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“And you have been very patient,” Agnes replied and watched her swallow.

“I’ll wait forever for you. From the moment I saw you for the first time, I knew you were the only one for me.”

“I’m your wife now, and I am ready, my love.” When Frances kissed her forehead in response, Agnes added, “I was hoping you’d kiss me a bit lower than that for our wedding night.”

Frances kissed her on the nose and whispered, “I will kiss you everywhere if you let me.”

“Yes,” Agnes replied.

“And you’re certain? I don’t mind waiting longer.”

Agnes nodded. She’d known that they could never be married how women married men, but she’d also not been ready to give herself over entirely to Frances until they were wed. She supposed that was because as much as she’d triedto forget about her former life, some of what her mother had told her about her wedding night had stuck with her. Her mother hadn’t been descriptive, but shehadtold her that God wanted women to wait for their wedding night so that He could bless their union through their physical connection. Agnes wanted that now, that physical connection that they’d always prevented themselves from having despite it being difficult to stop every time.

Frances let out a nervous breath, and Agnes liked that her wife was nervous, too. It made her feel safe and just a little less nervous herself. Frances sat up and removed her nightshirt, leaving her nude in front of Agnes, and not for the first time. They’d seen one another naked many times by now. Baths in the rivers, ponds, lakes, and streams had been necessary, and hiding from one another hadn’t ever seemed important when they needed to ensure that no one else was around, trying to catch them to bring Agnes home. They’d even held one another a few times with nothing between them, but they’d never touched each other how they were about to.

When Agnes sat up in bed as well, Frances reached for her nightshirt, pulled it off for her, and tossed it aside. The fire still roared off to the side, making the room somewhat warm, but soon, if Frances didn’t cover her body with her own, they would both be cold, so Agnes moved to lie back down, and Frances moved on top of her. This was the first time they’d been pressed together like this.

“I don’t…” Frances began. “I think I know what to do. I know what Iwantto do, but I don’t know if you’ll like that.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Touch you between your legs, where I think it will feel good for you because it feels good for me.”

“Someone else has touched–”

“No, my love.” Frances kissed her sweetly. “No one has ever touched me. I have touched myself. When I was alone in the forest, I would dream of one day meeting a woman that I could love, who would love me back, and I would feel it between my legs; a pulse. A wetness would grow and begfor me to touch there.”

“And you did?” she asked, breathlessly.

“Yes, sometimes.”

“How did it feel?”

“Wonderful,” Frances replied. “Wet and soft until it was wet and hard. I rubbed it until I felt a tingling in my toes, and I got hot all over. Then, it… overtook my whole being, and I felt an immense relief.”

“I’ve never done that,” Agnes confessed.

“I’d like to do that for you. May I, my love?”

When Agnes nodded, Frances leaned down and kissed her softly. Shortly after, Agnes felt what Frances had been talking about begin to build within her. She’d felt it before, too, when they’d held one another without clothing or kissed for long moments, but now, she could just let herself feel it, knowing she no longer needed to control it. She was in her wife’s arms, and they were about to make love.

Frances moved her lips to Agnes’s neck next, and she kissed her there before moving lower. Agnes wondered if the man who would’ve been her husband would’ve taken such care with her fortheirwedding night and knew the answer. No one would ever take care of her how Frances would tonight.

“I love you,” Frances whispered as she massaged Agnes’s breast.

“I love you,” she said back. “Oh…”

She’d been told that her breasts were meant for feeding her children, but the way Frances was touching them felt so good. When Frances let her mouth encircle one of them, too, Agnes closed her eyes and tried to be in this moment, letting the wetness pool between her thighs for what was to come.

“May I touch you?” Frances asked quietly. “I will kiss you everywhere, like I promised, but I must touch you, Agnes. Please.”

“Yes,” Agnes replied.

Frances moved back up to kiss her, and seconds later, Agnes felt her hand between her legs for the first time.

CHAPTER 39

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