by Jen Luerssen
His head tilts and mine goes with him. I feel his hand rest at my hip and the heat from him is radiating towards me. “I remember very clearly,” he says in a whisper, even though we are the only ones down here. My entire body clenches in memory of him being that close to me.
He turns and walks away. I trail after him into a small circular room with a large round table in the middle. Sometimes we have small parties down here where they cater dinner and people can taste wine straight from the racks. They haven’t had one since I’ve been here but I can’t wait.
“Here’s a list of things I want to bring,” he hands me a long list then bends down to grab a few boxes for the wine. I steal a look at his fine ass in his black pants. They are like skinny black chinos and they hug his butt cheeks lovingly. You can’t really help but look.
“On it, boss man,” I say and skip off to find my treasures.
We spend about twenty minutes combing through the racks of very organized wine bottles to find what we need. A couple of times I ask for his help but for the most part, we work in companionable silence. I’m searching for a few sparkling wines so I’m perched on the moveable steps pulling out bottles when I hear glass breaking and then a few choice curses coming from Salty.
I jump up from my seat to get to his location to help but I do it too fast and get a little dizzy. I don’t wait long enough to move on I guess because I miss a step and fall forward and turn enough so I land on my ass instead of my face. I’m fine, but I make a lot of noise and echo some of the choice phrases I just heard from Sebastian.
While I’m dusting myself off and taking inventory of possible bruising options, he finds me looking very worried. “What happened?”
“I heard you drop something so I got up to help and then fell on my ass,” I say standing slowly with his help. “I’m fine.”
He holds me by my upper arms looking at me with an intensity I’ve not seen from him recently.
“Seriously, Salty. I’m okay. I fell on my butt and aside from my pride, nothing is hurt,” I say as his one hand turns me and pats the dust off my aforementioned booty. Holy heck he’s touching my butt. All suppressed feelings for him rise to the surface, along with the dry spell-induced horniness I’ve been carrying around. Maybe that’s it? I’m just hard up for dick, not necessarily his dick? I mean, arguably his was the last good dick I had so there’s quality attachment. I may be over thinking everything.
His hand goes back to my arm and he pulls me to him. “Careful,” he rumbles out and then releases me and walks away.
We collect the rest of what we need and then carry it up to the cart. “I’m going back down to make sure I cleaned all the glass up,” he says. I follow him. “You can stay, take a rest for a bit.”
I shake my head and follow him anyway. “I’m soaking up every minute I can in my favorite place on the property and you can’t stop me.”
“I wouldn’t even try.”
I sit at the big round table and pretend I’m at a fancy important meeting.
“I’d like to thank all of the CEOs of all the big companies for coming tonight,” I say in a deep voice. “We all work hard at CEO-ing and deserve a night of wine and debauchery here at this Monkey wine place.” I pound my fist on the table and bust out my evil laugh.
I don’t hear Sebastian sneak up on me so I jump when he sits down to the right of me. “This Monkey wine place can’t handle all of the CEO orgy-ing and back-slapping we will be doing,” he bellows and I’m instantly charmed by him. I knew he was fun!
“Let the orgy slapping commence,” I shout holding a fake glass up facing him.
He knocks his pretend glass with mine and we laugh. Until somehow, I’m on his lap and we aren’t laughing anymore.
Salty Whispers
Sebastian
Delightful is how I would describe Kit. Her enthusiasm for the wine cellar is contagious and I had a great time while we were down there, even when I got distracted by her talking to the sparkling wine. When she told the bottles they would be ‘treated like a great blow job, with reverence and a zesty swallowing,’ I dropped the bottle I was holding and almost dropped the second. My mind went directly back to the night when she did what she described to my extremely lucky dick.
When I heard her fall right after, I panicked and ran to her. I was almost angry with her for being so careless. Her being hurt scared me more than I’d like to admit, and not because of the endless workman’s comp forms I’d have to fill out.
I was sweeping again where I dropped the bottle earlier when I hear her being ridiculous in the main room. I love her playfulness and sharp wit. When I sit next to her, she jumps a little and I know I affect her like she does me. When I join in her shenanigans, we laugh, having more fun than I have in years.
I lean in and put my hand on her shoulder. She was wearing a pretty coat but she took it off when we were loading the boxes on the cart. The tank top she’s wearing shows a little of a tattoo I don’t remember seeing. My hand pushes the strap of her shirt a little so I can get a better look. It’s a small patch of flowers with a little bee buzzing around them. It’s a simple black line that connects the whole drawing and it’s beautiful.
“I like this,” I say and without thinking lean in and press my lips to the image.
Quickly she turns to me and then launches herself into my lap. “I like you,” she says right before she presses her lips to mine.
My arms instantly go around her lower back as I pull her to me so she’s flush against my overheated body. Her hands rest on the sides of my neck and then slide up to the back of my head. The slight tug of my hair eggs me on and I deepen the kiss pulling her as close to me as humanly possible. I want no air between us.
Her tongue licks at my lips and I open to let her in. She presses her hips down and then does a little swivel that instantly hardens my already halfway there dick. My hands increase the press at her lower back and I feel her lush breasts as she leans her upper body into me. She tugs my hair again, then moves her hands to my face with a slight pull. She does the swivel with her hips again as she twirls her tongue and I’m again brought back to that moment from our night together.
I pull back a little and nibble her lower lip and then turn to kiss her hand. She makes a kittenish sound and leans back in my lap. “Oops,” she says nibbling the same spot I just took a bite of. “I didn’t mean for that to escalate the way it did.”
My hand at her back is firm, I’m not letting her go easily. “I did.” I slide my left hand up and thread it through her hair. She closes her eyes and leans back into my touch.
“Salty,” she whispers.
“Kit,” I reply and kiss her exposed neck.
Her hips swivel again and I lean my forehead into the base of her throat. More than anything I want to lift her onto the table and cover her with kisses and then fuck her into ecstasy, but I can’t. So, I release her a little too abruptly and she almost tumbles to the floor again. I catch her in time to see the disappointment in her eyes.
She steps off of me and sits on the table with her arms folded. “Jesus, Salty, what is your problem?”
“I got carried away, I’m sorry,” I say looking at my hands in my lap.
She stands and slaps her hands on her legs. “Well, I don’t accept your dumbass apology,” she huffs and walks out.
I take a minute to process the last few minutes and come to an agreement with her that I am indeed, a dumbass. Standing, I adjust my still raging boner so it’s not too obvious and climb the stairs to probably get yelled at more--deservedly.
She is in the driver’s seat and I’m shocked she didn’t just leave me here. I get in and barely have my ass in the seat when she guns it. Fortunately, the wine is bungeed to the cart so there’s no danger there but if I hadn’t been holding on, I for sure would have been on the ground right now. I’m wrong, she doesn’t yell at me, instead I get the icy death stare and stone-cold silence.
We pull up to the tavern and we carry the cases in and Gary
puts them in a fridge behind the bar especially for our reserve and special wines. He and Kit chat amiably but I can tell he feels the tension because he gives me a ‘sorry dude,’ kind of look. I shrug my shoulders and help him load the fridge.
There’s an incessant honking sound coming from outside right about when we are finishing up and I know it’s the band arriving. I’m happy to see friendly faces and people who know me and know I’m not a complete jackwagon.
Seawitch has already done her best to greet my friends piling out of Andrew’s SUV. He’s the drummer of Lia and the Licks and a cool guy. He got married to his high school sweetheart, Jen, and has an adorable little girl, Mae. We don’t have that much in common but I liked getting to know him better this past summer. Frank, Joe, and Lia are all paying way too much attention to the dog and I just stand there smiling watching my best friends.
“Damn, they look like they should be in movies, they’re all so hot,” Kit says next to me.
“They are all super nice too, well, except for Frank, it’s kind of gross honestly,” I say.
She smacks my shoulder. “You act like you don’t fit in when you’re even hotter.”
I turn to her and fold my arms. “Oh, really?” I say waggling my eyebrows.
“Oh Christ, Salty, you’re still a dumbass,” she says and I pretend pout at her and she pushes me.
I walk over to the group and greet them, then introduce them to Kit. Then I act like the dumbass I am.
“Don’t worry, Kit is 25 even though the looks like she’s still in high school,” I say and I’m not sure why I can’t speak correctly with her nearby.
Lia hits the back of my head and it hurts. “What the fucking Phil Collins is wrong with you?”
I’m rubbing my head because it really hurt when I see Kit smiling next to me. This is not going well for me.
“Thanks for that. I’m not at the violence point with Salty here, but it’s close,” she says with a wink and I groan inwardly. I get looks from all of them and they all not so subtly take their phones out and I know they’ve changed my contact name.
***
The band heads to set up and as Kit hops in a cart to take her to the cabin I jump in too.
“Why are you here jumping in my cart?” she asks looking put out. “I thought I was giving you vibes.”
“What kind of vibes?” I ask and she starts driving.
“Like, not right now but maybe later, vibes,” she says with a wry smile.
“Yet, you’re driving to your cabin with me in the cart.” I rest my hand on her thigh and she sighs heavily.
“I’m letting you come along so you can drive the cart back, and I have high expectations that you might not say something dumbassy.”
I laugh. “Even my expectations don’t run that high.”
She shrugs and we pull up to her place. I watch her sexy ass saunter and sway--swaunter?--from me and my body does what it wants and follows her. Inside, it’s cozy and filled with lit candles, not the real ones, obviously. It’s still late afternoon but it’s dim inside and the candles make it feel romantic and inviting. It’s a temporary living situation but Kit has really put her own stamp on it. There is a large vase in the corner of the living area filled with bright peacock feathers and the couch is littered with bright pillows. The trampoline I saw when we first met or re-met, is leaning against the wall with a peacock feather patterned scarf thing draped over it.
“Tell me about the trampoline?” I ask because it seems like a safe question.
“It’s where I practice my tantric witchcraft, duh,” she says and I believe her for a second until I see her mouth twist to keep from smiling.
“Tell me more about the tantric part,” I say and get a full glorious smile in return.
“It’s for this insane workout I do that is cardio and sculpt together. I’ve tried a million different workouts and I’ve never sweat more in my life and gotten great results,” she says and slaps her firm ass.
“Seems complicated. I love a good run or swim and some basic weights and ab work.”
“Like I said, I’ve tried everything and I get bored very easily. This changes all the time and is so hard I physically am unable to get bored. I tore my ACL in high school and running hurts, so here I am with this mini trampoline. I love it.” We stand in her living room for an awkward moment. She hasn’t invited me to sit or offered me anything so I turn to leave.
“I’ll see you at the party,” I call as I’m walking to the door.
“Salty,” she says so quietly I almost don’t hear her. When I turn, she has taken her shirt off and stands in a pretty white bra with are those peacock feathers? I take a few steps closer to make sure.
My eyes meet hers as she reaches behind her and unhooks the bra. I take a deep breath like I can’t get air in me fast enough. She’s stunning and I didn’t know I missed her like this until just now. Without my permission, my hands reach out and softly cup her bare breasts, lightly moving my thumbs over her nipples. I dip down and kiss her lovely mouth and she sighs again.
I muster up every bit of self-control I have and move back a few steps. “Kit, Kit, Kit,” I say like it’s the only word I’ll ever say like a horny Hodor. This time I make it to the door and out to the cart, but I walk right past it needing the brisk walk back to the main building.
Salty Party
Sebastian
The party is a big hit despite both Frank and Joe being sad little men because both of their women are giving them unwanted (by them) space. Since they saw me interact with Kit, they were able to tease me relentlessly and take their minds off their own woes. I’m happy to do that for them. Lia and Kit became fast friends which was not surprising since everyone loves Lia and in my limited experience everyone seems to love Kit. In fact, I believe they like her more than me. I get it. I like her more than probably anyone else.
The band plays until 10pm and then we all sit together at one of the big tables after the guests have gone. Joe is crying and Frank is trying to ignore him and is as far away from him as is physically possible sitting in the chair next to him. Frank can’t handle anyone crying. This makes me laugh because once Mikey tells him her news, he’ll have to prepare for all the crying.
“Joey, my sensitive bro, I support your outpouring of feelings,” Lia says on the other side of him, rubbing his back. “Let’s take this wine bottle here and move it down the table, shall we?” Joe definitely has had more than his usual intake and is a little sloppy but it’s okay.
“This is a safe space, and I appreciate all of you, especially you, Frank,” Joe says in between sniffles. “Thanks for listening guys, I feel like we can move on to Sebass’s inappropriate relationship with the intern again.”
Kit, who is sitting across from me, huffs out a laugh. “Again? You been talking about me, Salty?”
“I feel you’ve known these assholes about an hour long enough to know what they are capable of,” I say and she nods her head to the side like I have a valid point.
“Kitteny-cat, we are not shy and you’ll learn we are all up in each other’s business. It’s pretty awesome actually.” Lia puts both of her hands out for Kit to take and she does. “I am the unofficial caretakers of these young men because they are fundamentally hopeless when it comes to getting their own lives together. My wish is for them to be happy. These two have found their happy but it’s in flux,” Lia says nodding her head toward Frank and Joe.
“She’s not wrong, we’d be lost without her,” Joe says tearing up again.
“Joe, settle, boo boo, Betsy will come around, I’m positive.” Lia pats his shoulder then turn back to Kit. “So, tell us the dealio between you and our Sebass?”
Kit shrugs and gives me a pleading look. “There’s no deal, he’s my boss.”
“Kit, Kit, Kit,” Joe says shaking his head. “There is most definitely a deal and we already know about Salty’s side, but we want to hear your take.”
“Guys, leave her be,” I say knowing it won’t cha
nge their minds at all.
Frank clears his throat and leans forward. “Kit, you seem like a lovely, reasonable woman, but it’s futile to resist these nosy fuckers. We already know Wendy messed Sebastian all up. Our goal is to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
I put my face in my hands.
“Ooh, tell me about Wendy,” Kit perks up feeling a change of subject away from her.
“I’ll tell you if you give up the goods about you and our Salty lick.” Lia rubs her hands together and I hate my friends.
Kit looks at me with an eyebrow up and I lift one shoulder in defeat. “Go for it,” I mumble.
“Okay,” Lia says patting Kit’s hand. “Wendy was his hosebag fiancé of yore. He was just getting the Thirsty Monkey up and running like the badass genius he is and she rewarded his hard work by blowing some rando in the driveway of their shared home. So gross,” Lia pauses and Kit nods in agreement of the gross assessment.
“What happened after is even better,” Joe joins in. “Once he gets an eyeful of his woman bobbing on some douche nugget’s knob, he goes inside and locks all the doors and windows using the chain locks so she couldn’t get in the house. The next day he goes out and gets a new phone, new locks and puts all of her shit out on the driveway in waterproof bins because he’s not that big of a dick. Did you even talk to her ever again, Salty?”
I wipe my hands down my face. “Joe, cut it with the Salty, will you?”
“Nah,” he says smiling now instead of crying and I want to punch him in the nuts, but I won’t. “Answer the question, Norm.”
“I went almost a year avoiding her until I ran into her at the Sonoma Market where she cornered me and called me many names that I probably deserved. She was in the wrong but it was not my most mature moment.”
“Meh, you made your point. Did she have any chance of changing your mind?” Kit asks and I turn to her.
“No chance. The more I thought about it the more I realized I wasn’t fully invested in her anyway. I was more disappointed by her disloyalty to me and all that we shared than upset we broke up.” It took me a while to come to that conclusion but I did. Clearly, it made an impression on me since I haven’t been serious about anyone since.