A Chaperoned Christmas by Meg Mardell

Author:Meg Mardell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: LGBTQIA+, historical/Victorian England, romance, holiday/Christmas, English countryside/Devonshire coast, homecoming, bisexual, lesbian, polyamory, masquerade ball, family gatherings, horses, non-explicit, reunited, coming out
Publisher: NineStar Press, LLC
Published: 2022-11-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

A Devonshire rider learnt to be in control at all times. On this coast, sudden streams strained to reach the sea while cliffs violently resisted the sea’s force. Add in a millennium of agriculture dividing and divotting the countryside, and the land around Luscombe Hall afforded an endlessly invigorating landscape for horse riding. But not a safe one. Sophie loved every rock and stump of the place. But a grassy spot over by Pebble Rock held a special place in her steadfast affections. An open grassy stretch about half a mile long and absolutely perfect for a gallop. She never took anyone else there. Never let anyone see how she allowed her mount—usually Stavros—their head. Allowed it until she could feel that control slipping through her fingers even as the reins loosened in her hands. She and the horse would ease over the edge together, the one you couldn’t feel until you were over the line. But as soon as she felt it, Sophie’s protective instincts kicked in violently. She slowly tightened her grip and gentled her horse into a more controlled gait. And that moment of joyous abandon? Carefully and secretly stored in her heart.

From the moment Candida had pressed her clever, sweet mouth to hers, Sophie’s heart had begun a headlong canter over difficult terrain. When she finally allowed herself to return that achingly sweet pressure, her pulse galloped in her throat. Now that Sophie could touch Candida, could feel her returning pulse through her porcelain skin? Oh, it was the tipping point past all control. Yet instead of pulling back, Sophie raced headlong into the ride. For whom could she hurt but herself?

Candida’s hands were now in Sophie’s hair, tugging gently and holding her in place. As if I would want to be anywhere else but here! As if she wasn’t responding to the slightest change in the angle of Candida’s head, the subtlest instruction of her persuasive lips. Sophie was here to learn after all. To learn what it was like to kiss Candida Damerell. A dream once as lofty and remote as the moon, but now, in the silvered light of the bedroom where she’d slept all her adult life, somehow a reality.

Sophie traced her fingertips over the sensitive skin of her idol’s throat and shoulders. The long line of her slender neck. The perfect swoop of her winged collarbones. The only thing that would ever make her break off kissing Candida would be to whisper her praises: exquisite, stunning, perfect.

Too, too perfect.

Her fingers found the cleft of Candida’s throat even as her tongue discovered the gap between Candida’s lips. She was powerless to resist. She stroked. A strange whimpering sound emerged. It was in her mouth. Was it hers? Another caress. Another whimper. Candida. Distressed. No.

Sophie pulled back from her wild gallop. She pulled hard and without finesse. Her mouth ached from the sudden removal of Candida’s lips. Her perfectly pink and parted lips. Her eyes were open too, their watchfulness banished and replaced with a certain wide wonder.

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