"but when she did what she did, I felt I had never had known her. Not at all. Of course, our parents disowned her and took all her pictures out of the albums. After that, they never again mentioned her name in my hearing.'"
"'Good heavens, what did Letty do?'" my mother asked.
"I didn't understand all they were saying but I stored the information away and pieced it together when I got old enough to know what some of the words meant. It seems Letty had been offered a job in Las Vegas when all the casinos except one or two were downtown and the mob ran all of them. I guess their parents assumed she was working as a secretary or something like that. Times had been hard on their Iowa farm and they appreciated the money she sent home from time to time."
"Ella was sent wonderful presents, too, and could hardly wait to grow up so she could join her sister in Nevada. None of them had any clue what was going on until Letty made headlines."
"Don't tell me she was a show girl."
"I won't, because she wasn't. Actually, it was clear from the newspaper stories that early on she'd become what Grandmother Ella called 'a fallen woman, and for money, yet,' before she took up with one of the lesser mobsters."
"A gun moll. Fascinating."
"Gun is right--she shot the man. The news stories played it up as a jealousy murder, since she also wounded the 'other woman.' Apparently Letty was let out on bail before the case came to trial because less than a week later she suffered a fatal 'accident' while crossing the street. According to Ella the entire family was relieved."
"It never occurred to any of them that she'd probably been murdered by the mob so she wouldn't have a chance to spill anything she might know. It's hard to believe my great-grandparents could have been so narrow-minded and so innocent."
"Different times," Bram said. "That's quite a story. You're the first person I've known with a notorious great-aunt hidden in her background."
"I've never told any one else her story. Since I've gone this far, I might as well admit that I've always sort of admired her. Not for murdering the man, but for striking out on her own and surviving any way she could in a setting and a time really hostile to women. If Davis had been a girl, I think I might have named him Letty."
"Interesting she was let out on bail. That's unusual in a murder case where there's a witness--in this case, the other woman. No doubt the mob knew who to bribe to get her free long enough to off her."
"I never thought of that. How cold-blooded." Vala shivered.
Evidently Bram saw this because he said, "Getting cold?" Without waiting for an answer he sat up and pulled her over onto his sleeping bag where he put an arm around her, nestling her against his side. "Better?"
"Umm," she murmured. "If I were Sheba, I'd purr."
For a few moments, Bram was content just to have her close to him, but it didn't last long until desire began to override every other emotion. He shifted, turning her face up to him and kissed her.
Her lips were soft and welcoming, she tasted of herself with a slight chocolate overlay from the last bar in the supplies--he'd split it three ways as dessert. Much as he liked chocolate, her flavor was far more addictive.
That's what it was--addiction. He was addicted to Vala. Would he ever be able to kick the habit? Not wanting to think about that just now, he concentrated on the kiss, deepening it, feeling her eager response rage through him. Davis is in the tent, he warned himself. Don't let this get out of hand.
He wouldn't, all he wanted was to hold her in his arms for a while, to kiss and caress her. No, that was a damn lie. What he wanted was to possess her completely and have her possess him as well. He needed to be locked with her in an embrace that would send them both on a trip to the stars. Vala was unique--no other woman was like her, or even came close. She not only aroused him almost past bearing, but she also made him aware of his own strength, strength he could and would use to protect her, to keep her safe always. "Sweet Vala," he whispered against her lips. "My beautiful Vala. Mine."
The last word echoed