“All right. I’m beautiful.”
He pulled out his finger and replaced it with his tongue. Soft and sinfully wet, it circled her opening, burrowing into every crevice. Next, he tested each part of her between his lips. His tongue was as slow as a rolling wave. Sadie imagined herself on that pitching boat again, flipping completely over.
When he combined finger and tongue, she bucked against the bed, exploding inside from the waist down. Every muscle in her neck released, and her head dropped backward as waves of pleasure submerged her.
“Henry,” she whimpered.
He pulled a condom packet from the nightstand and opened it. Her hands were too weak to help him.
“Damn,” he said, fumbling with his member. “I can’t seem to do this right, either.”
“Then leave it off,” she mumbled.
Just get your cock in me. Quick.
But he unrolled the condom into place and thrust inside her. She scratched his shoulders, struggling to accommodate the sudden intrusion. Long and thick, he parted her swollen flesh, making it throb. Because she’d just climaxed, every inch of her core was especially sensitive.
He moved slowly, rocking the bed like a boat in a gentle tide. But she needed him faster, harder—to pummel her like a nor’easter. Needing to completely enclose him, she wrapped her arms around his torso and her legs around his hips. The heels of her stocking feet rode his hard, flexing buttocks.
“Does this boat go any faster?” To emphasize her point, she scratched a line across his spine and kicked her heels into him.
“You want fast? Hard?” he growled into her ear.
“Yes, Henry,” she gasped. “Yes.”
She squealed when he accelerated with no warning. The entire bed shook as his cock hammered into her like a piston. Her pelvis, hot and sticky, slapped against his. It was a good thing they were on the ground floor. He filled her to the hilt, again and again. So deep it ached. She met each thrust, giving his muscled body a run for its money.
Their faces moved too violently to risk kissing, but the tantalizing stubble on his cheek scraped hers. His forelock danced over her closed eyes. Never in her life had she felt so close to another human being.
Everything would work out fine.
Her back arched again with a climax that promised to be harder than the last one. She kicked his buttocks again.
“Come with me, Henry.”
“I’ll try.”
When her first contraction bore down, she grabbed his forelock and pulled.
“Oh, Sadie. Oh, hell.” He groaned between clenched teeth, and his hips bucked back and forth under her feet as he ejaculated.
“Henry,” she cried. “Oh God, Henry.”
Each of his short, quick thrusts made her contract again and again. When their explosion ended, her thighs quivered under his weight. Her throat was parched from breathing so hard. Pieces of her felt scattered all over the room.
An aftershock coursed through her when he pulled out. She could hardly believe how much creamy fluid filled the condom. She ached to feel it in her depths, hot and flowing, someday, but they couldn’t risk pregnancy.
After they cleaned each other in his small bathroom, they dressed and returned to the bed. Rumpled was an understatement. It looked as if a herd of elephants had marched across it.
They sat on the edge of it, holding hands.
“So what did you want to talk about earlier?” he asked.
She blinked, forcing some sense back into her mind. The blinding passion had almost made her forget everything.
“It’s about Mama. The weighman is cheating her.”
Henry frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Her arthritis has gotten worse, so she can’t shuck as fast as she used to.”
“Then her counts would be lower, wouldn’t they?”
“Yes, but not as low as he’s making them.” She drummed her fingers on her knees. “I checked her counts yesterday myself for several buckets.”
Staring straight ahead, he let out a breath. “I’m really sorry to hear this.”
“He’s a real bastard, cheating a sick old woman, and if he’s cheating her, I bet he’s doing it to others, too.”
He dragged a hand through his unruly hair. “I guess I’d better have a talk with him.”
“And when he denies it, as he surely will, what then?”
“What can I do? If I accuse him of cheating the shuckers and fire him, the Klan will crucify me.”
She stood and paced. “You can’t let that troop of white-sheeted monsters intimidate you like that. Why don’t you start by dropping out of the club?”
“If I do that, I can kiss Rockfield’s good-bye. The mayor’s son is chomping at the bit to bring me down.”
And if you don’t, you can kiss me good-bye.
But they could cross that bridge later. First, she had to get help for Mama.
“I’ll pay you extra to make up for your mother’s lower wages.” He gazed up at her with serious eyes. “You’re the one who’s good with figures. Tell me the amount you need.”
“I appreciate it, but are you going to do the same for everyone who might have been cheated?”
He hung his head. “You know I can’t afford that. Besides, no one else has complained.”
“They’re probably afraid to.”
“What do you want me to do? Fire him?” he asked, holding out his hands.
“You took the idea right out of my mind.”
He sighed. “Let me talk to him, and we’ll decide from there.”
Sadie looked at the man before her. Less than an hour ago, he’d dominated her in bed. Why couldn’t he do the same for Rockfield’s? Despite his muscular body, he avoided confrontation. She wanted a man who would fight for her.
If his discussion with the weighman didn’t fix the problem, and she was sure it wouldn’t, she’d take matters into her own hands. After all, wasn’t she the one who ran Rockfield’s?
Chapter Fourteen
On Friday night, Henry sat at his kitchen table with his head in hands. What a miserable day. He’d stayed at the plant for appearances and spoken to Dan Short as tactfully as he could. As expected, the man denied any wrongdoing. When he acted insulted about having his integrity questioned, Henry ended up apologizing instead of warning him.
He hung his head, glad Sadie hadn’t witnessed how much he’d let her down.
Then Jonathan Carter had stopped by to personally invite him to a Klan rally planned for Saturday.
A rally… Exactly what he didn’t need.
Luckily, Sadie was downstairs talking to her mother and some others during his visit. She had already given Henry enough grief for being a member. Hopefully, she’d stay home in Crab Creek all day, none the wiser. Why couldn’t she understand he had to be a member to keep the peace?
The day her brother was arrested flashed through his mind. Henry had shown up with the others, in uniform. Luckily, Leroy was proven innocent and released. But what if Mary Carter hadn’t spoken the truth about what really happened? Would Henry have helped tie the rope?
No, no, no.
He shuddered. Every day, he hoped the club would disband from lack of interest. Unfortunately, the mayor’s son acted as enthused as ever. He turned his palm over, realizing his fingertips had bruised it.
What if he claimed he was too sick to participate? He couldn’t use that excuse more than once without raising suspicion. He needed to save it in case another situation like Leroy’s arose.
His stomach cramped. If only he could quit. Caleb depended on him to keep Rockfield’s going. He wasn’t about to let his family down, especially with a child on the way.
Pleasing both Sadie and the Klan was going to split him in half.
* * *
The next morning, Sadie docked her rowboat on a remote part of Oyster Island. She wore her gray blouse and skirt so she wouldn’t attract attention. The spring sun warmed her shoulders. Birds even chirped in the trees. Nice day for a Klan rally…
She’d heard about it yesterday while interviewing the shuckers to see if they thought their tally-based pay was accurate. Surely, Henry wouldn’t go. If she meant anything to him, he’d stay out of it. He seemed determined to remain a member but in name only.
After she secured the boat, she followed the sickening throb of a drumbeat. Hopefully, she could find a place to watch from a safe distance. Most of the shuckers stayed at Crab Creek today. Mama had begged her to as well.
It sure would be easier. If she didn’t see Henry dressed in a sheet, she could continue to fool herself that he loved her and they had a future together. Avoiding the crowds of white spectators, she found a good spot behind the large tree in the yard of Caleb’s old house.
The robed men poured out of the mayor’s home. Her fingers curled against rough tree bark at the sight of white sheets shining in the sun. The disguised men looked so similar, it was hard to tell who was who. The short, shuffling one in front had extra adornments on his costume. Must be the mayor. Behind him walked a slim man with an aggressive stride. His son.
After that, she couldn’t tell. Was Henry among them? Sweat broke out across her forehead. Would she know him if she saw him? She should. Hadn’t she heard his footsteps in the hall? Made love to every inch of his body?
She didn’t blink as the procession filed by. So many of them. Each had the same emblem across the left breast. What a frightening sight. What would they do to her if they caught her spying on them? If Henry was there, would he stand aside while the rest attacked her?
If she saw him here, so help her, their affair was over. She could not love one of those monsters. It would be better to be alone. A silent sob shook her. Maybe she should have listened to Mama and stayed home, but she’d rather know the truth.
As man after man marched by, she didn’t feel any recognition. Hope increased with each footstep. Maybe Henry had stayed out of it, after all. If so, she planned to give him a big dose of loving.
The last one emerged from the house. His robe got caught on the screen door closing behind him. The sheet didn’t slip, but it didn’t have to. Recognizing his gait as he rushed to catch up with the others and…oh God…those were his shoes.
Oh, Henry. No!
Her heart shot to her toes and ricocheted up into her throat. The urge to vomit hit her so suddenly, she almost did. Clapping her hand over her mouth, she sprinted away from the tree and the sheeted monsters. She’d meant to make a stealthier exit after the procession passed.
“That’s it, girl,” Jon Carter called out. “Run if you know what’s good for you.”
When she looked over her shoulder, the eyeholes of Henry’s hood were pointed right at her.
He’d seen her.
Good. He’d also seen the last of her.
The boat ride home passed in a blur. When she stumbled ashore in her yard, she found Mama seated in a chair in the sunlight.
“I’m glad you made it home in one piece.”
Sadie sobbed into her palms instead of answering.
“Come here, child. Tell me what happened.”
Although tempted to lock herself in her room, she knelt at Mama’s feet instead and laid her head in her lap.
“Henry was there, marching.” Her voice was so hoarse from crying, she barely recognized herself.
“Didn’t you already know he was in the Klan?”
“Of course I did. Seeing it was different.”
Wasn’t everyone always telling her how smart she was? How could she be stupid enough to believe in their love? By wearing that sheet today, he’d proven he felt nothing for her. And she’d surrendered her heart to him as well as her body.
“Didn’t I tell you to stay home?”
“I had to see it.” She sniffed against Mama’s knee. “It’s over, Mama.”
The other woman jostled her legs, forcing Sadie to glance up. “What’s over?”
“Our relationship.”
“It ain’t that simple,” Mama said. “We work for that man. He’s good to us. Even paying extra to make up for my bad hands.”
“What are you saying?”
Mama fixed her with a shrewd, battle-worn glare. “I’m saying whatever you’re giving him, you’d better keep on giving.”
Sadie rose, swallowing hard. How could she bear his touch when her heart had died?
“The laundry needs doing,” her mother reminded her.
“Yes, Mama.”
Because of the woman’s arthritis, more chores had fallen on Sadie’s shoulders. After this morning’s excursion, she was behind. At least keeping busy with laundry would keep her mind off her breaking heart.
* * *
Henry thought the miserable rally would never end. As soon as it had, he’d thrown his rotten uniform into the closet and jumped into his boat. He headed to Crab Creek as fast as he could without creating a massive wake in the harbor.
She’d seen him.
The horror on her face had made it clear how she felt. Why hadn’t she stayed home as she always did on weekends? He had to fix this. The thought of never holding her again drove a spike through his gut.
Running a company and pretending to be something he wasn’t had been a miserable life. Her love made it bearable. After rounding a bend in the creek, her home came into view. When he saw Sadie outside, hanging laundry on the line, his heart nearly pounded out of his chest. Her dresses hung in the gentle breeze, reminding him how good her warm curves had felt when she’d worn them.
He itched to jump overboard and swim the rest of the way. Instead, he secured the boat, waved at her mother, and loped toward her.
“Sadie.” His throat froze after he took off his cap. Every word he’d rehearsed on the way over abandoned him.
She pulled a clothespin out of her mouth and snapped it into place.
“Where’s your sheet? Would you like me to wash it for you, massa?”
“That’s not me!”
She pinned the other end of the towel. “I’m afraid it is because I can’t look at you without picturing you in it.”
“It’s a robe, not a—” He toed a clump of green grass. “Never mind. You shouldn’t have gone there. It could have been dangerous.”
“You shouldn’t have come here, either,” she said next. “Get on out before I stick this clothespin—”
Her voice, forceful enough today to strip barnacles off a boat, probably carried across Crab Creek.
“It’s right warm out, Sadie,” her mother called from her chair. “Why don’t you offer Mr. Rockfield a nice glass of lemonade?”