Time For Love: Women Loving Women

By Susie Ray

Two short stories about unlikely lovers.

 

Time for Love – Mary thought she had it all figured out, satisfying her physical 'needs' by means of an 'escort' service, and they did hit it off beautifully. Sex with Sabrina, with no love entanglement, allowed her to concentrate on her job as Curate of the museum, that means so much to her.

 

Oddly, it was Sabrina who brought Jenny into Mary's life, yet none of them realised the impact she was about to make, and how she was to change Mary's life forever. Her young daughter Katie must take some of the credit, just by being her amazing self. How unlikely is it, that Mary needs a ready-made family?

 

Unlikely Lovers – Having witnessed her very public break-up with her girl-friend, Nina hardly expected Melanie, a total stranger, to offer to help her move out, but unlikely things do happen, and Nina discovers that Mel is simply a very kind and caring person.

 

Things seem to become even more weird when Mel offers her a room to rent, in her own home, but it's on the strict understanding that it's simply as friends, so how unlikely is it that they will end up naked, in bed together?

• Language: English
• Publisher: S-Ray Press
• Release date: Dec 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215638026

Susie Ray

Susie Ray Author bio I love to read and lose myself in stories conjured up by the written word – I am a mature individual, but I can still recall love’s first sweet kiss and the sting of rejection; the elation of being brought alive, by another’s caress, or tender words. I write sapphic stories for my own pleasure as well as hopefully that of the reader, and my head is full of ideas and storylines that are desperate to be shared. Admittedly, it was a freebie, but the first sapphic tale I read, left me feeling wanting and empty. I thought ‘I could do better than that’, and I did! My stories draw on a lifetime of experiences and places I have visited, so there is always a piece of ‘me’ in them. My preference is for short stories; tales, in bite-size portions, although some topics, simply require a novella to do them justice. I feel my writing skill has improved and grown with me over time and I am pleased to offer some of my work for your pleasure. Come lose yourself for a while, like I do when I’m writing…

Book preview

Time for Love

Chapter 1

Congratulations, Mary, and well deserved I’d say, Geoff, one of her co-workers, was the first to wish her well following the announcement of her promotion to Senior Curator.

Thanks Geoff, it means a lot coming from you. They had earned each other’s respect, over the time they had worked together at the museum, albeit in different departments.

There was still the air of excitement about the normally quiet and almost revered atmosphere of the place, due to Gordon’s retirement bash – he had worked there for over thirty years; as well as the public announcement of Mary’s promotion.

In fact, Mary Thomas had earned almost everyone’s respect, due to her dedication and application in her fifteen years at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, and Simon Parfit, its Director, had already acknowledged that she was the natural choice to fill her former boss’s shoes when he retired.

She was savvy enough to realise that all the hours she put in had paid off, and that the fact that she was single with no apparent ties, would also have figured in the Director’s decision, although she was sure that he would never admit to such a thing. For Mary, being a Curator was more a calling than a job. She had begun as an Archivist, all those years before, taking responsibility for items in the museum, and she worked her way up to be Gordon’s (her former boss), right hand person.

She didn’t normally handle being the centre of attention, well, but these were all her friends and colleagues, making this an exception that she would cope with as well as she handles her duties in the Museum, with aplomb and grace.

Her interest in history was sparked while very young, when she would imagine what it might be like, living in the times of the period that her History Teacher talked about that day, or maybe the one before. Her yearning for knowledge was an outlet for the, otherwise very quiet and retiring young girl, with nothing much to say about anything. But ask Mary about the Tudors, or some other Royal House and she would come into her own, showing enthusiasm and knowledge – she might give the impression, her life depended upon it.

For Mary Thomas, University was a natural progression of her education, not merely a means to escape the family clutches and go wild, like some of her peers. Yes, Mary was a serious student, and perhaps it’s no surprise that she stayed on to do a Master’s Degree, or that she hasn’t had or enjoyed many relationships – there simply wasn’t time. The inclination nudged her on occasion, but the pile of work on her desk, simply seemed too compelling to give into her whim.

She still believes that the day she began working at the Museum was the best in her life, so far, and she made every effort to win-over everyone she met, seeing them as founts of knowledge that she revered and she devoured greedily, any pearls of wisdom they might pass on. She presented herself well too, nothing flashy or lurid and she became to be known as good old reliable Mary, a willing work-horse, specially, if there was something in need of urgent attention and the like. It almost made her indispensable. And it wasn’t as if she was trying to push herself, it just seemed to come naturally – a godsend in the museum business, or any other, probably.

Hello Mum – what a lovely surprise. I was going to call you as usual at the weekend! The smile on her face showed how patently pleased she was to receive the unexpected call.

Her Mum, however was having difficulty finding the words she needed to relate, her voice trembling, Oh Mary.

She picked up on her mother’s tone immediately – they were as close as any mother-daughter, maybe even closer, than most, Mum, you’re scaring me. What is it?

Sandra has died – she had a brain-tumour and... Oh Mary... Gladys could barely get the words out.

Mary was bereft, her mind inventing reasons why it just couldn’t be, What Sandra – my Sandra? My best friend, Sandra? Her head was about to begin screaming internally that it just could not be so.

But Gladys, her Mum’s, tone and shaky voice confirmed that it was true. Mary and Sandra had been, all but inseparable until University – Sandra couldn’t wait to leave school and get a job, but they kept in touch, birthdays and Christmas. How could it be Sandra was the same age as Mary, 38. 39 in May when it’s her birthday. But the news was sinking in fast. It would have been her birthday in May, if she had lived... Sandra was the first to learn that Mary believed she might be gay, even her own parents didn’t know – not that it meant much in reality as she never found time to discover if she indeed did find women more her thing than men.

The funeral was a devastating affair, bringing to the fore once more, all the grief she and Sandra’s family had just about come to terms with. No amount of consoling could explain why her friend had succumbed so early in life, when she had so much potential and so much to look forward to. Even spending time with her family sooner than expected couldn’t bring a smile to Mary’s face.

With no experience of such a loss to call upon, Mary did the only thing she could – she buried herself in her work and her new responsibilities, letting them fill her mind with the distant past as her head couldn’t cope with the recent past and present. It seemed to work fine for a few months, until something snapped inside – it felt almost like a physical event, but was in fact, more likely an emotional one. Mary realised that she needed some kind of distraction – something had stirred inside her on the way home from the Museum.

It was summer and a warm day brought many of the girls from offices nearby, out in their flimsy dresses. The sensation, quite took her by surprise, but this time she didn’t seem able to brush it aside like she usually did. The fact that they were young women and not approaching forty like she was, usually helped quash such notions. Working at the museum hadn’t done her any favours in believing herself to feel older than her years.

Although, this was anything but a usual occurrence – maybe her mind was still thinking about Sandra’s demise and that life is too short. She had no idea where the notion came from, maybe shreds of overheard conversations, television ads, or a myriad of things, but an idea formed in her mind, that she simply could not shake. It almost became an obsession and Mary realised that the only way to quash it was to do some research and look into the prospect of hiring a lover. At first the notion appalled her, but as she allowed her thoughts to linger over her idea, the more reasonable and sensible it sounded.

If she hired an ‘escort’ for the evening – there need be no come-back, no fear of an emotional entanglement that she couldn’t handle, but how on earth does one go about such a thing. Even researching the prospect on-line was causing the stirring to become more evident, more urgent. Even so, she was convinced that when push came to shove, she would likely back down and cancel, but something unknown drove her forward, libido, maybe, an ignored need, possibly, but very definitely something.

It had all seemed so matter of fact when she arranged a female escort, well apart from having to state her preferences, tall, short, dark, or light-haired. She had opted for tall, slim brunette, which to her mind covered a multitude of possibilities. Mary had never taken so much care and time over her own appearance, as tonight – she wanted to create a good impression. She didn’t fully understand why, even though she probably would have, if she had bothered to think about it.

Seated in a posh restaurant, looking anything, but a museum curator, Mary waited for her ‘date’ to appear – part of her still hoped that she wouldn’t get up and run away as the time drew ever closer. A bigger part of her, however was curious to see who might turn up.

Chapter 2

MARY COULDN’T QUITE believe her eyes when she first spotted, what turned out to be her date. The greeter was nodding in her direction and the woman she was directing, looked as if she would be more at home on a cat-walk – she was drop-dead gorgeous, and Mary trembled inside – her hand began to shake as she observed the woman heading in her direction, almost in slow-motion.

Her exquisite red figure-hugging dress looked as if it must have been sprayed upon her and clearly, she wasn’t wearing a bra of any description, but her ample, firm bosom ensured it remained perfectly in place. She had the sort of hair that you might see on an ad for hair-conditioner or similar. Not a hair out of place, the most perfect shade of reddy-brown auburn imaginable. If Mary had drawn her idea of a perfect woman – this surely, would be it, and her face... My she was gorgeous, not in the least brassy as Mary had at one point thought she might be. Perfectly made up – straight off any front cover of Vogue.

Mary? Her voice sounded deep and sultry. Hello, I’m Sabrina, from the agency!

She offered her hand and Mary took it shaking it gently, but with authority. She was still the client after-all.

"Hello Sabrina – I’m very pleased to meet you!" Mary hoped that her eyes weren’t still out on organ-stops.

As Sabrina sat, she allowed her stole to slide effortlessly onto the back of her chair, revealing that indeed her gorgeous red dress was strapless – even her shoulders seemed to emit star-quality. But Mary’s eyes were drawn to Sabrina’s green-blue eyes that sparkled as she spoke – they seemed to draw her in as if she could read all of Mary’s thoughts.

Conversation was a little strained to begin with, but Sabrina had a way with her that put Mary at ease, and then the conversation really began to flow, in full flirt-mode, all the time making Mary’s ache clearly identify itself as a need.

Sabrina leaned forward to whisper in Mary’s ear, I must say that I am delighted to make your acquaintance – you are gorgeous. You do know that, don’t you?

Mary could barely drag her eyes away from Sabrina’s cleavage, as the words caused her heart to flutter, and it wasn’t merely the fact that Sabrina said she was gorgeous. She knew that her thoughts would betray her as she felt the flush rise up her cheeks.

With dinner behind them, Mary asked Sabrina to escort her to the hotel nearby where she had provisionally booked a room – she didn’t want to risk taking a stranger home, but Sabrina was fast becoming anything but a stranger and holding her hand, their fingers entwined, simply corroborated that fact.

Mary hadn’t stinted – the hotel was 5star rated and their room was well appointed, but really the only thing on both their minds was whether the bed was big enough. Mary had expected to feel shy, awkward even, given that this was her first proper sexual encounter, but Sabrina was well schooled in the art of taking the lead and giving

Can I kiss you? Mary wasn’t asking for permission – she wanted to know the ground-rules.

Sweetie, we can do anything you want to... Sabrina was about to say more, but Mary had pulled her close and planted her lips on her escort’s.

She didn’t expect to enjoy it, for Mary it was an attempt to see if she would still be moved by kissing another woman, but she got more than she bargained for as Sabrina responded squeezing them together, expelling all space between them. The sensation of another woman’s breasts pressing against her own, took her breath away, let alone someone as sexy as Sabrina. Then when Sabrina’s tongue made inroads into her mouth, Mary felt she might faint, but quickly adjusted to the divine new sensation.

Nothing was rushed as her escort allowed Mary to proceed at her own pace and Mary gained confidence from that. She didn’t object when Sabrina magically unzipped herself and let her gown slide provocatively to the floor, in fact she just stood there and took in the vision of beauty that appeared before her. for someone in her early thirties – by Mary’s estimation.

Like what you see? It was a rhetorical question, as Sabrina stepped out from her erstwhile gown in merely the briefest pair of panties that Mary had ever seen – she was about to discover that it was actually a thong, but that came later.

Your turn! As Sabrina spoke, Mary noticed the escort’s irises, becoming darker, or was it that her pupils were dilating as Sabrina appreciated Mary’s reaction?

Mary wasn’t convinced that running was still a possibility, until her arms and hands set about undoing her own zipper, and before she could begin to disrobe, Sabrina’s hands had begun to take over, whooshing her dress up and away in one easy, fluid movement. Her hands came to rest on Mary’s shoulders, that felt on fire at Sabrina’s touch, they ignited feelings that Mary had, until now, only ever dreamed might be possible in her own fantasies.

My god, you are gorgeous – why haven’t we met sooner? Was it a line or a genuine reaction – Mary was soon to