Chapter Text
Dani stares absently into her cup of tea, replaying the events of that afternoon over and over again. The softness of Stella’s lips, the way her hands felt in her hair, the complete and utter surprise of the entire thing. Why did she do it? Dani has watched her take men to bed, surely she’s as straight as they come? Dani feels guilty, hoping Stella didn’t feel like she had to do it. No… that’s not the way she operates. Did she do it just to throw her off? To confuse her? To stop her pestering? She can’t make sense of it. Her phone buzzes loudly on the counter, and it makes her jump, spilling her tea.
‘Shit,’ she says, dabbing at it with a tea towel with one hand and picking up the phone with another. The caller ID shows that it’s Stella. Her eyes widen. ‘Hello?’
‘Hi, Dani. I hope I’m not disturbing you.’
‘No, ma’am, I was just… having a cup of tea.’ Dani cringes inwardly at the lameness of that statement.
‘So you’re not busy?’
‘No,’
‘Will you come to my hotel?’
‘I, uh-‘
‘Dani…’ the line goes silent.
‘Are you still there?’
‘I… need you. Will you please come to my hotel?’
* * *
Dani takes a very deep breath, and slowly exhales it, before knocking on the door. Stella opens it, and she’s wearing a silk dressing gown which is falling open slightly, revealing her black lace bra and ample cleavage. Dani averts her eyes, not knowing quite where to look. The sight of Dani standing there awkwardly at her door, at her behest, gives Stella a feeling of control she hasn’t felt since the attack.
‘Come in,’ she says, smiling, and she makes her way to the bed and sits down. Dani follows. ‘Sit,’ she says, patting the bed beside her. They sit beside each other for a moment, Dani looking away, Stella staring at her intently. ‘Dani,’ she says, and Dani looks at her. ‘I am sorry, that I didn’t thank you. For saving my life.’
‘It’s alright…’
‘No, it’s not alright,’ she takes Dani’s hands in hers. ‘If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be sitting here. I’d be lying on a slab in the morgue, the life strangled out of me by that foul, evil man. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be alive. You were brave, and strong, and amazing. Thank you.’ she says, her voice soft and even, her expression sincere. Dani feels a hot blush creep up her neck, and curses her red hair. ‘And thank you for holding me, and for staying with me at the hospital through the tests, and for holding my hand until I fell asleep. You gave me exactly what I needed.’ she squeezes Dani’s hands, and Dani smiles gingerly. She might have been brave and strong and amazing before, but right now she feels about as able as a potato. ‘I’m sorry for avoiding you after the attack. Truthfully, I didn’t know how to face you, after what you did for me.’ Dani smiles, touched by this beautiful woman’s honesty.
‘You kissed me,’ Dani says quietly.
Stella takes a deep breath, a smile tweaking her lips. ‘Yes, I did…’
‘I’m confused,’ says Dani, looking up from her lap.
‘How so?’
‘Aren’t you straight?’
Stella smiles, and then she leans over and places a gentle, lingering kiss on Dani’s neck, before standing up and moving in front of Dani, placing her hands on her cheeks and looking down at her sweetly. ‘You are everything that is good and right and beautiful in this world, Danielle Ferrington.’ she says, and then she kisses her. Dani lies back, pulling Stella down with her, and the kiss deepens, and Stella moves her body against Dani’s, causing a small moan to escape her lips. She breaks the kiss and sits herself up, straddling Dani, looking down at her with an intense kind of expression that Dani has never seen on her before. She tugs at Dani’s clothes, deftly peeling off each item one by one, until she finds herself completely naked.
Stella regards the woman beneath her, her creamy, porcelain-like skin, her body soft in places and sculpted in others, her hair deliciously red and her eyes emerald green and sparkling with desire, and she feels more at peace than she has in months, even before the attack. As long as she’s in control. She moves down and kisses Dani’s lips, her neck, her breasts, her tongue encircling one small pink nipple, and then another, and then her kisses are travelling down Dani’s stomach, and sharp little whimpers are escaping Dani’s lips because she know what’s coming, and then Stella’s lips are against her inner thighs, and they are so juicy and soft, she can’t help but bite them, just lightly. Dani moans deeply, and Stella takes the cue to continue, to bite a little harder, sending Dani into a frenzy. She pulls away, just for a second, to look at Dani’s face, eyes closed, contorted with pleasure. Her eyes flicker open and they stare at each other for a second, intensely, allowing their desire for each other to saturate the moment. Then, Stella moves down, and Dani’s body betrays her, her hips pushing upwards, a soft and deep moan pushing itself out of her lips as Stella sets to work on bringing her into what she already knows will be the best climax of her life. She grips the bedsheets, Stella’s head, her own thighs, trying to get a hold on anything, because she feels as though she’ll float upwards if she doesn’t. Then, when she’s got Dani at the very edge, Stella moves upwards, pressing her body into Dani’s, kissing her, then pulling away slightly, so that she can stare right into Dani’s eyes as she brings her to a climax with just her fingertips. She feels Dani’s body shaking and jerking uncontrollably, watches her struggle to breathe, smiling slightly with pride at Dani’s reaction to her, although of course she’s always been good at this, because she’s working with something she knows inside out. Dani’s eyes close and her mouth opens, and her entire body goes into uncontrollable spasms as it happens, and Stella is holding her down, still going, pulling her deeper into the pleasure. A gloriously loud moan escapes Dani’s lips, and she throws her arms around Stella, pulling her close, kissing her hard, writhing against her still.
‘Oh, god,’ Dani breathes into the ear of her boss, who has just fucked her better than any other girl she’s ever been with. She feels incredulous at the whole situation and entirely overwhelmed by pleasure. Stella relaxes a little by her side, trailing her fingers up and down her stomach, smiling jubilantly. ‘I never thought…’
‘One of my many talents. I have hundreds.’ she smirks, a nod to the conversation they had all those months ago, when Dani came out to her. Dani smirks, and kisses Stella again.
‘And here I thought that you changed the subject because my coming out to you made you uncomfortable,’
‘No, not at all. I changed the subject because I was well aware of the reason that you took that opportunity to come out to me…’
‘What reason?’ Dani asks, but she can already feel the blush creeping up her neck again.
‘Because you wanted me. But it seemed I was already in a world of trouble for sleeping with a colleague, so I changed the subject before we got into the whole… sexuality, thing.’
‘So you think I wanted you?’ Dani grins.
‘Oh, please…’ Stella breathes in Dani’s ear, before kissing her neck, then her lips. Dani wrestles Stella on to her back and straddles her, never breaking the kiss, and Stella’s hands run down her back.
Dani places a neat little kiss on Stella’s neck before whispering, almost inaudibly, ‘I wanted you,’
‘Oh, I know…’ Stella breathes, her hands in Dani’s hair now. Dani pushes herself up, her hands on Stella’s shoulders, and looks down at her, grinning impishly. An odd look flashes through Stella’s eyes, and suddenly she’s struggling to get out from under Dani as fast as she can. Dani backs up quickly, and Stella scrabbles away from her, leaning against the head of the bed, her dressing gown half off.
’Stella… what’s wrong?’ Dani asks, pulling at the bedspread to cover herself, her nakedness suddenly feeling odd.
‘Nothing, I’m fine,’ Stella's voice is calm and measured, and she shakes her head, avoiding Dani’s gaze. Being held down, that grin… it had brought her crashing back down to the reality of the fact that she had almost died at the hands of Spector only a fortnight ago. She curses him for ruining what would never have been an issue before. And to think, she was having so much fun! Dani is staring at her silently. She looks up to meet her gaze, and they stare at each other for a while. Usually, people flinch under Stella’s gaze, but Dani isn’t backing down, and she’s not saying anything either. ‘It just… brought it back.’
‘The attack?’ Dani asks, and realisation dawns on her and moulds her expression into shock and shame. ‘Oh god, oh god I am so sorry, I didn’t think, I didn’t even…’
’Shh,’ Stella says. She sees her opportunity to regain control over the situation. ‘Come here…’ she reaches out a hand, and Dani obliges, pulling the covers with her. Then, before Stella can say anything else, Dani’s soft, warm arms are around her, holding her close.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Dani says softly. Stella is fighting every impulse to give in, she needs to be in control or she’ll break. Her body is stiff. ‘I’m so sorry,’ Dani repeats.
‘Please don’t apologise,’ Stella sighs into her neck. ‘You haven’t done anything wrong,’ she lifts her head to look into Dani’s eyes again, then kisses her tenderly, a lasting, singular kiss.
‘I can leave, if you want…’
‘No. I’d like you to stay. But if you don’t mind… I’d like to just sleep.’
‘Of course… but I feel bad, I mean after what you just did to me, I feel like-’
‘Another time,’ Stella says, kissing her again. This makes Dani’s heart leap, because she had fully prepared herself on the journey to the hotel for the disappointment of being just another one of Stella’s ‘sweet nights’. They kiss softly for a little while, Stella trailing her fingers up and down Dani’s arms, tracing over her collarbones, her neck, her cheeks, stroking her hair, remarking more than once how soft Dani is, being met with a sweet smile every time. Stella might avoid women, but every time she gets this close to one, she always curses herself for doing so. Eventually, the lights are turned off and they settle in to sleep. Stella turns to her side, facing away from Dani, and not a few seconds later, Dani is wrapped around her. Then, for the first time since the attack, Stella sleeps the whole night through.