Excerpt:

Siegfried put his back into the hard work. He ached all over, sweat streaming from his skin even in the artificial coolness gathered between the thick stone walls. Scrape, pull, throw. Scratch a dusty itch at elbow or cheek--careful not to rub your eyes--and do it all again. It seemed as though he had been cleaning the tanks forever, not for less than a week.

He paused and blotted sweat from his forehead on the blue cotton sleeve rolled over his upper arm. From the corner of his eye, Siegfried saw Alice, back from church, come in dressed in her work clothes. She picked up a shovel and manhandled a wheelbarrow nearby, then started removing the pile of mold he had created.

He was satisfied that she had followed his orders and was wearing thick leather work gloves over her bandaged hands.

They worked in silence for hours, changing jobs whenever the strain of repetition got too bad.

Covertly, Siegfried watched her while she scraped, reaching up high and worrying away at a stubborn patch of filth. The baggy front of Bill's old shirt molded tightly against her breasts, and Siegfried swallowed, hard, remembering how she had looked yesterday, wet as a mermaid. He stopped short. A wave of heat rushed through his body as he shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot to ease the sudden restriction of his jeans.

The more he saw her, the more he wanted her, and it was becoming too difficult to work side by side, and say nothing. Do nothing.

Alice finally succeeded in loosening the sticky mass from the side of the tank. She balanced it on the end of her scraper, and flicked it to her left, where it landed neatly in the wheelbarrow already piled high with other refuse. She noticed his motionlessness. "Yes?"

"Time for a break," he said, feeling as if he mumbled, the English sounds foreign on his lips. His whole body was sensitized, aware of her. Every pulse beat heightened his desire for her.

"I'm not tired. You go rest. You've been working longer than I have today."

"All right," he said, but he could not move away. He smelled her: hard-working woman with a hint of lemon cologne, and found that his feet had sent roots into the concrete floor.

Alice's scraper chewed another strip of mold away from the wood. Siegfried leaned closer to her.

"Ah-lees, I--" She turned to face him and they were within touching distance. Siegfried brushed a streak of dust off her hair, then let his fingers drift downward to touch her cheek. Her hazel eyes were questioning as she gazed up at him.

Siegfried placed his hands on her shoulders, pushing her back against the tank. He leaned close to touch his mouth to hers, hesitant and feather-light. May I?

She was tense and trembling slightly. "Siegfried, don't..."

"Alice?" A man's voice called from the entrance to the winery. "Are you in here?"

She shoved Siegfried away with a gasp.

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Author BIO: Michaela August is a writing team composed of two Northern California authors, Marian Gibbons and Karin Welss. Despite living 90 miles apart, they've been collaborating for years using telephones and the Internet.

They also write science fiction and fantasy, and their short stories have appeared in several anthologies, including Dreams Unlimited's SF holiday anthology, STARDATES: Infinite Celebrations.

About Marian Gibbons:

Marian Gibbons is a native of Northern California, although she spent some years in exile in Portland, Oregon, and LA. Currently she lives in Santa Rosa, heart of the wine country, with her husband, Dave. She is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Spellbinders, Inc., a local science fiction writing group, and Romance Writers of America. She collects books, bookcases, blue bowls, and obscure historical facts. She began her writing career at the age of eight, with a story combining elements from Tarzan, Jan of the Jungle, and A.E. Van Vogt's Slan, only with a girl hero.

About Karin Welss:

Karin Welss was born in Montreal, Canada, but grew up in Northern California. She has lived and traveled extensively in England, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australia (including a stint in Sydney for about 2-and-a-half years, first as a university exchange student and then while working for a well-known database software company). Besides traveling, Karin's other great interests are reading, history, and archaeology. Family members accuse her of writing historical fiction as an excuse to buy books and do research! Karin currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she is owned by three small but very bossy parrots. She pays for the birdseed by working as a technical writer.