Romance: Luther's Property (18 page)

Betsy stands on the front step. Her dark hair is quite
disheveled and her eyes shift about nervously.

“Betsy?” I step back and invite her inside. She looks around
suspiciously before stepping in and waiting for me to shut the door behind her.
“What’s going on?”

“Sara-May, I heard from the dressmaker in town that Jim was
in jail. She told me that there’s a rumor going around that it wasn’t Jim, but
his brother John who committed those crimes.” I shake my head.

“How can a rumor be going around when he was only taken to
jail a few hours ago?” I ask her.

“Talk moves fast in this town.” She says. “But, I had a look
around your father’s office when I got home and I found a letter from the
sheriff in Butte. He wrote that he is sure he saw the suspect of the robberies
in town there not a couple of weeks ago. They haven’t had a robbery yet though
so there’s a chance he might still be there if what Jim is saying is true…”

“Wait…my father had this letter and threw Jim in jail
anyway? Why would he do that?” I can’t believe that my father would do such a
thing unless he was really trying to keep Jim and me apart. I had proposed it
as a theory to Betsy before, but I hadn’t actually believed it. My father
wasn’t that type of man…at least, he hadn’t been until now.

Betsy grabs my upper arms with her hands and looks at me
sternly. “I can’t tell you why he did it, Sara-May. I’m sure he had good
reason. But if you want to prove him wrong and if anyone is going to prove
Jim’s innocence it’s going to have to be you. You’re going to have to go to
Butte.” The idea of traveling anywhere alone is terrifying, but Betsy is right.
I’m the only one who can do this.

“What about Sam?” I ask.

“I’ll take care of him tonight. I’ll tell your father that
you needed to rest and I’ll take Sam back to the house with me.” I agree. I
can’t very well take him with me on a night ride to Butte.
 
“I’ll get one of your father’s horses saddled
up for you in the stables. You get yourself ready and come to the house with
Sam when you are. But hurry, there isn’t much time until your father gets
home.”

I don’t need much to get ready, and no more than thirty
minutes after Betsy has left, I am trekking the same path to my father’s house.
When I get there I find her waiting to take Sam and one of the stable boys
holding the reigns to a large black horse. I hand over Sam and take a deep
breath before lifting myself on to the back of the gigantic creature. It huffs
loudly through its nose when I settle in the saddle and I pat its neck firmly.

“Hush, girl.” She seems to listen as I turn her to face the
road out of town. I call back to Betsy. “I’ll be back by morning!” And she
lifts her hand in a wave.

I’ve never been to Butte. In fact, I’ve never been anywhere
else other than our small town in Montana. I know the way though from the
number of men who ride in to town from that direction. Mostly gold prospectors
and miners, but they always came from the west. Now I just have to hope that
they have a signpost so that I know when I get there. And once I get there,
it’s just going to be a matter of finding a man who looks exactly like my
husband to be. How hard could that be?

By the time I dismount from my horse, I can already feel the
blisters growing on my backside. At least there had been a big wooden signpost
for Butte though. I had expected the town to be much bigger, but when I got
there it looked no bigger than home. Their main street was almost identical to
our own and even the people looked similar.

The sun would be going down soon. Tying my father’s horse to
a large wooden post outside the saloon, I decide to start my search there. I
don’t know much about criminals, but I can only assume that they would spend
their time in local saloons with other ne’er do wells.

“Hey pretty lady!” I whip my head around and see a dirty
faced man staring at me.

“Hello.” I say nothing else for fear of inviting
interaction, but he seems to take my greeting as an invitation anyway.

“What’s a nice girl like you doin’ in a place like this?” He
asks. I glance at the saloon door just feet away.

“Looking for someone actually.” I try to sound confident,
but I’m pretty sure he’s not going to buy it.

“Oh really? Any particular someone?” He asks as he takes a
stumbling step forward.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, John Carson.” As soon as I say
John’s name, the man’s eyes grow wider than two dinner plates and he starts to
walk backwards.

“Forgive me ma’am, I didn’t know…” He trips over his own
feet and begins crawling away in a cloud of brown dust.

“Whatcha lookin’ for Carson for?” The voice comes from the
doors of the saloon. I turn around and see a rather tall man with a dark black
moustache.

“Family business.” I manage to say. How I wish Jim had
accompanied me here.

“Whose family is that then?” The man says.

“His own.” I say bravely. Squaring my shoulders I take a
step closer to the saloon door.

“Hmm…” The man eyes me up and down and then jerks his head
towards the swinging doors. “You better go inside then.”

The inside of the saloon was smoky and looking around the
room quickly I notice that all of the men appear to look the same. Each one has
a thick moustache and wears a western hat. I scan the room once more and then I
see him. There, sitting at a poker table with a stack of chips as high as his
head, is the spitting image of Jim.

“Hey Carson!” The man from outside the bar comes back in.
“You got a lady caller.” The men in the bar begin to whoop and holler and I can
feel my cheeks getting hot. “Says she’s here about family.” Suddenly the
whooping and hollering stops and all heads bow down to focus on their beer
mugs. All except one.

“Is that so?” His voice sounds just like Jims. “I’m afraid I
don’t know you.” He says, glaring at me with those two big brown eyes.

“But I know your brother.” I manage to say, my voice only
slightly wavering.

“Hmph.” He grunts and stands up from the table with a
warning glance at his fellow players. They all hold their hands up and back
away from the table. “You better come with me.”

I follow John hesitantly in to a small back room. It looks
like the kind of place that might once have been host to a stage show. John
sits down at a table in the darkest corner of the room. I follow and sit across
from him. I can barely hide my terror as my hands shake.

“So…” He leans across the table. “You know my brother?” He
asks. I nod my head.

“Yes. We are…were to be married. We have a child.” I feel
him looking at me, leering at me.

“And what’s that gotta do with me? Don’t tell me you want me
at the wedding!” He laughs and I feel myself getting angry. I wonder if this is
why Jim never talked about him.

“No, we don’t.” I say flatly. “But I want you to go to
jail.” I say. “Jim is in jail for the bank robberies you committed. My father,
he’s the sheriff and he thinks that Jim is a no good bank robber.”

“Hmph, well that is a little bit of a predicament isn’t it?”
He says, reaching up and picking at his teeth.

“I’d say it’s more than a predicament. As long as he’s in
jail he can’t provide for me or our son.” John doesn’t seem fazed by anything
that I’m saying. I try a new approach. “He’s tried telling them that it wasn’t
him, that it was you.”

“And?” He smirks at me.

“And no one but me believed him.” I’m getting nowhere.

“Well, that’s a shame.” He says standing up from the table
and jerking his head from side to side. The loud cracking noise from his neck
is sickening.

“Where are you going?” I ask.

“I think we’re done here.” He says, as he begins walking
back to the main saloon hall.

“Wait!” I plead. He turns around and looks at me.

“What?” He snarls.

“What will it take? What will it take for you to turn
yourself in so Jim and I can take care of our family?” I can’t help but beg. He
shakes his head and turns away. “I’ll do anything, John.” He pauses and then
walks back to the table. He leans over me and I smell the cigarette smoke on his
breath.

“Anything?” He asks, his voice growling and low. I nod my
head.

“Anything.”

John slams the door of the room shut behind us. As he walks
forward, each step he takes pushes me backward until the side of the bed hits
the back of my knees. My heart is racing and I can hear the blood thundering
through my ears. He looks so much like Jim as he comes towards me.

“Take it all off.” He says roughly, stopping just inches
from me. My hands still shaking, I unlace the top of my blouse and pull it up
over my head. His eyes fixate on the pointed white bra covering my breasts. I
hear his breathing coming loudly. “Faster!” He says. And I reach behind me and
unhook my brassiere. As I slide it over my shoulders and let it drop to the
floor, John moves in.

His huge hands grasp my breasts, squeezing them hard and
pinching my large round nipples. When a small bead of milk appears on my nipple
he looks at me hungrily before leaning down and licking it.

“Mmm.” He grunts. Then he hooks his fingers under the waistband
of my skirt. Quickly he pulls it down along with my underthings and then, there
I am. I stand before him, naked. He stands across from me, staring. His tongue
slides from between his lips, running over their plump pinkness. Then he
reaches down and pulls off his shirt. I can’t help but notice that even the
small patch of hair on his chest is identical to Jim’s. My body reacts. I want
him. I want him to touch me. I want him inside me like Jim had been on his bed
during our first time together.

As John stands before me wearing just his britches, I get
down on my knees. I can hear his steady breathing as I unbutton his fly. My
thick fingers reach inside, grabbing for his fullness. This time I hear him
gasp. I wrap my fingers around his shaft and ease him out in front of me. I
feel his eyes on me as I hold his cock in my hand. I lean closer. Close enough
to touch him with my mouth. I stick out my tongue slightly and slide it over
the tip of his cock.

“Ah!” He jerks back at the touch. Then sucking in a long
gasping breath, he thrusts forward, sliding his cock between my lips. My mouth
feels so full with him inside it and I automatically begin to suck. He starts
to moan, a deep and satisfying moan and it spurs me on to suck him more. He
tastes so salty and sweet in my mouth. I feel his hands going to the back of my
head, pushing me gently forward. I feel him hit the back of my throat and I
pull back, but he thrusts forward with another grunt. The game continues until
he pulls back. “STOP!”

I look up at him from the floor.

“Get up.” I do as he asks. “Get on the bed on your hands and
knees.” I have never done anything like this with Jim before. I do as he asks.
I had, after all, agreed to do anything it takes to get Jim freed. I feel
strange with my big breasts hanging down underneath me and my buttocks in the
air.

I feel the bed dip as John gets on. He straddles my legs and
I feel him close behind me. Then, out of nowhere, I feel a hard slap across my
buttocks. I squeal.

“Ow!” I say. He lets out a loud sigh of relief. The stinging
sensation spreads over my buttock. Seconds later, his hand strikes my buttock
again, only this time the sensation not only hurt, but it also felt exciting.
“Ah!” I gasp. His hands grab handfuls of my buttock flesh. He molds my skin
with his hands, pressing upward and forcing my buttocks apart.

“Mmm.” He hums from behind me. Then there is silence and
stillness. I wait. His hands readjust on my buttocks, holding them apart. I
feel his cock pushing against my opening. That glorious wetness is there again
and it eases his length deep inside me effortlessly. “Ah!” He says, as he
reaches his hilt. He has me filled both wide and deep and I can barely move as
the pleasure within begins to take over. “Do you like it?” John asks.

“Uh huh…” Is all I can say. He pulls backwards until his
cock almost slips out and then he thrusts forward hard. My breasts jolt in
front of me and my wetness gets tighter around him. “Ohhhh!” I coo. I can’t
believe that I’ve never done this with Jim!

John lets go of my buttocks and leans over my back. His
hands cup underneath me, each one teasing one of my nipples as he is buried
inside me completely. Then as he jerks in short sharp thrusts, his fingers
pinch my nipples. My breast milk dribbles over his fingers as he pulls me to
him.

“AH!” He slides his hands down to my waist and begins
thrusting faster. As he does, I feel his warm skin slapping against mine. My
fingers grip the blanket on the bed and my back begins to arch.

“Oohh!” I cry out and he starts to thrust faster, his deep
strokes hitting the very best parts of me. Then I feel it coming. My ecstasy.
He must feel it too because his hands pull me close to him and then his short
strokes lift me to my pleasure. My body stiffens against him and seconds later
I hear my own voice crying out. “Oh yes! Oh God, yes!”

“Ungh!” Is his reply as his body stiffens against mine. My
muscles stroking him to his own climax. His fingers grip me harder, almost
certainly leaving bruises. “Ungh!” He thrusts again. I feel his warm liquid
spilling in to me. Again and again he jerks inside me, until he has nothing
left to give.

For a moment we both still, him on his knees and me on mine.
The only sound in the room is our fast paced breath. I unfurl my fingers from
the bedclothes and slowly lean forward. John pulls back. Finally he eases his
grip on my sides and I feel a rush of relief. He collapses on to the bed beside
me and in this moment I can’t help but see just how much he looks like Jim. I
smile at him softly and for the first time, he smiles back at me without
malice.