by Lola White
Ernest’s lip lifted, his eyes raked over Hyacinth’s body. “I know he’s got to be fucking you. Is he paying you?”
“How dare you?” She clutched her skirts tighter. “You are disgusting.”
“Me?” Ernest’s expression darkened into pure revulsion. “You’re the bitch spreading her legs for a low-down fuck-up like Offer O’Neal. Scraping the bottom of the barrel, sweetheart, because nobody better wants you.”
As he spoke, Ernest’s anger clearly got the best of him. Hyacinth’s eyes widened as he shot forward and grabbed her arm, shaking her as derogatory words spewed from his mouth. It happened so quickly, Hyacinth didn’t have time to avoid the man and Offer didn’t have a chance to stop him.
Hyacinth gasped under the pressure of Ernest’s hard fingers. The Double O dogs went wild.
Teeth exposed in a vicious snarl, the skinny queen launched herself at Ernest. The other dogs followed her lead, pressing close until the space around the man’s ankles seethed with fur. Howls echoed all around them.
Offer leaped forward to rescue Hyacinth. He scooped her into his arms and jumped from the melee, leaving Ernest behind.
The unwanted visitor’s screams rose above the fury of the pack. Ernest kicked out, but for every dog he struck, another tore into his calf. Tears pouring down her cheeks, her body shaking so hard Hyacinth had to cling to Offer’s shoulders as she watched the attack, she begged Offer to stop it.
Offer literally spit at their unwanted visitor. “He’s trespassing. The dogs are doing their job.”
“He’s hurting them!” Hyacinth pressed her face to Offer’s chest as one brown mutt went sailing. “Don’t let him hurt my dogs.”
Offer cursed and released her quickly enough to send her staggering. Hyacinth opened her eyes in time to see Ernest lose his balance. He fell to the ground and the dogs pounced.
“Back off now! Go on.” Offer dove into the fracas, clapping his hands and shooing at the vicious beasts he’d rescued. Hyacinth watched as the pack seemed to tremble as one—then they lowered their tails and obeyed Offer’s orders.
The dogs slunk toward her and gathered around her legs. Hyacinth dropped to her knees and ran her hands over every one, making certain each was uninjured. They accepted her comfort as she accepted theirs, petting them while they licked her hands, promising them treats as soon as she learned how make something besides biscuits.
Offer hauled Ernest to his feet and shoved him toward his horse. The man’s clothes were ripped and blood dripped from his calf, but Offer did not help Ernest into his saddle.
“Get the fuck off my land,” Offer snarled, meaner than his dogs. “And don’t come back. Hyacinth doesn’t owe you a damned thing.”
Chapter Nine
“You look happier, darlin’.”
Hyacinth glanced up from the shirt she was mending and ran her eye over Offer’s lean form, slouched in the other chair before the fire. The light followed the hard lines of his face, revealing him to be no less tired, but more peaceful than Hyacinth had seen him since coming home with him. With his legs stretched out before him and his hands folded over his belly, he looked content, if not worry-free.
“I could say the same about you,” she replied.
Offer nodded. “It’s a load off my mind to have Bill here with you during the day. And I think he likes it too—or at least he likes having a good excuse not to spend hours in the saddle, though he’ll never admit it.”
“It’s nice to have someone to talk to, to help me carry things, to help me scrub the outhouse. He’s taken to carrying a shotgun though, and that makes me nervous.”
“He’s a mite angry at Ernest Horsham. Bill swears he’ll fill that bastard with buckshot if he ever tries to put his hands on you again.”
Hyacinth set a careful stitch in the shirt and shook her head. “But does he really have to hold on to it even when we’re both in the bunkhouse bent over the fire while he tries to teach me how to cook?”
Offer gave a soft chuckle and patted his stomach. “You’re doing much better than he ever did, darlin’, and I am grateful. My jaw is starting to heal up, now that I don’t have to spend a half hour chewing a leathery piece of steak. The kid’s putting on some weight, too.”
“It’s only been four days, Offer. I doubt Jack’s any heavier than when I first arrived.”
“He’s got more energy, though.” Offer stretched his bare toes toward the fire. “He’s working twice as hard as he used to, and both of us can get more done without Bill’s health slowing us down. You like having the old man here with you, Hyacinth?”
“Very much.” She tied off her thread and tossed the shirt into the basket beside her chair.
Offer stood up and held out his hand. A wicked gleam entered his eye. “Then I believe I deserve a reward for arranging things to everyone’s satisfaction.”
Hyacinth’s lower belly quivered in agreement. Warmth rushed through her from her head to her feet and prodded her into jumping up to take Offer’s hand. The more the man touched her—pleasured her—the more she needed. She couldn’t wait to retire every night, slipping into Offer’s bed with him and waiting for him to slip into her.
He led her the few steps to the bed and turned back the covers. Then he let go of her hand and whipped off his shirt. Hyacinth made an appreciative noise as she took in the sight of his hard chest, the strength that was so apparent in every ripple and flex of his muscles as he unbuttoned and shucked off his pants. When he straightened, his cock jutted out proudly, flushed with need and tempting her to reach for it.
Offer backed up. “Uh-uh, darlin’, not just yet.”
Hyacinth’s hand dropped to clutch her skirts as Offer climbed up onto his rickety bed and laid back, arms folded beneath his head. He did nothing more than watch her as she fidgeted, waiting for him to give her some clue as to what he wanted.
“Well?” His eyebrows lifted.
She cleared her throat and tried to still the excited tremor in her vocal cords. “Well, what?”
“Take your clothes off, Hyacinth. Real slow.”
Biting her lip, she did as she was told. Her lungs worked faster while her shaking fingers struggled to release the tiny row of buttons fastening her bodice. The thrill of Offer’s gaze upon her as she peeled the fabric down to her waist was something she still hadn’t gotten used to, though she enjoyed it, craved it, and wished he would do it more often. Most nights they were both too tired to draw out the kind of teasing that Hyacinth liked so much.
She shimmied her hips and pushed her skirts down farther. They fell to the floor with a quiet swoosh that still managed to echo loudly in the tension-filled room. Tingling awareness raced over her, pulling her nipples tight as she reached for the ties to her chemise.
“That’s right, darlin’, show me your pretty titties.” Offer levered his weight up onto one elbow and stared at her with eyes gone dark with hunger. “I love your tits. They fill my hands and my mouth, topped by those pale pink nipples I could suck for hours.”
With Offer’s words swirling around her, the slide of the fabric over her chest was excruciating. The material caught on Hyacinth’s peaked nipples for a brief moment before falling free, and she caught her breath at the sensation as she shrugged her chemise straps off her arms. Like her skirts, she pushed the thin fabric over her hips, then stepped out of the pile of material at her feet.
Offer lay back again. “I’m a tired man, been working hard all day. I just don’t think I have the energy to fuck you.”
Hyacinth went still. “Excuse me?”
Offer flashed a grin at the ceiling. “Guess that means you have to fuck me tonight. Come over here, Hyacinth.”
It took her a moment to process his demand, but when she did, Hyacinth was intrigued. All too often she felt swept away by Offer’s touch and his authority in the sexual sphere of their relationship. He took control and directed both their actions, letting her simply feel without having to think.
But there were things Hyacint
h wanted to do. She wanted to touch him freely, wanted to run her tongue over the grooves in his abdomen and suck his nipples to see if he gave the same response she always did. She wanted a chance for control and had so far only gotten it on the occasions he filled her mouth with his cock, and even then he choreographed her actions.
She walked toward the bed feeling sultry and feminine, with her wide hips swinging and her breasts swaying with every step. Offer snatched a breath that made her even more determined to do what she pleased to his body. She stopped half a foot away from his knees, and deliberately bent at the waist to make her breasts dangle before his gaze enticingly.
“Lord have mercy, woman. What are you up to, Hyacinth?”
Bolder than she’d ever been, she lifted a knee onto the mattress and said, “I’m fucking you, Offer. I’m going to lick your cock, take it deep into my mouth and suck until you writhe beneath me. Then, before you can find your pleasure, I’m going to sink my wet pussy down on your dick and ride you until I find mine.”
Offer’s throat worked beneath his dazed expression. “That sounds like a mighty fine plan, darlin’. I suggest you get to it.”
Hyacinth gripped his shaft and stroked. “Don’t tell me what to do, Offer. This is my night, and if you keep ordering me around, I’m going to have to gag you.”
He bit his lip and covered his eyes with one knotted forearm, but nodded. Hyacinth crawled onto the bed and pushed Offer’s legs far enough apart to make room for herself. Kneeling between them, she bent again and licked up his length.
Offer jerked, but Hyacinth had no mercy. It was her small act of revenge for the other night, when he’d made her beg while she’d twisted and turned beneath his mouth and hands. Revenge for the way he’d impaled her, rode her and stilled just before she reached her climax. He had brought her to the point of release, only to stop and wait for her to settle before building her need back up. The other night her frustration had lasted for much too long, and when she was finally allowed to find relief, she exploded with such ferocity she felt certain Offer had stolen some part of her soul.
So while he was at her mercy, she licked and stroked, ignoring the way his thighs tensed and his hips lifted. She closed her ears to the soft groans he voiced and closed her fingers around his balls, squeezing and kneading until his noises grew harsher. Only when his breath was a ragged pant echoing in her head did she take him into her mouth and suck.
Offer’s hips launched off the mattress. His cock shuttled deeper into her mouth, but Hyacinth only tightened her lips and sucked harder. She stroked him with her tongue and squeezed him with her fingers, watching him with uplifted eyes while his expression grew agonized.
“Fuck, I can’t.” He reached for her shoulders, dragged her off his cock and up his body. His fingers dug into her thighs as he quickly arranged her over his hips. “I can’t last, darlin’. I need you now.”
“You’re ruining my fun, Offer.” Though Hyacinth admitted to herself that straddling his waist and rubbing her swollen, damp folds over his shaft was just as good.
His fingers delved between her legs and found the bundle of nerves he never failed to manipulate perfectly. “I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”
He circled her clit, rubbed, tugged and flicked. Hyacinth swiveled her hips, painting his cock with her cream, letting the sensations he was so good at inspiring in her core bubble up, pile on top of each other and set her on fire. Her urgency grew until she was bucking against him, but a small part of her brain fought to be rational. Or at least devious.
It took all her willpower to lift up on her knees and remove her sex from the temptation of Offer’s dick. She stared down at him, panting and needing him inside her, watching the muscle in his forearm flex as his clever fingers fondled her intimate flesh. Shaking herself, she grabbed his hand and pulled it from between her legs with only a small moan of protest.
“Stop, Offer.” She dropped his hand onto his heaving belly and reached between her thighs to capture his cock.
Grasping him firmly, she trailed the damp crest over her folds, running his tip over her pulsing clit before pushing him lower. Again and again, she teased them both by sliding his flesh over hers, and felt her body grow softer, wetter, slicker. She closed her eyes, and the sensations magnified.
“Jesus, woman, you’ll kill us both.”
Offer’s voice was harsh and dark, sharp with the need Hyacinth knew she fostered within him. She ran her thumb over the tip of his cock and smiled when she felt a hot drop of silky moisture jump to her touch. Only then did she lodge him against her entrance and lower her weight.
She sank down slowly and reveled in the act of impaling herself on Offer’s big dick. Taking as much time as she could, she controlled her descent to the point that her thighs trembled and Offer’s mouth twisted into a grimace. She stared at him as she took him deeper, as she cataloged the fullness of him inside her and the heated sparkle of sensation rimming her entrance as she stretched ever more around him.
Finally seated, Hyacinth jerked her hips and her pussy swallowed the last half inch of him. Her desire grew exponentially, something she hadn’t thought possible. Struggling to hold herself still and enjoy the moment with Offer fully inside her, Hyacinth found herself wriggling atop him—her back arching, her hips lurching subtly as if she could take even more of his length and increase the spiraling heat working deeper into her core.
Offer reached around to grab a handful of her bottom. “Damn, darlin’, I should let you do that more often. Now get to fucking so I can watch your titties bounce. Move this beautiful ass of yours.”
Unconcerned with his need to order her around, Hyacinth did as she was commanded, though she told herself it was because fucking him was what she wanted to do. Lifting and lowering, she plunged her pussy down on his cock, over and over, faster and faster as her need consumed her. The bed creaked in time with her movements, spurring her on. She arched her back and wriggled her shoulders, making her breasts jiggle just for Offer’s temptation.
With a growl that nearly made Hyacinth reach her climax much too soon, Offer jolted upright. One hand tightened on her bottom, his long fingers delving between her cheeks to press against the outside edge of her stretched and filled pussy, while the other caught one bobbing breast and directed its peak toward his lips.
Hyacinth nearly lost her mind. Offer’s hot mouth closed around her nipple, his tongue whipped it, his teeth caught it in a less-than-gentle hold. Then he sucked hard and increased the pressure of the fingers he held against her slick folds. Sensation stormed through her, tingling and burning, lifting her up and pushing her back down. She caught fire.
Hyacinth’s nerves drew taut and the heavy surge of Offer’s cock against her inner walls set off a chain reaction that encompassed her entire body. She heaved and bucked against him. She twisted her hips and fought to ride him faster. Need and pressure urged her on, filling her until there was no room for thought or breath, only pleasure and the driving desire to take more of it for herself. Hyacinth was locked against Offer, trapped by both their pleasure while he drove her upward and onward, stealing her wits and another piece of her heart.
She exploded around him. Her pussy flexed and pulsed. Rippling over his shaft with brutal contractions until he gasped against her breast and drove his hips up, smashing against her sex as her thighs clenched at the delicious pressure detonating within her and all around her. He grinded into her body and she moved with him in short jerks. Offer’s hand on her ass tightened, the bed squealed in protest and Hyacinth screamed her release at the ceiling.
Both of them collapsed back to the bed. Hyacinth was draped over Offer’s chest, rising and falling with the force of his breathing as he clutched her close. Between her legs, aftershocks trembled over her flesh while Offer’s creamy pleasure leaked from her body and glued their groins together. She was hot and comfortable, sated temporarily but filled with anticipation for the moment when Offer’s softening cock hardened again.
Neither of them spoke, but Hyacinth didn’t feel the need for words as Offer’s big hands stroked down her back in a move as gentle as he’d ever been with her.
Chapter Ten
Hyacinth twisted her fingers together. “I think I’ve changed my mind. This was a bad idea.”
Offer shot her a sideways glance as he secured the wagon’s brake. “We’re here, woman. You better hold onto your bonnet, because there ain’t a damn thing you can do now except brazen it out.”
“I was feeling hemmed in,” Hyacinth muttered in near-hysteria. “A trip to town sounded much better back home than it does now.”
“Get a move on, darlin’. I can’t leave you out here by yourself.”
Hyacinth reluctantly climbed off the wagon seat with a tangled mix of nerves and morbid excitement crowding her chest. She locked her knees against their tremors and lifted her chin, glaring down the street with all the disdain she could muster through her anxiety.
She was intrigued to note that her memory of Creek Bend had not been influenced by her terror at having been abandoned there. It really was a dreary town with little in the way to recommend it.
She filled her lungs with the faint odor of horse manure and kerosene and bravely stepped out after Offer. He paused on the boardwalk just long enough for her to catch up and grasp his elbow, then set off at a fast clip toward the ramshackle bank. Hyacinth had hardly expected luxury on the scale of her previous banking establishment back East, but she had thought the building would be a little more than a single room with a small safe set behind a narrow counter.
She inched closer to Offer as they pushed past a large man wielding a shotgun—a man Hyacinth fervently hoped was the bank’s hired security. Offer pointed to a straight-backed chair set against the wall.
“Have a seat, darlin’.”
Hyacinth eyed the chair dubiously. One of the legs was an inch shorter than the others, and the wood appeared coarse enough to snag her skirts. However, Offer had told her she would have to wait for his business to be completed before they could look around the General Store, so she made no protest as she carefully lowered her weight onto the seat.