Dazed

Chapter 7 Burn

When I think of Silicon Valley, Apple and Microsoft come to mind, or Google and Facebook. Not cattle, olive trees, and grapevines, which is what I’m staring at now.

The day started with a plan to apartment hunt for Jagger. He has decided he’s staying in California, even if he doesn’t get the movie part, so finding his own place is the next logical step—or that’s what I think. For him, this is a means toward no longer invading River and Dahlia’s space. But I know Dahlia doesn’t care—she’s told me she likes having him there. I’d like to think he’s staying partly because of me, but I can’t help but think that it’s because he’s running away from his ex. There seems to be a distance between us since I found the ring. I’m not exactly sure why, but I can’t shake the thought that I’m a rebound.

Last night was the first time since we started dating that we slept together, but didn’t have sex. This morning when we woke up, we lay in bed and talked for a long while. He talked about his parents and I realized that even though I thought the unconventional way in which he was raised didn’t bother him, I might have been wrong. A resentment toward his mother bled through his words, and he quickly changed the subject to my grandmother. Jagger still hadn’t seen her movies and for some reason he wanted to watch them tonight. As we continued to talk, I let yesterday’s events fade away from my thoughts.

Eventually, we rolled out of bed to start our day. Once I was ready, I went upstairs to check on Dahlia, but all was quiet. I left her a note to call me later and told her I hoped she was feeling better. Jagger and I stopped for breakfast, and while Jagger was circling a few apartments to check out in the paper, an ad for a winery caught my eye.

Noticing, he asked, “Have you ever been?”

I shook my head.

And just like that, the apartment hunt was postponed.

“Did you know the term Silicon Valley was coined by a business man in the early nineteen seventies but it wasn’t until the eighties that the term became widely used?”

I purse my lips and shake my head. I love how he is full of random information. “Please tell me how you know all this stuff—were you a child prodigy?”

His mouth twists. “Nah, when I was younger I had a slight stutter and my therapist recommended reading out loud. So my dad bought this giant set of encyclopedias, and every night I’d randomly flip one open and read out loud to him the two pages it fell open to. I just remember what I read.”

“What else do you know about this part of California?”

He shrugs. “I know the computer companies wiped out the area’s natural vegetation when they invaded it, but have slowly replaced it with new orchards. I know the word silicon comes from the fact that silicon is used in the parts needed to manufacture computers. I know valley refers to the Santa Clara Valley. And that’s about all. But I think I picked all that information up from watching the movie about Bill Gates.” He smirks.

Buzzards circle low overhead as we drive through this majestic part of California. Grapevines meander in the breeze, arcs of water shoot from sprinklers onto fields of crops, and old towns with beautiful churches rush by.

“Are you feeling hungry? Should we stop?” He points to a sign that reads, “Olives and Grapes This Way.”

“Only if you don’t make me try any artichoke bread,” I joke, knocking his knee.

His eyes dart to my hand and he grabs it fast as sin. He brings it to his lips and kisses the back of it. “Fortunately for you, I found it to be just as disgusting as you did, so I can promise you we won’t be tasting that again. Now, olive pâté, that’s fair game.”

I wrinkle my nose and he settles my hand on his thigh—I like it there.

“I saw that,” he says with a grin, as he turns the car to the right and slows down.

“I may stick with the wine half of the sign,” I say in a raspy voice.

The deserted winding canyon road seems to go on for miles before he suddenly pulls the car off to the side.

“Everything okay?” I ask, somewhat alarmed.

With the car in park, he leans over the console and presses his hard body against mine. His soft lips kiss along the tender skin of my neck and once they find my lips, our tongues entwine in the most erotic dance. Breathless, he sits back in his seat. “Everything is fine. I just realized I hadn’t kissed you in a while.”

I touch my fingers to my burning lips as the ache that erupted in my body moments ago centralizes in one place. I look around at the vast nothingness that surrounds us and wonder if it’s really possible to have sex in a car. But he’s back on the road before I can suggest the possibility.

The town is quaint—bed and breakfasts, boutiques, and restaurants line the street. He parallel parks between an old dented pickup truck and a shiny black Mercedes. The flower-and-cactus-filled Spanish-style patio of the restaurant is full, but we decide to wait for an outdoor table. Once we’re seated, we order margaritas—one classic and one apricot. After a quick glance at the menu, he looks up.

“The Puebla-style chicken is cooked over a red oak fire. What do you say we both try that?”

My eyes zero in on it and the words sausage and bananas make my stomach turn. “Did you read what it’s made with?”

“Yes, the splash of sherry sold me.”

I roll my eyes. “You are attracted to the foods with alcohol with them.”

“No, I’m attracted to what’s good,” he growls in my ear, setting my already heated body aflame.

Since grilled salmon isn’t on the menu, I concede and decide to try it.

Once we’ve eaten, we spend the afternoon browsing the shops. One shop sells intensely flavored, Tuscan-style oils. Jagger lifts a small piece of bread dipped in oil to my mouth. “Just try this. I promise it’s delicious.”

I take a very small bite and the pepper infused in it has a bite that only leaves me wanting more. I take the cup from his hand and a small piece of bread from the basket on the table. “I’ll finish that,” I say.

His sly grin curves up wider. “I told you you’d like it. I know what you like.”

His words grab me and again that feeling overtakes me—the feeling that I know I love this man.

At the end of the old-fashioned street is a small winery—like the one I saw in the ad. A sign above the door reads, “Rhônes.” A bell jingles as Jagger swings open the door. I look up at the scruff on his face and graze my hand down it as I pass by. The small room is filled with people and wine—red at one end and white at the other. Upon passing through the second door, we approach a long narrow set of rickety stairs. Jagger laces his fingers in mine and keeps hold of me with his strong grip, as his orange shoelaces guide our way down. When we enter the wine cellar, Jagger pays the admission and is handed a small clipboard with a list of wines and a pencil. I’m immediately drawn to the word organic and stop at the table labeled “Côtes de Tablas.” Open bottles of wine line the table with small, already poured glasses surrounding them. We each take a glass and sip it. The wine is a dark red, rich, balanced, and delicious.

I crane my head back as he stands beside me. “Rhône style wines are my favorite.”

He tastes his sample again. “It’s not bad.”

“Not bad?” I say in mock exasperation.

Impersonating the customer who was just minutes ago standing in front of us, he describes the attributes he likes about it in a deep stern voice. “It’s extremely juicy and the taste reflects the lime-stone rich soil . . .”

I kick his shin with the heel of my shoe. “Stop it,” I whisper.

He sets his cup down and his hands are on my hips. “What? I’m just commenting on the wine. I thought you liked it when I recite random facts.”

His warm breath cascades down my cheek and I lean my head against his shoulder. “I do, but only when they’re yours.”

Clutching my hip bones tighter, he says, “I don’t know any random facts about wines.”

I escape his embrace, as my need for him turns painful, and grab his hand. “Come on, then, let’s go learn some.”

Two hours and way too much wine later, we are at our final tasting. Our clipboard is loaded with at least a dozen selections for purchase and we are sampling the whitest of whites.

“Mmmm . . . sweet and delicious,” I say, maybe a little too provocatively for being in a public place.

His hands are around my waist, and when he doesn’t drop his grip to taste it, I swivel my hips and put the glass to his lips. He bends down, “Mmmm . . . sweet and delicious just like you.”

His accent is much more noticeable with alcohol in his system. When he dips the tip of his tongue in my ear and pulls me against him, I gasp. His hard cock presses into my back. The room is dark and crowded and I wish we were alone.

“Pour another glass,” he commands, as he pulls out the clip holding my hair up. His accent is so sexy right now, my body quivers.

His hand skims the front of my pants and my eyes instantly pop open. I look around but no one is paying any attention to us. His fingers tease the inside of my thighs and it feels incredible. As he starts to move up, closer to my clit, I push away.

“I have to use the restroom,” I whisper, my pulse throbbing at all points in my body, and I rush away, knowing that if I hadn’t, I would have come here, in the middle of a wine cellar.

When I return, he has paid for the wine and is thanking the sales clerk for having the items delivered.

As we make our way up the creaky staircase, my heart is still pounding from his touch and I know I’m going to ask him if it’s even possible to consider having sex in his small car. But it turns out I don’t have to say anything. As soon as we open the door and walk into the blinding light, he has me caged against the cool brick building. I feel the wool of my sweater snag, but don’t care once his mouth finds mine. Soft, cool, sweet, I can’t help but lick the flavor from his lips.

When we pull away, he has the look on his face that he wore yesterday when I left him in the doorway to his bedroom. I notice his jaw tighten before it relaxes.

“What’s the matter?” I ask.

He cups both my cheeks. “I love you, Aerie.”

I take a deep breath and my heart pounds in my ears. There’s a slight possibility I may be hyperventilating. I exhale and fasten my eyes to his. “I love you, too.”

Never have I known what real love is—until now.

He leans his forehead to mine and we stay like this for a long while. Then he pulls back and the corners of his mouth tip up and his hooded eyes sparkle.

“How far away is your car?” I ask, still breathless.

“Why?” he says, his eyes gleaming.

“Because I want you right now.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want? To have sex in a car?”

“What I’m sure of is that I want you to make love to me.”

He slides his hands down my arms and circles my wrists with his fingers. “Well good thing I asked the sales clerk downstairs to call and get us a room right down the road.”

He laces his fingers through mine as we dash in the direction of the hotel. Close to the shaded town square, it’s a stone building with vines creeping up it. As we walk under the sign that reads, “Hotel Cheval,” we enter a sophisticated room. Jagger checks us in and I glance around—an outdoor stone fireplace, a library, a Parisian-inspired bar—all alluring and intimate. I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to be naked on those surfaces with his cock or his tongue bringing me to orgasm.

“Alice, are you in wonderland?” He chuckles stroking his thumb over my cheek.

I blink myself out of my daze. “What?”

“Come with me.” He grins and takes my hand to lead us down the hall to our room. Opening the door, the space is stylish and classic at the same time. Light colored linens in corals and tans adorn it—it’s clean looking with an edge. But that’s not why I’m not preoccupied with the idea of bed bugs like I usually am at a hotel. No, it’s because he’s here with me and there is nothing that can distract me from him.

I rarely drink, so the wine has left me feeling really good and uninhibited. I know he’s also had a good amount of wine and his senses are just as impaired, or rather, heightened. I walk ahead of him. “Stay there.”

I pull my sweater off and let it fall to the ground. I can feel his eyes on me as I move toward the bed and seconds later drop my bra. When I kick my red heels off and unzip my pants he watches me intently.

“Put those back on once you’re undressed,” he breathes.

I smile to myself as I pull my legs out of my jeans, but leave on my white silk panties. I wedge my foot back in my shoe and bend backward to hook my heel into it.

“Everything first.” His deep voice sends a shiver through me.

I still can’t see him, which makes this so much easier. I turn around as I step out of my shoe for the second time. He’s leaning against the wall and as I turn he licks his lips. He has lust and want written all over his face and that’s all I need to see to set my soul on fire. There’s something so empowering about knowing he wants me as much as I want him. And I want tonight to be a night he’ll never forget.

His eyes pin me as I slide my panties over my thighs and let them drop before stepping out of them and back into my shoes.

“Fuck,” he mutters.

Sauntering up to him, I notice his lips are slightly parted and his eyes hooded. He smells incredibly sexy and I can’t help but run my nose down his neck, stopping to suck in a few places along the way. I’ve never given anyone a hickey and right now I really want to. He doesn’t say I can’t so I give it a try. His hands are at my hips and his fingers are splayed across my ass. I run my hands under his shirt and it bunches at the top as my lips follow the same path. I notice he’s watching me with a predatory look as I pull his plain, white long-sleeved tee over his head.

He pulls me tight against him and my nipples harden instantly at the contact.

His teeth skim the shell of my ear. “Tell me what you want first.”

My stomach flutters. “Whatever you want,” I say, trying not to sound too breathy.

“I want you to tell me what you want me to do to you right now. What were you thinking about in the lobby?”

I lean back and look at him—the connection we share is so powerful, I am not the least bit ashamed to tell him what my thoughts were. “About you making me come, about your face between my legs and your cock inside me.”

He tilts my chin to look at him. “I can’t wait to fuck you with my tongue and my cock. But can you do something for me?”

I nod, completely turned on by his words and the thought of what’s to come—I think I’d agree to anything.

“Can you let your need for control go, for just this one night?”

I swallow and stare back into his eyes for the longest time before answering. “Yes.”

He grins. “And leave your shoes on.”

I smirk.

“I’m not kidding.”

“I know,” I answer, as my hands move to his pants and unbutton them. I’ve been waiting to hold his full, thick cock in my hand for way too long.

He kicks his boots off and I quickly help him slide the denim down his legs and then follow with his boxers. He stands gloriously naked before me and the minute his cock springs free, I wrap my palm around it. With my other hand roaming his body, and both of his roaming mine, he moves us toward the bed. He tugs the bedspread off and pats his hand against the pillow.

“Lay here and keep your hands gripped to this,” he says pointing to the top of the wooden headboard.

As I lie on the bed and grip the headboard, I place my legs as wide apart as I can in anticipation of what’s to come. When his lips find my mouth and slide down my neck, he sucks in one spot for a few short moments. When he stops I can feel the vibration of laughter dance across my skin. “Now we can have matching hickeys,” he murmurs and my body begins to shake with laughter as well, but it quickly stops when his teeth graze my nipple.

His descent is slow and torturous, but so good. He circles my breasts and licks my nipples into hard peaks as his hand slides down my body. His fingertips trail down my hip bone to my inner thigh and work their way up again.

“You’re so wet.”

With his mouth on my breasts, his fingers circle my clit and I’m sure he can tell how much I want him—no more words are necessary because my body is speaking on its own.

His tongue flicks in and out of my belly button as he slips a finger inside me. I can feel the centralized pulsing starting to build as every nerve comes alive. I reach down to tangle my fingers through his hair, and just as his tongue hits right where I want it the most—the place where the ache radiates most strongly, he lifts his head.

“Put your hands back over your head or I’ll have to start all over.”

I quickly do as he says—needing the release that I know will come. With my hands back in place, but itching so badly to touch him, I look back down at him. His hands spread my folds and he dips his tongue inside me and then moves it up to circle my clit.

“Do you like this?” he asks.

I can only moan.

“Or this?” he asks.

And then I figure it out; he wants to know which place will set me off. Which place brings the most pleasure.

“There, right there,” I call out as my orgasm swells inside me.

He circles his tongue in just the right spot and my orgasm builds to new heights and I can’t stop myself.

“Oh God, yes. Right there. Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop. Oh God, yes.” I repeat these words over and over.

“Let go, Aerie, just let go,” he tells me.

And I do. I let everything I am and everything I know fade away as I look into his stormy grey eyes and scream his name over and over as that single wave of pleasure consumes my entire being.

He moves up my body staying pressed against me and when his head is aligned with mine he weaves his hands in mine. His hard cock throbs against my leg and he kisses me with the sweetest of kisses—soft, gentle, loving.

“Let’s do that again, but this time I’m going to be inside you.”

I want to push his hair from his eyes, but his hands hold mine tightly.

“I don’t know if I can,” I breathe.

“You can,” he says confidently.

He positions himself on top of me and, letting go of my hands, guides himself in. He moves slowly, stopping occasionally to assess my reaction. I moan when he pulls out and re-enters and again slowly slides in. He buries his face in my neck and instead of sucking on the spot he had more than likely bruised, he kisses it gently. I raise my hips and his cock moves deeper, but I want even more. Pressing my heels into the mattress, I try to engulf him. I want to feel all of him.

“What do you want, Aerie?” he whispers.

“More of you. All of you.”

But instead of giving me more, he pulls out. His eyes are intense and focused. “Do you trust me?”

I nod.

“Get on top of me.”

My heart pounds, but I do as he says, and as I straddle his thighs, his cock rubs against my stomach. He takes it his hand and my stomach flutters.

“Lift yourself on top of me,” he whispers.

I want to laugh at myself for not having figured that out to begin with.

As I lower myself down, he grabs my hands and pushes against my palms. That’s all the support I need, and before long, we find a rhythm. He arches his back as I rise up and I can see the pleasure he’s feeling at the same time I feel it. He lets go of my hands to cup my breasts. I look down at him and my hair tumbles forward. He pushes it away. His hips rise off the bed, his hands move to my clit. I watch it all. Erotic, beautiful, different, new—everything I’ve never known and nothing I ever want to live without.

I lean back slightly and sensations sweep through my body everywhere.

“Fuck,” he groans.

And in unison, the two of us become one and small ripples of pleasure race through me over and over, one after the other in continuous waves.

For the rest of the night, we didn’t say we loved each other again . . . we didn’t have to. We took the time to learn each other’s body. What we liked, where we liked it. I let go and let him in—and he showed me how.