Zach caught his breath. Having Katie’s slick heat surround him was one thing, but feeling her climax was another. The thick contractions gripped him tightly from base to tip and about squeezed the control right out of him.
“I can’t stop,” she gasped as another contraction shuddered through her. “Oh, Zach!”
She rode him, moving faster and faster. Every third or fourth stroke brought another release. The increased pace shattered his control. The swaying of her breasts, the pleasure on her face, the scent of her body all conspired to make him want more.
He dropped his hands to her hips and dug in his fingers. Plunging faster and deeper, he claimed her and his orgasm, burying himself in her and exploding into pleasure.
Katie awoke sometime after midnight. There was no second of confusion, no wondering where she was. She knew the exact location and even why she was currently naked. In this case, clarity was not a blessing.
She’d had sex with Zach Stryker. Zach-the man who had promised to do anything he could to get her to change her mind about Mia’s engagement. Zach, who was her newest client for the biggest contract she’d ever had, her sister’s divorce lawyer, and a potential in-law. The man who was determined to break her sister’s heart.
She supposed that in the scheme of things, this was probably not the smartest thing she’d ever done. Nope, it probably wasn’t even going to make the top ten.
She turned her head and saw Zach sleeping next to her. He’d been a great lover, and a stellar host. He’d offered her one of his T-shirts to sleep in, plus a brand-new toothbrush, and had taken her order for breakfast. A girl could get used to this sort of treatment.
Make that…“A woman.” A mature woman who handled sexual relationships with the ease of handling a tricky scheduling conflict. A sophisticated woman who understood the rules of the game and occasionally bent them for her own benefit. Someone savvy. Someone together.
Someone not Katie.
Feeling anything but sophisticated and mature, Katie did the only thing that made sense under the circumstances.
She ran.
12
Alight rain fell as Brenna walked through the north vineyard where the Cab grapes were grown. Mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, with a little Cab Franc for blending. Now, in early April, there were only small signs of life. She spotted a few tiny buds that would soon bring forth green leaves and heavy grapes.
She drew in a deep breath, inhaling the scent of damp earth. Come late summer the fragrance of the grapes would be nearly as intoxicating as the wine itself. Today there was only the gray of the sky and the brown of the earth, but in time the landscape would be an artist’s palette of colors. Blue and green and gold and purple. She closed her eyes, imagining what it would be, then opened them again. To her, even the barren plainness was beautiful.
For the first time in several weeks, she felt as if she could breathe. As if she, like the vines, was coming back to life.
Carefully, so as not to accidentally kick a plant, she bent down and examined the fastenings that held the vine in place. She touched the small tubing that provided life-giving water. Her fingers curled into her palms as she ached for all she’d missed these years. All she’d lost. All Jeff had taken away.
She knew that in time she would accept his leaving, her stupidity, and the other woman. But she would never, ever forgive him for wanting to lay claim to the land, the vines and the dream she’d given up for him. Rage didn’t describe what she felt, nor did fury. She didn’t just want Jeff to back off, she wanted him destroyed. Any thoughts she’d had about being reasonable had ended the second he’d threatened Marcelli Wines.
She straightened and raised her face to the rain. Cool drops trickled down her face like tears. Yet this moisture healed. It brought life-to the vines and to her.
She’d given herself heart, body, and soul to her husband and in the end he’d had no use for the gifts. Obviously her body was hers once again, and while she had no need for her heart-love was not going to be in her future, ever-she desperately had to find her soul if she was ever to reclaim the person she used to be.
“You’re a Marcelli to your bones. You always come back to the vines.”
She turned toward the familiar voice and saw Grandpa Lorenzo walking toward her. He wore a heavy jacket and a cap on his white hair. Sometime while she hadn’t been paying attention, he’d become an old man. Time had bent his back and gnarled his hands. Still, when he stood close to her, she felt safe, just as she had when she’d been a little girl.
“You’re right about the vines,” she said, staring out at them. “I can’t escape them.”
“Not even when you try. I heard about your husband. That he tried to claim some of this for himself. That will never happen. This is only for family.”
“I know, Grandpa.” His words made her feel guilty, as if Jeff’s greedy grasping were her fault. “I should never have married him.”
“No. We all thought he was a different kind of man.”
Brenna wasn’t so sure anyone had thought anything except relief that she had married right on schedule. Even at eighteen she’d felt the pressure to marry young and produce a son. She thought of how the current circumstances would have affected a child.
“At least we were smart enough not to have babies,” she said. “Better that they not go through this. Plus Jeff would have been tied to the family forever.”
She expected a word of agreement, but instead Grandpa Lorenzo sighed heavily. “I would have forgiven many sins for a grandson.”
Anger flared inside of her. “You need to get over your gender bias, Grandpa. It’s the new millennium. Women are just as capable as men, and they’re finally getting a chance to prove it.”
The old man looked at her. “They may be capable, but are they as loyal? You left. You went away and the vines were forgotten.”
“That’s not fair,” she protested. “You wanted me to get married. All my life I’d been told my duty was to have a husband and a family. I did what I was supposed to do, and now you’re blaming me for leaving?”
He ignored the question. “What are you going to do now?” Grandpa Lorenzo asked.
“Get a job.” She turned to him. “I want to work here.”
He nodded. “I think there’s an opening in the gift shop.”
She stepped back as if he’d slapped her. Tears sprang to her eyes, but she blinked them away. He would be expecting weakness. She had to be strong to prove herself.
“Except for you, no one knows more about the vines than I do,” she said.
“You knew. Nine years ago. What do you remember?”
She thought about her years in an office job she hated, and how at night, when she wasn’t at her second job, she’d studied. She’d used money they’d needed for things like food to buy textbooks from the UC Davis Viticulture and Enology Department. She’d continued her education, even when Jeff had fumed at her, not understanding why it was so important to her.
“I remember everything,” she told him.
Her grandfather looked at her. “What’s to keep you from running off with the next man who asks?”
The unfairness of the question fueled her temper. He wanted it both ways-great-grandsons and a promise never to leave.
“Let’s just say I’ve learned my lesson,” she told him. “I’m not interested in being stupid a second time.”
He studied her, staring into her eyes for several seconds before turning away. “There might be something. Come into my office in the morning and we’ll talk.”
She nodded without speaking because her throat had tightened and she didn’t think she could form words. When he left, she stayed where she was, raising her face to the light rain, letting the cool drops wash away her tears.