Chapter 13

Charles and Diana Richards spent a Sunday afternoon in early November 1956 with her parents. Retired Air Force Colonel John G. Maitland and Josephine VanDorn Maitland enjoyed the interesting sights around Los Angeles. They had come for Charles and Diana's birthday party the night before and were only in town for a few days.

Then they took them to their home in Brentwood. Her parents spent the late afternoon resting on the patio in the warm sun, enjoying the view of the ocean in the distance while Charles and Diana prepared dinner. Tom and Lynda Seldon joined them for dinner that evening, as well as Charles and Tom's boss at the FBI, Peter Woods and his wife, Mary, who also happened to be old friends of Colonel Maitland.

Diana's parents were interested in hearing about an investigation that Charles and Tom were getting ready to begin. They couldn't go into much detail about it. They were checking into reports of an import/export company that was reported to be involved in arms smuggling. They'd received a tip at the FBI office the week before and they were still gathering preliminary information before they actually started the legwork. They figured it would be at least another few weeks before they would learn enough to know whether it was true or not.

By eight o'clock, Jo Maitland was looking weary. She told Diana that she needed to get back to the Woods' home so she could retire for the night. She complained that she was still suffering from "jet lag" and laughed it off. Diana hugged her mother and father as they left and told them she'd see them the next evening for dinner at Pete and Mary's. Her parents were in their late sixties, and she noticed they were starting to look every bit their age. She worried about them.

Lynda and Tom stayed a little while longer. Tom and Charles sat in the living room with drinks while discussing where to begin in their investigation. Lynda and Diana were silent as they cleared and washed the dinner dishes, both of them lost in their own worries.

Lynda was trying not to eavesdrop, but the talk about possible arms smuggling made her nervous. If it turned out to be true, Tom and Charles could get caught in a terribly dangerous situation. She prayed silently, "Dear Lord, please let it turn out to be nothing more than false rumors..."

Diana frowned as she grabbed another dish in the sink to wash. She knew something was wrong with her mother ... she seemed to tire a lot more easily than she used to. She was sixty-five years old ... maybe it was just due to aging. But she also appeared to have trouble breathing at times ... she would get winded and out of breath after walking for just a few minutes.

She began to worry that there was there something Mama and Daddy hadn't told her because they don't want to worry her. Just like she was doing with them...

Charles and Diana were crawling into bed later that night after their showers. He noticed the worried look on her face. "What's troubling you, pretty lady?"

"Mama. I know you've never seen her before, but she looks a lot more tired and ... weak ... than I've ever seen her look before. I'm afraid she might be sick somehow and she's not telling me about it. Why wouldn't she tell me if she's sick? You don't think she'd keep anything really serious from me, do you?"

Charles hesitated. Her mother didn't want to worry her ... but it wasn't as bad as she thought. He'd have to tell her so she wouldn't worry...

"Diana ... your mother's health has gotten worse, but it appears to be mainly due to aging. The only reason the doctors are concerned is because she's lost some of her lung capacity but they have no idea why. That's why she gets winded so easily, because she's functioning on only about sixty percent of her normal lung capacity. And sometimes she gets aching pains in various places on her body that the doctors also can't explain, but they've found nothing else serious."

"How is it you know about this and I don't? Why would you keep something like this from me?" she asked him painfully.

"Because your mother begged me not to tell you! She didn't want you to know anything that would make you worry. She wanted you to be able to be happy and just enjoy being in love for a while instead of worrying about her. Just like you don't want her worrying about you because of the attack. I begged you to let me tell your parents but you refused because you didn't want them to worry about you! Don't get mad at me because you and your mother can't stand the thought of sharing your worries with each other!"

Diana snorted an ironic laugh. "I guess I am my mother's daughter. We keep our worries to ourselves and suffer in silence until something drags it out of us ... and usually at a most inopportune time or place. My mother masks her worries and then has little angry outbursts over things that are inconsequential ... much like you do. I cover mine with a sense of humor until something happens that immediately brings my worries to the surface again.

"I'm sorry if I sounded upset with you. You're right ... it's not your fault. But I'm going to stick with the status quo. I don't want Mama to know that I know she's not that well and I still don't want them to know about the attack. You understand? Not a word to them."

Charles leaned over and kissed her, then laid back and pulled her to his right side to hold her. He stroked her back and shoulders through the pajama top she was wearing as she stroked his bare chest. His cock was stirring.

He wanted to make love to her so badly, but her monthly cycle had resumed. They had been relieved when she'd experienced her first period since the attack almost four months earlier just last month. He sighed heavily ... they were worried about too many things at the moment to be able to enjoy the thought of having a baby.

Then he groaned softly as her hand traveled down his torso. His dick expanded as she inched down his flat stomach. He captured her wrist and held her hand still. "Just where do you think you're going?"

Diana grinned and spoke throatily, "Nowhere with you. Fuck you, Charles Richards. Oh, but you'd like that, wouldn't you? Too bad I can't accommodate you at the moment. But would you settle for my hands, lips and tongue?"

Charles chuckled softly and then growled sarcastically, "Oh ... twist my arm!"

Diana chuckled in response. She scooted down the bed and loosened his pajama bottoms. She lowered them down his hips until she could wrap her lips around his turgid shaft. She took her time and stroked the velvety flesh of his hard cock with her tongue and her hand, moaning softly each time he groaned in pleasure.

God, how she loved his hard body! He was the sexiest man she'd ever seen ... and heard! She wanted to make him groan even more...

His groans of pleasure sent hot thrills through her body. She paused as she worked his pajama bottoms all the way off and told him to bend his knees and put his lower back flat on the bed, tilting his hips upward as much as possible.

She leaned over his lower torso and reached down to massage his balls gently with her right hand. Then she released his cock for a moment and laved her right index finger with her tongue, wetting it thoroughly.

She stroked her tongue languidly on his shaft as she reached down and rubbed her right index finger on his ass. He clenched his cheeks slightly, so she rubbed just the tip of her finger on his rough flesh softly until she felt him relax. His groans grew deeper and his flesh softened. She rubbed a little firmer, using more of her finger in an up and down motion in rhythm with his undulating hips.

The moisture on her finger was dissipating, so she paused to lave it with her tongue again while she stroked his cock. She used the same motion with her finger as before, but she wrapped her lips around his cock and stroked his shaft more firmly, increasing the rhythm of his hips.

His ass felt relaxed and soft, so she experimented by gently inserting just the tip of her finger. Charles groaned loudly and then breathed, "Ohhhh, God..."

Diana increased the rhythm of her strokes on his cock to keep pace with his hips and stroked just the tip of her finger into his ass. His hips slowed their pace, but the range of motion increased to a sexy rolling as he lifted them slightly. She countered by stroking her finger a little deeper into his relaxed ass and increasing the pressure of her lips and hand stroking his cock.

His deep groans turned into a loud moan... "OH, MY GOD! OH, MY GOD! OH, BABY! OH, GOD, DIANA ... THAT FEELS SO GOOD! OHHHHHHHHH YESSSSSS!!!!"

His hips rolled in rhythm with the pulsing of his orgasm. His left hand clutched the bed sheet next to his hip, and his right hand was curled into her hair. Then he was still, except for his heaving chest.

Diana kept her lips wrapped around his throbbing shaft, moaning loudly herself as her hips undulated in rhythm to her own orgasm. She made sure to milk every last drop of pearly liquid from his softening cock.

She sat up, fished his pajama bottoms out from under the top sheet and threw them aside. Then she pulled the sheet up over them to their waists as she lay down next to him in his arms again.

Charles took a deep breath and groaned contentedly. He stretched his legs out, pulling the sheet down just over his hips. Goddamn... he was such a fucking sexy man!

He looked at her and smiled sexily. "Mmmm ... You can play with my sexy ass any time you want, pretty lady!" Then he chuckled and asked jokingly, "So ... was it as good for you as it was for me?" He looked at her in surprise when she answered.

"Yes, it was. I came, too! Didn't you hear me?"

He frowned in disbelief. "I can't prove it to you other than to say that it's a good thing I already have a pad between my legs!"

Charles chuckled and closed his eyes. "Damn, pretty lady ... you have such a sense of humor!" Even after everything she'd been through...

Charles hugged Diana to him as they settled down to go to sleep. He took a deep breath and sighed. He smiled softly, breathing in the scent of her clean hair as her head nestled on his right shoulder.

His smile faded as his gut started to twist from another nagging dark feeling... Oh, damn it... What would it be this time? He'd never had these gut feelings at any other times in his life. And they'd all had to do with his wife...

He wished this... "gift of extra perception" also told him specifically what was coming so he could be ready for it!

The first time was when he'd seen her at that carnival ... he'd known she was significant to him.

The next time had been when he'd wrestled with the decision on whether to transfer to New York or Los Angeles ... his gut had brought him to L.A. Because she was here.

Then his gut had told him to place all his chips on 11 Black on that Roulette wheel in Vegas on their honeymoon as he'd stared at her. Their birthdays were only eleven days apart.

The next time had been the first dark, wrenching twist of his gut trying to warn him of the impending danger to her. And now it was back...

How the hell was he supposed to protect her when he had no idea when or where the impending danger would occur? Maybe he'd have another nightmare that would try to give him some clue...

He'd finally figured out exactly what that nightmare had been showing him when Diana had told him first-hand about the attack. Charles had seen her as that bastard had grabbed her hair and yanked her backward toward him as she'd screamed in panic and pain. The blackness and silence that had followed was her being knocked into unconsciousness.

It was all so clear now ... He prayed to God ... or whatever force was behind those gut feelings ... to please make whatever message they tried to send him a little clearer...

Hindsight didn't help when he was trying to figure out how to protect his soul mate! And the nightmare had not told him when it would occur. But he'd had it again the night before and the night it happened! Charles wrapped his arms around his wife a little tighter. A couple of hours later, he finally fell asleep...

Charles awoke with a start the next morning—when Diana jerked in his arms and cried his name. A moment later, she awoke and gasped as she lifted up on her elbow. She was panting and staring at him with a wide-eyed look of panic on her face.

"What's wrong, Diana?"

She frowned as she tried to recall the dream ... or nightmare ... she'd just had. She saw Charles with his gun drawn, aimed right at her. She'd felt a man's arm around her body and she'd heard John Wayne's booming voice. Then silence and blackness as a loud gunshot exploded ... sounding like it was coming from all around her!

What the hell?!!! Was her subconscious trying to tell her that Charles would kill her if she cheated on him with the big man?!!

She snorted an ironic laugh at the ridiculousness of such a thought. She heard Charles say her name again and she looked at him and chuckled. "I just had the most bizarre dream that you shot me! I saw you with your gun aimed toward me, I could feel a strong arm around me and then I heard the big man's voice and then the loudest gunshot I've ever heard! Why would I dream that you shot me?"

Charles frowned. "Well, if I thought for even a moment that you had anything going on with the big man again, I might very well contemplate shooting you ... AND him! So, think about that, pretty lady, before you even consider taking up with him again!"

"Not a chance, sexy man. I crave your love way too much to ever walk away from you now! Besides, you own me ... remember? I don't think he'd want me back because I could never be with him the same way again. He acquired me as a well-used model and fixed me up nicely, but then he turned me over to you because he couldn't handle me. And I was exactly what you'd been looking for! Only you now possess the keys to my body, heart and soul and you know exactly how I handle ... and you drive me wild!"

"But how do I know that he didn't keep a spare set of keys for himself and that he wouldn't try to come and steal you for another weekend joyride some time? Or maybe even decide that he'd made a terrible mistake in turning you over to me and wanted you back?"

How would she react if the big man ever decided that he couldn't forget her and needed to fuck her again ... or that he couldn't live without her and came after her?!! She could never do it...

Diana frowned. She couldn't contemplate that she'd even consider for one second betraying Charles or walking away from him. "You've changed my locks and the ignition switch ... his keys wouldn't work any more. Besides, I'm always locked up in your garage ... he wouldn't even be able to get to me to try his keys!"

Charles chuckled. "You know ... we're really driving this 'used car' metaphor to an extreme!"

Diana groaned and then laughed. He chuckled again. "Sorry ... that was really bad, but I couldn't resist!"

They both laughed softly as they rolled out of bed and started getting ready to go to work.

That evening, they had dinner at Uncle Pete's house with Diana's parents and Tom and Lynda again.

Charles shook his head at times. Diana and her mother were both acting like nothing was wrong. Both of them were putting on brave fronts for each other by joking and laughing about everything they could. He ignored what they were talking about most of the time. Their conversation revolved around the big man. Diana's mother kept asking her questions about him. His ears perked up when he heard Diana say something interesting.

"What was that, Diana? How did John Wayne learn the hard way not to mess with your ticklish feet?"

Diana frowned and then sighed. "I punched him in the arm because he threatened to withhold se ... he ... tried to make me marry him. I didn't realize how hard I'd hit him, and to get me back, he started tickling my feet. Well, that almost made me wet myself and I threatened to punch him again, so he stopped. And then he said something that just made me even madder, so I punched him really hard in the stomach!"

"Diana ... you didn't?!!!" her mother gasped. "You punched The Duke? Are you crazy? He could've killed you!"

"Yes ... I know, Mama. And he definitely paid me back for it!" Diana smirked as a far away look came into her eyes. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to try to erase the image that popped into her mind.

And, ohhhh ... what a punishment it was...

Charles thought, "What the fuck could he have said that made you mad enough to risk punching him?" Then he clenched his jaw when he instantly imagined all sorts of ways that the big man had paid her back. The first one that came to mind was John Wayne spanking her like a bad little girl...

Just like he wanted to do to her right that moment for thinking about the big man that way...

Diana looked up and saw his eyes burning at her with passion, jealousy and anger. She smiled sexily. Yes ... she was being a very bad girl ... She wondered if he would feel better to know exactly what happened that weekend ... every last detail ... She would have to ask him sometime and let him decide.

Diana and Charles stayed at the Woods' house until her parents were ready to retire for the night. She hugged them both for long moments and told them goodbye. They would be leaving by late the next morning.

Diana and her mother had both recognized the worry in each other's eyes ... but they still wouldn't voice them. They smiled softly as they ended their hug and promised to keep in touch more often.

Diana stared out the car window into the dark night as they headed home. She felt that sense of foreboding again. Damn it! What the hell would it be this time? She hated this feeling...