The Harvest

The rain was of that rare, late summer variety with swollen, soaking raindrops, a mystical purple sky and a warm, soft breeze like sweet breath on the nape of your neck. Ellen watched from winery’s window, sipping her from her mug of peppermint tea. The water coursed down through the rows of grapes. Two weeks from harvest, the clusters were wrapped in their white gauze nettings to keep them safe from the elements and marauding deer. This season had brought the rain and she knew how lush and promising this crop of grapes would be. It was never easy to make wine in New England but this year would be banner for their small, rustic winery.

Suddenly Ray appeared outside, soaked through his clothes. He smiled and gestured for Ellen to join him outside, and then disappeared among with rows of grapes. Ellen wondered what great discovery her partner needed to share with her that could not wait until the rain had stopped. She had dressed for a corporate wine-tasting event earlier in the day and her pencil skirt, suit jacket and heels were not the preferred garb for tooling around in the fields.

She threw her jacket over her head and shoulders and rushed outside. Ellen had sprinted a third of the way through the vineyard before she decided to ditch her flimsy jacket. Her rain-filled heels were an even bigger encumbrance so she kicked them off as well. By the time she reached Raymond, she was barefoot and her thin pink dress shirt clung to her curves, soaking wet and nearly transparent.

Catching sight of her, Raymond’s demeanor changed. His smile abruptly faded and his face grew very serious. Alarmed, Ellen rushed the few remaining feet to his side.

“What’s happened? Did we get a breach?” She asked, the tension already knotting in her gut. A breach by deer or parasites at this late stage would spell disaster for the harvest.

“Where’s your coat?” He asked her, gazing at her, his eyes dripping down the front of her body, lingering on the dark outline of her lace bra.

“What? Where’s my what?” Ellen said, then more sternly, “Ray, what’s happened?”

Instead of answering her, Raymond took a step closer, his eyes blazed with what Ellen suddenly recognized as lust. Raymond reached out and grabbed her by the waistband of her shirt, pulling her roughly against him.

“You look so fucking good, all wet like this,” He growled into her neck, sending an explosion of shivers down her spine. He edged her back, deeper into the cover of the rows of grapes, already working her skirt up, gripping the tops of her bare thighs.

Ellen felt his teeth at her neck. She squirmed as he nipped her earlobes. He bent to suck the water from her collarbone before he tore her shirt off in one quick movement. She felt her bra slip free and then his mouth was on her breasts, suckling and kissing, drawing her nipples into tight, hard tips with his tongue. Her hands went to his zipper. Raymond was rock hard under his denim jeans. Before she could free him, Raymond pushed her hands away and pushed her down on her back in the wet earth. She covered her eyes with her arm to shield them from the heavy drops of falling rain as Ray’s hot mouth covered every wet inch of her exposed flesh.

Ellen’s heart raced with adrenaline. Ray’s urgency was a powerful aphrodisiac. Her entire body was responding, pulses of pleasure coursed through her, firing like electrical charges under her skin and in all her deepest places. Caught up in the tide of wanting, she cried out for Ray to strip her bare and fuck her.

Ray managed to work her flimsy thong far enough down her legs for Ellen to kick the garment free. He sank further down between her legs, spreading them wide, rubbing her mound and slipping his thick fingers inside her. She began to moan and mew, working her pussy against his hand, urging him to drive his fingers deeper into her folds.

She leaned back into the rain. The grapes were dark purple clusters hanging just above her head, rich and ripe. She could smell their intoxicating sweetness. Lying on the ground, soaked through to bone, stripped naked and spread open, she felt feral and free. Ray lowered his face to her sex, Ellen felt dangerously close to exploding with raw pleasure. When his tongue darted inside her, she began to writhe and shake. Again Ellen tried to reach for him, but he only pressed his mouth harder against her, sucked and nibbled at her clit until she was screaming and begging into the rain.
When she came, he reached up and grabbed her breasts in both hands, pulling her body down against his mouth to capture every ounce of her nectar.

Ellen was still quaking and rocking with her climax when Ray slipped inside her warm, wet depth. She clutched his slick back, felt the muscles clench under her fingertips. Ray drove into her, churning the earth to mud beneath their bodies. Soon his body went rigid and he threw his head back and howled as he exploded inside her.

Mud-caked and exhausted, Ray and Ellen lay entwined, their harvest, ripe with promise, hanging over their heads.

“I thought it was deer.” Ellen finally spoke, slowly getting to her feet.

“Deer?” Ray asked, looking perplexed.

The rain had given way to a light mist. Ellen briefly wondered how they must look, standing there in the middle of the field, both stark naked now and covered in mud.

“Yes, I thought you called me out here because of deer. Why did you call me out here?”

Ray stood, smiling for a moment.

“You know, I really don’t remember…but this was as good a reason as I could imagine” he said.

He reached out and plucked a dark red grape from cluster and offered it to her.

Ellen leaned over and took it from his fingers with her lips, crushing it between her tongue and the roof of her mouth. The sweet liquid stained her teeth the color of Cabernet and coursed down her throat in a warm rush.

Oh yes, this year’s harvest was going to be banner…