The days seemed to last forever that summer: warm June nights had melted into hot August mornings and Fall was in no rush to roll by. It was what my grandma used to call real desert days, although she'd never left the county in her whole long life. Besides, most of the neighbours had a pool by then, a string of blue topaz in a parched grass setting, modern oases where the sturdy camel had been ousted by rubber rings with Mickey Mouse heads. We still didn't have a pool of course. Mom thought it wasteful, and Dad generally agreed with Mom, so our grass just sat and baked, and so did we. There was the public pool, of course, a sweaty busride across town, but in the end I found a way into water much closer to. The house next door had stood empty for a while, the Greenbaums had moved over Michigan way, I think it was, taking their screaming kids with them. The real estate people came by, the sign said sold, but nobody moved in. And while that pool stood unused, going across town seemed an awful long way. I wasn't so brave then, not brave enough to sneak in and swim on those hot afternoons. But in the night it was just as warm, and oh so easy to slip out of the house, down the garden and through the fence into next door.

The moon shimmered on the water and while I swam I could see my ripples making it dance about, like some ghostly white fish swimming there with me, keeping me company. The water was cool on my skin and because I couldn't explain wet things to my mom, I swam naked in the night, in the moonlight, feeling the thrill of being bare outdoors. I suppose I should have felt guilty, sneaking onto someone else's property, using their pool and doing it bare-assed too, but there was a weird kind of freedom about it. For maybe the first time in my young life I had control over something, and it felt good. I suppose I got careless after a while, too wrapped up in my little secret, too involved in the sensation of the water around me, the moon's distorted light next to me, because I never saw her standing there, hidden in the shadows of a bush, watching me.

Icame down as usual that night to my pool, pulled off my shirt and shorts and slid into the water. Only then did a subtle change in the feel of the water around me make me look up, across - and into the eyes of a woman. She was naked too, bare shoulders above the shining surface, dark hair slicked back. Beads of moisture glistened on her skin like jewels, and for a moment I couldn't move, couldn't think. She was - beautiful, and all I could do was stare as she made her way across the pool towards me. The moonlight caught along the edges of her arms, outlining them in white, and when she finally reached me, I was very aware of her nude skin inches from mine. I could see her breasts, gently supported by the water, and I found it hard not to look. I'd not seen a woman naked before, girls in the shower at school, sure, but this, this was different more developed, more real. I felt my face grow warm with more than a blush.

"I've been watching you," she said, voice soft in the darkness. Her mouth was wide, lips generous and there was a sparkle in her eyes that tumbled out in her voice. "H - h - have you?" I could barely get my mouth to form words, a sentence, an explanation maybe of what I was doing there, naked, in what was clearly her pool. "Mmmmm," she said, and moved in closer. I inched away, the slippery tiles of the pool trapping me, making me stay still, so close to her. She moved closer, and the softness of her skin brushed my chest. I felt my breasts tighten in reaction and looked directly into her eyes to see if she had noticed. She leaned in closer, and kissed me on the mouth, sweetly and gently. I stiffened in surprise, than shivered as I felt a hand move around my waist under the water. Hesitantly, I reached a hand out, not sure where it was headed but suddenly needing to touch her in return. She took my hand in hers, raising it to her lips and kissing each finger tenderly, before placing it on her breast. I could feel the heat of her body radiating through the thin skin, could almost feel the blood flow, or maybe it was my own blood, now pounding in my veins. I moved my hand a little, and felt a firm fleshy nipple pressed into my palm. I looked up almost in wonderment and saw her lips slightly parted, a hint of white teeth behind. I kissed her then, intending a gentle kiss as hers had been, but instead it became a warm passionate thing full of tongues and hot breath and feelings I had never had before. She had both arms round me now, and her hands were tickling up and down my back. I think if we had been in air I might have screamed then, but the water cushioned her fingers' darting and I shivered and pressed closer against her. Her mouth left mine, moved to my neck, sucking and nibbling and I was glad of the firm support of the pool wall behind me. Her hand slid down my back, cupping my bottom, stroking gently. Then she bent her head, took my nipple in her mouth and began to play with it, flicking it with her tongue, then sucking and even biting a little. It had never occurred to me that someone could do this to someone else, breasts were there for babies not - not other women, but the sensation was amazing and I relaxed into it, still a little scared, but oh so eager for whatever she might think to do next. I was peripherally aware of the rest of the garden somewhere there in the darkness, a light breeze rustled leaves then stopped, and some sort of bird flew over, a shrill piping in the night sky above our damp heads. I pulled the woman's head back up and hungrily took her mouth again, my hands now running across her body.

Icould feel a throbbing in the secret place between my legs, and I reached my hand down to touch it. My hand was halted in its journey by hers, and she guided it instead to the place between her legs, which was warm and somehow sticky even in the water. She put her hand between my legs then and rubbed it gently back and forth. It felt wonderful, and I imitated her movements with my own hand, all the while kissing her mouth, her neck, even, daringly, her breast. I could feel myself growing warmer and my whole body felt weak. I found I was making little panting and groaning noises, and so was she. Suddenly, she broke away and moved across the pool. I was shocked - had I done something wrong in my ignorance, was this not what she wanted from me? Sensing my confusion, she swam back closer, took my arm and pulled me with her to the other end of the pool. Whoever had designed the place must have done so with children in mind, because the water here was shallow, and there was a ramp with handrails where the water was barely an inch deep. The woman pushed me gently back on this ramp, so I was lying half in and half out of the water. I reached for her and she lay full length beside me, so I could see her long shapely legs and the dark fuzz where her thighs met. We kissed hungrily, my hands now bolder, moving over her firm full breasts, enjoying their weight now the water no longer held them. She moved her mouth to my breast again, then down, kissing her way across my body, past my navel towards where her hand had rubbed so deliciously before. I moved my legs closer together, nervously, but she pulled them gently apart again - I realised she was looking right at me, and half of me was embarrassed, but the rest was curious. Would she put her hand on me again, I wanted her to do just that, wanted it badly. Before tonight I'd never thought of such a thing, but now it seemed so important. Her lips moved further south, I felt her breath and the moisture of her tongue on my inner thighs as she licked along the sensitive skin, but I still didn't really understand what she was about - until the sensation of warm wetness on the folds of skin that felt so tender, her mouth licking me gently there, up and down, at one point a feeling so exquisite I nearly cried out in pleasure, managing to turn it into a moan at the last -- I had no wish to draw attention to this garden, this pool, this act of love between us. Her tongue was moving faster now, and my body started jerking, the movement forcing little wavelets of cold water up around my body, into where her mouth was nibbling and sucking; I felt something sliding inside me, realised it must be a finger, and I pushed down against it, wanting more and more of this. My breasts felt hard and tight and I began to rub them myself, pinching the nipples as she had done, kneading them up and down. I could hear us both panting, and it struck me that what she was doing to me was making her as excited as I was. The thought was somehow incredibly sexy, and I bucked and pushed against her busy hands and mouth, feeling the rise of something inside me, a sudden hot surge of sensation - I cried out and tensed and shook as wave upon wave coursed through me, and then I began to cry, which was silly, because it wasn't sad, it was wonderful! Instantly she was back beside me, holding me close. "There, there, it's alright, it's okay," she murmured. I snuggled closer to her flushed, warm body, and knew it was so.

T here were many more warm nights that particular August, and I learnt much about love from a watery companion more tangible than that ghostly moon...

If you're feeling damp now, let me know!