by Logan, Jake
While taller than most women, she didn’t stoop or try to hide it in any way. She carried herself with pride and a strength that came from fending for herself and her young one for a good, long time. Her eyes were smoky and inviting, and she spoke to him in a rich voice that was easy to turn toward laughter. During the evening after Slocum’s first week on the trail with them, he found himself with his back to the fire long after the children had been put to bed. He stared out toward the western horizon, studying the stars, which seemed to sparkle even brighter since the darkness had grown colder.
“Aren’t you coming to bed?” Theresa asked while sidling up to stand beside him.
Slocum stood with a large boulder between him and the wagons. The rock wasn’t tall enough to hide him completely from the others, but was enough to give a small amount of privacy. His intention had been just to have something solid to lean against for a while, but he was now grateful for the makeshift barrier. “Did someone dig out a bed for me to use?” he asked.
She laughed and wrapped her arms around herself to hold her woolen shawl in place. “I guess that just sounded better than me asking if you plan on coming back so you can sleep on the ground wrapped up in a bunch of dirty blankets. After all, a question like that might make you want to throw your saddle on your horse and ride in the opposite direction while our backs were turned.”
“Don’t worry. You folks are stuck with me for a while.”
“Not stuck,” she said softly. “Not hardly.”
“What brings you out here so far from the fire?”
“You do.”
Slocum turned to get a look at her. In the last several days, he’d been noticing her more and more. Her dark hair and pretty face had struck him from the moment they’d been introduced, but it wasn’t long before he found his thoughts lingering on the shapely curves of her body and the long legs he imagined were beneath the skirts she always wore. Her hands were strong and her skin was smooth, taking his thoughts in other directions on cold nights such as this. Doing his best to keep his face from betraying those thoughts, even in the shadows, he said, “I’m on watch tonight.”
“Does there really seem to be a danger of being robbed again? I would think it’d be like lightning,” she said with an uneasy laugh. “Get struck once and the odds are pretty slim of getting struck again.”
“There’s a lot of men who might see these wagons as an easy target. More of them than lightning strikes, I’d wager. Then there’s animals that could come after our food or the horses. There’s also—”
She stopped him with a hand placed on his arm. “I understand. Any more of your explanation and you might make me too nervous to sleep.”
“Sorry about that. Guess it’s my nature to think about all the angles, no matter how grim some of them might be.”
“That’s how a man survives on his own in this world.” She moved in closer and took a seat beside him. When she leaned against him, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. “How long have you been on your own?”
After a short bit of contemplation, Slocum told her, “Long enough that it doesn’t seem to matter anymore.”
She pressed herself against him, leaned over, and whispered, “It matters.”
Slocum turned toward her and placed the edge of one finger beneath her chin. That way, he could lift her face just enough to kiss her on the lips. It was a long, lingering kiss that had the added spice of being stolen while no one was looking. Slocum felt a rush through his entire body when he wrapped her in his arms and laid her down on the blanket he’d been using to cushion himself from the cold, hard ground.
Theresa seemed reluctant at first, but the quick glances toward the wagons let Slocum know she was more worried about being discovered than what was actually happening. “Don’t worry,” he whispered. “As long as we’re quiet, we can hear anything bigger than a field mouse that comes toward us.”
“That’s the problem,” she said. “I don’t know if I can be quiet with you.”
Now, there was no mistaking that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. If there was any shred of doubt in his mind, it was erased when she positioned herself beneath him and started tugging at his belt to loosen it. First, the gun belt came off and was placed within easy reach. Next, she worked on his jeans while Slocum eased his hands up under her skirts. After navigating through layers of cloth and slips, he found the cotton undergarments separating him from where he wanted to be. Slocum tried pulling them off her carefully at first, but the urgency that had been building inside both of them boiled over until he ripped her undergarments off. The only other sound apart from the tearing fabric was the excited groan issuing from the back of Theresa’s throat.
She froze in place, leaning her head back to once again look toward the wagons. She couldn’t see them because of the rock at their backs, but she listened intently for any hint of movement approaching their spot. Slocum listened as well, and when he heard nothing but the wind, he slid his hand between her legs until his fingers found their way to the soft thatch of hair between her thighs.
Theresa arched her back and tightened her grip on his arms as Slocum started rubbing her pussy. Her eyes clenched shut and she opened her legs so he could reach in farther and vigorously stroke her. Before long, her entire body began to tremble and she fought the impulse to cry out. When her eyes snapped open again, she looked as if she was on a mission to tear his clothes off as quickly as humanly possible.
Having already started on his jeans, she pulled them open the rest of the way and tugged them down. She barely finished that job before turning her attention to his shirt. Slocum had shifted his focus as well, using both hands to loosen the ties at the front of her dress so he could get his hands upon her warm, bare breasts. And then, like a harsh reminder of where they were, a cold wind tore in from the north to stop them both in their tracks.
“Maybe . . . this isn’t such a good idea,” Theresa reluctantly said.
Slocum’s only response was to take the blanket they’d been using as a mat, unfold it, and drape it over them as protection from the cold. Once the wind was no longer slicing into them and they each had the other’s body for warmth, their hands began probing once more and Theresa lay on her back to look up at Slocum as well as the stars above.
Her dress was a rumpled mess around her, more like another blanket than anything she could actually wear. Without all the ties or fasteners in place, she wriggled most of the way out of it with ease. Slocum kicked his boots off and slid out of his jeans. His penis was rigid and Theresa wasted no time in reaching down to feel it for herself. Once her hand was wrapped around him, she started stroking. Her eyes locked on to his to watch his face register every bit of pleasure she was giving him. He reached down to her pussy once more, finding it even wetter than before. Settling on top of her, Slocum felt her legs open wide to accept him. Theresa maintained her grip on his shaft, guiding him toward her moist opening.
Slocum closed his eyes, savoring the moment when the tip of his cock brushed against the lips of her pussy. When he entered her, the cold around them was no longer an issue. He drove all the way inside and stayed there. Theresa’s arms wrapped around him, holding him in place.
“God, I’ve wanted this,” she whispered. “Feels . . . so good.”
There was a smile on her face. It was a faraway expression as she craned her head back and moved her hands up and down along Slocum’s back. When he pumped into her, she let out a grunt, which was quickly stifled before it turned into anything louder. As Slocum drove into her again and again, he realized that he, too, needed to watch how much noise he made. While he was never one to care much for what others thought of him, he didn’t want to make things uncomfortable for Theresa among the people in the wagon train, who’d become like a close-knit family. Those thoughts were nothing but a fleeting thing rushing through his mind, however, since
Slocum had plenty more to think about.
He thought about how good it felt to bury his cock into Theresa’s warm, wet pussy.
He thought about the way her body tensed beneath him or the way she bucked her hips in time to his thrusts after wrapping her legs around him.
He thought about the way she clawed at his back through his shirt and how wild she must be if she could truly let go and give in to every little desire that crossed her mind.
When he slowed down for a while and then pounded into her even harder, he could feel her tighten around him while her entire body quivered. She bit down on her lower lip and pressed her face against Slocum’s shoulder so her moans were muffled as she climaxed.
Then, she was squirming as if she was trying to get out from beneath the weight of his body.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“You made me feel so good,” she replied. “I want you to feel good, too.”
“Just stay where you are,” he told her. “I’m about to feel plenty good.”
She wore a little smirk as she crawled out from under him and pushed him onto his back. From there, she crawled on top of him and kissed his mouth, neck, and chest. Slocum could feel the wet lips between her legs brushing against his rigid pole as she kissed him. And then, when she moved beneath the blanket to put her head between his legs, he was truly driven to the brink.
Theresa’s mouth was soft as it wrapped around the tip of his penis. Her tongue was warm against his cock and she took every inch of it inside as she eased her head all the way down. Slocum enjoyed her attentions, but still craved to be inside her so he could finish the job he’d started. That craving was forgotten as soon as Theresa’s tongue began slipping up and down along his member while her head bobbed up and down.
Slocum had had other women use their mouth on him, but Theresa’s was magic. She sped up or slowed down as if she knew exactly how he wanted her to move. Just when he thought she’d taken him to the height of pleasure, she started sucking on him while her tongue teased the underside of his pole.
“Jesus,” Slocum grunted. Now he was the one who had to contain himself before drawing too much attention. But he wasn’t worried about that any longer. Foremost on his mind was placing his hands on either side of her head and enjoying the rest of what she was giving him.
Theresa’s hands moved over his hips and up along his chest. Lowering her head, she took Slocum’s penis into her mouth all the way down to its base. Then, as she slowly lifted her head, she sucked him and fluttered her tongue against his sensitive flesh.
He couldn’t take it any longer. Slocum’s body tensed and the bottoms of his feet pressed against the ground as his pleasure raced toward its conclusion. When he climaxed, he grit his teeth and drew a deep breath while exploding into her mouth. She drank him down until she’d had every drop. When she eased away from him, Slocum wouldn’t have been able to get to his feet if a pack of wolves had been charging toward him.
“My goodness,” she said while licking the corner of her mouth. “You’re trembling.”
“Must be the cold,” he said weakly.
She climbed to her feet, straightened her dress so it fell more or less where it should, and then fastened enough of the clasps and ties to keep it in place. “Yes,” she chuckled. “I’m sure it’s just the cold.”
Slocum watched her circle around the rock and lean over to take a look at the wagons. The coast must have been clear because she gave him an offhanded wave before walking back to the main campsite. After she was gone, he pulled his clothes back on and bundled the blanket so it could be used as a backrest again.
It was a cold night and the air felt as if it would only get colder with each day that passed. For the moment, however, Slocum didn’t feel the slightest chill.
5
The next morning, Theresa tried to act as if nothing had happened. She and James awoke around the same time as the others, came to the cook fire, and helped make preparations for the day while Franco put breakfast together. The morning meal consisted of griddle cakes and bacon with syrup that the cook insisted was imported all the way from Canada. Slocum wasn’t an expert on maple syrup, but he knew good griddle cakes when he tasted them and he tasted plenty of them before saddling his horse and heading out.
Scouting was a relaxing affair, simply because there wasn’t much to see apart from bare trees and flat terrain that was beginning to show signs of hills and steeper slopes. It wouldn’t be long before they crossed into Colorado and not long after that before they caught their first glimpse of the Rockies.
In the days since he’d acquired his new horse, Slocum could tell the animal was growing accustomed to him. Subtle motions of the reins and the occasional touch of his feet against the horse’s sides were all that he needed to guide it. Finding his way back to the wagon train was done at an exhilarating pace that got steam coming from the horse’s nostrils before it was asked to slow down.
Late in the afternoon, Ed sat at his place in the driver’s seat of the lead wagon. Waving to Slocum, he asked, “See anything we need to worry about out there?”
“Not unless you’re worried about falling asleep. Just a whole lot of wide-open country.”
“That’s what I like to hear! Keep up the great work, John.”
Slocum’s horse was standing in place, allowing the wagons to roll past it, which allowed him to hear Josiah when he grumbled, “Ain’t like he made the damn country so flat.”
Once the last wagon was rolling by, Slocum flicked his reins to get his horse moving again. He easily kept pace with Josiah while looking over to find the older man hunched forward as if he was studying every motion of his team’s backside. “You got some quarrel with me?” Slocum asked.
“You know damn well how I feel. I never wanted you along for this ride and it looks more and more like there ain’t no reason for you to be here.”
“I’ve been doing everything that’s asked of me.”
“Sure,” he chuckled. “I just bet you have.”
Slocum couldn’t be sure if Josiah’s gaze had drifted toward Theresa’s wagon in particular or if that was just his own suspicions tainting his thoughts. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t gotta explain myself to nobody. Sure as hell don’t gotta explain nothing to the likes of you.”
Whatever Josiah knew about Theresa no longer mattered to Slocum. “You have a problem, then spit it out,” he said. “Unless you’d rather just keep your head down and mumble like an old woman?”
Josiah’s eyebrows rose and his upper body followed. In fact, it seemed as if he might stand up right there in the driver’s seat to challenge Slocum when he replied, “Old woman? You sure you want to test your luck with me, boy?”
“Keep flapping your gums the way you’ve been doing and I’ll show you what this boy can—”
A sound rolled in from the south that was part wailing cry and part howl. Slocum turned toward the direction from which it had come, only to find the same bunch of hills rising gradually to a low rise less than half a mile from the trail. He’d circled around behind those hills less than an hour ago and couldn’t see anything on them now apart from stalks of grass and patches of weeds that were too stubborn to die in the mounting chill.
“What the hell was that?” Slocum asked.
Josiah propped one foot upon the boards in front of him. “How should I know? I’m just driving this here wagon. The man that should know is the one paid to do the scouting.”
Before Josiah had even gotten the last of his words out, Slocum’s horse was kicking up dust as he urged it to race toward those hills. Behind him, Ed shouted, “You need some help, John?”
Slocum knew better than to waste any time with a reply so he just kept riding.
Ed watched him for a few more seconds before motioning for the wagons to com
e to a halt. After setting his brake, he climbed down from the wagon and untied one of the horses secured to a hitch on the side of the wagon. “Anyone else tries to follow me,” he said to his wife, “tell them to stay put.”
“Why?” May said, suddenly worried as she watched her husband climb into the other horse’s saddle. “What if both of you need help?”
“And what if something comes at these wagons while both of us are out there? This is why we hired John to come with us. Josiah is here. He and Tom can keep watch. Sending any more than two of us away just to chase a peculiar noise could be too costly.”
“That noise was more than peculiar,” May said as a chill rolled through her that had nothing to do with the wind.
“I know, darlin’. Just stay put and hand me that rifle.”
She reached for the Spencer rifle tucked beneath the driver’s seat and handed it down to him. When he took the weapon from her, Ed was sure to brush his fingers along his wife’s hand for one last bit of her warmth before riding away. Her eyes shifted toward Josiah, who’d settled into his seat with his foot propped up as if it were just another lazy afternoon.
“Miss May!” Little Michael McCauley shouted from the wagon directly behind her. “Did that noise come from a monster?”
“No such things as monsters,” she replied.
“Should I ride out with Ed?” Tom McCauley asked.
May stood up and turned around so she could be heard by the rest of the wagons. Her voice was stern and full of authority when she said, “Everyone sit tight and wait here. Ed and John are going to check on whatever that was. Tom, you’re to stay here with us.”
Tom gripped his rifle and stayed put to guard the women and children. Since she didn’t know what the two men were checking on in the first place, May was relieved that nobody asked any more questions.
Slocum pulled back on the reins just enough to slow his horse from a full gallop to a quick trot. Although the animal’s hooves still crunched upon the gritty earth, there was a lot less noise than when the wind had been rushing past his face and the ground had been trampled beneath him. When Ed drew closer, Slocum signaled for the other man to slow his horse as well.