Annabelle Weston (18 page)

Jed’s mouth went dry. What was she up to?

“
There will be something in it for you,” she promised. “A night of fun with any girl you like at the Lonesome. Surely a hardworking man like you needs to…relax once in a while.”

The marshal’s eyes lit up and he didn’t even try to hide a smile. “I won’t cuff you to the bars, but I will put you inside… And your purse stays here on my desk.”

“
You are too kind, Marshal. We are all grateful you are here. We all are so much safer with you protecting us.”

Sutton grinned. The cell door clinked as he used the key to open it and, pressing his hand to the small of Carly’s back, he guided her inside.

“
We’ll need some privacy,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at the marshal.

“
I’ll be back in fifteen. No more.”

Carly turned to Jed, her eyes soft. Whatever she’d come to say waited until Sutton left the room and shut the door behind him.

Jed opened his mouth to speak but she pressed her finger to his lips. “Let me talk first.” She took a deep breath, pulled his hands into her grip and brushed her thumbs over his palms. “I’m sorry, Jed. I’m sorry for what I said. You’re right about my addiction. And I want to change that.” She searched his face. “I won’t drink another drop of the elixir.”

Jed pulled her into his embrace, wrapping his arms around her warm body, loving her soft swells against him. “I was hoping you’d realize what that brew was doing to you.”

“
Do you accept my apology?”

He nodded against the top of her head. “I have my regrets as well. I shouldn’t have talked to you so rough. I should have dealt with Baxter differently too.”

Carly glanced up at him, entreating. “But you see, that’s what knocked some sense into me. I was surprised when you lost your temper. It’s not like you.”

She reached up and brushed his cheek.

“
I lost someone from the drink. My mother.”

“
Oh,” Carly gasped. “How awful.”

Jed nodded, hardening his jaw. He hated to talk about it. Luckily, Carly seemed to understand and didn’t ask any more questions.

“
We only have a short time…” A wicked glint shimmered in her eyes. “What do you say we make the most of it?”

“
You still wearing that new corset?”

She nodded and bit her lip in a way that made him want to suck the pink flesh into his mouth. She stepped away from him and lifted her skirts up to her waist, striking a pose with her pretty long legs. Jed’s cock jumped and blood rushed to his head.

The sprinkle of hair covering her cunny glistened. “Fuck me, Jed. Good and hard.”

“
You don’t have to ask me twice.”

He gripped her hips and yanked her toward him. His mouth descended upon hers in a move calculated to be both possessive and carnally demanding. God, how he wanted her, wanted this. She responded immediately, opening her mouth to him, her tongue thrusting and swirling. Never before had a woman enticed him like she did—responded to his touch with such blatant enthusiasm. She gyrated against him and gripped his ass. Goddamn, she was delicious, full of wanton passion. And need—for him.

Jed’s blood pumped with urgency, firing sparks of something intimate, something new. Fear tried to take hold, but he thrust it aside. Nothing would ruin this moment.

He lifted her skirts higher, brushing over the silky skin of her belly. He slipped his fingers between the wet folds of her cunny lips until he found her slit, taking delight in her sensual sighs. He plunged three fingers into her slick, hot channel, growling when she moaned into his mouth. She was so gloriously wet and ready for him.

Carly pulled away suddenly, held her skirts high and showed him her rounded, firm buttocks. He sucked in his breath, not quite sure what she would do next. Anticipation ran rampant through his veins like a bucking stallion.

She gripped the cell bars.

“
Take me from behind, Jed. Take me now.”

She didn’t have to tell him twice. A low, feral noise issued from his throat as he stepped forward, yanked the buttons open on his britches. His cock surged forth, full, heavy and ready. He gripped his cock, rubbed it between her cunny lips to touch her pearl.

“
Jesus, woman…” he trailed off on a grunt. She felt so damn good against his cock. His basic instinct was to plunge deep and never stop.

“
Oh, yes!” she moaned. Her head was turned to the side, pressed against the bars so he could see her eyes closed in ecstasy, see her bite and suck at her lips. It only made him harder. One of her hands clutched at her breast and the other pressed between the folds of her cunny. “Hurry!”

“
Yes ma’am.”

He slipped the head of his cock inside her and plunged forward, deep and hard. Her cunny enclosed around him throbbing, clenching. Carly rolled her ass back and forth, which increased his pleasure.

Jed gripped her tight and thrust faster and faster. The slapping of their flesh echoed through the cell. As carnal and base as their coupling was, it meant so much more. A deep connection was felt between them, not something Jed had ever thought he was going to have.

“
Oh, Jed! Harder!”

He wasn’t sure he could drive into her any harder but he made an effort to plunge deeper, faster, to swivel his pelvis with each thrust. She moaned louder, panting. She propelled back to meet his thrusts again and again. Just when he thought he wouldn’t be able to last another second, her cunny blessedly fluttered and quickened.

She let out a smothered scream, “I’m coming! Oh, yes!”

Jed let his body, his desire, take over then. He lost control, riding her like a bucking bronco until his release exploded not just from his cock, but from his entire body. Even his mind, his feelings for her seemed to explode in that moment. His torso fell forward to rest against her back as he tried to catch his breath—from the exertion and his realization.

“
You sure know how to take a girl for a ride,” Carly teased.

“
Damn, woman. I think it was the other way around.”

Carly chuckled. Jed pulled his spent cock from inside her, and tugged up his pants.

“
There will be more of that and then some when you get out of this cell.”

“
I hope I’m out soon then.”

Carly adjusted her skirts and smiled, opened her mouth to say something else as the marshal walked back in.

The air smelled of sex and Jed thought it might even smell of his desperate need for her There was no way the man wouldn’t figure out what had gone on inside the cell while he’d been gone, and judging from his crooked smile, the marshal knew well and good. He opened the cell door and Carly sauntered out.

“
Adios
, Sheriff.” She turned to the marshal. “I expect we’ll see you real soon at the Lonesome?”

The man nodded and Jed could only watch with breath held as Carly sashayed from the room.

Sutton whistled. “There goes the sweetest ass I’ve seen in a coon’s age.”

Jed would like to take complete ownership of that ass so no other man would ever touch her again, but such thinking was a fool’s dream. Carly belonged to the Lonesome, and he belonged to the badge. She’d known it all along. He’d been too stubborn to listen.

Still, he was mighty happy she’d been willing to come down to barter with the marshal about getting him out of this cell—even if it didn’t work. He was happy they’d made their apologies. More than happy they’d rutted like animals.

Jed exhaled. “How long do you think this is gonna take?”

“
The sooner the better in my opinion.” Sutton unstrapped on his shooter and set the weapon on the desk. “The little Miss and I have business to attend to when I return.”

Jed seethed but he couldn’t let on.

He settled in the chair, propped his legs on the desk and pulled his hat down across his eyes. “Come morning, I’ll be on my way.”

Jed lay down on the cot and put his hands behind his head. He was in a bind and didn’t know what he could do—inside of the law of course.

He only hoped the Crosby gang would stay out of town while he was cooped up like this. He’d pass the time thinking about Carly, how they had a mighty good time when they were together and what he would do to her next.

* * * * *

Carly lifted her skirts and made her way across the road.

The sun smoldered at the rim of the mountains and then disappeared. It was her favorite time of day, when the heat finally broke its grip and cooler air wafted from the north. The Lonesome, after a sleepy afternoon, would start to come alive.

And business had been very good lately.

Too bad Jed Poole wouldn’t be part of her evening. At least she’d been able to satisfy their desire for the moment. Her biggest worry was Dr. Baxter working in her shed. She knew Jed would be fighting mad if he found out about the still.

Jed had a powerful hatred of the drink. Now she understood why. She was being truthful about stopping but her resolve was weak—despite her swearing to never touch the stuff again. A powerful craving still came over her from time to time and having Dr. Baxter so close didn’t help.

Keeping Dr. Baxter’s activities from Jed would take some doing. She hoped Doc Baxter would hurry making up the fresh batch of his elixir. Jed would never have to know—and her desire for the wicked brew would hopefully disappear with the doc. After going through her last withdrawal, it didn’t seem as though her body craved the drink as much as her mind did. And boy, did her mind play some wicked games on her.

She turned the corner and saw a string of horses tied to the hitching posts in front of the Lonesome.
Wranglers with their pockets full of a month’s wages
, she thought with satisfaction. They’d bring a powerful thirst and a randy disposition. The Lonesome could cure both.

She pushed through the doors. A quick look around told her all the girls were working. Alvin was occupied—chatting with two new arrivals at the bar.

Something about the
hombres
caught her attention. The tall one had ginger hair sprouting out from his hat. The shorter one wore a Navy Colt with a notch in the grip she recognized.

Carly took a deep breath. She’d not expected to see these two again. She should go and warn Jed but what could he do? Would U.S. Marshal Sutton oblige and arrest these men? She didn’t trust the marshal any more than she trusted any stranger.

She fixed her hair with shaky hands. She couldn’t let them see how much they unnerved her. How the pain they’d inflicted on her and the rest of their town put her legs to quaking. She adjusted her bodice, made sure her skirts were straight, stalling for time. She’d have to approach them eventually, show them she wasn’t scared.

Judith watched her with furrowed brows. The big woman smelled trouble, no doubt. Carly took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and plastered on a fake smile.

She sidled up to the bar. “Howdy boys.”

They straightened.

“
Call me Tom,” the tall one said.

“
Sure,” she said, grateful he didn’t remember her. Men like him saw all dollies alike. “What’s your friend’s name.”

“
My ma calls me Chester. You can call me Kid.”

“
We don’t want trouble, Kid,” she said.

Tom cast her a crooked grin. “We didn’t bring none.”

Grime showed in the creases of his forehead. His eyes were bloodshot. They’d been drinking for a while, most likely before they arrived.

“
Just came for some fun,” Kid said.

Carly wasn’t sure what to do next. She didn’t want them here. Tom was a mean drunk and Kid did what he was told. She wouldn’t let them use her as they’d done before and she surely wouldn’t give them to one of her girls.

Alvin arrived with a full bottle of whiskey. The last thing they needed was more to drink.

“
These boys have had enough,” Carly said.

“
Like hell we have.” Tom grabbed Alvin by the vest and snatched the bottle from him. He whirled around. “Come on, ladies, who wants to have some fun?”

Alvin bent down and came up with his shotgun. Carly put up her hand. She had a better way to deal with these two.

The barkeep scowled. He hadn’t liked being manhandled but did as she asked. The women of the Lonesome looked at Carly—all having witnessed her shaky nerves and Alvin’s gun. She curled a finger for them to join her.

Miss Lorraine jumped to her feet and the fella whose lap she’d been warming groaned.

Judith was at Carly’s elbow. Gladys and Blanche ambled up to the bar arm in arm.

“
Five ladies enough for you two?” Carly could tell from their expression she’d hit the mark.

“
I reckon so.” They answered amid laughter and joshing from the swarm of customers listening.

Carly waited for the noise to die down. She knew what would make them lower their guard. “Let’s go upstairs where we’ll be more comfortable.”

Gladys and Blanche led each man by an elbow. Carly had no intention of letting them mount those steps.

“
One small request,” Carly said. “Leave your gun belts down here. We don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

Tom frowned.

His partner undid his holster without hesitation. “One less thing to take off.”

The crowd roared. “Your turn, Tom,” someone shouted.

Tom was staring at her with those beady eyes. “Fine by me, as long as you ain’t carrying a weapon.”

So he had remembered her and the derringer she’d had no problem firing in his direction. Or maybe he was just being cautious. Carly picked up her skirts and showed him both thighs were bare.

He licked his blistered lips. She shuddered at the memory of those lips sliding across her naked breasts.

He removed his guns and set them on a table.

“
Knives, too.”

He reached down and pulled a blade out of his boot. He held it out to show her. “You can’t expect a man to be defenseless.”