Fic for beerbad

Title: Melting Flesh
Author: WesleysGirl
Fandom: Firefly
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Joss's, not mine.
Notes: Written for beerbad in exchange for a donation to the_fund. She requested 1000+ words; this is 1470. Inara/Kaylee. Many thanks to sam_gamgee for the beta and to geeky_dani for the beta and fantastic advice.


Melting Flesh

Kaylee likes to watch Inara. She's so beautiful, and she knows how to talk to people. When she stands at the railing looking down into the cargo hold, it's like she's surveying her realm. Like she's a queen. Inara knows how to be... well, proper, in a way Kaylee never will. It's nice, to be able to see how other people live.

Sometimes, when Kaylee's in her room at night, she kicks off the blankets and lets her legs fall to the sides. Slips her fingers down between her thighs and touches herself. She does it lightly at first, teasing, but pretty soon her hand is moving faster, her breathing more like gasping.

When she comes, it's like being someone else. Just for a second.

"Inara?"

"Yes?" Inara pauses on her way off Serenity, one hand on the stair rail. Her fingers are expressive. Elegant. Just like the rest of her.

"I was just wonderin'." Kaylee tries to look like it isn't important, but she can feel how big her eyes are and she's pretty sure she's not fooling anyone. "You like your job, don't you?"

"Of course I do." Inara's smile is gentle but wide. "I enjoy making other people feel comfortable. We all need pleasure in our lives, no matter how simple." She speaks so perfectly, every little word crisp and clean.

"I can tell. That you like it, I mean. It's nice. Doing something you like." Kaylee feels awkward, like Simon must feel when he's trying to talk to her. She shrugs her shoulders and slips her hands in the pockets of her coveralls. "Sorry -- I know you've gotta go."

"I do," Inara admits. "I won't be gone long. If you wanted to talk..."

"Oh," Kaylee says, surprised that Inara noticed, even though she shouldn't be. That's something Inara is good at, noticing how people are feeling. It must be one of the things that makes her so good at her job. "I guess? I mean, if it wouldn't be any bother."

"Spending time with you could never be a bother," Inara says, smiling like she means it.

* * *

"I brought you something," Inara says.

"You did?" Kaylee lights up as if someone just turned on a lamp. She's glowing, her lashes thick and dark, her lips dark pink, and Inara knows that she has no idea how beautiful she is. "You didn't have to do that, Inara."

"I wanted to." It's very simple for Inara -- Kaylee is one of the few genuine people in her life. Someone who says what she means instead of speaking around it; someone who doesn't worry that her reactions might give something away. There's something... not naive, but simple and honest about her, and it makes Inara want to wrap her up in a thick, velvet blanket and protect her from ever losing that incredible quality. "Come to my shuttle after dinner," she says. "That is, if you'd still like to talk?"

Kaylee nods, still smiling. "That'd be really nice."

* * *

Kaylee walks to Inara's shuttle, real slow. There's part of her worried that maybe Inara changed her mind, or it turns out she's too tired from all the sex she had that afternoon. But Inara calls to her before she can talk herself out of what hasn't even happened yet.

"Kaylee? Come in."

So she does, gazing left and right with wonder. You wouldn't even know, looking around, that you're in a shuttle; it's that pretty. "I just love your room," Kaylee sighs happily. "You've got such nice things."

"I like to be surrounded by beauty," Inara says. "It makes me feel... peaceful."

"I guess it kind of reminds me of all the stuff I never had," Kaylee says wistfully, stroking her fingertips over some rich, silky fabric. The rough skin on the ends of her fingers catches on the material, and she wilts. It's not just stuff she never had, it's stuff she never will have. She's not good enough for it; not like Inara.

Inara sits on the edge of the bed. There's a small wooden box next to her, and Kaylee can't help but perk up, curious. "Come here," Inara says, patting the space beside her.

Kaylee goes over and sits, bouncing a little bit. "This is a nice bed. But then I guess you'd need more space, what with entertaining all your men and all."

"Yes." Inara picks up the box and sets it on her lap, putting it so that the part that opens is facing Kaylee. "Go ahead. Open it."

Slowly, caught up in the magic of the moment, Kaylee reaches out her hand and lifts the lid. "Ohhh," she breathes. "For me?"

"Of course," Inara says, and Kaylee delicately picks up one of the two peaches nestled in the box, worried she's going to crush it. It's so ripe that the flesh underneath the thin skin gives at the slightest touch, and the smell of it is almost enough to make Kaylee swoon.

"Only if you have one, too," she says, glancing up at Inara. "Wouldn't be fair, otherwise."

Inara takes the other peach from the box and puts the box aside. She's got a knife, a little folding one, and she cuts a slice so thin that Kaylee can see the light shining through it. The sweet juice runs down the blade and Inara's wrist in a glistening stream, and Kaylee can't help it -- she leans forward and catches hold of Inara's slender, elegant arm, presses her lips to pale white skin and licks the fragrant peach juice.

She can hear Inara's gasp and looks up, worried that maybe she's gone too far. She's as surprised at herself as Inara sounds. It's not like her to be so bold; not like that. And the last thing she wants is to make Inara mad.

But Inara smiles at her, eyes dark and shining, and slips the dripping slice of peach between her lips before cutting another slice and offering it to Kaylee.

It's awkward; Inara is a hundred times more graceful than Kaylee, who almost never feels dextrous unless she's working on Serenity's engine, when everything comes easy and her body does what she wants it to without thinking. But there's something about Inara that Kaylee wants; something that she hopes will rub off of Inara and onto her, like sparkling glitter at a party, making Kaylee shiny and new, different.

So Kaylee opens her mouth and lets Inara feed her the slice of peach, which tastes so good that she gives a little groan and sucks on Inara's fingers. They're delicate but strong, just like everything else about Inara. And then the two of them are kissing, Inara's mouth on hers, with Inara taking control of it, just the way Kaylee wants her to.

"Here," Inara says, pulling back and taking another, thicker slice of peach between her lips, then leaning forward so Kaylee can take it from her mouth.

"Mmm," Kaylee says, and she's not just talking about the fruit, even if it is close to the tastiest thing Kaylee's had in a long time.

She's hesitant, careful, but pretty soon her top's in a heap on the floor along with Inara's dress, and the front of her pants is open and Inara's hand is down inside, touching her, and Kaylee feels like she might turn inside out. She's been with plenty of boys, and she's always liked sex, but this is different. A girl knows how to touch another girl. Or maybe it's just Inara knowing how to touch Kaylee.

When Kaylee comes, she shudders and cries out, her body clenching around Inara's fingers.

Touching Inara is new. Inara's skin is silky soft, her breasts perfect, like somebody molded them out of clay. She reminds Kaylee of statues she's seen, mostly in photos from Earth-That-Was -- a huntress, only with soft eyes and a heart-shaped mouth and rosy nipples that harden when Kaylee sucks on them. The flesh between Inara's thighs is slick and hot, and she stiffens when Kaylee coaxes her to orgasm, flushed and panting and beautiful.

Later, they finish the peaches. Kaylee likes how the taste of Inara and peach juice combines on her tongue. She likes licking her fingertips and knowing that her hands, the same hands that keep Serenity in the sky, can make Inara fly, too.

Kaylee smiles shyly at Inara before she leaves the shuttle, lingering in the doorway. "Thanks, 'nara," she says, pretty sure that she's big-eyed and glowing.

Inara smiles back, and it looks so genuine that it makes Kaylee's heart hurt. "It was my pleasure," she says. "Really."

That night, in bed, Kaylee doesn't want to be anyone but herself.