"What happened to stopping?"
Winter sure doesn't pull any punches. She's lying on her side, head propped up on her hand, as she studies Karina who's still struggling to catch her breath. So very familiar, Karina thinks – having Winter in her bed, with sweat cooling off and heartbeats only just slowing down. She glances at her phone. Almost two.
Winter's fingers are lazily drawing invisible circles on her stomach, and she can't find it in herself to even pretend to be mad.
"Well," she starts cautiously. "It's... clearly not an option with us."
The other girl snickers. "Clearly." She appears completely at ease as she stares at Karina. Several hours of good sex will do that, Karina supposes. She feels at ease, too. Tired and spent. Her eyes venture down to Winter's neck and chest, heaving delicately with breaths, and her body responds, filling up with sweet, throbbing ache all over.
Winter's eyes are clear and piercing. She has no trouble focusing on Karina's face. Karina, however, can't say the same. Her gaze can't stay in one place. It jumps from her bare shoulder to the curve of her waist and hip. Winter's chest is mostly hidden by a thin sheet, and Karina finds herself entranced with it, with the way it looks on Winter, easy and comfortable and so, so alluring. Her skin is glistening with cooling sweat. Her neck is covered in marks, fading already – Karina didn't intend for them to stay, well, not in such visible a place, anyway. The evidence of them. She doesn't even realize she's reaching out until her fingers glide over skin, gently tugging the sheet down and revealing full breasts and pink nipples. Winter chuckles as Karina slowly pushes her on her back, hovering above the girl and watching blonde locks scatter on her pillow, each hair seemingly falling into its place.
"I take it you're not in the mood for pillow talk," she drawls, gladly opening her neck to Karina's insistent lips.
"Is that what we were doing?" Karina mumbles into her skin.
Winter sighs, and her head falls back. "If you want," she says. "Then yes, that's what we were doing."
"I'm not much of a talker."
That gets a short laugh from her step sister. "Biggest lie I've ever been told," Winter says. "And I dated Hyunjin." The piece of information falls from her tongue so effortlessly it's easy to forget the heavy undercurrent. But Karina rarely forgets anything, if ever.
She tries very hard not to freeze. Not to make this anything more than it needs to be. "I meant I'm not much of a talker when I'm not having sex," she points out. "And we're not having sex right now."
She lifts her head, practically forcing herself to stop assaulting Winter's neck, and looks at her. Winter's eyes twinkle with barely hidden gratitude, and Karina gives herself a mental pat on the back for making a good call. She wasn't particularly looking forward to discussing sleazy exes, and she's glad Winter's slip up has been successfully glossed over.
"Well," the blonde smirks. "Looks like we're heading that way, so... You still lied, Karina." She leans up, propping herself up on her elbows, so that her lips brush against Karina's when she speaks. "You're very much of a talker."
Karina's eyes blaze green. "Fine. Let me narrow it down for you." She pushes at Winter, making her plop on her back, and leans in. "I don't talk much unless I'm buried knuckle-deep inside you."
The girl smirks. "Now you're just all talk," she taunts.
Karina feels laughter rumble in her chest. "I think we've exhausted this particular topic." her laughter grows when Winter rolls them over, straddling her hips and giving her a wicked grin.
"Then let's start a new one," the girl breathes into her lips.
Karina's agreement is a sharp gasp.
--
Winter leaves when it's time for Karina to wake up. Although, technically, she can't exactly wake up if she never fell asleep in the first place. So, technically, Winter didn't spend the night, Karina reasons. She's very well aware it's a flimsy excuse.
Winter leaves with a sated quirk of her lips, and her back, covered in marks from Karina's mouth and nails, makes her grin, too. All-nighter well worth it. It's even more worth it when she watches Winter wince through chuckling as she sits next to Karina at breakfast.
"Rough night?" Karina can never resist around this girl. Her step sister replies with an eye roll and a half-hearted shove at her shoulder.
"You're unfair," she mutters. "Up all night and you still look..." Winter's eyes glaze over for a second as Winter gives her a once-over. "Like that."
"Like what?"
"Now you're just fishing."
Karina shrugs. She was.
They eat breakfast in relatively comfortable silence. Relatively, because they keep glancing at each other, both obviously trying to figure it out. Figure them out. Well, at least Karina is; she can't for the life of her decipher Winter's stares. She can, however, easily see that the girl is tired. Their high has worn off, and now she's hit with no sleep and rather... demanding activities she spent the night doing. Karina's almost sure Winter will crash around midday, if not earlier.
"Maybe you should skip," she says when her step sister tries to add an obscene amount of sugar to her coffee and misses the mug. She hides her amused smile behind the rim of her cup.
Winter's eyes, droopy with lack of sleep, fly open. "Is Karina Yu telling me to skip school?" There is only a hint of mocking.
"There is a high chance of you blacking out while driving," Karina points out. It's a legitimate worry. The blonde isn't notorious for her superior driving skills, and Karina fears to think what she'll be like when she's this tired.
Winter scoffs. "Yeah, and whose fault is that?"
She merely smiles. "Yours."
"Ugh. You suck. And no," one indignant finger shoots up, waving in front of Karina's face menacingly. "You don't get to make a dirty joke."
Karina blinks. "You do realize who you're talking to, right?" She's almost never one for dirty jokes. Especially such overused ones. You suck – yes I do! It's not even all that funny.
But Winter clearly doesn't agree. "Oh I'm sorry," she flutters her lashes. "Am I or am I not talking to the girl who destroyed me last night?"
Karina chokes on her tea. A soothing hand rubbing circles on her back feels mocking, but she'll take it.
Winter's eyes are amused and filled with laughter. "How are you the same person who ruins my panties with a couple of words?" she asks. Fondness of her tone is unmistakable, and it's evident in the way she tucks a chestnut lock behind her ear, too. Karina isn't sure if that's what causes the atmosphere to shift next, but yes, it's absolutely that.
She clears her throat as Winter stands, a little abruptly, almost knocking her chair over. She helps her steady it, and blinks at the flush she finds on the girl's cheeks. Embarrassment, no doubt. Hormones make teens do the strangest of things.
"Sorry," Winter mutters. "It's the, um. Lack of sleep." Both of them blush. Karina busies herself with gathering their dishes and putting them in the sink. She can feel Winter hovering near. When she looks at her, the girl is still fiddling with her chair, not looking at her, and Karina isn't sure, but it seems to her that Winter just finished letting out a shaky breath. Perhaps her own lack of sleep is making itself known, too.
"I still think you should skip," Karina says.
Winter starts, finally lifting her eyes to Karina's face. Not for the first time, Karina finds herself fascinated by how soft they are.
"I'll take the bus," Winter says. And yawns, blinking sleepily. Smacks her lips together.
Karina's hearts suddenly leaps into her throat, and she swallows it down forcefully. She's pretty sure she says what she says next just so she doesn't have to give this something tugging at her chest a second thought. "I can give you a ride. If you want."
Winter's quiet 'okay' rings in her ears as she drives to school, her step sister gently snoring in the passenger seat.