Thank you for all the reviews, pm's, thoughts, fav's and of course, for taking the time to read. I have about 4-5 more extra's for this story and then I'll start thinking about a sequel/fixing.
Alice's birthday was drawing to a close, it was 1115pm at night and, it had been a spectacular day for the one year older woman. Bella had prepared and set up a grandiose surprise dinner with Rose and Leah at Bella's house in celebration. Needless to say, Alice was impressed by her girlfriend's efforts as she had thought that the other woman didn't know or had forgotten.
Currently, she was washing the accumulated dishes in the sink, much to Bella's disdain, Alice didn't mind, she had found that washing dishes to be cathartic. It provided her the opportunity for self-reflection in its rhythmic pattern. She felt two arms encircle her waist, a kiss upon the side of her head and then a weight lean in the nook of her shoulder and neck, all of which caused her to smile, they were alone now and it felt like home.
"You know, I can't wash dishes with an extra body on me," she murmured.
"Are you calling me fat?" The body asked her.
"Not at all, just stating a fact," Alice replied not ceasing her washing. She felt the body chuckle against her back and refrained from shivering or from allowing her hips to make any suggestive movements.
"It's your birthday, you shouldn't be doing this in the first place," the body stated.
Alice stopped for the first time since she began and turned her head towards Bella's, she gave her a slow kiss.
"It's my birthday, I can do what I want to," she stated.
Bella rolled her eyes and then let go of the woman, she walked next to the speakers dock and searched for a song. When it successfully played she went back to Alice who was just staring at her curiously.
Well, it's now or never, Bella thought to herself.
With all the courage she had, she went to Alice, ripped the washing gloves off of the woman and initiated a slow dance. She held Alice close towards her, holding her by the hips, in return, her partner instantly moved her hands against her neck. During this entire process, Alice was too shocked to comment.
"I thought you didn't dance?" she finally asked.
Bella concentrated on the random slow waltz that they were dancing, ensuring that she didn't step on her partner's feet, "Yeah, but, I know that you do and, if we're going to be dating, I'm going to show you my moves sometime," she commented, Alice felt her heart soar. She lightly massaged Bella's neck, causing the tiny hairs at the base to meet with those agile fingers.
They danced to and fro, back and forth, with only a silent swish of movements to articulate their closeness. The spell wasn't broken until Bella leant her head down so that her lips were in line with Alice's ear to whisper the song's lyrics.
Alice could do nothing more in response than to kiss Bella soundly on the lips. When they required oxygen, they gasped for life in the form of each other's breath.
Before this moment Alice had never felt so loved by one person, not to this extent and not this deeply. In this moment, she wanted to share everything with Bella, she knew that there was nothing that she had ever wanted more than to have Bella by her side. She was in love and she was in returned, loved. But, this desire was tainted by a sudden crippling fear, what if Bella changed her mind? The foreign feelings within her felt strange for usually, she was the open one in the relationship, the expressive, the confident, gung ho instigator except with Bella, it was different. Alice was usually all of those things because she didn't have anything to lose but with Bella, there was too much to lose and that scared the shit out of her.
Within the same line, Bella was a nervous wreck, she knew where she wanted the night to lead but, she was conflicted. Not in the sense that she wasn't ready but, in the inquiry of whether they were both ready. The nights spent with Alice sleeping in bed and pre-sleep make out sessions had certainly demonstrated that they were both really, really, physically attracted to each other. But, before things could intensify, one of them would either cite needing to work early, that they were tired or just, that they should wait. Whatever waiting entailed or the time specification was never clarified. However, after a thorough discussion with Jake who had laughed at her for being so uncomfortable she had realised that, perhaps Alice was just waiting patiently for her. This epiphany made Bella realize that they could take that next step it was just a matter of opportunity.
She looked at Alice, who was still in thought and decided to bite the bullet, she needed to let the other woman know that she was ready. They ended their dance but didn't make a move to let go of each other.
She coughed to gain Alice's attention and, to give herself that one moment to build her confidence, "I know that I already gave you a birthday present but, err, I suppose this is kind of another one, sorta. Not that you have to take it or even use it right now, I mean, use is kind of the wrong word here and I…" she ranted.
Oh yeah, things are going so well, she sarcastically remarked to herself, she was about to continue speaking when, Alice gave her a peck on the lips.
"Although you're cute when you ramble, just breathe, I'm not going anywhere," the smaller woman whispered.
Bella smiled at the sentiment, "Thanks."
"That's ok, we can't have two stuttering Sally's here," Alice winked.
Bella took her girlfriends suggestion, drew in a breath, in and out and disregarded her pounding heart and sweaty palms, "I'm ready," she stated.
Alice's brow furrowed in confusion, "For?"
Bella almost groaned at her own left field statement, she let go of the other woman and then rubbed the back of her neck hoping that it'd temper her oncoming blush, "You know, I'm ready for…sex," she clarified.
The other woman was surprised at that statement, she knew that their relationship was leading toward that direction, but, to have to laid out in open air was a different matter.
"Oh. Ohhhhh. We don't have to if you're not ready Bella, I can wait, not going to lie, my wrist has probably developed early onset of arthritis but, it's ok, I would never ever want to push you into something that you're not ready for," she stated.
Bella rubbed her face with the palm of her hand, "I think I've been ready for a while now, there was just, never a moment to really talk about it. I'm not saying that you have to cash it in now or anything."
Alice considered Bella's heartfelt words; she knew that the other woman was nervous and that it had taken so much courage to admit how she felt, "Way to make yourself sound like a prized cow, Bella. But, thank you."
Bella smiled gingerly, "You're welcome."
The song that had been playing on the speakers drew to a close and they were left in silence. They gave each other an awkward smile, not really knowing where to go from there. Of course sexual intimacy had run through both the women's minds but, now that they were at that stage, it was harder to initiate it, than previously imagined. Seduction was the easy part.
Bella almost rolled her eyes at that thought; they were like two awkward teenagers losing their virginities for the first time.
Alice looked at her girlfriend, feeling her own anxiety bubble to the surface; they both had waited for this moment for so long, the question was, could she deliver? Alice had assumed that Bella hadn't participated in sexual acts since her wife's passing. What if Bella mentally compared them? What if Alice wasn't adequate enough? Her insecurities were a manifestation of her desire to be the best girlfriend. However, she hadn't considered that being the best girlfriend and being the best girlfriend that she could be were two different concepts.
She looked at Bella who had been looking at her with the same confusion as her own and, decided to see where the night would take them.
Alice was the first to cave and gave Bella a peck on the lips, which turned into another and then another, months of pent up frustration coming to the forefront.
They moved to Bella's bedroom and landed on top of the mattress. Alice was on her back with Bella between her legs, she was gripping her tightly around the waist not wanting the other woman to move an inch away. Bella was leaning on her knees and knew that if she didn't move soon, her quadricepses were going to prematurely protest. She tried to move in order to re-adjust herself but found that her fingers were wedged between Alice's back and the mattress.
She broke for air, "Move left," she requested to Alice who was a little light headed, the smaller woman moved, accidently knocking Bella's elbow out from under her in the process.
Bella's face hit the pillows with a thud, "No, no, I meant your other left," she muffled out.
Alice giggled nervously but, the adrenaline within her subsided it quickly. With an uncommon strength, she grabbed the collar of Bella's shirt and managed to flip them so that she was straddling her.
They continued kissing.
And kissing.
And kissing.
Just like always.
However, for tonight, Bella decided to be a bit more brazen. Her fingers travelled the length of Alice's back, feeling the contrast between rough fabric and smooth skin. She unzipped the back of Alice's black fitted dress slowly and thought about how bunched the skirt was against her thighs. She could almost feel the skin of the inside of Alice's thighs through her own jeans, she could definitely feel the heat though.
When the metal zip was down, Alice shivered at the coolness of it, Bella palmed the base of Alice's back and then travelled upwards inch by inch. Alice arched her back, immensely enjoying the physical attention and the slow seduction on her body. Bella's fingers were playing her like a viola and she couldn't help but grind her hips to its tune.
Bella's thumb tapped the clasp of Alice's bra clasp so she held it upwards, not wanting the trek to end so soon, her fingers twinkled in delight and managed to reach the back of Alice's neck. When they had enough of their visit, they went to go back to their starting point. However, Alice's clothes had other ideas.
"My fucking fingers are stuck," Bella said after a minute of fumbling.
Alice wanted to retort that they had to be fucking in order to be fucking fingers but decided against it as the incredulity of Bella's statement struck her.
"What do you mean your fingers stuck?" she asked a little stunted.
"As in, it's caught between your bra and dress," Bella replied with a frown.
"I thought that something was tightening, how did you manage that?" Alice questioned.
The woman on top of her shrugged and tried to wriggle her fingers free, "I don't know, it's me remember?"
Alice rolled her eyes but knew it to be true, "Right, here, lemme help you." She reached behind her back and managed to set Bella's fingers free from their entanglement. After that little hiccup, Alice had thought the mood to be ruined until she looked up at Bella.
The woman was currently staring at her in a sort of wondrous awe; she looked down at herself and realized that the straps of her dress had fallen to the sides. She could certainly no longer claim modesty as her bright red lacy bra was proudly on display.
She blushed.
She made a move to cover herself back up but her girlfriend still had her hands in place.
"You are so fucking breathtaking," Bella commented in a whisper.
Alice laid her hands on Bella's neck and rubbed her girlfriends jaw with the pad of her thumbs. She felt the sharp bone line and felt the skin that her tongue had so meticulously trailed before. She smiled and felt her heart thump, "Thank you," she whispered back.
They smiled at each other and Alice felt that she needed to take her dress off so, she did, with Bella's help of course.
Bella flipped them again in their first position silently wondering how they hadn't fallen off the bed yet. She held herself up with one arm and half lay in between the apex of Alice's thighs. With her knees she began a slow rocking motion that gained momentum and confidence after she heard Alice moan.
The smaller woman groaned at being surrounded by her girlfriend, however, after a few moments when Bella had start to really pick up the pace it started to become a little bit uncomfortable.
"Your belt's digging into me," she informed Bella.
The woman snapped out of her concentration when Alice's words registered, she looked down and noticed how awkwardly placed her belt buckle was positioned.
"Shit, sorry," she stammered backwards but was caught by Alice who had held her by her shirt.
The smaller woman just grinned mischievously and then, without a second thought, unbuckled and then unceremoniously ripped her belt from the loops of her jeans. Alice pulled Bella against her again, causing the taller woman to chuckle, "Better?" she asked.
Alice smirked at the one less layer between them, "Much."
They continued kissing again, not caring that either of them were beginning to feel the oncoming signs of a pash rash. They continued this dance of foreplay for another fifteen minutes, neither one really brave enough to instigate any touching beneath the layers.
Alice again was the first to relent and reached behind Bella who was currently clad in a bra and jeans, she frowned when she wasn't making any leeway, causing both women to stop their tonsil hockey.
"Are you…are you having problems with unhooking my bra? How is that even possible?" Bella asked incredulously.
Alice mirrored the same look, this had never ever happened before, "I-I don't know," she replied.
They both went to fix the issue but instead, ended up head bumping each other with a loud thud.
"Are you ok?" they asked simultaneously, wincing at the impact.
Both women went to sooth each other's bumps and, it was during this distraction did the night's events hit them, causing both of them to start laughing.
Bella went into a sitting position on the bed, having sobered from the haze that they had previously been in, "Should we, I mean, should we keep trying?" she asked, the mirth and awkwardness of the situation dancing in her eyes. That last knock on the head and, from everything that had conspired was like the ultimate cold shower.
Alice sat up and rested her back against the headboard, the wood cooling her body, she played with the edges of her hair and didn't mind her state of undress in front of Bella, "We've had several hiccups so far and, I don't want either of us to gain a concussion our first time trying."
Bella groaned, "It would be just like us to have a sex related injury without even having sex; Leah would never let me hear the end of it," she stated.
The smaller woman smiled, it never ceased to amaze her whenever she realized how much her girlfriend had come out of her shell since all those months ago, "Have I told you how cute it is that you and Leah have a bromance?"
The brunette scoffed playfully, "We haven't even had sex yet and you're already saying else's name in bed."
Bella sighed, "I'm sorry, this is my fault, it's just, been so long since I've done this, I'm not sure if I'm doing the right things." She wanted to admit that Ashley had been her first and only but, didn't feel the need to bring it up at the moment, not now when the mood was effectively gone. Perhaps that had hindered her to really be into tonight, her body was ready she knew that, if the chemistry between them was any indication but maybe she wasn't as ready as she had previously thought. She felt guilty at that.
Alice could see the inner turmoil stirring within Bella, she left her position to straddle the other woman in comfort. She kissed Bella on the forehead, "Don't you dare say that you're sorry. It's not your fault Bella I'm nervous too, having sex fantasy you and real you are two very different things. Maybe we're forcing it a bit too much right now. We've both been expecting this and, now that it's here, neither of us can really cope. But, I want you to know that, I'll wait for as long as you need."
Bella gave a half smile, "That was so cheesy I almost became lactose intolerant," she commented, "I'm not asking you to wait forever, I have to admit, with every passing night, my cold showers are becoming longer and longer. I just don't know what's wrong with me."
Alice frowned, "Nothing is wrong with you, perhaps it's just, too many emotions?" she offered.
The other woman chuckled lamely, "It's like being stuck in a big glass case of emotions."
They gave each other dorky grins and then, Alice made the first move to lie on top of the covers with Bella following suit, lying on her back.
"So, what happens now?" Alice asked leaning on her side, facing the brunette.
Bella turned her head, "We'll have sex sooner or later, you look way too good without clothes on," she stated, giving Alice a pointed look.
The woman made no move to cover herself, "Agreed. I look way too good without clothes on," Alice slyly retorted with a wink, Bella just rolled her eyes.
"Can we just cuddle and you can read to me?" she asked Bella after a few moments.
The brunette smiled, "For you, always."
Alice returned the gesture, her heart filling with warmth at those simple words, even though the night hadn't gone quite as expected, there was one re-occurring thought that she had and it was because of Bella.
"Best birthday ever."
Thank you for reading.