by Shari Dare
Martha's comment came as a shock to Belle. “How did you know about that?"
"Clayte told everyone who would listen that you were going to be his wife, just as soon as you came to your senses and accepted his proposal. I've known about it for almost six months now. When my William came home with that story after playing poker with Clayte over at the Purple Moon, I told him that I knew you had much better sense than to fall for any such a thing. William agreed, but he also said that Clayte could be mighty persuasive when he wanted to be. I guess we all know how he planned to get you to marry him."
Belle was still shaken when Martha hurried to join the children. She knew Clayte had bragged to Black about how the two of them were going to be married, but she never thought he would have told the entire town. It was no wonder people looked at her strangely when she walked into church on Sunday morning.
"Are you all right?’ Black asked, putting his arm protectively around her shoulder.
"I will be once we get home. Make love to me tonight, Black. Please make love to me. I want to erase all the terrible things I've seen and heard today."
"You know I can't say no to you. Let's get something to eat over at the hotel and then head for the ranch. With everyone in town, I know that Annie won't be doing any cooking tonight. For what I have planned, we'll both need all our strength to survive the night."
Belle smiled at Black's comment. There would be no need for her to try and get pregnant tonight. She'd missed her last cycle over a week ago, though she'd banned Black from her bed as if it had come. Once the hanging was over tomorrow, Black as well as Ed would be leaving for their next assignments. She didn't want to make Black feel as though he had to stay just because she carried his child. It would be better this way. Once the child was born, she would contact Ed and have him tell Black that he was a father. His son or daughter would be raised to know the name of their father and respect the man behind the façade.
* * * *
Black planned the night with Belle carefully. In the morning he would pack his gear and after watching Clayte hang, he would leave Larson's Gap.
He had a powerful amount of thinking to do along the way. Being around Belle, he knew he couldn't think straight about the future.
Future, what an odd thing for me to think about? I never thought there would come a day when I wouldn't be a marshal and now I'm not so certain. If the doctor confirms the suspicions that Ed and I have, I'm going to have to find something else to do with my life.
"Anything else I can do for you?” Ed asked, as he and Roy poured buckets of steaming water into the tub that sat in Belle's bedroom.
"Can't think of anything,” Black replied, pleased to get a reprieve from the inner thoughts that were consuming him. “The way I see it, the only thing left to do is get the two of you out of here. I have a very special evening planned with the lovely Miss Belle, and it doesn't include either of you watching what we do."
"Are you sure you want to leave her after the hanging, son?” Roy questioned. “I ain't seen Belle happier than you've made her these past few months. You could have a good life here. Besides there'll be more than enough work keeping both the Double Bar B and the Diamond A going."
"I have my own job to do,” Black protested. Even though the job could be gone without warning, he used it as a ploy to give him an excuse to do the things he needed to do before making Belle his own.
Roy looked at him skeptically. “From what my boy here says, you won't be able to go back to marshaling."
Black glared at Ed. “Your boy ought to keep his mouth shut."
Roy and Ed left the room without making comment, although their laughter trailed back to Black's ears as they went down the stairs.
"What was so funny?” Belle asked, as she joined him in the bedroom.
"Just my so-called friends’ warped sense of humor. For tonight, let's not think about anyone but us. Tomorrow..."
Belle put her arms around his neck and silenced him with a kiss. “I don't want to think about tomorrow. For tonight, tomorrow doesn't exist. I know you're leaving. I won't try to stop you, but for tonight we're together and nothing else matters."
Black pulled her closer and again kissed her long and hard. When they separated, he unbuttoned her dress to gaze upon the white globes of her breasts as they strained against her undergarment. With her nipples already puckered, he teased each of them until they were completely hard.
Was it was his imagination, or had Belle winced? “Did I hurt you?” he asked, knowing he certainly didn't want her last memory of him as one of pain.
She turned her face up until their eyes met. Those beautiful blue eyes were enough to drive him crazy. “You aren't hurting me,” she said, leaving him to wonder if she was telling him the truth or just what he wanted to hear. “For tonight, I don't want the teasing that leads to lovemaking between us. Tonight I want you inside me for as long as the two of us can be connected. Do you think I'm crazy?"
"If this is crazy, I don't ever want to see you sane."
She laughed softly and began to unbutton his shirt as well as his pants. With the promise of spring, he hadn't put on fresh long johns this morning before going to the trial. As soon as she opened his trousers, his cock sprang to life and practically fell into her hand.
The feel of her fingers curling around the entire length of him was almost more than he could stand. Like her, he wanted to plant his cock firmly within the velvety folds of her and make love to her until the first rays of dawning crested the eastern horizon.
As soon as they finished undressing, he lifted her into his arms and put her in the tub of water that had now cooled sufficiently so that neither of them were uncomfortable. Once she was seated in the water, he climbed in behind her and began to make a lather with the soap that she kept exclusively for herself. The scent of lavender filled the room and reminded him of her. Never again would he smell lavender without thinking of the precious gift he'd been allowed to have for an entire winter.
* * * *
Belle relaxed until her back was against Black's chest and his cock was bumping against her backside. She'd known he wanted the two of them to bathe together before they made love. It was the reason she had set out a fresh cake of the soap she ordered especially for herself from the east.
When he reached around to wash her breasts and belly, she bit her lip. With the pregnancy, her breasts were tender, but she didn't dare let on to him how much it hurt to have him even touch them. He'd come dangerously close to the truth when he had played with them earlier.
As though he sensed her agony at having him wash her breasts, he lingered only a moment before moving the soft cloth down her belly to the juncture of her thighs. At least that was one area that the pregnancy hadn't made tender.
He slipped his soap-slick fingers into her crevice and massaged her clit until the thought she would be wet with cum even before his cock entered her body.
Do other pregnant women desire their men as much as I desire Black? It certainly wasn't this way with Ronald. Once I learned I was pregnant, I wanted nothing to do with him.
Unbidden, the memory of being so sick at the thought of being with Ronald was enough to make her sick all over again. As though it was yesterday, she remembered him telling her that the child she carried could not belong to him. She had to have been with another man and she could go to him with her story and see how far it got her.
She wondered if Black would react in the same way if he knew she carried his child. She doubted it. Rather than dwell on his reaction to something he would never know, she returned to the pleasure that his touch gave her. Will I ever be content with the dildo after being with Black? I doubt it. This night will have to become a memory to sustain me through my entire life. Never again will I love anyone with the passion I have to for him.
With their bath finished, Black lifted her from the tub and dried her with one of the towels she had laid out earlier. Every swipe of the towel made her want him more than ever. When at l
ast he carried her to the bed, she was more than willing for a night of delightful lovemaking.
Rather than their usual foreplay, Black slid his cock into her willing body and began to pump back and forth. Tonight was not the night for anything other than serious loving, anything but him inside of her for as long as either of them could make love without falling into the exhaustion of sleep.
Tomorrow he would be gone and she would continue on as the owner of the Double Bar B as well as the overseer of the Diamond A. In two months the stage would no longer be coming, and she would have the addition to the house turned into an orphanage for children like those Clayte would leave fatherless because of his selfish actions.
Tonight was far too important to her to dwell on the future. Tonight would be the last time that she would lie in Black's arms and feel him pulsing inside her. The child would always know about its father, but she swore Black would never again know the agony of the child he had left behind. Ever since he had received the letter from his grandfather, she'd seen the difference in him. He regretted never knowing his son. She vowed he would never know regret just because she wanted his child so badly.
* * * *
Black felt as though he could continue making love to Belle all throughout the night. It was only fitting that they were together like this for one last time before he left. He couldn't help wondering if tonight he would leave her carrying his child.
The inner walls of her cunt gripped him firmly and prolonged the climax as they came together. Even so, he never broke the connection between them and found it took only a few minutes for him to again want her. Over and over again, he peaked and ebbed until the first rays of dawning came through the windows, alerting him to the fact they hadn't slept at all during the long night of lovemaking.
"Can't believe it's morning,” he said after kissing her long and hard for probably the hundredth time since they went to bed.
"It's morning, all right,” she replied. “In a matter of hours, Clayte will be dead. I wonder if that's what I really want."
"No one wants such a thing, but it's the law. Rustlin', kidnappin', attempted murder and murder, if you count the men he sent here to plant the cattle on your range. Those are all big offenses. I think the judge was fair. Even if he had sent Clayte to jail, his children would have suffered. I know what it's like to be young and have no parents in your life. It's hard living with strangers. Clayte's kids are lucky to have you and the girls to care for them. You all have a lot to teach. I ought to know, the whores at my mother's ranch taught me more than I can ever repay."
"Like what?"
"They taught me manners, made me study and do my best in school, taught me to speak and read Spanish, and insisted that I learn the Bible. That last part probably didn't take, considering the profession I chose for myself."
"There aren't many people who could boast such accomplishments. I know that I learned about the Bible and God when I was young, but those nuns managed to kill that for me. It wasn't until I came back home and started going to church with Pa that I changed my mind and started believing again."
Black thought about his own faith. He hadn't been in a church in years, even though the one thing of this mother's that he carried in his saddlebag was her Bible. He knew he wasn't a good enough man to go to church, but that didn't mean he didn't believe. Maybe once he did what he planned to do when he left the Double Bar B he could come back, make Belle his own and lead the life of a respectable citizen of Larson's Gap.
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Chapter Sixteen
A warm breeze blew down the main street of Larson Gap. To the west, storm clouds gathered just over the mountains. If they were lucky, the rain would hold off until after the hanging.
Even though Black insisted that Belle shouldn't go into town, she hitched up her buggy and along with Kate, Janna and Lacy, drove in just as they were leading Clayte from the jail to the scaffold with the hangman's noose at the top. Behind them came Roy and Annie with Cara.
"Damn fool women,” Black commented to Ed, once he saw Belle arrive. “This certainly ain't no place for the likes of Belle and the others."
"It may not be the place, but she's here and I doubt there's not a man here who would deny her the right to see justice done. Considering everything Clayte did to her, it's no wonder she wants to be here."
"But a hanging ain't a pretty sight. It will give her nightmares for weeks."
"Is that what a hanging does to you?"
Black nodded. “I can't help but think that if it wasn't for meeting you, I might be the one on the end of that rope. I killed my share of men in my life. In any of those towns I could have been arrested for murder. I was just damn lucky it didn't happen."
Ed slapped him on the back. “You certainly were. I knew the minute I laid eyes on you that you weren't the cold-blooded killer I'd heard about. I decided right then and there that I wanted you on the side of the law. If that isn't possible, what will you do?"
"Someday in the future, I'll come back here and ask Belle to marry me."
"Someday? Why not now? Why leave Larson's Gap?"
"I don't expect you to understand, but I have a lot of bridges to mend. I have grandparents in Mexico. I haven't seen them in over fifteen years. I need to see them before it's too late. I also have a son in Mexico. I can't ever let him know that I'm his father, but I want to see what kind of a man he's become and thank the man he calls father for giving him a good life."
"Is that all you have to do?"
"No, I've got a hankerin’ to go east. Before I settle down, I want to see the places I've only heard and read about in books and newspapers."
"You wouldn't be heading toward Ohio, would you?"
"There's a little girl in an orphanage who needs a ma and a pa. I think I know the perfect people to become her parents."
Ed said nothing, but Black knew that Ed understood his need to bring Belle's daughter home. It was one thing he could do for the woman he loved that he couldn't do for himself. His son would never know him, but he would always keep the boy in a special place in his heart.
* * * *
Belle was shocked at the number of people assembled on the main street of Larson's Gap. Even though the breeze was warm, snow still clung to the areas between the buildings where the warming rays of the sun couldn't reach it.
She pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders as Clayte walked toward the gallows. “I know the punishment is fitting, but it's hard to believe that they're planning to hang Clayte,” she said to Roy.
"That's why Black and I didn't want you to come into town today. A hangin’ ain't a pretty sight. Maybe you should go on back to the ranch until this is over."
"No, I have to be here. This is the last chance I'll have to see Black before he leaves."
"Why don't you tell him about the baby?” Kate asked.
"Because he'd think he had to stay because of it and that's not what I want. If he comes back to me, so be it. If he doesn't, I'll know that he never loved me. I wouldn't ever saddle him with a responsibility he wants no part of."
"Suit yourself, but I think you're doing the wrong thing."
Before Belle could comment on what Kate just said, Clayte turned in her direction. “I ain't the only one who should be swinging from this rope today,” he shouted. “Belle Barton should be up here with me. If she'd accepted my proposal of marriage ten years ago to say nothing of last summer, none of this would have happened. It's all her fault and she should be made to pay along with me."
With his declaration, all eyes turned to Belle making her blood run cold. The urge to answer Clayte's accusations and give credence to what he said was a hard one to suppress.
"You all know what goes on over at the Double Bar B. I tried to make an honest woman out of her and she refused. I had no other options. I needed her as my wife and mother to my kids and she wouldn't have me. Any one of you would have done the same thing in my place."
The stares of those gathere
d turned from ones of shock to one of pity. It was obvious that Clayte had lost his mind.
"That's enough,” one of the marshals who had come with Ed ordered as he pushed Clayte toward the waiting gallows. “You were found guilty by a jury of twelve men. This is your punishment. No one other than yourself is responsible for your actions."
"But she...” Clayte began as he lunged toward Belle.
She saw Black and Ed tighten their grip on their rifles and take a step closer to Clayte before the marshal tightened his hold on Clayte's arm.
"It's time, Clayte,” Ed commented. “Do this like a man. Don't let your kids grow up knowing that you made a fool out of yourself during your last few minutes of life. This is hard enough on them as it is. Don't make it any harder."
Clayte turned from the crowd and mounted the first step, then stopped. With each step he became more and more reluctant. Belle counted off the steps that seemed more like a hundred than the mandatory thirteen leading to the gallows.
At the tenth step, he allowed his body to go limp, forcing the marshal and Ed to carry him up the last three steps. Once at the top, Clayte began to sob like a child as the black hood was placed over his head and the rope noose around his neck.
"I'll see you in hell, Belle Barton, mark my words, I'll see you in hell,” he shouted just before someone pulled the lever to release the trap door allowing him to swing freely.
The hideous sound of his neck snapping was one that Belle knew would haunt her for the rest of her life.
It took several minutes for the men to take him down and the doctor pronounce him dead. During those minutes, Belle thought of the last words to come from Clayte's mouth. They weren't pleas for forgiveness; they were ones of condemnation of her for not bending to his will.
"Why did you come here today?” Black asked, his tone one of concern. “This is the last place I wanted to see you."