Amor and More

by Radclyffe

  Jamming the helmet onto her head, Tess took two steps toward the big motorcycle. “All right. What—”

  Clay held out her hand. “Climb on behind me, put your feet on the foot pegs, and wrap your arms around my waist. Lean when I lean, and get ready for the best thing you’ve ever felt.”

  Tess didn’t think. She just held on and let go.

  Clay wasn’t exaggerating. Every sensation was amplified—the smell of the woods, the brisk purity of the wind in her face, the startling blue of the sky, the heat of the sun on her bare arms. As Clay spun them around the lake on the twisting narrow road, the bike slanting into the curves, the sun glinting through the trees, Tess was one with the world the way she was alone on the farm at dawn, when all the world was fresh and new.

  “Like it?” Clay called, glancing briefly over her shoulder. Her grin made Tess’s heart lurch in the best way ever.

  Tess tightened her hold around Clay’s firm waist. “Yes. It’s wonderful. You were right.”

  Clay covered Tess’s hand with hers, squeezing lightly. The contact sent a thrill through Tess’s chest and into her stomach. Her cheek was against Clay’s shoulder, close to the back of her neck, and she could smell her—tangy, sweet, fresh, and oh-so-exciting. Clay was the most breathtaking girl she’d ever known.

  *

  “If we get caught taking this boat out, I’m going to get fired.” Tess looked back up the hill to the lodge. The big porch was crowded with guests enjoying the sunset, but no one seemed to be paying them any attention.

  “Don’t worry,” Clay said, “I’ll have you back before anybody even knows we’re gone. I brought sandwiches. We’ll have dinner on the island. There’s supposed to be a meteor shower tonight. And a full moon. It’ll be great.”

  “Well, Mr. Harris did say we were free to use the boats if none of the guests were using them. So I guess technically it’s all right.”

  “See? Nothing to get bent out of shape about.” Clay held out her hand. “Come on. Climb in.”

  Tess settled in the bow of the outboard while Clay maneuvered them away from the dock. Clay rowed them out twenty or thirty feet from shore and started the motor. The outboard was not that large, and with plenty of boats still on the water, no one was likely to notice the sound of their engine. Tess turned her face to the wind and stopped worrying.

  Soon they were bouncing over the waves as the sun sank lower, headed for one of the many uninhabited islands that dotted the lake. A few minutes later, they pulled up along a narrow strip of sand, and Clay tied the boat to a tree. She helped Tess climb out of the boat, and they found a clear spot under the pines to spread out their blanket.

  “Hungry?” Clay asked.

  Tess stretched out on her back, watching the sky turn pink, then red, then deep purple. “Not just yet. It’s so beautiful I just want to look.”

  Clay lay beside her and propped her head on her hand. “Yes. Gorgeous.”

  Tess smiled, the skin at her throat warming under Clay’s gaze. Clay had been looking at her that way a lot lately—like she was special. And sexy. Clay didn’t have to say anything to make her feel that way—she just had to look at her with eyes that grew dark and deep. Tess touched Clay’s face. “You’re not looking at the sunset.”

  “I know.” Clay’s grin faltered as she drew a strand of Tess’s hair through her fingers. “I’ve seen lots of beautiful sunsets, but I’ve never seen a girl as beautiful as you.”

  “You know,” Tess said softly, brushing her fingers over Clay’s shoulder, “it seems like I’ve known you for a lot longer than just a couple of months.”

  “It feels like you’re the only one who knows me,” Clay whispered, and she kissed her.

  Tess had been waiting for this moment, wondering what she would do, how she would feel, forever, it seemed. To be alone with Clay, wanting to touch her, having Clay touch her. No one ever had. She wasn’t scared, wasn’t nervous—well, not too much. Everything about being with Clay felt right. Clay was right—they knew each other.

  Tess tugged at the back of Clay’s T-shirt and pulled it out of her jeans. Clay’s skin was hot, soft and smooth. She ran her hands up and down the strong muscles in Clay’s back, and Clay groaned softly. The sound surprised her—Clay was always so strong and self-assured, but the sound, almost helpless, struck at Tess’s heart and made her want to hold Clay, to protect her. She stroked Clay’s back, and Clay moved on top of her. Their legs entwined. Tess turned liquid inside.

  “Tess,” Clay whispered, her breath hot against Tess’s ear, “I want to touch you everywhere. It’s all I’ve been thinking about forever.”

  “I want you to touch me,” Tess whispered back, and then Clay was unbuttoning her shirt, kissing her neck and her throat and the valley between her breasts. Tess pushed at the waistband of Clay’s jeans, wanting Clay’s naked belly pressed against hers.

  “You feel so good.”

  “I’ve never—” Tess gasped.

  “I know. I know. It’s okay.” Clay braced herself on her arms and smiled down at Tess. “You’re perfect. You’re beautiful. I—I’m crazy about you.”

  And then she kissed Tess again, so gently, so tenderly, Tess’s heart shattered.

  Half-undressed, completely naked—body and soul—Tess held Clay close. As the summer sun blazed out in the blue-black waters of the lake, Tess knew what she wanted. Had always wanted.

  She wanted this bad girl with the sweet, sweet kisses, and now the bad girl was hers.

  About the Editors

  Radclyffe has written over forty-five romance and romantic intrigue novels, dozens of short stories, and, writing as L.L. Raand, has authored a paranormal romance series, The Midnight Hunters. She is an eight-time Lambda Literary Award finalist in romance, mystery, and erotica—winning in both romance (Distant Shores, Silent Thunder) and erotica (Erotic Interludes 2: Stolen Moments edited with Stacia Seaman and In Deep Waters 2: Cruising the Strip written with Karin Kallmaker). A member of the Saints and Sinners Literary Hall of Fame, she is a RWA/FF&P Prism award winner for Secrets in the Stone, a RWA FTHRW Lories and RWA HODRW winner for Firestorm, a RWA Bean Pot winner for Crossroads, and a RWA Laurel Wreath winner for Blood Hunt. She is also the president of Bold Strokes Books, one of the world’s largest independent LGBTQ publishing companies.

  Stacia Seaman has edited numerous award-winning titles, and with co-editor Radclyffe won a Lambda Literary Award for Erotic Interludes 2: Stolen Moments; an Independent Publishers Awards silver medal and a Golden Crown Literary Award for Erotic Interludes 4: Extreme Passions; an Independent Publishers Awards gold medal and a Golden Crown Literary award for Erotic Interludes 5: Road Games; the 2010 RWA Rainbow Award of Excellence in the Short/Novella category for Romantic Interludes 2: Secrets, and a Golden Crown Literary Award for Women of the Dark Streets: Lesbian Paranormal. She has essays in Visible: A Femmethology (Homofactus Press, 2009) and Second Person Queer (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2009).

  Books Available from Bold Strokes Books

  Homestead by Radclyffe. R. Clayton Sutter figures getting NorthAm Fuel’s newest refinery operational on a rolling tract of land in upstate New York should take a month or two, but then, she hadn’t counted on local resistance in the form of vandalism, petitions, and one furious farmer named Tess Rogers. (978-1-60282-956-5)

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  The Missing Juliet: A Fisher Key Adventure by Sam Cameron. A teenage detective and her friends search for a kidnapped Hollywood star in the Florida Key
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  Amor and More: Love Everafter, edited by Radclyffe and Stacia Seaman. Rediscover favorite couples as Bold Strokes Books authors reveal glimpses of life and love beyond the honeymoon in short stories featuring main characters from favorite BSB novels. (978-1-60282-963-3)

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