Black Conley (13 page)

"I plan to awaken more than that, if you'll let me. Now, let's have that bath before the water gets cold. There's nothing worse than a cold bath."

He stepped out of his pants and underwear and for the first time she became aware of the fact that he didn't wear boots. She smiled at his bare feet as he slipped the robe from her shoulders.

Unexpectedly, he lifted her into his arms and deposited her gently into the tub before climbing in behind her. The feel of his cock against her backside made her ready for him to make love to her again. “Do you think...” she managed to say before he lifted her hair and kissed the back of her neck, rendering her speechless.

"We can't make love now, there wouldn't be time, but later, I promise you, later we'll learn more secrets about each other than we ever knew existed."

He reached in front of her for a cake of soap on the front edge of the tub and worked it into a rich lather. He rubbed it over her breasts, paying particular attention to her sensitive nipples. He worked his hands down across her belly and then lathered up the hair at the juncture of her thighs. She rested against his chest as he slipped his finger into her pussy and messaged her clit.

"You are such a tease, Black Conley. You just said that we couldn't make love because there wasn't enough time, and now you bring me to the brink and leave me wanting."

"It's only a prelude of what's to come later tonight."

"Not when there's people from the stage in the house,” she warned.

"Why not? They'll be so busy, they won't know what we're doing. I promise I'll be back in my own bed by the time the sun comes up in the morning."

Black stepped out of the tub and held out his hand to Belle. The way the lamplight shimmered off her wet skin sent shockwaves into his cock. She wasn't the only one who didn't want to wait until the house was quiet and the lights were out. Luckily, patience was one of his strong points.

He picked up the towel that Kate had left on the bed and dried the droplets of water from her shoulders and back as well as from the front of her body. When he finished, she took the towel and dried him in the same manner.

"I'll leave you to get dressed.” He started toward the door. “I wasn't thinking past the pleasure of bathing with you, or I would have brought in a change of clothes for tonight."

He took one last look at her magnificent body before he left the room. It had been love at first sight, and that was something he never took stock in. Ed had been a fool to send him here. Roy and Annie had once wanted Ed and Belle to become man and wife. Of course, they had probably given up on that idea when Ed didn't hotfoot it back to the Double Bar B after Belle arrived ten years ago. He couldn't help but wonder about the child she'd given away. Was it true that the only one here who knew about it other than himself was Kate? Surely she had told her father and Annie. They were too close to think otherwise.

After shaving off the beard that had grown in the past day and a half, he dressed in the suit he'd worn last night. Wearing it made him feel like a real gentleman, one worthy of the company of Miss Belle Barton.

The atmosphere in Belle's dining room was more like a fancy dinner party, like the ones his grandmother delighted in planning, than supper at any stage stop he'd ever visited.

The men from the stage were all dusty from their trip but were thrilled to be enjoying the company of the ladies at the table. With the driver there were four men, so each of the girls would have a companion for the evening.

Belle sat at the head of the table, as though holding court. On either side of her were the girls, each with a man by her side. Only the chair at the foot end of the table was empty.

"Mr. Conley,” Belle said as he entered the room. “I was beginning to wonder if I should send Roy to see if you would be joining us this evening."

"There was no need, Miss Barton,” he replied, deciding he could play at her game of pretense. “As you can see, I am more than ready for dinner."

Belle made a big production out of introducing Black to the driver of the stage, as well as the man from San Francisco who was traveling east on business, the salesman who was returning to St. Louis and the card shark who had decided he wanted to get back to the Mississippi and the boats that traveled up and down the great river.

"I heard tell of a gunslinger out of Texas by the name of Conley. You wouldn't be him, would you?” the gambler asked.

"Yes, I would, but that life is behind me. Now I'm just another ranch hand, and Miss Barton has been good enough to take me on for the winter."

"I've heard of you as well, Mr. Conley,” the stage drive commented. “Are you as good with those guns as they say?"

"I am, but it's nothing to brag about. When I was a kid, I thought I was special because my guns were faster than most. As I grew up, I realized that I didn't like the thought of losing my life every time some man decided that he could out-draw me. It was only a matter of time before one of them did and I didn't relish being dead. I decided to come to Montana and try my hand at ranching to give the legend time to die down."

"That's a wise move, Mr. Conley,” the man from San Francisco observed. “I would hate to live with such a sword hanging over my head."

"I think we can think of better table talk than this. These lovely ladies don't need to hear such sordid details,” Black returned.

"I agree with Mr. Conley,” the salesman said. “I am certainly looking forward to my evening with Miss Janna. The last time I was here, I had the pleasure of Miss Kate's company. I'm afraid I have bragged about it so often that my friend from San Francisco is eager to find out if I am exaggerating."

The comment brought laughter back to the table. Black was pleased that the conversation no longer revolved around him. It was in everyone's best interests if his life remained private. Let these men think that he had given up using his gun for his livelihood.

Belle helped Annie and Roy in the kitchen while the girls entertained the men in the parlor. After supper, Black had gone outside and she wondered what he could be doing out there for so long.

Annie and Roy bid her goodnight just as Belle heard the first of the girls take her gentleman upstairs to enjoy the evening in the bedrooms that had been added on for the comfort of the passengers on the stagecoach. From the sound of the footsteps on the stairs, she knew Kate was the first to retire for the night.

Soon each of the other girls went up to bed, leaving Belle alone in the kitchen to make certain the house was secure for the night. She'd just turned down the lights in the parlor when she heard Black enter through the kitchen door.

"I wondered where you were,” she said, when she came in from the parlor to greet him.

"I was checking on the horses and rode out to the canyon where the cattle are bedded down. It all looked peaceful enough to me. Doubt anyone will try taking any cattle for a while. I'm sure Clayte will lay low until the hoopla about those rustlers we killed last night dies down. Once it does, he can blame it on the one who got away."

"At least we can get some rest tonight.” She turned toward the stairs.

"Rest? Is that what you really have on your mind? I know it's not my thoughts on what tonight could bring."

He slipped his arm around her waist and guided her toward the stairs. Rest wasn't tops on her list either, but she didn't want to appear too anxious.

Once they entered her room and lit the lamp, Belle was surprised to see Black's belongings intermingled with her own. “Did you do this?” she asked.

"Not me. I would never be so presumptuous. I thought you did it."

Belle began to laugh. “Hardly, I'm certain it was our friendly matchmaker, Annie, with her more than willing accomplice, Roy. They want to see me settled. I guess they think that settled for even a short period of time is better than not settled at all."

"Well, if that's the case, then I won't argue. Tonight will be all about your pleasure. This afternoon was only a prelude. Since you're almost an innocent, I think it's time that someone made you into an experienced woman."

Belle tried to protest, but he silenced her with a kiss that drove her to the heights of desire. His tongue snaked into the cavern of her mouth and sparred with her tongue until she thought she would die from the pleasure of it. When they parted he carefully undressed her, one piece of clothing at a time. She'd never been undressed in this manner before, and the feel of it was completely erotic.

When she was finally naked, he stood back and looked at her as though for the first time. The heat of his gaze made her blush with the wanting of him.

"Lay down on the bed,” he commanded once he pulled down the covers for her. “I'll be with you in a minute."

As he undressed, she wondered if he had become as aroused by undressing her as she was by watching him disrobe. Once he stood naked before her, she had her answer. He stood there for a moment as though savoring the vision of her body before he joined her on the bed, spreading her legs wide so he could lie between them.

She reached out to him, but he stopped her by taking her slender wrists in one of his large hands and pulling them high above her head. “Not tonight,” he whispered. “What I have planned isn't about me. It isn't anything I would ever do with a paid companion. This is about your pleasure, and I promise you, it
will
bring you pleasure. It's something I remember hearing the girls who worked for my mother talk about, but it was nothing I ever wanted to do. I always figured the whores I bedded weren't clean enough. You, my dear, are perfect in every way and deserved to be worshiped and loved in a special way."

The thought of him thinking her worthy of such attention made Belle blush. In her lifetime, no man had ever thought her special. Ronald had used her and she knew it, but at the time, she thought she was in love. Now she knew better. She had often wondered how many other girls he had ruined in the name of love.

All thoughts of the past left her mind as Black began to kiss her neck and work his way down to her breasts as he had done earlier in the day. All the while he paid homage to her nipples, his fingers caressed her clit, driving her to the heights of desire.

After what seemed like hours of delightful torture he began kissing down her ribcage until he came to her maiden's mound. Once there, he shifted position and began to lick her pussy as though he couldn't get enough of the taste of her.

To her surprise, his tongue caressed her clit and he pulled it into his mouth as though it were her nipple. With the sucking of her clit came teasing bites until she could no longer hold back. Her body betrayed her as an orgasm shook her entire being.

As though he was thirsty for life-giving water, he licked the essence of her from within her pussy. “You taste delightful,” he said, getting up from the bed.

She couldn't help but notice that his cock was completely erect, attesting to the fact that he hadn't been completely satisfied. “Why are you leaving me?” she questioned.

"I'm not leaving you, only rinsing my mouth out. As much as I enjoyed the taste of you, I doubt you would want to taste yourself when I kiss you, and I do plan to kiss you, over and over again."

He first rinsed his mouth and then pulled a small tin from the pocket of his pants. To her surprise, he took out a mint leaf and began to chew it.

"I keep a box of mint leaves on my dresser,” she said when he returned to bed. “I certainly didn't expect a gunslinger to enjoy the same thing."

"You forget that I grew up in a household of women. Each of them kept mint in their rooms and insisted I do the same. It's a habit I never outgrew. I like the way it makes my mouth feel after I cleanse my teeth. I often chew a piece of mint during the day as well. I find the taste of it very refreshing. For now, I really don't want to talk about mint."

He leaned over and kissed her tenderly. With their lips locked and their tongues doing battle, he began touching areas that she wouldn't have thought to be erotic zones. To her delight, they produced the same sensation in her pussy that his caresses to her clit had given her. He was an expert, of that she was certain.

It took only moments for her to be ready to have him enter her and begin the true act of lovemaking. As he plunged his cock in and out of her, she tried to draw him in as far as possible.

When at last they came together for the second time in one day, they both lay spent. Snuggling into his embrace, she fell asleep. For the first time in her life another person shared her bed and provided her with the protection of his arms for an entire night.

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Black awoke and for the first time in his life realized that a woman occupied his bed. His companions had always left after he'd satisfied himself, usually in search of another customer rather than listen to him snoring contentedly. It was the manner of the business, but what he had shared with Belle last night was far from business. It was pure pleasure, on both their parts.

Many times he had heard the girls at his mother's ranch talking about the men sucking their clit until they came and then licking their essence from them. They made it sound delightful, but he had never found anyone to whom he wanted to give such pleasure. Just looking at the painted whores who usually didn't bathe between customers made the thought of doing something like that repulsive.

Belle was different. She wasn't a whore, and she wasn't an experienced lover. He liked that. There were so many things he wanted to show her, so many positions he wanted to try, that he knew their nights would never get dull. The winter would be long, but it would certainly be interesting. When he left on his next assignment, it would be with enough memories to last him a lifetime.

Beside him, Belle stirred and from downstairs, he heard the mantle clock strike five times. As much as he wanted to take her again, it was time to start the day.

After disentangling himself from her arms, he got up, lit the lamp and poured water into the basin in order to wash up and shave. In the mirror about the washstand, he saw her stretch as though she was a cat welcoming the new day.