Delicate Touches Pt. 01

"Sounds like a good arrangement," she took a biscuit.

"So," Evie mused a few minutes later, "what do you think I should do?"

"About what?"

"My sexuality? I mean, I'm curious but not sure which way to go. A friend thought I should go for counselling but I can't afford a therapist and I'm not about to tell too many people because it might drive me the wrong way."

"Well, you should go out with a few women and maybe even men, some people swing both ways you know."

"Now that's different," she took anther sip from her cup, "I almost thought you were going to say we should try it out."

"We could," Stella eyed her, "but what would that prove?"

Evie stared at her for a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"We could have sex right here and now, on this couch but it's not going to tell you if you're gay or not and I could pick up some guy on the way home and fuck his brains out but that's not saying that I've suddenly turned straight or even bisexual," she paused.

"It's more a case of learning what ticks your boxes. I feel comfortable with women because of the physical thing. Men are physically stronger and that's always scared me, I guess because of dad but I've been in situations before where if we hadn't been disturbed it might have gotten out of control. I don't get that from women, there are things about women I don't like either, we complicate things unnecessarily, whereas guys tend to be more straight down the line, but the times you're not having sex are where it matters to me. If I haven't got something in common with the woman then the sex just won't cut it for me, I need to feel safe and protected," she finished somewhat awkwardly.

"Me too," Evie replied.

"I've been with a few guys, but when it comes to the physical I can't go further than a kiss and even that has implications because once you kiss them they want to feel you up. It always makes me feel nauseous, like I'm going to be I don't know, a notch on his belt," she ran a hand through her hair before going on.

"The guy I was going out with after Tony actually told people that he'd broken me in," she fiddled with her ring.

"It fucked me off, I mean we'd never fucked. He'd put his hand on my boob but that was as far as it went, imagine if we'd really gone all the way? It sickened me that some guy can share what is supposed to be private with all his mates but what he didn't know is that girls talk all the time and one of the people who heard him boasting was one of my girlfriends."

"Well he's an arsehole or maybe it was just his age, but there are decent men out there who don't tell their bedroom secrets. Admittedly they're thin on the ground with all this white supremacist shit but they're out there for sure."

"So, you're saying I should date guys?"

"Well if you want, but you should also go out with a few women just to test your boundaries."

"Well, you're the only lesbian I know, apart from Diane and she's with what's her face."

"So you'd go out with me?" Stella nudged her leg with hers.

"So, where would we go?"

"A movie, dinner, again," she chuckled, "horse riding, go kart racing, the world's your oyster once you stop drinking."

"Just don't drink then," Evie pushed back against her leg, "I'd love to go horse riding. I have a fear of horses after one ran off with me."

"So, that's our first date? Sorry, our second date?"

"Something like that," Evie picked up her left hand and slipped her right into it, "your fingers are longer than mine," she murmured.

Stella didn't reply as Evie put her other hand against it as well and moved both hands back and forth, it was a suggestive move but Stella wasn't making any reciprocal moves yet. Evie brought one hand back to pull on her jacket sleeve, it exposed the cufflink and she undid it and held it up for a closer inspection.

"Remarkable work, is it gold?"

"I don't think so," Stella replied, "there's a stamp on the inside of the other one but I didn't bother reading it, I was just pleased with the present."

"Let me see," Evie reached across and Stella offered up her wrist and let her undo the cufflink, she held it up for a closer examination.

"God, it's small writing," she set them down on the coffee table and brought up a magnifying app on her phone.

"It's fourteen carat," she murmured.

"What does that mean?"

"Let's see," she leaned into her and tapped out the search on her phone, Stella could smell the conditioner in her hair, it was the same brand she used. Was that a good sign or a bad one?

"Fifty eight percent," she announced, "twenty four carat is almost pure gold, huh? It says that the higher the percentage of gold the more easily it's marked."

Evie kept reading and to stop her arm from cramping up, Stella brought it up and rested it on the top of the couch.

"Well you learn something new every day," Evie snuggled in closer, her shoulder was now pressed against Stella's left breast and it occurred to Stella that now would be an opportune time to touch her and so she touched the ring on Evie's hand.

"What's that one?"

"Silver," she put the phone down, "and it's a real diamond because it scratches glass."

"It's pretty."

"It is pretty, my grandmother held onto that ring for years, it's an Asian thing," she smiled, "she very nearly sold it when I was born to pay for a present but then changed her mind and kept it, now it's mine, she says it'll bring me good luck. My grandma is a bit superstitious, she's Catholic but her husband comes from a Buddhist family so she borrows superstitions from both religions."

"Sounds like an interesting woman, is she?" Stella left the rest unsaid.

"She's old but not out for the count yet, she potters around the garden and whenever I go around she tries to teach me Vietnamese."

They said nothing for a few moments as Stella measured her right hand against Evie's left.

"What's that thing guys say?" Evie murmured, "about big hands."

"Big hands, big dick but I have it on good authority that that's just bullshit. Long fingers mean you're more artistically minded although I can't say I'm much of an artist."

"Do you have any artistic talents?"

"Bullshit artist," she shot back.

"Stop it," she chortled and slapped her leg playfully.

"I really haven't explored that part of me yet," Stella replied.

Evie traced one of the pinstripes on her trouser leg, the stripes were white in colour, contrasting with the black and Stella watched as her fingers slid along the pinstripe.

"What kind of material is it?"

"To be honest I don't know, probably a polyester blend."

"One way to find out," she straightened up and angled towards her.

"You want me to take off my jacket?" Stella tugged at her lapel.

"Only if you're too hot," she pulled at the lapel and read the label on the inside, "sixty eight percent polyester and the rest is viscose."

"I bought it at Myer," she propped her head on her palm.

"Myer is always so bloody expensive," she fingered the lapel.

In another time and place Stella might have responded differently to this subtle flirting but she'd been a practising alcoholic and now she was a sober alcoholic. Instead she let her hand fall to her own leg and kept the other hand resting on her head. A few moments later Evie's hand slid down the lapel and she hooked her fingers behind the waistcoat, it was fastened with five, dark grey buttons and she rubbed her thumb against it somewhat absently.

"Nice suit," Evie fingered a waistcoat button, "this isn't turning you on is it?"

"Kind of but don't worry, I'm in control of myself. If you want to examine the suit go for it."

"Maybe I shouldn't," she looked past her.

"Tell me something," Stella poked her in the belly.

"How far have you been with guys?"

"The usual, kissing, hugging, touching," she leaned against the back of the couch, "but when they touch my boobs I get nervous."

"Why? Are they sensitive to touch?"

"It's not that," she ran a hand through her hair, "it's because of what comes next, they put their hand between my legs."

"What do you think happens in sex, is it the sex that bothers you or the fear you might not please them or the fear of catching something?" Stella put her hand on her leg.

"Probably all of the above," she slid a hand along Stella's arm, "it started with Tony's lies about his condom allergy and I just added more obstacles until now I don't know if I can."

"Well you're doing something now," Stella glanced down as Evie's hand rose up her arm, "it's all a matter of trust, without trust it's just a fuck. No better than two dogs doing it in the dirt, it's what makes us different from the rest of the animal kingdom. They do it to procreate and while we were and are like that too, somewhere along the evolutionary path we deviated into abstract thought and feelings, and sex evolved into lovemaking. If you want to make a baby you need one of each, man and woman but if it's just lovemaking then you don't have to be so strict," she stopped as Evie reached her right shoulder.

Evie moved her hand under the jacket and along the shoulder, she had an intense look on her face. The jacket was now starting to slide off her shoulder and then Evie moved in closer as she brought her other hand up to Stella's face, the back of her hand caressed her skin. Her face drew nearer but just as Stella thought she was about to kiss her she turned her head suddenly and looked past her at Satan, he had just come through and had started whimpering.

"Damn it, Satan," she pushed herself away, "he wants to go for a piss or a shit."

She rose and as she walked past Stella, she ran her hand through her hair.

"Be right back."

Stella nearly offered to do it for her but caught herself in time and just let her take the dog outside, she was gone for some fifteen minutes and in that time Stella was trying to come to terms with this new approach. She'd been the first for a few women but nothing compared to this except for Jenny, a woman she'd known in the last year of her drinking. Funny she should pop into her mind right now, Jenny had been a former churchgoer who'd fallen foul of the church when she fell pregnant to a deacon's son. Rather than risk the congregation's scorn falling on the son, they exiled the scarlet woman.

Evie came back into the room just as she finished ruminating over the inevitable end, a fight over something inane, she'd stormed out but came crawling back the next day, hungover and hoping to make amends. But there had been a hitch, the policewoman who answered the door gave her the lecture from hell and told her if she ever caught her on the road she was going to breathalyse her every time.

"You're a danger to yourself and every other poor bastard, now fuck off, I really hope you stop drinking before you do some real damage."

"Something wrong?" Evie sat down on the couch.

"Just remembering."

"And? Or is it private stuff?"

"Kind of but what the fuck," she sighed.

She didn't give her the whole rotten saga, just the highlights and to her credit, Evie listened without interrupting.

"I'm so glad I didn't know you back then," she spoke up, "have you seen her since?"

"No, we're supposed to make amends but you can't always do it, I have no idea where she's living now and sometimes it's best to let bygones be bygones."

"Do you think about her still?" Evie looked into her eyes.

"Now and then."

"Like now, was it something I did?"

"It brought back a memory, she wasn't a virgin but she had that virginal quality about her, the first time she'd had sex was with that guy in church."

"Oh," she leaned past her to put a cushion behind her back, Stella moved past her at the same time but just as Evie moved back she darted forward and kissed her on the cheek.

The kiss took Stella by surprise and she turned towards her to find Evie looking straight at her. The other woman didn't move a muscle for a few seconds and then she leaned forward again, this time she put her forehead against hers and brought her hand up to her right shoulder again. The jacket slid back along her shoulder and she rubbed her forehead against her. Evie's other hand eased up the other lapel and stopped at her neck. Stella was now feeling the first signs of arousal, a quickening pulse and that feeling of heightened awareness.

She bent her neck slightly and putting her hand under Evie's chin, raised it higher. Their lips were now inches apart but she didn't make a move, she just held her there. Evie pushed forward and put her lips against Stella's and held them there for a few seconds before pulling back a little. She had a confused look in her eyes, like she'd been expecting something else.

"Different," she murmured.

Stella traced her thumb across her lips and a moment later Evie tilted her head and kissed her again, this time she kept her lips pressed hard against her. Stella did nothing for a second or two and then she parted her mouth slightly and massaged her lips at the same time. Once again Evie pulled back to take in the moment but as Stella went to kiss her again, Evie moved her head to one side and shifted forward at the same time. Her lips brushed against Stella's neck in a tender kiss and at the same time, she pushed the jacket off her shoulder. Her other hand came under the jacket and tried to repeat the movement but without much success because Stella's upper arm rested on the top of the couch.

Somewhat frustrated in that endeavour, she returned to her face and kissed her several times in a row, rocking back and forth at the same time, her right hand resting against her neck. Stella just let her go for a minute or two and gradually Evie's fingers dragged along the top of her collar, which was a turn on for Stella. Eventually she exhaled and looked down.

"Now that turned me on," she sighed.

"What? The kissing or this?" Evie dragged her fingers around her neck.

"Both," she put a hand on Evie's cheek and let it fall to her collar.

Evie's eyes shifted slightly as Stella moved her fingers back and forth behind her collar, she finally stopped at the bowtie brooch and she pulled at it playfully. She half expected Evie to push her hand away but instead the younger woman leaned forward, pausing before brushing her lips against her mouth. Evie brought her hands down to her collarbones and as she kissed her again her hands slid up and down. They stopped just short of her breasts as the soft gentle kisses kept tugging at her lips but as the moment took her away, her palms moved lower and lower until finally they were resting on Stella's breasts. She held them there for some time, almost unsure of herself and finally Stella reached out and traced her finger up the placket, loosely following the swirls under the rose.

"Pretty blouse," she murmured.

"It belonged to mum," she replied.

Stella slipped her fingers behind the placket as she rubbed her thumb against the pattern, Evie's eyes shifted and she started moving her hands up and down, this time her movements were a little more animated as she used her thumbnails to dig into her. Stella pulled her fingers out of the placket but then she dropped her fingers all the way down to her waistband, Evie's eyes dropped slightly and then she brought them all the way up to the top. She fingered the bowtie brooch gently and then bringing her other hand across, she very deliberately undid the pin holding the brooch in place and pulled it away from the blouse.

Evie pulled back slightly, her hands pressed hard against Stella's breasts. The older woman closed the brooch and a few moments later she leaned over and dropped it on the coffee table. Evie moved her hands up under her jacket with more purpose and arching her back, Stella pulled at the lapels and the jacket slid over her shoulders. Evie hesitated for a few seconds before moving to help her slide the jacket down her back.

Stella arched her back and pulled at her sleeves, to work them over her hands. Evie brought the jacket all the way down her back and Stella let her remove it. Not a word was spoken as Evie slung the jacket over the back of the couch but the older woman could feel the sexual tension like a physical force. Her mouth felt dry and her nipples were beginning to ache, she hadn't been this far with a woman for quite a few years and now she was approaching first base.

Evie moved her hands up over Stella's arms, savouring the feel of satin on her palms, she reached her shoulders and then she examined the tie that had been tied off with two bows. For a second, she thought Evie was going to undo it but instead she continued on down to the top of her breasts and then stopped as she stared into her eyes. She had a hesitant look in her eyes.

"It's okay to touch them," Stella smiled crookedly.

Evie rocked her hands back and forth, testing herself and then she moved down further to cradle her breasts. Stella straightened up, which pushed her breasts further forward. Evie moulded them slowly as she stared into her eyes, it was like being hypnotised, she didn't want to move in case she broke the spell but eventually she did undo the top button of her waistcoat. Evie's eyes shifted to take in the movement and Stella undid another two buttons. Evie could now get her hands behind the waistcoat and a few moments later she did just that, sliding her hands behind the waistcoat to cradle her breasts. At first she was hesitant, her movements jerky but then she fell into a rhythm as her hands slid over the satin material.

A minute or two later she undid the last two buttons to part the waistcoat. Evie bit her bottom lip as she paused. Stella stretched out her right hand and drew it up the front of her blouse to the very top and hooking her finger behind the top buttons, pulled her forward. Their lips met in a brief kiss that evolved into a longer and more passionate kiss. She felt the subtle change then in Evie's breathing and mannerisms. There was an urgency about it but without the sense of how to take it to the next level, her head moved back and forth as she kept contact with her mouth. All Stella was aware of was her gentle breathing through her nose and the feeling of hands on her breasts.

When they finally parted, Evie was breathing shallowly and her face was flushed, she had a timid smile on her face and when Stella drew her fingers along the top of her bra cup she didn't flinch. She moved onto the other cup and then slid her fingernails over her breast with a flickering motion that was very suggestive. She could feel the coarseness of the lacy garment as she gently explored her breasts. She then traced the strap all the way to her shoulder and then across to her collar and slipping her fingers behind it, slid them around to the other strap and back down to her cup.

Evie swallowed as Stella reached the placket and slid her fingers in between the buttons until she felt bare skin, she then pulled her hand out and started sliding her fingers up and down the placket whilst studying her reactions. She was waiting for something, a sign that she'd gone too far or not far enough but instead Evie was just sitting there letting her explore. A minute or two later Evie reached out to repeat the same movement on Stella, finding her bra cups and sliding her fingers up and down the placket. She had an intense look in her eyes and more than once she almost looked as if she was about to pull back.

Stella put both hands on her shoulders and pulling her forward, tilted her head and kissed her lightly on the lips, Evie opened her mouth and pushed against her, and Stella reciprocated, the next kiss was far more sensual and intense, a full open-mouthed kiss. At the same time, she danced her fingers down the front of Evie's blouse, moving over her breasts to her waistband and then back up again. Evie pulled back briefly to catch her breath and then kissed her again as her hands shot up to her neck, she worked frantically, tugging and pushing at her lips as she held her there.