The Marshal's Little Girl (12 page)

“Oh, yeah. We know about him. And we know he’s over at the U.S. marshal’s office right now, trying to convince them that you didn’t act alone. Of course, by the time he comes back here and finds you gone, and the innkeeper carrying on about how this innocent-looking girl robbed the place with the help of a couple of men, he’s going to feel like the idiot he is.” Simon chuckled. “Of course, they’ll eventually take you in. Not alive, unfortunately. Halfway out of town you’ll break your pretty neck on a fall from your horse. Your cohorts will have escaped.” He sighed. “He’ll probably lose his job for incompetence.”

Simon smiled as he held up the doll. “But at least he’ll have this to remember you by.” He stared at the doll again. “Hmm… kind of looks like you, Wilhelmina.” He tossed the doll aside and was suddenly on the bed, his lean, muscular body pressing hers into the soft mattress. He cupped her chin in his hand so she had no choice but to look into his cruel, dark eyes.

“What did you think, Wilhelmina? Did you really think I’d just let another man take what I’d selected? Trained?” He pushed his hand under her skirts and she closed her eyes against the invasion. “You know I’ve always told you I was going to be your first and last. Or else you’d pay. Do you remember that?” When she didn’t answer, he slapped her. “Do you remember that?”

Billy knew she had to think fast. He was going to kill her. It wasn’t speculation anymore, and if she didn’t play her cards right, he might kill Gage, too, although if Simon pulled it off and made Gage think she’d been playing him all along, he may just die from the pain of a broken heart. The man had proposed to her. He loved her.

Think, Billy! Think!

She dragged her gaze up to Simon’s. “How can you be so stupid, Simon?” she asked, letting the tears well in eyes she allowed to go soft with contrived innocence and hurt. “What was I supposed to do? Let him know what happened? Do you think for one minute I forgot who my teacher was? You trained me, Simon. You trained me to be the best. I almost pulled it off. And yes…” Her chin began to wobble. “I failed. But it wasn’t because I wanted to. And I’ve only cooperated with him because I know how easily distracted men like him can be. Simple men. You always said you’d never met a smart lawman, or an honest one. And you were right. So if you want to kill me, then kill me. But at least give me the satisfaction of going through with your plan. My only regret is that I won’t be able to see Gage Chandler’s face when he finds out I got away.” She pressed her breasts against him as she spoke, hiding her revulsion. She knew he loved her small tits with the long nipples.

Simon looked down at her, and she could see the first glimmers of doubt in his eyes. He still cupped her chin in his hand and now brought his mouth down to hers. Billy forced herself to return his kiss with convincing passion, praying that he would not delve between her legs to search for wetness that wasn’t there, not that it mattered. Many a night she’d bitten the pillow when he dry-fucked her. She always thought he got off on hurting her; that was just how Simon was.

“Keep this up and I might just let you live,” he said.

“I love you, Uncle Simon.” She felt herself nearly choke on the words, feeling as if she were betraying Gage by even saying them. But she had to, if she was going to save her own life. And his.

“That’s better,” he said. “But know this: When I get you back, I’m going to stuff your ass until you scream. And then I’m going to beat it until you scream some more. Hell, I might even sit back and let Dirk take a razor strop to you while I watch…Yeah… I’d like that, watching you scream and beg, bent naked over a hay bale in the barn. And if you’re real good to me afterwards, and take my cock in your mouth, then maybe I’ll let you stick around a little longer, hmmm?”

She nodded, even though his words turned her blood cold with fear. “Anything to make you love me again, Uncle Simon.”

“Yeah,” he said slowly, and stood up, raising her from the bed. “Truth be told, I’d love to fuck you right now. But we’ve got an inn to rob.”

Simon had two guns. He held one out to her, and she tried not to be too eager as she reached for it. But he pulled it back at the last minute with a laugh. “Hold on. I’m not about to hand you a loaded gun. You haven’t earned that.” He laughed as he opened the chamber and dropped the rounds into his hand. Then, flicking it closed, he handed her the empty pistol.

“There you go,” he said, turning away. “Now you have the gun, but can’t hurt anybody since…”

There was a thud as he hit the floor.

“That’s what you think.” Billy looked at the prone body of the man she’d just hit with the butt of the pistol. There was a spot of blood on his temple, and a bruise was already blooming around it. She wondered if he was dead and decided that she didn’t care. Then she decided she hoped he was alive, and was relieved when she realized he was breathing. Even if Simon was planning to kill her, there was no way to prove it. And she didn’t want to hang.

Running to the wardrobe, she flung it open and looked inside. Gage had several ties, which she now used to bind the unconscious Simon. She bound the ties unnecessarily tight, remembering all the times he’d bound her to the bed in a manner that left her wrists bruised and sore for days. After also securing his ankles, she stuffed a third tie in his mouth and tied a fourth tie across it.

“There,” she said, and began to plan her next step. Kneeling down, she fished the bullets for the pistol from Simon’s pocket, and took his gun, too, for good measure. Then she crept to the window, scanning the streets below for his henchmen, especially Dirk.

She dared not risk going out of the building, so she quietly straightened her clothing, put the gun in a velvet handbag and walked from the room, scanning the halls until she came upon a maid, probably the one Simon had gotten to leave the tray by the door.

“You,” she said, calling urgently to the girl. When the maid approached, Billy pressed a coin into her hand. The girl’s eyes widened. It was probably more than she made in a week. “I need you to run to the U.S. marshal’s office. Do you know where it is?” The girl nodded. “There’s another coin in it for you if you bring back the man called Gage Chandler. Tell him that Billy needs him.” She paused. “Tell him to be careful, and to bring backup. You be careful, too. Walk. Don’t run. Don’t draw attention to yourself.”

The girl did not need to be told twice. She practically shot down a back staircase but obeyed Billy’s orders and walked briskly until she was out of sight.

And now Billy waited for what seemed like forever, scanning the streets through the lace curtains, looking for her tall, handsome, square-jawed lawman. Her heart did a little twist when he came around the corner. Billy could tell he was playing it safe. He only casually glanced toward the inn as he walked, keeping his main focus on his surroundings. He kept to the boarded sidewalks of the town, allowing the opportunity to duck inside quickly should he need to.

Then she heard footsteps on the back stairs and drew her gun, unsure of just what to expect.

When Gage kicked the door open, gun drawn, she had hers at the ready, in case it wasn’t him. They stood there for a moment, weapons pointed at one another, until Gage lowered his.

“Christ,” he said, his voice cracking. He covered the distance between them, scooping her up in his arms and into a hug. Then he glanced over, obviously noticing the prone man on the floor, who was starting to moan behind his gag.

Gage released Billy and was about to walk over to Simon when a huge form filled the doorway. The sound of a hammer clicking echoed throughout the room.

“Hands up.” Dirk’s voice was a snarl as he trained his gun on Gage. His eyes darted past Gage to where Simon was lying on the floor and then to Billy, as if trying to stupidly process what had happened. Billy, her eyes wide with fear, backed away.

“We’ve got you now, you bitch,” he said. “Simon’s been talking of nothing but settling with you.” He moved his gaze back to Gage. “And we weren’t plannin’ to kill no marshals. But if that’s what it takes to keep from dangling from a rope, then…”

He raised the gun and the sound of a blast filled the room. But it wasn’t Gage who fell. Dirk hit the floor with a scream, clutching his shattered thigh bone. As he writhed on the floor, Gage leapt forward and kicked the gun out of his hand. There was a commotion downstairs as whatever henchmen had accompanied Dirk were dispatched by the other marshals. Someone screamed and more shots were fired. The sound of footsteps filled the stairwell and two more marshals burst into the room. Gage instantly put himself between them and Billy.

“Lower your gun, Billy!” he called over his shoulder, and she instantly obeyed.

The next few moments passed in a dizzying swirl. His boss, Jake Ferguson, arrived and—already having gotten a story that Billy later learned he wasn’t ready to believe—began to realize that Wilhelmina James had just been the pawn of a powerful man. Saddlebags on horses found just outside of town contained money and even a layout of McLean, as well as telegrams passed between spies along the away and one Eddy Simon, which was the true identity of the man Billy had known for years as Simon Holloway. There was even a three-word telegram dated the day of the bank transfer. “Money picked up,” it said.

“I’m sorry I doubted you, Gage,” Jake Ferguson said. “Here I was thinking this was just a tall tale you were spinning to save a pretty girl from the gallows for bank robbery.” He took off his hat and rubbed his forehead. “If there’s any way I can make it up to you.”

“Actually there is,” Gage said, looking down at the bound man, who was now alert enough to have the good sense to be afraid. “I’d like to have a word alone with Mr. Simon.”

A few moments later, several burly marshals were carrying a moaning Dirk not-so-carefully down the stairs as another stood with Billy outside the closed door to the room. From inside came Gage’s low voice, followed by muffled cries and thuds.

“I’m guessing Marshal Chandler is a friend of yours?” The other marshal was looking curiously at Billy. From inside the room came the sound of a fist hitting someone’s face and a muffled moan.

“Something like that,” Billy said, aware that her girlish dress must raise questions. But apparently, Gage had explained the situation to their boss, and he’d been satisfied.

A few moments later, Gage emerged, wiping blood off his knuckles with a handkerchief. “He’s all yours, Jay,” he said to the other marshal, who walked in and hauled Simon out, stopping long enough in the doorway for Billy to see the mess her fiancé had made of Simon’s smug face.

“You really are a terrible person,” she said as Simon regarded her through the one eye not swollen shut.

“So, do I look good enough to go?” Gage was asking her, dragging her attention away from the man who would hang just weeks later.

“Go where?” She turned her attention to the man she loved.

“To the justice of the peace.” He pulled her to him. “Look, Billy. I know girls dream of fancy weddings and white dresses and cakes. And I promise, we can have all that later, anywhere you want. But I don’t want to wait. I want to make it official now, this very minute. I almost lost you, baby. I’m not letting that happen again.”

She threw her arms around his neck. “I’m ready,” she said, and then she let him go. “But we’ll need a witness. Wait here.” She ran back inside the room and emerged a moment later with her dolly in tow. “Think she’ll do?”

He laughed. “I think she’ll do just fine.”

Chapter Sixteen

She was the perfect combination of innocence and sensuality. No wonder his cock was hard as a fence post as he approached her. Gage pulled on its length as he eyed her. Billy, lying on the bed in a short little shift that barely covered her ass, licked her lips as he approached.

“To everyone else, you’re my wife. But who are you to me?” he growled.

“I’m your little one. I’m your Billy.”

“And who do these belong to?” Gage climbed on the bed and cupped her small but perfect breasts through the thin fabric of the shift, circling the nipples with his calloused thumbs.

“Only you,” she said.

“And who does this belong to?” He slipped his hand between her legs. “Who does this sweet, wet pussy belong to?”

She whimpered her reply. “It belongs to you.”

“That’s right. It’s mine to fuck and nibble and lick and even strap if you ever disobey.” His words were greeted with an increased tribute of moisture. He moved his finger lower, to her recently plugged ass. He twisted the flange, pulling the plug slightly out before pushing it back in.

“Who does this ass belong to?”

“It’s yours. Only yours.” She breathed the words rather than said them, her body trembling with desire as she spoke.

“That’s right. And if I want to spank you raw or fuck you there or even stick my tongue inside you…” she moaned at this, “…then you aren’t going to stop me, are you?”

Now she did look at him. “Oh, papa. I couldn’t stop you even if I wanted to. But I wouldn’t want to.”

“Damn, but you’re sweet as honey,” he said, and sat her up, lifting the shift from her body and tossing it aside. It would be the last time she’d wear clothes for the next forty-eight hours.

Gage stood and grabbed Billy by her hips, pulling her down until her bottom was resting on the edge of the bed. Kneeling between her legs, he gazed at her pussy, at the dewy petal-like inner labia peeking through the plump lips. He ran his tongue up the seam, stroking the velvety folds and stopping to apply pressure and then swirl around the clit, his persistent attention coaxing it from the hood. When he emerged, he captured it in his mouth, alternately sucking and gently worrying it with his teeth. Her hips rose from the bed, offering herself to him, and he plunged two fingers into her slick passage, working them back and forth as he continued to lave her with his tongue. Short seconds later, her pussy pulsed rhythmically on his fingers, and he lapped away the remaining cream from her silken folds before moving up to kiss her deeply on the mouth.

“I love you,” she said into his hair. “If I had only known how it could be, I’d have never run that first time.”