BAD
GIRLS
Part
One
Travellers
"Suing me for what?" Mary
Travis exclaimed as she stared at the round face of Barbara Darcy.
"You said my
"He was a horse thief!"
Mary said exasperated, the notice that stated the intention for litigation
stared at her from the desk with an accusatory eye. "The man was caught on
Kurt Simpson's horse, riding out of town, with Patsy the new saloon girl and
two hundred dollars he stole from Mrs. Potter's till. If Chris Larabee and his men had not brought him home, the next time
you would have heard from him would have been through a postcard from
"You ain't
got no proof of that until he goes to trial." She said lifting her
considerable posterior out of the chair as she leaned over Mary's desk and met
the widow's furious glare, eye to eye. "He ain't
been proven to be no horse thief yet and until the judge finds him guilty, my
"I report the facts as I see
them." Mary said slowly, keeping her voice in pace with the counting she
was doing inside her mind. Ten. .nine. .
"I'll bet you don't report half
the things that get done by those seven lawmen of yours." She sneered.
Mary took another deep breath and
decided she was not going to loose it in front of this foolish woman. The
venerable Mrs. Darcy seemed to be of the opinion that suing Mary for the
princely sum of $5000 for slandering her good name, might make up for the fact
that she had married a criminal who probably stole the horse to escape from
her. She knew where the woman was going with her current line of remarks
regarding the seven so Mary was not quite unprepared for the insults when they
came.
"Especially that Larabee." The woman said with obvious derision.
"Just because he's your beau, you don't write about half the things he's
done. Just innocent folk like my
Easy Mrs. Travis, Mary told herself.
Just keep counting. Eight. .seven. .six.
"Mr. Larabee
did not ride out of town with someone else's horse or a saloon girl." Mary
said with surprising amount of dignity in her voice that did not correspond
with her immense annoyance. For some reason, Mary could almost empathize why
"I heard about some of the
thing Larabee has done. He's a no good gunslinger and
they only reason that you ain't writing in your
trashy little paper, is cause you're sweet on him." Mr. Darcy retorted,
defying Mary to deny her pointed allegation.
"What Mr. Larabee
may or may not have done before he came to
"You would say that!" She
hissed angrily, feeling impotent that her cruel barbs was not having the effect
desired upon the spirited widow. "It don't matter anyway," she
retorted, recovering quickly from her futility with a fresh plan of attack.
"I got me a lawyer who made me that writ." She gestured to the piece
of paper that Mary had barely glanced at. "I'll take everything you own
and then we'll see if that low life gunslinger still wants you when you ain't got a penny to your name. Maybe he'll just keep your
around as his whore!"
Five..four..three.. two.
.one. .
The counting was not working. Her
temper was just as furious and that final insult was the last straw in Mary's
opinion. The lithe blond woman stepped from behind her desk and sank her grip
into Mrs. Darcy's doughy forearm before the woman could her painted mouth to
utter another vicious word. "You have wasted enough of my time." Mary
said through gritted teeth. "You are leaving."
"What are you doing?" Mrs.
Darcy screeched as Mary grabbed her by the arm and fairly dragged her to the
door. The woman had not expected a physical reaction from Mary and had no time
to recover her composure until she was shoved out the front door. "How
dare you put your hands on my person!" She screamed as she stumbled onto
the boardwalk outside the office of the Clarion. Her high pitched voice stopped
people in their tracks as they stared at this latest excitement. "I'll have up for assault!" She
shouted angrily.
Mary started to feel a little better
and had now recoup from her earlier frustration at trying to take the civilized
approach with a verbal attack of her own. "You are on my property and if I
do not wish to have you here Mrs. Darcy, I can throw your overgrown behind out
on the street! As for this travesty you call a lawsuit, I can get a lawyer as
well. Trust me, I'll have you buried in so many court injunctions and delays
that by the time a case for slander does get to court, Alvin would have been
tried, convicted, served his sentence and out to steal his next horse!"
With that Mary Travis turned around
and retreated into the office once more, slamming the door loudly in the woman's
face, hoping she would take the hint and go away. As she passed by the window
to return to her desk, she saw Mrs. Darcy face glower in crimson rage before
she spat coarsely and went on her way with a storm cloud that was almost
visible over her head.
Of all the ridiculous garbage Mary
Travis had been force to endure since assuming control of the Clarion, that had
to be rank as one of the worst. She slumped into her chair, forcing herself to
take deep breaths while she tried to calm down from that unpleasant encounter.
Of course, the case was ludicrous and Mary had no doubt it would be thrown out
of court because Judge Orin Travis was never a man who could swallow legal
trickery in any shape or form. Still, it was going to inconvenience her because
as this was a case of slander, albeit false, she would be required to defend
herself in court. Which meant, she really had to get a lawyer.
There was no God! And if there were,
He was having a great deal of fun at her expense.
She sighed and decided that lingering
on this unpleasant subject was only going to put her into a worst mood and she
did not wish to be venomously tempered by the time Chris came over for dinner
tonight. Besides, she was always required to have a sunny disposition because
he could be so depressing when he was in one of his moods. Mary loved Chris Larabee more than anything in the world did but some times
she just wished she did not have to be so doggone perky to offset his cool,
deliberate personality.
Realizing she still had a paper to
get out, Mary sighed and emerged from her hiding place behind her desk and went
to the printing press at the other end of the room. She looked at the sheets of
paper prepared for usage and loaded it into the mechanism. As she had done a
thousand times before since assuming sole ownership of the Clarion following
Stephen's death, Mary began the work to put out the latest edition of the town
newspaper. She left her mind drift as the machine went to work, thinking back
to those days when her dreams were far grander and less grounded on making one
patch of earth in the Territory a safe place to live.
She was going to see the world and
write great stories, at least that was what she had planned when she was 12
years old that is. Her mother had been mortified while her father had just
laughed, knowing it was one of those things that young girls indulged in until
marriageable age. Stephen had been a godsend then as Chris was now. He wanted a
woman who could think, who could hold her own in any situation despite the
limitations of gender. Mary had always tried to be that for Stephen, even after
he died and left alone. In retrospect, she wondered whether that Stephen had
possessed any premonition that she might be forced to carry on alone. When he
first died, she had believed she was capable of surviving on her own but
eventually, things became easier and she managed and eventually thrived.
And then Chris Larabee
strolled into her life and she knew that Stephen and that existence had been
left far behind her. Chris stood on the edge of something new and exciting and
he beckoned with that cool smile that sometimes bordered on a sneer that she
alone had the power to distinguish. Perhaps Four Corners was not meant to make
her the intrepid globe trotting authoress she had dreamed of being, however,
she could live with it..
As that thought was about to touch
her mind ,Mary looked down and saw the ugly smear of black across all her
freshly printed pages. A slight leak in the ink well had turned half the
already printed pages into an incomprehensible mess!
"No!" Mary grimaced as she
tried to shut the machine off from its erroneous yield but the printing press
took several minutes before deciding to relent in its task. When the press
stopped what it was doing, Mary was left with a stack of ruined pages and a
machine that would probably require dismantling and cleaning before she could
start work again. Mary groaned looking at those soiled sheet of paper and let
out a frustrated cry.
"I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS!"
Chris Larabee
chose to walk in at this point and the words escaping from the lips of his
normally, erudite and elegant fianc 's made him
freeze in his tracks. Chris paused at the door, staring at her with his hard
blue eyes while she stood before a stack of ink sodden papers, swearing in
language he had not heard since the last time he made a visit to Purgatory. The
black garbed gunslinger met her gaze when she noticed his arrival and told
himself that smiling at this point was a very bad idea.
He made some mental calculations and
was secretly surprised that it was not quite one month since the last time she
was furious like this. Chris had been married to Sarah long enough to remember
that much about women. Mary did not get like this temperamental this often but
when she did even Chris knew well enough to ride out the storm by now provoking
it.
"I'm guessing you ain't having a good day." He said gingerly.
She glared at him with a look that
could easily kill him dead where he stood should she choose to entertain the
idea. "No, I am not having a good day. Do you know why I am not having a
good day?" She asked, her voice little more than a low whisper.
Chris glanced at the printer and
could make a rather educated guess straight off. "That?"
"That and Mrs. Darcy." She
snarled, leaving the stack of ruined papers where it was, in plain disgust.
"Alvin's wife?" Chris
asked, familiar with the woman in question (he hesitated to call her lady) and
could sympathize with Mary if she was forced to endure an encounter with that
pain in the ass. Her husband had been trying to skip town ever since Chris had
arrived in Four Corners. Not long after meeting Alvin, Chris had the man
pegged. There were men who stole horses because they needed the money, others
who did it simply because they were thieving varmints and then there was Alvin,
who did it to get away from this wife.
"That's her." Mary
grumbled. "She's suing me."
Chris stared. "What for?"
He would have laughed at the ludicrousness of it except it did not appear as if
Mary found the whole situation very amusing.
Barbara Darcy never ceased to amaze
him with her antics. She was one of those women who contributed nothing to the community
and delighted in causing as much chaos as she could with her scheming and
gossiping ways. He was almost curious to imagine the exchange that must have
been between his spirited Mary and the screeching harping that seemed to exude
from Mrs. Darcy's lips. No wonder, Alvin needed a horse so badly.
"Slander." Mary replied
having no wish to go into the details and stormed over to her desk where she
found the writ that Mrs. Darcy has served her so proudly.
Handing it to Chris, she folded her
arms impatiently while he read it.
Chris studied the contents and met
her eyes after a moment, seeing that Mary was taking this very seriously
indeed. "The Judge will throw it out of court," Chris reassured her
and if not, he saw no reason why he could not have a little talk to Mrs. Darcy
and convince her to forgo this entire farce of a lawsuit.
"Chris." She said firmly
with a perfectly straight voice. "What if I sold the paper and the house,
packed up and moved into your shack out of town? Do you possibly think that I
could get some peace and quiet without everything in my life deciding to screw
up! I can handle being a housewife again. We can live on a dollar a day. You
can go hunting and I'll grow things in the garden. I've seen people do it and
churning butter isn't that hard. I understand all you need is a cow."
Now she was starting to scare him.
He had no idea what was more
frightening, the fact that she wanted to wanted to grow things or churn butter.
In any case, it was time to do something.
"Come on," Chris went to
her and took her gently by the arm, as he guided her towards the door.
"Where are we going?" Mary
asked as she followed him out, feeling in no mood to protest any more.
"Out of here, you're starting
to get weird." Chris retorted and then added as they left the Clarion
behind them. "All we need is a cow. .?"
He was never going to reach his next
birthday at this rate.
This much Vin
Tanner knew as his back remained pressed against the wall of the hallway,
groaning mindlessly as Alexandra Styles ran her hot mouth over his throbbing
cock. Her hands were firmly pressed against his rump as she forced him down her
throat, as far it would go. His fingers ran through her hair, oblivious to all
but what her mouth was doing to him. He could feel her hands gently pumping his
shaft while concentrating on the rosy tip of his erection, sucking him so hard
that he was starting to gasp from the sheer delight of her lips and the
pleasure she was giving him.
"Woman, you're evil." Vin muttered softly as she slide her hand over his smooth
rear, pulling him deeper into her mouth until he could hardly breathe from the
intense pressure of her lips against his rock hard member. His closed his eyes
as he felt her lips glide down the length of his shaft once more, feeling the
soft scrape of teeth against his skin, making Vin so
taut with pleasure he thought he might burst. Somehow he held back, feeling his
stomach knot with anticipation with each stroke of her mouth against the
sensitive flesh.
"Alex no." He whispered, not
wanting to come in her mouth because he knew he was very close to doing so.
However, she all but ignored his pleas, reacting to it by sucking him even
deeper with more determination. The tight ring of her lips clenched his cock
with such powerful insistency that the pleasure of it forced away any further
objection from his mind. She continued torturing him this way, feeling cruel as
she allowed her hot, wet mouth to stimulate him into a frenzy of orgasmic fury.
With her mouth busy elsewhere, Alex slipped her hands between his legs and
cupped the heavy sacs that were poised on the edge of release. With the
expertise of a surgeon's hands, her palms caressed the velvet flesh until Vin's resolve shattered completely and he descended
mindlessly into the pit of ecstasy.
"Oh god, please don't
stop." He groaned oblivious to everything now. "Alex you're going
kill me."
Perhaps, she smiled. But it would be
a little death. Vin could not see her triumphant
expression but Alex was nonetheless wearing one. The arousal that gripped her
when she made him like this was beyond her ability to describe. She so loved
knowing she could reduce him to this mindless wreck that was so enthralled by
the sensations he was enduring that Vin could nothing
but submit helplessly. Not to say however, when this was over he was not going
to deliver a sweet revenge. Part of their sexual conflagration was the ability
to deliver upon each other an equal intensity of pleasure.
Alex withdrew slightly, returning
her fingers over his stiff shaft to accommodate it while she experimented
further with how far she could bring him to the edge. Alex enclosed the tip of
his cock with the warmth of her mouth, focusing on that most sensitive of
places. She pressed her lips so tightly over that particular area of flesh that
Vin wondered what he could have possibly been
thinking when he had asked her to stop. She lavished wet heat upon him,
stroking and licking the sensitive skin and then swirling her tongue over it
while at the same time her lips sucked in forcefully. She teased him with such
ruthless application of what her mouth and tongue was capable that Vin could feel his control disappeared with another hungry
laving over the head of his tortured cock. He was almost incoherent now as the
pleasure gripped him so entirely that he ceased to be care about of anything
but her mouth.
Completely unaware that he was doing
it, Vin was thrusting gently into her, pulsing past
her lips the way he would do if he were penetrating her. He could not fight the
urge not to, she had pushed him so far beyond control that he was acting
totally on instinct. Alex did not seem to mind because her hand on his rear,
pulling at him so that she could move to the rhythm of his trusting hips. She refused
to let him surge all the way into her mouth, allowing entry as far as his tip
while using her hand to stimulate his shaft.
"Darlin'
I need to go all the way." He pleaded; his voice was almost a sob. Alex
could sense that he was going to come and soon. With a hint of mischief, she
knew just the thing to force him right over that the edge of that orgasmic
abyss. Removing her hand away from his trembling shaft, she buried her mouth
over his cock as far as it would go, with such swiftness that it was almost to
the point of being savage.
"Oh Jesus!" He gasped as
he felt himself empty when those lips enclosed around him. His whole body
shuddered into utter pleasure as he came crashing down in the wake of her sweet
ministrations. Alex held him firm, allowing him to pump every last drop of his
seed into her mouth, exulting in the sobs he was making as he went over that
edge with a resounding groan of guttural pleasure. She loved the sounds Vin made when he submitted to his climax so completely and
almost purred in satisfaction when she drank him like he was most delicious
thing in the world. Vin could do nothing but tremble
in the wake of the unbelievable release Alex had given him as she cleaned his
cock with her wonderful tongue. He could barely stand as the explosion subsided
taking with it all the strength in his body.
Alex rose to her feet after she had
buttoned him back to respectability since Vin did not
seem in any condition to do it himself. As her lover lay against the wall,
looking like he might collapse at any moment, Alex could not help but smile at
the languid expression that had fallen over his handsome face. Leaning forward,
she met his mouth with a seductive kiss, delighting in it when he was almost
too exhausted to return the favour.
"I have Mr. Baker coming in two
minutes for an appointment." She replied as she stepped back brushing down
her skirt to make herself appear the presentable and ever professional Doctor
Styles. "He's got this strange rash he calls poison ivy but I have a
feeling might be a result of a three day orgy he had in Purgatory." Alex
spoke with almost no hint in her voice that she had just turned him into a
quivering wreck only a few moments ago. She turned on her heels, her skirt
flouncing behind her as she made her way to steps that led down to her clinic.
"That's it?" He asked.
"You're going back to work?" Vin managed to
find his voice as she started walking away staring at her in astonishment that
she was going to leave without satisfying herself. While he felt inordinately
indulged, Vin also felt somewhat guilty that he had
done nothing for her. Alex had bestowed upon him such a mind numbing sexual
experience that he was going to be wearing an inexplicable smile on his face
for the rest of the day. Yet he had done nothing for her.
"Yes." She paused looking
at him with puzzlement that he could think she was doing anything else.
Vin went
towards her, admirably hiding how weak he was in the knees after what she done
to him. He slid his arms around her and kissed Alex again. "I kind of
thought we'd take care of you now." After all, after she had pleasured him
so spectacularly, Vin would not feel right if he did
not at least satisfy her needs. "I mean after all that. ."
Alex threw him a smile and broke
away, knowing if she remained any longer, she was not going to see her patient.
As she stepped away, she planted a kiss on his nose. "I was just saying
hello cowboy."
"Hello?" Vin looked at her.
"Yes," she grinned,
knowing that he was very confused now. "I find that works better than the
word." She would explain it to him later. Right now, Mr. Baker waited.
"You ain't
kidding." Vin drawled, unable to keep the
pleasured sigh from escaping him when he thought about her method of greeting.
He approved quite wholeheartedly but he was definitely going to return the favour tonight.
"By the way," she paused
remembering that he had initially knocked on her door for a reason. Alex had
just never given Vin the chance to tell her what that
might be prior to her deciding that he looked and smelled so good that he
required her attentions. "Not that I'm complaining that you're here but
you don't usually show during office hours, why today?"
Oh yeah, Vin
remembered. He reached into the folds of his buckskin jacket and produced the
letter that had Mr. Kelly; the postmaster had asked him to deliver to Alex when
Vin had been hanging up a wanted poster in the post
office. "I came over to drop this." He handed the white envelope to
her. He had noticed that it had come from Denver and wondered whom she knew
there.
"Oh." She looked at the
letter with its white envelope with little interest.
After a moment of observation, she
shrugged, remembering she had a patient due at any moment now and slipped it
into her pocket of her skirt. "I'll read it later. Thanks cowboy."
She came to him and kissed him on the mouth again. "Will I see you
tonight?" She asked as she drew away to the stairs once more.
After what she had just done to him,
he seriously doubted that he would be anywhere else. "You can bet on
it." Vin smiled wishing she had opened the
letter but deciding his curiosity could wait until tonight. "And
tomorrow," he added as she descended the flight of stairs. "Hell
after today, I'm delivering all your mail."
Inez decided the best thing to do
was not say a word because she had to listen to it all around her.
Inez stood at her customary place
behind the counter in the saloon, trying not to let the talk bother her. After
all, this was Buck Wilmington they were talking about and she should not be
surprised by his behaviour, let alone be bothered by
his many dalliances. How many times had she heard about the gossip and the rumours about his latest conquests? Most of the time from
his very own lips. Inez had known from the very beginning that Buck had
insatiable appetite for women which was why she stayed away from him, having no
wish to be just another conquest. However, it was fairly obvious both to
herself and Buck that theirs was a relationship that went far deeper than his normal
acquaintances with the fairer sex.
Inez knew in his way, he loved her
and could probably love her as loyally and devotedly as she always wanted, if
she would only allow him the chance. Yet every time she turned around, it
appeared he was going off with yet another woman and no matter how vehemently
she may deny it to others or herself, Inez burned with jealousy. How could she
love someone when it was so easy for him to switch his affections from woman to
woman?
How could she trust him?
Today was no different that any
other woman that had breezed through his life. Rancher's daughter, 20 years
old, very beautiful and apparently very accommodating as well. The girl had
been virginal until Buck came along and her father was vivid at his daughter's
sudden change of her personal status.
"That Wilmington sure knows how
to live dangerous." Inez heard a group of men talking against the counter.
She recognized them as regulars and forced herself not to listen to their lurid
bar room tales about Buck's latest fling.
Lately, Inez had began to question
why she spent her nights along when Buck was something spending his nights bed
hopping. She was an attractive woman, not spectacular, at least in her opinion
but pretty. If she wanted a suitor or a lover, it would not be a difficult
matter to satisfy either need. Did she abstain out of some twisted desire to
not betray Buck? How could she be betraying him when she had not been near a
man since she'd seen him? Besides, once she had entertained ideas about Ezra
since she worked so closely with the gambler, not to mention Vin Tanner who was so good to her during that whole Don
Paulo situation. OF course, those two men had loves of their own and she was
waiting for Buck to stop whoring, go on the straight and narrow before she
would allow herself to love him.
She was dreaming.
"Afternoon Inez." Buck
Wilmington greeted, tipping his hat in her direction as he stepped up to the
counter. Inez looked at him slightly startled at his having entered the saloon
floor with J.D. Dunne ever at his side as always while she had been day
dreaming. Inez had not even noticed enter the building. The rest of the seven
were nowhere in sight with Nathan Jackson probably putting someone together
while Josiah Sanchez continuing with his restoration work on the church. Ezra
Standish had ambled off earlier, making some remark about having a luncheon
date with Julia Pemberton.
"Hi Inez." J.D. smiled,
agog with typical youthful enthusiasm. She wondered how he managed to keep that
sunny disposition in the face of everything he had seen since he had arrived in
Four Corners.
"Hello J.D." She answered,
ignoring Buck. "What can I get you?"
"Maybe some of your wonderful
home cooking." Buck smiled his most charming, deciding that she was being
so aloof because she was busy. The afternoon crowd was already in force with
voices rumbling softly in the background as men gathered to drink, play poker
or just to get out of making an honest day's living.
"I'll see." She said
coldly with none of the usual warmth in her manner that she had reserved for
him. "What about you J.D., can I bring you some lunch?"
"Much obliged ma'am." J.D.
said removing his hat and placing it on the counter. He sensed the tension
between Buck and Inez but like Buck could not imagine what had been the cause
of it. J.D. knew that Inez felt for Buck more than she let on and for all his
big talk, Buck Wilmington felt something similar. He watched her draw away into
the kitchen as she disappeared into the kitchen.
"What did you do to Inez?"
J.D. turned an accusatory eye in Buck's direction.
The big man shook his head in
puzzlement. "I haven't done anything to Inez." He said with perfect
innocence. "She never lets me." He added with a grin and drew a groan
of sarcasm from J.D.
However, the kid was right, she did
seemed awful ornery at him and for once it did not seem like the good-natured
sparring they usually engaged. Whatever was bothering Inez, it was real and
serious. Buck did not like the idea that Inez could be angry with him over
anything. He loved the woman for god sakes, if she ever consented to be with
him, Buck could imagine the heat they would generate with their lovemaking. He
knew instinctively that she was a passionate woman. The thought of that dusky
skin against his with its exotic aroma just made him twitch with the idea that
he ought to find him some female company.
He was getting off the point here.
Buck shook such thoughts from his
head and decided that he was unwilling to let the situation remained unresolved.
Striding towards the kitchen, he saw Inez busily preparing J.D.'s and hopefully
his lunch as well. She was slicing some carrots with her knife and Buck
wondered if it was all that wise risking an argument with her when she was
armed. She glanced at him with that same stormy look and then returned to her
vegetables. Buck was becoming more confused by the moment.
Leaning up against the counter
before her, Buck opted for the quiet, sensitive approach. "Inez, darling
is there something wrong?"
She met his eyes with a look he
could only describe as venomous. "Not at all, Buck." She replied
tautly.
"Now it don't look like it to
me." Buck responded in his always-husky voice. "It looked like you
were kind mad."
"Maybe I am." She said
scooping the cut pieces on the chopping board and turned away from him as she
dropped them into a pot that was steaming with savour
aromas on the stove.
"Well tell me about it."
He urged, wanting her to confide in him. After all, they had been through a
great deal together. When she had been raped, Buck was so terrified he was
going to lose her, he had not dared let her out of his sight. No matter what
she denied regarding her feelings about him Buck was perceptive enough to see
the look in her eyes to know that she did care for him a great deal.
Inez paused in front of the stove
for a moment, trying to decide whether or not it was time to move on or
establish the future. After a moment, she whirled around and faced him.
"Do you love me?"
The question took him by complete surprise
but the answer did not. It tumbled from his lips without any hesitation or
doubt that Buck was secretly astonished at the certainty in his own heart.
"Of course I do."
"Good," she nodded.
"I think I love you." She replied.
Buck started to smile that wide grin
that infuriated her to no end and usually precipitated some dumb comment.
"Well," he said inching
closer to her until she had to look up to see his face. "How about we go
somewhere and discuss it." His fingertip grazed her bare shoulder.
And there it was.
"I may love you Buck but I
don't trust you."
Buck looked at her. "Don't
trust me?" He said holding his hand to his heart like he was physically
wounded. "Darling, I would never hurt you." He continued, stroking
her skin with his fingers and Inez found herself responding, against the will
of her mind.
"I do not doubt that." She
said becoming lost in his touch, wondering how he could be so compelling and so
damn infuriating at the same time. "Except that I think you will, even if
you don't mean to."
Buck was enjoying her response to
him that the statement almost startled him when she spoke the words.
"What?"
Inez stepped away and broke the
moment. "I love you Buck, perhaps I always have but you love women too
much to ever stay faithful to one and I will not share you."
"That ain't
true." He protested but knew it sounded weak. By his own actions, he
proved to her that she was right because he enjoyed the company of many women
and while he could be loyal to Inez, he also knew he could not be certain about
that promise. "I can try."
"There is no try with me
Buck," she shook her head quickly. "I want to know that for sure. I
want to know that when you are not with me, you are not carrying on with some
other woman. I am not even sure I can even wait for you to grow up. Its time to
move on."
He did not like the sound of that at
all.
"Move on?" He said
suspiciously. "You mean leave?"
"No," Inez sighed. "I
mean its time to put us in the past."
"I will not accept that." He
stepped closer to her again. "I got feelings for you like I have no other
woman. I know you have the same for me. Maybe I can't stay faithful to you but
then again maybe I can. It's a chance like all things are a chance."
"I don't believe in
chances," she said abruptly stepping away from him and proceeding out
towards the bar. "And I am not waiting for you any more."
With that momentous statement, she
swept out of the kitchen, leaving him feeling like a fool because nothing she
said was wrong and yet all it was.
Buck Wilmington had the strangest
feeling that he was about to lose Inez Rosillios.
Julia Pemberton had a very strange
notion of what lunch was meant to entail.
This much Ezra Standish had
ascertained but for some reason he was not about to complain. After so many
weeks in her company, he had since learnt what Julia's idea of a luncheon was
and found no reason to argue with her interpretation of it. They were both
presently in her bedroom, with the blinds drawn, feasting on pate and other delectable
culinary delights, with a bottle of Chardonnay within arms reach. Ezra decided
he could certainly live with her idea of a lunch. Of course the meal had
proceeded a most exciting hour of hot steamy lovemaking which left him drained
but completely sated, even before they reached for the food.
As Julia naked beside him,
completely uninhibited by her nudity while feeding him liver pate on a cracker,
life did not appear to get much better than this. For a moment, Ezra felt like
one of the Roman Caesars of ancient times and wondered if it would be too
indulgent to make the lady a request of a peeled grape. However, in times of
crisis, pate would serve just as adequately. Never let it be said he did not
know how to rough it.
"Miss Pemberton," he
stretched languidly on the not so crisp white sheets of her bed, quite pleased
with himself. "I certainly enjoy your concept of lunch." He leaned
forward from the pillows when Julia held out a morsel of food to his mouth. He
took a bite and she smiled, licking the salt of the crackers form her finger
tips with those perfect pink lips. Ezra found himself watching her for a
moment, feeling another erection starting to make itself felt.
"I aim to please," she
smiled before lowering her head on his bare chest and laving his nipple with
the same technique she had used on her fingers.
Ezra closed his eyes and let out a
slight shudder but looked at her a moment later. Every time there was a break
in the sex and there were not many such interludes for she was an insatiable partner,
Ezra had noticed unwillingness on her part to engage in any form of
conversation. He had come to learn her habits over the course of time they had
shared together and had learnt one thing about her. She did not hold things
back and she definitely liked to talk after sex. Her silence now only convinced
him something was wrong.
"Is there something
wrong?" He asked seriously ignoring the stirring's he felt for a much
important subject.
"Nothing." She shrugged
and rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling and losing all interest in
pleasuring him since he was more concerned about her emotional health. She
should be grateful for his sensitivity but she could not help feeling a little
awkward discussing what was on her mind.
"Come on now," he slid an
arm around her and stared into those amazing green eyes that held such power
over him. "My dear, I know all your little peculiarities, every vicious
thought that crosses your mind. Trust me, there is nothing you have done that
would possibly shock me. If it makes you feel better, I promise there will be
no retribution or judgements if you reveal your
latest conundrum."
Julia looked at him, wondering how
he managed to keep a straight face when he talked that way. "When you put it
so succinctly, how am I to refuse?" She retorted and rolled back to her
side to face him again.
"I don't think the other women
like me too much." She declared.
Always the consummate actor, Ezra
was able to hide his reaction form her. That was the understatement of the year
but Ezra kept it to himself. "Well, you did start off on the wrong foot
with Alexandra." He pointed out diplomatically.
Julia winced at the memory. How
could she forget? Both of them had been rolling around on the floor of her
hotel room when Chris Larabee walked into the room
and forced them apart. Not to mention what she had actually said to Alex Styles
prior to that violent display. She supposed it was understandable that she
would be viewed with such distaste with that kind of history between them.
After all, she did steal Ezra from Alex and had been less than gentle when she
imparted the news to the good doctor.
Naturally, Mary and Inez would rally
around Alex in support and it had still remained that way even now. At
gatherings, Julia felt like the outsider. In the beginning, it did not matter
because she had little feeling for them. As she got to know them, she saw the
fellowship of the seven and slowly began to understand the need to belong that
even Ezra Standish could not escape. The bond between the seven was visible
even to her and she knew while they remained the seven, they would always ride
home together. Julia could not explain that intuition but knew that they all
had it because it exuded from them like something real and tangible. Ezra was a
part of something special and she envied how Alexandra Styles, Mary Travis and
Inez Rosillios had become apart of it. Julia was also
utterly aware that she was not included in this circle. Her presence was
tolerated because of Ezra and nothing else.
Acceptance had never been important
to her life before because other women were always seen as competition to her.
She had treated Alex the same way because she had wanted Ezra and she had not
the faith in him at the time to believe that he would love enough to leave the
beautiful doctor for her. However, Ezra's heart was hers as Alex had given her
own to Vin Tanner. There was no reason for the enmity
to continue and every reason to attempt some reconciliation. The days when she
felt the compulsion to view every man was conquest had been broken upon
realization that the man she wanted was hers already. With Ezra in her life,
not all the old instincts were banished but some had been forgotten.
Still, she felt strangely envious of
the camaraderie shared by the seven and moreover by Inez, Mary and Alex. She
should be apart of that friendship but she was not. Of course that had almost
been entirely her fault. She had burned her bridges with Alexandra Styles
because of Ezra and Mary Travis had more or less held her to ransom with her unsavoury past. The only one who seemed to view her with
any form of civility was Inez and this had only resulted after their kidnapping
experience some time ago. What friendship that had been formed then had been achieved
through a life and death experience. Since then, Inez was warm but still kept
her distance and it bothered Julia more than she would like to admit.
"Yes," Julia sighed.
"I supposed that was my fault."
That too was an understatement that
Ezra chose to let slide past him. He wish he could help her with this problem
but as responsible as he was for Alex's hurt, Julia had done some cruel things
that were even harder to forget. He loved her but he did not absolve her from
her misdeeds. The situation she had created with Alex Styles was her own doing
and only Julia could end the feeling of tension between them if she wanted to
be accepted.
"I'm sure Alexandra will come
around." He said although he did not believe it for a moment. From what
Chris told him about their quarrel, both women had gone to blows with their
fists. This, to Ezra did not appear to be a salvageable situation. Still, Alex
had forgiven him and perhaps with Vin in her life and
their relationship in the past, maybe she would extend the same courtesy to
Julia. He did not hold out much hope for such an outcome but he could not deny
Julia that possibility, however remote it might be.
"I do not have patience to wait
for it. I must take care of this now."
Ezra did not doubt it. He did not doubt
that she would make every effort to win Alex's forgiveness because Julia had
proven how determined she could be. Ezra almost felt sorry for Alex and all the
grief she was going to endure when Julia embarked on this quest to win her
friendship. "Well my dear I wish you the best of luck but you are
attempting a most serious undertaking."
"I will think of a way."
She smiled defiantly, tossing her red hair back as she offered him an alluring
smile. There was the fire of determination in her eyes now and Ezra knew
personally how fierce it could be when properly inspired.
Julia would deal with Alexandra
Styles later and perhaps there might be some measure of success in her
attempts. For now however, she still had a lunch hour to finish and desert to
serve. Leaning over to him, she met Ezra's mouth with a searing kiss, which
forced him to return in kind. She savoured his tongue
in her mouth as her hands stroked his bare chest and moved down the muscle of
his taut stomach.
"Desert, Mr. Standish?" She
smiled letting her hands drift further down his belly and enclosed her fingers
on a most sensitive place.
Ezra let out a soft groan as she
moved over him and could only smile as the onrush of pleasure. "I never
say no to a full course meal."
Alex was making a pot of tea for herself and
Inez when Mary Travis walked through her kitchen door. It was an hour after her
appointment with Mr. Baker, who apparently did not have a case of poison ivy as
she had suspected and was not allowed relations with his wife until his ailment
cleared. Inez had arrived earlier, having turned the saloon over to Ezra once
the gambler had returned from his lunch time engagement with Julia Pemberton
with a smile on his face which gave no doubt that food was not the only thing consumed.
Like Inez, Mary appeared just as harassed and Alex wondered if she were the
only person having a trouble free day.
"So what's been
happening?" Alex inquired as she poured her companions cups of tea around
her kitchen table, taking note of the frowns they were both wearing on their
faces. Alex wondered what could possibly ruffle the feathers of both these
women when Mary Travis was the mercurial newspaper woman who had through will
alone forged a peace for the town of Four Corners when the seven had arrived in
town. Inez was no less formidable. Any woman who could survive working with
Ezra while at the same time being able to handle herself in a saloon was not
normally beaten by the mundane trivialities of life.
Mary gave her a quick run down of the
situation with Mrs. Darcy followed by the almost predictable foul up by the
printer was a usual staple of a bad day. She also mentioned with affection how
Chris had dragged her out of the Clarion office and took her on a ride out of
town, in an effort to pacify her trouble temperament.
"I can never figure that guy
out." Alex said with a smile, wondering how someone who seemed so ruthless
and aloof could be so warm and tender at the same time. Still, Mary was one of
those people who tended to bring out the best in people.
Alex guessed that not even Chris Larabee was immune that power. "Most of the time he
looks to be a complete pain and then he does something really unexpected."
"Chris is like that." Mary
nodded sipping her tea, with a bittersweet smile on her face as she remembered
just how tender he could be. Riding with him had calmed her down considerably
and lifted her spirits although he was still very confused about the whole
concept of her idea to churn butter. "Still waters run deep they say."
"Very deep." Inez agreed.
"And then are some men who are exactly what they appear to be. Drunken,
hard living, skirt chasing buffoons."
Mary and Alex exchanged a glance and
said in unison. "Buck?"
Inez let out a huffed breath.
"Buck." She conceded begrudgingly. "I love that man. I do not
for the life of me know why! He is such an unmitigated pig when it comes to
women but I love him! I knew when he decided to defend me against Don Paulo
that I was making a bad deal."
"He's just one of those men,
Inez." Mary tried to defend Buck. "He loves women. He loves them so
much that he just has no will power." Wait, she said to herself, perhaps
this was not the best tact to take.
"I know that." Inez
sighed, propping her cheek against her hand on top of the table. "I told
him that I would wait for him no more." She declared imperiously. "I
cannot spend my whole life waiting for him to grow up."
"Hear, hear." Alex and
Mary cheered her on. "You're a beautiful woman Inez," Mary pressed.
"You can do better and have a great deal more security knowing that
whoever he is will not be chasing half the ladies in town."
"Exactly." Alex laughed
and then remembered something. "Reminds me, I got a letter today."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the white envelope that she had
forgotten about until this point. "Vin brought
it to me a while ago."
"I thought he didn't come to
the clinic during the day?" Mary remarked.
"Why?" Inez looked at Alex
puzzled as the young doctor started to tear into the crisp white paper of the envelope.
"Oh," Alex looked up as
she realized a question was aimed at her and replied distractedly. "He
walked into the clinic the day I had to lance a boil off Mrs. Harrington's rear
end. Vin never got over the shock and we agreed he'd
not come into the clinic during office hours. He comes through the kitchen door
when he does turn up during the day."
"What?" Inez started
laughing loudly, trying to picture the look on the tracker's face as that
discovery. Mrs. Harrington was almost 200 hundred pounds of blubber in tight
works boots. Mary joined in and they both giggled like silly schoolgirls for
the next few minutes. Meanwhile, Alex who had unfolded her letter and was
reading it with careful interest.
"What did Mrs. Harrington
do?" Inez had to ask.
"Not much." Alex replied.
"I had a scalpel to her butt, she was not about to make a fuss." The
doctor answered, still focused on her letter but did pause long enough to add
with a slight smile. "Although I think I almost had to give Vin a sedative."
That only succeeded in drawing out
another bout of even more riotous laughter as the two women laughed so hard,
they were almost giddy by the whole idea. "I don't think I can ever look
at Vin with a straight face again." Inez
snorted, trying to speak through her giggles.
"Funny," Alex mused.
"Vin said the same thing about Mrs.
Harrington."
She barely heard the explosion of
laughter that followed because she was too surprised by what she was reading.
"What is that?" Mary asked
finally, feeling a little disappointed that Alex was not joining in their
laughter at the humour of the situation.
"Sorry," Alex apologized
as she looked up at her friends. "I have been invited to give a talk at a
luncheon for the Society of Woman's Studies in Denver."
"You're kidding!" Mary
exclaimed. "How exciting!"
"Apparently, some of your
columns regarding my work has reached them and they want me to give a talk
about being a professional woman and physician in the frontier." Alex said
with some astonishment. She knew Mary occasionally mentioned her name as well
as Nathan's in the Clarion News when she was forced to perform some medical
treatment untried. There were also occasions when Mary needed quotes on the
status of victims or criminals whenever there was any trouble that made the
news.
"See," Inez beamed.
"She made you famous."
"Hardly famous," Alex
remarked but could not help feeling some measure of pride because it felt good
to be recognized by an organization of note as a doctor, even in this fashion.
"Still," she was unable to suppress a smile. "It's a nice to be
appreciated."
"So when do you have to be
there?" Mary pressed, happy for Alex.
"A week from today judging by
the date." She frowned. Obviously mail travelled slow in these parts and
Alex wished she had more time to make such a trip. Denver was almost 500 miles
away. She would need to get there by train and then there were her patients.
"I can't just leave."
"Yes you can." Inez said
without question. "Alex are you mad. This is a great honour.
You have to go."
"But Denver is so far
away." She said with hesitation. "I don't even know my way around the
city."
"You're a world class traveller whose crossed the Gobi Desert. You can survive in
Denver." Mary glared at her impatiently. "Stop making excuses." Suddenly
an idea came to her and she liked the notion the moment it popped into her
head. Four Corners was driving her crazy, that much was obvious after today.
Perhaps a little trip away might be just the thing she needed to revitalize her
frustrated state of mind lately. "I'll go with you."
"What?" Alex looked at
her. "All the way to Denver?"
"Yes," Mary nodded, liking
the idea the more she thought about it. She would not mind a trip to the city,
with its hotels and theaters and lets not forget the shopping, she reminded
herself mentally. A few days away, pampered by the temptations of the big city
was something Mary could endure for a few days. "I can cover the luncheon
for the Clarion. You know, local doctor makes good in big city."
"That's a great idea."
Inez sighed, wishing she could go. "I'll miss you two but it's a wonderful
opportunity."
"What are you talking
about?" Alex stared. "If Mary and I are going, so are you. They sent
me an extra ticket for a travelling companion."
It was after all the done thing. Women were not meant to make such an arduous
journey alone. No matter how forward thinking the society might be, they could
not break the bounds of that particular convention.
"I couldn't!" Inez
protested. "Who would take care of the bar?"
Mary rolled her eyes. "If I can
leave the paper and Alex can leave the practice, you can certainly leave the
saloon in Ezra's hands for a few days."
"Besides," Alex added her
voice to Mary's persuasive argument. "It will be fun. Think about it room
service, running hot water bath?"
"And room service." Mary
repeated "Let not forget that."
Inez bit her lip and considered
their idea. It was certainly inviting and she had more than enough money saved
to indulge in such a trip. She supposed she could leave the saloon in the hands
of Josiah that would take care of the place and ensure that it was still
standing when she returned. In any case, Alex was right, it would be fun and
with all the emotional confusion of her relationship with Buck Wilmington, Inez
would certainly enjoy the time away, if only to clear her head.
"Alright," she nodded
decisively. "Let's do it."
"Great!" Mary giggled,
feeling more enthusiastic about this forthcoming trip than anything else that
had happened lately. "Now," she eased back into her chair and let out
a sigh. "I've just got to figure out how to break it to Chris."
"And Vin."
Alex agreed, seeing the fly in the ointment. She would miss him terribly but
there was no way in hell that she was taking him to the ladies' luncheon. After
seeing Mrs. Harrington's naked posterior, that would probably send him over the
edge once and for all.
"Ah," Inez gloated with
some measure of satisfaction. "I now see the advantageous of being
unattached. I am free spirit able requiring to make no explanation to any man.
I can tell you now with absolute certainty that they are going to hate this
idea."
"Of course not!" Mary
protested, knowing that Chris was not that stubborn. After all, she was going
away with two women to Denver for a few days, what could be more harmless than
that. She resented Inez implying that she had to explain herself to Chris and
retorted full of indignant outrage. "I'll have you know that Chris will
have no problem with this."
"Mary this ain't
a good idea." Chris Larabee replied when Mary
told him of her plans later that evening.
How does Inez do that? Mary swore
under her breath while she told herself that she was not going to get upset by
his negative view of her trip to Denver. After all, he was just being Chris, a
trifle too protective for his own good but still, he was only concerned about
her welfare and she could not fault him that. Besides, they were courting now
and so she had to afford him some small say in how she conducted herself.
"Why?" Mary looked at him
as she stood by the stove, preparing their dinner to serve. She put down both
plates and stared at him, hands on her hips full of defiance.
Chris knew the stance well. It was
one that usually indicated that she had made her mind up and he could either go
along with it or shut up. He was about to give her a dozen good reasons why she
should not go when Chris remembered how she had looked this morning when he had
walked into the Clarion. He had noticed the exhaustion in her eyes, not just in
a physical sense but the evidence of mental weariness was very prominent.
Suddenly Chris realized that perhaps he was wrong. Maybe she did need to get
away and do things that normal women do, like taking walks in manicured parks
and going shopping with other women. Mary always did strike him as being out of
place in the rugged town that was Four Corners. She should have been going to
society teas and knitting things in a parlour
somewhere in the east.
"You're right." He said
conceding defeat because it occurred to him that she needed the time away from
this place, to just be a woman and not the paragon of the community and
defender of Four Corners. Besides, Chris knew if he said no she was just going
to go without his blessing anyway. That is what came of falling in love with a
strong willed woman who was capable of being just as stubborn and ornery as he
could be. "You should go."
"Really?" She said with a
hint of surprise that he had given in so easily after his initial distaste to
the idea. Mary joined him at the table and sat down on his lap, meeting his
lips in a deep searching kiss to which Chris reacted to immediately.
"Just don't get into any
trouble." He growled as their kisses intensified.
"Do I ever get into
trouble?" She looked at him innocently, when she pulled away for a moment.
Chris did not even dignify with that
with an answer.
Alex was up to something.
Vin knew
exactly what that was but as he stared at Alex perched on top of him, her dark
hair cascading over her bronzed shoulders, he knew this sweet pleasure she was
giving him had a price tag attached to it. She smiled at him as her hands
roamed the length of his smooth and taut chest, delighting in the tension in
his muscles. Over the past weeks, she had come to learn every intimate detail
of his body and delighted in exploiting the weaknesses she found. Vin had no idea that she was could be such an exciting
lover but adored the heights of pleasure she thrilled in making him reach.
She took his hands in hers, forcing
him to cup one breast in his hand which he did so without question, his fingers
curving to its swollen shape. Alex slipped her fingers over his; gently guiding
and instructing him on just how hard she wanted him to knead. He could see her
licking her lips in anticipation, her tongue sliding over those that seductive
mouth that was capable of bringing him to such mindless pleasure that he could
barely breathe let alone think. Just remembering how she had used those lips to
suck and stroke his hungry cock made him shudder with delight.
Vin obliged
her, smiling as he pleasured her with his hand that was squeezing her breast
intently while rubbing his palm against the erect nipple that quivered when he
ran across its pointed tip. Watching her eyes cloud over at the sensation made
his cock harden and Vin continued fingering the
nipple, driving Alex to the edge of her control as it hardened under his
ministrations. However, she did not lose control, not at all. Instead, Alex
raised his other hand to her lips and began sucking insistently on each digit,
with long, seductive strokes, letting him see her tongue running over the
callused skin.
"You are driving me insane
woman." He grumbled as his erection strained for her. The feel of her
smooth thighs against his hips and the knowledge of the wet recess in between
was enough to make him throb with yearning to sink his hard member into her
warm depths. When her mouth enclosed around his fingers, he could not keep the
image of how she had used that same tongue earlier today from his mind. It only
succeeded in making him so hungry for her that he was fighting the urge to keep
himself from taking her there and then.
She slipped his wet fingers from her
mouth and moved his hand to cup her other breast. Vin
complied immediately and began massaging them as her hands slipped over his,
helping him tantalize her with his expert touch. Vin
teased the nipples mercilessly until they became so tight under his fingertips
that they were half their normal size. Alex threw her head back and started to
moan softly, her hair swaying like a curtain of jet as he intensified his
attentions to the hard points that produced such pleasurable sensations. Her
skin felt hot and fevered against his and the desire to sink into her flesh was
so overwhelming that he could only react by grabbing her by the hair and
forcing Alex to his mouth.
Alex did not protest as he felt his
tongue probed past her teeth, pushing its way into her mouth, needing no
consent. She felt her heart quicken at the invasion, her tongue submitting to
the presence of his as it drew from her lips all the pleasure it could extract.
One hand was planted firmly in her hair, luxuriating in the strands while he
kept his mouth firmly on hers, allowing Alex no escape even if she was insane
enough to want such a thing. His other hand was sliding up and down the length
of her shapely form, his palm enjoying the feel of her curves as he glided past
its smooth texture. His skin felt so cool against hers, which was fevered by
comparison and Alex wondered how he managed to smell so good.
Suddenly, Vin
rolled her around in the bed so that he was positioned on top of her. She
enjoyed it when he took control and submitted gratefully when she felt him
raise both arms over her head and pin them there with one of his own. He gave
her a wicked smile as his other hand cupped the breast that was tight and firm
because of the muscles that was pulling it upward. The nipple lay exposed and
begged for the touch. However Vin dug his fingers
into the soft skin of surrounding flesh, rubbing it with such force that Alex
felt the breath escape her lips from the awesome feeling. When he finally
reached her nipple, Vin took such special delight in
teasing the erect nub that she was soon descending into complete bliss as she
cried his name with abandon.
Hearing her call his name like that
almost brought Vin to the edge of his limits. His
cock was twitching with hungry insistence as it gently rubbed against the
inside of her thighs. The tip seemed to burn each time it made contact with her
skin. Finally, he could bear no more to be kept from her moist inner passage
and ran his hand along the curve of her body before hooking her leg over his
hip. Vin groaned himself when his skin made contact
with the slick moisture in between and knew that she was ready to be taken.
Without warning, he plunged into the depths of her, impaling Alex in an instant
with the full length of his throbbing manhood.
"Oh god Vin." She cried his name as her back arched, her body pushing into his chest with the sudden intrusion. Her muscles contracted around him, gripping him with such intense pressure that Vin was felt the air escape him from the incredible sensation. The velvet warmth of her sheath felt impossibly tight and heightened his