All along, she’d thought she was related to Ambrose because her father’s parents had loved each other, against all odds. But now, she learned it was this. A wealthy man and his maid. She felt so betrayed and hurt she wanted to cry.
“This is all a shock for you, isn’t it?” Cynthia said, her voice softening.
“It’s beyond shocking, to be honest,” Samantha said. “I’m afraid I need to go.”
She stood, grabbed her things, and shoved them into her backpack.
“I hope I didn’t offend you,” Cynthia said. “It’s just that it’s such a guarded family secret, it’s hard for me to share it.”
“No, I’m not offended at all,” Samantha lied. “I understand what men were like back then. He probably just used her while his wife was sick. It’s really quite disgusting. I just…have another appointment I need to get to.”
“I’m so sorry,” Cynthia said sincerely. “I should have known this news would upset you.”
“I’m not upset,” Samantha said, clearing her throat and trying to regain her composure. “Not at all. Now I understand where I come from. It all makes perfect sense.”
“You are upset,” Cynthia said. “Why don’t you sit back down and try to catch your breath. I’ll pour you some more tea.”
“No, that’s fine, that’s perfectly fine. I’ll be in touch. I’ll send you a few copies of the magazine when the article comes out.”
“That’s very kind of you, dear. But I’m more concerned about your state right now.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Samantha said. “I’ll be just fine.”
“All right then.”
Cynthia showed her to the door and apologized again. But Samantha really couldn’t hear it. Her ears were buzzing with the pounding of her heart, and all she wanted to do was escape the house where her own grandparent had been illicitly conceived. It was a scandal on both sides.
Samantha couldn’t believe that after all this searching, this was where she’d come from. She was so angry she wanted to tear down the statue of Ambrose Morgan herself. How could he have done such a thing? He’d probably left her nameless great-grandmother to fend for herself and the child. Tears slid from her eyes as she got behind the wheel of her car. Just then Benjamin called, and she answered the phone with a sob.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I found out how I’m related to Ambrose Morgan,” she said.
“That’s great news. Why are you crying?”
“He had an affair with his maid.”
“Oh…”
“I thought it was my father’s parents and that they loved each other. People are so horrible. I just don’t know what to think anymore.”
“Why don’t you come over to the shop, and I’ll fix you a cup of hot chocolate,” he said.
“I have to be alone right now. I’m headed back to the hotel for a bath and a nap.”
“Well, why don’t I come by after work and check on you then?”
Samantha let out a deep breath as she turned on the car. Ben’s voice had a way of calming her down and soothing her soul.
“I’d like that,” she finally said.
“Well you take your bath and get some rest, and I’ll see you soon.”
They hung up the phone. Just knowing that Ben was there for her somehow made her feel so much better, even after she’d been handed some of the worst news of her life.
Chapter 17
Ben was extremely worried about Samantha, so he finished up the recipes he was working on. Business had been terrible that day. It seemed like since the tourists had all left, no one wanted to come to the town square anymore. He’d seen “for sale” signs in more than one downtown business window.
He made a pot of hot chocolate, grabbed a box of mixed candies, and headed over to the hotel. He wasn’t sure if his offerings could comfort her, but he could only hope that she would feel better after a while.
Learning that she was probably the product of an illicit affair between an employer and his maid had to be hard on her. She had hoped the reason they were related was her grandparents had a marriage based on love and devotion and romance. Not a cheating upper-class man and his servant. Benjamin sighed deeply and parked his car in front of the Fate Valley Hotel. He loved Samantha so deeply it hurt sometimes. He grabbed the thermos of hot chocolate and the box of candy and made his way up the stairs to her room. He knocked tentatively and a moment later she came to greet him, wrapped in a bathrobe with tears in her eyes.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“No, I’m not okay. I’m not okay at all.”
“Can I come in?” he asked.
“Yes, of course,” she said, stepping aside for him to enter. She went and sat on the queen-size bed in a huff and covered her face with her hands.
“I would say everything is going to be okay, but I know that’s the worst thing to say at times like these.”
“It’s okay, Ben. It’s not your fault. I’m so glad that you’re here. What did you bring me?” she said, reaching out for the box of candy. “I already ate the last box.” She smiled.
He handed her the box and poured them both a cup of hot chocolate. She sat on the bed with the box of chocolates beside her. She began to pick through the box, chose a caramel-stuffed divinity, and popped it in her mouth. She groaned and closed her eyes as she chewed.
“I’m suddenly in a much better mood,” she said with a chuckle.
“Good,” he said, patting her leg.
She drank the chocolate and let out a long sigh of contentment.
“I am feeling much better now,” she said. “You have that effect on me.”
“I’m glad. What do you want to do with the rest of the day?”
“Well, now that I know what kind of man Ambrose Morgan was, I want to explore a new angle to the article. If he was willing to have an affair with his maid, then I can only imagine what else he would do.”
“You think Ambrose Morgan was an evil man like Midwest Mayhem claims?” Ben asked. “That won’t be a very popular opinion around town.”
“I don’t care about the popular opinion,” she said. “I want to ask the museum curator more questions. Would you go to the museum with me?”
They went to his car and drove quickly across town to the museum. The parking lot was empty, and Ben was worried that the place was already closed. Samantha hurried out of the car and went to the front door. Gripping the handle, she pulled. It was locked. Her face fell as he walked up beside her.
“They’re already closed.”
“I’m sorry Samantha,” he said, putting his hand on her shoulder.
“Maybe we should go to talk to Midwest Mayhem. I want to know why they called Ambrose evil.”
“They’re just pranksters,” he said. “I don’t think they had any specific reasons.”
“I was doing some research on them last night,” she said as they walked back to the car. “Midwest Mayhem is a group of traveling anarchists. They are always making statements about the injustices of mainstream society.”
“Well, either way, I don’t think it’s a good idea to go out there.”
“Why not?”
“They could be dangerous.”
Samantha swung her car door open. “I’m not afraid of a bunch of punks. I’m from New York.”
“Alright, we can go. But let’s try to be careful.”
They climbed back in the car and started off out of town. Benjamin knew the park where they’d set up camp. It wasn’t far from town.
He was concerned about the reception they would get, showing up unannounced. No matter what, he needed to protect Samantha. She seemed to not be thinking straight since finding out about Ambrose and his maid. Now, all she wanted was to prove that Ambrose Morgan was a bad man. Ben knew that a lot of people would not be thrilled with that, but he was there to do whatever she needed. His priority was helping her find the truth, and ensuring her safety in the process.
They pulled off the highway
and onto a side road that led deep into the forest. Samantha was digging through her backpack and pulled out a voice recorder and a camera. She slung the camera around her neck and shoved the recorder into her pocket.
“I want to be ready for anything,” she said.
“What do you think you’re going to find?” he asked.
“I just want to know why they called Ambrose Morgan evil. I want to know if that’s why they took his statue.”
“If they took his statue.”
They drove all the way through the deserted campground and came to the far end. The back corner was crowded with RVs and campers in various states of disrepair. A bus with hand-drawn paintings of anarchy A’s and skulls created a barrier along the side.
Ben was growing more nervous as he parked his SUV out in front of the campsite. Samantha’s face was set like a stone. Undeterred, she slipped out of the car and started walking towards a group of tattooed men in leather jackets and mohawks. Ben was right behind her, ready to have her back if things turned bad.
“What do you want?” said a punk with a green mohawk and a neck tattoo of a spiderweb. He spat on the ground when he saw her.
“I’m Samantha Cooper,” she said, jutting out her hand to shake. He didn’t take it, so she drew it back, still smiling. “I’m with the Historic Times. I’m doing a piece on Ambrose Morgan and the now-missing statue. I wanted to ask you a few questions.”
“The cops were already here. We told them a million times: we didn’t have nothing to do with it,” he said.
“You claimed responsibility for the upside down lion in front of City Hall. Is that correct?”
“Yeah, we did. What of it?” he asked. “We paid the fines to the city.”
“I’m curious what you know about Ambrose Morgan?” she asked. “Why did you call him evil on your website?”
“Maybe you should go ask those guys down at Big River Falls.”
“What guys?”
“Forget it. I already said too much.”
“Why did you turn the statue over in front of City Hall?”
“If you must know, it was in protest of raising of the statue. Flooding the land and building this town was bad for the environment. We don’t believe in dams, and we don’t believe in displacing people who have already claimed a place.”
“Displacing people?” she asked.
“You know there was a town here before the land was flooded, right? All those people had to leave.”
“Yes, but they were just squatters,” she said.
“What makes someone a land owner? A piece of paper? After exchanging a bunch of pieces of paper that have no real value?” he asked, spitting again.
“These are all very good philosophical questions, but I’m more interested in what really happened.”
“I’m done talking to you, lady,” he said, turning his back to her and lighting a cigarette as his buddies glared at her and laughed.
“Well, thank you very much for your time,” Samantha said.
“Come on, Samantha,” Ben said, rubbing her shoulder. “We should leave before things take a turn for the worse. I don’t like the smell of this place. I’ve never scented anything like this before.”
“Okay,” she said. “I think I got what I came for.”
She lifted her camera and clicked a few shots. As soon as the punks saw her do that, they picked up baseball bats and began to chase them. Benjamin grabbed her arm and yanked her away from the group.
He helped her into the passenger seat of the car and ran to get in behind the wheel. Just then the punks ran up and smacked the hood of his car with the baseball bats. He growled at them, pushing them back with his most dominant growl.
He jumped in the car and turned around as fast as he could. They smashed at his back bumper, cracking his tail light. Benjamin stepped on the gas and accelerated out of the campground. Samantha looked behind her out the back window and gasped. Benjamin looked through the rearview and saw the punks giving him the finger as he drove away.
“I can’t believe that just happened,” Samantha said.
“That turned bad, fast,” he said. “I’m glad that I was with you.”
“So am I,” she breathed. “I don’t know what would’ve happened if it was just me.”
They hurried back to town. Benjamin felt exhausted from asserting his dominance over the Midwest Mayhem group. He just wanted to go home and relax with Samantha over a warm meal.
“Would you like to come over to my house? I’m cooking a beef stew in the slow cooker.”
“That sounds so good,” she said.
They drove the rest of the way to his house in silence, both of them still stunned and shocked from what they had been through. Back at Ben’s house, he started into the kitchen and Samantha sat at the counter on the bench facing him. He checked his stew. It’d only had a few more minutes to cook. He’d added baby potatoes and carrots on his break and everything looked like it was cooked to perfection.
“This is going to be done in a jiffy,” he said, popping garlic bread in the toaster oven.
“I’ll set the table,” she said, sliding out of the chair and going to the cabinets to find plates.
“Thank you.”
He found a serving bowl for the stew and scooped it out of the slow cooker. He pulled a fresh salad out of the fridge and the toasted garlic bread from the oven. They both carried everything into the dining room and set it on the table. Ben grabbed a bottle of red wine from his wine rack and sat beside Samantha. The sunset glowed in the distance outside the dining room window. He popped the cork on the wine and poured them both glasses.
Lifting his glass, he said, “To not getting killed by punks today.”
Samantha lifted her glass with a giggle and they clinked.
“I’ll drink to that,” she said, taking a sip of wine with a relieved sigh and a smile.
Chapter 18
Samantha gazed at Ben as the chandelier lights sparkled in his eyes. There was so much love and warmth there that she felt she could drown in the deep blue pools forever. He was such a loving, wonderful man. She never would have expected to find someone who could love her so much. At that moment, she felt like the luckiest woman in the world. Nothing would convince her otherwise. Ben brought out a chocolate cake for desert and cut her a piece. He opened another bottle of wine and they laughed and feasted on the rich, chocolatey cake.
“That really was a close one today.”
“Those guys are not to be trifled with.”
“Who do you think are the guys down at Big River Falls?” she asked. “Do you think they could be connected to the original settlers?”
“I don’t know. Could be. Maybe tomorrow we can go talk to Alexander Ellwood. He runs Fate Valley Antiques and may know a thing or two about the past.”
“That’s a wonderful idea.”
“I have another wonderful idea.”
He took her hand and helped her stand from her chair. The music played low on the surround sound stereo. They walked into the living room and slow danced in front of the blazing fire. The feeling of his body against hers, the smell of his cologne, it was blissful. She’d never felt so loved or connected to anyone.
Today, at the campground, she saw how strong and brave he was. He’d taken on all those guys without even hurting them. He’d somehow forced them back with just a growl. She was impressed to say the least. With his arms wrapped around her, she felt safe and warm, and a growing sense of desire for Benjamin.
He looked down and kissed her as he held her. The taste of chocolate and Merlot was on his lips. They kissed languorously, their tongues gliding over each other.
“Come with me,” he said, taking her hand and leading her up the stairs.
He opened the door of his bedroom and pulled her into his arms, holding her close to him as they kissed deeply and fervently. The love she felt for Ben was growing stronger in her chest. She couldn’t deny it a second longer. He pulled her out of her clothes and backed h
er up toward the bed. She sat down on the edge in nothing but her bra and panties.
Ben pulled off his shirt and sank between her legs. “I need to taste you,” he said, pulling her panties down over her feet.
She laid back as he pushed her legs open, consuming her core. He groaned and licked her, tasting her flesh like it was delicious chocolate cake.
She looked down at him, resting her elbows on the bed. She threaded her fingers through his hair, loving the feeling of his silky-smooth tresses, while he sucked her pussy. She groaned and raised her eyes overhead, her hair tumbling down her back. Her mouth dropped open and she gasped. Her desire peaked and came tumbling down over her like a cascade of water, pouring relentlessly from above. She came, moaning Ben’s name.
He crawled up from between her legs and claimed her mouth. The taste of her body still lingered on his lips. The flavor only made her hotter. Benjamin pulled off his pants and stalked over her body, turning her over on the bed on all fours. He ran his hands over the globes of her ass, kneading the flesh of her body as he ran his fingers through her hair. He gripped her tightly as he kissed up and down her back.
“I want to claim you,” he growled into her ear. “I want to make you a bear like me, so you will always be safe and always have family.” He slid his cock between her folds and she gasped at his animalistic growl.
“Do you want that?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said as he caressed her throat with his palm.
He turned her over on her back and kissed her mouth. He kissed her chest and tweaked her nipples as he slid his cock up and down her wet slit.
“I want to put a cub inside you,” he said. “Are you ready to take me? All of me?”
“Yes, Benjamin,” she said, running her hands over his chest. “I wanted it all.”
He growled, the yellow light of his shifter in his eyes. He angled his cock against her opening, pressing the tip inside her as he growled into her ear and cupped her face in his hand. He sucked her earlobe as he sank, inch by agonizing inch, inside her, stretching her around him.