Minerva's Ghost (11 page)

“How could she do what she did to you? ” Amanda asked. “Your leg isn’t that bad. In fact, you’re the best looking man I have ever seen.”

He reached for her for a hug. “Thanks, Amanda,” he purred it into her ear, raising goose bumps. “Do you think Minnie knew how we’d take to each other?” he asked.

“If I know Minnie, she probably did,” Amanda said, and then heard Minnie’s voice in her head, “Yes, I knew.” She froze in a sudden chill of realization.

Gabe felt it and hugged her until she relaxed again in his arms. He pushed her back from him until she reclined against the door again. He was looking at her body, not her eyes. His fingers spread her open so he could see all of her most intimate parts. She couldn’t follow the conversation any longer and answered with a sensuous moan. He opened the door and slid out so that he knelt on the ground, pulling her toward him until his shoulders were between her legs. He kissed her on her most sensitive spot, gently sucking on her clit and she came screaming.

She sort of lost consciousness for a while and woke up in his arms sometime later. They were still parked under the tree and a bumblebee buzzed lazily in the weeds next to the car.

“Are you awake?” Gabe ducked his head enough to look her in the eyes. She glanced down and found her clothing still in disarray and him bare from the waist down…and semi hard again.

“I’m awake “ she said absently, intrigued by his bare crotch. She loved being able to look at him, at that private part of him as much as she wanted. “You’re very relaxing…except when you make me horny. I’m not so worried about the business now, anyway.”

“As much as I would like to continue this, we need to get dressed and get some birth control, especially if you still don’t want to get pregnant. I can’t trust myself any longer without it.” He sounded sure. Amanda reached for the baby wipes her Aunt always kept in the car caddy and cleaned up a little. She was still so wet she was afraid the back of her skirt would be wet, too.

He stepped out of the car and pulled on his underwear and pants. “I think you may want to wait in the car while I buy some rubbers.  I managed to muss you up a lot and you have whisker burns on your face and neck. “ 

Amanda turned and flipped down the visor so she could see. He was right. She glowed with a satisfied look and her lips were swollen and red. He, on the other hand looked pretty normal.

“Humph,” she said, “I guess you’re right. It’s not fair. You just look satisfied. I look ravished. I’ve never looked like this before. I don’t understand how people do it and then walk around in public without people knowing what they’ve been doing.”

“Most people are not that observant, but you are way too beautiful. People notice you anyway without the way you look now. I want what we have to be private.” He took her hand and placed a sweet kiss in her palm.

Another loving touch, concern for her comfort and need for privacy. Her heart fell in love in that moment but she kept it to herself, wanting to treasure the moment of realization. Minnie was right. She couldn’t fight it. Even Doris had called him ‘Studly’, like he’d been checked out and approved for her. They approved of this man as a love interest for her. What they thought did matter to her, too. She wasn’t foolish enough to blow off their stamp of approval.

He cranked the car and pulled back out onto the highway. They passed the country club entrance in a few short minutes.

Amanda turned as they drove by and looked at a car that was turning in the entrance.

“What is it?” Gabe asked.

“That was Martha.” Amanda said. “She’s not a member of the club. She has always looked down on the natives, even the ones that belong to the club. It’s weird she would be here.”

“I think I’ll get some help in here to follow her.” Gabe said. This car is too obvious for surveillance. It’s better that some of my employees handle it. I think I’m going to put people on all the players, Martha, Gena and her bunch, and Tom. I’m getting bad vibes from all of them. It’s not very scientific but I’d be out of business or dead by now if I ignored my instincts.”

There was nothing Amanda could say to that. In her heart she agreed with him. They could be nice and unsuspicious or they could look for the culprits. “I agree. I don’t want anyone else hurt, including you. It seems useless to play nicely, if the others aren’t following the rules.”

Gabe nodded and patted her leg, not that she needed his approval.

At the drugstore he bought a whole bag of stuff and then stopped at a grocery store on the way out of Lagrange. He stowed some groceries in a cooler with some ice in the trunk. She had the box of rubbers in her hands when he got back in the car.

“Like what you see?” he asked.

“Not as well as bare you.” She told him what she really thought.

“You know all you have to do is agree to marry me and I’ll go bare. We can use other methods of birth control, as we need them. I don’t want to wear you out having too many babies, but a few would be nice.” He said it with determination. She couldn’t doubt him but she said nothing.

When they got back to Minnie’s he said, “I’m going to put a roast in the oven and then take you to bed. Get ready for me.” He pushed his hand back up her skirt and her mind emptied of everything except his roaming hand and fingers.

Chapter 6

Pete tore into Gena’s house with Rory trailing behind. He was obviously upset. “Mama that guy is staying at Minnie’s…with Amanda. You said I could have her.”

“You were supposed to seduce her,” Gena said.

“I tried, Mama, but she doesn’t like me,” Pete defended himself. Even with his appearance few women liked him. If he managed to get a woman in bed with him it was a onetime event. He knew he was too rough with them, but he always lost control.

Gena knew what the problem was. She had tried to instruct him in how to get women, but he lacked both the finesse and the intelligence to follow her instructions. Rory followed him wherever he went, too. She didn’t want the constant care of him and had saddled Pete with him as soon as he was old enough. She wasn’t about to inconvenience herself to help Pete’s love life. She really was not capable of seeing her boy’s as they looked to other people.

Neither had a job or had sought the independence that Michael or Heather had. As far as she was concerned the only purpose her children should serve was hers, her goals and her needs. Their focus on her and their family met with her entire approval.

“He’ll be gone soon enough,” she said to reassure Pete.

“But I don’t want someone else to have her body…just me,” Pete whined.

“What about me?” Rory said. “I always try ‘um after you’re through. I want her.”

“We talked about this,” Gena said. “You can’t share Amanda like you do other girls. She won’t put up with it and give us what we want. You have to wait until we get control of the stock.”

“But I don’t want to share her,” Pete said. “I want her to be my woman.”

“We’ll see, Honey,” Gena told him. She wasn’t about to tell him that Amanda had a pretty short life expectancy in her scheme of things. She never told the boys any more than she wanted them to know.

“How’s this?” she said. “A little bird told me Allison Ryan is interested in you two.”

The boys perked up immediately. “Can we have her, Mama?”

“Yes you can,” she said with a smile for her boys. “She’s getting too close to your brother. He’s acting badly. I want him back on my side, so Allison has to go.”

The boys left running.

Amanda took a shower and brushed her teeth before searching quickly through her dresser looking for a gown appropriate for the big event. ‘Big’ was definitely the word for Gabe. Compared to her old boyfriend he was hung like a horse. It worried her a little and she plopped down on the edge of the bed to think it over. She wanted him but she was nervous. It would have been better if she had not had time to think about it. Getting carried away in a passionate moment was a lot different than planning to spend the next few hours in bed together. She sat there worrying until she heard him coming up the steps. Then he was there in the room with her and she was still naked, a green silk gown still in her hands. She clutched it to her front and looked at him.

“Put the gown on, “ he suggested. “I’d love to see it on you.”

She stood and pulled it over her head and smoothed it down her body. He watched her and began to strip off his own clothes at the same time. “I want to shower, too, “ he said.

It was pretty obvious he wasn’t going to just jump on her and make like a bunny. It helped her relax a little. It also turned her on watching him undress. She followed him into the bathroom. He had retrieved his luggage from the motel and had stashed his bags in her closet and bath. He tossed his dirty clothes into the washer as though he lived there, too.

“Doris Meems left a message that I need to meet with Allison about some personnel issues,” she told him.

“Do you think it has to do with our problem?” he asked her.

“I trust Allison,” she said. “Doris said we, Allison and I, need to compare notes. I think she set up the meeting.”

“Do you give Doris that kind of authority?” he asked.

“Not normally, and normally she would stay out of it, but she gets feelings sometimes. I’ve learned to pay attention to her on those occasions. Minnie usually did, too. Doris would never waste our time. ”

“You know your people. When’s the meeting?” he asked.

“First thing tomorrow morning, “ she replied as he stepped into the shower. She watched him and in doing so completely forgot about work. As she watched him soap up and wash, she felt less and less nervous and more turned on. The sight of his big, hairy body made her mouth water. His high arched, bony feet looked small in comparison to the rest of him, but she knew he wore size 14 shoes, bigger than anyone she had ever known. He watched her watch him as he bathed his privates. He was already semi hard, obviously excited by her unabashed regard. She had a towel ready for him as he turned off the water. His body bloomed to its full, impressive proportions as he stepped closer to her.

“You were nervous, before. I could feel it.” He was looking at her, looking for the answer.

“You’re big, you know.” She reached and took him in her hand. He shivered at her touch and squeezed his eyes shut in reaction.

“You’re made to take me and I’ll not take you until you’re really ready. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I feel eager for you now. Not like I did when I was up here alone thinking about it.” He was fully aroused already but she knew how much control he had. As she stroked his cock and drop of pre-cum ran down until she caught it in her mouth. He pulled her up and held her against his hard body, gentle even in this fraught moment.

She watched him lower his head to kiss her and met him half way. He ran his hands over her back and cupped her butt to pull her to his best parts. She spread her legs and wrapped them around him as he carried her from the bathroom, straight to the bed. “I want to take a long time, but I’m not sure I can.” He lowered her to the bed and then joined her.

“I need to show you something.” He reached for some documents on the bedside table. “These are the people I’ve brought in here. They are already in place.”

He pointed out a tall black man in a photo with five other people. One was Gabe. “This is Scooby, AKA Henry Scofield. The tall blond is Reece Weller. The bald guy is the Shyster, Dixon Richards. I don’t know why his mama named him that. He won’t say. The two women are Heidi Franks and Sue Weller. Sue is married to Reese. They are all veterans who served with me. Three have disabilities. They did their time and then joined me in my business.”

Scooby is on Gena and the boys. Sue is now working with Michael and Allison. Heidi is on Heather, Reese is on Martha and Dixon is on Tom. He’s a lawyer. He’s told Tom’s people he’s taking over from him representing Au Naturel as your employee. Tom doesn’t know yet. I’m on Justin and you stick with me from here on out. I have a meeting with him first thing in the morning, too. I wanted you to be there, but I think you should keep the appointment with Allison. I don’t want you leaving the building without me, you know, like we’re one person. We need to stick together so we have good communication. Neither of us should go off alone. My people will handle the risks. They’re trained for it. They have surveillance equipment, they are armed and they can handle the stress without getting out of control. “