Ch. 1: Beauty from Inside

Time and again, partner after partner they had asked. It had never mattered to her before. She'd lost too much of herself respect over the years to even care. Still they'd ask but she never gave them a direct response. Instead she deflected and changed the subject. She knew not knowing bothered her partners and if she loved them or gave the slightest indication that she cared, she would be honest but there were simply some things you could tell no one and this had been one of them. They couldn't know, no one could, and she didn't want them to know, never until this night.

Since Maggie had gone over to Alex's apartment and admitted her feelings and kissed her, they'd gone on several dates but tonight would be the first night either of them had been ready to take things to the next level and it had been Alex who'd ask her to stay.

Maggie wanted to be with Alex more than anything but she could feel herself holding back. They'd been kissing for a while, their dessert of tiramisu long forgotten on the kitchen counter.

Alex made her way to the buttons on Maggie's blouse and for a moment Maggie pulled away.

"I'm sorry," said Alex, "we don't have to do this."

"No I want to, I'm just…scared."

"Shouldn't that be my line? I've never been intimate like this before and I want to with you."

Maggie shook her head, "No it's not that."

"Maggie it's okay, you can tell me."

Maggie took a deep breath, "I'm scared…of what you'll see."

Maggie had never been this shy before. Though she despised what was beneath her clothes, she had come to see them like a mole or a birthmark but tonight was different. Tonight the one woman who made her feel alive and true would see and that terrified her.

Maggie took another breath and began to take off one of the buttons. She then reached for Alex's hands and let her take off the rest. Button by button, Alex slowly revealed the secret beneath the shirt. Without saying a word, Alex ran her fingers tenderly over the various shaped scars, some having been so deep that they were keiloid in form. And they weren't your typical cop wound scars. They were more personal and Alex could tell by Maggie's reaction.

Seeing that Alex was not repulsed by what she saw, Maggie brought Alex's right hand to cup her left breast. With her left hand, Alex wrapped it around Maggie's hip. Alex lowered her head and tasted the scars one by one sending a chill down Maggie's spine and causing her nipples to harden. Alex took her hands and moved them to the back to unclip Maggie's bra.

Alex stood in wonder for a moment both in awe of seeing Maggie without her shirt and bra and then noticing the scars on the skin that the bra cups had covered.

Maggie looked away, ashamed and with her own hands and arms did her best to cover up her chest.

Slowly Alex put her hands on Maggie's, lowering her arms to reveal her breasts and scars.

"It's okay," Alex whispered as she again touched each scar, feeling the raised scar tissue of some of them, touching them as if they were all sacred in their own right.

No one had aroused Maggie in this way. No one had taken the time to visit each scar and until this moment she'd never wanted her past partners to. For as long as she had her scars they had been an indifferent force she could not bring herself to get rid of. There were scar treatments but one the one occasion she'd tried and noticed a scar disappearing she panicked and decided to never use them again. It was a love-hate relationship she had with them which made her ordeal that much more confusing, almost as if getting rid of them meant getting rid of the pain and battles she'd been fighting. Keeping them made her calmer than not having them at all.

For the first time tonight her scars had become a sense of pleasure that she hadn't thought she could feel. Yes she'd been with women who had seen and felt them before but she'd been so numb to it, numb and disassociated from them that her scars meant nothing.

Maggie allowed herself to feel the full effect of Alex's touch. As Alex worked on her chest, Maggie brought her face and began sucking on Alex's neck. The two turned toward each other, their mouths coming together. Hastily Maggie removed Alex's shirt and bra, wanting to feel the full force of her chest on hers. Their lips again met as the shirt and bra dropped to the floor, Alex picking up Maggie with ease and taking her to the bed.

"Guess it's a good thing you fight aliens for a living," Maggie teased in regards to Alex's strength.

Alex smiled. She hovered above Maggie, enjoying the glow on her face from the candles they had lit earlier. Maggie reached up and began to unzip Alex's pants, Alex helping along the way, removing her panties in the process.

For a moment Alex wasn't ready to take off Maggie's pants. She glided back and forth, allowing the softness of the fabric to give her the arousal she wanted.

Maggie could feel the wetness from both of them. She then began unbuttoning and unzipping her pants, lowering them and her panties down, Alex removed the rest and tossed them carelessly across the room.

Both completely free of the fabrics that confined them, Alex hovered above Maggie, fondling her breasts with simplicity, her body telling her that despite her lack of experience, yes she was made for this, for Maggie. She gently ran her hands that lined Maggie's top chest and breasts then lowered herself, their lips meeting, their pelvises coming together, legs tangling with each other and on they progressed into the night.