“I’d pinch ’em between my fingers and tug ’til you were moaning.” He scraped his thick thumb over her clitoris, then made another pass and another.
“Don’t stop,” she said, the motion of her hips deepening, heat curling tight like a watch spring inside her belly.
“Then I’d suck on ’em again,” he said, a note of urgency entering his voice that told her he knew she was close and it excited him as well. “And then when you were writhing against me…I’d bite. Gentle like, just enough to make you moan.”
“I can feel it,” she sobbed. “Jesus, don’t let them come through that door. Not yet.”
He circled and flicked and finally pinched the engorged knot. Honey’s head fell back and her body quivered with delight. Her breath caught and she cried out, but he was there to swallow the cry, grinding his lips against hers to muffle the sound of her release.
As she grew slack in his arms, the fingers stroking her passage slowed, and his kiss softened, becoming tender caresses along her cheek and jaw that soothed her, now. “Oh my.”
He winced as though in pain, but then Joe drew his hand from underneath her skirt, set her away and pulled down her petticoat and skirt.
Honey swayed on her feet, but he caught her shoulders.
“You’ll want to keep your head down. Your lips look thoroughly kissed.”
She grinned and pressed her tingling lips together. They were slightly sore and swollen, and she could only imagine what the rest of her looked like. Completely debauched? Delightfully sated? Lord, her imagination hadn’t prepared her for the feelings whirling inside her—joy, gratitude toward this taciturn man who’d selflessly pleasured her.
His jaw tightened and a frown drew his dark eyebrows together. “You know it doesn’t have a thing to do with how attractive you are, or how much I want you.”
She shook her head to clear it. “What are you talking about?”
“Your leaving,” he said, his tone flat.
As though a rug had suddenly been pulled out from under her, her heart plummeted inside her chest. How could he blow so hot one moment and then suddenly freeze her with a glance? “What was this all about?”
His lips tightened, and he shrugged. “My pleasuring you. It’s what you asked me for.”
She started to shake. Her stomach grew queasy. “I asked you for it?”
“When you touched me.”
She blinked fiercely against the unexpected moisture in her eyes. “So you were just doing me a favor?” She lifted her chin, proud of the fact her voice hadn’t cracked.
“What did you think it was? Did you think I’d change my mind?”
He thought she’d been attempting to sway him. “That isn’t why…” She shook her head again and gave a humorless laugh. Humiliation burned through her. She drew a breath to steady her voice and slowly lifted her chin while she gathered the edges of her frayed pride. “No, you know you’re right,” she said, relieved her tone was every bit as cold as his. “I really should be moving on.”
He raked a hand through his dark, close-cropped hair. “You can stay a couple more days. I didn’t mean you had to leave right away.”
Her heart started beating faster again as anger surged through her—anger at herself, for letting her fantasy usurp her common sense. “No. I have supplies to restock, but it’s high time I kick this town’s dust off my shoes.” She narrowed her eyes. “I have plans, you know. Big brass-band plans.” She grabbed blindly for the door knob.
“Um, your hair?”
“Huh?” she asked, not turning back. She never wanted to see him again.
“It’s coming down.”
“Oh. Well, hell. What does it matter now? The whole town knows we’ve been up to something in here anyway. It’s not like I have a reputation to uphold.”
A sigh sounded behind her. “Honey—”
Finding it impossible to submerge her hurt and anger again, she cast a scathing look behind her. “Miss Cafferty to you, seeing as how we never got around to first names.” She opened the door with so much force it slammed against the wall and she stalked into the outer office.
Sure as hell, there stood Curly Hicks and a couple of the gentlemen from the saloon.
Honey held her head high, gave them a regal nod and then fled the office as quickly and with as much dignity as she could muster.
Tomorrow wouldn’t be soon enough to leave this one-horse—No! Two Mule—town behind.
Honey wrote the list of supplies she’d need to pick up the following morning and slapped them on Curly Hicks’s counter. He’d followed on her heels as she’d stalked down the walkway from the sheriff’s office straight to his store.
“I’ll have ’em ready first thing,” he said, his avid gaze watching her like she’d grown a rattler’s tail.
She barely resisted the urge to flicker her tongue at the odious man. Instead, she turned her back on him without giving him a proper farewell.
“Oh, Honey,” Daisy Sessions called from behind her.
No, no, no. She’d hoped to make a clean getaway. Daisy was one of the reasons she so regretted leaving. Turning, she pasted on a smile to greet her new friend.
“Honey,” Daisy said, wrapping an arm around Honey’s waist. “You have to come to tea. Now.”
The warmth of another human being touching her with kindness was almost too much for Honey to bear. Drawn into an embrace against Daisy’s soft, rounded body, Honey drank in the scent of lilacs and homemade bread. The woman was only slightly older than her, but Honey had recognized her motherly nature from their first meeting. Never having known her own, she’d been unable to resist the other woman’s kindness. Everything about her, but especially her sweet scent, smelled like home—or what Honey had always imagined home might smell like.
She pulled away and glanced up, reading compassion in Daisy’s strained smile.
“Tea,” Daisy said the word with a firmness that brooked no argument. “You’re coming home with me.”
“I need to get packed,” Honey said, her chin wobbling.
Daisy squeezed her shoulder but didn’t let go as she walked her toward the door. “If you like, the ladies and I will help you pack later.”
“He said that to you?” Letty Handy said in her gruff voice. Her brows drew into a single fierce line across her forehead. “Amos said Curly told him you and the sheriff were in the jail an awful long time.”
Seated in a delicate chair in the rectory parlor, Honey felt a guilty flush heat her cheeks.
Something about her expression seemed to fascinate Letty and Daisy, who sat on a loveseat across from her. Their eyes widened.
“Did he take advantage of you, my dear?” Daisy asked, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.
Unable to hold their gazes, Honey nodded. “He kissed me.” Could she lie by omission in the parson’s house? What the hell? “Oh, Daisy, I melted into a gooey puddle. I let him touch me under my skirts. I couldn’t help myself.”
Daisy blushed scarlet all the way to the roots of her ashy blonde hair. “I’m sure we have all been carried away by the attentions of a handsome man.”
“Speak for yourself,” Letty murmured. “What happened next?”
Honey sniffed into Daisy’s freshly starched handkerchief. “After…you know…he touched me, he said he was only doing me…a-a favor,” she wailed.
“The scoundrel,” Daisy exclaimed, a hand going to her breast. “The man thinks too highly of himself.”
“He is a handsome one,” Letty said, shrugging when Daisy aimed a sharp glance her way. “I may be married, but I ain’t dead. The man only has to breathe and he fair takes a woman’s breath away.”
“Here, my dear,” Daisy said, “drink this. It will fortify you.”
Honey wiped her nose and accepted a small glass of port. She stared at it for a second and then downed it in a single
gulp. She didn’t miss the raised eyebrows from the ladies gathered in Daisy’s parlor. Well, it wasn’t like she had a reputation to uphold any longer.
Daisy and Letty raised their glasses and each downed hers in a single gulp.
“Oh my, that does warm a body up,” Daisy said, staring into the bottom of her now-empty glass.
“Come, Daisy,” Letty said, giving Daisy a nudge of her elbow. “This is not the time for temperance.”
A slow, mischievous smile stretched across Daisy’s face, reminding Honey of a child sneaking an extra licorice from the candy jar. She poured another glass for herself and topped off Letty’s and Honey’s. “Well, you simply must stand your ground, Honey.”
Honey sniffed. “I don’t want to anymore. He humiliated me.”
“Nonsense,” Daisy said firmly but with kindness in her blue eyes. “I think what you’re feeling has nothing whatsoever to do with embarrassment. My dear, he hurt your feelings.”
“He used you and discarded you like day-old milk,” Letty said, her tone flat. “That man needs to be taught a lesson.”
Daisy rolled her eyes. “However crudely put, Letty is right.” She reached for Honey’s hands and leaned toward her. “You’ve taught us we don’t have to accept our lots in life. We can go out there and grab for our dreams.”
“All I did was sell you a poker potion,” Honey muttered.
Daisy’s lips formed a prim line. “My dear, your Elixir of Love placed power squarely in our hands. We rule our husbands’ libidos. Therefore, we hold their happiness in the palms of our hands.”
“Never knew how much their happiness depends on that.” Letty nodded. “Why, Amos was in such a good mood yesterday, he came to the kitchen after dinner and helped me finish cleaning up.” Her cheeks bloomed with two round spots of color on her cheeks.
Daisy’s eyes gleamed with understanding and humor. “In the kitchen?”
“Um, right on top of the table.”
Daisy took another sip of port and fanned herself. “Honey’s problem is that the sheriff was completely in control of their…encounter.”
“You know, Daisy, you have the right of that.” Letty burped and her eyes rounded. “Pardon me. He brought Honey into the jail, no doubt for intimidation.”
Daisy nodded. “He initiated the kiss and took what he wanted…given the time he had with her.”
“Um…I wasn’t exactly just standing there,” Honey grumbled. “I may have goaded him into…touching me.”
“Precisely what he’d like you to think,” Letty said, a militant gleam in her eyes. Her stout chest rose. “Men always want to blame their lack of control on women. I’m telling you, you were a victim of his lust.”
While the ladies’ staunch support warmed her heart, Honey knew she was every bit as much to blame for what had happened as the sheriff. “Well, it’s all water under the bridge. I’m leaving in the morning.”
“But you can’t leave, Honey.” Letty looked to Daisy, who nodded her agreement. “The weather’s gonna turn any day. It may be hot as Hades right now, but this is Texas—like Amos always says, wait a minute if you don’t like the heat. And you said it yourself, you need a place to set up for the winter.”
Honey took a deep breath and started to rise. “It can’t be here. He’s all but ordered me out of town.”
Daisy stood and placed a hand on her arm. “We’ll just have to change his mind.”
“Oh, no, Daisy, you can’t talk to him on my behalf. It would be too humiliating.”
Daisy and Letty shared a charged glance. “My dear, you go on back to your little wagon. Don’t you dare start packing until you hear from us.”
The ladies stood side-by-side, whether to support their swaying frames or as a show of solidarity, Honey wasn’t sure. “I don’t know whether I like the gleam in your eyes.”
“Don’t you see you belong here, my dear?” Daisy said. “You’ve known me two days and you already have a better measure of me than my husband has.”
Letty’s bulldog expression softened. “I’ve known Daisy since we were kids. Never knew she was such a passionate woman. You’ve taught us both that.”
Honey let out a slow breath. “I’m glad I could help. My elixir worked beyond my dreams.”
“So let us return the favor,” Daisy said, her expression pleading.
“But what are you going to do? You can’t confront the sheriff.” Lord, what would they reveal to him if they did? Especially in their slightly inebriated state.
“I won’t do anything so direct. But these circumstances call for desh-perate measures.” Daisy wrinkled her lips. “How odd. My lips are numb. I need another glass of port.”
Honey couldn’t help smiling at the tipsy woman. “Should you be drinking so much, Daisy?”
Daisy lifted her head proudly. “I need the courage for what I have in mind.”
Honey shook her head. “Why do I have the feeling I’m going to be wearing tar and hen feathers before you’re through?”
“Don’t you worry about a thing. You head back to camp and get yourself some resht. We’ll take care of everything.”
Honey shook her head, sure the women would be snoring on the loveseat in minutes if they tore back into the liquor. “You two stay here. I’ll let myself out.”
“Good idea,” Letty said, reaching for the port. “We have plans to make.”
“Here, here,” Daisy said, lifting her glass. “And a trap to shet.”
Honey set off down the road to her little campsite, just beyond the second bend. Whatever the women had planned wouldn’t make a hill of beans difference. Even if Sheriff Tanner came out to beg her forgiveness on bended knee for his cruelty, she still had to leave.
Sighing her relief, she reflected it was a good thing she hadn’t let herself fall in love with the man. He’d already come close to breaking her heart.
Chapter Three
The clopping of hooves woke Honey from her nap. Still groggy from the wine and the enervating heat, she rubbed her eyes, wondering who had come to visit and whether she would even unpack her medicines if they’d come for a cure.
Then another thought had her eyes widening, and she shot out of her bed and reached for her skirt, which was hanging from a hook beside her dresser.
Oh hell, had the ladies said something to the sheriff after all? Could it be him coming to apologize? Or worse, remind her she had to leave?
As quickly as shaking fingers would allow, she pulled on her blouse and hooked the buttons up her back, leaving the top few undone. Her hair would just have to hide her state of undress.
“Hallo. Honey, you in there, girl?” came a voice she’d recognize anywhere if only for its gruffness.
“Letty?” she called out. She opened the door of her wagon and stepped down to the ground to find Letty with her skirts hitched high on either side of her legs, straddling a horse as wide as she was.
Only Letty wasn’t looking her way. She was turned in her saddle and staring down the road.
Honey walked up beside her and followed the direction of her gaze to see Daisy and Sally Epperson seated on a buckboard wagon, waving gaily at her as they approached. What were the good ladies up to now?
Letty tapped Honey on the shoulder. “We brung you a present.”
Honey’s eyebrows shot up, and she turned to stare at the two women atop the wagon whose smiles couldn’t have been any wider. “Letty, what the hell did you do?”
“We’re just givin’ you a chance to return a favor,” she said with a naughty waggle of her bushy eyebrows.
Honey’s heart galloped like a runaway horse. “Tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.” She picked up her skirts and ran to the wagon before the ladies had even pulled back on the reins of the team to halt it.
As Honey ran around the back, Sally giggled. “I’d be in a hurry too.”
“Sally, you been dipping into Daisy’s port?” Honey asked as she lowered the back gate.
“Had to make her a co-consh-pirator,” Daisy said, then giggled herself.
“We couldn’t have done what we did without a shot of courage,” Sally said, then snorted before breaking into a gale of laughter.
The bed of the wagon was filled with loose hay. A black boot stuck out from under the straw at the end of the bed.
Fascinated, Honey gave the boot a pull, half hoping it wasn’t attached to anyone’s foot, but she had no such luck. She gathered handfuls of straw and started dragging it from the wagon to uncover the body of a very large man.
A very quiet large man.
With only the half of him she could reach cleared of straw, she didn’t have any trouble recognizing who it was. “Daisy, did you kill him?”
“Now, Honey,” Daisy said, her normally light and musical voice pitched low with a dirty edge. “I’m a good Christian woman—thatsh what we needed Sally for.”
“To kill him?” Honey asked, her breaths getting so shallow she thought she might faint.
“Sh-Shuch a suspicious mind. Although I’m almost flattered you think I could have done it.”
Honey rolled her eyes, hitched up her skirts and climbed up on the wagon bed. She shoved more hay off the back of the wagon until the sheriff’s upper torso and head were cleared. Leaning close to his broad chest, Honey breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the sheriff’s soft snores. He was out cold. But how?
“Did you clobber him?” she asked as she felt the back of his head for knots.
“I already told you that was what we needed Sally for,” Daisy said grumpily.
“So she could clobber him?”
Sally giggled. “No, silly. For the Sweet Dreams Syrup you gave my mama.”
Honey patted his cheeks. “Lord, he’s out like a rock. How much did you give him?”
“I’m not quite sure. I mixed it in his coffee when he came by the café. Told him it was sweetened with honey. He’s so polite he drank the whole thing, even though he made the funniest faces.”
“Ya need help gettin’ him inside?” Letty asked as she walked up beside the wagon, rubbing the small of her back.
Sweeter Than Honey Page 3
