Fic: Soft as Butter, Kara/Laura, PG-13, mentions of child abuse, no-attacks AU

[lanalucy]

Belongs in The Healing Arts AU.

It's a bad time of year for Kara.

Thanks to newnumbertwo for beta and encouragement.

She’d been restless lately, but not because she wasn’t happy with Laura. Maybe because it was that time of year. This was the time of year her father had left. This was the time of year her mother had always been most...cranky.

Thing was, Kara was happy with Laura. So very happy. And she wanted to do something with Laura to express her love, her trust. Unfortunately, expressing her feelings had never come easy to Kara. It had been easier with Laura, to be sure, but still not easy.

A couple of weeks ago in bed, Laura had been holding Kara’s wrists together above her head, and Kara had freaked a little. She hadn’t been able to explain why it bothered her. Now she wanted to not only explain, but see if Laura could help her move past the bad memories from her childhood. Put them to rest.

She padded into Laura’s home office and sat on the couch with a book, pulling the afghan around her. She didn’t want to interrupt, and when Laura got to a good stopping place, she’d be right here, ready to talk to her. She looked over the top of her book at Laura. Her glasses were down at the tip of her nose, and she had the end of a pencil in her mouth. Gods, she looks so sexy! Kara squirmed in place, thinking about Laura in her schoolmarm glasses “disciplining” her fractious student. She’d never been into spanking for obvious reasons, but she had to admit the idea of Laura wearing those glasses and smacking her ass gave her a little thrill.

“Kara? Is something bothering you?”

Frak. Busted. “Um, no. Not really.”

“Did you need to talk to me about something?”

“Do you have time? I can wait until you’re done. I have a book.” She held it up, as if Laura hadn’t been able to see it before.

Laura got up and came over to the couch. “What is it, honey?”

Kara squirmed again. She loved it when Laura called her pet names. She’d always hated it with anyone else, but something about the way Laura said them….

“You remember a couple of weeks ago, when you were doing that thing?”

“Kara, honey. I’ve done a lot of “things” to you recently. You’ll have to be more specific.” She pushed her hair back with her glasses and pretended not to smile.

“Um, you know, when I sort of...freaked out?”

“Oh. That time. Yes, I remember. Are you ready to talk about it?”

Kara nodded. “I think so. Maybe.” She put the book down and reached her hands out to Laura, wrists together.

Laura took them, holding Kara’s hand between hers, very loosely. “Okay. Go on.”

“My mother was...mean. Vicious even, sometimes. Once when I was a kid, she tied me up and locked me in a closet overnight.” Kara was watching Laura’s face closely, which was the only reason she saw the way Laura’s eyes went to their joined hands and right back to Kara’s face. “I’ve never been able to handle any kind of...well, I guess you’ve noticed that I don’t wear a watch, or ever wear bracelets, or…” Kara trailed off, unsure how to finish.

“I’ve noticed.”

Kara noticed that Laura was being very careful with her, hadn’t even tried to hug her. “I want to - I don’t want to be scared of that with you. I know you’d never do anything like that, and I don’t know how to show you that I trust you not to hurt me.”

Laura pulled her glasses back down to her nose and put Kara’s hands back in her own lap. “Stay right there, honey. I’ll be right back.”

Kara was disappointed. She didn’t know what kind of reaction she’d expected, but this wasn’t it.

Laura came back into the room with a small box, something Kara’d seen in Laura’s bedside table recently. Laura sat back down and looked at the box in her lap before holding it out to Kara. “I did some research the next day, and though I wasn’t sure, I thought that when you were ready, you might tell me something like this. So I had these made for you.”

Kara took the box cautiously, wondering what in the worlds it could be. She opened the box to find two bracelets. Kara touched them with the tip of a finger. They weren’t just any bracelets. They were made of leather, braided beautifully, and they were as soft as butter. She held a wrist out to Laura.

Laura chose one of the bracelets and put it on Kara’s wrist. ‘You can wear this as much or as little as you like, until you get used to the feel of it against your skin. And maybe, someday when you’re ready, we can try out the other thing I had them make.”

Kara looked at Laura, her mouth slightly open and a flush of arousal rushing through her.

Laura shook her head, her eyes narrowing on Kara’s pulse. “You’re not ready yet. But if that’s your first response, you will be. And I will be honored to be the person you trust with that piece of yourself, Kara.”

Kara launched herself at Laura, kissing her fervently, accidentally overbalancing Laura into a reclining position against the other end of the couch. She pulled back, laying her head on Laura’s shoulder. “I want to do that with you. Make new memories. In the meantime…” She snaked a hand down Laura’s side, under her skirt and back up. “Maybe I can thank you properly for my lovely gifts.”

“Oh, it was my pleasure, Kara.”

“Well, it will be.” Kara raised her face up and grinned at Laura, just as she breached the leg of Laura’s panties.

---

Laura loved the feel of Kara’s hand caressing her toward orgasm. But what she really loved was that Kara was doing it with the hand wearing the bracelet.

Comments

[newnumbertwo.livejournal.com]

Yes! Sexy thank yous, understanding partners, and a wonderfully soft bracelet. Yum! I love the way you write Kara/Laura. ♥

[lucywritesfic.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

There'll be more, as you know. lol