Chapter Text
The dream world should have kept him from needing breaks or hydration, but Damian’s subconscious must have told him that he needed to stay hydrated to be at peak performance. Which is why his head was tipped back, a bottle pressed against his full lips as water escaped down the sides of his mouth and over his chin to wet his neck.
Raven stood there, watching a droplet slide down the sharp lines of his jaw, following its path as it slid farther down his chest until it disappeared into the neckline of his black tank top. Why was watching him drink water damn near pornographic? She bit back an annoyed growl and her fingers tightened on the leather that wrapped her sword’s grip.
Damian watched her from the corner of his eye, pulling the bottle away from his mouth and licking his lips. Raven’s grip tightened, but she didn’t look away, and met his stare. “You know you don’t have to stop and rest, right? Your bodily limitations don’t exist here.”
“Your mind still needs time to process what we did and make sense of it all.” He gave a one shouldered shrug and lifted the hem of his tank top, wiping sweat off his face. “I would have thought that after three weeks you would have realized that.”
She frowned, pretending not to stare at his abs that were suddenly on display. “ You’re the one who suggested training me to use swords.”
“You’re the one who worried me when you lost your powers for three days. It made me very aware of how utterly helpless you are without those powers. You needed the training in order to keep you safe, if that were to ever happen again.” Damian’s eyes darkened, as if the memory caused him physical pain. With a shake of his head, he looked back at her and leveled a heavy stare. “And besides, you’re the one who suggested we train in this… what did you call it? Dreamscape?”
“It’s safer here. If my emotions get out of control, you won’t get injured.”
“I wouldn’t get injured in the real world.” He gave her a tilted smile. “You forget I can hold my own against even you, Raven.”
She rolled her eyes. “Only because I never release my full power.”
“If you’re not careful, you’re going to start sounding like an anime villain.” He set the water bottle down and moved into her space as if he belonged there. Raven didn’t want to admit that she wanted him to belong in her space, at least not out loud. His fingers wrapped around the guard on the hilt of her sword, and he pulled her closer to her. “And that sounds like a challenge. Do you really think you can take me?”
“Would you like me to try?” Raven’s heart was jumping into her throat, beating rapidly as she looked up into his face. Damian smelled of sweat and the spiced soap he used, and Raven had a nearly uncontrollable urge to run her tongue up the length of his neck. She wondered what he would taste like. Cinnamon? Or something stronger?
He jerked the sword back, forcing Raven to lose her grip. With a smirk, he dropped the sword with a muffled thunk against the mats and moved even closer. It felt like electricity was arcing between them, snapping and sparking, and every breath Raven took made her over-sensitive breasts brush up against his chest. His eyes searched hers for a long moment, and he trailed his fingertips over her bare arm, leaving a trail of fire where he touched. Raven shivered, swallowing whatever words were trying to gather in her throat.
“I’m going to kiss you.”
“I’m going to let you.”
His lips pulled back in a teasing smirk, and Damian cupped her jaw, pulling her close to him. He gave Raven a half second to refuse, and when she didn’t, he descended on her like a man starved mad. His lips practically devoured her, a low, needy growl escaping his throat. Raven’s fingers tangled in the front of his shirt, and she pushed herself up against him, rubbing along his chest as if she could drench herself in his scent.
They had been skirting around these feelings for years - since they met as teenagers, but neither of them had acted on it. It was never the right time or the right point in their lives, or they were briefly involved with other people. Their paths continued to converge and diverge in all the time they had known each other, but they both knew eventually everything would come to a head.
Raven just hadn't expected it to be so damn explosive.
She whimpered against his mouth, her hands shamelessly pulling at the tank top, desperate to run her fingers against his dark skin. Damian only broke the kiss long enough to yank his tank top over his head and drop it on the floor. His mouth found hers again, as if he couldn't bear to be separated from her a second longer.
Raven pulled on his hair, tipping his head back so she could slide her mouth down the column of his neck. His groan rumbled against her lips, the sensation going straight to her hollow feeling between her legs. One hand dropped from his hair and began to roam the wild expanse of his chest, tracing firm muscle and ragged scars. She wanted to map him and commit him to memory, so that even if this was a one-time thing, at least she could have the shadows of this moment.
Her fingers brushed against his nipples, and it sent Damian into a wild frenzy. Without warning, he pushed her down onto the mats, her breath leaving her in a single rush. Raven groaned and her fingers found his hair again, pinning his sinful mouth against her own, trying to devour everything she loved about him.
Damian reached up and tugged at the zipper of Raven's workout top, and a few inches of cleavage spilled into view. There was a pause, as if they both knew that they were both moving perilously to the edge that they couldn't return from. He stared into her eyes, and Raven waited half a heartbeat before she made up her mind: she wanted this.
With a twist of her hips and help from a move that Damian had taught her, Raven pushed Damian onto his back. She looked down into his surprised expression and unzipped her top the rest of the way, releasing her breasts from the confines of the tight fabric.
Damian growled and pushed himself up to a sitting position. One hand buried into her hair and the other dug into her hip. He pulled her mouth tight against his own, stealing kiss after desperate kiss. Raven pressed her chest against his own, the sensation of skin against skin sending her into a frenzy. Her fingers dug into the taut muscles of his shoulders, trying to find purchase against the mass of his body.
Beneath her, she could feel his - dear, god. Was that his erection?
Her heart stuttered and she pulled back from his kiss a scant inch to settle further on the massive bulge Damian was clearly sporting. A low, almost painful groan clawed at the back of his throat and the hand on her hip tightened, pulling her body down harder against him. Raven shivered as she felt electricity zip up her spine as the length of his cock pressed against her clit. Even through the layers of clothes, it felt like their skin was on fire where they touched. He stared deep into her eyes and snapped his hips up into hers, as if trying to remind her that he was here, and he was ready .
A whimper fell from her lips, and Damian bent his head to capture one of her nipples in between his teeth, biting just enough to send a shockwave spiraling into the pit of her stomach. His other hand left her hair and moved to cup her other breast, toying with it. Raven lost her sense of self, and her hips started a slow, desperate ride against his cock through their clothes. She felt empty and hollow in a way that made her body race, as if climbing toward an illusive peak.
Damian’s hand on her hip kept her pinned against him, so that her only option was to move against his erection. Not that she would have tried to escape anyway. This felt like the heaven of sinners. Her head fell back against her shoulders and she rode him, her hips frantic as every push against his body sent her higher and higher.
“ Come on, habibti .” His voice rumbled against her breast, and he lapped at her nipple, looking up into her face from beneath the shadows of his eyelashes. “I can feel you. Come.” He nipped at her breast again. “ Come .”
It was a command, and Raven didn’t have the will to fight it even if she tried. With a keening noise, her body shook and her hips stuttered against him. It was not enough and too much all at once. Her muscles tensed and her breath left her in a single rush, and yet she wanted more . Gods, she wanted so much more. She wanted to be so full of his cock that there was nothing more she could do except drown in sensation.
Her hands pinned his mouth to her breast, and Damian continued to bite and lap and tease at her, until she was a dripping, shaking mess on top of him. She stroked his hair, letting aftershocks zip through her body like fireworks. He rolled them over, dipping his fingers beneath the waistband of her pants, smirking at her.
Raven’s eyes flicked down to the unmistakable bulge that pressed against his own pants, and she felt her body wake up all over again. It was a dream world after all. If he didn’t want to come yet, he didn’t have to. His fingers split her, drawing slow, lazy circles around her clit.
“You are so wet .” He drew himself up over her, sliding two fingers deep into her body. “I wonder how much more you can take before you break, Raven?”
She twitched and tightened her muscles around his fingers in a tease. “Why don’t we find out?”
Damian snarled, leaning over to take her mouth in another desperate kiss-
And an alarm shrieked through the dream space.
He let go of an elegant string of curses and pulled his hand back. “We’re being interrupted.”
“We’re being called to our duty.” Raven sat up, propping herself up on her hands as she watched Damian lick his fingers with a smirk. “You did not just-”
“Just wanted to see if this dream space was anything like my own dreams.” He smirked at her. “ It's better. ”
“You do not dream of eating me out.”
“Oh, often .” Damian leaned over her, his voice a low rumble in the air between them. “As much as I’d rather stay here in this dream with you, I know we should probably wake up.”
Raven’s eyes searched his for a long moment before she leaned up and captured his lips in a forceful kiss. Damian practically purred against her, his arms wrapping around her back to drag her body against his own. He nipped at her lower lip and pulled away, resting his forehead against hers as they both tried to catch their breath.
The alarm grew louder in their space, bathing them in deep red light. Raven muttered the spell under her breath and found herself awake in bed. The alarm blared in her ear and she stared at the ceiling, trying not to think about how her whole body felt soft and light. She stood up and changed her clothes quickly, before stepping out into the hall. Damian stood there, watching her from behind his domino mask.
“Raven.”
“Damian.” She fell into step next to him.
His hand bumped against hers as they walked down the hall. “We’re going to talk about this.”
Raven’s heart skipped a beat and she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “Later.”
He huffed out an annoyed breath. “I’m holding you to that.”
It wasn’t until two days later that Damian and Raven finally found enough time to be alone. They were sitting in Damian's study, looking over case files. Neither of them knew how to approach the other one - what did you say to someone you rubbed up against to orgasm within a dream space? They didn’t exactly know how to broach the subject.
Damian finally sighed and leaned forward, closing the computer window they were both staring at. He crossed his arms and turned to look at Raven, who was sitting on the desk next to him, her hands wrapped around a now-cooled mug of tea.
“Are you ever going to talk about what happened?”
She took a long drink from the mug, taking the extra few seconds to find something that made sense. Damian’s eyes stayed trained on her face, his expression unreadable and annoyingly patient. Finally, Raven swallowed her tea and set the mug down next to her. “What do you want to talk about?”
“How you dry humped me in your dream space.”
The bluntness of his sentence sent her head reeling a little, and Raven stuttered as she struggled to find the right way to respond to him. “I…” She took a steadying breath and pinned her emotions into a pit in her chest, keeping her face blank. “What about it?”
Damian gave her a flat stare. “Are you trying to be coy?”
“Are you going to do anything about it?” The words came out as a challenge, but Raven wasn’t going to give up. “You’re my best friend, Damian. Do you want this to be something more? Do you trust us to make it something more? Because we can write it off as a one-time thing, or an accident. We don’t have to pursue it beyond that.”
His lips pursed. “Is that your head or your heart talking?”
Raven shivered at the steel in his voice, and she looked away. “Do you want to pursue this? To be more than what we already are?”
“I would have thought that was obvious when I told you I dreamed of eating you out.”
Heat crawled up her neck, and Raven glanced back at him. “I thought you were just trying to flirt.”
He snorted. “Is that what you consider flirting? Talking about my lips wrapped around your clit as you scream my name? I’m curious to see what you think a come-on is.”
She rolled her eyes. “So, what? You want to explore this? On a physical level, or…” She left the question hanging, hoping he would fill it in.
He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I don't know what you are expecting me to say. You're putting this decision on me and not providing any of your own input. Do you not want to pursue this?”
“I never said that.” Her response was so swift, it surprised even her.
“Then what's keeping you from exploring this?”
“There's a reason we train in the dream space, Damian. My emotions can be dangerous, and my feelings for you increase the possibility of something happening to you. I just want to keep you safe.”
“Don't you think I should have a say in my own safety?”
His words caught her off-guard, and Raven blinked in surprise.
“You take it upon yourself to judge what you think is best for other people, and you never let them have a say in their relationships with you.” Damian crossed his arms over his chest. “You keep everyone in bubbles to keep them safe from you, but you never once question whether or not they want that.”
“I know my powers better than anyone.”
“And I know my own limits better than anyone. I know what I can handle, and what I am willing to sacrifice if it means I get to be with you.”
Her face darkened even more, and she shifted on the desk, trying to keep her heart from being so loud. “You sound like you’ve given this scenario thought before.”
“Being with you? Yeah. I have.” Damian stood up from the chair and set his hands on either side of her legs, leaning forward to look into her eyes. “For the last eight years, I have thought about all the ways I could be with you - all the ways you would let me be with you.” He leaned forward, his breath ghosting over her lips in an almost . “And I have thought about what the consequences would look like. I can tell you, Raven, that there is no consequence I wouldn’t endure just to be with you.”
Raven’s eyes closed as she let his words wash over her skin. She shivered and tilted her face up towards his, a whimper escaping. No one had ever approached her with such blatant acceptance. The few people she had been with before had been cautious when she told them to be cautious, and fearful when she lost control. Damian seemed determined to face her head-on, and battle anything she might throw at him.
With one last breath, she shoved the last of her reservations into the pit of her stomach and leaned up to capture his lips in a kiss. Damian growled, the sound shaking through to her core, and she tangled her hands in the front of his shirt, dragging him tighter against her. That one move seemed to break the dam, and his emotions flooded her with the force of a hurricane.
He leaned pushed up against her, forcing her off balance so that she toppled back against the desk. Damian chased after her, scattering files and pens to the floor in his dogged pursuit of her. A whimper escaped, and her hands came up to tangle in his hair, dragging him tight against her. His weight was a welcome sensation, and she opened her mouth to taste him - spiced tea, and shadows.
Damian groaned, one arm hooking under her lower back to pull her closer. Raven felt a shiver slip down her spine, and she pushed her hips against his. The shock that exploded through her body sent her head reeling, and she moaned into his mouth. Her dream space was vivid, and as close to reality as she could make it, but this was something else entirely. It felt like she could lose herself in this moment. Colors and sensations drenched her senses, and she rocked her hips into Damian's again.
The electricity that snapped through her body was warning her of an oncoming storm, but she didn't care. Couldn’t care. She'd rather let herself be ripped away with the windshear than lose this feeling. He wanted her, and he was willing to put himself in harm’s way for that same feeling. Her fingers shoved his shirt up over his back, clawing deep into his skin as if she needed to mark him and leave some kind of proof that this was real.
He moaned into her mouth, his hips slamming against hers, rubbing the unmistakable bulge in his jeans against her. Raven twitched, her head thrown back as she gasped for breath, shocks snapping along every nerve ending on her body. Whatever control she thought she had was unraveling, and Raven was desperately trying to hold onto the threads of it.
Her restraint was too weak, or her powers were stronger than she gave them credit. They broke free from her chains and purple fire crawled up his back.
Damian's mouth broke from hers, a raw and ragged scream clawed from his throat.
Shit! Raven pushed him away, knocking him backward as the desk beneath her tipped over. Raven's head slammed against the floor, pain radiating along her spine and jarring her mind. Dazed from the impact, the rush of magic filled her ringing ears and she tried to pull herself back together, but the world was tipping on its edge, leaving her stumbling towards bright lights and amorphous shapes.
What little control she still had snapped and magic slithered along the floor, over the furniture, and up Damian's skin, burning him in magic fire. He cursed and tried to wipe the flames off, as if he could suffocate the magic.
“Stop!” She reached out to him, trying to take calming breaths to cool her mind down and ease the pain. Stumbling forward, she cried out for him again, her voice too loud in her own ears. “Damian, stop!”
He looked over at her, eyes wide with shock and a twinge of… fear. Raven felt her heart fracture, splintering into a thousand shards that buried into the soft places of herself, leaving scars that might never heal. Fear at her . Fear because of what she’d done. She had warned herself, and him, and everyone around them what the consequences were of getting too close, and here was the outcome. It was the proof she knew would happen, and hope got the better of her.
Wiping at her cheeks, as if to stave off an onslaught of sobs, Raven took a deep breath and pulled her powers back in her body. The magic subsided, turning to glowing embers before extinguishing itself. Damian was gasping for breath, and she could feel his heart race in his chest. It fluttered wildly like a trapped bird, begging for escape. He watched as she healed him, his eyes never leaving her face - out of worry, guilt, or fear, she wasn’t sure.
Raven gave him a thin smile that she hoped looked apologetic, and ran her hands along the scars her magic left behind. She soothed the burn and gathered the pain into her own body, as if that was some kind of penance for hurting someone she had feelings for. The pain laced through her veins, making her wince as she accepted it. Her thumb traced along a warped burn, removing every trace of it from his temple.
“I’m sorry… I…” She couldn’t find the words. What did you say to someone when you loved when you burned them with magic?
“Raven.” Damian's fingers wrapped around her wrist and he pulled her hand away from his face, looking back into her eyes. “I'm fine.”
She stilled, taking a shaky breath as she saw another scar on the back of his wrist. But he wasn't fine, was he?
How could he be after what she had done to him? He was lying to try and preserve her feelings, to protect her from the truth. She had done this to him. It was accidental, yes, but it was still her that caused him to burn. She hurt him, all because her power was tied to her emotions and she let herself be far too free with her feelings for him. Guilt flooded her, and old warnings echoed in the back of her mind - things the monks had said when she lived in Azarath.
Your emotions are weapons. Good or bad, they can hurt and even kill.
She stared into his eyes for a long moment before steeling her decisions. This was her problem, and she would fix it. Her head still aching, and her body wracking with his pain that she drew into herself, Raven pressed her fingers to the back of his head, pulling him close. She rested her forehead against his own, taking slow, steadying breaths as she poured her magic into him.
Raven knew it was wrong to do this without his permission, but she couldn’t let this happen again. Damian was nothing if not persistent, and if she let him have the memory of this moment, he might never really realize what kind of danger he was in. He would pursue her until she couldn’t stop herself from giving into him again. And then history would repeat itself.
“Raven.” His voice was a low, dark warning, as if he could feel the warmth of the spell surge through his hippocampus. “What are you-”
She cut off the rest of his question with a forceful kiss, distracting his thoughts as she wove her magic deeper and deeper into his mind, sealing his memories and hiding them away. This didn’t happen. This moment never happened. They were good friends, close, but nothing more. Nothing happened in the dreamscape, and nothing happened in this room.
Whatever this was, it was locked behind a wall he would never be able to breach.
“ Don’t .” Damian pulled away, his movements growing weak. His eyes were clouded, as if he couldn’t quite make sense of her or what she was doing. “Raven, don’t. ”
She ignored him, pushing her powers deeper into his mind. He made a strained sound, still fighting against her, until Raven felt him slump in her arms. The spell was strong, and pulled him deep into a dreamless sleep. He would be out for a few minutes at least while the magic wove deeper into his mind, unraveling the precious memories and hiding them from him. Using her powers she picked up the overturned desk and righted everything she could, making it look like she had never been here.
She set Damian in the chair, and leaned his head forward to rest against the desk. Smoothing his hair back, she pressed her fingers against his temple, offering him one last spell for a good dream. Her apology died on her lips, and she turned away from his sleeping form.
This was for the best. It kept him safe.
She just had to convince herself of that same fact.