Ground Rules (by Sexghosts)
Fandom: Supergirl
Author: Sexghosts (Archive of Our Own author, this work is merely copied to get more publicity for them)
Rating: M
The "ground rules" as it turned out, for dating Cat Grant, were relatively simple. For reasons of professional propriety, the fact that they were dating was not to be acknowledged at work in any way; nobody wanted to deal with claims of favoritism and or the suggestion Cat Grant's decision making was compromised in any way by an affair with her assistant. So, no googly eyes at work, and they were to address each other in professional terms. There could be no PDA of any kind at any of the neighborhood bars and restaurants near Catco Plaza, but the rest of the city was fine. Cat was quick to make very clear that this didn't mean they were "in a relationship," but they were indeed "dating," which was its own hierarchical level in Cat's mind.
Kara was still expected to do her job, and Cat was still going to come down on her like a ton of bricks if she didn't do it right. But her obligation to jump at Cat's every command ended the second that they walked out the front doors of Catco Plaza, and Kara had to admit that Cat made her best efforts to ensure that they stuck to these rules. And she was exceedingly careful about making sure that Kara was one hundred percent comfortable with everything they did.
So, in between helping Cat run the world, they'd have dinner together, or sometimes lunch, and Kara would gamely try French food, even the snails, and Cat would reluctantly go bowling (the first time ending with her simply marching down the lane and kicking all the pins over in frustration). Kara would drag her and Carter for kite flying in the park, and Cat would take Kara shopping and buy her cute dresses and sunglasses that made her look like Audrey Hepburn.
Cat liked circuitous car rides to their dinner destinations, not just for the opportunity it afforded them to make out in the back of the limousine, but because of the ocean views and the opportunity for personal conversations. Kara learned that Cat had almost gone to conservatory for ballet, but chose to pursue journalism instead – neither would have pleased her mother anyway, and she felt powerfully about the importance of the Fourth Estate. But the ballet explained why she seemed so lithe, so graceful and in shape. She never did entirely abandon all of her training routines and they were part of her fitness regimen.
It tickled Cara to think that Cat Grant had entered the field of journalism because, like her, she'd wanted to make a difference all those years ago. It filled her with jittery joy to think that there was a feeling heart, if not a soft one, under all that sass. It was more thrilling than flying, to have Cat's attention focused on her, asking her questions about her life, her family, the things she loved, her beverage preferences…. And she really, really enjoyed the kissing. She really, really did. She enjoyed the closeness of it, the longing she felt in her body when they did it. When Kara placed her hands on Cat's cheeks when they kissed, she liked the way Cat's face would relax a little. She was excited by Cat's sharp edges, but she loved those little moments when she got to see them go soft. It felt special, because she knew that it was something that hardly anyone ever got to see.
Kara talked a lot about her family, the small town where she grew up, her first article that had been printed by the local paper when she was only fifteen. She had a fondness for photojournalism and art photography, American literature, and singing, which she was fairly good at. Cat demanded she sing a few notes in the car on one occasion, but Kara demurred, until finally she caved under Cat's incessant cajoling and nips at her ear, and gave her a few bars of the first and only thing that came into her head – a favorite song of her foster parents' when she was growing up, Blossom Dearie's "They Say It's Spring":
When I was young I lived in a world of dreams
Of moods and myths and illusionary schemes
Though now I'm much more grown up
I fear that I must own up
To the fact that I'm in doubt of
What the modern cynics shout of
They say it's spring
This feeling light as a feather
They say this thing
This magic we share together
Came with the weather too
Cat was working hard not to be impressed at how low and smooth Kara's voice was, but she was. Clearly she was, because the next minute, her fingers were idly tracing up Kara's arm, demanding how she could have held out on her this way.
They talked about Kara's college years, which were fairly unremarkable ones at a decent university where she buckled down and worked hard and graduated with honors. They talked about Cat's college years, which were spent at Wellesley, excelling academically despite drinking a lot and sleeping with an awful lot of girls. Kara blushed at this frank admission from Cat. So, I'm not her first woman, she thought, and part of her was relieved about it.
"So, what about that, Kara?" Cat asked, direct as usual. "I'm not your first, am I?"
"Well… my first person? No. I've had a few boyfriends. But my first woman… yeah." She reddened a little and looked down at the floor.
"Don't look so embarrassed, Kara. There's a first time for everything. And I'm not in any rush. As I said, I'm trying to get to know you."
But what if I AM in a rush? Kara wanted to say, but didn't. What if she wanted to satisfy her aching curiosity, what if she didn't want to wait? Instead, she asked, "So, how'd you end up married to Carter's dad?"
Cat sighed in a way that said it wasn't her favorite topic of conversation. "I finished Wellesley, got my career together, promised my parents that if I found a man who wasn't threatened by me, that I'd marry him, because that was just what you were supposed to do. As it turned out though, he wasn't really as enlightened as he presented himself to be. He had some long con in mind that involved eventually convincing me to give up my career to bear and raise his children."
"Had he met you?" Kara exclaimed incredulously.
"Apparently not. He didn't marry me, he married some idea of what he could turn me into. So, that was it. But I got Carter out of the bargain, so I can't say it was a total loss. That jackass had good genes."
Kara felt a wave of discomfort in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't help wondering, was Cat dating her, or an idea of what she wanted to turn her into? Was she buying her those cute dresses to make her happy, or make her fit an idea she had in her head? She gazed out the window at the passing glass-and-wood facades of the fancy restaurants they were rolling by on their way to Gwang Yang, what was meant to be Kara's first time trying Korean barbecue. She suddenly felt a panic, an urgency, a need to be wanted for what she was. She seized Cat's hand, kissed the soft inside of her wrist desperately. "Let's skip dinner."
Cat's eyebrow went up in surprise. "Kara, really?"
Kara's heart started to bang at her ribs, loud in her ears. She could see the pulse in the vein on Cat's neck and wanted to feel it against her lips. "Really. Do you want to?" She looked pleadingly at her.
"Are you sure?" Cat was hesitant, her look both deeply interested and carefully appraising.
"I just… please… I don't want to wait anymore." I want to know if we fit, I want to know if you feel as good as you look, I want to know that it's me you want, and not some me that you want to turn me into. When Cat had said those words about her ex-husband, they had struck at the heart of everything that had made Kara nervous about this from their very first kiss. Part of her would love to turn into everything that Cat wanted in a woman, longed to do it, even. But she needed to know that Cat wanted what she was, now. Because sooner or later, they were going to have to deal with Supergirl, which would be its own set of complications. She needed to know that she was interesting enough on her own.
"Kara, you don't have to–"
"I'm not a child!" Kara exclaimed suddenly. Her hand flew up to her mouth. It was the first time she'd raised her voice since the day she lost her temper. She took a breath and steadied herself, aware of Cat's level gaze on her. "I'm sorry," she sighed after a moment.
"I know that, Kara," Cat said quietly, and kissed the hand that was clasping hers. "You understand why I have to be careful, though, don't you? Why we had to set rules? I have to be sure that you really want it."
"I do," Kara answered, her voice tiny. "I do, I do, really do. And I want you to want me back. Just me. Just for what I am." She leaned in and pressed her mouth against Cat's. "Come on, let's just go."
She was delighted to feel Cat responding to her. After a moment, Cat's other hand reached out and pushed the call button, and she withdrew from their kiss long enough to call out, "Seamus? Forget Gwang Yang. Take us to my place, please."
She pushed back into the kiss for a moment as Seamus answered, "Yes, Miss Grant. Scenic route today?"
She pulled back again and took a breath. "No, thank you Seamus, I'd actually love for you to get us there as quickly as humanly possible."
Carter, thankfully, was at a sleepover this evening, so there was no need to be quiet. They came through the door of Cat's penthouse and Kara couldn't be bothered to take in much about the place except that it was very spacious, and there was a lot of what remained of the orange sunset coming in through some floor to ceiling windows in what appeared to be the living room. They had their arms around each other the moment the door closed behind them and Kara was happy to let tiny Cat press her against the wall in the foyer for a long, slow kiss. Cat's fingers worked at the buttons on Kara's starched shirt, opening it down to her navel. Kara tangled her fingers in Cat's hair, tilted her head back and kissed that pulse point on her throat that had snared her eyes in the car. Cat took a sharp breath when she did it, and whispered her name, and the sound of it send a shiver through Kara.
It took all her restraint not to pick Cat up and carry her off in the direction of the bedroom, whichever direction that was. So instead they stood there together in the half-light for a few more moments, sharing deep, slow kisses, tugging at each other's clothes.
"Cat," Kara sighed, sliding her hands up the back of Cat's silk blouse, "can we go lay down?"
Cat smiled and took Kara's hands from behind her back, kissed each one, and then nodded down the hall. "This way."
Cat's bed was big, and soft, and smelled like perfume, and laying in it felt like floating. Cat rested on top of her, and they continued to kiss as she worked the rest of the buttons on Kara's shirt and let it fall open. She paused and let Kara reach up to slide the sweater off of her, and then settled back down on her. She was so light, Kara could barely feel her weight, but she was aware of her skin, the closeness of her, the movement of her lips down her neck, and she sighed, thrilling at it for a moment.
She nudged Cat, as gently as she could, onto her side. She was too eager, too ready, and she scrambled out of the rest of her clothes, and tossed them onto the floor. Cat reached to turn on a small light by the bedside, but Kara stayed her hand. "Please, can we leave them off?"
Cat paused half a beat. Kara knew she wanted to look at her, and Kara wanted to look at Cat, but she wasn't ready for the whole lights-on business. She knew Cat would insist that the glasses would have to go, that the hair would have to come down, and she wasn't ready to deal with the consequences of that with the lights on. The dimming sunset through the windows would be enough.
She stretched out on her side on the bed, looking expectantly at Cat, hoping that what she was was enough for her. The slow-moving weight of Cat's stare moving over her shape, the satisfied smile playing around her lips, told Kara that it was. Her heart raced again as she watched Cat, looking gently at her, take off the rest of her clothes, and then lay down next to her. Cat drew her in for another kiss, and they lay tangled for a little while in the bed, legs and arms, lips and tongues, breathing together slow and soft. And as she'd expected, Cat plucked the glasses off her face and the pins from her hair, and paused to gaze at her.
Kara pulled back to look, a little panic rattling about in her stomach, fear that she'd be recognized. But in the dim of evening, Cat only saw Kara, naked and vulnerable.
Kara nudged herself back a little further. "I just want to see you," she confessed.
Cat smiled. "That's fine. Take your time."
Cat's body was tight and lithe, like one of Degas's dancers, and though she was small, she looked strong, her muscles looked firm. Kara was filled with hunger to look at it, but didn't know where to begin… She reached her hand out and tentatively stroked a few fingers down Cat's neck, down her chest, and then followed with a kiss at the base of her throat.
"It's alright," Cat told her reassuringly. "I know this is new for you, take as much time as you want. Play with it. See how it feels. It's fine."
Cat leaned back on the thick mountain of pillows with her hands behind her head, seeming utterly unselfconscious in her nakedness, a feeling that was impossible for Kara to even begin to fathom. "I… I don't know what to …" She struggled for a minute, feeling suddenly embarrassed and wondering if this was sheer idiocy. "Just tell me what you like," she pleaded.
"Oh, we'll get to that," Cat promised. She stroked Kara's face. "But take a few minutes on your own."
Shyly, Kara placed her leg over Cat's and pressed herself up next to her, resting a cheek on one of her small, soft breasts, and laying a hand lightly on the other one, wondering at it. She'd never really handled her own, except for washing and putting on bras and so forth, and it was like… well, it didn't really feel like anything else. It was silky and wonderful and gave under her touch in the most delightful ways. Cat was stroking her hair and making happy, encouraging sounds. Kara tilted her head and cautiously kissed the breast beneath her cheek and got a gentle, "hmm," somewhere in Cat's throat.
Her stomach was smooth, except for the faintest marbling of stretch marks, her badges of having carried Carter. But it was flat and firm, as were her thighs. Kara's fingers and then mouth made their way along all of the front of Cat's body, feeling it, tasting it, discovering what it felt like. She noticed that kissing her soft breasts made Cat especially happy, so she did it again.
"Do you like kissing me there?" Cat whispered.
Kara nodded.
"Try it like this." Cat took Kara's hand, and slipped a finger into her mouth, and caught it lightly between her teeth, kissed it softly, gently stroking it with her tongue. Kara stared at Cat's lips closed around her finger, absorbing every movement. Then she leaned back down, and did her best to duplicate what she'd been shown. Cat drew a sharp breath. "Yes. Better."
So Kara lingered there, kissing her that way.
"Where else would you like to play?" Cat asked her softly, her eyes never leaving Kara's face.
Kara knew she was in a state of permanent flush, her body shouting at being so close to Cat's, and wanting nothing more than to please her. "Everywhere," she managed, her breath catching in her throat. She sat up in the bed beside her, feeling wet and hungry. She trailed fingers down Cat's stomach, and then kissed it, then slowly down to her thighs, where she hovered for a moment, giving Cat a look that asked for permission.
Cat shifted, moved them apart, and let Kara slowly, gently, tentatively slide her fingers in between them. She was as wet as Kara felt, and Kara saw her eyes close for a brief moment when her fingers dipped in. "Tell me what you like," Kara begged again. She just wanted to do what would make her feel good.
Cat shook her head. "Relax. We'll get to that. Just take some time. Get used to what this feels like."
Kara was baffled. She had never seen this infinitely patient, gentle side of Cat. But she took a moment to stroke her fingers through the contours of her sex, which was warm and slippery to her touch. She drew a finger down over her clit and back up a few times, watching Cat's face, looking at her own finger touching the stiff, glistening pink bud, almost not believing she was here, that she was touching her this way. She trailed down, and carefully pushed a finger inside. It slipped in easily, and the little sharp intake of breath told her it was something Cat enjoyed. Her awkwardness was giving way to the eagerness that had driven her back in the car to beg Cat for this, and she asked, "Is this good?"
"It will be," Cat said tenderly. "If I know one thing about you, it's that you're a quick study."
Kara bit her lip, closing her eyes.
"Do you like the way that feels? Being inside me?"
Kara nodded, flushed and excited but unable to look at her. She'd never been inside someone before; she felt soft, alive, both tightening around her finger and giving underneath its pressure.
It was amazing that for how different it was to be in bed with a woman, that it was also so... not-different. Sex was still intimate, sticky, exciting, awkward. Desire was still messy, fickle and consuming. And Kara still ached to please the lover that she'd decided to go to bed with.
"You want to know what I like?" Cat asked her.
Kara nodded again.
"Lie down, and I'll show you."
Kara hesitated, but slowly withdrew her fingers and lay back down. In a moment she was on her back, spread open, with Cat's mouth between her legs, laying soft kisses there, licking her in a way that said it was something she deeply enjoyed, making Kara feel as though she was the most rare and delicious flavor that had ever been on Cat's tongue. Kara wanted to watch, and she did, and it was exhilarating to look down and see it happening, but she closed her eyes and tried to focus on only on what it felt like.
She struggled, though. She felt it, but also didn't, quite. She was excited by the sharing, by the intimacy, the attention, and it felt wonderful, but… She never knew what it was, but it lacked that thing, whatever it was, that made other people coil up and then explode into that moment of ecstasy. It left her more motivated to enjoy Cat's pleasure than to receive her own, to experience that moment through her.
"OK," she sighed after a few minutes. "Please, let me try?"
Cat smiled. "I was planning on finishing you first, dear."
"No no, please, I want… I want to taste you… please?"
Cat crawled up her body and kissed Kara's lips, and Kara could taste herself on them. She wrapped her legs around Cat's hips and rolled, flipping their positions again. She pressed her mouth to Cat's again, and then moved down the bed, leaving little kisses on her skin as she went; throat, collarbone, breastbone, belly, hips. She pushed her thighs apart, and eagerly delved her tongue in to taste Cat. It was like what she'd tasted on Cat's lips, but stronger, sweeter. Something broke in her, and made her kissing and licking so voracious that Cat gasped, tapped her shoulders, wriggling and laughing, "Easy, easy! Take it easy! Slow down."
Kara reddened and stopped.
"It's good, it's fine," Cat assured her, "just… about fifty percent of that would be just right."
It took a moment or two, but Kara found the right pressure and rhythm, and settled in, blissfully listening to the noises that Cat made, the moans that grew in volume as Kara worked. She felt Cat's hand stroking her hair, Cat's voice moaning her name quietly a few times. That nearly did her in, Cat moaning her name. Her taste, her scent, the feel of her rocking against Kara's mouth, drove her wild. She hungered to feel Cat fall apart, ached for her orgasm as if it were her own.
And it was worth it. Cat's back arching up off of the bed, the tremors that went through her fro top to bottom, the sighs that rose in pitch, and Kara's name on her lips, over and over… It was everything she wanted. Cat, wanting her, coming for her, falling apart for her. Nothing had felt this good; not catching that plane, not flying for the first time, nothing.
She popped up, beaming, from between Cat's legs. "Was that good?"
Cat's breath was still shallow. "Wasn't bad," she admitted.
Kara bit her lip, elated.
"You know what happens now, don't you?" Cat asked, pursing her lips naughtily.
"Of course!" Kara exclaimed breathlessly. "I do it again!"
"Kara," Cat began to protest.
"I need practice!" she answered, laughing. And she made love to her again.
Cat was loose and lazy after the second time Kara brought her over the edge. "OK," she yawned, sounding exhausted. "I need a glass of water, a little break and–"
"And then I do it again?" Kara suggested, grinning.
"Don't you even," Cat snapped. "Get up here."
Kara crawled up the bed, settled carefully on top of her, kissed her deeply. "It was OK, right?" she asked.
"Not bad at all," Cat answered tiredly. "But really, it's my turn now."
Kara silenced her with another kiss. She lingered in it, loving how it felt to lay with her, loving that she could see in the dark, could perceive the slight flush in Cat's cheeks, loving that Cat's hair was less than perfect and her lipstick a little smeared, that she was soft and dreamy and humming with endorphins. And that she, Kara, had done that to her. Not Supergirl. Not some abstract fantasy. She had. She traced a finger down Cat's body, felt her shudder a little. "I'll go get you that water. Be right back."
She jumped out of bed, wandered down the hall to the kitchen. After a moment of casting about, she found a glass, and after another moment of fiddling, figured out how the ice cubes and cold water came out of the little window on the front of the refrigerator. She strolled back down the hall to the bedroom and set the glass down on the bedside table. "Here, Cat. Drink up."
But Cat was asleep, passed out, her limbs flung about at odd angles. Kara wandered into the master bathroom, found a towel, covered the wet spot on the mattress (which was considerable), and then drew the bedspread up over Cat's naked body. Not before taking a long, lingering look at her in what was now soft moonlight.
She wants me. She wants ME.