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In Sheep's Clothing	By : ParisWriter Category: +G through L > Harvest Moon Views: 2169 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Chapter Nineteen

Avery frowned at the bottle in her hands. It was simple, yet elegant – crafted from blue glass – but it still lacked any real sense of personality. The label was nothing more than a piece of wide masking tape she'd slapped across the surface in order to write the date upon, and it completely ruined the appearance she had been hoping to go for with her brand.

"Something wrong?" Klaus asked, slipping his arms around her waist as he stood behind her, resting his chin upon her shoulder to look at whatever she seemed to be upset over.

"I have no idea how to go about marketing this," she told him, holding up the wine bottle. "I don't have a design for a label... I don't even have a suitable name figured out, yet."

"Aren't most wines named for the vineyard where they're produced?" he wondered, reaching up to take the bottle from her and examining it himself.

"Yeah, but somehow I don't think people are going to be clamoring for Little Farm Wine," Avery remarked, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against the dining table.

Klaus smiled a little. "The taste will speak for itself, love."

"You do know that studies have proven that people think things like wine taste better if they believe it's more expensive, right? No one in the city is ever going to buy something with a quaint little country name like that."

"We'll think of something," he assured her, setting the bottle down on the table and pulling her into his arms. "As for designing the labels, why don't you ask your mother for help with that? She's an artist, after all, and her name being connected to your brand is sure to bring attention to it."

"I suppose I could do that," Avery reluctantly agreed, still sounding frustrated. Klaus made a thoughtful sound as he released her and grabbed the bottle off the table, then headed in the direction of the kitchen.

"Where do you keep your wineglasses?" he asked as he began searching through the cabinets.

"Over the stove," she directed him, "but why? We're not going to drink that, are we?"

"Why not?" Klaus asked as he looked at her over his shoulder while pulling down a couple of glasses and setting them between the burners on her stove. "You're stressed right now, and there's nothing I can think of that would be better for combating that stress than a couple of glasses of wine and a massage."

"It hasn't aged long enough," she protested, going to stand by him and grabbing the bottle away from him. Klaus leaned over and kissed her, gently prying it back out of her grip, then uncorked it before she could make any further arguments.

"It'll be fine," he assured her. "Sometimes young wines are better than aged ones."

"But..." She sighed in defeat as he poured each of them a glass and handed one to her, then allowed him to take her by the hand and lead her over to the sofa. They sat together, facing one another, and Klaus watched her expectantly. Sighing once more, she took a drink of the wine and paused to consider the flavor.

"How is it?" he asked, drinking from his own glass.

"Sweet," Avery remarked before taking another drink. "It's not exactly... conventional, but I do like it."

"I think the flavor of the peaches really comes through," Klaus commented, reaching out to take her hand in his. "Perhaps you might want to consider marketing this particular wine as a milder variety for those who don't like the more aggressive flavors of aged wines?"

"You're right," Avery said as she sat her wineglass down on the end table behind her. She then laid her head back against the couch and closed her eyes, yet another frustrated sigh escaping her lips.

"What's wrong, love?" Klaus asked her, gently caressing the palm of her hand with his thumb.

"I don't know what I'm doing, Klaus," she told him. "I started this whole winery business without a clue as to how to actually run a winery."

"You'll learn."

"No, I should have learned before I ever got started. I should have gone to study under some master vintner somewhere for a few years instead of impulsively just coming out here to chase after a stupid dream."

Klaus leaned over to reach around her so he could set his wineglass next to hers, then brushed his hand back through her hair and kissed her on the forehead.

"Hey... Look at me," he requested. Avery shook her head and kept her eyes closed, and he gently kissed each of her eyelids, followed by her cheeks, then finally placed his lips upon hers and coaxed her into a slow, sensual kiss as he threaded his fingers through hers. When she finally opened her eyes, he saw the remnants of tears in them but was glad to find that there were none threatening to fall.

"Your dream is not stupid," he told her, caressing her cheek with his free hand. "You maybe rushed into things a bit, sure... but you still have plenty of time to hone your skills. Besides, if you had studied under a master vintner, they would have taught you to age that wine so much that you would have lost the sweetness of the peaches that it has right now. And I, for one, love your peaches."

Avery laughed a little, smiling slightly at him. "You're still talking about fruit, right?"

"For the time being," Klaus replied with a half-shrug and a smirk, kissing her softly once more.

"My point is," he continued after settling back to gaze into her eyes once more, "have faith in yourself. Start small. Keep things local, at first, perhaps by setting up a stand at the trade depot like you were talking about doing before. Don't try to rush into being some big name in the wine business right away. It'll happen, in time. I know it will, because I believe in you."

Avery's eyes suddenly filled with tears and she threw her arms around him, pulling him close and hugging him tightly as she began to cry against his shoulder. Klaus blinked in confusion, then slid his own arms around her waist and held her, rubbing her back slowly.

"I love you," she finally managed to say, her voice wavering. She pulled back and wiped at her eyes, an embarrassed smile curving her lips upward slightly, and Klaus smiled back at her as he gently brushed away the tears on her cheeks with his thumbs before leaning close to kiss her.

"I love you, too," he whispered against her lips. "Now, how about that massage I promised?"

Avery laughed a little and turned away from him on the couch, picking up her glass of wine as he settled behind her and began gently kneading the muscles in her lower back.

"I thought we were taking things slow," she remarked, and Klaus could clearly hear the smirk in her voice.

"We are," he replied, placing extra pressure on a particularly knotted spot he found in order to work it out. "As you very well have noticed, we are still both fully dressed."

Avery let out a soft moan as his hands continued up her back, stopping every few centimeters. "Yes, but... the wine... the massage... it could all lead to something."

"It won't lead anywhere you don't wish for it to go, love," he assured her, pushing her hair aside and over the front of her shoulder in order to gain access to the back of her neck. Avery's head fell forward momentarily as his fingers worked their magic on the tired muscles of her neck and shoulders, but she soon leaned back against him, her head resting upon his shoulder as she gazed at him with half-lidded eyes.

"And what if I want it to lead somewhere?" she posed the question in a soft, breathy voice, and Klaus slid his arms around her and pulled her back closer to him. One of his hands rested upon her abdomen, while the other brushed against her breasts as he reached up to cup her face with his hand in order to guide her lips to his.

"In that case, I would be very tempted," he informed her, brushing his lips against hers briefly before releasing her from his grasp. He leaned forward, pressing his chest fully against her back as he reached for his wineglass, then shifted away from her to sit at the other end of the couch, smirking when she gave him a look of disbelief over her shoulder.

"And you call me an evil tease?" she huffed indignantly as she turned toward him on the couch, bringing up her wineglass to take another drink. Klaus took another hearty swallow of his own wine and then inched his way closer to her once more, his grin turning a bit more devilish.

"You know, I do believe there's one thing that could be done to improve vastly upon this wine," he mused, taking her glass from her and placing it back upon the table. She gave him a quizzical look, and he merely smiled at her and took a drink of his wine, then leaned over and kissed her. Avery gasped in surprise when she got a mouthful of wine and began coughing as it went down her windpipe, causing it to dribble all down her chest and make a mess.

"Next time... warn me... when you're about to do something like that," she told him through her coughs and Klaus hid his amused smile behind his hand. Once she stopped coughing, he placed his hand at the back of her head and pulled her closer once more, kissing her deeply and relishing the faint remnants of the sweet wine within her mouth with his tongue.

"I should get cleaned up," Avery said in a breathless whisper once he finally pulled away, but Klaus shook his head.

"Allow me," he insisted, his voice just as quiet as hers, then kissed her at the corner of her mouth.

He slowly followed the trail the wine had made as it spilled from her lips, leaving a line of wet kisses down the side of her neck in his wake. Avery shivered as he sucked upon the spot just above her collar bone and reached up to thread her fingers into his hair, then gasped when she felt him pour more wine from his glass over her cleavage.

"Klaus!" she shrieked, making him chuckle deep in his throat as he continued pressing kisses to her neck before moving down to where the swell of her breasts were peeking out of her dress.

"I did tell you I loved your peaches, did I not?" he reminded her, sliding his hand down to squeeze one of her breasts as he bathed her with his tongue, cleaning up the mess he had intentionally made.

"I'm not entirely sure whether I find this arousing or strange," Avery remarked, and Klaus placed one last kiss right between her breasts before finally looking up at her with a lazy smile.

"Perhaps I've been a bit too bold, this time," he said, sitting up and catching her lips with his for a brief kiss. "Though, if you'd let me, I would gladly drink this wine from all over your beautiful body."

She pulled him to her for another kiss, biting his bottom lip a bit harder than usual in retribution for the mess he'd made of her clothes with his wine-spilling, and Klaus hastily set down his glass on the end table in order to scoop her up into his arms and change their positions so that he was seated upon the couch with her in his lap, straddling him. She continued kissing him, teasing him by tangling her tongue with his before pulling away, her hands running down over his shoulders and chest and grasping him roughly by his cravat.

"You ruined my dress, Klaus," she admonished him, using the golden silk tie to tug him closer.

"It'll wash out," he assured her, attempting to capture her lips but being unable to do so before she leaned back once more.

"I was going to wear this dress to the Fireworks Show tonight," she informed him, pouting. Klaus reached up and tangled one of his hands into her hair, attempting to complete the contact of his lips to hers, but she once more evaded him, leaning to the side at the last minute and instead pressing a kiss to the side of his neck.

"Why don't you, ah..." he gasped as she began to nibble and suck upon the spot just below his ear, causing him to practically melt into her couch. "Why not wear that dress you wore on our first date?"

Avery immediately sat up at the suggestion, shaking her head.

"Don't you think it's a bit too revealing?" she wondered, and Klaus blinked at her sudden shift in attitude and pulled himself back up into an upright position, making sure to support her with his hands behind her back so she didn't fall out of his lap.

"You had no problem with wearing it before," he remarked.

"I didn't choose to wear it, it was chosen for me," she reminded him. "Besides, women dress like that all the time in the city. Around here they're more... conservative."

"I can't argue with that," Klaus said with a small smile. "Just wear whatever you'll feel comfortable in, love. I do like that dress, but I'm happy with you in whatever you like."

Avery nodded and leaned in to kiss him again, then groaned loudly when someone began knocking on her front door. She kissed him anyway, hoping whoever it was would just leave, but when the knock sounded again she got up and made her way over to the bed to retrieve her robe.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" Klaus wondered, picking up his wineglass and finish the last of its contents.

"Sure, I'm going to answer the door covered in wine," Avery replied sarcastically, putting on her robe and tying it closed over her stained dress. "I swear, everyone in this town must have some sort of sixth sense that drives them to interrupt others when they're in the middle of any sort of intimate moment."

Klaus chuckled and got up from the sofa to wander back into her kitchen where he'd left the wine bottle, and Avery went to the door and answered it, blinking in surprise when she found Veronica standing there.

"Hello, Avery," the guildmaster greeted her. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you've seen Klaus today?"

"What can I do for you, Veronica?" Klaus asked as he came up behind Avery, having abandoned the wine, and wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her back against him. Veronica cleared her throat a bit, lowering her gaze and blushing, and Avery jabbed an elbow back into Klaus' stomach when she realized what the situation must have looked like to the guildmaster.

"I, um..." Veronica paused, clearing her throat once more. "I still need your donation for the fireworks festival, Klaus."

"Dammit, I knew I forgot to do something this morning," Klaus grumbled, releasing Avery. "I'm sorry, Veronica. I'll get that for you."

"Thank you," Veronica said with a nod, then turned and took a few steps away from the door, pretending to examine Avery's fields as she waited.

"I'm so sorry, love," Klaus told Avery, kissing her briefly. "I really need to go take care of this and then get some more work done before tonight."

"It's okay," Avery assured him, shaking her head and giving him a small smile. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Of course," he said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her once more lingering for a moment with his forehead pressed against hers. "Meet me at the trade depot around eight o'clock?"

"I will."

Klaus reluctantly released her and Avery watched him leave the farm with Veronica, nervously biting her lip as she hoped the older woman didn't spend their entire walk back to town lecturing him again about their sex life.

Eight o'clock came and went, and Avery found herself standing alone at the entrance of the trade depot as she waited for Klaus. She'd arrived ten minutes early and already had to endure disapproving looks from Veronica and Margot, appreciative looks from Otmar and Jonas, and several suggestive comments from Raeger, Marian, and Giorgio.

She had decided to go along with Klaus' suggestion and wore the same outfit she'd had on for their first date, though due to the warm summer weather she'd left the shawl at home. Even though she had wanted to be confident in her wardrobe choice, the combination of the reactions of the townspeople to her chosen attire along with Klaus' tardiness made her feel increasingly insecure as each minute ticked by. She looked back over her shoulder to take stock of who had already arrived, and found that most of the residents of Oak Tree Town were already milling about and socializing.

"Still no sign of Klaus?"

Avery turned to Raeger and found him looking very unlike himself, wearing a concerned frown rather than his usual cocky smirk.

"What time is it?" she asked him, nervously wringing her hands as he checked his pocket watch.

"Just after eight thirty," Raeger told her, and she looked back out toward town once more. "Veronica said she wants to get started soon, since everyone's already here."

"Everyone isn't here!" Avery retorted, turning back to face him.

"Want me to go let her know we're still waiting on Klaus?" he offered, hooking a thumb back over his shoulder toward where the guildmaster was chatting with some of the older town residents.

"And Iris," Avery added, shaking her head. "She's not here yet, either."

"You don't think..." Raeger immediately regretted the comment at soon as it began leaving his mouth, and he quickly attempted to laugh it off with a shake of his head. "Nah. I'm just messing with you. Klaus wouldn't screw around with Iris. Not when he's got a hot babe like you."

He winked at her, but the damage had already been done. He had voiced the very fears that had been starting to nag at Avery since she realized Iris and Klaus were the only two people who hadn't yet arrived. Even Mistel had already been there for at least fifteen minutes, chatting with Elise as far away from everyone else as possible. She began worrying her bottom lip between her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut against the tears which were threatening to fall, balling her hands into fists at her sides.

"Shit."

Avery looked up at Raeger and found him staring off in the direction she'd been looking for better than half an hour, his mouth hanging open slightly in disbelief. She began to turn to see what he was looking at and her grabbed her by the shoulders in an attempt to prevent her from doing so, but she shrugged him off and turned to witness the very thing she had been dreading seeing: Klaus was walking toward the trade depot, but he wasn't alone – he was arm-in-arm with Iris, talking and laughing with her.

"It doesn't mean anything," Raeger told her in a soothing voice, placing a hand on her shoulder. "They could have just run into each other on the way here."

"Avery!" Iris called upon spotting her, waving as they made their way over to where she and Raeger were standing. "You need to start taking better care of your man, sweetie."

"Excuse me?" Avery said quietly, still in shock over what was going on right before her eyes.

"Well, it's a good thing I stopped by to see if he wanted to walk me here like he usually does, because the poor thing was passed out fast asleep on his work station," Iris informed her, turning to give Klaus a cheeky smirk. Avery looked over at Klaus and found him blushing, his hair a bit messier than usual on one side.

"I'm sorry, love," he apologized, pulling his arm from Iris' grip and stepping closer to her. "I know I'm late. I only meant to rest my eyes for a moment, and the next thing I knew Iris was banging on my door practically screaming bloody murder."

"I was not!" Iris stated with an indignant look, slapping him across the back. She then gave Avery a wink. "Anyway, you two enjoy the show."

Avery watched her walk away to join the others, and she felt Raeger give her shoulder another squeeze. She turned to look up at him, and he smiled at her.

"You're gonna be okay now, right?" he asked her, and she nodded. He leaned down to kiss her cheek, then gave Klaus a short wave before disappearing somewhere within the crowd, as well.

"I really am sorry, Avery."

Avery didn't say anything. She simply closed the remainder of the distance between them and threw herself against his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around him. Klaus stumbled backward a step, then let out a light chuckle and returned her embrace, kissing the top of her head.

"I was starting to worry," she told him after a moment, snuggling against him.

"I know," Klaus said, running his fingers through her hair until she finally looked up at him. "I'm sorry. Tell me whatever I can do to make it up to you, and I'll do it."

"Just tell me you love me," she requested, and Klaus smiled and kissed her briefly.

"I love you, Avery," he whispered, his eyes locked with hers. "More than anything in this world, for as long as I shall live, I love you."

"And I love you, Klaus."

Klaus smiled and kissed her again, his hands resting upon her lower back and pulling her body flush against his. Avery almost pulled away to remind him of the others nearby, but when one of his hands found its way to her backside and gave it a gentle squeeze she realized he didn't care who saw them. She opened her mouth to him and he took the kiss a bit deeper, giving a contented sigh as their tongue slowly mingled, and Avery suddenly felt very foolish that she ever could have believed – even for a moment – that Klaus would cheat on her. His words, his touches, his kisses... there was always so much love and sincerity in everything he did and said to her that she knew she truly meant as much to him as he said she did.

The first of the fireworks went off above them, and Klaus pulled away and looked up at the before gazing down upon her once more and smiling. He raised one of his arms up to wrap around her shoulders and carefully turned her around in his arms, holding her back against his chest so that she could watch the colorful explosions in the sky, as well.

"You wore the dress," he commented after a moment, playing with one of the thin straps on her shoulder.

"I did," she said with a small nod, then rested her head back against his shoulder with a soft sigh.

Klaus leaned down and kissed her neck as he continued playing with the strap of her dress, inching it slowly off her shoulder and down her arm as he trailed his kisses over to where it had once been. Avery gasped as she felt her bodice start to slide dangerously low on one side, and quickly brought up a hand to hold the dress in place in order to avoid exposing one of her breasts in public.

"Klaus, what are you doing?" she asked him in a harsh whisper, turning her head to look at him.

"I thought maybe we could make a few of our own fireworks during the show."

"Everyone in town is right over there!" she reminded him, gesturing toward the gathering of townspeople at the center of the trade depot. They were all gazing up at the sky, watching the fireworks, but she knew at any moment any one of them could turn in their direction and catch them in the act of... wherever Klaus had intended for things to go.

"You're right," he agreed with a small frown, standing back up to his full height. Avery let out a sigh of relief and pulled her strap back up into place.

"We need someplace a bit more private," he added with a seductive little smile, taking her by the hand and gently pulling her along with him in the direction of the stall where Jonas worked as the town's Director of Trade. It was past business hours, and so the stall was closed up and would provide a solid barrier between the residents of Oak Tree Town and whatever shenanigans Klaus had in mind for them.

"Fine, but as soon as the fireworks are done, we stop, okay?" Avery agreed, feigning reluctance to go along with his plan even though she was giggling like a schoolgirl. Klaus merely stopped mid-stride and pulled her toward him, capturing the surprised squeak she let out when her body collided with his in his mouth as he kissed her. He continued backing up behind the stall as he kissed her, pushing both of her straps down off her shoulders, and Avery pulled him toward her to make him stop when she heard a giggle that hadn't come from her own mouth.

"What's wrong?" he asked her breathlessly as he looked at her, and Avery leaned to the side to peek around him in the direction the noise had come from. Klaus turned his head to look, as well, and both of them let out a short laugh of surprise.

"Raeger!?"

The chef's head whipped around at the sound of Avery calling his name, and he went paler than a freshly-bleached sheet. His hair was a mess, his tie and vest discarded upon the ground, and his shirt was hanging halfway off.

"Hey, uh... What are you two doing here?" he asked as he turned to them, pulling his shirt back up onto his shoulders. He kept his back to his female companion, attempting to shield her from them as she fixed her own clothes.

"It would seem I had the same I idea you did," Klaus remarked with a knowing smile, craning his neck to attempt to get a look at the girl behind him. "Are you okay back there, Lillie?"

The brunette peeked out from behind Raeger's shoulder and nodded, her face burning red in embarrassment, and Avery had to hide her face against Klaus' arm to keep from bursting into laughter at the situation. Lillie... sweet, innocent, good girl Lillie... had just been caught going at it with the biggest playboy in town – rather hot and heavy, too, by the looks of things. In a way, it reminded her of how her mother had caught her and Klaus together on their first date.

"Look, please don't tell anyone about this," Raeger begged them. "We haven't exactly told anyone that we're dating, and we don't want her dad to find out. Not yet, anyway."

"We won't say anything," Avery assured him, swallowing back the smirk that was threatening to surface on her face and attempting to keep her expression as serious as possible as she nodded at him. "You have our word."

"You might want to make sure you do up your fly before the two of you head back to the others, though," Klaus pointed out, and Avery finally lost it and started laughing hysterically at the situation. He reached up and placed a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound so that the others wouldn't come looking for whatever was going on, then gave Raeger a small salute and led her back out from behind the stall and away from the trade depot.

"Where are we going?" she asked once he finally removed his hand from her mouth and instead placed it at her waist as they walked side-by-side together through the quiet, empty town.

"Your place," he told her with a smile. "I'm in the mood for some more wine."
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In Sheep's Clothing