by Marie Harte
“I trust you to keep your word,” she admitted, surprised to find she meant it.
“Then take off your pants for me. And spread your legs wide.”
She didn’t falter. He moved away while she undressed, until she lay down again, clad only in her unbuttoned shirt.
Under his gaze, the fire lingered. “The heat, it’s not going away.” The longer he looked at her, the more the discomfort built.
He shook his head. “No, it’s not, is it?” He cupped himself though his pants, stroking his shaft that looked as hard as the nub between her legs. “Let me fix that, since I started all this.” The satisfaction in his voice should have warned her.
Then he was between her thighs, and his mouth settled over her most private part.
She cried his name, shocked, scared, and thrilled at the need building inside her.
He sucked her into his mouth, groaning as he did so. His tongue licked along her slit, and when it paused at the entrance to her channel, she moved under him, wanting to be filled. But Hinto wouldn’t help her. He brought his tongue back to her tight flesh and licked and sucked until she couldn’t think, could only feel.
Pressure built inside her brain, scents and sounds and touch colliding until Hinto sucked her harder than before and scraped her with his teeth.
Thais screamed out in astonishment as pleasure, the likes of which she’d never before experienced, exploded throughout her body. She gripped Hinto’s head and arched up into his mouth, not sure when she’d grabbed him in the first place. The ecstasy consumed her, turned her world inside out, and devastated her.
Hinto pressed kisses along her thighs as she eased her hands from his hair, confused and alarmed to feel such intensity. She’d been right here with him, yet, she’d also been somewhere else when he’d taken her so deeply into his mouth. Flying with the Goddess, swimming through an expanse of time and space where bliss ruled her every thought, her every desire.
She slowly blinked at him when he rose to his feet and stepped away from her.
“That’s what the joining—sex—feels like when it’s done right. That’s what I felt when you milked my seed from me,” he said hoarsely. His gaze wandered over her body and locked onto her wet sex. “And it’s even better when I’m filling you with this.” He gripped himself through his trousers, and she wondered if he’d spilled inside them again. “When I’m thrusting this inside you and stoking that heat hotter. Then when you explode, you’ll clamp me tight. And I’ll fill you, Thais. I’ll fill you right up.”
He turned away without another word and disappeared into the woods behind them.
Thais had a hard time catching her breath as she lay there. Wet and spent, she didn’t know what to make of what had just happened. Great Mother, but if this is what she’d done to him, it was a wonder he hadn’t abandoned her days ago. Such a loss of control countered by a huge euphoria she wanted to feel again, just as soon as she could make her body stop shuddering.
She couldn’t fathom the extremes she’d just encountered. She had some answers to the mysteries of sex, but the knowledge brought no relief. Only more questions. When his tongue had pressed against her and neared her channel, when she’d tensed in surrender to the rapture upon her, she’d felt joy and she’d felt… empty.
Memories of his thick shaft made her wonder how he would feel within her flesh, if even he’d fit inside her. Her body clenched at the thought, and she cringed at the moisture gathered there, now running down her thigh toward her bottom. This was what she’d worried about. This jittery sensation, an uncertain craving for not just any man, but Hinto. He’d prodded her curiosity and challenged the warrior within her. But the woman would have to meet this new test, and Thais didn’t want to set her free.
Then when you explode, you’ll clamp me tight. And I’ll fill you, Thais. I’ll fill you right up. His words stirred her despite the danger of his suggestion. When a man shoved deep into a woman’s body, he chanced getting her with child.
Thais couldn’t afford to have a child. A child distorted a warrior’s body and made her weak. Now, when Thais should have been tracking Bartel and the Amazons responsible for her tribe’s destruction, she lay under a bed of stars and longed for a Territory man.
Grimacing, she sat up and sought something to clean herself with. Instead of the focus she needed to deal with Gregor and her own enemies, she feared she’d constantly dwell on Hinto and the pleasure he’d bestowed.
She recalled her mother once saying, The consequence of temptation and the means to do wrong are married by the evils of men. Thais had never understood that particular phrase, but now she had an inkling about what that “temptation” might mean. Hinto had said it would just be a kiss. Another snake-tongue, just like the men who’d raided her village.
Fuming that she’d been fooled by his soft spoken words and seeming apology, she redressed herself and found her knife among his belongings, which she tossed to the other side of their small camp.
When he returned, she could see tension in the set of his shoulders and the firm line of his mouth.
“That will not happen again,” she promised.
He raised an eyebrow but said nothing. His expression, however, said what he did not. He declared an open challenge, one she had no intention of losing.
Hinto straightened his bedroll and lay down without another word. After closing his eyes, he released a soft sigh.
Thais waited a few moments. “If you touch my knife again, I will gut you where you lie.” She didn’t expect a reply.
“Fair enough. Now let me tell you something. The next time my mouth is on that sweet little pussy of yours, I’m not gonna shoot my seed anywhere but deep inside you. And you’ll be begging me for it, honey. I can promise you that.”
She swore at him in her native tongue and had to hold herself back from stabbing him when he laughed at her. Begging him for it? Oh, he’d soon see differently. Damned if she’d beg a man for anything. Not even her life.
She turned her back on him and gripped her knife tight.
Sleep refused to come.
***
Hinto woke refreshed and in a helluva good mood. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had so much fun riling anyone. With just a smile he had Thais scowling at him like a thundercloud. And his day turned brighter from there.
Hell, he had an unfair advantage and he knew it. When he’d come of age, he’d followed his dick into more trouble than he could handle. But his older brother Mahpee had been there to guide him. Poor Thais had no one. He glanced at her with open pity and chuckled when she said something mean-sounding in that language he found so sexy. Thais had no one to help her but him. He couldn’t wait.
“Hungry?” he asked in a pleasant voice and tied his hair back in a leather thong. The wind whipped through the trees with a viciousness he didn’t want hampering his vision. He fastened his hat to a loop on one of his saddle bags, not wanting to lose the thing. Third hat he’d been through in a year.
“I’m fine.”
“You sure are,” he added, aggravating her even more. Gentle seduction wouldn’t work with this woman. Goading her would, and it salved the bruised ego she’d unwittingly given him days ago.
“Let’s focus on finding Gregor, if your feeble, male mind can handle that?”
“Sure thing, honey.”
“My name is Thais.” Her glare could have cut steel.
“Yes, ma’am, it is. You know what? If it makes you feel better, feel free to call me sweetheart or honey. Or master, if you like.” He winked, captivated by the fury in her eyes.
“Master?” She choked and spun around, mounting her horse in a hurry. “You son of a snake.” She grumbled to herself and shot him nasty looks as they broke camp and made a periphery of the town.
It took them two hours to map Morrow. They arrived from the south, so Hinto knew what to expect there. To the east sat more mountains. To the west, a mining camp. And to the north a well worn trail, suggesting housing some dista
nce away.
Like he’d told Thais, Morrow consisted of a shabby but well-used bar and whorehouse, a church, and a general store. The church saw its business through the mining widows and wives, the bar through the miners and criminals stupid enough to think they’d find anything of value from the idiot miners.
The UTs avoided Morrow, mostly because they had their hands full in Four Corners’ bigger towns. But if Morrow kept growing, no doubt they’d plant a UTO smack dab in the center of town. And then the miners would be out of luck, because no way the UTs would sanction blast mining, not for a handful of fancy rocks and a thin vein of sky gold—leftover minerals from the sky rocks of long ago.
“Thais, I need to hit the bar.” He dismounted and handed her the reins to Beast.
She frowned. “Why are you giving me this? I’m coming in with you.”
He’d been hoping she’d cooperate without too many questions. He should have known better. “Honey, have you seen the shitheads in this town? Most of them would like nothing better than to throw you down and rut until they passed out. We can’t afford the attention.”
“In my hat and bandana, I pass for a man.”
“No. You don’t.” Not when she turned around and showcased that sweet ass.
A few drunks passed by and gave them second and third looks, but Hinto couldn’t tell if that was due to Thais or Beast, who had a time snarling at anyone stupid enough to walk close by.
“Hinto, I’m coming with you.”
“Why? This isn’t a pissing contest. I want to find this guy as much as you do. I find him for you, you kill him, and DeeDee’s free.” He watched her frown and wished he could attribute her negativity to jealousy. But that would be too easy. “I’m not gonna ditch you. You have Beast.”
Beast swung his mighty head and bared his incisors.
“Besides,” Hinto continued, “The women inside will tell me something before they open up to you. Fancy women like to strut their stuff around a man. They’ll only see competition when they look at you. Another woman taking away their hard-earned gold.”
“Hard earned?” Thais scoffed.
“Not every whore chooses to become one. Some can’t bear young. Others refuse to marry the men their folks choose for them. And others have nowhere else to turn and need the nuggets,” he said quietly, thinking of DeeDee and so many others he’d run into, forced into the life. “I’d think you of all people would be sympathetic.”
“Why me?” she asked, her hold on the reins tight, her knuckles white.
“Because you didn’t seem to like being with me much, did you?”
She opened her mouth and closed it with a snap, looking like a fish out of water. He thought the comparison apt, especially when a woman cried out and drew their attention. A half-naked whore hung out the window, shaking as if being pounded from behind. Several passersby stopped in the street and stared while the woman moaned and faked her way through an orgasm.
Thais blushed scarlet.
“Layla seems to like it well enough,” he remarked. At her wide-eyed stare, he nodded. “Yeah, I know her.” Not as a client, but as a source of information. Though Thais didn’t need to know that.
“Fine.” She scowled. “I’ll hold onto Beast and wait for you beyond the church. But if he tries to bite me in any way, I’ll be having vore for my next meal.”
Beast grinned, and Hinto knew that his ride approved of the Amazon. Probably recognized the wild call of like to like, he thought with a snort.
Thais wasn’t done. “If you think to lie with her, think again. I’m not here for your entertainment. I have things to do. As soon as I find Gregor, I can get the information I need from Kitty. And you and I are done.”
He lost his humor at her setdown. “Honey, you and I are done when I damn well say so, and not a moment before. Ride your ass on over to the church and pray you have a lick more sense by the time I return. And God sakes, if you see Gregor’s likeness or hear where he’s staying, don’t go looking for him without me.”
She looked at him as if he were no better than the manure beneath her mare’s feet. On a sniff, she turned away, riding down the street on her spirited mare, Beast in trail, like she owned the damned town.
“Trouble to pursue her,” he reminded himself, swore, and turned to enter the bar.
Once inside, he noticed several couples engaged in foreplay and outright sex. Rooms must be full booked. Which meant someone had struck it rich, because bar owner Lou didn’t let just anyone fuck his girls without gold in hand.
The stale smell of slowburn and gut-rot mixed with body odor and mold. The oak beams in Lou’s Bar holding up the place needed repair in the worst way. The wooden floor had been boarded up in so many places that Hinto couldn’t walk an even path across the floor without tripping over something, be it a body or a board. Drunks and whores and their customers filled the booming space, making it hard to hear anything.
Hinto estimated at least twenty men downstairs, not counting the ones fucking the girls against the walls. All said and done, there might have been twice that number in the bar. And then the grinding noise of a woman singing pierced his ears. A fight broke out in one corner, quickly contained by two large, disreputable thugs that looked somehow familiar.
Just another day in the life of a bounty hunter.
He sighed and stepped up to the bar. He nodded to Lou and ordered a slowburn. Studying the silver plated mirror over table of liquor, Hinto noted several fellows that met Gregor’s description.
Lou shoved the drink across the counter at him and waited. When Hinto put down more nuggets than needed, Lou leaned close to hear. “Who you after this time?” he had to raise his voice to be heard.
Hinto moved closer. “Fella named Gregor.”
The men on either side of him quickly picked up their drinks and moved away.
Lou sighed. “Thought you had more sense than that, Hinto.”
He took a swallow of the slowburn and let the fiery liquid slide down his throat. “Why’s that?”
“Because his brother owns the damned town. Gregor’s always got protection, and he’s damned vicious. You go after Gregor, you’re not just taking him down. You’re taking down Butch McKenzie and the Nolan brothers, too.”
Hinto coughed and slammed the rest of his drink down. “Are you fucking with me?”
“I wish.” Lou looked glum. “I’ve been trying to get rid of Butch for months. Bastard bleeds me dry, especially after a run like this.” He waved around him and glared at the thugs in the corner. “Those two are Nolans. They reamed one of my girls so bad yesterday she still can’t sit down. Butch lets them do whatever they want out as his ranch. Stole three of my whores the day he rode into town. Hear tell they’re still fucking anything that moves at his ranch.”
“So why don’t you get them back?” Hinto asked. Lou was no pushover. And this was the first Hinto had heard of Butch McKenzie. The Nolan brothers, unfortunately, he’d run into before, but not the pair in the corner. The last time he’d run into them, he’d taken a set to jail, where they met the hangman. How many brothers were there in that damned family?
Lou leaned closer to lower his voice and still be heard. “No one screws with Butch because he’s got currency out his ass. Connections with the UTO, they say, and lots of hired guns. Trust me, he makes Gregor look like a beginner. And if you’re after Gregor, I’ll bet it has somethin’ to do with a dead woman. Man carves ‘em up and uses ‘em hard. Likes it rough.”
“So I hear.” Hinto swallowed the rest of his drink, surprised when Lou shoved the rest of his nuggets back across the bar at him. “Lou?”
“You get rid of Butch and Gregor and you’ll never have to pay in here, starting right now.” Lou glanced over Hinto’s shoulder. “Hurly, I thought I told you not to come in here for a spell. Jenny ain’t real fond of your sorry ass, done gave her the scratch.”
Several men around them laughed.
“I know, Lou. But you ain’t gonna believe this.”
/> His excitement spurred the piano player to cease and the singer to shut her mouth. All eyes turned to Hurly, and Hinto’s senses flared, a sure sign of trouble. Hell. He’d warned her to keep quiet. Surely she had more sense than to make trouble in this town.
“Well, spit it out, Hurly.”
“Some dude out there just knifed Freddy Nolan, right before he punched Cedric in the nose. Blood everywhere. ‘Cept it weren’t no man. It’s a woman, and boy, she’s a looker.”
Hinto swore under his breath and followed the crowd that swept out of the bar, hard on the Nolan brothers’ heels.
Shit. No good can come from this.
Was he ever so right.
Chapter Six
Thais knew allowing Hinto a few kisses had been a mistake. Not only because of the odd feelings he’d stirred, but because of the new way he thought he could talk to her. Bad enough he eyeballed her like a bag of sweets, shooting self-satisfied smirks in her direction all damned morning long. But to order her about like a child? “Ride your ass on over to church and pray you have a lick more sense by the time I return,” he’d said.
Oh, she planned on giving him a lick of sense. A foot up his ass might fix his attitude. Sneering at the thought of taking him down a peg, she caught the attention of two women rounding the church. The pair wore dresses in pastel lavender and pink. The shapely garments covered their shoulders and chests and cinched just under their breasts, showing off womanly curves. Long enough to sweep the ground, the finery looked ridiculously out of place in the grungy town.
At least the whores dressed for success. Short skirts for easy access and tight blouses to emphasize their wares. What exactly did these town ladies hope to gain by wearing such frilly things? Was that expensive lace dragging along the ground at the hemline of the younger woman’s dress? Hell, with every step she not only dirtied the material, but hampered her movements as well.