Best Lesbian Romance 2014 (27 page)

I can't remember what I was going to say to her. I grope for the vows I wrote as Tommy leads me to the chapel. My hands feel clammy and sweaty, and my head feels flushed and light. I am
not
going to faint in the middle of this church. The words swirl, out of reach, until the first lines of my heartfelt outpouring float to the surface.
Oh, right…

“I knew from the first moment I saw you that you were way too good for me. I'm glad I never let that stop me, or I would have cheated myself out of loving the most brilliant, beautiful and incredible woman I've ever met.” I'd almost decided on
busty.
I left it out, but now I'm nervous that I'll say it in front of everyone.
Oh god…
“You're everything I'm not, and you give me the strength to be strong for you. But the thing is, you're really the strongest woman I know; way stronger than I could ever imagine being….”

I may have the muscles in our relationship, but she has the backbone of steel and the power to back up her iron will. She took me shopping for her perfect princess wedding dress, and we went from store to store until she finally found the one that made her eyes misty and her breath catch. That was when the shop girl had walked up and asked what her “brother” thought of the dress.

Anna had turned to that girl, with nary a trace of disappointment on her face—only censure—and had proudly announced that I was her future
wife,
thank you, and if she couldn't treat me with respect, then Anna would take the dress off right then, and we could go. It made my heart tremble with love to know that she meant every word and that she'd settle for a lesser dress just to shut that snide shop girl up. I was glad that she didn't have to.

My brother walks with me to the front of the church, but it feels like I stand up there alone forever, my hands clasped and trembling before me as I wish I'd given in to her urging to carry a bouquet. My brother's at my side, but it's me everyone is looking at. My family. Hers. Our friends. Everyone shifting in their seats, murmuring to their neighbor and playing with their phones. What I wouldn't give to likewise fidget! It feels like a week of statue stillness, exposed, before the vestibule door opens
and her sister steps through, looking adorable as she sways to the front of the room in her coral gown.

I've always thought Tiff was cute, and she never missed an opportunity to tease me—the straight girl flirting with her gay sister's girlfriend; innocent fun—but today I can't take my eyes off that plain wooden door, as if by looking hard enough, I can see through it to
her.
Anna…

“It's easy to be strong when the world puts the weight on your shoulders from your earliest years. I've never been able to hide what I am, and as a consequence, I have always had to bear it or break under the weight. But you look as feminine and delicate as the world could hope for, and you could easily hide that which is different. But you bear the same weight by choice, proudly claiming me wherever we go. Coming out of the closet isn't something you did once and put behind you; it's something that you do again and again, and will continue to do for the rest of your life, showing a courage I can only envy, admire and adore.”

The door finally cracks open, and there she is, beaming in that perfect, gorgeous dress that flaunts her bare shoulders and her tiny waist. She clings to her father's arm, and his face looks a little misty. It takes me a moment to realize that
everything
looks misty, and that's because I'm crying at the sight of her as she walks slowly down the aisle, steady as can be on those towering heels, and her eyes are fixed on my face, the way my eyes are on hers.

I barely look at her father when he puts her hand in mine, and as we turn to face the minister, she squeezes my hand and I know that once again, her strength is bearing me up.

Her vows are as sweet as she is, and she promises to love me and cherish me and keep my needs in her heart. There is nothing there but perfect, beautiful honesty and a promise that that sweetness will continue to be mine to sample.

It's my turn. My vows, carefully polished—my best chance to show her how much she means to me.

“You give me the courage to be your strong right arm, the bravery to stand between you and the world, wherever I can, and the heart to be proud of everything that I am. By loving me, you show me how much of me there is to love. You're the daughter my parents always wanted and the magnificent, mysterious type of woman who has always fascinated me, maybe because I always knew I would never be anything like you. You show me the strong counter-side to my every weakness, and you make me strive to be the hero that you have always seen in me. I love you, and I would be an idiot not to tell you so every single day for the rest of our lives.”

As I fall silent, I hear sniffles throughout the church, but I have eyes only for Anna, whose eyes have gone shiny with tears of joy.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

KRIS ADAMS
(
smadasirk.blogspot.com
) writes erotica, short fiction, fan fiction and poetry. Her work has appeared in
Best Women's Erotica 2009, Best Lesbian Romance 2010, Girl Crush, Daily Flashes of Erotica
and
Irresistible: Erotic Romance for Couples.

JILLIAN BOYD
is a twenty-two-year-old author/blogger, based in London. She's been previously published by the likes of Constable and Robinson and Cliterati.

Called a “legendary erotica heavy-hitter” (by the überlegendary Violet Blue),
ANDREA DALE
(
cyvarwydd.com
) dedicates this story to mothers and daughters everywhere. Her work has appeared in about 100 anthologies from Harlequin Spice, Avon Red and Cleis Press, and is available online at Soul's Road Press.

A lover of unusual things,
CHERYL DRAGON
(
cheryldragon.com
) enjoys writing unique stories with sinfully hot erotic romance. Her two favorite settings are Las Vegas and New Orleans…where anything can happen!

LISA FIGUEROA
is a Chicana writer from the Los Angeles area. Her fiction appears in
Lessons in Love: Erotic Interludes 3, Iridescence
and
Best Lesbian Romance 2007.

JANE FLETCHER
is author of ten speculative fiction novels. Her works have won the Golden Crown Award and the Alice B Readers Award and have been short-listed for both the Lambda and Gaylactic Spectrum Awards.

D. JACKSON LEIGH
grew up barefoot and happy, swimming in farm ponds and riding rude ponies in rural Georgia. She is the author of six lesbian romances, laced with Southern humor and set against her trademark equestrian backdrop.

BRITTNEY LOUDIN
is an aspiring novelist with a part-time retail gig, a handful of college credits and a passion for lesbian romantic literature.

LEE LYNCH
is the author of
The Raid, Beggar of Love
and
Sweet Creek
as well as the classic titles:
The Swashbuckler, Toothpick House
and
Old Dyke Tales.
Her work has been honored with the James Duggins Mid-Career Award, among many others.

LYNETTE MAE
served in the army before diving into a law enforcement career. Her life's rich experiences provide endless inspiration for stories filled with real-life action and plenty of romance.

CATHERINE MAIORISI
lives in New York City and can usually be found writing in her neighborhood Starbucks. Her short story “A Matter of Justice” appeared in the anthology
Murder New York Style: Fresh Slices.

ANNA MEADOWS
is a part-time executive assistant, part-time Sapphic housewife. Her work appears in eleven Cleis Press anthologies and on the Lambda Literary website.

JADE MELISANDE
(
kinkandpoly.com
) is a sex, kink and relationship blogger and erotica writer living in the Midwest with her two partners. She has been published in anthologies such as
Spankalicious, Show Me, Serve Him, Cheeky Spanking Stories, Voyeur Eyes Only, Orgasmic, Lesbian Lust
and
Power Play.

JL MERROW
(
jlmerrow.com
) is that rare beast, an English person who refuses to drink tea. Her novella
Muscling Through
was shortlisted for a 2013 EPIC ebook Award.

SARA RAUCH's
writing (
www.sararauch.com
) has appeared in
Earth's Daughters, The Black Boot, Inkwell, The Prose-Poem Project, The Q Review, theneweryork
and in the anthology
Dear John, I Love Jane.

JEAN ROBERTA
(
erotica-readers.blogspot.com
) teaches English in a Canadian university and has written over ninety erotic stories, two single-author collections and a lesbian novella,
The Flight of the Black Swan.

SHISUMA
is a student and an aspiring writer whose passion is stories about women loving women.

KATHLEEN TUDOR
(
KathleenTudor.com
) is a rockin' erotic author and super-editor, with stories in anthologies from Cleis, Circlet, Storm Moon, Mischief HarperCollins, Circlet, Xcite and more. Check her out in
Take Me, My Boyfriend's Boyfriends
and
Kiss Me at Midnight.

ALLISON WONDERLAND
(
aisforallison.blogspot.com
) is one L of a girl. Her lesbian literature appears in the Cleis collections
Girl Fever, Best Lesbian Romance 2013, Girls Who Score, Sudden Sex
and
Wild Girls, Wild Nights.

ABOUT THE EDITOR

RADCLYFFE
has written over forty romance and romantic intrigue novels, dozens of short stories, a paranormal romance series (writing as L.L. Raand), and has edited over a dozen anthologies including
Best Lesbian Romance 2009
through
2014.

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 also a RWA Prism, Lories, Beanpot, Aspen Gold and Laurel Wreath winner in multiple mainstream romance categories. She is also the President of Bold Strokes Books, an independent LGBTQ publisher.