Chapter Text
Viktoria hadn’t returned to the workshop the next day. Nor the day after that. To say Jacinta was worried would be an understatement. She planned on apologizing, swallowing down her feelings and begging forgiveness so she might have a chance at working with her again, but Viktoria was gone from her, and Jacinta had no idea where she lived.
She’d begun asking around for the woman, only to discover she lived on a terrible side of town, a place her father had warned her against ever stepping foot. His words meant nothing to her at that moment. Not now, when she was so desperate to see Viktoria and at least try to resolve their differences. As quickly as she could manage, she set off to find her.
As she moved through the cobblestone streets, the rain began to fall in a heavy downpour. Of course, she hadn’t brought an umbrella. Just her luck. Water drenched her clothes and her hair clung to her face as she traversed the unfamiliar neighborhood. Her boots squelched with every step, her teeth chattered as the cold seeped into her bones. She clutched her arms to her chest and kept moving forward, refusing to give up on her mission.
Finally, she spotted the building matching the address she'd been given; a weathered, brick structure tucked between two factories that sent smoke billowing into the stormy sky. Jacinta hesitated at the wooden door of the small workshop, her breath coming in quick gasps. In her haste, she hadn’t prepared a single word to say.
She knocked gently, knuckles rapping against the rough wood. She held her breath as the door creaked open, the faint light from inside spilling into the rain-soaked street.
Viktoria stood there, wearing simple clothes, her chatelaine dangling at her waist, just as Jacinta remembered her, though her eyes looked more tired than normal. They were puffy with bluish bags beneath them like she hadn’t slept in a week. Or like she’d been crying. She didn’t even look up to know it was Jacinta. Instead, she continued to indifferently examine the paper in her hand.
“I didn’t realize my workshop was open to visitors.”
Jacinta shivered, her teeth chattering slightly. “I came to find you. You haven’t been to the lab and I-“ she swallowed thickly, gesturing helplessly. “I needed to see you.”
Viktoria’s eyes flicked over Jacinta, finally, and she felt a pang of guilt at the sight of her drenched clothes. “You’re soaked,” she said. “Are you completely without sense?”
Jacinta wasn’t sure how to respond. Perhaps she was without sense. She certainly felt like it recently.
“Maybe,” she said after a while.
Viktoria only sighed at the sight of the woman.
“You’ll catch your death if you stand there dripping any longer. Come here.”
She motioned with a hand to follow her as she stepped away from the door further into the workshop.
Jacinta hesitated. “I just-“
“Come here,” Viktoria repeated, her voice softer now. “God, you’re shivering.” She pulled Jacinta toward the wardrobe in the back corner of her workshop. It seemed to her that this was a multipurpose space where Viktoria both lived and worked. Viktoria pushed a wad of cotton fabric into her hands. “Wear my dressing gown, we’ll lay your clothes out to dry.”
Viktoria turned away, presumably to give her some privacy. Jacinta felt another prick of the shame that had so often plagued her lately as she realized she needed help undressing. “I’m so sorry to ask this,” She began sheepishly, “But could you unbutton the back of my blouse?”
She heard Viktoria sigh again behind her, but felt her hands at her nape moments later, deftly unhooking the row of tiny buttons. Jacinta tried very hard to focus on how cold and uncomfortable she was, rather than the fact that Viktoria’s fingertips kept brushing against her bare skin. After the last button came undone, Viktoria turned away again, and Jacinta freed herself from layer after layer of soaked through clothing, undressing down to her chemise and drawers before drawing Viktoria’s dressing gown around herself. She noticed, offhandedly, that it smelled like her.
“Thank you,” Jacinta said in earnest once Viktoria faced her again.
Viktoria shrugged. “I might be frustrated with you, Jacinta, but I’m not going to let you freeze to death.”
Hearing her first name, Jacinta felt like she just remembered how to breathe again. The apology poured out of her, acknowledging everything she did wrong and everything she thought she might have done wrong, disorganized and rambling until the very end, when she said, “I wasn’t trying to speak over you, I was just trying not to speak for you. If you need me to pull you more directly into the conversation next time, I will. Without you, I’d still be trying to figure out how not to “set London ablaze,” as you put it. Working with you has been such a gift, and I would do anything to have you back at my side.” Then she pushed down the embarrassment she’d been fighting, “And I promise I won’t ever try to kiss you again, I can’t believe I thought that was a good–”
“I accept your apology on all other counts, but I was not angry about that,” Viktoria admitted, with some difficulty. “I mean, that you kissed me.”
Jacinta’s eyes widened.
Taking a deep breath, Viktoria swallowed her pride, “I was caught off-guard, but not angry.”
“I don’t understand,” Jacinta interrupted.
“Let me explain, Jacinta,” She said, holding her hands out. “You were right. I am afraid of people caring about me, because then they have the ability to hurt me. I did not want to be some rich girl’s ill-advised dalliance, to fall in love and then be discarded when she came to her senses. I thought that, if I was cold toward you, I could avoid the heartbreak altogether.”
“What changed?” Jacinta demanded.
Viktoria stated bluntly, “I missed you.” Then she cleared her throat. “Anyway, If you like, I can hang those clothes for you so that they’re dry by the time you leave, and of course you may borrow an umbrella if the storm hasn’t–”
Jacinta cut her off, grabbing her wrists to pull her in close, “Viktoria, the damn clothes can wait.”
Viktoria stared at her for a few moments, inches away, then tilted her head up and kissed her. All at once, it was like all of the fear and anxiety that she’d been fighting disappeared against Jacinta’s lips. It was easy. It was good. With Jacinta’s strong arms looped around her waist, holding her steady, she felt like she was floating. As they kissed and kissed, she found her own hands unfastening Jacinta’s borrowed dressing gown, aching to be closer to her skin. No longer governed by manners and formalities, she pressed her mouth against Jacinta’s neck, grazing the skin with her teeth as she slid her hands up to the curve of her breasts. Jacinta’s were fuller than her own by a great deal and so unbelievably soft under her palms, even through the fabric of her chemise. Jacinta welcomed the touch, shrugging out of the dressing gown despite still being a little cold. She figured she wouldn’t be for much longer. Hoping Viktoria would take the hint, Jacinta guided the other woman’s hands down to where her chemise was tucked into her drawers.
With a wicked grin, Viktoria tugged the fabric free, then lifted it over Jacinta’s head. But the sight of her partner nude from the waist up stilled her. She had done this sort of thing before, she reminded herself in an attempt to regain her nerve, but it was always under the covers, in the dark, or some hurried entanglement in some back room somewhere with the sole purpose of a mutual release of tension. She had never been with anyone who looked at her with the kind of undiluted adoration she found in Jacinta’s eyes now.
“What’s wrong?” Jacinta asked, tucking a strand of Viktoria’s choppy hair behind her ear.
She paused, searching for the right words. “I want it to be good for you.”
“Oh,” Jacinta laughed to herself, “That’s noble of you, but you should know you don’t have any competition.”
Viktoria’s face paled, “Really? Jacinta, do you mean to tell me that I’m the first person you’ve ever…” She trailed off in shock.
“When I kissed you in the lab, that was my first kiss.” Jacinta confessed, her face flushing.
“Oh dear God,” Viktoria buried her face in her hands. “Throughout all of this, you’ve been so bold, I just assumed you were, I don’t know, experienced in matters such as these.”
Jacinta shrugged, crossing her arms over her bare chest, “Only in an academic sense. I mean, I won’t pretend I haven’t been curious. I’ve read about the things people do to give each other pleasure. I’ve also seen the instruments that are sold for such purposes. I understand our shared anatomy well enough to have an idea of how I want you to touch me,” she said, then added thoughtfully, “...or how I want to touch you, I guess, but I’ve never put my theories into practice. I never wanted to, until I met you.”
“I see,” Viktoria said slowly, taking the time to process.
“Is that a problem?” Jacinta asked nervously.
“Not at all,” Viktoria assured her, “Actually, what you’ve just said is rather sweet.”
“All I mean to say is that you don’t have to worry about meeting my expectations. My only expectation is you,” Jacinta sighed her name, “Viktoria, please, just don't stop.”
And well, that was certainly definitive enough for Viktoria.
She flattened her hand against Jacinta’s stomach, pushing her back against the workbench. “Lean on this if you have to,” she whispered, then picked up where she left off. She slid her hand around the small of Jacinta’s back and kissed the tops of both her breasts before fitting her mouth over one of her nipples. She sucked it lightly over her tongue, feeling it harden in her mouth as she rubbed circles over the other with her thumb.
Jacinta's breathing turned ragged, and she gripped the edge of the workbench to steady herself, both hands clenched in a white-knuckled grip as Viktoria simply continued, pausing occasionally to switch sides or lick stripes across her skin, gazing up at her through feathery lashes.
She thought that she was managing well, but then she felt Viktoria's knee pressing between her thighs and she all but yelped from the feeling. She hadn't expected pressure alone to cause such a strong reaction, but she found herself bearing down in such a way to increase the pressure there, rolling her hips forward and wondering if that's what she was meant to do.
“Does that feel good?” Viktoria asked, chin resting on Jacinta's sternum, her accent seemingly thicker than normal.
“Yes,” she answered breathlessly.
“And this?” Viktoria asked again, sliding her hand between the two split sides of Jacinta's drawers and merely pressing the heel of her palm against her pubic mound.
That time, Jacinta could only nod.
“Promise you'll tell me if it's too much, my dear,” She whispered.
After hearing Jacinta's very weak “I will,” Viktoria kissed her cheek and slid her hand between her thighs.
Gently, she eased a finger between the delicate folds of skin at the seam of Jacinta's body, dipping it inside her just slightly before touching it to the firm bundle of nerves there. She felt Jacinta gasp more than she heard her, her stomach jumping with the sharp intake of breath.
“Breathe slowly,” Viktoria prompted her as she began to move her finger in tight circles, “And hold on to me if you like, just remember I've only got one good leg.”
At that, Jacinta laughed, but she obeyed, curling her fists into the fabric of Viktoria's sleeves as she forced herself to take long, steady breaths.
It wasn't pain that Jacinta felt, but something more ambiguous. She had a difficult time placing the feeling, and couldn’t relate it to anything similar. All she knew was that she didn't want Viktoria to stop. It was one thing to read about pleasure, it was another altogether to feel it. Jacinta felt certain that despite Viktoria's wavering earlier, she was quite experienced in giving it. Viktoria touched her with knowing fingers, guiding her gently toward something, as she whispered words of encouragement between kisses.
Then something twinged in Jacinta’s gut, like a rubber band being pulled tighter and tighter. Her muscles twitched, no matter how hard she tried to stay still. Her vision went blurry, or maybe she closed her eyes, she wasn’t sure. It was getting harder to focus on anything other than the way Viktoria was touching her. Then the band snapped, and she cried out, nearly collapsing into Viktoria’s arms as the waves of pleasure shot through her.
“Oh my god,” She said once she could speak again, then her voice dissolved into laughter.
“Are you alright?” Viktoria asked, a little confused.
“I’m good, it was good,” Jacinta smiled. “I just feel different, like I know something I'm not supposed to.
“It's your body,” Viktoria said, tucking a fallen strand of Jacinta's dark hair behind her ear. “I think you're allowed to know as much as you want about it; what makes it feel good, and how.”
At that, Jacinta's eyes softened.
“Why don’t you sit for a moment, catch your breath?” Viktoria pulled out a chair for her. She was answered with another kiss, this one lacking all the grace of the others.
“Uh-uh,” Jacinta shook her head. “Your turn.” As she spoke, her fingers were already undoing the knot of Viktoria’s ascot. She tucked the worn bit of silk into Viktoria’s hand and started with the buttons of her blouse. Though her hands shook from nervousness, she freed Viktoria from the outer layer of her clothing with great efficiency.
Then, taking a step back, she looked over Viktoria in awe, though only her arms and the top of her chest had been bared. Viktoria felt her eyes, felt the desire in them like it was heavy. It bolstered her to be looked at like something beautiful, made her feel a kind of power she didn’t know she sought. She took Jacinta’s hands, callused from working with machinery, and placed them on the buttons of her corset cover. “Don’t stop now.”
But instead, Jacinta ran her fingers along the lines of delicate floral embroidery that lined the hem and each side of the closure. “You did this,” she stated more than asked.
“Oh, yes, I suppose I did,” Viktoria said, unsure of how she was meant to respond. “There was a time when I had much more ladylike hobbies. Although, I do still enjoy embroidery on occasion.”
Jacinta still seemed transfixed. “I was never very good at it. I don’t know how you can bear to do such careful work.” When she unbuttoned the corset cover, she looked just as impressed by the support brace Viktoria wore instead of a corset.
“And this has your touch, too,” Jacinta said, running her fingers along the leather bindings. “I can tell.”
For some reason, that compliment made her flush. She didn’t know for sure, of course, but she could feel the heat on her skin. She wasn’t sure she had ever been with someone as observant as Jacinta.
“I didn’t make it,” Viktoria confessed, not wanting to misrepresent herself, “But I designed it.”
“Of course you did,” Jacinta said as she loosened the laces, “Because you’re brilliant.”
She lifted her arms, making her shoulders as narrow as she could so that Jacinta could lift the hard corset over her head as easily as possible. It was still a little awkward, but it still went much more smoothly than when she had to do it herself. It struck her while Jacinta examined the brace before laying it carefully aside that she had looked at the structure with admiration rather than aversion, that she had not wavered for a moment.
When Jacinta returned to her, Viktoria caught her mouth in a kiss. Jacinta happily abandoned the task at hand to hold her face in her hands and kiss her back. While Jacinta’s mouth and hands were otherwise occupied, Viktoria took it upon herself to untie the drawstring at her waist, so that she was standing before Jacinta in just her chemise. It was the oldest one she had, the white fabric now yellow and the linen see-through in places. For a moment, she wished that she’d worn nicer underclothes, ones that maybe fit her a little better too, but Jacinta didn’t seem to notice or care before she gathered the fabric at Viktoria’s hips and lifted it over her head.
Instinctively, Viktoria crossed her arms over her chest, partly from the cold, and partly because it felt a little awkward to be completely naked in her workshop. Jacinta circled her, trailing her fingers over Viktoria’s bare skin. “You’re so beautiful,” she sighed, pressing a kiss to Viktoria’s nape, just beneath the choppy strands of hair. Viktoria shivered as Jacinta drew a line down the ridges of her spine with her index finger. When she reached her tailbone, she slid her hand over the curve of her small but shapely rear end and grabbed a handful of the soft flesh there. Her hand continued its journey around Viktoria's hip to the front of her body until she felt the patch of coarse, dark hair. She walked her fingers down with the aim of doing to Viktoria what had only just been done to her when Viktoria caught her wrist. “I, eh,” she laughed nervously, “I need to be horizontal for that.”
“Oh,” Jacinta said, pulling her hand away, “after you, then,” With a devious glint in her eyes, she gestured to the mattress in the back corner of the room. While Viktoria got comfortable, Jacinta could barely keep her hands off her. She exuded a kind of elegance that had less to do with how she looked than it did with her manner of being. The way her body was splayed out seemed perfectly posed, like she was a figure in a painting rather than a woman simply reclining on her own bed. Though she wasn't very tall, her thin frame made her limbs appear long and graceful, and her body was dotted with small, brown moles. Because Jacinta couldn't stop herself, she kissed her again, lips pressed against the underside of Viktoria's jaw. As she lingered there, her hands traveled up the sides of Viktoria's torso until she felt her small breasts under her palms.
She heard Viktoria gasp, her sweet mouth falling open. “Please kiss me there,” she whispered roughly, “Just as I did for you.”
Happy to oblige, Jacinta pressed her lips first to the mole just above her nipple, then to the small, brown bud and Viktoria gasped again. Gazing up at her for approval, Jacinta used her tongue to trace a careful circle around her nipple. When Viktoria gave her a slight nod, she continued to do so with a little more confidence, feeling quite proud of herself when Viktoria's hand came to rest on the back of her head.
She trailed her own hand down Viktoria's smooth stomach and curved her fingers between her thighs again. She felt her way, searching for that bundle of nerves she knew was there…somewhere. Noticing her struggle, Viktoria grabbed her wrist, moving her fingers into the right place. “Right there,” she said, her breath hitching in her throat as Jacinta's fingers brushed over the most sensitive part of her body again and again.
Viktoria, Jacinta learned very quickly, was not quiet in bed. She writhed beneath her, whimpering and sighing as Jacinta worked her over with her mouth and fingers. Then, she grabbed Jacinta's hair at her nape, lifting her head. “If you would like to keep using your mouth like that,” she began, already breathless, “I can think of a better place for it.”
Taking her meaning immediately, Jacinta started her descent, kissing a trail from her sternum to her navel before readjusting and spreading Viktoria's thighs far enough apart to make room for her face between them. She made sure to be careful with Viktoria's braced leg, supporting it with a spare pillow.
“Is this alright?” She asked.
“I'll let you know if it starts to ache,” Viktoria said, petting her hair.
For a few moments, Jacinta just stared at her, or into her, more accurately. The skin between her legs was wet and slick, and there was a mole in the very inside of her thigh, so high up that it was debatable whether it was part of her leg or not. Jacinta kissed it, then summoned her nerve and pressed her mouth against Viktoria's center. She was unsure at first as she searched for the bud with her tongue, but she found it much easier to locate with her mouth than with her fingers. With Viktoria's guidance, she learned on the job, and it was fun. That's the one thing she hadn't anticipated. So many of her fantasies revolved around Viktoria touching her, and she hadn’t realized how enjoyable it would be to be the one to give her pleasure.
Tentatively, she pressed a finger inside of Viktoria, amazed at how easily it sank into the heat of her body.
“Is this alright?” She asked shyly.
Viktoria nodded and took a shaky breath before mouthing the word, “more.”
Jacinta obeyed her request, pressing back into her with two fingers. As she continued the careful ministrations with her tongue, her fingers worked in tandem as she brought Viktoria closer to the same release she'd experienced earlier. All the while, Viktoria sighed her name over and over, grasping at any part of Jacinta's body within her reach until finally, she went quiet and limp, silently wincing through her climax.
Jacinta stayed in place until Viktoria stopped pulsing around her fingers and relaxed enough for her to remove them with ease. She felt a sense of accomplishment for having brought her to this state, and also a kind of gratitude for being allowed to do so. Viktoria was…special, probably the most special person she'd ever met in her life. If Viktoria had willed it, Jacinta would have happily admired her from afar, satisfied with the title of “friend.” She thought herself to be incredibly lucky to ask for something as lofty as love and be given it in return.
After the two of them caught their breath, there was sweetness. They huddled under a blanket, using each other for warmth with limbs entangled. With everything that had just passed between them, this part felt completely natural. They laid together, skin-to-skin, stroking each other's tangled hair and whispering all the beautiful things they hadn't had the chance to say earlier.
“I'm glad you interrupted me that day,” Jacinta said, weaving her fingers with Viktoria's under the covers.
“I think I'll be glad about it for the rest of my life.”
“Me too,” Viktoria admitted softly, “Although I maintain that you have a massive ego.”
“I’ll work on it,” Jacinta grins. “but if I wasn't so self-confident, I never would have come here today.”
“I suppose it's not all bad then,” Viktoria conceded, kissing Jacinta's forehead and pulling her closer.
“Also, if you'll have me, I'd like to come back to your workshop tomorrow. I think I have an idea for that heater you mentioned a while back.”
“Partners?” Jacinta asked, holding up her pinky.
“Partners,” Viktoria agreed, hooking Jacinta's pinky with her own. “In work, and life.”
“As long as you’ll have me,” Jacinta added, her voice more gentle than Viktoria had ever heard it.
“As long as you'll have me,” Viktoria repeated, content.