Page 4 of Private Reserve
As the morning sunshine climbs the mountain, it does nothing to lighten my dark mood. I stretch out my arms and glance up the hill to see if Luca is inspecting the
grapes. When my search comes up empty, I make my way to the winery. I open the doors and find him checking the temperatures on the stainless steel tanks.
Luca might be the same age as me, which is considered young for a vintner, but his family has been in the winemaking business for years. Someone from every generation has worked for the Rossi family for as long as anyone can remember. Luca and I had been friends since kindergarten, and just a few years ago, after his father retired, he took over as head vintner. At least he didn’t have to get married to take the position.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Hey,” I say.
Dimples spread across his face as he sees me coming his way. “What’s up?” he asks. Then he drops the clipboard to his side, frowning as his astute eyes move over me.
I scrub the scuff on my chin. “Yeah,” is all I say.
He hooks a finger through my belt loop and drags me to him. I can already feel his cock growing, pressing against my groin. “What do you need?” he asks.
Jesus, I love the guy. One look at my sulking face and he’s ready and willing to do whatever it takes to put a smile back on it. On the other side of the room, a few guys are working, and while there are lots of things Luca could do to take my mind off shit for thirty minutes or so, now is not the time or place.
I fist his hair, wrap it around my hand, and hold for a second. He waits for my command, but I let go and roughly push him off me. He backs off, no questions.
“I don’t know what the fuck to do.”
Luca nods. He knows what I’m talking about. We have no secrets. The first time we dared to kiss—at seventeen, our need for one another too strong to deny another second—we made a pact to always be honest.
“You’re going to have to get married, dude. If you want to save this place, you have no choice.”
I scoff. “No kidding.”
“Why don’t you call her?”
I shake my head. “Not you, too. Fuck, Luca.”
Luca puts his hand on my shoulder. “Come on, you haven’t met anyone else because you’ve been hung up on her for years. Maybe she still wants a future with you.”
“She’s a nice girl, Luca.” I pause and wave my hand back and forth between the two of us. “This…I wouldn’t want to keep it a secret from her, and as much as I’d kill to have her a part of it, she’d never understand.” I draw a breath and let it out slowly as I stare at Luca. I’ve loved him for as long as I can remember. Quitting him would be like giving up breathing. He’s one part of my soul. Olivia is the other. And while Luca accepts the side of me that needs to dominate and control, it would scare Olivia half to death.
“How do you know she wouldn’t accept all sides of you?”
“I just do, okay.”
“Stop the bullshit and answer the fucking question.” My best friend has no trouble baring himself to me, letting me own him sexually, but outside the bedroom, he can be a cocky bastard who has no trouble pushing back. Truthfully, I wouldn’t want it any other way.
“Sex with her was always sweet and tender. It was great because it was with her, but sooner or later I was going to break, order her around, and demand things of her.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, like she lay herself across the mattress, breasts up, head dangling over the edge so I could shove my cock all the way down her throat and watch her take it.” I swallow. Hard. “That’s just one of the milder things I want to do with her.”
I can feel my dick harden as I think about her in that position. Flat on her back, breasts in the air, my cock in her throat while Luca fucks her sweet pussy. Luca…always in the scenario.
“Jesus. She’s just not that kind of girl, and I don’t want to be the one to corrupt her. Besides, I’ll bet my left nut she’d hang up if I tried to call.”
I scrub my jaw and clench down hard enough to break teeth, hating how much I’d hurt her when I walked away. It was the last thing I ever wanted to do, which was why I left in the first place.
Luca returns his focus to his work and checks something on the steel take. As he writes on the clipboard, he says, “Maybe she’d be into all this.”
I shrug, but Luca isn’t looking at me. “Doubtful.”
“You won’t know until you try.”
