Mystery: Family Ties: Mystery and Suspense (7 page)

“I am here to reconnect with my Salish Indian roots,” she answered, when he asked about the reasons for her visit in Montana.

“Then you should come to the Kimble Ranch for a real taste of Montana’s life,” Gabriel invited her, when the evening drew to a close.

“That will be great,” she agreed. “But, not tomorrow. We could make arrangements for it in a day or so.”

Asa could see that Gabriel Kimble was a kind-hearted, soft spoken young man who loved his family. He was a cattle rancher carrying on the family business, but he wanted more from life than Kalispell, Montana could offer. He wanted to see the world and embrace its diversity.

After dinner, Gabriel took Asa to the back of the meadow, where a small stream was running through a beautiful forest. “They try to keep nature as close to town as possible here,” he explained to her. They walked in silence through the woods, following the almost invisible paths, until they reached a secluded place with a bench, placed under the trees.

With an easy rise of his right hand, Gabriel closed her way out and proceeded to wrap his hand around her waist. “What are you doing?” Asa asked, looking up at him. She was trembling, she was excited, she was waiting for him to touch her, to show her what it meant to be loved by him. But, it was wrong, it was so wrong to do it in the open that it hurt to think about it.

The man placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and then another one on the exposed skin of her neck. His hands had wormed themselves around her slender body and he was playing with her long hair.

“Let me go,” Asa
asked in a loud whisper. “I don’t think this is the place for this.” She was speaking the words with her mouth, but her body was leaning against him, having a mind of its own.

“Ha!” Gabriel exclaimed. “I think otherwise.” Not fooled at all by her words.

“Why are you doing this?” The woman in his arm asked exasperated.

“Because I hate it when people tell me what to do…”

“I am not doing that,” she insisted, but the man didn’t answer her that time, or at least
not with words. Gabriel turned her slender body in his arms and claimed her lips in a searing kiss. In her surprise, Asa opened her mouth and he used her distraction to enter her mouth. His tongue explored her mouth, drinking from its sweetness, a sweetness he had never tasted before. Asa tried fighting the passion that was once again taking over her logical mind, but the man never gave her the chance to step back.

Gabriel continued to kiss her, while lifting her skirt and removing her underwear. The soft piece of cloth fell on the ground unnoticed by Asa, whose mind was all clouded by the adrenaline and passion running through her veins. He was moving quickly, not willing to lose any more time.

In his mind this was a kind of cure, something that was going to free him from his dull life. The man stepped back and lowered himself on the bench, bringing the woman
down with him. If Asa was surprised to find herself straddling him, she had no time to show it, because Gabriel started sucking at her breast through the thin silk blouse.

“Oh,” was all that came out of Asa’s mouth. Gabriel opened his pants and raised her up, so that she could sit on him. This time there wasn’t any pain and Asa closed her eyes, so that she could fully experience the feeling. The man’s erection filled her so beautifully that she couldn’t want anything more.

Gabriel wanted to undress her completely and explore every inch of her body with his hands and mouth, but this wasn’t the place or the time for that. He had made sure to look around for other couples, but he couldn’t risk Asa’s reputation, if someone came in their direction.

Asa was lying in his arms, leaving him to do all the work, but Gabriel didn’t mind, on the contrary, it gave him some strange feeling of power to know that he was the one in charge. One of his hands was supporting her left hip, while the other had sneaked under Asa’s skirt and was caressing her burning hot skin, providing more pleasure.

The woman was touching only his shoulders, as if afraid to ruin his clothes and that thought once again made Gabriel regret the fact of not having more time and privacy. He was feeling at home inside that beautiful woman, who was moaning against his neck and making him forget all the problems in the world. With a soft cry, Asa reached her orgasm and Gabriel waited for her to relax a little, before making a dozen more trusts and coming himself.

“We keep meeting and having sex,” Asa heard the man speaking against her ear.

“Someone might come in…” Asa suddenly remembered and tried to get up, but Gabriel was holding her down with both of his hands, not allowing her to move even an inch.

“I saw no one on the way here,” Gabriel informed her calmly. “Now, tell me what are you thinking?”

“About what?”

“About what happened two days ago and is happening right now.”

“What am I supposed to think? We had sex,” Asa said softly.

“Just sex, Asa,” Gabriel corrected her softly.

“Why, what would you call it?” Asa said and finally lifted her head to look at him. The sudden movement not only put them eye to eye, but reminded both of them that they were still connected in the most intimate of ways. “God!” She muttered and felt the heat rise in her face.

“What we had is special, Asa, you have to believe me,” Gabriel smiled at her discomfort and adjusted their position, so that he could slide even deeper inside her. “I know that you don’t see it, but not many people can say that they had had what we had right now.”

“Really?” Asa asked again and couldn’t suppress a deep moan, caused by Gabriel’s movements inside her. “I think I believe you, as not many people have sex in the forest.”

Something moved in the forest behind Asa and interrupted their laughter. Both Asa and Gabriel let out a deep breath and carefully dislocated. The woman turned her back to the man and tried to adjust her clothes and put back her underwear without showing too much. Gabriel, however, had none of her problems and adjusted his pants right in front of her. When they were both dressed and looking presentable, Gabriel approached her and carefully redid one of the buttons of her shirt. The action put his hand right over Asa’s left breast, which was still wet from his own kisses.

“You are an extraordinary woman, Asa. Never forget that,” were Gabriel’s last words, before helping her up.

Gabriel called her the next day and they arranged for Asa to drive to the Kimble’s ranch the following weekend to meet with him and his family. Asa was feeling a bit uneasy about not telling him the whole truth about herself, but she also realized that it could be very hard for Gabriel and his family to accept her as an FBI agent, especially before getting to know her better. The young woman wanted to convince herself that that was the only reason why she didn’t tell him, but at the back of her mind, there was still the nagging feeling that she also had other reasons.

So, when on Sunday, agent Asa Clark drove to the Kimble ranch, she was both excited of meeting Gabriel and worried about what she might find there. The man had given her more than any other man had ever done, but Asa still wasn’t sure about her real feelings for the man.

The trip to the ranch wasn’t long enough for her to have time to find an answer to all the questions that were bothering her. Asa enjoyed the ride and if it wasn’t for her tortured mind, she might even say that she was happy. The vast meadows, the green woods, the beautiful scenery were all reminding her of her childhood and the time she spent with her mother’s tribe.

The FBI agent was surprised to see how big the Kimble ranch was and had to take a deep breath, before climbing down from the car. She had left behind all signs that she was an FBI agent and was dressed in a comfortable long skirt and a cotton red shirt. A good pair of boots was complementing her attire and Asa really hoped that she would make a good first impression.

She walked towards the main building, looking around, but seeing no one, until an old man opened the door and walked outside. Asa froze and watched him bring the rifle he was carrying up, pointing it at her.

“Grandpa, grandpa,” it was Gabriel calling from one of the buildings on Asa’s left and running towards them. “This is Asa. I told you about her coming here this morning.”

The young man ran over the porch steps and took the old rifle from the older man’s hands. “You really don’t need this.” Gabriel said calmly and put the rifle down beside the
door. Asa could tell that the old man still wasn’t convinced, but didn’t make an attempt to protest.

“Asa,” Gabriel
turned towards her laughing. “Let me introduce you to my grandpa Joe. Grandpa, this is Asa.”

The young woman could see how hard it was for the old man to let the younger man treat him like that, but he kept his mouth shut about it. “Nice to meet you, young lady,” he finally said. “And I am sorry for the old girl here,” he pointed at the rifle. “It is never safe to meet new people.”

“Nice to meet you too, Mr. Kimble,” Asa smiled at him and walked up the stairs. “You have a really nice home, here.”

“Call me, Grandpa Joe,” the old man said. “Everybody is calling me that.”

“Okay, Grandpa Joe, you can call me, Asa,” the young woman said. “Thank you for inviting me here.” She found Grandpa Joe to be quite adorable and put her hands up. “By the way, mister, I am here to see your grandson, Gabriel.”

The man in question watched the scene with amusement and let them play along. Grandpa Joe took the hint and pointed at her warningly. “You make sure to take good care of my grandson or else.”

“Asa excuse me,” Gabriel suddenly said. “I need to take care of something. I will be back in a few minutes.”

Asa watched him go, when a big gray dog came out of the house through the still open door and started sniffing at Grandpa Joe’s boots. The old man tried to send it away, but the dog acted like a puppy and refused to go away. “Blue, Blue,” he said to the dog. “Go away boy.” But the dog didn’t move, and lay down beside his foot. Giving up on sending the dog away, Grandpa Joe looked back up at her and asked in a stern voice. “Are you a Salish woman?”

“Yes, my mother is Salish,” the young woman smiled at him, loving how the dog and the old man interacted.

“Good,” he seemed pleased with the fact. “A long time ago, when my brothers were still alive, we used to meet with a few Salish girls, but their brothers weren’t happy with the fact and never left us in peace. But, we were young and strong then and it was
just a game to us to chase them back to the reservation. One time, one of the boys was too much in love with one of the girls and we had to give him a lesson in how things are done in our world…”

“Grandpa,” a young woman stepped out of the house, and interrupted him. “Are you telling another one of your stupid stories?”

Asa had felt hurt by the racist story told by the old man, but she decided not to show her displeasure. It wasn’t the first time she met with people, who thought of the Native Americans as inferior people, but it hurt her that a man related to Gabriel would do the same.

“Excuse the old man for his racist story, Miss,” the young woman said to Asa. “My name is Jane Kimble and we don’t get many visitors out here.”

“Asa, Asa Clark,” she answered and accepted her hand. “I came here to see Gabriel.”

“Come, I will take you to him,” Jane Kimble said politely and turned around, heading the way Gabriel had disappeared a few moments ago.

“Gabriel is a great man,” Asa commented, while they walked towards the barn. “He must be of a great help here?”

“Yes, this is his home and he should spend more time working rather than wasting it with people who doesn’t understand our way of life,” Jane didn’t hesitate to respond in a negative way about Gabriel spending time with Asa. “Here in Montana, we try to live our lives in the traditional way and the coming of new people, usually brings chaos.”

“I… we…” Asa stuttered. “We just met…”

“Asa!” Gabriel suddenly called, running towards them. “Sorry for leaving you alone for so long. I am sure that Jane took good care of you.”

“No problem,” Asa smiled at him and accepted his kiss gratefully. “This place is amazing.”

“Yes, it is,” the man walking behind Gabriel said. “My brother is of a very great help to keep it that way.”

“David is just kidding,” Gabriel
pushed away the compliment. “We all work together for the success of the ranch.”

Asa noticed that David and Ezekiel, their neighbor were again together, and looked very grave. Gabriel also looked worried, although he tried to act as if everything was okay. He was holding her hand, when he introduced her once again to everyone.

“Listen,” he turned towards her, when the others went to the house. “Are you ready to saddle up?”

“Always,” Asa smiled up at him and followed him to the stable. Gabriel gave her a beautiful light brown horse and they rode out across the vast property of the ranch. It was relaxing and exciting to Asa to ride in the open fields together with a man, she was really starting to like.

Gabriel used the time they had together to tell her about the ranch, his family and the way he wanted his future to happen. Asa also narrated about the times she had been riding with her mother’s tribe during the summer and asked a few questions about how they took care of the cattle.

When they returned from the ride, it was almost time for dinner. Gabriel showed her the room where she could wash and prepare for the meal. Asa didn’t waste too much time getting ready and walked into the family's rustic dining hall only a few minutes later. Inside the room were Grandpa Joe, Gabriel, David and his wife Jane, all four of them doing something to set the table for dinner.