As she surrendered to the pleasure, she was vaguely aware of Santiago flipping her over again, this time, on her stomach. Happy to oblige she leaned on her arms as she raised her heart-shaped behind in the air in a welcoming gesture. He subjected her ass to soft swat of his hand before sliding his rock-hard member back into her wetness. Then he grabbed Cassie by her shoulders and began pumping into her in earnest as her sugar walls tightened around his rod. He seemed like a man possessed to her as behind him she heard him groaning in pleasure and for a fleeting second, she worried he might pass out from his head wound.
Suddenly Santiago's grip hardened, and she felt the pressure in her shoulders while the pace of his thrust increased. She heard him make one final animalistic growl as his cock vacated her sweeping past her love button and seconds later he exploded across her behind. She pivoted and collapsed on her back to find he was still coming his hand working overtime stroking the splashes that landed on her tummy and sizable breasts. Happy to aid him she reached up and cupped his balls in her hand massaging them. When at last the well was drained she looked into his dimming eyes and could see his strength ebbing as he collapsed next to her on the bed.
When their panting stilled, she laid her hand on the side of his face and gently tugged his cheek to draw him into another kiss. With a contented smile, she delighted in the fact that the night was still young and as great as their romp had just been she knew that the best was yet to come. As she snuggled next to him in bliss she had no way of knowing that her day of adventure with Catalina had been mirrored by her other sisters across the miles.
CHAPTER 12
THAT AFTERNOON
Honor Elizabeth Wilde and Katie Dodge rode their horses up the trail, coming to the top of a low mountain that helped make up the barrier between the southernmost point of the Canebraro Valley and the northern end of the Verde Abundante Valley. They came to a stop and looked out at the view as the scent of the various trees and plants carried to them on the warm summer air. In one direction, they could see the lush landscape of the central Verde Abundante before them. If they turned to face the way, they just came far off in the distance she could see the speck that was Córdoba and its environs. The previous day back in the Canebraro, they had quite the run-in back there with a violent, abusive woman, but it had all ended to Honor Elizabeth's satisfaction. The woman had managed to accidentally kill herself during their fight, and they had been able to liberate the woman's poor step-daughter and deliver her to a loving aunt earlier this morning.
Now on this high promontory, Honor was glad she had chosen to take the route that she had along the valley rim instead of heading straight through the Verde Abundante, a route she had used several times before. Her decision was so she could see a view she had not seen before. Seeing new things had long had its appeal to the young woman. Once they had the coach they had traveled all this way to obtain, they would return on the regular direct route.
Honor took out her binoculars and surveyed the countryside. Waves of heat could be seen rising off the opulent lands below them. Next to her, Katie had been quiet and seemed to be enjoying the vista as much as Honor was. She had been cordial during their continued journey. The day had started well, and Honor had noticed the change in her friend with some pleasure. It seemed their multiple brushes with death along their journey had gone a long way towards mending their troubled relationship leaving Honor to smile.
Things continued to go better than she had hoped. Before rescuing the teenage girl, they had dropped off the captive leader of the Melendez gang who had planned to sell her and Katie into sexual slavery. They had extracted a promise from the local sheriff that the authorities would try and find out all they could about the criminal operation, in the hope of rescuing any victims that could be found.
Judge Wilde hadn't raised any fools. However, Honor had thought as they rode into Córdoba with her saddlebags almost bursting with cash they had found in the outlaw's saddlebags. After capturing Melendez, they had discovered that he was a very paranoid man and traveled everywhere with the bounty made from his evil deeds. Honor had confiscated it, and because Honor wasn't a fool, she had said nothing about it to the Mexican authorities. She figured it was better to bring it back to Arizona and turn it over to Cassandra who could use it to enlist her old friends in Pinkerton to aid in a proper search for the enslaved women and girls.
With her thoughts returning to the present, she looked down basking in the afternoon sun pleased that their goal was literally in sight through her field glasses. Indulging in her love for seeing new sights, Honor rarely traveled without the handy devices, lowering them she passed them to Katie.
"Take a look down there, to the left," she pointed out as Katie swung the binoculars to take in the view of a large villa with a long rectangular building sitting next to it. Behind the building, they could see all manner of wagons, buckboards, and coaches. A sturdy adobe wall surrounded the entire property. "I give you the Yberra's Coachworks!" She announced with a flourish and a grin.
“That sure is all kinds of wonderful to finally be here. Especially after the hell that be the last couple days,” Katie responded with a smile herself.
“Well, let us be on our way down this road and get you and Quillan that coach you have paid for,” Honor said, feeling happy they had made it. She started moving her horse towards the direction that would lead them down when suddenly she heard the tell-tale sound of horses approaching and saw three riders round a bend in the trail. The men jerked their horses to a stop directly in front of them barring their way towards the trailhead down from the valley rim.
“I am Señor Don Dante Diego, señoritas, you like my country, eh?” The English-speaking lead rider asked leaning forward in his saddle and giving a lascivious look towards the two women. Alert, Honor Elizabeth quickly surveyed the situation. Don Diego was about ten feet away, and the other two waited behind him. He was a stocky man with black hair and a craggy face, and she could almost smell the menace wafting off from him. "However, I must tell you chicas these trails are private. I charge only a pittance to travel them. Normally, it's fifty pesos for each of you. But for you, señorita, your beauty alone moves my heart to reduce your passage to a mere twenty-five pesos," the man said, his broad face plastered with a magnanimous smile.
“I thank you, but …”
“I was not talking to you!” he snapped, and his dark eyes turned towards Katie. This certainly surprised Honor, and it annoyed her to feel a little bit deflated by the bruise to her ego. Still, this character was hardly the kind of man she cared whether he found her friend more attractive than her as he practically had the word scum tattooed on his forehead.
“Of course, Señor Diego does not like to use force till the occasion calls for it. So, I suggest you fish out seventy-five pesos. Vamoose!” one of the men behind the leader said in a Spanish accent so thick, Honor Elizabeth had trouble understanding the words at first. He was a taller, younger man with a sour expression.
“Got your bully boys behind you, eh?” Katie asked fiercely. “But you don’t frighten us! You’re just the latest sidewinder trying to get money out of us since we done crossed the border. Blast ’em, Honor!” Katie shouted.
“Katie, no, wait!” Honor cried out horrified, knowing what she was about to do.
Katie drew her gun and aimed at the don. Like the novice with a weapon she was, her shot easily missed Diego but instead clipped the arm of the taller, young man behind him. The impact knocked him from his horse sending him crashing to the trail as the don shouted in surprised anger. With no choice, Honor drew her Colt .45 in support of her friend. The don naturally had not expected resistance from women, and the look in his eyes told her he knew he'd never be able to draw his sidearm in time with Honor pointing her directly at them. Angrily, he motioned to his remaining follower, and they rode off leaving their man in the dust. Honor hopped down off her horse then and knelt next to the injured man.
"That sure was quick thinking on my part, r
ight, Honor Elizabeth? There was no way any more outlaws was gonna be getting the drop on us this trip!" Katie said with pride. Honor glanced at her with a mixture of emotions. She, too, felt some pride in Katie because she knew the woman wanted to emulate the Wilde sisters, but their victory over the Melendez family and Patti Stuart had made her cocky as well. Truthfully, too, Honor thought to herself, her friend was still not that great with a gun. Now they had an injured man, and that made for a new predicament. She holstered her gun and used her knife to cut off a part of the man's sleeve and used it to wrap his bicep in a bandage as he glared at her.
“You, you be helping him?” Katie asked surprised.
"Yes, we don't know the situation here. Who knows how many men the don has hidden in these hills. He could be going for reinforcements. After fighting for our lives since we got to Mexico, I am not up for a return engagement of that performance, are you?" she asked rhetorically. Honor instantly regretted the tone in her voice. She was worried she might have put an end to the thaw in their relationship. To her relief, Katie didn't respond, but she did look dejected. Before Honor could figure out the next move, she heard more hoofbeats. This time they were coming up the trail from the valley. She re-drew her weapon, and Katie followed her example as two men rode into view.
As the men approached, they resembled each other in Honor’s eyes. They were probably in their late twenties. Good looking, rugged men with copper skin and dark hair. One had a neatly trimmed beard and appeared a few years younger than the other one who sported just a mustache. She wondered if they were related.
“Whoa, Señoritas, those firearms aren’t necessary, no?” The bearded one said.
“Says you! We got reasons not to be trusting strangers after leaving Godspell. It’s a lesson I done learned well,” Katie hissed aggressively.
“Ah, so you are the Dodge party?” The one with the mustache asked.
“How you know that?” Katie asked suspiciously as Honor smiled.
“It’s okay, Katie. Two colored women coming from Godspell could only be the Dodge party. I would wager to guess we are in the presence of the Yberras, is that not right, Señor?” Honor asked politely as she lowered her gun and Katie followed suit.
“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Señor Francisco Yberra, and this is my younger brother Manuel.” The bearded Manuel smiled and tilted his hat to Katie who sheepishly smiled in return.
“Who might we be addressing? We were expecting Señor Dodge and perhaps his lovely companion, Miss Bessie was it?” Francisco asked. Honor kept herself from doing a Lijuan-inspired eye roll and smiled at the man.
“My name is Honor Elizabeth Wilde, and this is Quillan’s sister Katie. Unfortunately, he was injured and could not make the trip, so we came down to get the stage,” Honor informed him.
“I am sorry to hear that about Señor Dodge. He is a good man,” he said.
“You bet he is. Right nice to meet you both. You’re just about the only friendly faces we done run into since coming across the border,” Katie told them with a smile at getting a proper greeting and no violence. The injured man groaned, and the brothers looked over at him for the first time. Manuel jumped from his horse in surprise.
“Sacre Maria! It’s our cousin Amaury!” he exclaimed.
“Your cousin? He was part of the gang that just tried to waylay us! They were charging admission to the valley,” Honor said in surprise as Manuel got the injured man off the ground and onto his horse that still paced nearby in the sunshine.
“Si, a sorry state of affairs if there ever was one. Come, we must get him back to the villa and summon a doctor. This will not go unanswered for long from his father,” Francisco said hurriedly, spurring the Arizonans to get back on their horses.
“His father? You mean to say this Don Diego is your family too?” she asked.
“By the misfortune of having been my late wife’s brother. We must ride! I will explain more later,” he said, and they headed down into the green valley.
As they descended, Honor rode next to Francisco, and he explained so that Katie could hear as well, that it was no coincidence that the brothers showed up when they did. They had spotted them traveling along the ridge and rode immediately to intercept, knowing that Don Diego's gang was extorting travelers along the routes into the valley. He had been especially concerned to have spied two women traveling alone.
Honor bit her tongue, knowing the effort she and her sisters often had to use to explain that most women, in general, were more capable than they were given credit for. The Wilde sisters, of course, were even more so. Instead, she asked how he had spotted them. His answer instantly got her attention. He bragged that he had used a high-powered telescope he owned that would be the envy of Galileo. With satisfaction, Honor mentioned the powerful binoculars she carried with her. They shared an interest in visual delights it seemed. For a random moment, it caused her to think about the stereoscope she owned back at Cedar Ledge and wondered what had become of it.
As they approached the Yberras' compound, to the left of the entrance gate, Honor spied the large cutout sign in the shape of a stagecoach. There were the words in Spanish proclaiming Yberra's Coachworks emblazoned in huge red letters on it. The sign itself rose above the height of the walls around the compound. To the right, she could see a large cascade of water also rising higher than the wall from an elaborate fountain she could remember from her previous visit long ago.
The gates were thrown open for them by a heavy-set woman with grey streaks in her ebony hair. This woman started wailing the name Amaury when she saw him injured. The group came to a halt when they approached the front doors of the villa. Manuel immediately helped Amaury down, and Francisco turned his attention towards two nearby men who were loading a large crate onto a buckboard near the wall.
“Leave those fireworks be. Nuñez, mount up and ride to town to get the doctor. Carrera, help get Amaury into the house and into a bed,” Francisco said as the older woman began shouting in Spanish.
“Please, Aunt Rosa, English. We have guests,” Manuel pleaded with the distraught woman.
“Manuel! Oh, Manuel! What has happened to your cousin?” she asked plaintively.
“He was shot trying to extort money from these women,” he answered her as Honor watched her reaction with curiosity.
“You shot my Amaury?” she asked, looking at Honor and Katie with narrowed eyes. Then she ran into the house, still fretting something in Spanish.
“Please forgive my Rosa. She is not really our aunt, nor Amaury, our cousin, but we like to call her that. She is a good woman who never had any children of her own, and she dotes on the young men of this family. Especially Manuel here, who is her favorite," Francisco explained with a smile.
"The woman has taste, what can I say," Manuel commented with a laugh eliciting a giggle from Katie before she regained her composure.
“I think in truth it is time for that explanation you promised, Señor.” Honor prodded as Francisco watched as Nuñez went charging out of the gates. He then turned to her cheerfully.
"Yes, of course. All shall be explained, in due time. This is not the welcome I would have wished for you to receive at our humble operation. We shall treat you to a fabulous feast, but first you señoritas may get cleaned up and rest a bit." He clapped his hands, and two eighteen-year-old serving women came out of the house. Honor was surprised to see they were twins.
“Esmerelda, Eunice, these señoritas are to be our guests. See them to the guest room and provide them with whatever they may need to get cleaned and rested.” The two women rushed over to Honor and Katie when Francisco clapped his hands a second time.
“This way, señoritas, this way,” Eunice said motioning them to follow. Honor looked to Katie, shrugged, and they followed the twins into the house. Both women looked back over their shoulders and saw the pair of brothers had been watching the swing of their hips as they walked. Neither appeared to be making any effort to hide it. Honor wasn’t sure if she should
be infuriated or flattered. She went with flattered.
CHAPTER 13
The last bit of twilight was fading from the sky as Don Diego sat with his back against a boulder sipping from a small flask in his hideaway. It was located on a strip of land between a steep cliff face and a swiftly moving river. The boulder he leaned against rested near the opening to what had once been a salt mine in times past. None of the other men, of which there were twelve, would dare to question him when he was in the sort of mood he was in at this time. Instead, they preoccupied themselves with the flirtation of Fiorella Garcia. She was the sole female member of the gang, and they had all shared in carnal debauchery with her at one point or another. The only one who dared approach him was Gonzalez, Amaury’s best friend. Gonzalez left his place around the fire and moved toward the don.
“What do you want?” Don Diego asked bluntly as he stepped up.
“It seems your little brush with the Americans did not fare so well, eh? Worst of all, it was a woman who shot your son,” Gonzalez said.
“Si, si. But what women they were! One of them had such beauty with her dark, dark skin. She puts gringa women to shame and even put the lovely color of our own chicas to shame as well,” Don Diego admitted. He did not notice Fiorella give him a side eye at that comment.
“You sing praises for the women who gunned down your son, who meant to murder you. On top of that, Lopez told me how you rode off and left them there without checking on him,” Gonzalez exclaimed in frustration.
"You were not there, so cast no judgments on me, boy. They had us at gunpoint. As for the women, I will settle the score with them. I shall have Amaury returned to us, and then I shall tame them. After that, I shall bed them before I kill them for what they have done!" Don Diego said firmly.
“Now you’re talking sense, hombre. Shall we saddle up and ride?” Gonzalez questioned eagerly.
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