“I wondered where you two had gone,” Theo said, joining them. “Papa, I’d like to take you down to the stables, if now’s a good time. I’ve got a fine new stallion I’d like to show off.”
Ellie kissed her father on the cheek. “Go on. I think you’ll be quite impressed with Theo’s work.”
“All right then, son, lead the way.”
Ellie grew misty-eyed as she watched the two men she loved most walk away. She was blessed to have them and she said yet another prayer of gratitude that Theo had survived the war. After a moment, she went back inside to join the others.
“Ah, there you are,” Johanna said, her radiant smile chasing Ellie’s clouds away. “We were just telling your mother that it’s time for our rounds. Lady Violet, it’s been a pleasure. We’ll leave you two to catch up.”
As they left, Johanna lightly brushed Ellie’s arm. “Breathe,” she whispered. “I love you.”
Ellie smiled, her heart full. She joined her mother, who was seated by the window, looking out at a colorful bed of tulips.
“So, how was your trip?” Ellie said, taking the seat opposite.
“Long and bumpy, but at least the weather held. It’s a fine day.”
“Yes, it is. Mother, I’m glad you came all this way to visit us.”
“You are? I thought perhaps…well, never mind.” Her mother sighed and looked away.
Ellie took a deep breath and took the plunge. “Mother, I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye, and you perhaps haven’t understood or approved of my choices, but it would mean the world to me to have your blessing.” There, she’d said it. Ellie sat, hands clasped tightly, and steeled herself for her mother’s reaction.
After several tense moments, Mother spoke. “Miss Lennox and Miss Campbell spoke very highly of you, Eleanor. They told me how hard you’ve worked to establish this home, how tireless and dedicated you are to ensuring its success. You’re right, you know. I haven’t always understood your choices, and I stubbornly held to the notion that your life should follow the same path as mine. I regret that now.”
She looked up at Ellie with tear-filled eyes. “I envy you, Eleanor. You have more courage and conviction in your little finger than I’ve ever had, and I was a fool not to see it. I’m very proud of you, and I hope you’ll forgive me.”
Tears spilled down Ellie’s cheeks as she rose from her chair. Kneeling beside her mother, she nodded. “I love you, Mama.” She laid her head on her mother’s knee, rejoicing when she felt a hand gently stroking her hair.
She heard her mother’s voice catch on a sob as she replied, “I love you, too, my Ellie.”
* * *
Johanna and Ellie hadn’t had a moment alone to talk until now, as they readied for bed.
“What a day,” Ellie said, plopping down on the stool at her dressing table.
“Seemed to turn out better than you expected,” Johanna replied, coming to stand behind her. She removed the pins from Ellie’s hair and began to brush it. Such little intimacies were the best parts of her day. She watched Ellie’s face in the mirror as she closed her eyes and began to relax.
“My mother was full of surprises. Not only was she impressed with you and Fiona, but she said she was proud of me. I’ve waited years to hear those words.”
“Oh, darling, I’m so happy things have worked out between you. I thought your parents were wonderful. I don’t think it could’ve been a more perfect day.”
Ellie opened her eyes and gazed at Johanna’s reflection. “I can think of one way to top it,” she said, pulling her hair aside to reveal her neck.
Johanna smiled and put the brush aside. Accepting the invitation, she kissed Ellie’s soft skin, nuzzling the velvety spot beneath her earlobe. She untied the strings at the neck of Ellie’s nightgown and eased it off one shoulder, her lips caressing every inch of exposed skin.
“That feels heavenly,” Ellie said, reaching up behind her to thread her fingers through Johanna’s hair.
“I’ve only just begun.” Johanna grasped Ellie’s shoulders and turned her around, then knelt before her. “Have you any idea the joy you bring me, lass?” she said, running her hands along Ellie’s thighs. “I need you like I need air.”
Ellie cupped Johanna’s face in her hands. “Oh, my love, I feel the same. You are everything that’s beautiful and good in this world.”
She brought Johanna’s head to her chest and held her close. Johanna rested her cheek on one breast and brought her hand up to stroke the other. As she circled the nipple through the thin fabric, Ellie’s breath quickened. Suddenly she pressed Johanna’s shoulders back and stood.
“Bed, now.”
Johanna chuckled and got up from her knees, lifting the hem of Ellie’s nightgown as she rose. “We can leave this here,” she said, sliding the garment over Ellie’s head. Standing naked, her porcelain skin flushed and her blue eyes dark with desire, Ellie took Johanna’s breath away.
Ellie grasped Johanna’s hand and moved to the bed, captured Johanna’s lips in a fiery kiss as she undressed her, then stepped back.
“Ah, lass, the way you look at me sets my body on fire.”
“I can’t help it. You’re stunning.” Ellie placed a finger on Johanna’s lips, then drew a slow and meandering path down her body until she touched the soft curls between her legs. “Sometimes I still can’t believe you’re mine.” Dipping into the wetness there, Ellie moaned. “Lie back and let me love you.”
Johanna stretched out on the bed, her body twitching with need, and watched as Ellie knelt between her legs.
“I love your breasts,” Ellie said, caressing them and rubbing Johanna’s hard nipples.
“I’m very glad you do,” Johanna said, biting her lip as pleasure coursed through her. She moaned when Ellie replaced her hands with her mouth, licking and sucking until Johanna could take no more. Her hips came off the bed and Ellie grasped her bottom, nudging Johanna’s legs apart as she moved down the bed.
“I’m going to taste you now,” Ellie said, her voice husky and low.
Johanna cried out at the first touch of Ellie’s tongue, every nerve in her body centered right there, and a wave of heat washed over her. Ellie explored Johanna with her tongue, stroking and tasting as her hands tried to still Johanna’s hips. It was no use—the moment Ellie plunged her tongue inside, Johanna lost control. Her hips writhed and bucked as Ellie brought her to the edge and over, her body shuddering with release.
When Johanna could lift her head, she looked for Ellie. Her head was pillowed on Johanna’s belly, and her face sported a huge smile.
“You look mighty proud of yourself,” Johanna teased.
“Oh, I am,” Ellie said. “I was just thinking about all those volunteers who were frightened to death of you back in Boulogne. Do you think they’d believe that I’ve tamed the fearsome Sister Lennox?” She reached up to tweak a nipple, and Johanna swatted her hand.
“Oh, stop,” she said, laughing, but then just as quickly sobered.
“What is it, love? Did I upset you?”
“No…it’s just that the tough, no-nonsense Sister Lennox is who I had to become to survive, but I don’t need her anymore. You found the real Johanna and brought her back to life. The woman I am with you is who I think I was always meant to be.”
Ellie moved up and laid her head on Johanna’s shoulder, placing a hand over her heart. “My sweet, sweet love, you saved me from a false and miserable life. Without you, I might never have found the courage to truly be myself.”
“Seems we saved each other, then,” Johanna said, holding Ellie close.
“Yes, we did. Oh, guess what I found this morning?”
“What?”
“I dropped that volume of Dickinson on the floor when I was dusting the bookshelves, and a poem fell out. It’s there on the nightstand.”
Johanna reached over for the book and opened it. On a sheet of stationery inside the front cover was a poem she had written, forever ago, it seemed.
“
My God, I’d forgotten,” she said, embarrassed. “I’m no writer, Ellie. I’m sure it’s bloody awful.”
Ellie propped herself up on her elbow. “It’s beautiful. Read it to me,” Ellie said.
Johanna hesitated, then cleared her throat and began.
While my heart still beats, I will love you
While my lungs draw breath, I will need you
While my eyes have sight, I will want you
While my hands can touch, I will hold you
It’s my greatest wish and my heartfelt prayer
That wherever you are, I too will be there
To love you for always and be by your side
As the sand is forever caressed by the tide.
Ellie leaned down and kissed Johanna with all the love her heart could hold. “Always and forever, my darling.”
About the Author
Erin McKenzie has been a lover of words since she first learned her ABCs, sparking a lifelong passion for reading, writing, and of course, word games! She is a professional high school counselor, partner to her wife of eighteen years, Mommy to their three children, chief dishwasher and laundry folder, soccer mom and homework checker. Her happy places are the beach or deep within the pages of a good book…preferably both at once. She and her family live in the Finger Lakes region of New York State and share their home with several beloved fur babies.
Erin is the author of Where Love Leads, Taking Chances, and her first foray into historical romance, While My Heart Beats.
Books Available from Bold Strokes Books
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While My Heart Beats by Erin McKenzie. Can a love born amidst the horrors of the Great War survive? (978-1-63555-589-9)
Face the Music by Ali Vali. Sweet music is the last thing that happens when Nashville music producer Mason Liner, and daughter of country royalty Victoria Roddy are thrown together in an effort to save country star Sophie Roddy’s career. (978-1-63555-532-5)
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Silk and Leather: Lesbian Erotica with an Edge edited by Victoria Villasenor. This collection of stories by award winning authors offers fantasies as soft as silk and tough as leather. The only question is: How far will you go to make your deepest desires come true? (978-1-63555-587-5)
The Last Place You Look by Aurora Rey. Dumped by her wife and looking for anything but love, Julia Pierce retreats to her hometown, only to rediscover high school friend Taylor Winslow, who’s secretly crushed on her for years. (978-1-63555-574-5)
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What the Heart Remembers Most by M. Ullrich. For college sweethearts Jax Levine and Gretchen Mills, could an accident be the second chance neither knew they wanted? (978-1-63555-401-4)
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Femme Tales by Anne Shade. Six women find themselves in their own real-life fairy tales when true love finds them in the most unexpected ways. (978-1-63555-657-5)
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Perfect Timing by Dena Blake. The choice between love and family has never been so difficult, and Lynn’s and Maggie’s different visions of the future may end their romance before it’s begun. (978-1-63555-466-3)
The Mail Order Bride by R Kent. When a mail order bride is thrust on Austin, he must choose between the bride he never wanted or the dream he lives for. (978-1-63555-678-0)
Through Love’s Eyes by C.A. Popovich. When fate reunites Brittany Yardin and Amy Jansons, can they move beyond the pain of their past to find love? (978-1-63555-629-2)
To the Moon and Back by Melissa Brayden. Film actress Carly Daniel thinks that stage work is boring and unexciting, but when she accepts a lead role in a new play, stage manager Lauren Prescott tests both her heart and her ability to share the limelight. (978-1-63555-618-6)
Tokyo Love by Diana Jean. When Kathleen Schmitt is given the opportunity to be on the cutting edge of AI technology, she never thought a failed robotic love companion would bring her closer to her neighbor, Yuriko Velucci, and finding love in unexpected places. (978-1-63555-681-0)
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City Kitty and Country Mouse by Alyssa Linn Palmer. Pulled in two different directions, can a city kitty and country mouse fall in love and make it work? (978-1-63555-553-0)
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On Second Thought by C. Spencer. Madisen is falling hard for Rae. Even single life and co-parenting are beginning to click. At least, that is, until her ex-wife begins to have second thoughts. (978-1-6
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In Helen’s Hands by Nanisi Barrett D’Arnuk. As her mistress, Helen pushes Mickey to her sensual limits, delivering the pleasure only a BDSM lifestyle can provide her. (978-1-63555-639-1)
Jamis Bachman, Ghost Hunter by Jen Jensen. In Sage Creek, Utah, a poltergeist stirs to life and past secrets emerge.(978-1-63555-605-6)
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Spellbound by Jean Copeland and Jackie D. When the supernatural worlds of good and evil face off, love might be what saves them all. (978-1-63555-564-6)
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While My Heart Beats Page 17
