“Thank you for being so honest with me,” I said.

“Do you want to change your mind?”

“No, Bette,” I said slowly, carefully. “But now let me be honest with you. While you’re saying that you tried having relationships with men and they didn’t work, I can’t really say that. I’ve dated a lot of guys too and I like all the girl/boy stuff. Oh, I’ve been curious about women through the years, but nothing ever happened except with you. In other words, it’s never been enough of a struggle for me to have to make a decision about.”

She was watching the smoke curl up from her cigarette in the ashtray.

“However,” I continued, “I’m at time in my life now where if there’s nothing ventured, then nothing is gained and if nothing is gained, I may regret it someday.”

She looked up at me and quietly asked, “Does that mean what I think it does?”

“It means I’m still curious.”

“How curious?”

“Curious enough to wonder what happens next.”

I smiled. She smiled back. Then she pushed her chair away from the table and stood up. She walked over to me and looked down. I raised my head to meet her eyes. She cupped my face into her hands and gently lifted my head higher, as she leaned her face toward mine. Then she kissed my lips ever so softly while I held my breath. It felt so sweet and warm.

I raised my hands to hold her at her wrists and squeezed them tightly. At that moment her kiss intensified as she turned her head to bare down harder. I tried to breathe but I could not. I opened my mouth to suck in air and she slipped her tongue inside, moving it around sensuously. There was the taste of cigarettes and wine being exchanged, until she closed her mouth, lifted it slightly and then went down on mine again, close and open, over and over. Audible sounds of pleasure escaped involuntarily from both of us.

Then she put her hands under my arms to urge me out of my chair. As I stood up she pulled me to her. We could feel the heat even through our sweaters and the downy padding of our ski pants. She began to guide me toward the bathroom, kissing me passionately as we moved along.

And then the undressing dance started, as we took turns taking off each other’s clothes, swaying to the beat of passion and desire, kissing bare skin as soon as it was exposed. The tempo of the dance increased when all of our clothes trailed behind us. I imagined we were headed for the shower but a sudden urgency in Bette caused her to direct me against the nearest bathroom wall. She dropped her hands down behind me and opened them wide against my bottom, while she ground her pelvic bone against mine in a circular motion, then intensely pushed her lower body against mine over and over again. By then I was so turned on by this beautiful creature that I just let myself go completely as we shared mutual orgasms through a wild frenzy of wet kisses, snaking tongues, labored breathing and clitoral stimulation.

We leaned hard against each other for a few moments, suspended in ecstasy, savoring these new feelings over the wild beating of our hearts. Since I was an inch or so shorter than she was, I rested my head on her shoulder, trying to catch my breath. Then the kissing started again, as we inched our way to the shower.

It became the longest shower I ever took in my life. Everything in the bathroom was dripping wet with steam. We slowly and totally explored each other’s bodies, as if there was no tomorrow. Passion rose and fell and rose and fell again and again, until we reached separate and satisfying climaxes.

After towel drying each other with teasing kisses of affection, we finally went to bed and fell asleep in each other’s arms.

It was not until we woke up the next morning that we realized that we had forgotten to eat our dinner.