Rhonda's Garden

"I've never seen anything like this," Gino said. "It's almost like Jurassic Park back here. The county road is only about 100 feet away and you feel like you're in the middle of the jungle."

"Thanks. It's my little sanctuary from civilization," Rhonda explained. "My ex wanted to clear out all this land back here and put in a pool and a bunch of other crap, but luckily I held my ground."

"Good thing you did, because this is unlike anything I've ever seen before," Gino said as he peeked out around the corner, the rain building in intensity with every minute. "You must get driven crazy by mosquitoes though, don't you?"

"Not usually," Rhonda told him. "I've got lemongrass growing all around the bottom of the porch, and these marigolds and geraniums are pretty good at repelling mosquitoes too. I'm not much on perfumes and things like that, which the bugs also adore."

"Natural is best - in every way," Gino said with a smile.

"And when all else fails," Rhonda said in conclusion, and reached over to hit the switch that activated the automatic screens that surrounded the porch. When they dropped down to the ledge, the fine mesh of the screen was barely visible, enabling a virtually unblemished view of the outside. "Voila! Rhonda's rain forest."

"You should do this for a living - designing patios and gardens," Gino noted.

"I have for a couple of people, but most folks have their own ideas."

"If you want, I'd love you to do some work for me," Gino said, moving over to the couch that was against the wall of the house, safe from the elements.

"Sounds good to me. Make yourself comfortable," Rhonda said as she motioned for Gino to sit on the sofa.

"God, I could sleep out here, it's so secluded and peaceful," Gino said as he eased himself into the overstuffed couch.

"I do, whenever I can. What's really cool is going out into the middle of the garden on a clear night. It's like a little amphitheatre down there with a planetarium view when you look straight up. You can see forever and you feel so small and insignificant."

Rhonda sat on the other end of the couch, putting her arm up on the back of it, which did not escape Gino's attention. Not much did, Rhonda surmised, and she loved the way Gino took a long and loving look at what she had exposed.

"Neat shoes," Gino noted after finally taking his eyes away from her underarm.

"My crocs?" Rhonda said as she lifted her foot onto the cushion between them. "They look wacky, but they are so comfortable."

"May I?" Gino said, and without waiting for an invitation took the powder blue vinyl clog off of Rhonda foot, and after looking at the hole-filled top of the shoe, set it aside.

"This is much more interesting," Gino said, and calmly reached for Rhonda's foot, beginning to rub it very slowly and firmly.

"Ooooh! That feels so good," Rhonda exclaimed as Gino's long beefy fingers began to knead her toes. "Bet my feet stink."

"No, they don't," Gino responded, putting Rhonda immediately at ease. "They smell fine and they feel nice too. I love women's feet. One of my favorite parts of a woman's body - I guess you can guess some of my other favorites by now. Hope you don't mind me doing this."

"Mind?" Rhonda said as her foot was expertly massaged. "Only if you stop."

"I can do this for a long time," Gino cautioned. "Especially feet as pretty as yours. Pretty ankles too."

Rhonda was so wrapped up in the sensual manipulation of her foot that she hadn't noticed that her legs were bare up to mid-calf. The slacks had either ridden up or Gino had slid it upwards, but whichever had happened, there they were.

Gino didn't even blink when his hands slid up Rhonda's ankles, the fine auburn hair that lightly graced the insides of her lower calves feathering through his fingers as they slid up against the grain, and he even seemed to be enjoying the experience as much as she was.

"So soft - so deliciously soft," were Gino only words, as he looked up to gauge Rhonda's reaction, and as Rhonda returned his gaze through what felt like glazed eyes, they exchanged smiles.

"Cold?" Gino asked after he asked Rhonda to put her other foot up for similar treatment.

"No," Rhonda said in a squeaky voice, the shiver that went through her body caused by the kneading of the sole of her foot rather than the temperature, which was becoming more humid by the minute.

The evening was quickly becoming night, and the rain had almost stopped, allowing the insects to begin their nighttime symphony. Peepers called out to prospective mates, and crickets chirped around the porch as a light fog began to form.

Inside the porch, the glow from the candles allowed Rhonda to watched Gino work his magic on her feet and ankles. Gino looked up and, seeing Rhonda watching him, raised Rhonda's right foot up a little as he bowed his head.

Their eyes still meeting, Gino kissed Rhonda's big toe, and then wrapped his lips around it and slid his mouth down. Rhonda's breath caught in her throat as he watched Gino repeat that with every one of her toes, nibbling and sucking each one.

"What do you think about that?" Gino said, the flickering light of the candle dancing on his face.

"I - uh - think I need another drink?" Rhonda said, sliding her feet back onto the floor. "How about you?"

"Sure, but make it a little weaker," Gino said. "Don't want to drink too much if I'm going to be driving home."

Rhonda headed back inside and wound her way into the kitchen, where she was able to take a deep breath at last. Her head was spinning and her mind was racing as she fumbled around with the Souza.

Rhonda's entire body was on fire. The last few hours had been the most electrifying experience she could ever recall having. Gino had been assaulting all of her senses with every word, every movement and every look. Everything he did and said was for her and her alone, and she was having a difficult time controlling herself.

Now, just as she was starting to clear her head, a squeaking floor board around the corner gave away the fact that he was joining her again. And there he was, still gorgeous looking and still penetrating her with those eyes, and now standing beside her.

"Get scared out there?" Rhonda asked. "Or maybe you were afraid I'd slip you a mickey?"

"No, I just started to miss you, so I thought I'd come join you. Maybe see if I can help."

"Not much to do," Rhonda said as she finished cutting the lime.

"Maybe just offer some encouragement then," Gino said, his hand suddenly on Rhonda's shoulder.

His hand gently squeezed the soft rounded shoulder a second before letting his hand slide down. Down her shoulder, her bicep and all the way down to her wrist. Rhonda's arm became covered with goose bumps in the wake of Gino's stroke, and the tiny hairs on her arms stood up straight as his hand retraced its path.

"What are you doing back there?" Rhonda asked in a quivering voice, as Gino leaned lightly over her shoulder.

"Trying to see if I can make you feel half as excited about me, as I am about you."

"Uh, mission accomplished and then some," Rhonda replied, doing a horrible job at salting the glasses because Gino's breath was on her neck, and his hand was taking another lazy trek down her arm.

"Good," Gino said. "I'm sure you've heard this before, and I'm not very good at this kind of thing, but you are without a doubt the most sensual and most desirable woman I've ever met."

"Yeah, I've heard that before," Rhonda replied, the room starting to tilt again, causing her the lean against the counter for support, and not from the one little drink she'd had. "I remember hearing it from drunks in bars at closing time, back in the day."

"I'm not drunk, am I," Gino asked, his fingers sliding off of Rhonda's shoulder and now caressing her bicep.

"No," Rhonda admitted.

"And it isn't closing time either - or is it? Please don't tell me that."

Rhonda looked up at Gino, his eyes making her melt again. So intense - so penetrating that she was unable and unwilling to do anything but shake her head no.

"I remember driving past here and seeing you a few times; either putting up one of your puns on the store sign, or out in the parking lot talking with customers, and I always wanted to stop and meet you. You seemed so warm and friendly, and always so smiling and happy."

"An illusion," Rhonda said, staring at the drinks she had stopped making.

"Then when I came in and got to talk with you, you were so real, so perfect, that I can't believe you weren't built especially for me."

"Oh, I'm a real work of art."

"You are to me," Gino responded. "Your laugh makes me feel warm inside. Those green eyes are so mesmerizing that when you look at me I feel helpless. You're witty, and smart too. What's more attractive than a smart and confident business woman?"

Rhonda felt nothing like the woman Gino was describing, and now his body was against her, the heat radiating from him made her feel like she was opening an oven door.

"I haven't even gotten to the areas below your neck yet," Gino practically hissed, his mouth brushing against her ear. "I was crazy about you before you took your smock off, and after you did - the more of you I see, the more amazing you look to me. It's scary how perfect you are to me. Almost like you were created from a blueprint of all my fantasies."

Rhonda held onto the counter for dear life, trying to think of something to say, but was having trouble catching her breath.

Then Gino was whispering in her ear, even though no one else was within a half mile of them, and after he finished, Rhonda spun away from him, managing to blurt out, "Excuse me a second," before hurrying into the bathroom.

.....

Chapter Five: The mirror.

Reaching the bathroom as fast as she could, Rhonda closed the door behind her and leaned back against it, trying to regain her composure. She stepped over to the sink and leaned forward, looking into the mirror in front of her, before splashing a little cold water on her face.

This could not be happening. Everything. All that had gone on since Gino had come into her shop four hours ago. Rhonda felt like her whole world had turned upside down, and she was careening out of control.

Now she was on the verge of saying yes, and of doing everything that Gino wanted her to do, which was contrary to the way she had lived her entire adult life.

"I want you so badly," Gino had whispered into her ear out in the kitchen. "I'm bad at things like this. Not good at the right words and things like that, but I want to do everything to you that a man can do to a woman."

Gino had delivered those words in such a feral tone that Rhonda had to bolt away from him. Not out of fear of Gino, because she felt perfectly secure around him, but more out of fear of what she was about to do.

"What's wrong with that?"

Rhonda asked the question of the reflection in the mirror, and for once she was stumped for a answer. What was the problem with letting go? Of taking a chance and letting nature take its course?

It was obvious that there was something between the two of them. Hell, the air was so charged with electricity out there that you could almost see the sparks and hear the crackling. He wanted her, and for once it seemed that he wanted her because of the way she was, and not despite it.

Rhonda started to get herself together, but after brushing her hair and drying her face, she suddenly stopped. Gino was attracted to her because of the way she looked. Why change a thing?

Rhonda grabbed the doorknob, took a deep breath, and yanked the door open, determined to be as honest and wild as he wanted her to be. As she wanted herself to be.

The only problem was, when Rhonda went back into the kitchen, Gino was gone.

.....

Chapter Six: Where's Gino?

Rhonda's heart sank as she saw the kitchen empty, and the door that led to the store open. Had he bolted, or had she left it open as she often did? How long had she been in the bathroom talking to herself?

Rhonda walked through the house in search of Gino. It didn't take long for her to find him. He was standing in the doorway of the porch, his body silhouetted by the candlelight from the porch. As Rhonda approached, she also noticed a very interesting detail.

Gino was nearly naked. Clad only in a pair of form fitting cream colored boxer briefs, with his clothes folded neatly on the arm of a living room chair, he stood with his hands up on the moulding of the door.

"Uh - hi!" Rhonda said. "Thought you skipped out on me."

Rhonda walked around him and stood on the porch facing him.

"Hello," Gino said, looking a little stunned.

"Pretty confident, aren't you?" Rhonda said, her accompanying smirk and snicker both signs that she was not offended.

"Actually, if I were as confident as you think I was, I wouldn't be wearing my underwear," Gino said. "I was guessing you were coming out dressed provocatively or not wearing a stitch. Guess I misread you."

"The thought occurred to me," Rhonda admitted as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. "Guess I don't have the confidence in my body that you do."

"You should," Gino said.

Rhonda shrugged a little, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible while letting her eyes drift downward. Gino's chest was broad and covered with a thick pelt of glistening black hair. The hair thinned slightly toward his stomach; which was not a sculpted six-pack type but just a normal and fit one.

As Rhonda's eyes went down to the briefs, she let out a little gasp as she saw the thick bulge that snaked down the front of the cotton garment, threatening to peek out of the leg opening. She forced herself to look away, continuing her appraisal with a cursory look at his hairy, well-muscled legs before looking back up at him.

"Penny for your thoughts," Gino said, a smile emerging as he realized that Rhonda was not offended by his brazenness.

"I was thinking two things," Rhonda confessed. "One was that I wished I had come out naked."

"Never too late," Gino advised her with a wink.

"Second thing was that you looked like something familiar standing there like that. You know the movie 'Rocky', where he's got Adrianne up in his place, and he's hanging on a pipe trying to seduce her, and she's looking like she's scared to death?"

"Love that movie," Gino said. "But you don't look scared at all."

"I could if you wanted me to," Rhonda suggested. "Actually, you're a little hirsute for Stallone. Maybe more like Kong, That's it! In this jungle setting you look just like him."

"King Kong?" Gino said. "Is that a compliment?"

"To me it is," Rhonda said, letting her tongue slide along her lips. "Kong is wicked cool. He loves his babes and will do anything to protect them. That's you, standing there like you're chained up helpless and all."

"Who are you going to be then?" Gino asked. "Fay Wray? Jessica Lange? Naomi Watts? I think even Linda Hamilton was in one."

"You decide."

"I get to pick? That's easy. I pick you."

"Really? Well, okay. Let's see, now you're going to be chained up like that?"

"My wrists are secured," Gino said, pretending to try and remove them from the moulding.

"You can't get free, and I can do whatever I want to you, right?"

"Up to a point."

"Ah-ha! I knew there was a catch!" Rhonda exclaimed.

"Remember?" Gino cautioned her. "There's a point when Kong gets so riled up and out of control that he breaks free."

"Oh-oh. Then what happens?"

"Kong - rather, I break free, grab you in my hand and... "

"Sounds scary," Rhonda said. "Will Kong have his way with me then?"

"That's the way I see the plot unfolding," Gino grinned.

"Will he be rough or tender?"

"I think maybe a combination of the two," Gino surmised. "He'll be passionate and loving, but after all, he is an animal."

"Mmmmm - now that sounds intriguing, but there's always the chance that I couldn't drive you wild enough to get you to break free," Rhonda mused.

"I wouldn't count on that."

Rhonda stepped back and bit her lower lip while considering the scenario.

"Wait there Kong!" Rhonda said, and scurried into the house.

......

Chapter Seven: Fortification.

Rhonda hurried back to Gino in rapid fashion, with a bottle of tequila, a slice of lime and a couple of shot glasses, one of them filled with salt.

"I did promise you a drink, so this is it. Tequila body shot."

"What's that?" Gino asked.

"You pick a body part," Rhonda explained. "Then you make it wet."

Rhonda bent toward Gino, her tongue finding Gino's crimson nipple through the fur and licking it, her teeth nibbling the aureola and sucking on it hard.

"Ooooh!" Gino moaned as Rhonda's mouth released the little bud.

"Then add salt," Rhonda said, taking the salt-filled shot glass and tipping it as she pressed it against the moist area, leaving a coating of salt.

"Then enjoy!" Rhonda proclaimed, and proceeded to suck the salt off of Gino's chest before downing the shot and sinking her teeth into the slice of lime.

"Mmmmmm!" Rhonda said as she licked her lips.

"That looks good," Gino said. "I want to try that."

"Stay, Kong!" Rhonda ordered. "Apes can't be bartenders. Here you go."

Rhonda dipped her tongue into the salt, coating the tip of it, and poured Gino a shot. She leaned up to Gino, exposing her tongue, and he wrapped his lips around it. Their tongues danced together as he devoured the salt along with Rhonda's tongue.

Rhonda managed to extricate her tongue from Gino's mouth and offered him the shot, which he allowed to slide down his throat before tasting the lime.

"How was that?" Rhonda asked.

"Can I have another?" Gino asked hopefully. "Not the drink, just the salt?"

"Maybe later," Rhonda said cautiously. "And what's with the talking, Kong? Now you just stand there in your shackles and let me do what I have to do."

Rhonda's hands slid through his chest hair, which was somewhere between coarse and soft, her fingers raking through the dense growth as her nails scraped lightly into the skin below.

"Like hair?" Gino asked.

"LOVE hair," Rhonda replied.

"Me too," Gino answered.

"I know," Rhonda whispered, bringing her finger up to Gino's lips as if to silence him, before sliding up his arm to his wrist. Her fingers caressed his forearms on the way down, and squeezed his bicep, which was bulging and hard to the touch.

Rhonda moved her face into the thick tuft of hair under Gino's arm, softly kissing the fur, savoring the woodsy, masculine scent that followed her affections. Gino let out a moan as Rhonda did this again on his other side.

Can't believe I'm actually doing this. That thought flew through Rhonda's mind as she went back to chew on Gino's nipple. What must he think of her? Was she that easy? Or were they just following their instincts and letting things happen naturally? Rhonda was too consumed with her lust to know, or even care at this point.

"Have to make sure that you're still tied up," Rhonda said and she ran her hands up Gino's furry arms; arms so muscular that they felt like a statue.

"I'm still secured for now," Gino said.

"That's good," Rhonda said. "Now here's a kiss for now."

Rhonda leaned up and kissed Gino, their tongues dueling briefly as Gino tried to grind himself into her.

Rhonda broke off the kiss with a coy smile, and while their eyes met each other, Rhonda slid her right hand down Gino's body. over his chest and down his stomach, her fingers finally reaching the cotton of his shorts.

There was no problem finding the bulge that was his manhood, and Rhonda made a choking sound as her hand slid over the thickness of him. Gino's eyes rolled back in his head as her hand traveled down the length of him.

Rhonda found herself kneeling down in front of Gino. her face level with the object of her recent attention. She ran her hands down Gino's thickly furred legs as she leaned forward, kissing the outline of Gino's cock. The musky and manly smell of him only inflamed Rhonda further, and as much as Rhonda wanted to tease Gino, she was losing control of herself.