DISCLAIMER: Much to my chagrin, I don't own any of these characters. Property of SHED Productions.
CHALLENGE: Written for the first International Day of Femslash.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
SPOILERS: Sometime after "Coming Out"
Tumble
By coolbyrne
She stood in the doorway, hair at all angles and eyes half closed. Looking at the sleeping form of her girlfriend sitting precariously on a wooden stool and leaning awkwardly against the dryer, she stepped forward, and lightly touching the sleeper's shoulder, whispered, "Helen."
The Scot jerked her head up from the porcelain surface. "Hmmm?" she asked in an automatic mumble. Her brain slowly catching up, she rubbed her eyes and look around in sleepy confusion. It was when her gaze caught a glimpse of Nikki that she gave a lopsided smile. "Hey. What you doing up?"
"I was just about to ask you something similar."
"I couldn't sleep."
Nikki had enough energy to raise an eyebrow. "So you thought you'd do some laundry. At three in the morning?"
Helen chuckled and ran her hands through her hair. "I find the dryer very soothing." She frowned. "Did I wake you?"
"No," Nikki shook her head. "I mean, the dryer didn't wake me. Two months out of Larkhall and I've still got my Helen proximity device on." When Helen tilted her head in wonder, Nikki smiled. "I'm still embarrassingly clingy, I'm afraid. Whenever you're not around, my heart wonders where you've gone to. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll outgrow it."
Helen reached out to touch the other woman's arm. "I hope you won't."
Nikki smiled and gently tucked a strand of hair behind Helen's ear. "Nervous about the interview tomorrow?"
"No. Yes. Yes, I'm nervous," she confessed. "I've got the qualifications and the experience, but I could always be missing something."
"You're not missing anything. You're perfect."
"And you're biased."
Nikki bent forward and lightly kissed Helen on the lips. "Maybe. A little." When Helen curled her hand around Nikki's arm to deepen the kiss, the brunette whispered, "Come back to bed."
"I can't," Helen said. "I'll just lie there, staring up at the ceiling and playing out every possible scenario until morning."
"I'm sure I could come up with a few things that would keep your mind occupied."
Helen playfully slapped Nikki's rear. "Cheek."
"Well, if you're not coming back to bed, let me sit down." She gently pulled the smaller woman to her feet.
Helen didn't have the energy to fight, though she managed to blurt, "What are you doing?"
"I've got the longer legs," the brunette explained as if it was obvious. "I'll sit, then you sit right here." As she spoke, she placed her hands on Helen's hips and guided the Scot until she straddled Nikki's lap.
The T-shirt that hadn't met her knees when she was sitting properly covered even less skin in her newfound position. "My legs will get cold," Helen protested weakly before wrapping her arms around Nikki's shoulders and burying her head in the crook of Nikki's neck.
"It's practically tropical in here," the ex-con contradicted. She was right- the room barely fit the washer and dryer, leaving just enough room for a small folding table and stool. The thrum of the dryer radiated a steady warmth which was partially responsible for Helen falling asleep in the first place.
Despite the woman's unfounded complaint, Nikki rubbed her hands back and forth along Helen's thighs from knee to hip and back again. As she performed this duty, she asked, "Better?"
An affirmative muffled mumble was the reply. Chuckling, Nikki continued her task and swept leisurely up and down the silky expanse of Helen's legs, circling round the knee and up again, grazing the crease where panties met the pelvic bone, and back down again. She continued this for several minutes, and the woman in her arms was so still that she wondered if Helen had fallen asleep. It was the warmth of the Scot's mouth on her neck that told her otherwise, and she gasped softly when she felt the gentle bite of the tendon between eager teeth. Nikki turned her head to return the favour and Helen leaned back.
"Ah," Helen resisted.
"What?"
"I've got a job interview in the morning. I don't think it would do much for my prospects if I showed up covered in hickies."
"You've got a roll-neck you can wear," Nikki said as she moved forward.
"No, I said," Helen repeated with a smile.
"How come you can mark me up all you like, then?"
Helen kissed the tip of Nikki's nose. "Because your job is in dim nightclub. No one can see it." She returned to the small red welt she had left on Nikki's neck and sucked it into her mouth again. After kissing it gently, she whispered in Nikki's ear, "Besides, I've seen the looks you get in that club. I need to stake my claim."
"Property of Helen Stewart, is that it?"
"Exactly."
Nikki chuckled again. "Carry on then, my mistress."
Helen leaned back and widened her eyes. "I like the sound of that!" she winked before kissing a smiling Nikki on the mouth.
Lips parted to invite tongues that were at once both soft and rough as they grazed against one another in a vain attempt to delay the inevitable hunger. Helen's fingers tightly gripped Nikki's short dark hair into fists and lips pressed almost painfully against teeth as they tried to get impossibly closer. While their lovemaking had many moments of tenderness, it was still often overwhelmed by hurried need, neither one yet used to the idea of Nikki being free. No longer using firm strokes, Nikki skimmed fingertips over Helen's legs and dipped down to the sensitive skin of her inner thighs, causing the smaller woman to moan and shift on Nikki's lap. When her knuckles brushed across the thin fabric that separated Nikki's touch from Helen's clit, the Scot jumped, and if possible, gripped Nikki's hair even tighter.
"Don't tease," Helen ordered against the brunette's mouth.
"As you wish," Nikki smirked, feigning obedience, and curling her hands under Helen's thighs, she stood up. With less grace than she would have liked, she set Helen on top of the dryer.
"What…"
"Shhh," Nikki admonished as she leaned forward to kiss Helen. Her hands planted on either side of her girlfriend, she pulled back and hummed. "Mmmm, you're right. The rumble of the dryer is quite soothing." She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of the gentle vibrations dance up her arms. "Very nice." Opening her eyes once more, she looked straight into Helen's amused gaze. "But not as nice as this," she said as she kissed her again. When Helen raised her hands to find their place in Nikki's hair, the brunette stopped her, and placing them at the woman's side, held them captive between the dryer and her hands. "Just close your eyes and enjoy," Nikki whispered.
Doing as she was told, Helen closed her eyes. The first thing she felt was the warmth of Nikki's breath against her cheek. The second was the warmth of the dryer seeping into her palms. The third was a bit more unexpected- while she wasn't surprised to feel the same gentle vibrations roll up her arms that Nikki had felt, she wasn't prepared for those same tremors to pulse through her thighs and find their way to her clit.
Nikki took a moment from trailing kisses along Helen's jaw to remark, "Mmm, looks like someone's found a sensation they like." Helen's only response was a throaty hum and a crooked grin.
Shaking her head in amusement, Nikki carried on, nipping Helen's chin and moving south. Lips dusted the skin above the collar of the T-shirt, and she blew a cool breath into the hollow of Helen's throat where the collarbones faced but never met. Removing her hands from Helen's, Nikki slipped them under the grey fleece of the shirt and cupped Helen's breasts possessively. Dipping her head, she captured a nipple through the garment and sucked it into her mouth, leaving the fabric dark and moist. She repeated this on the other breast before covering them with her palms and gently squeezing. Helen's head tilted back, her hair falling softly away from her shoulders, her neck exposed and her lips parted.
Raising her arms, Nikki brought the shirt up to Helen's shoulders and over her head until it slid down Helen's arms where it was cast aside. In the single light of the room, Helen's body glowed a deep bronze and Nikki drank in the sight.
"God," she moaned. Standing between Helen's open legs, Nikki cradled the woman's cheek in her hand and outlined her mouth with her thumb. With a heavy-lidded gaze, Nikki watched as Helen held the bold tracer between her teeth and lavished it with her warm tongue until Nikki replaced it with her mouth. A quick taste was all Nikki allowed herself before she pulled back and slowly drew her fingertips down Helen's neck and between Helen's breasts, achingly avoiding the arch of the Scot's back and hard nipples.
She smiled when her fingertips circled Helen's navel, causing the unsuspecting woman to twitch. In their two months together, Nikki had mapped out every curve and line of her love, and knew this was a particularly sensitive spot. Not wanting to break the spell of the moment, she moved even farther down, until her fingers were underneath the elastic of Helen's panties.
"Up," she commanded and Helen obeyed, using her hands to lift slightly from the dryer while Nikki slipped the panties around the curve of her hips and down her legs. The scrape of the stool seemed incredibly loud in the quiet room as Nikki dragged it over and sat down. Spreading her thighs to accommodate the obstacle of the dryer, she tried to ignore the throbbing between her legs and the hyper-sensitivity of her clit that reacted to the simple act of panties stretching over the hard tip as she opened her legs.
Gently hooking Helen's legs over her shoulders, Nikki kissed the inside of Helen's knees before drawing a lazy trail along an inner thigh with the tip of her tongue, pausing every inch or so to mark her place with a kiss. The vibrations of the dryer were such that Nikki could feel them against her mouth as she continued towards Helen's center. Even in the low light of the room, Nikki could see the glistening moisture pooling between Helen's legs, and the dark curls of her pubic hair damp with anticipation. She blew a cool air across the sensitive area and the contrast of temperatures made Helen moan.
"What did I tell you about teasing?" she admonished breathlessly.
Rather than reply, Nikki parted Helen with gentle fingers and deftly captured the woman's clit in her mouth.
Helen's moan intensified and echoed off the walls. "Yes."
The feel of Helen's heels pressing into her back and Nikki's own eagerness to please drew the brunette's willing mouth closer, sinking deeper into the supple flesh and reducing Helen's responses to soft mewls and sharp gasps. Not content with the devoted attention of her tongue, Nikki slowly slid two long fingers into Helen's wetness.
"Oh-"
"Yes, my darling," Nikki hummed against her.
"Oh-" the Scot repeated as she tilted her hips forward, oblivious to the panel of the dryer that dug across her back. With forearms straining, she wantonly pushed into Nikki's mouth, gyrating without rhythm or grace, with no purpose other than to get closer. Nikki slipped her free hand underneath Helen and pressed her palm against the woman's tail bone, lifting her higher. "Ye-" her encouragement catching in her throat as every muscle in her body tightened. Her mind was swimming at the sensations- Nikki's mouth as it drove her to the edge, the ex-con's fingers pushing deep and retreating, pushing deep and retreating, and the constant thrum of the dryer that worked in tandem with Nikki's talented skill sending heat and vibrations throughout her body.
Nikki took a moment to look up at the view above her and moaned. The light caressed the soft curves of Helen's shoulders, her breasts, and her hips. Her body was a perfect bow as her back arched, her nipples hard and dark, and a small trickle of sweat beading between her breasts. A small line of concentration formed between her brows as she struggled to stay in the moment, while her body wanted nothing more than to let go. When Nikki's tongue swept across the tip of Helen's hard clit, the struggle was over and her body won out. Her legs closed around Nikki's neck and her body held completely motionless for the briefest moment before the trembling wave spread out from her center, like a stone dropped in a still pond. Her hips jerked in a stuttering response and a moan flowed from her throat, at first short and full of volume, then gradually lowering to a long, soft sigh of contentment.
Slowly, the heart returned its normal pace and her muscles relaxed so completely that she fell limp against the back of the dryer, and her legs slid off Nikki's shoulders. Nikki's hand, still wet from Helen, gently guided one leg down and then with her other hand, caressed their way up Helen's back and drew the small woman to her. Helen, exhausted from a culmination of the moment as well as her lack of sleep, collapsed into Nikki's arms.
Nikki kissed Helen's temple, damp from the exertion and the heat, and whispered, "My love."
"Take me to bed."
Refraining from responding with a quip, Nikki simply answered, "Yes."
With some help from the limp woman, Nikki wrapped her arms around Helen's waist and turned off the light with her shoulder. They made their way down the hall to the bedroom, lightly bumping into the walls and chuckling to each other.
"My legs are still wobbly from the dryer," Helen said.
Nikki nuzzled against the shorter woman's ear. "I would have hoped they'd be wobbly for another reason."
"Maybe," Helen admitted, then turned her head to kiss Nikki. "Most definitely."
When they reached the bed, Nikki leaned down and pulled the sheets aside. Guiding Helen down, she nudged her over and climbed in behind her before pulling the blankets over them. As the two women leisurely pressed their bodies together and entwined their limbs, Helen mumbled, "I think you should do the laundry tomorrow night, yeah?"
Nikki smiled into the woman's hair. "Maybe. Most definitely."
The End