by Jenn LeBlanc
Ellie nodded, reached out, and squeezed Louisa’s elbow, then led her from the room. Her parents’ house wasn’t nearly as regal as Louisa’s but it was one of the nicest properties overlooking Green Park on Arlington. Ellie led Louisa up to the second floor and down the left passageway. She opened the first door on the left to the suite of rooms, and Louisa followed diligently. Once inside, Ellie turned to her ladies maid and with a simple nod, she began to lay all of the clothes out for both of them.
Ellie had chosen a pale green gown of silk with lavender pinstripes. It was a bear to keep straight as much as the fabric attempted to wrinkle, but it was one of her favorites. It was also her most impressive. The bustles were enormous, intricately set with large purple satin-edged georgette bows that matched the purple striping of the fabric. It was truly a showpiece of a gown, as it was meant to be. Her mother had been promised it would be one of the most exquisite and singular gowns of the season, as well as one of the most expensive. And everyone would know it.
The maid then pulled Louisa’s gown from the wardrobe where they’d placed it and flounced the fabric to release the wrinkles from the trip over. Ellie nearly lost her breath. It was nearly the same color as Louisa’s own skin, and as she wore it, she would seem completely naked in places. The fitted corset top was trimmed in the deepest of sapphire blue, highlighting Louisa’s natural curves, while the edge of the dress, the place where it met the skirt, and the bustle at the back were decorated with sapphire blue rosettes. This dress had no spare decor. It was spare and simple at first glance, all the detail going into the construction of the bodice, and the way, Ellie knew, it would highlight Louisa’s figure. She turned away.
“It seems we will both be at purpose tonight,” she said.
Her maid piped in. “Oh yes, these dresses will catch many a man’s eye tonight. I’ve never seen two their equal. You’ll both be the belles of the ball, without doubt.”
Ellie turned and smiled at her. “Thank you, Abigail. Would you leave us for a moment?”
She nodded. “Yes miss. Ring when you’re ready to dress. Bertrand should be along with the carriage in about two hours, so we should hurry getting you both ready.” Then she left the room, closing the door behind her.
“You heard her,” Ellie said. “We need to dress quickly.” She stood in the center of the room and stared at Louisa, as if waiting until one of them worked up the courage to move. Heavy breaths floated against the backdrop of the busy household outside the doors.
“Might she return?” Louisa asked.
“Not until I call for her.”
The silence floated down over them like a soft sheet pulled fresh from the line. Then Ellie moved. “You called me brave,” she said.
“I did,” Louisa responded.
“Why do you think me brave?” she asked as she put her hands on Louisa’s ribs, holding her gaze.
“Because you are. If it weren’t for you… If it weren’t for you, there would be no us,” she finished on a whisper.
“Is there an us?” Ellie asked.
“Yes.”
“I find the opposite to be true. I believe there to be an us strictly because of you.”
A light spread from her center filling her veins with a warm glow that she wanted— no, needed to share. Louisa spun Ellie around until her back was to her, then she started to undo all the buttons, pins, ties, clips and knots that held her into her clothes. Ellie helped as much as she could until she stood before Louisa in her corset, chemise, drawers and stockings. Ellie lifted a hand and fidgeted with the pendent on the chain at her neck.
“Louisa,” she said. “I may not be as brave as you think.”
“I’ll help you,” Louisa replied. “You’re so beautiful.” She swept a hand across her collar bone and down the center of her chest, her arm grazing her nipple. Ellie hissed a breath as it peaked tight and Louisa stared down at it. The long case clock in the hallway struck six times, and each toll resonated through her belly and across her skin. Louisa stared at her as if she’d no idea what to do next.
“We should ready,” Ellie said.
Louisa nodded, and Ellie moved to the pull, notifying Abigail that she needed to return. Then she sat at the small dressing table, sorting through the jewelry case placed there searching for pieces to match her gown. The door swept open, and Ellie turned. Louisa still stood where she’d left her, in the middle of the room. And Abigail walked straight to Louisa and started undoing her dress, then her skirts, and finally her petticoats, letting everything fall to the floor as Ellie held her gaze and her breath.
“The bath has been run,” Abigail said, and Ellie’s breath caught.
“We'll share it,” Louisa said, “to save time, if you wouldn’t mind readying the rest of our things?”
“Of course, miss. Let me pin Ellie’s hair up.” She went to the open wardrobe and pulled out a threadbare chemise. “Here’s a bathing chemise for you.”
Ellie stood but turned away as Louisa changed in order to hide the blush she knew was rising. Hands came to her back, first untying the laces, then loosening the corset with a slow, methodical pull. Ellie thought she’d die. It seemed all her bravery had suddenly left the room. Why did this make her nervous?
Louisa’s arms wrapped around her middle, squeezed her hard, and released the clips at the front of the corset, and Ellie swooned on the thick rush of air to her lungs. Her hand flew out, and Louisa took it, spinning her around to face her as the corset fell to the floor. Ellie closed her eyes and waited. Louisa’s hands were on the chemise, skimming up her thighs, meeting the skin at the top of her stockings. Her knuckles grazed the skin over her ribs as she lifted the chemise up, and the warm heat of Louisa’s mouth was on her nipple before she stood, sweeping the chemise off and dropping it to the floor.
Ellie stared. Then her world went dark as a different chemise was pulled down over her from behind. Oh. And her drawers were untied, pooling at her feet the her stocking were pushed to the floor, Abigail lifting her feet one at a time to remove them.
Louisa took Ellie’s hand and led her through the bedroom, to the bathroom, and the bathing room. She’d never been in here. It was beautiful, a large tub at the center with brass fittings. The windows were all stained glass for privacy and created a patterned light much like the dome of Louisa’s house. A magical room like this was here all along, and she’d never been allowed to enjoy it.
Louisa led her to the tub, helping her over the high edge and into the milky water, then she followed. They sat facing each other, knees up, the fabric of the thin chemises clinging to their bodies, loose threads of hair pasted to their necks.
Louisa inspected the vials of oils and bottles of dried herbs on the tray, reading the labels and smelling them as Ellie took a sea sponge and washed her arms, her shins, and her toes. Then Louisa tilted a bottle and let a rill of oil float along the water. She replaced the stopper and mixed the oil and the water, and the heady smell of roses bloomed around them in the steam. She leaned back against the rolled edge of the tub and breathed.
Enraptured, Ellie watched Louisa, eyes closed, face serene, body relaxed. She couldn’t relax in her end of the tub in the same way, but she was perfectly content to wrap her arms around her knees and watch. Louisa shifted her knees together, moving her legs next to Ellie’s, then stretching them out as much as she was able in the small space. Ellie’s mouth went dry. The thin fabric of the chemise plastered itself to her body when she moved, her own breasts barely visible through the milky water that was nearly the same color as her own skin, making her appear to disappear entirely.
But Louisa’s skin was warm enough as to shadow the milk bath and make Ellie wish for a clear running stream. When Louisa opened her eyes and found Ellie bound in a ball of tension she laughed. The sound of it bounced around the tiled bathing room, echoing joy. “I could spend the rest of my life here with you and need for nothing,” she said.
Ellie smiled as southing unwound in her belly loosening the knots in
her shoulders. “It’s a lovely room. But any room you’re in is lovely.”
One of Louisa’s hands broke the surface of the milky water and she leaned forward, taking Ellie’s hands and pulling her closer until their lips met somewhere between them, reaching while they shifted awkwardly, hands searching and knees bumping.
Ellie grabbed the edge of the tub for traction and Louisa pulled her closer, her body curling and slipping until they were breast to breast, closer than they’d ever been, nothing between them but fabric so thin only the wrinkles mattered. Their legs tangled, and Ellie had a momentary concern for being discovered. But only momentary, because this moment was worth whatever she’d have to get through to savor.
Her nipples tightened against Louisa’s skin and she shifted, the drift of skin across the coiled buds sent a shock through her body straight to her pelvis, where it warmed and bloomed like the roses she breathed in. She couldn’t explore with her hands and it frustrated her; if she released the edge of the tub, they’d slip and sink, and then they’d be in trouble for ruining their hair on such an important night. Ellie had enough awareness to know they couldn’t do that. But she held herself to Louisa as she explored her mouth and inhaled, and it was…everything. In that moment, she was determined to find a way to know Louisa the rest of her life.
Louisa shifted in the water, their legs tangling further, and when her thigh brushed Ellie’s vulva, she threw her head back and moaned in a way she’d never heard from herself or anyone else. “Oh God, Lou, what…” Louisa shifted again, and her breath caught, and Ellie’s head snapped up as she focused on Louisa’s face. “Lou?”
“Miss, do you have a different corset for this dress?” Abigail asked from beyond the bathroom, and the two of them were on their knees facing each other faster than Ellie had any idea how they’d managed. Louisa nodded, her chest heaving, her breasts pressing against the folds in the fabric, her nipples tight, her face flushed, her eyes wide and bright, the blue aflame.
“Yes,” Louisa said finally, breathlessly. “Yes, I do. We’ll be right there.” Then she caught Ellie’s gaze, held it. The water began to cool, and shivers coursed Ellie’s skin, sending ripples of water out to lick at Louisa’s belly. Louisa reached for her, wrapped one arm around her waist, the other tipping Ellie’s chin until their mouths were lined up. She licked her lower lip, then her upper lip.
“Lou,” was all Ellie could say, the sensation of the cooler water, the heat of her body through the chilled fabric, then Louisa’s hand sliding between them and cupping her mons as she gasped, and Louisa swallowed her breath like it gave her life.
Ellie held on, one hand on the edge of the tub, the other wrapped around Louisa, the fabric of her chemise a knot in her fist.
“Come off for me, Ellie,” she said, and Ellie tasted the sweetened lemon and spice on her tongue. “Close your eyes, Ellie. Let go.”
Ellie nodded and allowed her body to sink against the sensations. Louisa’s fingers played with her folds through the fabric, and it seemed her body generated enough heat to boil the water around them. Louisa shifted, moving one leg between them, bringing Ellie closer to ride that ridge of muscle, and her hand slid back up between them and plucked at her nipple like a raspberry. Ellie pushed against her, chasing something she couldn’t see. Using Louisa’s thigh in way’s she’d never considered. Louisa wrapped an arm around her waist, held her tight, helped Ellie move.
“Come, Ellie, let go. Let go.”
And as she gazed into Louisa’s eyes, she understood, at long last, what that meant. “Louisa?” She threw her head back and Louisa kissed her way down her neck, taking a nipple in her mouth and sucking hard and she held steady, and Ellie bore down on her leg unashamed and wild, the pure abandon blooming from somewhere inside, reaching for Louisa and tangling them together in a way Ellie had never known possible. Louisa lifted, catching her cry between them and holding her close as her body rocked, convulsing madly, the bloom of ecstasy filling her veins until she was weak, slipping.
Louisa adjusted them, drawing Ellie back down into the bath on top of her, cautiously shifting to keep their hair above water as they sank together and let the water wash it all away.
Ellie knew then, living without Louisa was an impossibility.
“Can I help?” Ellie asked once they were both dressed in their fresh drawers, chemises and stockings.
“You might as well.” Abigail’s voice was sweet and joyful. Ellie had always liked her voice. She never did seem unhappy or upset. It was nice.
“Only tell me what to do,” Ellie said as she walked up to Louisa and put her hands on her waist and surreptitiously slid her hands up Louisa’s belly to her breasts, skimming the underside with the backs of her hands through the chemise. Louisa bit her lip and closed her eyes as Ellie’s fingers wandered and she smiled. After what they’d done in the bath, Ellie wanted nothing more than to have Louisa completely naked and beneath her on the bed. She wanted to play Lousia’s body in the way Louisa had clearly played hers. She wanted to see the effect she had on her. She wanted to feel it.
Abigail turned back, and Ellie dropped her hands, then took the new corset as Abigail wrapped it around Louisa from behind, and Louisa opened her eyes. Ellie clipped the front of the corset together, smoothing the chemise below it, her hands pushing into Louisa’s belly, her chest, her knuckles rubbing her nipples as she worked to get the top clasp done so Abigail could lace her up, and Louisa seemed ready to swoon. Their eyes locked and Ellie carried on.
Louisa stopped breathing as Ellie helped one nipple to furl tight, then the other. Then she reached into the corset and chemise, scooping Louisa’s firm breasts against the corset, adjusting the round tops at the crest and making sure her tight nipples were tucked behind the edge, until the corset was snug and she had to move her fingers or be trapped. Then she held Louisa’s waist as Abigail tightened the laces, and Louisa swayed against the tension.
Ellie grabbed the caged bustle and pulled it around her waist, their chests pressed tight together as she peered over Louisa’s shoulder to make sure she had it centered, then kissed her neck where it met her shoulder and watched the blush spread across her skin as she smoothed the ties around her waist to the front to attach it. Louisa reached up and held her arm, steadying herself. Her breath came faster as Ellie teased. But so then, did Ellie’s.
“Stand back, miss,” Abigail said, and Ellie took a step back as Louisa finally broke that connection when she glanced over her shoulder. Abigail tossed the first of many skirts over her head. When that was done, Abigail brought the last of the skirts over, and Ellie held that stunning dress.
“Whose idea was it to make this gown the color of your skin?” Ellie asked.
“My father’s wife,” Louisa replied. “She said it would attract all the gentlemen.”
“It will. You’d better not leave my sight,” Ellie said. She helped Abigail bring the dress down over Louisa’s head, then turned her. The buttons started at one hip and traveled across her back to the opposite shoulder. The lines were exquisite and reminded Ellie of a barber pole, or a lollipop, or a carousel. Something mesmerizing to watch, taste, or ride.
Abigail handed Ellie a button hook, and she did the buttons one by one. “Well,” she said when she finished, “it appears you have forty-six buttons’ worth of back.” She smiled at Louisa as Abigail worked to bustle the skirts and fix them to the underskirts so they wouldn’t slip when she lifted them to sit down.
Then Abigail stood back. “We made a good team,” she said with a smile.
“I should say so,” Louisa replied as she examined herself in the tall cheval mirror. Then she caught Ellie’s gaze in the glass. “But now it’s my turn.”
Louisa smiled wickedly, and Ellie rethought everything she’d done. Abigail handed Louisa the corset then started pulling underskirts from the wardrobe with the caged bustle. Ellie stopped. She hadn’t thought about this. “If we must,” she whispered as Louisa stalked toward her.
Ellie tu
rned away from them, once again hiding the blush she knew was rising. Then Louisa’s hands were at her back, placing the corset on her spine and dancing her fingers through the laces. When Louisa came around to the front, they simply watched each other as Abigail tied Ellie into her corset and finished dressing her. Their eyes never wavered again, not once.
Louisa
Louisa tried to concentrate on the dinner. In all of her years of being allowed to this particular feast, it was absolutely her favorite because of the incredible selection of foods. They served everything. Pheasant, duck, partridge, peacock, steak, several types of fish, lamb, and that was just the meat. The salads were even more abundant in all their assemblages and presentations. It was remarkable and one of the biggest suppers of the season because everyone wanted to see the incredible food.
Unfortunately, Louisa had been seated directly in front of a peacock paté, which had to be the most disturbing dish of the night. A fully feathered bird in all its wondrous glory had been relieved of its insides, only to be stuffed with those of other birds. She wished she’d been seated anywhere but here. But she hadn’t been paying attention to the bird when she’d come in; she’d been watching Ellie.
They were close, about the width of one stuffed peacock between them. Truth be told, Louisa had enjoyed most of the dinner. Ender was there with his friend Trumbull, and they had most of the dinner party laughing with jokes about their rather inappropriate exploits. She wondered if Ender really would agree to marry her when the girl he loved married someone else. Louisa just needed a husband, and he wouldn’t want to marry someone who wasn’t Amelia, not if it was to be a true marriage. She and Ender could retire to his far estate. Live a ridiculous hermit-like existence and simply fade away. Without Ellie as an option, it sounded nice enough.