Minerva's Ghost (10 page)

“Martha has been awful to you. I don’t understand what’s in it for her.” Allison said, frustration clear in her voice.

“I don’t know either, “ Michael said, “but she obviously wants the company to go public and for Justin to continue to be occupied with what she wants. She probably knows where the money is going. The question is, do we keep quiet, knowing that we may be implicated or do we come clean?”

“I say we come clean. I trust Amanda and at heart I think you do, too.”

Michael looked out the window for a moment and then nodded decisively. “Yeah, I do trust her. Not as much as I do you, and not as much as Minnie, but I do trust her …much more than the rest of my relatives. It’s sad but I can’t ignore my instincts any longer. I can’t let someone else I care about die. I’m convinced what happened to Minnie was no accident. She was a great driver. The police decided she ran off the road, but knowing her, I don’t believe it. It’s their ‘Ain’t that just like a woman’ prejudice showing…again.”

The couple got out of the truck and went into the offices they shared. Only when they were inside did they embrace.

“I love you, Michael, “ Allison said. He was tall and well built like his father and his cousin, Amanda. The physical work he did every day had honed his body to perfection. She looped her arms around his neck and pressed herself to his hard body. He grasped her to him and lifted her off her feet. She was a big girl herself, but he made her feel sexy and feminine.

He bent his head and met her kiss with all the passion he kept hidden from the world. He dared not let his family know what either Allison or Amanda actually meant to him. Hiding his feelings seemed to intensify them until he was sometimes overwhelmed by more data than he could handle. His sexuality, his need for Allison flashed into a wildfire of desperate need.

She was right with him, knowing what he needed and what they both wanted, his perfect mate. He lifted her and laid her on his desk so he could strip the tight jeans from her body. She was unbuttoning his shirt and her own as fast as she could. In moments they were naked and ready for another stolen moment of passion, all they dared allow themselves.

She was more beautiful naked than she was in her clothing. The rough garments hid a perfect body. She was tall but womanly, with generous proportions that made his mouth water and his dick hard. He took the clip that held her long blond hair and tossed it over his shoulder as her hair slithered loose nearly to the floor by the desk.

The desk was sturdy oak or it would never have taken their combined weight in rough passion. He weighed 210 and Allison was a tall, lush, beautiful 140…350 pounds together. They would likely weigh more if they had less to worry about.

He was a classic brunet, red-brown curly hair, muscular tall body and big dark brown eyes. His body was hairy all over, even his back. His brothers and sister had teased him unmercifully about it until he’d been shy and afraid for anyone to see him naked, but Allison loved it. She WANTED to see him, all of him, hair and all. He wanted to see her, too…and fuck her every chance he got. She reached for him, wrapping her legs around him as he stroked her with his fingers. She was ready, already turned on and eager for him. He held the end of his organ and pushed into her. One surge and he was partly in, then another to seat himself to his balls. She gripped him with her wet pussy and her legs and reached for him with her hands and arms outstretched. Her blue eyes were dark with passion. He bent over her and kissed her and then stood and wrapped his big hands around her waist as he began to pump in and out the way she liked…and he liked. She was his. He loved her with all his bruised heart, such as it was. She deserved better but he wouldn’t let her go. His hand strayed between them and he gently brushed her clit…then again…and again until she tightened up and burst on his eager cock. She pulled him over the edge, too, this woman he loved…and trusted. He fell over her and held her until she stirred to sit up.

The only problem was he was afraid for her and for Amanda, too for that matter.

He forgot the fear when he was in Allison, but it ambushed him constantly any other time. His mother wanted control of Au Natural and would stop at nothing to get it…even murder…even murdering him if he got in her way. And he’d just voted to be in her way, done it knowing how she would react and what it could cost him. Making the choice was freeing in a way, but he wasn’t sure how to handle the fallout. She was better at doing evil than people knew.

Chapter 5

Amanda and Gabe walked out to the parking lot in almost total silence. Amanda was out of conversation, wrung out by the demands of the meeting they had attended, but still pleased that she had managed to be effective and a leader. She felt a little dizzy with excitement and adrenalin. Gabe escorted her to the Caddy and tucked her into the passenger seat. He seemed to understand instinctively what she was feeling. “Keys, please.” he said. She found them in her pocket and handed them to him without a word.

He cranked the car and pulled out of the parking lot. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“I’m O.K. Let’s just drive around for awhile. I need to think.” She was uncomfortable with what she was discovering and she needed recovery time…time to gain acceptance of the things they had learned.

“Where’s a drug store? We need one before we go back to your house. I doubt if I could resist you much longer. We need to be responsible lovers. I plan to have you in bed as soon as we get home.”

It made her smile and feel better, more positive than she would have thought possible only a little while ago. “Let’s ride to La Grange. Fewer people know me there, so we won’t create gossip. We can talk on the way. What did you think about the meeting?”

“Did anyone authorize Martha and Justin to get into this going public thing?” Gabe asked her.

“I didn’t and Minnie wouldn’t have.” Amanda said. There’s no one else with the authority.” She reached and began to roll down her window, suddenly needing the air. “I don’t think Michael wants anyone else poking their nose into his bailiwick, let alone a board of directors. He’s happy with me at the moment because I’ve been doing what he wants me to do. He doesn’t want my job or the irritations that go with it. They would be beyond irritating for him. Allison and I hope to shield him from the things that distract him.”

Gabe opened his window, too. “Does he need that much protection?” Her skirt began to blow up in the breeze. When she put her hand down to catch it, he stopped her, taking her hand in his and pushing her skirt all the way up. It emptied her mind completely and she felt her whole attention focus in her lower belly. Both their hands were nearly between her legs. She felt swamped in sensuality. She tried to sneak a discreet look at his lap. The tented bulge she found there was not a surprise, but a promise. When she lifted her eyes to his he was flushed with passion and she groaned in response. It was a perfect way to work off the hormone rush.

“Pull over  ” she said. “I need you now.”

He couldn’t believe it when he did exactly what she said. He whipped the Caddy into the first deserted rural road he saw and jerked the car to a stop under the shade of a convenient tree. She popped open her seat belt and turned on the seat so her back was against the door. As he slipped closer to her and leaned in to kiss her, she wrapped her legs around him. He could feel her heat. Her skirt was up around her hips leaving her open to his touch. The Caddy was big with a roomy front seat, but still a tight fit for a man his size. He had to wriggle around for every touch and position, but was so horny it didn’t matter. He unbuttoned her jacket and kissed his way down her neck to her breasts. She was fumbling with his pants and gasped in apparent pleasure when his hardness found her hand. He was already leaking cum as she stroked him top to bottom and back. He let go of her long enough to take his pants off and then reached for her panties, sliding them down her magnificent legs.

He wanted her…to be in her now, but he held back knowing he was too turned on to trust and that she was unprotected. He slid closer to her and slipped a finger into her tight passage as he latched onto her pouting nipple. She whimpered and held her breast for him as he sucked and then nibbled. She writhed on his hand as he slipped in another finger, drawing on her nipple and finding her clit with his thumb. She was tight and wet and he wanted to be in her in the worst way, a craving he could barely control. As he petted her and touched her she stroked his cock and ran her hands over all of him she could reach. He struggled to his knees, hovering over her body and stripping his shirt over his head. Amanda took the opportunity to pleasure his organ with her hands and mouth. The roof of the car left him bent awkwardly, but he grabbed two big hands full of her glorious red hair and gave himself up to her. She ran her hands over him, watching him to see what pleased him. Actually everything she did pleased him, but he realized she was looking for clues to his needs.

He was about to climax, shaking, his balls tight, and his heart hammering. “Take me in your mouth, Amanda.” She did it, eagerly, happily sucking the end of his cock while she stroked up and down the thick shaft. Moments later he exploded in pleasure, filling her mouth with hot salty cum. He collapsed back on the seat and gathered her into his arms, burying his mouth between her neck and shoulder and squeezing her body to his. She felt good, more than good. He had just cum but he was ready, dying for more. “I want to make you pregnant.” He was sure about how he felt. “I love you. I want at least fifty years and a marriage license. Is next weekend OK?”

He looked at her, seeing the look of delirious pleasure fading from her face. It made him feel both frustrated and angry. “You don’t feel the same way.” He said it hoping it wasn’t true.

She felt tempted all right, but too wary to commit so soon. “I don’t know if what we feel is real. We just met. We’ve known each other such a short time. I need more time” She wouldn’t be pushed any further and he knew it.

“In that case we had better go get some birth control. Rubbers would be best. Who knows, you may get interested any time now.” He sat a moment with his hand lingering between her legs. “I shouldn’t have asked you in the heat of the moment, should I? I’m willing to give you time to decide, to talk over the details. I can work from anywhere so you don’t have to move. I’ll keep my farm and other property I own for our family---the one you and I have together. It’s irrelevant to me whether you keep this business going. I can take care of us financially. I have a good stream of income from my security business. I also own a lot of real estate, mostly in the Southeast. I even have some around here. We could build a new home. I also wouldn’t have to maintain the travel schedule I’ve had. If we have kids, I want to be around to help raise them. None of my businesses need my daily attention. ”

“What’s your hurry?” Amanda asked him. “Why can’t we take our time? I don’t think I want to make this kind of decision this fast. What if what we feel goes away after we get the problems with the business resolved.”

He looked grim and serious, not at all like she was accustomed to seeing him look. “Think about something.” he suggested. “You saw the scars on my leg?” She nodded in response. “I got them in combat. If one of my buddies hadn’t carried me off the battlefield that day I’d be a dead soldier. You learn something in that kind of situation.” He smiled and looked shockingly lighthearted after such a statement. She reached for him and stroked her hand down his face. He snuggled her to him and growled into her sensitive ear, “Life’s short. Eat cake first.”

She laughed in surprise and then pulled back and looked at him. “I see what you mean and even agree in some ways, but I need more time. What’s happening is so intense, so fraught with unknown dangers, I’m afraid we’ll screw up if we go too fast.”

“I was engaged when I got hurt. We’d dated all through college, not that the extra time made any difference in the end, “ Gabe told her.  “She and her mother planned the wedding for two years. When they shipped me home with a massive infection and the possibility I would lose my leg, she left me.”

Amanda gasped, her disapproval obvious.

“I looked awful and had months of hospital care and physical therapy ahead of me. She isn’t evil, just not used to dealing with that kind of reality, not mentally strong like you. I was in no shape to care at first that she was no longer in the picture. I realized I never loved her like I should have to consider marrying. When I got better, I was pretty down on relationships. It was two years before I got interested in dating again. I knew she just wanted to have fun. I had fun with her, but when I got hurt I realized she was too fragile for real life. She would have let me down again and again if we had actually married. She’s apparently happily married now to a much older, wealthy man who shields her from life’s little disappointments. I had a lucky escape.”