They were close. 

So close that each woman felt even the slightest movement.  Of every limb.  Of each breath that urged their chests to press gently into the other’s.  Every heartbeat that sustained.  

The darker woman felt the length of Tina’s frame and the softness between them was so incredibly familiar.  This closeness.

There was nothing that would ever measure up to it.  The painful reminder of the time spent apart proved exactly that.  In the days and months after the darkest valleys of their relationship – alone they searched for answers or found what proved to be temporary attachments. 

Ones that didn’t compare.

Tina’s right hand lay comfortably just below her lover’s jaw.  Her palm rested on the skin of Bette’s neck while her thumb gently touched the moist lips that caressed with such intimacy.   

Nothing compared.

Bette altered positions ever so slightly to allow their mouths to meet.  They kissed.  Like they did the first time.  Slowly, sweetly their lips met.  Like when they first made love.  With eagerness and unparalleled want to consume.  With actions laced with wonder they kissed — mouths savored the taste of the other.  Like when the women first put rings on joined hands and fingers.  With eyes open they kissed as their connection warmed their hearts and more. 

Like now.

The blonde pulled Bette closer.  With her arm against the smooth brown skin of a tapered waist she caressed where shoulder blades met to trail her fingers downward then returned to where she started.  Tina wanted to be everything that the brunette meant in return.  To be all Bette ever wanted.

It wasn’t that long ago that they were separated.  That her now again girlfriend was with someone else who shared her bed.  Who had an eye for secrets that Bette found in art.  Who could not only understand but create. 

She sighed quietly and asked herself how she could be more.  Maybe she wasn’t supposed to question and instead peacefully accept their now.  They were together again.  That’s all that mattered. 

“I love you,” she whispered.

Bette kissed her again.  She welcomed the moist lips of this woman she loved.  The warmth of tongue and mouth that connected to everything she desired.  The taste and touch was just so wonderfully fulfilling. 

She said softly, “I love you…so much.”

With golden tresses spread across the pillowcase she turned to burrow against Bette’s neck, nose pressed above her left breast.  She breathed in deeply and filled her lungs.  The brunette felt Tina hold it then unhurriedly she exhaled.  Bette welcomed the affection.  She reveled in the feeling it engendered.  The elation, the high… was intoxicating. 

She moved to cradle as much of Tina’s body as possible.  Holding her with a resurfaced confidence in their union, Bette touched her lover and caressed every inch within reach.  As they lay next to one another she tasted what she could of Tina and murmured her contentment.

Early morning light streamed though the bedroom’s wooden blinds.  It reflected off surfaces that created random patterns that emphasized nature’s beauty.  Soon the day would start but for now they enjoyed this experience.  

Their embrace.  

The shared feeling and never wanting it to end.

This incomparable closeness.

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