STORY EXCERPT

Grace took in the moment. It was finally happening to her. Grace had dabbled for years with fiction and non-fiction, and some of her essays had been published. But those who knew her well knew that Grace’s real interest was in writing erotica. She had been reading and researching and writing for the last decade. But the more she read and researched, the more frustrated she became that there were no great lesbian love stories, or simple vignettes of great sex. She and Anna would lay in bed at night, reading pitiful books out loud to each other, laughing at how disappointing the writing was or how stereotypical the characters were. One of their favorites was, “Sam watched Beth take her bra off. Beth was so femme, Sam noticed. Sam removed her own construction boots and sports bra and climbed into bed with Beth’s soft body. Beth liked how butch Sam was…” Grace often wondered when someone would create sexy characters that people actually cared about and wanted to read about or describe real passion and great sex, not contrived, predictable scenes.

“Why don’t you do it?” Anna had finally asked her one night.

After years of thinking and practicing, Grace decided she would create the great lesbian short story collection, complete with real, detailed, passionate sex, and asked Anna to be her muse. They spent hours together, under, over, entangled in the covers of their bed, doing “research” for Grace’s hopefully soon-to-be-famous collection.

It was only one year ago, in front of the fireplace, when Grace sat with her laptop and officially started to write. She was of course inspired by their night of lovemaking, which after a decade together somehow still felt new and fresh and filled with passion. As Grace tried to capture that feeling on paper, the first paragraph flowed into the next, until she had what she considered a rough draft of a first story. Grace read it aloud that night to Anna. Anna loved it.

That is simply how the book began.

For the next year, they would lay naked in bed at night and tell “bedtime” stories to each other. Anna would curl up, Grace would fit in behind her, and Grace would describe her fictional characters to Anna. If Anna was aroused, the story became a chapter.

And so it went, month after month, telling stories aloud, Grace beginning them, Anna sometimes whispering their endings into Grace’s ear. Then the two of them would collapse onto each other and make love, sweating, panting, and falling quickly asleep. Anna loved helping to create the new stories and loved playing out the different personas they gave life to, together.

With Anna’s encouragement, Grace started sharing some of the stories with their dinner group. She and Anna called it “test marketing.” They’d all imbibe enough wine so that by the end of dinner Grace felt relaxed enough to read aloud and hear what the group thought. Nowhere else was Grace so comfortable talking about her work than among the eight of them. Jo and Tessa, Mary and Alison, and Gina and Martha were great listeners and great critics.

But it was Gina who encouraged Grace to be bold enough to publish it.

Two months ago, Grace went to her department head at the college and told him she wanted to publish a collection of erotica. Grace’s proposal went to the dean of faculty, then to the president. They apparently had a full faculty meeting and concluded that although the college “supports the creative work of the English department faculty and staff,” they would not endorse Grace working on “a book of sex.” The department head tried to explain that he certainly didn’t want to lose her as a professor, but they also didn’t want faculty publishing works that could damage the college’s reputation.

In that moment, Grace decided that her work at the college was done. She believed she was destined to write the Great Book of Lesbian Erotica and couldn’t remain working at an institution that didn’t support her creative work. “So that’s it? You quit? Tell us how you told them!” Jo was beaming with excitement.

“I said I wanted to pursue my creative dream, and although they say it’s the mission of the college ‘to support the creative work of its authors and professors,’ I frankly was shocked by their decision to not let me pursue mine. And then I notified them that I wouldn’t be teaching my class in January. They asked me if I needed time off to think more clearly, and I told them that I felt crystal clear about my plans to leave permanently.”

“Holy shit,” was all Martha said. She had been a tenured professor of history for fifteen years. Was she envious, Grace wondered.

“You are one ballsy chick!” Alison said, standing up and hugging Grace.

“Before you give me all the credit, let’s also toast Anna,” Grace said. “It was her endless encouragement that had me finally believe this could be possible.” Grace raised her glass and continued, “Besides, it’s Anna’s paycheck that’ll keep us going for a while!” They all cheered Anna and began to eat.

Gina interrupted the clanking of silverware and dishes. “And so, have you decided which of the stories’ll start the book? Which couple gets to be in the first chapter?” The group had heard different versions of different characters over the months, and they all had opinions about how the book should begin, the stories it should contain, and in which order Grace should present them.

“Start with the attorneys! Their story is so hot!” Martha said, predicting the response.

“Of course you’d think so!” Gina said coquettishly. Martha was the only one in the group who had had a husband in her “previous life,” so she was particularly drawn in by the stories about the two women who were cheating on their respective husbands with each other.

“I think you should start the book with the sex maniacs!” Tessa said.

“Sex maniacs? Which ones? Aren’t they all sex maniacs in Grace’s book?”Alison put in, laughing.

“Yeah, good point.” Tessa replied, nodding, and they all laughed. Grace leaned back and took a sip of her wine, then responded to the group with a beguiling smile, smoothing out the cloth napkin next to her plate. “You’ll be pleased to know that I’m still working on more stories—but rest assured that your favorites will all be included.”

They continued to eat for another minute, enjoying the warm, charbroiled steaks—a treat in the middle of winter. Grace continued, “However, I still need some ideas and inspiration if I’m going to finish this thing before the end of the year. I’m counting on all of you to give me great sex details, and maybe I’ll make you famous…”

ADULT EXCERPT

When she reached Maya, Julia looked directly into her eyes then dipped herself under water. The next thing Maya knew, Julia was grabbing at her feet, gently tugging her under. Maya tried playfully to swim away from Julia toward the shallow end, but Julia remained right behind her. As Maya’s foot touched the bottom of the pool, she paused to turn back toward Julia but stopped too quickly. Julia’s body gently bumped against Maya’s, pushing Maya backward. Maya tried to catch her balance by reaching forward and holding onto Julia’s arm. They awkwardly stumbled together for a second, nakedly facing one another. There was a pause, which felt like three minutes. Julia looked down at Maya’s body, her eyes taking in every part of Maya. Is she checking me out? They locked eyes. Maya’s body started to tremble.

Julia wrapped her arms around Maya’s waist, and her lips brushed across Maya’s cheek. Julia held her tightly. The air suddenly felt chilly. Maya stopped breathing. Julia shivered. Maya noticed that Julia’s nipples had hardened against her and that Julia’s breasts were covered in goose bumps. The two women slowly submerged themselves to their shoulders, keeping their eyes on each other’s eyes. Julia pressed forward and kissed Maya, very gently, very slowly, but still tightly holding her at the waist. It was a soft, sweet pause as their lips met. They both stopped, frozen. Maya opened her lips first, and then Julia quickly followed, and the kiss became deeper, tighter. Maya could hear her therapist saying, “Make a decision and accept the consequences.” Suddenly, the moment was no longer hazy or surreal. They both knew exactly what they wanted.

It must have been ten o’clock because all the backyard lights set on timers shut off at that moment. The yard was pitch-black, except for minimal moonlight reflected on the water.

Maya moved her arms up and draped them around Julia’s neck as Julia continued to grip Maya’s waist under the water, and silently vowed to finish what she’d started…no looking back…slowly touching their lips and tongues to each other’s, and touching, and touching, and touching…the chlorine-fresh water falling in warm droplets from their hair onto their cheeks and down into their mouths, running down their necks and merging with the pool’s surface. Maya moved her body forward to be closer to Julia, and Julia pressed back against her. Their hearts raced. Their breasts pressed together and slid against one another. They continued to kiss but moved away from each other’s lips as Julia slid her tongue down around the lobe of Maya’s ear. Julia’s breathing was quick, light. Julia continued to kiss and then lick Maya’s neck. Maya began running her lips down the side of Julia’s neck, almost panting. Julia’s left hand slid down off Maya’s waist and moved between her legs. I have played this scene out in my head a million times. As Julia slid a finger up into Maya, and then another, Maya forgot about every responsibility and only listened to how her body reacted to Julia’s fingers inside her. Maya felt the cool water slip inside of her with each of Julia’s movements. They had ended up close to the wall, and Maya backed against it, hoisting herself up out of the water and sitting on the edge of the pool, spreading her legs wide for Julia. The rush of the cool air on her skin mixed with the heat of what was happening inside her was a combination Maya had never experienced before. She felt completely free, uninhibited. Make a decision and accept the consequences.

Julia pushed her fingers up into Maya, while Maya watched Julia’s small, wet breasts in the light. She gently touched Julia’s nipple, but Julia tipped her own head up to take Maya’s nipple in her mouth. The nipple was cold, exposed as it was to the outside air, but it quickly warmed as Julia wrapped her tongue around it and sucked gently. Julia moaned as she did this, and the sound, though slight, surprised Maya. Maya opened her eyes to look down at Julia’s head at her breast. Julia looked up at the same time, and their eyes met. Julia smiled slightly, staring right into Maya’s eyes with that same look Maya had seen lately and had wondered about. But now she needed to wonder no more.

Julia pushed another finger up inside Maya, and Maya eased herself off the pool edge and back down into the water with Julia. Maya started to feel the pressure inside her own body and now clutched Julia’s nipple between her teeth, grabbing Julia’s breast and holding it in her hand. Julia’s fingers started to move faster inside Maya, and the harder Julia thrust, the more Maya wanted her inside. Maya released Julia’s nipple and then pushed herself up off of Julia’s fingers and out of the water again, laying back on the wet cement, her legs spread and her pussy fully available to Julia. She tipped up her hips, and Julia was able to get deeper into her. Maya started talking to Julia, whispering her name. Julia leaned toward her, kept her fingers buried within Maya’s walls, and pushed her warm wet mouth between Maya’s legs.

Julia began to lick Maya, and all Maya could feel in that moment was Julia’s warm, slippery tongue lapping between her folds. Maya concentrated as Julia now licked her clit with tiny, gentle movements. Yet what Maya really wanted was for Julia to suck her roughly, then gently bite her, and most of all continue to finger-fuck her. Maya whispered Julia’s name again, ready to ask for what she needed.