The Monkey Jungle (The Bennt, Montana Series)

by Taylor Ryan

  “Hey, Morley,” Beth’s nonchalant voice came through the small crack above their heads over the noise of Mary Kathryn’s crying. “Be ready for a paint ball war this weekend. We’re leaving Friday night at six o’clock. We’ll bring you back Sunday evening. It’s the sheriff’s department against the state troopers. Make us proud and nobody finds out about this— Nobody! Our little secret! Juussstt the four of us. No gossip making the rounds. No ticket for getting it on in a public park, or for lewd conduct... No court fine, or appearance. This just goes away right now...poof.” Her drawl was humor laden. “Call me Momma, Morley, tell me you’ll join us for a weekend of beer and whining cops or else.”

  “Um...Momma... I don’t have any gear.” Garth lifted his head to find the bright beam of light in his eyes again. He quickly lowered it, knowing Mary Kathryn would kill him if he laughed. But his relief was so acute it took no great effort to control himself. “I can’t go unless I have protective gear...”

  “Guess it’s really gonna hurt if you get shot,” Beth was briskly unsympathetic. “Be ready to go at six, or else.” Then she said casually, “Mary Kathryn, it was great to see you. Six o’clock, Morley!” her voice became stern. “Outside Mary Kathryn’s house! Don’t be late, we need to set up camp before dark. Night kids...” She tapped twice on the window with her flashlight and was gone.

  A moment later a car engine revved. The crunch of gravel as it drove away the only sounds in the night other then Mary Kathryn’s occasional hiccuping sob.

  “I’ll never be able to show my face in public again.”

  “Not so, sweetie,” Garth kissed the corner of her mouth, his mind on a warming bend. “They won’t tell if I do what they want—and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to go. I love paint ball wars.” He seemed astonished they’d gotten off so easily. His hips flexed, the pads of his thumbs caressed her breasts. “For them to go to all this trouble, resorting to blackmail to get me on their team.”

  Mary Kathryn jerked against him, outraged, lifting violently to throw him off. He sank more of his weight against her, pinning her, seeming surprised to discover he was still hard inside of her. He stared at her tear-damp face in the dim light for the longest time. She hiccuped up at him, as if unable to comprehend until he moved against her again, saying hoarsely at the same, “A paint ball war, Mary Kathryn—on the list of my favorite things—of which there are two—God, you feel good, Mary Kathryn.”

  He murmured against her mouth, flexing his back again and saying between gritted teeth as unadulterated pleasure caused his heart to pound harder. “Kiss me, Mary Kathryn—it’s a paint ball war. The best thing ever—” he gasped. “beside this.”

  “Oh, my God—” Mary Kathryn shoved his chest. “You’re drooling—can’t you manage to think about it later?” She pummeled on his shoulders as he thrust into her. “Garth, this is our first time—an utter fiasco! Couldn’t you at least try and pretend you are a little embarrassed—indignant about what just happened? Get off me,” she yelled, struggling until he went still. “This monkey is closed for the night!”

  He searched her eyes and found nothing but outraged annoyance. “You’re an amazing woman, Mary Kathryn.”

  “Garth,” she said quietly, squirming under him. “First things first. Get off me. I’m not in the mood to do anything but die. And my corpse is surely even to much for you! Drool away you big dumb paint ball pig—but not on me! Go sleep in the dirt with them. Listen to those horrid evil blackmailing whiners lament their seven year losing streak!”

  Garth stared at her intently, his what about us? left unsaid. He braced a knee on the carpeted floor and eased reluctantly from her. He needed to come! She needed to have a screaming orgasm.

  “Make me proud—fix this for me.” She hiccuped, an orgasm the farthest thing from her mind. “Heather will harass me,” tears filled her eyes. “Unless I make her waffles.” She sniffled. “I’ll be tied to the kitchen forever. Heather has been waiting years for something like this. And everybody in the county will hear about it and whisper whenever I come into a room. Beth will use it. Wilson will snicker—well, maybe not snicker but I’ll feel like he is.” Her eyes glittered, molten silver, riveted on his lips. “Go fix this! And don’t get your nose broken or I’ll shoot Wilson—then Beth—and don’t think I won’t!”

  “What will you do while we’re gone?” His fingertips caressed her intimately.

  “Go to the firing range and practice my aim.” She gasped in pleasure, instinctively moving against his clever hand as she lamented with self loathing: “I’m a wanton weeper. I should be crawling home in shame.” Then she wailed, “I just want to die! First Henry, now this—oh, God, Garth, that feels good...” Her arms crept around his neck then slid down his flanks to urge back over her only to have him freeze above her.

  “Christ! Not again!” Garth placed his palm over her mouth. “Listen—”

  A vehicle was pulling up next to them, near their heads. The powerful spotlight of a police car shown into the interior of the Lexus, lighting it up.

  “They’re back?!” Mary Kathryn groaned in horror and went limp. Arms, free leg, all fell away. Her entire body melted with humiliation. “I can’t do this again—and I never got to try alligator. Garth, when I put my head under the tire it won’t matter if you drive over it slow. Nothing could ever be as bad as this night has been.”

  Wilson Ulrich’s voice boomed directly next to the open window. “Morley, we’ve got extra gear around, so there’s no need to hightail it out of town. See you Friday, buddy. Mary Kathryn, make sure he gets plenty of rest. It’s going to be a long weekend.”

  Garth fell against Mary Kathryn as the car drove off.

  “I’m forty-seven,” he muttered against Mary Kathryn’s hair. “And I’m caught with my pants down. Twice.” He started to chuckle. It turned into a rich laughter. He began pushing her onto her back when she tried to squirm from under him in the tight space. “This has been the strangest night.”

  He kissed her, coaxing and cajoling her mouth open with his. She responded slowly at first, then tentatively, a hand crept up around his neck and through his hair.

  “Make it fierce and quick,” she hiccuped between kisses. “Those nosy paint ball addicts are sure to come back again, and want to discuss strategy with you.”

  Garth regretfully lifted off her, knowing her heart wasn’t in it anymore. “Next time I’ll listen and we’ll go anywhere you want, sweetheart, anywhere.” He awkwardly reached behind him and opened the door at their feet, sliding out of the car. He leaned down and said into the interior as he was pulling up his jeans, “I’ll take you somewhere where they serve alligator, Mary Kathryn.”

  “Find a graveyard,” she said with great dignity, scrambling from the back seat with her jeans around one ankle. She sat on the edge of the seat, her legs out the door as she straightened them and pulled them on. “I still want to die—this is one of those defining moments.” Her face was bright red. She couldn’t look at him. “I’m taking a time share in Florida, buying a house in Northern California, and never showing my face here again—the harassment and poking fun will last for years. Henry will find out. Garth, it’s not as if we were simply making out—nooo! I just had to tweak the panther’s tail—and look where it’s gotten me—hoisted into the trees.” She stood and hopped on a bare foot until she could yank up her jeans.

  “This isn’t your fault, Mary Kathryn.”

  “Of course it’s not,” she agreed instantly. “But I know what kind of monkeys you used to play with, Soapy,” she began searching for her shoes, finding one near the rear tire. “I’m not one of them—and you know it. I’m counting on you fix this so the only people I won’t be able to look in the eye are Beth and Wilson. Fix it or I’ll—” she burst into tears, batting his hands away when he tried to sooth her. “Don’t touch me right now, Garth. I’m sorry I keep crying, but I’m wallowing in embarrassment. And the knowing it was awesome getting there and that you liked it too makes it that mu
ch more difficult we didn’t get to finish it.” She sobbed harder. “Garth, button up your pants and find my other shoe, please—I can’t see...”

  He made the drive back to her house in silence. Nothing he could say would take away her humiliation. They’d been well and truly caught. He wisely remained quiet, wincing whenever a shuddering breath escaped Mary Kathryn.

  They sneaked back into the house, creeping silently across the living room where Henry still snored. Both heaved a relieved sigh only to find Alison waiting for them. Garth’s daughter sat on the top of the stairs, her back against the wall. She was reading a book with a flashlight.

  Alison didn’t say a word. She closed her book and slowly shook her head. She looked down at them gaping up at her, then rose and walked down the hallway as if they were the biggest disappointment she’d ever experienced. Mary Kathryn hiccuped a curse at her future daughter-in-law.

  “Now I know how your brother-in-law feels,” Garth said quietly to Mary Kathryn as his daughter disappeared into Mary Kathryn’s sewing room. The little hypocrite! “Too disgusted to die.” He gave Mary Kathryn a gentle nudge forward then grumbled and pulled her into his arms for a swift hug. “I’m so sorry.”

  He ran his hands down her back. “I’ll make it all go away. I swear, if it’s the last thing I ever do, I’ll wipe this horrible night from your mind.”

  “I blame Beth, although it’s my fault. I could have said no.” Mary Kathryn sniffled and turned her tear streaked face up for his kiss, which only caused him to revitalize. He drew away after a heady moment of passion.

  “And really, it’s Henry’s fault,” she sniffled as fresh tears welled. “Garth, there’s something wrong with him...and that silly daughter of yours. I like her, but really, Garth,” she swiped her damp cheeks, “they need to go back to the Mother Ship! Henry’s crazy and Alison’s been infected. She seemed like such a nice girl... Oh, God, I’m so embarrassed...”

  “We’re both tired,” Garth said quietly. “Go to bed, sweetie, or risk Henry getting tossed out the door with that other pest. And I’m not talking about that precious cat of yours. I like your cat. I’m talking about Alison.”

  He watched her walk with quiet dignity up the last of the stairs before striding over to Henry, intending to wake the younger man and derail his antics with rules of gentlemanly conduct.

  “Henry,” he rasped quietly, staring down at the snoring, younger man. “You’re the most absurd young man I’ve ever met. Immature. Ridiculous beyond comprehension. I can’t believe my daughter wants to marry you. Oh, Henry is so sweet, Daddy.” he mimicked Alison. “Oh, Daddy, Henry is so nice. Oh, Daddy, you’ll just love him.”

  Garth muffled a curse. “Oh, Henry, how I’d like to drop you in mine shaft somewhere out in the mountains... You’d grow up a little trying to get out in one piece.” He froze, staring down at the tousled head. Could it be?

  “Oh, Henry...” He repeated it just to confirm the possibility: “Oh, Henry. O. Henry—!”

  It would be just like Mary Kathryn to do something like that.

  “Sonofabitch!” He exhaled noisily. Damn her beautiful, witty sweet ass. She owned that ranch. Every gorgeous acre!

  “What’s the matter? Mom bugging you again?” Henry stretched from his fetal ball, wincing from the hard floor.

  Served him right if he were sore. Garth shook his head as he stared down at Henry Kathryn. “Oh, Henry,” he finally said disgustedly, “go upstairs to your own bed.”

  “You don’t have to be rude,” Henry muttered, crawling stiffly to his feet. He glanced around the room and scowled at something he saw. “My mother’s t-shirt is under the couch. She’d better not be hiding in here somewhere.” He stomped for the stairs without a backward glance, leaving his pillow and blanket on the living room floor.

  “Oh, Henry...you’re a pain in the ass, but you were right about your mother hiding something.” Garth wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. There were subtle signs of wealth all over the house. Her fishing equipment alone was worth five figures. He looked at the carpet. Berber. The flat screen plasma screen television in her bedroom. And that heavenly mattress—the most expensive money could buy.

  Pest came ambling up to him. Garth picked the cat up, scratching it as he sat on his fine-spun woolen blanket. A very expensive blanket. “Kitty,” he said humorously to the cat as it purred. “It’s making poor Henry insane not knowing how she’s paying for everything. The wine being shipped in. The seafood delivered from Alaska. The donation to the sheriff’s auxiliary account. Insanity is hereditary, Pest.” The cat settled it on his chest. “She has money and it’s making Henry crazy...” Garth laughed, set Pest on the back of the couch and settled into his blankets.

  That damned secret she was nervous about—no husband in the closet. No, no such luck! Mary Kathryn had a chunk of loot stashed and apparently nobody knew. She’d told him in her Hee Haw way and he’d joked about her tiny two bedroom mansion.

  Puzzling comments about money, pebbles in lakes and other things... She wasn’t worried about not having enough money—she had plenty. But to give her credit where it was due, she’d told him that first morning in the kitchen, knowing he wouldn’t take her seriously—who would? There was only one conclusion left that made any sense. She was hiding the money—concealing it from Henry and his unrealistic, expensive dreams. She’d wanted to watch that television show about lottery winners on purpose, to prepare Garth. To let him hear Henry for himself. Garth decided she might even be serious about towing a Rolls Royce around the country behind a motor home so people could see it. That would be something she might do, make people scratch their heads and wonder...

  And that question he’d asked playing that silly margarita bingo. She’d been afraid he’d inquire about money. She’d been telling the truth that day in the kitchen when she’d made him waffles.

  She had won a lottery.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “WHAT ARE YOUR INTENTIONS toward my mother?” Henry was fierce as he faced Garth when the older man walked calmly out of the bathroom the next morning; Garth’s hair wet from a shower, which had regretfully been alone. But Henry was obviously insane and didn’t care, suspiciously peering behind the larger man, his face pale but determined.

  “Well,” Garth was amused. He stared Mary Kathryn’s son in the eye. “First I was going to make her coff—”

  “It’s none of your business, Henry.” From her bedroom, Mary Kathryn appeared at Garth’s shoulder, challenging her son without raising her voice. “Just who do you think you are? What I do is none of your business. I’m done with your disrespect. You’re twenty-five years old. If you don’t like it, leave. With my blessing. Get a job, or go back to school. But I’m only going to tell you this once, Henry. Back. Off.”

  Henry dejectedly stared at his mother. He had the grace to look ashamed. “Uncle Wilson was here,” he blurted out. “He told me what happened last night.”

  He missed the sharp glance Garth bent toward Mary Kathryn, who’s face instantly turned crimson. Henry continued, appearing dispirited. “The park, Mom? Drinking beer in the park—I feel like I’m in a nightmare on Elder Street, at spring break party being held in a retirement home. Mom,” he spoke without real heat, but was clearly stricken, “you sneaked out after I fell asleep.” He scowled, looking anywhere but at them, obviously worried he’d pushed his mother too far. “Don’t you two have anything better to be doing than sneaking out in the middle of the night?”

  “Not since they invented Viagra,” Mary Kathryn cheerfully tweaked Henry’s nose, her cheeks pink.

  “That’s disgusting!” Henry stomped off down the hall, slamming his bedroom door behind him.

  “Are you alright?” Garth studied her carefully. Mary Kathryn blushed again, her face fiery as she looked at the floor. “I’m fine. As fine as I’ll ever be, for a cat whose tail was lit on fire.” She glanced at him, “then run over with a Harper steam roller.”

  “Good visual.” Garth chuckled, pulli
ng her against him, knowing how humiliated she felt and trying to sooth her. “Your son is a very unhappy young man.” He backed her against the bathroom door frame, his hands opening the lapels of her robe, pleased when her breath hitched. “It appears to be a virus.” He pressed a quick kiss on the corner of her mouth, his hands traveling over bare skin to settle on her waist. “My daughter has caught the, um, block our parents bug—we have to call an exterminator.”

  She murmured between short, hot kisses, “I’m still so embarrassed I want to crawl in a hole and die—”

  Henry’s door opened. “Uncle Wilson and Aunt Heather will be over later to talk to you two—what the?—in the hallway, Mom?” Henry’s face grew bright red when she pinned him with a fulminating glare.

  Garth pressed her against the wall, lowering his head against hers in defeat.

  Henry’s temper snapped. “Can’t you at least go into your room? Go to your room!” he bellowed, his door slamming a moment later.

  “Sometimes I just don’t know where he came from.” Mary Kathryn sighed. “He’s like an alien, something that escaped from a pud pod.” Mary Kathryn laughed softly, tightening her arms around Garth’s neck as he nuzzled her neck. “Did I tell you good morning, Mr. Morley?”

  “Mmm, I don’t remember.” They exchanged a blazing kiss, growing more heated by the second. Mary Kathryn’s eyes grew slumberous with passion. The television in Henry’s bedroom blared suddenly. As if Henry were trying to drown them out even though they both knew he couldn’t hear them.

  “Viagra, Mary Kathryn?” Garth gently bit her lower, his arms around her lower back not loosening. “Hopefully not for a few years,” he lifted her slightly against his erection to prove it, smiling into her eyes. “You’re going to wish it hadn’t been invented if it comes to that.” He pulled away with her hand in his, leading her toward her bedroom. “How did you sleep?”

  “I had a horrid nightmare. Then I woke up to discover it was a—horrid nightmare.”