Chapter Text
The old residential building stood out in the middle of Opal's Deco District like a sore thumb. In the middle of shining, iridescent glass and silver statues atop timeless decor, it served as a reminder that even in the brightest places, there was a bit of darkness that would inevitably pop up. Some forgotten building that was slowly rotting away in the midst of a forest of brick and concrete, black mold growing in between cracks and damaged walls of the interior.
Hope sighed. She'd seen way, way worse slums in other cities (this, in fact, was not a slum by many standards), but it was still sad to see. And what to expect inside…well, she tended to expect the worst, so she'd be pleasantly surprised when it wasn't all that bad. She wondered if she, or someone she knew, would do something about it, maybe pressure some politicians, send some cash their way. She may know an old, rich goth that shared her love for the city…
Bah…she wasn't here to think about bettering infrastructure. She was here to investigate a call while the rest of the force dealt with a protest downtown.
As she had expected, the reception desk was unoccupied. The interior lights flickered, their electric hum being the only sound she found and expected at that hour of the night. Aside from that, the only other notable thing about the place was the faint smell of urine.
As she climbed to the second floor apartment, Hope kept her senses sharp for anything strange. The smell of urine faded away, replaced with the smell of something humid. The mold, perhaps?
Then came the sounds of something at the end of the hallway. Something wet, sloshing and slurring just around the corner. It sounded too uneven to be from a machine. Hope hesitated, for a moment. She hugged the wall and approached slowly, hand on her holster. She'd encountered one too many supernatural and just…super-stuff in general as of late, to take any chances. Doesn't mean she would go in guns blazing, but…
The smell got worse as she got closer. Musky. It reminded Hope of long-nights of fun, and sweat, and Dear God she wished she'd brought back-up.
There was a lone, half-naked kid sitting idly just a few meters away, in the middle of the dimly-lit hallway. It was almost impossible to make out whatever features were unobscured by the shadows, by the giant mass of black tentacles encircling their body, blocking out whatever light those dying bulbs had to give.
“What the hell?” Hope murmured, backing away. The last thing she needed today were rogue shadows.
The kid simply laid there, mouth agape and entranced under a spell of sorts. The monster around her, on the other hand, took notice of Hope, its tendrils slowly extending towards the detective.
“That's far enough!” Hope said firmly, drawing her gun as she kept walking back.
Much to her surprise, the tentacles stopped, retracting just a bit. It reminded Hope of an animal drawing back after someone raised their voice at them. It would've been amusing if Hope wasn't scared shitless by the pitch-black limbs. She was powerless against shadows, only able to pierce them briefly and even then…
“Officer?”
Hope gasped at the suddenness of his appearance. “Shit! Dickie, don't scare me like that!”
The Shade stepped out of the wall of darkness with a slight smirk. “Sorry, darling. Old habits.”
Hope huffed at her lover's obvious lie, a bit too annoyed with his antics at this particular time.
The former villain carefully eyed the being before him, saying, “I think you should put your gun down. You're scaring it.”
“Shit, Dickie, the thing's scaring me! Not like I could really hurt it, anyway.”
“No, but you could hurt the lover it’s protecting.”
Hope tried looking at the kid beyond the tendrils and found it almost impossible. It seemed that the creature had continued encircling the kid, to the point where they wouldn't be able to be harmed if she were to shoot at the monster.
“It's…protecting the kid…its lover?”
“Indeed.” Richard eyed the officer's tense stance. “I can assure you…it's not a threat.”
Hope sighed and put away her weapon. As soon as she did, the tendrils stopped encircling the kid and seemed to slow down with their movements.
Richard walked up to the monster then, herding it forwards with a mere wave of his arm. At the sight of them, he quickly summoned a sheet of shadow that he draped around their exposed body. They didn't seem to react at all.
“Oh dear, poor thing,” said Richard. “Being exposed like this.”
“What happened to you?” Hope had put away her weapon in favor of a flashlight, kneeling down to examine them. They didn't look injured at all, just slightly bruised where the creature may have grabbed them. The kid just…looked at them both, and smiled.
Richard glanced at the ball of shadow beside them. “If I were to take a guess…they summoned the shadow for a night of pleasure.”
Hope blinked. “You're serious.”
“Yes,” he said simply. “People don't just summon shadows for the purpose of murder and theft, you know.”
“I can see that,” Hope said. She found the lover's pupils dilated. They'd closed their mouth a while ago, and seemed to be humming just vaguely. “They seem drugged…”
“Likely from the shadow's own secretions…”
Again, Hope paused. “That thing could've poisoned them?” Hope glared at the creature, whom seemed to shrink further back into the corner.
“It could've,” he said, “but it doesn't usually produce this effect…in smaller doses anyhow…usually it's more pleasurable…”
“How would you…”
Richard simply smirked, raising an eyebrow at her. Hope just looked at him, mouth agape, gears turning in her head. “Oh!”
“So,” Hope continued, making a note to ask him about that later. “This is what the kids that called must've seen. And…they must've taken too much of…whatever it was…and got disoriented…”
The monster had reached out to its lover as they talked. Richard’s white gloves ran over the black, gooey sheen of the creature's appendage, the tip of the tendril curling over a hand as he caressed it, soothing the monster. Hope's eyes lingered just a bit too long over it, her mind wandering off…
“And that’s when the children called?” He asked.
“Oh, um…yeah,” she said, aloof. “So…I assume you sensed it here, or…?”
“I did. I've learned how to keep a closer eye on them, given past incidences…”
“Right.”
“Would you like to take it as a statement?” He teased.
“Ha! Don't think that'll be necessary. Just gotta let the family know things are taken care of…and make sure this one gets to a hospital…”
“Whatever you say, officer.” The Shade effortlessly lifted up the kid into his arms and opened another portal beside them. As soon as he did, the monster bid farewell to its lover with a brief touch before disappearing back into the dark.
-----
That night Hope slept of monsters and darkness. Slimy, slithering things that made her heart race. It hadn't been the first time she'd had those sorts of dreams since she'd started dating Richard.
It also wasn't the first time that she'd felt turned on by them. Terror turned into excitement. A tingling feeling ran down her body. Something caressed her, slithered down, and in between, and…
And she woke up unfulfilled and tired. God damn.
Hope sighed, almost imperceptibly, into her pillow. She shifted beneath the sheets, and remembered that Shade had fallen asleep beside her last night, both too tired to do much besides that at the moment. With her lover and her dreams both present in her mind, Hope tried to fall back asleep, and only half-succeeded. She was able to recall parts of it. Briefly. Details lost, so she replaced them with real memories. Late-nights staying up with her brothers, watching monsters take helpless maidens away before the handsome heroes came to rescue her.
She'd cheer with her brothers, of course. She'd think of her brothers in the heroes’ place. But a small, forgotten feeling resurfaced now, laying beside the Shade. Something she'd felt, even as a child.
Hope wondered what would have happened if the monster had his way. A horrifying thought. Being taken against their will, but what if it was just play…
Hope had always wondered. And she wondered and thought a bit at that moment. Monsters and wet tentacles and dark, evil, handsome men, overpowering, and…
Hope jumped as she felt two limbs wrap around her. She relaxed when she realized that those limbs belonged to her lover. Big, dry hands, cooler than her own.
“It's only me, love,” said Richard, planting a kiss on her scalp.
“Yeah…morning,” Hope murmured. She turned around and was met with her handsome rascal, his pretty black eyes, still half-lidded below a tuft of messy hair.
Hope giggled. Not at all the dangerous sight of her dreams, though still sexy and menacing at times.
She kissed him, savoring the fact that she had him for herself. “Think I dreamt about you last night.”
“Did you? I could've sworn you were having a nightmare…”
“Well…” Hope tried to recall the fading dream and felt her heart flutter. “It kinda was…”
Richard's smile dropped.
“Kinda wasn't,” Hope added, her widening smile a small reassurance to her lover. “Wanna hear it?”
Richard raised a brow as the gears turned in his head. “Go on?”
----
Not everything that was lost in the shadows ended up torn or dead, as Hope once thought. As it turns out, the dark, otherworldly realm was a whole, living world of its own. And some of it was perfect for storing some of Richard's most prized possessions.
Richard only had to hover his fingers across the carousel of old frames a few times before he landed on one specific work. He gently lifted the frame out of place and held it up for his curious lover to gape at.
“Is…this like what you described to me, darling?”
The shadowy man took in Hope's expressions with a lecherous grin. Hope hid her nervous smile from him as she eyed the old piece.
“Well?”
“That, um,” Hope giggled. “That certainly looks like tentacle porn.”
“Stop looking at me like that!” Hope laughed, swatting at the former-rogue playfully.
But he refused. “Sorry, but seeing you blush turns me on more than any sort of taboo-pornography.”
Hope let out a noise between a snicker and a hiss as she blocked his eyes from eating her up.
“How…old is this piece, Richard?”
He answered her, still blinded by her hand. “1813. It's almost as old as me.”
“Is it an original?”
“Indeed.” He said proudly.
She raised a brow. “...Did you steal it?”
He pouted. “I didn’t steal everything I own.”
“I know, I know. I'm just pulling your leg.”
Richard rolled his eyes. “What would you have said if I'd said yes?”
Hope pouted and crossed her arms. “Cuff you. Right here, right now.”
He stared at her, mouth agape. “For something done so long ago?”
“No, for owning such depraved artwork and not showing me sooner.” She said, playfully. Richard chuckled and set the artwork down on a large table.
“If you want depraved,” he added, closing in, “I can show you some truly…despicable artwork.”
“Ooo,” she said, holding her lover closely, “what's more depraved than tentacle rape? Erotic murder?”
Richard paused. “Well, yes actually, I should have some erotic horror around here somewhere, but…”
Richard cocked his head. “Whatever made you think this was rape?”
Hope blinked. “Isn't this what's happening here?”
Richard looked disappointed. “Absolutely not! Why, the text here talks about the passionate love they feel for each other.”
“Oh! I…assumed…”
“Is that what the kids are watching these days?” He asked, unsurprised.
“If you mean the hentai I told you about, then yeah, a lot of it is like that…”
Richard grimaced. “How barbaric…”
“Yeah, not my cup of tea either.” Hope said, then added, playfully. “So…what do you think…about what I told you?”
The shadowy rogue smiled deviously. “I'd be more than happy to satisfy your…dark desires.” He took her hands in his own and held them up, kissing them.
The detective grinned. “Cheesy.”
They both giggled and embraced. They shared a few long kisses that felt both sweet and enticing.
“I don't deserve you,” he whispered.
“Yes, you do.” she retorted, kissing him back. “I don't deserve you.”
“Even after being possessed,” he lamented, “you'd still come here and ask to be serviced by shadows…”
“I would,” she said plainly. “Besides…it could be fun to play queen on my own terms…”
Richard grinned. “I will admit…if you asked me to kneel before you…I’d consider…”
“You would,” she said and kissed his lips. They shared some more long kisses, that being the only sound in the large, dark room. They busied themselves for the moment in each other's embrace. Their lips. Their hands. Richard grinned to himself and laughed.
“What?” Hope smiled.
“I was just thinking of you…wrapped in that monster from last night.”
Hope grinned as he teased her neck. “You never told me how you knew what it could do…”
“I'd rather show you,” he purred, gently pushing her to sit on the table.
“W-now?”
“Yes?” Richard pulled away from her neck. “Is it too soon?”
“Too soon, I think,” Hope laughed, breathless. Her heart had started to race alongside Richard's, and half of her wanted to just throw herself at whatever monsters he could summon. “Rather start slow with this, I think.”
Richard blinked, unused to Hope's hesitation. “Very well. I think I was too eager…”
“I like you when you're eager,” Hope teased. She'd sat on the table and pulled him to press against her. “Maybe we can try some less-eldritch shadows first?”
“Ah…of course,” he breathed and started kissing her deeply, rubbing against her.
“Good,” she said, in between kisses. “‘Cause I do wanna know…how wicked…you can be with your powers…in bed…”
Richard's chuckle was as devious as it was dangerous. “Oh, I have a whole list of wicked things we could try…”
“For now, though,” he said, gently pushing her down onto the table. His voice was almost a growl against her ear. “I'll fuck you here.”
Hope bit down on her lip, his words sending a wave of heat through her body. There was a stupidly big smile on the detective's face before they started ravishing each other, hands exploring and undressing the other. One deep kiss after another, both struggling for air, moaning into the other. She hugged him tightly, grinding back against his own increasingly frantic movements. Her arms trailed across the soft fabric before slipping underneath to caress the hard muscle below. First his chest. Then, his...
She'd merely touched his member before Richard took a firm grip of her hands and pushed them back against the table. Taking advantage of her shock, he pinned her hands to the table with black shackles. Hope's heart started racing. Her breath was heavy. Her lover's hands slid down and over her breasts.
“Tell me,” he said, his face and voice dark with desire, “how much do you like these clothes?”
Hope barely bothered with the thought. She simply shrugged. “They’re clothes.”
Richard's grin was just as menacing as the shadows he employed. Before she knew it, shadowy limbs, including his own, had cut through the collar of her shirt, the straps on her bra, and ripped them both apart.
Hope looked at him in faux horror, her breasts heaving with excitement.
Richard spared no time in ravishing her heaving chest, taking one into his mouth and another in between his fingers. Hope moaned in approval, relishing and rueing her current entrapment. She'd be caressing and messing up Richard's hair to the point that he'd be horrified, if it weren't for the shackles. So, she could only moan and whine in protest as her lover assaulted her chest, switching then to suck on the other mound.
When he was satisfied with his work, her chest reddened and her nipples hardened, Richard moved downward and used his cohorts to tear apart whatever cloth was in the way.
Now, fully exposed to him, Richard took in the sight of his naked lover, flushed and helpless and panting under his power.
Still, Hope was playful. “Like what you see?”
“Gorgeous,” he sighed, running his hands over her inner thighs.
“Good,” Hope held back a whine as his fingers slid down between her lips. “Really wanna touch you right now...”
Richard hummed in delight. “You can do that afterwards…after I've had you.”
Hope just melted. “Glad you're enjoying this…”
A whine escaped from Hope's throat as his fingers penetrated her, curling inwards rhythmically.
“And you're not?” Richard grinned.
Hope laughed through the whines Richard was pulling out of her. “W-what do you think?”
Richard giggled. “You look scrumptious like this.”
“Chained and…submissive?”
Richard dramatized. “Yes…the feisty detective, helpless and at my mercy. To ravage how I wish…”
Hope tried speaking in the midst of it. “Is that what you want…to be a villain in bed?”
Richard pulled out suddenly. He stared into her eyes as he took her in, cleaning his fingers with gusteau. Hope stared back at him, dreamily. None of her other lovers seemed as pleased as he was to savor her like that.
“You know I do miss playing the villain sometimes…care to indulge me?”
Hope pouted, pretending to consider. “I may…”
“But only because I know you'd make it fun,” she playfully added.
“Oh, I can promise you that much…”
Richard kneeled before her then. Hope complained, saying, “Richard, c'mon, fuck me already…”
“Oh, but I quite enjoyed that sample, and while I have you on my table…I might as well…”
As he sank down to devour his meal, Hope sighed, both pleased and desperate for release. Damn him. He was a good lover, with well more than a century of experience, but that meant that he loved to torture her like this. He started slow, with long licks, and gradually picked up the pace. Hope started trembling and whining, the noises she made escaping freely, and more so, when Richard started rubbing her clit in tandem with his swirling tongue. The young detective started mouthing the villain's name as the pressure started building. Richard. Shade. Shade rolled off the tongue more during those moments, especially when he was being devious.
Richard busied his hands keeping her legs spread apart and attacking her clit. It startled her then, the presence of other hands beyond his own. Shadowy hands spawned from Richard's back, or elsewhere (or everywhere), and ravished her. Her breasts. Her cheeks. Her lips. She let one dip into her mouth, long-fingered, clawed limbs that tasted like dirty, sweaty flesh. She hummed, moaned around it, the stimulation overwhelming her with the knowledge that they serviced her. These monsters. Including their dark master. That sweet yet scary man, pleasuring her to the point of…
Hope shrieked. Her climax overcame her so suddenly that the arms moved away and her love looked up to behold her ecstatic face, relieved that his shadows hadn't hurt her.
“You alright, love?” Richard said, caressing her face and kissing her cheek.
Hope managed only to nod and pant at first. “...yeah…just…feel good…”
“...don’t stop,” she begged. “‘Fuck me, Richard, baby, please…”
Hope didn't need to say it twice. By the time she did, Richard was busy undoing his trousers and rolling down the condom with the aid of the shadows. Gently, he slipped in, but as soon as he bottomed out, Richard lost himself in her, in her tightness and warmth and cries of pleasure that echoed through the dark abode. Pressing his finger to her bud prompted Hope to tighten and tremble again, squeezing his own orgasm out of him as she rode out her second.
Laying on top of his lover, spent and panting, the shackles holding Hope's hands down melted down onto the table and below. She'd been pushing against them, leaving behind pink bruises. Not that it mattered. At the moment, Hope was just glad she could embrace her love again, caress his form, his head, take him and give him long, tender kisses he himself returned. Over and over and over again…
Then they simply held each other, floating back down to reality and reveling in each other's joy. After that moment of calm, Hope tapped his shoulder and Richard slowly pulled out, leaving Hope missing the girth of him.
“Well,” said Richard, sighing. “How was that?”
“Amazing,” she said, hoarsely.
“Liked them, did you?” He asked, genuinely.
“Oh yeah,” she said dreamily. “Scared me at first, but…” Hope looked down at her breasts and found small claw marks where they'd grabbed on to her. “Yeah…”
“They left their mark.” Hope grinned. Richard mirrored her smile and admired their work. Hope's lovely pale, freckled skin was a lovely, fleshy canvas to leave their mark on. He ran his hands over her bruised chest, prompting Hope to hiss just slightly.
“Gorgeous,” said Richard, dreamily. He looked forward to the after-care when they got back.
Hope pouted, running her own hands over his chest as her imagination ran with it. “Wanna leave your skin like that, too…”
Richard cocked his head. “Something to try out later, perhaps?”
“Absolutely,” Hope said, happily. “I could get my cuffs…knock you around a bit…”
“Oh? You'd abuse your power like that?” He said, feigning shock.
“For you, I would.” She grinned deviously. “Teach you a lesson…”
“Truly, you've been corrupted.” Richard hummed in approval and kissed her deeply.
“You'd really let me um…dom you like that too?”
Richard blinked. “Of course! Why even ask?” He took her hand in his own and kissed it. “I'd be more than willing to submit to you, darling.”
Hope looked away, embarassed. “You're too sweet.”
“Darling, I'll be twice as sweet to you as you have been to-”
Richard's warm expression had turned hard and cold, a sudden frown painting his face as he'd looked down on his member.
“What's wrong?” Hope's expression fell as he pulled away his condom, black and torn.
Hope blinked in confusion as first. Then, her eyes widened as the realization of what she saw hit her. “Oh my God…”
“Blasted, little…”
“Your cum is black?”
Richard cocked his head at her as she cackled at his dumbfounded face.
“I mean it's not entirely-” Hope giggled. “I'd never noticed…how did I never notice…”
“Hope!”
“Always with the black condoms…”
“The condom's torn!”
Hope stifled her laughter. “Yeah. Yeah, I see that…”
“Those little bastards must've poked holes in it as they handed it to me. I should've noticed…”
“Hey, hey,” Hope said, bringing his face to face her. “Calm down.”
“How can I calm down? If you get pregnant…”
“Woah, didn't you say it wasn't…”
“Possible? Yes, the chances are slim, but…”
“Hey, it's ok,” Hope said, hiding her concern. “I'll take some Plan B.”
Richard furrowed his brow. “For shadow seed?”
“I mean, you've still got a human body...”
“Plus,” Hope added. “If it's shadow seed, cum…whatever…can't you just…pull it out…”
Richard blinked, looked away in thought, and felt himself deflate. He'd let panic overtake him again. He took a long, deep-breath mentally hitting himself for not even considering the possibility. “Lie down.”
Hope obeyed, spreading her legs once more for him. Richard knelt and focused on Hope's womb and the darkness inside. He dug around in his mind, sensing the material and…
Richard gestured. Come hither. Hope shuddered just slightly as it slowly oozed out of her. A miniscule mass of seed floated outwards, which Richard caught in his fingers.
Hope sat up. As Richard seemed to practically contemplate his own spunk, Hope gave him a look that had him snap out of whatever thoughts he had and smirk in agreement. So, he plunged his fingers into her mouth and watched her lick then clean, giving him a look that sent a spark below.
“God, if I wasn't spent…”
Hope swallowed, enjoying the strange taste of shadow. “All over again, huh?”
“How the shadows have corrupted you.”
“Hah! I had no shame way before I met you. Although if you do want to think of it like that, I could pretend…”
Hope wondered as Richard summoned a blanket to drape around her. “I mean, it's not like we haven't influenced each other.”
“Impossible to avoid in any relationship, I fear.” He was tucking himself in, trying to fix what Hope immediately messed up again by ruffling his hair.
She laughed. “You can fix yourself up after we take a shower.”
Richard grumbled and ran his hair backwards to at least get his hair off of his face. Hope crouched down and collected what was left of her clothes, mildly surprised that the shadows hadn't disposed of them by absorbing or…”eating”…the fabric.
Richard cocked his head. Hope said, “Maybe I can use the fabric to clean or something.”
“Truly, a sign of my dark influence over you.”
Hope thumped his forehead in response as they walked back into the light.