DISCLAIMER: The usual. Nothing is mine, characters are others, situations are contrived purely for my pleasure. All hail ShowTime.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Many thanks to my Beta Reader IJ without whom this never would have been finished. This is a work in progress but this can also stand alone. How's that for vague?
SPOILERS: First season, anything is game. Picks up as the Season finale left off.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.

Love is a Word
By Wordsmith

Part One

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. What have I done? What the fuck have I done? I kissed Dana, that's what I've done. No, you've saved Dana, that's what you've done. You've saved her from that evil bitch Tonya. Because there's no way she can marry that bitch, that cat killing bitch now. Not now that she's kissed you. Or that you've kissed her. Whatever. Now that you've kissed each other. Because there is no way Dana would marry someone else, let alone a cat killing bitch after kissing me like she just did. Oh my god, Dana kissed me. I mean, really kissed me. Not just stood there while I kissed her but really kissed me back. And then kissed me all on her own. I didn't think she would do it and then all of a sudden there it was-her kissing me. Oh my god, I kissed Dana. Oh my-shit what is Tina doing here?

Alice looked at her friend sitting silently in the dark on her couch. Tina's eyes were red and puffy and if possible more mournful than even after the miscarriage. "Honey what is it? Why are you here?"

Tina swallowed convulsively and tried to speak. "Bette…Bette…" but the words refused to form. Silently she walked unsteadily to the 6 Degrees of Lesbian Separation chart. Slowly she uncapped the sharpie marker and drew a shaky line from Bette's name to one of the few clear spots left. In jagged preschoolish letters, she managed a "C" and an "A" before breaking down completely. Alice gasped in shock at the revelation. Bette had slept with someone else? Cathy? No, she moved out of town to find herself in some ashram in Canada. Camille? No, she found Jesus and renounced her "homosexualitay" over a year ago. Candace, no she…Oh shit, it was Candace? The hot carpenter who did the CAC renovations for the Provocations show that opened tonight? Alice thought back to the evening but had been too wrapped up in saving Dana to notice much else.

But Tina had noticed, at least enough to suspect Bette, and Alice knew Tina would never make any kind of accusations against her lover of the past seven years without solid, irrefutable proof. Slowly she helped her friend back to the couch, laid her on it, covered her with a quilt and made tea. Her mind was racing; concern for Tina who after the devastating loss of her baby was finally seeming to come back into her own, anger and fury at Bette for even considering doing such a thing to Tina, especially now, let alone acting on it, resentment at Candace whom she had met only briefly but whom she initially liked, never suspecting what secrets lay behind that winning shy smile.

Once the tea was made, she brought out the tray to the front room and set it on the table next to the couch. "Tina? Honey, sit up and have some tea. Do you want to tell me what happened?" Tina shook her head but sat up and took the offered cup. "Too soon?" Alice whispered. Tina nodded and took a tentative sip from the steaming mug. "Okay" whispered Alice again. "Whenever you're ready." In minutes, the tea was gone; Alice took the cup from Tina's white knuckled hand, and set it on the tray. Tina lay down again, and Alice pulled the quilt back up. Alice brought another quilt from the cupboard and settled into the big chair in the corner of the room. In a small voice, she heard Tina say, "You don't have to, you know." Alice smiled a slow sad smile, whispering back, "I know."

Alice woke to a crick in her neck, a crumpled sheet of paper in her hand, and a ringing in her ears. No wait, the ringing was the telephone. A few frantic minutes of searching under papers, books, quilts and pillows finally revealed the phone cradled in its charger on the counter. But by the time she got to it, the machine had picked up "Hi, I'm Alice. Who the hell are you?"

"Alice, hi. Um, it's me. Dana. Um, I think we really need to-"

"I'm here, I'm here, don't hang up." Alice fairly shouted into the receiver.

"Hi."

"Dana?"

"Um, yeah. Look, we need, that is, I need-"

"Dana! No time for that now. We are in crisis mode! Did you hear about Tina and Bette?"

"Tina and Bette? What about them? No, I called to talk to you about why you kissed me last night."

"Oh god, Dana, look we will talk about it. I promise! But right now we need to focus on Tina and Bette."

"What about them?" Thank goodness, Dana caught on to the urgency in Alice's voice quickly and was willing to suspend their other issue for the moment.

"Bette cheated on Tina with Candace."

"Candace the carpenter?"

"Yeah. Tina found out and now she's here. At least she was here. Hold on a sec." Alice looked around the small apartment but Tina was nowhere to be found. Blinking at the phone in her hand, she realized that her other hand still held the crumpled piece of paper. On it Tina had written, "Alice, thanks for last night. I need some time to myself right now. I'll call you. Tina"

"Dana? Tina's gone. What should we do?"

"What can we do? Do you have any idea where she went?"

"No but she is not in a good space. I've never seen her like this. It was like…"

A long silence until Dana said quietly, "Like the love of her life cheated on her?"

Forty-five minutes later, they met in front of Bette and Tina's tidy bungalow. Alice had gotten there a few minutes early. She tried to focus on the situation between her friends but her mind persistently kept returning to the memory of the feel of Dana's lips against her own. A little thin, a little chapped but still wonderfully soft and smooth at the same time. "No!" Alice berated herself. "Now is not the time. Get it together." But when she looked up it was to see Dana walking toward her in her usual morning work out uniform, tanned and long limbed and undeniably sexy. "Oh god," she thought, "I am so screwed." Taking a deep breath, she got out of her car and walked to the woman whose tongue was in her mouth only ten hours before. Suddenly shy in front of the person she had known for years, Alice blurted out, "So what are we going to do? Should we confront Bette with what we know? Or let her confess to us?"

Dana did a quick double take at the forcefulness of the greeting. Her mind was so confused about so many things, making a decision was the last thing she felt competent to do. "Uhm, I don't know. Why don't we just ask if Tina is here and see what happens?"

"Good idea, great idea. Let's do that." Alice nearly ran up the steps in her haste to move away from Dana. Jesus, did she have to look so good this early in the morning? It didn't help that Alice had slept in her clothes, on a chair in her living room, keeping careful watch over the long night to any changes in Tina's breathing, only to fall asleep minutes before she woke. "Well, I know Tina was at my house until 6:15 this morning. I must have dozed off just then because when you called she was gone."

Dana touched Alice on the forearm, "Aww, you stayed up with her? That is really sweet of you."

Alice looked at the long, tanned fingers on her arm, then into Dana's sea blue eyes, feeling herself falling into them, wanting to fall in and never ever come out again. With a shake of her head to clear it, and a flick of her wrist to shake the hand off, Alice retreated into anger, "Sweetness had nothing to do with it. I was just afraid of what Tina would do to Bette if she thought I was asleep."

Dana frowned at this information and at Alice's reaction to her touch. Deciding Alice was just tired, she tried again, "Well Tina is lucky to have you. Looking out for her. You're always looking out for us." Brushing past her, Dana knocked on the door just as Alice reached for the bell.

Alice cursed herself. "Jees, relax. You're here for Tina. Once you know she's safe, you can focus on Dana and what to do about her. But for crying out loud, does she have to smell so good? I mean, I must smell like musty chair and here she is all fresh from the shower, smelling like a goddamn flower! Even her damp hair smells good. Oh god, shower. Dana was in the shower. Don't go there, don't go there."

Thankfully their wait was short lived. Bette opened the door, saw who it was, immediately turned around and went back into the depths of the house. Wordlessly the two women followed. Never had they seen Bette looking so distraut. An ugly bruise the size and shape of a small hand purpled one cheek and what appeared to be a bite marred the otherwise smooth carmel skin near her jawline. Her deep-set brown eyes had a dull lifeless look, red-rimmed and desperately tired. She wore sagging gray boxers and an even grayer tee shirt.

"There's coffee in the pot. I made it a few hours ago, but it should still be good." Her voice rasped as one that had been overused.

"Coffee? You offer us coffee?" Alice was indignant. "Bette, where's Tina?"

Bette's eyes squinted up at Alice from her seat at the kitchen table, "Isn't she at your house?"

"She was last night. But she left around 6:30 this morning, and if she isn't here, then who knows where she is?"

Bette considered this. "I don't know."

Alice waited for her to continue but when it became clear Bette was not going to, Alice glanced at Dana for help. Dana merely shrugged her shoulders. "Bette, aren't you at least the littlest bit concerned that your wife is missing?"

"Tina can take care of herself. Better than I can take care of her. All I do is mess things up." Bette seemed to crumple before their eyes. Already red eyes filled with tears and her body wracked with unuttered sobs. Dana moved to comfort her but Alice stopped her.

"You're right. You did mess things up. How could you do this to Tina? After everything she's done for you? Everything you had together?"

When this provoked no response, Dana moved to sit next to Bette. Taking one of her hands, she quietly asked, "Bette, we just want to help. We " shooting a look at Alice, "want to help both of you get through this. But we're worried about Tina. Where could she have gone? Is there anyone you can think of she would turn to right now, if not one of us?"

Bette thought for a long moment, "Oscar. The guy she's been working with at the advocacy center. He and Tina have gotten close lately."

Alice took control of the situation again, reminding herself to thank Dana for her patience later in dealing with Bette, "Okay, do you have his number so we can check with him?"

"Yeah, it's on the white board on the fridge."

While Alice called Oscar, Dana made Bette a cup of decaf, adding a healthy dose of soymilk to the mix. "Here" she gently placed the cup in Bette's hand. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

"No, not really."

"Okay, let's get you cleaned up and then a short nap. Everything will work out, you'll see." Leading Bette into the bathroom, she took some antibiotic ointment out of the medicine cabinet along with a few cotton balls. Bette hissed as the astringent seeped into her wounded face but otherwise made no remark. Dana worked quickly cleaning then covering the area with a light gauze bandage. Once that was finished, she walked Bette into the bedroom and helped her friend under the blankets, noticing all the linens thrown into a pile on the floor.

As she left the room, she nearly collided with Alice. Signaling to be quiet, Dana closed the door partially and led Alice back to the living room. "Well?" she asked.

Alice glanced at the door down the hallway, "Tina is at Oscar's. She says she needs time to herself."

Dana sighed. "So what do we do?"

Alice joined Dana on the couch. "We give it to her. There's nothing more we can do. She knows we're here for her."

"I guess so."

Something in Dana's voice prompted Alice to ask, "What?"

"Well, you saw Bette's face. She got pretty roughed up. Did Tina have any, you know, marks on her?"

"No!" Alice's voice raised and Dana shhhed her quickly. "No" Alice whispered. "But I mean, can you blame Tina?"

Dana turned to face Alice, "No matter what Bette did with Candace, it doesn't give Tina the right to beat up Bette."

"Tina didn't beat up Bette." Alice said dismissively.

"Oh and I suppose Candace bit her hard enough to draw blood?" Dana retorted.

"Oh god, there was blood?"

"Yes, there was blood. And not just on Bette but on the sheets in there as well. I saw the stains on them in the bedroom."

"Oh man, this just gets better and better." Alice held her head in her hands.

"So what do we do?" Dana asked.

Alice thought for a long moment. "Well, there's not much we can do. I mean, we don't have all the facts. Until we do, we don't know who did what to whom and what they meant when they did it. We know that both Tina and Bette are safe. Did Bette go down okay?"

Dana nodded, "She was out before I left the room. Did you know she snores?"

"Like a freight train during allergy season. Anyway, we know she's probably out for a couple of hours at least. Do you think we should wait here?" Alice glanced up at Dana.

Dana chewed one cheek, thinking. "I think one of us should. Let me. You stayed up with Tina."

Alice looked at Dana "What about you? Did you sleep last night?" In her head, Alice was screaming, After you kissed the life out of me. After you got me more excited by a single kiss than hours of sex with Lisa ever did. Did you go back into bed with…even in her head Alice refused to say her name…that woman?

Dana smiled wanly thinking back to her night. Which consisted of sleeping fitfully on the guest bed after complaining to Tonya of gas, thereby managing to be sent into the guest room with no questions asked. Only to toss and turn and relive the fevered rushed incredible kisses with Alice. So wonderful and unexpected and liberating. "Not much." She admitted with a shy smile. Alice smiled back.

"Well since we're going to be here a while, do you want to talk?"

Oh god, thought Alice, no it's too soon. I can't. I'm too tired. I'll screw it up. Only talk to her when you're rested and hydrated and fed. "Sure" she chirped, "But I need coffee first." Mentally bashing in her own head, she led the way into the kitchen and started a fresh pot. But Dana refused to take it from there. She just stood leaning against the counter watching Alice grind the beans, add the water, wash two mugs, anything to avoid the conversation she so desperately wanted to have. Finally when the silence became too much to bear, she turned to Dana and said quietly, "So?"

Dana's eyebrows rose. "So? All you have to say is so?"

"Look, here's the deal, Dana. You can't marry Tonya." Alice managed to spit out the hated name without visibly cringing.

"You said that last night." Dana's replied. "And then you kissed me. What the hell was that about Alice?"

Alice glanced at Dana, saw that she was getting that look she only gets when she got upset, that vulnerable, open, adorable look that made Alice's stomach flip. Trying to regain some semblance of control, she busied herself pouring two mugs of coffee making sure to add just the right amount of two percent milk before handing Dana hers. Their fingers brushed and Alice couldn't be sure if the jolt that went through her came from coffee splashed onto her fingers. Needing to buy a few minutes and test a theory at the same time, she caught Dana's eye and slowly brought the wet fingers to her mouth, licking off the hot liquid. As anticipated, Dana was unable to look away. Her eyes widened at the sight, and her breathing increased visibly, her chest straining against the tightness of her workout tank. Alice pulled the finger from her mouth and surreptitiously wiped it on her pants while inching toward Dana. She whispered, "You can't marry her, Dana. You just can't." Before Dana could respond, Alice kissed her, hard and fast and sweet. She felt Dana pull her forward by her hips until their bodies lined up, pressed against each other. Before Alice quite knew what was happening, Dana's tongue was caressing first the top, then bottom lip which Alice eagerly opened. A slight hint of minty toothpaste lingered in Dana's mouth and on her tongue, which Alice sucked into her mouth. Her mind was awash with emotions. She thought, "Oh god, I'm kissing Dana again. We were supposed to be talking; why am I kissing her again? Oh, there's that tongue thing she does. I noticed it last night but not really noticed it. It's like she swirls it around. I wonder how she does that? I'll have to ask her. Wait, Alice! Stop it. Stop kissing Dana. Right now. Forget about that swirly thing. You need to be talking to her about Tonya not about Oh god, there she goes again. No! I have to stop. Be strong. You can kiss Dana later. Right now you have to stop. Oh god, she is making me burn up. What is she doing with her hands. My pants feel like they're on fire. Oh god, holy shit, I am on fire!" Pulling away from Dana, gasping for breath, Alice discovered that she was not on fire but had merely spilled both mugs of coffee all over her pants. Hot, freshly brewed coffee.

"Shit, shit, shit! Oh man, these are new pants." She wailed as she lunged over to the sink and poured cold water over her now ruined pants. Dana followed closely behind, wiping her hands on the soaked pants in a vain attempt to somehow cool them off. Alice watched her bemusedly do this for a long moment before catching the hands and holding them still. "Dana, it's okay."

Dana looked sheepishly into Alice's face. "Sorry, I guess I got carried away. Forgot about the coffee. Are you sure you're okay? Not burned or anything?"

Alice smiled, "No, it was hot there for a sec but now it's fine."

Dana contemplated this answer, and then her face took on a mischievous expression. "Are you sure? Maybe I should check. Just to be sure you didn't damage anything?"

Alice started to answer, "No really I'm fine" but then her brain caught up with what Dana hadn't actually said. "Dana!"

"What" drawled Dana, running a hand up Alice's arm, causing it to break out in goose bumps. "I just want to make sure you didn't burn anything."

Alice didn't buy it for a minute. "No you don't! You just want to get into my pants! God, I can't believe you."

Dana replied defensively, "Well so what if I do? Jesus, Alice you come over to my house in the middle of the night, going on and on about how I can't marry Tonya, but you won't say why. You kiss the life out of me, and then just leave. I try to get you to talk about it but you're all busy making coffee and when I ask you about it, you kiss me again. What the hell is going on Alice? Why can't I marry Tonya?"

Now it was Alice's turn to be defensive. "Why can't you marry Tonya? How can you even ask that?"

Dana's brow furrowed, "I'm asking." Then in a softer tone, "Alice, why can't I marry Tonya?"

Alice answered, "How can you kiss me like you just did, and like you did last night, and even consider marrying Tonya? These are not just little pecks on the cheeks here Dana. I mean, this was kissing! Kissing kissing. God I nearly came just now from the way you were kissing me. "

Dana interrupted her, proudly, "You did?"

Alice sighed, "Yes, I did. And you can't kiss me like that and still think you can go off and marry someone like Tonya."

Dana stopped congratulating herself, "What do you mean someone like Tonya? What's wrong with Tonya?"

Alice cocked her head to one side in disbelief, "Are you kidding me? Dana! Hello, we hate people like Tonya! She's so smarmy and fake and what's with that hair? Has she never heard of conditioner?"

"Actually she uses this really expensive stuff that I'm not allowed to use" Dana started, "But wait, we don't hate people like Tonya. She's really helpful. Like when we were down at Dinah Shore Weekend. She kept fans from getting all up in my face and stuff."

"You mean, kept you from talking to your fans and letting them tell you how much they appreciate your coming out, and how much it's helped them come out to their families." Alice replied.

"But she said they would distract me from why I was there."

"Which was to meet with your fans!" Alice led them both to the kitchen table, ignoring her rapidly chilling pants. "Dana, sweetie, you were there to accept an award for basically helping thousands of lesbians come out of the closet. And Tonya kept you from thanking them or even interacting with them."

"Well, I guess she thought she was protecting me."

"And what did she call hooking up with you the first night? Protecting you from some crazed fan? Dana, she is some crazed fan! She just had official access to you that the rest of your stalkers didn't have."

Dana perked up, "I have stalkers?"

Alice smiled, "Well now we'll never know because Ms. Thang scared them all away."

Dana frowned, "Don't call her that."

"Well I sure as hell am not going to call her Mrs. Dana Fairbanks." She took Dana's hand. "Sweetie, you must know that you can't do this." When Dana looked away, she added, "You helped me break up with Gabby when I needed it. I'm just returning the favor."

Dana shyly glanced down at their entwined fingers, "But I didn't kiss you to make my point."

Alice smiled back, "Did you want to?"

Dana blushed, "Yeah."

Alice nudged her, "What stopped you?"

Dana thought for a moment, tracing random patterns on Alice's arm with her free hand. "You didn't seem like you wanted me to, I mean I wasn't really out then, and I know how you feel about dating girls still in the closet. I figured there was no point."

"Hmmm, true, "said Alice ruefully, "but what about now?"

"Now?" Dana brightened "Hey now I'm out!"

"Yes you are." Cheered Alice scooting her chair closer.

"Yes I am." Drawled Dana reaching to bring Alice's face near. "So is there any point in my kissing you?"

Alice's stomach flipped again at the thought. "Oh yes, there's a point." And closed the space between them, taking Dana's lower lip in her teeth biting gently before kissing her fully. She felt Dana's hand move to the back of her neck, the fingers sweeping into her hair. They kissed for a long luxurious moment before Alice managed to remember where they were. Reluctantly pulling back, she winced at the whimper this produced from Dana. "As much as I would love to continue this, we can't."

"But" protested Dana, trying to return to her former position. "I want-"

Alice stood firm, "No, Dana, we can't. Bette. Remember Bette? We can't make out in her kitchen while she's in there sleeping off what had to have been the worst night of her life."

"Oh right." Dana agreed. "Well, do we have to stay?"

Alice considered for a minute, "Well, we did see that she is safe. We know where Tina is. I don't think Bette would do anything stupid, but we can't take that chance."

Dana pouted at this, "No we can't."

Alice got up and moved toward the phone, "But we never said we had to baby-sit her all day." And quickly called Kit. Once the situation with Bette and Tina had been explained, Kit insisted on coming over immediately, the ever-faithful Ivan in tow.

Kit checked on Bette who was still sleeping soundly. Muffling the loud snoring by closing the bedroom door, she hurried back into the living room. "If I know my little sister, she's out for the day. You two run along now, and I'll call you when I know anything else."

Alice grabbed Dana by the hand stopping her from nearly running to the front door in her haste to be alone. "Thanks Kit," She said, signaling to Dana to cool it. "We should be at my place, right Dana?" she asked in what she hoped was a nonchalant tone. "Besides I need to get out of these pants."

"Well we sure as hell can't go to my house." At the none to subtle elbow into her ribs, she amended, "I mean, yeah, we'll be at Alice's. Talking. Just talking. We have some stuff to talk about." She trailed off desperately, and then flung herself out the door, leaving a flustered Alice to follow.

Alice tried to bluff her way, "Boy, one night without sleep and she goes all to pieces, huh? Just call if you need anything." And stumbled out the door after her.

Ivan looked at Kit, "I thought Dana was engaged to that weird Tonya chick?"

Kit stared after the two women running to their cars across the street. "She is."

Ivan chuckled, "Well, not for long."

Alice arrived back at her apartment first. Running around, she hastily tidied up as best she could until a thought stopped her short. Dana. She was tidying up for Dana? Dana had seen her place in much worse than its' current state. She wouldn't care or even notice if there were clothes draped over the furniture, notes for stories scrawled on any surface, dishes piling up in the sink. Or would she? Now that their relationship was moving to new unexplored territory, how would things change? Would they still be able to hang out? Casually sitting around the Planet for hours drinking coffee and making catty remarks about anyone who walked by? Or would they become Boring like so many couples before them, choosing to stay in poring over decorating charts or travel brochures planning the perfect vacation instead of prowling the bars?

This train of thought led Alice to other more risky ones. What if Dana was simply reacting to her as an escape? A way to get rid of Tonya without really having to confront the fact that Tonya was a freak? Dana was inexperienced at best. Her relationships could be counted on two fingers. Was she merely reacting to Alice's attention to her? Did she really want Alice or would she have acted the same way if, say Shane or Jenny had kissed her last night? Did she want Alice or just anyone who was not Tonya?

Before she could ponder any further, there was a hasty knocking on the door, followed by frantic ringing of the bell. Grinning uncontrollably, Alice leapt for the door, shaking off her earlier inhibitions. Dana looked even better than before, slightly flushed and winded apparently having run up the two flights rather than wait for the elevator. She barreled through the door, pulling on Alice toward the bedroom kicking off her sneakers as she went. "I ran the stairs because did you know your elevator is broken? At least I think it was broken. I pushed the button but it was taking forever so I just said, Fuck it and ran up but I think I heard it ding just as I got to the top and-" Breaking off the rant, Alice kissed her soundly but quickly. Stopping in the hall just outside the bedroom door, Alice looked into Dana's eyes, wondering just how they could be seven colors of blue at once, saying, "Dana, I need to ask you something."

"Yes, I'm clean." Dana blurted out. "Tonya insisted on blood tests when we first got together, even though by the time we got the results it was kind of a moot point. But she was clean too, so even though she and I-"

"Dana!" Alice put her hand to Dana's mouth.

Dana nodded, "Mphfth?"

"Dana, while I am thrilled that you are clean, so am I by the way, and thank you for the consideration, but that is not what I wanted to ask you."

"Ithsthott?"

"No, it's not" Smiling Alice took her hand away. "No, I need to ask you and I need you to be totally honest with me, don't feel like you have to spare my feelings or anything, but are you sure this is what you want? I mean, do you really want to be with me? Right now? In there?" she nodded toward the bedroom.

Dana's eyebrows crinkled together, "What?"

Alice rolled her eyes, "Are you sure you want to be with me? This isn't just some way for you to get out of being with Tonya?"

Comprehension slowly colored Dana's face. She took Alice's hands in hers. "Alice, I know I'm still kind of new to all this, but yes. I want you. I've wanted you since forever. For as long as I've known you. Since before I even knew I was gay." Kissing Alice softly. "You are all I want."

Relief poured through Alice and she mentally berated herself for her doubts. "Oh thank god," she breathed. "Because I've wanted you for a long time too. C'mere."

Into the bedroom, they stumbled now frantically tearing at each other's clothes. Alice's damp, coffee stained pants were tossed quickly toward the bathroom, with Dana's blue form fitting tank top following closely behind. Underneath she wore no bra, a detail which caused Alice to gasp through the mouthful of skin she was kissing at Dana's neck, "God Dana, you have the greatest breasts ever." Which in turn caused Dana to stop what she was doing, namely struggling with the tie on her workout shorts and look down at her chest wondering aloud, "Do you think so? I'm starting to think they're too big, at least for tennis. The left one is always getting in the way of my forearm-" At the touch of Alice's warm fingers on the offending breast, she stopped. Watching the fingers stroke her up and down the length, then curve off to circle the nipple she was mesmerized as she watched it harden. Suddenly remembering to breath she gulped in air only to forget again as Alice lowered her head to take the ripe nipple into her mouth. Dana's mouth worked soundlessly as she watched Alice's tongue reach out and flick against the hardened tip, then lick up the entire breast. Alice kept one eye on Dana's reaction as she carefully blew cool air over the already stimulated area. Realizing it had been a while since she saw Dana take a breath, she took Dana's face into her hands, "Breathe, Sweetie. You won't do either of us any good if you pass out now." Leading her to the side of the bed, she quickly untied the stubborn knot in Dana's shorts and disposed of them and the underlying panties with a dramatic flourish. Dana's hands plucked at Alice's shirt and for a split second, Alice considered just tearing the damned thing off. But it had cost a pretty penny so she settled for pulling it off over her head and ignoring the buttons.

"Ooh, frontsies," crowed Dana as she unclasped the front hook to Alice's light pink bra. Spreading the material to either side, she took in the sight of Alice as if seeing her for the first time. Pale, almost translucent nipples crowned smooth breasts, now flushed red. Pushing the bra the rest of the way off, Dana brought her hands around Alice's waist pulling their bodies together. When their breasts touched, they both groaned with how good it felt. "Oh I need to hear that again," thought Alice as she pushed Dana onto the bed, and was rewarded by the same groan when she lay down atop her.

"Not too heavy?" she asked.

Dana smiled brightly, "Nope, just right." For a moment, they both simply lay where they were, drinking in the sight of the other, feeling the others' skin, perfectly content to just be together. Until Alice realized that Dana was slightly rocking her pelvis unconsciously. "Still okay?" she asked mischievously, rocking slightly herself.

"Yup." Answered Dana. "Okay good. How about now?" Alice shifted so that one leg slipped slightly between them. "That's fine." Dana responded to the shift by continuing to rock gently.

Sure that Dana was unaware of what she was doing, Alice nearly started laughing but restrained herself. Leaning down so that her mouth was close to Dana's ear, she whispered, "And what if I do this?" She nudged Dana firmly with her leg at the junction of Dana's legs, feeling Dana's warmth and copious moisture slide immediately all up and down her leg.

Dana nearly screamed at the sensation. Her back arched bringing them into even more contact. "Oh my god."

Alice grinned, "And how about now?" as she brought the full weight of her leg down, grinding it against Dana.

Dana couldn't answer. Or rather could only answer by chanting repeatedly, "Oh my god, oh my god." Alice continued to slide her leg against Dana, pleased to feel Dana respond so quickly, to what she was doing. So quickly that it only took a few more slides before she felt Dana begin to contract and convulse against her thigh. Alice increased the pressure for a few moments then relaxed once she felt Dana's climax begin to ease off. She quietly slid to one side and watched as Dana, one arm flung over her eyes, gasping for breath like she had just run a marathon came down.

Soon the athlete in Dana kicked in and with one last long breath in, she rolled on her side to face Alice. "Wow" was all she could manage but the shining in her eyes was enough endorsement for Alice. Smiling, Alice leaned forward and gave Dana a slow sweet kiss. "Wow yourself."

Dana returned the smile, but it was abruptly replaced with worry. Alice saw the change immediately, "What?" she asked tenderly.

Dana looked away, clearly growing upset. Alice tried again, "Sweetie what is it?"

Dana spoke so softly Alice could barely make out the words. "Alice, you made me feel so amazing. I'm just worried that I won't be able to, you know, return the favor."

"Aww Dana. I'm sure you'll be fine! Look, if you don't want to... we can stop anytime-"

"No!" the sudden shout startled Alice who inwardly thanked all the heavens. For a moment there, it felt like she was going to have to go without, which she was willing to do, just not exactly eager.

"No" Dana said more to herself than to Alice, "I can do this."

Alice suggested, "Do you want me to help?"

Dana stared at her aghast. "God no, I want to get you off Alice. Not just watch you do it."

"Not like that, silly. I just mean, here give me your hand." Watching warily Dana surrendered her hand to Alice who gently placed it between her legs. Their activities had been relatively brief, but it never took much to get Alice going. She pressed Dana's middle finger into the groove between her lips and nodded to Dana whose eyes widened at the sensation.

"Jeez, Alice, you're drenched!" Dana demanded.

Alice blushed but didn't remove her hand guiding Dana's, "Yeah, well that's something you should know about me right away. I tend to kind of overdo it in the moisture department. Ahh, right there." Alice's eyes rolled back in her head and she lay back on the pillow, watching as Dana stared transfixed at her hand working its way into and around Alice's slick folds. Soon two fingers were inside Alice while her thumb brushed against Alice's clit in an upbeat counterpoint. Alice could not believe how good it felt. "I can't believe Dana was worried! She's doing just fine if you ask me. Look how cute she is, her face is all wrinkled up in concentration, and if I didn't know any better I would think she was counting in her head to keep the tempo right. Oh god, that is really good, really really good. And it's Dana. My Dana. Oh god, My Dana, My Dana, My-" The scream that ripped from the blonde could be heard from all the way down to the basement laundry room but no one mistook it for one of a damsel in distress. Mr. Hanshka, the old widower sorting his socks glanced at the ceiling saying to the empty room, "Well isn't that nice for Alice. Good for her." And went back to his socks.

Part 2

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