by Jq Allan
After a few minutes, Mackenzie removed his hand, and turned the car onto a long gravel drive. A large main building was surrounded by several smaller outbuildings. To the left and right, there were rows of grapevines as far as the eye could see. Lizzie suddenly realized that Mackenzie had brought her to a winery. He put the car into park and smiled at Lizzie.
"Ready?" He asked.
Lizzie grinned back.I wonder if he knows how much I want to rip his clothes off right now.
They exited the car and he reached for Lizzie's hand. They walked hand in hand to the main door. Holding hands had a feeling of innocence to it that was in stark contrast to their activities during their dates. She smiled, feeling the warm sun on her cheeks. Just being close to him gave her a a strong sense of warmth and confidence. The winery had a large oak countertop that curved around the length of the large room. Four large archways adorned each corner of the room, each leading to a different part of the winery. Lizzie wondered why Mackenzie had called this date "overdue."Maybe he just likes wineries.
"Good afternoon and welcome," came a happy voice from behind them. A large woman smiled at them with with rosy cheeks and a toothy grin. Her name badge saidMargaretand Lizzie wondered if she might have been sampling a bit of their product.
Margaret rolled into her speech. "Sitting on 1,400 acres of the most fertile farmland in the state, we harvest six different types of grapes and have been a working winery for twenty-six years. You missed our barrel making expo today where our master cooper takes you through the 387 steps he uses to make a complete wine barrel. You can catch the last tour though. It just went out a few minutes ago," said Margaret pointing to one of the large arched doors in the rear of the room. "Or you can take the self guided tour of the grounds."
"Margaret, I think we will give the tour a whirl. Thank you," said Mackenzie in an extremely business like tone as he squeezed Lizzie's hand.
As they passed through the large arch, it opened into a hallway with a few equally spaced oak doors on each side.
"Can I ask you something about...us," Mackenzie asked as they walked down the hallway.
Lizzie's heart almost stopped. She took in a quick breath.
"Do we look like two people who would be interested in a barrel making expo?", he asked, pretending to be serious.
She exhaled and laughed. "Well, you do," she said nudging him with her shoulder.
The end of the hallway turned sharply to the left and she could hear the faint voice of the tour guide in the distance.
All of a sudden, she felt a pull on her arm. Mackenzie had opened one of the oak doors and pulled her inside. He spun her around to face him and cradled both of his strong hands around her chin. He pulled her gently towards him as he kissed her mouth. She opened her mouth slightly, allowing their tongues to meet. Moving his hands to her shoulders, he kissed her neck and the top of her chest. His kiss made her insides stir, and a heat began to radiate from deep within her. She opened her eyes as he moved one hand to her thigh and continued to kiss her neck.
Oh my god, are we really going to do this here!
She looked into the room. It was dimly lit and had four long oak tables in the center. It looked like a wine tasting room, but given the stacks of Dusty wine making equipment against the walls, this was probably used as a storage room.
Mackenzie slid his hand up her thigh and underneath her sundress. His strong hand grabbed her small ass tightly, and she let out a small whimper. He slowly moved his hand to the front of her thigh. She could feel her growing wetness as he slowly began move his fingers on top of her underwear. Through the fabric, he massaged her in a slow circular motion. She leaned her head back as she felt the pressure of his fingers against her sensitive skin. His touch sent spasms through her legs, and she bucked her hips to the motion of his fingers.
He moved his hand back to her ass, and in one single motion, picked her up. She instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. He kissed her neck and ear with his soft lips.
"I missed you," he said in a soft voice.
She placed her arms around his strong shoulders, and kissed his neck. He turned around and placed her carefully on one of the long oak tables. Reaching into his pocket, he slowly drew out a long back ribbon. Lizzie instantly recognized it from their first date. She gave him a quizzical look before he straightened the ribbon between his hands and placed it over her eyes. He tied the ribbon behind her head, and kissed her deeply.
She felt his hands move up each thigh and underneath her dress as he hooked this fingers around the top of her panties. She lifted her hips and he pulled them off.
He pulled her slightly so her ass was at the edge of the table. The smooth wood felt warm beneath her as she leaned back and placed both of her palms flat against its surface. She felt the fabric of her sundress rise against her legs, and Mackenzie's strong hands on her hips. He let the tip of his cock push inside of her, and she felt her body respond with a new wave of moisture. He pushed deeper as he pulled her hips toward him in slow hard thrusts. She arched her back against the hard table and locked her legs around his ass. With each motion of his hips, his cock hit a spot deep inside of her that made her see stars. He grabbed her breast through the fabric of her sundress and squeezed it firmly. He pulled away a single strap of her dress to reveal her breast. He squeezed it again, this time harder than the first. She coved her mouth with her hand and let out a quick scream as her body began to tingle with the numbness of her breast.
She moved her hips faster to meet his cock and could feel herself reach the edge. Her orgasm hit her so suddenly that she hardly had a moment to breathe. Knowing she was at the point of climax, he moved his hands below her hips and squeezed her ass. The pain mixed with the pleasure of an orgasm now crashing on top of her. She arched her back even more, pulling every inch of him inside of her.
He placed his hands on either side of her stomach, and pulled himself deeper. She felt his thrusts become more rhythmic as his breathing grew short and shallow. He came deep inside of her as she felt his warmth. After a few moments, his thrusting became more shallow. He let his cock slip out of her and she unlocked her legs from around his ass. Her body was limp and satisfied.
He pulled her sundress down, covering her thighs and the top of her knees. He picked her up again and slowly slid her down the front of his body until she was standing in front of him. He kept his arms wrapped tightly around her. Kissing her lips, she felt him untie the ribbon around her eyes. He slowly removed it, and with a boyish grin, placed it back into his pocket. He reached for her hand.
"Are you going to blindfold me every time we make love," she asked him as she smoothed the seams of her dress.
He grinned and reached out his hand.
"Shall we join our tour?", he asked as he kissed the inside of her palm.
"Yes, and I think it's a very good thing our tour doesn't visit the storage rooms," she added as she tried to catch her breath.
He pulled open the oak door, and they hurried down the hallway towards the tour. Lizzie realized she had left something behind in the room as the cool breeze of the hallway was made cooler without her underwear. She felt sexy, alive and confident, and decided not to go back to get it.
I wonder why he wants the blindfold all the time? It made her feel sexy and vulnerable, but made her feel a bit disconnected too. She decided that she would decline the blindfold the next time they made love.
They caught up with the tour as it was just ending. The guide was talking about the barrel making expo, and Mackenzie raised his eyebrows to Lizzie with a smile, pretending to be interested.
She was amazed at how quickly he could switch from his business persona to a passionate lover and then to someone that made her laugh. She was still catching her breath from making love. It seemed there were large parts of him left to explore and she hoped she could look forward to learning everything about him. His sexual appetite for her was thrilling. She had never had sex with the potential of being caught at any mome
nt. The passion with which he touched her made Lizzie realize there was much more to explore with him in this area too. It was thrilling. All of this was so new. He was so new, and yet somehow she was confident and comfortable. She felt her head swimming again and closed her eyes, listening to the guide ramble around about this year being a special for Riesling.
She placed her head against his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her.
They walked around the vineyard for a while, taking Margaret's advice about the self guided tour. They first walked among the many grapevines, and then decided to walk to the top of a small hill overlooking the grounds. As they strolled hand in hand she realized how deeply she had come to care for him. She had already fallen for him, and the one thing making her nervous was that he may not see her in the same way. As the late afternoon sun cast long shadows on the grounds, they came upon a small blanket placed carefully on the ground. A leather basket held two glasses and a bottle of Cabrenet. Mackenzie smiled and pointed as though he too was surprised to see her perfect date spread out in front of them.
They sat on the blanket as Mackenzie uncorked the wine and poured two glasses.
"This is the date that was overdue, Lizzie," said Mackenzie as he kissed her cheek.
"Thank you for remembering," she said to him as she took a sip of wine. Mackenzie kissed the palm of her hand and placed his arm around her as they watched the sunset from the hill. The wind gently cradled the vines as the rays of sun cast an orange hue upon the fields below. He tenderly ran his fingers through her hair at the top of her neck, and Lizzie could feel herself breathing deeper. The moment was better than what she had pictured in her head. He had made it perfect.
They sat for a long while in silence watching the setting sun. As it dipped below the trees, they packed the blanket and walked down the hill and towards the main building.
Lizzie closed her eyes and smiled.Right now I'm happy.
Her phone buzzed twice and she realized she had just received a new voicemail. Instinctively, she pulled the phone from her clutch and looked at the screen. She took in a small breath after reading the screen.
New Voicemail. Sam.
She hoped Mackenzie hadn't noticed the reaction. Luckily, he was also deep in thought as they strolled through the rows of vines. She shoved her phone back into her clutch and tried to put it out of her mind. She almost succeeded.
That night she slept over at Pemlilly. They made love again and he had kissed every inch of her body, teasing her body as she again saw stars from behind the black ribbon. She had planned on resisting the blindfold, but saw the passion in Mackenzie's eyes and relented. After, she had fallen soundly asleep in Mackenzie's king-sized bed.
His strong arms were still around her when she awoke the next morning. Outside, morning had begun without them. She could hear birds beginning their day, and felt the warmth of the sun enter the room.
Lizzie thought about the vineyard. He had made her feel so alive and sexy. He had planned the perfect date. For the first time in her life, she had gone to bed naked, and feeling his body cradled around hers made her feel warm and safe. She watched him as he slept, and smiled at the innocent expression on his face. Then she remembered the voicemail.
She slipped out of bed, slowly pulled on her sundress, and grabbed her clutch. Walking on the balls of her feet, she moved down the long stairway and into the large great room. The Roman gods seemed to stare at her from the ceiling as she quietly made her way to the kitchen.
Lizzie pulled out her phone and stared at her voicemail for a long time. She hovered her thumb over the delete button, but paused and curiosity got the best of her. She pushed the play button and quickly moved the phone to her ear.
"Hey Lizzie it's Sam. It's about six on Saturday, thought you might be around. I didn't want to leave this over voicemail, but I wanted to make sure you got this. I wanted to let you know the museum is opening next weekend. I want to tell you to come. I want to tell you I'm sorry. I want to tell you that it doesn't mean anything without you here, Lizzie. That's what I want to say. It doesn't mean a thing without you. I miss you. I really miss you. Can we start over? Maybe just get a drink somewhere? I love you Lizzie. Call me, ok? Bye."
She slowly removed the phone from her ear. The museum was a big deal. She had not even thought about it since the day she left Sam's apartment. The museum had represented two years of work for both her and Sam. His voice brought back memories that she had almost forgotten. The museum project was how they had met. When they first started working together, they had disagreed about almost every part of the project. She had wanted to make everything beautiful and he had criticized her for not thinking about the function rather than just the form. She accused him of trying to design a box with windows. Their arguments spilled over into comical and spirited discussions at the campus coffee shop and then into something more.
She hated it, but a piece of her missed him too. She was pretty sure she loved Mackenzie, but remembering Sam made her head spin.I should have just deleted the damn message.
"Everything ok?", Mackenzie said walking into the kitchen with a yawn. He kissed her cheek, and turned on the coffee pot.
"Yep," said Lizzie, forcing a smile.
"Breakfast?", he asked.
"No thanks," said Lizzie. "I've got to help Nicole today...so."
"You've got to go," he finished. "No problem," said Mackenzie. "Let me get my keys."
The ride home was quiet. Lizzie's head was swimming. The call had completely thrown her off, and she didn't feel comfortable in her own skin. She was suddenly very conscious that she wasn't wearing underwear.
The Mercedes pulled up in front of the apartment, and Mackenzie leaned in to give her a kiss. She gave him a quick peck and exited the car. She took two strides and entered the apartment door. She pushed her back against the door and cupped her mouth. Her tears streamed down her cheeks as she desperately tried to regain her composure.
Taking several deep breaths, she wiped her eyes and put her key in the door.
23
As Mackenzie drove back to Pemlilly, his thoughts were on Steele and Wickes. He had tried to call Anderson twice while at the vineyard, but only got voicemail. Lizzie had been in the bathroom, and he stole the opportunity to reach out to his father's advisor. Anderson had called right after their meeting to let him know he was on Wickes' calendar. Apparently, Wickes still didn't know that Anderson was involved.
The meeting was scheduled for next Friday and his stomach was raw. He had enjoyed an amazing day with Lizzie, but even she seemed weird this morning. He couldn't put his finger on it, but she didn't seem comfortable. He had wanted to spend more of the day with her to calm his head, but she had other plans.
As Mackenzie drove through the gates of Pemlilly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object. Parking his car, he sat for a few moments, glancing at his mother's ring.
He wondered what she would think of his life. He wondered if she would be proud of the decisions he was making. He wondered what she would think of Lizzie. He smiled. In his heart, he knew. He put the ring back into his pocket and exited the car. Looking towards the sky, he walked slowly down the long driveway of Pemlilly.
24
"No fucking way," Nicole said shaking her head. "There is no fucking place on this planet except in your head that it even makes sense. You've got Mackenzie now, what the hell are you even thinking?"
"It's kind of a big deal, Nic," said Lizzie. "I spent a lot of hours on that project and it's finally opening."
"You're a freekin' liar," said Nicole, raising her eyebrows and pointing at Lizzie. "You just want to see Sam again. And what about Mackenzie? Seriously, do you honestly think he is going to fly, I'm sorry, drive fourteen hours to go to a museum opening with you and your ex-boyfriend?"
"I think he will," said Lizzie confidently, although secretly she wondered if it was true. "And it's about the museum, Nic. I'm sure Mackenzie would like to see two years of my work. We talk about
my work all the time."
"Oh, ok," said Nicole rolling her eyes. "Do you talk about your ex-fiancé too?" Lizzie shifted in her seat and looked at the floor. "Look I'm just saying be careful," said Nicole more softly. "Don't fuck it up with Mackenzie, ok? Especially seeing how much he must have on his mind lately."
"Wait, what?" Lizzie replied with a frown on her face. "What do you mean?"
"The Steele and Wickes stuff, you know. How is taking the company back over and all that stuff." Nicole trailed off when she realized that Lizzie was clueless about what she was saying. Nicole sighed. "That Anderson guy that works with Mackenzie called me a while ago to plan a hush hush gathering of clients to get support for Mackenzie's new role in the company. Sorry, I thought you knew."
Lizzie looked at the floor and frowned. "You know Nic, I didn't mind being embarrassed about not knowing Mackenzie when we first met, but I am a little upset about it now."
"Lizzie, I'm sorry. I thought I told you," said Nicole reaching out to her.