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It wasn’t often that Karen had the office entirely to herself, but on the rare occasion she did, she took full advantage. She slipped her heels off under her desk and opened Spotify on her laptop, feeling herself relax as Hozier’s voice came through her speakers. When all three of them were in the office, they could never agree on music, which usually resulted in not listening to anything at all. And volume was always an issue for Matt. What she and Foggy considered a reasonable volume might as well have been front row seats at a heavy metal concert for him. She smiled, thinking of her boyfriend’s extremely sensitive ears. She took a swig of coffee, draining what was left in her mug, and opened Amazon on her browser.
One of the other perks of having the office to herself: she could shop for a vibrator in peace.
“Who knew there were so many types of vibrators?” she muttered, raising her eyes at one called ‘The Rabbit’. She clicked on the description, scanning the multiple five-star reviews.
She hovered her mouse over the “buy now with one click” button when she heard the door creak open. She glanced at the time; it had to be Foggy. It was way too early for Matt to be back, he’d be in court for a while yet.
“Karen! I’m baaaack” Foggy bellowed. He had had a deposition that morning, followed by lunch with Marci.
“In here!” she called. “How did it go?”, she asked when Foggy appeared in her doorway.
“Awesome. Rico’s makes a mean pasta primavera,” Foggy said, crossing the room to sit in the chair on the other side of her desk.
Karen rolled her eyes as she giggled. “I mean the deposition. But good to know about the pasta primavera.” She went to take another sip of coffee, forgetting her mug was empty.
“If you have a minute, stay in here. We have to go over a couple of things on the Ames case. You want some coffee?” she asked him.
“Nah, I’m good.”
“More for me.”
Foggy muttered something under his breath that she ignored.
Karen refilled her coffee and was adding some cream when Foggy called out that he was stealing some of her Post-It notes.
“You know, you could just get some from the supply cabinet. Which is closer to your office than mine.” Karen reminded him as she reentered her office
“Whoa, Karen, a vibrator? Murdock not getting the job done?” Foggy started cracking up as he took note of her monitor as he rummaged through her top drawer.
“Christ” Karen muttered, immediately slamming her laptop shut.
“Hey, my lips are sealed. For my own ego, I am very glad to know this though, I have to say.”
Karen set her coffee down and buried her head in her hands.
“No, it’s not-it’s not normally needed.”
That was the understatement to end all understatements. To say Matt Murdock was the best lover she had ever had was putting it mildly. Matt’s skills in the bedroom were definitely not the issue. At all. The issue was that these days she wasn’t getting much access to Matt’s, uh, rabbit. He hadn’t taken a night off from Daredevil-ing for weeks now and after how hot and heavy their relationship had been for the first couple of months, this sudden dry-spell was decidedly not fun. Hence, the vibrator. She needed something to tide her over until she could have the real thing. Which would hopefully be soon. Like, really, really soon.
“Okaaaay”, Foggy drug the word out. “I feel like I’m missing something.”
“It’s-oh, God. It’s fine, it’s just Matt has been so busy lately that we, uh, we haven’t been together in a while, so I just figured…” she gestured to her laptop.
“OK.” Foggy gave a quick shake of his head. “I know I’m going to regret asking this, but how long is ‘a while’”? He asked.
“Um, almost three weeks.”
“Seriously? How is that even possible?”
That was something she had been asking herself on a daily basis. “I don’t know, Foggy. You know how bad it’s been out there lately. He’s so busy, and I know he’s exhausted.”
“Karen, have you talked to him about this? I think he’d wa-”
“No. And I’m not going to.” Karen said firmly, cutting him off.
“Can I ask why?” Foggy asked gently.
“Because I don’t want to make a big deal out of it! What would I even say, ‘honey, before you go beat up criminals, would you mind fucking me senseless first?’ And he’s so tired when he gets home…he’s got enough pressure right now; I don’t want him to stress about trying to make time for me.”
There were a few nights she had stayed over at his place and had been asleep in his bed when he had finally stumbled home. The first night she had been naked under the covers, thinking he’d take the hint, but he had been in bad need of a patch job, and had been in so much pain she didn’t think he had even noticed her scrambling to throw a t-shirt on when she had gotten up to help him. The second time, she had left her underwear and tank top on, still very much hoping he’d get the hint, but he went straight for the shower upon getting home, and had fallen into bed with such a heavy thud that he was asleep about ten seconds after his head had hit his pillow.
“As much as I regret getting involved, and believe me, I do, can I put my two cents in?” Foggy asked.
Karen gave him a brief nod.
“I think you should talk to him about it. You know how caught up Matt gets, he probably doesn’t even realize it’s been this long.”
Karen tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, considering Foggy’s advice. She knew he meant well, but the last thing she wanted was to make Matt think she was asking him to choose her over Daredevil.
“Thanks Foggy, but it’s fine, honestly. Hopefully things will calm down soon, but until they do I’ll have the Rabbit to keep me company”, she told him.
Foggy closed his eyes and started rubbing his forehead. “Kill me. Kill me right now.” he pleaded to no one.
Karen playfully shoved him away from her desk, opened her laptop, and before she could change her mind, bought the vibrator.
***
Matt approached the building that housed the Nelson & Murdock and Page Investigations office and felt a sense of calm wash over him. Today’s arraignment hearing had devolved into chaos, and he had spent much of the afternoon trying to calm down their client’s hysterical mother.
He started up the stairs, his smile fading a little when he failed to detect Karen. It felt like they hadn’t seen much of each other lately, and whenever they were in the same place at the same time, they were never alone; Foggy was there, or a new client, or they were in court. She hadn’t slept over at his place lately either, and he couldn’t remember the last time they had actually had a meal together. They had only been together for a few months, and Matt had a niggling feeling that he was letting her down.
Matt called out a greeting to Foggy and headed for his office.
“Hey buddy”, Foggy dragged the word out as he entered Matt’s office. “How’d it go?”
Matt filled him in on the details of his afternoon. “The trial is set for the 24th.”
“OK, so we’ll discuss more Monday”, Foggy mused. “I’ll text Karen.”
“Oh-isn’t she-I, uh, I thought she would be in the office this afternoon”, he said somewhat sheepishly, that he didn’t know his girlfriend’s schedule.
“You just missed her; she was going to pull the documents we need for the Ames case, and then she mentioned something about meeting Ellison.”
“Oh”, Matt said, trying not to sound too disappointed.
Foggy made to leave Matt’s office, but he stopped halfway to the door.
“Is everything ok with you and Karen?”
Matt snapped to attention. “Yeah, fine”, he said a little defensively.
Foggy started to say something, but seemed to change his mind. “OK”, he said, with enough hesitation in his voice to indicate that he knew better.
“Wait a minute Foggy-why do you ask? Did Karen say something?”
Foggy let out a deep sigh. “Why do I get involved in these things?”, he muttered to himself.
Matt gulped. That was not at all promising. What exactly had Karen told him?
“Foggy”, he pleaded.
“OK, ok. Look, I really don’t want to go into details. Let’s just say I got the sense from Karen today that she’s feeling a little, uh, neglected lately. One area in particular. She said it’s been almost three weeks.”
“Oh.” was the only thing that came out of Matt’s mouth. “I-”, wait, when was the last time they had been together?
Matt leaned against his desk, lost in thought. Karen was discussing their sex life with Foggy? He had been going out every night lately, but how was it possible that much time had passed? And why hadn’t she said anything to him?
He wasn’t even aware he had voiced this last question aloud until Foggy let loose another deep sigh.
“She doesn’t want you to feel like you have to choose her over Daredevil.”
“What?”
“She said she knows crime has been really bad lately, and she doesn’t want to get in the way. I don’t know, she said something like her sexual needs aren’t important compared to that.”
Matt clenched his jaw. “I knew I would screw this up.” he mumbled.
“Matt, for what it’s worth, I don’t think you are screwing it up.” Foggy tried to reassure him.
“Clearly, I am Foggy, if she doesn’t think she can talk to me about it. If she honestly thinks she’s not important enough…”
“Look Matt, I don’t think this is as big a deal as you think it is. Karen is crazy about you. I think ultimately this just confirms how all-in she is to your relationship. She knows Daredevil is part of the deal”
“But I-” Matt cut himself off, frustrated with the whole thing. He hated that Karen didn’t think she could talk to him about this, he hated that she apparently was convinced Daredevil came before her, he hated himself for putting his girlfriend on the backburner in the first place, something he hadn’t even realized he was doing.
“I have to make this right.” Matt mumbled, running a hand over his jaw.
“One word of advice: flowers. I’ve found that Marci usually is much quicker to forgive if I give her flowers.”
“You must be spending a fortune on flowers.” Matt couldn’t resist needling his best friend.
“Hilarious. You should really consider a career as a comedian, Murdock.”
Matt sank into his chair as Foggy retreated back to his office, already lost in thought.
********************
Karen swallowed her last bite of ramen, and finished her glass of water before rinsing her dishes out and grabbed her laptop to go flop on her couch for the evening when there was a knock on the door.
She furrowed her brow; her vibrator wasn’t supposed to come until tomorrow, but maybe they had shipped it early? She felt a little thrill of anticipation as she went to check.
She opened the door, only to find Matt standing on the other side, nervously running a hand through his hair.
“Matt!”, she said, not even bothering to try to contain her excitement. He hadn’t been to her place since the insane crime streak started, but she was thrilled he had decided to stop by before going out. Maybe she could even get a quickie out of him before he had to go home to suit up.
“Come in”, she reached out to grab his hand, pulling him to her for a kiss. “I am very, very glad you’re here”, she murmured, peppering him with kisses. “I missed you.”
“Mmmmm, Matt moaned against her mouth. “I missed you too. And I, uh, thought I would stay the night”, he said.
“Really? You’re not going out?”, Karen asked, both thrilled and confused at the sudden upswing in her evening. Not that she was complaining.
“No. I could definitely use a night off. Oh, these are for you,” Matt said hurriedly, handing her a bouquet of flowers he had been hiding behind his back.
“Wow, thank you, they’re beautiful. What did I do to deserve…” Karen cut herself off when something began to dawn on her. The flowers and the fact that Matt looked guiltier than usual were pointing to one thing.
“Foggy talked to you, didn’t he?” she asked, taking the flowers from him and setting them on the counter.
Matt gulped and stood frozen in place, giving her her answer.
Karen walked back over to him, looping her arms around his neck. “Matt, this is very sweet, and I am so happy you’re here; believe me. But I understand if you need to go out tonight.” She kissed his neck, trying to ignore the fire that was starting to burn in her belly from being so close to him.
Matt wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. “Karen, the only thing I need to do tonight-no the only thing I want to do tonight is make love to you.” he said softly.
She felt herself go weak in the knees, and had no control over the smile that bloomed across her face. “Matt-”
“Karen, I am so sorry-”, he cut her off.
“You don’t have to apologize, it’s fine-”
“It’s not fine!’ Matt said firmly. “It’s not fine”, he repeated a little more softly. “Things have been really bad lately, yes, but that’s not an excuse-Karen, I love you so much, and I-”
“Hey”, Karen gently took his face in her hands and kissed him deeply, prompting moans from both of them.
“I love you too”, she told him.
“I didn’t mean to put you-put us, on the backburner, Karen, I’m so-”
Karen kissed him again. “You’re here now. Now shut up,” she whispered, smiling.
Matt laughed, and pulled her to him, lifting her up, and kissing her deeply. Karen wrapped her legs around his waist, never breaking the kiss as Matt somewhat clumsily guided them into Karen’s bedroom.
“I missed you” she murmured in between kisses, frantically undoing the buttons on his shirt as Matt deposited her on the bed. They briefly broke apart to help each other shed the rest of their clothes, and then Matt was pulling her down to the edge of the bed, running his hands up and down her legs, and Karen thought it was entirely possible she could come from his touch alone.
“I missed you too. God, I’m an idiot” Matt mumbled, placing soft kisses on her legs and knees before making his way up to the heat between her legs. Matt buried his face in her, and Karen felt like she was in a fever dream as Matt’s tongue circled her clit, so close, but purposely not hitting the sweet spot. He added two of his fingers, as his tongue went deeper and based on the pleased little grunts he was making, he was having just as good a time down there as she was. Until he crooked his finger, and Karen was soaring.
“Matt” she moaned, and collapsed back onto the bed, her entire body tingling.
Matt was placing sweet, tender kisses on the inside of her thighs while she caught her breath, and once she felt like she could move again, she reached down, softly tugging his arm to bring him up to her, and almost came again from the deliciously wicked grin he gave her.
“Come here”, she purred. Matt made his way up her body, kissing her belly, making sure to devote equal time to each of her breasts, before finally capturing her mouth in his.
“I need you inside me”, she whispered
“You’re so beautiful Karen”, he said, his voice rough as he buried his face in her neck.
Karen kissed him as she guided him into her. Matt gently moved a strand of her hair away from her face, and kissed her forehead, before he started moving, and he felt so good-so perfect-so right and it seemed like it was no time at all before she was whimpering his name (at least she thought she was; she had no idea if the sounds she was making were actual words), and Matt was grunting, and moving faster and telling her she felt like heaven, and then they were going over the edge together, and Karen had the very brief thought that a vibrator was all well and good, but it could never make her feel as good as Matt could.
****
Matt was exhausted, but in the best way possible. After another round of lovemaking, they were both completely spent, lying facing each other on their stomachs, and Matt was gently running his thumb in soft circles along her temple.
“Thank you for tonight.” Karen said softly.
Matt brought her closer to him, touching his forehead to hers. “I needed tonight just as much as you did.”, he told her. “Karen, I know I’ve said it a lot tonight, but I am so sorry. I’m going to do better about making time for us, I swear. I think that I’m just so used to being on my own, and not having to consider someone else’s needs…”, he let his voice trail off.
“I understand”, Karen said sleepily.
“I’m going to do better, Karen.”, he said again. “I’m going to make more time for us.”
She gave him a lazy smile, and snuggled in closer to him. “But I want you to call me out on it if this happens again. Promise?”, he asked softly, wrapping his arms around her.
“Promise.” Karen said, slow, and dreamy.
“You are so important to me, Karen. I love you so much.” he whispered, running his hand down her back.
She didn’t respond, and he smiled, realizing she had fallen asleep. He wasn’t sure how much of this conversation she would remember in the morning, but it didn’t matter. He would just keep proving it to her.