Mystery: Family Ties: Mystery and Suspense (14 page)

Asa wanted to protest, but her lips were tingling from just that little kiss, and it made her speechless. The man, on the other hand, was looking at her as if he was the cat that just got the canary, smiling wider and waiting to make his next move. She was hot, so hot all over. She imagined Gabriel on her, over her, in her bed… But then reality crashed down on her and Asa started pushing him away.

“What are you doing?” She asked angrily. “Get off me.”

“No,” the man said easily and leaned back down, claiming her lips in another soft kiss. His voice was like a caress all over her body, making it alive with sensations, aching, needing, tingling for him. For the first time in her life, Asa wished that all that was just a dream, rather than the other way around.

Gabriel’s hips moved, keeping her body firmly against the bed. Asa moaned against her will and arched her back, her lips open. “This is madness…” Her words were a barely there breathless whisper. A matching whimper tore from Gabriel’s lips, when he started kissing her throat and face.

“You are right about that, it is pure madness to want you after all that…” Asa nearly whined, her lashes fluttering closed, as his hands found their way under her top and caressed her breasts.

“Oh, God…” Asa panted, soft moans turning into tiny whimpers of need.

Gabriel didn’t let her relax and continued to touch and kiss every piece of naked skin he found on his way down her body. Asa didn’t know how, but her top was discharged on the floor together with her underwear and most of Gabriel’s clothes. The man was currently licking and sucking the tender skin on her belly, sending small charges of pleasure all over her body and making her forget about protests and complaints.

When she found the strength to open her heavy lidded eyes, Gabriel met them with a gaze full of lust, willing her to stay still. Asa tried to get some control back, but Gabriel continued to move desperately over her, reminding her of all the beautiful moments they shared before.

“I want you…” Gabriel asked between the kisses he was placing on her breasts. “Tell me that you want me too…”

Asa shook her head in a desperate attempt to stop all this. “Tell me…” The man insisted and moved his body up, finding his way between her legs and staring right into
her eyes. Asa’s attempts to move only aligned his member with her most private place, forcing hot moans from both of them. “Tell me…”

Gabriel wasn’t moving, giving her some kind of power to be the one to decide, but Asa wasn’t fooled. The decision was long made for her and now she had only to accept it. “Yes…” she breathed out and Gabriel gave her what both of them longed for.

“I needed that, I needed to be inside of you again…” Gabriel was murmuring against her lips, probably unaware that he was speaking. Asa shuddered and brought her legs up, closing them behind his back. “All the time we sat at the table, I thought about being here… with you…”

Asa closed her eyes, as she bit into her lower lip and met his thrusts with her own. Gabriel’s hands found hers and their fingers interlaced on their own accord. The man used the position to thrust even deeper, filling her to the point of no return. “Need you…” he repeated again and Asa realized that she was talking too.

“I… I…” she tried to articulate, but right then the orgasm took her by surprise and she fell back into the bed, bringing him down with her. Gabriel continued to move, chasing his own climax as a desperate man. Asa let him use her, letting her legs fall open and caressing his back with her hands.

The man didn’t think it possible, he was so hard, he thought he was never going to come. But then Asa kissed his ear and said something softly to him, something he didn’t understand, but it was enough to pull him over the edge. Gabriel came with a shout, his body convulsing uncontrollably as he continued to thrust into her.

Slowly, they both came down from their intense orgasms, and Gabriel’s body relaxed over her. Licking her lips, Asa pushed his shoulders. “Move,” she said, when the man didn’t move. Then Gabriel moved back slightly, but still remained inside of her.

“I haven’t forgotten what you did,” he said accusingly.

Asa felt his words as if a bucket of cold water was thrown at her. Unable to shake him off, she resulted in just turning her head away from him, looking at the door of the room. The man reached up with one hand and cup her chin, to force her back. Asa resisted him and finally he gave up. Carefully, Gabriel slipped out of her and moved down the bed. The moment Asa felt free, she tugged at the sheet and covered herself, turning her back to him and even closing her eyes.

Gabriel felt it go, the intense sensation of a few moments ago was lost, the heat of the moment lost in the cold reality that came crashing over them. He dressed quickly, retrieving Asa’s clothes from the floor and placing them on the bed. “It wasn’t my intention to do this, when we came to your room,” he finally said. “I am sorry, if I hurt you…”

Asa didn’t answer him and his eyes widened in surprise. “Did I hurt you?” He suddenly asked and sat on the bed, tugging at the sheet.

“No, just leave me alone for a moment…” the woman hugged the sheet closer and refused to look at him.

“Look,” Gabriel tried again. “You really got under my skin. With the stunt you pulled, you very well could get the first place among all the rest of the women I have ever known.”

Asa finally turned her head, watching the man sitting on her bed with wide eyes. She bit her lips, in a desperate attempt not to cry and cleared her throat. “I don’t want anything from you.” She said firmly. “It was an accident that I met you, I had no idea who you were until a few days ago.”

Gabriel wanted that to be true, he wanted it so much, but after being hurt so many times, the man couldn’t afford to be hurt again. “Don’t lie to me, Asa,” he said shaking his head. “How could that be possible? I told you my name from the very beginning.”

“So, what? At that time your family name meant nothing to me…”

“That didn’t mean that you didn’t google us or asked about us,” the man stared at her, making her uncomfortable.

“I can say the same for you then,” she said stubbornly.

“No, you can’t,” Gabriel laughed. “What would I gain from sleeping with you?”

“Right,” she smiled sarcastically. “I haven’t got what you need, so I am no one? You were right, I really don’t like the man you turned out to be. Now leave me and don’t worry about anything, I am no longer interested in you.”

“We will see about it,” the man said, still unconvinced and quietly went into the bathroom.

Asa let the tears fall down, as soon as the door closed behind him, her hand clamping her mouth to stop the whimpers that were coming up. She held her breath, willing herself to stop hurting. The man didn’t deserve it that was for sure. She dressed quickly and left the room before Gabriel could come out of the bathroom.

The next morning, Asa, Gabriel and a host of mounted police set off on horseback to the high pasture camp. The journey was long and treacherous, but everyone involved was well trained and prepared for it. Asa was the most inexperienced one, although the years spent in the reserve with her mother’s family had prepared her for it.

Gabriel and Asa were at the head of the group, riding a few yards ahead of the others, so that they could talk. The long journey was giving them plenty of time to talk about what had happened between them. Both of them had been silent and insecure that morning, after a sleepless night. Asa had been unable to close her eyes after what had happened in the hotel. She couldn’t believe that she, Agent Asa Clark, had had sex with a suspect and liked it. It had never happened before and she wanted to believe that it wouldn’t happen again, but something was telling her that given the chance, she would do it again.

Gabriel, on the other hand, was contemplating his own behavior and feeling angry for letting Asa make him act on feelings. He was still mad at her for hiding her real identity and was angry at himself for not being able to see the truth for himself. Gabriel really liked woman, but he loved his family and Asa was here to destroy it.

“I think now is the time for us to talk about what happened,” Asa was the first to talk. “I want to explain to you why I acted the way I did.”

“I am not really interested to listen to more lies, Asa,” Gabriel said calmly, without looking at her.

“I never lied to you, Gabriel,” Asa shook her head. “As I was saying, I was sent here to investigate the case of the two missing FBI agents, agent Smith and Holliday. It was never in my plans to meet you or hide who I was. It simply happened.”

“It has never happened to me, Asa, or to most of the people I know,” Gabriel said sarcastically.

“Nothing was as it was supposed to be. We had no leads and I was feeling powerless. Then my boss suggested that I get to know the locals, so that I could find
more information. The first time I went into a club, I met you and you never asked who I was. I wanted to tell you more than once, but it never was the right time.”

“What about when you came to my home, when we spent the night together, when I took you on a date?” Gabriel asked. Asa could feel the hurt behind his words and wanted to tell him how she really felt, but it seemed too late now.

“During those moments, I wanted to most of all, to be completely honest with you, but if you recall, we were doing other things then? And anyway, I didn’t want to mix my work with what we had. I was investigating a big case, Gabriel, and you were a distraction. Do you know that until three days ago, when the soil we found in the car of the missing agents was found to be a match to the dirt around your ranch.”

“Dirt? All this because of some dirt?” Gabriel yelled at her.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “That was when we came to your ranch with the search warrant. Before that, I never suspected your family.”

The woman turned around to look at him and waited for Gabriel to do the same. “I am sorry, Gabriel…” her lips said sorry, while her eyes continued. I am sorry for lying to you, for hurting you, for going after your family… I am sorry about everything.

“Although, I understand what you are saying, I cannot help feeling hurt by your insinuations about my family,” Gabriel pointed out. “I don’t understand, why it is so difficult for you to comprehend that we are just hard working cattle ranchers?”

“Because all the evidence points against it, Gabriel,” she answered exasperated. “I already told you that I work only with the evidence I have. I will never go after anyone, if there is no good reason for me to do so. Gabriel, I remember your brother talking against the government’s control over people’s lives and how he is afraid that someday that very government might come to his home and take everything from him.”

“So, what?” Gabriel asked. “There are many people, who think the same. Do you think that they all are terrorists?”

“No, no, it’s just that all this evidence is against him,” Asa commented. “You see, we have information that somewhere in this area there is a terrorist organization, which is responsible for multiple small acts of terrorism and now for the bombing of the FBI field office.”

“Believe me, Asa, I would never do something like that,” Gabriel pleaded with her.

“I know that,” Asa answered. “I have always known that. And I want you to know that I will help you legally in any way I can.”

“Is that how you say once again sorry for what you have done?” The man once again asked sarcastically.

“No, I would like to think that this is how I say that I care about you and that I believe you,” Asa answered and let her horse fall behind. Gabriel turned around to look at her, but then just turned back ahead and let her do whatever she wanted. Gabriel was determined to show her that his family had nothing to do with the murders and bombing. It was true that his brother was intense sometimes and that his distrust of the system was well known, but Gabriel couldn’t see his brother as a murderer despite all that.

Asa watched his determined stance and thought that the man was really beautiful, especially when he was in his element, amidst the vast expanse of the Montana plains.

“Agent Clark,” one of the policemen called at her. “Shortly we will be near the highlands. Do you want us to proceed from different directions?”

Asa thought about his proposition, but it seemed too soon to give such order and Asa just shook her head. “Let’s get closer and see what the situation is. If the suspects refuse to talk to us, we will think about other strategies. But, for now, I want to give them the chance to give us an explanation.”

A few miles up, on the high pastures, David and Jane Kimble were having a beautiful moment together. It was one of those rare times, when David was feeling romantic and willing to forget all the grave problems of the world around them. He had used the morning to finish the work they had with the cattle and then had returned to the small cabin in the woods, where Jane was cooking lunch.

“What are you doing?” The woman asked him innocently.

“I really find it cute, when you play the innocent, Jane, but now we don’t have time for that.” The man circled the table and walked closer to her, standing just inches away from her. Jane immediately recognized the look in his eyes and turned around, taking the food off of the fire. David quickly pressed his chest against her back, successfully preventing her from doing anything else. They moved a bit to the left and now Jane was pressed against the wall of the cabin.