Casa Parisi

by Janet Albert

  Juliet's face darkened. "I'm shocked I didn't discover this about myself before now. I've wasted a lot of time and I pushed everything aside for my career. I suppose I thought I'd get around to having a real life someday."

  "Now you know. Don't waste any more time on regrets."

  "Only because of you," Juliet told her.

  "If it wasn't me, it would have been someone."

  "I don't know about that. I've never felt this way about anyone."

  "Then I'm honored. I was attracted to you all along, but I pushed you away because I didn't want to care about you. I needed to hold on to my pain and as long as I continued to suffer Devin was still with me, even if it wasn't in a healthy way. It was like the pain had replaced her in my life and I'd become addicted to it."

  Juliet stroked Lucia's cheek. "You don't have to ever let her go. There will be room in your life for her and for someone else in the future."

  "I hope so." Lucia wondered why Juliet had chosen the words she'd used. Was she telling Lucia that she would have someone in her future but it wouldn't be her? Was she simply trying on her new sexuality for size, exploring what it had to offer her, or did this thing between them mean more to her?

  Lucia yearned to tell Juliet that she wanted her to be that someone, wanted to say that she didn't want anyone else, but it was too soon. She had no way to determine whether Juliet's feelings extended beyond their sexual attraction.

  "There will be. You'll see." Juliet stretched along the length of Lucia's body. "Now that I'm an official lesbian, I feel an obligation to be totally honest."

  "Uh, oh." Lucia tried to act playful.

  "I only wanted to tell you you're a very sexy woman and I can't get enough of you."

  "You're embracing the new you. That's a good thing." Lucia delighted in the slick wetness that coated her thigh as she wedged it between Juliet's legs.

  "I'm embracing this." Juliet moaned as Lucia moved. "And you're wrong about this being a good thing. It's way better than good."

  "So you've enjoyed being a lesbian so far?"

  "God, have I ever. Oh, God, don't stop."

  "Tell me what you liked the most?" Lucia grasped Juliet's buttocks and pushed her thigh in tighter. The increased contact seemed to drive Juliet crazy.

  "When you--made love to me--with your mouth."

  "Mmm, I'm glad to hear that because that's what I liked the most." Lucia shifted and began to kiss a path down Juliet's body. "You're awfully sweet and delicious."

  "Are you going to--do that--to me now?"

  Lucia paused and glanced up. "I was thinking I would."

  "Like you said before, don't think, just--"

  TWO HOURS LATER, Juliet lay on her side with Lucia's front curled against her back. Lucia's arm was draped over her ribs. "If I could, I would stay right here with you forever," Juliet said, grabbing Lucia's hand and pulling her closer.

  "So would I and you have no idea how much I hate to leave this bed and your arms. But we have to go to work today. I haven't been there in two days and any minute now Luke will be calling or worse yet, coming to check on me."

  "Do we have to?"

  "Uh, huh." Lucia freed her hand and tugged at Juliet until she turned around.

  Juliet groaned and buried her face in her pillow. "I suppose you're right. I have a lot of work to do and I don't want to get into any hot water with my boss."

  "But you do want to get into hot water with your boss because I insist that you take a shower with me." Lucia climbed out of bed and headed toward the bathroom. "I'll turn the water on. Don't be long."

  Juliet jumped out of bed and followed Lucia. "I'm right behind you, but you have to promise to feed me when we're done. I'm starving."

  "I promise," Lucia said as soon as Juliet entered the bathroom. While Juliet used the toilet, Lucia tested the water temperature and stepped into the shower stall.

  "Is this some sort of lesbian ritual?" Juliet asked when she joined Lucia under the steaming spray. She wrapped her arms around Lucia, amazed by the feel and warmth of their wet skin.

  "It's a rite of passage so to speak." Lucia kissed Juliet on the neck, her mouth even warmer than her skin. "Otherwise you're not really official."

  "I see. Are you going to behave in here?"

  "Are you asking me to?" Lucia lathered her hands with soap and rubbed them over Juliet's breasts. Smiling, she brought her nipples to hard peaks.

  "Are you serious? What do you think?" Juliet took Lucia's hands and held them still on her breasts. Her nipples were acutely sensitive and so tight they hurt.

  Lucia's playful expression evolved into a serious one. "I love touching you, looking at you." She traced Juliet's lips with one finger. "You're a sexy woman and your mouth is so damn kissable." As she leaned in to kiss her, Lucia's hand slid the length of Juliet's slippery abdomen and ended up between her legs.

  "And you..." Juliet allowed Lucia to back her up against the tiles. "You make me so crazy and out of control." She reached for Lucia's breasts.

  "Don't you like being out of control once in a while?" Bracing Juliet's body with her own, Lucia separated the soft outer lips and slid into Juliet's wetness.

  "I do--with you." Juliet moaned as Lucia stroked her. "I'm going to fall."

  "No you won't. I won't let you."

  With her hands in Lucia's wet hair and their foreheads pressed together, Juliet hung on and stayed on her feet. What Lucia was doing to her had transported her to a place of pure ecstasy. The pressure kept building and building and she kept climbing higher and higher until she reached the summit and tumbled over the other side. Clinging to Lucia, she heard her own screams echoing off the shower walls.

  Lucia held Juliet until her orgasm subsided. "See. I didn't let you fall."

  "I knew you wouldn't." Juliet knew what kind of falling Lucia meant, but she had definitely fallen. She had fallen hard. She had fallen in love for the first time in her life and because of it, nothing would ever be the same.

  "Are you okay?"

  Juliet returned from her thoughts and slid her hand between Lucia's legs. "I'm fine and now you're all mine."

  A WHILE LATER, completely drenched and spent, they washed and stepped out of the shower. "I'm surprised we didn't both drown," Lucia said as she threw Juliet a towel. "I have a confession to make. I never really liked making love in the shower."

  "Then why did you suggest it?"

  "I guess I felt I owed it to you as part of your initiation process."

  "In that case, I ought to thank you, but to be honest I found it a bit difficult. I'd rather make love in a nice dry bed than have a near drowning experience under a steady stream of water." Juliet dried her body and rubbed her hair vigorously with the towel.

  "I lied about the initiation thing," Lucia said, staring at her. "I just couldn't keep my hands off of you. I'm finding that hard to do right now."

  Juliet laughed. "Ah, the truth comes out at last."

  After they were dressed, they went into the kitchen. Fulfilling her promise to feed Juliet, Lucia grabbed some eggs and a package of bacon from the refrigerator and began to make them some breakfast.

  "Make coffee before you do anything else," Juliet said.

  "I'm on it. Is bacon, scrambled eggs and toast okay with you?"

  "That sounds delicious."

  Lucia put the coffee pot on and fed Angel and when everything was prepared, they carried their food and mugs of coffee out onto the deck, taking Angel with them. Without talking they consumed every morsel and set the empty dishes aside.

  "This is the best breakfast I've ever eaten," Juliet said, finishing the last of her coffee and setting her cup next to the dishes. "I've never been more relaxed. In fact, I feel so light it's like I'm floating on air."

  "You've made me very happy." Lucia put her coffee mug on the deck, took Juliet's hand in hers and brought it to her mouth for a kiss.

  "I'm happy too." Juliet kissed Lucia on the mouth.

  "We have to tell Luke that we worke
d things out," Lucia said after the kiss.

  "We'll tell him as soon as we see him."

  "How much do you want him to know?" Lucia asked.

  Juliet seemed to consider the question before she answered it. "Everything, when we both feel it's right, but for now why don't we tell him we're on good terms until we have a chance to get used to this, to us."

  "Whatever you're comfortable with is okay with me." Lucia still wanted Juliet with an intensity she couldn't believe. They'd made love all evening, most of the night and half the morning and she still wasn't satisfied. The passion, the yearning, the feelings she thought she'd never have again had been returned to her in all their glory.

  "What are you thinking about?" Juliet asked.

  "I wish we could stay here all day and make love."

  "You still want to make love?"

  "I never wanted to stop."

  "We'll have lots of time together, Lucia."

  Lucia clamped her eyes shut against the stab of pain she felt as her world came to a standstill. She couldn't breathe. "Don't say that. You can never say that."

  "I'm sorry." Juliet hugged Lucia's shoulders. "You of all people know we can never count on tomorrow, but I'm not afraid of what the future has in store. Every day we have will be a precious gift, far less than I desire and far more than I deserve."

  Lucia opened her eyes and met Juliet's. In their blue depths she glimpsed a promise of hope, a promise of a new tomorrow. "You are such a sweetheart. You make me want to get up each morning and see what the day has to offer."

  "That's what I want us to do."

  "That's all I've ever wanted." Lucia asked a very important question. "Will you have dinner with me tonight?"

  "I'd love to as long as I can go home first and check on Sabrina Star. She's probably beside herself because I didn't come home last night."

  "And starving, the poor little thing. She'll think you've abandoned her."

  "I'm sure she will. She's so neglected," Juliet said.

  "I could pick you up around six-thirty, and we could go to the Moosewood, as long as you don't mind eating there again."

  "I don't mind. I loved it," Juliet said.

  "This time we won't be fighting when I take you home." Lucia saw questions on Juliet's face. "You've got something on your mind."

  "I wanted to ask you to spend the night with me, but I didn't know if I should. Is it too soon or too much?"

  "I could do that." Lucia was pleased Juliet wanted to be with her again and that she had taken the initiative. "That was hard for you to ask, wasn't it?"

  "I was afraid you'd say no."

  "I'm saying yes. I want to be with you," Lucia said. "I should warn you, though. I'm going to be busy for the next few days and we won't see much of each other. Luke and I have to meet with our printer tomorrow during the day and in the evening we have an appointment in Ithaca with our lawyer."

  "That's not a problem. I've got plenty of work to catch up on."

  "That's not all. Thursday I'm going to Rochester in the morning on business and that same evening I have a dinner meeting with a potential distributor. I don't know if I'll stay overnight or come back. It depends on how long the meeting lasts."

  "I don't care as long as you come back to me."

  "As long as you're here waiting for me, I'll be back," Lucia said. "The wine festival is this weekend, so that means I have to cover the winery on Friday while Luke gets the booth set up. On Friday evening, I promised I'd watch the kids while Luke and Natalie go to the Friday evening banquet for the winery owners."

  "What about later on Friday night?" Juliet asked. "I could come up."

  "The kids are staying overnight. They love to stay at the cottage and besides, by the time Luke and Natalie could get here to pick them up it would be very late. I'm sorry it's going to be such a bad week."

  "We'll manage. I'll help you at the winery on Friday and we'll be working together on Saturday at the festival. That will have to do although it will be hard to keep my hands to myself."

  "You'll be too busy to think about sex," Lucia said.

  "Don't be so sure. I'll want you pretty bad by then."

  "I'll be in the same condition if that's any consolation," Lucia said. "I thought about having you stay overnight on Friday, but how would we explain our relationship to the kids? They don't miss a thing. You could come for the evening, but I think that would be even harder on both of us because I'd never want to let you go home."

  "And I'd never want to go home," Juliet said. "No, you're right. We're not ready to tell the kids and I'm way past the point where I can hide my feelings for you."

  "So am I." Juliet frowned. "Three days without you isn't going to be easy." "We'll make up for it later." Lucia got to her feet and held out her

  hand to help Juliet up. "Come on. We'd better get going." "You're the boss," Juliet said.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  EARLY SATURDAY MORNING, Juliet drove up to the winery to meet the Parisis. Luke was driving them to the wine festival and they'd planned to leave as soon as she got there. Lucia had spent Tuesday night at Juliet's apartment and during the busy week that ensued, they saw little of each other, only a few minutes here and there. Juliet had plenty to do, but keeping busy did little to ease her need to be with Lucia. Missing someone was new for Juliet and it surprised her how much she missed Lucia.

  She saw Luke and Lucia waiting for her outside as she parked her car. She waved to them, got out and walked toward them.

  "It's a great day, isn't it?" Luke remarked in the way of a greeting.

  "Couldn't be better," Juliet said. Her eyes were on Lucia.

  "It's getting better by the minute." Lucia winked at her.

  "I have to agree with that." Naturally, Luke was referring to the weather, but Juliet knew Lucia's statement had another meaning. Her implicit message, the look of desire in her eyes, the smile lighting her face ignited a spark in Juliet that burned so hot she almost couldn't stand it. It was going to be a long day.

  Luke smiled broadly. "You two look disgustingly happy. It's contagious."

  "I hope you like the idea of us being together," Juliet said. Lucia had told Luke about them being lovers yesterday morning, with Juliet's permission.

  "Like it? I love it," Luke replied. "Not that you should care what I think."

  Lucia addressed that statement. "If you disapproved, it might not keep us apart, but I know I speak for Juliet when I say we wouldn't want that."

  "I'll tell you what I really think, straight from the heart." Luke put one arm around Lucia and the other around Juliet. He turned to Lucia. "Seeing you happy again means a lot to me." He turned to Juliet. "And I love you like a sister." He cleared his throat and let them go. "That's enough of that. We need to get you to the festival so you'll have time to prepare for the assault of the wine-lovers. They're a wild crowd, although God knows our livelihood depends upon them."

  Luke climbed into his truck and Lucia and Juliet slid in next to him. Lucia put her hand on Juliet's and whispered in her ear. "All I've thought about all week was how I'd be spending today with you."

  Juliet longed to tell Lucia how much she had missed her, but she only nodded. She glanced at Lucia's profile as they drove down the driveway. If only she had a window into Lucia's mind and could read her thoughts. Had Lucia missed her?

  Being away from Lucia had caused doubts to infiltrate Juliet's peace of mind. How long would this sexual affair last? What did it really mean to Lucia? The attraction was strong and thus far Lucia had not given her cause to distrust her sincerity. What she did question was how long Lucia would want her. She was in love with Lucia and there was nothing she could do to change that, but she knew she had no right to assume that Lucia was in love with her or ever would be.

  Juliet wasn't a stranger without a name or someone without a personal connection to Lucia. Those facts, although indisputable, offered her very little in the way of assurances. How could she be sure she wasn't another lover Lucia to
ok on to ease her suffering? How could she be sure Lucia's desire would last another week or even another day?

  Luke drove west toward Seneca Lake through the town of Interlaken where he lived with his family. The flat terrain between the lakes was dotted with dairy farms and herds of beef cattle. Through the half-opened window, Juliet saw endless fields of golden wheat swaying at the whim of the shifting winds. The sweet air was suffused with the summer fragrances of fertile soil, newly mown grasses and sun-warmed evergreens. Closing her eyes for a moment, she was only conscious of how content she felt simply being alive and sitting next to Lucia.

  When Luke reached the road on the eastern side of Seneca Lake he drove south to the town of Watkins Glen which anchored the southern end of the lake. The Watkins Glen race track was situated a few miles outside of the town and once he reached it he proceeded through the main gates and around to the vendor's entrance at the back of the tent area.

  "Here we are ladies," Luke said, pulling up to the gate. "Call me when you're ready to leave and I'll pick you up in this very same spot."

  "Thanks for the ride," Juliet said as she opened the door and got out of the truck. Lucia slid across the seat and hopped out behind her.

  "Don't work too hard," Luke yelled before he drove away.

  "This gets bigger every year," Lucia said, walking through the gate. Every summer in July, the race track hosted one of the largest wine festivals on the east coast. For one weekend, the smells of wine and food replaced the smell of burning rubber, wine spills replaced oil spills, and the sounds of live bands replaced the sound of roaring engines. Wineries from all over New York State gathered to sell their products while vendors sold gourmet foods, locally made products, arts and crafts.

  Lucia and Juliet went to the Casa Parisi booth where they found Dennis preparing for the arrival of the festival goers. He waved when he saw them.

  "You look ready for action," Lucia said. "How long have you been here?"

  Dennis checked his watch. "A couple of hours. I woke up early and I remembered how busy it was last year, so I thought I'd better get over here."