Moonshine

by bookplayer

Chapter 3

The hours passed. Night fell on the two, dispelled only by a sparse camp fire that AJ had struck up. A racoon lay, slain on a spit atop the fire, missing a leg. Applejack wordlessly gnawed at the appendage, not exactly savoring the greasy meat, but stomaching it. She looked over to Dash and said nothing for a long while, before coughing, drawing the woman away from staring past the wide field they found themselves in and at the line of brown road that snaked across the horizon.

The Raceabout had been parked behind a large elderberry brush, obscured from the road and safe from prying eyes. For a few hours at least, they were safe.

“Gonna eat?” Applejack quietly asked, wiping at the grease on her chin, choosing to ignore the spot that had dribbled down her chin and landed at her dress’s neckline. “This guy’s got enough on him fer us both.”

“That thing looks like a cooked cat,” Dash said, not moving from her spot.

“Cat tastes better,” AJ admitted after a beat. Though her family had more money nowadays, it wasn’t always so rosy. She had done her fair share of game catching—a lot of the folks around town said the Pomme children inherited their hunting skill from her mother, an Osage Indian. AJ wasn’t sure if that was the fact, but if so, it was another thing she owed her family—because of this, she had had quite a bit of experience with some of the more questionable meats dotting God’s green earth. She reached into a pocket, pulling out a switchblade. Flicking it open, she reached forward, cutting off its other leg and holding it out for Dash. “But I know yer hungry, so beggars can’t be choosers.”

Dash gave a snort and turned her head away, but after a few seconds she turned back and took the leg. She took a fearless bite and shrugged. “Not bad. Thanks.”

“Mmm,” AJ grunted out. Wiping her hands on her dress, she leaned forward, resting her chin on an arm and tried to think of what needed said. The air still hadn’t been cleared from their last engagement, and there was a certain sharpness above their camp. The sword of Damocles dangled above them, a single hard breath enough to break it and drop it clattering down upon their heads.

“Dash,” AJ quietly said, then paused, unsure how to continue. She didn’t want to apologize—had nothing to apologize for—but at the same time, the tension she felt here with the girl ate her away inside and so she looked to her instead, hoping her expression, her frown and weary eyes would say everything that needed said.

“Yeah?” Dash met her eyes. AJ could see the hard lines of her face, the thin shell the girl always tried to hide behind. But it never could hide the truth from AJ; Dash’s eyes were still full of wounded pride and shame. AJ knew that could be a touchy combination in a wildcat like Dash, so she wasn’t surprised by the terse reply.

Applejack crossed her arms, thinking, trying to approach it in a way that they wouldn’t lose their cool with one-another.

“Alice said she hated me the other day,” the farmer offered after a beat. “Me an’ the brother caught the girl tryin’ ta make some hooch on her own. I got scared that she’d hurt herself so I slapped her. She said that ta both of us an’ ran off.” AJ tossed another branch into the fire, where it snapped and popped, the flames dancing in the night air. “Mac, bless his heart, took it pretty hard. Me too. That hurt me more than anythin’ ya could ever hit me with. Hearin’ someone ya love with everythin’ ya got sayin’ that, well…” She shrugged. “But I know sometimes idiots from all walks-a life spit fire before they think ‘bout things. We all got our reasons.”

“Guess next time I’ll ask Alice for help, in that case.” Dash came close to cracking a smile, then popped another piece of meat in her mouth. After she swallowed, she sighed. “I don’t hate your farm, AJ. Your farm is swell.”

“I know ya didn’t mean it, sug. An’ I know you can take care of yerself. Ya ain’t helpless by any means.” AJ crossed her arms, tapping at her bicep in thought. She gave a weak smile after a beat. “Though still could use some money lessons from Mac.”

“I guess.” Dash gave a huff. She looked up at the sky and her face started to relax. “AJ? I’m sorry I pulled you into this mess. This wasn’t how I meant it to play out.”

“Don’t apologize,” AJ answered. “Even if I’m spittin’ fire, even if I don’t think I was wrong back there, I... “ She gave an adjustment at the neckline of her dress as she tried to form words that seemed elusive to her. Words close to her heart. “Everything that happened happened fer a reason. I ain’t gonna question providence. Ya comin’ back was worth this. I meant it when I said I missed ya earlier. Don’t think otherwise.”

“Me and providence aren’t real chummy these days, but…” Dash swallowed and looked over at AJ. “That means a lot to me.”

“You and providence are closer than ya think. Yer like a little guardian angel ta me. Though yer wings are a bit burnt,” AJ said. “An’ I think ya lost yer halo somewhere down the road.” Her smile widened. “Ya think yer girl would miss a jar of the good stuff? Maybe we have a bit of a makeshift dessert ta wash down the main course.”

Dash cracked a real smile for the first time in hours. “Nah. I know Pinkie, she’d probably rough me up if we didn’t try to make it a good time.” She hopped to her feet and headed to the car, returning, free of her suit jacket and vest, with a bottle of the Pomme’s finest.

“My mouth’s waterin’ already. Ain’t proper ta boast ‘bout yer own work, but…” AJ’s grin was sly as she rubbed her leg. “Hell, when am I proper?”

“I knew I liked ya’ for a reason.” Dash gave a snort of laughter and opened the bottle. She offered it to AJ. “First shot for the dame.”

“Age before beauty, as Rarity would say,” Applejack remarked with a laugh, taking a pull and offering a hard smile as the hooch went down, burning bliss all the way. After sucking in a breath, recovering from the drink, she offered the bottle back to Dash. “Think it’s yer turn, kitten.”

Dash grabbed it and took a long swig. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve and sat down where she was standing, just a few feet from AJ, placing the bottle between them. “Now that’s the good stuff.”

“The best stuff,” Applejack agreed. “Though my grandma did it even better. She had a version she made—from memory, the crazy broad—tasted exactly like apple pie. Ya wanna talk a drink that makes ya think someone slipped a mickey inta from how fast it catches ya off guard? That’s the one.” She gave a carefree, pure laugh soaked in nostalgia. “First time I tried it? Woke up in the fields with a cow lickin’ my face.”

“Well I guess I only asked if you had a fella… I didn’t think to ask about the livestock!” Dash snorted, then dissolved into giggles.

AJ leaned over, giving a playful punch to Dash’s shoulder. “Aw, cram it ya putz. If ya loved the wheels over there any more, I’d wonder if you two said vows yet.”

Dash smirked. “Nah, that kitten’s a gold-digger. I just know how to get her to to put out.”

AJ’s expression turned coy as she took in stock of the lithe woman beside her and she took another sip of the drink, it loosening her more prudish tongue.

“Frankly, sug, anythin’ ya touch has a good chance of puttin’ out. You’ve got some dexterity in the digits, after all.” The farmer offered the drink back to Dash, grinning cheekily.

Dash took a drink, eyeing AJ with a smile. “I do have a lot of talents. And I’ve been known to show off for folks who’ll really appreciate ‘em.” She offered AJ the bottle, her eyebrows cocked in a challenge.

AJ laughed, light-headed and blissful from the drink. Even then, she took the bottle and downed another pull. “No damn kiddin’. You’ve always been a show off. One thing I bet’ll never change ‘bout ya. Woe ta the man that tries ta pin ya down, sister. He’ll have his hands so full he’ll need ta use his feet ta keep on ya.” Debating, she swallowed once again, then offered the bottle to her companion. “I’d be almost jealous of ‘em,” she admitted with a bemused shake of her head.

A shadow crossed Dash’s face, and she snatched the bottle and threw it back with a long gulp. She looked at it and shook her head. “Not gonna happen. I’m done with that jazz. Any man who thinks he’s gonna catch me can go to hell.” She took another swig before gesturing with it towards AJ.

The farmer took it without complaint, giving it a slosh in the bottle before swallowing it down again. “I forget how much a lil’ gal like you can down. Lil’ more trainin’ an’ you’ll be ready ta match me shot fer shot.” She mulled over Dash’s words for a moment, before rolling a shoulder. “I’ll agree that romance ain’t everythin’ in life. No need ta try an’ hunt it down while ya got work ta do, ya know? But I dunno. I don’t think it’s everythin’, but it’s somethin’. Somethin’ I want ya ta have some day. Want ya ta be my full-package hot mama, a stick-a dynamite restin’ near a batch-a matches.” She gave a tap to her temple, treating the words as if they were sage advice. And, perhaps to her in her fast-approaching drunkenness, they approached something mystical and etched in truth. She gave the drink back to Dash.

Dash frowned at the bottle, then shook her head violently. “Don’t want it. Ya’ know what that stuff is, AJ? ‘S a trap.” She took a drink. “’S all a trap.”

Looking at Dash, then the bottle, AJ raised a brow. “The drink?” she guessed, misunderstanding. “Only if ya don’t know when ta stop, like anythin’, sug. If it was a real trap, I’d never sell it.”

“Not the hooch. Romance. Wanna ride, dollface? Ya’ like cars? Wanna see a plane? Wanna learn to fly? That’s how they get ya’, then BAM!” Dash slammed down the bottle, the liquor sloshing inside. “Ha! Nope! Just trying to catch a skirt. Can’t have it, can only have the damn fella that has it.”

“They ain’t all like that,” AJ countered. She looked to the bottle and with a small shrug, took it once more, swallowing another mouthful. “Mac’d never do that. An’ Filthy, hell, I know he wouldn’t be chasin’ a skirt, yet here we are with his tin can. Add onta that card he gave ya, an, well...” After another tap at her bare bicep, her expression turned thoughtful. “What yer talkin’ ‘bout with those fellas ain’t romance. That’s jus’ a wolf tryin’ ta find a sheep ta gobble up. Big difference. I know I ain’t got much experience in that department, but still. I got enough common sense in me ta know yer bein’ blinded.”

“There’s too many wolves in the city, AJ. Too Goddamn many wolves, and all I can do is show ‘em I’m no sheep. ‘S why rolled so high. Not a dame when you can put up the lettuce with the old boys. But—” she cringed. “I gotta be there. Can’t be home where it’s safe, can’t fly there. There’s no place I can be me. ‘Cept with you.”

“Then be with me,” AJ answered, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. She took another drink, noting with some glumness that the bottle was about to give up the ghost. “My house is yer house, Dash. My family is yer family. Mac, Alice, they’re yer kin. I love ya, we all love ya, sug. Ain’t ‘bout bein’ safe. It’s ‘bout feelin’ like ya belong somewhere. An’ maybe ya belong at the house. We’ll save up some bread over the next couple of years an’ get ya one-a those.” She gestured over to the Raceabout. “Hell, we’ll eventually get ya two. One jus’ fer show.” Grinning, she offered the bottle one more time to the woman. “Sounds ta me like a bit-a heaven.”

Dash just stared at her. She set down the bottle without taking a drink. “I want a bit of heaven, AJ.” She leaned over, shifting to close the space between them, and laid a hand on Applejack’s cheek. Then she smiled. “I wanna show off.” She leaned in closer, and her lips brushed Applejack’s in a soft kiss.

The farmer froze, a million thoughts racing through her mind, but none breaking her from the paralysis she found herself in. She wanted to push Dash away, she wanted to slap her, she wanted to threaten the girl—if this was a prank, it was too Goddamn far—but one thought, out of all of them, rose to the top of her mind.

She wanted to kiss her back.

AJ hesitated for a moment then slowly moved her head forward, resting her forehead against Dash’s. Then she turned her head, reaching up to press her palm against the back of Dash’s hand, and kissed Dash harder on the lips.

She broke away for a moment, and her thoughts became a hair more articulate. She swallowed, not sure what to say, not sure if this was even right. Even as Dash looked, she still was a woman. And a woman with a woman… it was unheard of.

“Evelyn,” she said, Dash’s true name seeming to hold a power at the moment over AJ, drawing a shiver to her breath. “What are we…?” she managed to ask, unsure she could even finish the thought at the moment.

Dash’s eyes seemed to plead with her. “Together. ‘S what we are. Together. I wanna be more together with you.”

AJ acted on instinct, offering a gentle smile to Dash. “Used ta think ‘bout kissin’ ya,” she admitted then added, “Evelyn,” under her breath. Her hand tightened around Dash’s own and she finally nodded, heat at her cheeks and her heart racing in fear? she thought, excitement? Dread? Anticipation? What the hell are you thinking?

She didn’t know, but with Dash, maybe she’d find out.

Bringing her arm forward, AJ all but scooped the smaller woman up, resting her palm on Dash’s back.

Dash beamed and kissed her high on the cheek, next to her ear, then whispered. “I always wanted to show off for you, AJ. Make you see I’m special. ‘Cause you’re so special, you’re the one that matters.” She kissed again, then went on, “I wanna make you feel special.”

Applejack drew in a breath. “Well yer doin’ a damn fine job of it,” she whispered back, running her hand over the thin fabric of Dash’s shirt. Her other arm was propping her up, especially important as the smaller woman pressed in harder. Both of Dash’s arms wrapped around her and wandered aimlessly over her back and sides as Dash’s kisses continued down Applejack’s neck.

As the kisses sent shivers through her body, AJ rubbed her cheek against the cropped rainbow hair and felt all the energy in Dash’s lithe body against hers. It seemed like a dream. This couldn’t be happening.

But she wanted it to be happening, especially as Dash’s hands fumbled at the hem of her shirt and slipped under, now running over her bare back, warm skin against skin. Want was consuming a large part of her mind, between the soft bites at her collarbone and the nimble hands exploring her body. The other, smaller part was trying to pull the bottom of Dash’s shirt out of the waistband of her pants with one hand.

Then the spell was shattered. She felt a hand grope her breast over her bra. Applejack gasped, heat flowed through her body, but on pure instinct she reached up to shove it away; years of training told her to fight off any fella who got grabby with those. But the hand she reached with was the one that had been supporting the weight of both women, and as she swatted at Dash she fell back hard against the ground, Dash falling forward on top of her.

Dash’s eyes widened, and she pushed against the ground, taking her weight off Applejack. “Shit. Sorry. I mean, you just wanna neck, that’s fine. No heavy petting. Got it.”

But that heat hadn’t left when Dash pulled her hand away. In fact, laying there under her, their bodies inches apart, it seemed to be even hotter, and that word was quickly consuming her mind again.

“Dash, no, I-I liked it. Liked yer hand there. It’s jus’ not somethin’ I’m used to, but… I want it. I want it all.”

Saying it out loud settled that in Applejack’s mind. “All” was really the only word for what she wanted. She wanted all of Dash, all over all of her. She wanted Dash on her farm and in her life, and she wanted her here, naked, and real soon for a preference.

An excited, hungry grin flashed across Dash’s face. “You’re really sure?”

“Reckon we should stop pussyfootin’ ‘round the matter. I’d hate ta stall the woman that got a Ford up ta seventy, after all.” Her heart thundered against her ribs and the smile trembled. Reaching forward, she took the top button of Dash’s shirt and unbuttoned it in one flash of her hand, exposing a bit of Dash’s skin and gave a small trail of a finger at Dash’s collarbone. “Jus’ a matter of, uh, figurin’ out how we go ‘bout it, huh?”

Dash let out a shaky breath. “I think that’s a good start.” She ran a hand across AJ’s body, over her shirt, resting it on the breast she had been denied a few moments ago.

“Like ‘em?” AJ asked, maybe a hair nervous as she waited for Dash’s appraisal.

The hand caressed her breast, giving a light squeeze, and Dash nodded. Then she paused and smirked. “Of course, I can’t really tell until I see ‘em.”

“I know the feelin’.” Applejack grinned and drew a breath, unbuttoning the next two buttons on Dash’s shirt. Pulling it apart with one hand, she peeked down the front. She wasn’t expecting much, Dash was a skinny little thing and didn’t even bother with a bra, but gravity was doing her some favors in this position and the small mounds looked so soft and feminine that Applejack couldn’t resist cupping one in her hand.

She looked up at Dash. For a moment, her big eyes and sharp face seemed delicate rather than boyish. It reminded Applejack of coming across a doe in the woods, and she felt like she should whisper, so as not to spook her.

“Yer beautiful, Evelyn.”

“Oh god…” Dash breathed. She stared at AJ for a few long seconds. AJ could feel Dash’s breath coming heavy, and she soon realized that she was nearly panting herself.

Something in the moment snapped. Dash’s full weight came down on her and her lips found AJ’s, kissing hungrily. Applejack matched her in passion, and she ran her hands over every part of Dash’s body she could reach. She felt her own body being wildly ransacked, clothing tugged aside and and Dash’s hot hands rubbing everywhere.

Somehow they parted for long enough to toss aside disheveled and useless shirts before pulling each other into a wrestling match over who’s mouth got to join their hands in exploring the bare flesh revealed in the moonlight. Either Applejack’s mouth was tasting and smelling Dash’s hot skin and forcing squeaky moans from the girl, or her own body was being covered in pressing kisses that found sensitive spots she never knew she had; Applejack couldn't find a way to lose this game.

But she was pretty sure she found a way to win when Dash’s hand made its way under her skirt, groping her thigh.

“Oh yeah...” Applejack gasped, running her hands through Dash’s hair as Dash kissed across her stomach.

The hand continued sliding up as Applejack squirmed, trying to hurry the progress. She couldn’t catch a deep breath, and she didn’t care. Her whole body was tense and sweaty from the effort of trying to have every sensation at once and somehow give Dash the same, and she didn’t care about that either. All she cared about was that hand moving up her leg.

Dash finally reached the spot between her legs with a firm grope, and Applejack just about lost her mind.

“Oh sweet Jesus! Oh God, Dash, more!” Applejack closed her eyes and threw her head back. Then the sensation disappeared, and Applejack’s eyes snapped open. Panting and aching for more, she saw that Dash had shifted away.

“Evelyn Hammett, get yer damn hand back there right this minute!”

Dash just giggled and reached under AJ’s skirt with both hands. “Gotta get your panties off.”

Realizing this was a real good reason for the pause, Applejack reached down to help her, unzipping her skirt and tugging that and her panties off. She lay there in the moonlight, all of her body’s thick, hard-earned muscle and thicker, God-given curves revealed for Dash.

Dash was crouched by her feet and looked her up and down. She let out a long whistle. “They know how to grow ‘em out on the farm.”

The swell of pride didn’t come close to matching the wonderful ache Applejack was feeling. “Would ya cut the sweet talk and get back to it?”

“Working on it!” Her hands moved to her fly. She quickly undid it and dropped her pants and underwear. Then she looked down. “Uh— shit.” She shuffled back a bit with her pants around her ankles and leaned over to untie her shoes.

Applejack leaned back and let out a hard belly laugh at the sight, her frustration forgotten for the moment. “Oh Dash. Sometimes I wonder about ya.”

“I was distracted!” Dash protested as she pulled off her second shoe and stepped out of her pants, her body finally totally free. Applejack feasted her eyes on the lithe, toned body as Dash got to her knees and crawled over her.

Dash ran an appreciative hand up AJ’s side from hip to breast. “With all this in front of her, how’s a girl supposed to think of shoes?” She relaxed against her and gave her a long, lingering kiss that reminded AJ there was a fire burning hot inside of her

“Trust me, it ain’t shoes I want ya thinkin’ about jus now,” Applejack said as the kiss parted. Then a shadow of doubt crossed her face. “Ya do know how to… ya know, with a girl?”

Dash smiled. “Of course! I mean…” For a moment she seemed to be trying to find the right words, but eventually the smile fell from her face as she looked down at the farmer. She swallowed. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Applejack’s face fell. “I thought with all that big city experience, ya’d know… I never even thought this far before tonight.”

“I know I want this. And I know we’ll figure it out. We know what makes us feel good… so we just do that to each other…” She squirmed against AJ, her hips pressing against her. “A lot. I wanna do a lot of that with you.”

Applejack nodded with a nervous grin. It was really the only choice, because with their naked bodies pressed together there was no way in hell they could stop now.

The rest of the evening was spent in a tangle of sticky, sweaty limbs, both trying everything they could think of to push each other over the top. Whether it was determination or luck or the wild electricity between them, they never had much trouble achieving blissful outbursts again and again, like fireworks at a country fair. Time seemed to move quickly, blurring everything together, though Applejack was pretty sure she’d remember a few things that stuck out, or in, for a long time after. She’d remember them for next time, because Applejack knew this had always been missing from her life, and she knew she couldn’t live without it; both the physical feelings and the moaning, shuddering woman in her arms.

They had their misfires, and found out that even a pair of strong, active girls had limits to flexibility and endurance. But cries of pain turned quickly into giggles and then moans of pleasure as they gamely readjusted and switched tracks. And through it all they had the banquet of one another’s bodies to savor; every inch and every second were mouthwateringly delicious. There wasn’t a moment for Applejack to consider that what she was doing, or who she was doing it with, might be wrong. Right and wrong seemed tiny and far away compared to the encompassing reality of what she felt there with Dash.

And late at night, or early in the morning, the heat of the moment had melted away. Applejack lay sated and exhausted, and she cradled the most beautiful woman, the most beautiful person she’d ever seen as the girl slept. Right and wrong crept back into her world, and wrong slunk back into some dirty, forgotten corner of her mind while right shone brightly from everything about this. Because this was right, the way her farm and family were right. Dash was a part of her, and she could never let her go.

Comments

[QueenMoriarty]

Maybe we have a bit of a makeshift desert ta wash down the main course.

When it's foody stuff, it's dessert. Desert is sandy.

Saying it outloud settled that in Applejack’s mind.

Pretty sure out loud is two words.

Also, good scene, the sort to make someone feel really lonely in a good way.

[bookplayer]

6461041
Fixed, thanks! And I'm glad you liked it.

[FanOfMostEverything]

If I didn't know that there was only one chapter left, I'd think this was going to go horribly awry. As is, I'm just looking forward to the denoument. That's not to say that I'm eager to see the end of this story, just that I'm looking forward to more and know that the next part is the last part.

[bookplayer]

6461885
There's a bit of surprise still in store. Not quite horribly awry, but let's just say that the last chapter is a long one, and hangovers aren't the best start to a relationship.

That being said, the denouement is a lot of fun, too.

[Merc the Jerk]

6463767

Surprised it keeps catching random downvotes

Welcome to the world of non self-insert humanized stories. Enjoy your stay.

[PresentPerfect]

I am so in love with this for so many reasons.

[Krickis]

Wasn't expecting this story to have almost a whole chapter of sex in this one, but I can't say I mind. Was smiling the whole way through, fantastic stuff as always!