Taming the Spitfire

by Temple Madison

  “Oh, Cheyenne, you’re so different tonight than you are with the others. You’re sensitive, romantic, and so absolutely beautiful in your Indian getup.” She gazed at him, searching his dark eyes. “It must be terrible to live a lie, and yet you seem very religious.”

  “All Indians have a sacred spirit that guides them, protects them. I pray for everything. Rain, food, safety in my travels. It’s the way I was brought up.” He caught her hands in his. “Easy, what you have seen here tonight is what I truly am. Now that you know you must never tell.”

  “I never will, I promise.”

  “I would love to make love to you right here, right now, but during prayer I must stay pure.”

  “I understand,” she said.

  “Now go back to the house and try to sleep. Morning will come sooner than you expect.”

  With his mouth close to her face, she could feel the hot breath of his race on her skin, but instead of trying to seduce him into making love to her, she showed respect for his beliefs. “Goodnight, Chey—Cheveyo,” she whispered.

  “Good night, Little Fawn.”

  * * * *

  I want to be your woman.

  The words reverberated in Reno’s head over and over again as the morning sun warmed his back. Shots rang out one after the other as he practiced drawing his six-gun and shooting tin cans off a fallen log. The cans flew right and left as the whizzing bullets hit them. His arm was stiff, so he worked it, trying to limber it up. He felt like an amateur as he continued to curl his finger around the trigger and squeeze. Since he’d taken a bullet in the shoulder his aim was off a little, but he knew all he needed was a little target practice.

  I want to be your woman.

  While he stopped to reload, the words still played along the edges of his mind, refusing to give him any peace. Sure, he’d wanted her, so he took her. Reno always took what he wanted, but he never dreamed that she would take their relationship so seriously. She didn’t understand. Reno was not someone who could ever offer a woman marriage.

  His lifestyle was just too damned dangerous. He had women when he wanted them. A saloon girl, an occasional brief affair, a woman he had tucked away somewhere, but it was always a quick hello and goodbye as he crawled in and out of her bed. He’d never considered marrying any of them. He hated to say it, but it would have to be the same with Easy. She was young. She probably had ideals about this romance and marriage stuff, but to him, sex was just sex. It was something he indulged in when he needed it, like food and water. He drank when he was thirsty, and ate when he was hungry. Sex is an appetite like all the others, and every man satisfies it when necessary, and when it’s time to move on there are no regrets.

  That is—until Easy.

  He could tell that his men liked her. Maybe a little too much. He could tell because he felt the same way. None of them wanted to leave. The four of them were like brothers. They shared everything, even women. They’d almost hit a rut in the road the day he woke up to find them all over her. His first thoughts were that they were taking advantage of her. He leapt in trying to save her virtue only to find out that she’d been a willing partner in their little ménage. He managed to hide it well, but the truth was, it just about blew his mind when he discovered that she wasn’t what he thought she was. He’d told her he was disappointed, but it was a lie. If anything, she looked even better to him. He’d never cared for fluttery women. Women who seemed weak and frightened all the time. He’d always liked them tough, and that’s what Easy was. She was young, hot, and always ready. But he knew the day was coming when he would have to break her heart.

  Trying to keep his mind on his target practice, Reno began doing some daring moves. He stood with his back to the fallen log, and then whirled around and blasted the tin cans. Next he rolled on the ground, stirring up dust until he came to a stop on his stomach and shot three or four tin cans that made a hollow sound when they were hit.

  As he practiced, his aim became better, and the tin cans flew in the air in all directions. During his reloading, a blast sounded, and a bullet that just missed him got lost in a tree trunk. Reno whirled around, his gun pointed, but no one was there.

  “Reno!” a strange voice shouted out. “Reno Hudson!”

  “I’m Reno,” he shouted in return. “Come out where I can see you, you coward.”

  Slowly, a tall, lanky cowboy stepped out of the bushes with his gun trained on Reno. “I’m Red Dog, and I’m gonna kill you.”

  “The line forms on the left,” Reno said sarcastically.

  “I been watchin’ you. I see you got a bum shoulder there.”

  “A little set back. Nothing much,” Reno said, casting a hard look toward his visitor.

  “We’ll see about that come sunup tomorrow. I predict you’ll be layin’ dead on the dusty street of Red River.”

  “Is that supposed to worry me?” Reno said. “I don’t scare easily, kid. I’ve been threatened and forced into gunfights with the best, but I came out of all of them still alive. What makes you think you’re any different?”

  “For one thing, you’re all shot up,” he said, pointing toward the sling that lay on the ground. “You don’t really think you can beat me with a bum shoulder, do you?”

  “Don’t let that sling fool you, kid,” he said, aiming his gun and shooting one can after the other before the kid could blink his eyes. “It only takes one hand and one draw to shoot a little coward like you. I’ll be sittin’ down to a cold beer five minutes after this little shootout ends.”

  “You got one hell of an ego, don’t you, Reno? It’s that ego that’ll put you in your grave. You just remember this one thing. You’ve met your match in me, and tomorrow while they’re diggin’ your grave, I’ll be the one sittin’ down to a cold beer while I’m countin’ my bounty money.”

  “I doubt you’re even old enough to drink.” Reno hesitated, and then said, “Look, kid, believe me when I say you don’t want to be in my shoes. I’m not famous, I’m feared, damn it! I can’t go nowhere that I ain’t recognized. I ain’t done one damned thing, but I’m blamed for half the crimes that are committed. I have to stay hid most of the time, and for what? The glory of being famous?” Reno snorted. “Believe me, it ain’t what it’s cracked up to be. If I do show up in a town somewhere, some young punk like you is always challenging me to gunplay in the street, and some sheriff is frantically looking through wanted posters. Dozens just like you read them stupid magazines, and plan for the day you can put me down. Well, I’m fuckin’ tired of it!”

  “I don’t care what you say,” the kid yelled, pointing at him threateningly. “I’m comin’ for you tomorrow, so you be ready.”

  “You wanna die, kid? All right, but remember when that bullet blasts you in the belly, this was your choice, not mine. Now get out of my sight until tomorrow at sunup, because your time is up! Got that? You’re dead!”

  “Them’s mighty harsh words.”

  They both whirled around, and there stood Easy all decked out in her tight jeans and six-guns.

  “What the hell are you doin’ up here?” Reno barked.

  “Well, the dishes were done, and laundry day ain’t until tomorrow. I don’t know, I thought if I come up here you’d show me a few of your tricks. Might even get a little practice in myself.” The men stepped back as she lifted a gun out of its holster and began twirling it around her finger. She quickly stopped it when it pointed toward them. “A woman alone needs to know how to handle a gun—” She gave them a teasing smile. “Wouldn’t you say? By the way, what’s all this talk about killin’ somebody?”

  “Nothin’,” Reno snapped. “Get on back to the house.”

  “Listen here, Reno Hudson, I ain’t no snivelin’ female you can order around. You seem to have a hard time rememberin’ that. I’d work on it if I was you.” She looked over at the tall, lanky cowboy. “Now who the hell are you?”

  “Just call me Red Dog, ma’am.”

  “Oh yeah, I r
ecognize you now. You told me your name was Ben Wheeler.”

  “You know this snake?”

  “Found him hidin’ in the bushes last night,” she told Reno, and then looked back at Red Dog. “I thought I told you to get out of here at first light. What are you doin’ still hangin’ around?”

  “I came to see Reno, ma’am. Him and me are working up a little business deal.” He looked over at Reno, sending him a signal with his eyes. “Right, Reno?” As his sharp gaze dug into Reno, his next words were bathed in a threat. “See you at sunup tomorrow.”

  Easy and Reno watched as Red Dog walked toward his horse and untied it, mounted it, and then rode off.

  “What was that all about?”

  “Nothin’. The less you know, the better off you’ll be.”

  “What’s this ‘business deal’ he was talkin’ about?”

  “Nothin’, just…”

  “Reno, talk to me.”

  “I don’t want to get you involved, Easy.”

  “I’m already involved, for God’s sake. I’ve given you shelter, I’ve fed you…my God, I’ve even slept with you. How can you say I’m not involved?”

  “All right, here goes. You already know that I earn my money as a gunslinger. At first it wasn’t much. I was hired to take care of sticky situations such as getting water rights for farmers through intimidation, checking the brands on steers to see if they had been altered, but slowly it turned into more than that. When these damned books started coming out I began being hired to kill. A little gunplay on a dusty street, a saloon brawl. I never lost, so my reputation grew until I was being blamed for everything from train robberies to heisting stage coaches. Hell, Easy, if I’d done even half the things they say I’ve done I’d have to be in two places at one time. The thing is, I’m an easy target. If they don’t have anyone else to blame, they blame Reno Hudson. I thought hidin’ out at your ranch was workin’, but I should have known better. We’re sittin’ on a keg of dynamite, and we’re puttin’ you in danger.”

  “Keg of dynamite? What do you mean?”

  “I mean, if that weasel found us there’ll be others. It’s time to get out.”

  “Have you ever thought of having a woman as part of your gang?”

  He looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “Now that makes about as much sense as puttin’ a milk jug under a bull.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we live in a ghost town way out in the Mohave Territory.”

  “A ghost town? What are you doin’ livin’ in a ghost town?”

  “It’s our hideout, the only place we’re safe.”

  “The only place I know of out that way is Wolf Canyon.”

  “That’s the place.”

  “My God, Wolf Canyon? Ain’t that place surrounded by Indians?”

  “Yeah. That’s the reason why it’s safe. Nobody wants to go into Indian territory. But these Indians are peaceful. We don’t bother them, and they don’t bother us. There’s a creek nearby that flows at the base of Horse Head Mountain. We all share it, so there’s no reason for any conflict.”

  “When you first came here, was it Sheriff Hargraves that was chasin’ you?”

  “No, that was Lassiter, the sheriff over at Cold Creek. He chased us all the way from Table Rock to the Oklahoma border. We finally lost him when we entered Big Sandy. I guess he didn’t want to battle them hot, dusty winds to the other side, so he gave up. He gave us one more taste of hot lead before he left, and that’s when I got hit. By the time we got all the way through Big Sandy I was almost dead in my saddle. The boys pretty much left me at your doorstep with a bullet in my shoulder.” He hesitated, trying to make her understand that her request was ridiculous. “Look, Easy, this life ain’t for you. Hell, it ain’t for anybody, but it’s the price I pay for my so-called fame, I guess. I don’t want to bring you no trouble, that’s why we gotta leave before anyone knows we’re here.” He looked toward the trail that Red Dog took to leave. “I’ll just go into town tomorrow, get it over with, and then we’ll be gone. Out of your hair for good.”

  “Over with? What do you mean?”

  “I mean, he’s lookin’ for a fight.”

  “In the middle of town?”

  “He wants an audience when he comes up against me. If he should win this shootout, he’ll want everyone to know he’s the one that killed Reno Hudson.”

  “But, Reno, you can’t go into town. What about the sheriff? Won’t he lock you up the minute he sees you?”

  “No, not Sheriff Hargraves.”

  “Why not? Doesn’t he know who you are?”

  “Sure, but there are some places I can go, such as Red River here. Sheriff Hargraves knows me, and he knows how my reputation started. He don’t exactly like me comin’ into town and stirrin’ up trouble, but he backs me up when somethin’ like this happens. He’s a good sheriff that can tell the difference between a real outlaw and one on paper.”

  Chapter 7

  BACK at the ranch, Reno noticed how empty the place was and asked Easy, “Where’s the gang?”

  “Gone to pick up supplies,” she answered.

  “You mean we’re alone?”

  She gave him an impish smile. “For a while, I guess. They’ve been gone for a couple of hours so they could ride up any minute.”

  “You know,” he whispered sadly as he put his arms around her. “I’m gonna hate to leave you, Easy. You make a man wish things could be different, you know?”

  “I think I do.”

  With her in his arms, Reno felt a need rise up in him that was so great he pulled her to him roughly, almost violently.

  “Do you realize I’ve been here for days, and I’ve yet to have you to myself? So, before I leave, I’m gonna show you what it feels like to have a real man inside you.”

  “You’re in trouble, mister,” she said as she began undressing.

  “There’s just some trouble a man don’t mind gettin’ into,” he said as he slid beneath the sheet.

  *

  This is it. It’s what I’ve wanted since the first time I read about Reno Hudson.

  She could feel her nipples harden at just the thought of his hands on her. Her gaze moved down to the inviting sight of his muscled body only half hidden by the sheet. As he lay there looking like a god, he leaned upward on one elbow.

  “Come on, you little spitfire, and let’s see what you’ve got.”

  Without thinking, she walked to the bed and pushed the sheet aside. “Oh, God, Reno,” she whispered as she looked at his generous cock.

  Seeing her hesitancy, he rose to a sitting position and grabbed her hand. “Ride me,” he whispered seductively.

  While her heart thrashed in her chest, she straddled him, and moaned breathlessly as his naked flesh made contact with hers. She closed her eyes in ecstasy as his hands squeezed her breasts, and his mouth covered her nipples and chewed and sucked. She could feel a stab of electricity every time he tweaked them with his tongue, sending a current of power through her, all the way down to her groin. She immediately felt an awakened response the moment his cock entered her dripping cunt.

  “Ohhhhhh.”

  She whimpered over and over again as she writhed and bounced, everything in her responding to his rough handling. She buried her face against his throat, feeling his hands as they stroked her back, and then her hips, gradually lowering to her thighs.

  Shivers of excitement took her breath, chills danced down her spine. His hands, both gentle and rough, sent tingles all the way through her. When he had her where he wanted her, he began his rock-hard, thrust over and over again until a loud, whimpering moan escaped her throat.

  “I’ve dreamed of riding your cock, Reno,” she said breathlessly. “Even when I didn’t know who you were, I wanted you.” All at once she felt his fingers pinch her nipples, and she screamed into the still, hot air of the house.

  “Ohhhh, God!” she cried out again as she thrust her writhing hi
ps forward, making it easier for his cock to go deeper into her cunt. She could feel his breath, hot and damp next to her ear. She turned her face upward, her desire turning her feral with teeth that nipped at his face, his ears, his neck, and then she licked at the rippling muscles on his chest.

  “More, Reno, more!”

  Before she got the words out, Reno plunged hard and fast, his cock driving into her cunt so hard that she screamed again and again. Finally, his pulsing cock rubbed her clit over and over as it continued to sink into her. Finally, he pulled her backward and turned her over. With a strength that thrilled her, he raised her hands upward and kept them there as he fucked her with a brazen fury.

  Flat on her back, she raised her legs so high that he lifted them over his shoulder while he thrust in and out of her cunt. Sensations whirled in her groin until she found herself wanting to mount him as his cock rubbed inside her cunt, carrying her higher and higher. Her nails dug into the flesh on his hands as they struggled to keep her captive. All at once, she could feel a sticky substance and knew her nails had pierced his palm, covering both their hands in blood. Finally, when she was as close as she could get to an orgasm without bursting, she lowered her legs around his body and clung to him. As her orgasm drew nearer, her thighs clenched him, and hung on as he rode her up and down, faster and faster until she felt herself shatter.

  As they slept, it seemed as if only moments had passed when Easy was awoken by the stomping of boots, and a trio of voices yelling, “Is anybody here?”

  She slipped out of the bed and put on a thin robe before she opened the door of the downstairs bedroom. “Shhhh!” she said, “Reno’s asleep!”

  “Really, now,” Flash said, his hungry eyes looking her up and down. “What have you two been up to?”

  He began advancing on her, his good looks and helly body reminding her of his insatiable appetite. She looked over at the other two as they put the supplies on the table, and then began advancing on her as well. She watched as each of them began to slowly undress.

  “Maybe we’ll get some of what Reno enjoyed while we were gone,” Flash said.