You Really Got Me (9 page)

“My parents don’t have anything to do with what’s happening between us,” she said.
 
“And I don’t want to talk about them.”

His eyes softened and warmed, and he drew back, pulled her into his arms and settled into the corner of the couch. “Okay, then. Tell me more about wine.”

She tried to control her breath, her racing heart, relief at not having to talk about her shameful past mingled with a curl of arousal. “Um…like what?”

He hitched a big shoulder. “I don’t know. Tell me more about your winery. I know your father started it.”

She relaxed a little into his embrace. “Yes. He was an incredibly talented winemaker. He had
an artistic, intuitive sense for wine. He developed some really outstanding wines that won awards and really helped make this area known for its wines. He was passionate about it…about growing the industry as well as creating fine wines.”

“Passion.”

“Yes.”

“So you inherited that from him.”

She smiled. More tension eased from her body as she talked about something she loved so much. “I suppose. But running a winery requires more than just a passion for great wine. It takes business knowledge, innovative technology and a lot of hard work. There’s the vineyard to cultivate, which takes a lot of agricultural knowledge, there’s the winemaking, which takes a lot of science and chemistry knowledge. We have to be always trying new things, experimenting. And then there’
s the business–all the government laws and licensing, marketing our wines, getting them out there, growing the business, running the tasting room. It
’s a lot.”

“I know how busy you are.” His hand moved up and down her bare arm in small, soft strokes. “But I know how much you love it too.”

“I do love it, and I’m learning more and more. I…” She hesitated. “I didn’t have the luxury of going to college since I had to run the business, so everything I’ve learned has been hands-on.”

“Sometimes hands-on is the best way.”

She blinked at the heat in his eyes, suddenly very aware of his hands—on her, his arms around her, sitting there like a couple, all cozy and warm. Her breath hitched and her pulse spiked.

“Um. Yes. So.” He’d distracted her from the regret she felt at having to drop out of college, where she’d been so eager to learn as much as she could about the wine business, so determined that she was going to graduate and come to the winery to work and impress her mother and father and make everything right in their world.
As if
.

“I’ve learned a lot about the vines, but I have a vineyard manager who’s an expert on that. There are so many factors that are important—the soil, the water, the weather. One bad storm can destroy an entire growing season. There are pests and diseases to worry about. Decisions about pesticides. The vines have to be properly pruned so that the trunks stay short and sturdy, so they can support the fruit when it gets ripe and heavy. We have the older vines that have produced grapes for years, and some younger vines that are not as consistent. We take cuttings from the vines and graft them onto rootstock to try to cultivate new stock. It takes up to five years before we let them produce fruit.”

“Fascinating.”

She stiffened. “I’m sorry to bore you.”

“I wasn’t being sarcastic,” he protested. “Seriously. I had no idea how much goes into making a bottle of wine.”

“Well, we do make quite a few bottles.”

“I can’t believe you do this all by yourself.”

“I don’t. Like I said, I have a lot of talented help.”

He continued to rub her arm in a slow, mesmerizing rhythm that made her body feel soft and lethargic. She sank a little deeper into his embrace and leaned her head against him. It felt so good to be held like that.

“I can’t imagine what it was like to be suddenly in charge of everything at…how old were you?”

“Nineteen.”

“Jesus.” He shook his head.

“After my parents died, I tried to run the vineyard. I knew next to nothing about it. I grew up here, but I was only nineteen. I never expected I was going to be running the business on my own at that age. I was so unprepared.” Remembering that time, the overwhelming grief and fear, made her stomach tense. “I was determined to learn everything I could, to be involved in as many parts of the business as I could. So many people were relying on me.” She gave him a crooked smile. “I nearly ran the business into the ground, I was so determined to do it on my own. I didn’t have a clue.”

“I get that you don’t like to rely on anyone else.”

“Um. Yeah.”

“But it’s not a weakness to let others help you.”

She studied his face with a feeling that he was talking about more than running a winery. “I know that.”

His lips quirked. “Yeah?”

“Jason…”

“Shhh. It’s okay. But you’ve taken a huge load on your shoulders. Why doesn’t Kevin do more?”

She looked down at her hands on her lap. “Kevin is becoming more involved now. He just graduated from UCLC. His technical knowledge is better than mine, but he hasn’t exactly been…dedicated.”

“He’s young.”

“Yes.”

“You shouldn’t have to do it all yourself.”

“I don’t, like I said. I have lots of help.”

“But you’re where the buck stops, right? If there are problems with the wine, a bad uh…vintage?” She smiled. “You’re the one who takes responsibility for that, aren’t you?”

She nodded slowly. “Yes.”

“Ah, Kendall.” He lifted her chin in his fingers. “You’re an amazing woman.”

His words took her breath away and scrambled her mind. The slow beat of “Nights in White Satin”
by The Moody Blues pulsed inside her like a heartbeat.

He brushed his mouth over hers and a soft sigh escaped her as she opened her mouth to him and kissed him back, a long, clinging kiss, their mouths moving together. When his tongue pushed inside her mouth, she moaned, desire sliding down through her body in molten heat, pooling low and heavy in her womb. He tasted warm and male, his mouth consuming her, his hands sliding over her body, spreading heat over her skin. She ached to be closer, throbbing between her legs, her breasts full, yearning for his touch. The music swelled and ebbed as they kissed.

She shouldn’t be doing this. After what had happened last time, she knew how likely this could lead to more. And how that scared the shit out of her. But…

He pulled her onto his lap and she sank into him, wound her arms around his neck as he dragged his mouth down over her jaw to her neck, nipping the thin skin there, making her shiver. Her head fell back, her eyes closed, and she let him glide his tongue over her sensitive flesh then suck gently. Need exploded in her, hot and dark, and when his hand closed over her breast she sucked in a sharp breath.

“Oh God,” she moaned, pushing into his palm in needy supplication.

He sealed his mouth over hers again in a scorching kiss, and her hands moved over him, her fingers digging into his neck, his hair, his shoulders. She pressed her body into him. A groan rumbled in his chest and he slid the hand from her breast down her side, over her hip, and farther to her bare leg. He held her thigh, his hand hot, then stroked up and down to her knee, back up, pushing her skirt higher. His touch had every nerve ending jumping, and a longing for more swelled inside her.

The intensity of her attraction to him scared her; her need for the kind of deep comfort he could give her, overwhelmed her. She wanted his fingers to go higher, under her cotton skirt, to touch her where she needed to be touched, needed it so much. They shouldn’t be doing this, for so many reasons, not the least of which was her brother who could walk in on them at any moment. But those concerns were pushed to the far, dim recesses of her consciousness as she gave herself up to sensation and heat and overpowering lust. Her skin burned and tingled everywhere.

“Kendall,” he muttered against her mouth. “God, Kendall.”

She shifted position so she straddled him, letting her flip flops drop to the floor, her knees on either side of him sinking into the couch, her skirt up around her hips. He cupped her butt. Their eyes met in the fire-lit room, heat surrounding them. Desire hardened his handsome face, his eyes blazing at her, his beautiful mouth tantalizing her to kiss him again. So she did, sliding her palms up his chest and over his shoulders, leaning into him until her breasts brushed him. He slid his hands lower, tugged up the hem of the skirt already riding high, and found bare flesh beneath.

Oh God. Oh God. She made a noise, her mouth against his, his hands on her ass feeling so warm and delicious, sparks shimmering over her, inside her, in a torrent of heat and light, burning her up.

“This is crazy,” she murmured against his mouth.

“I know.” He rubbed her mouth with his. “I tried to stay away from you. I really did. Because I scared you…last time.”

Last time…yes. She’d been scared…

 
“I didn’t mean to scare you that night,” he continued. “I thought I knew what you wanted.” His eyes searched hers.

He
had
known. She closed her eyes and he kissed her again in another long, open-mouthed kiss, sucking gently on her tongue, and the feel of him, the taste of him, the heat of his hands on her flesh filled her senses and made her ache for him, more of him. She slid her hand beneath the neckline of his T-shirt, found hot male skin, pushed her other hand into his hair. A sense of urgency rose in her and she tried to press closer, to deepen the kiss even more.

“Shhh,” he whispered, slowly stroking over her butt, up over her panties to her lower back, back down over her thigh. She shivered and tingled and moaned against his lips. “Easy.”

His words did little to calm the insistent need inside her, her heart thudding wildly, her blood racing hot in her veins, but she moved her mouth from his and rubbed her nose against the side of his, dragging air into her lungs.

“So sweet, Kendall.” He opened his mouth on her jaw, the edge of his teeth grazing her there in an erotic nip.

“Uh.” She tried to express her agreement but only a small sound came out. She was going up in flames, a fierce reckless hunger rising inside her.
More, more of him
. “Jason,” she whispered. “Oh God, Jason.”

He hauled her forward and she willingly let him because it pressed her aching pussy right against the hard bulge behind the fly of his jeans. He was hard, so hard, so big, and his trembling hands and seeking mouth told her he was as turned on as she was. Maybe more.

Maybe not. She moved her hips, rubbing herself against his hardness and everything inside her started tightening and buzzing, pleasure spiraling. More. Oh yes, more. She caught his bottom lip in her teeth, receiving a harsh groan in return.

“More,” she whispered. “Harder.”
Hurt me.
God! Where the hell did that come from? But she needed more, more sensation, and then his fingers dug into her buttocks in a sweet bite of pain. “Yes.” The word came out on a groan. “Oh God, yes.” A shudder worked through her body. His hands tightened on her flesh even more, gripping her, sensation sizzling up her spin and down her legs, curling her toes, and then her orgasm rolled over her, hard, swift, almost painful. She cried out, muffled the sound by burying her face into the side of his neck, pressing her mouth to his skin.

“Yeah,” he muttered. “Come for me, Kendall.”

“Oh my God,” she whispered against his flesh. His body tightened too, beneath her, hips pushing up into her pulsing pussy and with a long, low groan he held her tight against him. Was he coming too? God, this was crazy! What were they doing? But pleasure still poured through her in hot waves and she could not, would not, move away from him.

His arms circled her in a tight embrace, one hand sliding up her back to press her head against him. His chest rose and fell rapidly, his heart thudding hard against her. His breath rasped in her ear and a growing damp heat spread between their bodies where they joined.

Oh Lord, he had come too, both of them grinding against each other like horny teenagers. What were they doing?

“Ah, Kendall.” He rubbed his face against hers, his rough with stubble, so masculine and thrilling. “I’ve missed you. Don’t push me away again.”

She closed her eyes. “Jason.”

“I want to help. I want to look after you.”

His words speared straight to her core, right to her softest spot of unacknowledged need. If there was ever a time she wanted someone to look after her, it was now. But it was hard for her to say that. To admit it.

They sat there and looked at each other for a long moment, the low glow of the fire illuminating the strong bone structure of his face, gleaming on his hair. Led Zeppelin sang about “A Whole Lotta Love”. Neither of them moved. The fire in the fireplace had burned down, only glowing red embers and an occasional lick of blue or yellow flame.

“I want to be with you, Jason,” she admitted, holding his gaze. “It just…scares me.”

“I know.” His hand stroked over her hair. “Fuck. It scares me too.”

“I-it does?”

He swallowed. “Yeah. I don’t want to scare you. Or hurt you. Can we try again? I promise I’ll take things slowly.”

She searched his eyes. Once again, confusion tangled up her thoughts. He was promising to take things slowly, when the truth was, she’d loved everything he’d given her. The allure of that was undeniable. Deep inside, she was curious, hungry for more. But how could she admit that to him, those cravings she kept a shameful secret deep inside her?