Cowboy 12 Pack Read online

  “But they weren’t?”

  Jake shook his head. “While I was out at the mine getting the run around, the man and some of his friends went back into town to finish what he started. They raped the girl and the woman who’d been caring for her, then killed both of them.”

  Sadie gasped. “Dear God.”

  “The bastards rode out of town and back to the mine as if they hadn’t done anything wrong. They thought since everyone in Caldwell’s Bluff depended on them and their damn mine to keep the town up and running they could get away with rape and murder. If it had been up to my deputies, they would have.”

  “What did you do?”

  Jake’s mouth tightened. “The only thing I could do. I went back to the mine alone. I walked in and demanded they turn over the men responsible for raping and killing the two women. They told me to go back to town and keep the peace like I’d been paid to do.”

  “But you didn’t?”

  “No. I asked them again nicely, and when they decided to get ornery, I shot the mine foreman in the foot. Then I told him I’d shoot him in the knee next if they didn’t turn over the murdering bastards.”

  “Did they?”

  Jake nodded. “But the fugitives didn’t come quietly. They were hell bent on killing me, and they brought a few of their friends with them to make sure they succeeded. They figured it was a man’s right to smack around a saloon girl whenever they felt like it, and they didn’t have any use for a tin-badge sheriff getting in the way of their good time.”

  “You killed them?” she asked, though the answer was obvious.

  “All nine of them. The foreman died of gangrene a week later. Seems he couldn’t find anyone to treat the gunshot wound. Turned out the woman who’d been caring for the saloon girl—the one the miners killed—was the only person in town with any doctoring skills.”

  “And no one ever asked you what happened?”

  Jake shrugged. “The traveling circuit judge rolled through about two weeks after that. He heard there’d been trouble and came to check it out. I told him my side of the story, he took a few statements, looked at the headstones in the town cemetery, then wrote everything up as fair and legal.”

  “Which it obviously was.” Now that she knew the story, she felt the need to defend him. “If you hadn’t killed them, they would have killed you. Besides, it wasn’t like they didn’t deserve it after what they’d done to those poor women.”

  His mouth lifted in a wry smile. “I’m not so sure the judge would agree with you. He seemed to think I overstepped my bounds a bit. He was too scared of me to say anything to my face, though. Can’t blame him, really. By the time he got there, the townsfolk painted me as the wild west version of Blackbeard the Pirate.”

  She shook her head. “So, that’s how you got the reputation as a cold-blooded killer.”

  “Pretty much. It’s rightly deserved, I suppose, seeing as I went to that mine intending to put those boys in the ground. And trust me, they were colder than a jack rabbit’s butt in winter by the time I was done.”

  Sadie chewed on her lower lip. “Have you killed other men besides the ones in Caldwell’s Bluff?”

  “A few,” Jake admitted. “But I never started a fight, and I never killed a man who didn’t intend to kill me first.”

  She frowned. “Then why do you let people think you’re this vicious killer?”

  “Because it’s true.”

  “No, it isn’t. You’ve killed people, Jake, but that doesn’t make you vicious.”

  He sighed. “Sadie, in my line of work, it helps to have a reputation like that. People are less likely to try you if they think you’re going to kill them where they stand.”

  She supposed that made sense in a bizarre, man kind of way.

  He grinned. “Besides, Ned would never have suggested you hire me if I didn’t have that kind of reputation, would he?”

  “Probably not. And I probably wouldn’t have agreed if I didn’t think you had what it took to put the fear of God in Boone.” She pulled her knees up under the blanket and looked at him from beneath her lashes. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do when Harlan Boone is no longer a threat to me or my ranch?”

  “What do you mean?”

  She took a deep breath. She’d wanted to ask him this question all day, so why was she hesitating? “I’m just wondering how long you plan on staying around.”

  His eyes went a little wide, as if she’d caught him by surprise. “I suppose that depends on how long you want me around.”

  It was her turn to be surprised. “It does?”

  His mouth twitched. “You’re the boss.”

  The boss, was she? “It doesn’t seem that way when you’re spanking me.”

  Jake chuckled. “I enjoy working on a ranch—more than I like being a town sheriff, if you want to know. And I enjoy being with you. If you want me to stay on as foreman, I wouldn’t mind.”

  Her tummy fluttered. Darn butterflies. How was she supposed to get any of this out if she felt like she might be sick at any minute? This was turning out to be harder than asking him if he was a killer. She turned to look out at the river. The setting sun painted the water a mix of orange, red and purple. “What if I wanted you to be more than just my foreman?”

  Jake cupped her chin in his fingers, turning her face back around. “Sadie, I’m not real good at playing word games. What are you asking me?”

  “Would you stay because you wanted to be with me?”

  There. She’d spit it out. Now, all she could do was hold her breath. If he said no, the rest of this cattle drive was going to be hell.

  Jake hesitated, as if trying to come up with the right words. “You’re a remarkable woman, Sadie. A man would have to be out of his mind not to want to be with you.”

  But? Beneath the blanket, she pressed her hand to her churning stomach. She really didn’t want to hear what he had to say next. This was shaping up to be uglier and more painful than she’d thought. Jake probably had women in every town he’d been in. Why would he want to settle down with her?

  “But you know we can only keep our relationship a secret for so long,” Jake continued. “Sooner or later, it will come out that you’re sleeping with your ranch foreman. We both know how bad that would be for your reputation.”

  She stared at him. That was the only thing stopping him from staying with her? She wanted to kiss him. Actually, she wanted to do a lot more than that, and probably would have if she wasn’t bursting with curiosity.

  “What if we did things more proper?”

  He lifted a brow. “Proper, how?”

  “Well, I thought maybe you could be my suitor.”

  Sadie didn’t know how Jake would take that, but she didn’t expect him to laugh. In fact, he was laughing so hard he almost fell off the rock they were sitting on. She didn’t see anything remotely amusing about this.

  “What’s so funny?” she demanded.

  His laughter subsided, but only a little bit. “For a minute there, I thought you were going to propose to me.”

  “Propose?” Her face flamed. “Of course not. I was only suggesting…”

  “I agree.”

  “Agree to what?” she asked, confused by the entire direction the conversation was taking as much as she was by the meaning of his consent.

  “That after this cattle drive, I should officially court you. All public and proper like.”

  Her heart beat so hard she thought it might jump out of her chest. “You will?”

  He nodded. “That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

  “Well, yes. Actually, it is.” She bit her lip. “But getting back to proposing—is the idea of marriage so abhorrent to you?

  His mouth quirked. “No. It’s just that a man likes to be the one doing the proposing.”

  “Oh.”

  Well, at least he wasn’t completely against marriage. She groaned inwardly. Nothing like putting the cart before the horse.

  He gently wrapped
the end of her long hair around his finger. “I warn you, though. I don’t have a lot of experience courting a lady.”

  She smiled. “I don’t think you need to worry about that. You’ve done a very good job of it so far. Just remember—you can never go wrong with chocolates, flowers and chivalry. I also respond very well to spankings.”

  Jake chuckled. “I think I can handle that, especially the spankings.”

  She suspected he could, too, and told him as much, but the words were muffled as he pulled her close for a kiss.

  “Speaking of spankings,” she said when he finally let her up for air. “Do you know that it’s been days since you warmed my bottom?”

  His brow rose. “You really want a spanking after bouncing up and down on a horse all day?”

  She kissed one corner of his mouth, then the other. “That’s why I need one. It’ll help relax my bottom after a long, hard day in the saddle.”

  “It would, would it?” He trailed his hand over her hip to cup her derriere under the blanket. “Sound travels far out here, especially in this canyon. If I spank you with my hand, the men will almost certainly hear it and come running to see what’s wrong.”

  “Oh.” She hadn’t thought of that. “So, no spanking?”

  He grinned. “I didn’t say that.”

  Sadie watched in confusion as he walked over to where the horses were grazing and rummaged in his saddle bag. If she wasn’t so distracted by his naked body, she would have craned her neck so she could see what he was doing. His backside was much too tempting for that. And since it took a while for him to find what he was looking for, she had a lot of time to admire the view.

  When Jake turned around, she saw why it had taken him so long. He’d taken the strips of leather he used to tie down his bedroll and weaved them into strips to make a very passable cat-o-nine-tails.

  She sat up straighter, her pulse quickening.

  Jake grinned at the expression on her face. “If you simply can’t wait for a spanking, I suppose this will do the job.”

  Her pussy was already damp with anticipation.

  Jake sat down on the rock, then took her hand and pulled her over his lap. Sadie automatically tensed as she waited for her flogging, but he only caressed her upturned bottom with his hand. She sighed and pushed her derriere high in the air.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  Thwack!

  Sadie bit her lip to keep from squealing. She wasn’t sure how effective the makeshift whip would be, but the leather strips stung more than she ever would have thought. It was completely different than his hand, but not quite like the strap he’d used in the hay shelter, either. And he’d been right. They made almost no sound at all when it struck her ass cheeks.

  The same couldn’t be said about her. It got harder and harder to stifle her yelps as Jake continued to slap her bottom. After one particularly loud squeal, he finally reached around and put his free hand over her mouth. The move made her pussy spasm, and she ground against his bare thigh with a muffled groan, hoping for some relief.

  Jake must have known what she wanted even if she couldn’t speak. After a few more hard lashes, he picked her up in his arms and set her down on the blanket. The wool brushed against her tender skin and she sucked in a breath. But then Jake was burying his face in her soft sex and she couldn’t focus on anything except the feel of tongue on her pussy.

  She grabbed his hair and arched against him. He drove her to the brink over and over with delicious, little licks, but every time she started to topple, he pulled her back, refusing to let her fall over the edge. Instead, he concentrated on running his tongue up and down her folds until the sensations subsided. It was enough to make her want to scream.

  Then Jake slipped one, long finger in her wetness and wiggled it around, and she almost did cry out. She wasn’t sure how she controlled herself, especially since he’d gone back to licking her clitoris. The combination propelled her off the precipice she’d been so precariously teetering on, and she clapped her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.

  After her orgasm faded, she lay there staring up at the sky, her breath coming as fast as if she’d run a race. She was barely aware of Jake getting up until he positioned himself between her legs.

  She sat up. There was something she’d been dreaming of doing, and now seemed like the perfect time. “Can I pleasure you with my mouth instead?”

  As much as she loved having him inside her, the idea of taking his hard cock in her mouth made her quiver. Tearing her gaze away from his erection, she looked up to find Jake staring at her as if she’d suddenly sprouted two heads.

  Hot color stained her cheeks. Good heavens, maybe that was something women weren’t supposed to do. Or maybe it didn’t feel as good for a man as it did for a woman. Leave it up to her to make some terrible faux pas.

  “I’m sorry.” She looked away. “I shouldn’t have… I thought…”

  Jake caught her chin, tipping her head back. “I would love for you to take me in your mouth.”

  Her pulse skipped a beat. Maybe even two. “You would?”

  He groaned. “Most definitely.”

  Sadie gazed at his erection. There was a droplet of liquid on the head just begging for her tongue. Only she didn’t know the first thing about what she was doing. What if she did it wrong?

  She lifted her gaze to Jake’s again. “Um, I’ve never…”

  “I’ll teach you.” He took her hand and helped her off the rock. “Kneel down in front of me.”

  Sadie did as he told her, then sat back on her heels and looked up at him. He towered over her like some magnificent statue chiseled by the finest sculptor. Surely no man had the right to be so perfect.

  “Wrap your hand around my cock,” he said softly.

  Heart racing, she shyly obeyed. Good heavens, he was so big that her hand didn’t even fit around him.

  Jake’s eyes gleamed in the light of the setting sun as he gazed down at her. “Now, take me in your mouth.”

  Sadie leaned forward and gently wrapped her lips around the head. He was warm and velvety soft in her mouth, and she swirled her tongue over the glistening bead still clinging to the tip. It was sweet and a little bit musky, and she moaned in appreciation.

  “God, that feels good.” The words were raspy. “Move your tongue up one side and down the other, like you’re licking a piece of rock candy.”

  Sadie’s lips curved. He was certainly as hard as rock candy. But sweeter. She followed his instructions, running her tongue along the length of his penis, then back again. Jake groaned. Hoping that meant she was doing it right, she repeated the motion again and again until he slid his hand in her hair and stopped her.

  She looked up at him. “Was I doing it wrong?”

  He chuckled, the sound somewhere between a laugh and a groan. “You’re doing it perfectly. But if you do too much too fast, I’m going to explode.”

  Pride surged through her.

  “Take me into your mouth again, deeper this time,” he said softly.

  Sadie eyed his shaft, not quite sure he’d fit. She wanted to give Jake as much pleasure as he’d given her, though, so she was sure as shootin’ going to try. Taking a full breath, she leaned over and took him into her mouth, letting his cock slide in halfway. To her surprise, he fit quite well. Eager to see if she could take even more of him, she slowly bobbed her head up and down, taking him deeper and deeper each time until she had taken in more than half of him.

  Jake groaned, his fingers tightening in her hair. He didn’t pull her away, though. He must want her to keep doing what she was doing. But could he go any deeper? She wasn’t sure how. If he went any further, he’d slide down her throat.

  Taking another breath, she dipped her head, letting his cock slide in as far as it would go. And then it happened. With just a little nudge, the head of his penis actually slid partially down her throat. The sensation of his thick shaft going that far was unbelievably pleasurable.

/>   Jake’s hoarse sound of approval told her he thought it was pretty pleasurable, too. “God, you’re good at this.”

  A rush of pleasure coursed through her. She’d never thought about being good at sex as a necessary skill, but she was glad he thought so.

  Sadie wasn’t sure if she should touch him anywhere else while she licked his penis, but she couldn’t resist cupping his balls in her other hand. Compared to his cock, they seemed almost delicate, and she was gentle as she massaged them.

  Remembering what he’d said about doing too much too fast, Sadie alternated between swirling her tongue over the tip of his shaft and taking him deep. He tightened his hand in her hair, urging her head up and down.

  “Make me come,” he demanded hoarsely.

  Sadie wasn’t quite sure how to do that exactly, so she bobbed her head up and down, swallowing as much of him as she could, then gliding her mouth back up his shaft. She repeated the motion over and over, going faster and faster each time.

  “That’s it,” he rasped. “Make me come, Sadie.”

  She did, slowly drawing his orgasm out of him until he groaned and shot hot cum into her mouth. It was warm and sweet, with just a hint of musk, and she swallowed every bit. Knowing she had the power to give him so much pleasure was the most amazing feeling in the world.

  Jake loosened his grip on her hair, then gently tilted her head back. His eyes were half closed, his lips curved in a smile. Sadie ran her tongue over her lips as she gazed up at him. Pulling her to her feet, he covered her mouth with his in a hard kiss.

  “You’re a very fast learner, Sadie Buchanan.”

  “Only because you’re such a good teacher.”

  “No.” He brushed her hair back. “You’re a natural.”

  She laughed, a little embarrassed, but thrilled by his words, too.

  He bent his head to kiss her again. “We should get back to camp.”

  Sadie dressed reluctantly. She knew they had to get back, but it didn’t keep her from wishing they could spend the night together right there in the privacy of the canyon.