Monday morning, Jamie was hard at work on her golf game, having noticed that Juliet hadn’t arrived at her usual, early time. The blonde worked until 9, and when she looked up, she saw Juliet sneaking away, beating a hasty retreat down the path to the parking lot.

Deciding that she was not going to let the incident pass without comment, and wanting to get it over with, Jamie left her clubs lying right where they were and took off after the woman. She caught up with her just as Juliet was hurling her clubs into her car. "Hey, wait up," Jamie called out.

"I’ve got a test this morning," the taller woman said. "I don’t have a minute to spare."

"Fine," Jamie said, "but you and I are going to talk about what happened on Saturday night. When is your last class over?"

"This isn’t a good time for me, Jamie," she said.

"I don’t care, Juliet. You can spend a half hour at some point in the day. Now, when will it be?"

"Uhm … I’m finished by four," she said weakly, staring at the ground.

"Good. Do you know where the softball stadium is?"

"Uhm … yeah, I think so."

"Meet me there. I’ll be there by 4, and I’ll stay until 6 – that will give you plenty of time – even if you get lost."

"Fine," she agreed, nodding.

Out of the corner of her eye, Jamie saw a large woman, huffing up the hill on her bicycle. "Uhm … you might want to get going, Juliet."

"Huh?"

As she said this, Ryan rode up to them, grabbing onto her brakes and skidding a few feet – sending up a flourish of gravel and dust. "Nice morning for a ride," Ryan said to Juliet, grinning like a tiger seconds before it pounces upon a wounded animal. "You guys about done? I thought we could have breakfast, maybe – chat – a little." Her eyes were flashing with unspoken malice, and even though a part of Jamie was irritated with her partner, there was something tremendously sexy about the menace that Ryan projected.

Moving to her side, Jamie snaked her arm around Ryan’s waist, hugging her firmly. She put her other hand behind Ryan’s black-helmeted head and pulled her down, kissing her cheek while she muttered, "Show off."

Despite her determination to show Juliet that she didn’t look kindly upon her taking liberties with Jamie, the dark woman couldn’t stop herself from giving her partner a guilty smile, adding a kiss to Jamie’s cheek.

"I’ve got to go," Juliet said, looking like she was about to wet her pants. "Big test. Big, big test." She was in her car, pulling out before either woman could speak.

Ryan shook her head, giving Jamie a puzzled look as she asked, "Does she always drive with her spikes on?"

"You are such a brat!" Jamie gave the Lycra-encased butt a firm swat, shaking her head when Ryan looked like she’d enjoyed it. "What am I gonna do with you, you possessive little thing?"

"Jamie, you can’t blame me," she said. "You’re so beautiful, so desirable, so bright, so clever, so kind, so …"

"Can it, tough girl. I told you I could take care of myself, and I can." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Ryan on the lips, lingering longer than was prudent, given the venue. "I shouldn’t encourage you, but there’s something kinda sexy about having my big, tough girlfriend protecting me – even though I don’t need it."

"I know you don’t need it, Jamie," Ryan said, staring into her eyes. "But right now – for some reason, I need to do it." She wrapped her arms around her partner and said, "I don’t want to make you feel like I think you’re a frail, little flower, but I need to bare my teeth once in a while."

Jamie returned the hug, making it nice and hard like Ryan liked it. "You can bare you teeth – once in a while, Buffy. But just for show. I don’t want you biting anyone."

"Only love bites," Ryan said, smiling toothily. "Guess what I’m going to do when I get home?"

"No idea."

"I’m going to take off my bike clothes, throw them in the wash, and when they’re clean, I’m going to put them away until summer – at the earliest."

Jamie gave her a smile that brightened every inch of her face, then wrapped her arms around Ryan’s waist and gazed up at her. "I don’t think I could love you any more than I do at this moment."

Bending to kiss her, Ryan murmured, "Your expectations are far too meager. We’re gonna love each other much, much more. I’m sure of it."

* * * * * * * * * * *

Ryan had just spent three hours with her math professor, Robin Berkowitz, and Vijay, her graduate student advisor, going over her independent project with such attention to detail that she felt absolutely drained. Spying a rest room, she practically sprinted for it – having been so engrossed in the discussion that she’d paid no attention to her personal needs.

Ryan emerged from the rest room stall and balanced her books on the adjoining sink. Then she bent over and splashed cold water on her face, and patted her strained eyes with a damp paper towel.

As she gazed at herself in the mirror, another stall door opened, and the last person she ever wanted to see emerged. Cassie Martin stood stock-still for a moment, a tiny flicker of fear showing in her eyes, then let her usual nasty personality emerge as she strode across the floor to the sink. "I can’t believe you have the guts to show your face around this campus," she said, not even looking at Ryan.

The taller woman thought back to her promises – the ones she’d made to Jamie, and Amanda and Father Pender. She’d promised each of them that she was going to do her very best to take the high road in this little soap opera, and not stoop to Cassie’s level. So, she ignored the woman completely, acting like she hadn’t heard anyone speak – even though her guts were roiling.

"Huh," the blonde grunted, "I guess your ‘no comment’ thing holds for every area of your life. Buuuuut … that only makes sense when the details of your existence are so sordid."

With shaking hands, Ryan picked up her books and started for the door, wishing the damned bathroom wasn’t so long.

"You know, you’ve even more of a whore than I thought you were," Cassie said. "It’s bad enough what you did to Jamie, but the things I read about you and that little girl. Tsk, tsk, tsk, Ryan. Isn’t 14 a little young – even for you?"

Ryan felt her hands whiten on her books, but she continued to walk, not saying a word.

"Or did you have to bring her into the mix for Jamie?" Cassie asked, her voice dripping with venom. "The kid’s probably more to her liking anyway – they’re about the same age – sexually, at least." She found her comment quite funny, and she was laughing softly when Ryan dropped her books with a thud and quickly reached up to lock the door to the facility.

The laugh was cut off so quickly that it sounded as though her throat had been slit, but Ryan hadn’t touched her – yet. In a heartbeat, Ryan was right on top of Cassie, pinning her to the sink with her substantially greater bulk. "You can say whatever you want to say about me, but don’t you ever … ever mention Jamie’s name again. A slime-dweller like you isn’t worthy of licking the soles of her shoes."

Cassie’s eyes were remarkably wide, and Ryan could see her pulse throbbing on the side of her throat. "D … don’t be so touchy," she said, trying to sound braver than she was.

Leaning in a little harder, Ryan could feel the smaller woman’s flesh compress as she pressed against her. She knew the sink was digging into the backs of Cassie’s thighs, so she leaned in just a bit more. "Jamie and I’ve already talked about this," Ryan said, menace oozing from her, "and she doesn’t mind if we have to pay a substantial sum of damages to you. She wants me to feel better." Pushing forward until she could hear Cassie gasp in pain, she said, "I’ve tried to control myself, but it’s a losing battle. I think I’ll feel better if I hurt you – badly."

The blonde spoke so quickly that her words tumbled from her lips. "You’ll go to jail! You can’t just beat people up! You’ll be in prison – then where will Jamie be?"

Ryan leaned over her, bending Cassie into an inverted "C". "I told you to never speak her name again. I … meant … that."

"Okay! Okay! But you will go to jail if you hit me!"

"You don’t know much about the justice system. Not many people do time for hitting someone." Ryan leaned even harder against the woman, smiling when Cassie gasped in pain. "But, given your connections, I guess you could make things tough for me." She appeared to be thinking through the ramifications of her plan. "If there’s a chance of going to the slammer I’d better make sure I get my money’s worth."

"No! You’ll be thrown out of school! Think of yourself!"

Ryan seemed to do just that. "I guess I’ll have to make sure no one can prove it was me. It’ll be your word against mine, and of the two of us, I have a much better record for telling the truth. The only evidence they’d have is if I scraped my knuckles on your ugly face, or got your blood on me." She looked around the room and her eyes landed on a plunger. "I could beat the crap out of you with that stick …" she said thoughtfully. "Fill your mouth full of wet paper towels so no one could hear you scream … take off my shirt so the blood doesn’t splatter …" Her brow furrowed as she said, "Of course, I could drown you in the toilet. That would be all too fitting, wouldn’t it?"

"Why are you doing this?" Cassie whimpered, her voice shaking. "What do you want?"

"Want? I don’t want anything," Ryan said, "other than to cause you pain." She leaned forward with her torso, forcing Cassie’s head against the mirror. Ryan was so close she could have bitten her, and Cassie stared at her with round eyes. "You know, I’ve always wondered which it was. No rational person would care that Jamie and I were together – unless that person was insanely jealous." Pushing forward again, Ryan purred, "Which of us is it? Jamie or me?"

Cassie had to put her hands behind herself to stop the faucets from gouging into her kidneys. Her flailing hands accidentally hit the cold water tap – and the ice cold spray started to pour into the waistband of her khaki’s. "Ahhhh!" she screamed, writhing against Ryan, their breasts compressing.

"Oh … it’s me, huh? That was always my guess, since you were nice to Jamie until I came along." Ryan’s body ate up the last inch of space, and she murmured, "You’ve dreamed about being this close to me, haven’t you."

"No! No! I’m not like that!"

"Well, we’ll never find out, because you make both of us sick." Ryan started to stand up, but she put a restraining hand on Cassie’s shoulder, holding her in place. "You know, as much as I want to hurt you physically, and believe me, I do, I think I’d get more satisfaction out of hurting your reputation – sleazy though it is. I’m not sure how I’ll do it, but you’ve woken me from slumber, sweetie-pie, and vengeance will be mine." She leaned over until their noses touched. "Dream of me," she whispered, then swiped her tongue in a long, wet trail all the way up the blonde’s flushed cheek. Striding away from the shaking woman, Ryan bent to pick her books up with a remarkable degree of grace. Flicking the door lock open with her hand, she glided from the room – feeling better than she had in weeks.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Jamie was sitting in the stands at the softball stadium that afternoon, giving half of her attention to practice, and half to her real estate text. It was so overcast and cloudy, that they’d turned the lights on – but there was still plenty of light to read by. Ashley and Jennie were sitting about 20 feet away, with Ashley drilling the younger girl for a test. Juliet showed up at 4:30, obviously hoping that Jamie wouldn’t have time to talk. When Jamie saw the woman reluctantly approach, she twitched her head and led her to the grassy area by the ticket window on the outside of the complex. "We can talk here without having anyone hear us," she said.

"Uhm … what do you want to talk about?" Juliet asked, trying to look innocent.

"You know darned well what I want to talk about. Now, let’s get this out of the way so we can move on, okay?"

"O … okay," the larger woman agreed.

"What’s the deal, Juliet?" Jamie asked, sitting down on the grass to get comfortable.

"You didn’t honestly think I was going to let you kiss me, did you?"

"Jamie, I swear I didn’t know what I was doing. I’ve never been drunk before – I lost my mind."

Giving her a long look, Jamie said, "I have some experience in this area, Juliet, and let me assure you – being drunk doesn’t cause you to do things that aren’t in your nature. Alcohol lets you do things that you want to do – but don’t have the nerve or the sense to do while you’re sober."

Juliet looked at the ground, not saying a word.

"Saturday night wasn’t the first time I felt that you were attracted to me," Jamie said quietly. "I got strange vibes from you that time you showed me how to hit your seven-wood, too. Is this something that’s going to come between us for the rest of the year?"

"No, no, it’s not, definitely not," Juliet said decisively. "I was out of line on Saturday, and I promise I’ll never let myself get drunk again. I obviously can’t handle it."

"What about the other time, Juliet? You weren’t drunk then."

"I … I don’t remember that day the way you do, Jamie. I … uhm … maybe you’re ultra-sensitive to things like that."

The blonde smiled and shook her head. "No, I’m really not, Juliet, but if you don’t want to talk about this with me, I can’t make you."

"There’s nothing to talk about," Juliet said, getting up from the ground. "I got drunk and acted like an idiot. I promise I’ll never touch you again, Jamie. Ever."

"I know you won’t," Jamie said, giving her a wry smile. "Your career means too much to you to have my partner lose control and break your hands." She looked at the woman for a moment and said, "I wish I were kidding, but she’s been under a lot of stress. She honestly might hurt you."

"Jamie," the taller woman said, her expression earnest, "I promise I’ll never be inappropriate with you again. It will not happen!"

"Okay. That’s all that I can ask. See you tomorrow."

Jamie started to walk back towards the stadium, and Juliet asked, "Why are you hanging out here?"

"Oh, Ryan’s on the softball team. Wanna stick around and say hi?"

"No … no …" she said, backing away quickly. "Gotta run." And run she did, jogging at a quicker clip than Jamie had ever seen the golfer move.

* * * * * * * * * * *

As soon as Jamie took her seat, she started to study again, barely noticing what was going on. Heather and Ryan both bounded into the stands at 6 o’clock, thoroughly startling their fans. "Yikes!" Jamie cried, looking up into Ryan’s sweaty face. "Is it 6 already?"

"Sure is. Hang on and I’ll be back in a few. I want to put on some dry clothes."

Jamie patted her butt and sent her on her way, then went over to chat with Ashley and Jennie for a moment. As expected, the jocks were back in a flash, but Ryan had on a clean T-Shirt and her warm-ups, so Jamie wasn’t going to press her luck by chiding her for not showering. "Ready to go, slugger?" Jamie asked.

Ryan shrugged, looking a bit uncomfortable. "Wanna see if the other girls want to join us for some dinner on Telegraph?"

"Sure. That’d be fine."

Ryan looked over and said, "Hey, we’re gonna get some dinner. You guys up for it?"

"I can’t," Jennie said, shaking her head. "I’ve gotta study every minute for this history test."

"We thought we’d drag Jen back to the dorm with us and drill her over dinner," Ashley said, making Jennie’s eyes light up.

"Really? I’ll have to call home and ask if I can, but I’m sure Sandy won’t mind."

Jamie handed over her cell phone, and Jennie dialed while Ryan smiled at her friends. "You two have really come through with Jen," she said. "We can’t tell you how much we appreciate it."

"It’s fun," Ashley said. "I want to be a teacher when I graduate, and working with Jennie makes me see that it can be fun to help someone who wants to learn."

Jennie handed the phone back, grinning from ear to ear. "I can go!"

"Let’s get moving," Heather said. "We’ve got over a hundred years to cover."

"See you," Ryan called out, and Jamie waved at the departing trio.

Ryan sat next to her partner, cuddling up to her as the overhead lights switched off. "Let’s stay here and neck."

"It’s freezing, you goof! You’ve got to get home and jump in the shower."

"Uhm … do you have your car?"

"No, I walked. Why?"

"Let’s stop and get some coffee. I can warm up and then we can have dinner."

"Don’t you have to study tonight?"

"Uhm … yeah, I could do a little work. We could go to the library after dinner."

"Honey," Jamie said, always attuned to the unspoken messages her partner sent out. "Is there some reason you don’t want to go home?"

"Mmm … I’m a teeny tiny bit worried that the police might be at the house," she said, wrinkling her nose.

"The police, huh? Any particular reason they might be paying us a visit?"

"Well … I kinda ran into someone today, and she might have filed a police report against me."

"Did you run into this woman while you were on your motorcycle?" Jamie asked, thoroughly confused.

"No, I was on foot. She might have thought I was threatening her with bodily harm … Well, I was threatening her with bodily harm, but she might not have known it was just a threat. Well … I guess it wasn’t just a threat … I was hoping she’d hit me, so I could crack her skull open like a coconut."

Jamie grabbed the closest ear she could find and gave it a yank. "What in the hell are you talking about?"

"I ran into your ex-roommate in the bathroom today," Ryan said, waiting for the words to sink in.

"Oh, God," Jamie said, dropping her head to her knees. "What’d you do to her?"

"Nothing … well … almost nothing. I pressed her up against the sink and leaned on her a little bit. I doubt that she even has bruises."

"Ryan! Why did you do that? You said you were going to control yourself."

"No … I said I was going to try to control myself. I did try, Jamie, I tried very hard. She pushed me, baby; and if she’d said the same thing to you, you’d have punched her lights out. She did her best to provoke me, and she succeeded."

She said this with such a carefree tone, that Jamie was frankly puzzled. "Why aren’t you upset? I thought it would make you crazy to let her get to you."

"Nope. I feel great, actually. She’s a big, fucking bully, and sometimes it feels nice to make a bully quake with fear. She was about to wet her pants," Ryan said, chuckling softly. "Well, she did wet her pants, but that was from me jamming her against the faucet. Today was a bad day to wear khaki’s," she said, shaking her head with false regret.

"You’re really okay?" Jamie asked, searching Ryan’s eyes.

"Yep. She can’t prove I did anything to her, and the police won’t arrest me for some idle threat about beating her senseless with a plunger …"

A hand rose, stopping her in mid-sentence. "I don’t want to know the details. I’m very glad that you got it out of your system. As long as you don’t have to go to jail, I’m happy."

"Uhm … one more little, tiny thing," Ryan said, shrugging her shoulders sheepishly. "If they believe her, they might test me for rabies."

"WHAT? Did you bite her?"

"Noooo," Ryan said. "But I … uhm … I … kinda … licked her."

"You … licked … her." Jamie said each word very slowly, her eyes narrowing with each syllable. "You licked Cassie Martin." Her head cocked, and the blonde fixed Ryan with a pensive gaze. "I can’t wait to hear this one."

Looking perplexed, Ryan once again shrugged her shoulders. "I honestly can’t explain it, Jamie. There was a moment there when I knew that she was truly terrified. I had to mark her."

"You had to … mark … her."

"Honey, it was either that or lift my leg and pee on her. I felt like a dog, claiming my territory. It was so primal, so instinctive." She shivered roughly. "I can’t describe it to you, baby. If you’ve never felt that way, you don’t have the proper frame of reference."

The smaller woman dropped her head into her hands once again, then sat up and shook her head. "I think we have to put this behind us. I don’t think I want to know the part of you that made you do that."

"Just as well," Ryan agreed. "There’s a part of me that I don’t understand, so I can hardly expect you to decipher it."

Jamie gazed at her partner for a moment, finally lifting her hand to slide her fingers through her bangs. "Are you sure you won’t have to go to jail for this, honey?"

"Nope. She can’t make this one stick," Ryan said, full of confidence. "And next time, she might have the sense to keep her ugly trap shut."

"Is there going to be a next time, Ryan?" Jamie asked, searching her partner’s eyes.

The dark head nodded. "There might well be. I’m still hungry for revenge."

Sighing deeply, Jamie took a minute to organize her thoughts. "Don’t tell me about it, okay? You know I usually like to be informed about everything you do – but I don’t want to know if you think of some way to get back at her." She stroked Ryan’s face and said, "You do what you need to do, honey – but I can’t afford to worry about you. We’ll deal with the consequences when the time comes – but please do me a favor and make it a civil suit, rather than criminal, okay? I can’t bear the thought of having to visit you in prison."

"It’s a deal. If I get my revenge, we’ll be able to buy our way out of it – and at this point, it’s worth an awful lot of money to me."

* * * * * * * * * * *

"Jamie?" Jim Evans’ voice boomed through her cell phone, bright and early on Tuesday morning.

"Hi, Daddy. What’s up?"

"Well, since I’m coming down for the weekend, I’ve decided to come a few days early and conduct some business. I thought, if you were free, that we could have dinner together … say, tomorrow?"

"Uhm … sure, I know that I can. Is … do you want Ryan to join us?"

"Oh! I assumed … of course," he said, rather enthusiastically. "I meant both of you, honey."

"Thanks, Dad," she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. "You’re really making an effort here, and I appreciate it so much."

"I’m trying, Jamie," he said quietly. He cleared his throat and said, "I have another agenda for the evening, honey, and I hope you can be understanding about it."

"What’s that?"

"I’ve uhm … I’ve decided to start seeing Kayla again."

She was quiet for a moment, fighting the urge to express her true feelings. "I hope that works out for you, Dad."

"That’s it?" he asked carefully. "You’re not disappointed in me?"

"Dad, Mom’s filed for divorce. As long as you’re with someone past the age of consent, it’s none of my business."

"She’s young, but she’s not that young, Jamie," he said with a hint of a tease in his voice.

"How old is she, Daddy?" she asked in kind.

"She’s uhm … she’s 26," he said, grimacing as the number left his mouth.

"Mmm … two years older than Ryan," she said. "Well, age is just a number, Dad. What matters is that you enjoy being with her, and she with you."

"I don’t know if this will last," he said. "But I’m going to try to make a go of it. I’d like to introduce you, Jamie."

She sucked in a breath at that, but did her best to sound calm. "Well, Dad, if you can get over your initial feelings about Ryan, I guess I can get over my initial feelings about Kayla. I’m willing to give it a try."

* * * * * * * * * * *

On Tuesday afternoon Ryan walked into her advisor’s office and knocked on his cubicle wall. "Hey, Vijay. Got a minute?"

He gave her his usual, warm smile and nodded. "Always, for you," he said, in his clipped, Bombay-accented speech pattern. "What is it, Ryan?"

"Well, I know you have more work than you can handle, but I was wondering if you could give me a hand with some programming. You’re the best programmer I know, Vijay."

He gave her a curious look and said, "What part of your project needs a program written? Have I missed something?"

"No, no, this is a special project I’m working on. It’s a personal kinda thing. I shouldn’t need too much of your time, actually. I only need you to help me chart it out and steer me in the right direction."

"Okay. I can spare some time. But you owe me dinner."

"Easy trade, Vijay. It’s a deal."

* * * * * * * * * * *

When Ryan walked into the house on Wednesday night, she went upstairs to get ready for their dinner engagement with Jim. After some negotiation, they agreed to have dinner at Chez Panisse, the site of Jamie’s birthday dinner. This time they had reservations in the more expensive upstairs dining room, and she knew she would have to dress up. Calling out a greeting to her partner, Ryan headed into the bath for a quick shower, then put on her suit, or as she now called it, her uniform. She went with the femmier look, wearing the sterling silver satin tank top and her dressy black flats, and she was just fastening her platinum necklace when Jamie came into her room.

"Zip me up?" the blonde asked.

"Okay," Ryan said, "but you know I far prefer the flip side of the job."

"I wish it were time for the flip side of the job," Jamie grumbled. "I so don’t want to do this."

"Honey, we had trouble accepting Aunt Maeve, and we loved her like a mother. This will take some getting used to."

"My dad and his girlfriend," she said with distaste. "That’s so trite!"

"Well, it’s certainly common," Ryan said. "But the only couple we have any control over is us. I’m bound and determined that our kids will always know only Mom and Mama."

Slipping her arms around Ryan’s waist, Jamie looked up at her and said, "You’ve got this all figured out, don’t ya?"

"What’s that?"

"Our names. You’ve already decided on what our kids will call us."

"Well, no, I haven’t," Ryan demurred. "I know they’ll call me Mama, but I’m guessing you’ll choose Mommy, which will turn into Mom when they’re old enough to be embarrassed."

"Like I said," Jamie insisted, "you’ve got this all figured out."

* * * * * * * * * * *

They arrived at the restaurant right on time, and as Ryan waited for the receipt from the valet, Jim and Kayla pulled up in a taxi.

"Good timing," Jamie said, giving her father a warm hug.

"Yes, it was," he said, looking very nervous. "Uhm … Jamie, this is Kayla Horwitz. Kayla, my daughter, Jamie."

The women shook hands, and Jamie was pleased to see that Kayla’s hand was slightly wetter than her own. Ryan came over and kissed Jim on the cheek, patiently waiting for her introduction. "This is Ryan O’Flaherty," Jim said, omitting her title. "Ryan, Kayla Horwitz."

"Good to meet you," they both said, nearly simultaneously.

They were shown to their table almost immediately, and Jim ordered a bottle of white wine for the table. Jamie knew they could all use a little loosening up, but she had already decided that she was going to stay completely sober – not liking where her mouth sometimes led her when she was tipsy.

Conversation was at a premium at the table, each person trying to get something going, but each failing miserably. The effort was giving Jamie a headache, and she excused herself to go to the rest room to get a moment alone. To her surprise, Kayla was practically on her heels, and when they reached the confines of the small room she said, "Look, Jamie, I know this is awkward. If I were in your shoes, and my dad was dating someone almost my age, I would hate it. I know you and I probably won’t get to be best buddies, but it’s important to your dad that we can reach some kind of accommodation."

Jamie looked up at her, then smiled gently and nodded. "I’d like to normalize this as soon as possible. You’re not the bad guy here, Kayla. It wasn’t you that caused my parents to split up." Even though you didn’t help matters, she conceded to herself. Extending her hand, they shook once again. "I’ll do my best."

"Me, too," the redhead said, following Jamie to return to the table.

* * * * * * * * * * *

When Jamie took her seat, things were already going along better, with Ryan having set her mind on getting the conversation moving. She had brought up Jennie, and Jim immediately started to ask a plethora of questions. Kayla had volunteered at a legal clinic that dealt with a lot of child custody and other juvenile law issues, so she was interested, too, asking her own share of questions.

Once they had thoroughly covered Jennie and her progress, they were all more comfortable with each other, and the conversation started to flow. Jim was working on some interesting things, and he and Kayla complemented each other nicely as they jointly talked about their work.

Kayla was Jim’s junior legislative aide, but it was pretty clear that she was serving in a greater capacity. Jamie privately wondered what the senior legislative aide thought of the relationship, but she decided that really wasn’t her concern.

By the time dinner was over, they were all fairly comfortable with each other, and Jim seemed positively buoyant. Jamie and Ryan saw them off in a cab and stood by the valet stand while they waited for the Boxster to be delivered. "Thanks for putting the car in valet. I appreciate not having to walk blocks and blocks in heels."

"Well, I don’t like to, but since you insist on going with me to fetch the car, you’ve tied my hands," Ryan said.

"Mmm … don’t give me any ideas," the smaller woman murmured softly into Ryan’s ear.

The blue eyes widened perceptibly as she blinked slowly at her partner. "Do I make you horny, baby?" she said in an imitation of Austin Powers that she used exclusively to annoy Jamie.

"If you repeat one more line from that movie, I’m going to tie your hands and gag you," the blonde threatened.

"Ooo … big talk. Let’s see you back it up with some action, hot stuff."

Jamie shook her head quickly and said, "I was about to make a comment about my father and Kayla, and all of a sudden we’re talking like we’re in a porn movie!"

"You haven’t seen many porn movies, if that’s how you think people talk," Ryan said. "Actually, you haven’t seen many porn movies if you think people talk at all!"

"Well, actually, I haven’t seen any, but that’s beside the point. What did you think of Kayla?"

"I liked her well enough," Ryan said. "She seemed to click with your dad, and after we got over our initial nervousness I thought things went well. Now about those movies …"

"Focus, tiger," Jamie chided. "I feel pretty good about the evening, too. If she sticks around for a while, I think I can tolerate it."

"I don’t see them together long term," Ryan said, as she tipped the valet and got into the Boxster.

"How come?"

"Mmm … I guess it’s possible to bridge the age difference, but she’s a very young woman. I can’t imagine that she won’t want kids at some point, and I can’t see that your dad will want to have them when he’s fifty. I could be wrong, but I think a twenty year age gap – at this point in their lives – is too hard."

"I don’t see it lasting, either," Jamie said, "but for another reason. I can’t imagine that she’ll keep him interested. He’s not very mature, as you may have noticed, and I think the lure of the unknown will always tempt him."

"Time will tell," Ryan said, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Now about those movies …"

* * * * * * * * * * *

Ryan’s motor was running by the time they returned home, and when Jamie went into the bath to get ready for bed, she heard her partner banging around in the bedroom. "What are you doing out there?" Jamie called out.

"Getting ready," Ryan cryptically replied.

When Jamie emerged, the grinning brunette was finishing hooking up and plugging in the VCR. "Have you ever used this thing?" she asked.

"Not often. I used to have it in the library, but I rarely watched it down there. I thought I might use it more up here, but I obviously haven’t," she said. "Advertisers are going broke with us, and we’re the prime demographic."

"Mia always has the TV on in her room. She can represent the whole house. Now, we have two choices," she said, eyes flashing with excitement.

"Are we really going to watch a porn movie?" Jamie giggled, looking mildly embarrassed.

"Well, yeah," Ryan said, giving her a puzzled look. "Don’t you wanna?"

"I don’t know." She looked down at the ground and said, "It feels kinda weird."

"Because?"

"I don’t know," the blonde repeated. "I’ve never watched one before."

"It’s not a difficult thing to master," Ryan teased. "You watch for a while, you get hot, you have sex. It’s a snap!"

Her well-defined chin tilted, and Jamie looked at her partner curiously. "You get hot watching them?"

"Yeah. Definitely. That’s the point. They’re some of the worst examples of movie making in the universe. If they didn’t get you hot, they’d have no value whatsoever."

"I don’t know," Jamie said for the third time. "I’m not sure if I’ll think it’s erotic. I’m not all that fond of penises, and watching straight girls have sex for a guy doesn’t do a thing for me."

Ryan gave her a completely puzzled look and asked, "Have you confused me with another? There aren’t any men in the movies I own. Geez! Give the girl a break!"

"Oh!" Jamie started to giggle. "I thought there would be guys, and girls with big hair and high heels and lacy undies. That’s what you always see in the X-rated section at the video store."

"You, my friend, have been going to the wrong video store. Now, I don’t want to pressure you in the least. If you want to watch this, fine – if you don’t, that’s fine too. But, just so you know, it’s made by lesbians for lesbians. There isn’t a penis in the neighborhood."

"Bring it on," Jamie declared with a big smile.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Ryan stuck the tape in and hit play. Then she climbed onto the bed, and snuggled up next to her partner. They were both wearing T-shirts, but not another stitch, and before the credits rolled, Jamie had to get under the covers. "It’s cold in here," she complained. Ryan complied with her wishes, and soon thereafter the screen was filled with the image of a woman, standing out on a redwood deck – a beautiful tree-lined vista filling the sky behind her.

The doorbell of her home rang, and she walked inside to answer. "Here comes the biggest patch of dialogue," Ryan advised.

The woman opened the door to find a friend she had obviously been waiting for, for after 15 seconds of small talk, they started to kiss. "Oh, they kiss nice," Jamie mused. "I’ve never watched women kiss before."

"What? Mia and Jordan are attached to each other like they’ve been super-glued at the lips!"

"Yeah, but I don’t watch them. I see that they’re kissing, and I avert my eyes."

"Heh." Ryan tried to look innocent, but as usual her act backfired.

"You look, don’t you!"

"Of course," Ryan said. "I mean, I don’t stare or anything, but I like to check out a good kiss when I see one. Mia has a style that is … decidedly enthusiastic," she said with a wicked smile.

Jamie slapped at her thigh and said, "You’re the last one who needs lessons in enthusiasm."

"Shh! The clothes are gonna start dropping."

"How many times have you seen this?"

"Mmm … couple dozen," she guessed.

"A few dozen times?" Jamie cried.

"Yeah. I bought this when I was seventeen. I had some real dry spells back then. Watching this made me feel like I wasn’t the only lesbian in town."

"And it got you off," Jamie added with a little smirk.

"Like a charm."

"Hey! Where did you watch these movies? Did you have a VCR in your room?"

"Heck, no," Ryan said, shaking her head as she laughed softly. "I had to wait until Da and the boys were at work or at school. I think that’s why I can get turned on so quickly. I had to make the most of my opportunities."

Jamie blinked at her, raising her eyebrows in a look that was partially disbelieving and partially repulsed. "You’d lie on your father’s bed and …"

"No!" Ryan cried, slapping her partner’s thigh. "That’s gross!" She sniffed and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I sat on the floor." Giving Jamie a randy wink, she added, "Brought me closer to the screen, too."

"Lord, Ryan, with one TV in the house, one of the four of you was probably trying to get a half hour alone to watch porn constantly."

Ryan chuckled, her eyes crinkling up as she nodded. "Mmm … not Conor, but Rory and I were always finagling to get to be the only one left at home."

"Maybe that was your father’s plan to keep you all from constant self-abuse."

"You’re starting to sound like my granny," Ryan warned, "and she’s the last person I want to have in my head when I’m watching porn."

"I’m surprised to hear that Conor wasn’t interested in dirty movies," Jamie said. "Of course, he was probably too busy actually having sex to bother with it."

Ryan chuckled and said, "No he wasn’t. He just liked getting paid for his pleasure. When he hadn’t had a date in a while, he’d go donate sperm. It used to piss me off that he could get $50 to watch porn, and I had to do it for free."

Blinking slowly, Jamie said, "He really did that?"

"Yeah. All the time. He only stopped when Da caught him boasting about it. Conor tried to convince him that he was doing a humanitarian deed, but when Da found out he got paid for pullin’ his wire, he put a stop to it immediately."

"Pulling his wire, huh? That’s new one." Jamie giggled softly, but then her brow furrowed. "God, I wonder how many little Conors are running around San Francisco."

"Given how often he went, I’d say there could be hundreds," Ryan said. "But, a donor can only father so many children. I’m not sure how many you can have, but it’s not a lot." Cocking her head, Ryan said, "How did we get on the topic of Conor’s pleasure? Let’s concentrate on our own, okay?"

Jamie turned her head to the screen, and was immediately rewarded by a very appealing sight. "Oh, my," she murmured. "Now that is a nice pair of breasts."

"What makes them nice?" Ryan asked. "Since you’re such a breast-o-phile, I’m sure you have criteria."

"Of course I do," she sniffed. "Those are nice because they have a nice heft to them. Not too big, but they definitely move. They’re fairly symmetrical; they both point the same way, and have nice skin tone. Nice nipples, too. Not as nice as yours, I might add, but nice."

"Why, thank you," Ryan said, grinning.

"Mmm … the blonde knows how to play with them, too," Jamie said. "Oh, I love it when you do that to me."

Ryan shifted around and slid in behind her partner, pulling her against her chest. While the woman on screen played with her co-star’s breasts, Ryan mimicked her, tickling and teasing Jamie through her T-shirt. "I’d go to the movies every night if we could do this," the smaller woman murmured.

"Nine fifty would seem like a bargain price, too," Ryan said. "Pay attention now. The other woman’s shirt’s coming off."

"Not bad," Jamie said. "A little meager for my tastes, but they’d do in a pinch."

"Speaking of pinching …" Ryan predicted.

"Ouch! That looked like it hurt!"

"The pinchee doesn’t seem to mind," Ryan said. "There go the jeans."

Jamie was completely silent for a few minutes, watching the women strip completely. Once they were nude, they went out onto the deck, tossed some pillows onto the floor, and lay next to one another. Their hands were everywhere, stroking, sliding over each other, playing gently with each other’s breasts, and squeezing firm ass cheeks. Ryan noticed her partner shifting around a bit, and she guessed that the movie was having its intended effect. "Damn, it’s beautiful to watch two women make love," Jamie sighed. "A woman’s body is such a work of art."

"All of those nice curves," Ryan said, drawing her hand over all of Jamie’s that she could reach.

"The nice, smooth muscles," Jamie said, squeezing the muscular thighs that surrounded her. "Everything’s nice and round and soft and squishy."

"Squishy?"

"Yeah … like when my breasts squish against yours."

"Squishy’s nice," Ryan murmured.

"Wanna squish together now?" the blonde asked softly.

"Perfect timing." Ryan switched off the VCR and started to tug her partner’s T-shirt off.

"What else do the women in the movie do?" Jamie asked.

"Mmm … they go down on each other in the next scene. Other than that, I have no idea. I’ve never gotten farther than that."

"In dozens of viewings?"

"Hey, I’m easy. If I can get off in ten minutes, why waste time?" Her eyes grew wide, and she hastened to add, "That only applies to getting myself off. I like you to take all the time in the world."

"Your wish is my command," the blonde said, and proceeded to love her partner nice and slow and unhurriedly.

* * * * * * * * * * *