Love's Harvest, page 17
part #1 of A Salmon Run Novel Series
“You too, sir.”
Duncan knew damn well it was too early for his film to have been processed, but he needed an excuse to come in and make his presence known. He nearly danced his way out the store and across the lot to his car. Everything was working out perfectly, exactly as he’d planned.
“Oh, Duncan, you’re one crafty son of a bitch!” he said as he pulled his car out of the lot and made his way toward home.
~
The last thing Diego wanted to do was leave Julia at her door. At the same time, he wanted to make sure he gave her all the time she needed to feel comfortable about their relationship. By the way she responded to his kisses, however, Diego knew Julia wanted him as much as he did her.
The problem was timing. Logically, he understood more time was needed before Julia would feel totally free to follow her heart. Emotionally, however, Diego wasn’t sure he could wait much longer.
After he parked the Crestliner in the rented garage where it lived during the hours of the day, he climbed back into his beater truck and headed toward his own bed at the compound. As he drove the short distance, he mulled over the events of the evening, still somewhat bewildered as to how it’d all fallen apart. To blame it all on James would’ve been ludicrous, for Diego already felt an awkward tension between him and Julia as soon as she directed the conversation toward his new position at the winery.
Why he’d reacted so suspiciously at first to her offer had him baffled. The more he thought about it, however, the more he realized he probably had an even bigger issue of being under her employ than he’d earlier imagined.
For his entire adult life, Diego had made his own decisions. Lived his life the way he chose to without the benefit of anyone’s demand or influence. It wasn’t only because of his male pride, but the pride of being a Mexican immigrant. He wanted to accept the new position, but at the same time he didn’t want anyone for a moment to think he was using his charm to dictate Julia’s actions.
But dammit! He deserved to be a partner at the winery, yet he doubted if anyone else would see things that way. After all, it was far too easy for the people of Salmon Run to assume the worst of the Hispanic workers here from Mexico. During the few years he lived in this valley, Diego had experienced this first hand.
However, that was a different matter entirely. Julia was merely being generous, and he blew it by his hesitancy. And now he was hesitating again. The more Diego thought about it, the more he wanted to end this evening with the woman he loved underneath him, her legs wrapped around his waist, her hands gripping his muscled arms. As he drove down the winding road toward the compound, he noticed her living room light was still on.
He slammed his truck into its parking slot, jumped out of the cab, and sprinted full speed up the hill. The furious Latin-rhythms he heard emanating from her piano matched the beat of his own heart. When he finally reached her door, he loosened his tie and finger combed his hair.
~
She heard the gentle knocking at her door and didn’t think twice. She knew who it was and what the rest of the evening bode for both her and this man whom she desired in every way possible. Nothing could stop her now as she ran toward the man who if she wasn’t mistaken was here to save her from herself, to take her both body and soul.
As soon as she flung the door open, Diego forced his way in and pushed her flat against the wall. With his body pressing up to her, he placed both of the hands on either side of her loosened hair and kissed her deeply. When he came up for air, he gazed into her darkened eyes and smiled.
“I can’t wait any longer, Julia. Our time is now, so let’s take it for everything it’s worth!”
Julia was aware of her legs weakening as she moaned in submission.
Chapter 12
Julia felt the heat from Diego’s lips burn through her skin as his mouth made its way down her neck and onto her collar bone. She knew she was trembling but she couldn’t help it. It’d been well over a year since she had sex, and even at that it was never as hot as this.
Diego branded her with kisses as she worked to remove his coat and then his shirt. As she unclipped the cufflinks one at a time from his sleeves, Diego pulled the straps of her night gown down over her arms, exposing her breasts for his perusal.
“My God, Julia, your skin’s like silk. And your breasts are even softer than I’d imagined.” He held onto her arms as he used the tip of his tongue to flick the tight rosebud of her nipple. He then did the same thing to the other breast before suckling them both.
Julia leaned into him and felt her pulse accelerate between her legs. She gripped his hair each time she felt a bolt of sexual excitement hit her hidden moistness. Diego slowly peeled the rest of her nightgown off her body and knelt so as to be eye level with her tight blonde curls. He stared up at her as he gently kissed the most private place on her body.
“I love the way you smell, Julia. Like roses and lavender at the same time,” he said between kisses. “Hold on to my arms, darling.” He commanded as he picked up her left leg and draped it over his right shoulder. He kissed his way into her warm cleft, widening her slightly with his fingers so his tongue could have a straight shot to the tiny nub where all her nerve endings stood at attention.
She gasped as he once again flicked his tongue over the most sensitive part of her exposed womanhood. Her right leg lost all of its strength as she slammed into an orgasm which she up to now had never known was waiting for her. “Diego! Oh my God, don’t stop!”
He steadied her with his body as he continued to lathe her. As soon as the shuddering passed, her boneless body folded over the top of his. In one balletic movement, Diego picked her naked and spent body up and into his arms. “Julia, mi amor, I think it’s time for us to move into your bedroom. Tell me where take you.”
Julia snuggled against his bare chest as she motioned toward the hallway on the left. She loved the feel of her pale skin against his sweaty tanned chest. She felt like silly putty compared to Diego’s strong and muscled body.
Diego was also turned on by their differences. Julia was all woman, and he all man. As he carried her down the hall, he noted the weightlessness of this tall, curvaceous woman. Her body, nearly fragile in appearance, didn’t match the strength and ferocity of her sexual response to him. Diego relished the contradiction. His own tender feelings for Julia coming into contest with his desire to ravish her to the point of complete exhaustion.
He laid her gently on the top of her bed and warmly kissed her mouth. Julia moaned as he then placed soft little kisses about her breasts and stomach.
“I want to make love to you, Julia. I want to put myself all the way inside you and make you mine. Tell me you want me, Julia.”
She thought she’d go crazy with the careful respectfulness of this man. She smiled at her own desire to have him bury himself deep within her core. “Hurry up and take off your pants, Diego. You know I want you as much as you want me, you big tease!”
Diego smiled back and winked. “Yes, Señora. Whatever you wish is my command.”
Julia watched through the moonlit window as Diego shed his clothes. He was so virile in his nakedness. Rippled with muscle with a light dusting of body hair. She couldn’t help but allow her eyes the pleasure of studying his protruding phallus, thick with desire and expectation.
Diego noticed her staring at him and smiled. “Do you like what you see, Julia?”
“You’re beautiful, Diego. Had I known you were this sexy underneath your clothes, I would’ve made sure you finished what we started in the vineyard the other night,” she teased.
“We have each other for tonight, my darling. Everything I have is yours!” he answered as he moved toward the bed. Yet before Julia felt his body stretched over hers, she sat up and raised her palm.
“Wait, Diego. I want to take you in my mouth first. Come here.”
Diego stood at the edge of the bed next to her. Julia turned to face him, and as she did she placed her hands around his pulsating shaft. The tip glistened with a bead of moisture. She then leaned over to allow her tongue to move the liquid round the entire head.
It was now Diego’s turn to moan. “Oh, my God, Julia. Keep that up, and I’ll not last another second.”
Yet, keep it up she did. Julia no longer thought about herself, but only about how to pleasure this man who up to this moment had only thought to pleasure her. She encircled her lips around his manhood and began to pump him with her hands and her mouth. At the same time, she twirled her tongue around the silky head. She played with the slit and tasted the sweet and salty liquid of his seed.
Diego’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fought to control himself. “Ah, Julia. You’re killing me!” he announced with laughter. “Enough! Sufficiente! You vixen, you!”
With the strength of his intention, Diego gently pushed Julia so she lay on her back. Carefully, he pulled her toward the middle of the bed before situating himself between her legs. Once again she lifted her left leg and wrapped it around his shoulder as Diego carefully but with determination entered her. His breath hitched as he felt the tight harbor of her vagina squeezing him into the safety of her core.
“I’ve dreamed of this moment for longer than I’m ashamed to say,” Diego whispered as he glanced down into Julia’s inviting face.
“Then take me now, Diego. Take me with everything you have. Please!” Julia begged.
He plunged himself within her all the way to the hilt of his shaft, paused a moment to take in the fullness of his pleasure, and then slowly retreated. Again and again he repeated the same action, each time deeper and faster than the first.
Julia closed her eyes and with each thrust felt her body build in anticipation. Diego whispered to her in Spanish, none of which Julia knew word for word but understood the meaning all the same.
“Open your eyes, Julia,” he finally said in English. “I want you to keep your eyes fixed on mine.”
She did as he asked and immediately saw all the pleasure she was experiencing reflected in Diego’s eyes. With her hands gripping Diego’s muscled arms, she hung on for dear life.
“Yes! Yes! Oh my God, Diego! Yes!” Julia repeated in response to the escalating movement of Diego’s body moving in and out of hers. As she stared into Diego’s strong yet vulnerable face, every ounce of embarrassment evaporated from her consciousness. All she wanted in this moment was to be completely open to his love.
Diego’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest as their shared sexual intensity mounted. With each thrust he worked to convey the depth of his feelings for her—feelings which Diego hadn’t experienced to this level before in his life. My God, I’d even take a bullet for this woman.
No longer able to hold back, Julia screamed out his name one last time as Diego filled her with his release. They pumped and pushed and thrust their bodies until they’d finally both wrung themselves completely dry.
After several seconds, Diego made a move to lie beside her, but Julia stopped him. “Don’t leave me yet, Diego. Stay inside me for a minute or two longer.”
Diego raised himself up onto his haunches and stared into her eyes as she lovingly rubbed her hands up and down his moist back. “I’d stay like this forever if I could. You take my breath away, Julia.”
She smiled back up at him, allowing tears to form in her eyes. “And you take mine away as well, Diego.”
He then lowered his head and kissed her with such feeling she thought she’d disappear into the bed. She returned his passion for passion and soon felt him grow hard within her once again. Julia loved how she could make Diego’s body respond to her deepest wish.
Diego ended the kiss by whispering against her cheek. “You have me in your spell, Julia. I want you again, mi amor.”
She smiled as her tears rolled down her face and onto Diego’s lips. “Already?”
He laughed. “Sí, already. And always, my lovely Julia.”
The two lovers gyrated slowly and gently in rhythm to the night, both hearts beating in response to the other. The softness of her body commanded the most tender of reactions from Diego, while the strength and hardness of his body begged for Julia’s repeated gifts of submission. They continued like this through the night, sleeping in each other’s embrace, waking only to make love once again.
Julia was certain now. She was in love with this man. So deeply and thoroughly that it scared her while at the same time gave her an immense sense of comfort. Neither Diego nor Julia said the word love directly, but they both felt it as their bodies continued to move to the music of their captivated hearts.
~
James woke up the following morning, startled to realize he was locked up in a cell at the county jail. As he lay on the lower of two bunks, he tried to recall how it was he got there. Nothing came to mind.
Speaking of mind, his head hurt one hell of a lot more than his back, and his back was plenty sore. He tried to turn over to his side, but the stiffness of his body from sleeping on the hard surface of a two-inch thick mattress took its toll on his morning attitude.
Ever so carefully, James managed to sit up, and when he did, his head hit the bottom edge of the bunk above his own.
“Shit!” he said as much to himself as to whoever may be listening. His stomach lurched, forcing whatever was inside to travel up his esophagus. Quickly, he swallowed it all back down in an attempt to exercise some kind of control over himself. It didn’t take a genius to see he was at an all-time low.
The town lawyer in jail? You’ve truly screwed yourself over this time but good, old buddy!
When James wasn’t pointing his anger at Julia or Diego or even Gayle for that matter, he tended to dump it all on himself, and with good reason. His practice had diminished to nearly nothing. He owed thousands of dollars to the Nooksack River Casino. He was in debt up to his ears. He’d more than likely destroyed whatever was left of his marriage as a result. In the past, Robert was his punching bag, but now that he was gone, James had no one but himself to pummel.
He was about to call out to see if anyone was in the front office when Sheriff Barbara opened up the access door and marched down the short aisle before stopping outside his jail cell door.
“Good morning, James. Sleep well?”
“How did I get here? You know you can’t keep me locked up like this. I haven’t broken any law,” James snarled.
Barbara smiled. “Well, aren’t we Mister Grumpy Pants today? What’s the matter? Had too much to drink last night? Is that it?”
James’s face turned red, partially out of anger, but also out of sheer embarrassment. “What I do is nobody’s business but my own.”
“That’s not all together true, now is it?” The sheriff’s demeanor suddenly shifted to something much more foreboding. “According to Adriana Sabatini, you made quite a scene in her restaurant last night. That’s bad not only for her business, but for yours as well, James.”
James felt chagrined, but he wasn’t going to let the sheriff in any way catch on what he was feeling.
“So?” Good God, James, you sound like a petulant child!
“So, you also have a wife and two children.” Barbara paced. “Now, I don’t think it’d be all that hot for your marriage, let alone for your standing as father-of-the-year in the eyes of your kids, if the three of them knew you were now the town drunk.”
James let out a snide chuckle. “I’m hardly the town drunk!”
Barbara gazed directly into James’s eyes. “How about the town ignoramus? The town loser? The town gambler?”
James blanched as his stomach once again lurched. “What do you mean by that? You don’t know what you’re talking about!”
The sheriff stepped back and crossed her arms in front of her. “Well, as a matter of fact I do. My deputies and I have been doing a little research lately. We’ve come up with some very interesting information. Would you like to hear what we discovered?”
“No!” James turned his face away from Barbara’s stare.
“I think you do. After speaking with Charles Anderssohn at the bank and Robbie George at the casino, it appears you’re in some pretty desperate financial straits. Yes?”
“Dammit, let me out of here, Barb! You’ve no right to hold me and you know it.” James was scrambling, and the knowledge of that fact made him even sicker to his stomach.
Yet James was right and he knew Barbara knew it, as well. Barbara had every intention of letting him go, he reasoned, but not until he squirmed for a little bit longer.
“All right, James,” she finally said. “I’ll get busy on your exit paperwork, but in the meantime, you have a visitor.”
James’s headache was worsening by the minute. “I’m not interested in seeing anyone, thanks all the same.”
Sheriff Barbara smiled mischievously. “Oh, I think you’ll want to see this person.” She turned and walked back toward the access door. Before she turned the knob, Barb glanced back at the miserable man sitting behind bars. “And by the way, James, good luck. You’ll need it.”
The door slammed, and James winced. God, could this day get any worse?
The door then opened again. Immediately, he knew. There stood the last person on earth he needed to see at this moment. “Oh shit!” he said out loud for the second time that morning.
“Hello, James,” said the woman. “I think it’s time we had a talk.”
James could no longer keep from throwing up. As he ran toward the hole in the floor, he felt tears come to his eyes for the first time in years. After retching twice, he grabbed the edge of the sink to steady himself. Quickly, he splashed cold water on his tear-stained face. Slowly, he raised his head to look in the mirror above the sink. Seeing the woman’s worried reflection, James finally spoke.
“I’m sorry, Gayle. I’m truly very, very sorry.”
“I know, James. I know.” Gayle saw a wooden stool standing against the wall several cell units down. Without saying another word, she ambled over to retrieve it and set it down in front of James’s jail cell door.
