Slocum's Close Call Read online

  “Yes,” he said, taking the cup. “Thanks.”

  He slurped the hot coffee, then sighed. “Ah,” he said, “that’s good.”

  Myrtle handed a cup to Joiner, then took one for herself. “You want our company,” she asked, “or would you rather we get out of here and leave you alone?”

  “I’m wide awake,” Slocum said. “I’d just as soon have company, if you don’t mind. That is, unless you have something else to do.”

  “There’s always something else to do around a place like this,” Myrtle said, “but it can wait.”

  “I, uh, I think I’d better go tend to our horses,” said Joiner. He took a final sip of coffee, put the cup down, and left the room. Slocum looked up into Myrtle’s deep blue eyes. She sipped coffee.

  “I owe you a lot, lady,” he said.

  “Forget it,” she replied.

  “I won’t. You can be sure of that.”

  “Why are you looking at me like that? What are you thinking?”

  “I ain’t at all sure that I ought to tell you what I’m thinking.”

  She leaned in closer to him. “Tell me,” she said.

  “All right. I was thinking that if my arm and shoulder would stand it, I’d be hard-pressed to keep myself from throwing an arm around you and pulling you down close to me, and—”

  She leaned even closer and stopped his mouth with a kiss, a warm, luscious, long kiss, and then parted her lips and slid her tongue in between his lips. He opened his mouth to allow her in, and her tongue probed and explored the inside of his mouth. At last she pulled away.

  “Lady,” said Slocum, “I hope you ain’t starting something that I can’t finish.”

  “You just lie still and relax,” she said. “I’ll finish it.”

  3

  She pressed her lips against his again, and again she probed his mouth with her tongue. Slocum felt a rising between his legs, and for the first time since he had regained consciousness, he realized that he was stark naked under the sheet. He wished that he had all his normal strength, but then, Myrtle had volunteered for this, so he would let her perform. She pulled away from his lips and lowered her head to his chest, where her tongue flicked his nipples. At the same time, her left hand roamed over his chest, then lower onto his stomach, and at last went between his legs to stroke his heavy balls. Slocum moaned quietly.

  Myrtle shoved the sheet down out of her way, and her lips and tongue crawled their way down his belly, lower and lower, until she uncovered his now-hard and throbbing rod. She gripped the shaft tight and felt it pulse in her palm. Then with one hand she continued to stroke his balls, while with the other she slowly pumped the stout cock. Slocum meant to lie still and enjoy it, but in spite of himself, he started to thrust with his hips, slowly thrusting his cock into her hand.

  Her face moved closer to the scene of the action. She leaned over his body, and shot her tongue out to give a quick lick to the head of his prick. Slocum’s entire body gave a twitch at the suddenness of the thrill. She licked again, and again, as if she were slurping at a piece of hard candy. “Umm,” she moaned with pleasure. “This is nice.” Her lips parted then and eagerly, like a cat pouncing on a mouse, clamped around the head of his cock. She held it there, lapping her tongue around it, driving him wild. He wanted to thrust deep into her mouth, down her throat, but she still held the shaft tight in her hand.

  She moved her head again and licked at his balls. Then she backed away, stood up, and took hold of the sheet. She flung it clear to the foot of the bed, revealing all of Slocum’s naked body. “Real nice,” she said. She walked to the foot of the bed and crawled in between his legs, stroking the inside of his thighs all the way until both hands wrapped around first his balls, then his shaft. Then she suddenly pounced on his cock with her open lips, taking almost the entire length in at once. She held it there a moment, savoring its taste and its feel, thrilling each time it throbbed and tried to jump inside her mouth. Then she pulled back until all she held between her lips was the head. And she plunged downward again.

  Slocum picked up her rhythm, and each time she dived down on his rod, he thrust upward with his hips, driving it faster and harder into her luscious mouth. He was fucking her face, and it was great. She was obviously enjoying it too. It felt good, and he wanted it to last forever, but it had been too long, and he was too horny. He felt the surge build up, and he knew that he couldn’t hold it back much longer. Suddenly he didn’t even want to hold it back any longer. He thrust harder, faster, and he felt it burst forth, gushing into her eager mouth. She slurped harder, swallowing each burst he gave her. At last he relaxed. She held his cock in her mouth a little longer, feeling it begin to soften. Finally, she backed off. She held it tight by the shaft again, and she squeezed and pulled, milking a last drop and licking it off the head of his cock.

  Slocum heaved a great sigh. “Lady,” he said, “that was truly wonderful, but I do feel just a bit guilty at not having pleasured you.”

  “Hush,” she said, backing out of the bed. She stood up and pulled the sheet back over his body, then walked back to the chair that stood beside the head of the bed. She sat down and leaned over him again, planting her lips on his for a tender kiss. “I enjoyed myself,” she said, “and there’ll be other times.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “But I can’t help being curious. You don’t even know me. Not really. Ole Chuck brought me in here more dead than alive, all stove up and—”

  “And I took care of your wounds,” she said, interrupting him. “I had to undress you, and wash you—all over. I got to know you pretty well. I liked what I saw—and handled.”

  “Well,” Slocum said, “I’m sure glad you did.”

  Before the day was over, Slocum was getting up and back down without assistance. When Myrtle had prepared the next meal of the day, he said that he could go to the table with the other two, but she insisted that he stay in bed, and served him there. The next morning, however, he was up and dressed early. When Myrtle came in to bring him his first cup of coffee, she stopped, astonished.

  “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” she said.

  “Just what it looks like,” he replied. “I’ve got to start moving around sometime.”

  “But not too soon,” she said.

  “Damn it, I’m all right,” Slocum insisted. “The only thing I can’t quite manage yet is to pull on my boots. I tried it, and it just hurt too much. So if it’s okay with you, I’ll roam around the house without them for now. And that coffee sure smells good.”

  “Oh, here,” she said, thrusting the cup at him. He took it and took a tentative sip.

  “Ah,” he said. “It’s as good as I thought.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked him.

  “Well, yesterday when you brought me coffee, I wanted it so bad, any old kind of coffee would have tasted good. I thought it was good then. Now I know it is. Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said. She was still huffy. “Breakfast will be ready soon. Since you’re feeling so chipper, you can come to the table—in your bare feet.”

  Slocum followed her out of the room. He found Joiner sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in front of him. “Morning, Chuckie boy,” he said.

  “Good morning, John,” Joiner said. “Hot damn. This is a surprise. I didn’t expect to see you up and around for a few days yet. Damn but you’re one tough son of a bitch.”

  Slocum put his cup on the table and sat down across from Joiner. “I manage,” he said.

  “Something happen in there last night to help you regain your strength?” Joiner said with a grin and a wink.

  “That ain’t none of your business, Chuckie,” Slocum answered. “What have you been up to?”

  “Oh, when I left you,” Joiner said, “I rode up on the hill overlooking my ranch. I stayed there a while hoping to see something, but things was pretty quiet. Then I rode most of the way to town, but I seen Harman’s men watching every damn road. They sur
e do know I’m back, and they’re looking for me. I couldn’t find a way into town for nothing, so after a while I just come on back here.”

  “That was a damn fool thing for you to try,” Slocum said. “You might have got your fool self killed.”

  “That’s what I figured out,” Joiner said. “I sure am dying to see Julia, though. Likely she’s heard that I’m back by now. She’ll be wondering why I ain’t got in touch with her.”

  Myrtle stepped out of the kitchen with a coffeepot just then and refilled their cups. “I can go see her for you,” Myrtle said. “I need to go to town for supplies anyhow. If you’ll hitch up the wagon for me, I’ll take care of those two chores right after breakfast.”

  “I can sure handle that,” Joiner said.

  “But you have to promise me that you’ll stay put till I get back,” Myrtle said. “I don’t want you going off and leaving John here by himself.”

  “I’ll stick like glue,” Joiner said.

  She served them a fine breakfast of bacon, eggs, fried potatoes, biscuits, and gravy, and after he’d had another cup of coffee, Joiner went outside to get the wagon ready for Myrtle. In the meantime, she got herself ready to go. Joiner came back inside. “The wagon’s ready,” he said.

  She put her hat on her head. “I’ll be a couple of hours,” she said. “You know where everything is. And Charlie, you take good care of him.”

  “I will,” Joiner said. “I promise.”

  She was about to go out the door when Slocum stopped her with a word. “Myrtle,” he said. She stopped and turned back to face him. “You be careful too,” he said. “If Harman and them know that you and Chuckie are friends, you could be in danger—or they might follow you back here. Watch yourself.”

  “Don’t worry,” she said. “I can take care of myself.”

  She went outside and shut the door, and in another moment Slocum could hear the sound of the wagon being driven away. Suddenly he missed the sight of her. He thought about the way her jeans were stretched tight over her lovely rear end, and then he thought ironically of what he had done with her, or what she had done to him, and the sad fact that he had never even seen her bare ass. He wanted to see all of her, and he wanted to make real love to her. He waited a little while, and then he said, “Chuck, go saddle your horse and follow her. Keep out of sight, but make sure nothing happens to her.”

  “But she said—”

  “I know what she said,” Slocum snapped. “Follow her. Unless she gets herself in some kind of trouble, she’ll never know.”

  Joiner strapped on his Colt, put on his hat, and left the house. Shortly, Slocum heard him ride off. He stood up with a moan and went into the kitchen for some more coffee. It sure would be nice, he thought, to have a drink of good whiskey and smoke a good cigar. He found the coffeepot and poured the last of its contents into his cup. Back at the table, he sat down again with a moan. Myrtle was right. Maybe he was pushing it too hard and fast. He drank the coffee and walked back into the bedroom, where he stretched himself out on the bed. He was still mighty sore.

  Sore and tired, but not sleepy. He lay there wide awake thinking about his situation. He had let himself in on the troubles of Chuck Joiner. Of course, he had done it on purpose because some son of a bitch had shot him from ambush, and he meant to be even for that. Still, here he was, with one other man, fixing to face up to maybe twenty gunhands, maybe more. He had to admit to himself that it was crazy. If he had any brains, he told himself, he’d lay around a couple more days and get healed up pretty good, then ride out. But then, he thought, he never did have any brains.

  Joiner thought that the sheriff could be trusted, and Myrtle seemed to agree with that. He sure hoped that they were right, but he hadn’t met many sheriffs in his time that he would trust. He meant to go carefully moving in that direction. Other than the possible help of the sheriff and his two deputies, there was no one else. Just two girls. The odds were terrible. But he was mad, and he had opened his big mouth and made a promise. He guessed that he was in this all the way to the finish.

  And then there was Myrtle. He sure wasn’t done with her. There was a lot more of her he wanted to see, especially that ass, and there was a lot more he wanted to do with her. Hell, he guessed that that was worth taking a chance on getting killed over. He’d taken bigger risks in his day for a hell of a lot less. She was sure one lovely lady. He wondered why she was still unbranded, a beautiful woman like that. He wondered why, but he was sure glad that she was still a maverick.

  He heard the pounding of hooves outside and sat up quickly, causing a pain to shoot through his body. Then he realized that he had, after all, gone back to sleep. He got up off the bed and found his Colt, then went into the main room to look out a front window. He relaxed. It was Joiner. He put the Colt back in the bedroom and waited for Joiner to come in. It took a few minutes, and Slocum figured that Joiner was putting his horse away. At last, Joiner came through the door.

  “What’s up?” Slocum said.

  “Everything’s all right,” Joiner said. “I followed her to town and lurked around till she headed back out. Then I tailed her again. When we was close enough, I got out around her and hurried on back so she wouldn’t know. Just like you said. She’ll be driving up shortly, and when she does, I’ll just go out there and act like I’ve been waiting here with you all the time.”

  “Good,” Slocum said. He rubbed his eyes. “Why don’t you see if you can boil up some more coffee?”

  “I can do that,” Joiner said, and he headed for the kitchen.

  By the time the coffee was ready, and Joiner had poured a couple of cups full, they heard the wagon pull up out front. Joiner put down his cup and went outside. After a few trips back and forth, he and Myrtle had unloaded all the supplies. Joiner excused himself to go back out and take care of the wagon and team. Myrtle busied herself putting things away in the kitchen. Slocum followed her in there.

  “Any problems?” he said.

  “No,” she said. “I did see some of Harman’s men, but they didn’t seem to pay much attention to me. In town I did my shopping and then went by to see Julia. I told her Charlie’s out here, and she got all excited. She’ll be coming out later. I told her to be careful and not let anyone follow her out here. Ed Cobb saw me as I was leaving Julia’s house. He didn’t seem to think anything about it. Everyone knows that me and Julia’s been friends for years.”

  “Okay,” Slocum said. “I’m glad you’re back.”

  She had just stretched herself as tall as she could to put something on a top shelf. She looked back over shoulder and smiled. “Thanks,” she said.

  “There’s fresh coffee,” said Slocum. “Chuckie just brewed it up right before you drove up.”

  “Sounds good,” she said. “I think I’ll have a cup.”

  “Course, it ain’t as good as what you make,” he said,

  “but it ain’t bad.”

  She laughed softly and poured a cup for herself. “Sit down at the table?” she said.

  “Sure,” said Slocum, and they walked into the other room and sat across from each other. Joiner came back in and took his own seat at the table. He picked up his cup and slurped from it.

  “I saw Julia,” Myrtle said. Joiner looked at her expectantly. “She’ll be coming out.”

  “Did you tell her to watch out for Harman’s men?” Joiner said. “Did you—”

  “I told her everything,” said Myrtle. “Don’t worry. Us women are slicker than you men.”

  “Ah, now, I don’t know about that,” Joiner said. “I been riding around all over the place and ain’t been seen yet. You got to know what you’re doing to get around and keep out of sight at the same time.”

  “Like when you followed me to town and back?” Myrtle said.

  “Like—when—”

  Joiner’s jaw was hanging open, and Slocum laughed.

  “Chuckie,” he said, “I think we better listen to the lady and believe what she says.”

  “Yea
h,” she said, and then she turned on Slocum. “And how about you?”

  “I did just fine,” he said. “Hell, I just went back to sleep.”

  “That’s good,” she said.

  “I also had plenty of time to do some thinking,” Slocum said. He looked at Joiner. “How much ammunition do we have around here?”

  “I ain’t got but what’s in my belt,” Joiner said.

  “Same here,” said Slocum.

  “I’ve got a box of shells for my Winchester,” said Myrtle.

  “That’s good,” Joiner said.

  “It ain’t good enough,” said Slocum. “You got us set up against twenty men or more. We need to be ready for anything. Where’s the nearest town to here besides Rat’s Nest?”

  “That’d be Flanders,” Myrtle said. “It’s a two-day ride over and two days back. A little longer if we have to take the wagon.”

  “Here’s another problem,” Slocum said. “I’m broke.”

  “I got a dollar,” Joiner said.

  “Well, I don’t have much more than that,” said Myrtle.

  “Not after I bought all those supplies. I’ve got credit at Albert’s store in Rat’s Nest, though. I could get whatever we need in there.”

  “That’s no good,” Slocum said. “Anyone sees you load up on ammunition in there, they’ll get suspicious. We got to go to—what’d you call it?”

  “Flanders?” said Joiner.

  “Yeah,” Slocum said. “We got to go to Flanders. Any chance of getting credit there?”

  “It’s too far away,” Myrtle said. “I don’t know anyone over there.”

  Slocum looked at Joiner. Joiner shrugged. “Me neither,” he said.

  “Well, damn it,” Slocum said, “we got to do something, and right now’s the time to do it, while we’re waiting around for me to recuperate. And we can’t go to Rat’s Nest for it.”

  “Well,” Joiner said, “what are we going to do?”

  “We need ammunition,” Slocum said. “We got no money to buy it. I guess we’re going to have to steal it from someplace. Either that or steal some money. Any ideas?”