The Rhythm Method

With the bar as empty as it was, Tammy stood near Ralph, openly flirting with him. She was wearing a tight, low cut u-necked t-shirt that fully displayed her ample cleavage. She had her hands on the bar and was leaning forward, giving Ralph a perfect view.

"I'm finally recovered from the other night, Ralph," Tammy said with a sultry tone.

"Is that so, Tam?"

"Yeah. Tonight's my early night, in case you were wondering. I'll be done by ten."

Ralph grunted and nodded at her. "I WAS wondering, actually. I need to shower and run a few errands. How about we meet at your apartment around ten-thirty?"

Pulling her keys from her pocket, Tammy slid them across the bar to Ralph. "Go on inside and get comfortable, Ralph. Run your errands, but leave the shower until I get there, sugar. I'll scrub you up real good," she said with a sexy smile. She turned and walked away, greeting another customer at the far end of the bar.

Charlotte listened to the entire exchange, and felt a flush of color rise up in her cheeks. She realized that this woman was the one she had seen with Ralph in the parking lot the other day. Jesus, she thought. Does this woman have no self-respect at all? How the hell does she feel comfortable just throwing herself at this beast like that? On and on she went in her mind, finishing her drink and then having another before finally walking out to her car.

Feeling the effects of the alcohol, Charlotte was glad that her apartment was just a short distance away. By the time she had finished her tirade in her mind, she had one last thought, or rather, a realization. She felt jealous. She actually felt jealous. God help me, she thought as she went into her apartment.

Charlotte took a long shower, then dried her hair out as best she could. She lay naked in bed, tired, sore and spent. She reached into her night table drawer and pulled out her favorite vibrator. She planned to just lay back and feel and let the tension of the day melt away with an orgasm. She just wanted to feel. Her mind, though, insisted on drifting to Ralph. The feeling of his hands around her waist, the warmth and strength of him pressed against her side, the way his hands felts as he held on to hers. The feeling of his breath on her neck. The way he had that barmaid on her knees outside in the parking lot. The way he seemed to take charge. All of it. She tried to push the thoughts away, but they were insistent, coming back faster and stronger each time she managed to shoo them away. Finally, her body stiffened and her climax hit, more powerfully than it had in months.

Ralph pulled into the parking lot at the winery the next morning. Despite the workout he had had with Tammy, he had yet another restless night's sleep. He stared through the dirty windshield at Charlotte's car and cursed. The bitch had gotten to him yesterday. In the middle of the night he had realized she had only become a bitch again after April had made fun of her. He wasn't about to apologize or anything that drastic, but it had changed the way he saw her. She was still a fucking stuck-up bitch, but he also hoped he would see her again today.

The conflicting emotions within him made him even more grouchy than usual during his morning duties at work. Even Sam had backed off, realizing his mood was one that wasn't about to be broken with a few quick jokes. Mark, though, had not been there long enough to know better. After asking about his day with the princess, Ralph had just stared at him silently with a menacing look in his eyes before walking away, willing the slow morning in the cellar to move by faster.

At eleven, the staff gathered once more in the upstairs dining room. After being given their random numbers again and taking their seats, they found themselves sitting with a new group of colleagues. To her dismay, Charlotte found herself with April at her table, and she felt herself bristling at the woman's louder than necessary voice and laugh, the memory of it mocking her the day before still so fresh in her mind.

Suzette got up to address the group and extend her congratulations on a job well done the day before. Charlotte thought it odd that the lectern on the dais had been replaced with a bench that she leaned upon. Watching Suzette carefully as she spoke, she noted the pile of blocks beside her that had been built up into a childlike replica of the castle winery. As her speech came to a conclusion, she took of the brightly colored scarf that decorated her neck and covered the pile of blocks with it.

"Time to test your powers of observation," she said with a smile. "Each of you have several small blocks before your place setting. As a group, you must replicate the pattern of blocks I had sitting beside me the whole time I was speaking. Good luck ladies and gentlemen." She returned to her table and sat down as the entree was served.

Ralph had not being paying attention at all and swore under his breath as he heard the instructions. He had planned to become involved in the group task as he had on the first day, hoping to impress the elitist assistants. However, as he sat directly behind and to the left of Charlotte, he had let his mind wander to the smell of her perfume he'd noticed as he had stood close to her the day before. Her hair was up, showing off the flawless skin of her neck, and she was dressed for the catwalk once again. But he admitted to himself that she looked beautiful and delicate in the outfit she had chosen.

Constantly distracted by thoughts of Charlotte as she sat just out of reach and led her group in their block building, he had barely even commented on his own group's motley construction. By the end of the main course, it looked like a group of two year olds had assembled the creation. Suzette's personal assistant came around with an iPad, taking photos of each building. Before dessert was served, Suzette stood to unveil the original building and congratulate the winners. Three of the tables had managed to closely mirror the model, including Charlotte's table.

Ralph scowled, feeling that his table of companions had let him down and taking no responsibility for the failure himself. During dessert, they were once again given pairs to shadow work with for Thursday. Charlotte had been given Sam to work with, and Jeff had been paired with Ralph. The rest of the afternoon went by quickly as they dawdled back to their work stations slowly after dessert. Ralph's mood darkened further knowing he would be working with Charlotte's boyfriend, and he felt the need to take it out on someone. He knew just the girl who was always willing....

Tammy stood on the rug in Ralph's living room, naked and blindfolded, as he sat on the couch and watched her. She had hoped that Ralph would call her since she wasn't working that evening, and he didn't disappoint her. With her hands bound together and attached to a hook in a beam that ran across the ceiling, Tammy could do little more than stand there on her toes and wait for Ralph to do as he pleased. The longer he waited, the more turned on Tammy was getting.

Although she had her own desires, when it came to sex, she was a chameleon. She thrived on playing whatever role her partner wanted her to play, her desire to please consuming her. There was little that Tammy would refuse, but she did have safe words to protect her. She loved that Ralph's taste in sex was varied, because it allowed them to experiment with many different ideas.

She squirmed a little when she heard Ralph rise up from the couch. He had blindfolded her often enough for her to recognize the sounds he made as he moved about in the room. She could feel his presence as he moved within a foot or two of her. He ran the riding crop that was in his hand across Tammy's bare ass, and it made her gasp. She could feel her heart racing in anticipation of the sting she would soon feel.

"I expected you to be here when I got off work today, Tammy," Ralph began. "Instead, I had to sit outside in my car and wait for you."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? Not yet, Tammy, but you will be."

Those words caused Tammy to smile and bite her lip.

"You're smiling? I think you like to misbehave, Tammy. Isn't that right?"

"I do what I want, Ralph," she said with a sneer.

In an instant, there was a whoosh as the crop sped through the air and snapped onto the right ass cheek of Tammy. She let out a yelp and squirmed again as much as her restraints allowed. "Hmmm. Look at that pretty little red mark I just planted on your ass, Tammy. Maybe I should take a picture, don't you think?"

"No."

She heard the tell-tale shutter sound from the camera on Ralph's phone. "Oh, yes. Maybe you can hang it up on the mirror behind the bar at work, huh?"

"Fuck you, Ralph," Tammy replied, playing her role perfectly. A moment later, her left ass cheek was stinging, just as the right one had earlier. Once again, she heard the sound of the camera.

"Are you going to tell me why you weren't here when I arrived, Tammy?"

"You already know, Ralph."

Again, the whoosh and snap of the crop on her ass broke the silence in the room. And again. Tammy was breathing deeply through the pain, feeling the heat radiating off of the places the crop had landed.

"Why, Tammy?"

"Because I was out getting you beer. I did it for you."

This time, it was a short stroke, connecting with a sensitive nipple. Tammy let out a gasp, not expecting that he would move so rapidly off her ass.

"What were you doing all day that was so important that you hadn't done it earlier?"

"Nothing," Tammy mumbled, earning her a strike to her other nipple.

So it went for nearly an hour, fuelling the desires of both of them. By the time they were finished, Tammy's ass was bright red, and she was marked in several other spots on her body. The room smelled of her musky scent as her excitement caused her pussy to swell up and weep with her secretions. As always, the scent excited Ralph, urging him on.

Tammy stood there, her body tingling, listening to the sound of Ralph unzipping the fly on his jeans. She squirmed, needing to feel him inside her. A moment later he grabbed her by the thighs, lifting her up and spreading her open. He then moved her body so that his cock was positioned at the entrance to her cunt. He didn't so much move himself forward as he did move her onto his cock. Tammy literally grunted as he filled her completely, pulling her down hard on him.

She pulled up with her still restrained arms, trying to gain leverage as they fucked. Ralph did most of the work, raising and lowering her on his cock while roughly kissing her. Needing a shave, his rough beard chafed at the sensitive skin of her face. Ralph controlled the pace, taking his time and prolonging their pleasure. Tammy rolled through a series of small orgasms as they fucked, which normally happened when he fucked her. She could never understand how he could make her come that easily, but was happy that he did. When Ralph was ready, he aggressively fucked her until he growled and thrust forward, pumping his come inside her needy cunt.

Eventually, Ralph took Tammy down and they moved to the bed for another round. Later that evening, she lay there with a smile on her face. Tammy knew this relationship would never go anywhere, but she was happy that neither of them were involved with other people. She liked the feeling of him coming inside her, and didn't want to have to start fooling around with condoms all the time.

Charlotte woke early and looked over at Jeff who had stayed the night. She wished they stayed at his place more often, but he seemed to like her small apartment. The thought of waking him for a round of unsatisfying sex was discarded quickly from her mind. Instead, she got out of bed without disturbing him so she could do her morning run on the treadmill. She knew it would provide more endorphins for her than Jeff ever could. Undoubtedly, Jeff would sleep for at least another hour.

As she ran, she thought about the day ahead. Sam was a friend of Ralph's, which put her guard up, but she also remembered the teasing banter they had on Monday. She really hoped today would go smoothly. Well at least more smoothly than last time she was a cellar rat.

An hour later, she stood in the kitchen making breakfast for them both while Jeff showered. She had chosen her outfit today more carefully, and had a good change of clothes packed as well. She planned to start in the cellar with Sam this time and change during the lunch break. A short while later, feeling as prepared as she could, she followed Jeff to work in her own car since they would not be seeing each other tonight.

Ralph arrived about fifteen minutes early on Thursday and was standing in the foyer waiting when Sam arrived. His friend came over to him and immediately started to tease him.

"I'll be working with your girlfriend today Ralph. Jealous?" Sam joked.

"Fuck off Sam," the big man replied. Sam really had angered him, he realized, because he actually was a little jealous that Charlotte would be working with his friend. It shocked him, in fact.

"Who did you draw, again?"

Ralph glared at his friend. "Jeff. King of the assholes."

"Careful, now Ralph. You can't have Suzette hear you speaking like that."

"Yeah? Let HER work with the prick then."

Sam chuckled. "Just don't kill the guy, Ralph. They do have laws about such things."

"Well see," growled Ralph.

A moment later, Charlotte and Jeff arrived together. Seeing them like that soured Ralph's mood even more. The couple approached Ralph and Sam, Charlotte saying hello to each of them. Ralph locked eyes with her, but she shyly looked away, the memory of her orgasm two nights earlier still with her.

"Shall we get started, Sam?" she asked.

Sam nodded and held out an elbow to her. Charlotte hooked her elbow with his, and the two of them marched off to start the day. Ralph watched the two of them go, then turned to Jeff, who was watching him closely.

"You're up," Ralph said to him. "What are we going to do this morning?"

"We have some testing to do, and there are a number of barrels we need to top off," Jeff replied. "It's a delicate operation. I think it's better if you just observe."

Holding back a sneer, Ralph followed Jeff down into the cellars.

They worked the morning away, speaking just enough to give the impression that they were cooperating with each other. They were just finishing up as noon approached, and they climbed the stairs to the main floor.

"I'm taking you to lunch," Jeff declared. "You did the honors for Charlotte the other day, and I'd like to return the favor.

Ralph was surprised that Charlotte had spoken about their day together, though he knew he shouldn't have been. He had heard Sam and Charlotte joking with each other and laughing in the cellar as he had shadowed Jeff. The ass had pompously explained everything he did while using Ralph as a shelving unit to hold his equipment.

As he and Jeff left the cellar, he could hear Charlotte's giggle. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that she and Sam were following them towards the stairs for lunch.

"At least I didn't get as messy as when I worked with Ralph" Charlotte was saying, "But if it's okay I will change anyway and meet you in the cafeteria."

"Want me to order for you?" Sam offered.

"I'll just have whatever you're having," Charlotte smiled.

The whole exchange irritated Ralph beyond reason, and despite it being the last thing he wanted to do, Ralph agreed to go to lunch with Jeff. It had to be better than sitting in the cafeteria with those two. They walked out into the parking lot, and Ralph followed Jeff to his car. Jeff had driven to work in the car he liked to call his weekend car, the Audi R8 Coupe. It was a performance vehicle that cost well in excess of one hundred thousand dollars.

Ralph barely fit into the vehicle, squeezing himself into the passenger seat as the much smaller Jeff settled into the driver's position. Jeff pushed a button and the car roared to life. Backing out of his spot, he turned toward Ralph with a grin.

"You should see the pussy you can land with a car like this, Ralph."

Ralph nodded. "What do you think Charlotte thinks about that?" he asked.

"Let me tell you something, my friend. Charlotte is great. I will marry her someday, and she will bear me children and heirs to my family's estate. But a man has needs, Ralph. I'm sure you know that. A woman like her...she will never understand the needs of a man like me. I like to keep a stable of fillies around, if you get my drift. Treat them mean and keep them keen, you know?" Jeff chuckled. "There is no way a woman like Charlotte would ever give me what I need."

Ralph listened, his anger building by the moment. The more Jeff spoke, the more Ralph knew that his evaluation of the man was right on the mark. He grew up with everything handed to him, having never had to work for a thing in his life. In reality, he neither appreciated nor earned anything, but felt the need to flaunt what he had in the face of others. Ralph was sure that Jeff brought this car today just to rub his nose in it. He was intimidated by Ralph, and needed to try to feel superior.

His thoughts then moving to Charlotte, Ralph wondered whether it was the man, not the woman, who was the problem. Although she kept a professional demeanor at work, Ralph had no idea what made the woman tick outside of the winery. Considering the way she had affectionately interacted with Sir Charles, Ralph thought there might just be more to her than meets the eye.

His immediate issue, however, was figuring out how he would get through the rest of the day with this fool without smashing him in the face with his huge fist. Somehow, Ralph made it through the day without any violence, although it took nearly all of his resolve to do so.

Leaving the winery, Ralph caught sight of Sam and Charlotte exiting the building. They were talking like old friends and his mood darkened once again.

"Hey Ralph!" Sam called out. Ralph considered ignoring his friend but eventually turned in his direction as he heard the hurried footsteps move closer to him. "Charlotte and I are going for a drink. Come with us buddy." Ralph didn't respond at first, turning his gaze on Charlotte who had hung back from the exchange.

"Come on, don't be an ass. You know you want to. We'll meet you down at The Shack. Then you can talk to the other guys and ignore us if you want," Sam chuckled. "Charlotte wants to get the complete cellar rat experience, so what better place than that, right?" Ralph grunted with a small nod of his head and walked off.

"He's a good guy really," Sam said, falling back to walk with Charlotte out to the parking lot. "He's just had a bit of a rough go at life, you know?" he continued, making excuses for his friend's lack of social graces. "Mine's the old beat up Chevy over there. Follow me down, okay?"

"Sure," Charlotte replied. She had really enjoyed her day with Sam. He was a genuinely nice guy and once again she wondered about the odd mismatched friendship between Sam and Ralph. Any time he had come up in the conversation during the day, Sam spun it to a good light. She could see that he was an intensely loyal friend.

Ralph nearly pointed his car towards home, but he gave in and headed to the bar instead. If pressed, he would have to admit that he was becoming quite intrigued with Charlotte Simons. He was still of a mind that she was a stuck up bitch, but the more he got to know her, the more difficult it became to pigeon hole her in such a way. The thought of spending some time with her outside of work was making him happy, and he just didn't know what to make of that.

He pulled into the mostly empty parking lot and brought his car to a stop in a spot near the door. He saw Sam's empty car parked near his, so he went on inside to find his friend. There were a few tables situated on either side of the dance floor. Sam and Charlotte were sitting at a table set for four, and Ralph ambled over and took a seat.