Baby V (Chianti Kisses #1)

by Tara Oakes

  The sincere moment has now quickly turned comical.

  “Well, you two look around, let me know if it fit your needs and come find me when you’re ready to try some wine.” Dan gives me a wink as he makes his exit, leaving Dom and I alone.

  “So... what do you think? We can have a huge tent erected on the back lawn. Lights strewn everywhere, a band, great food. We’ll have everyone driven in. I think we can pull it together in time for the event, don’t you?”

  I turn to look out the large plantation windows, out at the never-ending sea of luscious grapevines in the distance. It’s so beautiful, I could just stand and admire them forever. Dom creeps up behind me, arms spreading out and splaying over me protectively as I rest against him. This could work. I can make it work.... it’s gonna be one hell of a party.

  “Let’s do it. I’ll be busy for the next month or so, but I think I can get it done.”

  Dom squeezes me, his satisfaction evident at my decision. “OK. Let’s go set it up with Dan.”

  He weaves his fingers in with mine and guides me by our held hands out to find the proprietor.

  ~*~

  Both men look at me seriously as they await my decision. I mull it over, thinking carefully about my choice, before finally coming up with a verdict.

  “The red one,” I profess.

  Dom bows his head in mock defeat as his friend flaunts his victory over him. “Ha! I told you! I knew I liked you, V!,” Dan gloats.

  I look apologetically over to Dom, across the rims of wine glasses, shrugging my shoulders.“Sorry, babe. I’m a red wine kinda girl, I guess.”

  Dan holds his hand out to his fraternity brother who is still play sulking, “Pay up buddy.”

  I had just sampled the finest wines that this vineyard has to offer and I find myself really taken back by how good the home-grown, home-made wines are. It’s an art and Dan seems to have done exceptionally well with finding great flavors and grapes to craft his wines. One small sip of each was more than enough to get the full array of flavors. I can see how this place has become as profitable as Dan has told us.

  With Dom settling up the loosing end of his friendly bet on my favorite wine, he ushers me out toward the main entrance. After having been given the full tour of the vineyards, the factory, and facilities, we’ve spent more than four hours at the Bird’s Nest... Dom is now politely trying to guide our exit. Our goodbyes and thanks are given to Dan as well as the other employees we’ve met along the way.

  Dom opens my car door and helps me in, all the while Dan shouts out farewells from the protection of the porch, “You guys stop by any time you like! Drive safe! It was great to finally meet you, V! Call me when you get tired of him!”

  I see Dom growl from the drivers seat, and I playfully blow a kiss to his friend to fuel the fire.

  “You know you’re only encouraging him, right?,” he laughs.

  I nod. “Yup.”

  The dust kicks up in our wake as we leave the vineyard behind. Once at the end of the drive, Dom turns the blinker switch to signal right rather than left. I catch the movement and inquire as to change in expected direction.

  “Where are we going, now?” I ask out.

  Dom smirks, attention on the passing cars, waiting for his opportunity to advance. “It’s a surprise.”

  I throw my hands up playfully. “Another surprise? I don’t know how much more I can take.”

  Dom shakes his head. “That...” He throws his head back in the direction of the Bird’s Nest, “...wasn’t a surprise. That was business. But what’s coming next.... is a surprise.”

  I feel tingling throughout my body at his revelation. Anticipation is getting the better of me, like a small child on Christmas morning, waiting to unwrap her gifts.

  The anticipation only grows as we drive along the main road several miles before making a turn onto a side street, heading north. The road starts to pitch down as we travel downhill. A white picket fence signals the entrance to a hidden drive, and we navigate the car into it. Large shaded trees offer plenty of shade to the driveway and the car as Dom slows to a stop in front of the oversized white victorian house nestled on the property.

  The house is old, but beautifully restored. The windows are gleaming in the sunlight, the lawn freshly manicured. It’s obvious that the owners take pride in their masterpiece of a home. I wonder to myself who it could be, perhaps another one of Dom’s fraternity brothers?

  “Wow! This is remarkable! It’s gorgeous, Dom. Who... who lives here?” I find myself wandering up the brick laden path leading to the oversized door at its end.

  Dom follows, allowing space between us as I continue my exploration. I can hear the excitement in his voice as it emanates from behind.

  “We do.”

  I pause in my tracks, the inertia taking a moment to catch up with me as I rebound slightly. A heavy weight presses on my chest as I comprehend his words. I turn abruptly to face his approaching body, holding out my hand to stop him.

  “Wha- what do you mean, we do?”

  Dom takes hold of my outstretched barrier of a hand and moves it aside, closing in. “It’ll make a fantastic summer home. A great place for all of us to use as a getaway. It’s got plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms, and a pool. There’s a path in the back that leads down to a private beach with docking rights. Big enough for a small sail boat. JJ’s been begging John for a boat forever, and over here...”

  Dom reaches my hand and leads me around to the far side of the house.

  “There’s plenty of room over here for Nonna to plant a vegetable garden. Fresh vegetables and herbs... she’ll be in heaven.”

  I breathe deep, trying to control my nerves. This is all so much... Dom, last night, this house. I feel like I’m on a wild roller coaster about to jump the rails.

  “Dom... I think I need to sit down.”

  Those were the last words I remember before the rush takes hold and everything goes black.

  ~*~

  The softness beneath me offers cushion and comfort as I begin to stir. My bare feet wade in and out of the lush coverings strewn over me. I open my eyes and blink hard to adjust to the soft light. The sun is dipping lower in the sky than I remember, and I’m sure quite some time has passed. I search around the empty room to find only a long dresser with a sheet covered mirror on the opposite wall. The walls are bare of pictures or decoration, and the windows are fully open with curtains dancing in the breeze.

  I free myself from my entanglement of covers and swing my feet to rest on a shiny, deep-browned wooden floor. I can hear slight echoes of Dom’s voice from somewhere deep within the remaining rooms. I follow it out into the hallway, passing several matching bedrooms to the one I was just in, although they seem to be more bare of furniture. The top landing opens up to the mouth of the stairway with the banister gleaming from being recently polished. I take hold of it, not trusting my sleep weakened state to carry me down safely. Judging by the age of the house, I expect the stairs to creek under foot, but they are solid and strong.

  I turn into what appears to be a large dining room, with a round formal dining table and chairs set beneath an antique chandelier. Dom’s voice grows louder with each step I take in his direction.

  “Don’t give me that crap, John. You know as well as I do, that he’s behind it. I want to know how he’s getting his information. Everything that he’s gotten his hands on so far is confidential and under tight wraps. You, Me, Mike, Tony, Theresa... that’s it. No one else, not even V has access to it. Hit after hit.. we can’t take much more and stay financially solvent, the insurance is gonna ruin us. The attacks are getting bigger and bigger. I’m going back to Miami to see what I can find out. I’ll have Ellen set up a flight and give you the itinerary. Yeah... we’re just gonna crash out here tonight, head back in the morning.”

  I turn the corner and make my presence known. Dom holds the phone to his ear but his attention is now clearly shifted to me as I sit in one of the uncovered chairs. He’s been pa
cing in front of a grand fireplace, shirt unbuttoned, flesh exposed through the opened flap.

  “Call me the minute you know for sure. Yeah... OK, bye.” Dom places the phone on the mantle near him, and eyes me cautiously. “How do you feel?”

  I shrug my shoulders, embarrassed. “I’m fine. I don’t know what came over me, I just started spinning in my head.”

  Dom nods, walking to me, and sits on the covered coffee table in front of me. He takes my hands in his and brings them to his lips, kissing them.

  “I know I can be a lot, V. I know I’m asking a lot of you... changes and new things. I’m not a patient person. I try to be, but I’m just not hard-wired that way. When I see something, I just go for it. Take it.”

  I lean forward.

  “That’s just it Dom. I’m not some business deal, some thing to be taken. I’m a person with crazy feelings and... and doubts, and I just...”

  I get up, needing to walk out my frustrations. He follows and takes hold of my shoulder, turning me back to him.

  “Don’t ever doubt us, V. Don’t ever doubt me. If you need me to be more patient, I will go to hell and back to find a way to do that. But don’t ever doubt this, between us. There is something in you that shines, V. Something bright and blinding, and it’s like a drug to me. That’s why it’s so easy to get carried away. I do things big, over the top. And I just want to make you happy.”

  He holds my cheeks in his hands, eyes pleading with me to understand.

  “I don’t need all this....” I use my hands to emphasize what this is, showing Dom the rooms around me. “I don’t need cars, and job titles, and vineyards, and private beaches. I just need....”

  Dom’s eyes grow hard, dark. He holds me tight, prisoner in his grip, “Say it.”

  I look into his pleading eyes. “I just need you.”

  He licks his lips hungrily like a wolf about to eat his prey, “That’s all that matters. Everything else can come and go, be there one minute and gone the next. All I need in life is to know that it’s just me you want, that I’m all you need. That no matter what happens from here on out, or happened before, that you choose me.”

  I exhale deep. My mind races, flooding with fictional images of internships, and apartments, and traveling with friends. Images of going out into the world and exploring what it has to offer. But these images fade, with Dom’s eyes before me. I may have wanted those things at one point, but something’s changed. Dom was right in his words, somewhere along the line, my heart had made a choice.

  I place my softened hand over his beating heart, the area exposed beneath his opened shirt, and whisper, “I choose this.” I look up to meet his burning eyes. “I choose you.”

  The magnitude of my words has surprised the both of us. What started as a playful fling, full of lust and excitement has grown. No one could have been more surprised than I am.

  Dom lowers his hands over my sides down to the curve of my thighs. He gathers up enough of the material of my dress to give himself handles as he lifts it upward. I break out in gooseflesh as my skin is freed from the fabric now being moved overhead and finally dropped onto the floor. Dom’s eyes stay fixed to mine, planted on their target. His lips tease mine with their close proximity, but he offers no relief, he reaches around and unclasps my bra. My breasts spill out of their confinement, with the delicate lace hanging to my shoulders. It takes only a swipe of his fingers to remedy that situation as the garment falls forward and free from my body.

  My chest heaves, rising and falling with the deep intaking of air needed to keep me conscious. My lips part to aid in breathing. The roughened pad of Dom’s thumb moves over the skin of my side, my ribs, settling for the moment in the crease under my breast. He traces it, follows the half-mooned border taunting my body as it craves further touch.

  His eyes stay with mine as my lashes flutter from the sensations he is eliciting. His thumb finally moves from its position over the sweeping curve of my lower breast and onto the delicate patch of nerves and sensitivity in its middle.

  My eyes grow large at the feelings flooding from his finger, and I exhale. Dom smiles as his finger circles the area, concentrating on its target. His lips finally inch closer to mine but remain a millimeter away. I moan out, my need becoming immeasurably greater and overwhelming.

  His saltiness lands on my lip, the slickness of his tongue coaxing mine to come out of hiding. I begin to pant, silently begging for him.

  “I can give you everything, V. Everything you need, everything you want... everything I have is yours. You just need to let me.”

  My lips are moist now, his tongue covering them, tracing and darting with my own, waiting for my response.

  I move my own hands to his shoulders and push the cotton from them forcing his shirt to hang, exposing his broad chest to match mine. I return the favor by navigating my way to his peaked nipple and manipulating it as he does to mine. I want him to feel what he makes me feel. He throws has hands to free themselves from the sleeves of his shirt, muscles bulging from the exertion. Slapping his palms to my thighs he swoops me up and carries me through to the dining room.

  Freeing one hand to feel behind me, he feels for the hard surface of the wood dining table before setting me down.

  “Lie back, baby.” He issues his command.

  I slowly lower myself, my eyes fixed on his until my position no longer affords me the option of staring into him. I hear the jangling of the metal of his belt and the muscles of my belly tighten. I focus on the ceiling, on the chandelier hanging directly overhead.

  I feel the movement as Dom drops to his knees. My body suddenly jerks with momentum as I am pulled toward him, toward the edge of the table. I hold my breath.

  His breathing on my navel is warm and sticky as I fight against the strain in my neck to lift and see him. The crown on his head faces me, the dark, lush hair beckoning for my fingers to sift through them. The short strands escape my grasp as his head moves, the breath coming through between kisses on my skin now heats up the area leading lower.

  The lace of my panties is now the only barrier to his pulsing, massaging tongue as it explores the nether region between my inner thighs. The material is thin and perforated from the design of the lace. I can feel teasing amounts of his velvety tongue as it covers the small openings in the design of the airy fabric. The moistness from his mouth now saturates the material, making it harder to move over.

  Is it his moistness or my own? I feel myself pooling from his touch. Having had enough of the obstacle, Dom moves the bridged area of the panties aside, his tongue now having full access to the silky flesh beneath.

  I cry out, hands scratching against the wood as if to grab hold. This only encourages him, as his momentum increases. His finger moves to meet his teasing tongue offering assistance in it’s endeavors. I cry aloud once more.

  His mouth goes missing from its former place, no longer offering ecstasy where it once was. I whimper at the lost sensation as Dom soothes me with his fingers, expertly continuing where his tongue had left off.

  I raise myself on my elbows to find him, eyes glued on me, twinkling with desire as he coaxes me. I see the telltale foil packet in his other hand as he raises it to his lips to tear the corner.

  “Wait!” I call out. He eyes me suspiciously, fingers still hard at work inside. I fight against myself to free myself from his efforts, as they are deliciously wicked in their own right.

  Calmly, he leads me on, “What, baby?”

  His fingers now double their efforts on me and he kisses the inside of my knee.

  I muster all the courage I can find, “I want to taste you, too.”

  I freeze in shock at my own words. His kissing has now turned to gentle biting on my flesh, my inner knee burning from the tender assault.

  A puff of air escapes his lips onto my skin as he laughs, “Oh you do, do you?”

  What have I gotten myself into? I gulp loudly enough to be heard, which amuses Dom more.

  “What happened
to my innocent little schoolgirl, hmm?”

  I smile at his description of me. Dom’s finger makes one last trail in my slickness before it, too, disappears. I hear the sounds of fabric piling together and close my eyes.

  “Well... come and get it, my naughty little school girl,” he tests my sincerity.

  I inhale deep, fortifying myself before inching off the table and standing in front of a naked Dom. I reach up on my toes to kiss his reddened lips, a touch saltier than normal. I can feel the excitement in him, the surprise. Lowering myself to the wood planks of the flooring, I settle on my knees, positioning myself in front of muscular legs.

  His hardened manhood stands erect, the pink flesh taking on a deep red scarlet closer to the tip. I use my fingertips to trace the blue bulging line trailing down the length of his shaft. I can feel the pulsing underneath my touch. Studying the object in front of me, I notice a small bead of glistening dew forming a teardrop at the apex. I close my eyes, and bring myself to rest my lips on the growing, pulsating, summit.

  The drop of moistness falls onto my lip where it lingers and then spreads as I open for him, taking his length into my warmth. My tongue caresses each little bump and crevice, resting on the pulsing vein. The pounding of my own heartbeat mixes with his in the hollows of my cheeks as I form a vacuum around him, wanting to make contact with every spec of his flesh as possible.

  I hear him groaning from above, “V, you have no idea what you do to me.”

  He’s wrong, I think. I do know what I do to him...

  I bob my head over his bulkiness, struggling to fit both length and width within. Each time I lower myself I manage to accomplish a bit more. I hear the ripping of foil from above, as Dom breathlessly calls out to me.

  “No more, V. I can’t take anymore.”

  He reaches under my arms and lifts abruptly, his length being ripped from my mouth with a slurping sound. His lips crash down to mine, hungry and eager as his hands go to work sheathing himself.

  He anxiously man handles me as he turns me around, pushing me to lay forward, bent at the waist onto the dining table. My cheek finds solace in the coolness of the wood as it flattens over the surface. Dom grabs hold of my panties and rips them down past my knees. I feel droplets of liquid follow behind in their path.