Read Online The Winemaker's Dinner: Dessert (The Winemaker's Feast) by Dr. Ivan Rusilko - Free Book Online Page B

the looming storm clouds stamped out all hints of vibrancy from the sky. He’d tried to compensate for her loss by making his business his life. What had kept him busy with a constant to-do list in the planning phases now consumed as much of his time as he’d give it with the new practice up and running. There was always another opportunity to pursue, another patient to follow up on, someone’s business to court.
    The transition from aspiring, business-minded doctor to CEO of his own company had left him basking in the good life—money coming in, setting his own rules, plenty of prestige. Or at least he’d dreamed it would be the good life. He’d achieved what he’d always wanted, but much to his disappointment, he now knew no career accomplishment could fill the emptiness of his personal life. A whole new level of fancy cars, big apartments, expensive dinners, and lavish trips did nothing to cure his inner sickness. And yet he couldn’t stop. He had no idea what else to do, so he just worked harder.
    Ivan shut his eyes and indulged in the breeze that accompanied the brewing storm. Goddamnit! He exhaled and opened his eyes. The phone weighed heavy in his hand, and he turned it over and checked again that the message was still there. It was. Through gritted teeth, he pushed his body even harder. How had he reached this point? How had he wandered so far from the person he thought he was?
    “ Mind if I join you?” The sultry Spanish accent of the freak’s first conquest still echoed in his ears. Visions of the Latina bombshell danced across his mind, causing his cock to twitch in his shorts. The white cocktail dress she’d worn had rested mid-thigh and her ample cleavage had been bursting out the top of the sweetheart neckline. Chestnut hair with streaks of blond cascaded down a beautifully tanned back and sat in waves on the shoulders of her athletic build.
    “Yes, please do,” he’d purred and pulled out the chair next to him. He’d accepted her company as she slipped in beside him at the bar during one of the many Miami Beach charity events that filled his schedule. He was someone in demand, after all. Yet after three months without her and no relief in sight, he’d been wallowing in self pity, and his body had begun to demand that he find another way to compensate for his emotions. He needed to feel something…anything. What he wouldn’t give to experience the vivid colors, beautiful smells, and brilliant feelings of love that had once filled his heart.
    After two drinks, their small talk had turned suggestive. He’d marveled at her beauty, and she’d spoken words of passion that made him hard. An inner urge began to build, which at first seemed alien in nature. It had been the first time since her that his urges threatened to consume him.
    Back and forth they went, dancing to the tune of lust, desire for the inevitable mounting with each graceful step across the dance floor.
    “Why don’t we get out of here? We can go back to my place and crack open a bottle of wine,” she’d suggested, and in the same moment she’d turned on her heel, leaving him to catch up to her.
    That had been the exact moment his addiction started. With that simple little sentence she’d provided him an alternative to the black-and-white life he was living. Nothing material had satiated his need for happiness, or even normalcy, and no amount of work could keep his demons permanently away, but the promise of flesh had awoken the freak and his carnal needs. But how could he have known where this would lead, what he would become? It was just a casual drink at a beautiful woman’s house.
    Before he knew it, they were in a cab and her version of a nightcap would soon become his heroin, the only way to numb, at least for a time, the growing pain that resided deep within his chest. They’d spilled out of the backseat of the taxi in front of a lavish beach house. Step by step he’d followed behind her and paused at the front door,