enough distance between them to look her in the eye, and Marinette’s breath caught at the look on his face.
“Will you marry me, Marinette?” he asked, looking entirely sincere, and she breathed in sharply in surprise. “I know that’s rather sudden, but as I intend to continue seducing you at every opportunity, I think marrying you is the only honorable thing to do.”
Marinette bit her lip. “Is honor the only reason you’d want to marry me?”
“No,” Dick said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “You’re clever and brave and beautiful, which is why I want you to begin with.”
“We don’t know each other very well,” Marinette said, though his words had soothed at least one of her fears.
“That will come in time,” Dick said, ducking his head to mouth at her neck again. “We could have a long engagement, if you’d like.”
Marinette thought about it, but given how her last long engagement had ended…and oh, had she really been engaged to Adrien just yesterday morning? That seemed like a lifetime ago now. “I’d rather not drag out an engagement again.”
“Again?” Dick asked, pausing. “I didn’t see a ring on you.”
“That’s because my ex-fiancé asked for it back after my name was called in the lottery,” Marinette said, the tangle of hurt rising again. She was going to have to actually see Adrien again now. Would he want her back? Would he fight for her? Did she even want him to?
“Only a fool would give up a woman like you so easily,” Dick said derisively, and Marinette took that to mean that Dick wouldn’t do the same. Marinette wasn’t entirely sure what he would do if she rejected him. If he was what she thought that he was…
“If I agreed to marry you, would you want us to move to your home land?” Marinette asked, the idea making her more than a bit nervous. Dick would presumably have a vested interest in protecting his wife, but the stories she’d heard were terrifying, to say the least.
“Not if it frightened you,” Dick answered, pressing kisses across her collarbones. “We’ll visit first and see how it goes.”
“Dick,” Marinette sighed out, tangling her fingers in his hair as his mouth found her nipple. “Are you trying to distract me so I’ll say yes?”
Dick hummed, the vibrations making her gasp, and then he released her nipple and moved further down her body. “I’m showing off the benefits to sharing my bed.”
Marinette knew what he was going to do this time, but she still wasn’t quite ready for it when Dick got his mouth on her. She let out a wordless cry as he sucked on her clit, tightening her grip on his hair at the sharp burst of pleasure. Marinette couldn’t look away from him as Dick moved lower, slipping his tongue inside of her with a possessive gleam in his eyes. Her mind replayed the things he’d said to her when he’d done this last night, and Marinette found herself wondering what it’d be like to always be Dick’s.
She could have pleasure like this every day if she wanted it. She would need more than just pleasure to make her happy, but it wouldn’t hurt to have. She wracked her brain for what else she knew of Dick’s kind; he couldn’t lie to her, if the stories were to be believed. He would have to keep any vow he made to her, but only to the letter. He probably had magic, and if he wanted to he could probably just spirit her away without asking. The fact that Dick had asked her to marry him probably meant something. And there was something about names, something Dick had hinted at last night too, but she couldn’t—
“You’re thinking too much, Sweetheart,” Dick said, sliding two fingers inside of her and derailing her thought process. Marinette moaned when he curled them inside of her, pressing hard into the place that made pleasure burn through her. “Am I boring you?”
“I was thinking, ah, thinking about what it’d be like, to marry you,” Marinette gasped out, struggling to keep her thoughts in any kind of order.
“Well in that case, by all means, keep thinking,” Dick said, flicking his tongue over her clit. “Is there anything in particular you’d like to know?”
“Last night, you said, ah!” Marinette gasped as he curled his fingers up once again. “You said names had power.”
“They do,” Dick said, slowing his movements to lighter, teasing touches, “At least to those of us who know how to use them.”
“How much power does my name give you over me?” Marinette asked, watching him closely.
“Not quite as much as it would if you had given it to me, instead of only telling me what it was,” Dick answered. “And as a human you’re less bound to your name regardless.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Marinette said. “What can you do with my name? I feel something whenever you say it.”
“That’s magic your feeling, and you could fight it if you tried,” Dick said, “If you don’t, well…Marinette, come for me.”
Marinette cried out as pleasure overwhelmed her, coming from nowhere and leaving her shaking as it tore through her. Her vision went white and for a moment she felt disconnected from everything outside of her own body as her every muscle tensed. Then, just as suddenly, the feeling passed, and Marinette was left limp and relaxed.
“Oh,” Marinette whispered, breathing heavily as Dick moved up to lay next to her.
“I promise that I will never abuse the power your name gives me, whether you marry me or not,” Dick said, and what startled Marinette most was the acknowledgement that she might not marry him. “If you do marry me, then I’m willing to share my true name with you on our wedding night, though you must understand that I wouldn’t be able to fight off any orders you give me, and therefore you must be very careful about invoking my name.”
That offer startled her a bit; she hadn’t expected that he would try to balance things between them, nor that he would do anything to tip the scales into her favor. Marinette tucked a lock of hair behind his ear, meeting his bright blue eyes that seemed so wholly captured by her, and Marinette sighed.
“What’s wrong, Sweetheart?” Dick asked, his fingers tracing patterns over her hip.
“I’m afraid that you’re too good to be true,” Marinette admitted. “You’re so perfect I don’t know how you can be real.”
Dick laughed. “I’m far from perfect, Sweetheart, I promise.”
He rolled on top of her again, and Marinette parted her legs for him without a thought.
“Then what’s the catch?” Marinette asked, feeling his cock settle into position against her. Dick paused there, the head of his cock resting right at her entrance, waiting for her invitation. “Please.”
Dick pressed into her slowly, and Marinette moaned at feeling him fill her again. It seemed as though his cock was the only thing about his body that hadn’t been changed by the curse, and she felt as though the two of them were made to fit together like this.
“I’m not trying to trap you, Sweetheart,” Dick said, his voice a bit rougher, though he wasn’t moving yet. “There’s no trick here, but I do have flaws.”
“Such as?” Marinette asked, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he pulled back.
“Well I’m very possessive,” Dick said, punctuating the sentence with a hard thrust into her.
“I noticed that,” Marinette said, her voice breathy.
“And I’m petty,” Dick continued, picking up his pace as he spoke. “And I never let go of a grudge.”
“Oh!” Marinette cried out, finding it difficult to process the things he was saying.
“I have a horrible temper,” Dick said, now fucking her with a hard and fast rhythm that left her gasping. “Though it takes a lot to set me off.”
Marinette tried to ask what that meant, but she didn’t have enough air in her lungs to voice the question. Every breath she took was lost to a gasp because of the force of Dick’s movements.
“I’m told I can be very controlling,” Dick went on, pounding into her with enough force that she didn’t know how he sounded so unaffected, “And that I’m an insufferable perfectionist.”
Marinette couldn’t tell him that she was a disaster half of the time: messy and anxious and constantly creating chaos in her workroom, but all she could mange was to hold on tighter as her pleasure steadily built, pushing her closer and closer to her second peak.
“You look so perfect like this, Sweetheart,” Dick whispered, his eyes bright in the morning light. “I’m never going to get tired of watching you come undone.”
“Kiss me?” Marinette whispered, barely having the breath for the words but she was suddenly desperate to know what his lips tasted like. “Please?”
“Anytime you like, Sweetheart,” Dick said, before he closed the space between them and stole her breath away. Dick kissed her with the intent to possess her, and Marinette put up no resistance to him. She felt as though she were being devoured, and she was enjoying every second of it. Marinette realized that Dick would lay claim to everything she was if she let him; he would make her his own, and she would never be the same again.
Marinette submitted to his kiss until her lungs started burning from lack of air, and only then did she turn her head and break the kiss.
“Dick,” she gasped, tensing as she found herself riding the edge, just shy of being pushed over. “Please.”
“Please what, Sweetheart?” he asked, mouthing at her neck, and Marinette’s eyes slid closed as she leaned her head back to give him more room.
“I, I need—” her voice broke off on a gasp, and Marinette whined as she lost track of what she was trying to say. Dick hummed, clearly amused.
“What do you need, Sweetheart?” Dick asked, his breath warm against her ear.
“More,” Marinette gasped out, scrabbling for the words she needed. “Please, I need, I’m so—”
“Do you need more,” Dick asked, lifting her hips to change the angle of his thrusts, “Or do you need permission?”
Marinette whined, feeling overwhelmed but not quite reaching her peak. She was so close, she just needed a push.
“Come for me, Marinette,” Dick whispered, and as the power of her name sank into her bones she finally went over the edge, her mind going blank as the pressure released all at once. Pleasure washed over her in waves, stealing her awareness of everything outside of her body, and this peak was more intense than any other Dick had given her so far.
When she finally came back to herself, Dick had gone soft inside her, and he was lying over her with smug satisfaction clear in every part of his expression. Marinette flushed under his gaze, and she had a feeling that she would be doing that a lot in the future. She bit her lip as she struggled to get her thoughts back in order, but Dick waited patiently for her to speak.
“My biggest worry about saying yes is that we may find later that we aren’t well suited for marriage,” Marinette said. “I don’t want either of us to feel trapped later in life.”
“We can vow to only be wed for so long as we both wish it,” Dick said, shrugging. “Neither of us will ever be trapped, Sweetheart.”
Marinette bit her lip again, thinking hard. She couldn’t think of any other dangers to saying yes, at least not for herself, which meant that the only question left was whether or not she wanted to marry Dick. She had never pictured herself marrying anyone but Adrien before, but thinking of him now, she didn’t think she could ever stand the thought of marrying Adrien now. He had abandoned her in her darkest hour, and she didn’t think she would ever be able to trust him again after that.
Although, thinking of what might happen if he wanted her back…
“Will you promise not to harm my ex-fiancé, should he attempt to win me back?” Marinette asked, watching the conflict between hope and annoyance playing out on Dick’s face.
“So long as he doesn’t violate the rules of propriety or attempt to do either of us harm, I promise not to harm him without your permission,” Dick said carefully. There were loopholes in that promise, but Marinette thought it was as much as he’d be willing to commit to without knowing what Adrien might be capable of or who he was. Hopefully it would be enough, because no matter how much he’d hurt her, she didn’t want him dead, or suffering a fate worse than death.
Marinette took a deep breath, centering herself under the weight of Dick’s gaze. Lust was never what she’d thought the basis of her marriage would be, but if that wasn’t enough, well, they would only be married so long as they both wished to be. She could leave if she needed to. She might not be able to marry anyone else afterward, but that was true right now, since she was no longer an innocent.
“Alright,” Marinette said. “I’ll marry you, so long as we’re married only so long as we both wish to be.”
Dick smiled at her, bright and happy and so, so beautiful, and then he leaned in and kissed her again. This kiss was sweet and soft, a promise of tenderness and care, and Marinette practically melted beneath him. Then the kiss turned heat, and Marinette moaned as his hands began to wander, wondering how long it would be before Dick could go again.
The sound of voices drifted closer on the breeze, and Marinette tensed in fear. Dick pulled back immediately, and without his body covering her Marinette was forcefully reminded that she was entirely naked. She looked around her dress, but there was no sign of it on the alter, and when she thought about how it had been removed she doubted that it would do her much good now.
Marinette flushed as she realized that the soldiers would all see her bare. The dress she’d worn may not have offered her much modesty, but it had been something. Now that she wasn’t about to die, she found herself no longer numb to embarrassment or shame. There was no helping it, but the idea of anyone but Dick seeing her like this made her feel like she was about to combust.
“What’s wrong?” Dick asked, tilting his head slightly.
“I don’t like that they’re going to see me,” Marinette said, grimacing. Dick hummed.
“I don’t think I like that thought either,” Dick said, “Give me a moment, Sweetheart.”
Marinette’s brow scrunched in confusion as Dick got up and walked away, and she slowly sat up to watch him gather up some things from the woods. There was something white that might have been part of her dress, and some other scraps of fabric that had clearly been ripped apart by Nightwing’s claws, but there was nothing that looked intact enough to wear.
Dick returned a moment later, and he held up the scrap of white silk against her. Then, between one blink and the next, the fabric became a dress that she was wearing. Marinette startled, looking down at the material in surprise; it was just like the one that she’d been given last night, if with a few new rips. Marinette looked up and found that Dick was now clothed as well, dressed as a warrior in worn leather armor and a torn cloak.
“How did you do that?” Marinette asked, feeling a little awed.
“Magic,” Dick answered, smirking as he pulled Marinette up to stand. Her legs wobbled beneath her, and she leaned forward against Dick’s chest to keep herself upright. “Are you alright, Sweetheart?”
Marinette nodded, flushing again. “I’m just not used to being sore…down there.”
“Ah. A warm bath should ease that,” Dick said, sweeping off his cloak and wrapping it around her shoulders. “And you won’t get sore so easily for long.”
Marinette could feel her face getting hotter, and the way Dick was watching her blush creep down her neck made her think that he might have regretted making clothes for them.
“Nettie?”
Marinette turned at the voice, taking in the small group of soldiers that had been sent to retrieve her remains. At the front of it was her friend Kim, who looked overjoyed to see her.
“You’re alive!” he said, dropping the gurney he’d been helping carry and moving toward her. “How did you survive?”
“I got lucky,” Marinette said, gesturing to Dick. Kim took in the sight of the other man for seemingly the first time, frowning in confusion.
“What of the monster?” asked the other soldier, and older gentleman that Marinette didn’t know.
“It’s gone,” Dick answered. “It will never harm anyone again, and there is no longer a need for sacrifices to be sent up the mountain.”
Kim cheered, and Marinette smiled at his enthusiasm.
“And what of the corpse?” the older soldier asked, frowning. Dick squeezed her side, and Marinette took that as a cue for her to do what he could not: lie.
“It vanished in the light of day,” Marinette said, “I know it’s difficult to believe without having seen it, but I would not be alive if the creature hadn’t been slain.”
“And this stranger slayed it?” the man asked, watching Dick warily. “All on his own?”
“There are particular ways of killing monsters,” Dick answered. “If you know their weakness, brute strength isn’t a requirement for success.”
“That’s amazing,” Kim said, grinning widely. “I can’t wait to get back to town and share the news. There’ll be a festival for sure, and of course you’ll be rewarded.”
“The lady has already consented to marry me, so I have all the reward I need,” Dick said, before lifting Marinette up into a princess carry while Kim made a noise of shock. The look he gave her as she settled into his arms made her blush, and Marinette wondered if he would always be able to affect her like this. They had just lain together a few minutes ago, but with one look he’d made her want him all over again.
Marinette ducked her head and tried to get her desires under control, and Dick chuckled softly. Marinette suspected that he knew exactly what he was doing to her, and that she would be spending most of her married life blushing and wishing that she was alone with her husband. It would probably frustrate her at times, but…it was nice to look at Dick and know that he wanted her, even if only physically right now.
Lust wouldn’t be enough for her forever, but for now it was a flattering substitute for what she could only hope would grow between them in time. As Dick carried her down the mountainside, holding her carefully enough that she was never once jostled, Marinette thought that for her part it would be easy to fall in love with Dick. She might have worried about how likely it would be for him to fall in love with her, but then she thought about the way he’d looked at her when she’d first woken up, and about his choice to propose at all, and she decided that she didn’t need to worry about his feelings.
If the way he fucked her was any indication, then he was already halfway there.