A Tale of Two Switches Ch. 12

"Cool." Alex smiled happily. "I could eat a horse."

***

Alex sat back in her chair, happily over stuffed with some of the nicest food she had ever tasted. Zabina's Auntie Donna had refilled her plate several times, but even Alex with her great appetite for food, had to politely refuse in the end.

She had been more than a little nervous about meeting Zabi's Aunt and Uncle. For a start they were the closest thing Zabi and Dominic had to parents, and for another, she was worried that they would judge her for being in a same sex relationship with their niece.

Her worries were completely unfounded, as from the first sight of her Auntie Donna had embraced her warmly, tears in her eyes and babbling away in Italian. Even though she knew very little of the language, the acquisition of foreign languages was a skill that had passed her by, the word famiglia was often repeated.

Unlike Auntie Donna loud emotional approach, Uncle Benito was a quiet intelligent looking man, who resembled an older version of Dominic.

"Welcome to our home Alexandria." He had told her in heavily accented English. "And welcome to our family. We are happy to finally meet the important person in Zabina's life."

After the introductions they had sat down at the large table in the kitchen and Alex was a little surprised when Uncle Benito led them in to a short prayer of grace, not because of the actual act, more because she saw Zabina mouthing the words, and was surprised at the piety she showed.

After the prayer Auntie Donna bustled around dishing out slices of fresh bread smothered with garlic and olive oil. These were accompanied by slices of large, red, beef tomatoes and basil. For such a simple appetiser, Alex couldn't believe the explosion of flavours on her taste buds. Glasses of light fruity white wine accompanied the earthy first course, and like the food was impressed by the quality of the wine, even more so when she learned off Uncle Benito it was the family label.

The main course was server from a tureen that was close to the size of a small bath, and Alex's mouth had watered when Auntie Donna had removed the lid, and began dishing the contents out. The white wine was replaced by a bottle of red, that Alex found very to her liking. The casserole turned out to be large chunks of chicken that had been sautéed then cooked through in a rich tomato sauce with olives peppers and celery. More chunks of fresh bread were broken up and passed around and Auntie Donna watched with delight as Alex demolished her first helping then accepted more.

Later Zabina had told her that Auntie Donna had said the she should eat like Alex had done, that way she wouldn't be skin and bone. Something Alex had found very amusing.

Dessert was another new experience for Alex. Zabina had told her it was called Zabaione, and was her favourite dessert, but no one made it like Auntie Donna did. Alex made a mental note to find out off Auntie Donna exactly how to make it so she could surprise Zabi one day. The first mouthful of the mousse like pudding nearly took Alex's head off. She surmised whatever was in it around eighty percent of it was alcoholic. No surprise Zabina liked it.

After the dessert Alex was quiet happily nibbling at the large selection of cheese and fruit, whilst wondering why her wine glass never seemed to be empty, no matter how quickly she drunk it. A lot of the conversation drifted in to Italian, and Alex was happy so sit and watch Zabi glow in the adoration of her Aunt and Uncle. It was a rarity to be in a family atmosphere as they were both orphaned, and Alex didn't mind being excluded a little.

A warm hand came to rest on Alex's arm and she jumped a little at the touch.

"You as much our daughter as Zabina is Alexandria." Auntie Donna told her in broken English. Her expression sincere and caring.

Alex wasn't sure if it was the wine or the jet lag, but the gentle comment stirred emotions in her long forgotten, and tears welled in her eyes as she stood and wrapped her arms around Donna Vitelli, speaking one of the few words of Italian she remembered from her lessons with Zabi.

"Madre."

The two women, held on to each other for a long moment sharing each other tears. When Alex returned to her seat, dabbing her eyes with a napkin, she felt Zabina's fingers wrap around her hand giving a gentle squeeze.

"Welcome to my family Alex."

A few more tears followed, then Uncle Benito poured more glasses of wine for the three woman and left them to their own devices, pleading an early start.

The rest of the evening seemed very surreal to Alex. They sat around talking and sipping glasses of chilled wine, Zabina translating for her Aunt and Alex, as they swapped stories, until more than slightly tipsy and a little tired, Zabina and Alex bid Donna a good night, and thanked her for the excellent meal.

"I'm glad you enjoyed the evening Alex." Zabi said as they started up the path. "I think Auntie Donna is very taken with you."

"She's lovely." Alex replied with a slight slur to her words, then giggled.

"How tired are you baby?" Zabi asked Alex as they came in to sight of the cottage.

Alex breather the warm night air that was edged with a cool fresh breeze coming off the mountains. "Not too bad." She giggled again in reply, then hiccupped. "The walk is bringing me round a little."

"That's good, because I am feeling a little naughty and I think you should walk the rest of the way nude."

"A little naughty?" Alex said as she halted and tried to judge the distance to the cottage. "I would say that's more than a little naughty."

Zabina gave a fake yawn. "Well we did agree that you would be nude today, I only let you get dressed while you met my family."

The familiar feeling of butterflies flocking in her tummy caused Alex to subconsciously press her legs together, as her arousal launched skywards, fuelled by too many glasses of excellent wine and Zabina's suggestion.

"I need a little privacy." Alex hiccupped again, as she stepped off the path and behind the nearest row of vines.

"Hey not fair." Zabina protested, half seriously. "The idea was that I watched you."

"Not tonight my Josephine." Alex managed to say in a half drunken impression of words supposedly spoken by Napoleon.

"Wrong country." Zabi giggled as a blouse came floating over the vine to land on her head.

"Close enough." Came the slurred reply followed by a grunt, then a giggle and another grunt. "Ouch. Stood on a stone."

On the path, Zabina was nearly doubled over laughing at the commotion taking place out of sight. A pair of jeans landed on the floor just in front of her, and she carefully dusted them off and placed them on her arm along with Alex's blouse.

"Underwear incoming." Alex warned, almost too loudly, and Zabina's hands clapped as she tried to catch the two separate items.

"Are you coming out on to the path again?" Zabina asked trying to hold back her laughter.

"Yep." Alex answered, her voice a little strained. "Just putting boots on." A loud outward breath blew from Alex. "Okay."

A bare leg appeared from behind the vine as Alex tried to whistle a sexy tune, and slowly reveal herself to Zabina. Of course the display would have been a little more erotic is she hadn't fallen over.

"Ooopsie." Alex called out as she landed ungracefully on her behind giggling.

After a brief struggle, Zabi managed to get the unstable Alex back on her feet. "You know." Zabi stated holding on to Alex's arm. "I don't think I have ever seen you this drunk."

"I'm not that bad." Alex replied with another hiccup. "Although I do feel a little horny."

"Really?" Zabi asked with her customary eyebrow raised. "Maybe I should walk you around a little more. The workers that tend to the vines will be starting in a few hours, I'm sure they would be thrilled to have a beautiful naked woman running around."

As Alex opened her mouth to reply a noise deeper in the vines caught both their attention.

"Someone's watching." Alex said, suddenly sobering up and using Zabi to hide behind.

"Here, cover up." Zabi instructed pressing Alex's clothes in to her arms. Then looked around at where the noise came from, her eye's narrowed as she tried to focus in to the dark.

As Alex struggled in to her blouse, Zabina ducked around the end of the rows of vines and shouted something out in Italian which was followed by a shriek, then a silence.

With her blouse done up and the majority of her body covered Alex peered down the row of vines Zabina had disappeared down. Carefully she made her way along the between the rows until she saw the outline of Zabina just ahead of her, kneeling down and looking through a gap between two trunks of vine.

Zabi gestured to Alex to look where she was, and Alex knelt beside her. In the next row along Alex could clearly see a young woman kneeling down and facing away from them. She was easy to spot in the dim light of the moon as she was totally naked.

Alex's hand went to her mouth to stifle a giggle, shocked that the person they thought was watching them was actually trying to hide for the same reason.

"Puoi uscire adesso. Possiamo vederti" Zabi instructed. "You can come out now. We can see you."

Alex saw the girl stiffen then slowly rise to her feet muttering an obscenity.

The three women moved towards the path, Zabina watching the nudist, newcomer closely.

Once on the path Alex glanced the young woman over, as she stood with her hands behind her back trying desperately to cover her modesty by crossing her legs. A movement that reminded Alex of her own semi dressed state, and she tugged at the hem of her shirt.

Zabina circled the unfortunate girl, her eyebrow arching madly. "Can I ask why you are running around our vines?" Her tone slightly humorous.

The girl shuffled nervously, eyes directed towards her feet. "I'm sorry Miss Vitelli, I didn't know anyone was here."

"So you know who I am." Zabi stated.

"Yes Miss Vitelli, I look after the horses. I'm backpacking on my gap year and got a job here for some extra money. Please don't tell anyone, I can't afford to lose this work."

"Do you do a good job of looking after the horses?" Zabi asked casually, almost as if they were discussing it over a coffee.

"Your Uncle is happy with my work. My parents have horses and I grew up looking after them."

Alex couldn't help but smile at the situation. One minute they were happily wrapped in each other, the next, they had stumbled across someone else's private moment, and the two worlds had collided. Then as per normal, Zabina took it all in her stride like it was an everyday occurrence.

"Then if you do a good job, then there is no reason why you would lose your job here." Zabi assured, her voice betraying a bitten back giggle. "Though I am curious as to why are you nude apart from handcuffs?"

Once again the girl shuffled her feet and tried to cover herself again, her head hung low.

"Zabi, stop tormenting the poor girl." Alex butted in. "We should get her inside and find her some clothes."

Zabina sighed and formed an exaggerated pout. "You ruin all my fun. But you are correct, if the roles were reversed, I would hope that someone was gentle with you." Zabi redirected her attention to the hapless girl. "Where is the key to your cuffs?"

"Hidden by the gate to the exercise paddock." The girl answered, her voice a little more confident after the friendly banter between Zabina and Alex. "I get a rush out of getting there and back nude."

This time Zabina couldn't hold in the laughter that had been building inside her. "Sorry." She said tittering quietly. "You just remind me of someone I know. Come here, let's get those cuffs off."

The girl turned around to give Zabi access to her handcuffs, and Zabi produced a key from her pocket.

"Why do you have a handcuff key on you?" The girl asked as her wrists came free.

"I always carry one." Zabi answered cheerfully. "You never know when you may find a naked girl in need of one. Or even find a naked girl who needs locking up."

With the handcuffs removed the trio made their way to the guest house, Alex and Zabi learned that the nudist's name was Ellie. She was from New Zealand and had landed the job at the stables with a travelling friend, an Irish girl named Roisin. It had been down to her that Ellie had been in her nude state. Apparently after a few drinks Ellie had lost a bet and been forced to run nude from the stables to the exercise paddock to retrieve the keys to the handcuffs. Apparently Ellie got aroused by the situations Roisin got her in to. Something that Alex thought was a little coincidental, but it was a small world after all.

"Do you think she will make it all the way back without getting naked again?" Alex asked as Ellie, now dressed in one of Alex's night shirts, began her journey back to her apartment by the stables.

"Would you?" Zabi asked with a snort of laughter. "I bet she'll be nude before the first footpath."

"Speaking of being nude." Alex murmured as she wrapped her arms around Zabina's waist. "I think it's been far too long since you made love to me."

Zabi's hand caressed the hands that encircled her waist. "How about I run you around the exercise paddock for an hour. I think you would look very racy on the end of a lunging rein."

Alex's mouth nuzzled in to Zabi's neck running her tongue over the rose tattoo. "I have no idea what you are talking about." She said as she began to undo the buttons on Zabina's blouse.

"You can exercise horses by attaching a long rein to the horse's harness, you walk, trot and canter them around you and encourage them a little with a long whip." Zabi explained, letting Alex's hands roam over her upper body. "I thought I may put a collar on you then make you run around the paddock naked, giving you a tap on the behind now and then."

A light moan escaped Alex's mouth as she pictured the act Zabi was describing. The thought of Zabina 'exercising' her that way, warmed her insides deliciously. "I think I may enjoy that idea." She confessed, as her fingers began to toy with one of Zabina's piercings.

"Oh, that's very welcome." Zabi sighed, enjoying the attention Alex was giving her. "I am sure we could get Ellie to leave the equipment out for us."

Leaving one hand teasing Zabi's breasts, Alex slipped her other hand down and unbuttoned the figure hugging jeans, then slipped her hand inside Zabi's underwear. "And just how long do you think I would need exercising for?"

Zabi's hands reached behind her finding Alex's thighs and pulled her in closer. "Normally you exercise a horse until it begins to get hot and sweaty, then cool it down slowly." Zabi said as her breathing increased in time to Alex's touches. "So how about I exercise you until your nice and wet, then warm you up some more."

Alex's teeth closed on the soft flesh of Zabi's neck, making her wince slightly, the gasp as Alex's fingers found her pleasure spot.

"I may take you up on that offer while we are here." Alex whispered. "But at this moment in time I am going to hold you very tightly and make you squeal."

Zabina relaxed in to Alex's arms. While she did enjoy tormenting Alex, being held in Alex's stronger arms was a sure fire way of making her very turned on. She loved how the much stronger Alex would be submissive to her, and loved it even more when Alex used her strength to dominate. The feeling was intense, breath taking, and extremely arousing.

"Alex you big stud, take me to bed or loose me forever." Zabi implored in between gasps.

"Seriously? We're doing Top Gun quotes now?" Alex giggled as she pulled Zabina's blouse off and urged her towards the bedroom.

"You have an objection to Top Gun quotes?" Zabina asked as Alex pushed her backwards on to the bed and pulled her jeans off.

"Hell no." Alex replied as she gazed at Zabina's body, recumbent and hardly covered. "This is Maverick requesting fly by." She quoted then threw herself on top of Zabi.

"Negative Maverick the patter is full." Zabi quoted in reply as her fingers entwined in Alex's hair. Slowly she guided the tousled blonde head towards the junction between her legs, and Alex's tongue pressed hard against her nub sending a sonic boom through her body.

***

"I think this was a bad idea." Zabina said as she plated the slightly over crispy bacon out.

"What's a bad idea baby?" Alex asked as she glanced up from her eBook and sipped her coffee.

Zabina's eyes roved over Alex as she sat quietly on the kitchen chair, legs crossed demurely and wearing just the coffee cup and a digital sex novel.

"Having you nude in the kitchen while I am cooking is too distracting." She complained. "I've burned the bacon."

Alex lifted a slightly charcoaled rasher off the plate and nibbled it daintily. The bacon crunched.

"Yeah I see what you mean, but it was your choice." She smiled naughtily. "Maybe we can get some less burned breakfast when we go out. Always assuming we are going out, and you don't just want to stand there all day and watch me read."

Tearing her eyes away from the object of her affections, Zabi placed the pan on the cooker and sorted out the least burned rasher. "As much as I would love to do that, there is actually, somewhere I want to take you today." Zabi told Alex. "When you get dressed that is." She added hurriedly.

***

"Are we nearly there yet?" Alex teased. She loved playing the child in the relationship, just as much as Zabi enjoyed her being a little immature from time to time, and this was the ideal opportunity. With Zabi the only one of them knowing the destination, Alex could indulge in a little silliness.

They had the use of one of the yard's pickups, a Fiat Fullback, that Alex liked immensely, even if it did lack the grunt her Dodge Ram had, it looked very stylish. Although as Zabi had explained, there was very little in Italy that wasn't stylish. Things may not be practical, but they would look good.

"Actually, we are close now." Zabi told her as they rounded a corner and the sea came in to view.

"Oh my!" Alex exclaimed as she took in the view. "That looks beautiful."

Below and to their right a wide cove opened out. A picturesque village nestled at the bottom of the bay, a dull gold line separated the buildings from the sapphire blue of the water that rolled in to the anchorage.

"The village of Levanto and the Tyrrhenian sea." Zabina informed her. "Lovely isn't it. I thought you may like to visit the beach while we were her."

Alex wound the window down and half leaned out of the opening, taking in the scene below them. "I love it Zabi, thank you. Can we go for a swim? You should have said, I would have brought my swimming costume." The words babbled out in her excitement as she bounced up and down in her seat.

Zabi grinned at Alex's excitement, happy that she could still pull one or two surprises out of the bag.

With the Fiat parked up on the road side, Zabina and Alex crossed over and on to the beach. Zabi laughing at how Alex immediately kicked off her boots to walk bare foot on the sand. A light offshore breeze was picking up and Alex stared dreamily out to sea as the rolling waves began to crest white.

"This is really awesome Zabi." Alex whispered. "Those breaks look perfect."

"Well it is supposed to be one of the most reliable surfing beaches in Tuscany." Zabi told her, watching for Alex's reaction carefully. "Apparently it has a deep water bay that is surfable even when everywhere else is blown out or choppy." Zabi quoted the remembered article she had read when researching the area.

"Really?" Alex questioned. "Since when did you become an expert?"

The stud lifted as Zabi did her raised eyebrow. "Since a certain surfer girl got naked for me and asked if I could give her the confidence to surf again."