Disclaimer: All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" TV series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide.
"Suing me for what?" Mary Travis exclaimed as she stared at the round face of Barbara Darcy.
"You said my Alvin was a horse thief." Mrs Darcy, a rather rotund woman, painted in lurid colours, with a scandalous amount of breast showing over the too tight dress that she wore, glared at Mary through the veil of her hat. Her voluptuous bulk filled almost the entire chair she was nestled in until her flesh behind was starting to droop over the edge. Just looking it at her made Mary feel the sudden urge to diet.
"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 til. 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 Mexico." Mary implored; trying not to lose her temper with this obnoxious and stupid woman but realising with a sinking feeling as her fury began to bubble that it was a battle she would not win.
"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 Alvin is still innocent."
"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 Alvin."
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 empathise why Alvin might have taken flight. No man could stay married to the creature before her without some debilitating results on their psyche.
"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 Four Corners is no one's business except Mr Larabee's." Mary replied, having just about enough of this vile woman's presence in her office. Mary Travis was a newspaperwoman and a community leader; she did not have to suffer this indignity.
"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?" Mr Darcy screeched as Mary grabbed her by the arm and fairly dragged her to the door. The woma 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 civilised 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.
Realising 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 fiancee' 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 sympathise 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, focussing 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 recognised 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 JD 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." JD 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 JD." 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 JD, can I bring you some lunch?"
"Much obliged ma'am." JD 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. JD 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?" JD 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 JD.
However, the kid was right, she did seemed awful ornery at him and for once it did not seem like the goodnatured 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 JD'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 realisation 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 realised 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 focussed 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 apologised as she looked up at her friends. "I have been invited to give a talk at a luncheon for the Society of Women'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 thew 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 recognised by an organisation 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 revitalise 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 theatres 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 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 realised 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 tantalise 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 pleasure as he began to fuck her with hard, powerful strokes. He did so allowing Alex no time to catch her breath, pounding into her until he could feel the tip of his cock impacting at the end of her inner passage. The pleasure of that was beyond description as he buried himself to the hilt with each delicious stroke. Vin had to bite down or he was going to come immediately from the sensation and he wanted it to last for as long as he was able to hold back.
His fingers dug into her breast as he slammed into her brutally until she was crying out his name in ragged sobs. He loved the sound of her breathless voice when she cried out for him, begging him to fill her repeatedly. Alex's body was heaving under him, covered in a fine sheen of sweat as she squirmed, doing an exotic dance as she shuddered and trembled while he penetrated her with his unrelenting pace. Her other leg was wrapped around his waist now and her hips thrust forward to meet his compelling rhythm.
Vin. Vin. Vin.
Vin heard her singing his name until her voice descended into whimpers from the pleasure he was forcing her to endure. Vin began to feel that familiar rush of desire that preceded his climax. It was building inside his iron hard manhood with each gush of heat that enveloped him. Vin held back, feeling himself tense as he thrust into her with such savage intensity that he could not longer keep the groan that escaped from his lips.
"You're so beautiful," he whispered in her ear as he continued to hold her down, while slamming into her with such determination that he could feel himself tumbling head long towards his own release. Vin could feel himself starting to succumb to the pleasure of her inviting warmth, teasing his cock, while creating friction against him with the fiery meeting of flesh.
Alex's taut body bounced against him each time he penetrated her, until he could feel the points of her nipples pressed firmly against his chest. That was enough to snap the resolve in him, breaking it like kindling as the peak of his own endurance was finally reached and he could no longer control the urges inside his raging cock with a release that was now inevitable. Suddenly he felt her tense beneath him and her whimpers became strained gasps as she stopped moving. Her breath was caught inside her chest as her eyes clamped shut and Vin felt her cresting that final wave. Her inner passage tightened impossibly around him as her the barrier to her orgasm was breached and shattered.
"Vin!" She cried out as he felt it wash over her.
"Oh Christ," he moaned joining her cries when he felt the crushing pressure around his cock that all but destroyed whatever scant bonds of control that he had left. Vin felt himself explode inside of her, emptying the full rush of his seed deep into her body with the flood of his powerful climax. It washed him away in such a tidal wave of pleasure that he could nothing but gasp incoherently as he dug his nails into her hip, pulling her closer as he strained to reach the core of her with each surge of semen that escaped him.
Vin collapsed on top of Alex completely spent, releasing her hands at that moment only to have them slide down his back and then encircle him in pure content. He was breathing hard into her hair, while at the same time savouring the scent of their love making in her wet skin. They lay against each other panting and heaving as their bodies recovered from yet another extraordinary session of raw sexual desire. Vin could not imagine how he had ever done without her. What she had done to him since that first time was beyond his ability to express. In his whole life, he never felt so loved or happy and each time he made love to her, that joy was impossibly magnified a thousandfold.
She stroked his back, savouring the smooth skin and the curve of taut muscle. Alex loved how his weight felt against her body especially after sex. He was breathing her in, Alex smiled, aware that he did that even though she never made mention of it. If she did, he might stop an Alex liked the breathless sigh that Vin made whenever he did that.
"So," he propped himself up on his elbows and met her dreamy gaze with that faint smile of his. "Was this supposed to make it easier?"
"What easier?" She sighed; her eyes were still closed.
"To tell me you were going to Denver."
Alex's eyes flew open and she stared at Vin with surprise. "How did you know?"
"I talk to Inez before coming up here." He grinned, remembering how excited the lady bartender had been when she had returned to the saloon late this afternoon. While he would miss Alex while she was gone, he did know that it was important for women to get out on their own and do women things. It was just one of those mysteries of the gender that he as a man had no business interfering with. "She told me that you, Mary Travis and her were planning a trip to Denver."
"It was meant to be a secret." Alex frowned wishing Inez had not made mention of it. "I was going to seduce you and then break it to you gently." She said half-joking and half-serious.
"I thought so." He replied, sliding next to her onto what was fast becoming his side on her brass bed. There was a curve in the mattress he had been carefully cultivating over a period of several weeks now, since it was impossible to take her back to his wagon.
"You might have told me." She looked at him critically, feeling rather guilty that she had been caught with such ulterior motives.
"Are you crazy darlin'?" Vin drawled as he rolled onto his back with a satisfied groan. "I was having too much fun having you trying to break it to me gently." There was no mistaking the look of mischief in his eyes as he did that.
"Very funny." Alex retorted and promptly hit him with a pillow.