Chapter 6

Jake tipped Prudence’s table to the floor and pushed her behind it as tables flipped around the room and men dove for cover.

The sting of excitement flooded his muscles with steely strength as the moments seemed to slow. In that instant, he could account for every man and woman in the room, could take it all in from the corners of his eyes as he strode slowly toward the two men frozen, half out of their chairs.

“Mister, if your hand comes out of your coat with a gun in it, I’m gonna have to shoot you,” Jake said, raising his voice just loud enough to be heard over the sound of falling furniture and the rustle of clothing as those around them clung to the planked floor.

He hoped like hell Prudence was cowering behind the table, her hands covering her eyes. If he had to draw, he didn’t want her watching.

The gambler rising opposite Geezer Fenton paused, his hand still buried inside his tailored coat. His cheeks were flushed, and anger narrowed his eyes as he glanced from Geezer to Jake. “Don’t want any trouble with you, Sheriff. This is between me and the gentleman who just called me a cheat.”

“We have laws in this little town. The sign in the window here says no guns on the premises. I’ll have to ask you to remove your hand from your coat—nice and slow.”

The gambler’s gaze dropped to the gun still sitting deep in Jake’s holster.

“I’ll clear leather and have a hole through your heart before you even squeeze your trigger,” Jake said softly, steel in his tone. He didn’t blink, didn’t move. His entire body was poised for the moment.

The gambler sighed. “I’m gonna take my hand out.”

“Nice and slow.”

The gambler’s hand came out, a gun in his open palm.

“Just set it on the table.” Without taking his gaze from the two men still frozen in place, Jake said, “Billy, take the gun from the table, then escort the gentleman to jail.”

The gambler’s lips twisted in a tight smile. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll just clean up my winnings and head back to my room.”

“You were gonna draw on a man. The least you’ll do is spend the night in our jail. As soon as I can arrange passage on a stage, you’re out of here. As to those winnings, I think drinks tonight will be on you.”

Billy picked up the gun and put it in his pocket, then indicated with an overly polite gesture for the gambler to precede him out the door.

When he’d left, Jake slapped his hand on Geezer’s bony shoulder and pushed him into a chair. “What’d I tell you about gambling when you’ve been drinking?”

“Now, Sheriff, the man was cheatin’,” Geezer whined.

“I’ve half a mind to put you in the jail cell next to him for the night. After shootin’ up the town this morning, and now this…”

“I done turned my guns into Billy. I was just lookin’ for a little fun. It’s been a month since I been in town.”

“Tell you what. You finish your drink, get yourself a room upstairs—but I want you out of here in the morning.”

Geezer’s thin shoulders slumped. “All right. I’ll leave the boys to get supplies, but I’ll be out of here soon’s I wake up.” His gaze slipped beyond Jake. “That little filly you was sparkin’ on is about to get away, Sheriff.”

Jake glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Prudence slip between the swinging doors. “Thanks, Geezer. Remember what I said,” he muttered, already moving toward the door.

“Woman like that needs a firm hand, boy!” Geezer called after him.

“More like a firm hand and a red bottom!” someone else hollered behind him.

Jake stomped down the planking, keeping the woman in his sights as she rushed down the darkened road, her skirts twitching faster.

A slow burn heated his anger and his lust. She’d gone too far. Not that she had anything to do with instigating the little scene back there in the saloon. Geezer would have accused his own mother of cheating at gin rummy after he’d had too much to drink.

The woman had meddled and put herself at risk for all kinds of ugly things by walking into a saloon. She’d risked her reputation and invited slurs from any man who knew she’d not only entered but drank a glass of whiskey in their presence. Then she’d topped it off by letting every man jack in the place know she’d been naked with him.

As she opened the door of the hotel, she glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes widened when she spotted him. She slipped inside, no doubt making a beeline for the stairs.

Jake bypassed the entrance and instead headed to the side stairs, taking them two at a time before flinging open the side door.

Prudence had just rounded the top of the staircase. When she saw him, she dropped her valise and turned on her heels to scurry back down the steps.

Jake smiled with grim satisfaction and caught her around the waist before she cleared the third step. “Not so fast,” he whispered as he reeled her in, locking her against his chest.

“Let me go!” she hissed, wriggling like a fish on a hook and shoving at the arm gripping her waist. “I can’t breathe.”

“Liar.” He hefted her over his hip, grabbed up her valise, and stalked down the hall.

At her door, he held up the bag. “Give me your key.”

As she hung at his side, she swiped at her bag and reached inside, coming up the key. “If you’ll put me down, I’ll unlock the door.”

Jake snorted and held out his hand.

Her hand trembled as she laid the key on his broad palm.

At least she had enough sense to know she was in deep trouble now.

Jake unlocked the door and dragged her inside the darkened room, kicking the door closed behind them. He stomped toward the bed and slung her like a sack of potatoes onto the mattress, then stood back with his hands on his hips, glaring.

Prudence pushed her hair out of her face and eyed him warily as he stood over her, his face darker than the shadows enclosing them. “That ended well at the saloon, don’t you think?”

His gaze glittered dangerously in the darkness, and a rumble that sounded more like a growl slipped between his gritted teeth.

Growing more nervous by the second, Prudence swung her legs over the side of the mattress, determined not to be at a disadvantage for the coming argument, but Jake stepped closer.

She scurried back on the mattress and came to her knees. “I don’t know why you’re so mad. We averted real trouble back there. No one was hurt.”

Jake shook his head and reached for his gun belt, quickly ripping away the ties around his thigh and flinging open the closing at his waist. He hung the belt over her brass headboard, his gaze never leaving hers.

As he shucked his boots, one at a time, Prudence’s nervousness slid into a dewy anticipation. Her breasts swelled against her chemise, and cream slid from her body to slick her feminine folds. Lord, he looked angry—savage. Maybe she did like that part of him—even thrilled at the thought of the Indian falling upon her, ravaging her.

What a wicked thing to think! How depraved was she? But she couldn’t help hoping he’d be rough—take her rather than seduce her.

While she wanted to rip away at her own clothes to ready herself for what came next, she didn’t want to show her growing excitement. She wanted him to do all the taking—let him lose some of the red-hot anger that burnished his features as he ripped her clothes from her body.

Maybe by the time he had her naked and under him, he’d get over being mad.

What would he do with her? Punish her with a little rough loving? Pummel her body with his powerful thrusts? Her breaths hitched, growing more ragged as he stripped away his shirt and trousers and stood gloriously naked in front of her.

In the shadows, he seemed larger, more menacing, his cock rising like a great, thick trunk from his body.

Right about now, she wished he’d think about lighting a candle or two because his silence was unnerving her, and she needed to see his features clearly to gauge his thoughts. “Um… Jake? I take it you’re angry with me.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she cringed.

Soft laughter rumbled from him as he circled the bed, heading toward her wardrobe. He opened the doors and reached inside, dragging out clothes and rumpling them between his hands when he didn’t find what he was looking for.

Prudence had had enough of kneeling on the mattress like a scared mouse. She reached for the little table beside the bed, fumbled until she found a match, and lit a candle, sighing with relief when it flickered brightly, filling in the oppressive darkness.

When she glanced back at Jake, he held a nightgown in his hands and ripped it apart from the neckline all the way to the edge of its pretty embroidered flounce.

She didn’t dare voice a protest. The look on his face was grim and determined. She swallowed to wet her dry mouth when he stalked toward her, climbing onto the mattress. Instead of leaping to the floor, she backed up against the rails of the headboard.

A smile curved his thinned lips. Not a friendly one. It did nothing to calm her nerves. He lunged suddenly, snagging one of her wrists and wrapped a strip of fabric around it, then tied it to one of the rails behind her.

Prudence’s jaw dropped. “What in Hades do you think you’re doing?”

His response was to grab her other hand and tie it to a rail. There was plenty of give in her restraints, and she wondered about that but didn’t have time to form a question because his hands began to rip open her clothing.

First, her jacket, then her blouse. The buttons pinged against the wooden floor as the fabric rent.

“You know,” she said breathlessly, “It would’ve been smarter to strip me before you tied me up. Now, how are you going to get them off my arms?”

His smile broadened, and he held up a small, closed knife. With a deft twist of his wrist, a blade gleamed, long and slender. He inserted it at the edge of her wrist, the dull side sliding up her arm, the fabric parting like butter beneath a hot knife.

Lordy, she was in for it now.

Quickly, one piece at a time, he cut her clothes from her upper body, popping the laces at the front of her corset until he could pry the sides apart, slitting her chemise to her waist to expose her chest.

Her breasts quivered in the open air as she sucked in a deep, frightened breath.

He reached beyond her and thrust the knife into the wall between the spokes of the headboard, then straddled her body, his hands cupping her small breasts.

Naked, his thighs spread over her hips, his cock rising close to his flat belly, Prudence’s lustful gaze raked over him. Tanned skin above pale hips, a darkening cock that thickened as she stared—she’d never been so consumed with desire.

She tugged hard at her restraints and whimpered when she couldn’t reach for him and draw his body closer. “Please,” she begged.

Instead, Jake scooted down her legs and rucked up her skirts, reaching underneath for her thin pantalettes and ripping them away. Her legs drummed the mattress as she fought to free herself and spread her legs wide for him, but he wasn’t done being in charge.

He ripped away her petticoats, letting them drift like torn, white clouds to the floor, then reached for the waist of her skirt and pulled it until the button gave, and he swept it down her legs.

With only her shoes and stockings left, she was sure, now, he’d take her.

But Jake knelt outside her legs and rolled her, her hands twisting in their ties, and then he lifted her over his bent knees.

Suddenly, she knew what he intended, and she bucked. “I am not a child to be punished, Jake White Eagle!” she gasped as his palm circled one globe of her bottom.

His hand landed in a sharp slap. Thwack! “This sweet little bottom’s mine, Prudence.”

She gasped, the sting taking away her breath. She wriggled like an eel, her arms stretched above her head, bucking against his lap, working her legs like scissors—to no avail.

He anchored her against his thighs with one arm and continued to deliver his sharp retribution. The slaps fell harder, faster, warming both globes of her bottom. As she realized she wasn’t going to escape his punishment, she quieted, her breaths sobbing now, hoping he’d work off his anger on her abused bottom.

Gradually, she began to notice the changes in him as he spanked her. His cock hardened against her hip. His own breaths grew labored, harsh.

Finally, when tears slipped down her cheeks and she hiccoughed, his hand settled on her hot skin.

“Dammit, Prudence,” he said, his voice roughened and thick. “This isn’t a game. This isn’t some story in a dime novel. What you did was dangerous.”

“I just wanted to help.”

“You wanted to see if you were right.”

“And I was,” she said petulantly, a sniffle ruining the sharpness of her retort. With her hot face pressed into the bedding, she collapsed, giving in to the urge to cry, her shoulders shaking with her sobs.

Jake dragged in a deep breath beside her, his hand smoothing over her bottom, a soothing caress that did nothing to cool her buttocks.

She squirmed, parting her legs to ease the ache that had grown between them, unrecognized until now.

His hand stilled.

So did her breath.

Then his fingers glided down between her buttocks, glancing against her back entrance, which elicited a small, shocked gasp from her.

He glided lower, his fingers parting her folds and sinking into the wetness that spilled from inside her.

Prudence smothered a groan against the bedding. How demented was she? He’d abused her, spanked her like a child, yet she was melting from the inside out, yearning for more of his touches.

While his breaths deepened, her body began to writhe across his thighs. She parted her legs, dug her knees into the mattress and lifted her bottom into his hand, begging silently for a deeper penetration.

“Yes, baby, I’ll give you more.” He stroked inward, slipping another finger into her, stretching her as he twisted his hand.

When a wet thumb slid over her little, forbidden hole, she bucked.

“Shhhh…let me. You’ll like this. I swear it.”

He hadn’t been wrong yet. Not about anything dealing with her body, anyway. She turned her head away, unwilling to give him a glimpse of her tear-stained face or the rapture that was painting her cheeks with a new, carnal heat.

Her hands clutched at the ties, and she wrapped her fingers around them, then lifted her bottom just a fraction higher, giving him permission to proceed. She wished she’d never lit a candle, because he could see her, see where his fingers played. She’d never be able to look him in the face without the memory of this act burning her cheeks.

As his long fingers swirled inside her, his thumb tunneled into her little hole. She couldn’t help tightening around him. She couldn’t believe it pleased him that she let him do this, and she couldn’t relax. The foreignness of the concept brought an embarrassing clarity that she had little will to deny him anything. Would he think her easily led by any man?

How could she tell him that only he had ever tempted her to surrender completely? Even Jerry Hanson hadn’t convinced her to let him look at more than her nipples in the light. She’d felt ashamed during the whole act, somehow less.

With Jake, she felt free to explore his body and her own reactions. Even this sordid little act didn’t carry the deep sting of shame.

The realization returned a little confidence. He wouldn’t be so keen to take her this way, if he didn’t derive some pleasure from the act. Perhaps it even fired his own lust—the evidence pressed strong and hard against her hip.

He shifted beneath her, his fingers delving deeper into her pussy, sliding in and out. His thumb swirled into her, coaxing the tight ring to relax beneath the pressure until the burning discomfort changed, and she had to move, had to press forward and back on her knees to ease him deeper.

“I’m going to come up behind you. Open your legs so I can climb between.” His fingers withdrew and Prudence moaned, rolling her face against the coverlet as she protested.

His body shifted, his thighs nudging her off, then his hands caressed the backs of her legs and pressed them apart. He gripped her hips and lifted her until her bottom stuck in the air.

“This is better?” she asked, sure she’d die of embarrassment any moment now.

“It is for me,” he murmured. His hands rubbed over her warmed buttocks and parted them, his thumbs pressed open her folds.

He was staring at her. Into her. She could feel it.

She tugged hard against her ties. “Is this part of the punishment, too?” she muttered. “You trying to embarrass me? Because it’s working.”

His laughter soughed over her like a caress. Then his hot breath licked at her bottom before he pressed open-mouthed kisses to her buttocks.

If Prudence could have pulled free at that moment, she would have reached between her legs to rub the ache building there. He was killing her. The ache intensifying. She knew where he was heading. She shouldn’t allow it.

His tongue licked between her buttocks, following the crease, at last stroking over her little hole.

She groaned, partly from a hideously, deepening shame, mostly from an arousal that spurred a fresh release of cream from inside her. It seeped out to coat her nether lips which clasped and opened noisily, wetly, the succulent sounds blending with his moist sounds as he swirled around her asshole.

“God, please don’t,” she said, achingly near to cresting. How wanton was she to enjoy this? She needed more, needed him to pierce her there again. She rubbed her breasts on the coverlet, letting the fabric abrade her aroused nipples. She rubbed and writhed beneath his hands, heat building between her legs, moisture streaming now from within her.

One of his wicked hands ground into her pussy, his palm rubbing her lips and the hard little nubbin—all at once. She squirmed to rub against his palm, coating him with her fluids, easing her motions as she pumped down and up, down and up, her thighs trembling as she tried to find just the angle to set off the explosion hovering just beyond her reach.

And then his mouth slid lower, his lips drawing on her folds, his tongue stroking into her, and Prudence became desperate for him to come inside her. Her thighs widened, trembling so hard she hoped she didn’t collapse before she reached the summit.

Then he drew away again, and she sobbed, unable to voice her protest, to beg for him to take her.

His thighs pressed hard against the backs of hers, his thick cock falling between her buttocks, sliding down as he dragged it along her crease. The thick, blunt head stroked over her asshole, and Prudence gasped noisily, caught between a sigh and a moan.

“Let me have you here, Prudence,” he said, pushing softly at her entrance.

“You can’t. It won’t work.”

“Don’t you trust me yet?” he said, softly rubbing himself on her. She felt moisture drop between her buttocks, and his crown swirled in a tightening circle.

She hung onto her tethers, limp and shuddering. “You’re asking too much.”

“I promise I’ll stop if I hurt you.”

“This pleases you?”

“It will please you, too.” A hand slipped around her hips, fingers slid into her folds, and speared into her pussy.

Prudence lunged backward, pressing on his cock, seeking a deepening penetration from his fingers. Heat curled deep in her belly, tightening like a watch spring. “Do it,” she whispered.

His hips flexed forward, the thick tip of him pushing against her constricting muscles.

A slap landed on one side of her bottom, and she groaned, but her pussy opened and clasped around his fingers, and her asshole eased.

He slipped inside.

“Wicked!” she shouted. “Wicked man! I shouldn’t want this!”

“But you do. Don’t you, sweetheart?” he asked, his voice roughening, tightening just like his thighs were against hers. He ground into her, pressing inexorably deeper, stretching her beyond pain…straight into a dark pleasure that rippled throughout her body.

His hips pulled back. She followed him. When he flexed forward again, his cock crammed deeper inside her, impossibly thick and hard.

“Jesus!” she cried out, her voice thin and high.

His fingers stroked into her pussy, tunneling deeply in the wetness. He added another. Was his whole hand inside her now?

God, she couldn’t take anymore. She was too full, stretched too tight, her pussy and her ass burning and rippling.

“Let go, baby. I can tell you’re there; you’re clamping like a bear’s jaws around my hand and my cock. Damn! ”

“Faster!” she said, her words strangling in her tight throat. She was near to screaming.

Jake shuddered behind her, then his fingers pulled out, his palm cupping her pussy and pressing hard as his hips bucked against her bottom, pounding into her faster, deeper. So hard her whole body shook, and the bed squeaked noisily beneath them.

But she didn’t care, couldn’t think beyond the pressure building in her womb.

When Jake shouted, Prudence let go, her face dropping to the mattress, her mind opening to the darkness that blanketed her as her body convulsed beneath the thrusts of his powerful body.

When at last he slowed, Prudence wept.

“Damn, damn, damn.” He pulled slowly out of her, then left her.

Her sobs deepened. When something wet slipped between her legs, she quieted. A cool, moist cloth soothed her swollen tissues and stroked away the moisture from her pussy and her inner thighs.

When it glided between her buttocks, she moaned.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he said, his breath gusting against her neck. “I lost control. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Prudence shook her head, her face crumpling. “Well, you did.”