Chapter 13.

They were soft, easy kisses. Slow and moist. Robin was testing his boundaries and mine too. It was a slow, deliberate exploration of each other. His fingertips danced along my face and tangled in my hair. My hands wandered along his back, tantalised by the muscles I discovered.

I had never felt so relaxed and happy. Truly, Tamaranians were missing out on one of the great wonders of the universe by not engaging in lip contact like this. It was heavenly. He made me feel wonderful, content, and deliciously sensual. Every feeling concentrated on him, every random thought wove around his name.

I never wanted this moment to end. It seemed neither did Robin. He made no move to pull away from me, to stop his exploration of my lips with his. There were new sensations in every movement.

Robin shifted his weight, transferring it to one elbow. I was mildly curious to what he was doing, but I did not open my eyes to check, I was blissfully caught up in the wonder his mouth was creating. Then I felt his warm hand pressed against my stomach.

Nerves fired where his hand was, I tracked its movement keenly as he slid it down across my waist and lower back until he could play with the hem of my skirt and pull me closer. He dragged his fingers back up my stomach, leaving lines of fire in their wake, until he reached my ribcage. He left his hand there, flexing and sliding his hand to my back and back over my side again. Just little rubbing motions.

I wanted his hand up further, the nervous tingle in my belly demanded it, but I was unsure. Indeed, he did seem quite happy just to leave it where it was.

He began to do interesting things with his mouth, distracting me from his hand. He sucked on my bottom lip. He stroked my lips with tongue, just teased me with it.

I completely lost track of time, just enjoyed being close to him.

"Woohoo! Go Starfire!"

I stiffened, anxious for Robin's reaction. I opened my eyes, but I could see through the mask that Robin's were still closed. Surprisingly, he did not seem to care. I felt his hand lift from my ribs, I suspected he gave Beast Boy 'the finger', before his hand was dancing against me again.

"Well, would you look at that," Cyborg said rather smugly. "Nice going, Rob. About damn time."

"Rae, you won!" Beast Boy announced.

"Of course I did," Raven said. "Now, let's leave them alone, shall we?" There was the sound of Raven ushering the boys away. "Congrats Star," she said as the door closed.

Robin just continued with the tender kissing, content to just lie there with me. He eased back though, the deep kissing turning to little pecks and small strokes of his nose against mine. When he finally broke away from my lips, the first thing he said was, "I should've done that a long time ago."

I sighed blissfully. My lips tingled. "I believe your timing was perfect."

He gave me a lopsided grin and his fingers brushed against my cheek. "Do you now?"

I was lost in his eyes. I could see them through the mask, we were so close. I reached up and touched his cheek, placing a finger against the mask itself. "Blue? Or grey? I cannot tell."

He stiffened, his hand clenched against my ribs. "Ahh…" He swallowed. "Blue."

"I was not aware you had eyes at all," I teased and removed my hand. I did not wish to ruin the mood, I was just allured by their colour.

He played along. "All the better to see you with, my dear."

I giggled, knowing the fairy tale of which he spoke.

"I suppose," he said, sounding unsure, "since we've made out, I really should remove it."

"When you are ready," I replied. "I do not mind waiting."

"Really?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes." I smiled at him sweetly. "But if you ever want to engage in more sexually orientated activities, it will come off."

He gave me a silly grin. "I'll remember that." He shifted his weight, sliding off me to prop his head up on his palm, leaving his free hand on my belly. "You have this lovely glow around you now."

"I believe that is from being completely and thoroughly kissed."

He ran the tips of his fingers up and down my belly. "Glad to be of service."

"So, that was the 'making out'?"

Robin looked smug. "Uh-huh."

"Glorious," I purred.

"Would you like to do it again?" he asked eagerly.

I would, but his sudden change of heart posed a few questions for me. "Does this mean we are the girlfriend and boyfriend, properly this time?"

"No, I don't want to commit to that," Robin said, rather cheekily. "How about, make out buddies?" I gave him a hurt look and he sighed dramatically. "Okay, I'm your boyfriend." He grinned. "For all intents and purposes, I have been treating you like a girlfriend for years, I just didn't realise it. At least, now I get to enjoy the perks."

"May I ask what prompted this change?"

"I couldn't resist your wiles anymore."

I blinked. "My what?"

"I couldn't resist you anymore," he amended.

"Truly?" My heart fluttered at his admission.

"Are you kidding me?" he said incredulously. "That thing you did in the closet… you sidled up to me, all sexy and seductive and it was the hottest damn thing I've ever seen. All I wanted to do was kiss you senseless."

That was a surprise. "Why did you not?"

He sighed and rubbed my belly. "Because I didn't want our first kiss to be in a closet, when I couldn't touch you, and the rest of the Titans were egging us on. It wasn't right and I think you would have regretted it. I heard what you said about the first kiss, I wanted to give you that. Hardest thing I ever had to do, saying no to you then. If I hadn't been bound, maybe things would have turned out different, but I don't know, I kind of like this way better."

I felt fuzzy, dazzled. Remarkably happy. "As do I."

He grinned at me. "You have to do that again for me one day. Especially the 'kiss me, you fool'."

I giggled at his eagerness. "Perhaps one day."

Robin leant in close to me and smiled. "You are very hard to resist."

"And yet, you managed to, for many years now." I winced, I truly had not intended to question him any further.

Robin sighed and rolled onto his back. He clasped his hands together on his chest. "I'm stupid, okay?"

I turned onto my side and placed my arm in a triangle so I could rest my head on my palm, placing my other hand on top of his. "I do not believe that."

"Then what do you believe?" he asked.

I considered, the little things Robin had mentioned adding up. I spoke slowly, trying to put my thoughts into words. "I believe you do not express feelings well. I believe that you were offering yourself up to what you believed I wanted and no more. You were content thinking that Tamaranians did not kiss and used touch to show our affection and gave me what you could. When you discovered that I wished for the kiss, I believe it may have scared you, because that is human affection and if you were to give me that, you could have to confront what you felt for me. Not an easy thing for you to do."

Robin stared at me. "Wow. Very astute. By the time I figured that out, you'd stopped touching me, and I couldn't kiss you because it would have been for the wrong reasons. I just wanted us to… stop being stupid for a while and remember what we were like as friends. And really, I hadn't expected a perfect opportunity like that to present itself so quick, but I wasn't going to let you slip away again."

I giggled and sighed. "That was a perfect moment."

"Better than trapped under an avalanche? Or in a closet?"

I nodded. "Much."

Robin grinned, then sobered. "There were other factors too, you know. I'm going to be terrified for you in battle for a while, even though I know you can handle it. I'm always going to be worried that people like Slade are going to use you against me. Just… bare with me, okay?"

I nodded. "I had thought the Batman and his rules may also have been instrumental."

Robin slipped a hand out from under mine to rub his face. "Yeah, you could say that. Him and his stupid rules, never date a teammate, never reveal your secret identity, everyone's a liability, blah blah blah."

"That is a hard way to live."

"Except, he breaks his own rules all the time. Catwoman for example. Really, he just doesn't want me to share who I am because it leads back to him, and he's scared I'll blow his secret."

"Robin—"

"I hate that I can't share who I am with you."

"You are my Robin," I said. "That is all I need to know."

"My Robin, huh? I like the sound of that." Robin reached up and cupped my face with a hand. "You've already corrupted me, the excuses don't matter anymore. Can I just kiss you again?"

"I can have more?" I gasped, teasing him. "It was not just to be the once?"

Robin chuckled and kissed me.

He was just as eager for me as before, perhaps even more so. His kiss was more passionate, stronger, like he could devour me. He pushed up toward me, our chests crushed together as he rolled us. He pressed a leg in between mine as our tongues stroked together. It was almost as though he felt he had two years worth of kisses to make up for, which was good. I was more than ready for them.

His hand went straight back to my ribcage and toyed with the hem of my top. I entwined my arms around him, one hand on his hip while my other stroked the base of his neck, teasing his hair.

Robin splayed his hand on my chest, his fingers following the bones of my ribs while his thumb made tiny strokes under my shirt. I smiled into his lips, fully aware of what he was doing, and glad it was happening to me, finally.

His shirt rode up his back and, feeling daring, I slipped the hand from his waist under to clasp his bare lower back. He twitched and chuckled against my lips, his laughter turning into a small, contented moan.

My skirt bunched around my hips from the gentle caresses and slight shifts our bodies made against each other. I was caught up in sensation and Robin and it was a wonderful place to be.

Finally, his hand crept upward and, truly, I did not mind.

Raven was right. It was not the first kiss that mattered, but the second, and every one after that.

That's all folks. I wanted to do more, but, well… you know how I can't resist the angst, the death, the gore and blood and stuff. Kater kept me from that, in her own words: "I was all 'no no Kry, lookit the shiny fluff! lookit! treat! bad Kry! no angst!'"

So, there we have it. Nice, shiny, burning fluff.

I do have a plotline that may one day be covered which will relate to Touch, but I don't know if I'll do it. Yet. The hammer was dropping after the kiss, but it didn't quite fit with the fluffiness of Touch. But lookit, it's all set up for something… -tease-

I'm back working on my novels with vigour, which is what I wanted. So we'll see.

It was nice visiting for a while, you wouldn't believe how much I've missed the Titans. Thanks for sticking around!

Oh! Also, put Katergator on Author Alert, if you haven't already. We've done another small 'project', and she'll be posting it this time. Should be out soonish, once we get our act together.

Cheers
Kry.

Edit: To person who loved your story: Well, frick. Learn something new everyday! Changed.

EDIT 2: Sequel to Touch is up. "Masks" is an M, read at own risk.