Hestia: Sapphic Soulmates, #1

By Helen Jayne

A lesbian fantasy romance.

Suppose you were seduced by an immortal Goddess today. And discover she has devoted herself faithfully to you for centuries, but you don't remember past life details. What would you do?

Eighteen-year-old Lauren has survived school in her small town, just about. She's never had a girlfriend, and she doesn't have a life plan. She does have the devotion of an immortal Goddess.

Hestia might well be the first of the Olympian gods, but her job has been to keep the home fires burning, which means she doesn't get out much. She doesn't mind staying in, but it wasn't the same when her soulmate went missing for hundreds of years.

When they reunite, their passion and desire are enough to light more fires. They can't keep their hand off each other. Watch out for ebooks melting because of the heat and undergarments bursting into flames.

Hestia is a sizzling fantasy romance. It features lovers reunited, with a happy ever after. 

44,000 words.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Helen Jayne
• Release date: Aug 23, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386651284

Book preview

About

Three sizzling stories of immortal Greek goddesses and the women they love today.

Soulmates, magic, and loyalty.

HESTIA: Suppose you were seduced by an immortal Goddess today. 

And discover she has devoted herself faithfully to you for centuries, but you don’t remember past life details. What would you do?

Eighteen-year-old Lauren has survived school in her small town, just about. She’s never had a girlfriend, and she doesn’t have a life plan. She does have the devotion of an immortal Goddess.

Hestia might well be the first of the Olympian gods, but her job has been to keep the home fires burning, which means she doesn’t get out much. She doesn’t mind staying in, but it wasn’t the same when her soulmate went missing for hundreds of years.

When they reunite, their passion and desire are enough to light more fires. 

BOOK ONE: HESTIA

CHAPTER ONE

Standing in the auditorium wing, eighteen-year-old Lauren Upsdell faced the biggest day of her life. Well, at least the biggest day so far. 

She picked at the hem of her bottle-blue graduation robe, working a loose thread between her fingers. The graduation cap she wore tightly hugged her head and prickled her scalp. Both made of rich wool, the cap and gown were too hot for the final semester of her school life. 

The urge to scratch grew stronger, but Lauren ignored it and rolled the thread against her thumb. A little discomfort meant nothing compared to a future life of freedom away from this place.

She was as apprehensive as any of the students who stood in that line. Each student was a familiar face to Lauren. Everyone waited for their turn to collect their certificate to thunderous applause. There were a little over sixty kids, and at one point or another, she’d been in class with every one of them. 

Stacy Hart checked her reflection in a compact mirror and fingered a curl behind her ear, then winked at herself and tucked the mirror back in her pocket. Patrick Medes elbowed his best friend, Stuart Mendez, as the line advanced. Even introverted Erin Weston had come out of her shell for the occasion, but still not wanting to attract attention, she tried to make herself as small as possible. She stood just behind Lauren. 

As the line advanced, Lauren stepped forward with it and stared at the space between Odelia’s shoulder blades.

Only Jade Lidl, Lauren’s best friend in her graduation class, missed the ceremony. 

While rolling the thread a little more, Lauren stole another glance toward Odelia Stevens. By virtue of their last names, they stood close together in the line, with only a few people between them. 

So far, Odelia hadn’t seemed to notice Lauren’s presence. Odelia led the popular girls, in a world where rich, shallow, and mean are the default for cool and attractive. She and her friends had made Lauren’s life hell since she’d come to Beaumont in her freshman year, following the tragic death of her parents.

Graduating meant that Lauren would never have to see them again. The end of school brought the end of shared lunches, a welcome end to forced group projects, and the relief of no more embarrassing hallway incidents. 

Lauren wouldn’t miss any of it. 

Odelia glanced over her shoulder, undoubtedly aware of the eyes burning into her back, she locked eyes with Lauren. 

Lauren stifled a gasp and looked away. Too late. The line had come to a stop again, and with so many other students still waiting to walk onto the stage, there was no escape. 

As Odelia cut the line, heading for her, Lauren shrank back and bumped into Erin, who whimpered and scrambled until she backed up against the wall. Lauren wouldn’t draw her into this. With nowhere left to go, she had to stand her ground. 

She’d lowered her head, hoping that Erin’s technique of shrinking away might save her.

It didn’t. 

The shiny polished toes of Odelia’s shoes appeared in Lauren’s line of sight. 

Well, well, well, who do we have here, Odelia mused. The familiar sneer on her face. The Pipsqueak herself, looking sharp tonight. Did you save all your lunch money to buy those shoes, or did someone take pity on you and buy them for you?

I bought them myself. Lauren gazed down at her standard black shoes. I worked odd hours at the grocery store this semester to make sure I had enough spare cash. She didn’t owe Odelia an explanation; nerves pushed it out of her mouth. 

You’re kidding me. A mean laugh came from Odelia's mouth. She stepped forward, shrinking the space between them. 

Lauren dreaded facing her, but backing up indefinitely wasn’t an option, either. Not with both Erin and the wall in the way. Who would hire the Almighty Uptight-Underbite? Seems like a waste of money to me. Too small and weak to haul things off a truck, and too ugly to put on the cash. What did they have you do? Clean the bathrooms? 

I stocked shelves, Lauren mumbled, and wondered why she was offering an answer. 

If the brunt of Odelia’s attacks were verbal jabs, Lauren would endure. Sometimes, the aggression of Odelia and her friends turned physical. Lauren easily brushed off their hateful words, but she had difficulty handling it when they hit out. 

I bet. You know all about fitting objects in tight spaces, don’t you? Odelia sneered. 

Lauren cringed, unsure what Odelia referred to precisely. It might have been a jab at her sexuality. Although Odelia and her tribe had previously mocked Lauren for being a lesbo, they had no idea of the truth of it. They rarely teased her about being gay—Lauren wasn't out about it, and her nonexistent sex life meant there wasn’t much to tell. 

Crammed into lockers, stuffed into toilets, rolled up tight in yoga mats... Odelia continued, dragging the painful confrontation out further. They’re all the things you’re good at.

Lauren said nothing, but she recalled every one of those incidents.

I wonder if it isn’t your true calling in life. 

It wasn’t; Lauren was certain. 

All her life she sensed she had a vocational calling. She was destined to do great things for the world. She just hadn’t discovered what those great things were yet.

She wanted more and hoped to go to college. Or at least, she thought college would take her further along her path toward her eventual fate. But to study what? She hadn’t decided. 

Without the resources to fund herself, Lauren had struck college from her list of immediate options in life. Her Aunt Lori and Uncle Joe couldn’t afford to send her on their own dime—but one day she hoped to find a way. 

She hoped to discover more to life than high school bullying and dead-end minimum-wage jobs. She would go out there and do something great. 

Odelia clapped her hand against Lauren’s chest and pushed her back. 

Erin gasped. Her heels clicked as she scurried sideward, away from the fight. 

Upsdell, Uptight, Underbite, Underdog. You’re always gonna be under someone, aren’t you, Pipsqueak? 

No, Lauren whispered. 

What did you say? Odelia demanded. 

Lauren pursed her lips. She didn’t repeat herself.

I thought so. Odelia grabbed Lauren by the front of her robes and yanked her forward. Not even your parents could stand being around you; you know that? They’re the only people you’re gonna stand over, and that’s only because they’re ten feet underground. Odelia released Lauren’s robe and stepped back.

Odelia! Mrs. Truman, the history teacher, scolded. Get back into line! We’re moving. Come on!

Odelia shot Lauren a look that promised it wasn’t over, and Lauren let her shoulders drop and did her best not to engage Odelia again. The tiniest things set her off, it seemed. Lauren longed forward to the day she wouldn’t have to worry about a glance cast in the wrong direction, or wearing the wrong thing, or saying something that got on Odelia’s nerves. 

And that day would be tomorrow, she realized with a smile. Graduation one day meant freedom the next. Freedom from school, at least.

She might still run into Odelia and her gang in the streets of their small town. Lauren would leave Beaumont altogether, one day, and put behind her every moment of anguish she’d endured in it. 

And maybe she’d fall in love. 

She wanted a girlfriend so badly. 

At eighteen, she’d never so much as held hands with a girl, not in a romantic way. And certainly never wanted a boyfriend. She’d still not shared her first kiss. 

Other couples paraded around the school and in the community, and she longed for the same, to do those things with someone special. Over the past few years, her hormones had gone into overdrive. She longed for romance and physical contact with her one true love.

There were things Lauren simply knew, even if there was no way to explain them. For instance, out there somewhere, her true soulmate waited for her. Beaumont wasn’t a haven for non-traditional relationships, and Lauren didn’t dare harbor crushes, let alone actively seek love in such a tight-knit community. 

Already the new kid, the impoverished orphan who came to live with her relatives while her life fell apart, Lauren didn’t want to draw herself into the spotlight any further. She didn’t need any other rumors spread about her. She only wanted to blend into the community. To be forgotten and ignored would've been perfect.

Lauren shifted her jaw, running a hand along it to assure herself that she didn’t have an underbite. Odelia strolled across the stage to accept her diploma and pose with the principal for pictures, leaving just a short wait for Lauren's turn, followed by freedom. 

Sometimes, bullying made it hard for Lauren to remember her jaw issue had been fixed in middle school. She’d been retainer-free for years, underbite a thing of the past. Social media didn’t forget, though, and the bullies at school had seen her old photos. 

Lauren. Pipsqueak. Almighty Underbite. 

She supposed, at least, these insults were more inventive than mere loser.

From the stage, she heard Gregory Tullen’s name announced, and Mr. Alcorn, the math teacher, ushered the boy through the auditorium wing and across the stage. Lauren stepped up, looking out through the wing and across the audience. Principal Kendrick stood with Vice Principal Dunn as Gregory made his way across the stage. There were only a few diplomas left, the graduation ceremony almost over. 

Mr. Alcorn returned to the wing of the stage and recited the speech that Lauren had heard given to every young person before her. When they announce your name, you’ll cross the stage and shake hands with Principal Kendrick. You'll take the diploma, and as it’s changing hands, you’ll stop and count to three while also looking toward the audience and smile. When Principal Kendrick releases the diploma, you’ll continue across the stage and take the next available seat in the front row of the auditorium.

Got it. Lauren nodded. 

She craned her neck to glance into the auditorium. With the lights beaming down on the stage and the sitting area plunged into darkness. An invisible audience of family and close friends packed the hall. Too many bodies sitting for too long in a small, humid, poorly air-conditioned school building.

And Lauren, said Mr. Alcorn.

Yes?

Congratulations.

Lauren smiled. All the teachers at Beaumont had been wonderful—regrettably, she couldn’t say the same for the students. 

Mr. Alcorn patted her back, and before Lauren knew it, she heard her name called out. 

Lauren Upsdell. 

That’s your cue, Mr. Alcorn said. Go for it. 

Lauren bowed her head and stepped forward, heart racing. Being front and center before a crowd of strangers didn't appeal, but it was the final trial of high school and far from the worst. Lauren just wanted it all over and to get out of the place for good. 

As she stepped out into the bright lights, the audience applauded politely. Lauren’s cheeks heated, and she focused her attention on walking across the stage until she’d successfully made it to Principal Kendrick without tripping over her own feet.

Hi, Lauren. Congratulations. Principal Kendrick held out a hand for her to shake, and Lauren did so. 

Flashlights exploded in the audience—school photographers taking pictures for the yearbook, she guessed. Or professional photographers hoping to make a buck from parents. 

Vice Principal Dunn handed Principal Kendrick the diploma, and Lauren grasped her end of it and slowly counted to three. More flashes went off, accompanied by a single, whooping cheer from the audience. 

She grinned at the recognizable sound of her Uncle Joe. Aunt Lori couldn't attend due to work, but enthusiastic Uncle Joe more than compensated for her absence. 

They were terrific guardians, even if they had