by Ronica Black
She thought back to Abigail Forrester and how her main character was obsessed with Victorian London. Her heart rate kicked up as she came to a shelf dedicated solely to Abigail Forrester books. Ellie scanned the books and knew for certain that every book Abigail had ever written was right here. And then her eyes fell upon the next shelf. Awards lined the top two shelves, and she knew before she read the name that it was true. Maggie was Abigail Forrester.
“Oh, my God.” Her hand went to her chest. All of the awards said Abigail Forrester. “It’s her. It’s really her.” She sank down onto an ottoman. The writer who’d moved her like no other was Maggie. She couldn’t believe it. Of all the people in the world to find her, Maggie had been the one.
“Unbelievable,” she said to Lincoln who raised his head.
Ellie stood, tried to brace herself, and then headed back down the stairs. She had a lot she needed to say to Maggie.
Chapter Thirteen
“How are you feeling?” Maggie asked as Ellie came down the stairs with Lincoln. She looked okay, but her eyes had changed. They were less guarded than they had been before. Now they were fuller, richer. And so exquisitely beautiful.
“I’m not sure.” She retrieved her glass of wine and sat on the opposite end of the couch from Maggie. “Maggie, you don’t know how many times you’ve saved me from going completely nuts.”
“Sorry?”
“You’re Abigail Forrester.”
Maggie swallowed hard. She’d known she’d be exposed. Now here she was in the moment, and she wasn’t sure how she felt. She fought panic. “Yes.”
Ellie smiled and set her wine on the coffee table. She clasped her hands together. “This is so unbelievable. You have no idea. No idea how much your work means to me. I feel like I know you.” And then as soon as she said it, she stopped herself, and a look of terror came over her face. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry. People say that to me all the time, and I never know what to say other than thank you. And now here I am saying it to you.” She rubbed her temple.
“Maggie, I’ve come in and completely ruined your quiet little world.”
Maggie was reeling from all that she’d said. She felt exposed and yet excited. She hated to think that Ellie thought that she’d ruined anything. “You haven’t done anything wrong, Ellie.”
Ellie looked at her for a long moment and then stared out the window. It was snowing again and the wind was howling through the trees, the clear afternoon a distant memory. Julie London sang about love, and Maggie wished the wine was stronger.
“I feel like I have.” She ran her hands through her hair. It was still somewhat damp, and Maggie swore she could smell the shampoo from where she sat.
“You haven’t.”
“I just—your words have moved me. Your stories have taken me away when I needed it most. I can’t explain how grateful I am to you, for everything. Your writing, your rescue, your kindness. How will I ever be able to repay you?”
Kiss me.
Maggie couldn’t help but smile at the thought. She covered it quickly by sipping more of her wine.
Ellie saw it and pounced. “What was that?”
Maggie played innocent. “What was what?”
“You have a beautiful smile. As well as a beautiful mind.”
Her gaze was as penetrating as her words. Maggie felt herself melting. Quickly, she rose and crossed to the kitchen. She retrieved bowls and scooped out chili for two. She waited for Ellie to follow or to speak, but neither happened. Maybe they could change the topic now. She hoped so.
She sprinkled cheese on top of the chili, grabbed two spoons and napkins, and walked back to the couch. She set Ellie’s on the table and kept hers in her hands as she returned to her seat.
“You really don’t like to talk about yourself do you?” Ellie grinned mischievously as she reached for her bowl.
Maggie blew on a bite, said, “No,” and then took it in to chew.
“Why not?” Ellie too blew on a bite before eating it.
“Can’t we just move on?”
Ellie shook her head. “No. I want to know.”
“And you always get your way?”
“When I’m determined.”
Maggie laughed. “Guess I’m in trouble then.”
“You have no idea.”
They both ate some more, and Maggie again sipped her wine.
“You still haven’t answered,” Ellie said.
“Wow, okay.” Maggie swallowed. “I don’t like to talk about myself because it makes me uncomfortable.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you not like yourself?”
Maggie laughed a little and played with her food. “I like myself fine.”
“You’re worried that others won’t?”
Ellie was boring into her, and Maggie felt helpless under her stare.
“Maggie, you are wonderful.”
Maggie squirmed.
“Just accept it.” Ellie offered a soft smile, and then it slowly faded as she studied Ellie’s face. “Someone has hurt you haven’t they? Made you feel like you’re not enough.”
Maggie turned to look out the window. She breathed deeply, her emotions on the rise.
Ellie sensed it. “I understand. The same happened to me. And I know how you’re feeling right now. Overwhelmed, out of control, completely vulnerable.”
“How do you know?” Maggie asked, voice weak.
“Because I feel the same.”
They both grew silent for a moment. Maggie met her gaze and saw the truth.
“We don’t have to talk about it,” Maggie said. Please, she couldn’t take anymore. Her carefully built walls were crumbling, one after the other.
“I need to. I need to explain.” Ellie was cupping her glass and looking into it as if it told the future.
“I was married,” she said.
Maggie listened quietly.
“It wasn’t a good marriage. It was for show. I rarely saw him, and when I did, it was strained. We led separate lives.”
“You divorced didn’t you?” Maggie didn’t like the pain she saw in her eyes.
“I did. But now I have the pressure to date, and honestly, I don’t want to.”
“Can I ask why it is you don’t want to date?”
Ellie ran the tip of her finger along the top of the glass. “Because the person I wanted got married years ago.”
Maggie allowed that to settle in, and she felt for her. Not just the thrum of desire but for her heart and the world she lived in. She entertained millions, but she was so sad.
“I’m sorry.”
“You understand. I know you do. I saw it on your face.” Ellie was looking at her with those glossy eyes, pulling her in.
Maggie cleared her throat. “Yes.”
“But you don’t want to talk about it.”
“I—haven’t no.”
“It’s too painful isn’t it?”
Maggie forced herself to breathe. “Yes.”
Ellie stared into the fire. “She was my college roommate.”
Maggie didn’t speak; she just watched her, wanting desperately to hold her hand. But she didn’t dare move. Touching her, she knew, would send her over, and she wouldn’t be able to stop herself.
“I fell so hard and so fast. She had me the second she walked through the door.”
Maggie sipped her wine, set down her bowl, and crossed her legs. The air was thick with long ago passions. She waited with bated breath.
“She took me completely. Body and soul. I’d never felt anything like that before or since.”
Ellie had a far off look in her eyes, the fire reflecting in her irises.
“She sounds special.”
Ellie smiled, but it was a wistful smile. “She was. Very much so. So passionate, full of life. Fearless. She was everything I wanted to grasp and bring in for myself. I was amazed by her.”
The wine had saturated Maggie’s body, and now it spilled over into her p
syche. Suddenly, she wasn’t so afraid. Suddenly, she wanted to be closer to her.
Ellie met her gaze, and Maggie swore she could read her. Her intent was potent and seeping through her skin. But Ellie didn’t move. She just simply stared. Seconds ticked by, thick and heavy.
“Have you ever wanted somebody so badly that it literally hurt?” Ellie said.
Maggie swallowed. “Yes.”
“You want everything, all of them. You want to touch, taste, inhale. Consume them in every way possible.”
Maggie could feel her heart beat in her ears. “Yes,” she said.
Ellie placed her wine glass on the coffee table. She moved to stand before her. Her eyes held Maggie captive.
“I know you know. And you’re feeling it right now.” She took the wine glass from Maggie’s hand and placed it next to her own.
“I—”
“Shh,” Ellie said. “I don’t want you to talk. I want you to watch.”
She slid the sweater off over her head. Maggie’s gaze drifted to her bare breasts, small and taut.
“Are you watching?”
Maggie nodded. Her whole body burned as she gently touched her skin with her eyes. Ellie’s stare was burning into her as she unfastened the jeans and allowed them to drop off her hips to the floor. She kicked them aside with ease. She was wearing no underwear.
Then she ran her hands up her torso to her breasts. They lightly skimmed the rose-colored nipples, hardening them to a point.
“Do you want me?” she asked with a husky voice.
Maggie could barely breathe. She had melted into the couch. “Yes,” she whispered.
She moved to her and straddled her thigh, pressing her way in. “Good,” she said. She arched her back as she moved her center against her. “Now I want you to feel.” She took Maggie’s hands and placed them on her body.
Maggie inhaled sharply at the incredibly soft feel of her. She saw the goose flesh awaken on her as she ran her hands up and down, gently caressing her. Ellie singed her with her eyes as she moved again, rocking against her thigh.
She groaned, and her creamy skin flushed at her chest and her cheeks. “Kiss me,” she said. “Kiss me or I’m going to come all over your leg.”
She bent as Maggie lifted her hands to her hair. They connected with fire, lips crushing and tongues seeking. Maggie moaned with a hunger she didn’t know she had. She plunged into her again and again, and Ellie groaned into her, loving it.
“Yes,” she said as she knotted her own hands in Maggie’s hair and pulled. She sat atop her, mouth open with unsatiated desire, eyes blazing down at her. “Kiss me like this is the last night on earth.”
She released her grip and lowered for another kiss. She framed Maggie’s lips with her own, sucking and tugging with her teeth as her tongue tasted and teased. Maggie did the same in return, and they battled, both of them seeking dominance. Maggie ran her nails down her back as she began to move again. Ellie arched into her, tearing her mouth away to groan. Maggie took an eager breast into her mouth and sucked. Ellie cried out and tugged on her head, hand in hair, holding her to her.
“Yes,” she breathed. “I haven’t,” she panted, moving faster, “been touched in so long—”
Maggie knew she was close to climaxing. She pulled away and placed her hands on her hips, stilling her. “No,” she said.
Ellie stilled, chest heaving. She looked so beautiful with desire brushing her skin and darkening her lips.
“Not like this.” Maggie eased her off of her and stood. She lifted her quickly and set her on the couch. Then she knelt before her and gently pressed her legs apart.
Ellie didn’t speak, didn’t say a word. She merely held her gaze and ran her fingers through Maggie’s hair.
Maggie wrapped her arms around her legs and tugged her closer. She kissed her thigh, bit her gently. Ellie tightened her grip, holding her back off the couch. She was anticipating, aching, and Maggie knew it. She moved to the other thigh and went up farther...closer. Ellie collapsed against the couch when she stilled.
“Please,” she said.
Maggie lowered into her silky flesh and feasted.
Ellie cried out and rocked into her.
“Oh God,” she said and she drove Maggie further by arching her back and biting her lower lip.
The taste of her was sweet, like nectar to a butterfly, and Maggie relished in it, swirling on and around her clit with her tongue.
“Maggie,” Ellie panted. “Take me. Take me in your mouth.”
Maggie did so, and every muscle in Ellie’s body went taut in the firelight. She rocked and rocked, head thrown back, graceful neck straining, mouth open but silent.
Maggie held her tightly both in her arms and in her mouth. She sucked her and pulsed with her tongue.
When she came, she cried out long and hard, voice raspy with strain. Her fingers dug into Maggie’s hair, and she held her firm to her while she rocked the lasting effects of the orgasm away.
At last, they both stilled and Maggie delicately released her. She collapsed onto her thigh and watched her. Ellie lay limp, chest still rising with ragged breaths. When she looked at Maggie, she sat up and tugged her to her. She held her face and looked into her eyes.
“Thank you,” she said so softly Maggie barely heard her.
Maggie kissed her, and she felt the tremble of her spent body. Ellie returned the kiss as if tasting Maggie for the first time. She whimpered slightly with obvious pleasure before pulling away.
“I want you, Maggie.”
Maggie looked into her eyes and saw her soul. Her sweet, beautiful, passionate soul.
“I want you in every way possible. I want to give to you what you’ve been denying yourself for so long.”
“I want to do the same for you,” Maggie said
Ellie gave a crooked smile. “You just did a hell of a job.”
“I loved every second of it.”
Ellie stroked her cheek with her thumb. “Come here.” She stood and tugged Maggie gently by the hand. Ellie spread blankets on the rug in front of the fire. Maggie’s heart began to race again as she watched her. Her lithe frame was strong, stronger than Maggie had thought.
She moved with ease, and her muscles flexed in her back as she tossed pillows from the couch onto the blanket.
“You’re making a love nest,” Maggie said.
Ellie wisped errant hair from her face as she smiled.
“I am. Care to join me?” She ran a teasing hand along Maggie’s abdomen as she hurried past her to extinguish the lamps. She returned to the blankets and sat down, easing herself under a heavy fleece. She propped herself up on an elbow.
“I need someone to keep me warm.” She patted the space next to her.
Maggie burned the image and the words into her mind. She wanted to remember them forever. She wanted to remember how she felt in that moment forever.
She moved to the rug and pulled back the blanket. Ellie welcomed her with a warm, soft kiss as she covered them both, insisting that Maggie lay on her back.
“I want to touch you everywhere,” she said as she stroked her face.
Maggie felt her hand glide up her sweater and undershirt to caress her midsection. She inhaled at the touch, so delicate, like a feather kissing her skin.
“How long has it been?” Ellie asked. “Since you’ve been touched?”
Maggie was mesmerized by her eyes. “Years.”
“How many?” She grinned knowingly. “I know you know. You know it all. The day she left, what she was wearing. All of it.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I remember the same. Every detail. Something like that stays with you.”
Maggie had never felt more exposed or more understood as she did in that moment. “Eight,” she said.
Ellie’s hand crept farther upward. “I say we make a new memory. Something so incredible that it overpowers the old. How does that sound?”
“It sounds really good.”
; “Really good?” Ellie laughed.
“It’s difficult to speak when you’re touching me.”
Ellie moved atop her, easing her thigh between Maggie’s legs. Her hand remained teasing and caressing, now over her bra. “Well, that’s a shame. I like hearing you talk.”
Maggie felt the rush of excitement in her center as Ellie kissed her and rocked into her. Maggie palmed her firm buttocks and moaned as Ellie slid her tongue in her mouth to explore and then dominate. She’d never been kissed so vehemently before. It caused her head to swim in sweet delirium. And though her passion was building and breaking through all the walls she’d worked so hard to build, she felt herself relax from her bones outward. Her skeleton melted, her muscles warmed pleasantly, and her skin awakened and opened, like a flower opening in the warmth of the sun. She wanted to be loved. Wanted to be touched. And she wanted Ellie to be the one to do it.
Completely letting herself go, Maggie ran her nails up Ellie’s bare body, claiming her. Ellie tore her mouth away and groaned breathlessly.
“I like that,” she said, eyes ablaze. “Do it again.”
“Keep kissing me like that and I will.”
“If I keep kissing you like that, I’ll come again all over your leg.”
“And that would be a bad thing?” Maggie asked, loving the thought of it.
“It would because it’s supposed to be your turn now.”
“We’re taking turns?” Maggie raked her nails up her back again playfully. “I don’t know how I feel about that.”
“No?” Ellie strained beneath her hands, obviously loving the feel of it. She bit her lower lip in pleasure.
“I don’t think you should be denied pleasure at any time.”
“No?”
“Absolutely not.” Maggie skimmed her fingertips down her body to her buttocks where she squeezed and encouraged Ellie to rock her hips once again.
“Maggie,” Ellie breathed.
“Yeah?”