Previously

Relations had finally improved between the once weary couple and they were standing on firmer ground.  Bette thought they could use a few days away from work, friends and Angelica.  Bette thought about making it a total surprise but decided to ask Tina if she was ready to go away for a few days and what she wanted to do.

*****

Bette was driving with the top is down on the Saab relishing the wind in her hair. Tina had her head back, eyes closed and a smile on her face, absorbing the sun.  Bette made a left turn and drove through the gate with a Parker Ranch sign overhead.

Bette:   We’re here T time to wake up sleepy head.

Tina:    Bette, I was not sleeping, I’m conserving my energy.

Bette:   Are you sure this is a good idea?  We finally get a weekend to ourselves and you choose a dude ranch.  Are you sure you want to be rustling cattle after months of rustling diapers and midnight feedings and working.  Don’t you want to relax and get a massage?

Tina:    Bette, it will be relaxing, they have hikes in the morning and a sauna and our cabin has a whirlpool tub.  I think some quality time with nature will do us good.  Plus, I don’t have any intention of rustling cattle.  I signed up for KP duty, I haven’t had much time to cook since going back to work and I miss it.

Bette pulls up in front of the main house and both women are eager to get out of the car and stretch their legs.  A Labrador Retriever is barking and running up to greet them.  A tall woman with faded red hair and deep crinkles around her eyes from squinting at the sun steps out onto the porch and down the stairs and admonishes the dog and introduces herself.

Sally:   Calm down Ginger, sit!  Hi I’m Sally Parker you must be Tina and Bette and this is my guardian Ginger.

The women all shake hands and smile.

Tina:    Hi, I’m Tina, we spoke on the phone and this is my partner Bette.

Ginger runs over to Bette and is eagerly saying hello wanting her attention.

Sally:   Wow, she likes you, Ginger usually flirts with the male guests.

Tina:    Bette tends to have that effect on women.

Sally:   I’ll just go and get Pete to show you to your cabin and give you a tour.  Dinner is at 6:00 and we’ll go over the schedule for the weekend.  There will be a few other couples and a family with us as well this weekend.

Sally left Bette and Tina and went inside.  Bette looked around and took in the charming ranch house, cabins and out buildings, the sky was bright blue and breathing in she thought maybe she would enjoy a few days in the country.  Bette usually preferred cities or being by the beach and wouldn’t have chosen to visit a ranch in 100 years but she began to think Tina wasn’t crazy after all.

Bette:   It really is beautiful here.

Tina:    I know and the sky is so clear.

After a quick tour of the ranch with Pete where they learned where the stables, sauna, kitchen garden and other important places were located Bette and Tina were shown their rustic looking but comfortable cabin, there was an old fashioned wood bed with a comfortable quilt on top and two handmade end tables with wrought iron lamps.  There were some comfortable chairs for lounging and unfortunately the weather was too warm to use the fireplace.  The walls were covered with prints depicting scenes from the Wild West and there was a TV with a selection of western movies to watch.  

Tina:    Hey Bette maybe we’ll have time to watch Shane or The Man who Shot Liberty Valence.

Bette wanted to keep the weekend on a pleasant footing and chose not to respond.  Bette and Tina called home to check in with Kit and see how Angelica was doing.  They barely had enough time to get ready for dinner.  

The diner turned out to be a hearty meal with pleasant company at a long communal table.  Bette enjoyed the good red wine the host served with the steak.  Antlers and mounted animal heads were not usually Bette’s favorite wall decoration but it worked here and she enjoyed the framed photos depicting the ranch and the generations of families that had owned it and the prize cattle they raised.  The ranch and its vicinity had a long history and Bette was genuinely interested in hearing the local folklore and actual facts about the area and Bo, Sally’s husband was an excellent storyteller.

Afterwards everyone went outside and they sat around the campfire and toasted marshmallows and sang songs led by Bo who actually played a decent guitar.  Bette was surprised to find herself having fun.  In the past this was the type of corny activity that would have driven Bette insane or at least to incessant eye rolling, but maybe being a mother had temporarily mellowed her desire for high culture entertainment or maybe all she needed was the wide canopy of nighttime sky littered with stars and plenty of air to breathe.  Bette only snuck away twice to call Kit.

Bette was struck by how the Tina who had been capable of being so cold to her for all those months was her usual warm and friendly self to those she had never met and made her a favorite with the other guests.  She showed the kids the best way to make smores, traded recipes and Hollywood gossip with the gay couple and knew the lyrics to all the songs Bo picked out on his guitar.

Tina saw Bette stifling a yawn out the corner of her eye and made their excuses. They walked back to the cabin quite content, stargazing and taking in the unfamiliar nighttime country sounds.  Safely back at the cabins nightly ablutions were performed and soon Bette and Tina were ready for bed.

Tina:    Do you want to watch a movie?

Bette:   To tell you truth Tina while I don’t mind living a Western this weekend I think watching one might be overkill.  [Bette yawned once again.]

Tina:    So that yawn wasn’t an act before.  Let’s get some sleep babe.

Bette:   You don’t mind?

Tina:    Of course not we got up early and the drive up here was a long one.  Thanks for doing this Bette.  I know Parker Ranch wasn’t at the top of your list of vacation spots.  You’ll get to choose next time.

Bette:   You know I hate to admit it T but so far I’m enjoying myself.  

Tina:    I’m glad.

Bette:   Good night T.

Tina:    Good night babe.

Both women couldn’t help but wonder if there would be a next time.  They hoped they could continue rebuilding their relationship but it was hard to trust that nothing bad would happen.


*****

Since Bette and Tina were staying at a working ranch the day began early.

Bette:   I can’t believe you woke up and went on that hike.

Tina:    It must be the smog free air or maybe I’m just used to getting up early to feed Angelica.  

Bette:   I hope I don’t make a fool of myself.  It’s been years since I’ve been on a horse.

Tina exited the bathroom in a robe.  Bette was already dressed in jeans, a pair of cowboy boots and a red cotton shirt with a dude rag tied around her neck and worn leather chaps.  When Tina caught site of Bette she stopped and stared her mouth is slightly ajar and she stopped breathing.

Bette:   Is something wrong? I know, I look like a fool, but Sally insisted I wear these chaps she said something about burrs.

Tina quickly closed the distance between her and Bette and said “Babe, whatever you do don’t take off those chaps.”  Tina locked her lips on Bette’s and fiercely starting kissing her and started propelling her backwards towards the bed.  Once they had safely landed Tina wasted no time and straddled Bette.

Bette:   T, we’re going to miss breakfast.

In response, Tina untied her robe and pushed it off her shoulders letting it drop behind her revealing her pregnancy-enhanced breasts always a rather enticing site for Bette.  Tina leaned forward onto Bette and kissed her hard letting her know she meant business.

Tina:    I don’t know about you babe, but the only thing I want for breakfast is right here.

Tina quickly tossed aside Bette’s scarf so she could have access to her neck and soon she was licking and kissing and her frisky hand traveled down to the front of Bette’s jeans where a button was adeptly opened and her hand eagerly slipped inside rubbing along Bette’s desire outside of her underwear teasing her.

Bette:   T what’s your rush?  Jeeze, do you think they’re going to send Little Joe and Hoss if we don’t show up for breakfast?

Tina:    Bette you have no idea how hot you look right now.  

Tina takes Bette’s ear lobe into her mouth and gently nibbles and sucks on it and then runs the tip of her tongue around Bette’s ear and whispers “Do you want me to stop?”

Bette:   Fuck no.  

Bette’s lips find Tina’s neck and her hands are roaming over Tina’s body.  Bette tries to sit up and take control and flip Tina over.

Tina:    Don’t you dare!

Bette:   Can I at least take my clothes off?

Tina:    No.

Tina takes Bette’s arms and holds them above her head with one arm and then slips her fingers under Bette’s form fitting undies and into her wetness, the tightness of the jeans pushing her hand into Bette.

Tina:    You feel so fucking good.

Bette’s response was a deep guttural moan.  Tina returned to her assault on Bette’s neck, ears and mouth particularly enjoying the sensation of dragging her tongue along Bette’s deliciously white teeth.  While her fingers entered Bette over and over again.

Meanwhile back at the ranch house Sally vigorously rang the bell for breakfast for the 2nd time and unbeknownst to the distracted couple Ginger is lying down and blocking the doorway to their cabin.  Pete walked up the little path and was about to knock on the door but Ginger started barking and wouldn’t let him.

Pete:    Okay girl, I wasn’t trying to steal anything, I swear!  [He holds up his hands like he is surrendering and backs down the walkway.]

Fortunately for Bette the bell ringing and the dog barking prevented Pete from hearing Bette telling Tina to fuck her harder and faster soon followed by and the unmistakable sound of her coming.

Tina kissed Bette as she recovered from her orgasm and allowed Bette’s tongue to enter her mouth in return.  Bette started deepening the kiss sending her heart rate back up again but Tina pulled away causing Bette to moan out of frustration this time.

Tina:    Babe, you’ve got to get cleaned up and ready or you’ll miss the group there will be plenty of time tonight.

Bette:   I thought there was square dancing tonight.

Tina:    I think we’ve got some dance steps of our own we need to work on tonight.  


So Bette quickly got herself together to go rustle some cattle and Tina got ready for her day in the ranch kitchen.  Tina enjoyed the camaraderie in the kitchen between vegetable prep and bread kneading and pork chop pounding there was lots of laughter as Sally told stories about the mishaps of previous guests and when after lunch they started drinking wine the stories got more personal and giggle worthy it turned out that Tina and Little Joe (whose real name was Rick) had a lot in common.  Tina managed to call Kit and hear Angelica gurgle before the wine kicked in.

It took a bit for Bette to get used to being back in the saddle but soon she got used to it, like riding a bike, it all came back to her, that year abroad at Oxford where she spent time dating an Earl’s daughter definitely had its advantages.  There were ranch hands who knew what they were doing that guided the novices and did most of the work but Bette found she enjoyed being outdoors with the sun beating down on her shoulders, using muscles she had forgotten she possessed or quite possibly had never used.  The sounds of horses and cattle and the sight of hawks circling overhead were a nice change from her usual routine in L.A.  

Bette got back to the cabin before Tina and took a long soak in the whirlpool tub to soothe her aching muscles and then a nice refreshing nap.  Tina entered the cabin and almost tripped over Ginger.  Seeing that Bette was asleep on the bed, Tina snuggled up next to her and they both enjoyed their repose until the bell unkindly woke them for dinner.  Tina quickly changed and Bette let Ginger out who was now patiently waiting by the door.  

Tina:    How do you do it Bette?  You even convert straight female dogs!

Bette:   I guess it’s just the Porter charm.  

Once again dinner was enjoyable, cucumber soup, pork chops, fresh baked bread, mashed root vegetables followed by sorbet and biscotti were enjoyed by all after a hard days work, but this time Tina and Bette excused themselves from the evening activity.  You could tell Sally had modified the meals to please the tourist crowd but although Bo would never admit it he had developed a fondness for gazpacho.  Little Joe and Hoss (Rick and Royce the weekend’s other gay couple) seemed particularly disappointed that they weren’t going to get to Square Dance with Tina.  They were both insanely jealous that she got to work with Jake Gyllenhaal* since they both had huge a crush on him.

[*A reference to my fanfic episode Longitude and Latitude in which Helena and Tina are pitching a movie to Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal pre Brokeback Mountain hype.]

Once in the cabin Tina told Bette she needed to take a shower since she hadn’t had time before dinner and she wanted to revive herself after the heavy meal.  While Tina showered Bette prepared the cabin.  She lowered the lights, left Ginger outside to stand watch and striped down to her birthday suit and then put the chaps and her cowboy hat back on and found the piece of hay she had brought back earlier and put it seductively in her mouth.  Bette lay down on her side facing the bathroom door and waited for Tina to emerge.  She heard the water turn off, Tina brushing her teeth and then Tina started to say something but she never completed her sentence.  Coming out of the bathroom with towel in hand

Tina:    Bette what time do you want to get up to

For the second time that day Tina stopped dead in her tracks.  The sight of Bette naked on the bed in those chaps, the cowboy hat, the perky Porters was too much for Tina she was rendered incapable of speech.

Bette:   What’s the matter Tina?  Cat got your tongue?

Tina dropped the towel, took off her tank top and shorts and walked over to the bed.

Tina:    Bette there aren’t words to describe how fucking sexy you look.

Tina joined Bette on the bed and started kissing Bette’s tasty mouth but her tongue had places to roam it seemed to have a mind of its own.  Tina traveled down Bette’s neck and took her luscious breasts into her mouth one at a time starting with starting with the right.  She swirled her tongue along the underside of Bette’s breasts and then the nipple teasing and blowing until she sucked it into her mouth and nipped, biting just enough to send shivers deep down into Bette.  Tina then licked and kissed all over Bette’s abdomen paying particular attention along the belt of the chaps then finally her inner thighs licking where the chaps ended and languidly stroking over the exposed sensitive flesh.

Bette tried to move her hips and get Tina’s attention to go elsewhere and maybe end this blissful torture but Tina wasn’t ready.

Tina:    Bette turn over.

Bette groaned and complied.

Tina had to take a moment to admire Bette’s wondrous behind framed in leather.

Tina:    Have I ever told you that you have the most assrageous behind Ms. Porter?  Dayum it looks good enough to eat but first I see some lovely appetizers.  

Tina straddled Bette’s bodacious behind and bent over.  She moved Bette’s long curly locks out of the way and started kissing and licking Bette’s neck and then found her way to Bette’s ear while she rubbed herself against Bette.  The sensation of Tina’s wet tongue in Bette’s ear and the feeling Tina’s wetness dripping on her perfectly round rear was driving Bette insane.