The Winemaker

by Charmaine Pauls

  That same sense of protection overwhelmed him once more as he studied her from his parent’s veranda. Now, her face looked fresh. Her olive skin glowed. Other than a sliver of lip-gloss on her full lips, she didn’t wear any make-up. Her shoulder length auburn hair curled madly around her high cheekbones. Silver chains adorned with lightning bolts dangled from her ears.

  She didn’t notice the two men watching her. She was searching for something in a clutch bag. Finally, she withdrew a piece of paper. When she bent to give it to the driver through the window, Etán caught a better glimpse of her upper thighs. He didn’t miss a thing—not the rounding of her hips, or the way it tapered off to her waistline, or the soft curve of her breasts under the masculine shirt.

  He noticed the self-assured way in which she flipped large, white-rimmed sunglasses over her eyes. His nostrils flared. He could smell it again, her fear. It wasn’t simply being afraid of handcuffs or taking a ride in a police vehicle. It was something deeper. It had the fragrance of burnt wood.

  Again, her scent nearly took his breath away. It had never happened to him before. Not with a woman. Wine maybe. Whenever he reached that perfect balance of an intricate bouquet, he would be breathless for an instant, knowing he had reached perfection. As for her, she had perfection in her skin and on her lips. It made him want to taste her. He quickly checked himself. Those sensations were off limits. It was somewhere he had no intention of going.

  He watched with hidden feelings and narrowed eyes as she conversed with the driver. Zenna was a mystery to him because of how she stirred his senses, but there was also a deeper secret to her. His mother was right. She needed protection. He knew it, instinctively, and his mother knew more than she liked to share. Ana had seen something, one of her visions, but for some reason, she held back the information. It didn’t happen often that his mother held something from any one of the family members. They were a close-knit family, and they protected each other and their secrets. It made him wonder.

  Luca’s whistle pulled Etán from his thoughts. “Now, that’s a piece of work.”

  Etán noticed his brother’s eyes, too, roamed over Zenna as she got into the taxi and slammed the door.

  “That’s a girl I don’t mind keeping an eye on. In that outfit, we’d make the perfect pair, don’t you think, Bro?”

  Etán tensed more. Ensuring he kept the unfounded irritation he felt at Luca’s expressed interest in Zenna carefully pushed to the back, he uncrossed his arms and straightened.

  “Watch it, Luca.” He was too familiar with his brother’s weakness for women. “Mom said to protect her, not to get into her pants. Anyway, you don’t have to come if you have somewhere else to be. Mom said you only dropped in to get your old camera.”

  Luca grinned. “I think I’ll go with you. I’m a big boy, Etán. I don’t need Mom to tell me how to conduct my sex life.”

  Luca got up and shoved his hand into his pocket. He glanced over his shoulder to where the cab pulled away. “There are a lot of emotions there.” He nodded toward the disappearing car. “Anger, humiliation, hurt, confusion, but mostly fear.”

  Etán kept his eyes on the road. “Figures,” he said darkly. “What was she thinking with a scumbag of a boyfriend like that? What kind of man asks a girl to marry him, to immigrate, all the while cheating on her, and then leaves her the minute she sets foot on foreign soil?”

  He also felt like punching the idiot who had moved in next door three weeks ago, the pretty boy he had seen walking away from Zenna last night. He wanted to do an awful lot of punching all of a sudden.

  “I see Mom informed you well.”

  Etán shrugged. “I heard them too. Sound travels far in this neighborhood.”

  Luca drained the last of his beer and threw the empty can into the garbage bin. “Well, my guess is she’s heading for town. Looking like that, she’s going to find herself some club or bar in which to drown her sorrows. I’m not sure I’m going to enjoy the kind of place that calls for an outfit like that.” He smiled boyishly. “I almost had my jaw broken last week in a bar brawl. Not sure I’m ready for more.”

  Luca pulled his motorbike keys from his jacket pocket, dangling them toward Etán. “Shall we go?”

  Etán smiled wryly. “We’ll take a taxi. I’ve sent the driver to pick Mom up from her charity event. I think wherever we’re headed, I’m going to need a drink, and neither of us are drinking and driving.”

  Luca shrugged. “Yes, my responsible brother. I take it you got her taxi’s registration number?”

  Etán didn’t need to answer. He took his mobile phone from his pocket and pressed the speed dial for the taxi control center to determine Zenna’s destination. His father knew the manager, and the taxi magnate owed them one.

  Almost an hour and a half later, Luca shook his head as Etán paid the driver. “I told you, man.”

  Etán looked at the name that flashed in neon letters above the metal doors. Bodega. Of all the places she had to choose. How did she even know about this place? It was a dodgy club frequented by bikers and gangsters. A girl alone in a place like this. She could have been there for more than an hour already. It had taken the taxi boss too long to get her drop off address. In a hurry to get inside, he nudged Luca forward.

  A few seconds after Luca rang the doorbell, a pair of blue eyes appeared in the peep slot. Etán left the talking to Luca who requested their entry, but the blue eyes traveled suspiciously up and down Etán’s formal attire. It wasn’t before Luca mentioned a name that they heard the latch lift and saw the door open. The blue eyes belonged to a bouncer clad in black, a suit not that much different from the very one Etán wore. The baldheaded giant nevertheless glared at Etán’s tie and jacket again.

  “Is there a problem?” Etán said.

  “Don’t get many customers in suits,” said the giant. “Are you a cop?”

  “You’re wearing a suit, although a badly tailored one. Are you a cop?”

  Before the bouncer had time to digest Etán’s remark, Luca placed a roll of bills in his palm. His thumb pointed over his shoulder at Etán. “He’s with me.”

  The bouncer pocketed the money and nodded. “It’s not my job to judge, anyway.”

  “Many girls tonight?” Luca asked, sounding casual.

  The man shrugged. “A few. There will be more later. If you know any, there’s no cover charge or security check for the ladies. The boss is trying to fill the place up with more of the female species. Attracts better business.” He winked.

  They made their way down a narrow staircase into the large bar. A few tables and chairs were scattered in one corner and an old-fashioned jukebox stood on the opposite side.

  Etán lightly touched Luca’s arm, motioning toward the bar. Zenna sat on a stool, facing the chrome and glass shelves, a shot glass in front of her. Luca nodded and led the way to a table in a dark corner at the back. They slid onto a bench from where they had a view of the bar.

  Luca stretched his legs out in front of him. “What are we supposedly doing? Dragging her home by her hair or shall I simply walk up to her and seduce her?”

  Etán was sure not to give away anything of his emotions except for the warning look he shot Luca. “We do nothing. We stay put. Watch her.”

  A waitress came and took their order. Luca waited until she left before he spoke. “You’re taking Mother’s request to look out for our neighbor very seriously, aren’t you?”

  Etán fixed his gaze on Zenna, watching her down the clear liquor in her glass. “Even if I don’t have your empathic ability, I can sense she needs a hell of a lot of protection. I don’t even think she knows the trouble she’s getting into. Mom was right to tell us to look out for her. That doesn’t only apply to tonight.”

  “So, what is the plan of action?”

  Etán was quiet for a moment. He moved back on the bench, making himself comfortable. “Let her be. Let her get that creep out of her system.”

  The waitress returned and placed two beers on their t
able.

  Luca raised an eyebrow. “Sure you want to go there, Bro?”

  Etán’s only reply was to pull his beer closer and take a sip.

  “All righty.” Luca shrugged and rested his arms on the table. “This is going to get interesting. Don’t say I didn’t warn you if the shit hits the fan.” They saw Zenna down another shot. “What is she drinking, anyway?”

  Without wavering, Etán mumbled, “Pisco. Neat.”

  “You can smell it from here? You are better than what I thought, Bro.”

  Etán didn’t move his eyes from Zenna, but his lips quirked into a grin. “Even I’m not that good. There are too many other odors in here. Too difficult to distinguish. Too far.” He faced his brother, a rare smile of mockery on his lips. “I saw the bottle when the barman refilled her glass.”

  “You should have kept your mouth shut. I would have had a higher regard for you,” Luca teased.

  Etán didn’t answer as he returned his attention to Zenna. She said something to the barman, passed him a bill, and waited until he slid a pile of coins across the counter. She took some, and strode to the jukebox with cat-like steps. She looked right at home in the shady bar, but there was a part of her that didn’t fit, a piece of the puzzle that wouldn’t quite slide into place. Etán watched, thoughtful, as she deposited the coins, chose a song, and made for the dance floor.

  He almost lost his cool as he watched her. She was confident. She wasn’t by any means a good dancer, but she looked like she didn’t care, and like she was enjoying herself. He wasn’t the only one who noticed. A couple of men, sporting red leather jackets with a gang emblem, turned their heads her way.

  Luca sighed. “Uh oh.” He pointed discreetly at the table with the rowdy men. “This is what I was worried about.”

  Etán tensed like a lion preparing to pounce. He was a second too late to contain the anger that flooded his senses, because he noticed the sudden jerk of Luca’s head and his brother’s surprised expression.

  When they saw one of the men pushing back his chair and moving to the dance floor, both brothers got to their feet.

  Luca put his hand on Etán’s arm, holding him back. “Shouldn’t we let her have a bit of fun, first? She deserves to let her hair down after the morning she had.”

  Etán knew Luca had caught the whiff of his anger as well as the unjustifiable bout of jealousy that oozed from him. It didn’t happen often that his emotions slipped pass his defenses, so he forgave Luca his teasing.

  Luca grinned. “The fact you’re trying so hard to hide your feelings is actually funny.”

  “Sometimes you risk getting my fist on your nose. You know what’s going to happen. He’s going to touch her, and then I’m going to have to kill him.” Etán lightly shook Luca’s hand off and walked with deliberate strides in Zenna’s direction.

  “This is a first,” Luca called after Etán. “You’ve never displayed killer behavior before.”

  Etán cut the biker off, stopping short of Zenna. He smiled tightly. “Zenna.”

  He noticed Luca from the corner of his eye, flanking him to the left. If they had to, they could take the gangster and his cronies, but it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

  Etán turned to the stranger, shrugging. “Sorry. Girlfriend. She slipped out on her own. Needs a good spanking.”

  The man regarded them without budging.

  Zenna looked up at Etán, blinked, and then a slow smile curved her lips. “Etán Perez-Cruz,” she drawled.

  She was more than slightly intoxicated. Judging by the way she swayed and the slur of her tongue, she was quite drunk.

  “Well, hello neighbor. If it isn’t the man himself who told me I’m fat. What drags you to this side of town? Looking for overweight women to pick up?” She cocked her hip.

  For a moment, Etán truly had the urge to pull her over his lap and spank her, for putting words in his mouth and for placing herself in such a vulnerable position.

  Drinking was one thing. Teasing was a totally different ballgame. Didn’t she know what happened to women in places like these? You didn’t get to tease these men with a suggestive dance and then walked away. Even as the odor of Pisco reached his overly responsive senses, he smelled her pain, her confusion, and her humiliation. Underneath that, there was the faintest trace of fear, tucked away deeply, but still there.

  He raised his hands. “Surprise.”

  Keeping alert, he noted Luca was in conversation with the man who had turned and made his way back to his table. Luca slapped Zenna’s admirer on the back while another round of whiskeys arrived swiftly, no doubt, courtesy of Luca.

  Etán held a hand out to Zenna, nodding toward the table at the back where his beer was warming. “Shall we go sit down for a while?”

  She shook her head. “Oh, no. I’m staying here.” She pointed at the floor. “Here on this dance floor until I’ve gotten my ex out of my system.” She tapped one foot impatiently. “Now, hello and bye. Run along. You’re spoiling my fun.” She waved her hands at him. “You’re spoiling my song.”

  Etán took a step toward her. “This is not London where you can go to some shady bar, shake your pretty little booty, and get to go home alone.” He took another step closer. “Look around you, sweetheart,” he said, pointing at the gangsters’ table. “These men don’t like to be teased. By all means, I don’t want to spoil your fun, but you’re in way over your head. I’m taking you home.”

  She followed his gesture, and frowned. “Who’s that?”

  “Who?”

  “The blond guy watching us.”

  Etán turned. It was his turn to frown. “That’s Luca, my brother. Why?”

  “He just ... seems familiar.” She wiggled her shoulders as if she was shaking off a thought. She turned her attention back to him, her honey-brown eyes sparkling. “You brought reinforcements? What? I’m too fat, too heavy to be carried out of here by you alone?” She lifted her chin another inch. “Or are you alone not man enough to... How did you put it? Take me home? Is that what you call a shag here? Taking a girl home?”

  “Zenna,” his voice deepened, “you’re looking for trouble. You know what I meant when I said I’m taking you home.”

  “Oh,” she pouted her lips, “you want to take me home like a little stray dog, is that it? Well, I’m here to dance, and, unless I fall down dead, I’m not going anywhere, especially not with you.”

  She tried to turn from him with a quick swing of those luscious hips, the black netting of her underskirt rubbing ever so fleetingly against his thigh, and all Etán could do was feel his body tighten in response. He looked at her for a moment, off balance, but before she could turn completely on her heel, he hauled her back to him, his hand firm on her upper arm.

  “You don’t know this type of place or what you’re getting yourself into.”

  His face was close to hers, his lips tilted above the curve of hers, so that when she said, “Let go of me,” the heat stifling from her words fell like a strange caress over his mouth.

  He caught his breath, and froze, unable to move, unwilling to break the spell. A look of surprise filtered into her eyes, and before Etán could contemplate her next move, she stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him full on the mouth.

  If Etán was astounded by her action, he was more stunned by his reaction to her. He could lose himself in her kiss and her taste. He forced himself to remain still and suppressed the desire to open her lips with his tongue to taste the warm depths of her mouth. Instead, he stood motionless and felt her buttery soft kiss tease his lips, tearing him apart.

  Then her hand went to his tie, knotted into the fabric, and pulled him to her. They collided. He could feel her body pressing against his, careful, probing, like the quiet before the storm. Before he could stop it, he felt the explosion of forecasting senses shooting though his consciousness. Bodies crushed against one another, soft, flittering kisses becoming intense, the sharp indrawn sound of her breath. He was tumbling into a maelstrom of sensations, and it s
hocked him to his roots.

  Grabbing her firmly by her upper arms, he mustered enough willpower to push her away. Instead of meeting her resistance, he felt her body slackening in his grip, and when he looked into her eyes, he was just in time to see them closing and her body collapsing against his chest.

  “I think I’m going to be sick,” she said in a faint voice.

  “Shit.” Etán scanned the crowd for Luca as he held Zenna in his arms. When their eyes met, he could see the question in his brother’s. Luca nodded in the direction of their table. He said something to the whiskey drinking men before making his way back to meet Etán and Zenna.

  “I’m not drunk,” Zenna said as Etán picked her up and lifted her onto the bench.

  “How many Piscos did you have?” Etán smoothed her hair from her face.

  “Half the bottle,” she said meekly.

  When Luca laughed, Zenna looked up. “The other brother. Luca, is it? Did Etán bring you as reinforcement?” When Luca’s eyebrows shot up, she continued. “Yes, I know who you are. Did your brother tell you he said I was fat?”

  Luca looked at Etán, barely suppressing his laughter.

  “She’s got a good memory for a drunken woman,” Etán retorted. “I told her who you were only a few seconds ago, and, for the record, I never said she was fat.”

  “What are you boys doing here, anyway?” Zenna smiled prettily.

  Luca bent forward to get a better look at her face. “Etán is babysitting you.”

  “Shut up, Luca,” snapped Etán. “Get her some water.”

  “Yes, sir.” Luca laughed heartily as he walked off.

  “Oh, God, Etán,” Zenna’s voice had lowered to a whimper, “my life is a mess.”

  “I figured,” he said dryly, sliding into the bench next to her. “We’re just getting you some water, and then we’re out of here. You’re going to feel like death warmed over tomorrow.”

  “My boyfriend left me yesterday.” She looked at him as if a thought had just hit her. “Oh, yes, you were there. You insulted me about my thighs.”