Page 25 of Bottles & Blades

“I figure she was smart enough to warn me off without wasting the energy to bite, so it had to be a female snake.”

Her lips twitch.

I nudge the glass up again. “Drink and tell me what you taste.”

“Why?”

“I shared,” I remind her. “Now it’s your turn. Tit for tat, remember?”

A put-upon sigh, but her eyes are dancing. “You’re saying that I get a story about a rattlesnake and you get to hear me talk about your wine through my limited palate?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Those eyes dance again. “Works for me.” She takes another sip, exhales softly.

I lift my brows.

“Not just berries, butblackberries.”

I nod.

“And definitely those notes of vanilla and chocolate and—” Her face screws up. “Something earthy like…lavender?”

I nod again. “Good, buttercup.”

She drinks again, this time without me prompting her, and I watch as she concentrates, allowing the wine to sit on her tongue, inhaling again from the glass. “It’s faint,” she says softly. “I almost can’t place it.”

“You will.”

Our stares connect, hold.

Heat blooms in her eyes, wrapping delicate phantom fingers around my cock and stroking once, twice,three?—

“Pepper.”

Ignoring my dick, I reach forward, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Good, baby.”

Pink on her cheeks, but she doesn’t comment on that, just says, “Tell me more about the rattlesnake.”

“There’s not much to say. It was a cool spring morning, and the sun was shining. She needed something to sit on while she warmed her cold blood. I gave her the space to do that and survived the day.”

She holds up the glass for me to sip from. “What do you taste?”

I don’t need to drink to know exactly what this wine tastes like.

But I do anyway, my cock twitching, knowing that my lips are where hers were only a few moments before.

I sip, allowing the complex flavor to dance over my tongue. “I taste the spice of the black pepper, the sweetness of plum, the tang of blackberries, the earthy notes lavender and the bite of dark chocolate.”

“All of that?”

I shrug, pass her back the glass. “I’ve had lots of practice tasting it.”

“I’m still impressed.”

“I’ll let my vintner know.”

“Who’s that?”

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