The Art of Love: Origins of Sinner's Grove

by A. B. Michaels

  “Damn straight he’ll like it. There’s something about a train and little boys.” They continued to talk about Georgie until the conversation naturally migrated to other topics, and for the first time since she’d left her marriage, Lia felt as if she were whole again. She wanted to cry, but held it in, knowing that Gus wouldn’t understand the gift he’d given her.

  Gus, in fact, had something completely different in mind. “Drink up,” he said as she was finishing her coffee. “I’m taking you on an adventure.”

  Lia didn’t think anything could top the precious time they had just spent together. “What do you mean? Tonight was lovely. There’s no need—”

  “There’s every need. You, Miss Starling, are about to do something you’ve never done before.”

  Lia looked at him askance. “Um, there are lots of things I’ve never done before.”

  “Yes, but this is something you’ve wanted to do for a long, long time. Louis?” The waiter, who’d been standing discreetly around the corner from their table, came around with their coats. “Miss Starling and I have to get a move on. We’re going swimming.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  “I cannot believe you did this,” Lia said with wonder in her voice. They were standing at one end of the cavernous indoor swimming center known as the Sutro Baths. Several stories high, topped by an enormous glass roof, the seaside facility held seven pools and could hold up to ten thousand bathers at a time. Tonight, however, Gus had reserved the entire place just for the two of them.

  “Incredible, isn’t it? Sutro was a mechanical genius.” He stood behind her and covered her with his arms, murmuring in her ear, “Listen.”

  It was quiet and still, as if the building were resting from the day’s activities. But every few moments Lia could hear a faint, intermittent whoosh and the muted roar of the waves just on the other side of the outer wall.

  “That’s the tide moving ocean water in and out of these pools,” he said. “Sutro figured out how to work with nature to keep them constantly clean. It’s remarkable, really.”

  Lia turned to look at him. “You did this for me.” It was a statement, not a question, even though she still couldn’t quite get her mind around it.

  Gus smiled down at her. “You said you always wanted to learn how to swim, and I wanted to give you that, so you’d have a birthday you’ll never forget.”

  Lia looked into Gus’s eyes and read love in them. Pure and simple love. Joy engulfed her and she couldn’t help herself; she reached up and drew him to her for a kiss.

  A kiss? No, it was more of a declaration. Gus took what she offered and returned it tenfold. He let her know through his touch and his mouth that he desired her, yes, but needed her as well. He held her face between his large hands and staked his claim, a claim she willingly yielded. Their bodies sought each other—hard seeking soft, gentle welcoming strong, equal in what one brought to the other. Lia whimpered in her need to get closer and was answered in turn by a muffled groan as Gus reluctantly broke the kiss, touching his forehead to hers. “If we keep this up, you will never get your lesson,” he said huskily. He stepped back. “Come on, let’s go in the water.”

  “But I have no suit,” Lia said. She looked down at her beautiful gown. She couldn’t bear to ruin it, not after it had been part of such a magical evening.

  “I’m guessing you don’t have much on under that frock. Am I right?” Gus perused her body with an intense expression.

  Lia blushed. “No, not the…um…usual,” she said.

  “I figured as much.” He walked over to a stack of clothing sitting on a bench by the first pool. Next to the stack he’d put a clothing-sized box he’d brought from the carriage. “You’ve got choices. You can wear one of these contraptions—” he held up one of the gray striped women’s bathing suits that Sutro rented to the public, which was ugly and stretched out, and looked incredibly uncomfortable “—you can wear what’s in this box—” he pointed to the box he’d brought in “—or you can do what I’m going to do, which is wear your birthday suit.” With that last remark he grinned and began removing his tie.

  “Wait!” Lia cried. “Aren’t you going to wear anything?”

  “Sorry. I wouldn’t be caught dead in one of those rentals. Who knows what the last guy was up to?”

  All at once the fanciful idea of swimming with Gus changed into the distinctly unnerving reality of what she was about to do. No way would she disrobe in front of him; for heaven’s sakes, she had never even done that in front of her husband! She considered trying on the rental suit, but Gus’s comments conjured visions of sweaty or otherwise unclean individuals. Besides, she couldn’t bear the thought of going from her beautiful gown to what looked essentially like a used flour sack. By process of elimination she reached for the box.

  Gus heaved what sounded like a sigh of relief. “That’s my Ruthie.”

  The package, tied with a long purple ribbon, contained a two-piece ivory-colored undergarment made of the finest cotton lawn and embroidered with tiny pink flowers. A simple gathered neckline with short sleeves and a buttoned front tapered down to the waist. The bottom consisted of a pair of slender bloomers. It was the most delicate set of underclothes Lia had ever seen. “It’s beautiful,” she said.

  “And practical,” Gus replied. “You’ll see when you get in the water. You need to be able to kick your legs. A petticoat wouldn’t get the job done.” He pointed to the women’s dressing rooms. “You can change in there. Oh, and leave me the ribbon, please.”

  Relieved at the chance for privacy, Lia found the changing area, took advantage of the necessary, then quickly removed her gown and hung it on a nearby hook. She took off her few remaining unmentionables and put on the two-piece outfit. It felt like heaven against her skin. As she admired it in one of the mirrors in the room, she heard a splash. Gus had obviously wasted no time taking the plunge.

  Could she do this? The last time someone had tried to teach her to swim she’d been a little girl. She wasn’t so little anymore. And this would be more than just a swimming lesson. She could feel it. It would be the most intimate thing she’d ever done with Gus. It was scandalous…and it was thrilling beyond words. She took a deep breath and let it out. She was about to go where she’d never been before, and August Wilkerson Wolff was going to take her there.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  As he waited for Lia, Gus plowed through the water with deep, sure strokes. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone swimming, but he quickly recalled how much he enjoyed it. He felt the resistance of the water as he propelled himself through it; he could feel his muscles working and his lungs begin to bellow. Maybe if he kept it up long enough he could dampen the raging lust he had for the delectable woman waiting for him outside of the pool.

  For some reason Gus had always been attracted to tall blondes. Mattie had fit that bill. So had Angel Lindemann. Lia Starling, on the other hand, was dark, like him, and petite, which he certainly was not. But after seeing her in her finery tonight, he couldn’t imagine how any man would find her less than perfect.

  Lia’s small size and womanly curves brought out the protector in him, but she never played the role of helpless female; in fact she was the gutsiest lady he’d ever known. Had he taken her to the Klondike, she would have easily kept up with sweet Ethel Berry, his friend’s wife, that’s for damn sure.

  Such thoughts kept running through Gus’s head as he swam lap after lap. Finally he turned to take a breath and saw that Lia was standing by the pool watching him. He swam up to her, dipped his head back in the water to sweep his hair out of the way, and rested his arms on the edge of the pool. Lia stood there in the undergarments he’d bought her, a towel wrapped around her shoulders. She looked uncertain, poor thing.

  “I picked this pool because it’s the warmest,” he explained. “I figured you’d want to be as comfortable as possible and this is around eighty degrees. Really nice. Are you ready?”

  “I…I suppose so,” she s
aid. She took the towel off and Gus sucked in a breath. The outfit hugged her hourglass figure, leaving very little to the imagination. Gus steeled himself, knowing that once she got wet, even more would be revealed. He longed for it, but he dreaded it too, because he wasn’t sure how much control he was going to have once she was in his arms.

  Time to find out.

  He picked up the ribbon he’d laid on the edge of the pool and moved to where he could stand, then hung it around his shoulders. “All right. First you need to come down to the shallow end and walk into the water. No need to be afraid. I’ll be right next to you.”

  Lia did as she was told and walked slowly forward until the water reached her shoulders. She was starting to breathe deeply and she kept her beautiful eyes on him, as if he held her very life in his hands.

  “Hold out your hand.” He stood close to her and reached behind her head. Then he began to remove the pins from her thick, lustrous hair, handing her each pin as he did so. She watched his every move.

  “I could have done that,” she said in a small voice.

  “I know.” He smiled softly as he said it. “But I wanted to.” When he had taken them all out, he spread his fingers through her hair, then took the ribbon and tied her mane back out of the way. “There,” he said. He took the pins from her hand and put them on the side of the pool.

  “What do I do now?” Her breath hitched a bit as she asked the question. She was aware of him. In every way.

  “Now you let me hold you,” he said. “I want you to lean back on my arm and let yourself float. That way you’ll get the feel of what it’s like to lie on top of the water instead of sinking down into it.” Lia leaned back and gave her legs a little kick. “That’s it. Just lean back and close your eyes.” He held her afloat and tried to think of anything except running his hands and mouth over her breasts and belly and the inviting spot between her legs. Her nipples, dark and mysterious, teased him from beneath the nearly transparent material. He watched, transfixed, as her chest rose and fell. Was she simply nervous, or maybe excited as well? He held her for a few minutes before letting his hands go, and Lia stayed afloat.

  After a short while she must have noticed he’d stepped away. She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him. “Am I…Oh!” The tilt of her body caused her to begin to sink. She grabbed at his neck.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” he said calmly. “Good job. Now I want you to hold onto my neck like you’re doing…wrap your legs around me, that’s right…and I’m going to walk out a little deeper so you can practice treading water.” He could feel her breasts moving up and down his chest as she breathed. She was killing him.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever get this,” she fretted, biting her lip.

  “Come on now, that’s not my Amelia Ruth talking,” he gently chastised. “Now I want you to take your hands from around my neck and start waving them in the water, like this.” He demonstrated with one arm, easily holding her steady with the other. After a bit of hesitation she slowly followed his instruction. “A little faster, and now I want you to start moving your legs like you’re riding a bicycle or running a race. Up and down, round and round. That’s it.” Gus turned Lia around and held her by the waist as she continued to follow his lead. Eventually he stepped away and dropped his arms; Lia began treading water on her own. He moved in front of her and raised his arms, showing her that she was on her own.

  “Oh. Oh!” she cried. “I’m staying up!”

  Gus grinned. “Yes you are. If you can tread water and float on your back, you don’t have to worry about sinking ever again. Now let me show you how to swim.”

  Over the next hour, Gus held Lia as he showed her the basic strokes of the crawl: how to move her arms, how to turn her head and take a breath, how to kick her legs. Flush with the victory of learning how to float, she forgot all modesty and eagerly let him hold her in any manner he wanted in order to demonstrate the technique. By the end of the lesson she was clumsily but effectively able to make it from one side of the shallow end to the other. When she reached him her face was filled to bursting with joy. Amelia Ruth had learned how to swim.

  Gus could tell she was getting tired. He, on the other hand, was wound up tighter than a brand new pocket watch. She hadn’t seemed to notice he was naked, or that his erection was stiff as a pole. That was no doubt for the best. He wanted to talk with her about where they were headed and getting physical was probably not a good idea.

  Which is why it surprised the hell out of him when Lia once again put her arms around his neck, wrapped her legs around his waist, and whispered, “Do you know what would make this my very best birthday ever?”

  “No, what?” he murmured.

  “Making love with you,” she said, before taking his mouth with her own.

  At that moment, all of Gus’s best laid plans dissolved in the warm water that surrounded them. He fought like hell to hold on to his sanity. He should tell her everything. Right now. He took a breath. “Lia, I can’t—”

  Her luminous eyes widened. “You can’t make love to me?”

  Gus let out a bark of frustration. “Sweetheart, I am more than ready to make love to you. I’ve been ready for the past three months.” His hands begin to knead her bottom reflexively, like a cat preparing its place of rest.

  “Then what’s stopping you?” she asked, nipping slightly at his ear.

  “I…do you…I mean, are you sure? Really sure?”

  She hugged him closely, as if embarrassed to make a confession to his face. “Gus, I’m twenty-nine years old and I’ve never felt about anybody the way I feel about you. What you make me feel inside…my body…my heart…it’s magic. I thought I’d never experience it, and…and maybe I never will again. I…I’m not asking for anything except that you let me have all of it. Just for tonight.”

  “Ah, Lia,” he said, pulling her gently back so that he could look deep into her eyes. “You do the same to me.” Then he took her mouth in a ravenous kiss, letting all the lust and love he’d been fighting for so long overtake them both. The water buoyed them, making it easy to concentrate on devouring every inch of her body. He felt the heat and the wetness of her and it was all he could do not to spend right away. Keeping one hand on her rear, he used the other to pull down the soft opening of her chemise. Her generous breasts bobbed on the surface and he palmed one, leaning over to suckle the tip that had coyly flirted with him all evening.

  “Ah,” Lia cried, instinctively pushing closer against his hungry mouth.

  Bracing himself against the side of the pool, he ministered to both her breasts before returning to her buttocks. He explored the channel between her legs, causing her to hitch and sigh as she welcomed his touch.

  He took his mouth from her breasts and tasted her neck, savoring the still sweet smell of flowers left on her radiant skin. Instinctively he began to move in the way of all men who mate. “I’m ready to ask my favor now,” he whispered hoarsely.

  “Anything,” she gasped, her body moving in perfect accord with his, burning hot with the anticipation of what was to come.

  “Take all of me…and trust me,” he said.

  She paused and looked at him intently, her eyes awash with passion. “I trust you…I welcome you.”

  The bloomers he’d purchased conveniently featured a slit between the legs, so he took his hands and spread her small bottom cheeks. She was open and ready for him, and it was like coming home to enter her. They groaned in unison as he started to move within her moist channel. Slowly at first, until she grew used to him, then faster and faster as their mutual need to reach completion grew.

  “Oh! I never…I…Oh, please don’t stop!”

  Gus was in no condition to reply; he worked her luscious body as if for the very first, or very last time. Guttural moans escaped him, along with curses that meant he’d left civilization far behind. He had but one brief thought, that there was no way in hell he could stop even if he wanted to, and he was grateful he wouldn’t ha
ve to. Their coupling grew more and more powerful and she kept up with him, her rhythmic cries echoing across the water, growing more frantic as she reached her peak.

  “Oh. Oh my God!” she finally cried, her climax overpowering them like a runaway freight train. He thrust three more times and barely, barely pulled out in time to avoid spilling his seed in her. It was several moments before their heaving chests slowed enough for one of them to speak.

  Lia hugged Gus closely again. “Thank you,” she said, almost shyly. “I never knew it could be so…so…”

  Gus squeezed her gently. “Neither did I,” he said.

  Lia leaned back and looked at him, her eyes narrowed. “I find that hard to believe.”

  Gus shrugged. “Believe what you will. There is sex, and there is…something else. This was something else.”

  Lia’s face lit up then, a big smile spreading across her face. “It was, wasn’t it?” she said gleefully.

  Gus held her close to him, the self-recriminations already beginning to rear their ugly heads. He forced them to the back of his mind and patted Lia on her rear. “I could do this all night, my love, but our driver should already be waiting outside to take us back to town.”

  Lia sighed and disengaged from his body. He felt oddly naked when she did. He watched her walk up the steps and out of the pool, her beautifully curved back and hips and buttocks almost more inviting through the nearly transparent cloth than if she’d been completely naked.

  Almost.

  He waited until she was on her way before heaving himself up onto the deck by his arms and grabbing a nearby towel. When Lia was halfway to the dressing room she turned around and stopped to watch him dry off. He vigorously brushed the towel down his arms and torso, looked down at himself and then at her. She was grinning.

  “See what you do to me?” he grumbled good naturedly.

  “I cannot believe that was inside of me,” she said, shaking her head.

  Gus reached for his pants. “Keep talking like that and I’ll have no place else to put it. Now go on so I can calm down and get dressed.”