Summer Wine: Taste of Seduction, Book 1 (6 page)

“I love it, as you know. There’s no such thing as enough lavender.”

Angus considered the plant. “Maybe. I know it thrives in the Hunter, but I’d have to investigate how it’ll interact with the vines. It may change the soil and affect the way the grapes grow.”

Angus’s gaze flickered from Lily to Blake, and then to the spot where their bodies touched. It stayed there for a second, before landing on Blake’s arm, the one resting on Lily’s shoulder, his hand inches away from her breast.

Angus pressed his lips together, then turned and headed to the place he’d indicated the pergola should stand.

Lily watched him walk away. “God, he’s gorgeous. I’d love to paint him some day.”

“Naked?”

She rolled her eyes at Blake. “Have I ever painted anyone naked?”

“No. But you obviously like him. And he has the body for it.”

“Actually, I was thinking I’d like to paint him shirtless. Working in the garden. But nude’s good too.” She raised an eyebrow. “Interesting suggestion, by the way. Especially coming from you.”

“You blush when you look at him, Lil. And laugh to yourself. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize you like him.”

“I blush when I look at you too. And laugh. Doesn’t mean I’ve ever painted you naked.”

He threw her a cocky grin. “Would you like to?”

Yeah, right. As if he’d ever have the self-control to sit around, nude, with Lily’s gaze on him for hours. At least making light of the situation helped ease the ache in his balls.

“Sure,” she teased right back. “Just as soon as you tell me you love me.”

The words were there. On the tip of his tongue. Christ knew he wanted to say them. Always wanted to say them. But confessing his true feelings for Lil would also be deceiving her. Because no matter how much he loved her—and his love went way beyond the bond they’d built as friends—he could never give her everything she needed. He could never give her one hundred percent of himself.

The fact that he’d responded so viscerally to Angus reinforced that intrinsic knowledge.

Yeah, Blake wanted Lily with a desire so raw and basic, it hurt being around her. But the love of a woman would never meet all of his needs. As much as he ached for her, he also desired the touch of a man. One lover could not fulfill him, and he would never pretend to himself or to Lil that it could.

He loved her too much to lie, and confessing the truth—that he liked men and women, and that she alone would never be enough for him—would only hurt her. It was easier to avoid the subject.

“Telling you I love you now would be a waste of good breath. You only have eyes for Angus.”

“Can you blame me?”

“No.” But he could feel a surge of irrational jealousy.

“Hah.” She raised her fist in triumph.

“Hah, what?”

“I knew you’d understand.”

“And how did you know that?”

Lily slipped out from under his arm and patted his cheek tenderly. “Because, my dear and trusted friend, I’m not the only one. One need just glance in your direction to realize you too only have eyes for Angus.”

With that, she waltzed off across the garden to join the other man, leaving Blake gaping at her back.

Shit. She was too damn perceptive for her own good. But then she was also wrong. Blake didn’t only have eyes for Angus. He had eyes for her too.

Back at the lodge, Angus sat himself down at one of those couches by the window he’d eyed earlier and sketched a couple of ideas. No, he hadn’t decided to take the job. And certainly Blake wouldn’t hire him without agreeing on what needed to be done. But his head was overflowing with thoughts, and he wanted to get them down on paper.

Blake headed back to the winery to chat to the winemakers, and Lily retrieved her iPad from the car and sat close by, reading. Sharing downtime with Lily was cozy. And easy. He didn’t feel the need to make conversation. He did, however, feel her presence in his gut. She sat close enough that every time he inhaled he caught a whiff of her unique scent. More than once, he stopped sketching simply to look at her curled up on the couch beside him, lost in her book. Damn woman had his mouth watering and his dick aching. He intended to do something about it. Soon.

The problem was, the damn man seemed to have the same effect on him. How the hell did he kiss Lily again—without wanting to kiss Blake too?

The ache persisted through the rest of the afternoon and well into dinner.

They prepared steaks and salad and ate once again in the dining room. Conversation flowed freely, like it had at lunch, and the more time Angus spent with Blake and Lily, the more he liked them.

And the more he wanted them. Both. At the same time and separately. Which just fucked with his head.

He couldn’t deny his relief when, after dinner, Blake excused himself to go shower. Angus had been aroused the whole goddamned day, and he wanted Lily in his arms, now. Fuck knew how she’d respond to him, what with being at Blake’s hotel and spending the day with the man she loved, but he was about to find out.

“Lily?”

“Hmmm?” She looked up from the sideboard where she’d been packing away clean cutlery.

He walked toward her.

She closed the drawer and stretched lazily. “Need something?”

Angus didn’t pretend his gaze was focused anywhere other than her chest. “Yep. I’m curious.”

“About what?”

“I’m wondering if being here, in Blake’s hotel, will affect the way you respond to my kiss.”

She laughed, a soft, feminine laugh that he felt deep in his groin. “Hmmm. Good question. Now you have me wondering too.”

He regarded her for a long time. “Wanna hear something crazy?”

She nodded.

“I get it. I get what you like about him.”

She raised a brow. “Blake?”

“Yeah.”

“You do?”

Angus chose his words carefully. He wasn’t going to lie to her, wasn’t going to deny his attraction, but neither was he going to scare her off by spelling out exactly how attracted he was to Blake. “He’s a good guy.”

A gleam filled her eyes. “He’s a good-looking guy too.”

“I s’pose.”

“And he has a great ass.”

“S’pose,” Angus agreed.

It was Lily’s turn to regard him for a long time. “You like him too.”

He nodded. Yeah, he liked the guy. A lot.

The gleam in her eyes turned speculative. And hot. Jesus, the way she looked at him now? Fucking sexy.

“I’m curious about something else,” she murmured.

He raised a brow in question.

“I wonder if being this close to Blake will affect the way
you
respond to
my
kisses.”

Observant woman. Did she know he wanted to explore his response to Blake’s kisses too? “Only one way to find out.”

Before she could draw the conversation out any further, he hauled her into his arms, and molded his mouth to hers. Their lips met in an instantly heated toying of tongues.

Jesus, she tasted good. Better than any beer ever could. Felt good too, pressed against him like this, all soft and feminine.

His dick grew so hard it hurt.

She squashed her breasts into his chest, her pert nipples poking at him. Her waist felt tiny beneath his hands, and her mouth made his skin prickle with desire. It pulled tight across his bones, sensitive as hell to her slightest touch. And Lily was not shy to touch.

Angus broke the kiss only to drag his lips across her neck. Her silken skin, so damn soft, tasted almost as good as her tongue. Sweet, like the fragrance she wore, yet a little salty too.

She groaned in his arms, the sound vibrating across his lips. He had an insane need to bite her, mark her, make her his. But doing so would hurt her. Mar her perfection, and he refused to subject her to either injury. So he nibbled instead, grazing her throat with his front teeth. Loving her reaction, loving the soft groans.

Lily rubbed herself against his thigh. For long seconds, he had to close his eyes and grit his teeth, anything to stop himself from thrusting violently against her, easing the ache in his groin.

“Still wet, Duchess?”

She sighed softly. “Oh, ye— Hmmm, um, actually…I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Yeah, just like he didn’t know if he had an erection.

She closed her eyes and let her head drop back. “Don’t know,” she confirmed. “Perhaps you could check for me?”

Oh, fuck. He was so screwed.

“Perhaps I should,” he said gruffly. “A woman needs to know these things.”

It took every ounce of strength not to rip the dress from her body. Instead, he tugged at the zip at the back, pulling it down. Lily shook the dress over her arms, and it landed in a pile at her feet. She kicked it out of the way.

The woman was more stunning than he’d imagined, her body curvy and lush and made to be touched. Adored. Her breasts were high and firm, and her nipples were pebbled, pushing against the cups of the silky, light-pink bra that matched her panties. He let his hands wander over her satiny flesh, practically imbibing the feel of her.

This was a woman worth savoring. A woman worth taking his time over.

A woman in love with another man.

He slid his finger into her panties, his mouth finding her lips as his fingers discovered her pussy. Her very wet pussy.

His chest heaved in satisfaction, brushing against her breasts. “I’ve checked, Duchess.” Christ, talking was hard in his current state.

“And?”

“I can’t tell for sure. Gonna have to keep my hand there a little longer.”

She sighed dramatically. “Take as much time as you need.”

He did, stroking her plump, damp folds as their lips met in a long, slow kiss that scalded him all the way down to his toes.

“Okay,” he said a million years later. “I can confirm that you are still wet down there. Very wet.”

“I’m not convinced, Angus.”

“Then maybe I’ll just keep checking.”

“Good idea.” A flush stole over her cheeks.

“So, how does it feel, Duchess?” he asked. “Kissing another man in Blake’s hotel?”

She peeked at him from beneath heavy lids, her cheeks deliciously pink. “Truthfully?”

“Always.”

“Naughty.” Lily rubbed herself against him, her pussy lips slipping over his finger. “And freaking sexy.”

“You
look
freaking sexy.” Aroused and uninhibited was a good look on Lily.

“Ya know, I’d feel sexier if your finger was inside me.” She twisted her hips as though seeking to impale herself. “That way you’d be able to tell for sure if I really am wet.”

Angus hesitated a heartbeat. “I have a better method of checking.” He dropped to his knees, curled his hands around her thighs and urged her to widen her stance. Then he pushed her panties aside, took a minute to inhale her musky scent and ran his tongue along her slick folds.

Lily screamed.

He licked her again, relishing the hot liquid that spilled from her pussy.

“Angus!”

He spent a long moment licking her, tasting, gorging as she writhed before him. Then reluctantly, he stood once again and replaced his tongue with his finger. He leaned in and kissed Lily, pressing his chest against hers and slipping his tongue into her mouth, feeding her a sample of her own nectar.

“Proof positive,” he said at last, “that you are indeed very, very wet.”

She didn’t answer, just stared at him with huge eyes and nodded.

“Now I’m curious about something else.”

She rubbed herself sinuously against his hand. “And that is?”

“Just exactly whose finger you want inside you, Duchess. Mine…or Blake’s?”

She looked at him through passion-darkened eyes. “Kiss me again and I’ll tell you.”

Hell, who was he to refuse, especially when her lips were all pouty and parted, waiting for his tongue? As their mouths met, he softly tapped her clit. Her responding purr urged him on.

Lily kissed him harder, chasing his tongue with her own when he withdrew and inviting him back. For long moments, their mouths and lips tangoed as his hand played to his heart’s content.

She pushed up his shirt and flattened her palms against the skin on his back. Then her hands were all over him, trailing along his spine, clinging to his shoulders, edging back along his sides down to his waist. A frustrated moan escaped her throat, and she tore her mouth from his, dragged his T-shirt over his shoulders and dropped it to the floor.

Lily buried her nose in Angus’s neck. Her breath tickled, and the sensation of her skin against his sent another powerful surge of lust through him.

“Truth time, Duchess. Give me a name. Angus or Blake.”

She bit his neck, hard enough to hurt and gentle enough that desire jolted his dick. “Truth time,” she agreed and bit him again before answering, “Angus.” Then, a heartbeat later, “And Blake.”