by Marla Monroe
“Wait. I’ll get something to wipe it off.” She hurried over to her bag and grabbed a clean cloth then wet it with her water bottle.
She stood between his legs without thinking about it and gently cleaned his face, making sure get the grit out from around his eyes and the cut over his eyebrow. When she finished, she realized how intimate her position was and quickly backed away. She deepened her voice as she walked over to the other side of the cabin.
“Should be fine now.”
She could feel Granger’s eyes on her. Her aching breasts reacted, despite being constricted beneath the binding. Her nipples down right hurt. She could feel her juices gathering and worried that they would smell her. She had to get hold of herself before she gave herself away. Staying with them wasn’t going to be an option no matter how much safer she felt. Sooner or later they would figure out her secret.
“Thanks.” Granger’s gruff voice startled her. She just nodded and hung the cloth up to dry.
The return of Marty through the door was a welcome distraction. She listened as he filled them in on the condition of the chimney.
“It looks safe enough. I didn’t find any birds’ nests or anything stuck in it. The roof around it is stable enough. I think we can have a fire without needing to worry overly much.” Marty started setting up the wood he’d brought in with him.
“So, Dusty. Where are you from?” Marty asked.
She realized he was talking to her and had to clear her throat to answer. “Um, Atlanta. Was living with an aunt and uncle until they died in a fire.”
“Tough luck. What made you decide to head west all on your own like this?” he asked as he lit the kindling.
“Got cousins living in the Montana area. Didn’t have anyone back in Atlanta. Seemed like a good idea at the time.” Destiny tried to keep her answers short and to the point like men tended to do.
“Well, we’re not far from there now. Another two days and we’ll be crossing the border. We could probably make it in one, but I’d rather take it slow and be careful. Too much danger out here to go off halfcocked.” Marty stood up as the fire caught and blazed.
Immediately the cabin began to warm. It had been so long since she’d had a fire that Destiny had to resist going up and putting her hands out to warm. It wasn’t winter yet, but it would be soon. While it was still quite warm during the day, the nights got chilly. When it rained, it got chilly.
“How are you feeling this morning, Granger?” Marty asked.
“Hmm, fine. Beat to hell and back, but I’ll survive. I’ve got some jerky in my pack if you guys want some.” He nodded over to where his pack rested by the door.
Destiny felt guilty for having taken all the cans of food from the cabin earlier. She slowly walked back to her pack and pulled out a couple of cans and held them out to Marty.
“Found them here when I crashed. We can open them and share,” she said.
Marty nodded and got busy preparing a meal of sorts with her cans of vegetables and Granger’s jerky. They ate in silence at first. Then Marty and Granger talked about the next stage in the drive to Montana. She couldn’t help but think it was odd that all three of them were heading to the same state. What were the odds of that?
“What about you, Dusty? That sound okay to you?” Granger asked.
She looked up to find both men staring at her. “S–sorry. I guess I wasn’t paying attention.”
Heat rose in her face. She hated that she blushed so easily. It wasn’t natural for a man to do that.
“We figured we would stay here another day so you and Granger can recover some more then head out early the next morning. We’ll drive ’til about three in the afternoon and stop at the first safe-looking place that we find for shelter for the night,” Marty said.
“Sure. That sounds good to me.” She still wasn’t sure she was going to stick with them.
Evidently Granger sensed that because he stared hard at her before adding, “You’re not planning to go off by yourself again, are you? It’s not safe for anyone alone out there, and you’re sort of small to be out on your own.”
“I can take care of myself.” Destiny almost forgot to keep her voice low.
“Not saying you can’t, but you have to admit there’s safety in numbers, son,” Marty said.
She held her tongue when he grasped her shoulder in a firm grip. The heat from his hand seeped through her shirt into her skin, causing a warm rush of sensation to flow over her. What was wrong with her? Why did the touch of these two men affect her so? True, she’d never been around men other than her uncle until she’d ended up on her own, but she’d been around plenty since then. None had ever made her female parts go soft and wet like they did with these two men.
Destiny couldn’t travel with them. She’d give herself away for sure. It hit her hard that she wanted them, wanted them like a woman wants a man with sex. That alone scared the crap out of her, but add to the mix that it was two men and not just one, and Destiny almost couldn’t stop the shakes from taking over.
“I’m going to look around outside. I’ll gather more kindling while I’m at it.” She stood up too fast and winced at the pull on her ribs.
“Don’t wander far. Watch for wolves,” Granger said in his gruff voice.
She just nodded and grabbed her pack. A good walk would help her clear her head of all the hormones pulsing through her bloodstream. Opening the door, Destiny stepped outside and closed the door behind her. She needed to pay close attention to where she walked so she didn’t get lost and let someone or something sneak up on her. She grabbed a sturdy-looking limb to use as a walking stick and stepped into the woods.
* * * *
“He’s been gone a good while. I’m worried about him. He’s just a kid,” Granger said.
He and Marty were sitting in chairs pulled up in front of the fire. They’d been talking about their lives before that year. When Marty had told him that he’d been a cop before everything went bad, Granger felt like he needed to admit he was an ex-con. He told him the truth of what had happened, but he hadn’t expected the other man to believe him. Strangely enough, Marty said he did and seemed to be serious about it.
“He’ll be fine. It’s only been about an hour.” Marty looked over at him with a strange expression.
“What?” he asked.
“It doesn’t matter to me none, but are you attracted to Dusty?” he asked.
Granger almost jumped up and hit the man for even saying that. Something stopped him though. He stopped his head in mid swing.
“Hell, I don’t know. I’ve never liked men that way. There’s something about the kid that’s, I don’t know, appealing. I’m not attracted to you even a little bit. Doesn’t matter though, ’cause I’m not about to act on it. He’s barely legal.”
Marty chuckled. “There’s no such thing as legal or illegal nowadays, Granger. Thanks for not being attracted me—I think.”
Granger just shook his head. “It’s more like I want to take care of him. Keep him safe and, I don’t know. Just hold him. I’m not really getting a hard-on for him or anything. Fuck. That’s screwed up all in itself.”
“Don’t sweat it. It makes you human and just proves to me that you’re a good man, regardless of your past.” Marty stood up and stretched. “I’m going to walk around. I’ll see if I catch sight of the kid while I’m out.”
Granger just nodded and relaxed back into the chair, letting the heat from the fire soothe his aching muscles. What he wouldn’t give for an honest to goodness bath. He could easily enjoy a nice long soak in a hot tub of water. It didn’t bother him one bit that it sounded more like something a woman would think about. Hell, cowboys in the eighteen hundreds looked forward to bath day just like the women did.
It pissed him off that he was questioning his manhood now. Even if he did like Dusty that way and was attracted to him and all, it didn’t mean there was anything wrong with him. It was just something about Dusty that brought this out in him. That was all. W
ith a sigh, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
The sound of the door slamming back against the wall jerked him from sleep. He stood up so fast that he was dizzy for a few seconds. The sight of Marty carrying an unconscious and bleeding Dusty into the cabin snapped him back into his head right quick though.
“What the hell happened?” he yelled as he closed the door behind them.
“Heard a gunshot and found him lying on the ground, bleeding like a stuck pig,” Dusty said as he carefully laid the boy on the bed.
“Why would someone shoot him? I didn’t even hear the damn gun.” Granger took the boy’s boots off while Marty removed his shirt.
“What the hell?”
Granger looked up to find Marty staring at Dusty’s bloody chest. He saw the material wrapped around the boy’s chest as well.
“He must already have an injury he’s been keeping hidden. No wonder he moves funny,” Granger said. “I’ll put pressure on the bullet wound, and you see what else is wrong.”
Granger took the discarded shirt and used it to apply pressure to the bullet wound in Dusty’s shoulder. The kid didn’t make a sound when he did. The boy’s chest was underdeveloped for the amount of musculature of his arms. He watched as Marty slowly cut through the binding with his knife. When he cut through the last piece holding it together, both men nearly swallowed their tongues.
“Holy fuck! He’s a girl,” Granger said.
“Um, more like a woman, I’d say,” Marty said.
“No wonder I’ve been so conflicted about him, um, her. He’s a she.” Granger couldn’t stop the relief from filling him.
“Hell, that had to hurt to bind herself like that, especially with those bruises. I guess this is from the beating she took back at that farm you were working at,” Marty said, pointing at the massive bruises covering her chest and abdomen.
“Fuck. Yeah. They were kicking and stomping on her. I should have gotten to her sooner.” Granger still couldn’t get past the fact that Dusty was a woman.
“Better take care of that bullet wound and get her covered back up before she wakes up and finds us staring at her breasts,” Marty muttered as he pulled a sheet over most of her chest.
Granger continued to hold pressure to the wound while really looking at her face for the first time. How had he missed it? She was obviously very pretty, despite the whack job she’d done to her hair. She had delicate features that had helped her appear younger than she probably was. With breasts like hers, she had to be at least twenty or so, at least he hoped so. His earlier attraction to Dusty as a boy had exploded into full-out lust over her as a woman. He didn’t think he could handle being this attracted to someone under eighteen or nineteen.
Marty returned with supplies, and together they worked on removing the bullet and cleaning her up. Once they had a bandage covering her shoulder, they dressed her in a new shirt and settled her in the bed.
“We don’t have a clue who shot her or why. We need to get moving as soon as possible,” Granger said.
“I agree, but we can’t move her for at least twenty-four hours. We’ve got to give that wound time to start healing, or she’ll keep bleeding.” Marty shrugged.
“We’ll need to keep watch and take turns sleeping. I’ve got my rifle and a box of shells, what about you?”
“I’ve got my Sig-Sauer and my BUG, an S&W 637 J-frame. Got plenty of ammo for now,” Marty said.
“You rest first while I keep watch. If she wakes up, she knows you a little better than she knows me.” Marty set up next to the window that looked out over the front.
There was a window over the sink, and another one on the opposite wall near the bed. All of them had curtains covering them. Marty would move from window to window while he had watch. Granger kept his rifle on the bed next to him just in case. As he settled down next to Dusty, or whatever her name really was, Granger prayed she wouldn’t freak when she realized they knew her secret. He also prayed that whoever had shot her was long gone and wouldn’t be giving them any more trouble.
Despite it still being light out, it wasn’t long before he relaxed enough to fall asleep. He dreamed of Dusty and her beautiful breasts.
Chapter Five
Destiny hurt all over, but especially her left shoulder. It felt as if someone had stuck a hot poker to it and twisted it round and round. She fought to open her eyes to figure out what was wrong, but they refused to open right away. She searched her memory of why she felt like this, and it all came rushing back. She gasped, and her eyes flew open.
Immediately she knew something else was wrong as well. She could breathe easily for a change. That meant her binding had been removed. And that meant they knew she wasn’t a boy. Fear poured over her like wet paint, sticky and thick. She started to sit up so she could run, but a hand gently pressed her abdomen back onto the bed.
“Easy, honey. You’re safe. Just relax so you don’t hurt yourself.” She stared up into Marty’s warm eyes. “No one is going to hurt you.”
“What happened?” she asked, looking from him over to the window where Granger stood with a rifle in his arms.
“Someone shot you. Do you remember seeing anyone?” Granger asked.
“No. The last thing I remember is picking up kindling to bring back.” She reached up to touch her shoulder, but Marty stopped her.
“You’ll hurt yourself,” he said.
“Did you get the bullet out?” she asked.
“Yeah. You’re going to be sore as hell for a while, though.” Marty sat up on the edge of the bed.
“Y–you know about me, don’t you?” she finally said.
Both men looked at her with solemn faces and nodded.
“It doesn’t matter, Dusty. We aren’t going to hurt you. You’re safe with us,” Marty told her.
“Destiny,” she said. “My name is Destiny.”
“That’s a pretty name.” Granger’s deep voice and the way he spoke were like a calming balm to her splintered nerves.
“Why would someone just shoot me for no reason?” Destiny felt a small measure of relief not to have to pretend around them anymore.
“Don’t know. We’re going to need to leave as soon as we can move you. It’s obviously not safe here.” Granger looked out the window again.
“Let’s go now.” She started to get out of bed, but Marty stopped her.
“You don’t need to move around for the next few hours. Need to give the wound time to start the healing process, or you’ll just start bleeding again.”
“I’m just going to make you two sitting ducks if we don’t leave now.” Destiny hated being a burden to anyone, especially to these two men who’d been kind to her.
“We’re safe enough for now. You lie back down and rest,” Marty said with a frown.
“He scowls better than you do,” she said before she realized what she was going to say.
Granger chuckled from across the room. “She’s right. Your best mean look so far is just a stern-looking frown. Bet you had a hard time staring down bad guys as a cop.”
“Fuck you.” Then, as if realized they had a woman present, his face grew red. “Sorry.”
She frowned up at him. She didn’t like that now that they knew she was a woman and not a teenage boy they would treat her differently. Instead of saying something about it, Destiny closed her eyes and tried to rest. Unfortunately, now that she was awake and knew that she’d been shot, her shoulder hurt more than the beating had.
After thirty minutes of trying to find a comfortable position between her aching ribs and her shoulder, Destiny gave up. Before either man could stop her, she sat up with her back against the headboard.
“Why didn’t you let one of us help you? You’re going to reopen the wound and make it start bleeding again,” Granger fussed. He stuffed a pillow behind her back then drew the covers up.
“I can’t be still. The damn thing hurts worse than that beating did.” She knew she was whining, but she couldn’t help it.
“I’m sorry there isn’t anything to give you for the pain,” Marty said.
“Wait. I’ve got some whisky. That’ll dull the pain some.” Granger rummaged through his pack and came up with a metal flask.
When he opened it and tried to hold it to her mouth, Destiny growled and grabbed it from him.
“I’m not an invalid. I can manage to drink by myself.” She turned it up and took a large sip.
When it started down her throat, she thought it would burn a hole all the way to her bones. It took a second before she could even manage to gasp for breath.
“It’s stout stuff. You need to go easy on it,” Granger said with a smile.
“No kidding,” she managed to gasp out after a few seconds of sputtering.
“Just take a small sip every few minutes, and it will start to dull the pain. Don’t drink too much, or you’ll just make yourself sick and end up screwing up your shoulder when you throw up tomorrow,” Marty added.
Destiny had no intentions of getting drunk and suffering a hangover. She’d observed the men do that in some of the towns she’d been in when looking for supplies. She wanted no part of getting sick enough to throw up her toenails.
An hour later, Granger re-capped the bottle and put it away. The pain in her shoulder had died down to a dull throb when she moved it. Her bruises didn’t even exist any longer as far as pain went. The pleasant floaty feeling carried her into the night when Granger stretched out next to her on top of the covers.
“Aren’t you cold?” she asked with a slight slur.
“I’m fine. Go to sleep, Destiny. Marty said you should be up to moving tomorrow. You need to get some rest.”
“But it’s cold in here. Get under the covers so you’ll be warm.”
“That’s not a good idea. Go to sleep.”
Destiny pouted. She wanted him under the covers so she could scoot closer to him. She could feel the heat from his body and thought it would be so much nicer to be able to snuggle closer. With an exaggerated sigh, she closed her eyes and tried to settle down to sleep. After what only felt like a few minutes, Granger whispered in her ear to wake up but not to make a sound.
