Work Text:
Shaking hands travelled slowly, hesitantly across the pale skin revealed to her.
Cinder wasn't used to touching softly, unused to bringing pleasure to another rather than using her hands for destruction, for wreathing them in hellfire. It felt foreign to her. Some part of her felt like she should bring forth the flames simmering beneath her skin.
Winter quietly observed the conflict in her girlfriend's eyes, felt how her hands trembled as they rested on her skin. With a breath released through her nose and a small smile, she reached down and threaded her fingers through Cinder's, running her thumb across the tops of her hands.
"Do you want to stop?"
Cinder visibly winced at the question, dropping her gaze away from Winter even as her fingers tightened around hers. Her eye closed and her lips pulled into a grimace as a couple seconds passed in silence before she finally mustered an answer.
"...yes. I'm sorry, I just can't do this," she muttered, almost sounding self-deprecating as her fingers tightened to the point of being painful.
Winter didn't comment on it, however. She rose off the bed until she was pressed up against Cinder, giving her stomach a couple kisses before resting her head on it. "Cin, you don't need to apologize for wanting to stop. I want you to always be comfortable with me. You matter a lot to me, and I love you. Nothing will change that, darling."
Cinder couldn't contain the full-body tremble that passed through her after Winter finished, nor the tears that began welling in her eye. She released Winter's right hand and rubbed carefully at her eye to try to clear away the tears. "Win, I- I love you."
Winter smiled against her skin before leaning back to look her in the eyes. "I love you too. Do you want to cuddle?"
"Yes," Cinder answered immediately, already pressing closer.
Winter released a chuckle as her back hit the bed and Cinder's entire body laid over hers, releasing Cinder's hand to wrap her arms around her smaller frame.
Cinder let out a serene hum as she began running her hand through Winter's hair to coax her to sleep.
She may not be comfortable enough to be fully vulnerable with Winter yet, but she absolutely wouldn't give this up for anything in the world.