Crossing the Line

by J. R. Roberts

  Sadie’s body wasn’t plump, but she had wide, generous curves. Her breasts swayed with every move she made, and her large, dark nipples soon became hard with anticipation. Clint could feel a tension in her legs which had nothing to do with the way she straddled him. Everything about her, right down to the breaths she took, was excited for what was to come. Fortunately, she didn’t make him wait much longer.

  Once again resting her hands upon Clint’s shoulders, she started rocking back and forth against him. Every now and then, she shifted her weight an inch or two to one side or the other so he moved within her at a slightly different angle. Those subtle motions were more than enough to make Clint become even harder inside of her. Before long, it became difficult for him to rein himself in.

  Smiling at the frustration building in him, Sadie mused, “Having a tough time, Clint?”

  “On the contrary. Things couldn’t be much better from where I sit.”

  “Well, now.” Sadie purred as she slid the palms of her hands from Clint’s shoulders down to his chest. “Let’s just see what I can do about that.”

  She rocked a bit more, but also started lifting herself up and down. Using her hands against his chest for support, Sadie built up a powerful head of steam in a short amount of time. It wasn’t long before Clint felt like he had to hang on to her just so she wouldn’t fall off of him. Of course, she was holding on so tight that it would have taken a hell of a lot for her to lose her grip.

  Sadie arched her back and shook her head until her long, dark hair surrounded her face like a mane. Low, rumbling groans came from the back of her throat like growls as she began digging her fingernails into Clint’s flesh. That stung for a brief moment, but quickly added spice to what he was already feeling.

  Encouraging her with a few little swats to her buttocks, Clint started pumping his hips up into her every time she rocked back. Sadie let out an appreciative moan and leaned back a bit farther. Holding on to her hips, Clint kept her from rocking any more so he could pump between her legs with more force.

  Instead of fighting him, Sadie leaned back and supported herself with her hands upon Clint’s knees. She spread her legs wide for him and moaned louder as he pounded up into her again and again. Her pussy was slick with moisture now and clenched around his cock as another orgasm started to ripple through her lower body.

  Clint didn’t say a word as he started to stand up. Following his lead, Sadie climbed off of him and stepped back. Before she could ask what he was doing, Clint wrapped his arms around her and gave her a deep kiss. Sadie was still in the heat of their lovemaking, so she immediately slipped her tongue into Clint’s mouth. She even let out a few muffled groans as she felt his rigid penis rub against her.

  Holding her in place, Clint walked around behind her. He wrapped his arms around her again, cupping her generous breasts and rubbing against the smooth curves of her backside. Sadie didn’t need any more prompting than that to spread her legs again and lean forward to grab on to the chair where he’d previously been sitting. Before she could look back to check on him, Clint was easing into her from behind.

  He took the first couple of strokes at a leisurely pace, sliding in and out in a smooth rhythm. Then, Clint gripped her hips a bit tighter and started thrusting in earnest. Sadie bucked against him eagerly. She was so eager, in fact, that she almost tipped the chair over by leaning against it.

  “Better move this before we start breaking furniture,” she said as she wriggled free of him. She walked across the small room as if she enjoyed every second she was naked in front of him. Then, like a sleek cat, she crawled onto the bed and lowered her upper body so it was resting upon the mattress and her backside was up in the air. “Well, aren’t you coming?”

  “Just admiring the view,” Clint said as he walked over to the bed. He admired her for a few more seconds as she slowly twitched her hips back and forth. He placed a hand upon the small of her back and used his other hand to guide his penis between her thighs. She was wetter than ever, so he slid in without a hitch.

  Clint wanted to take it easy, but was unable to hold back for long. Sadie’s body fit him like a glove and she knew just when to move or clench her muscles to fit even tighter around him. She moaned in a constant rumble that also got her hands clawing at the blankets. When Clint quickened his pace, Sadie responded by moaning louder and gently rocking back and forth in time to his thrusts.

  When he felt his climax approaching, Clint knew better than to hold it back. Everything from the feel of her skin against his hands to the warmth of her body was helping him build into a powerful wave that threatened to explode at any second. He pulled in a few deep breaths and rubbed Sadie’s smooth buttocks as he continued to slide in and out of her.

  “Just a little more, now,” she urged. “Do it harder, Clint. I won’t break.”

  Clint didn’t need to be told twice. He grabbed her hips and buried his cock all the way inside her, eliciting a groan of pleasure that seemed to have come all the way from Sadie’s toes. He then leaned forward to run his hands along her sides. She rose up and arched her back so she could reach back and slide her fingers through Clint’s hair.

  For a second, he thought he wouldn’t be able to stay inside of her from that angle. But Sadie bent in just the right way to accommodate him. In fact, he felt something completely new as he entered her from that slightly different angle. She liked that angle just as much as he did, because Sadie started breathing heavily and letting out long, throaty moans.

  “Good Lord, Clint. That’s . . . I never . . . oh, good Lord.”

  Sadie started to go limp as if her orgasm was leaving her too weak to remain upright. Clint reached around to cup her breasts and keep her in the position that had brought her to such a state. Every time Clint thrust into her, he bumped against her rounded buttocks. When he pushed in a bit more from there, he unleashed something inside of her that sent a powerful quake throughout Sadie’s entire body.

  Rather than hold her up any longer, Clint eased her down. Sadie laid with her chest flat against the mattress, her head turned to the side and her hips up high to receive him. Her face was twisted in an expression of sheer pleasure, but she didn’t have enough strength to make another sound. Clint got a good grip on her and thrust a few more times before he was past the point of no return.

  After pounding into her one last time, he unleashed an orgasm that took the breath from his lungs. He climbed off the bed to place his gun belt on the chair within easy reach and when he came back, Sadie was already asleep.

  THIRTY-FOUR

  Clint slept in the chair that night. He let Sadie have her rest in the bed on her own simply so he wouldn’t get too comfortable himself. If he crawled into bed with her, he could very possibly be lulled into too deep of a sleep to catch the telltale signs of someone trying to get into his room. That warm body in between those soft blankets would have been too much of a distraction for a man who needed to keep his ears and one eye open throughout the entire night.

  He didn’t know if anyone would come after him or Sadie, but then again, he hadn’t guessed someone would come after Carl or shoot Delilah. Clint still had a hard time swallowing that cold bit of news. At times when he’d been playing cards at Mack’s table, Clint could relax as if Delilah simply wasn’t working that night.

  Other times, it was difficult for him to stop thinking about how she’d assaulted him with all those nods and shakes of her head that eventually proved to be her way of turning him into a cheat. If anyone else had done something like that, Clint would have never wanted to see his or her face again. More than likely, he would have made them regret even trying a trick along those lines. But Delilah was different. She may have been a cheat, but Clint had the sense that her heart was in the right place.

  No matter what, she didn’t deserve to die the way she had.

  Clint might have been able to accept it a little better if he’d heard that she’d been caught cheating or got into an altercation after stacking the odds
a bit more in her favor. That sort of thing happened to crooked faro dealers, and it would have been the sort of thing any dealer in her position would have prepared for. Delilah would have taken a gamble on her own accord and lost.

  Unfortunate, but not quite tragic.

  But Delilah had died because a loud, crazy idiot had crossed the line. George was too far past that line to be dealt with by the likes of a lawman like DeFalco, and he was too far gone to be left to the mercies of the harsh open country. Someone needed to track George down and teach him why there was a line in the first place.

  George must have known that brand of justice was headed his way. Perhaps that’s why he’d become so reckless. Clint didn’t really care about that bastard’s reasons any longer. All he needed to know was that George was nearby and living on borrowed time.

  Almost certainly, that’s all Carl needed to know as well.

  In those hours he sat in his chair, watching the door and listening to every bump in the night, Clint knew that Carl was probably out there somewhere doing that very same thing. If Carl wasn’t listening and watching for George to make another foolish move, then there was the distinct possibility that he was making some moves of his own.

  George was too desperate to lie low, and he was too stupid to run away.

  The more Clint thought about that last part, the more it bothered him. When he put that together with what he’d heard from Tom back at the Emporium, Clint was bothered even more.

  The line was going to be crossed again. Clint knew that much for certain. All that remained to be seen was who would stay alive long enough to get back to the proper side.

  THIRTY-FIVE

  Although they were both anxious to see Carl, Sadie didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to leave the hotel. She took her time getting dressed, possibly as a way to tempt Clint back into bed, which almost worked. If Clint hadn’t gotten himself so riled up in his hours of sleeplessly watching the door, he would have had no problem spending a few extra hours there. Once she saw that Clint was too wound up to be tempted, Sadie made herself presentable and followed him to where Eclipse was tied.

  “Are you worried about missing your brother?” Clint asked.

  “I told you before. Carl shows up later every time. Even if he did get there before us, he’d wait to see me. If he intends on running about trying to get his fool head blown off, then let him cool his heels for a while.”

  Clint climbed onto the Darley Arabian’s back and helped Sadie up into the saddle behind him. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d still like to get back there as soon as we can.”

  “Whatever you like,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his midsection.

  The ride to the cabin was short, due mostly to the fact that a lot of the town was still sleeping. There was just enough light in the sky to light their way, and the air still had the cool, damp bite left over from the night before. A few locals were setting up shop for the day, but they were too busy to notice a single horse riding past.

  As soon as they arrived at the cabin, Clint walked around inside to make sure there were no visitors hidden in the corner of a room and waiting to get the jump on them. Sadie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as she waited for him to come outside.

  “Find any monsters?” she asked.

  “No. You can come on in.”

  “I told you there wouldn’t be anyone in there.”

  “Well, I appreciate you being so understanding,” Clint sneered. “With everything that’s happened, I would have thought you’d be more cautious.”

  “A murdering asshole is running about and the sheriff doesn’t give a damn,” she said as she rummaged in her kitchen to gather what she needed to prepare some breakfast. “An innocent woman is dead. If my brother isn’t dead, he’s sure as hell trying to get there. Sometimes, the rain comes down so hard that you just can’t concern yourself with getting wet anymore.”

  Clint would have had a hard time arguing with that, so he kept his mouth shut and took a look in Carl’s room.

  Sadie didn’t seem to mind if he snooped around, but he still wasn’t about to turn the place upside down. Instead, he opened a few dresser drawers, checked under the bed, and opened the small, narrow closet. Clint wasn’t just being nosy. He was looking to see just how long Carl intended on staying away. Since most of the drawers were full of clothes and there was a pair of old boots overturned under the bed, it didn’t seem that Carl meant to leave for good. But the overturned boots suggested to Clint that their owner might have left in a rush.

  So far, all of that matched what he’d been told.

  Clint looked around the cabin’s perimeter and searched the surrounding property, but was unable to come up with any fresh tracks or other signs that would prove someone had been sneaking around there recently.

  All of this was helpful, but was mostly to keep him occupied until breakfast was ready. Even after Sadie had put together a simple meal for them consisting of some scrambled eggs and bacon, Clint could barely sit still long enough to eat.

  “You’re not very good at waiting, are you?” she asked.

  “What was your first hint?”

  “We could keep busy, you know,” Sadie said with a wicked glint in her eye. “My bed’s awfully comfortable.”

  Just as Clint was going to reply to that, he heard the front door creak as if it was being eased open. When he turned to face that direction, Clint’s hand reflexively went toward the Colt at his side.

  Carl stood in the doorway with a rifle hefted over one shoulder and a holster wrapped around his waist. “What did you just say about your bed?” he asked suspiciously.

  THIRTY-SIX

  Before Clint could do much of anything, he was cut off by Sadie. She dropped what she was doing, raced across the small cabin, and jumped at her brother to wrap her arms around his neck. Carl hugged her back and even picked her up for a moment to swing her like a little girl.

  “It’s only been a little while,” Carl said. “You’re acting like you didn’t think you would see me again.”

  “With you stomping off to wherever you go, I never know if I’ll see you again,” she scolded. “Please tell me you’re going to stay home for a while longer this time.”

  Carl looked up to meet Clint’s gaze. “Can’t do that, sis.”

  Waiting until Sadie had had sufficient time to fuss over her brother, Clint stepped forward. Carl let her go and extended a hand to him. “I hear you’ve been busy,” Clint said as he shook the hand that was offered.

  “I didn’t even hear you’d be coming back to town. Did my sister find you and drag you back here?”

  “Not at all. I came back to play in Mack’s poker game.”

  Carl nodded. “That’s right. Mister Pace always gets excited when gamblers with deep pockets decide to use a table in his place. Just another angle he’s got worked out. So,” he added as his eyes drifted toward Sadie’s bedroom, “it sounds like you’ve been staying here for a while.”

  She swatted him on the shoulder and spun around to march back to the kitchen. “Don’t be so crude. I was just playing when I said that.”

  Unconvinced, Carl looked back at Clint with an intensity that could only be summoned by a protective brother.

  Clint held up his hands and said, “I swear, I’ve never seen her bed and didn’t plan on seeing it now.”

  Although that wasn’t exactly in the spirit of the truth, it wasn’t a lie. Carl must have sensed as much, so he nodded and stopped staring a hole through Clint’s skull. “Are you cooking up breakfast?”

  “It’s a bit late, but yes,” Sadie replied.

  “I’ll have some, if you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all, Carl,” Sadie replied as she looked over her shoulder to smile at him. “Welcome home.”

  “Thanks.”

  Clint watched the other man carefully. It didn’t take much scrutiny to pick out the fact that Carl was tired. He moved as if there were bricks in his boots and breathed as if he was ta
sting fresh air for the first time. There was plenty Clint wanted to talk about with Carl, but he figured most of it could wait until they’d all gotten some food in their bellies. Some questions, however, Clint couldn’t hold back.

  “So what happened with Delilah?” he asked.

  Carl’s head drooped as if he’d been expecting that question all along. “She was shot by an animal that should’ve been in a cage,” he replied.

  “I hear she was trying to get to you.”

  Sadie glanced over at them as she scrambled the eggs. Although she seemed ready to jump in, she kept from doing so.

  “I honestly don’t know what she was trying to do,” Carl said. “One minute George was shouting at me and the next, I was being pulled behind her table.”

  “What did George want?”

  “Same as he always wants. He says he was cheated, even though everyone knows better. He created a commotion and started a ruckus. It was so loud, it just filled my ears and got my head rattling. When it looked like I was on my own, I decided to step in and end it. That’s when Delilah must have gotten jumpy, because she was the one to pull me back. There was a shot and she dropped.”

  “And after that?” Clint asked.

  Carl drew a long breath and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. “After that, she died. What else is there to say? She was my friend and she was killed for no good reason.”

  “That’s enough, Clint,” Sadie said as she began walking to her brother’s side.

  Without looking at her, Carl waved her off. Sadie got back to her cooking, but looked over her shoulder every couple of seconds.

  “What about Les?” Clint asked.

  “What about him?”

  “Every time I’ve been in that place, Les is watching over everything like a hawk. Was he there that night?”

  After thinking about it for all of two seconds, Carl said, “He’s there every night. I think he lives in one of the rooms upstairs right in the Emporium. Come to think of it, I recall him being there that night. There was a rowdy drunk causing trouble at the bar and Mister Pace gave Les hell for not tossing the man out on his ear fast enough.”