Thank you for your continued interest and support. I appreciate it.

I do not own Glee or the characters, neither do I own Grayson's Vow.

MERCEDES

How strange it is to be in love with my husband... Strange, but completely wonderful.

So much so, I found myself walking through the vineyard with a small dreamy smile on my lips more often than not.

I had moved my things into Sam's room, and we began anew as an actual married couple.

Now, I feel as if I am in a constant state of dizziness, not quite able to believe this is real.

We said goodbye to Stevie and Olivia, promising them that once the fall harvest was over, we'd spend some time with them at their beach house in San Diego.

How different their departure was from their arrival...

I smiled to myself at the thought and at the memory of me and Sam sprawled on the foyer floor... Come to think of it, I believe we need a rematch, because The Dragon is still under the impression he'd won.

I spent days organizing his office, paying off the large pile of accumulated bills and making my way through six years of accounting records.

It wasn't going to be a quick or easy job. Still, I was determined to understand what had happened to bring on the rapid decline of the vineyard that was now my home, and would be from here on out.

To be sure, I wouldn't let it happen again.

I wait with eager anticipation for Sam to get done with his work at the end of each day so we could eat dinner together.

And then we'd take long strolls around the vineyard, talking and laughing, sharing secrets and learning about each other as if we were newly dating.

For all intents and purposes, that's what we were doing, only for me...with the added element of already being in love.

And I dreamed of the day he might fall in love with me, too...

When the hour was decent enough, or sometimes when it wasn't, we'd retire to our bed where we spent long nights making love.

I learned many things about my husband that made him go wild with passion, and discovered ways to use my body and my mouth that caused him to let go of some of that control he always seemed to carry.

And I allowed him to know me too, more deeply and intimately than anyone had before.

With every moan, every masculine gasp of breath, every trembling caress, Sam reassured me that Chris had been wrong. I wasn't frigid and boring...

I brought joy and satisfaction into bed.

When we went into town for dinner a couple times, several people who had been at the party approached us to say hello, and Sam was warm and personable.

It was almost as if I was watching the cold demeanor he'd adopted slide off him in large pieces. Of course, there were still those who eyed him cautiously, but that would just take time.

So I told him I'd put my mind to work and come up with some other ideas. He just laughed and said he was sure I would.

One morning, a couple weeks after the party, I decided to take Fifty and stroll through the vineyards. All this time and I hadn't walked the rows of the plants I constantly admired as a distant view.

The day had a slight chill to it though the sun was shining brightly... Fall was in the air.

Soon, this fruit would be harvested and the real work at the vineyard would begin.

I inhaled a deep breath of the crisp, earth-scented air, tinged with sweet, ripening grapes. And little Fifty snuffled at the ground, exploring the things interesting to a dog's nose.

Sam had said he was mostly prepared for the upcoming harvest. And he had some hiring to do, but other than that, the equipment was all in working order and ready to go.

That couldn't have made me happier... Our plan had worked. Now, the vineyard was primed for success where it wouldn't have been without my Gram's money.

I stared blindly at the vines of fruit, chewing on my lip. This morning, I was troubled. There was something very worrisome about the accounting files Harrold had given me.

I didn't want to admit even to myself what I thought I'd figured out, but the more I went over them, the surer I was becoming. And I didn't know what to do.

"You look deep in thought."

I whirled around, bringing my hand to my mouth and smiling, even as Sam swooped me into his arms.

"How did you find me here?" I asked as he pressed his lips to my throat. "I thought I was properly hidden from you."

"You can never hide from me. I'll always sniff you out."

Then he placed his nose to my throat and started sniffing around like an over-eager dog.

My dragon...

I squealed, laughing at the feeling of his breath tickling my skin. Then I pushed him away and he laughed, too.

"And here I went to so much trouble to plot and scheme, so I might get you alone somewhere hidden and do all sorts of dirty dragonish things to your body."

I laughed.

"Haven't you done enough of that already?" I asked teasingly.

"Never!"

He turned and it was then I spotted a basket, which he picked up and brought over to where I was standing.

He glanced around, setting his sights on a small grassy area in a warm spot of direct sunlight. Then he took my hand and led there.

Opening the basket, he took out a large quilt and spread it out.

Next, he turned to Fifty who was sniffing something nearby and said,

"Give us some privacy, Fif. Go chase a mouse or something."

The dog chuffed, moving on to a grapevine further down the row, but avoiding the fruit as she'd been trained.

"You have been plotting," I said. "What's this about?"

"This," he said, sitting down and tapping a spot next to him. "Is about teaching you to recognize different grapes. Come here."

I joined my husband, sitting next to him on the quilt.

"If you're going to be the proper wife of a winemaker, you need to know about the variety of grapes we grow so when people ask, you can answer them with confidence."

"Ah."

I attempted to open the basket, but he snapped it closed, making me laugh.

"Patience, little witch. First, I'll need you to undress."

I raised a brow...

"This lesson requires nudity?"

"Indeed. As all good lessons do," he said, leering suggestively, a glint of dragonish devilry in his darkened green eyes.

My heart flipped and my feminine muscles clenched at his blatant masculine beauty, made even more compelling when he acted like a dragon.

"It's a little chilly for nudity, don't you think?"

"I'll keep you warm. Promise."

I laughed softly, but obeyed, removing my long-sleeved T-shirt, kicking off my shoes, and unbuttoning the top button on my jeans.

Then I laid back and Sam held the bottoms and tugged them off.

A wave of insecurity came over me as he studied me lying there in my bra and underwear.

Never before had anyone ever studied me quite so intently and under the bright light of the sun.

"You're so beautiful it hurts," he murmured. Then he leaned in, feathering his lips down my throat and softly said, "I once thought to myself that when I made love to you, I'd always want to do it in the light so I could see every vibrant part of you... Like this beautiful, richly-colored hair." He picked up a strand and let it fall through his fingers. "And your eyes... Eyes that are such a gorgeous brown I want to fall into them..."

"Sam," I murmured, dragging my fingers through his soft hair. I felt my body relaxed, even though heated under the blanket of his warmth.

He went up on his knees momentarily and removed his T-shirt and then leaned forward to unsnap my bra. It fell to the side, and he brought the straps down my arms, his eyes lingering on my nipples, which instantly hardened in the crisp air.

"So beautiful," he whispered. And then he came back over me, his tongue slipping into my mouth.

I shivered, sparks igniting between my legs. And my hands skated down his spine.

His skin felt like hot satin.

He was so broad and so hard everywhere compared to my softness... He was sinfully, perfectly male.

And he was mine...

I loved the feel of my husband's weight on top of me... the feel of his shifting muscles beneath my palms, causing a delicious stir in my belly.

He was so much stronger than me, and yet he treated me so gently. Ever so gently...

The slow movement of Sam's pelvis on mine set my blood on fire and I moaned into his mouth. We had made love countless times already, but somehow, each time felt new and different.

I brought my hand between us and ran my fingers over his stomach muscles, feeling them tense under my touch, even as he sucked in a breath.

I loved to make my beautiful husband gasp.

He smiled against my mouth, drawing away from me as I let out a small whimper of loss. Ah, but he was the one in control today...

Leaning back, he took something from the basket and placed it on the blanket next to us... It was a bunch of grapes.

"This," he said, his voice husky. "Is a Chardonnay grape." Then he plucked one from the bunch, sucking it between his lips and biting it in half.

I watched, spellbound as he took it between his fingers and brought it to my nipple... I sucked in a breath, leaning my head back as my eyes drifted closed.

Then he leaned down and licked the juice left by the grape, kissing each nipple before bringing the piece of grape to my lips.

The feel of the wet fruit, warmed by his mouth felt delicious against my tender skin...

"The flavor of a Chardonnay grape is usually neutral, the flavors brought out by the oak," he said, rubbing it on my mouth.

I licked my lips and he watched my tongue, his eyes growing dark and lazy with desire. And the pulse in his neck beating rapidly.

Then I took the grape between my teeth and bit down, closing my eyes as the sweetness burst across my tongue.

Almost as if he couldn't help himself, Sam leaned in again and kissed me, swirling his tongue in my mouth.

"Hmm," he murmured against my ear as he pulled away from my mouth. "You're doing well so far. A very attentive student," he teased.

"Well, you're somewhat hard to ignore."

Sam's lips tilted up into a small, satisfied smile and he leaned back to pull another bunch of grapes from the basket... This time these were bluish purple.

"Cabernet Sauvignon," he said, his voice low. He again took one to his lips and bit it in half, trailing it down my belly.

Then he leaned in to lick the juice, the feel of his hot tongue on the sensitive skin of my stomach causing my pulse to jump frantically.

I clutched his head in my hands, gasping out a breath...

He lifted his head and for one brief second, our eyes met and held, something unspoken flowing between us.

'I love you,' I thought. 'My heart is yours.'

And it was. My heart belonged solely to Sam Evans. But I let my head fall back, too afraid to say the words for fear my husband wouldn't say them back.

"These grapes make a full-bodied wine," he said, his voice sounding as if he was fighting for control.

Either I would never remember this lesson, or I would remember every word. And every sensation.

Before I even realized it, Sam had stood and apparently taken off his shoes because he was now stripping off his jeans. Then he was back down beside me in seconds, plucking another grape from a different bunch...this one a deep purple.

He held it in his teeth and hooked his thumbs in my underwear. So I lifted my hips and he pulled them off, tossing them aside.

Kneeling beside me, he ran his index finger between my legs and I moaned, parting for him.

Next, he ran the grape over my most sensitive skin...all along my slit...even as I fought to control my hips from thrusting towards him, wanting more.

God, I wanted more...

"Merlot," he practically growled. "Yields wine with rich berry-like flavors."

I sighed in torment and abject relief as he lowered his head and licked up the juice...

His tongue swirled and lapped at me, the pleasure so intense I thought I might orgasm in mere moments.

I squirmed, panting out his name, behaving wantonly, but whatever.

Propriety had no place here...

I wanted my husband buried deep within me and I wasn't going to hold back anything.

Suddenly, Sam came over me again, my cool skin warmed again by the cover of his heat.

And I watched with baited breath as he took his length in his hand and rubbed its swollen head against my entrance.

Eagerly, I tilted my hips towards him in open invitation...

And he accepted.

"Yes," he breathed, thrusting fully inside me. And my breath caught at the now-familiar feel of him filling me.

Nothing more wonderful... Nothing... Except, yes, something did...

He began to thrust.

I let out a high-pitched gasp at the sudden, intense pleasure of my husband moving deeply inside me and ran my hands down his back to end at his ass, relishing the hard feel of his working muscles under my palms.

As always, he found his rhythm quickly, hitting hard and purposeful.

We moved together like sensual poetry... And everything felt heavenly.

Every thrust...

Every gasp...

And every moan.

At some point, my legs lifted and widened as if at their own willingness for him and I felt him go impossibly deeper.

Deeper still...

Driving...

Pounding...

Giving me his all.

And I thought...

"I've never known such pleasure... My body has never known such pleasure...'

Pleasure that kept building higher and higher, until there was nowhere else to go...except over the edge.

And boy did I go over the edge...

So much so, it felt as if the world was spinning... spinning off its axis.

I cried out, blissful spasms wracking my body, even as I heard as if from a distance, Sam grunt his own climax, his hips making clumsy thrusts as he came, shuddering and then breathing harshly into the crook of my neck.

We both laid there... both limp and winded trying to catch our breaths. And after a while, the world felt completely still as I floated back to earth, Sam's ragged breath slowing against my skin.

I looked at everything with new eyes...

The clouds floating lazily above, the birds singing in the surrounding trees and my husband's heart beating a steady rhythm against my own.

And it felt as if the world was only filled with beauty.

Finding my voice...though a little breathless, I asked,

"What other lessons can I look forward to as a winemaker's wife?" And Sam laughed against my skin.

"Oh, I have lots of teaching to do. That's only the very beginning," he said. Then rolled off me and kissed me once more, smiling against my mouth.

I shivered slightly in the crisp air and we sat up to pull on our clothes.

Dressed again, Sam took out a thermos of coffee, Alice's cranberry orange muffins and a plastic container of strawberries.

Then we ate our picnic breakfast together, laughing and chatting about anything and everything.

If there was happiness greater than this, I couldn't imagine what it was.

The next afternoon, the rain came down. It drummed on the window, painting the outside world in misty watercolors.

I sat in Sam's office, staring out at the oak trees and the front gates beyond, the printouts of accounting records spread out on the clean desk before me.

I had organized his office, and now everything had a place, whether it was in a file folder labeled neatly in his bottom desk drawer or in one of the stacked paper trays sitting on top of his desk.

As I stood up, Fifty chuffed at my feet and yawned.

"Stay here, girl," I soothed. "I'll be right back."

I found Alice and Harrold in the kitchen, sitting next to each other at the large dining table, a cup of tea in front of them both.

"Oh hello, dear. Would you like to join us for a cup? The temperature has really dropped today," Alice said.

"Sure. But I'll get a mug. You stay there," I told her distractedly when she began to stand.

A few seconds later, I was sitting down at the table, holding my cup towards her as she poured from the pot already on the table.

Thanking her, I put my hands around the warm mug and let the heat seep into my skin.

"Are you all right?" she asked, a note of worry in her tone. "Is everything okay with you and Sammy? It seems like..."

"Yes, everything's fine with us." I smiled. "Better than fine." I worried my lip... "It's something else."

I looked back and forth between her and Harrold, not wanting to put into words what I suspected, but knowing I had to.

"What is it?" Alice asked. She and Harrold had become very still.

"I've been inspecting the old accounting records and it seems... Well, it seems as if Dwight Evans purposefully ran this vineyard into the ground. Is that even possible?" I whispered.

Alice and her husband glanced at each other, their expressions grim.

"You mustn't tell Sam what you've discovered," she started. "I'm not generally in favour of withholding the truth, but...he's suffered enough at his father's hands and this... it would destroy him. Maybe someday we can... And I think we'll know when the time is right, but not now. He's only just begun to heal."

I exhaled a large breath...

"It's true then," I choked out, a shudder running through my body. "Why? Why would he do that?"

"It was his last message to that sweet boy," Alice said, her eyes tearing up. "Harrold tried to undo as much as he could... tried to preserve anything possible, but when Dwight found out he was sick, and Stevie and Jennine said they didn't want anything to do with this vineyard, he realized he could only leave it to Sam, so he set about destroying it. Thankfully, he had less time than he thought, but he did enough damage even in the short time he lingered."

I felt ill, nausea roiling in my stomach...

"He hated him that much?"

My body suddenly felt chilled to the bone, despite the warm tea in my hands. And I realized I was squeezing the mug, so I released my grip.

"He hated himself," Alice said, and for the first time since I'd known her, I heard heated anger in her voice. "And he channeled that into his relationship with his son. He meant to leave a worthless piece of nothing to Sammy as his final slap across his face. It was cruel and ugly and vindictive and..."

"It's a lie!" Sam's voice came from the doorway.

We all startled, hot tea sloshing onto my hands as my body jerked.

"Sam," I breathed.

"No," he said, but his voice broke as he sagged against the doorframe. Alice, Harrold and I all stood quickly and rushed to him.

"Sammy," Alice said, reaching out to grasp his hand, her expression deeply pained.

"Tell me it's a lie, Alice," he said, his eyes beseeching her.

But her face registered deep grief and she lowered her eyes. She couldn't lie in response to a direct question, not to Sam.

And so, the damage was done...

Sam turned and walked briskly out of the room, heading for the stairs.

Both Alice and Harrold went to follow him, but I put my hand up...

"Let me talk to him," I said. "Please."

They both nodded, Alice wringing her hands, looking anguished.

"If you need us, we'll be right here," Harrold said.

I nodded, offering a small, sad smile. Then I went after my husband...

I climbed the stairs, disbelief still pommeling my heart. How was this possible?

Going through the records, I'd been deeply suspicious, but I'd had a hard time believing it could actually be true.

Could anyone be that evil?

Could anyone hate that much at the end of their life?

That was the legacy he chose to leave?

I couldn't wrap my mind around it. That kind of vengeance was wholly unreal to my mind.

I entered the master bedroom Sam and I shared and found him standing before the window, staring out at the rain.

"Sam," I said tentatively, moving closer.

He turned to face me and the look of stark devastation on his face stopped me in my tracks.

I sucked in a breath...

"I made a vow to him," he choked out. "I thought... and all this time..."

He moved away from the window, pressing his back against the wall next to it. Then his legs suddenly collapsed beneath him, and he slid down to the floor, burrowing his head in his arms.

I let out a small startled cry and rushed forward, dropping onto the carpet with him and wrapping my arms around his shaking body.

And as I held my husband, he did what he had probably needed to do for six long years, more likely his whole life...

He cried.

God, my heart broke for Sam. His father was an evil man.

Stay safe!