Nikita was slow to come back to herself. It was several hours before she pulled her head up from where it rested on Steve's shoulder. She looked up at him with a clear, more focused gaze. Steve could sense that, while Nikita was once again aware of her surroundings, she wasn't completely up out of subspace. Through the bond he could feel that she was still riding a bubble of calm, keeping the darkness within her mind at bay. She was still in a vulnerable, non-verbal stage of submission. One he had read about in his homework.
With gentle fingers he brushed a few wisps of hair away from her face. Cupping her cheeks, Steve looked directly in her eyes, "I know you can't speak right now, so I need you to snap your fingers if you need to use your safeword. Understand?"
Nikita nodded.
"I need to hear you do it," Steve insisted.
Nikita snapped the fingers on her right hand.
"Very good," Steve praised. "I'm going to kiss you," he stated.
He threaded his left hand lightly through her hair and gently tipped her face up with his right hand under her jaw. Steve leaned in slowly, giving Nikita plenty of time to snap her fingers or pull back. His lips met hers with gentle pressure before pulling back. Steve searched her face and the bond for any hints of fear or trepidation but that bubble of calm was holding.
"So good for me," Steve said reverently. Steve stroked her face with gentle fingers, placing a kiss to her forehead. He grabbed a cushion from the couch and tossed it on the floor, directing her to kneel. "Stay there, I'm going to the kitchen and I'll be right back. If you need anything, snap your fingers."
Steve rose and went into the kitchen, careful to stay in her eye line, grabbing a bottle of juice from the fridge and fixing up a platter of bite sized pieces of fruit. Steve had learned a lot from his homework. He knew that one of the risks of subspace was lowered blood sugar and dehydration, and it was important for the Dominant partner to make sure that the sub stayed safe.
He also knew that the kiss had been a risk, but he wanted to demonstrate that he could touch her gently. He had no intention of going any further down that road, not tonight. In his research he had learned that subs in subspace not only craved touch and sexual contact, they required it. Failing to provide enough physical contact and praise would be taken as a rejection by their Dom and could easily spiral a sub into a subdrop Subdrop was an ever deepening spiral of shame and self loathing that came when a submissive felt that they had failed or been rejected by their Dominant. Though subdrop was rare outside of a bonded pair, it could actually happen anytime a sub entered subspace. Steve needed to prove to both Nikita and himself that he could handle the responsibility, that he could effectively take care of her when she was vulnerable both physically and emotionally. With that in mind, he hurried back to his sub.
Steve set the plate and glass on the coffee table and sat down on the couch in front of Nikita. Steve ran a hand through her long golden locks and praised her for kneeling exactly as he left her. Steve began hand-feeding the fruit to Nikita, occasionally holding the glass of juice up for her to drink. Steve's eyes grew hooded and his breathing heavier as Nikita instinctively licked his fingers clean after each bite, chasing the juice with her tongue. He lost himself in the experience, surprised when there was no more fruit on the plate or juice in the glass. Steve checked in with Nikita, searching her face and the bond for signs of distress, and finding only calm and contentment. "That was amazing," Steve breathed, "So perfect."
Steve helped Nikita to her feet, took her hand, and led her to his bedroom. While Steve was hard in his sweatpants, he was determined to ignore it. Now was the time to take care of Nikita's needs, not his own. He could have taken her back to her own bed but he had promised not to enter her apartment, her safe space, without her expressed consent. Something she was incapable of giving at the moment.
He laid her down on the bed, directing her to lie on her stomach, still fully clothed in her sleep pants and tee shirt. Steve straddled her hips, carefully resting the majority of his weight on his knees. He massaged every muscle, starting with the back of her neck and working his way down to the soles of her feet. He took his time, paying special attention to the muscles in her thighs. He knew that Nikita didn't have experience kneeling and he had kept her in that position longer than he had intended or probably should have. He was also concerned that she may have pulled or strained a muscle in her panicked stumbling through the hallway. Eventually, in the small hours of the morning, the sleepless night caught up to Nikita and she fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
Once he was certain Nikita was asleep, Steve went back into the living room to retrieve his StarkPad. Steve got back in bed, propping himself up against the headboard to continue his reading. As tired as he was, he was determined to stay awake and keep watch in case Nikita needed anything.