TLS Special SNEAK PEEK Feature

 

The Lemonade Stand has spent so many years bringing you the best the Twilight fandom has to offer, and we are very excited to have the chance to offer you even MORE. We've watched stories grow and develop from first post through COMPLETE, and now we're lucky enough to share previews of the stories that will soon be your new addiction.

The excitement has been building for weeks as Belladonna and TheFictionFreak have been pic teasing us images for their next co-writing adventure. Today, they have graciously agreed to share an excerpt from their upcoming new fic Clean Sneek.  Be sure and put them on alert so you don't miss out!

banner by LizziePaige

Clean Sneak

 by Belladonna and TheFictionFreak

Summary: Bad guys. Good girls. Black-market booze. Love at first sight. New York is on the cusp of something big in 1927. So are Edward Cullen and Isabella Swan.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MARIE: Are you ready to do this again, sweets?

JO: Ready as I’ll ever be, doll. 

MARIE: This fic’s gonna be different from Body of Christ. A lot less church. A lot more crime. About the same amount of booze.

JO: Right. But still no foxes. 

MARIE: When we make a promise we keep it.

JO: Thanks, God. 

MARIE: With Body of Christ we gave Fleabag a HEA. Now we’re doing, what? Giving Romeo and Juliet a HEA? Who do we think we are, Jo?

JO: We’re righting all the historical wrongs, Marie. We’re doing a service here, one FanFic at a time. 

MARIE: I’m also writing as a shout-out to Gus and Pauline. My grandparents inspired me a little with this one. 

JO: My inspiration is drawn from never having to Google Catholic Mass, ever again. 

MARIE: *cackles as she writes in a Catholic Mass*

JO: At least I know if this guy attends, he won’t be paying attention to the priest.

MARIE: Right. He’ll be watching Kitten. 

JO: Like a fuckin’ hawk. 

MARIE: Ain’t it a crime when the one person you love most in the world is the one person you shouldn’t be with? 

JO: Love conquers all, though. Right? 

MARIE: Let’s hope.

JO: As long as we don’t have to pray, I’m in (okay, but maybe we’ll have some silent talks… with Him).

MARIE: You want to share a teaser from our new fic, Clean Sneak, or are you too busy praying?

JO: *whips out teaser for TLS* I’m ready. Let’s do this. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I set the crate of liquor down onto a bar stool next to Esme and peek over her shoulder. 

“Carry the five,” I tease. She don’t need my help though. Esme’s smart as a whip.

Her head snaps up. “Edward.” She checks her watch and breathes easy. “Thanks so much for doing this.” 

“No worries. Got a new guy, wanted to show him the ropes anyway.” 

She sets her pencil down. “New guy, huh?” 

“Yeah.” I glance around at the crowd. “Yorkie was skimming off the top from Marcus, so...”

Esme steps around to the other side of the bar and pulls out a steel box from underneath all casual, like I didn't just tell her the guy got clipped. “You trust this new guy?” 

“Time’ll tell. For now he’s good at what I need him to do.” 

She pulls a wad of money out then locks the box up and shoves it back underneath the counter. She slips the cash into the front pocket of my pants, smooth as silk, as she joins me on this side of the bar again. 

I don’t need to count it. I know it’s all there.

I bend down and kiss her cheek. “I’ll see ya in three days.”

Esme gives me a wary look all of a sudden, like she wants to tell me to be careful out there, or maybe remind me I’m better than what I am. But she knows I’m too old for that shit now. She knows I’m in too deep.

“Don’t worry, Es. I got this,” I tell her as I back my way across the room. 

She waves me off and goes back to her paperwork. 

I spin around to head for the exit when I’m practically knocked off my feet. At first, all I see is sequins, silk and the face of a fuckin’ angel. 

I catch her by the waist and her hands fly to my shoulders. We end up chest to chest with her hanging onto me, and me clutching her like my life depends on it.

And she’s no angel. All dame. 

I don’t wanna let her go. 

“Jesus H. Chri…” the words die in her mouth as she looks up into my eyes. 

“My thoughts exactly.”

We’re like that for a minute, frozen like we’re ending a dance we never even started. 

She peeks up at me through long lashes. Her eyes are bright with excitement, holding my stare like she’s not gonna look away even if I paid her to. They’re big and brown but lamplights bring out little flecks of gold in ‘em. 

Her lips turn up in the smallest hint of a smile, full and beautiful. The kind of lips I wanna fall against. The kind I wanna feel everywhere. She blushes a little, but she’s not ashamed. It’s like she wants me to see. I don’t mind. It brings out the red in her lipstick and it matches her dress. What there is of it anyway. It’s more like a scrap of cloth. Not that I’m complaining. 

From the feel of her against me, there’s not much underneath it either. 

“Where’d you come from, fella’?”

“I could ask you the same, doll.” 

I stand the two of us upright, but instinct has me holding on to her like she might disappear if I let her go. Truth is, I don’t want her going anywhere. Not unless I’m headed there too.

When her lips part, I don’t think twice. I gotta know what they taste like. I pull her tight and her breath catches. Her short hair swings into her face, and I brush it away from her eyes. It doesn’t look to me like she’s got any objections. So I slip a hand behind her head and lean in carefully, like I might break her or something. Her eyelids flutter as she tips her head.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Meet us at the joint account on fanfiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/12927018/

When are we posting? Monday 9.21.2020. 

TLS Special SNEAK PEEK Feature

The Lemonade Stand has spent so many years bringing you the best the Twilight fandom has to offer, and we are very excited to have the chance to offer you even MORE. We've watched stories grow and develop from first post through COMPLETE, and now we're lucky enough to share previews of the stories that will soon be your new addiction.

There's nothing better than finding out that two of the fandom's talented writers are collaborating on something new! This week we are excited to feature Body of Christ by Belladonna and TheFictionFreak. They recently wrapped up Hades, a love story - sort of and its companion piece Friend of the Devil. Now they've promised us a hot priest and we can't wait to get started!

banner by LizziePaige

Body of Christ by Belladonna & TheFictionFreak

Summary: She was clearly in pain. She clearly needed help. How could I deny her? How could I ignore the distress of a child of God? I couldn’t. And that was my downfall. BxE AH AU of the spiritual kind 

~~ 00 ~~

Marie: We’re supposed to write an intro.

Jo: *blank stare*

Marie: Jo?? If you don’t say something I’m just going to write sappy things about you for the next 500 words. The intro will be a love letter from me to you.

Jo: Should I tell them about your smutty story?

Marie: *blushing* Please don’t. Yet. Tell them about our hot priest.

Jo: Fine. So, we got to talking about the show Fleabag one night. And there’s this hot priest played by Andrew Scott (you can imagine how that conversation went: Marie… Jo… MARIE… JO!) … and well, how could we not write Twilight fanfiction about this?

Marie: There are lots of reasons NOT to write Twilight fanfiction about this. #1: My mom’s Catholic, for Christ’s sake. But Jo’s persuasive, and maybe just a little in love with Andrew Scott.

Jo: A lot. I’m a lot in love with him.

Marie: Anyway… Jo shared a particularly scandalous piece of random writing with me on a cold January morning, and well, I was in. I couldn’t say no. I LOVE writing about things that make me uncomfortable. And things that are, well, hot. This covered both bases.

Jo: Plus we get to give Edward an HEA this time.

Marie: But will his HEA involve following his life’s calling? I mean, being a priest could maybe make him happy, right? Or is his HEA walking away from his vows?

Jo: One never knows! Also, I suppose we should mention we’re not killing Jake this time, Jake lovers.

Marie: Jo made me promise not to kill Jake. I love killing Jake, but I love Jo more. Also, I kinda love this Jake. I know. Weird. Next thing you know pigs will be flying. Reality show hosts will be President.

Jo: Marie……. *whispers* back on topic...

Marie: Sorry. We should really be talking about the fic. What do you think we should tease?

Jo: I think I know.

~~ 00 ~~

“Bless me father, for I have sinned. It’s been a very long time since my last confession.”

Her voice is low but confident. Straight to the point.

And a bit harsh.

It’s actually quite normal for someone who’s been absent from church for an extended period of time to be nervous their first time back but there’s something else here.

Something that piques my curiosity. Something in her tone.

She’s certainly not the first person I’ve wondered about. I tend to do this a lot. Try and pinpoint the underlying emotions this confessional witnesses.

I’ve been a priest of the Catholic church for four years now. I’ve had my own congregation for one. I don’t have the experience that some of my elders do. They find confessions to be more of a necessary task than assistance for the downtrodden. They’ve grown immune to the empathy it requires. People require. People need.

I, however, often still find the reasons behind someone’s absence from church intriguing. I also find their reasons for coming back equally compelling. I like to understand the before so that I can help them with the after. It’s what I do after all. Help. It’s my calling.

Some members of the church struggle with their sins, some, not so much.

Sometimes it’s a whisper, a subtlety to their words, or the way they deliver them, that tells me they need assistance in more ways than just a standard prayer asking for forgiveness.

This one, despite the simple words of her memorized statement… is screaming for it.

“May the body of Christ be-”

“I’d like to preface this confession with the fact that I am here because my mother guilted me into it and not because I think I need any absolving whatsoever for anything I’ve done with my own life.”

Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m quiet because I’m stunned into silence or because I’m waiting to see if she’s finished her thought.

“And if I may, it’s only slightly creepy to make someone sit in a dark, dank box and confess their secrets. I mean, what’s the purpose anyway? If we wanted you to know them, they wouldn’t be secrets. Right?”

So, the latter then.

I wait.

“Hello?” She’s agitated.

“Sorry. I didn’t know if you were done.”

She hesitates but then gives me a short, “I’m done.” And I can almost envision here there, stubborn, crossed arms and all.

“Okay, first of all, please know, no one’s forcing you to be here.”

“Ha!”

“And secondly, the dark, dank box is a metaphor. I like to think of it as a place where people generally like to keep their sins. Where others won’t see. Or hear.”

She’s quiet again after that. So I continue.

“It’s there to make you more comfortable with confessing your secrets. But, if you’d like, we can take this out into the light of day, so to speak, for the entire congregation to hear you. I’m open to anything.”

“Um.”

I smile. And I admit, I enjoy stunning her into her own silence. I’m a bit competitive that way.

I also like to let others hear their own words so they can feel the impact of those words.

“Hello?”

A pin could drop for the next few moments. I’m pretty sure I hear her swallow.

Anyone who’s spent the past year getting used to my practices as a priest knows I have only the best intentions in making light of this holy custom. But she doesn’t. How could she? She hasn’t stepped foot inside these walls the entire year.

I’m one hundred percent certain I would have noticed.

The dead air eventually leads me to believe that I may have overstepped. Embarrassed her. Changed her mind about being here.

Damn. This is my fault.

“Go with God,” I tell her as I stand to leave and consider my sarcasm going forward.

My hand is on the knob, mid-turn when I hear her again. The door is nearly open.

“I kissed my sister’s fiance,” she blurts out.

And the way she says it tells me there's a lot more to the story than that.

So I sit my ass back down, prepared to listen to everything she has to say.

~~ 00 ~~

We're planning on posting the prologue on Monday, then weekly chapters beginning Friday, January 17th. Hope to see you there!


Don't forget to add Belladonna and TheFictionFreak so you can follow along with us!