His mouth is a grim line and I don’t press. I wait patiently, hoping he will open up.
‘No, I think she meant it, that’s why...why it got to me.’
Why it hurt so much, my brain supplies for him, because it does hurt him; I can see it in his face as I turn him to look at me.
‘You should talk to her about it, let her open up to you, and you can do the same in return. Life’s too short not to try to salvage a relationship with her, Rafael.’
I feel the pain of my own loss, my own mother, who I’d give anything to have back in my life once more.
‘Perhaps.’
His eyes are so dark in the low light, dark and pained; the lines bracketing his mouth, severe. I want to reach up and smooth them away. I want to kiss his lips and make them soften, make them smile or slacken with desire. Anything but this.
And it’s something I have the power to do. He’s opened me up to new possibilities, to pleasure, wild and abandoned... My lips feel parched with the memory of it all and I wet them, watching his eyes flare as they trace the move, and I know I’m not alone in riding this fresh wave of heat.
The air seems to thicken and wrap around us, the sound of the insects falling away as our elevated breaths blend into the same rhythm.
‘You should go back to the table before you are missed.’
He says the words, but his hand doesn’t release me. Instead, his other hand lifts to cup my cheek. His fingers are gentle and his eyes roam over my face, intense, searching.
‘I want you to come back with me.’ I remember that’s why I’m here. To make
sure he’s okay and bring him back for dessert, for cards with his family. But my feet are as rooted as the vines around us.
‘I will...’ His gaze rests on my lips and his head lowers slowly, so slowly. ‘Soon.’
And then his mouth sweeps over mine and the tiny little tremors that have been building ever since he grabbed my wrist take off inside. The whimper I utter, their outlet. My mouth moves in time with his and I angle my head to let him in deeper, to let his tongue graze mine. Oh, yes.
He releases my wrist to wrap his arm around me, drawing my body up against his, tearing his mouth away to find the sensitive skin of my throat. His stubble is rough as it scrapes against my skin, making me shiver and shake. The lust so powerful it consumes me from within as I fork my hands through his hair and cling to him for support as my knees weaken.
His hand leaves my cheek to stroke down my front, over the light fabric of my dress, my bra... He palms my breast, his thumb sweeping over one taut peak and making my hips roll.
He comes back up to claim my mouth, to swallow my moan that is quick to follow, and his arm around me tightens. I palm his chest and kiss him deeply, feeling his heat permeate my fingers, feeling his heart beating as wildly as my own.
‘I think it’s my turn to give you a happy ending...’ I look at him from beneath my lashes, waiting for my meaning to register as I lower my fingers to his belt and start to unfasten it. His body stills. His fingers are quick to close around mine as he struggles to drag in air. His jaw pulses and his throat bobs. But I don’t look away. I don’t stop, either, and his fingers slacken over mine, letting me continue.
He’s staring so hard into my eyes, their glittering depths hypnotic, and I’m high on it. The power, the control, the risk, even... I unbutton his trousers and ease his zipper down. The sound of it cuts through the air as illicit as any erotic touch. His cock strains to greet me and I trace a fingernail down his clothed length, savouring the way his jaw pulses and his nostrils flare with his sharp inhalation. I wonder if lust has stolen his voice as I slip my hand inside his briefs and feel him pulse within my grasp.
I pump his cock and his hands fly to my hips. ‘Dio, Faye.’
My smile is small and teasing, my eyes drinking in the tension rippling through his body. ‘Do you want me to stop?’
He shudders, the breath hissing between his teeth as I move over him again, my hand twisting and undulating.
‘No, no.’ The words are as tight as his body. His eyes squeeze shut, his fingers flexing against my hips. ‘But you will be my undoing.’
‘Good,’ I whisper. ‘And, when you’re sated, we can return to play cards with the guests as though nothing is amiss.’
‘And you?’
He opens his eyes and stares down at me as if he can scarcely believe we’re doing this, in the vineyard, with the chatter of the guests blowing on the breeze, the vines cocooning us.
That makes two of us. But...
‘This is about you.’ And my sexual awakening, if I want to be even more honest about it. I lift up on tiptoes and brush my lips with his, parting them with a flick of my tongue, and it has his eyes flaring into mine. ‘No one knows what we’re doing. No one can know but us. It’s our little secret and I want to take advantage of that.’
He bucks into my grasp, his groan reverberating through me. I clench my legs together tight, nursing the ache that’s building with his pleasure. I feel his pre-cum slip through my fist and I bite into my lip.