The Art of Love

by Kayla C. Oliver

  No matter how excited or prepared I was, though, my inner dialogue would not turn off. I was terrified that he was going to stand me up again, and I knew that was something that I couldn’t recover from. When he walked into that conference room, I was caught completely off guard. At the time I thought it was a terrible thing, but now thinking about it, it was the best thing that could have happened. In the back of my mind, up to that point, I knew I was too scared to actually ever call him and go out. He had betrayed my trust when he stood me up, and that was something that was terribly difficult to get back.

  Anthony was a smart man, and I knew that he knew if he stood me up again, especially for a weekend that he had pumped me up for, we would never see each other again. It didn’t matter how much I understood his fears, or how much I wanted him in my life, that hurt was too strong. It not only killed my trust in him, but it really devastated my ego. I didn’t even want to think about dating anyone at that point, and the fact that he had left me standing there was scaring the shit out of me as I sat there in the living room staring at the clock. It was just four at that point, but I still was terrified he wasn’t coming.

  I took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water and drinking it down. I was going to drive myself crazy sitting there, my eyes shifting from the clock and then back out the window. I had no control over what was going to happen, so I needed to chill. Just as I almost sighed, looking up at the clock, I saw a limo pull up out front, and Anthony got out of it. My heart swelled immediately, and I almost cried in relief from knowing he hadn’t decided I wasn’t worth it.

  My coat was on the chair and I grabbed it, sliding it over my shoulders and buttoning it tightly around me. It wasn’t winter temperatures yet, but it was definitely starting to get cold outside. As I picked up my bags and dragged them toward the front door, I laughed at myself for getting so worried and so pent up over something that ended up not happening. I zipped up my purse, shaking my head and chastising myself for being a worrywart, even though I had ample reason to feel all of those feelings of fear.

  I walked over to the front door and opened it up, waiting for him to come up. I walked through the house making sure I had unplugged everything and that the lights were off in the other rooms. I always left my living room light on when I went somewhere overnight. I lived in a great place, but I still lived in New York and I wanted people to think I was home so they didn’t rob me blind while I was away.

  “Hey there,” he said as I walked back to the front of the house. “You ready?”

  “I sure am,” I said excitedly.

  I reached for my suitcase, but he had already leaned down and grabbed my bags. He was such a gentleman. I followed him out and closed and locked the door behind me, excitement starting to bubble up again in my stomach.

  “You are such a girl,” he said, laughing and struggling down the stairs. “You packed like your entire house for just a couple of days. Seriously, I put like three things in a backpack and threw it in the trunk.”

  “I like to be prepared for anything,” I said with a smile. “Don’t worry if you get into an emergency—I have a beautiful taupe dress in there that you would look fabulous in.”

  “That’s my favorite color,” he said, returning the smile.

  “Besides, I never know when you are going to bolt, so I don’t want to be stranded in Maine without choices,” I said.

  “Right,” he replied. “I mean, who knows when you will need a cocktail dress and heels while you are hitchhiking your way back to New York.”

  “Exactly,” I chuckled. “See? We see eye to eye on these things.”

  “Yep, we are two peas in a pod,” he said. “I get it—I brought my tux in case I needed to survive in the forest or there was an apocalypse.”

  “Very nice,” I said sarcastically.

  We jumped in the limo and headed for the airport. It was flu season, and I was definitely not looking forward to the flight. However, as we pulled into the private side of the airport and into the garage, my mouth hung open. I was completely taken aback by the fact that we were going to be riding in a private jet. I was actually assuming that I was going to be shoved into a commercial airline, stuck between two sleeping people like a can of sardines. I wasn’t the best with flying and had a pretty serious phobia of germs on airplanes. I blamed my father since he used to tell me that we reused other people’s breaths—stupid, but I believed it when I was a kid.

  In all reality, knowing Anthony and his need and ability to be comfortable at all times, I was really hoping that we would end up in first class. However, I did not expect in any way to be driven up to a private jet to be whisked away on a romantic weekend getaway. It was all kind of insane, but I was not going to complain. When we got on the plane, we took our seats, buckling in and waiting for takeoff. The place looked like an apartment, not a plane, and I looked around in wonder, never seeing anything like that before.

  “I want to say something,” Anthony said, sitting across from me.

  “What is it?”

  “I want to say I’m sorry,” he replied. “When Amy died, I told myself I’d never fall in love again. I knew if I lost someone like that again, I would never recover from it. It terrifies me, but I can’t keep going, acting like you never happened to me.”

  “I understand,” I replied. “I’m here for you, though. You aren’t alone and I know it’s scary, but we can do it together.”

  “You are the sweetest person,” he said, smiling and shaking his head. “Really, where did you come from?”

  “A magic circus in Massachusetts,” I replied, giggling and leaning forward to kiss his cheek.

  “Do you like Maine?”

  “I’ve actually never been,” I replied. “I’ve seen so many pictures and movies from there that I’ve wanted to go my entire life. Fall is my favorite season, and I’ve heard that Maine is the most beautiful place in the country to experience the colors of fall. I’m more than excited to go.”

  “It really is one of the most beautiful places,” he said, smiling. “I haven’t been in years, but just the memories of the colors, the crisp air, and the smells of apples and cinnamon make me want to be there and not leave.”

  “I can’t wait,” I said excitedly. “Thank you for bringing me there. It really means a lot.”

  “I couldn’t imagine it without you,” he replied.

  The flight didn’t take long at all, and I spent most of the trip staring out the window and imagining what it would be like to live in Anthony’s world with private jets and homes in Maine. Anthony slept, obviously exhausted from the craziness of his week. When we landed, I kissed him gently to wake him up. He smiled up at me before getting out of his seat and leading me to the limo that was waiting in the hangar. We drove along for about an hour until we hit a long curvy road. Atop a hill deep in the country was a beautiful house with large white columns, a lush rolling lawn, and colorful trees all around it.

  “I brought you here for a reason,” he said, looking up at the outside of the house. “I originally bought this place for Amy after falling in love with it on a business trip. She died before I could show it to her. When I met you, I realized that I felt for you like I did her in the beginning. I wanted you to experience the beauty here.”

  “Wow,” I said, completely touched by the sentiment.

  “I told you, I’m not a bad guy.” He smiled. “I just have a bit of baggage.”

  I watched as Anthony walked into the house, carrying my bags. At that moment I quickly realized that he cared for me way more than just a random hookup. I realized that he was feeling the same thing I was. I followed him up the front stairs and into the giant marble entryway. There was a set of stairs on both sides in a horseshoe shape leading up to the second floor. Large beautiful paintings covered the walls. I walked through the hall and into the living room, gasping at the view out of the floor-to-ceiling windows. It was a long rolling yard with trees lining the back, their leaves having change
d to bright oranges, reds, and yellows.

  Throughout the house, light colors decorated everything from the couches to the draperies. It was an absolutely breathtaking home, and I could almost feel myself falling deeper for Anthony. He had been honest and raw with me, and for that I respected him. We put our things in the bedroom and headed into the kitchen, where someone had stocked the cabinets and fridge with food. I ran my fingers over the boxes, exploring the place I would be until Sunday afternoon. We were both hungry and neither of us ate on the plane, so I knew dinner was going to be very important.

  “How about I cook dinner,” I said, wrapping my arms around his neck. “I’ll make sure that it is the most delicious thing ever made. We can eat in front of the windows.”

  “I love that idea,” he said, smiling and kissing my lips. “The rest of the night is all about relaxing together. I’ve really been looking forward to that.”

  I mirrored his sentiments and was pretty sure I had been looking for that since I was a young girl.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Anthony

  After I unpacked my bag and changed into more comfortable clothes, I walked back out to the kitchen, where Eliza was getting ready to prepare dinner. I was feeling like the luckiest man in the world at that moment, and there was really nothing standing in either of our ways. We could be who we really were on that vacation, and I liked the idea of getting to know her even better than I already did. I laughed as she danced around the kitchen, shaking her butt and waving the spoon in the air. I couldn’t help but think about how absolutely perfect she looked with flour on her face and an apron tied around her neck.

  She turned around and started singing into the spoon, shaking her sexy hips back and forth. I laughed loudly, enjoying every move she made. She reached her hand out and brought me close, dancing across the kitchen floor with me in tow. I had never been much of a dancer, but with Eliza leading the way I was definitely not against it. I pulled her in and kissed her hard on the lips before walking over to the breakfast bar. I sat down on the stool and stretched my arms over my head. Eliza turned back toward me and smiled, handing me a green cutting board, a knife, and a basket full of vegetables.

  I lined everything up neatly on the breakfast bar, looking at all the beautiful vegetables that I just realized were grown in my backyard. I was assuming that she was going to come over to where I was to cut up the vegetables, but as she turned, she flashed me a coy smile. I looked at her with confusion, wondering what she was thinking.

  “You better get to cutting,” she said, laughing.

  I chuckled and sat down, pulling the cutting board and knife in front of me. I started pulling the vegetables out one by one and slicing or dicing them dependent on her instructions. I couldn’t help but find her assertiveness extremely sexy, and it made me want to skip dinner and go right to bed—and not for sleep. When I was done chopping and she was finishing up cooking, I grabbed the place settings and headed out to the patio, where we were going to eat dinner. As I set the table, I breathed in the cool, fresh Maine air, excited to be there with Eliza.

  This was such a strange feeling to me—being on vacation—but I was thinking I liked it. I was worried that being at the house would be hard, but I found that since Amy and I hadn’t spent any time there, and I had purchased so long ago, it was like being in a brand-new place. In essence it was, since I hadn’t even seen the décor until I came this time.

  I turned around and smiled as Eliza walked through the doors carrying dishes of food. She had cleaned the flour off her face and left the apron behind, which kind of disappointed me. Not to say domestication turned me on, but seeing her like that there in that house just seemed right in more than one way. She was absolutely stunning, and I couldn’t help but stare.

  “What?” She smiled as she set the dish down on the table.

  “Nothing,” I said, kissing her forehead. “You are beautiful, that’s all.”

  She smiled big as we sat down to eat. The food was amazing, better than anything I could have cooked, and the conversation was even better. We talked about the house a little, but then we talked about places we wanted to go, people we wanted to meet, and where we wanted to see our lives going over the next twenty years. We had a lot in common, a lot more than I ever thought we would.

  When we were done with dinner, she cleared the dishes while I went down to the cellar and brought up a few bottles of wine. The place had been stocked by one of the best private wine dealers in Maine. They had definitely picked out some good ones for us. I opened the wine and poured two glasses, handing one to Eliza as she walked back through the door. We sat back in the chairs and stared out over the beautiful landscape as the sun sank below the horizon. Vibrant oranges, pinks, and blues cascaded across the sky, and the leaves floated gently through the air and onto the ground. We continued our conversation about life, drinking our wine and just relaxing.

  She was so interesting with her theories on the world, the universe, and us as people. She had the same mentality as the hippies in the Art District, but the way that she expressed them could have turned the head of some of the most zealous of religious heads. She was curious about everything around her, and I could tell that she had a love for nature that went beyond a hipster’s weekend trips to the country. As much as she loved the city, I really felt she belonged in a place like this, where the world surrounded her all the time and there wasn’t a view of skyscraper in sight.

  As I grabbed the third bottle of wine, having emptied the first two, she stood up and walked over to the railing, leaning over at the grass below. She was a bit tipsy at that point, and so was I. I glanced down at her ass and bit my lip, wanting to go over and grab it, spin her around, and take her clothes off. Instead, I opened the next bottle and filled our glasses, walking the wine over to her.

  “This is the first vacation I’ve taken since I was twelve years old,” she said, raising her glass. “My family was so busy with the businesses when I got older that they didn’t have the time to take me anywhere. As an adult I’ve had to bust my ass all the time, and taking a vacation seemed like a pipe dream.”

  “You know, I don’t think I’ve taken a vacation since Amy was alive,” I said, feeling bad for bringing her up.

  “Well,” Eliza said, turning toward me. “Then we need to make the most out of it.”

  Her eyes went dark, and her hand trickled from my shoulder and down my arm. She stopped at the waist of my pants, leaning forward and flicking her tongue against my earlobe. I could feel my cock hardening in my pants, and what started as a sweet moment quickly became something full of lust and want.

  I turned toward her and stared, my body quivering from the want surging through me. Suddenly she leapt forward, taking my face in her hands and pushing me around so that my back was against the railing. Our lips moved feverishly over each other, and my heart sped up immediately. I threw my coat onto the ground and dropped to my knees, pulling my sweater over my head. I reached forward and unclasped her belt, then unzipped her pants and pulled them down, removing her boots along with them. I turned her back around, pressing her back against the railing.

  She clasped onto the supports on the sides of the deck and watched as my head dove forward into her pussy. She lifted up and rested her ass on the railing and spread her legs, putting one hand on the back of my head as I began to lick, suck, and pull at her wetness. She moaned loudly, feeling the excitement of making love outside in the open air of the deck, no neighbors within miles. She leaned her head back and opened her eyes, watching the muscles rippling through my back as I moved my mouth feverishly over her dripping mound. I could see the ecstasy blowing through her body as I reached up and plunged two fingers inside of her and began to finger her fast and hard.

  She screamed out, grasping onto the sides of the deck and lifting her leg over my shoulder. I could feel her body tensing as orgasmic pleasure began pushing through every one of her muscles. Her hips ground against my face, and her hand held tightly to my h
air. I leaned up and flicked my tongue quickly against her clit, and she grabbed tightly, screaming out as pleasure exploded through her. I groaned, my mouth lapping the juices that dripped from her pulsing pussy. Immediately I put her leg down and stood up, pulling feverishly at my belt. I dropped my pants to the ground and whirled her around, spreading her legs apart. She leaned forward and grabbed the railing, looking back at back at me with lustful eyes as I clutched the shaft of my cock and moved toward her.

  I gasped as the tip of my cock slid through her wetness and plunged deep inside her. I held myself there, my body pressed against her ass, as I reached over and grabbed firmly to her waist. She arched her back to give me better positioning and then looked over her shoulder and watched my cock come in and out of her, glistening from her juices. She moaned out loud from the sight, and I concentrated on the feeling of every ripple of my body sliding through her. I growled loudly as she began to push back while I thrust forward, slamming our bodies together and pushing myself deeper inside of her. I wanted to feel her come so badly.

  She pulled the top half of her body upward, and I pulled out and turned her around, picking her up and putting her legs around my waist. She leaned forward and kissed me passionately as I began to thrust, this time with need and want. I was getting close, and with the feeling of my body rubbing up and down hers, I could tell she was teetering on the edge as well. I pushed in and out of her, growling and groaning as our bodies meshed together. She screamed loudly with every push, her body poised for another orgasm.

  “I’m gonna come,” she wailed.

  “Yeah, baby,” I said, grabbing tightly to her ass.

  As her body tensed and juices exploded inside of her, running down my shaft, we yelled out in chorus with our moans of orgasm. I stepped forward and pushed up inside of her as far as I could go. I closed my eyes, feeling her body pulsate around my cock. My hips moved ever so slightly as pleasure flew over me and my hard cock found its relief. She clamped her fingers down on my shoulder, her breath elevated and the ecstasy still pushing hard against my chest. Slowly my muscles began to relax, my body exhausted from the orgasm that hit me like a brick wall. I held tightly to her as carefully sat down on the ground with her still wrapped around me tightly. I leaned forward and laid my head on her chest as she stroked her fingers through my hair.