by Marie Harte
Deke and she would hold up the gold car while Brian set the charges and convinced the conductor to stop the train. He’d normally blow up a tree or something to grab the trainmen’s attention and slow down the rails. But this time they’d blown the main safe. Sure, they’d sacrificed a few paper bonds and promissory notes, but the gold nuggets ran free.
They rode north out of Little Valley with plans to stop and celebrate. Using one of their stash points, they buried all but a hundred gold nuggets a piece, enough to grab a decent hotel and a bath, at least. But from the look in Deke’s eyes, Pilar didn’t think her man could wait until they returned to town to celebrate. Oh hell, Brian looked just as eager to play.
Contemplating another three-way dimmed some of her excitement, but Pilar dismounted and joined her lovers anyway.
Until company arrived in the form of a tall, dark and dangerous man. He stepped out of the shadows as if he’d been waiting for them.
“Damn. Gregor McKenzie, as I live an’ breathe.” Brian stared in shock, and then he grinned and held out a hand.
Deke hung back, alongside Pilar. “Brian?” Deke growled.
“Oh, right. Sorry.” Brian turned. “Deke, Pilar, this here’s Gregor McKenzie. His brother Butch runs the town of Morrow, just a few days west of here.”
“Butch and I run Morrow together.” Gregor frowned, and Pilar made a mental note. No love lost between the McKenzies, apparently.
His gaze met hers, and he smiled. “Brian Sampson. Been a while, eh?” Gregor hooked his thumbs in his trousers and rocked on his feet. A good ol’ boy, except his predatory eyes never stopped combing their camp, taking in every detail. “So you’re the Flower Gang. Hear tell you’ve been hitting the railroads pretty hard.”
“Oh?” Pilar asked quietly, studying his reactions. She could tell a lot about a man from the way he responded to feminine strength. Most men shied from it. Some ignored it, choosing instead to put her down as nothing more than a whore for her “brazen ways.” Very few—Deke and Brian—had looked beyond her exterior to the core of power she held deep inside.
Something about Gregor told her he wouldn’t make the mistakes the more common men of the Territories had.
“Ma’am.” He tipped his hat toward her in respect. “Butch sends his regards. He dearly wants to make your acquaintance. My brother loves a strong woman, and there aren’t too many out here.”
Deke tensed. “What the fuck you do you want, McKenzie? And who told you we’d be coming this way?” He shot Brian a look.
“Not me, Deke.” Brian shrugged. “Just friends with Gregor, is all.”
“I followed you today. Watched you take on the train. Real impressive, I have to admit.” He held up his hands in surrender when Deke withdrew his gun. “I don’t want your gold, just a chance to talk. Like I said, Butch wants to meet you.”
He directed his comment to Pilar. Interesting.
“Why?”
“Aside from the fact that he’d give his left nut to have a pretty woman like you by his side?” Gregor ignored Deke’s rising fury and put his hands down. “Your gang has been hitting the railways hard. Enough that some of the line’s investors are beginning to worry.”
“And your brother cares, why? Is he one of these investors?” Pilar fingered the spear she always carried.
“Not my brother. Only thing he’s invested in is Morrow and the ranch. He has a proposal for you. I’m here to extend the invitation, that’s all. Your choice to accept or not.”
Pilar wondered just what the hell a successful man like Butch McKenzie wanted with her. “We’ll consider it and get back to you. Where can we find you?”
He smiled, sly insincerity in his bright grin. “I’ll be heading home this evening. Should you choose to visit, do so at your convenience. Butch wants to talk to you, and it involves a lot more gold than you’re getting off the rails. And from what I hear, the Flower Gang is making a killing. Think about it.” He tipped his hat, nodded to Deke and Brian, and walked away into the night, as if he owned the very ground over which he walked.
Once the quiet enveloped them, Deke turned to Pilar. “What do you think, baby? I dunno. Somethin’ about McKenzie I don’t like. He talks funny.”
“He’s okay,” Brian said. “Educated out East with his brother before they came here. Likes his sex rough, his cards dirty and his women pretty. Our kind of man.”
Deke waited in silence.
“I don’t trust him, but I’m intrigued,” Pilar said softly. “He showed little emotion. His smiles lied, and he did not fear you or your gun. But being compared to his brother bothered him.”
“Huh?” Brian frowned.
“Yeah, I saw that.” Deke nodded. “Brian, you say this Gregor is alright. But I don’t want that asshole brother of his thinkin’ he can take what he wants. No matter what Gregor said, McKenzie will want a piece of our action. And you, Pilar. He’ll want you.”
She snorted. “He can want all he likes. See how far that gets him.” She grabbed Deke to her and kissed him hard, bruising his mouth. She let him go only when he’d relaxed.
Deke grinned. “That’s what I love about you, woman. All that sass and anger. So fuckin’ pretty, and damn smart, too.”
He didn’t even pretend at subtlety and unfastened his breeches. His cock fell out, stiff and proud.
Brian came forward and did the same, eager to share in Pilar’s sudden good will.
Needing to cement her hold over both men, Pilar stripped and sank onto her hands and knees on the grass. They mounted her like animals. Deke shoved between her legs not caring of her readiness. He bruised her as he pushed, and after several thrusts she accepted the pain and her body eased around him. Brian shoved between her lips, nearly gagging her. She glared at him as he stuffed her face full of his cock.
He stroked her cheeks but didn’t slow down. “God, I love this, Deke,” he moaned.
“Yeah, my warrior knows how to handle her men. She owns us, right baby? We work for you, and I damn well know it.” He tensed and shuddered, spilling inside her. But he didn’t stop. He slowly began shafting her again, even as Brian filled her mouth with bitter seed.
No longer annoyed, Pilar accepted their frenzied need, yet one more token of her power over the pair. Deke caressed her back as he shoved inside her, and affection blossomed anew. He would never be able to take her first love’s place, but in this world, in this place, Deke gave her most of what she needed. Even Brian, to an extent, redeemed her value.
While Deke sought a second release, Pilar wondered how to turn McKenzie’s interest in her favor. The arrogant Gregor intrigued her. Intelligent, different, powerful. A combination that could take a man far in the wilds of the Territories.
Or even in the wilds of the Amazon.
The matter of Bartel, or whatever his name really was, never quite left her thoughts. With any luck, he’d soon notice how much gold he was missing from his mines in Four Corners and send a scout to learn more. Just thinking about taking her revenge on him excited her, and she accepted Deke plowing into her with more than tolerance, but with a greedy thrill.
That’s right, lover, give me everything you have. Because I’m going to take and take until I’m satisfied. As he stiffened inside her and groaned, she wondered if this would be the time her womb bore fruit. Pilar pictured herself holding a small infant in her arms, one with bright green eyes and dark hair.
The image tarnished the hope she struggled to keep in place, bringing with it a sadness that would never fade. Deke withdrew from her body and took her in his arms. He stood and hugged her tight. Brian warmed her back, and little by little her small “protectorate” salved the wounds that would never heal.
“We’ll have it all Pil. Just you wait and see,” Deke murmured.
She would wait and see. But this time she wouldn’t depend on the Goddess for help. Pilar would make her destiny her own way, on her own terms.
Chapter Eleven
“Dammit. We should have been long gone
days ago. I can’t believe you sat us in that cave for three whole days. Do you have any idea how close they probably are?” Hinto growled, not surprised when Thais refused to answer him.
She’d been quiet as a mouse since he’d wakened yesterday with a fierce need to piss. His bruises had mostly healed on his face. Amazing stuff, that nucca paste. He couldn’t wait to get home and plant those precious seeds for his father.
He just wished his “nurse” was a bit more forthcoming about her reasons for sitting for so damned long. And hearing her talk again might be nice. Thais refused to speak more than one-word sentences. He had a bad feeling she’d leave him if she didn’t feel so beholden to him for taking a bullet to help her.
Was she upset that he’d proven so weak? That he’d let them both get caught in the first place? Why did she seem so distant?
“Hey, Amazon. I’m talking to you.” His leg hurt when he shifted in the saddle, and he stifled a curse.
She saw his wince and angled closer. “Your leg bothers you?”
Anymore, only his injuries concerned her. Aggravated that all the headway he’d made with her before being shot had vanished, he told her the truth. “Hell, yeah, it hurts. I was fucking shot trying to save your stubborn ass, and you won’t give me more than a yes or no.” His gruffness seemed to amuse her. “What’s so damned funny?”
Her lips curled, and his anger drained into a pool of desire that was never far from the surface when dealing with Thais.
“I kept you in the cave for three days because you talked to people who weren’t there. I could not risk you dying, not after you’d saved ‘my stubborn ass.’”
He frowned. “What are you talking about?” He couldn’t be sure, but it looked like Thais blushed. Fascinating.
“You, ah, called out for someone named Wolf.”
“My brother?”
“Then you talked about Mahpee…and Dana.”
“My brother? Mahpee’s wife?” Baffled, he had no idea why he’d mention Dana. Mahpee’s wife had died years ago, shot by the same assholes who’d shot his father. “What did I say?”
“Not much. You just seemed to see many people who were not there. You mumbled a lot.”
He had the notion she wasn’t telling the whole truth, but it didn’t much matter.
“Yeah, well, I’m better now. You said Butch’s men passed by yesterday, right? Then we’ll need to double back around and head north.”
“Why north?”
“I’m taking us to Shine. I want to give my father the seeds and recruit some help. We’re not going to be able to take care of Gregor with Butch breathing down our necks.”
He expected her to argue. He knew how much she wanted to find Gregor, to track down Pilar and Bartel. She surprised him when she nodded.
“We should regroup. How far is it to Shine?”
“It’s in Big Sky Territory. Another two weeks.”
“Two weeks? That’s a lot of time.”
“No, it’s not. That’ll give Kitty more opportunity to dig up dirt on your girl. We’ll figure out the best way to kill Gregor. Then you can return to Kitty.”
She frowned. “What about you?”
“I have some unfinished business with Butch.”
“You think you alone can take on Butch McKenzie?” She snorted. “You couldn’t do it with the both of us there.”
He gritted his teeth, and wondered again if this woman was worth all the fuss. “Because I was worried about you. It was your stupid idea to seduce Gregor that got us cornered in the first place.”
“No, it was not. You wanted to visit the bar again, an excuse to find me something suitable to wear.”
“Excuse?” His voice rose, he couldn’t help it.
“You probably would have visited the whores, except I refused to stay behind.”
He laughed in disbelief. “You think I went to Lou’s to get sex?”
“Why is that so funny? It’s all you ever seem to think about. Even sick, you—” This time there was no mistaking it, she turned bright red.
“I what?” he asked softly. “Just what did I do?”
“Never mind.” Thais cleared her throat and changed the subject. “I see no reason to discuss this, and no reason to go all the way to Shine. Isn’t there someplace else we might travel?”
“No.” He might be delayed getting to Gregor, but he would get the nucca seeds to his father. “Look, Thais, Kitty’s not the only one who knows things. I have a few friends up in Shine that seem to know every damned thing going on in the Territories. We’ll ask them about Bartel while we’re there. It won’t be a wasted trip.”
Her green eyes widened. “I hadn’t thought about that.”
“I can tell. Seems like once you get fixed on something, it’s hard for you to let it go.”
She nodded.
“How long you been lookin’ for Bartel, anyway?”
“Three—no, four years,” she corrected.
He whistled. “That’s a long time.”
“How long have you been looking for a cure for your father?”
He paused. “Five years ago they torched our ranch and shot up the place. Dad’s had a hole in his lungs for as long, and a few infections have come and gone. But this last one isn’t getting better. He’s been sick for the better part of two years, now.”
They rode in silence for a while, before Thais murmured, “I’m sorry.”
“Me too.” He took a deep breath, refusing to dwell on the possibility he might not ever earn enough gold to get his father across the Divide. Or that even if he did, his father would die before they reached the East. Not many crossed the IZ with their sanity, let alone their lives.
He glanced at Thais and watched as the sun highlighted the tail of her long brown hair. The hat shaded her face, but her eyes seemed bright as she looked back at him.
“You lost your mom, right?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“But your father. You never mentioned him.”
“No.”
She said nothing more, and he thought she’d reverted to her one-word answers.
“I never knew my father,” she said softly.
“Why?”
“Men are—were—not allowed in the village.”
“None at all? Not even kids?” He had the uneasy feeling Thais wasn’t talking about a small town down in Temeco, or even a haven for crazy women down south. Too much of what she said and did anymore led to one conclusion: the woman really was an Amazon.
“Male children were given to neighboring tribes. We lived in harmony, together. Sisters, mothers and friends.”
“But not lovers.”
She flushed again. “A few found deeper bonds among women. But most enjoyed the familiar camaraderie of family. They laid with men only to create more life for the tribe.”
“So your mother and your father, they only came together to make you?”
“I…yes.”
“What were you going to say?” Hinto couldn’t look away from her. Confusion, longing, and regret lined her eyes and bracketed her mouth. She was so damned beautiful draped in honest emotion.
“My mother never talked about the man chosen for her. But I sensed that she might have liked him.”
“And that’s strange to you.”
“For a guardian to enjoy a man’s touch, well, no one spoke of such things. Mother didn’t either. But when I’d ask a question about my father, she’d get a look in her eye. One of regret, I think.”
“Did you ask many questions about him? Did you miss him?”
“I was curious, but nothing more. I was raised by my mother and by the tribe. Everyone rears the young. They are cared for and nurtured. They learn the blade and the spear and the bow, to hunt and to serve.”
“To serve?”
“The tribe. To protect us from all enemies. Except ourselves,” she added with a bitterness he’d never heard from her before.
“Your mother,” he said quickly. “What was her name? What was sh
e like? Do you look like her?”
She stared at him in surprise. “Why do you wish to know these things?”
He sighed. “Thais, we have two whole weeks of travel to get to Shine. Since I doubt you’re going to distract me by using that fine body, or even better, that full mouth—” He grinned at the heated glare she leveled at him. “You might as well talk to me. You want the truth? It takes my mind from my leg. I’d heal a lot faster if I wasn’t constantly jostled against Beast. You’re not very gentle, vore.”
Beast snorted and bucked, as if to unseat him.
“Pain in my ass. And my leg. Shit.” Hinto stroked the vore while Thais smothered a laugh.
She cleared her throat. “Since you are correct in that I will not distract you with any part of my body, I’ll answer your questions. But I must say, it’s a weakness, Hinto. That you continue to acknowledge your pain will only make it worse,” she scolded.
Though it grated that she thought him weak, he swallowed his temper and nodded, anything to learn more about her. And he’d told part of the truth. Their trip to Shine would feel like an eternity with nothing better to do than fantasize about Thais. At least if she talked, he’d stop thinking about what it must feel like to sink between those toned thighs.
He shifted, uncomfortable riding with a stiff dick. Beast grumbled, but from what Hinto could tell, the vore had had no better luck with Thais’s mare. Poor bastard.
“I look very much like my mother,” Thais said. “Except that her eyes were a golden brown. My green eyes and paler skin come from Thalen.”
“How did your mother meet him?”
“In our tribe, the queen often called for celebration when the Goddess decreed it.”
“The Goddess?”
She blinked. “Do you not worship your creator? Ours is a female entity of benevolent and just tolerance. The Goddess. The Great Mother.”
“Oh, right. Well, God’s been worshipped around here since before the Great Storm. Despite all the wars and problems we’ve had since, we still call our big guy God. Not feminine, masculine.”