“Jack,” admonished Katherine.
“Oh he knows I am just teasing. Ought to; I’ve known him long enough. Join us?” asked Jack.
Reverend Harley kissed Katherine chastely on the cheek as he took the chair that Jack held out for him. Jack took a seat himself.
“So I am learning all kinds of things about my beautiful bride here,” Jack began jovially.
“Do tell,” said Reverend Harley.
Katherine was unnerved. Maybe because he was wearing a clergy shirt, but she didn’t like the way he said that.
“My sweet wife grew up in a convent,” said Jack.
It was painful to discuss but she was managed.
“Really? Whereabouts?” asked Reverend Harley.
“Outside Philadelphia. Precious Blood,” she said quietly.
“Goodness. I understand but that is a fairly austere name,” admonished the reverend. “Were you an orphan?”
“No I was not,” replied Katherine. “My family lived nearby.”
“Were they impoverished to your knowledge?” asked the reverend.
“No they were not. Quite well off as a matter of fact,” she replied, her voice breaking.
“You uncomfortable discussing this?” asked Jack?
She nodded quickly.
“Was it that bad?” he asked.
She nodded again.
“She wants to know can they come and get her? Seems here she left before they wanted her to,” said Jack.
“You’re a married woman. You belong to your husband now,” shrugged the reverend. “I doubt if they would. Plainly if they housed you in a convent they didn’t want you. Oh my,” he said. “That did not come out ‘tall the way I meant it.”
“That’s okay,” said Jack.
“I sincerely apologize,” he said.
“Well she saw two clergy. The priest and the nun walking about and she thought they could possibly send her back,” said Jack.
“They are building a church here in Dodge. I am quite sure that they don’t even know that you are here. Hard as you are to miss,” said the reverend.
Katherine stiffened with alarm. Jack laughed.
“He was paying you a compliment sweetheart. He said you are too pretty to go unnoticed,” said Jack. “Say listen Harley. I am going to check us into Dodge House. Will you sit here and keep Katherine company while I do?”
“I would be happy to,” said the reverend.
As soon as Jack was out of sight, the Reverend Harley put his hand over hers. Katherine pulled hers away. She glared at him just enough to still be polite
“Reverend Harley?” she asked with a bit of a warning in her voice.
“Call me Harley, please,” he invited.
“I think formalities in this situation are best,” she said.
“Come now,” he said.
“We are in public,” admonished Katherine. The reverend chuckled. “Oh are you saving yourself for private? I heard all kinds of stories about convents. I mean, what is a little Catholic girl to do with a bunch of other of your ilk? Cooped up. Bunking together. I can imagine naughty things happening there.”
“It was total hell,” she replied angrily.
It was a bold move on her part to curse but he infuriated her.
“My word,” chastised the reverend. “The language. And to a man of the cloth.”
The barkeep set a bottle of whiskey in front of him. He didn’t have to ask. The barkeep just knew. He poured a shot and drank it.
“I think I shall have to encourage Jack to send you to me for counseling,” his eyes twinkled lasciviously.
“No,” said Katherine.
It was not a pleading rejection. It was a straight forward one. There was no waffling.
“I don’t know maybe I told Jack wrong about those fish eaters out there. Maybe they will have the authority to come and get you,” he said. “Maybe that’s what you need to teach you some manners.”
“And I thought you were Jack’s good friend,” she shook her head.
“What can I say? I have a mortal weakness for pretty girls. And Mrs. Clearwater, you are a pretty girl.”
“Thank you Reverend Harley,” she affected a smile. “I think it’s best I go find my husband because I have had the good fortune, to love him deeply.”
“Deeply you say,” he muttered into his glass with an evil grin on his face.
Katherine wasn't quite sure what it was he saying but she knew it was not appropriate. She rose.
“Have a good evening,” she said.
“I don’t think it is a good idea for you to be on the street unescorted. Why don’t we wait for Jack to return?” he suggested with a fake smile.
Katherine pressed her lips together tightly and tuned him out. She knew how to do that. She had plenty of experience at that. Such an unpleasant tension fell between them. It caused the time to drag. Finally Jack appeared, with a smile on his face.
“Shall we?” he asked.
He shook hands with Reverend Harley and thanked him. Katherine’s look was cold but not so as Jack could see it. Jack paid the restaurant tab and he and Katherine walked over to the Dodge House. Jack introduced her to the manager of the hotel before they went up to their room. Once again he whisked her up and carried of the threshold.
“Oh my goodness,” she giggled. “I do believe you’re going to hoist me over every threshold in town.”
“I will too,” he said flirtatiously.
He let her down but she kept her arms around his neck. In fact, she backed up and stood on the bed so she was face to face with him. She smiled at him. She definitely had a crush on her new husband.
“I adore you,” she said.
“Do you now?” he grinned. “I better get while the gettin’ is good.”
“Get?” she asked innocently.
“Yes,” he said, his eyes smoldering.
He pressed his sweet, soft lips to hers. She drew him his scent and let it intoxicate her. His tongue penetrated her mouth and swept it every bit of it. He trailed kisses on her jaw line and down the curve of her neck to the base while disrobing her.
He stooped to find her breast, now bared. Katherine arched up against him. He wrapped his arms around her back. She moaned. The feel of his hot mouth on her delicate nipple was exhilarating.
She stripped the rest of her clothing down and went to quick work on his clothes. She unbuttoned his shirt and skimmed it off his broad shoulders. She imitated him, pressing her mouth into the soft skin of chest. His body was so amazing to her. He let her toy with him for a while before he took command.
He swept her up and back. She giggled and craned up to kiss him. He gently gripped her thigh and moved it wider apart. His mouth blazed a path from her mouth down her chest and between her breasts. She clutched his hair thinking he was going to stay there.
But he kept going. His mouth travel further, across her flat abdomen and to her nest of curls. Even though she was so aroused, she clamped her knees shut. She was shocked that he was going to put his mouth there.
He didn’t miss a beat. He tantalized her thighs with his lithe kisses, arcing around until he worked back to the middle. She was so intoxicated with his loving that finally her legs just fell open. He extended his tongue as far out as he could, touching the delicate folds between her legs.
He made her ache and needy. She immediately nudged her hips up towards, making that ancient mating rhythm. She rocked against his tongue as he lapped her. Katherine surpassed herself that she was so brave. But it felt amazing. Her belly was warm and readied. She wriggled and thrusted as he excited her.
Jack gently eased his fingers into her. He worked them in and out. Slowly. Teasingly. Katherine’s breath rose higher and heavier with each stroke. He pressed the pleasured nub with his thumb as he penetrated her.
She bent knees and instinctively drew them back towards her chest. This created a wonderful pressure. The pressure built and built. He took her right to the point where any further she would bur
st. He moved, and replaced his fingers with his member. He slid into her easily.
He buried himself into completely. So deeply. She tightened up against him. He groaned.
“My goodness but you feel good,” he said.
He mixed up his rhythm some. Stroking her slowly with intermittent almost dance-like strokes. He would revert to steady movement and then swivel his hips. Each change escalated her thrill. Her body was revved. The blood rushed to her ears. Her heart drummed in her chest.
Katherine had the wherewithal to look Jack in the eye. In their shadowy room, they connected, gazing into each other’s eyes as he moved in and out of her. A ticklish exhilaration swirled in her chest. So sweet and wonderful. It tugged at the pit of her stomach.
His eyes glittered. A light smile washed his face. He brushed her lips with his before burying his face in the crook of her neck. That was her sensitive spot. She was so sensitive there, his contact sent a thrilling surge throughout her. Her body writhed on his hardness, sending her over the edge.
From deep within her, little tremors rolled, until they were rushing and crashing her entire belly with ecstasy. Katherine cried out. She leaned her head back and her neck upward as she did. She had bared her sensitive neck for him. He clamped on it, battering it with the tip of his tongue as a powerful orgasm overtook her.
Soon after, his body stiffened and he was lost in his own pleasure. Katherine liked this part as well for he became so primitive. He was like a warrior. His body to broad above her, broad, powerful and magnificent as he pumped into her with a furry. His face was so perfect, so handsome. His eyes fluttered, his muscles flexed when the pinnacle of his pleasure hit. When he roared out, she felt a deep satisfaction.
He lay atop of her easily after their pleasure subsided. He scooted them up more back into the center of the bed. In the midst of it they got disheveled. They cuddled, her back to his chest, his arms enveloping her. Katherine never felt such comfort, outside or in as to be in his arms.
“Katherine,” he said with a strange vulnerability in his voice. “I love you.”
Tears wet her eyes.
“I love you back Jack Clearwater,” she said.
His arms tightened around her. It was no long before she felt his erection nudging the soft, firm curves of her buttocks. She reflexively tried to turn to her back but he gently held her where she was. She wasn’t sure of what to do but he showed her what he intend.
He splayed his large hand on the low flat of her belly and pushed her against him. He penetrated her deeply. He encouraged her leg to lift and rest on his. And when she did, he reached between her legs and touched her.
It was not long before her pleasure was revived. Very quickly, she was spasming on him while he was going strong. She experienced peak exhilaration from start to finish. Her core was so sensitized that his every stroke caused her to clutch from deep within. She was a writhing mass of delicious ecstasy.
Jack stroked her through orgasm, from start to finish. Still he pumped into her steadily. He rolled her over onto her belly, still inside of her. He drew her hips back against him and encourage her up on her knees so that her buttocks was in the air. He took her from behind.
He stroked her sweet, firm cheeks. She was only briefly bashful this way. She trusted him completely. One hand glided all over her as one held her secure. He took her hand and placed it between her legs. It was a little too much for her. But at least now she knew that she could do for herself what he had been able to do for her.
He kissed the small of her back before launching into a powerful climax. He writhed and holler like a bucking bronco. Katherine could only see all of him in her mind’s eye as he was behind her. She took very deep satisfaction in imagining him. So magnificent and powerful and sensual, peaking in his pleasure.
They rolled over and laughed at the intensity of their chemistry together. He kissed her affectionately on her head before wrapping her up into his arms. They slept very comfortably in their hotel room.
Jack and Katherine loaded up their wagon. Once again they just coincidentally ran into the Reverend Harley.
“Morning, Mr. and Mrs. Clearwater,” he said.
“Reverend,” greeted Jack. “Why you’re always out and about here in town.”
“I tend to my flock, brother,” said the reverend.
He gazed at Katherine who turned away momentarily with repulsion. When she looked back she noted that Jack was studying her. He had caught her reaction to the reverend.
“Well, we best be on our way,” said Jack.
“Hope to see you in services on Sunday,” said the reverend.
“We shall do our best,” replied Jack.
Katherine could feel the shift in mood. She sensed a conversation coming on. But it didn’t come. The only conversation they didn’t have was the one about the look he saw her make at his good friend.
Hattie was had her fishing pole in hand when they arrived.
“I figure if chores can wait for you, Jack Clearwater,” she said with a smile. “They can wait for me. I am going to catch our supper. How was the Dodge House?”
“Just fine, Hattie. Just fine. Molly fishin’ with you, I expect?” asked Jack.
“I expect,” she replied happily.
“Alright then. We will see you later,” he said.
Katherine and Jack unhitched the team.
Life was uneventful and usual for the next few days. It was a delight to do hard work not under the brutal thumb of those in charge of the convent. Katherine adored working along side her husband. On Saturday night, Katherine was nagged by the notion they might go to church. The reverend would be there. She, Hattie, and Jack were at the dinner table.
“Will we be riding into town for services tomorrow?” asked Katherine timidly.
She watched Jack’s face go slack.
“I don’t expect so, sweetheart. I was thinking we could maybe build ourselves a little chapel here eventually. But I expect we can do our devotions here,” said Jack. “Hatti? Will you join us tomorrow?”
“Be proud to,” said Hattie.
It was almost as if the mention of church triggered some security that Hattie and Jack had just addressed right before Katherine. She wasn’t sure if it had to do with her or something else, but there was no mistaking.
After supper, Jack build a bonfire outside and the three of them sat around it. Jack strummed a guitar while he and Hattie sang. It was a lovely Saturday night.
Sunday was observed. They mucked the animals and fed them and as Jack said, had devotions. Katherine cooked a chicken for their Sunday dinner.
On Monday morning, they awoke to the sound of one of their pens creaking. Jack rose in the shadows of the pre-dawn morning to investigate. He took his gun from the corner of their room and walked out. Katherine braced herself with worry. She started to follow but he ordered in a vehement whisper not to.
She didn’t care. As soon as she could, she made haste out the back and fetched Hattie.
“Hattie,” she rapped once on the door and whispered. “Hattie.”
There was no answer. Katherine stole back to the house, but on the outside of it and crept along to see if she could spy on Jack. She could not see him anywhere. As she saw no one or nothing, she cautiously walked the front, to assess the pens and the coops for pieces of a story of where her husband was.
Without warning, a hand wrapped around her mouth from behind. She was pulled against a stranger. She heard the rustle of a suit. She suspected it was the Reverend Harley. His hands smelled vaguely of fish. The smell was putrid.
“Katherine,” he murmured. “Katherine. Kate I shall call you. For the time being.”
There were times in the convent when Katherine was touched against her will. Katherine made a vow right then and there, this was not going to be one of those times. She made her weight dead weight and did not cooperate her move in anyway.
“Nice try,” he laughed. “Do you not think I know what I am doing? That I took one look at y
ou and thought, if she goes all loosey goosey on me that I could not handle it? You weigh no more than a chicken feather. Drag your heels all you want. Here,” he hoisted her over his shoulder. “Drag them now.”
The reverend laughed. He took a step and jerked to a stop.
“Harriet,” he said.
“Harley,” said Hattie.
He laughed nervously and asked, “Why wherever on earth did you come from?”
“I will blow a hole right through you if you don’t put her down,” said Hattie.
“What guarantee do I have if I do?” he asked.
“None,” she said. “Put her down and let her get away.”
“Very well,” he said as though this had all been a little joke. “I am complying.”
The reverend began to lower Katherine then threw her towards Hattie. But Hattie stepped aside and swung the rifle around like a bat and clobbered him. Down he went.
“Why didn’t you shoot him?” asked Katherine.
“He’s as good as shot. I won’t risk hanging over this boot dirt,” said Hattie.
She directed Katherine to fetch some rope and together they tied him up. They walked to the front of the house and found Jack out cold in the dirt. Katherine’s heart leapt. She made a silent prayer for her new beloved husband to be okay. Hattie knelt and felt for a pulse.
“He’s alive,” she said.
Hattie went inside the house and returned with a blanket. They rolled Jack onto it and together they dragged him into the house and into bed. He came round. He slowly opened his eyes. There was a smile in them. Katherine gently stroked his face.
“So beautiful,” he said.
“Yes,” she replied meaning him.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes,” she answered.
“You have to keep him awake,” said Hattie. “Keep him awake for the next few hours. Don’t let him fall to sleep. I am going to take Harley into Dodge City. It’s going to be my word against his one more time but hopefully the Marshall will believe me.”
“What do you mean ‘one more time’?” asked Katherine.
Hattie tilted her head and gave Katherine a look.
A Fall From Grace. Mail Order Bride Western Page 3