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“How the fuck should I know?” She shrugged. “I’m not in the book club. Except when I am, which isn’t today.” She made a face. “Fuck rabbits.”

Oz looked up from his binoculars. “Aren’t you dressed as a rabbit today?”

“Hell no! I’m a hare! You got something against hares, now? ” She straightened, like she was preparing for a fight. “Huh?” She pointed at him angrily. “ I’ve already warned you about your fucking attitude, Oz! ”

“No, no…” he went back to looking through his binoculars to avoid the nonsensical argument, “hares are fine.”

“Fine?” She challenged, sounding angrier. “ Fine!?! ”

“ Exemplary .”He corrected.

She nodded her head, causing her bunny ears to bob in a way that should have been far less attractive than it was.

“Damn straight.” She took a step to her left so that she was leaning against the edge of the roof, with her back to the evil army assembled below, like they still didn’t even matter.

“So, what’s the plan here? We gonna wait until they have some kind of charity gala, fake an invitation, and then sneak away once we’re inside? ”

Oz squinted in confusion. “Why would a secret army installation have a charity gala?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “There are a shitload of charity galas and evil parties in this town, have you ever noticed that? $20 says that within the month they’ll have some kind of black tie event to showcase a huge diamond, meteorite, or deadly new variety of hypno-velociraptor. I’ll lay odds.”

“‘Hypno-velociraptor’?”

“Oh, aren’t you sweet.” She sounded charmed by his innocence.

“You’ve led such a sheltered little life, haven’t you?

” She went back to watching the Agletarians.

“So we’re just going to storm the building and get some answers?

Because I’m cold and I haven’t had my coffee and I want to hurt someone over that. I want to hurt someone baaaaaad …”

“We aren’t going to go in, we’d be hopelessly outgunned.”

She flipped a hand unconcernedly. “What you call ‘outgunned,’ I call an ‘economy of force.’”

“We need to be more subtle.”

“I can be very subtle.”

He looked up and down her costume. “I doubt that.”

She turned around to look down at the building several hundred yards away, blocking most of Oz’s view. Luckily, it did provide him a much nicer view, and Oz overcame his reasonable hesitation to ogle an imperiled coworker and friend, and drank her in.

His eyes traveled up her legs, memorizing every line. His gaze lingered on her rear, tilting his head to the side to get a better look at the fishnet stockings which traveled under her costume. The netting was tightest over her skin there, pressing against the soft but undoubtedly firm flesh.

He wondered what it would feel like in his hands…

The costume had a little puffball of a tail, and for some reason, it simply made Oz’s day.

She leaned forward slightly, and Oz must have made a sound or his breathing changed, because she became aware he was watching her. “Stop looking at my tail, Oz.”

Oz tore his eyes away. “Sorry.”

“Nah, I’m just kidding, I don’t give a shit.” She laughed.

“Okay.” He wasn’t sure what to say to that. His mind raced, once again returning to her legs. “The seam in your stockings is crooked.” He heard himself saying, like it was someone else talking.

The seam which ran up the back of her leg was indeed crooked though. For some reason, it wasn’t sending his need for things to be orderly into overdrive. It was just… something to say, because otherwise he was pretty certain all he’d be able to get out was a groan of desire and lust.

She snorted in laughter. “Is it?” Her surprise sounded entirely fake, for some reason.

Like she’d expected him to see that. “Well, I’m glad you were looking closely enough to notice, Oz.

” She turned around and put her leg up on the crate Oz was using to support his binoculars.

The movement opened her legs and allowed him to see her inner thigh, with him between them.

“Why don’t you go ahead and straighten it for me?

” She arched an eyebrow over her Hare Trigger goggles.

“Please?” The word came out breathy and deeper.

Oz watched her, debating with himself. It was cold enough at the moment that he could see her breath, watching as it grew faster.

The swell of her incredible breasts rising and falling, forming a little cloud around her beautiful face with each breath.

There was something deeply erotic and intimate about watching her breathe.

It took Oz’s own breath away to watch her. It felt like she’d reached into his chest and wrapped her fingers around his heart.

“I can’t straighten it from this angle.” He said softly, otherwise at a loss for words. His desire scared him. It was unlike anything else he’d ever felt in his life, and he wasn’t certain how that would affect his powers.

If he lost control of them, they’d both be liquefied in seconds by trillions of tiny germs and microanimals.

For a moment, Oz was rendered still, imagining nightmarish scenarios where he accidentally hurt Natalie…

“Try.”She demanded.

Oz swallowed, eyes moving to her exposed flesh and the fishnets which covered it. And his control snapped. He moved his hand to her ankle.

“Lose the glove.” She shook her head. “You touch me, you touch me.”

He tossed it aside like the damn thing was on fire, closing his fingers over her skin and tracing them upwards. Enraptured.

She was warm, despite the cold. Downright hot.

He noticed with a small bit of disappointment that she wasn’t wearing an anklet today, his finger tracing over the spot on her skin where it had been the day before, without him even recognizing he was doing it.

He had wanted very much to touch that.

He got to his feet, the action putting him uncomfortably close to… areas of her body he most wanted to explore .

She seemed to recognize that awkward closeness too, shifting her hips back, like she was shocked by the feelings it brought. “Fuck…” She said under her breath.

Oz stepped closer, his hand on her thigh, feeling like he was being allowed to touch something sacred. His eyes flicked up to her, making sure he still had permission.

She nodded. “It’s still crooked.” She breathed, looking away because her face looked flushed now. “It makes me feel too tight, Oz. Please help me with that…”

He gently moved her chin so that she was looking up at him again, and Natalie’s breathing was even quicker now. On some level, he recognized that he was surely scaring her, but he was too far gone to let that bother him.

He could hurt her. His powers were too dangerous to mess with. To say nothing of the fact that his scarred, contaminated hands had no business being anywhere near her perfect, smooth body.

He was trash. He shouldn’t be doing this…

She put her hands flat against his chest, looking up at him, mouth parting.

His hand slid around to caress her inner thigh, while his other hand moved along the outside, still marveling at how smooth her skin was.

And it was growing even hotter. She was soft, delicate skin, over the strong muscles of a dancer.

He moved her fishnets so that the seam would be even, and in the process, the back of his fingers accidentally brushed against the fabric which covered the apex of her thighs.

He hadn’t meant to touch her there, but even as it happened he realized that it was a sensation he’d be reliving for the rest of his life. It was absolutely heavenly.

Natalie stumbled away like she’d been shot, swearing to herself. “ Holy fuck! ” She almost fell over, and Oz’s hand shot out to steady her. She leaned over, panting and looking weak.

“Are you okay?” He finally asked, feeling like he’d overstepped and scared her. “Did I…?”

“I’m fine.” She announced, straightening to her full height and trying to act nonchalant. “Everything’s fine. Just…” She swallowed, her skin flushed. “Didn’t really expect that to… you know… feel like…”

Oz nodded. She had been in an abusive relationship. He needed to be more careful about touching her.

She let out a long breath. “Christ… What a way to start a morning . ”

“It’s 3 in the after…” He began, then stopped, recognizing that it would only make her angry. Hare Trigger seemed to live up to her name, always on the verge of getting angry over meaningless things.

Natalie straightened the bodice of her costume, then yanked at the bow tie collar around her neck, like she felt it was choking her.

The action caused her breasts to move, drawing Oz’s eyes to the spectacular view they presented. Her stiffened nipples pressed against the white satin, unashamedly. Oz found the sight captivating and it hit him harder than any punch he’d ever received in his 1,278 consecutive days as a hero.

His hands fisted at his sides, trying to keep himself away from her through sheer force of will. Trying to keep himself from grabbing her and losing himself in her. It was a fight he wasn’t going to win, but it was a fight he respected Natalie enough to have.

She apparently followed his line of sight, and frowned in embarrassment.

She started to turn away from him, then stopped.

She started to cross her arms over her chest, then stopped.

Finally, she just stood there, hard points of her nipples still visible, looking awkward. “It’s… cold.” She said softly.

Oz’s gaze remained fixed on her breasts, completely uncaring about the fact it was tremendously inappropriate to do so .

At the moment, he didn’t care at all about that.

Or the fact that it embarrassed her. All Oz wanted in the world was to watch her breasts.

To feel them clutched in his hands. And in about 5 seconds, he was seriously scared he’d move to do just that.