WildOutlaws (6 page)

Creed jerked. Good Lord, he could think of all sorts of ways he wanted the games to begin.

“And so you will again,” Tuff said, interrupting. Taking limited control, he added, “We want you to teach us how to respond to a woman.”

Mary Margaret blinked. She might have laughed outright only poor Tuff looked dead serious. She appeared to pick up on that fact.

“It’s not exactly as it seems,” Creed assured her.

“Then why don’t you explain.”

“I don’t have a problem with that, sugar.” He was sick with the need to touch her, longing to feed the growing hunger he’d possessed from the moment she’d greeted them in the hallway.

“Well?” she asked, a saucy flavor thick in her voice.

“It’s rather simple, Mary Margaret,” Creed said, never looking at the others for assurance or encouragement. They’d discussed Mary Margaret many times. Prior to learning about the increased bounty on Jack’s head, they’d talked about Mary Margaret often. She had earned quite a reputation. Unlike the other soiled doves of the Wild West, Mary Margaret was actually well respected.

Men believed they could trust her. She was fun, straight-forward, and uninhibited in bed, something that sprang universal interest in the five-foot-five spitfire. From what they’d learned about her, Mary Margaret was independent as hell. When a marshal out in California asked them to locate her and then guard her with their lives, he’d warned them of the greatest danger.

Creed could still hear the marshal’s words: “Tell her you’re trying to protect her and she’ll run. She never wants to owe anyone and even if you explain you’re doing a job for which you’ll be paid well, she won’t stay. She’ll flee and you’ll never see her again. And if she dies, boys, it’s on you. I’ll make sure none of you ever work again.”

Creed had believed the aging marshal. They’d been collecting bounties from him for well over a decade and to date, he’d always said what he meant and meant what he said.

That was a trait Creed admired and possessed. Which was why, on second thought, he figured he should let Tuff do the talking. Creed wouldn’t be able to lie to her, even if the fib was only told in order to protect her.

 “Okay,” Mary Margaret drawled. “So no one has the balls to enlighten me? If you can’t tell me what it is you hope to learn, how can you expect me to teach you?”

“You have a point,” Buck spoke up, shocking Creed. Hell, if he did that very often, Creed would end up in an early grave.

“We’re bounty hunters,” Jared said, saving Buck from overexertion.

“You don’t say.” She watched Tuff and then swung her gaze back to Jared. “My first clue was when Geronimo here burst into Constance’s room, flung himself into the line of fire and then somehow killed a man without any explanation as to why he was in that room in the first place.” A beat later, she added, “Yes, I sort of figured you were trackers.” She walked over to Jared, working those hips like she meant to use them to earn her keep. “So tell me something, Jared, is this your first time honey?”

Her mouth was inches from his. Her loaded statement wasn’t about to go unnoticed but there was one little problem.

Mary Margaret underestimated her target.

* * * *

Jared was the guy in the grey area. His outer appearance and demeanor would suggest a quiet man lived in his skin but Tuff had always considered him his deadly weapon.

When the going got rough, Jared came through and generally he was the man who mattered when their gang faced off with an army. If one of the fellows stood out as bringing home the most profits, Jared was the man. He closed deals, took shots no one else could make, and became a killer when the slogan of the hour was kill or be killed.

He was a survivor and he wasn’t one to taunt.

Tuff should’ve warned Mary Margaret before she moved her little body too close to the bull ready to expose his horns. Without warning, he lifted Mary Margaret high above his head and let her gently glide down his body. Hooking her legs around his middle, he had her pinned to the wall before she could say her prayers or curse aloud.

Her mouth fell open but she didn’t utter a sound. Jared was obviously satisfied. He’d earned her attention.

“This ain’t my first time, beautiful.”

“Are we talking visits to a whore house or bounty hunting?”

“What do you think?”

“Both.”

“At least you’re smarter than the average fallen woman.”

“I like to think so.”

“That’s your problem. You’ve had too much time on your hands. You’ve been thinking too much. We want to do that for you.”

“I thought you needed a teacher.”

Tuff shifted his weight between his feet and started to intervene. Creed’s arm flew to his gut when he stepped forward. He stopped him from interrupting what promised to unfold as an entertaining show.

“Some of us do.”

“Are you one of ‘em?” Mary Margaret asked.

“Do I look like a man who needs to open a book?”

“No,” she drawled, her lips brushing against his. She nipped at his bottom lip and Jared growled as the heat between them obviously gained momentum. “But you feel like a man who is easily read.” She shoved her fingers through his short hair and he bunched her skirts, balling the material in his hands as he allowed them a beautiful image. Shapely legs curved around Jared’s waist and he forced his hands higher.

“Dear God, he got a handful,” David said.

Tuff didn’t wonder where his palms landed as his arms disappeared under the crinoline and lace.

Mary Margaret gasped as he rubbed against her. He forced her back against the wall and held her there, staring down the bridge of his nose as if he were mesmerized, as if she’d placed him under a lusty spell.

“You’ve been without a woman so long you’ve almost forgotten what it feels like to lay one down and love her. It’s been at least a year, maybe longer, since you’ve put your dick anywhere worth remembering. Unless of course, you have a good strong grip and I’m betting you do.”

Rather than take her jabs lying down, Jared did what any man in his position would do. He moistened his lips and said, “You trying to tempt the devil, honey?”

“I hope so,” she admitted.

“Yeah?” he asked in a raspy voice. “Because it won’t take much. You know that. You feel where I am. Don’t ‘cha baby?”

“Absolutely.”

A dry chuckle escaped his lips. “Hell has a special place for women like you. But don’t worry, Mary Margaret. I plan to reform you before you’re forced to visit there.”

Chapter Four

“Mary Margaret! Are you in there?” Annabelle sounded panicked.

“Maybe you should release me,” Mary Margaret whispered against his lips. “Otherwise I might be tempted to put on a show.”

“I didn’t think you had time,” Jared challenged her.

“I don’t,” she assured him, thinking the stagecoach to Stockton was one she could afford to miss. The hard cock poking between her clothes, practically piercing through her folds, was far more tempting than galloping horses carrying her into the vast prairie and an uncertain future.

She still wasn’t sure what kind of job these fellows wanted performed. If past work experience prepared her for five hard and handsome cowboys, then she was sure to find plenty of personal perks and benefits working for bounty hunters.

“So you aren’t interested in what we can offer you?” Jared asked.

“I’m listening.” She stared at the door. Annabelle wouldn’t go away and she was far too intrigued by the pending proposition.

“Mary Margaret! Open up!”

“I think you’d better get that.” Jared released her. She slid down the length of his body and strolled across the room, straightening her skirts as she walked. Butterflies took flight and the fluttering sensation in the pit of her gut was quite abrasive rather than soft and fluffy. The pains alone should’ve been a warning.

Then again, she’d always loved a challenge.

While the anticipation may have gotten the best of her, the angst in the air was hard to describe. There was plenty of sexual chemistry. The mutual attraction between her and each man present was understood and quite defined by their individual expressions, their uncanny ability to hide their interest. She couldn’t defy her own building lust and she wouldn’t deny them if they made an offer she couldn’t refuse.

Swinging open the door, Mary Margaret moved out of the way and allowed Annabelle to peer inside. “Oh, I’m uh…I’m…sorry.”

“We told you we had business with Mary Margaret,” Tuff reminded her.

“I was afraid you’d leave without saying goodbye,” Annabelle said, studying Creed.

Mary Margaret faced the man holding Annabelle’s interest. “If you’d like, Annabelle can keep you company while your friends explain themselves.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Creed replied firmly.

Mary Margaret was strangely relieved. “Sorry, Annabelle.”

“Don’t mention it. Seems the older whores around here were right. You always get the good guys.”

Annabelle disappeared and Mary Margaret returned to her guests. It took her a moment to gather her thoughts. The older whores were working girls like herself, not a day over thirty-five. Most of them were considerably younger than Mary Margaret.

Had she just been insulted? Probably. Annabelle and Mary Margaret were friends but at the moment, Mary Margaret had a man in her room holding Annabelle’s interest. In a whorehouse that was often grounds for a cat fight.

“Is she right?” Mary Margaret asked, her gaze dancing between the fellows. “Are you good men or are you bad boys waiting to take advantage of some innocent woman?”

“You’re not exactly pure and untouched,” Creed said, stating a fact.

“And that’s why we want you,” Buck added.

“Ooh,” she drawled. “So he does speak.”

David winked. “He speaks, fucks, laughs, fucks, and did I mention…”

“I get the picture,” she interrupted him, redirecting her focus. She stared at Tuff. “So that’s what this is all about. You want a whore?”

“We want a woman,” Tuff explained.

Of course they wanted a whore. They were in a saloon for goodness sake. They didn’t come there for a virgin.

“We want a teacher who will gladly show five men how to love a woman the way she wants to be loved. We don’t have time to court or choose a suitable person for marriage,” Tuff explained.

“And you think I know what a lady suitable for marriage is looking for in a man?”

“Well don’t you?” Tuff asked.

“I should think not! I’ve been servicing married men since I was old enough to enter the profession. Obviously they don’t know what they want if they’re making a commitment to one woman then paying for time with me. If their women are in the dark about the gals they frequent on the side, they have no idea what they want in a husband either. They don’t even know the person they’ve married.”

“That’s not entirely true. People change. Marriages fail. One person gives and another one takes. Anything can happen,” Tuff explained his views as if he were speaking from experience.

“Sounds like you’ve been married before,” Mary Margaret said.

“No,” Tuff bit out. “And if I didn’t want children, I wouldn’t consider the possibility now.”

“I’m sure you’ll have a slew of possible candidates. With that attitude, women will stand in line to become your wife.”

Tuff frowned, acting as if she’d stepped on a nerve. Then he said, “When have you ever had a woman come to you for advice?”

“The few times I’ve been confronted by women courting or married to a customer, it hasn’t been pretty. They want to know what they did wrong—first mistake—then they want to know what I’m doing for their man that they can’t or don’t do. And there’s plenty if you wanna know the truth.”

“I’m sure,” Creed said, studying her through dark black eyes.

After thoughtful consideration, she added, “Only one woman ever came to me and asked for true advice. Her husband had been with every whore here and probably half the others in Cripple Creek. She was a smart cookie, that one. A year after we talked, she came back to thank me.”

“What’d you say to her?” Buck asked.

“The quiet one speaks again,” Mary Margaret teased, taking a deep breath. She smiled at Buck, thinking if she took this job, Buck would be the one to teach. She could mold a man like him into the perfect husband.

“Well?” Buck asked, apparently a good listener, too.

Oh yes, she and Buck would get along fine.

“I told her not to accept all the blame for her failing marriage. I suggested she talk to her husband and learn how to become a good listener, too. And of course, I gave her some pointers in the bedroom. Her husband liked to spank me so I assumed he’d enjoy smacking her bottom as well. Basically, I told her what he liked and once she got over the initial shock of the things he required when he paid for sex, I believe she was willing to try it at home. Apparently, they did. Last time I saw them at The General Store, they couldn’t keep their hands off one another.”

David smirked. “So you like spankings, do you?”

She shrugged. “That’s the kind of thing a man must find out for himself.”

Jared said, “You’ve made some good suggestions. You’re perfect for the job. We need you to teach us to become the kind of men who will appeal to women looking for marriage. Teach us to be content with what we have at home. Show us how to be the kind of husbands who will never stray.”

“That’s easier said than done.”

“Yes,” David agreed, rising and going to her. “But think of how much fun we’ll all have.”

“Best of all, you can teach,” Tuff reminded her. “Your friend said that’s what you’ve always wanted to do.”

David said, “From what I gather, teachers who like what they do and know what they’re talking about are often the best instructors of all.”

“That’s true, but—”

“You’re already packed and ready to go,” Tuff pointed out.

“Yes, but—”

“There’s nothing to discuss except wages. How much will you charge?”

Mary Margaret felt like her back was against a corner. “I’ll have to think about it.”

“You’ll have room and board,” Tuff volunteered.

“Yes, but I’m not sure about this arrangement,” she readily admitted. Good Lord, she’d have to be crazy for considering this in the first place.