Power Game

  "Mordichai, Malichai and I each bought property butting up to the Fontenot land. We're building homes. In ours, we'll need a very large Jacuzzi, large enough for both of us to sleep in, because I'm not sleeping alone."

  She blinked up at him, her lashes catching his attention. Thick and curled up slightly at the tips, they framed her incredible eyes with a bluish tinge. He bent and kissed her again because he had to, and then rolled off of her.

  "I like water, Ezekiel. I need it."

  He laughed softly. "I get that, baby. Did you think I was making a joke? You need to spend time in the water, then I'm there too."

  "I don't actually sleep in water," she protested, and then she frowned. "Well, it has happened, if I'm being strictly honest, but I don't need to. I like a bed just like everyone else."

  He shook his head. "I'm going to start the water for your bath. Don't go to sleep." He could see her lashes already drifting down. He wanted to continue their discussion about the man claiming to be her husband--the one she didn't want to kill even though he was sniffing around, prepared to bring her back to Whitney.

  He padded on bare feet into the bathroom and turned on the taps, checking the temperature before he went back to her. Bellisia lay on her side, propped up on one hand, watching him. The sheet had been pulled up to her waist, allowing him to see the marks of his possession on her breasts and neck. She'd have them on the insides of her thighs as well. He'd been like a teenager and he should be a little ashamed of himself, but instead he grinned at her.

  "What?"

  "You look like you're mine."

  "I am yours."

  The satisfied grin faded from his face. "You need to remember that at all times, sweetheart."

  "I think I have enough evidence all over my body to remind me if my brain suddenly short-circuits and I forget."

  His eyebrow shot up. "Sass already. Clearly I didn't tire you out enough. Next time I'll be going for pure exhaustion." She made him want to laugh. He couldn't remember a time when he'd just wanted to laugh for no reason other than he was happy.

  "I think you did a thorough job of it, Ezekiel. I don't think I can move, not even to make it into the bath, and I'm longing to be in the water."

  "Is that your subtle way of asking me to carry you?"

  "If it isn't too much trouble." She threw off the sheet and rolled to the side of the bed.

  He was right, there were strawberries up the inside of one thigh and down the other. He couldn't help the smirk as he lifted her into his arms. "You don't weigh very much."

  "I think it's my skeletal structure. I'm bendable."

  "Don't say things like that when I have sex on the brain."

  "Don't you always have sex on the brain?"

  "Well, yeah. Now that you say that, we can talk about how bendable you are. There's a lot of room for positions. We'll have to try them all."

  She laughed, the sound wreaking havoc with his breathing.

  "Kiss me, Bellisia." He made it an order, sobering. He'd never expected a woman of his own, not one he was certain would be a true partner. She didn't need him to take care of her, but he was going to do just that anyway. He loved that she was strong and he wouldn't have to worry too much when he was away. Okay, he'd worry, but deep down he'd know she could handle anything that came up.

  She didn't hesitate. She lifted her face to his, at the same time wrapping one arm around his neck and drawing his head down. Her lips were cool and soft. He realized her skin was. All silk, his woman, but her mouth was nearly as hot as her sweet little channel and tasted of vanilla and orange. He let her have control, her tongue exploring his mouth, sliding almost shyly along his, when he didn't think his woman was shy. He loved that too, the hint of vulnerability she didn't show to others. That was his alone and he was going to take care of it.

  When she pulled back to look at him, he saw the beginnings of what he needed from her. It was there in her eyes. Love. That humbled him. She might not know it yet, but he could see it was there. He put her in the water, climbed in behind her, and pulled her body between his legs so she could rest against his chest. The moment her body rested against his, he felt the energy running through her, almost a trembling.

  Looking down, even though he still hadn't turned on lights, he could see the way the water lapped at her skin, which seemed to drink it in, absorbing the moisture as if she was a sponge.

  "So tell me what you think we're going to do with your friend Adam and the man claiming to be your husband, Gerald."

  She turned her head to glare at him over her shoulder. "Don't say it like that. You're going to be awful about Gerald, aren't you?"

  "Yes." He saw no point in denying it. "The other one too. They came here to retrieve you for their master. You can say how wonderful they are all you want, but the fact remains, they want to take you back to him, and I'm not going to let that happen."

  "They'll come around and everyone can just say I'm not here and eventually they'll move on. Joe told me they were taking the two chips Whitney put in me to another part of the bayou so that will lead them away from here."

  "They'll buy that for about two minutes, Bellisia, and you know it." He poured soap into his hands and began to massage her shoulders and arms with it. "They'll know we're GhostWalkers and they'll know we're hiding you."

  "Even if you kill them, Whitney will send others."

  "Maybe. Maybe not. Sometimes he backs off." He rinsed off her shoulders and back.

  She sighed and reached out to capture water in her cupped hand and then watch it slowly fall into the tub. "I just want you to talk to them first, Ezekiel. I don't think they'd endanger anyone else here . . ."

  "Anyone else?" He wanted to shake her. "I'm not risking you."

  "It isn't your risk, it's mine."

  He caught her shoulders and gave her a little shake. "Seriously, Bellisia? What do you think we're doing here? This is permanent. You. Me. We're going to build a life together. Be a family. Have a family. At least that's what I'm planning. I thought you were on the same page."

  "I am on the same page, Ezekiel. I'm as committed as you are to trying a life with you. Because I don't want to start off that life by killing two good men doesn't make me less committed, it makes me sane."

  His breath hissed out between his teeth. He hated that she actually made sense. Maybe he was a little bloodthirsty when it came to Gerald and Adam. "What do you think we should do, baby? Invite them to one of Nonny's dinners?"

  She was silent a moment, turning his sarcastic suggestion over and over in her mind. He sighed. "Sweetheart, I was kidding."

  She pressed her body back into his. "Maybe you were, but that might be just what we need to do. We could recruit them. They don't like Whitney any more than we do."

  "Are you crazy? Even if they did decide to join us, how would we know if they were really committed to being part of us or playing the role to be a spy for Whitney?"

  "How did you know I was telling you the truth? Your people certainly interrogated me."

  He ran his hands up the sides of her rib cage. She felt small and delicate, a woman's softer body, so intriguing, so beautiful. He cupped her breasts and then touched his marks on the slight curves. She had a point. "Arguing with you is going to be a fucking waste of time, isn't it?"

  She laughed, and the sound slid into his body, an arrow aimed right at his heart. "Yes. You may as well get used to it, honey."

  14

  "You have to devein the shrimp. There is actually shrimp in the gumbo, Bella," Nonny said. "We're doing a shrimp gumbo so it's necessary to use shrimp."

  Pepper and Cayenne burst out laughing. Even the triplets, all three girls in their identical aprons standing on chairs, laughed as well.

  Bellisia tried scowling at them, but it was funny so she couldn't stop the smile as she followed Nonny's instructions. She didn't eat seafood as a rule. It wasn't because of the octopus DNA; it was more because she craved it and she never gave in to that sort of thing--until Ezekiel
.

  She tried to stifle a yawn, her third one in the last fifteen minutes, but she was unsuccessful. She'd been with him two weeks now, and they'd fallen into a routine she really liked, other than the fact that she was always tired. Ezekiel woke her three, sometimes four times a night. Well, twice a night, but he never went to bed without sex and it was the first thing they did when they woke. Sometimes he woke her with his mouth on her already, sometimes they had shower sex. He was very inventive and she had the feeling they'd only begun to scratch the surface of his creativity.

  "If you yawn again," Nonny said, "I'm going to box that man's ears."

  Pepper and Cayenne nearly fell on the floor laughing. Bellisia turned bright red, and the triplets looked at one another.

  "Box whose ears?" Ginger asked.

  "What do you mean, box his ears?" Thym chimed in.

  "I want to box someone's ears," Cannelle said.

  "It means," Nonny explained, "that Uncle Ezekiel is keeping Bella up all night making her too tired for her cooking lessons and I'm going to smack his ears."

  "That would hurt," Ginger said, covering her ears.

  "I don't want you to do that to Uncle Ezekiel," Thym protested.

  "I don't think Nonny would really do that," Cannelle said, her voice uncertain. "Would you, Nonny?"

  "No, baby, I wouldn't box his ears, only threaten him with it," Nonny explained gently. "I'm really teasing Bella just a little bit. Now everyone help prepare the shrimp. We'll need two pounds."

  The triplets watched the women and then tried to help. Bellisia noticed that no one stopped them, in fact, several times Nonny patiently explained how deveining was done, which was a good thing, as she'd never done it before.

  "Brown the sausage in the skillet. I use about a pound most times, this time I did about a pound and a half, as we have several of the boys home." Nonny took the large cast-iron Dutch oven and set it on the stove. "Use medium-high heat, otherwise you'll burn the roux for sure. You have to watch what you're doing and continually whisk. If you get black specks, we have to start over. Use about a cup of good vegetable oil. When it's hot enough, stir in a cup of flour a bit at a time, whisking the entire time. Bella, you come try this." Even as she ordered Bellisia, she continued stirring to ensure the roux didn't burn.

  "I killed it the first time," Pepper confided. "Seriously killed it. The entire pot turned black."

  It was a little difficult to get close enough to the stove to take the whisk from Nonny with the three little girls dragging their stools over to peer into the Dutch oven, but she took her cue from Nonny and didn't protest. Clearly Nonny believed in allowing children to learn no matter how difficult their presence made things.

  Bellisia was a good mimic and if she watched someone do something, she could repeat the action exactly, so it was easy to catch on to the motion of whisking the flour in the oil.

  Cayenne made a face at her. "You're such a show-off."

  Nonny snapped a tea towel at Cayenne, catching her on her bottom. The triplets erupted into gales of laughter when she yelped. "That's perfect, Bella. Pay no mind to Cayenne. She set my kitchen on fire."

  The three girls nearly fell off their stools laughing, and Cayenne wrapped them in webs to prevent them from hitting the floor. "You little demons, I'm going to hang you upside down from a tree somewhere and let the spiders eat you for dinner."

  Bellisia nearly dropped the whisk into the golden brown roux. She'd heard that Cayenne could produce spiderwebs, but she'd never seen her do it. The action had been smooth and fast, just a quick lift of her hands.

  "It's okay, Bella," Ginger assured as she removed the webs. "Cayenne always says that, but she never does it." The other two girls nodded solemnly, clearly not wanting Bellisia upset as they removed the webs as well.

  "It's ready," Nonny declared, not losing sight of what they were doing. "Add in the two cups of chopped onions, one cup each of chopped celery and bell pepper. I like to put in green onions, so Ginger sliced two cups of green onions to add as well. Thank you, Ginger, they're perfect."

  Bellisia loved that Nonny praised the girls. Ginger looked pleased and the other two girls smiled at their sister, clearly proud of her.

  "I chopped the garlic," Thym said. "Didn't I, Nonny? A fourth of a cup."

  "You did, baby, and the garlic is perfect. Bella, please add that as well. Stir in the sausage while Pepper fries a half pound of chopped bacon for us. Make certain once it's cooked you drain it on paper towels the way we drained the sausage."

  "I'm getting good at frying bacon, Bella," Pepper said, "but it took me a little while. Malichai and Mordichai tease me all the time because I burned so many things."

  "The only way to learn is by doin', right, Nonny?" Ginger asked.

  Bellisia smiled at the voice and accent. The girls were fast developing Nonny's mannerisms and that was a good thing. In Bellisia's mind there wasn't a better role model. She was teaching all three women how to raise children in a loving environment so they could thrive.

  "That's right, Ginger. Cayenne, we need the claw crabmeat. We're adding in about a pound and a half of crab altogether. Cannelle helped with the claw meat, washing and preparing it. Thank you, honey, you did it just right."

  That was the other thing that Nonny always did--she thanked the girls, acknowledging everything they did. She made outrageous threats, but she never raised her voice to the girls. Nonny was always patient with them and with the men going in and out of her kitchen grabbing food and teasing her with kisses to her cheeks.

  "Pepper, add the bacon to the mixture. Bella, keep stirring. We'll cook this a little bit longer. Cayenne, do you have the shellfish stock ready? Three quarts of it? It should be very hot."

  "Yes, ma'am," Cayenne said.

  "In a minute you're going to start ladling the stock into the pot. Bella, keep stirring constantly. I make my own stock and I can give you that recipe later. Don't stop, Bella, or it will be ruined," Nonny cautioned.

  Bellisia stirred the hot stock into the mixture carefully, afraid she might ruin their meal, but she managed to keep clumps from forming. She couldn't help but smile when Nonny gave her approval. "Now we just reduce the heat to a low boil and set the timer for thirty minutes. We can take some strawberry lemonade out onto the porch before we finish it off and enjoy the evenin'. When we come back, we'll add spices. Bella, I'll have you fold in the lump crab and shrimp carefully. Sometimes I add oysters, but not this time." She nudged Bellisia. "There's far too much activity goin' on in the bedroom already to take a chance with oysters."

  Another round of laughter went up. Pepper and Cayenne each lifted a little girl from the stools where they were standing, so Bellisia followed suit, catching Cannelle in her arms, swinging her around and setting her on her feet. Cannelle clung to her while the room spun and then followed her sisters out to the front porch.

  Bellisia noted the porch seemed to be a favorite gathering place. Every night they rocked the girls before bedtime. Sometimes they told stories, sometimes they sang songs. They even played games, anything to spend time together. The men weren't shy about joining in. Ezekiel and his brother worked on Ezekiel's house with a few of the men during the day, but he was always there in the early evening, his arms around Bellisia, nuzzling her neck until Nonny threatened him and his fellow GhostWalkers howled with laughter. Even Donny came over once and joined in the evening's entertainment.

  Bellisia loved that the children were never excluded. The adults didn't shield them from the dangers in the swamps, in fact, just the opposite, time and again, an adult took them out to show them plants or animals or traps. Even Donny talked to them about how to survive.

  "Bellisia, did you know that moms have babies?" Ginger asked as she sat down on the porch stair.

  "No, Ginger," Thym corrected, "girls have babies and they become moms."

  "That's what I meant, Thym." Ginger glared at her sister. "It's rude to interrupt, right, Mommy?"

  "I wasn't interrupting. I waited u
ntil you finished talking," Thym defended.

  "The point," Ginger said, still glaring, "is that I want to know if Bella is going to have a baby."

  Bellisia nearly spit a mouthful of lemonade out.

  "Would Uncle Ezekiel be the father?" Cannelle asked.

  Pepper and Cayenne nudged each other. "He'd better be," Pepper said. "If he isn't, Bella would have some explaining to do." The two women burst into laughter.

  "I'm not having a baby right now," Bellisia explained. "Your uncle and I have just begun a relationship. It would be too soon . . ." She frowned, trailing off. They hadn't exactly been good about protection. She hadn't thought about protection. It wasn't like Whitney issued birth control pills. The women were locked in the dorms at night. Only the women taken to Italy to the program he ran there had to worry about pregnancies. It was something she needed to talk to Ezekiel about immediately. How could they both have forgotten something so important? She hadn't even considered the consequences, not even with the evidence of the triplets right in front of her.

  "What's wrong, Bella?" Nonny asked, her voice low as she knocked ashes from her beloved pipe. Her husband had carved the pipe years earlier, and she was never without it. Her tobacco was a mixture of spices that Bellisia knew she would remember her entire life. It smelled like comfort.

  "Nothing really. There's just so much to learn. When I was inside, my life wasn't my own. I couldn't make decisions for myself at all, everything was decided for me. It's so strange to be able to actually take charge of my life, but there's so many things I don't know to do, or forget that I should do."

  Cannelle slipped her hand in Bellisia's and turned her face up, very solemn, all eyes and seriousness. "I'll help you, Bella. When we first came to Daddy's house, we didn't know how to do anything at all, but Nonny helped Mommy and my sisters and me. I can help you." She frowned and looked down at Bellisia's feet. "I would always forget shoes and socks. We always went barefoot, but Nonny says that's not good in the swamp. I'll help you remember about shoes."

  Bellisia hugged her. "Thank you, honey. I really appreciate it. It's hard to remember everything, isn't it?"

  All three girls nodded. They looked at one another and then at Pepper. "Can we go play in the playground Uncle Ezekiel, Uncle Mordichai and Uncle Malichai built for us, Mommy?" Ginger, the spokeswoman, asked.