Lone Star 03 (10 page)

Equally innocently, Jessie replied, “Of course I will.”

“I'd better start now, then,” Ki said. “If I push my horse a little bit, I should get there before dark.”

Jessie and Farnam wheeled their horses to watch Ki as he rode toward the narrow mouth leading to the arroyo. When the first bend in the winding gully hid him from view, Farnam turned to Jessie and said, “I suppose we'd better pick a place where we'll be sheltered as much as possible tonight. There are two or three splits in the canyon wall. Shall we ride along the base, and choose the one that looks best?”

“I suppose we'd better do any looking we need to before it gets dark,” she answered. “And if we look closely around those two old campfires, we might find some wood the rustlers didn't burn. A fire would be nice, later on.”

They walked the horses along the canyon wall, inspecting the wide fissures that Farnam had mentioned. Only one of them was wide enough to be suitable for their purpose. It was eight or ten feet wide at the canyon floor, and tapered to a hand-wide crevice at the rim. The black and gray ashes of a fire showed that the last group passing through the canyon had used it too.

They went inside, and found that the cleft only looked shallow. It tapered down to a vee a dozen feet from its opening, but at the back it opened into a low cavern with room enough to accommodate several men. At one side of the cave, a few sticks of firewood lay in a jackstraw-like heap.

“Looks like this is just what we need,” Farnam said. “We can bring the horses in and put them in the cave, though I doubt that we need to worry about them straying.”

“It's perfect,” Jessie agreed. “We might as well move in, as long as we're here.”

“Why don't you just sit down and rest?” Farnam suggested as they walked back to the horses. “You're tired, Jessie. I'll unsaddle your horse and bring in our gear.”

“I'm not too tired to take care of my own horse, Joe. And we certainly aren't going to have a lot of preparation to do, making camp.”

As she spoke, Jessie was untying the saddlestrings that held her rifle scabbard. By the time she'd carried the rifle into the cleft and returned, Farnam had the saddle off her horse and was taking it to the cave. She lifted the saddlebags off his shoulder and they walked side by side through the cleft to drop their burdens.

“You don't have to baby me, Joe,” she told him as they put their loads down. “Go ahead and tend to your horse now. I'll carry those sticks of firewood out, and spread our blankets.”

“I ... I thought I might ride around the canyon again and up the passageway,” Farnam said hesitantly. “You ... well, you might like a little time to yourself, before supper.”

“Fine. Leave your saddlebags, and while you're riding I'll get things in order here.” She looked at the Rio Grande, its surface dark now with the sun completely off the water, and went on guilelessly, “In fact, you can take your time investigating the arroyo. The water looks so cool and inviting that I think I'll take a bath.”

Chapter 7

Jessie watched Joe Farnam's broad shoulders swaying in rhythm to the pacing of his horse as he rode slowly toward the narrow end of the canyon. Never one to deceive herself, Jessie had known for the past week that it was time for another man to attract her and to be attracted to her in turn. Mere physical relief was not and had never been enough for Jessie. She needed the surge of intense feeling between herself and a man to whom she in turn felt drawn. Consequently, while she'd been fully aware of Farnam's openly admiring glances, she'd stopped short of returning them until she was certain about her feeling for him.

To push herself at a man was not Jessie's way. The wise geisha who'd been her father's mistress had instructed the young Jessie in more than the mere mechanics of sex. She'd shaped the adolescent Jessie's attitudes toward the man-woman relationship, and had taught her to look on it as one of sharing. From those lessons, Jessie had learned that when the time and place were right, with mutual desire guiding both man and woman, there'd be no need either to offer or to ask.

When they'd dined together at Fort Chaplin, Jessie had seen the first signs that Joe Farnam was attracted to her, but for the moment had pushed aside her own stirrings. On such short acquaintance, it had been impossible for her to tell whether he was attracted to her specifically, or was simply responding reflexively to the needs of a man isolated from women for a long period of time. Today, his ready agreement to follow her suggestions, the manner in which she'd noticed Farnam gazing at her when he wasn't aware she was noticing, had helped her to make up her mind.

Stepping into the shelter of the cleft, Jessie spread the blankets from both bedrolls on the level sandy soil that formed its floor, and folded her poncho into a square, which she placed between the blankets. On the poncho she placed the food she took from Farnam's saddlebags: cloth-wrapped packages of sliced roast beef, a big chunk of cheese, and bread that the mess sergeant at the fort had provided for their meals. After completing these preparations for supper, she walked down to the river.

When Farnam returned, Jessie was in the water. She'd waded out and explored the shallows until she found a spot where there was a very light current and where, when she sat down, the water came up just below her shoulders. She was splashing the warm water over her bare shoulders when Joe Famam rode back. He saw her from a distance, walked his horse down to the river's edge, and reined in.

“It looks to me like you've found the most comfortable spot in this valley,” he said. “I envy you.”

“Don't just envy me,” Jessie told him. “The river's big enough for both of us. Come join me.”

“I...” Farnam stopped short. With a note of hesitation in his voice, he said, “If you're sure you don't mind...”

“Of course I'm sure. I wouldn't have asked you, otherwise.”

“Then I'll take your invitation.”

Farnam swung out of the saddle and dropped the reins over the head of his mount; like all cavalry horses, it was trained to stand. Moving to place the horse between him and Jessie, he levered his feet out of his boots, and stripped off his light serge pants and gray flannel shirt. Folding the garments across the saddle, he hung his black campaign hat on the saddlehorn and started for the water, still wearing his balbriggans.

Jessie did not suggest that he take off his underwear, nor did she invite him to come and sit beside her. She watched Farnam cross the narrow strip of baked earth that lay be tweeen him and the river's edge. He noticed her looking at him and turned aside as he waded into the shallow water, but not before Jessie had seen the bulge that had grown at his crotch. Farnam waded through the shallows, and when the water was knee-deep, he sat down a dozen feet from Jessie and turned to face her.

“I'm glad I took your invitation,” he said across the ripples that separated them. “The water's fine, not at all cold. It certainly feels good after a day in the saddle.”

“It looked so inviting that I couldn't resist it.” Without appearing to do so, Jessie was watching Farnam, waiting for his initial embarassment to pass. She asked an innocuous question. “Did you find anything important when you looked around?”

“Nothing important, unless you count the signs I saw that this place must be used regularly.”

“Do you think Ki and I read the signs right? That they were left by rustlers taking stolen herds into Mexico?”

“That's the only thing I can think of,” he nodded.

“Didn't it occur to you that if rustlers can use this ford to move stolen cattle back and forth across the border, an army could use it to invade the United States?” she asked.

“Of course it did! That's one reason I don't understand why it isn't marked on our maps.”

“I suppose that's something you'll have to wait to find out about until you get back to Fort Chaplin,” she said thoughtfully.

Farnam nodded. His head was turned away as he studied the bank on the Mexican side of the river. Jessie decided the time for casual talk had ended. Without splashing the water, she stood up quietly, facing Farnam. He turned his gaze back from the far bank and saw her standing naked before him.

Jessie's arms were raised, her hands buried in her wind-tousled golden hair. The position drew her full breasts up to stand generously bold, and the faint breeze blowing ca ressingly across the stream pebbled their pink rosettes. Below her taut abdomen, her wet pubic curls glistened like dark honey as the water streamed over her hips and flowed down her perfect thighs.

Jessie looked directly at Farnam. He needed no other invitation. Rising from the water, he splashed across the short distance that separated them and took her in his arms.

Their lips met and Jessie opened her mouth to his tongue. She felt his erection pressing against her and slid a hand down, and for a moment while their tongues darted around, intertwining questingly, she stroked and squeezed him. Then she freed his pulsing shaft from the clinging wet balbriggans and guided it between her soft thighs.

Farnam's hands went to Jessie's full buttocks. He tried to lift her, to enter her, but she tightened her muscles and shook her head. Breaking their kiss, she whispered, “Not yet, Joe. The whole night's ahead of us. We don't have to be in a hurry.”

“But I am in a hurry!” His voice in her ear was urgent. “I want you right now!”

“We'll enjoy one another more if we wait.” With her warm, moist tongue, Jessie caressed Farnam's throat, lingering in the soft hollow between his chest and shoulder, where she felt the urgent pulsing of his blood just beneath his smooth skin. “Carry me to shore now, Joe. Let's go back to where I've spread our blankets. We'll be more comfortable there.”

“I suppose you're right,” Famam agreed, his voice showing his reluctance to wait. Nevertheless, he began wading to the bank. “I just hate to let go of you, now that I've finally got you in my arms.”

“I'll come back into them very willingly,” Jessie promised, her voice soft.

Side by side, carrying their boots and with Farnam leading his horse, they walked the short distance across the sunbaked caliche to the break in the canyon's wall. Farnam put his horse in the cave with Jessie‘s, and came back out. They looked at one another across the blankets, the food for their supper laid out on the poncho between them.

Farnam indicated the packages of meat and cheese and bread and asked Jessie, “Are you hungry?”

“No. Not especially. Are you?”

“Only for you,” he told her.

Letting his boots drop, Farnam reached for Jessie. She tossed her own boots aside and spread her arms, inviting him. Jessie pressed close to him, pushing her hips against him to bring back the erection Farnam had lost on coming out of the water. When the wet fabric of the undersuit pressed to her skin, Jessie shivered and began to release the long line of buttons that held the underwear closed from Farnam's throat to his crotch.

When Farnam felt her fingers working, he dropped his arms to let her strip the clammy garment off. Then he clasped her to him again, and his mouth covered hers while Jessie pulled the balbriggans down until their own wet weight dragged them to the ground. She cradled Farnam's sex in her warm hands, and then began stroking it gently to help it grow again.

They stood beside the blanket, holding their fervid embrace. Farnam became hard quickly under Jessie's caressing fingers, and as she felt him swelling and growing stiff, she also felt the gentle brushing of Farnam's fingertips through her damp pubic hair. He slid his hand between her thighs. She parted them enough to let his fingers rub gently along the soft lips that nestled between them. Then a fingertip slid into the warm nest that was quickly growing ready to accept him.

“Come into me now, Joe,” Jessie invited when she felt the moisture beginning to form as Farnam's probing fingers moved within her. Her lips were on Farnam's ear as she spoke, and the warm breath that came from them was in itself a soft caress.

“Yes. Of course,” Farnam whispered hoarsely.

Jessie sank back on the outspread blanket, pulling Farnam with her. They lay on their sides, their lips glued together, their darting tongues entwined. Jessie had not released her grasp on Farnam's erection. She bent her knee to open herself to him, and guided him as he raised his hips. She slid her lower leg under him and pulled her hips closer to him as the firm cylinder of flesh slid slowly in.

Famam moved to bring his body above hers, but Jessie turned on her side and whispered, “In this position for now, Joe. Do you mind?”

Intent on entering her fully, Farnam did not reply, but shook his head. Jessie pressed her thighs hard against Farnam's hips, holding him in her shallowly, feeling his shaft throbbing to go deeper. She held him motionless for a moment, savoring the sensation. When she sensed Farnam's urgency mounting and felt him stir restlessly, she released the pressure of her thighs, spreading them wide and bringing her hips up to meet his as Farnam drove into her full-length.