Best Lesbian Romance 2014 by Radclyffe Read Free Book Online Page A

streets and houses and trees flew by. I dreamed of a cardinal nesting in a tree choked by bittersweet. I dreamed of breathing underwater.
    In the morning, after I’d showered and had coffee, I called Poppy. I had not shaken the steep yearning that filled me, or the strangeness of my dreams. As the phone rang, I looked down and saw I was still wearing the rubies. I twisted the band around and around.
    Poppy answered. “You sly devil.”
    â€œWhat?” I asked, though I knew full well.
    â€œYou went home with Clara. I knew it. I knew you’d love her.”
    â€œNothing happened.”
    â€œOh, Sienna,” she said. “Stop being silly. She called Dale an hour ago and asked for your phone number.”
    â€œHe gave it to her?” It was as if a wave crashed over me.
    Poppy sighed. “Of course he did.”
    â€œBut—”
    â€œBut nothing,” Poppy said. “You’re ready for this.”
    The gills flared.
    Poppy continued, “Clara really, really liked you.”
    As I had her. I’d found the current. I stopped resisting and followed it upstream.

AN ADVENTURE
    Shisuma
    My friends think I’m boring.
    I have a normal job. I drive a Toyota. I like to read, take long romantic walks on the beach, and have nice quiet evenings with a glass of wine and good, interesting company. Oh, and I’m happily married. That about kills them. Because how does anyone in their right mind want to wake up with the same woman day after day? Let alone after ten years. And sex? What a drag. It probably becomes a second job after any extended period of time, until you inevitably quit it altogether. Because let’s face it, there’s nothing exciting about having the same woman, night after night. But it probably does suit me, because I never was a partygoer and I never really did have that many women. So every time the subject comes up, my friends come to the conclusion that this boring and terribly married life is perfect for me. I always smile and sip my wine, not even trying to defend myself because I know the truth and they wouldn’t understand it.
    I’m an adventurer, you see. When I come home at night tothe goddess I call my wife and kiss her hello, I know by the fire in her eyes that burns through my clothes and the way she holds me just a little longer than necessary that I’m going on a journey tonight. I love to travel and to discover the desolate places where only few have gone before me. But there are those places, the secret places that only I have charted. That’s my favorite tour, because I discover something new every time.
    I start at her hair. A waterfall of the deepest red I have ever seen cascading down her shoulders and whispering on the sheets. It’s a breathtaking sight, like liquid fire. I always lose myself in the rich scent and the way my fingers disappear when I comb through the silken strands. But her impatient sighs call me back. I must resume my journey. The path is familiar as I follow her brows with my tongue, down the bridge of her nose, taking a detour to worship at her temples. She giggles when I tease the rim of her earlobe, but it turns into a moan when I begin to suck. She urges me on, but I just smile. Tonight won’t be a quick trip. Instead I rest my mouth on her soft lips and discover that I’m thirsty. She opens up to me, like Ali Baba’s cave, revealing to me all the pleasures that lie inside. My love is thirsty too. She drinks me in as I explore every inch and dance my tongue around hers. I always dread my departure from this place of wonders, but eventually we both have to surface for air. Before she can protest, I continue, feathering light kisses along my path down her throat. The road is steep, but I know where it will take me. She knows it too and pants in anticipation. I surprise her by stopping at her shoulders first, nibbling the tender flesh at the base of her neck and tracing my way down her