Raine: The Lords of Satyr (14 page)

T
wo mornings later, the entire hillside outside the gates of the Satyr Estate stirred with the day’s impending festivities. It was the weekend of the local harvest festival.

Raine had explained to Jordan that buyers would congregate here for a first taste of wines blended from Tuscan vintner’s grapes, all grown in prior years and aged over time. Tradesmen involved in various aspects of winemaking would vie for custom at booths they’d set up. There would be demonstrations of the various processes involved in wine production as well as frivolous entertainments.

But Jordan was most excited about the prospect of meeting Nick’s wife.

“So tell me about Jane,” she begged him. “What does she look like? Is she intelligent? Amusing? She must be to have been chosen by your brother.”

Raine shrugged. “You’ll meet her in less than an hour. Then you may judge for yourself.”

“Oh, you! You’re such a—man.” Suddenly recalling that less than a week ago she’d been a man herself, she giggled at her preposterous statement.

Raine smiled down at her. His lips felt odd and stretched. He hadn’t smiled so often in past years as he had since meeting her.

His eyes traveled over her. She was garbed as befitted a lady of her station today. Her short hair had been swept up under the beribboned straw bonnet she’d brought from Venice. A bevy of dark curls peeked out at her temples.

From his superior height he had a pleasing view of the curves of her bosom. The golden autumn sunlight dusted the swells where they’d been forced upward by the constriction of a corset.

Other men noticed her as well, attracted first by her giggles and chatter and then by her face and figure.

He wrapped an arm around her, laying claim, and she leaned into him. The faint perfume of Fey filled his nostrils. The thrill of being near her bubbled through his veins, and a cautious joy seeped into his bones.

A few moments of silence passed and he waited for her to break it, as she no doubt would.

“Female clothing is indecent, is it not?” she eventually offered by way of conversation.

His brow quirked. “I see you are even worse than I at social gambits.”

She ignored his teasing and waved a hand at a group of revelers they’d just passed. “Those men were staring at me. At my bosom actually. Did you notice?” She lay a hand over the area of her body under discussion.

Strangled laughter escaped him. “Yes, I noticed, but you aren’t supposed to.”

“So I am to display my bosom, yet pretend to be unaware of the fact that men are ogling it?” She sighed. “I suppose it’s all in an effort to snare a husband. But since I don’t wish to snare one, it seems unfair to advertise my charms so blatantly. I think perhaps that women should wear garments reflecting their level of interest in flirtation. For instance, the more bosom a woman’s gown reveals, the more available she is.”

“Remind me never to set you up in business as a dressmaker,” Raine responded dryly.

“But—”

“Ah!” he announced, cutting her off. “You are about to get your wish. My eldest brother has arrived. With his wife.”

“Where?” Jordan looked around. “I don’t see them.”

“I assure you they are nearly upon us,” said Raine.

Sure enough Nick appeared at the end of the path with an attractive, blond woman at his side.

“How do you do that?” she marveled. “Know when people are coming before you even see them.”

“’Tis a gift,” he said, smiling.

“It’s rare to see Raine enjoy himself in a woman’s company,” Jane murmured to Nick as they approached the other couple.

Nick covered her hand, which lay in the crook of his elbow, with his, studying his brother. “Yes, it bodes well for the future.”

When the foursome met and all had been introduced, Nick caught his brother’s eye. Raine knew the question that was uppermost on Nick’s mind. To satisfy him, Raine turned to Jordan. “Will you marry me?”

“What?!” Embarrassed, she glanced at Nick and Jane then back at him. “What nonsense. You are only stirred by the sight of my exposed bosom this morning. The feeling will pass and you will regret having asked such a question.”

Nick and Jane burst into laughter.

“There, you see, big brother?” Raine said with feigned chagrin. “I have officially asked her to wed me. She refuses.”

Jordan frowned at him, wondering if she was currently the butt of some sort of jest.

“It’s best to ignore their teasing,” Jane confided, leaning close. “Now, let me say how delighted I am to make your acquaintance. It will be wonderful to have another woman on the estates.”

Jordan gazed into her eyes and found them warm and friendly. An odd feeling of recognition swept over her. But it seemed unlikely they’d met before.

“My wife has been beside herself to meet you,” Nick announced as the four of them turned to stroll among the booths. “She has been up since dawn, giddy with excitement.”

As they walked, Jordan noticed she was outpacing Jane, who took smaller steps. She slowed, thinking that perhaps she could learn something of being a lady from Nick’s wife. She decided to observe the other woman throughout the day and mimic her.

Raine and Nick selected wineglasses for them all from a display on a nearby table. Wine would be poured into them at various vintners’ booths, to be sipped and sampled as they wandered among the exhibits.

The air around them was redolent with the fragrance of ripening grapes and wine. The sound of conversation and laughter was overlaid with eager descriptions as the winemakers tried to sell others on the superiority of their vintage.

“…flavors are supported by vanilla oak characters…shows a nose of ripe cherries and rich black plums…the undertones are derived from a lengthy maturation…with a backbone of tart gooseberries…”

“Look there. He’s ‘raising a barrel,’” Raine told Jordan, pointing toward one of the coopers. “It’s one of the first steps in constructing a wine cask. First, the three metal hoops are forced into place, so they grip the staves.”

He indicated a second cooper, this one working at an open fire. “He’s toasting the inside of a barrel. The amount of charring will have an effect on the aging of the wine it will hold. A winemaker can choose from light, medium, or heavy toast, based on the variety of grape and style of wine he plans to age in a given barrel.”

A neighboring vintner came over to pour an offering from a bottle of his wine. The foursome tossed the dregs of the last sample they’d been given into the grass and allowed him to refill them. Jordan giggled and raised her glass to her companions. “A toast!”

Raine smiled at her, wondering if she weren’t becoming a bit tipsy.

Nick caught Jane’s eye and silently indicated that he wished to speak to his brother privately.

Signaling her understanding, Jane linked her arm with Jordan’s. “Have you seen the vats yet?” she inquired.

Jordan shook her head.

Jane waved to Nick and Raine. “I’m going to show Jordan around,” she called, tugging her in another direction.

Nick nodded and then watched Raine watch Jordan depart, seeing the longing in his brother’s expression. The signs of Raine’s interest were subtle, but after all these years he could read him better than most.

“You can’t continue to keep her in your home without marriage,” Nick said when the two women were out of earshot. “What of her EarthWorld family? Won’t they object?”

“She claims to have none that are living.”

“Still, Feydon’s letter required the protection of marriage,” said Nick. “Have you sensed anything of the danger to her that he mentioned?”

Raine shook his head and they set off along the path, nodding now and then to acknowledge acquaintances. “I don’t know its source yet. But I’m keeping her close and watching over her.”

“And mating her.”

Raine stiffened.

“I felt your enjoyment of her when you first came together in Venice, even over so great a distance,” said Nick. “But I also know you’re not joining with her as often as you’d like. Why hold back?”

“Mind your own business, brother.”

“This
is
my business. Family business. You didn’t take her in the Calling two nights ago. Will you in the next?”

“No.”

“Why the hell not?”

“May I remind you that you didn’t take Jane for several Moonfuls after you first brought her here?”

“And as it turns out, I put her at unnecessary risk because I delayed. Only a Calling night with Jordan will offer her the level of protection necessary to keep her—and therefore the gate between ElseWorld and this world—safe. Feydon’s offspring cannot be allowed to get a foothold here through her. No matter what her opinion on the matter, you must bring her to the glen next Moonful and get the deed done.”

“I’ll not sire children on her.”

“Your choice,” said Nick, shrugging. “Though I think you’re making a mistake.”

Two young women from the village came up to them then, offering celebratory wreaths of leafy vines they’d woven. They each crowned one of the brothers, then lingered to flirt.

Nick pulled away, thanking them with good humor but subtly spurning any advances.

Raine stared at them coldly, removing the crown and handing it back. Eyes wide, the young woman who’d given it to him retrieved it and backed away. Both women moved off, whispering and shooting uneasy glances back at him. They’d no doubt heard the rumors his former wife had spread about him. It was a timely reminder of all the reasons he should continue to maintain his control around Jordan.

“You perpetuate their mistrust of you by keeping your distance,” Nick observed.

Raine rolled his shoulders, burdened by the weight of his brother’s concern. “I’ve had enough of your advice for one afternoon. Why don’t you go locate your wife and offer some to her?”

“Excellent idea. I believe we’ll find her with your Jordan in the vat rooms.”

Following the sounds of laughter they made their way to one of the smaller vat rooms. Three women were inside, crushing grapes in three enormous wooden tubs. Eight feet across and made of thick oak staves, the vats stood waist high, and the liquid within them rose several inches above their knees.

Having abandoned their bonnets, shawls, and shoes on a nearby table, Jordan and Jane were being tutored in the job of treading. As they slipped and slid, they attempted to emulate the easy, rolling rhythm of their teacher, the saucy and seasoned Signora Tutti. She urged them on with equal parts instruction and vociferous encouragement.

Jane was carefully following the woman’s instructions, intent on doing things just right.

But Jordan’s stomping was more enthusiasm than skill. Her short hair had escaped its pins and straggled to fringe her nape. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes sparkling. Her skirts were tucked into the waistband of her dress, but they’d fallen loose here and there to soak in the grapes. Raine knew she would later notice their bedraggled state and lament the stains.

“Jane!” came Nick’s sharp command. He stepped to the rim of the vat where his wife worked.

Raine turned his head and saw the lust that had darkened his brother’s eyes. Jane stilled, reading it too. Her eyes darted to Raine as if to determine whether he too had intercepted his brother’s avid gaze, then she blushed when she saw he had.

How she could still blush after living with his earthy, salacious brother for these many months and already bearing him one child, Raine would never understand. But she was good for Nico. It was easy to see how happy she made him.

Gracefully, Jane rested her hands on Nick’s shoulders and allowed him to lift her by the waist from the vat. After assisting her into her shoes and grabbing up her hat and wrap, he quickly spirited her away.

Raine considered the two of them until they were out of sight, knowing that within minutes Jane would be out of her dress and under his brother. There were many hidden places nearby to engage a woman in coitus, and he and his brothers knew them all by now.

He couldn’t help but envy his brother’s satisfaction in his choice of bride. But though Nick had found bliss with his FaerieBlend wife, it didn’t lead him to expect the same.

His eyes returned to Jordan. Above the wine vats, ropes had been hung that treaders could grasp to maintain their balance. She had availed herself of their use, as had Signora Tutti. With her arms raised, Jordan’s softly rounded breasts plumped at the neckline of her gown, shifting in time with her movements.

Her knees rose and fell from the mush, splashing juice in an uncertain rhythm. It dripped and sluiced down her naked thighs. Bits of pulp clung to her skin, then slid away or plopped into the vat, splattering.

Raine cursed under his breath. The sight of her like this affected him. Beneath his trousers, his cock rose and grew thick and heavy.

Suddenly his head lifted, as he caught a new scent. The air around him had turned pungent with male interest. A half-dozen men stood nearby, observing the treaders for the sheer pleasure of it. Every eye watched Jordan, he realized. Leered at her, in fact.

He studied her, seeing what those men saw. She wore no underclothes beneath that skirt. Women rarely did. But usually their skirts brushed the ground, offering little chance that a man might glimpse the treasures they concealed.

However, with every boisterous stomp of her foot, Jordan offered the tantalizing possibility that her hiked skirt might accidentally reveal more than it should. Why, it flirted at the edge of indecency!

Jordan chose that moment to lick grape juice from her fingers. Signora Tutti tossed a teasing instruction at her. She threw back her head and laughed, displaying the smooth line of her throat.

The other men shifted, wanting her. Wanting not just her body but also the inner joy she brought with her. As he did.

“Jordan,” he barked, motioning her to climb out of the vat. “Come. You’ll attract fruit flies before long if you keep at that.”

She pouted at him. “Not yet. I’m getting good at this. You’re only worried that you’ll soon find yourself having to pay me a true treader’s wages. Isn’t that right, Signore Lutz?”

When the foreman didn’t reply, she glanced over at him with a question in her eyes. He only blinked at her with a besotted smile on his face.