by Rachel Angel
“We will never be together.”
“You don’t understand,” Darren said.
“Don’t understand? You’re standing here naked and two girls who I thought were my best friends are probably getting dressed right now from participating in whatever type of kinkfest you’re all into and I don’t understand? I think I understand pretty well, Darren.”
“Look, I’m so glad that you like it rougher than I’d known, but I still need more than that. I didn’t want to scare you. I swear this will never happen again if you let me be a bit rougher with you. You’d look so good, babe. I’d give you everything and please you to no end. Can you go further for me? Please. We owe it to each other, to us.”
“I cannot believe what I’m hearing,” Taryn said. She reached down and pulled her ring off and chucked it, but Darren caught it.
His pleads suddenly turned to seething words. “Listen here, princess. I am your knight in shining armor and the only thing that’ll save your family from losing their vineyard and all they’ve worked for. Without me, they are nothing and you are nothing too.”
“We’ve been just fine without your family and your money and we can find a way to make things work.”
“Right, your parents are getting old and your brothers don’t know crap. They are all deposable, but you Taryn, you’re not. You are the brains, talent, and personality behind your family’s vineyard and while you may want to be the nice girl, you know that’s true. You just don’t have the ability to say it so cut the crap and marry me or you’re doomed…and your family.”
“Never!” Taryn shouted and spun on her heels to walk away.
Darren grabbed her arm and turned her back around. “You don’t ever talk to me that way. You will not be disobedient with me, got it?”
Taryn glared at Darren and in an instant she spat at him, landing one right square in his eyes. He raised his hand up and began to whip it forward to slap her, but it stopped in mid-air.
“Don’t even think about it,” a voice said. The owner of that voice had Darren’s hand in his and it was twisted, making Darren’s face tense up from the pain.
Sylvain.
Taryn didn’t know what to think. She was obviously glad to have someone there to witness what was happening and help her out, but the contrast of seeing naked and pathetic Darren next to Sylvain, who was in his impeccably groomed dress slacks and a nice casual shirt was startling. They were definitely two different men.
Darren turned around and saw that his wrist was being held by Sylvain, the man who had not allowed him into the BBBBC. His anger immediately turned toward that rejection, something that he’d been embarrassed and humiliated by because he’d gone so far as to tell his friends he was a part of the BBBBC before getting rejected. To add insult to injury he’d also been fucking his ex-fiancé for the past month. It angered him further and he took his free arm and tried to swing at Sylvain’s face and connect a punch to his jaw.
It wasn’t hard for Sylvain to stop him since he had one arm that was unavailable and he was naked plus slow. What a pathetic sight it must have been. Sylvain responded by leaning back so the punch didn’t connect and then responding by slugging Darren in the ribs.
Darren grunted and began to flail about. Sylvain was angry, but the calmness that came from his street smarts was really showing through at that moment. As if he decided that he’d finally had enough of the naked jackass trying to assault him he clocked him one across the jaw and knocked him out cold. Darren’s body slumped to the ground and then Sylvain turned to Taryn, who was shocked and shaken, honestly not knowing what to say or think about the situation.
“Growing up on the streets and with nothing provides certain advantages in those types of situations,” Sylvain said. He sounded nervous. “However, it doesn’t particularly provide intelligence when it comes to letting the most amazing woman you’ve ever met leave you without so much as an attempt to stop her. Not that I didn’t want to.”
Taryn still couldn’t talk and was having a seriously hard time processing what had just happened to her. It was surreal. “I see I’ve left you speechless so just let me take advantage of that. I am mad about you, Taryn Summers, and I hope that you will allow me to show you that I am a man worthy of being with you; that I am capable of coming to terms with my past demons and being a man who can give you the future you’d like, including a family if that is part of your desires.”
“Really?” was all Taryn could get out of her mouth.
“Really,” Sylvain said. He walked over to her and hugged her tightly and caressed her face. “I’ve been going nuts this past week. I should never have let you leave. It was cowardly, but if you are okay with it, I’ll never do that again. I promise. I just want to explore where this thing takes us and what all of the crazy newfound emotions I have are. Out of all the adventures I’ve been on, this is one that I’m most terrified to take.”
“I’m always up for an adventure with you, Mr. Richard,” Taryn replied, kissing him softly on the lips.
In the background, Darren got up and was mumbling, calling Taryn a bitch and telling Sylvain that he’d be hearing from his attorney. Without skipping a beat, Sylvain turned around and pulled out his cell phone, saying that he’d better take some pictures for evidence.
It was all that needed to be said and Darren knew there was nothing he could do. He stormed off back into the offices of his family’s winery. The workers that had gathered around turned their heads, trying not to look directly at their naked boss.
Taryn started laughing and turned back to Sylvain. “You are one amazing man, Sylvain.”
“So, you are glad to see me?”
“Your timing couldn’t have been better. Now, it looks like I have a few calls to make to everyone so they know that there is definitely no wedding tomorrow; which means that my family is free and they’ll likely be very interested in meeting you.”
“Family already? Bring it on,” Sylvain replied. “These past days have been miserable. Not having you around has made me realize a great many things.”
“You’re not the only one,” Taryn said. “How did you get here by the way?”
“My rental car is over there.”
“How did you know I was here?”
“I stopped by the rehearsal spot and they told me.”
“I bet you have my friends wondering what’s going on. In fact, I’d bet I have a few messages and texts on my phone.”
“From them and from me.”
Taryn and Sylvain got into her car, leaving the rental there temporarily, and she made her way home to the vineyard, ready to tell her parents in the most delicate way possible that winery merger or not, there was not going to be any merger between Taryn Summers and Darren Stephens.
Chapter 20
The look on Taryn’s family’s face was priceless when they saw her pull up to their house on the vineyard. A tall stunningly handsome man got out of her passenger seat and they immediately recognized who he was—Sylvain Richard. They knew something was up, but didn’t understand it. All they knew they’d learned from the very irate and nasty parents of Darren, calling Taryn a despicable human being who’d broken their son’s heart yet again.
“Hi,” Taryn said to her parents. “Mom and Dad, I want you to meet Sylvain Richard.”
“Nice to meet you, Sylvain,” Taryn’s mom said. Her dad said a simple hello and then extended his hand to shake it.
Soon after, Taryn’s brothers, Max and Tanner came up too and received their introduction. They were cautiously friendly with Sylvain, clearly showing that they didn’t trust him.
“Well, I am sure you’ve heard that I had to call off the wedding again,” Taryn began. She knew it was best to just get everything out in the open and relieve the awkward moment that was clearly present. “This time it is for good. I just…found out some things about Darren that proved to be unacceptable for me. The details are embarrassing and I won’t get into them, but I can assure you that you’d probably be hap
pier not knowing.”
“I actually already know…got a text from a bud who works over there,” Tanner said. “He’s one sick puppy, that one. Who would have thought it?”
Taryn smiled at Tanner, always the bold one. “I wish I would have known a bit sooner, I’ll admit, Tanner.”
“What happened?” Taryn’s mom asked.
Tanner leaned over and whispered in her ear, making her instantly blush. All she said was, “Oh my.”
“Why don’t we all go sit out back. Dinner’s almost ready,” Taryn’s mom said, changing the subject.
“Great idea,” her dad said. Then he turned to Sylvain. “Sylvain, what would you like to drink?”
“I’m sure that whatever you are all having will be more than satisfactory to me,” he said.
Taryn butted in and told them to pull out one of the white wines she was particularly proud of from the cellar.
“Sylvain, would you mind following my husband out? I’d like to have just a minute with Taryn,” her mom asked.
“Not at all. I definitely understand.”
The second Sylvain was out of ear shot she leaned in and gave her daughter a hug. “I’m so sorry, Taryn. We had no idea what they were up to and feel terrible about it.”
“You know?”
“Word got out. As you know, you had quite the audience. Thank goodness your friend, Sylvain, happened to show up when he did,” she said. Small tears formed in her eyes.
“Mom, I’ll be okay, I promise.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, at first I didn’t want Sylvain to be the one, but he is and I couldn’t be happier. Don’t worry, I’ll take it slow. Just him showing up is a big advancement. He truly is an amazing man, but like all of us, he has a few things to work through. Everything will be fine.”
“I’m not worried about everything. I’m worried about you.”
Taryn grabbed her mom’s shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “Mom, I will be fine. I know I will. I’ve learned a lot about what I’m capable of. This is a good thing and now I’m back at the winery to get it back on track.”
“That might be challenging. We are in some mess and now matters are only worse. I don’t care though. I’d rather lose the vineyard than to have you marry such a disgusting, deceiving person.”
Taryn laughed. Her mom was so protective of her. The two made their way out to the back porch and found Sylvain, her dad, and her brothers engaged in some conversation about the wine business and it quickly turned to sports.
Throughout the dinner Sylvain was very attentive to Taryn and brilliantly charming to her parents. Taryn’s dad was the one who’d always trusted her to make the right decisions the most her entire life and she was glad to see that he was at least giving Sylvain a chance. They’d all learned of her heartbreak and knew it was the reason she’d ended up back at home, yet despite his reputation it was clear that Sylvain cared about Taryn.
Max was ready to put Sylvain to a different type of test after dinner. “So, you shoot hoops, Sylvain?”
“I do.”
“Up for a game.”
“Sounds like a plan. I haven’t played for a while, but I think I still got it in me.”
Max salivated at his words, thinking it made him an easy target and if there was one thing he enjoyed it was winning at sports. Taryn smiled, seeing how Sylvain had lulled her oldest brother into a false sense of security. He’d be in for a surprise, she suspected.
Twenty minutes later they were out on the basketball court, with Sylvain in his work-out clothes and Max and Tanner in theirs. The three began to move back and forth, out-maneuvering each other and trying to slide by to get in on the basket. Tanner scored first and made a little celebration move and then Max scored next, doing a more dramatic victory move.
Sylvain laughed at the two and asked what number they were playing to. Twenty was the number to reach first. Sylvain proceeded to score ten points in a row that were unanswered and it was then that Max and Tanner got his number, knowing that he knew his basketball pretty well, even if it had “been awhile”.
Max and Tanner scored some more points, but for every two they scored, Sylvain would land a three pointer. In short measure, he ended up beating them 22 to 15 and 22 to 17.
“Damn, you’re good,” Max said. “That’s some three pointer you have going.”
“My record’s pretty good. I got my scholarship to Harvard for basketball. It made a big difference for this guy from the streets,” Sylvain said. In that moment, something in both Max and Tanner’s dispositions changed and they saw Sylvain as someone acceptable to have around.
The rest of the night was spent laughing and having fun. Taryn kept hoping to get Sylvain to herself so she could talk to him some more, but it wasn’t easy to do. Max was talking more than usual and finally it took Taryn’s dad being direct and telling everyone that they should give Taryn some privacy. She probably had things she had to talk about.
Taryn smiled at her dad and he winked at her, walking way holding her mom’s hand. It made her smile. Her parents had that type of undeniable love that had always made her smile, not to mention long to have some day.
“It really is so wonderful to see you,” Taryn said.
“You look so natural in this environment, Taryn. You’re amazing and beautiful in mine, but this really suits you, doesn’t it?”
Taryn nodded her head yes. This really was where she felt the most alive, but it wasn’t the only place. “So, are you going to stay the weekend?”
“If you’ll have me. Unfortunately I have to get back on Sunday evening, but at least we have two nights. I meant it when I said that I’d been foolish, you know.”
“I know. One thing I know about you is that you usually don’t say things you don’t mean.”
“True, but the other day was an exception. I was a fool,” Sylvain reminded. Then he looked around and after seeing that they were alone he reached over and gently kissed Taryn on the lips. It was so soft and warm, making her feel like she was melting. “That felt wonderful. I’ve missed those lips.”
Not sure what was going on exactly, Taryn knew she had to ask a few questions. She didn’t want her heart to get tangled up and confused by Sylvain because while she appreciated his attempts she wasn’t sure how much more she could take of this romantic chaos in her life.
“Sylvain, what are your thoughts about us?”
“That we have potential. I am not sure what I can say beyond that, but I’d like to see how this weekend goes with you and if your family is accepting of me being around. I can understand why they’d be very protective of you. You’ve been through a lot.”
“There’s a lot more to come too. With Darren out of the picture there’s a good chance we’ll lose the vineyard if I was too late.”
“You’ll make things work, I’m sure of it. You’re too smart not too.”
Taryn smiled at Sylvain and enjoyed the confidence he expressed in her. The next second she suddenly became exhausted, worn out from all the frenzy. It had been a heck of a week and sleep hadn’t come easy. Today had certainly ended up different than what it had started out like.
“I think we’d better retire. I’ll set you up in the guest room otherwise I don’t know that I’ll trust myself with you. I’m not quite brave enough to be that wild me in my parent’s house.”
“I’ll just have to dream about you and that look of passion you have when you are exploding all over me,” Sylvain whispered. “So passionate, you are the sexiest woman I know because of how you savor your orgasms.”
“And I’ll just have to dream about that beautiful hard cock and how it gives me so much pleasure. After all, you’re the first man who’s shattered my world with an explosive orgasm.”
With that, the two went off to their separate bedrooms completely horny, but savoring the steamy words they’d given each other. Sylvain’s words were too hard for Taryn to take and she found herself giving herself some sexual relief in the shower before settli
ng down to a peaceful night’s sleep.
* * *
Saturday and Sunday proved to be fun days for Taryn and Sylvain. They walked around the vineyard and Taryn talked about the business, what she did, and showed Sylvain the history that came along with those buildings of the winery and the fields where they grew grapes.
In those moments, Sylvain saw an even more brilliant and bright side of Taryn than he’d seen when she was buying for him. He still wanted her to do that, but it was clear to see that she was also needed where she was at. There had to be common ground though, a compromise. If there was a way to do that he would find it. Taryn had come to mean so much to him.
