“I can’t swim,” Tina reminded her quietly, shakily putting her hands over Bette’s arms.

“Maybe one day I can teach you,” Bette smiled, whispering into Tina’s ear as she took another step so they were in up to their knees. She slowly ran one hand down Tina’s leg.

“I’m a horrible student,” Tina breathed, gasping again when she felt Bette’s hand on her leg. “Bette …”

“I would never pressure you into anything.”

Tina swallowed hard and closed her eyes, allowing herself to like it.

“So I won’t do any of this unless you ask me from now on.”

The groan was because Tina liked that part of Bette – the part that did what she wanted, and with a confidence Tina could only dream about. She liked the confidence.

“Unless you like it, of course …” Bette was beginning to understand.

Tina closed her eyes when she could feel how wet she was with just one touch. It was a little embarrassing, but also incredibly exciting. Suddenly, her mind was plagued with lustrous images of Bette and herself intertwined at the hip. She moved just a little to accommodate the idea.

“I take that as a yes.”

Tina gasped again when she felt the cold, looking down to see that Bette had stepped with her all the way to their hips, wetting her shorts as well as the bottom of her shirt. Good, now she won’t notice how wet I was before Tina figured, trying to hide her smile.

“I want to share everything with you, Tina. I’ll prove to you that I love you just as much as I ever have – and even more, now that it’s me. There won’t be any secrets anymore. I promise you that. I will devote myself to you.”

“Bette …”

“I want to have a nice, long chat about everything you’ve had to keep bottled up inside. I know there’s so much pain inside of you, and I’ll do anything you want. I won’t even kiss you until we have all this sorted out.”

“Bette,” Tina interrupted, turning to her. “I want you to kiss me.” She looked up into Bette’s eyes with longing that wouldn’t be ignored. She loved Bette. “Please.”

With a smile, Bette pulled Tina in close and kissed her slowly, keeping their bodies close. She felt tingles all through her. “Like that?”