The Black Rose Legacy Ch. 04

When I got into the bathroom, I took inventory. My body was still kind of tingly here and there, and Jack had given me some bite marks of his own on my breasts, shoulders, and neck. Twin streams of his man-juice were creeping down the inside of my thighs; I'd lost count of how many times he'd climaxed inside me. Also, a little virginal blood was smeared around my thighs and belly. In the throes of my Sasquatch passion I'd barely felt the twinge as he became my first, although this morning my womanly parts were quite tender. After I performed my morning ablutions, I stepped into the shower.

Closing my eyes, I stood under the hit water, breathed in the cleansing steam, and remembered how wonderful everything felt: his manhood in my mouth, his mouth on my womanly slit, his hands on my bottom and his mouth sucking on my nipples. As I soaped up between my legs, I could still feel some of his emissions trickling out; I wasn't too worried about pregnancy, as Grandma Daffodil had assured me Sasquatch females weren't very fertile.

As I gently dabbed the washcloth on my tender vaginal entrance, I heard the shower curtain slide back, and Jack get in with me. Kneeling so his head was even with my neck, he began to kiss it as his hands caressed my sensitive nipples and murmured, "Has anyone told you what a wonderful lover you are?"

Kissing the top of his head, I told him, "As you're the only man I've ever made love with, no. Should I go find another man?"

"Absolutely not," he growled, cupping his hands on my bottom and pulling me closer to him, "you're all mine." Leaning his head down, he moved his hands down to part my legs slightly and I felt the tip of his tongue dance on my clitoris. Despite the tenderness between my legs, I involuntarily shuddered with pleasure. "Tell me you're all mine," he commanded.

"Yes," I whispered, "I'm all yours, Jack." Moving his face in closer, I felt him cover my tender area with licks and kisses and I cried out in pleasure. He stood up and turned off the water, then carried me back to the bed, still dripping wet and laid me on my back.

"I'm cold," I complained, so he went back and grabbed a towel, then tenderly dried me off. I saw his man-thing was fully erect, and he moved my legs apart and got into position. "Please be gentle, I'm a little sore."

He chuckled, "For a woman who can chuck a 75-pound length of pipe like a toothpick, you're more fragile than I expected," he murmured as he moved downward, "but you sure taste good!" He began kissing my belly, then moved up to my breasts before nuzzling my neck. As he kissed my lower jaw, he whispered. "I don't know where you've been all my life, but you were worth the wait. I love you, Daisy."

At that point I spread my legs as wide as I could, and welcomed his hardness back into me. He began to move in and out slowly, gently, whispering into my ear how beautiful I was, how the other women at Rocketdyne couldn't hold a candle to me, how he would love me forever. His motions were soft and easy, and the soreness seemed to fade away as I felt a climax run through me, making me stiffen until it peaked, and then I shook like a leaf. A moment later, he increased his tempo slightly before letting out a long moan, and I felt him spurting inside me.

Afterwards, as we lay together something remarkable happened. It was purely instinctive, and it came from my Sasquatch heart. I began to sing a song without words to Jack, crooning like my father used to with my mother, and my grandfather with my grandmother. It was my Sasquatch heart bonding with him. Jack asked me, "Hey, what's that about?"

I gave a little giggle and told him, "It's a Sasquatch bonding song. It means as far as I'm concerned, you're my mate forever. You're stuck with me now, Jack Rhodes."

He didn't say anything for a minute, I thought maybe he'd gone to sleep. He hadn't; he was thinking. Leaning his head down, he kissed my forehead and whispered one word: "Good."

For the next few hours we stayed in bed spooning, until finally we were both adequately hungry to get up and have a nice 2:30pm breakfast.

Later that night Jack took me to the movies, where we saw Lawrence of Arabia. I don't remember much about it except than thinking the star Peter O'Toole had blue eyes like Jack's, but I liked Jack's better. I told him as much when we went to bed, and it must have provoked his passion because he proceeded to couple with me again for the sixth or seventh time in 48 hours. I don't know where he got his energy, but he was wonderful, touching my face and kissing me the whole time. On Friday night I'd given him my virginity, and after two days, I was not sorry at all.

Sunday, I woke up first and brought Jack breakfast in bed. As he wolfed down his eggs and toast, I sipped my coffee and read the headlines. The front page was full of articles about how the war in Vietnam was escalating and the Selective Service was ramping up the number of draftees. My brother Gaius registered when he turned 18 but still had his draft card, but at 22 was still in college working on his Doctorate in Astrophysics -- he was the smart one in the family - and had received a student deferment.

Despite this, I was worried how long he'd be able to hold off going in once he got his degree. As for Jack, he assured me because of the work he did for defense contractors, he was draft-exempt since his occupation was deemed to be supporting "national interests". Still, I was in love, so I worried.

Now that we were coupling regularly, Jack became noticeably different. No longer the shy, taciturn engineer, he was now cheerful and outgoing with a spring in his step. He began taking me to fancy places like the Hollywood Playhouse to see the filming of a TV episode of The Jerry Lewis Show, and the Hollywood Bowl to see a performance of the popular singing duo of Keely Smith and Louis Prima.

Jack also brought me flowers regularly, making me feel like a real princess. I loved him so much, sometimes I wished I weren't a Sasquatch so I could have his baby. I'd foolishly daydream about the three of us opening gifts in front of the tree on Christmas morning. But I realized if not for me being Sasquatch, I'd never have been able to save him from being crushed by those pipes and then fallen in love with him. At least I had that.

We'd agreed that at work we'd play it cool, feigning disinterest towards one another so the gossipy hens I worked with wouldn't cluck about us. Nonetheless, we still managed to spend time together when Jack requested me for 'special assignments'. The Mercury-Redstone booster was chock-full of telematics sensors that fed information to the guidance system, so Jack would tell my boss, "Hey, Rob, I need your midget to check a sensor in a tight spot," and, thinking Jack was being cruel, Rob would scowl, but nod his begrudging approval.

Jack and I would then climb inside the booster's body tube well out of sight of the security cameras, using a flashlight to find a spot tight enough for just the two of us to press together. Then we'd proceed to kiss and rub each other's bodies over the maintenance jumpsuits. One day, while rubbing his erection through his jumpsuit, I got him so excited that he actually climaxed in his pants. I found it hilarious the way he had to use a clipboard to cover the growing wet spot at the jumpsuit's groin while exiting the rocket, then dashing to the men's locker room to change into a new one.

A few days later, though, Jack got his revenge. He got me inside a new rocket body to 'check some connections', then while wedged with me in a snug spot, he managed to unzip my jumpsuit and began kissing my belly. He didn't stop there; pushing my bra up, he started sucking my nipples. My eyes were closed with pleasure, so I didn't see him take out a folding pocket knife and slit the sides of my panties. This allowed him to pull them completely off. With my lady parts now vulnerable, he slipped his hand down to my crotch, using his fingers to gently stroke and tease me.

When I let out a slight groan, he held my panties up to my face with his other hand and scolded me in a whisper. "Shhhh! If somebody hears you, they'll fire us both. Put these in your mouth to muffle the noise!" I obeyed promptly. As I was basically pinned between my lover and an empty liquid oxygen tank, there was no escaping; I was his helpless prisoner. The Sasquatch part of my brain registered this as my mate dominating me, and I became so aroused that I began to tremble.

As his fingertips played me like a fine instrument, my breathing became erratic, and I could feel a climax approaching rapidly. Thankfully, my moans were muffled by the cotton panties in my mouth. Otherwise, when I climaxed my screech of pleasure would have been heard in the offices on the second level.

I was still shuddering from the aftershocks of my orgasm when he withdrew his hand and zipped my jumpsuit back up. Giving me a light kiss, he chuckled, "That's what you get for causing a brilliant engineer like me to make a mess in my jumpsuit like I was some teenager." Then he was gone, leaving me curled up alone in the rocket until my body returned to normal, and I was able to walk through the factory on steady legs again.

After that incident, we decided against any more fooling around at work. My boss Rob was starting to become suspicious of Jack requesting my assistance so frequently. I wasn't sorry; as exciting as it was, sooner or later we'd get careless. I could only imagine what would happen if a quality assurance inspector found a forgotten pair of tiny women's panties hanging on the fuel lines of the combustion chamber or something.

I was now very much committed to Jack, and any thoughts I had about my future always included him. To keep up appearances and avoid any hint of scandal we still maintained separate apartments, but he seldom slept in his. For all practical purposes, we were living together. I couldn't wait to take him home to meet my family in Issaquah, because I knew they'd love him.

As for me meeting Jack's parents, frankly, I was not in a hurry. From what Jack told me, they lived up in the Hollywood hills and were upper-crust society types. Despite him telling me they wanted to thank me for saving his life, I was worried that as a factory worker with only a high-school education I wasn't elegant enough to impress them. As fate would have it, though, I found out soon enough.

Jack was away on business for three weeks in Anaheim. He'd been loaned by Rocketdyne to North American Aviation in order to assist with the inertial navigation system of their new Polaris A-2 ballistic missile. This was the first missile to be launched from a submerged submarine, and Jack was really excited about the technology. The night before he left, we coupled fiercely, because it would be a long time before we could be together again.

Although he was only 55 miles away in Anaheim, since he'd be working 7 days a week, 16 hours a days on the project he was being housed in a dormitory on the North American factory grounds. The painful part was that due to the top-secret status of the project, he wouldn't be allowed to call me, or anyone else for that matter. The Department of Defense was taking no chances, and had even gone so far as to do background checks on him, his family, and even me to make sure there was no risk of the Russians stealing our secrets.

My relationship with Jack aside, however, I was miserable. Going back to work after my suspension, my formerly friendly coworkers all gave me a wide berth. Most likely because of my beating down Jason Leiden, except for my boss, people avoided me. Aside from exchanging information about the Mercury-Redstone A-7 engine, they avoided me like the plague.

The first Friday of Jack's absence, as I was coming out of the factory door to catch the bus home, a tall man in a black suit and chauffer's cap got out of a huge cream-colored Bentley limousine and approached me. "Good afternoon," he said, bowing slightly, "based upon your stature, am I correct in assuming you are Miss Daisy Rose Haggerty?"

I cast a suspicious eye on him, and answered, "Depends upon who wants to know. Are you with the IRS?"

He chuckled, "Heavens no, Miss Haggerty. I'm Eric, the chauffer for the Rhodes family." He then pulled an invitation out of his jacket and handed it to me. "Since Jack is currently unavailable for some time, his parents Bernard and Anna-Marie thought it would be a good opportunity to get to know you better. They would very much like for you to come for dinner tomorrow night at the Rhodes estate. Young Jack has spoken quite highly of you, and they would very much like the pleasure of your acquaintance. If you are open to it, I'll be picking you up tomorrow at 6:30."

Although I would have preferred Jack being with me, I reluctantly agreed; by 7:15pm the following evening, the big Bentley entered the grounds of the Rhodes home. It was impressive, with a circular driveway that curled around a huge fountain. The home itself was even more impressive, an Art Deco-style mansion high in the Hollywood hills overlooking the lights of the Sunset Strip. It was a pretty posh neighborhood; the map of the stars' homes I'd bought earlier that day showed Cary Grant and his wife actress Betsy Drake (a British actress) lived on one side, while Judy Garland lived on the other.

Eric opened the car door and I got out. I was wearing the nicest ensemble I had, a bright yellow silk dress with a modest high neck line, a string of imitation pearls, and matching shoes. Eric opened the main door to the house and instructed me, "Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes have requested that you join them in the library for an aperitif prior to dining. It's on the left, at the end of the hall."

My Sasquatch sense of smell, while detecting a variety of interesting scents in the house, caught none that were associated with food. My instincts told me the dinner invitation might be a ruse, so I proceeded cautiously.

The library was the kind of room that you only see in movies; it had floor-to-ceiling books, of course, along with a suit of armor by the library's entrance, positioned to hold a short-handled battle axe. On the other side of the room was a huge fireplace, hanging above it a huge Rhodes family painting. Anna-Marie was seated in the center of the painting, with their sons Jack, and his older brother Jordan standing to either side of them. Bernard stood behind his wife between them. Although Jack's father was shorter and more heavy-set than his sons, I could see the facial resemblance in the boys.

The real Bernard and Anna-Marie were seated at a round table, with an empty chair that was presumably for me. This was confirmed by Anna Marie when she said, "Welcome, Miss Haggerty," then gestured to for me to take a seat in the empty chair. The family portrait did not do her justice. She was tall and lovely, almost regal. Everything about her looked expensive, from her shoes and designer dress to the perfume that she wore. Sitting next to her, I felt like a repulsive little toad.

"Thank you," I replied, and sat. A servant placed a glass of vermouth in front of me. Unsure of what to do next, I sipped, and experienced a rich array of flavors: vanilla, almond, orange, raisins and slight hint of cherry. It was heavenly! The joy of that sip was short-lived, however, as Jack's father began speaking.

"Miss Haggerty, Anna-Marie and I want to express our eternal gratitude to you for saving our son's life. Frankly, given your size, I find it hard to believe, but for all his faults Jack wouldn't lie about something this serious."

I found his abruptness to be rather off-putting, and I tactfully attempted to disagree. "I'm not sure what you mean by 'faults', sir. Jack is one of the best engineers Rocketdyne has. He's a brilliant man."

He chuckled, "I see now why Jack thinks so highly of you, your admiration of my son is certainly commendable. No offense meant, Miss Haggerty, but someone with your background wouldn't understand. With my son's intelligence and abilities, I expected him to get into the finance business as our older son Jordan did. A mind like Jack's should be managing investments and earning millions, not playing spaceman with the government's silly rockets. Rhodes men are born to be titans of industry, not lowly petty functionaries waving slide rules around."

I wasn't sure what irked me more: Bernard's arrogance, or his condescending manner. Given these two people were my potential in-laws, however, I stuck with diplomacy for the moment. "You're right in saying your son is very intelligent, but he's hardly a lowly peon, Mr. Rhodes. He's a very respected engineer at the company, and the work he does is contributing to the success of America's space program. As his parents, you should be very proud of him!"

Jack's father immediately cut me off. "That's laughable. The space program is nothing more than a government-sponsored cash cow for defense contractors. There's no way anyone is going to land on the moon, much less return to earth. It's a childish fantasy that John F. Kennedy sold to the taxpayers. Our son Jack is wasting his talents."

I fired right back, "I respectfully disagree, sir. Jack has an exceptional mind, and nothing that he does is a waste of time." Bernard's wordless response to my statement was the look of disgust on his face.

Mrs. Rhodes could see I was getting angry; for the first time, softly spoke up. "Miss Haggerty, Jack has told us quite a bit about you; I get the impression he's quite fond of you, and you of him. Perhaps you even love him, am I correct?"

I blushed and admitted, "Yes, Mrs. Rhodes, I do love him, heart and soul. Since the accident, we've spent a lot of time together, and I've never met a man as wonderful as he is. He hasn't asked me to marry him, but frankly, I can't see myself with anyone else. If I can't have him, I might end up never getting married."

While I'd never thought about it, now that I'd said those words, I realized what I said was true. I'd never find anyone that could make me feel the way Jack did. Anna-Marie looked at me with a pained expression, as if about to give me bad news.

Before his wife could say anything, Bernard beat her to it. Clearing his throat, he told me, "Miss Haggerty, while Anna-Marie and I both sincerely appreciate that you hold Jack in such high esteem, you need to understand that marriage just isn't in the cards for the two of you. We're prominent society people, whereas from what Jack told us, your parents are former circus performers. Socially speaking, the two families live in such different worlds it makes us totally incompatible; I'm sure you can see how marrying our son will just not be possible."

I sat in stunned silence. Jack's father not only told me I wasn't good enough for their son, but he also had insulted my parents. It was at this point I felt the Sasquatch fury rising in me, but keeping my grandfather's advice in mind, I managed to keep control of it as I snapped back, "I'll have you know, Mr. Rhodes, that my parents were nationally famous performers. When they married, their wedding was written about in newspapers from coast to coast! Books have even been published about them!" Now I could hear my blood pounding in my ears -- not a good sign -- but still stayed in control.

Bernard held up his hands, trying to placate me. "Miss Haggerty, I certainly meant no offense. I'm sure your parents are very fine people. It's plain to see they raised you to be an articulate and intelligent young woman. It's just that they're not likely to be members of a country club, now, are they? I sincerely doubt if your father has ever played a round of golf in his life!" He chuckled, "Why, the very idea of a circus strongman golfing or playing tennis at the Wilshire Country Club is preposterous!"