Friday Evening, Part Two - NSFW

[brambless]

Nuzzling Tara's skin, probably the one word that would describe her best at this moment is sated. Every move she makes, all of her expressions communicate that in a way far more eloquent than words ever could manage. "Just let me know when you're ready for me to move, baby, okay?" She asks softly, though she's still not in any sort of a hurry. She would be quite content to stay like this for as long as it would be comfortable for her wife and herself.

Moving? No. Moving bad. "Mmmnnn," she says, brow furrowing in negation. Speech will return in its own time. On the other hand, the advantage in Shane moving would be that it would free her to come up and snuggle and kiss. Which would be good, too...

She doesn't need to look up to hear the implied 'no' there, so she just chuckles. "Okay," she purrs softly. "Whatever you want, love..."

"Mmmmm," Tara hums again, the sated smile returning to her lips as she gazes down at her wife. Slowly, feeling as though her arm is moving through molasses, Tara lifts her hand and rests it on Shane's head, her fingers half-curling in a lazy caress.

Shane tips her head to one side just slightly, the sweet smile lingering on her lips. She's surprised that Tara can move so soon. "I wonder how long it'll take you to recover," she wonders out loud, a faintly teasing hint in her voice.

If she could, Tara would raise an eyebrow, but gross motor control is far easier than fine motor control, and complex facial expressions are going to have to wait. "Mmm?" she questions, making the best use of her single-sounded communication.

Letting out a low chuckle, Shane ducks her head, pressing a kiss to Tara's stomach. "I'd like you to do that to me, too... when you feel up to it," she murmurs quietly.

"Oooh!" Tara says, discovering another sound she's capable of making, and her fingers slide through Shane's hair, cradling her head. It's going to take her a few more minutes to be able to move, but to be in Shane the way Shane's just been in her...

Another chuckle, this one a bit heartier, huskier as she leans into that touch. "Like that, huh?" She asks, grinning as she opens her eyes to look up at Tara.

"Mmm," Tara replies, and then she tries for more words. "Yeah..."

"Ooh, she speaks," Shane purrs with a quieter, rumbly laugh as she turns her head, placing a soft, open-mouthed kiss on the inside of Tara's thigh. "Good girl."

Tara laughs softly, the muscles of her diaphragm jerking, shifting Shane's hand within her, tightening Tara's muscles around her, and all of that tears another moan from her. "Just you... wait," she replies, when she can speak again.

Shane's shoulders shake with laughter as she rests her head against Tara's leg. "I can never wait, baby... you should know that by now," she murmurs, grinning.

It's true - Shane's not much of one for teasing, not when she can simply have, and then have again. "You can... I think you can move," Tara whispers, wetting her lips again. "Just... be really slow, okay?"

"Okay, love," Shane says softly, nodding. Licking her own lips, she narrows her focus again, closing her eyes so that she can concentrate on what she's doing. Very, very slowly, she begins to shift her hand in preparation to withdraw it, carefully uncurling her fingers to return them to the original shadow-puppet shape she'd introduced them in.

"Oh, fuck," Tara whispers. "Don't move. Don't... oh, god." Deeper, and she didn't think Shane could get deeper, but the length of her fingers added to wherever she was, and... "Just... just a little bit deeper. Can you..." The mouth of her womb is so close, she can feel Shane's fingers almost grazing against it, and she knows that her cervix will have been softened, opened by her orgasm. Without really being able to explain why, she wants Shane to touch her there, to touch her that deeply.

Hearing Tara's gasp, Shane falls perfectly still, afraid that she might have done something to hurt Tara, but when she glances up, there aren't any signs of pain on her wife's face. "I -- are you -- are you sure?" She asks softly, biting her lip.

"Yes," she replies. "Yes." She meets Shane's eyes, desire that's only loosely related to the physical pooling there. "Please, Shane..."

Shane draws in a slow, deep breath and nods. "Okay," she says quietly, brows furrowing as she slowly presses forward again, her fingers remaining uncurled, and she can feel her fingertips just brush against something as she does so.

A spark of pleasure leaps through Tara, deeper and more profound than she would have expected. "There," she whispers. "There. Oh god, Shane, there."

Drawing her bottom lip between her teeth and holding it there tightly, she moves her hand just a fraction of an inch deeper so that she can stroke her fingertips over the same spot. "Like this...?" She whispers.

"Yeah," Tara breathes, the sound choked, trapped in her throat. "Fff-- yes. Yes, yes, ohhhh." Turning her face against the pillow, feeling it as a blessedly cool presence against her hot cheek, Tara lets out a slow, shuddering breath. "I... thank you. I just... just wanted to feel you. Thank you."

"All right," Shane says softly. "As long as you're all right, love..."

"Better than all right," Tara assures her. "Gonna have your baby, love. Not now, not... but some day. And... I can imagine you, reaching inside me like this, putting her inside, laying her safe. Didn't think... didn't think you could get that deep, baby..."

"Neither did I," she says with a quiet chuckle, her astonishment and wonder easy to see on her face as well as hear in her voice. Tara's words, the meaning of them, the truth she can feel in them, fills her chest almost to bursting with emotion. "Someday..."

"Someday," Tara repeats, a quiet promise. To have Shane here, touching the very mouth of her womb... "I love you," she whispers, holding as still as she can, but for the fingers that caress Shane's cheek, the thumb that strokes over her tortured bottom lip. "Music, baby."

"I love you, too," Shane whispers, her voice sounding slightly choked as she closes her eyes, rubbing her cheek against Tara's palm.

"My love," Tara whispers. "My beloved." And then, softer, whispered like a prayer... "Sabrina."

Shane nods her head deliberately, lips pressing into a thin line. It all seems so far off, such a long time away - the family she's always been looking for, hoping for - she knows that it's still a long way off, yet, but just the thought of having it makes her heart ache.

Shane's going to make an incredible mother. Fiercely devoted to her children, but relaxed enough to let them explore the world, get the inevitable scrapes and bruises of childhood. Children can't grow if they're smothered, forced to be Ladies before they're ever allowed to just be Girls, and Tara has every faith that Shane will manage to walk that balance with poise and grace. Part of her wants that day to be now... but Shane is only seventeen. At the least, the very, very, very least, they need to wait until Shane's legally an adult. Perhaps three or four more years, when she's finished her degree, if they can be patient for that long. "Come up here," she whispers. "Let me hold you?"

Nodding again, she begins the painstaking process of withdrawing. It takes a good few minutes, even though Tara is very relaxed by now, but she just wants to be on the safe side. When her fingertips finally slip from Tara, that's when she crawls up and settles down atop her wife, nestling her face in the hollow of Tara's shoulder.

The feeling of emptiness, always keen when Shane's fingers slip from her, is profound now, propelling a moan from her - but Shane's in her arms, blanketing her, held and cradled and loved and close, and it's worth losing that to gain this. Crooning softly, she strokes her fingers through Shane's hair, splaying soft strands against the greater softness of Shane's skin, petting them out as if they were eyelashes.

"I love you," Shane whispers, voice breaking as she huddles close to her wife. Taking a deep breath, she tries to compose herself, her emotions still hopelessly mercurial since even before the cube. She has to get a hold of this and soon.

"Hey," Tara whispers. "It's okay. Whatever you're thinking or feeling... it's okay, Shane. Truly." As far as Tara's concerned, it's not that Shane's emotions are mercurial that's the problem. There are emotional landmines throughout her life - the problem comes when she tries to repress her reactions to them, rather than letting herself react honestly when one blows up.

"It's just... that's... that's what I've always wanted," Shane whispers, putting forth a concerted effort to try to swallow around the lump in her throat. "I-I ... I just never -- never thought I'd have that and... a-and you... you..."

To be given everything you've ever wanted. And then what? What do you do after every dream you've ever had has been fulfilled? What do you do except fear that it'll be taken away again, just as suddenly. "I know," Tara whispers, stroking Shane gently. "I know, baby." And then, because Shane needs to get this out. "And I... what?"

"Y-you -- you'd have her and... and I can't and I -- I..." Shane sniffles, tears coursing down her face. She knows she's not making the slightest bit of sense at this point, all of the emotion and thoughts clumping together into an incoherent mess. "I just -- I really just love you so much for that, Tara..."

"I love you, baby. She'll be ours Shane. My womb, your genes. Our baby. And we'll link so you can feel her kick, feel her like she was inside you, so you know how it feels to carry her beneath your heart." Shane's making perfect sense, as incoherent as it is - and more importantly, she's letting it out. Those words. 'What I've always wanted.' Shane, who until recently couldn't admit wanting anything... has always wanted this. And Tara will give it to her, give it to them, because she wants it, too.

Shane hadn't even considered the possibility of their link being used in that way and once the realization hits her, she lets out a soft whimper, burying her tearstreaked face in Tara's shoulder, her own shaking with noiseless sobs, too overcome with emotion and gratitude to say anything else.

Tara's hands stroke through Shane's hair and over her shoulders, time and time again, quietly crooning the songs her mother had sung her when she was upset, most of them in languages she doesn't speak, although she could provide a translation for the song itself. For Shane, she knows, there's nothing bigger than this, no gift she could ever offer that would equal it.

There is nothing bigger than this, nothing that could ever begin to come close to even meaning half as much as this does to her. For Shane, she had gone for a little over half her life without a family of her own and when she'd gotten that little pink slip of paper from the doctor's office telling her that she couldn't have children, it was the last thing she truly had left to lose, then, along with her dignity and her self-respect, her sense of self worth. Having that won't mean she'll immediately get all of those things back, but maybe then, at least, she might be able to feel as though she will...

It's entirely possible that nothing good comes on little pink slips of paper. If Tara could have a wish, though, and if she trusted the granter enough to make it, and make it a real one, she would wish for a map to find those qualities again, and help Shane regain them. Not for them to be returned, because wishes have a distressing tendency to vanish when they're most needed... but to find them. To know what to do.

It's a long while before the tears finally taper off and then subside, leaving her feeling almost as limp and tired as Tara, herself, must feel. "Fuck," she mutters half-heartedly as she sniffles. "I cry too much."

"You don't cry enough," Tara whispers, an almost-silent correction. Tears, held inside, can poison the soul, and after all Shane's been through, it's more important than ever that she let those things out. "I love you," she says, nuzzling into Shane's hair, pressing tiny kisses there. "I love every tear you shed, baby."

Drawing in a deep, hitching breath, Shane lets it out in a ragged sigh, the tension seeping from her muscles as she relaxes in her wife's arms. "I love you," she whispers back, her voice faintly hoarse and tearful.

Feeling Shane finally relax, Tara lets out a faintly relieved breath. It isn't Shane's tears that put her on edge - it's the fear that Shane will use that momentary weakness as an excuse to beat up on herself further, undoing all the good the tears have done. "That's my girl," she whispers. "My beautiful, strong girl. You've survived so much, baby... but I'm with you now. Every day, every step, I'm with you."

"With me," Shane echoes softly, her tone surprisingly light but obviously grateful as she rests her forehead against Tara's cheek. "Yours. Love you..."

"Mine," Tara replies. "As I am yours." Her hands stroke over Shane's back, seeking out the tension tears can't quite drain away, rubbing Shane's muscles gently. She still feels relaxed, heavy, her centre of gravity somewhere underneath the mattress, but her limbs are free and moving again, though she thinks it would be impossible for her to get off of the bed. Any time soon.

"Mmmm..." The moan is a rusty creak like old springs, though it's definitely intended to be a pleasant sound. Lifting her head up just slightly, she places a soft, soft kiss on Tara's jaw.

"Mmmm," Tara replies, hearing the hoarseness in Shane's voice even in that moan. Shane always gets hoarse when she cries. Slowly she turns her head, brushing her lips in a long line along Shane's cheek and jaw to reach her mouth, and place a kiss just as soft there.

Shane's eyes slide closed at the delicacy, the impossible tenderness of each kiss, a soft whimper escaping her. As Tara's lips touch hers, she shivers just slightly. No one in her life had ever treated her as delicately as Tara treats her... for a long time, she'd thought it wasn't necessary. She'd been through so much, seen so much, she hadn't really seen the point of letting anyone handle her with kid gloves. With Tara, though, letting her guard down is essential - both the easiest and most difficult thing she's ever done in her life. She knows, now, that it's not that Tara's treating her with kid gloves... she's treating her like a human being with feelings and that, more than anything else, is the concept she has the hardest time processing, still.

Tara wouldn't ever think of it as treating Shane with kid gloves. It's more that being allowed to touch Shane, to hold her and kiss her, to murmur soft words in her ear... these, to Tara, are privileges, gifts she's been given. She's not afraid of breaking Shane, she's afraid of being unworthy of her. And Shane must think Tara is worthy, because day by day she lets Tara deeper, trusts Tara with more of herself.

Shane doesn't even think about such things - like whether or not her own wife is worthy of her - and the truth is, she doesn't really have to think about it, because she already knows the answer. Deep down, in the very marrow of her bones, she knows it. Tara is worthy of her.

But then, deep down, in the very marrow of Shane's bones, she's not always certain that she's worth much - something that Tara will work to heal every day for the rest of her life, and be grateful for the chance to do it. Lips quirking into a soft smile, she nuzzles Shane's hair again, before setting her lips against Shane's ear. "You wanted me in you, baby," she whispers. "Still want me?"

"Always, Tara," she breathes, eyes still closed as she presses a soft kiss to the corner of her wife's mouth.

"Mmm," Tara hums, grateful for the opportunity to shower Shane with affection - although she would have understood if Shane's emotional turmoil meant that she just wasn't up for anything more. Accepting that soft kiss, Tara turns ever so slightly to return it, her tongue dancing out as she wanted to long minutes ago, to steal the remnants of her own flavour from Shane's lips, with a soft sigh of pleasure.

Shane's lips draw back into a soft smile for a brief moment before parting to invite Tara in for a deeper taste, reaching up with her left hand to gently brush the backs of her fingers over Tara's cheek. Her right hand is still covered with Tara's slickness, now drying on her skin, since she hadn't wanted to wipe her hand off on the sheets. Rubbing her fingers together just slightly, she can feel the slight tackiness there as well as the silkiness of the remains of massage cream.

Tara takes the invitation, her tongue slipping inside Shane's mouth to eagerly explore, loving the flavour of herself mixed with Shane. It's not how it tastes precisely, but what it means that makes it so alluring. On crispbread? Unappetising. In Shane's mouth? Ambrosia. She purrs softly as Shane's fingers brush her cheek, her own gliding across Shane's back and over her side, seeking the sensitive flesh just underneath her breasts to let her fingers toy and curl there.

Letting out a low purr of her own, the sound is cut short by a soft moan as she feels Tara's fingers brushing just beneath her breasts, an unexpectedly ticklish spot. Wrapping her lips around Tara's tongue, she suckles on it almost greedily. She knows that Tara likes to taste herself, but she always enjoys tasting her wife just as much, stealing back every bit she can.

Although Tara loves being tickled, Shane has never displayed any particular fondness for it, and once Shane's sound indicates she's found the right spot, the more tender pads of Tara's fingers are replaced with her fingernails, short but enough to rake gently over the spot, testing the boundaries of skin, feeling the gap between Shane's ribs.

There's another moan, deeper this time as Shane arches up, rolling her shoulder back a bit to assist Tara in her explorations, drawing her left arm down to brace herself.

Tara can't help but smile against Shane's mouth, letting out a moan of her own as Shane moves in response. Intrigued, she scrapes her fingernails back around Shane's sides, to her spine where all things begin, and move down a vertebrae, repeating the motion between the next set of ribs.

As Tara's nails drag along her skin, it's much the same response as before, though this time it's in reverse. Shane's body curls in towards Tara's, following the movement of her hand, a hard shiver coursing through her at the touch. A faint whimper escapes her throat and she suckles a bit harder on her wife's tongue in response.

If Tara's mouth weren't more pleasantly occupied, she would grin wickedly. Tracing the path back to Shane's spine, Tara works her way slowly down Shane's ribcage, raking her nails into each hollow, there and back again, giving Shane barely a breath to re-orient herself between each one. It seems all too soon when she reaches the last of the floating ribs, her fingernails coursing just beneath that last bone, knowing the white trails of her fingernails are fading to red and then into nothingness, one after another, leaving no visible remnants behind.

It might be all too soon for Tara, but by the time she's done, Shane's trembling is pronounced and her whimpers haven't ceased, simply increased in frequency and volume until it they all blend together in one long, ragged sound. She presses herself as closely as she can to Tara for a moment, just appreciating the feel of her, before she carefully shifts, settling herself onto her side, draped half on top of her wife.

"Mmmm..." Tara purrs, desire and promise lacing through the sound. She ducks her head, dragging her tongue along the column of Shane's throat, as her fingers splay over the hollow just below Shane's ribs, trace down towards her belly button, gently rake over the familiar, flat plane of Shane's stomach, so very different from her own. Her left hand becomes useless at this point, trapped against the bed, but the other continues, sweeping over coarse, crinkled hair to dance her fingernails over Shane's thigh.

Another hard shiver courses through Shane's body as she feels the heated rasp of Tara's tongue against her skin. As Tara's fingernails graze the skin on her thigh, she draws her knee up, heel hooking around Tara's right thigh and baring herself to her wife's touch. With her own left hand free now, she reaches out, gently smoothing it over Tara's skin everywhere that's in her reach, though taking special care to reach down and lightly pinch Tara's nipple.

Tara's fingernails slide around Shane's thigh, reaching as far as the underside of her knee and dragging upwards, circling around to her inner thigh, as Shane's heat radiates against her arm. The pinch to her nipple takes her by surprise, and her mouth instinctively closes down on the patch of skin underneath it, nipping the skin gently. Immediately Tara soothes that nip with her tongue, before repeating the motion, more deliberately this time, a gentle bite that sets her teeth in place so she can suckle, moaning with delight at the familiar tension in cheeks and jaw.

Letting out a low, husky groan, Shane reaches up, hand gently cradling Tara's cheek, each rake of her wife's nails setting of a series of fireworks under skin, making her entire body tingle. Feeling Tara's hand moving between her legs, she shudders, fingers sliding into Tara's hair and clutching it gently even as she tips her head back, baring more of her throat to her wife's explorations.

Shane's continual noises are driving Tara utterly mad, and she understands what Shane meant, now. The feeling of Shane's fingers sliding through her hair grounds her, centres her within herself more fully than any meditation technique ever could, and she drags her hand forward, letting her arm brush against Shane's sex until her fingers are close enough. Parting them to avoid the flesh that so desperately wants to be touched, Tara gently rakes her nails over Shane's outer lips, feeling crinkled hair tease her fingers. They come together in the thatch of curls above, but Tara's finished with teasing, and her middle finger slips down, curling over Shane's clit, stroking it deliberately.

Having never felt Tara's nails there, the light rake of them over her sex very nearly makes her jump out of her skin, but in the best way possible. Sucking in a ragged gasp, her hips buck up into the touch and she lets out another gravelly moan as Tara's finger slides over her clit. "Ohh, fuck," she sighs, the tension in her body gathering, her breathing shaky and growing quicker by the moment.

"Good?" Tara murmurs, nuzzling Shane's neck before finding a new spot to suckle, the tight skin underneath Shane's chin. She has to suckle hard to stay in place, the skin not possessing a great deal of give... but that's a sacrifice she's willing to make. Gently, deliberately, she drags the very, very tip of her nail over Shane's clit, as softly as she possibly can, wanting to see what Shane's reaction will be.

Had it been any more than just the very tip of Tara's nail, the sensation might very well have been painful. As it is, though, when she feels the touch, she lets out a soft grunt of surprise, hips jerking sharply as a white-hot bolt of sensation shoots through her lower abdomen and spreading through her entire body. "OhgodohfuckTara," she whispers, fingers tightening in her wife's hair, panting.

Releasing Shane's neck, Tara draws her head up to look at Shane's face, wanting to see the expression that matches that burst of words. Good, she takes it... soothing the bundle of nerves with the pad of her finger a few times, Tara repeats the motion, alternating one and then the other, the same gentle stroke but with an occasional pass bending her finger just that little bit more, to faintly bring the tip of her nail over Shane's clit rather than the fleshy pad.

The sensation is impossibly intense and she's not sure if she can handle much more of it, her entire body shaking almost violently from excitement as she reaches down and gently catches hold of Tara's wrist. "Ohhh, fuck, I can't -- it -- too much," she whispers, shaking her head.

"Okay," Tara whispers, swooping down to press a fervent kiss against Shane's mouth. Giving Shane's clit a moment of surcease, her fingers quest lower, slipping three fingers inside Shane's slick passage, pressing gently but firmly forward until her knuckles rest against the ring of muscle, prevented from going any further. She's impossibly proud of Shane for telling her no, for stopping her, whatever the reason, and her mouth conveys that pride as best she can.

A hoarse moan sounds at the back of Shane's throat at the kiss, growing louder as Tara fills her. She rocks her hips forward, inner muscles tightening around the intrusion, feeling that slight ache as the pads of Tara's fingers graze that spot along her inner wall. The fact of the matter was that if she'd let Tara keep teasing her in that way for much longer, she honestly couldn't say how much of her control she'd have left to work with and an unknown factor such as that, for someone like her at this point, was frightening.

Swallowing the moan, Tara begins to withdraw, fingers curling gently and pressing against that spot. Her thumb rises, hovering against Shane's clit, feeling the radiating heat from it but not certain yet whether she's given Shane enough time to collect herself, or whether any touch there would simply be overwhelming. Tongue slipping into Shane's mouth, the kiss as tender as it is hungry, Tara sets a steady pace with her fingers, slow enough for Shane to feel each stroke as an individual entity without being so slow as to only tease.

Shane lets out an appreciative moan into the kiss, even as she suckles on Tara's tongue. She can feel her wife's thumb just scant centimeters away from her clit and that sensation is almost maddening... because even though she's been teased into hypersensitivity by her wife, at the same time, every single molecule in her wants it -- she wants to be touched, but even now, she's doing everything she can to hold on tight to those fraying threads of her control. Looping her arm around Tara's neck, she rolls over onto her back, lips still stubbornly pressed against her wife's, refusing to give up that connection for even a second.

Moving with Shane, Tara rolls atop her wife, settling the heel of her hand against her hip. Her rhythm is interrupted for a moment, but that's a price she's willing to pay for Shane to take the lead and make herself more comfortable - and give Tara the leverage to make her thrusts more forceful. Her thumb, in contrast to the driving pressure behind her fingers, lowers gently, slowly, as if in a separate world, to brush against Shane's clit, a soft question.

Feeling that light brush, Shane whimpers into the kiss, shaking her head carefully; she's still entirely too sensitive for that at the moment, those earlier touches quite a bit more affecting than she could have imagined. Settling down on her back, she hooks her left leg over Tara's hip, drawing her in closer, left hand stroking over her back and shoulders.

That's all the negation she needs. Tucking her thumb against her palm, Tara focuses her attention on her fingers, feeling the wet heat envelop them, tight and close and soft and wonderful, her hips pumping to guide them in a steady movement, Shane's left leg anchoring her movements. Her free hand reaches up to Shane's breast, kneading it, letting Shane's nipple fall between her fingers so that every squeeze pinches that nub.

Shane rolls her shoulders back, pressing herself up into Tara's hand, a low purr of thanks rumbling in her chest even as she tips her head to one side, tongue thrusting and rasping against Tara's in a rhythm matching that of her thrusts. She can feel the pads of Tara's fingers graze that spot occasionally and she draws her right leg up, resting her foot flat on the mattress so that she can rock up to meet her wife and take her in that much deeper.

The purr rumbling through her, Tara groans as she feels the change in position, and what it allows her to reach. She shifts her own position in turn, so that every stroke drags the pads of her fingers over that spot, as her tongue dances with Shane's, silently expressing the love that guides every action.

By this point, they've both shifted until they're lying almost diagonally across the bed, Shane's head coming very close to almost hanging off of the edge. With a particularly deep thrust, she lets out a soft cry into the kiss, fingers tightening in Tara's hair for a moment before her hand slips from her wife's hair, arm landing on the mattress beside her head, her hand draping limply over the edge.

Tara would laugh if her mouth weren't otherwise occupied - but she needs to breath, and so does Shane, and reluctantly she drags herself from the kiss. Stealing a snatch of breath, Tara groans at the picture Shane makes, her fingers sliding up Shane's breast to gain a more deliberate touch, tweaking and then twisting the nipple, wishing she were flexible enough to suckle on it and still maintain her thrusting.

Shane lets out a soft moan of protest as Tara breaks the kiss only to shiver a moment later at the sound of her wife's groan. A delighted sigh escapes her as Tara's fingers find her breast again and she arches her back, left hand turning to grip the edge of the mattress. "Ohh, god... you feel good, baby," she murmurs breathlessly, eyes lightly closed.

Pressing the pads of her fingers firmly against that spot on Shane's inner wall, Tara murmurs a fervent "so do you" before her mouth dives down again, seizing Shane's earlobe, dragging it into her mouth for a strength of suckling that's almost brutal in its intensity.

Shane's grip goes white-knuckled for a moment as Tara presses that spot, a loud, strained moan working its way from her throat, inner muscles fluttering around Tara's fingers. "Ohgod..." she whispers, breath catching in her lungs as she release the edge of the mattress, catching hold of a fistful of Tara's hair and holding on tightly. "Ohgodbaby..."

"Yes," Tara whispers, breath feathering hot against Shane's ear. "Yes, baby..." Her fingers press again, shifting slightly so that every stroke drags her fingers over it, ramping up her motions to give a little more speed behind her powerful thrusts. Shane's fingers are tight in her hair, the tension on her scalp intense and incredible, and she moans, a low sound audible only because Shane's ear is so very close.

The results of Tara's change in angle are immediately noticeable and Shane's cry is loud, throaty and pleading as her hips rock up even faster than before, matching Tara's rhythm and then surpassing it. Her blood rushes in her ears and at her throat, heart pumping even harder and faster than Tara's fingers. "Fuck... so good, Tara..."

Letting Shane set the rhythm, Tara adapts quickly to it, feeling the ache in her lower back as tissues so recently stretched wider than they've ever been are massaged by her own movements. "So good, Shane," she whispers against Shane's ear, her words breathy from her own exertion. "Hot and wet and holding me, and I'm inside you, baby. Gonna be deeper, soon..."

Fingers loosening their hold in Tara's hair, Shane gasps as she loops her arm around her wife's neck, hand cupping the back of her head and keeping her close. Turning her head, her cheek brushes against Tara's, her breathing impossibly shaky. "Yes, baby... want it, want you... oh, god, Tara, yes..."

"Come for me, baby," Tara whispers. "Want to feel you, tight and hard around me, want to hear you cry out before I lose myself in you. Gonna be so deep, Shane..."

A series of hoarse, broken cries work their way out of Shane's throat as she feels something in her give, body trembling almost violently as she comes, eyes squeezed tightly shut. She arches her back up sharply, fingers curling around the nape of Tara's neck and hanging on for dear life as her world shakes apart.

So incredibly, breathtakingly beautiful. Her wife, and how did that happen? What did she ever do to deserve Shane? Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good. She'll sing it to Shane later, share the music that wells within her, old and cliched and perfect, but this moment is pure and sacred, Shane loving her, trusting her enough to fly apart this way, knowing that Tara will put her back together again. Her fingers still, Shane's muscles allowing little else, but the pads press and pulse against that spot inside Shane, dragging out her wife's orgasm for as long as she can even as soft whispers wait at Shane's ear to guide her back down. "So beautiful, Shane. Love you so much."

With the constant, insistent press of Tara's fingers against that spot, her orgasm seems to go on for several eternities and by the time she finally does come down, she can hardly breathe at all, sweat cooling on her forehead as she goes limp. Hearing Tara's whispers, she turns her head just a fraction, resting it against her wife's, letting out a tiny whimper.

When Shane goes limp, Tara stills completely, knowing that Shane's likely to be hypersensitive at this moment, and any touch that she doesn't initiate could push her past pleasure and into pain. "My knight," she whispers. "My beautiful, wonderful, incredible wife. I love you, baby. So much. Everything you are, everything you've ever been, everything you'll ever, ever be. I love you, all of you, inside and out, every whisper of you, ever scrap, every cell. I love you."

Shane lets out another weak, helpless whimper in acknowledgement, which is about the best that she can manage at the moment, a glint of wetness at the corner of her eye that couldn't possibly be a bead of sweat. Still, even though her lungs won't cooperate, she wants to try, resting her lips against Tara's cheek and carefully mouthing 'love you', hot, panting gasps of breath feathering over her skin.

"I know," Tara replies, knowing Shane wants to say it, knowing she can't right now. "I know, baby. I feel you, inside me, feel your strength when I'm weak. You're the Goddess in me, you know that. You see her, you call her out, the best and brightest, because I know how loved I am. Luckiest woman in the world. Any world. Any time, any dimension, any anything, because I have you."

Breath hitching in her lungs, Shane shudders, letting out a noiseless sob of breath as she runs her hand very gently, carefully over Tara's hair, her muscles still not all ready and willing to cooperate with her just yet. The trace of moisture at the corner of her eye beads and the tear slips down her cheek as she hangs on.

Tara catches that tear with her lips, pressing a kiss to the spot where she stopped it, knowing that the tears are necessary, part of Shane's acceptance to this depth and breadth of love. She wouldn't seek to stifle Shane's tears. Shane's been trapped inside herself for far, far too long.

"Love you... s-so much," Shane whispers, still having not yet completely caught her breath back, but enough to finally speak. She presses her cheek firmly against Tara's, fingers winding into her hair, clutching it

"Yes, baby," Tara whispers, her fingers daring Shane's nervous system enough to cup her cheek, stroke her thumb over Shane's cheekbone. "You and me... we're music."

The touch is firm enough that it doesn't cause her any discomfort. Nodding slowly, she rubs her cheek against Tara's. "M-music," she whispers back.

Tara's fingers still rest inside Shane, waiting patiently for her wife's body to relax, knowing that if she moves now she could very well set off an aftershock... though she's forgotten why that's a bad thing. Shane's struggling to speak, though, struggling to gain that much control back, and she won't take it away now.

Even though she's laying boneless on the mattress, her inner muscles are still fluttering and clenching around the gentle intrusion... she aches all over, but in the best possible way. Her breath gradually returns to normal along with her heartbeat, leaving her limp and pliant beneath her wife as she feathers soft kisses on her cheek.

Tara hums, soft and happy, feathering her own kisses against Shane's shoulder in return, her hand turning to stroke the backs of her fingers against Shane's cheek and into her hair. "Feel good, baby?" she whispers.

"Mmmmm..." Shane purrs, the sound low and velvety and rumbly all at once as she places nibbling kisses on Tara's cheek. "Feel so good..."

"Good," Tara replies, with no little satisfaction as her smile spreads against Shane's shoulder. "You let me know when you're ready for more, okay?"

"Kay," she whispers, nodding slowly as she nuzzles Tara's cheek. If she were being honest, she'd confess that she'd be perfectly content to just fall asleep just like this, but she'd asked Tara for something earlier...

And yet, if Shane wanted to just drift off to sleep, Tara wouldn't breathe or think a word of protest. She wants Shane to have whatever she wants, whatever that might be - including the right to change her mind on the barest of whims.

"Love you," Shane whispers again, breathing deeply and smelling her wife as well as the other calming ingredients in the massage cream that Tara had made. "So, um... did you like your massage?"

Smiling again, Tara drops a kiss onto Shane's shoulder, and then turns her face to nuzzle against Shane's neck. "Best massage I've ever had," she replies. "Thank you."

"Really?" She asks, surprised, both brows lifting. "I've... I've never given anybody one, before..."

"Well there was, um... there was a little more to it than most massages have," Tara replies. "Just the, um... just the straight massage part... it was wonderful. And if you want to learn more, I'd be happy to teach you. You have good hands, strong hands, and you listen. Those are the most important things."

"I couldn't stop listening," Shane murmurs, an amused lilt winding through her words. Lifting her head up just a bit, she nibbles lightly on Tara's earlobe for a moment. "And you can teach me whatever you want..."

Shane's teeth propel a soft laugh from Tara, her breath feathering against Shane's soft skin. "Anything you want to learn, love," she replies. "I think you'll like it, though. Just another way to make people feel good... a new way to touch."

"Mmm... can I practice on you?" She inquires softly, playfully before she starts suckling lightly on Tara's earlobe.

"Any time you like," Tara replies, letting out a soft, sighing moan.

"Hmmm..." Another low purr and Shane releases her earlobe, nuzzling a spot just behind her ear.

"Mmm," Tara hums, letting her hand come to rest, the heel resting against Shane's pubic bone as her fingers still sit inside, but less deep than they were. "Happy," she whispers, tilting her head to give Shane access to anything, everything she wants, her free hand sliding underneath Shane's neck to twine in the soft hairs there.

"Mm-hmm," Shane hums back softly as she nods, pressing a kiss to the same spot she's just nuzzled and then proceeding to trail kisses along Tara's jawline, murmuring quietly between kisses. "So... so... so... so happy..."

Tara wants to ask what she can do for Shane, what will bring her greater joy than this, what will etch joy into her heart as the tattoos are etched into her skin, so that it will never wholly fade ever again... but that's not the sort of question Shane could answer, so she doesn't ask. Her own heart, though, is swelled full to the point that her chest burns, her throat aches with emotion, and she wants to laugh or cry or sing, something to push it out, to relieve the pressure inside her. It's like orgasm, in its own way, though the body has nothing to do with it - she's teetering on the edge, and she needs to let it out before she shatters under it.

Feeling much the same kind of pressure Tara feels, Shane doesn't even think about it ... nuzzling her wife's cheek, her lips draw back into a bright smile and she lets out a soft chuckle that soon grows louder, a rolling, husky laugh.

After a moment, Tara's laugh joins Shane's, higher-pitched, musical where Shane's is husky, but blending together so perfectly, a duet of joy. Her hand tightens at the back of Shane's neck and she rests her forehead against Shane's shoulder, letting helpless giggles escape her, releasing the pent-up emotions within her.

In a strange way, this feels almost better than sex... just being able to trust someone enough, feel comfortable enough with them that you can just laugh this way. It's just another reminder of how truly blessed she is to have found this woman. Smoothing her hand over Tara's hair, she continues to laugh as she buries her face in her wife's hair.

"I love you," Tara whispers, the sound pure and light and joyful as her laughter ends, leaving just a bright smile behind, nestled against Shane's back. "I love you, Shane McCutcheon. Thank you for being my wife." Such small words, so inadequate... but they're all she has to give, and she gives them freely, joyfully, knowing Shane will hear what lies behind them.

"I love you, Tara McCutcheon... and thank you for being mine," Shane murmurs, her own cheeks aching with the broadness of her own smile.