by Lee Winter
Smiling tenderly, Elena shifted closer. “Madeleine, I plan to keep you in my life for as long as I am able. And then longer still.” She curled her fingers around Maddie’s cheek.
It was the closest Elena had ever come to telling Maddie she loved her. Still, the uncertainties about Elena’s feelings danced around the edges.
“What about when the public finds out?” she whispered. “I mean the media isn’t blind. They’ll work it out eventually. Like at Natalii’s wedding next month? What will you do if people call you a predator editor or me a gold digger?”
Elena stroked her hand with her thumb. “I have been called worse, and it was by a mentor. A man I trusted with my life. I got through it. So what do I care what strangers think? I will be fine. Will you?”
“Of course.” She tried to breathe more evenly and shot Elena a smile. “Sorry, I think I’m going nuts because of this speech. It’s just nerves.”
“I can see that,” Elena said. Her lips twitched into a smile. “It’s a good thing you’re successful and famous now, or there’d be no upside whatsoever to sharing my life with you.”
Maddie started to laugh. “God, you’re funny. I think I’ll keep you around.”
Elena smiled. “An excellent plan. Because finding someone who likes my dog and vice versa has been quite an ask. Oscar hated both my ex-husbands, which is somewhat amusing given he was a gift from my first husband.”
“Oscar only likes me because you moved to Sydney for me, which comes with the warm weather he adores.”
“Hm. Quite possibly. Yes, you’re right. That’s clearly all it is. But of course, it’s not just Oscar who enjoys having you in their life.”
Maddie grinned. “Ah, yes. Rosetta. Right?”
“Exactly. My cook I lured to Sydney who conspires with you often to keep me well fed.”
“You do forget to eat.”
“Allegedly. So, in sum, Oscar tolerates you. And Rosetta adores you.”
“Yes. My two staunch allies.”
“So, you can see that with your artful networking you would be quite impossible for me to replace. I’m stuck with you now.”
Maddie laughed. “Thanks.” She squeezed her hand. “For taking my mind off it. Making me laugh when I needed it. For being you.”
Elena’s eyes were bright, and her fingers curled tightly around Maddie’s. “Of course.”
Her smile was soft and unguarded.
It made Maddie’s heart catch. Her lover always found a hundred different ways to tell her she loved her, without saying the words. She might not ever hear the words, but it was written all over her face, along with every soft touch and caress. Maddie leaned in and breathed a soft “thanks” into her ear.
Felicity and Perry rounded the corner in the distance, deep in conversation, and Maddie grinned with delight over Elena’s shoulder. She’d missed them. Since both of her ex-colleagues were based in New York, she hadn’t seen them in months. They looked good. Felicity, especially, looked so happy. It seemed that a lot of her uptight attitude had evaporated with her promotion.
Maddie stepped away from Elena to call out a greeting, their hands still clasped. “Hey! How are…?” she began, before fading at Felicity’s startled expression. Maddie followed Felicity’s gaze to where her fingers mingled with Elena’s.
Oh. That. Seriously? Felicity really hadn’t worked it out yet? Denial had to be her middle name.
Perry merely gave a smug snort and a friendly wave.
Elena ignored her employees and tugged Maddie’s hand, pulling her back to her side. She caught Maddie’s gaze. “Before you get engrossed in those two and I get swept up talking to the bland men in suits, I just want you to know something,” she said, her voice pitched low. Elena leaned in, her lips against her ear. “You will be fantastic tonight. Your writing is entertaining, observant, and colourful, just like you. Believe me when I say you’ll own that room. And I love you. With everything I am. Believe that too.”
“Oh.” Maddie exhaled. “Oh, I love hearing that.” She hadn’t expected it to feel this overwhelming. Her fingers tingled, itching to pull Elena into a tight hug. Tears pricked her eyes. “So does this mean you believe it now? You trust what you feel?”
“Very much so,” Elena said, voice soft. “Something this deep, this beautiful? It can only be love. I’ve never experienced anything like it. It has to be the truth.”
“It’s pretty special to hear that.” Maddie’s lips curled into a tiny smile. “And I hope that wasn’t just a one-off. I should warn you, it’s all I’ll want to hear in the future. You’ve spoilt me now.”
“Is that so?”
“Mmm. And I must say I like your idea of truth.”
Devilment danced in Elena’s eyes. “As do I. After all, I may have mentioned once or twice that I prefer the truth in all matters.”
Without warning, Elena pulled Maddie to her, kissed her thoroughly, and held her with a possessiveness that told anyone watching who Maddie belonged to. And whom Elena loved.
Warmth swamped Maddie, and she clung to her.
Out of the periphery, just before Maddie’s eyes fluttered closed, she saw Perry beam and clasp his hands to his chest.
Felicity slumped against a pillar. Over the orchestral music in the distant background came the faintest words in a clipped voice, which at least sounded amused for once.
“Oh! Of bloody course! Longest winning streak ever!”
###
About Lee Winter
Lee Winter is an award-winning veteran newspaper journalist who has lived in almost every Australian state, covering courts, crime, news, features and humour writing. Now a full-time author and part-time editor, Lee is also a 2015 and 2016 Lambda Literary Award finalist and has won two Golden Crown Literary Awards. She lives in Western Australia with her long-time girlfriend, where she spends much time ruminating on her garden, US politics, and shiny, new gadgets.
CONNECT WITH LEE
Website: www.leewinterauthor.com
Other Books from Ylva Publishing
www.ylva-publishing.com
The Red Files
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ISBN: 978-3-95533-331-7 (mobi), 978-3-95533-332-4 (epub)
Length: 103,000 words (365 pages)
Ambitious Daily Sentinel journalist Lauren King is chaffing on LA’s vapid social circuit, reporting on glamorous A-list parties while sparring with her rival—the formidable, icy Catherine Ayers. Ayers is an ex-Washington political correspondent who suffered a humiliating fall from grace, and her acerbic, vicious tongue keeps everyone at bay. Everyone, that is, except knockabout Iowa girl King, who is undaunted, unimpressed and gives as good as she gets.
One night a curious story unfolds before their eyes: One political launch, 34 prostitutes and a palette of missing pink champagne.
Can the warring pair work together to unravel an incredible story? This is a lesbian fiction with more than a few mysterious twists.
All the Little Moments
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ISBN: 978-3-95533-342-3 (mobi), 978-3-95533-343-0 (epub)
Length: 139,000 words (350 pages)
A successful anaesthetist, Anna is focused on herself, her career, and her girlfriend. Everything changes abruptly when her brother’s and sister-in-law’s deaths devastate her and her family. Left responsible for her young niece and nephew, Anna finds herself dumped and alone in Melbourne, a city she doesn’t even like. She tries to navigate the shock of looking after two children battling with their grief while managing her own.
Filled with self-doubt, Anna feels as if she’s making a mess of the entire thing, especially when she collides with a long-legged stranger. Anna barely has time to brush her teeth in the morning, let alone to date a woman—least of all one who has no idea about the two kids under her care.
Just when Anna finally starts to feel as if she’s getting some control of the situation, the biggest fight begins and Anna really has to step up once and for all.
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ISBN: 978-3-95533-863-3 (mobi), 978-3-95533-864-0 (epub)
Length: 107,000 words (298 pages)
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In her childhood home, she meets small-town nurse Holly Drummond, who isn’t impressed by Leo’s fame at all. That isn’t the only thing that makes Holly different from other women. She’s also asexual. For her, dating is a minefield of expectations that she has decided to avoid.
Can the tentative friendship between a burned-out pop star and a woman not interested in sex develop into something more despite their diverse expectations?
A lesbian romance about seeking the perfect rhythm between two very different people—and finding happiness where they least expect it.
Party Wall
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ISBN: 978-3-95533-887-9 (mobi), 978-3-95533-888-6 (epub)
Length: 63,000 words (223 pages)
From the moment Freya looks in the window of the brash, new sex shop in Grasstree Flat she knows it will be nothing but trouble. For a start, it will clash with her own new-age store next door. And she’s right. Outgoing newcomer Lily begins to intrude on Freya’s well-ordered life. Freya’s friends, lifestyle, and even her cat are all affected by Lily’s magic touch. Even Freya’s yoga classes rub shoulders with Lily’s sexual-expression workshops. Lily stands for everything Freya has lost in life—playfulness, spontaneity, delight in the physical, and sex. But does Lily have more in common with Freya than the wall that divides them?
Coming from Ylva Publishing
www.ylva-publishing.com
The Lily and the Crown
Roslyn Sinclair
Ariana “Ari” Geiker lives an isolated life on an imperial space station commanded by her father. The skilled, young botanist rarely leaves her living quarters, where she maintains an elaborate garden. When an imperious older woman is captured from a pirate ship and given to her as a slave, Ariana’s perfectly ordered life is thrown into chaos. Her nameless slave is watchful, intelligent, dangerous, and sexy, and seems to know an awful lot about tactics, star charts, and the dread, marauding pirate queen, Mir. What happens when the slave also reveals an expertise in seduction to her innocent mistress?
The Lily and the Crown is a lesbian romance about daring to risk your heart with someone you shouldn’t.
The Brutal Truth
© 2017 by Lee Winter
ISBN (mobi): 978-3-95533-899-2
ISBN (epub): 978-3-95533-900-5
ISBN (pdf): 978-3-95533-901-2
Also available as paperback.
Published by Ylva Publishing, legal entity of Ylva Verlag, e.Kfr.
Ylva Verlag, e.Kfr.
Owner: Astrid Ohletz
Am Kirschgarten 2
65830 Kriftel
Germany
www.ylva-publishing.com
First edition: 2017
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
Credits
Edited by Sandra Gerth & CK King
Proofread by Paulette Callen
Cover Design by Adam Lloyd
