Sorry for the delay in posting! Next chapter will be up in six days time, if all goes well.
It takes them far too long to navigate the harness of the strap on, and they're laughing the entire time - or rather, Kalei laughs at Quill's frustration until Quill has to give in and see the funny side after admitting temporary defeat.
"We'll deal with it later," Quill grumbles, tossing it back into the box.
Kalei is still laughing, and manages to grab the handcuffs with her toes before Quill can get them, only for Quill to growl and snatch them back, catching Kalei's foot in her hand.
"Stop laughing, I'm trying to be seductive, here," Quill tells her, frowning adorably. "The website made it all sound very promising."
"If you can't laugh during sex, you're having sex with the wrong person," Kalei tells her, shrugging. "Sex is funny, sometimes."
"Perhaps, but I think I'm just going to have to focus on making sure laughter is the last thing on your mind, for now," Quill murmurs, weighing the handcuffs thoughtfully. "What do you think? Finally time for it to be your turn wearing these?"
Kalei's laughter dies in her throat a little as she looks at the strong leather cuffs. "Um. Yes? Are you sure you're going to be okay with that?"
"Am I going to be okay with tying up my wonderful girlfriend, who has proven continuously just how much she cares about me, and is willing to stand with me?" Quill asks, kneeling on the bed and smirking. "Yes, I think it's safe to say that I've adjusted to the idea of you trusting me. And I do believe I promised you a world of fun when it was my turn to be in charge."
Kalei smiles. "Sounds good to me."
"Wait, actually, no. I think I promised begging for mercy, for hours," Quill says, innocently, tilting her head, a smaller, softer, but somehow even smugger smile on her lips.
"Oh," Kalei says, voice weak, body immediately far too warm. "Oh no. Not now."
"Oh yes." Quill leans down to kiss her. "What's wrong, Jacobs? You kept telling me you were looking forward to it. You wanted me to promise that I would. Change of heart?"
Kalei's heart is racing just thinking about it. "No," she says weakly.
"So, to clarify, you are okay with and consenting to my restraining you with these handcuffs?" Quill asks, dangling them from her finger as she straddles Kalei's hips.
"Not for hours," Kalei says, trying very hard to keep her brain on the logical side of things, which isn't very easy with Quill naked and on top of her. "That would be hell on my my wrists and circulation. I've only done this once, remember. But for as long as is comfortable, yes."
Quill smiles. "Traffic lights?"
Kalei nods, swallowing as Quill handcuffs her hands together.
"Two fingers between your skin and the cuff, right?" Quill asks. "I've done some reading, but I wasn't sure about some of it, and I figure if I just try and go with what you did with me-"
"I didn't check the cuffs enough, with you," Kalei says, frowning. "You didn't mind, but-"
"You will. Got it. I'll keep an eye on them," Quill promises, seriously. "But two fingers, yeah?" Kalei nods, and Quill slides the fingers between the cuffs to check the tightness, and makes a little adjustment to one of them. "You alright?"
"I'm fine," Kalei says honestly. "Excited, mainly."
Quill grins a little. "Good." She attaches the cuffs to the headboard, and Kalei tests the feel of them again, just to be sure. God, it's been years since the only other time she did this. It feels okay, though. Not too scary, not when she knows she has the power to stop things at any time. Not when she's too busy thinking about being at Quill's mercy and feeling very, very warm.
"Water?" Kalei asks, with the last of her rationality. Quill nods and grabs her glass, gently holding it to her lips so that she can drink. "Thanks."
"Hydration is important," Quill says, having a drink from her own glass, "I read that."
"You really have been doing research."
"Of course. And yes, I know it's a turn on, try to control yourself when I haven't even started yet," Quill replies, with a little smirk. Kalei makes a face of mock offence, and tries to kick her with her toe when Quill gets up and fetches the bullet vibrator. "Hey, none of that. You want to be on your best behaviour, remember?"
Kalei sobers, eyeing the vibrator and swallowing hard. "Right."
"Now, I'm not completely sure how this-" Quill trails off, chuckling much lower than is good for Kalei's heart when she gets the vibrator going and tests the different settings. "Ah. Simple enough."
She fiddles with the different settings for a bit, her smirk only growing in size. Kalei has to stop herself from literally squirming with anticipation.
"Oh yes, I think we can have a lot of fun with this," Quill says. She comes to sit on the bed in front of Kalei, letting the bullet rest on the covers while her hands touch Kalei's knees, just lightly.
"Then why are you putting it down?"
"I don't recall saying you could talk," Quill says, voice low, making Kalei bite her lip to stop any unholy noise that might escape her mouth and make it clear just how affected she is by the words. "Traffic light words and any begging only, unless I ask you something. Are we clear?"
Kalei nods, and dear god she knows she knows shouldn't be this turned on, yet, but this is the kind of authoritative Quill that ruled her fantasies after they first met.
"Good girl."
Kalei is becoming increasingly certain that this is how she's going to die. But like she's thought before: what a way to go.
Quill leans in and kisses her. Rough. Demanding. Biting her lower lip hard. Kalei eagerly kisses her back, gives her everything she's asking for. Her wrists are held back by the cuffs when she instinctively goes to touch Quill, and she feels the first moment of frustration at being restrained.
She feels the loss keenly when Quill pulls away to regard her with interest. Her hands trail along Kalei's thighs, pushing them even further apart. A single finger explores the apex of her legs, and Quill's lips twitch.
"Well, well, someone is feeling rather needy," she says, and Kalei wants to ride that smirk off her face, but also never ever wants Quill to stop what she's currently doing. "What can we do about that? Oh, yes, I have a toy, don't I?"
Quill picks up the bullet and turns it on, before running it all over Kalei's inner thighs, teasing. Finally she gets it where Kalei wants it, and when she has the bullet pressed to Kalei's clit, it soon makes Kalei squirm.
"Is that good?" Quill asks, eyes dark. Kalei nods. "I'm definitely going to need to try this, at some point. Maybe a night when you're not here, and I'm thinking about you." The image of Quill using the bullet on herself, while thinking about Kalei, is obscenely hot and makes Kalei lean forward to try and kiss Quill, only to find her out of her reach. "Or, of course, I could bring you right to the edge, right now, and then stop, and use it on myself while you're stuck here, unable to do anything but watch."
Kalei stares at her. "You're trying to kill me, aren't-" Her sentence dies when Quill's fingers snap up at an inhuman speed to take Kalei's tongue between her fingers, silencing her.
"I told you, you aren't allowed to talk unless it's a safe word, or you're begging me for something," Quill says, eyes flashing.
"Please," Kalei says the moment her tongue is released, only to gasp when Quill puts the bullet into a higher setting.
Quill smirks again, holding the bullet in place and watching it turn Kalei to jelly so quickly. Watches as Kalei's legs are shaking a little, listens to her breathing get a bit more urgent.
And just when Kalei feels like she's almost there - the vibrator is gone.
"No, please," Kalei pleads, shaken. "Quill, don't-"
"I told you," Quill says, all innocent wide eyes. "Begging for mercy."
After taking a moment to check Kalei's cuffs, Quill turns up the torture a notch. She's so close to Kalei, leaning in and pressing kisses to Kalei's neck while she keeps the bullet between Kalei's legs, taking her to the edge again and again and turning it off right before she gets there.
Kalei is shaking, her entire body trembling with the force of her need.
"This is what little teases like you deserve, you know," Quill murmurs. "You knew when you chose to tease me that my retaliation would be so much worse."
"Please," Kalei whispers.
Quill's smirk against her skin is practically audible. "Please what?"
"Please, I'll do anything," Kalei says, almost out of her mind.
"Anything?"
"Within reason, yes."
"Say please one more time," Quill asks.
"Please, Quill, please-"
Quill turns it up to the highest setting and Kalei is overcome with sensation, unprepared for the cry that escapes as that wave of pleasure finally breaks over her, so powerful it almost drowns her.
"That's it," Quill says, her free hand stroking over Kalei's hair. "Good girl."
Kalei lets out a shuddering breath which is almost a sob. Quill leans down to kiss her gently, before moving to remove the handcuffs. Kalei lets out a sigh of relief and flexes her sore wrists.
"Shit," Quill says when she looks at them, a deep frown creasing her forehead. "Sorry, I got carried away, I should have-"
"It's okay," Kalei tells her, "it was great. But just… cuddle me, now?" It's settling in now, that shaky feeling that's just a bit more powerful than the usual post-coital one, that feeling of fragility, of needing Quill in a completely different way.
It's stronger than she remembers it being, the sub drop, but then it's a fainter memory and Sam had played it very safe in his dominant role, where Quill would never have even considered it.
Quill passes her some water before anything else, and Kalei gulps it down gratefully. Once both hydrated, Quill lies down next to Kalei, getting them both under the covers before wrapping her arms around her, letting Kalei curl into her and bask in their shared warmth underneath the duvet.
"Are you alright?" Quill asks. "Is this enough?"
"I think so," Kalei says, quietly. She nuzzles into Quill's shoulder. "Just keep holding me, for a while."
"I've got you," Quill tells her seriously, holding her tight. "Always."
"I know."
They stay there tucked into the covers, Quill's hand stroking over Kalei's hair and down her spine, warm and content. It takes a while for Kalei to feel herself again, but the whole time she knows she is safe and warm and cared for.
"I know I said we would have a proper dinner, but I'm so tired, and my legs definitely aren't working," Kalei says. "Can we… just sleep, and worry about food in the morning?"
"Sleep sounds good to me," Quill says, stifling a yawn. "All this sex has reminded me that I need to get decent rest so I can keep it up."
Kalei laughs helplessly. "Also because your girlfriend doesn't quite have your stamina, and definitely needs the sleep if she's going to keep this up."
"Exactly. I am capable of being considerate, you know. Sometimes. When it benefits me."
Kalei snorts. "Shut up and sleep, Andy."
It's a nice feeling, waking up with Kalei. Keeping Kalei safe in her arms, Kalei curled into her like the soft ball of warm human being that she is. Kalei who trusts Quill. Kalei who let Quill cuff her to the bed and torment her like that, who enjoyed it even if it meant needing a lot of cuddling afterwards.
Not that the cuddling is a bad thing. Quite the opposite. It had been nice, that feeling of Kalei needing her like that. Perhaps just as intoxicating as the actual dominance part, that feeling of Kalei nuzzling into her, all shaky, asking for Quill's touch, needing her in such an intimate way that Quill is still staggered by it.
"I've got you," Quill murmurs again, to her sleeping girlfriend. Always.
Kalei mumbles in her sleep and snuggles further into her, making Quill smile just a little. God, she's gone soft. There's no way any of the teenagers are going to take her seriously if they see her acting like this around Kalei. She's going to have to crank up the threats of bodily harm and make them extra convincing.
"Morning," Kalei says eventually, voice clouded with drowsiness.
Quill kisses the top of her head. "Morning."
"What time is it?"
"Don't know, don't care. We're not in any rush."
"That's true."
Cuddling is good. The sex that comes after is good too, and Quill has to grin at the wobble in her legs when she gets up to go to the bathroom and make coffee, leaving a smug girlfriend propped up on the pillows and browsing Instagram.
Rudimentary breakfast happens too, because Quill is no chef but is firm on the importance of food and staying sustained, especially with what they've been getting up to and what she has every intention of continuing to do.
Which is how she ends up bringing a plate piled with twelve pieces of toast back to the bedroom with her, about ten minutes delivering the coffee. She went for a variety of spreads - three with just butter, three with jam, three with peanut butter, and three with honey. (She'd tried the weird marmite stuff in the cupboard and wanted to be sick, and had settled for hurling it out into the street via the front door, hopefully never to be seen again.)
"Um," Kalei says, when she sees the plate. "I have several questions, possibly involving why I thought I heard the front door earlier, and then the sound of squealing car tires, but I think I'm just going to go for… why do you have so much toast?"
"Sustenance," Quill replies, grabbing a piece and shoving it in her mouth as she lies back down. "I want to keep having sex with you. We both require food in order for that to be a plausible way of spending the day. Hence, toast."
Kalei stares at her, looking torn between laughter and exasperation, and settles for biting into a piece of honey toast while regarding Quill carefully.
"Yes, I'm with you that far. But why so much?"
Quill just gives her a look.
Kalei rolls her eyes. "Quill, I appreciate your enthusiasm and, uh, unique brand of logic here, but I'm going to need more than toast if that's really your plan for the day."
"Why?"
"... because humans can't survive on toast alone."
"That is definitely a lie, at least in the time frame of a single day."
"Quill," Kalei says, slowly, "we are having a proper lunch later, with some form of protein and vegetables, and this is not negotiable."
"Fine," Quill replies, sighing. "But for the record, your human rules about food are ridiculous."
"Shut up and eat your toast mountain. And don't get crumbs in the bed."
Quill sighs and goes about eating nine out of the twelve pieces of toast, and definitely gets crumbs in the bed. Kalei browses Twitter while waiting for Quill to get every single one of them out.
"There," Quill says eventually. "Can we have sex now?"
"Shower," Kalei replies without looking up from her phone.
"Seriously? What's the point, if I'm just going to-"
"I didn't say you had to do it by yourself," Kalei says, chuckling, and gets out of bed so she can tug Quill in the direction of the bathroom.
"Oh," Quill says, and allows herself to be led, happily.
By the time it hits three thirty in the afternoon, they're sprawled on Quill's bed, unclothed and still trying to catch their breath. Even Quill has lost count of the number of times they've had sex at this point. It had seemed a lot less important than the actual act of continuing to fuck her girlfriend senseless (they had eventually worked out the harness on the strap on, and that had led to a whole new world of fun).
"We have half an hour until they get back, we should probably get to work cleaning this place and ourselves up," Quill says reluctantly.
Kalei, who has her head snuggled into the duvet, looks at her with starry brown eyes. Her hair is such a mess that it would make Quill laugh hysterically if it wasn't so damn satisfying to think about how wonderfully fucked Kalei looks.
"I genuinely don't think my legs are working," Kalei says seriously.
"Good," Quill smirks.
Kalei groans and turns bright pink. "Quill, I'm serious, I can't move. Or, I don't know, the bits that can move hurt."
"I distinctly recall you saying harder, Quill, harder-" Quill's high pitched mimicking is met with a whack to the face with a pillow, making her grin. "Good, see, attack instincts are still there, and you still have use of your arms. You're fine."
"I'm not fine, I don't think I can walk, and I need to shower again before they get here!"
"You brought this on yourself."
"This was all you!"
"This was a joint effort, and you know it," Quill corrects, rolling her eyes. "It was during the many, many acts of extremely consensual sex between two parties that this happened, making it impossible to put the sole blame on anyone."
"Shut up and let me complain," Kalei grumbles. "I have to see Sally tonight and she's going to know, she's going to take one look at how I'll be walking and know."
"Good, her angry face is hilarious."
"You couldn't make an effort to try and make her hate you less, could you?"
"Why would I want to do that? All great warriors need a nemesis, and since the Shadowkin are dead and you have weird feelings about Dorothea Ames, I don't see a lot of other options. Sally and I are destined to circle each other like weird, territorial animals, trying to protect the same creature."
"... has anyone ever told you that you're a touch overdramatic?"
"I have no idea what you mean," Quill says mildly, pretending to not remember throwing the marmite out of the door earlier that day, and the possible traffic incident it might have caused. "I'm the least dramatic person. You have to give a shit to be dramatic, surely."
Kalei laughs into the pillow. "I can't believe you. You're one of the most obscenely dramatic people I've ever met. And I love that about you, but… seriously."
"When have I ever been needlessly dramatic?"
"Matteusz says you once tried to fight thunder."
"I thought we were under attack."
Kalei starts laughing again and reaches out to pull Quill into a kiss. "Don't ever, ever, ever change. Just, promise me that, okay?"
Quill grins, ignoring how her heart does that obscene fluttering when Kalei talks like this. "Don't worry, Jacobs, you're stuck with me exactly how I am. I'm too stubborn to change."
"That's definitely true," Kalei says, snorting.
With a bit of teamwork when it comes to walking, they are showered and dressed and the house cleaned by the time there's a knock on the door at 4:05. Quill opens the door to find Matteusz holding Athena to his chest, sharing a dopey smile with Charlie.
Urgh, they're being disgustingly in love again.
"Any problems?" Quill asks.
"The baby subterfuge did not last for entire night, but it was okay," Matteusz says. "April's mother likes Quilliam very much."
"How nice," Quill says, her voice making it plain that she doesn't care. "Give her here, then." She takes the baby and gets her settled in her arms before touching the tip of her nose curiously. "Hello, little one."
Athena makes a noise that Quill thinks sounds rather happy. Well, nice to know that the small list of people that actually like her does in fact include her daughter. It makes her chest feel funny, in a pleasant sort of way.
"I think she missed you," Matteusz says, smiling.
"I'm not convinced she has the cognition function required for that just yet," Quill replies.
"Missing someone is not about cognition, Miss Quill. It is about feeling."
"Yeah, yeah, blah blah sentiment blah." She glances up at him. "And drop the 'Miss', alright? You just looked after my baby for 24 hours, and we live together. Just Quill is fine."
"Not Andy?" Matteusz says, grinning.
"No," Quill says sharply.
Charlie chuckles a little, and they all move inside, where Kalei is in the kitchen with two mugs of coffee. Her face lights up when she sees them, and it continues to surprise Quill just how much Kalei seems to care about Charlie and Matteusz, even if perhaps it shouldn't, since Kalei cares about almost everyone.
"Hey, did you guys have a good night?" Kalei asks the boys.
Charlie's eyes flick to her neck, where there are several hickeys that have alluded her concealer. "Not as good as yours, apparently, but yes, it was very pleasant."
Kalei flushes deep red as her hand goes to her neck. "Oh god, I thought I got all of them-"
"Nope," Quill says smugly.
"Naturally you neglected to mention this."
"Naturally."
Kalei shakes her head, with that fond exasperation, and turns her attention to the baby in Quill's arms instead. "Hello, Athena. Your mother is going to be the death of me, you know." She tickles the baby's cheek, and gets a happy little gurgle in response, before looking back at the boys. "What are you two doing for New Year's, tonight?"
"I think Ram and his mother are going over to April's, but Tanya is spending it with her family," Charlie says, "so-"
"We figured we would spend it with you, here," Matteusz says with a shrug.
"Can't, we're going to a party," Quill tells them.
"What?"
"Sally - Miss Liu, as you'd know her - she always has one on New Year's, or rather, her brother does," Kalei explains. "But I mean, you could probably just come with us. She likes you both well enough, and you are Quill's wards."
"That means we'd have to bring the baby," Quill points out. "Can we trust her to not do anything?"
"No," Charlie says, frowning at the baby. "Mrs MacLean got quite the fright this morning."
Kalei and Quill lift their eyebrows at him.
"Baby horse," Matteusz explains, and it says a lot about where their lives have ended up that this is a perfectly acceptable answer that earns nods of understanding from all of the others.
"We probably don't want the fireworks to startle her, then," Kalei says.
"I'd be more concerned about her trying to turn into a firework, actually," Quill says, frowning at the baby. "If New Year's is an occasion that they tend to go off."
"Oh god, true," Kalei replies, making a face.
"We'll leave her with Charlie and Matteusz," Quill continues. "If they stay inside and she can't get a good look at the fireworks, it should be alright. We can always hurry back if something goes wrong."
Charlie doesn't look too thrilled by this prospect. Matteusz just smiles.
"I'm sure all will be okay. Will be nice to have house to ourselves," he says, shrugging.
"Ourselves and a baby," Charlie points out.
"I mean, you don't have to," Kalei says.
"Yes, they do-"
"Quiet, Quill, they're doing favours for you, this is unpaid child care," Kalei says, giving her a pointed look, and Charlie nods in agreement.
"Really, is no trouble," Matteusz tries to say.
Quill just arches an eyebrow. "Given that I was an unpaid slave for months, I feel as though Charles owes me at least this much."
Charlie opens his mouth only to shut it again, a resigned look crossing his face. Matteusz gives a tiny nod, making Quill wonder if he had been thinking as much all along. Kalei's surprise lasts only a moment.
"Okay, that's… a fair point, actually."
"So, it's decided," Quill says. "The boys can stay here with Athena, keeping her out of the way of any fireworks, and we can spend this evening traumatising your best friend with the knowledge of how much sex we've had in the last 24 hours."
Charlie and Matteusz automatically look at Kalei, who has turned bright red.
"Thank you so much for saying that while they are still in the room," Kalei says mildly, before taking a large sip of coffee.
Quill smirks. "You're very welcome."
Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought! Just one more chapter to go, now.
