“Hello?”

“Hi, Dan? It’s Bette Porter.”

“Hey Bette, what a nice surprise.” Dan was smiling, but quickly felt a twinge of concern, wondering why Bette would be calling him. “Is everything O.K.?”

Bette smiled into the phone, immediately picking up on Dan’s concern. ‘He’s such a nice man. Tina really did make a good choice in him,’ Bette thought. “Yes, everything is fine. The reason I am calling, is because I have been thinking about Christmas, and I was wondering if I could persuade you to help me with some ideas I have? Because of the distance, I am having difficulty with the execution of a couple of things. That, and I was also wondering…”

~ ~ ~

Three weeks later…


Tina was having a wonderful dream…she and Bette were laying on a beach, making love under a steamy, hot sun. Bette was scorching a trail down Tina’s stomach, her moist lips grabbing on to skin, her hot breath igniting each spot, that was then instantly cooled by the flick of her tongue, as she torturously made her way down her lover’s body. She was just about to take Tina into her mouth…when they heard a phone ringing. Bette stopped what she was doing, looking around in confusion, trying to figure out where the ringing was coming from. “Baby, there’s a phone ringing…here on the beach.”

Tina’s breath was coming in short, quick gasps. “That can’t be right. We’re on a beach for crying out loud! Oh God Baby…please don’t stop!”

But the phone kept ringing, finally penetrating far enough into Tina’s consciousness, for her to realize that she was not on a beautiful beach with her incredibly gorgeous lover, but rather she was wrapped up under a pile of blankets, in her own bed, in blistery Seattle…alone. “*****!” She opened her eyes and grabbed the ringing handset, glancing at the clock radio at the same time. ’6 ***** 30 in the morning!! This better be important!’

“What!”

“Wow…” Tina heard a soft sultry chuckle gliding through the phone line. “I know it’s early, but I thought being as it’s Christmas and all, I might get a little better greeting than that.”

“Oh God Bette! I’m sorry…Merry Christmas, Baby.”

Bette chuckled again, the sound of it vibrating through Tina’s body, settling in the same place that all her blood had been rushing to, during her dream. “Merry Christmas, T. So, what’s the cause of that warm and loving greeting?”

Tina groaned, thinking about what she was just about to experience before Bette’s call. “Well, you were just about ready to go down on me, while I was enjoying the beautiful view, on our very own secluded beach.” Tina blew out a breath. “I love you Bette, but geez…if you can’t be here in person, the least you can do is wait until you finish satisfying me in my dreams before you call me on the phone!”

Bette laughed at Tina’s predicament, but wishing she could be there to make Tina’s “dream” come true. “Oh Baby…I’m sorry. Is there anything I could do to help?”

Tina reached down and softly stroked herself, knowing that in the state she was in, all it would take would be hearing Bette’s soft, low voice, for her to experience the relief she ached for. Feeling her fingers sliding into herself, she had no control over the low groan escaping through her lips. “Speaking of dreams…Bette…you know…please…”

Bette gasped at the sound of Tina’s voice, the phone line not diluting Tina’s need one little bit. And even though when Bette had picked up the phone just a short minute ago to call Tina, she had no idea what would be waiting for her on the other end…somehow…”this” was not what she was expecting. Even so…all it took was hearing Tina moan into the phone to bring Bette to the same level of need…of aching, that Tina was feeling. As she was still laying in her own bed, she reached down…and imagined that it was Tina who was now caressing her…that it was Tina’s fingers that were causing her body to open itself, wider and wider.

“Close your eyes Tina.” Bette was silent for a moment, then whispered…”Are they closed, Baby?”

Tina’s hips had a mind of their own, and were undulating softly and gently against the sheets, almost without Tina noticing. “Oh God, Baby…yes, they’re closed….hurry Bette…please…tell me.”

Bette’s own breath was becoming erratic, but even so, she couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face, knowing what Tina wanted to hear. God, she loved this woman. For she knew that what Tina wanted to hear didn’t have anything to do with *****, didn’t have anything to do with a physical act…it was just a simple story about a dream. But, a story that meant the world to Tina, and to Bette as well. It was a story that Bette had shared with Tina, the night she first proclaimed her love for the beautiful blond, that had thankfully swept into her life.

Wanting to bring Tina her release, Bette whispered into the phone that words Tina was anxiously waiting for…”Before I met you, I would have dreams about “the love of my life,” but in my dreams, the woman was always faceless. Dream after dream, I would experience the love, the happiness, the incredible peace of sharing my life with that person, yet would wake in frustration, not being able to see the face of the one person who brought me to such soaring heights. I thought that I was being punished for something that I had done…being allowed to experience such breathtaking joy in my dreams…only to wake up, knowing it was once again out of my reach.”

Tina wasn’t even aware any more of what her hands were doing, as they furiously moved in and out, her thumb joining in on every other stroke. “Yes, Baby…”

Bette was having trouble continuing, gasping for her own breath, gripping the phone until her knuckles turned white and a deep red. “And then one day, I was standing in my gallery, and I heard my name. I turned around…and there you were. You smiled at me, I knew it…it was you, all those dreams…it was you. Yours was the face that belonged to all the joy…all the love I shared in those dreams. I had to pinch myself to make sure I was awake, that you were real…and Baby, I still pinch myself. Every time I see you smile, every time you tell me you love me…I pinch myself, just so I know for sure…it’s not a dream. I pinch myself, and I know it, T. You and I…what we share, is deliciously, wonderfully, extraordinarily…real.”

And upon hearing those last words, both women…snuggled under layers of warm blankets, laying by themselves on two different coasts…simultaneously experienced blinding orgasms, that left no doubt about how real their love was…how real Bette’s dream had become.

Then, after what seemed like hours, when both women were breathing normally, Bette smiled into the phone, asking the question she had intended to ask when she first called.

“So Baby…have you opened your Christmas present yet?”