„Sheridan’s Fate” is one amazing lesbian romance novel in the Bella Book’s style. It tells the story of two so very different women bound by a love they can’t escape.

Sheridan Ward is the heir of the Ward dynasty, a wealthy San Antonio, Texas family that made a great fortune out of their stockholders. Her father always taught the family members that the Wards are strong, stubborn and don’t need doctors. Unforunately, her mother, Amanda Louise, died a few years ago and her father never understood her illness and the guilt and the sorrow brought Sheridan back from her college town, Boston, to somehow save her family legacy. She became strong, stubborn, yet ruthless with competitors and sometimes employees, who’s names she kept forgetting and in that position of the head of the empire after many years of struggling to prove herself to her father and her father dies without their relationship fully raised up, she faces another heavy situation  : bacterial meningitis caused her a paralyzing of her legs and now she’s pinned to a wheelchair and her recovery doesn’t come at easy…nor helps her with her business schedule to restore her position in the company after her illness, because somehow board members, stockholders see that as a weakness and she’s angry and disturbed about that. She is also a very beautiful woman that had her flat in Austin and her gang of girlfriends whom with she enjoyed life with..yet still something was missing, and since her disease, Shery never met the group again, yet was eager to love and being love by a smart, beautiful woman. She has a consolation in private chatting  on a certain webpage with nickname Sherystar.

Sheridan and Lark first meet

„”Forgive me, but you seem to be in quite a bit of pain. May I help you with that? I mean, right now?”

Stumped, and amazed at Lark’s audacity at skipping any preliminaries, Sheridan didn’t answer.

“Ms. Ward?” Lark seemed to take Sheridan’s silence as a yes. She rose and rounded the desk. “Is it your neck?”

“How did you know?” Sheridan mumbled under her breath, bracing herself for the searing pain she feared would be unavoidable even at the lightest touch. She knew from experience how she paid the price for any manipulation by a physical therapist.””

Lark about Sheridan

„The tall, pale woman in the inner office had tried to act as if nothing was amiss in her life, and she probably had no idea how obvious this charade was to Lark. When she first met a new patient, she could read between the lines. She saw pain where others saw false bravery, and she spotted the cause, whereas others chose to take things at face value. It’s easier to assume that things are just as fine as the patient implies.”

„Lark walked through the broad hallway and down the marble stairs. Passing the half-closed doors to Sheridan’s study, she couldn’t help but stop and glance inside. Sheridan sat in her state-of-the-art wheelchair by the window, apparently lost in thought. Her fists lay tightly curled on the armrests, and something about her profile startled Lark. As forceful as Sheridan had come across during their conversation, she now looked vulnerable and frail.

Instinctively, she knew that if Sheridan realized that Lark had seen her during an exposed moment, their future working relationship could be damaged. She stepped away from the door and headed toward the main entrance.”

Lark Mitchell is a PT : psychotherapist, that helps her pacient to overcome their illnesses and emotional weaknesses provoked by accidents or illnesses. She has a beautiful family in her stepfather Arthur, her mother Doris, her sister Fiona and her nephews and other sisters back in near San Antonio and she has worked all over the world from Spain until Dubai, yet she doesn’t want to work in another private home, she missed colleagues from a clinic and she doesn’t want to put up with the pacient’s family anymore. Lark is an open lesbian who speaks her own mind, yet the scars of her sister’s Fiona shooting remained deep hidden in her soul, because she couldn’t help Fiona when some gang members mistake her for someone else and shot her. Since then she protected her sisters very much and that’s why she became a psycho-therapist. She couldn’t find the woman she loves so she has a consolation in private chatting on a certain webpage, too, as grey_bird.

“”I became ill five months after our previous stockholder meeting, and I need to be in the best shape possible for the next one.” Sheridan injected a scornful tone in her voice in a desire to rattle the collected woman in front of her. “That won’t be so hard for someone with your experience, will it?”

Lark recognized a challenge when she was thrown one. Three months wasn’t long, but they could do it. “All right. But you misunderstand something. I’m not the one that has a lot of work to do during the next few months. You do, Sheridan. This all depends on you. I can guide you, show you, nag, and push you—but ultimately, you’re the one responsible. Are you prepared to work that hard? To give yourself this chance, this opportunity?”

Sheridan sat up straight in her wheelchair, obviously struggling to keep her posture, to remain the epitome of the CEO, the boss, despite her trembling muscles. “If you knew me, Lark, you wouldn’t ask that. If you had any inkling of who I am, and what I’m about, you’d know—”

 

Sheridan’s thoughts

“Only when she infused her voice with her infamous cold, controlled fury did some of them relent. She had three months to convince them that only her legs had suffered any damage. It was apparent that her disease had rattled the stock market as well as the boardroom.

Sheridan had rested for half an hour after a shower and a quick lunch, but trying to relax had only created more tension. Lark Mitchell’s words, honest and blunt, swirled in her head. Was it really possible for her to regain some of what she’d lost? The doctors had been carefully optimistic the first week after she regained consciousness. Frightened and bewildered, Sheridan had hidden behind a proud facade, asking all the right questions and showing very little feeling in the presence of the health-care professionals. Only when Mrs. D had visited her, which she did every afternoon, had Sheridan been unable to hide the torment in her soul. ”

Beautiful? Did she realize what she just said? Sheridan could only stare for a few precious seconds, then saw a pink blush creep up Lark’s neck and flood her skin up to her hairline.

“I’m sorry. I—” Lark coughed, obviously embarrassed. “I spoke before I thought.”

In other words, not beautiful. Sheridan smiled wryly. “No need to apologize. I see my reflection every day, and I know I look like a barely warmed-up corpse these days.”

“What?” Lark looked stunned at Sheridan’s attempt to defuse the situation. “No, you don’t. A bit pale, but you look fine.”

“Fine?” Sheridan remembered only a short time ago when she’d been considered not only one of the richest and the most influential business tycoons in Texas, but also the most stunning. Men and women had always found her attractive, and if it hadn’t been for the fact that she’d married her conglomerate of businesses a long time ago, she could have had a new date on her arm each Saturday. Those days were over now.

“”Yes, fine. Let me help you up on your stomach. You really need that massage now.”

„You’ve been in my bedroom? When? “All right.” Stiff, both emotionally and physically, Sheridan pulled up next to the bed. Using all of her arm strength, she pushed sideways over to the massage table, then tried not to seem as out of breath as she was.

“Not bad, but it can improve a lot,” Lark stated. “First of all, hasn’t anybody showed you how easy it is to remove the armrests on your wheelchair? Like this.” She tugged at the armrest closest to the table and pressed a small knob at the same time. “There. Now try scooting back.”

Sheridan obeyed and, to her surprise, had to exert only half the effort to slide sideways back into the chair. Two seconds later she had refastened the armrest and removed it again. “I’ll be damned.””

Lark laughed out loud, “If you could see the look on your face!” There was no malice in her laughter.

Lark doesn’t want to become Sheridan’s PT , yet the guy from the agency is desperate to help Sheridan and as she has fired the rest, he needs Lark to help, because she’s the best PT in town.  Their first meeting is a fiasco, Sheridan’s is in pain and eager to recover, yet Lark want to have the weekends off, yet agrees to live in Sheridan’s mansion. She understands Sheridan beyond her outbursts of fury or the show off attitude she sometimes exposes, because she sees the frustration of a perfectionist and the desire to become the best again in Sheridan and wants to help, yet is attracted to Sheridan’s beautiful features from the start and tries to fight her feelings because of ethics. Sheridan is not accustomed to employees that speak their own mind and want the best from her, struggle from her and want the best for her and doesn’t really understand that Lark fills her home and her life like no other woman before.

Lark discovers many lesbian books in Sheridan’s library and by logging on the library’s computer sees the nickname Sheristar on the chat software. She understands now that Sheridan shares her own passion and decides to chat secretly with Sheridan to see if she can find out more about Sheridan this way, because the face to face thing doesn’t really work, Sheridan doesn’t listen to Lark’s advice, works too many hours and postpones their PT hours. Their attraction to each other grows and they start chatting and somehow Sheridan tells Lark incognito that she likes her PT yet she doesn’t understand Lark either. Sheridan has a very big stock holding meeting in a couple of weeks and the pressure and tension overwhelms her and she treats almost everybody pretty bad including her assistant Erica and Lark.

Lark’s attraction to Sheridan

„Lark stopped outside the half-closed door to the massage room and wiped her hands on her sweatpants. It wasn’t only the grape-seed oil that made them wet, and she frowned at the implications of this realization. Sheridan was an attractive, in fact, stunningly beautiful woman, even like this, pale and without a trace of makeup. Lark had had many female patients, but this was the first time she’d responded this way.

Ashamed at how her heart had raced when that towel slipped down one shoulder and began to fall off the other, she’d grabbed it and tugged it close around Sheridan’s slender figure. It bothered Lark that she’d even noticed the fact that she glimpsed the outline of a breast. Unprofessional. Beyond unprofessional. Lark dragged her fingers through her hair twice as she tried by sheer willpower to calm down her thundering heart.”

„The thought of Sheridan in a swimsuit surfaced, but Lark slam-dunked it before it attached itself permanently to her mind’s eye. As Lark left the room, she knew she had some soul-searching to do. Having lost her footing, she had to figure out what the hell was going on.

„”So we’re joined at the hip until…?” Sheridan raised an elegant eyebrow, her face so close to Lark’s, Lark felt tremors in her belly.

“Pretty much, at least during training. I’d also like to accompany you on typical things you do around your work, so I can fine-tune your training to suit your needs.”

“I have a need right now,” Sheridan groaned and looked unhappy. “I have a need for this to be over.”

“This, as in this session, or this, the whole mess your illness left behind?”

“All of the above,” Sheridan muttered.”

„Lark wondered if Sheridan knew how much she revealed of herself when she spoke like that. She meant to sound sarcastic, but the pain and exasperation shone through as clearly as if she wore it printed on her T-shirt.””

They do have a fight and Sheridan fires Lark who goes back to her parent’s house,  very dissapointed, yet Sheridan changes her mind after trying to hire other PT’s, she realizes she misses Lark and she was the best so she goes at Larks home to get her back, instead she meets her family and Fiona who s in a wheelchair since the shooting and Sheridan understands many things now. She decides to go with Lark to Lake Travis where she had a vacation house and her dog Frank and the Johnson’s who take care of the house.

„Sheridan had been focusing on Lark’s beautiful voice, and was startled at how it in itself seemed to alleviate the discomfort. Like hypnosis. Slowly, the fire along her nerve endings mellowed, until it was back under control.

Taking a deep breath, Sheridan reluctantly opened her eyes, aware that she was sweaty, still freezing cold. She looked up at Lark with a silly sense of inferiority. “Thank you.” It wasn’t what she’d meant to say. Sheridan searched her throbbing head for familiar words of sarcasm or irony, but they seemed to have vanished, temporarily, she hoped, with the worst of the headache.

“You’re welcome.” Lark smiled down at her. “I’m glad I could help. Not all people respond to acupuncture.”

Sheridan eyed Lark closely, to see if she was being facetious, but ultimately decided that she was sincere. With a sigh, she let her head rest completely on Lark’s lap. Gently now, Lark massaged her scalp and chased the last remnants of the headache away.

Down her hips and legs, she detected only a buzzing sensation now, a numbness that suggested her nerve endings had self-combusted from the attack and would need some time before they returned to what passed for normal these days.

The sensation of Lark’s hands in her hair was pure bliss. The hovering migraine subsided, like a stormy sea coming to rest against an empty shore. The waves stopped crashing over her; instead they soothed her with their rocking motions. Dazed, Sheridan looked up at Lark, whose cinnamon eyes gazed softly back at her.”

„Lark’s magic fingers were back in Sheridan’s wet hair, brushing through it as she dried it, strand by strand. It didn’t take long, but the process was hypnotizing, and Sheridan couldn’t take her eyes from their reflection. She jumped, startled, when Lark switched off the hairdryer and placed it on the counter.”

„Or I can order a few items that I think you’d find useful, if you trust me to.”

Sheridan opened her mouth to speak, then shut it just as quickly when an unexpected thought struck her. Trust her? It wasn’t in her nature to be overly trusting. She found her natural habit of suspecting ulterior motives a lifesaver, professionally and privately. And still, Lark’s golden brown eyes, darkened by an unreadable emotion, made

Sheridan almost trust her, no questions asked. Dangerous. Sheridan took a deep breath. “Sure. Order anything you want.”

“Roll from side to side.” Sheridan swallowed, feeling the dryness in her mouth as she gripped the lining of the boxers hard. “Not very dignified, but practical.”

“Very practical.” Lark’s eyes grew even darker, and her hand covered Sheridan’s for a moment.

“You can go back to your room. I’ve kept you up long enough,” Sheridan murmured.

“No worries. I’ll do a quick cleanup of the bathroom, then check on you. Only way I can sleep, you know.””

The turning point and the sexual tension between them  is raised to higher grounds as Lark really helps Sheridan improve her muscles and tendons and her whole body, yet they also share passionate moments that turn their world around, i loved it when they were interrupted by Mr. Johnson when making out in Sheridan’s bed in the middle of the thunder storm. I loved it when Sheridan looses her guard and really falls hard and deep in love with Lark and trusts her, they come back to San Antonio for the stockholder’s meeting, Sheridan misses PT meetings again, yet a call from Fiona erases another mystery that soon will come to light, as Lark escapes something in their chat and Sheridan guesses that she’s grey_bird, her chat partner is none else but Lark and she’s very upset and shut’s Lurk out, yet not for long because they can’t keep their hands of each other after the stockholder’s meeting’s success. Lark knows she is in love with Sheridan yet doesn’t know how to apologize, but surprisingly Sheridan sorts that out, flirting badly with her and trying to make her spit it all out in a protective yet assuring way. They’re lovemaking is written very well and I enjoyed Sheridan’s character very much.

Sheridan’s email to Bird

„From: Sheristar@hotmail.com To: Greybird@msn.com Subject: Being the boss sucks!

Hi Bird,

I suppose this e-mail strikes you as surprising, since so far we’ve only used chat to communicate. I like chatting and prefer it to e-mail, because I’m by nature quite impatient. But some things are better said in an e-mail where you have time to gather your thoughts and phrase what you mean to say. You can exhale. I don’t have anything world-altering to confess, and I don’t expect you to. I suppose I was just less than thrilled to find you absent from the chat window. I had hoped to talk to you before tomorrow, and this is the second-best thing. Well, not counting the phone. But I think it’s far too soon for that. I’m guessing that you ‘re deep down a shy girl, and even I can be that, especially these days. To tell the truth, I struggled with some health issues that demand my full attention. I hope this piece of information doesn’t completely turn you off. Not everyone is equipped to deal with disease, and I used to be one of them. Still am, in a way. I have a hard time dealing with my own situation. I think that pain was what lay behind me firing my PT the other day. There you have it. I fired my PT because she wouldn’t conform to my needs, my decisions, and the way things work around here. She disliked me personally. I’m sure of that because I felt the evasiveness in her touch several times. One time when she massaged my head when I had a migraine is memorable. I’ve never had anyone do that to me, with such immediate results. She s an amazing person, and I let my haughty nature get the better of me. Wish I could turn back time and be more open-minded.

I interviewed two people for the position today. I had one over yesterday, on recommendation from an agency, and I’ll never hire anyone “unseen” again. The woman who worked with me in the gym damn near killed me. She was perkier than a group of girls going after the Ms. Universe title. The guy I interviewed this morning demanded to be reimbursed for wasting his time, and the third PT wannabe was so indifferent that she could have sat through her time chewing gum and watching Bonanza reruns.

I never thought I’d say it, but I let the best one go. Damn it, it hurts to be honest. Guess it s easier in an e-mail like this, but I’m also worried what you might think of me now. For some reason it matters, Bird. I’m usually known as a maverick of sorts, and I’m not always well liked, even if I’m usually respected and on occasion even admired.

This egocentric e-mail has been all about me, and I haven’t even asked how you ‘re doing. See what I mean? To make up for that, how are you, dear Bird? Did your boss at least have the decency to make amends? If not, let me know and I’ll chew them out for you. I suck at some social skills, but not that. I’ll check the chat later this evening to see if you’re around. Would be nice to able to say good night to you.

Sheri”

The best moments are when a friend from Sheridan’s old gang sees Sheridan and Lark in a restaurant and kisses Sheridan and Lark’s jealousy was stiff and also Sheridan’s strength, weakness and beauty really struck me embodied all in one character and Lark’s crying in Frank’s fur because she couldn’t handle how she betrayed Sheridan and Sheridan sees and listens.

A beautiful read.

First kiss and lovemaking

Sheridan kept smoothing Lark’s hair back. Leaning into the touch, Lark trembled at the way Sheridan looked at her. She could almost feel the glances against her skin, and the tension between them grew with every quick breath. Sitting so close, their bodies touching, Lark knew she’d never been so exhilarated or nervous before. Sheridan kept touching her and soon Lark would want more. Her breasts ached, and she felt as if only Sheridan’s hands could quench the fire under her skin.

“You not only look sweet, I bet you taste just as sweet.” Sheridan’s voice was tense, lower than usual.

As Lark buried her face against Sheridan’s neck, she found her scent alluring.

“Lark…” Sheridan framed Lark’s face with both hands and kissed her forehead. She kissed softly down Lark’s nose and captured her lips. The thunder boomed again and Sheridan trapped Lark’s whimper in her mouth.

“Sheridan, hold me,” Lark whispered.

“I won’t let go.”

“Hold me.”

“Feel me.” Sheridan moved closer, pressing her chest to Lark’s. “Open your mouth for me.”

“I shouldn’t. I really shouldn’t, but I can’t seem to help myself…” Lark whimpered again, but this time from sheer desire, as she complied.

 

They were both trembling, and Lark felt small drops of sweat run down her throat and between her breasts.

“I need to… touch you,” Sheridan moaned. “You feel so amazing, so soft and sexy. I never meant for this to be wrong—”

“It isn’t!” Lark said and moved up on Sheridan’s lap, careful to not put all her weight on her legs. “It’s fine. Better than fine.”

“Better?”

Lark could sense Sheridan smiling against her skin. “Yes. Much better.”

Sheridan bit gently on Lark’s neck, painting wet, scorching traces along her skin with her tongue. “I’m glad. Very glad.”

“How glad, would you say?” Lark smiled and tipped her head back. “Glad enough to take this up a notch?” She looked at Sheridan between her eyelashes. If she locks those amazing eyes on me, I’ll self-combust.

“I’ll take it anywhere you want.” Sheridan played with a button on Lark’s denim shirt. “I can’t remember ever wanting anything this much. I have to look at you. I have to.””

The passion

 

„Sheridan’s dark brown nipples pebbled and awaited her touch. Lark didn’t know where she found the courage, but she pushed the terry-cloth robe open all the way down. Sheridan wore lace boxers, and Lark stared at the triangular shadow beneath the flimsy fabric.

“You like what you see?” Sheridan asked hoarsely.

Her mouth watering, Lark could only nod. She’d seen Sheridan undressed many times before. Never like this, never so vulnerable and strong at the same time. “You’re beautiful.” Her own voice startled her into action. Leaning forward Lark took a taut nipple into her mouth and sucked it lingeringly, increasing the pressure on it until Sheridan cried out.

“Oh. Oh.” Sheridan pushed herself off the bed and farther into Lark’s mouth. “I’ve needed this… you… so much. For so long. Damn you.” 

o Sheridan’s amazement, Lark reached down and used both hands to part them farther. “Please. Touch me.” There was anticipation in Lark’s voice.

Please? Is she crazy? Doesn’t she know how much I need her? Want her? Sheridan rested on her elbows and let her tongue skim along the wet sex. Avoiding the protruding bundle of nerves, she licked and tasted every part of Lark, making her whimper and shiver—long, reverberating shudders that shook the bed.

“No, no, no! Take me!” Lark cried out when Sheridan had enjoyed her taste for minutes that seemed like an eternity. “You owe me. You owe me for all the pain, of what I had to do… all this time when I fought my principles, my feelings for you… forbidden fruit…” Tears streamed down flushed cheeks. “You owe me, damn it!”

Startled, Sheridan tried to grasp what Lark was saying. I owe you, do I? She couldn’t think clearly.

As a dying woman gaining reprieve, Lark pushed her right hand between their bodies and moved her fingers in between Sheridan’s legs, underneath the boxers. The molten heat and copious wetness made her gasp, and without thinking, she pushed on and went inside. Feeling immediate flutters of an impending orgasm, she used her thumb to circle Sheridan’s large, swollen clitoris.

With a strangled sound, Sheridan pressed her cheek against Lark’s shoulder as deep sobs shook her tall frame. Tears seeped from her eyes and ran down both their cheeks, mingling with sweat.

“You’re close,” Lark murmured. “You’re… close.”

“Yes!”

Lark felt the flutters inside Sheridan turn into waves, which in turn built up to oceanic convulsions that tugged at Lark’s own body and sent her across a second precipice. As she heard the heartbreaking cries from Sheridan, Lark closed her eyes, knowing they moved toward the end. She carefully withdrew her hand and instead wrapped both arms around Sheridan. “I don’t want to leave.”

Sheridan lay resting against Lark’s shoulder. Her heart rate was slowing, as was her breathing. Her mind, however, was whirling as she.

“So why do you want me to stay?”

“I…” Sheridan closed her eyes briefly. “Because you reach me like nobody else can. I still have questions about why you chatted with me under false pretences, but when I realized that my anger over that couldn’t match my anguish over you leaving—”

“What do you mean?” Lark was apparently not beyond prodding for an honest answer.

Resentment flashed for a second and made Sheridan tighten her grip around Lark. “This, damn it! The way you touch me. How you don’t let my fucking body turn you away… turn you off, for that matter.” Her voice sank into a husky whisper. “With you, I feel like I can be well again, whole again, even if I’ll never walk.”

Lark smiled, a tremulous movement of lips. “You mean a lot to me.”

Is she staying? Barely able to breathe she pushed on. “And?”

As Lark’s warm hand cupped Sheridan’s cheeks, it sent the message even before she spoke. “If you truly want me to stay, I’ll have to mean more to you. More than your assistant.” She raised her head and brushed her lips across Sheridan’s. “All the time I’ve worked for you, I’ve felt as if I belong here. Even some of your other employees have commented on it. It tore me apart when you were the only one who couldn’t see it. I struck up a chat conversation with you because I wanted to get to you, know you, and not entirely for selfless reasons. I was attracted to you from day one. It was so hard to see your pain. I wanted to do everything to help you.”

Thank God.” Lark kissed her again. “My heart’s been shattered since Thursday.”

“I know. Mine too.” Lark felt small kisses against her neck. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t. Oh, God, darling.” Lark twisted in Sheridan’s arms and kissed her. “How could I ever leave you? I love you.”

Stillness. It was so quiet that Lark was sure she ought to be able to hear Sheridan’s heartbeats. She held her own breath not to miss a thing.

“I love you too.” Sheridan spoke in a barely audible whisper as she pulled the discarded robe around them both. “And I’ve been in so much pain, and pain makes me mean.”

“I’m sorry I went behind your back. It was wrong, no matter how good my motives were.”

Lark’s straightforward words, her willingness to take all the blame and not make excuses, were like soft wool around Sheridan’s bruised heart. “I forgive you. And I’m sorry too. Forgive me for being such a callous bitch. I do need to be taken down a notch or two sometimes.”

Lark buried her face into Sheridan’s shoulder and inhaled her musky scent. “You said, ‘The way you touch me. How you don’t let my fucking body turn you away.. .or turn you off, for that matter. With you, I feel like I can be well again, whole again, even if I’ll never walk.'”

“It’s all true.”

“I’ve never loved anyone like I love you.” Lark kissed Sheridan softly. “Ever.”

“I don’t think I’ve loved anyone, period. Not since mother died. But you… I love and adore you.” Sheridan coughed and held Lark close. ”