“Somebody needs to take—”
“I’m hanging up now, Mom.”
“We’re not done speak—”
Nina ended the call then turned her phone off before she put it back in her tote. “Well, that was thoroughly unpleasant.”
“But you handled it beautifully. You’re a badass.” She gathered her close and held on, hoping it comforted her.
“I’m not sure I feel like one.”
“But you are, and you’re amazing.”
Nina squeezed her tighter and didn’t say anything. After a while, she kissed her ear. “Weren’t we talking about your kitchen?”
Maya chuckled. “You are too much.”
“Mmm. But I think you can handle it.”
She stroked her back. “Damn right. And I’m more than happy to do it.”
Nina laughed against her neck and Maya smiled because this was what possibility looked like, right here, and she was more than ready for it. “I love you,” she said, knowing Nina didn’t need to hear anything else.
She sighed, a happy and contented sound. “I love you, too.”
And Maya melted again, melted into the feel of Nina against her and what this moment promised, and hell, yes. She was ready for this. More than ready.
Bring it.
About the Author
KD is a Southerner and a former nomad, taking up residence in the Midwest, East Coast, and New Orleans over the years. She was a Hurricane Katrina survivor, displaced to the mountains of North Carolina, but has since found her way back to Louisiana, where she lives with her wife and the most horribly spoiled pets in history. She enjoys all things geek from video games to superheroes. KD is a veteran in the mental health field, where she works with children and their families. She discovered writing as a teenager with the help of her English teacher, whom she had a huge crush on. With her teacher’s help, KD wrote her first short story, but afterward had a hard time finding inspiration. Years later, writing fanfic became her gateway into lesbian fiction.
Also from Dirt Road Books
Learning Curve: Stories of Lessons Learned
An Anthology Various Authors
Building a house, rebuilding a relationship, finding your purpose, learning archery, relearning the piano, discovering your family lineage, going on a journey, learning to face tragedy, teaching a kid to play ball, uncovering a truth in your heart, paying your dues on a ski slope. These are all themes that can be found in Learning Curve, and they are all lessons of one kind or another. The characters in these stories learn skills, life lessons, and how to open up to love and friendship.
This anthology of short stories brings together some of your favorite authors, as well as new writers who we’re sure you’ll enjoy. Our contributors include: Lori Lake, Sacchi Green, KD Williamson, Jessie Chandler, Stefani Deoul, Catherine Lane, Anna Burke, Michelle Teichman, Jove Belle, Andi Marquette, and R.G. Emanuelle.
Dirt Road Books is proud to donate all proceeds from this anthology to One Girl, an organization dedicated to educating and advancing the lives of girls around the world.
Wild Rides
by Sacchi Green
Sex, adventure, and wild rides—some literal, some journeys of the mind and heart. There’s something for everyone here. How about a mechanical bull at a country-and-western bar in the Amsterdam of the 1980s? An army jeep in Vietnam in the ’60s? A Chinese pirate ship far out in the Pacific in the ’30s? A hot air balloon soaring above post-Civil War Wyoming? These rides transport you through time, as well as space. In more contemporary settings, you can find (and feel) pent-up passion behind prison walls, a reunion of rivals in a steaming sauna, and a couple both wounded and bonded by modern warfare. There’s plenty of lust and banter, as well as mighty draft horses, at a county fair, and a visit with honeymooners in Paris with a fetish for gargoyles. Add to this mix a ghost story on a Montana ranch, a lovely vampire in the Old West, the occasional dragon, and a noir tale of sex, life, and afterlife in New York City. In Sacchi Green’s second collection of her own work, you have all the variety, intriguing characters, and seamless merging of sex and story that she’s required in the many anthologies she’s edited.
The Potion
by R.G. Emanuelle
A secret formula. A mysterious blue potion. A woman determined to perfect an experiment that will change everything for women in an era when women are not free to choose. In the tradition of mad scientists, Vera Kennedy will stop at nothing to create the elixir that will give women the power to live according to their own desires. But when Georgette Harris comes to her with a plea for help in finding the key that could rescue her from destitution, Vera is pleasantly distracted. Together, they will unravel a mystery that includes ghostly elements and unscrupulous men.
Little Dip
Garoul Book 5
by Gill McKnight
It’s 1977, and Connie Fortune has an easy, freewheeling life as a wildlife illustrator. A contract with a periodical brings her to Little Dip, but a clash with Marie Garoul ruins the deal. Next year, Connie tries again—but Marie is waiting for her.
Friends in High Places
Far Seek Chronicles 1 (Second Ed.)
by Andi Marquette
Outlaw Torri Rendego and her crew are working to fulfill a black market contract on Old Earth, but they have to contend with hated Coalition forces. Kai Tinsdale, a part of Torri’s past she never expected to see again, shows up, and Torri’s survival depends on their ability to trust one another.
Bitterroot Queen
by Jove Belle
Sam Marconi and her teenage daughter move to Bitterroot, Idaho, to open a motel, but they find it in a derelict state. Sam posts an ad in town for someone to help her with renovations. Olly Jones, another newcomer to the area, is the only one who shows up for the job, even though her first meeting with Sam went badly. Sam hires her regardless, and eventually realizes that Olly is exactly what she needs to save the Bitterroot Queen. Will they find a way to build the life they’ve both been searching for? Or will they cling to the ties holding them to the past?
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