The women filled plates with bread and stew and sat at a table. They had just finished eating when they heard the door open and the sheriff walked into the dining room.
"Are you done yet?" he said as he looked at Kenna with a lazy smile.
Kenna smiled and nodded then took the offered arm. She said goodnight to Pauline as they walked out of the boarding house into the warm summer evening. They wandered down the street to the jailhouse, where the sheriff opened the heavy wooden door and guided her inside. He lit the lantern.
"I thought we were just going to have a nice conversation tonight?" she said nervously.
"Yep, so did I. But I think we could use a little privacy." He wrapped her in his arms and took control of her mouth, kissing her hard. They were both breathing heavily as he maneuvered her over to his desk. He picked her up and laid her down, continuing to kiss her as he traced a finger down her throat and between her breasts. He cupped one and pinched its nipple then massaged the pain away. His other hand moved down her body and rested between her legs.
Kenna put her hands on his chest and started undoing the first few buttons of his shirt. He grabbed her hands and held them.
"No, you lie here and let me get to know you."
She groaned as she put her hands to her sides.
"That's a good girl."
She felt herself moving one hand to touch the light dusting of dark hair on his chest.
He grabbed her hands. "No. Don't move." He handcuffed her and put her arms over her head. "Don't move."
He ran his hands down her body. Her heart was racing, and she ached for him to touch her elsewhere. As if he could read her thoughts, he pulled her dress up past her waist and her undergarment down to her knees. He moved back up and kissed her again, one of his hands moving down to hold her breast as the other found her sex. He pulled his lips from hers and watched her reaction to his ministrations, his fingers exploring her until he found her hard nub. As he stroked her in a slow, gentle circle, she moved her hips to increase the pressure, panting and writhing against his fingers He kept up the movement with his thumb and tested her core to see if she was fully aroused, pushing one finger inside her. She grunted with pleasure. He pushed inside her deeper and deeper, then he added a second finger and began a slow rhythm moving in and out. She cried out and convulsed as waves of pleasure flowed over her.
"Doesn't that feel nice?" He moved his thumb off her clit and slowly eased a third finger into her channel. He thrust his fingers to the hilt, and then he stopped and spread them a little. He groaned as he watched her then started thrusting harder. She squirmed and moaned at the discomfort and pleasure. She wanted his finger on her clit again. She needed him to touch her there. Instead, he removed his fingers slowly and stroked her belly and her thighs.
She felt as if she were on fire. She wanted him inside her. But he just pulled up her undergarment and lowered her dress. She wanted more; even though he had made her come, she was ready to go again.
His hands roamed up over her body on top of her dress and then took the handcuffs off. As he bent down and kissed her, she moved her hands to his shirt, undid another button, and ran a hand over his naked chest. She sat up and put her other hand on his crotch to feel his need and encourage him to continue touching her. He was straining against his pants, and he was breathing heavily.
"Now, you stop that, little missy! That's enough for one night. We both need to settle down some before I walk you home." He leaned on the edge of his desk beside her and buttoned his shirt. She sat, breathing raggedly, desperately wanting him. He was in control and would dictate the speed of this relationship.
"So, do I call you Sheriff or Jack?" she said shakily, trying to calm herself and not look down at the bulge in his pants.
"I guess you should call me Jack, don't you think?"
"Yes. Sheriff sounds a bit formal for our current, uh, situation." She smiled up at him. "What's your last name? We've never been properly introduced."
"Hardin."
She tried to stifle a giggle but was unsuccessful. "That's appropriate!" She broke out laughing and looked directly down at his crotch.
He looked down and laughed too.
That was the first time she'd heard his laughter. It was nice, a deep, masculine laugh.
"We should go," he said as he got off the desk and helped her down. He put his hand on her lower back and guided her out of the office. She loved that about him. He was such a gentleman in public but not behind closed doors. And they'd only just started to get to know each other.
He walked her back to the boarding house and said goodnight. She trotted up to her room, knowing it was getting more difficult to think about leaving.
7
Out of Bounds
The week passed quickly with Kenna's new daily routine. Each day, she had her breakfast, wrote for a couple of hours and then helped Pauline until after dinner. Jack came by and they went for a walk that eventually led to his office, where they would get to know each other better for an hour or two before he walked her back to the boarding house.
He always left her wanting more. Wasn't it the woman who was supposed to leave the man wanting more? This relationship with Jack defied all of the dating rules she was used to! He undressed her, but he never let her undress him or take control and have her way with him. Kenna wanted to feel his warm, naked body against hers. She wondered how long this would go on. It was so frustrating! When he didn't have his hands on her, they would talk about anything interesting that had happened during the day, just light conversation.
But now, Kenna's adventures with the sheriff would have to wait for a day or two as it was time to return to the base. She had eaten her breakfast with haste and told Pauline she was going for a ride today. She ran upstairs and threw on her riding clothes then hurried out the back door, avoiding Main Street. She didn't want Jack to see her because he would stop her.
When Kenna made it to the stable, there was no sign of Wyatt. She saddled Arwen as quickly as possible, and they trotted out of town. They were both in good spirits, enjoying the fresh morning air. They had left earlier than usual as it was going to be a hot, dry day and she wanted to get to the base by noon. If she could get back this evening, it would save making Jack angry. He wouldn't be happy about her riding out of town, but he'd be furious if she went out overnight after their discussion last week.
Kenna and Arwen stayed off the main trail and didn't meet anyone. At one point, there were a couple of men riding in the distance, but they either didn't notice the lone rider, or she just appeared to be another man going about his business. The riders continued on their way to town.
When she had entered the cool, air-conditioned base and settled Arwen down in the box stall, Kenna went to the computer console and started the uplink. She wandered over to the fridge and chose a can of pop and some instant noodles for a late lunch. As she boiled the water for the soup, she considered the fact that she might have to spend the night here again. Or maybe Arthur had fixed the computer issues and she would be expected to return home today.
She decided not to worry about what might happen or what would be said tomorrow. She knew Jack would be angry and they would have another discussion if she didn't return to town today, perhaps more intense than for the first offense. Kenna wasn't sure whether she feared their next encounter or was excited by it. No point in thinking about it, she told herself as she looked through the DVDs while the computers were linking.
She heard the now-familiar beep and looked up to see the control room on the video screen.
"Hey, Arthur. Can you hear me?"
"Yep, loud and clear! Any sign of Barrett?"
"No, I haven't seen him."
"Humph. If he didn't stick around town, he's probably miles away by now."
"Are you going to send people to search for him?"
"No. It's easier for everyone if he's just disappeared, to be honest. But if you see him, let us know. We wouldn't mind having a chat."
&nb
sp; "Okay, I will. Am I coming home today? Have you figured out how to fix things?" Kenna tried to sound enthusiastic, even though she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to leave. No point in raising any suspicion.
Arthur shrugged his shoulders and gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry, you can't come back yet. Barrett deleted some of the programming. We think he messed things up in case we did want to send someone after him. Turns out, he has a lot of debt and hasn't filed taxes for a few years. He's obviously decided not to come back and likely wanted a head start to make a run for it."
"Oh, that's not good. Are you sending anyone to help fix the damage?"
"No, I don't think we have to. You can help us recalibrate and keep working on a fix. Luckily, the damage is mostly to the programming, and we can deal with it here. Unfortunately, it'll take some work before we can risk sending another engineer through or bringing you home. We want to be sure you'll come back here in one piece!"
"I'd appreciate that," Kenna said with a sarcastic grin. "I'm ready to start work whenever you are."
It was late in the evening when they finished. She rummaged around in the kitchen and found some dehydrated meal pouches. She chose one, grabbed a chocolate bar and a glass of water and watched a movie. Arthur had told her to return in two weeks, when she should be able to go home. At the end of those two weeks, she would have known Jack for just under a month. That was too short a time for him to ask her to stay! It was too bad that he had no idea she was on such a brief timeline.
When the movie was over, Kenna went to bed but couldn't sleep. Could she stay here in this century? With her parents gone, she really didn't have anyone who would be devastated by the loss of her. She had a few good friends from college and a couple from work, but no one who relied on her. They would all go on with their lives, thinking that she had just moved away and lost contact like many people do after leaving college or a job.
While working with Pauline this last week, she had learned enough about how to take care of a household to be a decent wife to Jack. With another two weeks under her belt, she would be an expert. The chores and work were not difficult to learn; it was just time-consuming. That suited her just fine.
She was enjoying the slower pace and the physical nature of this life. She had never been one to be on her phone all the time, only texting when she had to, rarely going on Facebook, and checking her personal email just every few days, mainly to delete all the junk mail. Kenna found that chore more tedious than doing laundry with Pauline. At least when washing clothes and bedding, it felt like you were doing something useful. Clearing junk mail was a waste of time. She knew she wouldn't miss her phone or social media. Except, of course, the alarm and the snooze button.
Indoor plumbing, on the other hand, definitely would be missed as would burgers and fries, ice cream, and chocolate bars. The burgers and fries would be doable in this time period or, at least, a reasonable facsimile. Ice cream and chocolate bars should be available when the railway was up and running through the town. But she knew it wouldn't be the same.
The flip side was with minimal junk food, there would be no need to fuss about her weight. Doing chores every day would be enough exercise. It could work. She would be willing to give up the conveniences and junk food if the sheriff wanted to marry her and have a family. But Kenna knew that was a stretch. Their relationship was new, and it hadn't gone past pawing each other in his office, or rather, Jack pawing her, and talking about whatever had happened day to day.
Could she handle the spanking thing? She wouldn't tolerate it in her "real" life back home. Here, in this time, she could almost understand it. Would he have bothered spanking her if he wasn't concerned over her safety? Maybe he really didn't have any idea how to keep her safe other than "tanning her hide", as he had called it.
Kenna felt Jack cared about her and that he needed to show her that by riding outside of town, she was out of bounds because she was out of his control and protection. That's what he had said. He couldn't keep her safe if she kept wandering out of town, and he didn't like that. So, he must have feelings for her!
She was also surprised at herself for getting so turned on by spanking. She'd heard that people did this in the bedroom but had no idea it could feel so good! She felt a tingle between her legs. She was getting turned on just thinking about his hands on her. She remembered the feel of his manhood swelling inside his pants against her hip as she was balanced on his lap. He was a big man and all muscle. He towered over her and had such broad shoulders, and those muscular thighs felt so inviting beneath her sore bottom.
Jack was everything she'd dreamed about but thought wasn't possible. When he walked down the street, he looked so intimidating. He never smiled except when it was required. She'd never met a man who seemed so strong without even moving a muscle. Everyone in town respected him and acted as though he was a force to be reckoned with. She knew that if she did as he said, he could keep her safe as promised. That meant a lot to her. But was it enough? He could provide the physical satisfaction that she craved and keep her safe, but what about companionship?
Kenna knew that by riding out of town again, she was crossing him. Was she pushing him away from her by disobeying his demands? Is that what she wanted? It was her job, and she felt like she had no choice and would have to suffer the consequences. She just had to figure out whether waiting around for him or going home was more important. The only way forward was to keep working to fulfill her contract with her employer and, at the same time, try to keep her options with Jack open until she figured out what she wanted.
Finally, sleep came as her racing thoughts were slowed and quieted by the exhaustion of a very long day.
* * *
Kenna woke up to the sound of beeping from the computer console—three slow beeps then pause and three more beeps. She thought it might be an alarm of some sort. She rolled out of bed and turned on the primary monitor. The screen displayed a busy lab with men and women going about their business. Arthur was speaking to a co-worker and then sat down at the workstation.
He glanced at her and smiled. "Good morning, Kenna," he said sarcastically as he typed something on his keyboard. The beeping stopped. He turned his attention to a clipboard and began writing something.
"Morning, Arthur, or afternoon, I guess," she said sheepishly as she looked at the corner of the monitor and noticed the time was 1:06 p.m. "It looks like you've made progress with the repairs."
"Yes, it took longer than I expected, but we can now initiate contact with you instead of having to wait for you to link."
"Do I need to stick around today, or can I head back to town?" she asked, yawning as she wandered to the kitchen to make some instant coffee.
"You can head back and return in a couple of weeks. There's still a lot of work to do at our end."
"Okay, see you later," she said, wandering sleepily over to the console. Arthur was still focused on his clipboard, busily writing notes. "Should I leave the link on or turn it off?"
"Leave the link and the monitor on, please. Thanks. Have a safe trip back to town," he said, not looking up from his clipboard.
Kenna waved at the monitor anyway. "Thanks. Have a good one."
She made a cup of instant coffee that tasted way better than the coffee at Pauline's. She ate a couple of chocolate bars and unwrapped another one to have on the way back. After filling her canteen and saddling Arwen, she left the base and slowly rode back to town. In no hurry to face Jack's inevitable interrogation and anger, Kenna decided to relax and just enjoy riding her horse on this beautiful sunny day. She'd make it back in plenty of time to clean up and make it down to dinner.
8
Once and For All
Jack entered his office and sat at his desk after dinner. She was gone again. Disappeared. Yesterday, Pauline had told him she hadn't seen Kenna since breakfast, when she had said she was going for a ride. It was now just after dark and he didn't expect she'd come home tonight, either. Wherever she was.
Why d
id he care so much about where she was? She was just another pretty young woman who'd come to his town.
But he knew Kenna was different. She was pretty in a small, delicate way, but she had the spirit of a wild mustang. She did whatever she wanted regardless of the consequences. Why did she need to wander outside the town? Most women never wanted to leave unless they had their men with them to keep them safe.
His heart picked up speed whenever she was near him. He'd never met anyone like her; she had a mind of her own. Kenna was a challenge. Any man who could possess her would have his hands full for the rest of his life. He knew she'd never wholly fall into line and do what she was told. She looked so small and vulnerable, but then she'd straighten her shoulders and stand up and be defiant.
Since the first day he'd seen her, he had desired her. He wanted to get his hands in that long auburn hair and take command of her mouth. That little sharp tongue of hers could be put to good use if she was shown what to do. He felt his breath catch when he thought of her tongue working its way down his body.
He had to find her and teach her to obey him once and for all. He felt a strong urge to protect her. The thought of another man touching her made him feel sick. She was his. He'd decided that the first time he saw her. He was sitting on the porch of the sheriff's office, watching the passengers disembark as he always did. Max always stopped the stage in front of his office so he could get a good look at everyone.
When she had stepped out of the stagecoach, he had known she was trouble! She looked so sweet and innocent, but there was something confident and self-assured about her. As she walked down the street, he imagined what she looked like under that dress. She was small and slim but had curvy hips. Perfect!
Sheriff's Desire: Time-Travel (Escape To The Wild West Book 1) Page 6