Part Six
Reality Bends
Even before he saw the amber glow in the sky from the
distance, Chris Larabee could smell the smoke. It
ashy stench drifted through the trees, snaking across the land like tendrils of
foreboding, the nearer he reached home. It was not unlike the smell that would
beckon him the next day, when the fire had died and all hope had disappeared
with it. As Chris and Buck continued at breakneck speed for the homestead where
Sarah and Adam awaited rescue, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest
because he knew that if he made it at all, it was going to be by the narrowest
margin of time.
The night was beautiful and clear and as Chris and
Buck reached the final leg of their journey, the splendor of twilight only
seemed to mock them in its amplification of the violence taking place in the
beyond that was close enough to see. Chris could see the glow of the house
amidst the trees surrounding the perimeter of the main house. Like a pyre, the
flames stretched into the night, illuminating the indigo sky with amber waves
of heat and embers that drifted with the wind like fireflies dancing. The house
sat at the bottom of the hill and as Chris and Buck looked down at the fire
raging against the canvas of iridescent blue, it could almost have been
considered beautiful.
If not for the screaming.
"Sarah!" Chris almost screamed back when he
heard it and dug his spurs into his horse, sending the animal into a bray of
pain before it rushed forward, leaving Buck behind.
"Chris wait!" Buck shouted after his friend,
understanding how much that terrified scream would wrench his senses if it was
his wife too but in his desperation to reach Sarah, Chris had forgotten about
the men who were responsible for this, men who were still in the area.
Unfortunately, Chris was beyond hearing as he and his horse thundered through
forward determined to reach the property at any costs.
"Shit!" Buck swore and had little choice but
to follow him, praying that whatever that lay waiting once they reached the
flaming house was within their ability to handle. However, even Buck had to
confess that the terror in those screams growing louder they nearer they
reached the house was enough to drive any man insane. He felt his insides
clench with fury, aware as Chris must have surely known the moment he had heard
them, that those were Sarah's screams. Even Buck started to feel his own
restraint slip as he followed Chris through the winding darkness of the track,
feeling a darkness permeate his soul as unspeakable evil ran its course through
the depths of this night.
"Chris!" He tried to stop his friend's rapid
advance but Chris was still riding hard ahead of him. The distance between the
house and the track was shortening, they would be on top of the homestead in a
matter of seconds and there was nothing to mask their approach. The fire had
sent every living thing, other than human, scurrying away for fear of the
oldest and most powerful elemental in nature's arsenal. The only sound that
could be heard from the forest was the crackling of wood, their eminent
approach and the screaming that had become so loud that nothing else seemed to
penetrate.
Chris could hear nothing else. He could not hear Buck,
trying desperately to warn him of what was awaiting, trying to force him to
tread on the side of caution. All Chris could hear was Sarah's cries and what
frightened him more than hearing his wife was the fact that his son's voice was
strangely silent.
Chris broke through the ring of trees that surrounded
the house and the barn. Sarah's screams had descended into shrieks of pure
terror as Chris gazed upon the house that she was trapped within, he finally
had one of the many questions he had regarding this night as to what her last
hours had been.
The roof of the house was completely ablaze. The mere
fact that it had not collapsed upon itself was more of a testament to the
structure's construction then the intensity of the fire. Inside the glass
windows he had specially ordered from town so that Sarah could have her view,
he saw her. She was pounding against it, soot covering her terrified face, one
fist smashing against the clear glass, begging and pleading for her life. Her
eyes widened as she caught sight of him and that centered her thoughts
somewhat.
"CHRIS!" She pleaded. "Help us!"
Chris dismounted the house, thinking of nothing else
but to get to her in time. The fire had taken the awning on the front porch of
the house, snaking down beams and consuming its path to the front door. Despite
his urgency to reach Sarah, Chris knew he had to do this right because there
was only one chance to save her. The roof was burning away steadily and a minor
miracle had taken place because it had yet to crumble upon itself in final destruction.
When that happened, it would take his family with it. He ran to the pipe that
was in front of the house and immediately started pumping to produce the water
needed to fill the bucket before it. The seconds it took for the frothy liquid
to emerge seemed like an eternity and Chris scanned the area in the interim,
trying to find Fowler and his men who should be still in the area.
The bucket was filled to the brim when Buck Wilmington
made his appearance and Chris paid little attention to his best friend because
he had other things to deal with. Besides, with Buck here, the man could watch
his back in case Fowler and his men decided to come back. The window that Sarah
was standing before was surrounded by flames and to get her through it, he
would have to put some of it out. Crossing the space between the house and the
pump, Chris saw Sarah was holding Adam in her arms as she stared at him, relief
flooding into his face at his presence. The smoke inside the house was so thick
that it would have been difficult to see her if she had not been standing at
the window. With his mind completely focused on reaching Sarah, it never
occurred to him why she had been pinned in that one section of the house.
Flinging the content of the bucket as soon as he
stepped under the awning, Chris immediately felt his eyes water from the sting
of the thick smoke. With horror, he was unable to imagine how Sarah had not
succumb to it when it was must have been so much thicker inside the house. The
water sizzled as it killed the flames around the windowsill and Chris
approached the glass, relieved that he was able to save her, as he had not done
so before. Sarah pressed her hand against the glass as he came up to it, with
tears running down her face that could not even begin to explain how happy she
was to see him. He pressed his own palm against hers, unable to stop staring at
her even like this. Then his eyes shifted to Adam whom Sarah was cradling and
the smile on his face dissolved immediately.
Sarah had not noticed yet mostly because she had been
so intent on letting him know they were here. Adam was lying limp in her arms;
his head lolled back and his eyes closed. He was probably still warm from the
heat of the fire so Sarah could have been forgiven for the mistake. Chris felt
a well of anguish rise from his heart as he realized that for Adam, it was too
late. The smoke had claimed him long ago. Chris raised his eyes to meet
Sarah's, seeing her face so full of hope drove the need to tell her away for the
moment. He had to save her first, then he could tell her about their son.
Chris was about to smash the window when suddenly he
heard the sound of a rifle being fired. Immediately, he swung around to the
direction of the loud booming noise. Buck who had been filling up another
bucket of water to aid him was staring at him with a look of surprise on his
face. The big man glanced downwards as the crimson stain in the centre of his
chest started extending outwards, creating a wet patch of red across his light coloured shirt. He met Chris' gaze briefly before
everything that was Buck drained out of his eyes forever. Chris knew he was
dead before he even hit the ground.
"BUCK!" Chris ran forward as Buck collapsed
in the dirt. He was no more than two steps away from his friend when he
remembered Sarah and cursed himself for a fool. Not caring whether or not
Fowler was watching, Chris ran back towards the house. When Buck had been shot,
the sound of gunfire had tore through Chris' mind like an echo that would not fade.
However, it was nothing in comparison to the sound made when the roof of the Larabee home finally gave in.
There was a final moment after it tore through the air
when Sarah stared at him with pure terror in her eyes, knowing that there would
be no last minute rescue, no final reprieve or anything for that matter, when
time seemed to freeze for Chris. He watched almost unwillingly, as the spine of
the main ceiling beam snapped with a loud crack that seemed to fill his mind
with nothing else than its resounding waves. He watched in muted horror as the
roof caved in, bringing with it death in a descending wall of fire. Her last
scream was one of hopelessness and anger at the life that was snatched away
within inches of her reach.
"SARAH!" Chris screamed with her before
their voices were both drowned out by roar of the fire that did not just kill
her but a part of him as well. He dropped to his knees, feeling his heart
shatter into a thousand pieces when she screamed no more and he was left with
nothing more than the knowledge that he had failed her again. It wrenched his
insides with a pain so unbearable that for a few seconds following Sarah's end,
he could do nothing but weep in inconsolable sorrow at the loss of her. Losing
her the first time had been more than Chris could stand and he never believed
that could be any pain worse but now he knew was no limits to what pain could
make a man endure.
He almost lunged into the fire after her. For what he
had failed to prevent, he should have died too. He staggered to his feet, ready
to make the journey into the fire when suddenly, he remembered something else.
Chris paused in mid step. Inside himself, the man who remembered marrying Mary
Travis slipped away quietly into the mists, disappearing as if he had never
been. In his place was a creature that Chris had kept locked up all his life,
terrified of releasing for the evil it could do in its berserker rage.
Chris hardly noticed when that door was opened.
Trancelike, he walked past Buck, seeing his friend but
the death registered no more than that. He looked into the darkness and he saw
the faces just skimming the edge of the trees. He knew why Fowler had not
attacked him because Ella had not given him leave to do so. Shooting Buck had
been a tactic for delay nothing else. His friend had died so that Chris would
be prevented from entering the house and being killed when the room finally
caved in as it had just done and sealed the fate of his wife and son.
"Fowler!" Chris shouted loudly because he
needed to get the man's attention. "I know you're out there, Fowler You
can't hide away this time, I know who you are and I'm coming for you!"
Chris said these words as if he were reading them from a book. It too did not
register in his mind as anything that he ought to care about, it just needed
doing.
Until now, there had been nothing to prove to the law
that Cletus Fowler was responsible for the deaths of Sarah and Larabee. All that had led him to the man previously, was
one outlaw's word and that had not been enough. Fowler had killed the man to
assure his anonymity and Chris was certain that he would do the same to Chris
to protect himself, client or not. Chris went to his horse and waited for the
eminent arrival of Fowler and his men from under the protection of the trees.
He could almost imagine what Fowler was thinking at this moment, that he was
easy prey. Grief had made him weak and easy to overcome.
When Fowler and his men finally did emerge, Chris made
no move to approach them. He remained by his horse so that they would not have
a clear shot to do to him what they had done to Buck. Whomever had shot Buck
had done it from a distance and Chris scoured the faces and decided it did not
matter which one of them had pulled the trigger on his friend. Nothing mattered
any more. There was a numbness inside him that was indescribable and his rage
was a singularity in his soul awaiting release at the right moment.
"You were not meant to be here Mr. Larabee." Cletus Fowler said, his men surrounding
Chris while he stared at them dispassionately. "It is unfortunate that you
were. Give up your guns." The assassin ordered as he stared at Chris from
on top of his horse.
Chris tossed both his peacemakers into the dirt,
several feet from himself, without hesitation. He was not afraid of anything
that happened to him now. Not with Sarah and Adam gone and now Buck as well.
Mary was out of his reach and for what he was about to do, it was best that
way.
"Step away from the horse." Fowler ordered,
seeing something in the gunslinger's eyes that made him nervous. In fact, they
all did. Perhaps it was the lack of feeling in those steel coloured
eyes, he could not say for certain but the others riding with him were starting
to get apprehensive. "Slowly," he added the warning, expecting
something but unsure what that might be.
Chris stepped out in front of them and pulled the
shotgun he had loaded before their arrival and had kept hidden discreetly. With
speed he had always possessed but seldom used, he emptied both shells into the
men next to Fowler without so much as batting an eye. The loud roar of the
weapon coupled with the frightened reaction of the horses as both men caught
the brunt of the discharges in the chest, caused Fowler's mount to buck with
similar fear. The assassin fell to the ground as Chris rushed forward and tore
the last unseated rider from his horse. The chaos taking place around the man
had distracted him from the flurry of movement that had become Chris Larabee. Chris dragged him out of the saddle and paused
long enough for Fowler to notice that he had snaked an arm around the man's
throat and was waiting for an audience.
Before Chris snapped his neck with one abrupt
movement.
The man went limp in Chris' arm following the
sickening squelch of muscle and bone. Chris let him drop to the ground and
turned his attention to Fowler with eyes that were black like onyx. The
assassin who knew little about fear saw something in the gunslinger's eyes that
made him shudder. Chris took a step forward, oblivious to the fact that he was
unarmed and Fowler was but still confident that it was Fowler who was about to
die. Even the assassin began to understand this as Chris walked forward with
such casual ease in his manner that he looked like death itself, wearing a
black duster and gazing at Fowler with empty eyes.
"Think of this way," Chris said listlessly
as he approached. "You'll die quick. Ella won't."
***********
"This is really getting out of hand." Steven
complained as he checked on Mary and Billy whom he had instructed to remain
hidden inside their house. He had thought moving his family into town would
make things safer for them. However, after today, he decided that there was no
safe haven for a man to keep his family. The gunfire had resumed an hour ago
and had not stopped. Like any sane person, he had instructed Mary and his son
to remain indoors while the drunken Texan's responsible for this siege got the
liquor out of their system, hopefully without doing too much damage.
Unfortunately, this did not appear to be a scenario that would take place
anywhere in the immediate future since the group was still riding through town
causing untold damage as they discharged their weapons, destroying property and
sanity. Steven supposed they ought to be grateful that none of these men had
turned their attention to anyone person yet.
"It will end soon enough Steven." Mary
advised, knowing that a short time from now, Chris Larabee
and Vin Tanner would intervene and this reign of terror would end in a blaze of
gunfire that would herald the formation of the seven.
"I hope so," Steven frowned, walking up to
the front widow to see the progression of the violence. "We need a real
sheriff." He declared unhappily. "This town seems to be attracting
all kinds of bad elements lately and now Chris Larabee
too, God knows what the wind is going to blow into town next."
"Who's Chris Larabee."
Billy asked as he remained in Mary's arms at the corner of the room.
"A notorious gunslinger." Steven answered
off handedly, still staring out the window at the goings on taking place
outside.
"Really Steven," Mary frowned, feeling the
need to come to Chris' defense. "We don't know anything about the man. All
we have are third hand reports from questionable people regarding his so called
reputation as a ruthless killer."
Steven looked over his shoulder and her, clearly
unimpressed by her appraisal of Chris' character. "He must have left quite
an impression on you." He said without hiding the jealousy in his voice or
the dislike.
Mary suddenly felt embarrassed by the intensity of his
glare in her direction and she forced herself to remember that this was Steven
whom she had loved and for whom she had pined for so long after his death. Why
did she now feel like he was a stranger. She loved him once and in her heart,
she loved him still but her thoughts were filled with Chris. Seeing the
gunslinger this morning had only driven home just how much she wanted back the
life where she was his wife.
"Don't be silly," she said trying to sound
convincing. "I just don't think its right to judge a man solely on what
people say about him. He seemed perfectly nice when I spoke to him."
"Considering how you spoke to him, that was
hardly surprising." Steven retorted, the malice in his voice was
unconcealed, so was the implication.
Mary felt her cheeks flush with anger. "Steven, I
did nothing objectionable. I was merely having a conversation."
"Did you talk to him ma?" Billy asked,
oblivious to the nature of the conversation being carried out by his parents
and were only aware of the fact that his mother had spoken to a famous
gunslinger, like he read about in books.
"Yes," Steven said turning back to the
window again. "Your mother had quite a friendly conversation with Mr. Larabee."
"Steven," Mary stared to get angry. Even if
she had spoken to Chris with more familiarity than she should have, he had no
right to discuss it in front of Billy. "I merely spoke to the man to be
polite, if you read anything more into it, then that's your business."
Steven turned around to say something further when
suddenly, something else caught his attention. The town had been in chaos up to
this point. The Texans were running riot through town, shooting at anything
that moved, although gratefully no one had yet to be hurt. However, with the
sudden pause in gunfire, that was all about to change. Mary knew what that was
and she left Billy behind and hurried next to him, all thoughts about their
previous argument fading from memory.
"What is it?" She asked quietly as he looked
across the street at the drama unfolding on the upper floor of the building.
"Damn!" Steven swore. "I knew when they
asked Nathan to fix up their trail boss there was going to be trouble."
Mary followed his gaze and saw the Texans ragging
Nathan out of the set of rooms that the healer used as his infirmary. The scene
played out was one she was terribly familiar with even though this was the
first time, she had viewed it from this perspective. Nathan was bound by the
hands, struggling to break free of at least three men who were part of larger
group intent on lynching him for the death of their friend.
"They're going to hang him." She whispered,
taking note of the rope that was around the healer's neck ready for the
purpose.
"Not a chance!" Steven declared firmly and
hurried away from the window. Mary stared at him in shock, wondering what he
though he was going to do. She knew how events had played out, that after a
rather pointless attempt by her to stop the Texans from carrying out their
lynching, Chris and Vin would step in her place and save Nathan from that
terrible fate.
"Steven!" Mary ran after him as he
disappeared into the office.
"What's daddy going to do?" Billy asked as
she followed Steve out.
"Stay where you are," she ordered in that no
nonsense tone that made Billy freeze in his place and remain silent.
When she reached the room, she saw him loading up the
double barrel shot gun that he kept in the office. In the reality she
remembered, Mary had kept it in pretty much the same place. Periodically, he
would look out the window to keep abreast of what was taking place outside. By
this point, Nathan had been brought to street level, giving everyone in town a
rough idea of what was going to take place. A wagon being driven by one of the
Texans had pulled up at the front of the building where the infirmary was and
Nathan was bundled roughly into the back at gunpoint.
"Steven, you're not going out there." Mary
exclaimed.
"Of course I am." Steven retorted, giving
her a look that seemed surprise that she could even ask such a thing. "I
can't let them hang Nathan."
Mary swallowed hard, suddenly remembering why she
loved this man so much and how good and courageous truly be. This was the
husband that she remembered and pined for after his death, not the jealous man
who had angered her a short time ago.
For a moment, Mary felt inordinately proud of him,
like she always did when he was at his most determined to defend someone who
needed defending because no one else gave a damn. "Steven," she
smiled, her hand touching his face tenderly as he paused and looked into her
eyes. "I love you."
"I'll be fine," he said confidently and
kissed the hand against his cheek, happier than all was well between them
again. He hated it when he and Mary argued because he loved her so much and
knew that part of the reason he had been so jealous was because the thought of
her looking at someone with the same look she reserved for him was more than he
could stand. "You stay here with Billy." He said gently before he
took the gun and hurried out of the office into the street.
Mary watched him go, knowing that he would not get
hurt. After all, she had done the same thing and the only she had suffered was
to her pride. They had brushed her aside like an annoyance because she was just
a woman. Suddenly, Mary felt her breath catch. Dear God! They had not hurt her
because she was a woman but Steven…
Mary was running out the door before the thought could
coalesce completely in her mind. She prayed she was wrong. She prayed that the
reason they had not shot her that day was out of some sense of belief that
there was a world of difference from hurting a white man and lynching a Negro,
not because she was a woman. As she ran up the street, she saw Chris Larabee watching at the front of the saloon, his eyes
immediately shifted from the unfolding drama to her as she approached, her
skirts raised in a desperate attempt to reach Steven before it was too late.
Gangrene was the last word she heard Steven say before
the sound gunfire tore through the air. She froze in the middle of the street
as she saw him fall. The shot gun fell out of his hand after the bullets had
done their work. There were cries of shock and horror throughout the town from
those watching as they saw one of their most prominent citizens gunned down in
front of his wife. Mary watched in slow motion as he landed in the dirt and the
men who had killed him, continue on their way. The alcohol has so blinded their
senses that they felt little remorse over what they had done and would not
likely to do so until the liquor had worn off.
When she could finally move again, she found her limbs
heavy as she approached him. Even as she neared him, she knew he was dead. He
lay there on the street, his blood seeping from under him like a crimson pool
that reflected the colour of her world as she came
understand that she had lost him again. Although some of the townsfolk had
converged around his body, all stepped aside when Mary finally reached him. The
world ceased to exist around her as she knelt down beside him and tried not to
cry. It was easier to do than she might have imagined, after all, she had wept
these tears for him once before. The sorrow of his passing was nothing new to
her. The circumstances had just changed.
Mary dropped to her knees and brushed his cheek once
again with her finger tips again, as she had done only a short time ago. The
bullets that killed him were plain to see on his ruined torso. The killing
wound was where his heart was situated and Mary was able to take some comfort
in the knowledge that the dying for him had come quickly. She had wished him
alive for so long, to have him back again and now as she held him in her arms,
having lost him a second time, did she finally understand why that was always
such a impossible dream.
Steven Travis believed in standing up for what he
believed in, no matter what the price to himself. He had avoided death once
because this wish of hers had allowed it, however, everything that he was
ensured that he would willingly put himself in danger if he believed the cause
was right time after time. She had wished he had not been killed that night
when she should have wished him to be someone else because the only way he was
going to stay alive was by not being the man he was.
Chris Larabee watched the
woman with eyes like a dove hold her husband in her arms, shedding not one tear
as she cradled his dead form even though the full measure of her grief was an
open book to Chris. He knew precisely what was taking place inside her and he
could share her sorrow with as much intimacy as he wanted to share her heart.
When she had looked at him earlier that morning, Chris had been able to think
of nothing else. Even though it was a wedding ring he had seen on her finger,
thoughts of golden hair plagued him so badly he had more or less, neglected to
notice what was taking place in town. Perhaps if he had, her husband would
still be alive.
He watched her grief and felt it stab in his own
heart, filling the emptiness that had lived there since Sarah and Adam had
died, with the first semblance of feeling in almost three years. Chris wanted
to hold her, he wanted to tell her that her world had not ended with the death
of her husband, that some day, someone would breeze into her life and bring
with it a reason to live as she had done for him. Chris took a deep breath and
made a decision at the same time he noticed that the store clerk who had been
watching the proceedings in the shop across the street, emerging with a rifle
after appearing to have come to the same conclusion he had. The younger man met
his gaze and the secret message conveyed between prompted Chris into moving.
It was time to do something.
***********
The sun was almost up.
If he did not act soon, they would be on the move
again and he would have to spend another day tracking them. While patience was
virtue in this game, Vin wanted to be done with Eli Joe so he could get back to
his life or begin living it again. Even in the reality he remembered, Vin had
to admit the desire to catch Eli Joe had almost become obsession. He had
trailed the outlaw longer and further than any other bounty he had set himself
to collect. Only when he had found Kincaid's body and returned with it to Tascosa, did Vin realize just how single-minded he had been
about Eli Joe's capture. He had been so single minded that he had missed the
obvious signs of the deception and led to his becoming a fugitive.
Vin remained in the darkness, watching his prey as
they remained huddled around the fire, passing the bottle of whisky that was
making them drunk but doing nothing to hasten their descent into a stupor where
they could be easily handled. He did not recognize the other men with Eli Joe
but Vin decided he was not in the mood to take all of them on. He only wanted
Eli Joe. Once he had the outlaw in his custody, Vin had every intention of
abandoning the bounty hunting game. If necessary, he would seek out Chris Larabee or wait the gunslinger out in
This time however, he was beating Ezra to her.
In truth, Vin had no idea how he was going to stand
waiting for her arrival when she was such a large part of his life. In fact
they all were, from Chris to J.D., Vin knew that in the past two years, they
had filled a void in his life he had never suspected was there. He spent so
much time alone in his life that the need for people had been a secondary
consideration. Even when he lived with the Indians, he was always set apart.
Although they treated him as one of their own, he was not and while nothing was
said, Vin could feel the underlying sentiment held by them all that as much as
he tried to understand their ways, he was still a white man and in some
respects, the enemy. Only when he had come to
Chris had understood and extended a hand of friendship
towards him, a hand seldom offered to anyone. However, Vin was certain the
gunslinger saw in him something that had been lost in himself since the death
of the wife and child that left Chris Larabee so
terribly marked. Chris' friendship, guarded though it may have been at first
had taught Vin a great deal about letting people into his life. If it had not
been for Chris, he would still be the loner that he was, not a member of the
seven and certainly without Alex in his life. If he could just deal with Eli
Joe this time, then when she came into his life again, he would not have to
worry about never being able to marry her because of this damn bounty on his
head.
Vin blinked and stared into the campsite where the
outlaw was camped and noticed that the voices were silent. It appeared that the
liquor and the late hour had finally taken its toll on the group and they were
fast asleep in their bedrolls. Even Eli Joe was down for the count, having
collapsed next to the fire, being too drunk too crawl into bed. It was just as
well. Vin wanted to take the man with the least amount of fuss.
After watching the campsite a little while longer to
ensure that no trick was being played on him, Vin finally moved out of his
hiding place. Covering the distance between himself and Eli Joe in a matter of
minutes, Vin moved across the darkened landscape almost soundlessly, his
footsteps giving no warning in their advance. The horses stirred slightly at
his approach but not enough to give him away. He paused as they neighed and
stamped their feet, their animal senses detecting him with far more accuracy
than he himself was capable of tracking. Vin paused for a moment, making
certain that the unheard warning remained just that and continued forward only
when he saw no movement from the prone figures lying asleep next to the gentle
illumination of amber light.
Vin removed his gun slowly, knowing precisely where
Eli Joe was situated from his observations earlier. He crept past the others,
who were as he suspected too drowned in liquor to be coherent of anything but
each others snoring, which was he might add rather loud. Eli Joe was lying
directly in front of the fire, lying on his back in the dirt, clutching an
empty bottle of Red Eye as he snored loudly in his stupor. Vin looked over his
shoulder and made sure they others remained where they were, unstirred and
silent.
No sooner than had done that, he heard the audible
click of a gun.
"I knew you weren't stupid enough to take the
bait." Eli Joe was looking at him with a gun pointed at his face, fully
awake. The man had been waiting for the arrival of the tracker all evening,
expecting company even though the others had anticipated the bounty hunter
would have taken Kincaid's body back to Tuscosa by
now. However, Eli Joe knew that man who was pursuing him, knew that any bounty
hunter that would be so determined to maintain the hunt no matter what the
outlaw had done to throw him off the trail would not be fooled so easily by
such a simple ruse.
Vin swore under his breath, cursing himself for a fool
in his eagerness to get his hands on the man. Now Eli Joe had the drop on him
and he was in for a world of trouble.
"I should have taken care of this the old
fashioned way," Eli Joe replied, his eyes narrowing with such intense
hatred that Vin suddenly realized that when Alexandra Styles finally arrived in
Four Corners, he was not going to be there to meet her.
The last thing he knew of anything was Eli Joe pulling
the trigger.
***********
When the stage rumbled into
The knot that had formed in her insides ever since she
had woken up in that strange office in
"I know this is impossible," Styles asked
since Alex's pleasure at being in this town was so apparent on her face that he
actually wondered if she had ever been here before. "You did not leave
"Vin described it pretty accurately," Alex
lied, not about to explain to him just how she knew
"I see," He said skeptically, with every
indication that he did not for a second believe a word she was saying.
Alex offered him a vague smile and sat up as the stage
finally pulled up next to the
Alex disembarked from the carriage and looked over the
town. Nothing much had changed. In fact, from the Emporium located at the end
of the street to the Clarion News office across the street from the saloon, the
place was as she exactly remembered it the night before she had gone to sleep
and awoke in
"Daddy," Alex turned to her father who was
seeing to their bags as it was being unloaded from the top of the
"Certainly Lex,"
Styles answered, his attention more focused on his discussion with the
stagecoach driver and where their luggage was to be deposited then anything Alex
had said.
Alex left him to it and tried to think where Vin would
be at this time of the day if he were indeed in town. God, she hoped he was.
Alex did not think she could stand to go without seeing him for another minute.
The last few days had been hell. She never thought she could miss him so much
in her life. She missed the dinners they shared, the moonlight rides, not to
mention the passionate lovemaking. She missed that a lot. Strolling through
town, she re-acquainted herself with
There he was.
Vin Tanner was playing checkers with Ezra Standish in
the walkway that ran past the saloon, enjoying the summer heat rather than
wasting the day away inside the dim confines of the establishment. Chris Larabee was also present but the gunslinger's nose was in a
book. Who would have thought that the somber son of a bitch was such a literary
buff, Alex thought for the hundredth time. Vin looked no different than the
last time she saw him, wearing that damn buckskin jacket she was certain he
would be buried in one day, with a look she knew to be one of utter boredom. It
must have been a slow day if he was reduced to playing checkers with Ezra,
particularly since the gambler's sleight of hand allowed him to cheat at that
too.
It was a slow day for Vin Tanner but as he looked up
and saw her coming towards their direction, all thoughts regarding the game he
was playing with Ezra seemed to fade from his mind. He stared for a moment,
feeling something stop working in his chest as she crossed the street. Vin
basked in the sight of her, wondering who she was, with her golden skin and a
smile that seemed meant for only him.
With waves of jet black hair bouncing off her
shoulders as she moved, Vin had never in his life been so utterly captured by
any female. Not even
"Mr. Tanner," Ezra who had been waiting for
Vin to make a move on the board, said impatiently. "The move is
yours."
"What?" Vin turned his attention back to the
game, which he had absolutely no interest in at this point.
"What has captured your attention so…oh my."
Ezra stopped short as he saw the woman who had crossed the street and seemed to
be proceeding in their direction. "My compliments on your taste."
Chris Larabee looked up at
this point much to Vin's embarrassment. He had no wish to be caught gawking
like a teenager but his annoyance lasted for only a second because the object
of his affections was soon heading directly for them. Immediately, the three
lawmen rose to their feet for the woman, who despite her colouring
was dressed very much like a lady and should have been afforded the proper
respect.
Alex saw Vin's eyes the moment he saw her and knew
that she was not a stranger to him, well in heart anyway. Her effect upon her
was evident in the depths of the cobalt coloured
pools of his eyes, which Alex knew were incapable of hiding how he felt from
her. She swelled inside knowing that her intense feelings for him were not one
sided, that even now, though she appeared to be a complete stranger, the
passion of their love still existed on some level . It was also nice to know
that Vin had been telling Alex the truth when he said that he had loved her
from the first. The instant she laid eyes upon him, Alex knew that her plan of
getting to know him gradually before rekindling their love affair without
actually going into detail of how they had first met, was going straight out
the window.
Her arms were around him even before she knew she was
making a public spectacle of herself. Alex pulled him close, pressing her lips
against his in a kiss of steamy passion. After so many days without him, she
felt starved and even though there was some measure of resistance as she kissed
him, it lasted for no more than a second before his tongue was probing past her
teeth, joining hers in their passionate exchange.
Vin had no idea what was happening but when he felt
her arms around him, he knew he wanted nothing else. She tasted like nothing he
had ever known in his life and the scent of her skin made him dizzy from sheer
craving. When Vin finally regained enough sense to push away from her, he was
almost breathless as he stared at her with wonder, not to mention a great deal
of puzzlement. She flashed him a radiant smile and Vin found his heart beating
heavily in his chest as she looked at him with eyes that held the secret to a
mystery he was not privy.
"I'm guessing you've met." Chris Larabee said, trying to hide the amusement at the
expression of absolute bewilderment on Vin Tanner's face.
Alex saw Vin's face turn a shade of crimson and
decided to spare him the embarrassment of trying to explain. "I'm
Alexandra Styles," she introduced herself to the gunslinger and the
gambler. Ezra was also trying hard to hide the snigger that was threatening to
steal across his features. "I'm thinking of setting up a medical practice
here in
"A doctor?" Vin exclaimed staring at her in
astonishment. "But you're..."
Alex gave him a wicked smile and remarked. "A
woman." She replied. "I thought we cleared that up a second
ago." She teased and garnered a rather dark look from him in response.
"And how did you and Mr. Tanner get
acquainted?" Ezra found himself asking because like Chris, that question
was burning foremost in his mind. Vin was not the most social of creatures and
had a habit of being painfully shy, particularly when it came to the opposite
sex. How Vin could have had the opportunity to charm this incredibly beautiful
woman was beyond Ezra especially since none of them had laid eyes upon her
before or was aware of when Vin might have had the opportunity to meet her in
the first place.
"That's our secret." She said evasively
before turning to Vin. "If you want to escort me to the hotel Vin, I think
we need to talk."
"Now you want to talk?" Vin stared at her,
his confusion escalating by the moment. Something very strange was going on and
felt like he had to run after her to keep up. It did not help that when he
gazed at her, he felt such a rush of desire, he had no sense of anything but
wanting her lips against his in a repeat of that devastating kiss she had
delivered to him a short time ago.
"Until next time Mr. Larabee,
Mr. Standish." Alex smiled, not waiting for Vin to follow as she started
walking.
"Go on Mr. Tanner," Ezra urged, giving Vin a
gentle push as the tracker stood there looking at them helplessly. Neither
Chris nor the gambler had ever seen the younger man so far removed from his
usually unflappable self. "I believe I can sacrifice our game just to know
that you are not keeping your lady friend waiting."
"I have no idea who she is!" Vin stammered,
gravitating between complete panic and the desire to run after her like a
schoolboy.
"Yeah," Chris grinned. "I could tell by
the way you were kissing her pard."
"You ain't helping!" Vin barked in
irritation.
"And you ought to be going so she can explain it
to you," Ezra prompted, "because I want to hear how this came about
as much as you." The gambler taunted.
Vin let out a groan of exasperation but nevertheless
departed from his friends before they started laughing and he was forced to
shoot the both of them.
It took a few lengthy strides for Vin to fall in step
with the woman called Alexandra Styles. She reacted at his present beside her
with little more than a sidelong glance. "Relax Vin, its
not that bad."
"Not that bad?" He looked at her. "You
just come out of nowhere kiss me and tell me that it ain't that bad. I don't
even know who you are!"
She paused and looked at him with a faint smile.
"I told you, my name is Alex Styles. I'm a doctor."
"I know that
bit." He said sarcastically. "I mean why did you kiss me?"
"Because I love you." She answered, as if it
were the most natural thing in the world.
"You don't even know me!" Vin was very
confused by this point.
"I know enough to let you in on a couple of
things." She motioned him forward and whispered quietly in his ear. Vin
listened to her words and then recoiled as if she had let him in on something
completely horrifying.
"How do you know about that scar?" He hissed
mortified that she should have such personal information about himself and his
body.
"The same way I know that kisses on your lower
back makes you absolutely insane." She grinned and continued walking,
enjoying this a little. She did so love playing with his head.
If Vin had been drinking, he would have choked.
Instead he just opted to turn a deeper shade of crimson because her
revelations, embarrassing as they might be for him to admit, were utterly
correct. Vin just could not understand how she knew. "Are you crazy?"
He asked, feeling like he had walked in at the middle of a play.
"Nope." She said casually.
"Well you're driving me crazy." He grumbled.
"I guess I am," Alex looked at him with a
twinkle in her eyes. "But you're going to love me."
***********
It took little under a week for Julia to arrive in
Travelling under the name of Pemberton had ensured
that Roderick Packard would not follow her in pursuit. She knew that until she
was married, there would be no end to the man's determination to make her his
bride. Although she did not hate him as much as she did, having come to know
him in the past few days, Julia was unprepared to pave his way into
Philadelphia society by being his wife.
Still, Roderick was just the most acute symptom of the
problem she had been facing ever since she had come into her father's money. It
was ironic that upon inheriting her father's estate, she was no happier than
she had been when she was hiding in Four Corners.
In fact, she truly missed the place and the friends
she had made there, not to mention Ezra, whose thoughts preyed on her mind
almost hourly. Amazingly enough, even though in this time and place, he had no
idea of her existence, she found that she could not be unfaithful to him.
However, she was not about to waste time with coy attempts to get him to know
her and rekindling their romance.
Julia was not a patient woman and if she was not in
his life at this point, then there was only one other thing that held more sway
over his existence than what she might have meant to him.
She arrived in town inconspicuously, hiding out in the
same suite of rooms she had taken when she had first come to Four Corners.
However, instead of seeking him out immediately, she paid a nice gratuity to
the bellboy to find out if Ezra was indeed in Four Corners. Julia soon learnt
that apart from her absence, everything else was as she remembered. He was
indeed one of the seven guardians of Four Corners who was also part owner of
the Standish Tavern. She ruminated on how she would approach him and decided
that it might be simpler if she have him come to her. Besides, if Ezra thought
there was a quick buck in it, he would follow her to the moon.
God, she missed him.
So now she found herself here, pacing the floor of her
room, waiting for him to come, feeling like a schoolgirl in her giddy desire to
see him. Her pulse was racing and she was dressed in the most alluring thing
she could find in her wardrobe, wondering when was the last time she had
actually felt the need to dress for any man. Julia checked her look in the
mirror for the hundredth time when she heard the inevitable knock on the door
of her suite. The sudden sound made her jump and she realized how anxious she
really was to see him. Taking a deep breath, she steadied her nerves and slid
into the charming manner that was capable of reducing most men to panting
teenagers before answering the door.
Ezra Standish stood before her, appearing just as
dapper as she remembered and Julia felt her breast swell at just the sight of
him. She wanted to hold him and tell him how much she missed him these past few
days but when he looked back at her, Julia knew he had no idea who she was,
even though he reacted to her like all men reacted to her. His sea-coloured eyes met her emerald own and for a few seconds
they just stared at each other. Julia gazed at him, hoping that there was
something in Ezra that knew who she was while Ezra tried hard to maintain the
cool image of the perfect southern gentlemen before what was undoubtedly the
most breathtaking creature he had ever seen in his life.
"Mr. Standish, please come in." she said
after a moment, remembering that she had a plan already laid out and she needed
to follow it. Ezra was no fool and he had the distinction of being the one
person she could not lie to with any measure of success. It was God's way of
paying her back, she had decided long ago, that the one man she would love
beyond anything was the only one who could see straight through her.
Ezra walked into the room, puzzled by this whole
invitation. As it was, he was somewhat amazed that such a beautiful woman had
made her arrival in town without anyone being aware of it. Usually, Buck
Wilmington could smell an eligible female before she even broke town limits,
let alone go unnoticed for days.
"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Madam.
Your note did not tell me your name." Ezra replied as she motioned him to
sit. Judging by the steaming pot of tea on the table, she had prepared the
setting for this meeting quite fastidiously. For the life of him, Ezra could
not understand what this was about although he was not one to deny himself a
moment in such charming company.
"My name is Julia Avery." Julia introduced
herself deciding that for her purposes, her real name would have to be
disclosed. "I have a business proposition for you."
"I am intrigued." He said wondering what she
had in mind.
Unfortunately, she was not about to launch into what
that might be just yet. Instead, she went through the motions of serving tea
and making some small talk regarding her journey to Four Corners, some personal
inquiries about himself and other inanities. He took the time to observe her,
deciding that nothing about her was very conventional and guessing very quickly
that whatever she intended to tell him was not something she could put on the
table with any ease. Ezra hated to think that he could be the cause of so much
consternation when every time he looked into her eyes, he saw something that he
could not explain but knew to be kindred.
"Here is the thing," Julia sighed, deciding
there was no point delaying what she needed to say. Once she gauged how he felt
about her proposition she could do the rest. "I recently came into a great
deal of money."
He tried to remain calm when she mentioned the subject
of money but Julia could see his eyes flicker with instinctive interest.
Choosing not leave him in suspense, Julia continued. "The problem is, I
have every fortune hunter in a hundred mile radius of where I live attempting
to charm or marry me, I can abide either but I'm under a great deal of pressure
to pick someone and soon."
"If you do not mind my inquiring Miss Avery, just
how money have you acquired?" He asked, trying to sound delicate but Julia
was perfectly aware that he was burning with curiosity to know. He was after
all, her Ezra. Until she came into his life, his first love had been money.
Although, sometimes she wondered whether she had actually supplanted that love
or was he just telling her that so she would not kill him.
"Two million dollars." She answered with a
faint smile.
He swallowed visibly and she wondered if he needed
smelling salts because he looked somewhat faint.
"That's a great deal of money," he said
after a moment, trying to remain cool as ever.
"Yes, it is." Julia tried not to smile.
"You see my dilemma."
"I am surprise you managed to get away
alone," he remarked with genuine surprise. "If I were after a fortune
like that I would never let you out of my sight." The idea of fortune
hunters chasing after her with no thought about the woman herself seemed
somewhat scandalous. True, the money was inviting, actually more than inviting,
damn near intoxicating but this was no wallflower. She was a exceedingly
beautiful woman; the money would be incidental next to actually having her.
True, he had no idea what she might be like but something told him that she was
special in a way most women could never aspire.
"Which brings me to my proposition." Julia
said pleased because she had seen the genuine concern in his eyes as he had
asked the question, beyond the taste for the money. "I need to be married
Mr. Standish and I need to be married soon. Now I'm not particular about where
I live and this town seems charming indeed if you wish to remain here. I am
willing to sign equal control of the fortune to you provided that you are
willing to sign an agreement that ensures we stay married for at least ten
years."
Ezra merely stared at her in astonishment. "Miss
Avery, are you proposing that I marry you?"
"Of course," Julia nodded, wondering how he
could think anything else. "Is that so surprising?"
"Aside from the fact that you and I are complete
strangers and you wish to enter a marriage of convenience with me, yes I must
confess, I do find it a little unusual." He exclaimed.
"What makes you think it’s going to be a marriage
of convenience." She looked at him with a suggestive gleam in her eyes.
Whatever he was going to say next froze in his throat
as she leaned over and kissed him. For a moment, he could do nothing but lose
himself to the power of those silky lips, devouring his mouth with increasing
passion. Ezra wanted to protest but as he felt her hands brace herself against
his chest, her tongue probing into his mouth with such seduction and desire, he
felt his resistance melt and he was kissing her back. His hands immediately
circled her and he reached for the copper coloured
hair that he had been longing to run his fingers through ever since he walked
into the room.
Julia felt dizzy from the pressure of his mouth
against hers. Now that his initial surprise had faded, he was taking control
again and she felt that familiar fire of anticipation burning inside of her
whenever they made love.
Ezra had made sex something she could enjoy not merely
use as a means to an end. He was the first man who ever wanted more than just to
have her. He had shown her what pleasure could be and for that, Julia knew she
love him to the day she died, whether or not it was in this reality or any
other.
Julia broke the kiss long enough to sit back and
release her hair, disheveled from his hands running through it. It swept down
her cream coloured neck in waves of red that made his
breath catch as he stared at her, his arousal apparent in the way his eyes move
up and down her body, envisioning what was behind the layers of fabric covering
her skin. Julia stood up and in her eyes, beckoned him to follow. She saw him
swallow, as if what was happening at this moment had caught him completely by
surprise and all he could do in action was to be carried away helplessly.
"Miss Avery," he managed to say when she led
him towards the bed at the far end of the room and he realized just how far she
was willing to satisfy both their desires. "Do you always move so
fast?"
"Only when I see what I want." She remarked
when she reached the bed and turned around to face him again. Her hand slid
around his neck and she started kissing his neck, feeling his body react to the
feel of her tongue laving the sensitive skin. "Then I do things painfully
slow." To illustrate the point, she traced a wet line from his neck to his
earlobe and heard him groan slightly.
"Well," Ezra sighed as he started taking
control once again, now that he was clear on what she expected of him. "I
am never one to refuse a lady's attention."
When Ezra lifted her chin to him again, their mouths
with fierce intensity. He slid the wet heat of his tongue past her teeth while savouring the softness of her lips. He had no idea what he
was doing and for once in his life he hardly cared. This incredibly desirable
creature had just offered him more money than he could ever dream of and even
if she came without a cent to her name, he still wanted her. There had been
women before but none that could make him throw caution to the wind as he was
doing so now.
Ezra felt her hands pulling at his coat, desperately
needing to divest him of his clothes. His jacket fell to the carpeted floor in
her feverish desire and Ezra helped her with the buttons of his waist coat when
he saw the lust burning in her eyes and in the shape of her slightly parted
lips. Any remaining doubt he might have had against the prudence of what he was
doing was washed away when his vest and shirt was finally discarded and her
hands slid across the bare skin of his back, paralyzing him with the incredible
sensation of her touch. He felt her breasts heaving against his chest and could
feel the points of her nipples through the fabric of her dress.
Julia did not resist when Ezra started pulling at her
dress, moving through the layers of her clothes with such ease that very soon,
she found herself standing before him completely naked. The sight of her bare
completely was enough to make his cock stiffen with such rigid desire that he
could feel it pressing uncomfortably against his trousers. He felt his heart
pound at the absolute magnificence of her and still felt overwhelmed that she
had chosen him over all others. Ezra had no idea why she had decided to bestow
her affections upon him in such a pleasurable way but he was going to never
give her reason to regret it.
He tortured Julia's mouth mercilessly with warm,
seductive kisses while at the same time caressing the swollen breasts before
him. He groaned softly as he felt the erect nipples under his palm, hardening
each time he moved over the sensitive buds. Julia released a pleasured sigh
into his mouth when she felt his finger tips brush against the tight nubs of
flesh, taunting them into further contraction. Her moan of pleasure reached
down his throat and tantalized his growing erection with every soft whimper.
While engaging her attention in this way, Ezra had manoeuvred her towards the bed that was only inches away
from them. Gently, he lowered her onto the soft mattress, hating to leave her
mouth but knowing he must for a brief moment. Julia eased back into the bed,
watching him strip off the last of his clothes with nothing less than pure
lust. How she had missed being with him in the past she remembered and hoped it
would be as wonderful for him as it had always been for her. Julia felt another
gush of moisture between her legs as she saw him completely naked and licked
her lips in anticipation at how beautiful he was.
"I'm impressed Mr. Standish." she smiled at
him seductively.
Despite his control of the situation, she saw an
involuntary twinge of red seep into his face as he smiled. "As am I."
He returned huskily and came towards her. However, before Ezra could lower
himself down on the bed, Julia stopped him as he stood in front of her. She
gazed at his raging erection and found herself meeting his eyes with a leer of
salacious desire. She saw the shudder of anticipation running through him as he
realized what she was about to do and dropped his hand onto her shoulders as if
bracing himself for the torture she was about to make him endure. Julia teased
him a little, working her warm tongue over her lower lip, her movements slow
and full of promise. Ezra was mesmerized by those soft lips and suddenly found
himself leaning closer to her, his cock brushing her face gently. The tip that
touched her cheek made him groan softly.
Julia liked the sound he made as he struggled to
restrain himself from forcing his way into her mouth. She decided she liked
making him suffer a little and continued rubbing the swollen head of his cock
against her skin before parting her lips ever so slightly in an invitation for
him enter. Her tongue slipped past her teeth, seductively, beckoning him with
tantalizing movements across her upper lip. Ezra felt his cock spasm at the
thought of burying himself in that warm, moist mouth.
"I am going to make you scream, Mr.
Standish." She whispered and saw the restraint snap inside him as he trust
his hips at her mouth and she was able to delight in the sensation of his
engorged cock sliding down her throat before closing her lips close around it
with tight wet pressure.
"Oh God." He whispered.
The hunger in which she swallowed his throbbing member
deep into her mouth was more than Ezra could stand. All he could do as she ran
her tongue over his shaft was to groan incoherently. With a start, he realized
that he was being very vocal when he thrust his hips forward, his cock
determined to bury itself as far down her throat as possible. The pleasure of
what her tongue was doing to him was beyond description. He could hardly
believe that under the facade of the prim and proper heiress, was a siren
capable of producing such mind numbing pleasure. No woman he had ever been with
had managed to match this sweet delight.
His hands were running through her hair as he pulled
her face forward while thrusting into the taut ring of her lips. She increased
the pressure even more until all he could feel was that surge of crushing
weight as her lips slid over his shaft. Ezra could feel the sudden tightening
in his groin when his cock hardened beyond the point of endurance and whatever
resolve he had left threaten to crumble with complete surrender. He had to stop
her or else he would come in her mouth. As much as he wanted to feel that
ecstasy, Ezra wanted to be inside her when the time came and so he managed a
strangled gasp.
"Not yet." He said feeling anguished when he
forced himself out of her mouth. Ezra climbed onto the bed, lowering her flat
on her back in his descent. Once they were nestled together, Ezra started
kissing her again, unable to get enough of her wonderful taste. His kisses were
harder and more intense where they had been warm and gentle earlier. The desire
to explore her mouth was gone; she had pushed him so far over the brink he
could think of nothing but taking complete possession of her. His tongue
plundered hers with passion, until the ferocity of it took her breath away and
she was left gasping for air.
After a while, he slipped away from her mouth, sliding
further down her naked body, until his mouth found her nipples and took one
into her mouth. He started sucking it insistently, sending exquisite waves of
pleasure rippling through her body each time he chose to swirl his warm tongue
over the erect tip. Julia had started to moan, feeling that pleasure while at the
same time aware that Ezra's hands were sliding down her thigh. She felt his
skillful fingers slip past her throbbing folds, prying them apart as he buried
one finger deep into her warm recess. The muscles within gripped the finger
with such hard suction that Ezra felt all the blood rush to his cock in a
single gush of desire at the anticipation of what those muscles would do to his
manhood.
Her cries were almost incoherent now as she was
treated to the ministrations of his sensuous mouth as he nibbled gently on her
while his hand kneaded her other breast. Ezra's lips were everywhere at once
and she knew he delighted in her reaction. The way her body shuddered in sighs
of ecstasy each time he ran his hands over her skin or laved its silky texture
with his tongue in long strokes, made him so aroused he could hardly believe
it.
Suddenly, Ezra withdrew his fingers and started
sliding downward; eliciting a ragged sob from her when both hands and mouth
stopped what they were doing. She looked down at him with glassy eyes and
swallowed hard when she realized what he was about to do. Ezra trailed hot
kisses down her abdomen as he made his downward journey. Finally he arrived at
his destination and gently coaxed her legs apart before lowering himself into
the mound of dark hair. If she felt so good around his fingers, Ezra wanted to
know if she tasted just as delicious. As he nuzzled into the cleft between her
legs, Ezra was rewarded with a groan of utter ecstasy.
"Oh!" She cried out. Her body had become a
tight knot of pleasure. Oh God, Ezra. " She could hardly form the words as
she felt his mouth searching for that sensitive place hidden in the folds of
her pulsing flesh. All she could stand was that wet tongue probing deeper into
her, until he found the pearl of flesh that would shatter every bit of self
control with one flick of hot, moist pleasure.
Ezra did not speak but continued what he was doing,
feeling his own desire mount at her vocal expression of his seductive
ministrations. His tongue darted into her deepest crevices, moving to a rhythm
that only he could knew. He swirled around that tiny node of skin until it was
so hard; he could feel his own cock straining with excitement. Julia dug her
fingers into his hair as Ezra proceeded to fuck her with his tongue, sliding in
and out of her with long, smooth strokes until she was moaning incoherently
with mindless pleasure.
His tongue started to tingle as he felt Julia reaching
the peak of her climax. He loved the sensation against the tip of his tongue
when a woman was about to orgasm. He swirled around that erect nub of tissue,
sucking it hard between his teeth before laving its tiny tip with his hot
tongue. She was whimpering now and Ezra knew she was not long from filling him
with her warm salty taste. It rushed into his mouth no sooner than the thought
had crossed his mind and he lapped her up with relish, satisfied in the
knowledge that it was he who made her feel this way.
Seeing the dreamy expression on her face as she came
down from her shattering climax only made Ezra want to plunge into her
sensitive flesh. He did not want her to have time to regain her composure
because more than anything at this moment, he wanted to feel those powerful
muscles grab his cock and crush it helplessly in a surge of pressure that would
make him scream with absolute surrender. Ezra looked at Julia whose expression
was starting to fill with hungry need at the sight of him. She met his gaze and
smiled. "Make love to me Ezra, make love to me hard."
Ezra was so hot and ready that he could barely stand
to wait another second, as he remained poised at her slick opening. Spreading
her legs apart with his knee, Ezra did not offer her warning as he entwined his
fingers between her own and rammed his cock deep inside her, pushing it as far
it would go inside her warm and moist inner passage. Her back arched in
response to the brutal penetration and she cried out. However, Ezra was there
to capture her mouth again, stifling the sound before it could escape her lips.
Julia started to moan into his mouth and Ezra started pumping into her, falling
over the abyss of his own control into a vortex of sensation.
Good God, she felt so good!
Ezra's mind clouded over with sensation as he felt her
tight muscles contracting around him each time he pounded into her body. Her
legs were wrapped around his and her fingers dug into his back, raking across
the skin and driving him insane with arousal of pain. He could do nothing in
reaction but to drop one hand to her thigh and hook it around his waist so that
he could impale her with even more force. She began to whimper the faster he
thrust into her until the sounds she made just about drove him completely over
the edge. Ezra fought for control, closing his eyes while his body became
utterly subservient to the immense climax that was building inside him.
Ezra felt himself explode inside of her when the
pressure of those incredibly tight muscles gripped him with such pressure that
it forced all sense from his world and he came crashing down, in the wake of
his own release. A final shudder ran through them as their hot fluids melded in
an erotic mix of heat warmed them both.
"God! Julia!" He groaned as he emptied his
seed deep into her body, filling her with his warmth before finally
surrendering to the exhaustion wrought by this incredible experience.
He collapsed on top of her, still panting as he felt
all energy drain from him with the intense climax she made him experience.
Julia smiled, enjoying his weight on her body as she felt his shallow breathing
in her ear. After a moment, Ezra slid off her and nestled beside her so that he
could cradle her in his arms.
It was a while before he could answer his mind and
body reeling from one of the most incredible sexual experiences of his life.
"After due consideration, I think," he said looking at her with a
faint smile, "that I shall accept your proposal."