Lesbian Lovers Read online

  Lesbian Lovers

  By Berengaria Brown

  Copyright 2015 by Berengaria Brown

  Smashwords Edition

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.

  Torquere Press Publishers

  P.O. Box 37, Waldo, AR 71770.

  Stubborn Attraction Copyright © 2012 by Berengaria Brown

  Fist Me Copyright © 2012 by Berengaria Brown

  Lady Caroline’s Reward Copyright © 2010 by Berengaria Brown

  Cover illustration by BSClay

  Published with permission

  ISBN: 978-1-61040-889-9

  www.torquerepress.com

  All rights reserved, which includes the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever except as provided by the U.S. Copyright Law. For information address Torquere Press. LLC, P.O. Box 37, Waldo, AR 71770

  First Torquere Press Printing: March 2015

  Lesbian Lovers

  By Berengaria Brown

  Lady Caroline’s Reward

  Chapter One

  Lady Caroline Eversley paced back and forth in her father’s book room with a long stride her former governess had regularly told her to shorten and slow.

  Her blue muslin skirts whipped around her ankles on every turn, but they did not distract her from her worried muttering. Caroline had decided she would have to find herself an acceptable chaperone and soon, but choosing such a person was not easy. Although she was twenty and no mere schoolroom miss, she had never been presented at Court, never made her curtsy to society, and never had the opportunity to make a suitable marriage.

  “Ha! Father was right about that, though. The only men who have ever come here have been after my fortune, not me! I certainly don’t want some idiotish gambler losing it all in some hell or other. Nor any young blood wasting it on fast women and slow horses. No, my inheritance is safely invested in Funds, and there it will stay, come what may. But what to do now…”

  By the time she was fifteen, Lady Caroline’s father, George Eversley, Earl of Blackshire had seemed a little forgetful. He would forget appointments he was supposed to keep or forget to tell the staff he had invited friends to dine. His family and friends had blamed his absentmindedness on the many tasks involved in managing a large estate, more than one hundred dependents, a town house in London, and the natural concerns of rearing his motherless daughter. Everyone had expected him to remarry and produce a son well before his daughter needed a sponsor to be presented to the Ton, but for one reason or another he had not remarried, so there was no wife and no heir.

  Caroline’s fifteenth year was also the year the Earl had summoned his man of business and rewritten his will, leaving his investments, his late wife’s extensive jewelry collection, and the London house to his daughter’s sole use and appointing a legal firm to advise her—not to take control of the funds. Then he’d spent considerable time teaching her everything he knew about investing in commodities. “For you know that one day you will marry, and a wise person always understands why it’s time to buy cardamom instead of coffee. Especially with the war with Napoleon Bonaparte. I am only sorry the estate is entailed and will pass with the title to your cousin, William. I would rather have left it to you.”

  “Don’t be sad, Papa. If I could have arranged matters better I would have been a son for you.”

  “Never say that, Caroline. You are perfect exactly as you are.”

  During her seventeenth year, she and her father had discussed her making her debut, but they could not hit upon the right woman to sponsor her into society. It needed to be someone up high enough to procure vouchers for her to attend Almack’s, and the obvious person, George’s sister, Henrietta, was still in half-mourning for her husband, Sir Frederick Somerton, who had passed away less than a year before.

  “Next year,” they had all promised, but by the following year it had become apparent that the Earl of Blackshire was more than just worried and tired. He was increasingly forgetful and could no longer be permitted to ride around the lands without a groom, since he was likely to turn in the wrong direction instead of heading for home.

  Lady Caroline had quietly and unobtrusively taken over the reins of running the estate—she had been managing the household for several years already—and then had arranged for her man of business to hire, in quick succession, three impoverished gentlemen needing employment: a chaplain, the Reverend Hugh Howel; a gambler, John Foulk; and a batman, Thomas Hooper.

  All three had come upon hard times thanks to the war in Spain. Hugh had lost his living after the landowner was killed at the Battle of Talavera, and the new Lord installed his own vicar.

  John had made the political and financial error of betting on General Cuesta in the battle instead of on Arthur Wellesley and had been obliged to leave town indefinitely.

  And Captain Smythe-Jones had been killed in the battle, leaving Thomas without employment and with a distaste for following the drum any longer.

  The reverend was very well educated and able to converse on almost any topic. The gambler was content to play endless games of cards for vast imaginary sums, and the batman happily became part guardian, part nurse to the Earl. Between the three of them, most of the Earl’s entertainment and care was assured. If people wondered why the Earl had hired extra staff, they were too polite to ask, and besides, he went into company less and less as his illness advanced, so his activities were unlikely to be questioned.

  More recently, the Reverend Hugh Howel had also become a sort of chaperone to Lady Caroline as a steady procession of men began to decide that her fortune was just what they needed and her maid’s presence was no longer enough to prevent them speaking to her.

  Which brought her wandering thoughts back to where they’d started.

  Caroline sank into an armchair. Dinah Watkin. A governess. Aged about thirty. Some kind of distant cousin. They had met at a large family Christmas gathering the year Caroline was turning fifteen, before she knew of her father’s illness. Dinah and Caroline, despite their age difference, had instantly been attracted to each other and had spent many long hours by the fire embroidering cushion covers and talking.

  Since then, they had exchanged an occasional letter, and Caroline thought Dinah might be willing to leave her employment. If she was still at the same address as on her last letter.

  Jumping up again, Caroline walked to her father’s desk and began going through the pigeon holes, knowing in which ones she had stored their private letters.

  “Ha!” she exclaimed, pulling the correct letter from the desk and laying it flat. Drawing pen and ink over, she began drafting a letter that would explain her situation without giving too much detail.

  ***

  Dinah was overjoyed to receive the letter. Her youngest charge was being sent to Eton at the start of next term to join his two brothers, and she had not been looking forward to searching for another situation.

  Lady Caroline Eversley. An attractive young woman. Quite tall. Thick, light brown hair, pale blue eyes, white skin, and a mind as sharp as a razor. Dinah mentally counted the years. She’d be what? Twenty now? And apparently not married. If she’d been married and widowed, I’m sure I would have heard.

  ***

  Two weeks later, Dinah and her large portmanteau, a bandbox, and a crate of books arrived and were installed in the spacious, sunny bedroom opposite Caroline’s.

  Over a dish of tea and a plate of coconut macaroons, Caroline explained the circumstances of the household.

&nbs
p; “Do you want me to frighten away these swains of yours, or would you prefer me to simply guard you so you can see if any of them is worthwhile husband material?”

  “I fail to see how any man who chases after an unknown woman to propose to her could be a good husband. And d’you know, of all the men I’ve met not one has ever made my heart beat faster.”

  “Perhaps if you had a season…”

  “Ah, but that is not going to happen. My father is definitely failing, but there is no reason to think he will die for another year or more yet, then I will be in mourning for a year after that. By then, I will be so far back on the shelf that the only men who would look at me would be either desperate for my money or desperate for a wife to rear their motherless children. Neither of those two futures inspires me at all. I like managing my own life.”

  “Very well, then,” replied Dinah, “I will assist you in that desire.”

  ***

  Less than a week later, a maid came running to find Dinah in the garden, where she was choosing flowers for the hallway vases under the watchful eye of the head gardener.

  “Oh, Miss Watkin,” the maid said, bobbing a hasty curtsy. “If you please, that Honorable Mr. Marris is here again, and even though the Reverend has told him Lady Caroline won’t see him, he is waiting in the sitting room, demanding the best brandy and asking that she come to talk to him now.”

  “Very well, I am coming,” Dinah replied and paced smartly through the gardens and into the house.

  She stopped at the hallway mirror to check that her dark hair was still in its neat braids under her lace cap, straightened her simple gray kerseymere gown, then marched into the sitting room where the Reverend Hugh Howel and the Honorable Mr. Marris stood on opposite sides of the unlit fireplace. There was no sign of refreshments having been provided.

  “My dear Miss Watkin, I am so pleased you could join us. I have explained to Mr. Marris that Lady Caroline is unavailable, but I am afraid he won’t accept my word on the matter. Me, a man of the cloth, and my word is not considered trustworthy. Tut-tut.”

  Dinah nodded at Hugh then stared at Mr. Marris. The man had a round belly and a weak chin. Although he could not have been much older than herself, his hair was already thinning and his nose had the slightly reddish color of a man who regularly drank to excess.

  He pulled himself to his full height and attempted to look down his nose at her, but since she was almost as tall as he was, that gesture was somewhat ineffectual.

  “Miss Watkin, Mr. Marris. Mr. Marris, Miss Watkin,” Hugh introduced them.

  Dinah hid a grin, wondering if the man even noticed the slight he’d been given by such a casual introduction.

  “I have put myself to a great deal of trouble to pay this morning call on Lady Caroline. I can’t understand why she is not able to attend on me, since I have come to visit her.”

  “Possibly because she told you last time you visited not to come back?” hazarded Dinah on a guess.

  An accurate one, judging by the way Hugh was struggling to hide his laughter behind a very affected cough.

  “I am the heir to a very handsome barony,” Mr. Marris expostulated.

  “And she is an Earl’s only child,” replied Dinah, vigorously ringing the bell.

  The Earl’s stately majordomo appeared in the doorway. “Yes, Miss Watkin?”

  “Mr. Marris is leaving. He will not be returning. Please escort him out,” she said very firmly.

  The majordomo bowed. “Mr. Marris?”

  His face red with anger, the man nodded to Hugh and Dinah and left.

  ***

  Later that evening, the women sat by the fire in the book room, their fingers moving diligently as they sewed. Hugh, Thomas, and John were all upstairs with Caroline’s father. His suite of rooms was always heated warmly, and he was never left unattended even for a moment.

  Dinah gazed at Caroline. She really did look lovely in the firelight, her pale cheeks slightly flushed by the warmth of the fire, the long hair coiled neatly on her neck and gleaming with reddish highlights, her slender fingers busily employed mending one of her father’s shirts.

  Dinah’s heart lurched. She could fall in love with this woman. Not only was Caroline beautiful, but she was also highly intelligent and courageous in the way she was facing the adversity of her father’s, and therefore her own, situation.

  “Have you ever been kissed?” Dinah asked suddenly.

  “Well, just a few quick pecks by boys who shouldn’t have when I was younger. At family gatherings and such. And one or two of the suitors have tried. That’s why I made sure Hugh Howel was always with me. They totally ignored the fact my maid Betty was in the room!”

  “Would you like to be kissed? Properly kissed?”

  “But who— What? You—”

  “Yes, me. May I kiss you?” Dinah put her needlework on the side table and slid along the sofa to the end where Caroline sat.

  Caroline’s hands dropped to the sofa. With no objection forthcoming, very gently, Dinah turned Caroline’s head toward her and kissed those ripe, pink lips. Softly, gently, sweetly, but with enough heat and passion to warm their lips. Very soon, Caroline responded, one hand reaching up to rest on Dinah’s arm.

  Caroline’s lips softened under Dinah’s caress, and Dinah licked along the seam, urging her to open her mouth. Caroline did, and Dinah’s tongue slipped inside, very gently running along Caroline’s teeth and all around the warm, wet cavern.

  Dinah’s hands firmed on Caroline’s head, tilting it slightly as her tongue thrust into the younger woman’s mouth.

  Caroline groaned and responded more passionately, kissing back with enthusiasm.

  Dinah increased the heat by sucking a little on Caroline’s tongue, pulsing in and out before retreating again.

  Caroline melted into Dinah, leaning against the older woman and holding both her shoulders as she returned the kisses very passionately now.

  Deliberately, Dinah took one hand off Caroline’s head and placed her palm against Caroline’s breast, smoothing it up and over the nipple. A nipple that was standing up, a hard, excited little peak.

  Caroline’s tongue delved into Dinah’s mouth, exploring the roof, the sides, the teeth. Dinah responded by sucking on it as her hand slid down inside the bodice of Caroline’s gown, hot on her flesh, to rub the globe of her breast and tweak the nipple between her fingers.

  “I… Oh… More.” Caroline then returned to kissing Dinah, her arms now grasping the older woman firmly.

  Dinah’s tongue thrust deeply into Caroline’s mouth. Her hands played with the younger woman’s breasts, rolling and tweaking the nipples, holding the globes and pushing them together.

  Dinah could feel Caroline’s heart racing, saw the younger woman pressing her thighs together, and knew that she was about to experience her first climax.

  “Take your pleasure, Caroline,” she breathed into the younger woman’s ear. “Come to your peak. Experience the joy of being touched woman to woman.”

  With that, Dinah pinched both nipples gently but firmly and watched Caroline’s pleasure burst over her. Dinah cuddled Caroline closely for a moment, enjoying holding the younger woman’s soft body.

  “Oh. That was—amazing,” gasped Caroline.

  “And it can be much, much better than that. When a woman truly cares about another, she learns what pleases her friend, what excites her, gives her pleasure. Naked, in bed, the body is a playground to be explored, enjoyed, delighted in. I would like to teach you these things, to share this love with you.”

  “Yes, I want that, too. I would like to give you what you gave me. And learn more, too. I think you just opened the door to a whole new world for me, and I’m eager to explore it,” said Caroline.

  Chapter Two

  Half an hour later, wearing her night rail, her hair brushed out for the night, her maid dismissed, Caroline sat up in bed eagerly awaiting Dinah’s presence in her room. Caroline had occasionally touched herself alone in her bed at ni
ght, and even looked at her privates in a hand-held looking glass, but never had she experienced the hot rush of excitement and pleasure that had surged through her body in the book room. She wanted to feel it again, and she wanted to touch Dinah, give Dinah that same delightful experience.

  The housekeeper had explained the basics of what happened between a married woman and her husband to motherless Caroline when she was sixteen and curious about such things. The housekeeper had warned her that although a woman may experience pleasure, often a man would only be interested in his own pleasure or in begetting a child on his wife, so not to expect enjoyment each time, and in particular, not the first few times.

  So for years now Caroline had concentrated on supporting her father and running the house and estate, rather than any possible sexual gratification.

  But now? Now she was ready to experience whatever Dinah wanted to share with her. And to bring Dinah to that thrilling pleasure she had just found herself.

  There was a soft tap on the door. It opened it and Dinah stepped inside. Placing her candle on the dresser, she loosened the sash of her robe and let the robe slide off her shoulders a little, then stepped out of her slippers. Very slowly and teasingly, she pulled her robe wider and wider open, indicating she was not wearing her night rail underneath.

  Caroline’s gaze was glued to Dinah. She licked her lips and panted, whispering, “Show me. Show me what you look like.”

  “You first,” replied Dinah. “Lift the bedcovers off yourself and take off your night rail.”

  Hot and needy, aching with desire, Caroline threw the blankets off her body and pulled her garment off over her head, dropping it on the floor beside the bed.

  “Come here. Come to me. Teach me how women love each other,” she begged.