"T...?"

"Mmmm?"

"You feel so good..."

"Forget it Porter…"

"Teeeeeee…"

"Don’t give me that whiney voice…"

Bette pulled Tina in closer, planting kisses on the back of her neck, being in the familiar spooning of their sleeping position allowed her hand to meander along Tina’s bare hip, lingering as her fingertips caressed the smooth skin along her thigh. She pressed her body in closer, closer than the already full length naked embrace

"I love you T…"

"I know you do honey, but that won’t work either…" Tina giggled, loving how Bette always wormed her way closer, when there was no space between them, she always managed to get that incy bit closer, that extra little kiss that always hit the mark, that stroke of the soft fingertips that always caused the shivers to run down her spine.

"Are you sure it won’t work…?" Bette quietly murmured, close to the fleshy lobe, the warmth of her breath slowly penetrating Tina’s resolve as she felt the tell tale shiver of her lovers body against her.

Tina’s eyes slowly closed as she felt her body responding to the undivided attention of her lover, "no…"

Tina turned in Bette’s arms, their lips meeting instantly as the building hunger took both beings into automatic pilot, to caress, to taste, to stroke and to love…

As Tina nestled into her lover, Bette laid with her arm encircling her sleeping partner, the physical spent exhaustion of another passionate union overtaking Tina’s body. 

Bette planted small kisses onto her sleeping lovers forehead, listening and feeling the shallow breathing on her neck, her own body feeling relaxed and tired, but her mind continued with activity, she smiled to herself, thinking of their time remembering their first date, it had turned into a very loving and playful evening, after they had talked about their initial memories, the closeness that they were feeling transpired into the twister mat being dusted off and laid out on the lounge floor.

Tina had stood before Bette, their eyes intently locked as she had begun the slow strip, her lounge pants being slowly eased over the slim hips, her eyes twinkled with mischief as she revealed her lack of underwear. The quick flip of her hands upward released her tee shirt, the material flying across the room to allow her to stand in all her naked glory before Bette and the twister mat.

Tina’s eyes silently ordered her partner to match her actions.

Bette obeyed the request.

With four moves each, Tina made her feelings felt, her bent positioning not being the most comfortable for her to vent her feelings, "Porter, you are cheating…"

"I’m not, how can I cheat, you’ve watched every move I’ve made!"

"You keep choosing the circles close to me so that I have to reach past you."

"I like the feel of your breasts on my back as you lean over…"

Tina laughed "actually, I get real close to biting your ass from this position…"

"Don’t even think abo… aggghh!" Bette stood quickly, feeling the pain slice through her, her sudden movements causing Tina to loose balance and fall, bringing Bette with her.

The laughing rumpled heap of arms and legs atop the Twister mat was now a quiet, heavy breathing sea of two bodies, with eyes locked, lips slightly apart, chests rising and falling, the air was thick with desire, the pent up sexual tension from the sight of one another across the mat of coloured dots coming forth, as one lunged for the other the passion rose, the intensity built and the bodies and minds had became one.

With their evening coming to a close the sated bodies had crawled into bed, with Tina’s quiet snores on her shoulder Bette smiled, her thoughts turning to them as a couple, had she ever felt happier, or more content than she did at that very moment? Probably not.  Time together was a precious commodity, they now realised that they had to make the most of every moment of it and they were managing to do that at every opportunity.

Bette’s mind was still active as they laid in the twilight of their sanctuary that was their bedroom, she slid her eyes closed and pictured in her minds eye their first date, the things they had talked about earlier in the evening, the fun they had at the movies, the ice cream they had shared and the hand in hand walk after.  The surprisingly quietness of the evening allowing them to share the moments in solitude.

Her mind crossed over the events that they had avoided, these memories not being the ones they dwelt on. 

Tina had been quiet on the drive back to Bette’s home, the pending event of saying good night playing on her mind, she didn’t want the night to end and neither did Bette.

As Tina had pulled her car up to the pavement, the rumble of the quiet engine deafened in the silence inside the car, neither woman wanting to break the moment and have the evening end.

Bette turned to look at Tina, looking to her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly, back to her face, noticing how she clenched her jaw, taking a deep breath, as if drawing courage from her inner self.

"Would you like to come in for coffee?" Bette’s words had reverberated in the silent vehicle.

Tina seemed startled by the words, her eyes widening as her thoughts took in the sentence.  Her mind raced, this was the first moment between them in the whole evening where she didn’t actually know what to say, didn’t know what was expected of her.

Bette saw the turmoil crossing the usual calm features of her date, seeing the thought processes she must been going through at that very moment.  The very thought that her question of an innocent invitation to have coffee was causing so much disruption of Tina’s thoughts being in the forefront of her mind as she voiced her own thoughts.

"Tina…?"

The blonde looked from her hands to Bette’s face, seeing the understanding and compassion written so clearly for her to see.

"Just coffee."

Tina smiled as Bette brought her hand to gently stroke the creamy cheek in front of her, she let out the breath she had been holding, allowing the woman in the passenger seat to do what she had been doing all evening, to make her feel like no other had ever done before, she felt no pressure, she felt no obligation.

"Uh… I should get home…"

Bette felt an immediate disappointment, but understood completely, she only hoped, with every last breath in her body that this would not be the last time she saw Tina Kennard. "Okay…" Bette gave a small smile, hoping that her desolate feelings weren’t going to surface at that very moment, "will I see you again…?"

Tina smiled, she had seen the flashing of disappointment in Bette’s eyes, the flash that made her resolve very nearly crumble in a heap on the floor, her reply came in a simple nod of her head, she was afraid to speak, the lump in her throat was becoming increasingly difficult to swallow.

Bette made to get out of the car, she feared if she leant over and kissed Tina that it wouldn’t be enough, it would never be enough, but she also knew there were boundaries she had no intention of crossing, she had come, in those very short few days, to respect this woman beyond anything she had every experienced and the very last thing she wanted to do was to hurt her or put her in any position that made her feel uncomfortable.

"Bette…?"

Bette turned at the simple word.

"I’m sorry…" Tina’s voice was barely a whisper.

"Please…, don’t ever be sorry Tina."  The pain in Bette’s chest was becoming increasingly heavy, the emotion on the blonde woman’s face so plain for her to see, she wanted to comfort her, protect her, but she knew that the right thing to do at that very moment was to open the car door and walk away. It was the right thing for Tina, she put her own feelings aside, she wanted nothing more than to gather her in her arms and tell her it would be okay, but for Tina that would have made things more difficult, and that was not a position she wanted to put the blonde woman in. 

If the only thing that she would ever have with Tina was friendship, then that is what she would settle for, for the first time in her life, Bette knew she had no control over her future, her future lay in the hands of the woman sat in the car behind her.  It was with a heavy heart and a big sigh that she ascended the few steps to her home, she turned and waved before putting her key in the lock and opening the door.

The silent tears fell as their evening was coming to a close, Bette walked to the window, surprised to still see Tina’s car parked outside her house.  She studied the image as she made out that Tina was leaning her head on the steering wheel, with what looked like a big sigh she leant back and wiped her hand across her cheek, Bette choked back a sob realising that the blonde woman had very obviously felt as desolate as she did.

As she watched Tina drive away, she reached for her phone, dialling the number that she had memorised over the last day or so, the number she always hoped to see on the caller display, the number that made her heart beat faster.

As the answer machine kicked in, Bette’s breath caught in her throat, hearing the tender voice of her blonde date permeate through her ear, her eyes closed as the overflowing tears silently escaped over the curve of her cheeks.

"Uh… Tina, its Bette… I just wanted to thank you and to say I had an amazing evening… it was so much fun; I really had a great time… I uh… I… hope that, if you’ll let me, I… can return the gesture and buy you dinner… sometime… uh, okay… bye…"

Bette’s low mood followed into the morning, the drive to work seemed endless, the work she was faced with more so, for a Saturday morning there was a constant stream of visitors, and in normal circumstances she would have been happy for the volume of sales that a show would have created, but today was different, today she was nursing her heavy heart, she hadn’t slept for a single moment the night before, all her thoughts on Tina, whether she was okay, whether she would see her again, speak to her again, feel her in her arms again, just look into the expressive hazel eyes again.

As Bette glanced at her watch, her mind quickly calculated another that she had an hour and nineteen minutes before being able to retire to her office and finish the paperwork necessary to complete the sales of the paintings that now had sold signs hanging beside them in the gallery. 

She took a deep breath as she began talking to yet another prospective customer, her animated behaviour hid her inner turmoil as her smiles and hand movements betrayed the dark cloud hanging over her. 

Tina had been standing outside the gallery for twenty minutes, deliberating as to whether or not to go in.  The steady stream of art enthusiasts in and out of The Bette Porter Gallery halting her decision, her mind was telling her that she should wait, wait until closing time, until Bette wasn’t so busy, but her mind was also recalling the voice she heard on her answer machine when she had returned home the previous night, the very obvious emotion lacing the words on the machine, the message she had sat and listened to time and time again, last night and this morning.

The message played over and over. The words had haunted her every thought, the thoughts of Bette standing speaking into the phone, her emotional cracked voice causing Tina’s tears to flow faster than they already had begun to do.

How could this woman get under her skin so quickly, how could she possibly look into the eyes of another woman and feel like she has never felt before. How and why, how and why, how could this have happened to her, the questions had been plaguing her every thought since the night she first laid eyes on one Bette Porter.

Tina took a deep breath and pushed the heavy glass door, her sleepless night and even more emotional morning was so clearly visible on her face, the red rimmed watery eyes, the lack of the simplest make up, but the very thing she needed at that moment was to be with someone who would just tell her that everything would be okay.  She needed to be able to look into someone’s eyes and not have to utter a word; she needed to someone to hold her.  She needed Bette.

She tentatively entered the gallery, her eyes searching for the one thing she needed the most, she couldn’t see her and yet she could smell her, her heart began to beat faster, she could feel her presence in the gallery, the woman she had shared an evening with, the woman who had invaded her dreams… And then she saw her, standing, talking to the customers who were hanging onto her every word.

Time stood still as Tina took in the grey fitted slacks, noticing the curve of her bottom, she swallowed the lump in her throat as her eyes moved upward, glancing at the sleeveless crisp white shirt, the contrasting material stark against the colour of the shapely arms, and the dark curly hair, the style very different to the straightened bob of the night they met.  Tina’s mouth went dry as she saw the woman’s arm stop mid air.

Bette stopped suddenly, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She felt her. She slowly turned, knowing that Tina was close by.

Tina turned, she needed to get out of there, she shouldn’t have come, she needed to go before Bette saw her, before she had to explain her present state.  She took the few steps toward the entrance, with her hand on the large stainless steel handle of the heavy glass door, her breath caught in her throat as she felt a gentle touch at her elbow. She stood still, her head bowed.

As Bette had turned she saw the retreating figure, the blonde hair hanging limply across her shoulders, Bette noticed Tina’s demeanour, knowing something was wrong.  She quickly strode toward the figure stepping toward the door, needing to reach her before she left; she reached out and touched the bare skin.

"T…"

Tina stood, still facing the door, she slowly turned her head, blinking quickly, trying to clear the misting in her eyes that had suddenly appeared.

Bette swallowed the lump in her throat, she had felt such elation when she had felt Tina’s presence, but when she had turned to see the retreating figure a moment of pure panic had come over here, she needed to get to her; she just knew something was wrong.  Very wrong.

Tina slowly turned to meet the midnight eyes, the face so full of concern that her resolve completely and utterly crumbled, her eyes immediately filled, the tears escaping with a force. 

Bette looked into the watery eyes, her heart began to pound as her hand cupped the elbow, gently enticing Tina forward, toward her, "come with me…"

Tina stepped forward, the hand at her elbow guiding her, sliding down her arm to take her hand, as Bette turned and led her through the interested crowd.  Tina felt the slight squeeze of her fingers as they walked through the gallery, the momentary lingering as Bette asked James to hold the fort, with a nod to her colleague, Bette continued to guide Tina into the privacy and security of her office.  Her tears slowed, but her heart continued to pound, her mouth was dry as her mind raced about what she would say to Bette when they were alone, what explanation could she give to the state she was in, how could she tell her…

Bette stepped into her office, turning to close the door behind them, the click of the door seemingly loud in the silent office.  Bette continued to hold Tina’s hand as she looked into the red rimmed eyes, those eyes that smiled to her last night, those eyes that showed her nervousness in the car, they now showed her vulnerability, a vulnerability that broke Bette’s heart.

"Come here…"

Tina let out a muffled sob as she stepped into the safety of Bette’s arms, the arms that encircled her to perfection, held her like no one had held her in her life, and she let go, she let go like she had never done before.  The feeling of the arms around her peeling away every emotion from her, she couldn’t hold it back from this woman, the way Bette’s eyes had met hers in the office, the simple words of ‘come here’ and she let go. She gripped the white material at Bette’s back, clinging on as if her life depended on it.

Bette just stood and held Tina, held the broken woman in her arms, pulling her tighter and tighter as her emotions broke through.  Her mind in turmoil as to what had happened to bring this behaviour about, but she would wait, wait until Tina felt able to speak, wait until her tears had subsided, and in the mean time, she would just hold her.

Tina went to move away, but the arms anchoring her into Bette’s solid stance remained, the gentle kiss on the side of her forehead eased more tensions than she cared to admit, the moment the soft lips touched her skin, her eyes slid closed, her lungs craved oxygen, as her nostrils inhaled the giddy familiar scent, the heavenly aroma that would forever remind her of this woman who was holding her so very closely.  Her body had been wracked with sobs, and yet she could feel how uncontrollable her own body really was as she felt the response to being held so closely to this woman.

"Are you okay?" Bette asked quietly, close to Tina’s ear, noticing how the sobs has begun to ease, the faint hiccupping in her chest the only semblance left, but she couldn’t yet see her eyes, and they would be the sure sign of how upset Tina was.  Bette had begun to be able to tell a lot from looking into Tina’s eyes, those expressive hazel eyes that made her heart skip a beat.

Bette felt the silent nodding in the crook of her neck; she smiled as she heard the sniffing.