Bette had worn a loose white sheer blouse that night, she remembered, with a black lace bra and white slacks with a wide white satin vertical stripe and one of her favorite pairs of stacked white heels.  She wore dangly silver chandelier earrings and a three-tiered silver necklace that Tina had given her on their first anniversary.  Tina had pulled her hair up loosely on each side of her face with a gold comb, and Bette had worn her hair down.  It fell past her shoulders in dark, cascading curls.  They made a rather complimentary pair, Bette had observed happily, without conceit.

Halfway through the meal the back gate opened and in walked a three-man steel drum band.  Bette’s fork had almost fallen out of her mouth.  Tina’s expression was priceless.  With raised eyebrows they had stared at one another as if to say, ‘You did this?’  At the end of the first song, one of the drummers strode over and handed Tina an envelope with a smile.  She opened it and read the card aloud to Bette with a grin:

You lovebirds think you’re so sly with your secret plans…Gotcha!  Happy Anniversary!

Love,

Alice, Tasha, Shane, Kit, Helena and Jenny

They burst out laughing, touched by their friends’ surprise, and rose to dance. 

After enjoying a delightfully long and relaxed meal with amazing music, dancing and fabulous wine, with which they had toasted their past and future, the couple decided on a whim to go for a midnight swim.  The band, receiving a generous tip, left, extending their good wishes. 

 Alone at last, they turned to each other smiling and began to undress.  Tina slowly unbuttoned her lover’s white linen blouse, kissing her lightly on the lips between buttons, smiling through the kisses.  She ran her right index finger down the middle of Bette’s chest, between her breasts to her navel, stopping at the top button of her pants, following her finger with her eyes.  Bette inhaled sharply at her touch, finding her lips again and kissing her with passion.  Tina moaned softly, ever responsive to her lover’s kisses, and pressed her stomach against Bette’s warm skin.  Finding Tina’s tongue, Bette ran her hands up under the fabric of the halter top to her breasts and squeezed gently, rubbing her nipples with just the right amount of pressure to make Tina shudder.  A hot rush of desire charged through them both at once, and their hips met eagerly, wanting less between them.  Tina raised her hands to Bette’s face, brushing the hair from her eyes as she loved to do, smoothing it away in order to see her better.

“Have I ever told you how much I love your eyes?”  She asked softly. 

Bette demurred, dropping her chin, blinking slowly.  

Noting Tina’s amusement Bette asked, “What?  What was that chuckle?”

“I was thinking that sometimes you look so…innocent.”

“And that made you laugh?”  Bette asked, feigning hurt feelings.

“Umm-hmm…” the blond answered, circling the other’s lips with her index finger.  Bette caught the finger between her teeth, sucking it into her mouth gently, and Tina twitched ever so slightly, her breath catching.  Bette smiled, knowing how Tina would react and kissed her eagerly, her tongue exploring the blonde’s mouth, twining with Tina’s tongue, her pulse quickening.

“Why don’t we skip the swim?”  Bette asked huskily, reaching for the tie on Tina’s top.  Tina pulled back gently, meeting Bette’s gaze.

“We could skinny dip first, baby…”  she suggested with the lift of an eyebrow.  What she lacked in winking ability she more than made up for in suggestive eyebrow-raising, Bette mused distractedly, her thoughts focused on Tina’s implication that the swimming might be a sort of warm up for more rigorous exercise to follow later, and in spite of the galloping progress of her arousal, she found that she wasn’t actually eager to end the outdoor portion of the evening, when she thought about it.  It had been so magical…why not prolong the spell? 

  TBC