Annabelle Weston (9 page)

Alvin hauled a peashooter out from under the bar.

“
Put that thing away,” Jed told him.

She faced him toe to toe. “There’s only one way you’re going to get me out of here.”

She posed a challenge Jed couldn’t walk away from. He picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder.

She flailed at him with her fists. “Let go of me you two-bit lawman. Your tin badge don’t count for squat in the Lonesome.”

“
You quit hitting me or I’ll put a pair of cuffs on you.”

“
You wouldn’t dare.”

“
Won’t I?”

“
Somebody help me,” she wailed. Her pleas only met more laughter.

Jed quelled any rebellion with narrowed eyes and a snarl on his lips. He kicked the doors open and carried her like a sack of grain out onto the dark boardwalk. As the doors swung behind him, he shifted her weight. Drunk and half asleep, she’d taken no effort at all to carry up a flight of steps but with her wiggling and fussing it took some doing. He held her feet securely, making sure she couldn’t kick him in his privates.

She landed a blow to the small of his back.

“
Stop that,” he said.

“
Are you going to let me down?”

“
I don’t reckon I will.” He headed for the sheriff’s office.

The two deputies had lit a lantern and were playing checkers. When they saw him and his cargo, they stood up abruptly, sending checkers rolling to the floor.

“
Not exactly the way a lady likes to be carted around,” she sputtered when
he set her down.

Both boys gazed at her wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. They showed more than a healthy interest in the saloon dolly, especially with plenty of petticoat showing.

Their mothers would have Jed’s hide when they found out.

“
You boys go on home,” Jed said. “I’ll be watching over this prisoner for the rest of the night.”

“
Yes sir.” They made no move to leave.

“
Evening, ma’am.” The Finney boy’s voice wobbled. Carly favored him and Sam with a smile.

Carly raised her hand to Jed but he caught her wrist before she could strike. She yelped as if hurt and glared fire and retribution.

“
Do as I say,” he told the boys.

They grabbed their hats and skedaddled.

Jed turned his attention to his prisoner. She’d calmed down considerably and her wrists went limp.

“
So you showed me what a big, strong man you are. Now you can let me go.”

“
I will if you behave.” He was as good as his word.

She rubbed her wrists. “I suppose you expect me to pay a fine for breaking your curfew.”

“
That’s for a judge to decide.”

“
When will the judge be here?”

“
Don’t rightly know. In the meantime, you’re the guest of the good people of Tucson.” He opened the desk drawer and took out the key he’d found still in the lock after the Crosby gang broke out their men.

She stomped her foot. “I’m not going into that cell.”

“
I say you are.”

Her expression softened and she reached for the top button of his shirt. “I can make it worth your while to let me go.”

Jed was tempted. Boy howdy, was he tempted. Duty came first. He wouldn’t be worth spit as a lawman if he let Carly get to him.

“
Turn around,” he said.

“
Why Sheriff, what do you have in mind?”

“
Just do as I say.”

With a heaving sigh that gave him an eyeful of bosom, she did as he asked.

* * * * *

Carly hadn’t realized how late it was until Jed arrived. The Lonesome did get rowdy about this time of night—a fact the sheriff would soon come to understand.

He was out of line arresting her. Sure, he was angry about her not submitting to his curfew and now he was setting an example by locking her up like some criminal. To hell with his rules, she was a woman who knew how to make a man change his mind. And she would use that to her advantage.

He walked behind her, holding her elbow. She’d no intention of going in that cell—at least not alone.

Her instincts for survival were strong. She dropped her shoulder. The strap of her gown slid down her arm. She made no effort to pull it back.

“
Too bad those prisoners aren’t here, we’d put on a show for you, lawman.”

Did Jed just growl? The low feral sound deep in his throat was most certainly a growl.

“
I don’t need a show, Carly.” His voice was gritty.

She laughed. Sounded to her like he didn’t want her to be with another man. Well, he was the one who’d arrested her instead of letting her off easy. She’d make him beg. She deserved a little revenge after he’d carted her away in such an uncivilized fashion.

“
Are you carrying your
pistola
?” he asked.

“
You’ll have to find out yourself,” she replied. She inched up her skirts and petticoats to show him exactly what she had under them.

Jed’s grip on her elbow tightened and she stepped backward so her back pressed against his chest. His hot breath caressed her ear. His lips brushed her neck as he inhaled deeply. Wasn’t it a shame, she mused, he’d lost interest in finding her weapon, or perhaps he’d forgotten?

Her skin prickled. Dammit, but she wished he’d give in and kiss her. “I tell you what, Sheriff, I’ll make you a proposition.”

“
You’ll do as I say.”

“
Oh, I intend to go into the cell but I’d like some company.” Her hands rubbed against his thigh…so close to his cock. Using her fingers she inched closer to his crotch. He didn’t resist until she reached his bulge.

Jed grabbed hold of her wrist. “Don’t go there, darlin’.”

Taking the sheriff to heaven was going to be so easy. “Where should I go instead?”

He grumbled a string of oaths.

“
Normally I charge for my services as you well know. Tonight I’ll make an exemption.”

“
You can’t buy your freedom by tempting me.” There was no conviction in his voice.

She pressed her ass against his cock. He sucked in his breath.

Carly pulled out of his grasp and leaned against him. He licked the shell of her ear. She turned her head to the side hoping he’d press his lips to the pulse in her neck that beat like the wings of a hummingbird.

He obliged, his lips nibbling at the sensitive skin.

Carly pulled him into the cell and shut the door behind them. She saw the handcuffs, one cuff attached to the iron rail of the cell, and she had an idea. She faced him. There could be no mistaking her intent.

“
Sit down.”

He sat. The corn-husk mattress crackled. He let out a long breath. “What are you going to do?”

“
You’ll see.”

Jed rubbed the back of his neck. She’d aroused him and he was fighting his need. She claimed his hand, caressed the calloused skin, then slapped on half of the handcuffs secured to the bed. It clicked around his wrist.

“
What are you doing?” he asked, rearing back, but he didn’t get very far.

“
I’ve taken you as my prisoner.” She removed the key and held it for him to see.

His color deepened. “Give me the key, woman.”

She tossed the key through the bars.

Jed shot to his feet and shook the cuff. It rattled against the bar. He let out a roar—like a caged animal.

“
Now Sheriff, you know better than to think you can escape.”

There was something extremely exhilarating about seeing him cuffed. Carly found her body reacting. Her nipples hardened and her sex grew damp. The same tingling pull in her womb happened as it had when she’d been in the jailhouse before. A reaction she’d now come to realize was her own need…a craving for this man to be inside her.

“
Are you going to join me?” she asked in sultry tones. She patted the mattress. “Or stand there like a wounded coyote?”

Jed stared at her as if she’d spoken another language.

She hadn’t thought he’d need any more persuading but she gripped her skirts and slowly slid the satin over her legs, her thighs, until they were bunched at her waist. She spread her thighs open, giving Jed a full view of her damp curls.

His stare didn’t waver.

“
Come on, lawman. You know you want me.”

His eyes darkened, his lids growing heavy. He didn’t speak but he did reach out, his fingers trailing deliciously over her knee and her inner thigh. He cupped her sex, a finger swiping over her slit. She let out a groan of pleasure. She wasn’t faking as she normally did with a man. Jed made her hot, so fucking hot she wanted to scream.

Jed pushed a finger inside her wet cunny. She lifted her buttocks, wanting more of him inside her.

“
Yes,” she purred.

Jed knelt in front of the cot. The chain to the cuffs was only a foot or so long but she would make this work. She wiggled to the edge.

While his fingers played with her sex, his lips trailed over the bare flesh of her breasts. He yanked her gown down, exposing her corset. He fumbled with the laces until the corset came apart, revealing turgid nipples. She arched her back, inviting—begging—him to take one into his mouth. He slid his tongue around the rim, circling again and again in exquisite torture before pulling the nipple into his mouth. A quick suck sent her into scandalous ecstasy.

She reached for the buttons on his britches but he batted her hand away. What was he doing? Then she understood.

Surprisingly, a man had never sought her pleasure before he took his. She was at odds with herself. At odds with her body’s reaction and the fact that she was not in charge of this seduction—and that she didn’t want him to stop.

She threaded her fingers through his hair, gripping him tight. Her body was on fire, consuming her with relentless fury. She pulled him off her breast.

“
Kiss me, Jed.”

His intense scrutiny, filled with need and something deeper, about tore her apart. He nodded and then claimed her mouth, thrusting his tongue deep, tasting every bit of her. Carly bucked against his hand as he plunged yet another finger into her cunny, stretching her. Her entire body reached for release, strived for it, and they’d barely just begun.

She moaned against his lips, ground her sex against his hand and Jed groaned in response.

He tore his mouth from hers, and his fingers from her cunny. She felt empty and cold. Her limbs shook for more of his expert touch. Need desperately took hold of her.

“
Don’t stop now,” she said, her voice but a whisper.

“
I promised you pleasure, Carly.”

“
What are you going to do to me?” she asked, the desire quaking in her voice.

“
Everything…” he drawled.

He knelt between her thighs, breathing hotly on her cunny. With his thumbs he pushed her nether lips apart and flicked his tongue over her cunny.

“
Oh,” Carly shouted. No man had ever licked her there before. Dear lord, it was…glorious. She wrenched her limbs, realizing his weight kept them imprisoned.

“
Oh, yes,” Jed mumbled against her flesh. He sucked her clit between his lips, flicking his tongue, swirling it furiously over the inflamed flesh.

Carly shrieked again. So this was pleasure. Her head rolled from side to side and her breathing was ragged. He licked, he sucked, he flicked his tongue over her until she was writhing, her body screaming to be released.

“
You want to come, don’t you?” The vibrations of his voice, his hot breath were just an added sensation to her straining clit.

She drew in a breath. “Yes!”

He chuckled and moved away from her. Sitting on the bed, she watched as he disrobed as best he could with one hand cuffed to the bed frame. God, his body was exquisite. She’d never seen a man as solid as he was. Broad shoulders, rippling with muscles. His chest was perfectly sculpted. His stomach ridged with strength. A light sprinkling of hair trailed from his perfectly circular navel down to… Her attention centered on his straining cock. Long, curving slightly to the right. A thick vein ran up the velvety center.

She fondled his cock and moistened her lips, wanting urgently to feast on him as he had on her. He pressed his cock to her lips and she eagerly opened her mouth, licking the drop of pre-cum from the tip.

“
God, your mouth is so hot, so soft,” he murmured. He guided his cock further farther into her mouth, rocking as she sucked.

Her lips stretched wide as she took him in, breathing in his musky male scent. Her gaze traveled up his torso to his inviting mouth. His head had fallen back, lips straining against his teeth, lids closed. Her cunny fluttered with erotic fantasies as she watched him. She’d never wanted to suck a man’s cock like she did right now. She’d never enjoyed it so much.

Her reaction surprised her. She wanted him to touch her again. Wanted his cock

thrusting inside her.

Jed hissed behind his teeth. “Oh God, Carly…” He pulled his cock from her mouth with an audible pop. “I’ve never had my cock sucked like that.”

She smiled. “Let me finish.”

He shook his head, a sexy smile covering his lips. “Oh, no. I want to fuck you too.”

Her mouth fell open on a breath, anticipation zinging through her like fireworks. He crawled between her thighs.

“
I’m going to fuck you now.”

“
Yes, fuck me.” Her voice came out raspy.

With an arm on either side of her, holding her captive, he bent low to kiss her, his tongue slick with her juices. He pressed his cock against her cunny but he did not enter her. He toyed with her, rocking against her, and she could do nothing but respond with cries of anguish. She couldn’t rake her nails down his back. She couldn’t lift her legs around his hips. She couldn’t grip his ass. She couldn’t even grip his cock and guide it inside her. She had to take his torture. Wait for him to decide when it was time to make their bodies one.