The Courtship of Rachel

Maggie was sitting with a bottle of Jack Daniels and an overflowing ashtray, and the look on her face could have turned me to stone.

"That fucking bitch dumped me."

"Who? Roberta?"

"Who else?" Maggie scowled.

"Is she seeing some other woman?"

"No, she's seeing a guy, the fucking slut."

"Oh," I sat down suddenly, "that's fucked."

Maggie actually laughed bitterly at that.

"Yeah, it's fucked. She comes across all gay with me and then drops me like a hot potato and goes back to men. How could I have been so fucking naïve?"

"Well fuck her then, you can go out with me instead," I pulled my jacket over my shoulders.

"What?" Maggie stared at me.

"I mean, on a date, not a date with sex but just a date. We can go and see Top Gun tomorrow night, I mean even if it's a shit movie we can still all go together because," I smiled, "Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis."

"I'm not working tomorrow night anyway," Maggie replied, "I swapped with one of the guys last week, he's doing my Saturday and I'll do his Sunday."

In hindsight it might have looked innocent but there were already signs that I was beginning to warm to our lesbian housemate. Like the fact we went clothes shopping together, it had become our regular thing. The arrangement being that we split the shopping trips between the four of us, Mandy and Georgie one Saturday morning, Maggie and I the next week. Even if we didn't buy clothes we certainly tried some on and I'd become somewhat used to having Maggie's wardrobe adjustments, it felt familiar and yet with an undertone of sexuality.

We women comment on each other's outfits all the time, both in a negative and positive sense. If a woman says, "you look beautiful in that dress," we feel a little better about our wardrobe and even though Maggie's comments did have a double meaning I still chose to wear that dress for our Saturday night date and now I have to go get ready for work. I'm a self employed accountant working out of home these days but I always dress the part before I step into my office.

***

Okay, that was a marathon day! My last two clients were bankruptcy cases and Birgit suddenly decided to cook dinner tonight on the proviso that I let her read the next section.

"I want all the details, show me some skin."

I did show her a picture of yours truly in that dress and she giggled.

"Oh, how can I forget that dress."

I'm looking at a picture of me in that dress on my computer, Tess scanned or uploaded all my old photographs onto the computer. Thinking about it now it seems obvious that I must have either hoped something would happen or was planning on taking things to the next level, albeit in a clumsy way. I mean this was July, traditionally one of the coldest months in Australia, if I was going out for the night jeans and a sensible top or jumper would be suitable, but if I really wanted to impress a man I'd wear something more revealing.

The dress was eventually claimed by Tess many years later. I kept it because it really was so very sexy and it could even function as office attire, if we were going out for drinks.

It was a pinafore dress somewhat loosely styled after a dress worn by Chrissie Amphlett of Divinyls fame. Her one was all leather, mine was a polyester/cotton blend. It had the wide straps over the shoulder that fastened the bib and a button and zipper closure at the side. The skirt stopped just short of my knees but you had to wear something under it, a tee shirt or a blouse and that night I wore a cream satin blouse. Maggie's outfit was infinitely more practical, a white man's dress shirt with the pintuck front, it was tucked into blue jeans and accessorised with a waistcoat, we both wore coats that night because the sky was as black as the ace of spades but there was a hint of playful suggestiveness in Maggie's eyes when she gave me the once over.

"Hotter than Kelly McGillis?" I fluffed out my hair.

"Whoa, move over Kelly, the new girl is in town," she poked my belly playfully.

The love scene in that movie is pretty plain by modern standards but this was the mid '80s and film makers were certainly breaking new ground and shredding social mores. I recall that love scene with particular clarity because it was the first time I held hands with a woman in a sexual sense. Prior to that I held hands, embraced and even kissed them but these women were all straight and there was never any suggestion it might go further. But that night as Maverick made love to Charlie, I reached for Maggie's hand and she took it and held it all the way through the love scene.

I kind of realised what I was doing afterwards and let go, but when Maggie put her arm over the back of my seat I moved in closer and that arm dropped lower and lower until it was around my shoulders.

When the credits started rolling we moved away but something had happened to me by then, I had felt no desire to push her arm away, nor did I feel the revulsion or distaste. It actually felt natural and yet despite that Maggie didn't raise the subject as we headed home, the RX7 had a manual gearbox so her hands were kept occupied. We were halfway down Station Road when the skies let loose with a thunderous hailstorm that forced the sensible drivers to a crawl. Maggie was a good driver, having been a driver in the army but as we turned left into Whitehorse Road, a car turning right stole our right of way and Maggie had to brake suddenly to avoid a collision. I grabbed her leg at the same time and exhaled but as she tramped on the accelerator I left my hand there and it wasn't until we got home that I finally lifted it.

"Sorry," I murmured, "I wasn't thinking."

"It's cool," she merely shrugged, "it kept one of my legs warm."

The hail stones were still belting down and so we sat there in the semi darkness, Maggie lit up a joint and I just sat staring out the window.

"You wanna toke?"

I was never much of a smoker, whether it was tobacco or dope, I used to piss the others off because I could buy a pack of Longreach and it lasted me a couple of months, like who does that? That night I sat in the car with Maggie smoking a joint while the hail stones piled up in the guttering, the front lawn was literally covered in white stones. I took another toke and passed it back to Maggie and shifted position slightly to face her.

"So, tell me, what is it like with a woman?"

"It's enjoyable."

"Well I guessed that or you wouldn't still be rooting women but what's the difference or haven't you ever been with a man?"

"Once," she took another toke, "when I was in the army and they laid bets on who would get to root the dyke first."

"Pricks," I grinned.

"Oh I don't know," she handed me the joint, "I asked what were the odds and when I was told it was ten to one I had one of my girlfriends place a bet for me and then I rooted one of the guys. He got his rocks off and I cashed out."

I laughed out loud at that and she grinned.

"I was young and up for anything but it was a stupid mistake because then I had to fight harder to keep the others away, eventually I had to come out and state I was now gay," she took the joint back again, "but to answer your question," she took a final toke and leaned back against the headrest and closed her eyes.

"It's not the same as guys, there's no rush to get your pants off because women aren't about to shoot their bolt. We can kiss for hours without getting fully naked, and once we're aroused it takes us longer to come down, so sex with a woman can mean hours of fun between the sheets. Lots of kissing, sucking, fingering and of course we have toys. Because it's two women we do get very inventive in bed," she stopped as she stared at my face.

"By Christ, you actually look turned on."

I was staring out the window and came back to her a moment or two later.

"Kind of," I studied her, "at least you don't have to worry about pregnancy."

"There is that and all, and of course there is the extra security of being with a woman. You're not that worried about sexual assault. The bisexual partners I've had have always said they feel safer with women," she butted the joint out.

"Looks like the hail is easing off, how about we get inside before it changes its mind?"

To be truthful I hadn't even noticed that and so we made our way inside and while she headed to the toilet I set the fire and lit it. When Maggie returned to the living room she had a bottle of Southern Comfort, a bottle of Coke and a couple of glasses.

"Fancy a nightcap or three?"

"The night's still young," I tapped the beanbag behind me, "come on down and join me, if you're game."

"I'm always game," Maggie unlaced her sneakers and pulled them off, "but can you withstand my smelly socks?"

"Whatever, fill me up," I got to my feet and walked to the stereo, "what do you fancy?"

"Whatever turns you on," she grinned.

Our combined music collection consisted of a pretty decent selection of artists from the old '70s glam era through to Dire Straits Brothers in Arms, one of the few albums we had on CD. My first choice was the soundtrack to The Rose. I had a vague feeling that this night might end differently but as I sat in front of the fire I wasn't feeling particularly turned on. I was feeling a little chilly though, the temperature had plummeted and despite the fact we were both sitting by the fire I eventually shifted position so that I was sitting between her legs with my back to the beanbag and that's where things changed.

It was subtle at first, we were talking about work, studies, things we'd done in the past, the topics seemed to shift effortlessly and gradually I moved back more until my buttocks were against her crotch. That must have taken over an hour because we heard the entire soundtrack to The Rose and were halfway through Brothers in Arms when I became aware that she was stroking my upper arm very lightly. It was subtle and not entirely erotic but I liked it and so I laid my head back against her and just closed my eyes.

"Don't mind me, I'm road testing my newest pillow."

"So that's all I am to you," she reached forward with her other hand and squeezed my left breast playfully, I winced slightly but merely chuckled.

"Stop that, you might turn me on."

She did stop and started stroking my other arm and this continued for some time while she told me more about her time in the army, going on manoeuvres and then back before she was in the army to life in rural Marysville, a town she always referred to as Dullsville.

"Not exactly the lesbian hub for the outer east," I murmured.

"You'd think so, but I bedded a born again Christian there, she worked out at a Christian camp and I ended up being her first fuck."

"What happened to her?"

"We saw each other for a while but then her minister found out and had her renounce Satan and all his works, which did work for six months but I saw her in a lesbian disco a year or two later and it all started again."

Her stroking had changed now, she began to run her hands through my hair and I instinctively started stroking her feet, although I had to take her socks off. It was about then that everything began to turn sexual when she decided to give me a head massage and I found myself getting more and more relaxed and aroused. The massage moved to my face and I had to adjust my position a little to give her room to manoeuvre. It was a glorious massage, she might have come across as being butch but that woman certainly knew how to give a sensual massage. Nevertheless, even Maggie had her limits and when the CD finished she stopped the massage and yawned.

"I might have to call it a night."

"And here was me getting used to this," I sat up.

"Thanks," she squeezed my shoulders firmly and I arched my back.

"Oh, don't start there, I'll have you working on my shoulders, and my neck."

She did start massaging my shoulders but then stopped and leaning forward, put her arms around my waist.

"It's like this," she propped her chin on my left shoulder, "I could massage your back, your neck, your shoulders, and your legs but this is starting to turn me on and it's not being fair to me, as much as I like you I have to stop."

I blushed and shifted forward.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking," I turned around to face her, "you should have said something earlier, I wouldn't have let you continue."

"You know what I like most about you?" Maggie smiled slyly and when I didn't reply she went on, "you accept me just the way I am. I love Mandy and Georgie but I always get the feeling that they don't want me to get too close. For fuck's sake, they cover up if I come into the living room when they're changing but you don't even bother."

"Oh," I looked past her and then put my hands on the beanbag, "that's sweet, more than sweet it's actually," I looked at her, "about the nicest thing you could say to me."

You know that moment just before you kiss someone? I've encountered it many times over the years and that split second I had a flashback to Desmond, my gay ex boyfriend. He had the same colour of eyes as Maggie and at that moment, she also had that same look of hesitation, like I was about to make her do something against her will. It was such a turn on that when I leaned forward and kissed her lips I felt a rush of excitement, like when I kissed Desmond for the first time, he did kiss me in front of others. Of course with Desmond he was playing for the homophobic crowd to keep them from discovering his true identity.

Maggie actually flinched when I kissed her and I pulled back slightly as our eyes met.

"You kissed me."

"I do believe I did," I replied in my best American accent and she smiled, "so, what are you going to do about it? Call the police or administer your own punishment?"

Maggie exhaled and then moved forward for a kiss that lasted longer than mine, I felt her anxiety and my primal urge as I responded in kind. This kiss was kind of like Desmond's but far more sensual. I groaned as we broke contact and then I kissed her again, and this kiss turned into several more in quick succession, each lasting longer until they developed into full, open-mouthed kisses that had my head swimming.

I wasn't the only one getting aroused by this though, Maggie's hands were sliding up my legs and under my dress, her fingers tracing little circles as they went higher and higher. The delicious sensations only aroused me more and I started tracing my fingers down her blouse, it was all I was capable of doing at that point. Maggie's hands soon reached my panties and I quivered as she teased my labia and finally broke free. My breathing was ragged and I felt the need to pee.

"Gotta go piss," I moved backwards, "honest."

"I understand."

"And you'll still be here when I get back?"

"I will, honest," she squeezed my thighs, "you wanna sleep here tonight?"

"Be warmer than the fucking bedroom."

I had time to think while I was answering a call of nature. Did I want to go this far? I stared at myself in the mirror some five minutes later. I was half pissed and a little stoned but I could still back out without too much fallout but then I heard her going through to her bedroom and thinking she was going to break her promise I darted out of the toilet just in time to see her going up the passageway.

"Just getting a little surprise, I'll have another drink."

After I'd washed my hands I went back to find she'd taken the cushions off the couch and sofas to form a mattress and when she returned she brought back a sheet, the doona and a dildo.

"I would have given you a hand."

"I'm a big girl," she snorted.

Still I had my contribution, the pillows from my room and we made up the bed in front of the fire, I recall the sound of thunder as the storm broke overhead and then she was propped on her elbows with her feet out in front of her and a satisfied look on her face.

"You can touch it if you like."

I was staring at the dildo, it was bigger than any man I'd known and I giggled.

"My God, I haven't seen one of those since I bought those dirty magazines for Desmond in the sex shop."

"And who's Desmond?" Maggie nudged my side with her leg.

"My gay best friend from Baysie High," and when she raised an eyebrow I told her the story of Desmond she looked moved.

"My God, and you still talked to him after all that?"

"I felt for him," I picked the dildo up, "he was like a little lost puppy and I was his best friend. He was the one I wanted to lose my virginity to, not that arsehole Adam," I stared at the flames.

Maggie sat up and ran her fingers up my spine, gently at first and then with more purpose, I felt rooted to the spot and that was a new sensation for me. Even when I was sober enough with Adam that second time it hadn't been like this. I felt nervous and aroused at the same time, not willing to make a move in case I broke the spell and her fingers were certainly weaving their own magic. Her right hand was brushing against my back while her left hand slid back and forth across my shoulder but every second or third pass she'd play with my hair. I felt the familiar warmth in my belly and my mouth felt dry.

Sensing this, Maggie moved her left hand across my front to the other side of my neck and turning my face towards her, she kissed me gently, the first of several and each lasted longer than the other and that other hand kept on brushing my back.

She danced her fingers across the back of my shoulders and I swivelled around. Maggie moved as well so that now I was between her legs. She put her hands on my breasts and massaged them. I murmured my pleasure as she kept going, pushing against her, conscious that my breathing had become shallower. I desperately wanted more of this but Maggie was certainly taking her time and the kissing began again, these were much longer and more passionate. I felt the dampness between my legs and the desire to be filled. If she'd been a guy I would have been hoisting my dress up but instead she just kept kneading my breasts.

It was while we were engaged in a passionate kiss that she undid one of my straps, the bib fell forward and she massaged one of my breasts and then she moved from my mouth to my throat, a tongue danced over my skin as she kept manipulating my breast. I remember pushing myself into her hand, wanting more and then she pulled back and stared into my eyes as she slowly undid the button on the other strap. The bib dropped down to expose my blouse and Maggie reached behind me to pull the straps off my shoulders.

We stopped kissing and I pulled off my glasses, I was panting and Maggie grinned as her fingers slid around behind my collar, flicking it upwards and then she kissed me again and caressed my throat. I felt a slight tugging at the bottom of the vee as her fingers reached the second button of my blouse. The material was pulled out as our lips parted and I looked down as she slipped the button through the buttonhole. Her hand dropped to the third button and hung there for a few seconds before undoing that one as well to expose the top of my bra. When her fingers brushed against the edges of the cups I groaned loudly and looked down helplessly.

My breasts were aching for more of that sensual massage and by now I was acting on instinct as I reacted in kind, sliding my hands up over her breasts. Hers were much smaller than mine and thus more easily manipulated, Maggie grinned as she danced her fingers in circular motions across my exposed front. She reached my shoulders and then she leaned forward to kiss my throat with soft, sucking kisses, her tongue flickering over my skin. I whimpered and she kept kissing and caressing my skin. Her hands moved gradually downwards as her mouth music caused my whimpers to become ever louder and then the fourth button was very slowly unfastened.