The Once and Future Queen

"I wonder how Jason would react if I told him that this was the costume that I wore the night I fucked 'Big Bill' Watson in my dressing room," Jane grinned as she thought back to that night after a long day of shooting the second season finale.

Twenty years older and black as the night, the veteran actor had been a guest star on the episode. He had agreed to play the part of Chief Bokari of the hidden T'Lara tribe because his son by his third ex-wife was a big fan of the show.

It wasn't until he was out of costume that Jane really understood why people called him 'Big Bill' and it wasn't because of his six foot two height. Previous to that night, Jane had never believed that myth about black men and size, but she quickly learned that even myths sometimes have a basis in truth. If he hadn't become a serious actor, Bill Watson could have given Johnny Holmes a run for his money in the porn industry.

The episode had turned out to be one of the fan's favorites and hers as well, but understandably not for the same reason. The late night encounter had left her sore for the last two days of shooting and few members of the cast or crew weren't able to guess the reason why. Thankfully, no one ever said anything about it but there had been a number of playful smiles from both men and women on the set.

"Why don't you try it on?" a familiar voice unexpectedly said from behind Jane. "I bet it still fits."

Jane turned around quickly and found Dawn Russell, the twenty-three year old star of Mara, Queen of the Jungle, standing less than ten feet away. When she had first heard someone behind her, the older woman had been filled with a sudden dread that it had been Jason and he had taken her interest in her old costume as an indication that she might have changed her mind about making his fantasies come true.

"I don't think it would stand up to my trying it on," Jane said, a touch of relief in her voice that it hadn't been Jason, "I've put on a few pounds since then and it was fragile enough back in the day."

"Nonsense," Dawn said as she moved closer and took her own look at the costume in the case. "I'd bet that you still look better in that get up than I do in mine."

That sentiment made Jane think of something she'd noticed the first day on the set, at least the first day Dawn had appeared in the Mara costume. Despite the two-decade difference and the current easier going attitude about nudity, or at least semi-nudity, Dawn's version of the costume had twice as much material as her own had . There weren't going to be any costume malfunctions on this film.

Then again, Dawn was hardly an unknown actress getting her first big break as Jane had been. Since the age of ten, Dawn had practically grown up on television. First as one of the children on a family oriented sitcom, then as a teen as part of an ensemble cast on a musical variety show. Finally, as a nineteen year old with her own show that ended last year after a three year run.

In that time, Dawn had developed a reputation as being a sort of virginal all American princess. So much so that one columnist had gone so far as to label her a 90's version of Annette Funicello. Making a public declaration that you wouldn't have sex with a man until your wedding night had become the in thing to do among teen stars, and Dawn had been no exception. But what was exceptional was that in her case she actually seemed to mean it. Unlike her peers, no hint of scandal had ever been connected with her or her relationship with Ronnie Cunningham, the boy she'd met on that variety show and had dated on and off in the years since.

When Jane first learned that Dawn had been signed to star in the film, she wasn't sure how she was going to get along with the younger actress. For all she knew, the girl might even be one of those bible thumpers that look at anyone who has a little fun as being on the express elevator to hell.

So when Dawn showed up at a small, casual get-together that Jason arranged to acquaint the principals with each other, Jane almost burst out laughing when the new Mara walked up and introduced herself. It wasn't so much anything Dawn did or said as much as what she was wearing.

With long blonde haired tied in a ponytail and deeply tanned skin, Miss Goodness-And-Everything-Wholesome was decked out in low cut jeans and a light blue tank top that while not exactly see through, was form fitting enough to show that she wasn't wearing a bra and that it didn't have to be translucent to display exactly what it supposed to be covering. Additionally, the almost blouse bore the legend "Good girls are just bad girls who haven't been caught."

In no time at all, despite the difference in their ages, the two of them became friends. At least friends enough to have no problem working together. Despite her star status, Dawn never looked down at Jane, who many others looked at as a has been, if not a never was. Still, there was something in the way the younger actress looked at her at times that Jane could never quite put her finger on. But she finally decided it was only her imagination playing tricks on her.

"I was looking for Heather, have you seen her?" Dawn asked Jane as if to explain what she was doing here.

Heather Cox was one of the co-stars of the film. Three years older than Dawn, the dark skinned actress played Mara's best friend and the daughter of Chief Bokari. Having paid her dues in the soaps and a few guest shots on network shows, she had graduated to big screen after Jason had seen her in one of the latter roles. A chance that she had taken to heart and worked harder than any two people to give the best performance possible. She had also, Jane recalled, become close friends with Dawn, which was understandable seeing they were of the same age.

"I'm afraid I haven't seen her," Jane replied, "maybe she's listening to Jason's 'I had a vision' speech."

"If that's the case then I feel sorry for her," Dawn laughed, "I've heard that one too many times."

"I guess attendance is sort of mandatory if you want to stay in his good graces," Jane replied in kind.

"Fortunately, you and I don't have that problem," Dawn pointed out. "In our cases, he needed us more then we needed him."

"That much is probably true," Jane agreed.

"So what do you think of the way the film turned out?" Dawn asked as she circled the display case containing the original Mara costume. "Do you think that the fans are going to accept me as Mara?"

"How could they not," Jane said. "You're a terrific actress."

"So were you. After all, you created the role."

"I don't see how you can compare the two versions," Jane said in surprise. "You're a real actress, I was just some beauty queen who got lucky. Would you believe the only reason I was even considered for the role was that I had the boobs to fit into the costume."

Dawn's face filled with a funny look and Jane thought for a moment that maybe she'd been offended by what she'd said. Or at least how she'd said it. Quickly, she offered an apology.

"I happen to think that you have great tits," Dawn countered unexpectedly, brushing aside the apology. "And at least they're real, unlike ninety percent of the other actresses in this town. I wish mine were half as nice as yours."

Jane was taken back by what Dawn said. First that she had said it in the first place, and then what she had said. Thinking back to that Annette Funicello analogy, the younger actress was hardly lacking in that department.

"Shocked that I referred to your breasts as tits?" Dawn laughed after Jane had been silent for a few seconds. "Don't be. In fact, I've been know to say things like 'fuck' and 'shit' when the mood arises, but not of course in the hearing of some nosy reporters or paparazzi. Don't believe all the PR bull that my agent puts out. I'm far from the angel that they sometimes like to portray me as."

"I never really thought all of that was true," Jane confessed, wondering not for the first time what was true and what wasn't.

"When you get to be the big star there are always people around you making sure you don't do anything to upset the apple cart," Dawn lamented, "or more accurately, the gravy train. God forbid I should do something that doesn't fit in with my 'I'll wear virginal white on my wedding day' image. You know that scene in the movie where I take a shower in the waterfall?"

Jane nodded that she remembered.

"At first they insisted that I used a body double but I refused," she explained. "Then they made sure that I was only shot from the back and the camera image ended above the crack of my ass. Finally, because I turned around so that people could see that it was me and not some body double, those assholes went over every frame of the scene with a magnifying glass to make sure that there wasn't any part of my nipple showing. Is that fucked up or what?"

Jane had to agree it was. In a way, having only been a B movie actress at best didn't seem so bad after all. At least she never had anyone telling her what she could or couldn't do.

"I wish they had let me wear the same costume that you did," Dawn said as she changed the subject back to the display case. "What's the point of working out everyday to have a kickass body if you can't show it off."

Jane had to also agree with her there. Back when she wore the costume, she used to get an almost perverse pleasure knowing everyone was looking at her in it when she walked across the set.

"You think that the boy wonder sits in here and imagines you wearing that costume?" Dawn asked.

"I think it's a pretty strong possibility," Jane offered as she recalled his mentioning of the fantasies he'd had about Mara.

"I bet you he sits here and jerks off while he looks at it," Dawn unexpectedly added.

"That's not an image that I think I want to entertain," the older actress laughed, thinking at the same time that it was probably true.

"Well I guess you can't blame him, he really is just a little kid who never grew up, most of the really good directors are," Dawn pointed out, "and after all, you and that costume got a lot of boys through puberty."

"I guess so," Jane said, not wanting to really admit that having millions of teenage fans over the years jerk off to her image had been a secret turn-on.

"But you know, it wasn't only the boys who had fantasies about you," Dawn said as she moved even closer to Jane.

"Excuse me," Jane said, sure that she'd heard Dawn wrong.

"You know, I really wasn't all that interested in making this movie until Jason told me that you'd agreed to do it as well," Dawn went on as she moved close enough to reach out and run her fingers down Jane's arm. "If he was your biggest fan, then I think I might've been a close second, or at least in the top ten."

"I'm not sure exactly how I should respond to that," Jane replied, trying hard to ignore the tactile sensation of Dawn's fingers against her skin and doing a lousy job of it.

"Well I hope one of the options going through your mind isn't running from the room in disgust," Dawn said as she reached out with her other hand, a sense of vulnerability in her voice.

"That," Jane answered after taking a deep breath, " could never be a consideration, much less an option."

"Good," Dawn smiled as she leaned in closer to Jane, "I was a little worried for a moment that you might not be interested. This isn't a side of myself that I open up to many people."

"It's just that it's been so long since I..." Jane said as her thoughts flashed back over a decade to the last time she'd been this close to another woman, "and I'm so much older than you."

"Does that really make a difference?" the blonde haired girl said, cutting her off.

"No, I guess it doesn't make any difference at all," Jane smiled.

Dawn closed the last few inches between them, her lips brushing against Jane's. When they made contact a second time, the kiss was as soft and sweet as any Jane could remember. A third and fourth were even more desirable as Dawn brought her hands behind Jane's head and pulled them even closer together. Their bodies pressed against each other, their nipples growing hard. Jane felt a long absent wave of wetness between her legs, one that, based on her own reaction, was mirrored in her younger counterpart.

It almost seemed like a dream, as if it was happening to someone else and Jane was just an observer. When Dawn suggested that they take it to her bedroom where they could have some privacy, the older redhead heard a voice that sounded just like hers saying yes.

-=-=-=-

"What the hell am I doing?" Jane asked herself as she followed Dawn down the narrow wrought iron circular staircase to the floor below where both of their guest rooms were.

It had been well over ten years since she'd been with another woman, much less one practically half her age. In fact, she hadn't even been with another man since Johnny died. It was one thing to reminisce about the naughty old days, she told herself, it was quite another to relive them. Yet, only a few short minutes before, she had been playing tonsil hockey with the young woman in front of her and without any hesitation, had agreed to go back to her room.

"I'm a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the PTA for Christ's sake," Jane thought as Dawn looked back at her and smiled warmly. "What would Clayton think if he could see his mother now?"

"I'd say go for it, Mom," the voice of her teenage son seemed to say in her mind. "Look at her, how could you even think of saying no?"

Clayton had indeed been quite taken with Dawn when he had flown out to the set with his grandmother during filming. Even before his father had died, mother and son had been as close as could be. They had few secrets from each other and he constantly urged her to go out and have some fun. That, both he and her mother-in-law insisted, is what Johnny would've wanted. If this was the sort of fun they envisioned was another matter.

"Well here we are," Dawn said as they reached the main guest bedroom down the hall from Jane's.

Dawn opened the door and stepped inside, turning on the light to her left. She took another step, then paused, realizing that Jane was still standing outside.

"Is something wrong?" Dawn asked as she saw the look of indecision on the older woman's face.

"No, nothing's wrong," Jane replied as her look turned to one of reassurance and she silently told herself she was being silly. She was, after all, a single woman free to be with whoever she wanted.

As she followed Dawn into the room and closed the door behind her, Jane could almost hear Clayton yelling out "all right!" Then she put any thoughts of him and the world outside far from her mind.

"I've been thinking about this since the first day I met you," Dawn said as she tossed her arms around Jane's neck and gently kissed her.

Jane returned the kiss, her tongue brushing against the younger actress's lips and any sense of hesitation began to slip behind her. A second kiss followed and this time Dawn opened her mouth to pull her inside.

"Would you like something to drink?" Dawn asked as they broke their embrace.

"No, I'm fine," Jane said, thinking of the number of drinks she'd had out in the garden.

"I was hoping that you would say yes," Dawn replied, a small look of disappointment on her face. "They make sure I don't drink at public functions because I tend to get very flirtatious when I do, and I hate to drink alone."

"In that case I'll have whatever you're having," Jane said, changing her mind.

"Great," Dawn grinned as she disappeared below a small cabinet that quickly revealed itself to be a refrigerated bar, "I think there's still a bottle of white left, yes here it is," she added as she came up with the chilled bottle of wine.

Pouring the two of them a glass, Dawn handed Jane one of them and raised her glass to make a toast.

"What shall we drink to?" she asked.

"How about the end of a great movie?" Jane suggested.

"Nah, there was more than enough of that outside," Dawn replied as she tried to think of something more appropriate. "How about we drink to beautiful women?"

"To beautiful women then," Jane agreed as she raised her own glass, "in whose company you certainly belong."

"No more than you do," Dawn offered as she took a large sip of her wine.

Jane followed suit but the expression on her face said that she didn't totally agree with the statement. Dawn took note of it at once and wasn't going to let it pass without comment.

"Do you know why women are so beautiful?" she asked after taking a second sip, "It's because they, like this wine, grow more attractive with time. Whereas men for the most part only grow older."

"So do you prefer a more vintage wine?" Jane asked out of curiosity as she took more of her drink.

"I wouldn't say it's a preference really," Dawn said as she finished her own and put in down, "as much as just an appreciation of all the variety different vintages might offer."

As she spoke, Dawn had brought her hands to the top button of her blouse and began to undo it and those beneath it. The expanse that had already provided an ample view of her not unimpressive chest grew ever wider as Jane found her eyes fixed on the sight.

Unlike many stars of her generation, Dawn had never appeared or been photographed nude. Her shower scene in "Mara" would be the most revealing that she'd ever done. Various tabloids and men's magazines had offered large sums for even a nipple slip or an embarrassing upskirt photo, but all anyone could ever come up with were the obvious fakes that circulated around the Internet. It was one of Dawn's little secrets that she collected all of those fakes and had even once doctored a photograph of herself with "fake tits" and posted it online. It was so obviously a fake that most people just laughed at it. Dawn had the biggest laugh of all because she'd used another photo of her own breasts to make the composite. So in a way, it really was a genuine nude of her but no one realized it.

Dawn's orange skirt followed her white blouse and her matching shoes a moment later. Standing in the center of the room in only a lacy bra that looked too fragile to contain the bust within and a even skimpier white thong, the actress turned to the right and then left to give Jane a full look at her body. It was a sight that half a million young and not so young fans would've given most anything to see.

A sight that grew even more spectacular as Dawn undid the clasp of her bra and slid it down her arms, letting it drop to the floor next to her other clothes. Jane felt no better than one of those teenage boys who used to ogle her, starring at the dark, erect nipples that capped the most beautiful breasts she had ever seen. And in two and a half decades in the business, she'd seen more sets of boobs than she could count.

"I take back what I said about you being beautiful," Jane said, "you're ... you're ... I can't even think of a word to describe how spectacular you are."

Dawn's only response to the praise was a small smile at the corner of her mouth. Instead, she sat on the edge of the large four-post bed and motioned for Jane to also get comfortable.

"I want to see you too," she offered, her voice containing almost the same sense of excitement that one of those teenage fans might've held.

Even having come to terms with the idea that she was still an attractive woman, Jane knew full well that she could never compare to the younger woman. Not even when she'd worn that costume in the trophy room upstairs. Then, after a few moments hesitation, she reached behind her and unzipped the flowered sundress she'd worn to the party. She hoped Dawn wouldn't be too disappointed.

It had been a long time since she'd stripped for someone else's pleasure and Jane knew she was going much too fast. Still, Dawn didn't seem to mind. In no time at all, Jane was down to just her panties, which was as far from Dawn's thong as you could get, having come from a local department store back home. Mimicking the younger actress's motions from before, Jane turned to each side to give Dawn a good look.