NOTE: The song Grace dances to is "Strangers" by Portishead. Some of the lyrics are incorporated in italics. Otherwise, the words are my own.
"Men are disgusting."
Karen jumped at Grace's voice and looked up from the phone in her hand-Lorraine's phone, the one containing all of the photographic proof she needed that Stan checked out of their marriage long before she ever did, the one she didn't think she could bring herself to look through, just hand off to Divorce Lawyer and let him work his magic-to the redhead sitting next to her in the limo. Her friend's oversimplification made her bite back a laugh. Just look at what she had to go through to make sure she didn't get screwed over in the divorce; hell, just look at what Stan put her through, what basically every one of Grace's beaus put her through over the twenty years they've known each other. "You just put that together now?" she asked, waving Lorraine's phone in front of Grace's gaze as a reminder of why they took that field trip to the strip club in the first place.
"No…" Grace said indignantly. "It's just…I can't believe they booed me like that! It's not like it was easy; I'd like to see them get up on that stage and try to move around that pole." Her face twisted at the image she accidentally put into her head of the skeevy men who were watching her. "Actually, eww, no I wouldn't." She rested her head against the back of her seat and wrapped her arms around herself. "God, it was so depressing. I mean, I wasn't really that bad, was I?" she asked as her eyes grew a little more hopeful.
"Gracie, I have no idea. I kind of had my hands full with Lorraine, remember?"
The redhead's face fell to the floor in a mix of outrage and disappointment. She wasn't even sure why she was so upset; knowing Karen, she'd just have one more joke to pile on to what she was trying to forget. Except Karen's would have been the joke that did more than bruise her ego, and she would have spent too much time afterwards trying to figure out why it got under her skin so much. Because wasn't that just their dynamic? Wasn't that their thing? "You're telling me that you dragged me along with you to that place, I go on stage to try to get those pictures for you, and you didn't even see me up there?"
Karen threw her head back and sighed. "Honey…" she started, "do you understand how hard you have to concentrate to pick a phone up with your hoo-ha? I needed to focus!"
It took Grace a moment to fully register what the dark haired woman said. "I know, but I...wait, what?!" She glanced down at Karen's lap, her brow furrowed as she was torn between wrapping her head around Karen's twisted logic and giving in to her growing curiosity over her assistant's hidden talent. That's how she got the phone? How does that even... "Look, all I'm saying is…" Christ, would you stop looking, Grace? Come on. "All I'm saying is that I would have done a better job under the right circumstances."
Karen studied the redhead, a smirk slowly coming to play across her face. She would have been lying if she said she didn't need a distraction from the phone; the weight of it was becoming heavier and heavier in her hands by the second. And she knew that when Grace got started like this, it was hard for her to stop. If she played her cards right… "And what exactly are the right circumstances?" she asked, watching Grace slowly become more and more animated.
"Well, for one thing, I would have picked a song I could actually move to. Something that I actually knew. I would have had time to map out a plan; you know I can't improvise." Her eyes grew wide as she threw her face into her hands. "I would have had time to take off my fucking Spanx. Oh my god, I went out there in Spanx! Why did I do that?"
"Because you wanted to help me," Karen said softly, even though Grace didn't seem to hear. She took a breath, ran her hand along Grace's back and tried a different approach, one she thought would result in a better time for both of them. "Well, honey, if you didn't like the way you did it at the club, why don't you just do it over?"
Karen said it so casually, like it was the obvious solution, Grace couldn't believe it. She whipped her head up to face the dark haired woman, the thought of the club's atmosphere still haunting the corners of her mind. "What?! No. You're not making me go back there just to prove a point. I won't do it."
"Grace, no one is talking about going back to that scum bucket. We'll just go to the office! Yeah! It's perfect: no disgusting men, you can take all the time you need to get ready, and I get a private show. It's a win-win."
Grace narrowed her gaze. "Why do you want a private show?" she asked with the gleam of a smile she couldn't contain. She couldn't figure out why she thought it would give her away, why she hoped it was dark enough so Karen couldn't see. For all she knew, Karen was just looking for a window to get another few jabs in before the night was over; she wouldn't put it past her to come up with some strangely elaborate plan simply for her own amusement. But she hoped against hope that that wasn't the reason. She wanted Karen to want to see her like that. She wanted to feel Karen's eyes ride the curves of her body and know that the dark haired woman was getting as much out of being her audience as she was from giving her performance. She wanted to know that, in spite of all of the passing criticisms of the last twenty years, she had the power to turn Karen on.
She could figure out why she wanted all of that later.
The question knocked Karen off her game for a second. It sounded so playful to her, she wondered if she imagined it at first. Of course she wanted Grace to be into it; there was no way she would have kept pressing the issue if she had any sense at all that the redhead was uncomfortable. She was just struck by how much possibility lived in Grace's voice, by how much of that possibility she wanted to test. It wasn't like Karen never considered her boss in that way. But they had two decades together under their belts; if something was going to happen, it would have happened by now.
Right?
"Well," Karen said slyly, hoping she could cover up the thoughts starting to run through her mind, "why did you want me to watch you the first time?"
She couldn't help but smirk at the way the silence said so much more than Grace ever could. "Look, if you're thinking this is going to just be another way to get some laughs in…" Grace started after a moment, wondering just how transparent she was being by avoiding the question. But it wasn't like she was just going to come out with the truth, not when there was no way out of that limo until it reached its destination.
"Honey, I don't want to make fun of you." Karen wasn't surprised at the sincerity in her voice, but she could tell Grace was. "I just want to see you come alive."
The charge that remark sent through Grace's body made it feel like she was already getting a head start. "Well," she murmured, knowing that if she spoke any louder, the shakiness in her voice would give away the thrill. "I guess it wouldn't hurt."
Karen gave up trying to contain the grin fighting to break free as she banged on the partition of the limo and waited for it to be raised. "Driver! Hang a left; we're making a detour."
On the way to the office, Karen expected Grace to overthink what they had just agreed to. She expected her to start spiralling. She expected her break the silence by saying she changed her mind. That this was such a dumb idea, there was no point to it, just take her back home, blah blah blah. She expected to try to hide the disappointment in her voice as she knocked on the partition again to let Driver know that she made a mistake. She expected to drop Grace off on Riverside Drive and spend the rest of the night wishing she had at least stolen a glance at her while she was on that stage; because even if her routine was an unmitigated disaster, at least she had the chance to see the way Grace moved.
But what she got was the redhead's face illuminated by the glow of her phone as she started scrolling through her playlists, looking for the perfect song. She saw the concentration in Grace's eyes, the way she took her gaze off her phone at times to really think about her options, the look of satisfaction she got when she finally found the right one. And Karen couldn't help but smile as she settled back into her seat.
"Come on, Grace, let's get this show on the road!" Karen shouted. She had pulled her chair out in front of her desk, taking her front row seat and impatiently waiting for Grace to come out of her private office. Part of her still couldn't believe the redhead was actually about to go through with this, and considering how long it had been since that door had been shut, she was guessing the redhead couldn't believe it either. Maybe she was second-guessing herself, maybe she was muttering to herself about how she couldn't do it, how she was just going to go out there and tell Karen the deal was off. Or maybe she really was taking time to plan everything out. Grace had been known to trip over rugs, over other people, over herself; Karen had lost count of the times she had seen her crash into one of the desks in the office or fall over the step that led to the kitchen in 9C. So maybe it wasn't the worst thing in the world that she wanted to map out her path.
After all, it would probably make keeping the whole "no laughing" promise a hell of a lot easier.
"I'm getting there!" Grace called out through the closed door of her office. Karen could hear the muffled thumping of what she could only assume was Grace running into her desk as she tried to pull off her Spanx, and she wondered why the hell Grace thought all that trouble was worth it. "I swear to god, Karen, you make one joke, and I'm done. I mean it," she said, as if she had been reading the dark haired woman's mind this whole time.
"Honey, I already told you, I'm not going to say anything!"
Inside her office, the redhead tossed her Spanx across the room with the rest of her clothes and took a moment to nurse her thigh where she collided with her desk. Of course she would do something that could leave a mark at a time like this; good going, Grace. Once she relieved some of the sting, she grabbed the robe she had stashed in her bag and slipped it on, tying the belt around her waist as she called out, "Are you sure?" She just couldn't shake the feeling that Karen was setting her up, that this was all going to turn out to be some big joke at her expense, like maybe the dark haired woman was expecting to see the show those men ended up getting at the club. It should have made her bolder, determined to prove her wrong. But she realized what she wanted was for Karen to be captivated from the start. And she wasn't sure if she could do that.
"Gracie, it's just me," she heard Karen say from the other side of the door. There was that sincerity again, the kind that always took her breath away. The kind that made all of those thoughts of potential judgment disappear. The kind that always made her feel better when she needed it the most. "There's nothing to worry about."
That was it, the way Karen made it sound so simple. That was the thing that drained every last reservation Grace still had about this whole operation. She felt herself loosen up, felt herself start to move to a beat that hadn't even started playing yet, felt herself smirk over the chance to blow Karen away. She could do this. She would do this. She was going to give Karen the performance of a lifetime.
"Can you start the music?" she asked.
Karen reached for the redhead's phone and pushed play on the song, sliding it back on her desk when the pulsing beat started to fill the office. When Grace came out of her office, Karen saw that she had tousled her hair just so and wrapped herself in a satin robe that hugged her body so perfectly, it was almost a shame that it was going to come off in about ten seconds. Karen had to admit, the way she fanned the flames of her wildfire locks made her heart skip a beat. And the blue of the robe was a good color on her. Too good a color. Something was off...this couldn't possibly be a piece she had at the ready in her wardrobe.
"Honey, did...did you steal that robe from the club?"
Grace froze, her hand holding the belt of the robe stuck in mid-air as she processed Karen's question. She scrunched her face up in disgust that such a thing could be suggested before her conscience ultimately gave in and she looked down at the floor. "You don't know me," she said, her voice tinged with guilt. "Anyway, I thought you said you weren't going to say anything!"
Karen threw her hands up. "Okay, okay, I'm done, I swear. Go ahead." She saw the skeptical look in Grace's eye and motioned like she was locking up her lips and throwing away the key. She watched as Grace shook the distraction out of her body before recalibrating her nerve, taking a deep breath just as the beat of the song cut out, leaving nothing in the air but a lone guitar and the presence of a Grace whose gaze was outrageously confident, who didn't break eye contact as her hands slid down the satin of her robe-over her breasts and along her torso until her fingers reached the belt-and who flicked a mischievous half-smile her way like it was the ash off of a cigarette.
Oh. Oh. Wow. She liked this. She could get used to this.
"Ohhh…" Grace undid her belt and slid the satin just below her shoulders for a moment before letting it drop to the floor, holding Karen's gaze so intensely, the dark haired woman didn't even realize at first that the redhead was lip-syncing to the song; she was just so rooted by Grace's eyes in that moment, it was hard to look anywhere else. But when she finally did, she saw her in her bra and panties, free from the Spanx that had caused such a problem before (Karen never understood the point of them, anyway; she couldn't believe that Grace honestly thought she needed them), and couldn't get over how gorgeous she looked when she was this bare. Grace stepped to the rhythm of the guitar, moving closer and closer to Karen, trying to place the look in the dark haired woman's eyes along the way. Whatever it was, it felt like fire; Grace could swear she saw sparks in Karen's hazel stare. It lit her up.
It made her want to take this as far as it could go.
"Can anybody see the light, where the morn meets the dew and the tide rises?" With every step, with every word that silently spilled from Grace's lips, the dark haired woman felt a wave crashing on her shoreline, each one bigger and stronger than the last, matching the sway of the redhead's hips. She was absolutely stunned, trying so hard to keep her guard up, knowing she couldn't last much longer at the rate Grace was going. How was this still the same person? Where did this version of Grace come from? And what could she do to keep this version around? What could she do to keep this feeling for as long as she could?
"Did you realize no one can see inside your view?" Grace mouthed as she ran her fingers through Karen's hair, taking off the hair piece and tossing it on the desk and reveling in the gasp that escaped Karen's lips, coaxing her natural locks to come tumbling down before she came to within an inch of the dark haired woman's face. She tilted her head to the side and studied her assistant, the way her usually solid facade was starting to crack and the way she tried so hard to keep it together even though the effort was a dead giveaway. She liked seeing the cracks. She wanted to keep chipping away until there was nothing left, until Karen was just as bare as she was.
And Karen wasn't stopping her. That was the best part of all.
"Did you realize for why this sight belongs to you?" Grace's lips were so close to Karen's, the dark haired woman could feel the redhead's breath on her skin as she followed the words of the song; it set off a buzz inside of her that was growing in intensity as it began to spread throughout her body. Her mind wrapped itself around those lyrics, refusing to let them go. This sight belongs to you. But she couldn't help herself; she wanted to do more than just see. She wanted to touch. She wanted to feel. She wanted to take Grace into her hands and destroy what little space they still had between them. Karen lifted her hands slowly towards Grace's cheeks, wanting to pull her in completely. But as soon as she got close enough to touch, the beat of the song came back in full force, pulling Grace back to the middle of the floor along with it. The redhead tossed her hair and bit her lower lip, trying and failing to stifle the most devious grin Karen had ever seen on her as she swayed to the rhythm. To be denied like that by anyone else in the heat of a moment like this would have pissed Karen off to no end. But now, with Grace, it only threw her into overdrive.
Their game had barely even started, but Karen knew she was screwed the second she noticed the throbbing between her legs.
Holy shit, she thought. What did I just get myself into?
Grace ran her fingers through her hair as she moved to her workspace and grabbed onto the bar below the table with her back turned towards Karen. She stuck her ass out and worked her body down to the floor and back up again, hoping the dark haired woman liked the view. But truth be told, she took this as an opportunity to repair the game face that started to break the second Karen made a move to touch her. Grace had always struggled to get a good read on her; one minute, she'd knock Grace's appearance, and the next, she'd have the redhead's breasts in her hands like it was all one big joke. But this was different. Karen was about to touch her, seriously touch her. Karen was about to kiss her; if she hadn't have followed the rhythm of this goddamn song, Karen would have crashed into her. And god help her, she would have welcomed that collision with open arms. Why didn't she just linger for a second longer? What if Karen's hands wouldn't stay still? What if Karen's touch ran down her spine? What if Karen's fingers found the clasp of her bra before her own could? What if Karen's kiss traveled down her body, pressing against every inch of her?
Why did she want the "What ifs" so badly?
Don't think about that now, Grace. Just find that sly smirk again and go wherever the music takes you. Go wherever she takes you.
"Come back."
Grace straightened herself up and turned to face Karen once she knew she could keep the slyly playful part of her alive despite the butterflies waking up in her core. "Excuse me?"
Karen took a breath to try to regain some composure, knowing the effort was futile. "Come back here," she said, knowing full well the crack in her voice just gave her away.
"I don't think you're in much of a position to be telling me what to do," the redhead murmured huskily. She let a half-smile come to play as she pointed to her office door. "My clothes are right through that door. Do you know how easy it would be for me to go back there and end this right now?" She had to admit, the rush of being in control like that, of knowing you were in control like that, was intoxicating. "Besides," she said, wanting to see how far she could push this, "I think I like it over here." She let her fingers travel down her torso until they hooked into her panties, sliding them off of her hips, stopping just before exposing herself entirely, watching Karen's eyes in unadulterated satisfaction as they eagerly followed the journey.
"Grace. Please." Commanded by all of the strength Karen could muster in that moment. And it made Grace take pause. Something in the way the sound of her voice mixed with that urgent look in her eyes made her want to obey. Grace just couldn't say no her. She didn't want to say no to her.
Karen's eyes were glued to Grace as she slinked towards her, the charge in the air surrounding them becoming so overpowering, it drove the dark haired woman mad. She couldn't believe Grace had kept this side of her hidden for so long. Although, maybe it was for the best that she had; if Karen knew Grace could do this, there'd be no way she'd be able to concentrate on anything else. To have all of this in her head, day in and day out for twenty years, would have been impossible. To know that Grace could turn it on so easily, that Grace could turn her on so easily? She wouldn't have been able to keep her hands to herself long enough to let the redhead get any work done whatsoever. And now that she knew what Grace was capable of, she was certain they could never go back to business as usual.
Oh well. Grace Adler Designs had a good run.
In an instant, Grace straddled Karen on the desk chair, sighing at the dark haired woman's touch as her hands started to slide around her waist. She plunged her fingers through Karen's hair, wanting so badly to pull her in, to press her lips to the dark haired woman's, that she wasn't quite sure why she stopped short of diving in. But then she saw the way Karen's eyes rode the curves of her breasts before looking back up at her with a gaze that begged for permission, that was searching for the green light. All of it made Grace glow. For all the times Karen so confidently made the first move on something that always seemed to dissolve into just another show of their unusual friendship, it was thrilling to see her hand over the power. And now that Grace had it, she was going to make the most of it. This time, nothing would dissolve into friendship. This time, they were going cross that line without looking back.
This time, Grace was going to make it count.
She dove in, her kiss colliding with Karen's stunned lips, tasting the surprise on them. It couldn't have been the contact that did it; wasn't that what Karen was waiting for? Maybe it was the fact that she actually got what she wanted, that Grace was actually going along with this. But whatever it was, Grace got off on knowing she was capable of throwing the dark haired woman off of her game. It wasn't until she felt Karen's tongue crash into hers a moment later that she remembered how quickly she could be knocked off her game, too. She couldn't pretend like Karen didn't send shivers through her spine all of those other times they've kissed; she just didn't realize Karen could rip through her like that, turning every part of her into jelly. She moaned as she felt Karen's hold on her grow stronger and her kiss go deeper before the dark haired woman pulled away. "Fuck," Grace whispered into her mouth without realizing it, resting her forehead against Karen's in an attempt to steady herself.
"Take it off," Karen managed breathlessly, dropping her gaze back down to Grace's bra when they broke the kiss.
Grace smirked, the charge from Karen's lips making her a little bit bolder. She took a breath before she reached for each of Karen's hands, still lingering at her waist, and drew them up to the clasp of her bra. "You take it off," she murmured.
The shine in Karen's eyes blinded Grace. But the the way her fingers sent a frenzy of fireworks through Grace's core as she undid the clasp and tossed the bra to the side was overwhelming. And the way Karen instantly took her into her mouth made the redhead thank god she was sitting down; Grace felt her body give in further and further to Karen's tongue every time it swept over her nipple. She threw her head back in a gasp as she felt the dark haired woman start massaging her other breast, letting wave after euphoric wave crash over her. God, if they could just stay here like this…
But come on, Grace. You know you can't. Not if you're going to do the things you want to do.
Reluctantly, the redhead brought Karen's lips back to hers before her fingers raced through the buttons of her top, her kiss trailing down Karen's neck as she took her bra off (it was only fair to return the favor). She could smell the gardenia she had come to associate exclusively with Karen and couldn't believe that after twenty years of the same fragrance day in and day out, it still went to Grace's head with such strength, making it difficult to concentrate on much else. It didn't help her focus to feel Karen's nails at her back, scratching to bring her closer to her lips, begging her to give in to the sensation that was overtaking her body. And as much as she felt herself sinking into it, she pulled herself together and lifted herself off of Karen's lap.
She couldn't lie, though; the look of disappointment on the dark haired woman's face made her forget to breathe for a moment. To get that assurance that Karen wanted her, all of her, so desperately...it was hard to think of a better feeling than this.
"Honey, no," Karen whimpered, reaching out for the redhead as she felt the chill of the air fill the space where Grace should be. "Where are you going?"
Grace gave a smile that lit Karen on fire. "Trust me," she purred. She got down on her knees, her hands sliding up to the button of Karen's pants and swiftly undoing them. Karen lifted her hips so Grace could slide them off of her and throw them across the room, Grace thrilling over Karen's audacity to go commando (and although Karen didn't say anything, she could hear her voice in the back of her mind: Well, god, honey...how am I supposed to grab onto a phone through a pair of panties?). Grace looked up at her assistant with wicked eyes as she placed a hand on both of Karen's knees, spread her legs apart, and waited. She wanted to see what Karen would do to get closer to her, if Karen would do anything to get closer to her. Grace wanted her to writhe for her touch. She watched as Karen closed her eyes in anticipation and felt her smile grow wider. After a second, Karen's brow furrowed as she moaned a drawn out "Come on" and slid herself as close to the edge of her seat as she possibly could. She gave her hips a little thrust in Grace's direction before she opened her eyes to find the redhead's diabolical gaze staring back at her. What the hell was this? Since when did Grace have this much of a scheming streak? And why was it so damn intriguing while it was so damn frustrating?
"What's the hold up?" Karen breathed, exasperated.
Grace tilted her head and shrugged. "Just waiting," she said simply.
The dark haired woman's jaw dropped. "For what?!" she nearly shouted as she wriggled in her seat. The nerve of Grace to make her wait like this, when she had been scrambling for that contact this whole time. It...it…
To be honest, it turned her on even more.
"For the right time," the redhead smirked. "I told you to trust me, Karen."
"Grace, I swear to god, if you end up making me finish myself off, I'm going to-"
The redhead's tongue on her clit obliterated the threat from Karen's speech, replacing it with a full cry of ecstasy that bounced off every surface in the office. "Oh, shit, honey," she managed inside of a gasp. Grace's tongue was masterfully unpredictable, a calculated wildness that made Karen quake as she tried to guess the turns she would take and was blissfully proven wrong every time. It jumbled her mind so much that it took her a moment to realize Grace was timing the waves of pressure on her clit to the beat of the music-god, it felt like an eternity before she got the redhead between her legs, how was this song still playing?-and when she did realize it, she kept calling Grace's name as a plea to keep going. Because good god, she had done a lot of things in her time, with sultans and tennis stars and millionaires who kept telling her they could give her everything she ever wanted, but she never realized it could be like this. Like being caught off guard by the one who had been standing in front of her the whole time.
Like realizing that's what she's always wanted.
Grace felt the pulse between her legs get stronger every time she heard Karen pant for her, and she was nearly convinced that she would come from it before she even had a chance to get the dark haired woman to. She craved the way Karen twisted her name in passion every time it left her lips; she wanted see what it took to get Karen to keep twisting. She drew her nails along Karen's thighs, making her tremble harder as they journeyed down her skin. And as Karen's moan started to get louder and more drawn out, Grace let her right hand travel up Karen's body to her breast, sliding her nipple in between her fingers. She tried not to let the smile threatening to break free at the sound of Karen's rapturous "Oh, good lord" make her lose focus; it was the way Karen grabbed onto her wrist with one hand and slid her fingers through Grace's hair with the other to keep her tongue on her clit that almost made the redhead give in to her own rush of energy building inside of her. To know that Karen refused to give up her touch? That was everything.
God, that touch. How the dark haired woman ever lived without it before, she had no clue. The way Grace could just tell where she needed her to go was incredible. Karen could feel the surge in her core begin to grow and knew how close she was to being catapulted into the night, but she couldn't help herself; she had the overwhelming need to kiss Grace, to taste herself on the redhead's tongue, to press her mouth against the mouth that could make her forget that she had ever been with anyone else. She pulled Grace to her level until she was hovering over her, and she plunged her lips hungrily into the redhead's, letting the taste of their bodies swim directly to her head. But soon after that rush settled, she couldn't believe she had just willingly dragged Grace's tongue away like that. What the hell was she thinking? How could she just-
As if Grace could read her mind, she slid two fingers inside of Karen, making her assistant gasp every other thought out of her body. The redhead twisted herself inside the dark haired woman slowly at first, picking up steam when she saw the way Karen was undulating beneath her. She couldn't get over how stunning Karen looked when she was frenzied. The way her brow arched as if she was pleading for more. The way she bit down on her lip the second before her moan shaped her mouth into a perfect circle. The way the blush rose on her cheeks, turning the porcelain of her skin the most beautiful shade of pink. She would have been content to simply study her forever. But Karen cried out one final time as she threw her head back, caught in the throes of her orgasm, and cut forever short.
Grace felt Karen's walls closing in around her fingers as the dark haired woman came and nearly gasped herself, completely understanding how she was able to pick up Lorraine's phone at the club.
It wasn't until the echoes of Karen's cry had died down in their ears that they realized the song had stopped playing, throwing the office into a luminous silence. Grace stayed there for a moment, taking in the way Karen's eyes shined back at her as her breathing started to settle. She wanted to say something, anything, to give a voice to what she was feeling right now. She wanted to tell Karen how incredible she looked in the afterglow, or how she hated the path that led them here but she loved the destination once they arrived. How she wanted to stay like this forever, and if they couldn't stay forever, then she wanted them to come back as often as they could. But every time she tried to put the words together, she couldn't find the right ones. How could she know exactly how to say it when she's never truly felt it before? How could she say it without ruining the moment? To be able to get Karen to cry out like that, to be able to set her off...it turned her on so much. It was all so exhilarating.
It was all so brilliantly overwhelming.
Grace made her way over to her workspace to try to collect herself, the throbbing of her clit becoming too much to bear. She looked over at Karen, so gorgeously spent, and realized the dark haired woman had just given all of her energy up to her own pleasure. And with her back turned towards her assistant, she started massaging her breast with one hand (although her own touch could never match the feeling of Karen's tongue brushing against her) while she let the other start to slide down her torso. Her fingers finally brushed against the cotton of her panties, and she was about to slip them underneath when she felt the explosion of Karen's touch racing up her spine and the warmth of Karen's kiss at the nape of her neck. She held on to the table with all of the strength she had as Karen reached around and slid her hand down Grace's panties, taking the redhead's clit between her fingers.
"Oh, fuck, Karen," Grace gasped, unable to hide the surprise in her voice as she felt the ebb and flow of the dark haired woman's touch. She wanted to feel as much of her as she possibly could, pressing her back against Karen's chest, going crazy over the way the tickle of Karen's breath against her skin mixed with the sparks she felt every time Karen put a little pressure on her clit. "Don't stop."
"Come on...you didn't think I was going to be that selfish, did you, honey?" Karen murmured into her ear. "Although, maybe I should have made you wait for it, too."
Grace heard the way Karen's sly smirk colored her response and could no longer speak after that, though god knows she tried; every time she opened her mouth to answer, her words got buried by the electricity of Karen's fingers as she slid her clit between them, leaving nothing left in her vocabulary but a choked off moan. She shook her head in response before Karen's kiss collided into her neck. She reached up to run her fingers through Karen's hair, keeping her in place and feeling her knees weaken every time Karen moved her lips; she felt Karen's "Mmmm" against her skin and nearly buckled from it. But it wasn't until the dark haired woman's fingers started dancing more rapidly along her clit that she felt the tidal wave in her core grow and grow until she finally gave in, her moan at full volume as she rode out her orgasm, steadying herself on the table in front of her when it subsided. She felt Karen's gentle kiss at her back while she caught her breath and couldn't stand that her lips weren't pressed against the dark haired woman's. She turned around so that she was facing her assistant and took Karen's face in her hands, sighing as their lips met in the sweetest bliss she had ever tasted.
"Gracie…" Karen trailed off as they pulled away, glowing, just as speechless as Grace had been a moment before. But the redhead smiled as she pressed her body against the dark haired woman's, felt the warmth of the embrace start to envelope her. Karen didn't need to say anything at all; Grace knew exactly what she was feeling. And it was more than words could ever express.
"God…" Grace murmured into Karen's shoulder after a moment, breaking the silence with the only thing that came to her mind. "What took us so long?" she asked before the filter in her head had a chance to catch up.
She reveled in the way Karen's body shook with her laughter. "Maybe we were still feeling each other out," the dark haired woman joked, holding onto Grace a little tighter.
"You feel pretty amazing to me." The redhead held herself out just a little bit, so that she could look Karen in the eye and let her know how serious she was.
Karen rested her forehead against Grace's, desperate to commit this moment to her memory. "You feel extraordinary, Gracie." She brushed her lips against Grace's before she felt the redhead rest her head against her chest.
They stayed there, basking in the embrace, losing track of time, the symphony of the city traffic below them serving as their brilliant new soundtrack.
Karen wrapped herself in a throw blanket she found lying around the office and took a drag off of her cigarette as she gazed out the window to the city street below. She couldn't believe how big and open this place felt now. Ever since a stranger handed her those divorce papers, she couldn't stop feeling like Manhattan was closing in on itself, that it was trapping her in her place with no chance for escape. It wasn't as though she felt anything remotely like what she once did for her husband; decades of putting up with his games had exhausted her, and by that point, any kind of effort to fix what they had just didn't seem worth it. But those games were all that she had known for so many years. Those games had made up such a significant part of her life. And now that they would soon be gone, she wasn't quite sure what to do with herself.
Until tonight.
Looking down on Lafayette Street now, Karen felt the city expand in a way it hadn't in months. She felt like she could finally breathe again; she felt like she could move in any direction without the lingering worry of being trapped, without fear of the walls caving in, without the city suffocating her as it shrank. She felt the promise of possibility. She felt hope. And she knew that it was all Grace's doing. Grace, who allowed herself to be dragged to a seedy strip club-and dragged up on its stage-to make sure Stan couldn't win this time. Grace, who came alive in the privacy of the office. Grace, who knew how to take her by surprise. Grace, who sparked the light that could guide her into tomorrow. Grace, who made the city grow.
She had no idea what the universe had in store for them; for all she knew, this was a one time thing (although she hoped it wasn't). But if this was any indication of what life after Stan-for real this time-was going to be like, maybe it wasn't going to be such a bad thing.
Maybe she was going to be just fine.
"Here."
Karen snapped back into reality at the sound of Grace's voice, and she shifted her gaze from the window to the redhead holding her phone out in her hand. The dark haired woman furrowed her brow as she put her cigarette out in a coffee mug. "Honey, what am I supposed to do with this?"
The grin on Grace's lips was contagious, even if Karen wasn't completely sure what she was getting at. "It's your turn," the designer said simply.
"To…?"
"Oh, come on," Grace teased brightly. "You didn't think you were going to be the only one getting a private show, did you?"
Karen's laugh filled the office as she took the phone. "Gracie, you already got me naked. What more do you want?"
Grace leaned in, her lips crashing into Karen's, curling into a smile as she heard the dark haired woman's soft moan. "I want to see the way you move," she murmured when she pulled away. She motioned to the phone in her assistant's hand. "Pick a song, Kare." And Karen couldn't find any sane reason to deny her.
Grace took in the sight of Karen poring over the music on her phone and felt that brilliant charge start to surge through her once again. She couldn't believe she had ever lived without this feeling, that they had spent twenty years dancing around it when they could have had it all along. It could have saved them both a lot of anger, a lot of confusion, a lot of lonely nights, a lot of heartbreak, if she had just given into it the first time Karen casually kissed her, the first time Karen's touch grazed her skin and made the nerves kick in. Thinking about all of the signals she missed, all the ones she brushed off, made her crazy. But maybe she needed that. Maybe she needed the anger, the confusion, the lonely nights, the heartbreak. Maybe that was what made her fully feel the thrill of Karen's touch, that made her crave the way she tasted, that made her heart swell with the knowledge that Karen wanted all of this, too. Maybe they both needed the struggle to make all of this shine so brightly, it blinded them to everything else.
Maybe this was finally the start of something brilliant. And she couldn't believe she had Stanley Walker to thank for that. But stranger things have happened.
Just look at how she's spending her night tonight.
"Okay, honey," Karen said as she handed the phone off and made her way to the middle of the floor. She waited until Grace settled into the desk chair she once occupied and smiled. "Push play." She watched as the redhead did as she was told, sliding the phone onto Karen's desk as soon as the music started playing. She let the throw blanket slide off of her shoulders for a moment before letting it fall to the ground. She kicked it to the side and reveled in the way the redhead's eyes traveled her body. She inched closer and closer to Grace, never once slipping out of time with the music.
They both felt the city get a little bit bigger.