Never Too Late (35 page)

Tension built in Carla’s belly and her muscles tightened around Jamie’s fingers. Her heart was pounding against her ribs. She was so close. Jamie pressed her tongue flat against Carla’s clit and stroked it hard and fast as she moved two fingers in and out. When Jamie stroked harder with her tongue, a deep rumbling started in Carla’s chest and escaped her mouth as a long cry of pleasure. Carla’s voice was thick with her Southern accent as she urged Jamie not to stop, demanded more pressure, a deeper thrust. She shoved herself onto Jamie’s fingers and against her tongue. Carla rode out another orgasm, crying out Jamie’s name over and over, as her body melted.

Jamie laid her head on Carla’s thigh, but kept her fingers deep inside as their breathing quieted. “You had a little pent up, too.” Jamie slid up and kissed Carla tenderly, spreading Carla’s wetness across her lips.

“I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, Jamie. My memories of that night were so accurate I swear part of me feels twenty-two again.” Carla opened her eyes and laid her palm against the soft cheek. “But…all those lost years…” Her eyes filled. “I don’t know how I lived without you, without this, all those years.”

“Hey. I’m not going anywhere.”

Carla sat up and pulled Jamie into a fierce hug. “I can’t lose you again, not even for a minute.” Carla was shaking with joy and need and an irrational fear of losing Jamie, as if the universe would continue to torment them.

“I’ll move in with you tomorrow—”

“Don’t say that if you don’t mean it.”

“Would this weekend be soon enough?”

Carla devoured Jamie’s mouth with a possessive kiss. “If that’s the best you can do.” Carla laughed, releasing all the tension of the last couple months. This was her future and it was perfect. They fell onto the bed in a tangle of arms and legs, kissing and laughing, murmuring all the longed-for words of love and commitment.

*

Carla set two cups of coffee on the nightstand and slid onto the bed, careful not to wake Jamie. She was content to just watch her sleep, letting the sadness of that young woman who’d had to walk away release into the joy of knowing she’d have every morning of her life with Jamie. They’d made love deep into the night, healing their past and sealing their bond, leaving each other breathless and sated time and time again. This was the new life she wanted.

Finally Carla snuggled against Jamie. She stirred when Carla blew on her neck, squirmed when she traced her tongue around her ear. Flipping onto her back she smiled and sniffed the air between them. “You have coffee breath,” she said, narrowing her eyes.

“And so will you in a minute.” Carla tilted her head toward the nightstand. She couldn’t stop staring at Jamie as her fantasy ending to that night played out before her. “Happy?”

“Indescribably,” Jamie said. “A little sore, though.”

“Guess running isn’t the right kind of cross training, is it?”

Jamie kissed the top of Carla’s head. “Do we have any orgasms left in us?” She gasped when Carla slid her hand under the sheet and stroked her clit. “Okay, you made your point.”

“Can we call in sick today?” Carla snuggled into the crook of Jamie’s arm.

Jamie groaned. “Damn. It feels like a weekend.”

Carla sighed. “It’s going to be a long, long, long day. Maybe we can come home for lunch.”

“I like the sound of that. In fact…if my amazing office manager can arrange it, maybe we just won’t go back after lunch.”

“Consider it done.” Carla rolled on top of Jamie. “We’re going to have a great life.”

*

Warm hands slid under Jamie’s T-shirt and warm breath tickled her neck as Carla snuggled up against her back. “When did you do this?” Carla’s bedroom was filled with dozens of flickering candles. A trail of rose petals in a rainbow of colors led from the door to the bed. Carla took her hand and led her to the bed. A single red rose lay on top of a pillow, a card tucked under it.

“When I sent you to the store. Open it.”

Jamie looked from Carla to the card. She’d been redefining happiness by the minute all day as being with Carla and absorbing the love between them thawed the cold, empty spaces in her heart. They’d spent the afternoon in bed, letting their bodies catch up on years of unfulfilled passion. They’d called Penni and Lori and basked in their congratulations. They’d had dinner on the couch watching another of Carla’s favorite movies. They’d talked about changes for the clinic and about holiday plans like a long-partnered couple. Jamie felt her dreams coming back to her. She’d found the most important of them, the one that made her happier than she’d ever been. Her mother would heartily approve.

Jamie opened the card and stared at the two tickets nestled inside. She read the name of the performer and the date of the concert—Melissa Etheridge on New Year’s Eve. She threw herself into Carla’s arms, peppering her cheeks with soft kisses. “When did you get these?”

“Last summer. Mike won’t mind if I take you instead.” They tumbled onto the bed in each other’s arms as the past merged with the present, waiting to become their future.

Julie Blair has always believed that fiction is one of life’s great pleasures. From the time she was old enough to hold a book, escaping into worlds where anything is possible and endings are usually happy has been a favorite pastime. Growing up a tomboy before it was fashionable, Julie attached herself to sports, especially softball, which culminated in her pitching in the Women’s College World Series. Finally forced to grow up and get a real job, she landed in restaurant management for a decade before entering the rigors of chiropractic school. She has been a chiropractor for over two decades.

Julie has sat atop the ruins of Machu Picchu and stood five feet from mountain gorillas in Uganda, but her favorite place is curled up on her couch with her Labradors, Magic and Mandy, reading or writing. Living in the quiet of California’s Santa Cruz Mountains, she enjoys gardening, hiking, red wine, strong coffee, smooth jazz, and warm fall afternoons.

Never Too Late
is Julie’s debut novel. She’s hard at work trying to give voices to other characters with stories to tell—their struggles, their triumphs, their love affairs—mostly in self-defense, hoping they’ll stop waking her up in the middle of the night with snippets of dialogue or ideas for scenes and settings.

Courtship
by Carsen Taite. Love and justice—a lethal mix or a perfect match? (978-1-62639-210-6)

Against Doctor’s Orders
by Radclyffe. Corporate financier Presley Worth wants to shut down Argyle Community Hospital, but Dr. Harper Rivers will fight her every step of the way, if she can also fight their growing attraction. (978-1-62639-211-3)

A Spark of Heavenly Fire
by Kathleen Knowles. Kerry and Beth are building their life together, but unexpected circumstances could destroy their happiness. (978-1-62639-212-0)

Never Too Late
by Julie Blair. When Dr. Jamie Hammond is forced to hire a new office manager, she’s shocked to come face to face with Carla Grant and memories from her past. (978-1-62639-213-7)

Widow
by Martha Miller. Judge Bertha Brannon must solve the murder of her lover, a policewoman she thought she’d grow old with. As more bodies pile up, the murderer starts coming for her. (978-1-62639-214-4)

Twisted Echoes
by Sheri Lewis Wohl. What’s a woman to do when she realizes the voices in her head are real? (978-1-62639-215-1)

Criminal Gold
by Ann Aptaker. Through a dangerous night in New York in 1949, Cantor Gold, dapper dyke-about-town, smuggler of fine art, is forced by a crime lord to be his instrument of vengeance. (978-1-62639-216-8)

The Melody of Light
by M.L. Rice. After surviving abuse and loss, will Riley Gordon be able to navigate her first year of college and accept true love and family? (978-1-62639-219-9)

Because of You
by Julie Cannon. What would you do for the woman you were forced to leave behind? (978-1-62639-199-4)

The Job
by Jove Belle
.
Sera always dreamed that she would one day reunite with Tor. She just didn’t think it would involve terrorists, firearms, and hostages. (978-1-62639-200-7)

Making Time
by C.J. Harte. Two women going in different directions meet after fifteen years and struggle to reconnect in spite of the past that separated them. (978-1-62639-201-4)

Once The Clouds Have Gone
by KE Payne. Overwhelmed by the dark clouds of her past, Tag Grainger is lost until the intriguing and spirited Freddie Metcalfe unexpectedly forces her to reevaluate her life. (978-1-62639-202-1)

The Acquittal
by Anne Laughlin. Chicago private investigator Josie Harper searches for the real killer of a woman whose lover has been acquitted of the crime. (978-1-62639-203-8)

An American Queer: The Amazon Trail
by Lee Lynch. Lee Lynch’s heartening and heart-rending history of gay life from the turbulence of the late 1900s to the triumphs of the early 2000s are recorded in this selection of her columns. (978-1-62639-204-5)

Stick McLaughlin: The Prohibition Years
by CF Frizzell. Corruption in 1918 cost Stick her lover, her freedom, and her identity, but a very special flapper and the family bond of her own gang could help win them back—even if it means outwitting the Boston Mob. (978-1-62639-205-2)

Edge of Awareness
by C.A. Popovich. When Maria, a woman in the middle of her third divorce, meets Dana, an out lesbian, awareness of her feelings brings up reservations about the teachings of her church. (978-1-62639-188-8)

Taken by Storm
by Kim Baldwin. Lives depend on two women when a train derails high in the remote Alps, but an unforgiving mountain, avalanches, crevasses, and other perils stand between them and safety. (978-1-62639-189-5)

The Common Thread
by Jaime Maddox. Dr. Nicole Coussart’s life is falling apart, but fortunately, DEA Attorney Rae Rhodes is there to pick up the pieces and help Nic put them back together. (978-1-62639-190-1)

Jolt
by Kris Bryant. Mystery writer Bethany Lange wasn’t prepared for the twisting emotions that left her breathless the moment she laid eyes on folk singer sensation Ali Hart. (978-1-62639-191-8)

Searching For Forever
by Emily Smith. Dr. Natalie Jenner’s life has always been about saving others, until young paramedic Charlie Thompson comes along and shows her maybe she’s the one who needs saving. (978-1-62639-186-4)

A Queer Sort of Justice: Prison Tales Across Time
by Rebecca S. Buck. When liberty is only a memory, and all seems lost, what freedoms and hopes can be found within us? (978-1-62639-195-6E)

Blue Water Dreams
by Dena Hankins. Lania Marchiol keeps her wary sailor’s gaze trained on the horizon until Oly Rassmussen, a wickedly handsome trans man, sends her trusty compass spinning off course. (978-1-62639-192-5)

Rest Home Runaways
by Clifford Henderson. Baby boomer Morgan Ronzio’s troubled marriage is the least of her worries when she gets the call that her addled, eighty-six-year-old, half-blind dad has escaped the rest home. (978-1-62639-169-7)

Charm City
by Mason Dixon. Raq Overstreet’s loyalty to her drug kingpin boss is put to the test when she begins to fall for Bathsheba Morris, the undercover cop assigned to bring him down. (978-1-62639-198-7)

Let the Lover Be
by Sheree Greer. Kiana Lewis, a functional alcoholic on the verge of destruction, finally faces the demons of her past while finding love and earning redemption in New Orleans. (978-1-62639-077-5)

Blindsided
by Karis Walsh. Blindsided by love, guide dog trainer Lenae McIntyre and media personality Cara Bradley learn to trust what they see with their hearts. (978-1-62639-078-2)

About Face
by VK Powell. Forensic artist Macy Sheridan and Detective Leigh Monroe work on a case that has troubled them both for years, but they’re hampered by the past and their unlikely yet undeniable attraction. (978-1-62639-079-9)

Blackstone
by Shea Godfrey. For Darry and Jessa, their chance at a life of freedom is stolen by the arrival of war and an ancient prophecy that just might destroy their love. (978-1-62639-080-5)

Out of This World
by Maggie Morton. Iris decided to cross an ocean to get over her ex. But instead, she ends up traveling much farther, all the way to another world. Once there, only a mysterious, sexy, and magical woman can help her return home. (978-1-62639-083-6)

Kiss The Girl
by Melissa Brayden. Sleeping with the enemy has never been so complicated. Brooklyn Campbell and Jessica Lennox face off in love and advertising in fast-paced New York City. (978-1-62639-071-3)

Taking Fire: A First Responders Novel
by Radclyffe. Hunted by extremists and under siege by nature’s most virulent weapons, Navy medic Max de Milles and Red Cross worker Rachel Winslow join forces to survive and discover something far more lasting. (978-1-62639-072-0)

First Tango in Paris
by Shelley Thrasher. When French law student Eva Laroche meets American call girl Brigitte Green in 1970s Paris, they have no idea how their pasts and futures will intersect. (978-1-62639-073-7)

The War Within
by Yolanda Wallace. Army nurse Meredith Moser went to Vietnam in 1967 looking to help those in need; she didn’t expect to meet the love of her life along the way. (978-1-62639-074-4)

Escapades
by MJ Williamz. Two women, afraid to love again, must overcome their fears to find the happiness that awaits them. (978-1-62639-182-6)

Desire at Dawn
by Fiona Zedde. For Kylie, love had always come armed with sharp teeth and claws. But with the human, Olivia, she bares her vampire heart for the very first time, sharing passion, lust, and a tenderness she’d never dared dream of before. (978-1-62639-064-5)

Visions
by Larkin Rose. Sometimes the mysteries of love reveal themselves when you least expect it. Other times they hide behind a black satin mask. Can Paige unveil her masked stranger this time? (978-1-62639-065-2)

All In
by Nell Stark. Internet poker champion Annie Navarro loses everything when the Feds shut down online gambling, and she turns to experienced casino host Vesper Blake for advice—but can Nova convince Vesper to take a gamble on romance? (978-1-62639-066-9)