The Corner

Kara

It comes and goes in waves, like always. I sat on the floor, surrounded by dog toys, dog beds, dog collars and a cute little puppy blanket with puppies all over it. I was excited, but then the weighted wave of everything settled in. I wasn’t normal, could I handle having a puppy? Something that depended on me for survival, when survival was a razors edge I tip toed along.

I bounced a fancy tennis ball with paw prints. Thinking about the day with Lena. The pure jealousy on her face when I brought up Sam and the few people who happened to cross my path. The unusual way it felt to recognize jealousy, the odd sense of relief. Lena never got jealous. She never wanted for anything as a Luthor, and they conditioned envy and a whole host of emotions out of her system. I spent the first few months of our relationship, showing it her it was okay to let go. Embrace the way it felt to feel things. Love, joy, envy, getting caught in the rain and running late for a class.

When I first saw her again, staring at me as I fumbled in the elevator at Catco, I wondered if my Lena had disappeared over the last ten years. The big smiles replaced with high heels and powersuits.

Then I saw the hint of jealousy. The way she clenched her jaw, the small scrunch of her forehead as she looked away from me. I chuckled, squeezing the tennis ball. As much as we both changed, the small foundations of what made me fall in love with her were still there. Waiting to be renovated, rebuilt.

I stood up, setting the dog bed on the edge of mine. Who was I fooling? Pepper would be sleeping with me, no matter how hard I tried to stick to my guns and Lena’s advice of properly crate training the little girl.

I sat down at my desk, staring out the window as the sun began to shift to late afternoon. I smiled, letting out a slow breath. “It comes and goes with waves.” This was the beginning of the life I should’ve had, the life I wanted but thought lost to a broken heart and a burning hatred for how much I loved Lena. Still loved her.

I let out another breath, opened my laptop and started digging in old files. The old Russian files. It was time to tell the world that story. Open that door to the shadows and let them out. I couldn’t let go and love Lena, if I didn’t fully start letting go.

Plus, I now had a fur baby to pay for.

XXXX

I heard the door open and click shut, I smiled, barely looking away from my laptop as I called after Lena. “Give me five more minutes. I had a thought and I want to finish it. Then I’m all yours.” I grinned when I heard her set down heavy bags filled with fragrant food. I typed quicker, hitting save at the last paragraph before spinning in the chair to face her. “I started outlining a book. I know it’s crazy, and who knows if I have the journalistic guts to write a book and not weekly articles. I have an idea to do a running timeline of my biggest cases, ending in Russia.” I stretched, hearing my back pop from sitting in the hard chair for too long.

“Kara.”

I stood up, tugging on the edge of my sweatshirt. “I know, I should change. Maybe this thing is too small.” I yanked the thing over my head, tossing it on the couch as I moved towards my closet for something else. “Remind me to do laundry tonight. I keep forgetting I have more than three shirts, and a washing machine right next to the bathroom.” I chuckled. “I’ll have to tell you about the time I washed my underwear in a bucket using river water in Thailand. My clothes were so soft.” I reached for an old soft blue linen button up that’d traveled the world with me. Slipping my arms in, I turned around, still rambling. “I checked the dress code for the restaurant. This should be good enough.” I looked up from my buttons.

Lena stood in front of me, holding a pink box with the lid open. She had a soft, nervous smile on her face. “Do you remember?” She paused, taking a steadying breath. “Do you remember that spring day in New York? We’d just finished finals and I’d been a wreck for weeks. Stressing out if I passed my geothermal phyics class.”

I nodded slowly. “I do. I helped you study and gave you space when you hid away in the library for days on end.” I shrugged. “God, that feels a thousand years ago. We were so young, so innocent.” I frowned as the past crept up.

“I was so in love with you, Kara.” Lena swallowed hard. “It hit me when I woke up from sleeping on my notes in the dark library. You’d snuck in, leaving me a sandwich and a cold coffee. A small heart and smiley face drawn on the side.”

I shrugged again. “It was a hot coffee. I didn’t have the heart to wake you. You looked too cute passed out, drooling on your formulas.” I gave her a look, looking past her at the food on the table. “Speaking of hot food, I smell a meatball sub.” I went towards the table, mildly thrown off by Lena speaking about the past.

“I didn’t know how to tell you. Feelings weren’t taught in the Luthor household. Just manners and being perfectly impenetrable to the feelings of those around you. And yet, the simple act of leaving me the note, and just being you, Kara. It broke apart the world as I knew it, and filled my body with a new sensation. Love.” Lena moved closer. “Almost eleven years ago, I stood in front of you, shaking as I am now, holding a box of doughnuts, asking you to love me as much as I loved you.” She peeled back the lid. “Even after ten years and a lifetime of experiences, I still love you, Kara Danvers. I’ve always loved you and this is my way of asking you, once more. Will you?”

I peered into the box, cocking an eyebrow. “Fill all my holes?” I smirked, reading the horrible frosted handwriting around each of the double chocolate doughnuts lining the box. “How very forward of you.”

Lena’s face turned a bright red as she spun the box around. “Oh. My. God.” She moved to the table, throwing the box down as she covered her face in embarrassment, mumbling against her hands.

I burst out laughing. “This is far better than the tiny candy hearts and the crooked I heart you, written on the glazed doughnuts from the cop coffee shop next to my old apartment.” I was still laughing as I reached into the box, picking up the doughnut. “You fill all my holes. Fill my holes. And oh my, stick your tongue in this hole.” Even I blushed at that one, smearing my finger over the frosting to smear away the words. “Lena.”

“I grabbed the wrong damn box. The stupid bakery told me they had a large bachelorette party order. I paid extra for them to rush mine first. Then Claire called about my arm.” She peeked between her fingers, blushing more at the sight of me taking a bite out of a doughnut. “It was meant to say…”

“I love you.” I licked my lips. “I’ve always loved you, Lena. The first day I met you, the day you gave me stale glazed doughnuts, to this exact moment over very dirty doughnuts. I love you.” I grinned, stepping closer, reaching for her hands. “Look at me.”

Lena groaned in embarrassment. “Kara.”

“Look at me?” She sighed, dropping her hands away. Her cheeks were still a dark pink. “Just say it. Whatever’s in your mind, say it.” I motioned to the pink box of pornographic pastries. “Even if it’s about your holes, just say it.”

Lena winced, blushing more. “Kara. I couldn’t figure out how to tell you the feelings trapped in my heart. I know things between us are still new, in a new discovery phase. But the only think I know, is how you make me feel, even after all these years. I wanted to recapture one of the most incredible moments of my life, confessing to you that’d I lost my heart to you and never wanted it back.” She swallowed hard. “I love you. I love you forever and this time I’m officially staking my claim. I love you, and I want this. I want to start over, I want to take the rocky roads with you and find you asleep at your desk, late at night and leave you a hot coffee with a smiley face. I want what I threw away ten years ago. You.”

She let out a slow breath, her hands shaky as she closed the lid on the pink box. “God, this is embarrassing.”

“Or perfectly us.” I moved closer, turning Lena to face me. “I realized a long time ago I wasn’t destined for a simple life. A solid home, a boring job, and a normal relationship.” I searched her big green eyes. “I’ve never been claimed before.”

Lena tipped her head down, shaking it. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

I slid my hand across her cheek, pulling her head up. “I like it. I can knock it off my bucket list. Being claimed by a beautiful woman.” I grinned, running my thumb over her skin. “I want this too.” I bent forward, brushing my lips over hers, waiting for the shuddering gasp before I kissed her. She kissed my back, her arm sliding around my waist to pull me closer. I smiled into the kiss as it deepened, feeling her hand slip under my shirt. Lena pressed her palm against my bare skin, making me gasp at the warmth of her hand. It’d been far too long since I’d felt the warmth of another, her warmth. I kissed her hard, pushing her against the small table the food sat on. Her hand moved to the waist of my jeans, her fingers tracing the top of my left hip, sending shivers up my spine. I flicked my eyes open, catching the doughnuts staring at me as if they were daring me. I broke the kiss, burying my face into her shoulder to catch my breath.

Lena breathed against my ear. “You’ve gotten much better at that.” She was breathless, her voice raspy.

I swallowed hard, lifting my head slowly, avoiding the doughnuts. “At what?”

“Kissing.” She leaned back, tracing my lips with her thumb. “You were always good, now you just take my breath away.” Her eyes were hazy, full of desire.

I shook my head, reaching behind her to slap the pink box closed. “Are you trying to seduce me, Ms. Luthor?” I stepped back, Lena’s hand pressed hard against my skin.

“Maybe.” She looked at my lips just as my stomach growled like an angry bear. She chuckled, moving her hand from my back to my stomach. “Let’s get you fed. I know you can barely function on an empty stomach.”

I blushed, kissing her once more before sidestepping out of her arms. Silently thanking my stomach for being the ultimate mood killer. I need to take a breath before I went too far with Lena, no matter how desperately I wanted to touch her. “Curse of my metabolism.” I opened the paper bags, catching Lena take a deep steadying breath. A sign I knew very well. It was her way of distracting herself from attacking me and dragging me to the bedroom. I smirked, somethings about Lena never changed. “Let’s eat and then you can help me figure out where to put Pepper’s bed.”

She turned to me, taking another breath as she moved to sit next to me. “To be honest, we both know after one night, she’ll be sleeping on your bed, probably sharing a pillow.” She smiled, reaching for the small bag of pickles I’d removed from the bag.

“Probably, but I’d like to start strong. Before I fall apart and let her have her way.”

Lena cocked an eyebrow. “Hmm. Are we just speaking about the dog?”

I gave her a wide eyed look, swallowing hard as I turned away from her to grab plates. The stupid pink bakery box, crying out to me. Between that and Lena’s flirting, I was losing my will to not to find out the things Lena was still good at, or had gotten better at.

It was going to be a long day.

XXXX

Lena

The tension of the afternoon, our kiss, faded away with the day. Leaving me with the warm feeling of being in love. Professing my love, and having it reciprocated. I almost felt like I was twenty four again, the whole world ahead of me.

I watched Kara, talking with her hands, more like rambling with her hands, over the remnants of our shared dessert at the restaurant. She was telling me about one of her first stories outside of a warzone. A simple interview with the then president of France. I remembered the article. It had torn open a scandal of the French president taking part of a diamond smuggling ring in South Africa. He was funneling tax payer money to a illegal mining company, and would reap the profits of selling raw blood diamonds. It had won her her first Pulitzer. An award she didn’t collect herself. She was sitting in a field hospital in Syria then, me hovering in the shadows, fearful.

“I ran into Allaire last year in Spain.” Kara poked at the mousse cake, spearing a large chunk. “He cursed me, threw a hot cup of tea in my lap. He’s broke and working for his ex-wife’s family tequila farm in the fields.” She shrugged. “Who knew my words could take down a legacy like that. France’s most popular president, now cutting up agave plants in the heat of a Spanish sun.”

I chuckled. “You mean France’s most popular ex-convict. He served six years in prison before cutting a deal and handing over his fortunes.” I gently pushed the plate towards her. “Eat the rest, I’m very full from the sweet potato hash.” I leaned back in the chair, taking in the hushed sounds of the restaurant, looking at Kara as she devoured the cake. A big dopey smile on her face. She was happy, a sight I wasn’t sure I would see so soon. I moved my arm, tugging on the sling.

“Are you okay? We can go. I keep talking and drawing this dinner date out.” Kara’s eyes fell to my sling.

“It’s fine. Just a little tender as the bots feed data back to my office.” I smiled. “I like you like this.”

“Chocolate mousse on my face? Rambling?” She wiped her mouth, reaching for another bite.

“Happy.” I rolled my eyes. “With chocolate on your face and rambling about your writing.” I paused, looking at my wine glass. “Thank you, Kara.”

She raised her eyebrows. “For what? You’re paying for this dinner.” She tapped the plate with her fork. “Why do you think I ordered the biggest dessert.” She grinned, taking another bite.

I laughed. “Weren’t you the one who asked me out?”

“Details, details.” Kara finished the cake, pushing the empty plate to the side. “If anything, I’m the one who should thank you.” Her face fell, her eyes turning a shade darker. “For, um, everything.”

I went to grab her hand when I heard my name wrapped in a familiar voice. “Lena Luthor?”

My stomach dropped at the sight of Sloane Atkinson sauntering over to our table. Caleb’s sister, and a one night stand mistake of pure weakness. I smiled tightly. “Sloane, hello.”

She bent down, kissing my cheek in a way that told me she still hadn’t let go of a nine year old drunken night. “I thought that was you!” She glanced at Kara, her grin faltering. She turned back to me. “Caleb told me you were in National City. I apologize I missed your gala, I was in Italy for the last few months.” She ran her eyes over me in an overtly seductive manner. “I’ve missed you, Lena.” Sloane and I had crossed paths over the years, usually at one of Caleb’s events or his office. I’d always avoided her like the plague after our night together. Id’ always regretting sleeping with her, more so when the fake news of Caleb’s and I engagement built up speed. She became unbearable, soaking up the media attention. It was one of the many reasons why I bought Catco years ago. To shut her up and muzzle the gossip of my life before Kara heard more lies.

I sighed, closing my eyes. “Sloane. It’s been years since we last spoke.” I opened them to Kara clenching her jaw, her hands curled into tight fists. “If you excuse me, I’m in the middle of dinner.”

She looked at Kara again. “Oh, is this your new flavor of the month?” Her words were spiked the smallest dabs of venom. Sloane was always a jealous woman. Even if her family was the fifth richest in the world, she always desire more, and the things others had. Kara huffed, shifting to sit up straighter in her chair as Sloane examined her. “She’s not exactly your type, from what I remember.”

Kara stood up from the table, throwing her napkin on the table. “Excuse me.” Her face showed her anger.

I reached for her. “Kara, wait.”

She held up her hands. “It’s fine.” She looked at Sloane. “You two should catch up, you look to be old friends. Close old friends.” She glanced at me with an icy stare, before walking away from the table.

Sloane rolled her eyes, moving to sit in Kara’s seat. “I thought you were over blondes after that one college fling you broke up with my brother over.” She reached for Kara’s half empty wine glass, taking a dramatic sip. She cringed at the taste. “This white is terrible.” She waved the waiter over. “I’ll get us a new bottle.”

I stood up, snatching my bag from the chair. “You’re still the childish fool, Sloane. Read the god damn room for once in your life.” I handed the waiter a stack of bills when he reached the table. “You always ruin things with your petty outlook on the world.” I smiled at the waiter, shoving the change he was trying to hand me back into his hand. “Your brother was, is better than you. And that woman, the so called flavor of the month? Is the love of my life, the college fling Caleb helped me find my way back to.” I turned to the waiter. “This woman isn’t a part of my party, feel free to clear the table and seat the next group.” I glanced at Sloane. “Stop chasing me, Sloane. It was one night eight years ago, and the entire time I only thought about Kara.” I winked, laughing at the look on Sloane’s face as she was gently ushered away from the table by the hostess.

Hustling through the packed dining room, I shoved the front door open, taking a deep breath of the night air. It was a beautiful night, cool and the sky was clear. Giving the city a perfect view of the constellations above. I looked down both sides of the street, hoping to spot Kara. I stood on my tip toes, hoping to catch her blonde hair in the distance. But there was nothing. I turned to the valet. “Have you seen a beautiful blonde, glasses, tall, and wearing an old blue shirt with frayed sleeves?”

The valet smiled, pointing to the right. “She ran that way. I tried to get her a car, but she waved me off. She tipped me five bucks before jogging down towards the LCorp building.” He looked at me, squinting at my face, putting two and two together. “Are you?”

I shoved a twenty in his chest. “I am and thank you.” I swung the bag over my shoulder, running in the direction Kara had gone.

I ran, my heart pounding as I searched the streets for Kara. I was scared, nervous Sloane had destroyed everything in mere seconds. I knew Kara had a jealous streak in her. Just as much of one as I had for her, but things were still very fragile between us. I ran until I reached the front door of my penthouse. The LCorp logo buring white high into the night sky. I let out a breath, trying to catch mine, fumbling in my bag for my phone. I tried Kara and was pushed straight to voicemail. I called Claire, she messaged me back she was in the middle of patient rounds and would call me after. I then stared at Alex’s contact, dreading calling her, until my finger tapped her icon before I could overthink it.

“You do know I’m an FBI agent. I could easily find something to incarcerate you on.” Alex’s voice was tense, making my stomach drop for the hundredth time in the last few minutes.

“Where is she? I need to talk to her. Sloane, is no one.” I rushed the words out, spinning around on the sidewalk, my eyes darting around to find Kara.

“I know. I pulled her file when Kara called me. The Atkinson family is a huge asset to our agency. Especially since Caleb linked up with you and saved my sister a few years ago. He told me there’s nothing there. Sloane just likes to embellish.” Alex paused. “Kara doesn’t handle jealousy well. She hates the feeling, and she’ll run when it creeps up on her. She told me she went home. Give her until the morning, Lena. The kid has only known fear and adrenaline for the last ten years.”

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “I can’t, Alex. I love her. I need her to know. I need her to know there will never be anyone else. Sloane was a mistake born out of too much scotch and a desperate need to feel anything.” I blinked back tears as Alex told me to take a deep breath and wait until morning. I hung up on her, making false promises I would leave Kara be. I walked into my building. I wanted to change my clothes before I went to Kara. Pull off the stink of Sloane’s heavy perfume.

I rounded the corner after stepping out of the elevator, rummaging for my keys when I looked up.

Kara sat on the floor in front of my door. Her head back against the door towards the ceiling, her eyes closed.

I stopped, staring at her as my heart raced. “Kara?”

Her jaw twitched as she rolled her head towards me, her eyes opening slowly. “I got jealous.” Her voice was low, a slight rasp to it.

I nodded, moving closer with my keys out. “I heard.” I spoke softly, trying to keep the emotion out of my own voice.

Kara stood up, taking my keys from hand, sliding the key into the lock before opening the door. “I don’t handle jealousy well.” She pushed the door open, letting me enter first.

I shook my head, setting my bag down on the small table next to the door, before moving towards the kitchen for water. “There’s nothing to be jealous of, Kara. Sloane is a blip in the past. A minor detail I cringe if I think too much about.”

Kara nodded, moving closer. “Maybe. It doesn’t excuse my behaviour.” She leaned against the marble island. Staring at the floor, fidgeting with her glasses.

I grabbed two glasses, filling them with water before setting one next to her hand. “Alex said you went home.”

“I was on my way home.” Kara slowly spun the glass with her fingers, her eyes locked on the tiny ripples of water she created. The kitchen was dimly lit, but there was enough light I see her shoulders tense up with each spin of the glass. Kara was nervous, still angry at herself, but when she looked in my eyes, I saw nothing but trust. Trust and love. “Then it hit me.” She stepped closer into my space, her hand drifting away from the glass before it moved to my face. Her thumb smoothing over my cheek. “You’re my home now, Lena.” She leaned in, her hand now cradling the edge of my jaw as she kissed me. I leaned into the kiss, kissing her back with fervor.

I burned into the kiss, melting with every breath in between kissing her. I felt her jealousy, I felt her need, I felt her love for me. I kissed her back with as much passion, pouring my fear, my need, and my love into it.

I felt a hand fall to my hip, squeezing it as she part from my lips. She looked at me with dark blue eyes, hooded and full of desire. She looked at me like I was a long lost meal she intended to devour. She swallowed hard, licking her lips. “Lena.”

I nodded, swallowing hard a few times to catch my breath and slow my racing heart. “Please.” I closed my eyes, leaning my forehead against hers. “Please, Kara.”

She hummed a soft whimper before grabbing my hands and tugging me towards my bedroom. I let out a shaky breath, letting her lead me as my body tremored with what was about to happen. I felt like a kid again, sneaking through darkened halls of Kara’s old apartment building, the sounds of the city engulfing us, providing an edgy soundtrack to our first night together.

My bedroom lit up with the ambient moonlight I’d set for this hour of the day. Casting a dim evening sun glow across my messy bed. I’d forgotten to make it, too in a hurry to get to the morning meetings, then to change and meet Kara for lunch.

I wanted to pause, make an excuse for the mess when Kara’s hands slid to my ribs, her fingers dragging against the soft fabric of the t-shirt I wore. I leaned into her touch, finding her mouth, kissing her as I shook my arm out of the restrictive simple sling. I tossed it behind me, wincing at small ache in my elbow. Kara leaned back. “Are you okay? We can stop, have some tea.” She rasped the words out, her eyes darker than before.

I grinned, laughing nervously. “Fuck tea, and fuck my arm. I can fix it in the morning or remove it completely.” I ran the back of my hand across Kara’s cheek. “I’ve waited an eternity for this. For you.”

Kara closed her eyes. “We can stop.”

I leaned forward, kissing her until she opened her eyes. “Or we can start again.” I moved my hands to her sides, before moving them to buttons on her shirt. I quickly unbuttoned her shirt, pushing it over her shoulders and off. I then slid my hands under the thin t-shirt she wore, sighing at the way her skin still felt after ten years. Warm and smooth. My fingers grazed her scars, but I didn’t linger when she flinched, I only pulled her closer. I grabbed her hands, guiding them to the edge of my blouse as I raised my arms in silent permission.

Kara picked up the hint, practically tearing my shirt off, pressing our bodies together as her hands moved to my bra, removing that just as quickly. She leaned back, licking her lips as she looked over my body. “You’re still perfect.”

I blushed as her hand moved up my side to cup the underside of my breast. Her thumb grazing my nipple. I sucked in a breath, my hips bucking into her at the electricity her thumb sent through my body. A low heat coiling in my belly, wanting more.

Kara grinned, moving us to the bed, laying me down as she took of her bra. She crawled onto the bed, her leg slipping between mine as she ran a hand across my bare stomach, settling at the button of my jeans. I shook my head as she looked for silent permission, and reached for her jeans, leaning up to greedily kiss her as we both tugged at buttons and zippers.

I almost came at the feeling of my jeans being pulled down my thighs with my underwear, Kara’s soft touch leaving trails of fire. For a moment, Kara held herself up, her eyes roaming over my body as if I was a forgotten text she craved to learn again. I closed my eyes, overwhelmed by the feeling her gaze filled in me. Then I felt her body press flush with mine, and I opened my eyes. We still fit together, we still felt right. As if ten years hadn’t passed and yet at the same time, an eternity had passed between us.

Kara pressed her thigh between my legs, and I almost jumped off the bed. A deep, low moan fell from my lips as my hands found purchase on Kara’s back, wanting more. Kara’s lips found mine, swallowing the desperate moans as she moved against me, pulling apart my strings. Her hands roamed freely, rediscovering my body and the old places that whittled me to a pile of rubber.

Kara rocked her hips into me with dedicated control, my mind went blank, void to anything other than the need for more. I matched her rhythm, rocking my own hips to have more of Kara. When her hands found my breasts again, her thumb rolling over my nipple, I found myself whispering against her mouth. “I want you. I need you. All of you.”

Kara met my eyes, nodding as licked her lips. Her hand drifted from my chest, moving to palm in between my legs. I let out a soft whimper at her touch. Kara looked down, her fingers tracing the edges, skimming over where I needed her most. I could feel how wet I was, I could feel the heat from her fingers. I lifted my hips, asking her to put me out of my misery. She smirked, shaking her head as she continued to tease me. I ran my hands through my hair, fighting the urge to grab hers and force her to take me.

Just as I went to do that exact thing, I felt Kara press a finger inside, taking all of my breath at the sensation. I closed my eyes as I moaned out a request for more. I arched my back when I felt the delicate stretch of Kara’s fingers. I raised my hips, my hands falling to Kara’s back as she gave a few slow thrusts, watching me slip apart under her. She leaned down, kissing me as she used her hips to press deeper, harder, faster. Pulling me apart in every delicious way.

I ran my hands up her back, down to her ass, and back again. Clutching for more as she shifted, grinding herself on my hip, breathlessly moaning against my lips as she used her weight to thrust harder. Her thumb ran tight circles over my clit, pushing me closer and closer to the edge. I bit her bottom lip to slow her down, and slow my body down. I wanted this to last. This second first time.

I drifted my eyes to my thigh, Kara was pressed against it, moving erratically as she sought out some relief. I pushed her up, moving my hand in-between us, sinking my fingers into her wet heat. I watched as she froze, gasping at the sensation. I kissed her, nipping her bottom lip as I murmured against her lips. “Let go. Let go with me.” I kissed her again, running my thumb over her clit. Kara shuddered, thrusted into me one more time hard enough to push me over the edge with her.

Her name cascaded out of my mouth when the white hot heat of pleasure exploded through my body. I arched off the bed and deeper into Kara, crying out her name as she buried her face into my shoulder. I could feel Kara as she came, the flutter of her orgasm possessively squeezing my fingers. I fell back onto the bed, panting as my vision faded away from black. I felt Kara lay her forehead on my chest, soft kisses pressed to the side of my breast as she caught her breath. Her legs were shaking as she gently slid her fingers free from me. I shuddered at the sensation, my body immediately wanting more.

I looked down. Kara was still breathing heavily, her body shivering. I ran a hand across her back, whispering. “Kara?”

She looked up, propping her chin on my sternum. Her eyes were filled with tears. I went to reach for her when she shook her head. “I’m fine.” She looked at me, smiling. “I just need a moment. It’s been a minute since I did that.”

I smiled, gently tugging her up so I could kiss her. “It’s been two thousand, nine hundred and nineteen days since I did that.” I rolled us over, looking down at Kara. “I hope…”

She pressed two fingers against my lips to shush me. “You did ask me to fill your holes.” She grinned as I groaned. She laughed, kissing me before pulling me lay against her chest. “Can we take a little nap? Then I’ll get back to filling your…”

“Don’t you dare say it.” I covered her mouth with my hand, resting my head against her chest, right over her heart. I then grabbed the duvet, pulling it up over us as Kara giggled, her cheeks read with embarrassment and afterglow. I ran my hand over her stomach, feeling the small ridges of her scars. “I love you, Kara. You know that?”

I felt her kiss the top of my head. “I think I’ve always known it. Just too stubborn to listen to my heart over the years.” She cradled me closer. “Nap now. I’m not as young as I used to be. But when I wake up, I’ll be filling more of those….”

“Kara!” I slapped my hand over her mouth, watching her fall into a full giggling fit. I shook my head, moving my hand away to kiss her.

The nap was quickly forgotten when I moved down her body, settling between her legs as I covered her with my mouth. We might not be as young as we used to be, but I had a lot of time to make up for. Naps be damned.