Love in Tuscany Pt. 03

Any feedback you have is truly welcome.

As ever, all characters engaging in sexual relationships or activities are aged 18 years or older. Any names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

This is the final part of an existing story. Please read the first two before this one.

= = = = = = =

Jake and Catherine lay wrapped around each other, a glass of the local red in hand and a pile of brochures spread around the bed.

"I know that this is a catholic country but there must be something to do other than look at churches," said Jake.

They were a week into the holiday. The weather had been good throughout and their little hideaway had been just that. A wonderful bolthole where they could pretend that they were the only people in the world if they wanted to. Since their trip to Assisi they'd investigated the local area and become captivated. The restaurants in Cortona were wonderful and the people incredibly friendly. Today they'd been to a wine tasting at a local vineyard.

The ever-energetic Valerio had recommended it and they'd joined a group on a formal tour. Initially they were not impressed. They had joined the bus in Mercatale and the tour had taken them up in to the hills. It was full of tourists from several different countries and it was all very quiet. At the front was a stout Italian lady who described the wonders of the passing countryside in four different languages. It was complete pot luck as to whether the place she was describing was visible as you passed by or not. Her monotone delivery didn't help one bit and she looked nearly as bored as the passengers on the bus were.

The man from the couple behind them leaned forward and said, "you're lucky, we've been listening to her for the last forty minutes".

It was a very subdued group that got off the bus twenty minutes later. The dour looking farmer welcomed them off the bus and they dutifully trooped over to the nearest field where he showed them some of his grape vines. The assembled group metaphorically shrugged their shoulders, unable to see the thirty years of effort and love that had gone into the care and nurture of them, and the farmer didn't have the words in anything but Italian to explain it.

They were all waved over to a large open sided hay barn. Two workers were standing there with glasses and wine bottles and there were benches and hay bales around the edge of the barn looking out over the stunning valley below. The unimpressed tourists filed through, took their drinks and sat spread around the barn.

Jake and Catherine were the last in the queue and the low mood of the tourists had rubbed off on the usually ebullient Italians. A glass was thrust into their hands and half-filled with red wine. Catherine stopped to take a drink and her face lit up.

"Wow! That's really nice. Much better than the Montepulciano we've been buying. Don't you think Jake?"

Jake nodded vigorously savouring his drink. The men serving the wine were delighted. As Jake and Catherine sat down with the two people that were behind them on the bus the farmer came over smiling broadly and topped up all their glasses to the brim.

"You like our wine!" he said animatedly and gave them the thumbs up before walking round to the rest of the group giving much smaller measures.

"You really made an impression!" said David, the man they'd met on the bus. His wife Jess leaned forward and joked, "do you think he's fallen in love with you or that you've fallen in love with his wine?"

The same thing happened again when they brought the cheese round. The farmer pulled out a bottle of wine just for them, topped up their four glasses, tapped the side of his nose conspiratorially and moved on. They were soon chatting away and laughing and the good wine and stunning scenery finally began to work on the rest of the group. The barn was filled with laughter and animated conversation. After the tasting they were given the option to buy some of the wine. Many of the group joined them in the small farm shop and Catherine bought a crate of the wine and some local cheese. Before they left the farmer gave them two more bottles saying,

"You like our wine!" and smiling broadly.

Needless to say, it was a very different atmosphere in the bus on the way back. The monotone guide kept her microphone off and the bus was filled with the buzz of good-humoured conversation. They said goodbye to their new friends at Mercatale and walked back up the road towards their little mill house laden down with wine and cheese. Valerio beeped his horn as he drove past into the village.

"You like? I knew you'd like!"

After a very pleasant pasta supper the couple went unsteadily up the spiral staircase, Jake's eyes glued to the hypnotic movement of Catherine's glorious rear and they fell on to the bed in a whirl of kisses, tickling and laughter. They made love with complete freedom, enjoying one another's body with soft gentle movements. Teasing each other to climax with their mouths and hands.

They relaxed in each other's arms before Jake went back down the spiral staircase to get one of their precious bottles of wine to savour together along with a pile of brochures and their bible.

Decisions, decisions! What to do tomorrow? They agreed that they didn't want to do another long drive which ruled out places like Florence and San Gimignano. They'd initially cherry picked the main places to go and see like Assisi and Siena but hadn't really looked at what was on offer in the local area.

Jake had his head buried in the bible looking for something that they might have missed while Catherine flicked through the brochures discarding them one after another. A picture of a horse rider on the front of one of the brochures caught her eye.

The advert read: "Horse riding, horseback trekking and equestrian excursions: for a couple of hours or a full day you will enjoy the unspoilt nature of Tuscany"

Catherine had always wanted to ride, ever since she was a little girl. She'd had a few lessons but had been thrown by the horse that she was on. Between the broken wrist and her protective parents, she never rode again. Her naturally conservative nature and her bad experience warred with her desire to ride.

So, it was with some trepidation that she took the horse trekking brochure from the pile in front of her and held it out to him.

"What do you think?"

"A horse trek?"

"Why not? It's not too far away and I've always wanted to ride a horse."

"I'm not so sure."

"Why not? It'll be fun. Don't you like horses?"

"I've no idea. I've never really been around them. I did go on a very tame ride along the beach when I was seven on holiday in Wales but that was on a donkey. I don't think it counts!"

"Well it's high time you tried it."

He laughed at her pronouncement and they toasted each other with their local wine to seal their decision.

They drove over to Montecastelli the next day and were able to get places on the afternoon's trek. Jake was alarmed to find that it meant two hours in the saddle. He'd heard that horse riding used muscles that you didn't know you had, and he worried that they'd both be unable to walk for days afterwards. He was less than enthusiastic about the whole idea.

They had lunch in a nearby café, took a stroll through the little village and were back at the ranch by half-past three.

The lady that led the treks was called Esmee. She was Dutch, incredibly welcoming and immediately put them at their ease. The horses all looked good and Esmee assured them that they were very docile and were used to having novices on their backs.

"If you manage to fall off this one you can have your money back!" she laughed as they gave Jake the most dependable of their horses.

They were helped to saddle them and set off through the rolling hills. Catherine looked like she was born to ride, effortlessly moving with her horse. Jake looked more like a sack of potatoes that had been strapped on to the saddle. He slowly relaxed as the time went by. At least the calm horse seemed to know where it was going.

Esmee dropped back to see how he was doing. She was hard to miss -- long blonde hair under a huge cowboy hat, bright coloured shirt and leather chaps. She obviously loved what she did.

"So now that you've got the hang of it, do you want to try a gallop?"

"Nooooo!" he said, a little too quickly. Catherine just laughed at him.

"Honestly," he said "I don't feel too secure. I'm just holding on here."

"Use your knees to hold on to the horse and guide her. Watch me!" And she demonstrated "Now you try."

But he had no control. Esmee looked slightly exasperated and then noticed his stirrups.

"Who set up your stirrups like that?"

"I don't know. The little guy...?"

"Massimo! I should have guessed. Stop for a minute."

She jumped down from the saddle and made some quick adjustments, shortening the stirrups. Suddenly Jake began to understand some of what she'd been saying as he had the support for his feet to do what she'd suggested.

The rest of the ride was much easier -- Esmee effortlessly moving up and down the group, switching between languages at will. She confessed to speaking ten or twelve languages but had trouble making sure that she was using the words from the right language all the time! Jake felt that he'd barely mastered one and was seriously impressed.

Some of the riders did gallop, including Catherine, while Jake trotted and cantered. By the time they were heading back to the ranch the sun was setting and the horse had decided that the person on his back might actually have some clue what he was doing. As they rode through the shade of a bluebell wood, Jake urged the horse down the slope and back up again and they burst out on to a poppy field in the light of the setting sun. He laughed aloud at the sheer joy of it and the horse tossed its head, startled by the noise. For that short time man and beast were as one.

Catherine reined her horse over to him, looking at his relaxed smiling face loving that he was enjoying it at last. For his part he couldn't keep his eyes off her. She looked amazing in that Tuscan sunlight and it was a memory of her that would stay ingrained with him forever.

= = = = = = =

Florence was an unmitigated disaster. With the temperature approaching forty degrees, enormous crowds and minimal shade it was the most horrible experience. They'd tried to get tickets for the Uffizi gallery and failed. Their romantic walk across the Ponte Vecchio had been marred by some lowlife trying to steal Catherine's handbag and to top it off their car had a flat tyre when they finally got back to their parking spot.

They were footsore, fed up and hot.

Jake was alternating between sweating and swearing as he worked on the final bolt holding the wheel on to their Alfa Romeo.

"Hah!" he cried. The last bolt came undone all too suddenly and he was unceremoniously deposited on to his rump.

Catherine looked down at his outraged expression as he flopped on to his backside and burst into laughter.

At first, he looked slightly hurt and then he joined in -- the sheer frustration of a spoiled day finally spilling over.

"I'm really sorry Jake but you looked so funny."

She crouched down beside him, putting her hand on his shoulder and brushed his sweaty hair out of his eyes.

"You are alright, aren't you?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine" he grumbled, "or at least I will be if I can ever get this recalcitrant pile of junk back on to four good tyres again."

"Hey! This has been a good little car."

"I know, I know," he grumbled.

He heaved himself upright and set to work again. Another ten minutes and he was done. As they climbed into the Alfa Caroline sighed:

"I was so sure that I was going to love Florence."

"I'm sure that you -would- have loved Florence if the weather, crowds and everything else hadn't conspired against us. To be fair if we'd planned our days a bit better then we might have avoided the worst of the rush. Our bible did say to get here early."

"We would have done if you'd kept your hands to yourself -- we'd have left a full hour earlier!" she pouted prettily at him, her lovely eyes gleaming unrepentantly.

He grinned at her thinking back to the very pleasurable start to their morning. He could still see her looking over her shoulder at him, her body arching with pleasure as he plunged his cock into her willing pussy, his thighs slapping against her delectable rear. He started to grow hard just thinking about it.

"Guilty as charged!"

He started the car and drove out of the car park to the usual chorus of car horns and arm waving which seemed to sum up driving in Italy.

In truth it hadn't just been their lovemaking that had sabotaged the start to their day. They had to pack their bags and hand the key back to Valerio. In classic Italian fashion he was over half an hour late, forcing them to go and knock on the door of his house so that they could get going. He was still full of his usual energy and they said their goodbyes amongst much hand waving, cheek kissing and genial promises to tell the world about his little mill in the countryside.

The air conditioning finally started to kick in as they fought their way back out of the snarling grasp of Florence's traffic. As they reached the countryside their mood lifted, and smiles started to return as the beautiful surroundings relaxed them.

Catherine held Jake's hand as he drove them on a winding road past fields of vines and old farm buildings. The rolling hills meant that it was never far before the scenery changed again to reveal another glorious vista.

It was the last day of their holiday and Jake had managed to keep their final destination a secret. The fact that they weren't heading back towards Pisa surprised Catherine and she desperately tried to keep herself from asking where they were going.

They had abandoned Florence after only a few hours. The restaurants had been rammed like everywhere else in teh city. They had been desperate to get out of the heat and eat indoors but after the attempted bag snatch, they had given up. Instead they would find somewhere en route to their final stop.

They had been looking out for a picnic spot for the last few miles as their hunger grew but the road was too busy and the unpredictable opening hours of the local shops meant that they hadn't seen anywhere to pick up something to eat.

"There!" shouted Catherine as they came round the corner of another small village.

Sure enough there was a small shop with its door open.

Jake pulled over and Catherine went in and bought some bread, ham and cheese, returning with her arms raised in success. A river wound its way along near the road and it wasn't far before they were able to bump off down a small lane to find a picnic spot.

They found a lovely shaded area to park the car. They opened the doors and the sound of the water bubbling over rocks and stones washed away the stresses of their day. Jake unfolded a blanket and they lay down, resting on their elbows and enjoying their simple lunch.

When they were finished Jake lay on his back looking up through the tree leaves at the cotton wool clouds in the deep blue sky above them. Catherine leaned against him, her chin on his chest, enjoying the rise and fall of his breathing and the feel of his firm hand stroking her back.

"I can't believe that we have to go home tomorrow."

"I know."

"This has been the best two weeks of my life Jake."

"Me too."

"It's the first time that I've been away and genuinely been able to switch off for the whole time. I haven't thought about work once. I can't tell you what a big deal that is."

"I know what you mean. I've had my head down, nose to the grindstone too. Doing too many hours far too regularly. This has been sheer bliss."

The look in his eyes was almost too much. She nearly made a fool of herself and told him how much she loved him.

Jake was lost in the pools of her eyes and couldn't help himself. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead, her delicate nose, the freckles on her cheeks, her temples. Every kiss telling her how much she meant to him. He slowly worked his way down to her neck, finding the sensitive place just above the collarbone that made her squirm and sigh with pleasure. He started to sit up but she placed her hands firmly on his chest and threw a leg over his hips, sitting on top of him.

"You stay right there mister!"

She was a constant surprise to him. Her confidence had blossomed over their weeks together. He pretended to fight against her and drank in the sight of his lover. Her skin was slightly flushed, her hair mussed, and her chest showed a delightful amount of cleavage as she leaned forward to kiss him.

She nibbled on his lips, teasing him as she continued to hold him in place. She ground her hips against his, rubbing herself up and down the length of his rapidly hardening cock. She was so horny! She stopped for a minute and looked around the river bank cautiously until Jake began to wonder if something was wrong.

Satisfied that they were alone, she lifted herself up and reached underneath her dress. Her hand found his cock through his shorts, worked the zip down and his length sprang out of the opening.

She couldn't believe what she was doing! Her heart raced as she pulled her underwear aside and started to tease him by working her moist lips back and forth, up and down the length of his rock-hard penis. She panted harder now as she allowed him to lift her slightly giving him the room he needed to line himself up with her lovely pussy lips. She caught her breath as she lowered herself slightly, taking just the head inside her and holding it there.

He was going crazy! Not only the sensations but making love outdoors was such a massive turn on.

Catherine used her hands to hold him in place, dictating the pace. She rose again and just as the tip came free, she engulfed him again. It was the most glorious torture. His eyes were fixed on her beautiful face, loving the wash of emotions that flowed over it. She was so hot and wet. When she finally allowed herself to slowly sink down on to his thighs taking all of him inside her it was all he could do to stop himself from coming then and there.

"You are amazing! You are my Aphrodite reborn."

She flushed prettily and slowly rose off him again. His hand reached under her dress and cupped her taught arse cheeks, feeling how tense she was as she oh-so-slowly allowed him back inside her.

Neither wanted to be the first to change the pace but Catherine finally lamented. As she took him to the hilt and ground against him she felt a small tremor run through her. The feeling of control, the amazing setting and her love for the man beneath her was almost too much. Leaning down to kiss him she started to speed up the motion of her hips and he gasped in her mouth at the sensations running through him.

His hands spasmed and gripped her rear as she surrounded his flesh with hers once more. His hips bucked and she gasped. Neither could wait any longer. Jake moved his hands up to her hips and held her in place as he began to thrust in to her. The short, powerful strokes drove her wild and she cried out as he drove himself harder and harder.

His eyes drank in the sight of her orgasm. Her flushed chest, her beautiful heaving breasts bouncing as he thrust into her, her eyes glowing with her ardour were memories that he would treasure. Her rippling orgasm and the pounding of his cock in her tight, slick tunnel became too much and with one final thrust his release rushed through him.