“We ride!”
CHAPTER 13
TELEGRAPH STATION
Crabwell Junction, Arizona Territory
Several miles distant in the small community that served as a railroad hub for several lines, an early silence reigned supreme. Most of the town was still just waking up, the day yet to truly begin. At the end of the dusty street in a two-story clapboard structure, there were two people very much awake. Behind a drawn shade on the second floor of the building overlooking the street, the sounds of passion were in play, as the man and woman were utterly oblivious to the world beyond their bed.
Honor Elizabeth Wilde's breath was coming in short pants as the man's fingers worked their magic below the triangular thatch that blossomed below her smooth, taut stomach. As he worked on her, he was licking and kissing her neck as she drove her head back into the pillow of the man's bed. Her eyes were half open slits as she watched him; his were closed as he dragged his tongue over her glistening mocha skin.
She forced her eyes fully open. Was she making a big mistake here? In her mind, she knew that she was, but it wasn't her brain that was controlling her this morning but another part of her anatomy. In fact, it had been since the previous evening when this whole escapade had started.
With a cheerful wave, the previous evening she had bid farewell to the only Wildes currently at the ranch, Lijuan and Catalina as well as their brother, Dutch's, lady love, Bright Feather. Whip and their youngest brother, Blue River, had taken a trip to Nevada to inspect some machinery Blue River thought would be useful for the sawmill at the family's timber operation that he oversaw. Dutch was off on a special mission with his cavalry unit, and Cassandra had gone to San Francisco, though she was currently on her way back.
The remaining women hadn't bothered to ask her where she was going, as they had known full well her destination … the telegraph station at Crabwell Junction. Honor Elizabeth had always considered herself a learned woman of many varied interests. Some might have thought it prideful, but inside, she knew the truth. The twenty-seven-year-old simply loved to learn things, and at the same time, she hoped to dispel the hateful stereotypes and ignorant views regarding her race and gender. As a colored woman, in the eyes of many, she was automatically dismissed, but when anyone started to talk to her, behind her flighty nature, they found an extremely intelligent and well-spoken woman, and she delighted in shattering preconceived notions of narrow minds.
So, she had developed a great interest in learning many things, and lately, it had been telegraphy that had captured her attention. This technology of long-distance communications had fascinated her for some time now. It was making the world a much smaller place, and she felt that it was only the opening act of bigger and better advancements. It would not surprise her if somewhere out there someone was hard at work trying to figure out a way to make actual voices be heard across the miles. What a breakthrough that would be. It would change the world!
When Honor had decided that she had wanted to start taking telegraphy lessons, the announcement had prompted one of her sister Lijuan's, renowned eye rolls at the dinner table when she had brought it up. Lannie, as Honor often called her, continuingly took delight in teasing her on how quickly she moved from one hobby or interest to another. She had, of course, fumed inwardly because she knew her sister was correct, but she couldn't help it if she always wanted to discover and learn something new, tactfully aware of the fact she also quickly grew bored with some of her pursuits!
A daddy's girl through and through was Honor Elizabeth Wilde, and she made no bones about it, so when their father Judge William Henry "Whip" Wilde had said he would use his connections to see if he could arrange some sort of apprenticeship, she had happily taken him up on it.
Good to his word, and as one of the most prominent citizens in the area, the judge had persuaded the owner of the local telegraph offices to take Honor Elizabeth on as a student. She had been splitting her lessons between the stations in Alamieda and Crabwell Junction. Though Alamieda was much closer, she did not enjoy learning the system from Dietrich Bauer, who ran the operation in town. Despite the natural beauty that graced the mixed-race Wilde sisters, there were those who were wholly immune to it, and Bauer was one of them.
Upon her first lesson with the man, she had immediately picked up that he was one of those who considered a negro as automatically inferior. When he started to go over the basics, the man was talking to her like she was a small child, barely capable of understanding the simplest terms. Having read copious amounts of material on the telegraph before the training sessions had even started, she had turned the man's face red when she rattled off some very technical terms when it came down to the nature of transmitting Morse code across the miles. He didn't like being shown up by a colored and a woman to boot, but at the end of the day he was an employee, and he couldn't do a thing about her presence there but cooperate.
All in all, though, she preferred when the lessons had alternated to Crabwell Junction every other week. The operator there, Josh Owens was a kindly man who was as jolly as the day was long. He had appreciated her drive and enthusiasm when it came to his chosen profession. Unfortunately, a month ago, the rotund man had been sidelined by a heart attack. He would recover, the doctors said, but he was out for a while. A temporary operator had been brought in from the central office in Phoenix, and now, instead of using his fingers to work the telegraph key, he had found another use for them, sending mushrooming waves of pleasure coursing out from her moist pleasure hole.
Last night she knew she should have left when the lesson was over. They had been doing sessions in the evening because the office was closed for the day, and her training wouldn’t interfere with actual telegrams going out during the hours of operation. Since his arrival, there had been a budding mutual attraction between them.
Honestly, she couldn’t blame herself; the man was the very picture of what a fine-looking man should look like. His wide shoulders and broad chest combined with a warm smile and green eyes that had a sparkle to them was like catnip to her. All those attributes were topped off by a slight Slavic accent that he still retained from his boyhood in Europe before his family had immigrated across the Atlantic to embrace the lure of life in America. All of his background she had gotten to know after their very first lesson together. They had talked for hours, well past when she had been due back at Cedar Ledge.
From their very first meeting, she suspected that she would sleep with him; it seemed inevitable. Honor Elizabeth and her three sisters had taken an oath that none of them would wind up like their three unfortunate mothers. They were women who had never gotten to experience the fullness that life had to offer when all of theirs had been cut tragically short. The quartet fully intended to mine total enjoyment out of life where ever they could find it, with whomever they could find it.
Still, now as this man who had told her he had been born Karol Walensa and now answered to the Americanized version of his name, Carl Wallace, moved to jam his tongue inside her ear setting her quivering, she again knew it was likely a mistake. It would have been wise to keep things professional because it could get really messy between them should they have any kind of falling out. Even more troubling would be if they had sex, and he expected more of her afterward. The Wilde women did not settle down, it just wasn't in them, and if it were, she would now be with Quillan Dodge, a stagecoach owner in Godspell. Theirs had been a tumultuous relationship that had ended in heartbreak. Still, if neither was attached whenever they met up, it always ended up in a tryst. The pair couldn't seem to say no to each other. Just like she couldn't seem to say no to Carl when he had made his play the night before.
After their lesson in the downstairs telegraph station had concluded and she was preparing to leave for home, he had invited her up to his room above the office. The pretense was just for a quick drink “to celebrate her progress,” as he had said that at their next lesson in two weeks he thought she would be ready to come in during the day and go live on the wire. Di
d she even try to hesitate? No, Honor remembered, she readily accepted, knowing the moment had come she had foreseen since the day he had opened the door to her with a winning smile.
Carl had moved from her ear and was kissing her with a passion now. Her searching hands raked their way through the thick carpet of sandy colored chest hairs that matched those on his head. Her eyes were closed now, and she anticipated what was to come. They had made love for hours last night until they had fallen asleep. When they had woke up not long ago, they were both more than ready to pick up where they had left off.
The telegraph operator withdrew his hand from inside her, and he began to kiss her neck and trailed wet lips down her plentiful breasts. Honor watched as his eyes fell and caught sight of her hardened big black nipples and he began to play with them with his moist tongue. She grabbed hold of his hair and pushed his head down till she felt his breath fanning her thighs. Carl got the hint and began to work teasing her using his tongue to blaze a tantalizing trail over her inner thighs stopping just short of her glistening honeywell.
Honor felt a wave of pleasure ripple through her as he pleasured her. She fought hard to stay still as she clutched the pillow beneath her hard with one hand, almost ripping the ball of feathers into shreds while pressing his head between her legs with the other hand. He skillfully dipped his tongue into her till he found her pleasure spot and when he did, she shivered in anticipation, silently willing him to explore and conquer all that was within reach. Carl flicked her tender node with his tongue, setting her body to quivering. Honor moaned loudly, and before she knew it, she had climaxed and he dutifully lapped up her juices in his mouth. Once satiated he dutifully moved upwards and kissed her passionately on her full lips as they stared into each other’s eyes.
Ready for more, she pushed him off her and held his erect cock in her hand. From the stories, the four-sister traded of their carnal adventures she knew Lijuan prided herself in taking charge, but Honor was equally as capable when she wished to be and now was just such a moment. Slowly she fitted his pink cap into her mouth and began to stroke him sensually, his groans motivating her, and she began to lick up and down his thick, stiff shaft, taking half of him in her mouth. The warmth of her mouth made him shiver, and he grabbed the lustrous curly ringlets of her hair as her head bobbed.
Honor Elizabeth increased her pace and ran her tongue down to his constricting balls. She played with them for a while before she returned her focus to his pulsating member. Slowly she worked on him, putting more than half of his entire length in her mouth until she could feel him touching the back of her throat. She slowly eased him out from her mouth and plunged him back in as he bit his lower lip using all his strength to hold it in. Honor continued sucking on him and let saliva drip off his cap and licked it up, allowing him to feed off her intense eye contact. A long groan of pleasure seeped out from between his lips as he was unable to stop himself and he sent a volcanic eruption bursting into her mouth. Honor Elizabeth let her tongue stay on his cap as jet after jet shot into her mouth which she ably swallowed in its entirety. Groans of satisfaction escaped his lips again, and he pulled her up to kiss her deeply. She let him use his tongue to explore her warm mouth. He was still hard, and she felt it. This wasn't over yet.
Honor knelt and doubled over in front of him, placing her buttocks to his groin, and he eagerly grabbed both dusky colored buns. Still hard, Carl slid his cock into her moist entrance and clutched her dangling breasts, lightly tugging at her pleasantly swollen nipples. To her pleasure, he pushed forward and penetrated her gently. He pulled out slowly and pushed back in. He did this until his cock was buried deep inside her. It fit perfectly like a hand in a glove. Carl leaned in on her and kissed her back and began to thrust into her, slow at first but kicked off at a faster rhythm. She laughed to herself, thinking they were making their own form of Morse code as he thrust faster, ramming into her. He leaned and kissed her sweaty back again. Honor Elizabeth moaned sensually and egged him on, and he shoved his cock deeper inside her. She clutched at the pillows and arched her back. With her face buried in the pillows, she screamed his name, begging him to go faster.
He only heard mumbling, but that was all the cue he needed. He rammed into her faster and faster, and she was certain the clapping sounds they made could be heard for miles over the chirping of the morning birds. She felt herself tighten around his shaft and heard and quivered in between thrusts. He reached to hold her hips steady as she trembled and heard an unmistaken sigh as she collapsed under him panting. When she turned and looked at him, she had a smirk plastered on her face. Beads of sweat ran down her heaving breasts, and she climbed atop him.
Honor ran her fingers through the hair on his chest and slowly slid his still erect rod back into her. She began to ride him, daring him to match her rhythm with his. He picked up expertly at her pace and pressed her down on his groin. Her taut stomach glistened in the early morning sun streaming around the edges of the pulled down shade, and she prayed in his mind that this would never end. She rode him as expertly as she rode her long-time mount. Honor Elizabeth felt like she wasn't getting enough of him and it was almost as if he was reading her thoughts and he flipped her over and knelt between her legs while she lay on her back. He stared at her voluminous breasts and smacked his lips.
She held his erect cock and guided it into her, and he began to thrust hard, one hand fondling her breasts, fingers toying with her firm, dusky nipples and the other supporting her raised hip. For the briefest of moments, she thought she heard something like a distant pounding, but she ignored it as she stifled a moan and wrapped her legs around him, holding him inside. Honor sighed sensually, begging him to go harder, her pleading giving away to screams of passion. Her fingers found his buttocks, and she clutched helplessly at them. He let go of her breasts and raised her legs in the air and pressed her knees to her chest, grasping hold of her ankles as he pulled out and released, he was shouting something in his native Slavic language she could not understand, but she more than got the drift of it. As his love juices splashed on her heaving stomach just above her thick patch of curly black hair, his grip tightened on her ankles that he was clutching, and he spread her legs wide.
What happened next was so unexpected that Honor Elizabeth cried out and Carl swore, this time in perfectly understandable English. An unseen object smashed its way through the window, completely destroying the glass and knocking the shade down with it. The projectile bounced once before crashing into the nightstand next to the bed.
Carl pivoted around on his knees on the bed staring in disbelief at the shattered window but not Honor Elizabeth. She was already in motion, scrambling to reach up to the bedpost nearest to her head where the night before, after giving into the man's entreaties, she had hung her gun belt that featured a holster on one side and a sheaf holding her Bowie knife on the other. The post was on the far side of the bed from where the object had landed, but she quickly had her Colt .45 in hand and had just rolled back to the near side of the bed and was swinging her legs off the edge when a very, very familiar voice boomed up from the street below.
“Honor Elizabeth! Get your ass down here now and let us in!”
Lannie!
Sure, enough as soon her eyes dropped to the floor and looked near the nightstand, no longer expecting to see the rock or brick she had assumed had broken the window, there lay a small foot-long blacksmith’s hammer. Years earlier, Lijuan had adopted it as her weapon of choice when they had all trained under Cassandra to be highly skilled in the use of weapons and hand to hand combat making them four of the most formidable women in the West.
Still mindful of the glass, but not giving a second thought to the fact that she was naked, she went to the window and looked down expecting to see Lijuan. Quickly she jumped back to the side of the window when she saw that Lijuan was not alone; she had Catalina and Bright Feather with her, but it wasn't them she was trying to conceal herself from. A man accompanied them as well, a cavalry officer who looked
familiar, but she couldn't place him. Whatever was going on, however, she had to know, so she leaned out, so only her head was visible.
"Get down here! Move!" Lijuan's ordinarily pale, yellowish face looked flushed and off to her side she saw four very exhausted-looking horses with their noses jammed into a nearby trough.
“What are you doing? Where do you get off throwing your pet hammer through a window?”
“You left me no choice. We had to find some way to get your attention. I was banging on the damn door for a full minute trying to rouse you and your man du jour but nothing!” the Asian beauty was fuming.
"We sure as sugar could hear you, though!" Catalina called up to her. Something was wrong, she sensed, as it was just like Catalina to get in one of her quips, but she saw no humor on her face, and that began to get Honor very worried.
Only a couple minutes passed as Honor cleaned herself up as best as possible, and the couple hurriedly dressed and made their way down into the telegraph station with Honor carrying Lijuan’s weapon. Carl shoved a skeleton key in the door and pulled it open. Lijuan nearly bowled him over as she charged through the door.
"Consider yourself open for business!" Lijuan huffed as her hand reached for the hammer that Honor Elizabeth held out somewhat disdainfully at arm's length. She was used to her moody older sister, but not everyone else knew how she could be. Honor found herself mortified by how rude Lijuan was being, but she could overlook it for now. Something serious was going on, deadly serious, she could tell. This was underscored by the grim faces of Bright Feather, Catalina, and the officer that she suddenly recognized.
The man's name was Captain Reginald Vellaneau, and she remembered him from an awards ceremony not long ago the army had held for Bright Feather, honoring her contributions from the past few years as a liaison between the military and her fellow Indians. Vellaneau and Cassandra, sitting next to her that night, had quarreled briefly in the audience. She had not really thought anything about it at the time, though later she had learned sketchy details that there was often bad blood between this man and her brother Dutch and Bright Feather. The fact they had arrived in the presence of each other mystified her.
River 0f Death: Cassandra Wilde Adult Western (Half Breed Haven Book 13) Page 10
