Both of the dining companions pushed away their plates cleaned of the cherry cobbler that Matt had baked, and she complimented him on his cooking and baking abilities. Matt shrugged. “I pretty much had to learn after my wife passed on. Turns out I had a knack for it that I never knew,” he admitted. “I do draw the line at mending though, McKenna. Cooking and cleaning is one thing, but I’m a menace with a needle and thread.”
She couldn’t help but to laugh and tell him she was sewing challenged as well, but remarkably her brother was aces when it came to the matter, having stitched up their clothing on numerous occasions when it had taken a beating during their various escapades policing the lands west of the Mississippi.
Matt seemed to go still for a moment before he fixed his gaze on her. She could see he was unsure of whether he should continue talking, but, in the end, he appeared to take the bull by the horns.
“Despite whatever I can or cannot do when it comes to the domestic, I surely do miss the company of a woman. That’s why I’m happier than a bee in honey to have your company tonight. You are a most beautiful woman McKenna.”
CHAPTER 36
It felt like forever before McKenna responded to his words and through the silence, Matt thought about the risks of suggesting to her that he wanted to become intimate. He had indeed missed a woman's company and the thrill of a woman's touch. In the wee hours of many a night, he had longed to experience both of which he had missed ever since his wife died. Even after all this time, he still couldn't put himself to thinking about her without letting a tear slide down his cheek from sadness.
Rather than be led down that trail of sorrow once more, he concentrated on McKenna, compelled by the fire in her hazel eyes. The woman was an absolute beauty with her glinting brown hair, thin, supple lips, and curvaceous body. The dress she wore had a way of revealing her smooth shoulders and the softness of her thighs while she sat. Lost in the thought of her beauty, she smiled up at him, and his heart missed a beat.
“Matt,” she started, and he nodded, staring at her lips as they moved, “I would like to tell you how happy I am to be here this evening. I’ve looked forward to this all day … and everything being here might bring.”
He had no idea what that meant. Was she glad because she simply enjoyed his company or was there more to it? What if he inched closer and tried to kiss her? Would she think lesser of him?
Whatever thoughts he was struggling with, McKenna seemed to have hers to deal with. He anxiously watched as her eyes trailed the walls of the dining room before settling back on his face. “It’s a beautiful dining room, and I must say you’re coming up aces when it comes to picking art. That landscape of Monument Valley is breathtaking,” she said. “I reckon your bedroom might be home to some even more appealing works of art.”
He blinked twice at her, refraining from being more anxious than he already was. He was right. There was some fire kindling in McKenna, and he watched as it rose to become a burning desire for him as she stood from her seat.
“Show me. Lead the way, Matt,” she insisted.
He was at a loss for words. This beauty had just invited herself into his bedroom, and he was certain it wasn’t really to see more art. He had no idea how far this was going to go, but he really looked forward to finding out if he took the bold woman into the solace of his bedroom. Once he had stood too, he reached for her hand and pulled her towards him. McKenna bit her lip as he stared into her eyes for a while, trying to control the growing urge inside of him. There was a little swell between his thighs and it was enough proof that she had begun to have an effect on him.
“The bedroom,” she whispered again, and he nodded, lifting her off her feet.
She yelped excitedly, and he smiled just at the prospect of her moans echoing through the walls of his boudoir as he lay with her. Once he carried her down the passageway and into his room though, McKenna jumped down from his arms and pointed to his bed. “Lay there and be ready for me, Matt.”
He still wasn’t prepared for her boldness, nor was he prepared for what transpired at the moment. Markham listened to her, though, stepping towards the bed shucking his shirt and trousers. By the time he sat on the bed and turned to look at her, she had begun to slip the straps of her dress down her shoulders, making sure his eyes were glued on her desirable body.
Her skin glistened underneath the dim, lantern light in his room. He stared at her large, melon-sized breasts and felt his throat becoming dry in a second. Markham swallowed hard as her dress slid down her thighs to reveal traces of brown hair disappearing beneath her underwear. Once she began to get the panties out of the way too, he instinctively rubbed his palms over his thighs, trying to calm the full erection he felt between them.
"How long has it really been?" he heard her whisper as she began to take slow, calculated steps towards him, the mounds of her breasts, adorned by her hardened nipples, swaying back and forth.
Markham knew what she wanted to know, and since his voice was long lost to the lust he could feel down his spine, he only heaved a sigh and managed to mutter the words, “Long enough.”
She nodded as if she understood why he was so damn nervous. By the time she stood in front of him, she held his chin with her fingers and then crept lower, so she could kiss him. Her lips were soft and hungry for his. McKenna bit his lower lip passionately, drawing breath from his lungs as her tongue danced with his.
With each passing second of their kiss, she inched lower until she was kneeling in front of him. Afterward, she placed her palm on his chest and pushed him on to his back, lowering herself above him.
"Touch me everywhere, Matt," she whispered into his ear. "It's this girl's intention to do the same with you."
Perhaps it was the firmness of her voice, or maybe it was because of the way her fingers suddenly wrapped around his cock and began a slow, steady stroke, whichever one he happily surrendered to her will. Markham gripped her curvaceous behind, letting his palm graze every bit of flesh it could find. He proceeded upward, reaching between her thighs and finding her warm, sensitive node. "Go on," she breathed into his face and he began slipping two of his fingers in and out of her with a slow, steady pace. God, she was so tight, he couldn't imagine how amazing it was going to feel when…
The heat of their passion drove them both into ever escalating lust. He closed his eyes as she stroked his cock harder, sending shockwaves of pleasure through his entire lower body. He fingered her deeper too, lost in the arousing tune of her moans. Eventually, while her wetness dripped down his fingers and onto her thighs, she snuggled away from him, pulling him by his cock towards her. They were in the middle of the bed soon and she climbed atop him, guiding his cock deep into her wet hole.
"McKenna!" he managed through clenched teeth as the pleasure of her tight honeywell against his member as he thrust nearly drove him wild. He felt unbound pleasure that he had not felt in far too long. His thoughts rippled with desires while his cock jolted harder inside her. While she placed her palms on his chest and began a vicious fast-paced ride. He watched as she threw her head backward, her eyes rolling back and shook her hair as sweat beaded down her forehead. Markham closed his eyes and held on to her waist, urging her on in the best way he could, any thoughts of the troubles plaguing his company so far removed from his mind they may as well have belonged to another man.
He had never been with a woman as fierce as she was before and the jolts he felt in his joints were enough proof. He was close to his climax and she seemed to be aware. McKenna Riker rode him faster, arching her back and leaning towards him so she could whisper into his ear. "You like that, yes? Tell me you like it, Matt."
He nodded, gritting his teeth as he fluttered his eyes open to stare into hers. She wanted everything from him – desire and submission. Gripping her thighs, he finally gave in, yelling the words: “I like it, McKenna. No, I love it!”
“Then you’ll love this too.” She jumped off him before he could climax, and her hand enveloped the base of h
is cock once again. Warmth swept through him as her lips wrapped around his cock, her other hand toying with his swollen balls. She felt her tongue flicking the sensitive area just under its head.
“McKenna!” he breathed, his body quaking as she began bobbing her head up and down, her tongue massaging his length as she went about her business with pleasure.
He had thought it was her moans that would reverberate through the walls of his bedroom, but it was his own groans that he could hear as he detonated inside her mouth. It felt like forever as he was lost in the darkness that overtook him as his body convulsed with the heat of his own orgasm as she continued sucking him with abandon. By the time he finally opened his eyes, McKenna was smiling down at him, as she licked her lips and swallowed. Where had this woman come from! He wondered why he had even hesitated for a moment to allow this to happen. She had shown him it was possible to find pleasure again. In gratitude, he reached out and grabbed her wrist and drew her close. With her body draped over his and her head resting on his rising and falling chest, he fought the urge to count the minutes until he could bury his already hardening cock deep inside this magnificent woman again.
***
It had taken all of her willpower to slip out of Markham's bed after their torrid lovemaking. It would have been so easy to cuddle up next to the man, but she could see his drive was every bit the match for hers. If she stayed over at his house, they would spend the whole night making love. On any ordinary evening that wouldn't be a bad thing, but Mckenna knew she needed rest. She'd already spent the previous night in the throes of passion with Red Horse getting very little in the way of sleep. The lawman in her was telling her that she needed her wits sharp in case an attempt was made on the next shipment to the Cape Girardeau mining company.
They shared a long, passionate kiss on his front porch before she skipped down the steps of the cottage and made her way back the main street. It appeared to be a lively night at the saloon as she saw men and woman coming in and out. A piano player was going full tilt and the sound of merriment over drinks and cards filled the air. Passing by it, she instead headed for the freight office before her planned return to the doctor’s residence.
Arriving at Markham’s business, she made her way down the alleyway that separated the shipping company from the local undertakers. Wryly, she thought the undertaker was also in the business of shipping, but his cargo only headed for one place … the bone orchard. When she arrived at the back of the building, she saw the door she was looking for. Earlier during her ride with Markham after he had arrived in the pass, he had mentioned that Butler lived in a pair of rooms at the back of the business as a perk of being the foreman.
A light burned in the window to the left of the door, and McKenna gave a gentle knock and waited for Butler to open the door. She had expected to hear footsteps but was met only with silence. She tried again, but the door still failed to open. The man had worked hard all day she knew and was likely out sowing his wild oats amidst the other people at the saloon. If he were smart, though, he wouldn't overdo it because he had to drive the wagon tomorrow while she rode along as a de facto guard. Eager to get back to Molly Jane's and get some shut-eye, she resolved to leave him a note giving him an earlier arrival time in the morning than planned so she would have time to go over with him whether all the supplies Pepper Hill needed had come in from Sacramento.
Letting herself in, she immediately swept the room with her eyes looking for something to write on. Under the window where she had seen the light was a small table where the kerosene lantern burned next to a pitcher of water. Pleased, she saw a pad of paper and a pencil, and she slipped into the high-backed chair that accompanied the table. Hanging off the chair was the man’s gun belt. She wasn’t overly fond of the man, but she saw he was smart to leave his gun home if he was indeed at a saloon. Weapons, beer, and potential card sharks always proved to be a volatile mixture in the saloons of the West. Picking up the pencil, she jotted down her note. Once she had scribbled it out, she rose and took a moment to look around.
It was like the dwellings of a lot of single men that she had been in. Housekeeping apparently was a foreign word. The small twin bed was unmade, and a pillow lay on the floor next to it. Through the door to the next room that she saw served as a kitchen area, the sink was loaded up with dishes. Shaking her head, she began to move to the door casually looking down at the heaps of dirty clothes scattered here and there. Pulling the door open, she was just about to step over the threshold when she froze.
McKenna quickly backstepped into the room, snatched the lantern by the handle, and approached one of the mounds of filthy clothing. Dropping down on her knees, she swung the lamp over the pile, illuminating the item that had caught her attention. Her hand reached out, plucking the soft item from where it had lain discarded atop the stack. Turning it over in her hand, her eyes widened as her fingers fell on what she was looking for.
“I’ll be damned.” She said, her voice little more than a whisper.
CHAPTER 37
The following morning, McKenna was starting to believe they were going to make it all the way through the pass without incident, given everything she now had learned and suspected that surprised her. She knew they were nearing the end of the Black Rock as the wagon began to rise up an incline. Recalling from the day before, once they were at the top of it, the trail leveled out became narrow and ran along a deep abyss that cut its way into the bottom of the pass for a quarter mile. After that, the trail began a downward slope again as it made its way out of the pass and into the open countryside that held the fork with one branch veering off to Dalton's Creek and the other heading for the town of Pepper Hill.
When they had left earlier, Butler had apologized for missing her at his home the previous night, confirming he had indeed gone down to the saloon for a shot of whiskey and some poker. The man must have called it an early night as he had appeared to her no worse for the wear. Quickly, he had confirmed that all the shipment to the mine was accounted for, especially the medicine to combat the fever, and there would be no need to delay their departure to scrounge up anything that might be needed.
Markham had called Butler into his office to give him an adjusted bill with the balance due from the Cape Girardeau Company lowered due to the lateness of yesterday's wagon. McKenna had said she would wait outside, wanting to make a final inspection of the wagon, just to make sure that there had been no apparent tampering with this one. Butler had said it wasn't necessary as he had already done the same, but McKenna had insisted. The man simply shrugged and accompanied Markham into the office. Soon after that, they were on their way with Markham wishing them Godspeed.
Reaching the top of the rise and heading out onto the straight away, McKenna sat on the right-hand side of the wagon’s bench and had a bird’s eye view down into the rugged looking gash that ran parallel to their course. During the breadth of their journey, few words had been spoken amongst the pair, so after twenty minutes of silence, the driver, at last, spoke again as he began to draw back on the reins. With a smile on his face as he looked across at her, he said, "This looks as good a place as any."
McKenna slowly turned her head towards the grinning man. Part of her was relieved in a way. This was undoubtedly the opening act of the incident she had been waiting for. She gave a grin of her own as the man's face clouded over when she did not meet his gaze with a look of bewilderment and confusion but simply gave a chuckle.
“I was wondering when you were going to make your play, Butler.”
“Huh?” he said, blinking rapidly.
“Your play to never let this wagon reach Pepper Hill and me along with it, of course.” As she anticipated knowing he was exposed, the man drew his six-shooter and pointed it at her.
“So, you’re on to me! How did you figure it out, sister?”
McKenna raised her arms in the air, and she gave him a knowing look but didn't answer him directly. "I figured out who was likely involved on the Pepper Hill end fir
st. When we were there yesterday, I caught sight of a man limping with something clearly up with his ankle. Then I remembered when I knocked one of the unseen men from his horse in the pass, he was shouting to his partner in crime about his ankle being busted up."
“A man limping who works in a mine don’t mean nothing, sister,” Butler spat derisively
“I’m only one man’s sister, so you can kite on out of here with calling me that. As far as your confederate with the limp, I checked in at the doctor’s office. The man showed up at the crack of dawn at the doc’s office with a cock-and-bull story about tripping on a tree root going from the miner’s quarters to the outhouse.”
“Could have happened.”
“Maybe, if there was a tree root along the path, but I checked it before I regrouped with you and Markham. Not there. Still, I wanted more proof, so I went to the general store. As I was expecting, I found a supply of fake Indian arrows shopkeepers around here like to peddle to new arrivals in the West to send home.”
“So what?” Butler scowled as she noticed his eyes looking ahead down the pass as if he was looking for something. More likely, someone, she thought.
“So, I found the same arrows scattered around the supply wagon. I’m sure you and your partners were planting them to shift blame for the attack on Indians when the burned-out wagon was eventually found. I’m an artist, Butler, so I borrowed some paper from the man at the mercantile and drew a quick sketch of our gimp asking if he had bought any arrows recently. For a moment I thought I was going to pump a dry well when he shook his head no. Then I had a thought, maybe someone bought them for the man and gave them to him.” She paused for a moment, shifting her eyes down the road as well. Still seeing nothing yet, she continued.
Six-Guns Or Surrender (Lincoln's Lawman Book 1) Page 22