Sand to Love on Dog Beach

She followed me into the oversized bathroom and gasped when she saw an oval shaped jetted bathtub positioned in front of a large window that afforded a priceless view of the Pacific with moonlight dancing off the crashing surf and wavetops as far as one could see.

Only tonight, the view was all about that moon. Wait. Strike that. Looking at her was an even better view. It was all about her beautiful face and body, illuminated by the moon, making it look like she was glowing. How many times had this woman made me lose my breath tonight, I wondered.

She smiled brightly in approval as I filled the tub and stole glances at her whenever I could.

I tested the water a million times as it filled, but when it was full and the temperature just right, I slipped in first and leaned against the tapered rear of the tub before inviting her in. She sat between my legs carefully, her back to my chest. I pushed the button and turned the jets on low and she just melted with a contented sigh.

In almost a whisper, with my lips just above her ear, "Janine, um, I was wondering if you could help me improve my artwork."

"How can I do that?" She whispered back.

"My drawings of you would be so much better if I could feel your anatomy with my hands. I want to understand all of it."

She giggled a little. "For the sake of art, right?"

"Yes."

"Then please. By all means, Art-guy. You have to be thorough to get it right, though."

My hands were already on her belly at that point but I moved them until cupping both of her breasts. I moved to circling and rolling her nipples, starting with teasing at first until lightly pinching them. I began to knead the entirety of her chest, genuinely enjoying myself but even more satisfied when I heard her gently moan.

She whispered, "Remember to be thorough." She opened her legs, lifting them up and onto mine.

With both hands I moved them over her entire abdomen until one of them found her mons and then stroked her short bush with my fingers like I had been stroking her hair in my chair earlier. Two fingers from each hand found her folds and made football shaped motions just inside of them. I took my time in every touch, in every millimeter, savoring the details of her sex and the positive feedback I was receiving.

Before long, as the fingers from one hand detailed her folds and entrance, the other found her clitoris. She began to gently buck against them, moaning, encouraging me on. I used all my fingers then, equally, some alternately dipping into her entrance, others eagerly strumming her button like I imagined I'd play a guitar if I had ever learned.

Between the warm water and the hotness of the moment, I felt like I was in a dream.

I felt her legs resting on mine trembling, no longer at rest. That turned into a massive shudder migrating up from there, reaching her abdomen until she was shaking all over. "Oh, god," she uttered and then it morphed into a grunt while she made four or five almost violent spasms.

Her breathing seemed to be labored at first and I almost worried until I felt it subside and she caught her breath. "Holy shit," she said in almost a whimper.

"Good?" I asked.

"Are you kidding me?! Amazing. Your hands. Your fingers. Do you know what you did to me?!"

I chuckled, "I'm glad. That one was all about you. I wanted to return what you did for me in the chair."

"Yeah, well it worked. If I didn't know before, I certainly know now. You are the most gifted artist I've ever known." She turned and gave me a deep kiss before turning back, looking up into the moon. "Where did you learn to do that?"

I laughed, "Before I ever picked up a brush, I spent many years fingerpainting my brains out."

*

She woke up in the morning next to me in bed and when she became aware of her surroundings, not to mention that I was wide eyed and looking at her, she smiled at me. I got a tingly feeling from head to toe.

"Good morning, handsome," she said.

"Good morning, beautiful," I replied, "sleep OK?"

She chuckled, "What little of it I got last night, yes. I slept great."

She rubbed her eyes and then stretched under the covers. Looking back at me she grinned, like she tends to do when she tells a joke. "Do you still respect me?"

I chuckled at that and she giggled back. I just studied her face, a third of it obscured by the pillow, but the visible part was beautiful. Friendly. She looked content. Happy even. My heart swooned, maybe this wasn't a one-time thing. Maybe, but wait. What is going to happen next?

Her smile melted away, how did she read me like she does?! "Hey. Stop it. I have some confessions to make. I wanted this to happen. I've wanted it for some time. You made me a very happy woman last night, and I know that I made you happy too. That's a new feeling for you, I know it. This was not a fluke. I'm going to try and make you happy every single day if I can. Believe me. Leo, are you happy right now?"

I let out the breath I had been holding and nodded my head, bringing back her smile. I believed everything she said and my mind didn't try to talk myself out of it.

"Good." She reached for me and found my morning erection.

"Something else," she gave me her now patented wicked look, "So, as I wanted you for a while now, I was OK with waiting you out to make all the first moves, but when I looked at your drawings, exposing your want and need, my patience went right out the window."

She had been gently playing with me and then stopped. Moving my hand to between her legs which were both wet and a little crusty in places from our nighttime adventures. She said, "And now it's morning. Something you need to know. I'm never more aroused than in the morning."

She pushed my hand away and threw off the covers before running to the bathroom, "But I have to pee soooo bad!"

I laughed and enjoyed the sight of her naked backside in a jog. I ignored the pain as I gingerly got up myself to brush my teeth and gargle the morning breath away. I was always stiffest when I first got out of bed. I mean my lower back, but yeah, that other thing too.

She joined me at the sink as I finished. "Can I use your toothbrush again?" She asked. "I had your tongue in my mouth most of the night, so I don't know there's much difference."

She noticed I was leaning against the sink next to her as she brushed her teeth. With toothpaste foaming from her mouth, she playfully pushed on my chest and with barely comprehensible words and sputtering toothpaste foam, "Go keep the bed warm. I'll be right there. Remember what I said about the mornings."

*

She let go of my hand and turned to me with an embrace, "This is my favorite place for breakfast, I think you're going to like it. I used to come here all the time with my family, and we came here for years, but I hate eating in restaurants alone so I haven't been here in forever." She sported a huge grin in anticipation.

We were standing on the sidewalk outside of a small, out-of-the-way cafe I didn't even know existed, in a little coastal town a few miles north of my place. Wait, I should qualify that. A little coastal town in San Diego County is relative. It is 20 square miles, home to only 65,000 people. The only way one would know they entered or left the city limits would be the sign on the Pacific Coast Highway since all of the cities had merged together in all practicality. So 'small' in local standards only, I guess.

We had been on the waitlist for about 20 minutes and it looked like we were up for the next available table. In that time she was not shy about PDA, like this hug, but it was light and didn't take it farther than that and the occasional chaste peck on the lips.

I looked down on her in our embrace, and practically whispered what I was thinking. "This is too good to be true."

She whispered back with a radiant smile, "For me too. Get used to it, OK?"

She let go of our embrace and went back to holding my hand when a woman walking out of the restaurant went slack jawed and called out, "Janine?!" She looked back and forth from her to me and back, a tall man and a bored looking teenager stood just behind her.

The woman was probably in her early 40's, had the same petite build as Janine, though a little heavier. Same brown hair and pretty blue-green eyes. I got it right away, she had to be a sister.

"Hey, guys," Janine called out and then enthusiastically moved in giving her sister a deep bear-like hug before giving one each to the limp armed males. The teenager at least gave an audible greeting, "Hi, Aunt Neene."

The older one just grunting, "Hey."

Janine then slid up into me and held my arm with both of hers while making introductions, "This is my sister Jessica, or Jess, my brother-in-law, Tom, and my nephew, Billy." She looked up at me with a smile but her expression told me to brace for it. "And this is my boyfriend, Leo."

Boyfriend, huh? I smiled down on her in approval and she squeezed my arm.

"Boyfriend. Really." Jessica was clearly caught off guard by that. "Does Mom know?"

Janine brushed it off, "In due time. It's nobody else's business right now."

"Hmm. How long have you been going out?"

Janine laughed and then looked up at me for confirmation, "What's it been? Ten. Eleven years?"

I chuckled back, and she gave my arm another squeeze, "Yeah. At least."

Her sister was dumbstruck. Staring at me hard, trying to read me. I hoped she didn't have the same ability as Janine did. I was an empty book before, but the limits of my new intimacy with Janine was just between us and I wanted to keep it that way.

"So, Leo," Jessica addressed me in a tone like Janine does sometimes, "is that short for Leonard?"

I replied, "Yes, well, my birth certificate says Leonardo."

"What do you do, Leonardo?" She asked suspiciously.

I made a quick glance at Janine, her face had become just shy of a glare at her sister. I replied, hoping my girlfriend would approve later. "I'm a contractor. I repair and clean museum quality, old paintings."

Janine jumped in a little hot, not sure directed at who, "He's an artist. A gifted one. Talented."

Jessica made a disapproving face, "An artist?!"

Just then, someone from the restaurant appeared in the doorway and announced, "Peterson! Party of two. Peterson."

Janine jumped at the escape opportunity, "That's us. See you, sis. Bye, Billy."

We started towards the entrance, Jessica reached out and grabbed Janine's arm in desperation for more, "No. Wait."

Her husband pulled her back, "C'mon, Jess. Leave her alone. I want to get to the hardware store and get it over with."

Jessica let go, her frustration evident, "No, hold up . . . "

Janine just gave her a smile and said, "Seeya," and we followed our server into the restaurant with arms linked.

*

We had just placed our orders and were a half cup of coffee down, when I asked, "Are you OK?" Janine had been sullen, silent, and lost in thought since we sat down.

She sighed, but slumped her shoulders in resignation, "I'm fine."

"No, you're not. This is obviously about your sister. You told me one time you had a great relationship with both your sisters."

"I do. It's just . . . well . . . I wanted to keep you just to myself for a little longer."

"I don't know what you mean." I reached out and held her hand.

She sighed again. "Will you get closer? Scoot closer to me."

I thought about how best I could do that without torquing my back when she said, "Wait. Don't do that." She then reached down and grabbed the seat edge of my chair, pulling her and her chair closer to me and perched at the corner of the table. "That's better."

It did feel more intimate and would keep our conversation more private. "So you know I have two sisters," she started, "and I love them both dearly. And I know they have nothing but their best interests in my wellbeing. It's just that they go about it . . . well, it's irritating sometimes."

I gave her hand a squeeze and we waited out a refill of our coffee before she continued, "Everyone is always concerned about me. Even thinking that for me to be happy I need to be married and popping out children left and right. They even have an attitude like I should look to them as examples. I've been nothing but a disappointment to them because I do my own thing."

She paused for more coffee before readying herself for what was next. "Jess. She's my middle sister and 8 years older than me. Got married right out of college . . . to a dick. He says rude things. To everybody. He thinks he's above my entire family. He makes next to nothing, Jess is the breadwinner, so don't know where all that attitude comes from. My dad . . . oh my god . . . my dad just hates him.

"Yet Jess just takes it. Like all is right in the world and she has the perfect guy. How does she live with him? He's not at all nice to her. I mean, he's not abusive, Jess could kick his ass anyway, but still. What a dick. He makes my skin crawl. Worse is that my nephew is 16 and he's turning out to be just like his father.

"Next up, my oldest sister, Janet."

I stopped her, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Janet, Jessica, and Janine?"

She got a wan smile, "Yeah. I know. Dad never got it right so he sometimes calls us J-1, J-2, and J-3. He thinks that's really funny." She rolled her eyes with a smirk and continued, "So Janet. She marries this great guy. I mean he's a fucking prince. Doted on her. Loved her completely. Was the sweetest guy ever. Mom and Dad adored him. Had two beautiful children and when their oldest was about twelve, Jan threw her husband away. Like he was garbage. I'll never understand why but she broke his heart. I think he's still suffering. And those poor kids . . . they were ferried between the two for years, complete victims. I'll never understand that."

She looked at me in all seriousness, "And they think I'm the loser in the love department. Well, I don't want to end up like either of them. Now that we've been spotted, the cat is out of the bag, they're going to try and get involved."

As if on cue, her phone started ringing. With pursed lips, she held it up for me to see, the name on the screen read 'Jan'. She cut the call and put her phone face down on the table.

"Leo," she asked with pleading eyes, "will you make me a promise? Promise me that nobody will ever get between us. If we don't go the distance, if what we have doesn't go anywhere, let it be up to us, and us alone. OK? Please?"

I could almost physically feel how much this meant to her. I replied honestly, "I promise."

"Thank you," she leaned back and it was like an enormous weight fell off her shoulders.

I smiled at her, "I hope this doesn't spook you, but the more I get to know you, the more I do hope this goes somewhere. What we have."

She smiled back, "Yeah. Me too."

As if the server had been waiting for this moment to pass, she appeared out of nowhere with our plates of breakfast and set them in front of us.

I started to dig in, but Janine didn't move. She had more to say, "One more thing," I gave her my full attention. "Don't ever, ever, ever be ashamed of being an artist. That's what you are. A really good one. And I'm proud of you for that, you should be too."

*

We changed into our beach gear in my condo, this time doing it together, having nothing to hide anymore. She wore the usual, including her wrap, while I wore sweatpants over my board shorts and layered a sweatshirt over a t-shirt. It was getting colder this time of the year, only Janine clearly had more cold-tolerance than I.

I locked up the condo and we were headed to the elevator when we ran into the twins who looked like they were returning home after being in the hot tub. They greeted us with all smiles.

One of them crooned, "Hey, Mr. Peterson. Glad to see you two hooked up." The other twin tried to secretly mouth, "She's hot," but Janine caught it and she tried and failed to suppress a giggle.

"Thanks, boys," I responded, chuckling at Janine's reaction. "Hey, way to finish up the season, you two. I read all about it. Are you being recruited much? What colleges are you each hoping to play for?"

They both enthusiastically said at the same time, "Cal."

"Hey, that's a great school. I hope it works out. Wherever you go, I look forward to watching your games on TV. Good luck."

"Thanks, Mr. Peterson."

While Janine and I rode the elevator down together, she wrapped me up in a hug, got up on her toes and kissed me. Then sarcastically, "Thanks, Mr. Peterson."

"They think you're hot, Beach-girl. I do too."

We set our things up on the sand and spent a few moments taking in the beach. We hadn't been there for 15 minutes before her phone rang.

"Ughh." She emoted. "It's my mom. I don't really want to talk to her right now."

I gave her a stern look, "Pick. Up. That. Call." She looked at me like I was an alien, so I incentivized it. "I would give up my condo, my inheritance, and gladly be the poorest, most starving artist ever if I could talk to my mom just one more time."

She blinked her eyes and made a thoughtful face, I had clearly gotten through to her. She put the phone to her ear, "Hi, Mom."

. . . .

"It's nice to hear your voice too, Mom. Um, hey. If I haven't told you in a while . . . I love you."

. . . .

"I know you do, Mom."

. . . .

"Oh, I'm just sitting here on the beach. With my boyfriend." She shot a smile over at me.

. . . .

"Yeah, I know. I don't think she was expecting us at the Breakfast Bean this morning, but we were really just passing ships. We didn't have a lot of time to talk."

. . . .

"Well, I think you're going to like him. He's a good guy. And you know what? He's super cute." She batted her eyelashes at me like a crushing schoolgirl.

My heart swooned.

*

I don't remember how many weeks passed before she dropped some heavy shit. I didn't see it coming.

It was obvious why I didn't. I was still feeling a little euphoric while laying on my orthopedic chair with her naked body draped over me, just like our first time. We were under a blanket just recently pulled over us, a tissue between her legs in an effort to absorb the part of me I left in her that was oozing out.

"Leo." It was what I now think of as the 'uh-oh' tone. "Even with the positions we've tried that limit your range of motion so we won't hurt your back, I seemed to hurt you a couple of times just now."

"Don't worry about it. I feel great. That was fantastic." I kissed her lips, hoping to raise the passion to prolong it, secretly hoping she'd forget about her concern.

Yeah, that didn't work. She broke the kiss, "I know what you're doing."

"Seriously, I'm fine."

"You've been limping and groaning more lately. It took us longer to get up the stairs than normal today."

"Well, next week I get my cortisone shot. Everything will go back like before."

"I know. It's just, um, can I be with you for that. Can I go to the doctor's appointment with you?"

"Why would you want to do that?" Only, I knew exactly why.

"I just want to be there for you."

"Really? That's the reason?"

She sighed, knowing I was on to her, "Yes. And, um, I'd like to hear what the doctor has to say about that fusion thing."

*

She was unloading bags of groceries into my cupboards and refrigerator, but she kept dropping things, followed by her angrily cursing. As long as we had been familiar with each other, I knew she had a mouth like a sailor, but this was particularly over the top.

"Are you nervous?" I asked her. Keeping my distance and sitting down while she did all the work, intentionally staying out of her way.

She paused and looked at me, "Yes. If you must know."

I tried to reassure her, "Everything is going to be fine."

"Easy for you to say!"

I kept my mouth shut and let her keep at it. Once unloaded she started chopping vegetables and preparing for our dinner party. I had been eating her cooking lately and she was pretty awesome at it, albeit a lot of green stuff and less fried food and red meat as I'd typically have in a meal delivery, but I kept that to myself.