Secrets and Seduction: Solacia Cellars (3 page)

Still, it bothered her. She tried to imagine Rafe going down on Caterina the way he went down on her last night. She thought of Caterina wrapping her spiky claws around Rafe’s gorgeous cock and stroking it. The images made her angry, and she felt a hot rush of jealousy and possessiveness over Rafe.

“Stop it, Terra,” she told herself out loud, got dressed, and sat down at the computer, eager to get to work and stop her mind from churning. She spent the afternoon online researching the organic produce industry, ignoring Caterina’s voice in her head and the question of why the government would be interested in Rafe’s vineyards.

At four o’clock she stopped for a break and heard her cell phone ring. When she picked it up, she heard Rafe’s sexy voice on the other end, and the first word he said was her name.

“Terra.” He said her name as if it tasted good. “How are you doing today?”

“Great.” Between the intimacy of the night before and the twisted conversation she’d just had with Caterina, she couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Me too,” he said. “I had a wonderful time with you last night.”

Terra thought about mentioning Caterina’s visit and then dismissed the thought. “I enjoyed you too,” she said, and added, “All of you.” If she was going to be a kept woman, she decided she had better act the part.

Rafe laughed happily at her straightforwardness. “Come up to my place for dinner tonight,” he said. “Business for five minutes, pleasure the rest of the night. What do you think?”

“It’s a deal,” Terra said. She didn’t have to force herself to sound enthusiastic. She wanted to see Rafe, and this time she wanted him to fuck her.

“Seven o’clock for cocktail hour. Dinner at eight. See you then, dear.”

Returning to the kitchen, Terra noticed that Caterina had dumped a pile of coffee grounds in the sink. My God, she thought, what an evil bitch.

After hanging up, Terra rummaged in her suitcase and put together the evening’s outfit: a pair of slinky black capris, black thong sandals trimmed with sparkly beads, and a lime green tank top with a built-in push-up bra. The top set off her black hair and green eyes perfectly, and it showed off her cleavage so that only a blind man would fail to notice it.

She added silver earrings and a single silver bracelet, applied a dab of mascara to each eye, and took a deep breath. She was ready to go.

When she rang the doorbell, there was no intercom this time. Rafe answered in person, wearing low-slung jeans with a jet black t-shirt tucked into them. Terra had nearly forgotten how attractive he was but remembered immediately when he stepped forward, gave her a hug, and planted a lingering kiss on her mouth. She caught a faint whiff of scent, probably Kouros. The man had perfect instincts.

“Come join me in my kitchen,” he said. “They it’s where a woman’s place is, but I think you’ll find it’s a pretty good place for a man, too.”

Terra had to agree when she saw it. The countertops were tiled in shades of terra cotta, and pots and pans hung from racks suspended from the high ceiling. A kettle of some kind of Italian dish simmered on the commercial grade range.

“Here’s a seat for you,” Rafe said, pulling out one of the two bar stools at the counter for her. “I hope you don’t mind that I picked out our wine for tonight. I can’t seem to follow my own rule about quitting work after five o’clock.”

He uncorked the bottle and poured a glass for each of them. Terra noticed that the label said Solacia.

“Are you sure this is work?” she teased. “When I think of wine, I think of play.”

“It’s both,” Rafe said. “If you’re going to work for me, you’ll need to learn everything there is to know about wine.” He clicked glasses with her. “But not tonight. Do you like it?”

Terra took her first sip. “It’s lovely. Fruity but not too sweet. I’d recommend it to all the wine snobs I know and I bet they wouldn’t make fun of me.”

Rafe laughed. “Those wine snobs are a tough crowd, for sure.” He stepped over to the stove, stirred the sauce, and set a pot of water on to boil. “We’re having puttanesca. Do you know what that means in Italian?”

“No, I don’t speak Italian.”

“I won’t tell you yet. I want you to think I’m a gentleman.”

“I do think you’re a gentleman,” Terra said. “How did you learn to make this?”

“I was trained as a master chef. I managed a restaurant for a while before figuring out my heart was in winemaking. Better hours, too.” He measured out the linguine by pinching it between his thumb and forefinger. “It didn’t take me long to figure out that there’s a huge market for wine made from organically grown grapes that
are free from additives. And not just here out here in the state of crunchy granola, either.”

“I know,” Terra said. “I have sulfite allergies. The last glass of wine I drank was so full of them that it sent me to the hospital. If I had known about Solacia, I would have been drinking a lot more wine.”

“Well, now you do,” Rafe said, refilling her glass.

He served their food at a table for two next to a wide expanse of windows.  The pasta dish was excellent, a medley of scallops, lobster, shrimp, and fish in a light red sauce with capers.

“Take a break from the internet tomorrow and I’ll show you the winery,” he told her. “I want to make sure you believe it exists.”

“Oh, I believe you,” Terra said, taking another sip from her glass. “The proof is in the bottle.”

Rafe looked across the table at her. “I like to have a policy of total honesty in all of my relationships,” he said. “Friends, lovers, employees. Do you think that’s a good idea?”

Terra shrugged. “Sometimes the truth hurts,” she said. She was thinking about Caterina and her cryptic hints about Rafe and his money. “By the way, I had a visitor at the cottage today.” She tried to sound casual.

Rafe looked startled. “Who?”

“Someone named Caterina. Said she was a friend of yours.”

“Actually she’s a relative. Caterina Francesca Colizzi.” He had an odd look in his eye as he said her last name.

“I didn’t know you were Italian,” Terra remarked.  She was surprised to see mellow Rafe look uncomfortable for a moment.

“I’m not. I just know how to cook like one. Do you think the sauce could stand a little more oregano?” He had obviously moved on from the subject of Caterina, and Terra didn’t bring it up again.

After dinner, Rafe cleared the table. Terra watched him and was already excited at what she knew was soon to unfold.

He took her hand and led her into an enormous living room with a cathedral ceiling and a huge leather sectional sofa, but didn’t stop there. Terra was glad. The room was beautiful, but it wasn’t intimate and didn’t give her a sense of cosiness or safety.

Rafe continued to lead her through his house, down a long hallway, and finally
they reached a screened porch. Candles flickered under glass chimneys in each corner and on the coffee table. A comfortable sofa faced towards the ocean, and she could hear waves in the distance. In the corner was a large bed with a luxurious brown comforter and fluffy pillows.

“This is my room,” Rafe said. “I live, work, and sleep here, and I don’t invite anyone in unless I really like them. I’m glad I’ve invited you.”

He pulled her close and kissed her. His hands wrapped around her waist, then slowly roamed down to her ass.

He took off his shirt to reveal his smooth chest and hard abs, then slipped Terra’s tank top off over her head to reveal her bare breasts. He knelt down, held a breast in each hands, and took each of her nipples into his mouth, one at a time. Terra gasped as she felt the touch of his teeth on her nipple, like he was rolling a grape around in his mouth without breaking the skin.

Rafe continued to play with her breasts, squeezing them close together so he could suck on both of them at the same time. Terra could feel her hot juices seeping out between her thighs.

Still kneeling, Rafe slowly rolled her capris down over her hips, revealing the plain black spandex thong she was wearing. Still moving with excruciating slowness, he stripped her pants down to her ankles and supported her as she stepped out of them.

Rafe stood up and embraced her. “Bare assed,” he said, stroking and squeezing her naked butt with his hands. “Your bottom is so sexy. Turns me on.”

He stepped back from her, unzipped his jeans, reached in, and took out his cock for her to look at. It hung out of his pants half-hard. Terra couldn’t take her eyes off it. It was huge, and she wanted it.

“Come here,” he said.

She stepped toward him, accepted his kiss, and ran her hand up and down his hard, meaty shaft, stroking its head with her thumb. He moaned and kissed her so hard that her lips felt burned.

Rafe reached inside her thong and felt for her pussy. When he found her dripping wet, he chuckled. “You’re like me, Terra. No inhibitions. The body never lies.” He tugged at the thong. “Get rid of this and come to bed with me.”

She took off the thong as Rafe turned back the covers and lay down, then took her hand and pulled her down on the bed next to him. She smiled approvingly as he deftly unwrapped an ultrathin condom and rolled it down over his hard-on.

“I told you I’m a gentleman,” he said.

He cradled her against his hard body and kissed her with his lips and his soft, warm tongue as he expertly reached between her legs and stroked her wet pussy with his fingertips.

Terra’s breath quickened as he caressed her clit, and she recognized an orgasm building inside her. “Don’t make me come yet, Rafe,” she pleaded.

“And why not, Terra dear? I know you like to come.” He kept stroking her sex but lightened the pressure of his fingers until she could barely feel them, just enough to keep her hot.

“I want you to fuck me,” she said.

“I love to hear you say that, Terra. Say it again. Please.” He had stopped stroking her and was waiting for her to speak.

Terra’s eyes were tightly closed. “Fuck me, Rafe. I want to come with your cock deep inside me.” She spread her legs wider.

In a heartbeat he was poised above her with his slender hips between her legs. He held his cock in his hand and rubbed its big head up and down her wet pussy lips, teasing her with it until she thought she would scream.

She felt his cock enter her, slow and sexy, pushing in deeper and deeper. It was hard as iron as he went down deep and glided out, then back in again, a little deeper each time. Her pussy stretched around the big shaft, and she panted with desire, loving the full feeling of his cock all the way inside her, sliding in and out.

Slowly at first, then faster and more rhythmically, Rafe fucked her. Terra spread her thighs as wide as they would go, opening her insides to the pleasure of his hard dick. Lying spread-eagled on her back, she let herself grow used to his rhythm and then began to move, answering each of his thrusts with the movement of her own hips. They humped together in rhythm, Rafe’s cock drilling deeper inside her to her very depths as her flesh expanded to take more and more of him.

Terra was the first to come. “Fuck me, Rafe,” she shrieked as a hard orgasm tore through her. Rafe gave one last determined thrust and she felt his cock throb rhythmically inside her as he enjoyed his own pleasure.

They lay coupled for a few minutes panting before Rafe settled on his back and wrapped his strong arm around her. Neither of them said anything until their breathing slowed.

Rafe spoke first. “This is something special,” he whispered in her ear.

“I agree,” Terra murmured.

“We need to take good care of it so it lasts.” He kissed her cheek.

“All right,” Terra said. “Then I need to hold you to your policy of total honesty and ask you a question.”

“Of course,” he replied, and waited.

If Rafe was lying to her about Caterina, Terra decided he was an expert at it. Even though he was stretched out naked next to her with full length body contact, he hadn’t shown a flicker of discomfort.

“If you really believe in total honesty, then you’ll answer me,” she went on.

“Of course I will,” Rafe said with a trace of impatience in his voice.

“What does puttanesca mean?”

Rafe started to laugh, and Terra joined in. They both laughed until their eyes watered.

“Well?” Terra demanded when she had caught her breath.

“Good God, Terra, that was perfect,” Rafe gasped. “You’ve been playing me ever since you showed up yesterday, fooled me into thinking you’re so serious, and all along you were planning this. You got me, but good.”

“What does it mean?” Terra said again, prodding him with her elbow.

“Puttanesca means fruit of the whore. So much for fooling you into thinking I’m a gentleman.”

“It seems we’ve been doing a pretty good job of fooling each other,” Terra mumbled.

She felt relaxed and drowsy after laughing so hard with Rafe. Dropping off to sleep with his arm around her, Terra decided her doubts about him would be best kept until another day.